Presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party came under fire earlier this week after a picture of him putting his feet on a train seat went viral. The photo, uploaded on social media by his aide Lee Sang-il, showed Yoon’s legs all stretched out with his feet on the seat opposite of him with his shoes on. The train was chartered by his party as part of his presidential campaign. The social media post has been deleted following criticism. His show of poor

South Korea is among the six new additions to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s list of “very high” risk areas to travel to, according to the US authority’s website Monday. Azerbaijan, Belarus, Comoros, French Polynesia and Saint Pierre and Miquelon were also newly added to the list. In the new update, the CDC is urging Americans to avoid traveling to South Korea. “If you must travel to South Korea, make sure you are vaccinated and up to date w

For nearly two years, international programs at universities and schools had to adapt to change as mandatory quarantine and remote learning were brought in. But recent data shows there has been little change in demand despite the COVID measures. A total of 152,281 students came to South Korea to study last year, according to data from the Korean Educational Development Institute. The figure is slightly down from 2020 when it stood at 153,695 and has fallen for two years in a row since 2019 wh

The death of livestreamer Jammi, whose real name is Cho Jang-mi, made headlines this week in South Korea. It emerged that she took her own life after “suffering severe depression over malicious online comments and rumors,” according to an online post written by one of her family members. The 27-year-old who used to stream on YouTube and Twitch was accused of being a radical feminist in 2019. The accusations began after she used a pinching hand sign that some claimed to be misandri

South Korea’s upcoming presidential election is just one month away. But overshadowed by other issues such as housing prices and family misbehavior, the two leading candidates Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and Yoon Suk-yeol of the People Power Party have tiptoed around the issue of an anti-discrimination law. One party’s stance on the issue, however, has been crystal clear –-- an anti-discrimination bill needs to be passed now, said Rep. Jang Hye-youn

Seoul Metro saw the number of passengers drop by 25 percent last year compared to pre-pandemic levels, new data revealed on Thursday. The subway operator said some 1.95 billion passengers used the city’s subway system in 2021, which also connects to neighboring areas such as Incheon and Gyeonggi. The figure stood at 2.67 billion in 2019 and 1.93 billion in 2020, based on the subway lines operated by Seoul Metro. This highlights the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on one of the largest s

When a North Korean defector fled back to the North after jumping over the heavily fortified inter-Korean border fence in January, many headlines described the incident as a “jump defection.” Though a similar incident has occurred in the past, the use of the term became widespread in the media only this month, according to Google Trends. “Gaslighting,” loosely defined as the act of making someone question their reality by manipulating facts, also skyrocketed in usage ear

Exports of South Korean instant noodles hit a record high of over $670 million, the highest figure to date. Last year’s exports stood at $674.41 million, data from the Korea Customs Service and the food industry showed on Sunday. Exports of instant noodles, also known as “ramyeon” in Korea, have risen for seven consecutive years. When broken down by country, China was the biggest market for South Korean instant noodle makers, followed by the US, Japan and Taiwan. Instant no

President Moon Jae-in has said that North Korea’s launch of an “intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM)” on Sunday morning amounts to a “breach of UN Security Council resolutions" and a “challenge” to the international community’s efforts to ensure peace on the Korean peninsula. In an emergency National Security Council meeting, Moon made the remarks as he called on Pyongyang to stop adding pressure and tension and return to the dialogue table,

The Ministry of Justice has opened another third-party visa application center in London earlier this week, the latest in a series of moves to reduce the workload of embassy staff. “Starting from January 17, 2022, the Government of the Republic of Korea will open the Korea Visa Application Center (KVAC) in London, operated by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), to manage Korean visa applications submitted by UK nationals and third country nationals regularly residing in th

Concerns are growing as HIV testing has been suspended at most local health centers across Seoul to prioritize the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. All 25 local health centers in the capital used to provide free and anonymous sexually transmitted infection and HIV tests until 2019. Nearly two years into the pandemic, however, HIV and STI testing capacity has been drastically reduced with many locations having stopped testing all together. “We understand that seven community health cen

Wearing a mask has become commonplace during this pandemic. Though the act is often encouraged to stop the spread of COVID-19, there is one place where it is definitely frowned upon – dating apps. Users say profiles with only masked up photos can be misleading. Amid growing complaints, some dating app operators are cracking down on those considered a “magikkun” -- a portmanteau from the English word “mask” and the Korean word “sagikkun” which means a fr

Discrimination against women, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and racial and ethnic minorities is pervasive in South Korea, a new report from the Human Rights Watch said on Thursday. The annual 32rd World Report 2022 highlights the human rights situation in nearly all of the 100 countries where the international organization works. Though South Korea has been described as an “established democracy that largely respects civil, political, economic, social, and cultural right

A new culture war is brewing in South Korea. At the center is Starbucks, after vice president of Shinsegae Group Chung Yong-jin -- the largest shareholder of the coffeehouse chain’s operation in the country -- shared several anti-communist posts on social media. In recent weeks, the outspoken billionaire made headlines for using the hashtag “annihilate communism.” While he has gained support for his political statements, mostly from conservatives, some are threatening to boyco

Retail giant Shinsegae Group saw its shares plunge on Monday as a controversial social media post from the group’s heir and Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin sparked investor jitters. The company’s stocks shed 6.8 percent to close at 233,000 won ($196.23) Monday against the benchmark KOSPI’s 0.95 percent decline. The plunge in stock value comes after Chung made several politically charged remarks in recent months criticizing communism alongside pictures of Chinese President Xi Ji

The winters in Korea can be notoriously tough with temperatures sometimes falling to below minus 10 degrees Celsius. Seoul saw the coldest day in 35 years in January last year, with a low of minus 18.6 degrees Celsius. Some parts of the city such as Nowon-gu and Eunpyeong-gu registered lows of minus 21.7 and 22.6 degrees Celsius respectively, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. Records also show that winter used to be longer on the Korean Peninsula. The average yearly temper

A rendition of Lady Gaga’s LGBT anthem “Born This Way” with a missing lyric by a South Korean group on New Year’s Eve has caused controversy, with experts calling it “LGBT erasure.” The controversy comes after a local TV broadcaster faced criticism last year for editing out kissing scenes between two men in the Freddie Mercury biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody.” During an annual year-end bell ringing ceremony held by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, w

The conservative opposition People Power Party‘s presidential candidate Yoon Seok-youl asked the rhetorical question on Wednesday if he is an “idiot” to take part in a TV debate with his liberal rival Lee Jae-myung. His remark has now become a viral meme in online communities. At a campaign event on Wednesday in Andong, a conservative stronghold, Yoon dismissed a proposal by the candidate from the ruling Democratic Party to debate him. “The Democratic Party candidate w

South Korea extended the ban on short-term travelers from 11 African countries for another four weeks on Wednesday in an effort to “prevent the omicron variant from entering the country.” But as cases rise elsewhere, the decision to single out Africa has left many Africans living in Korea angry. The measure to restrict entry from select African countries was first enacted in late November, soon after the omicron variant was first detected in South Africa. The Korea Disease Control a

Main opposition People Power Party’s presidential candidate Yoon Seok-youl has come under fire over a comment he made on Tuesday that “most South Koreans, especially young people, dislike China.” Following the comment, a spokesperson of the ruling Democratic Party’s campaign committee said the comment was “shocking” and “low” to reduce diplomatic relations between countries to whether who likes who. “China is an important partner in securit