Roughly 1 out of 5 businesses in the food service industry here went out of business in 2023 -- a higher rate than during the years of economic slump sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic -- according to figures disclosed by a local data analysis firm. According to Finda, 176,258 restaurants, takeout joints and food delivery locations across the country shut down for good last year, accounting for 21.5 percent of the 818,867 eateries in total. It implied that the food service industry had a worse yea

A doctor accused of illegally administering propofol for disgraced actor Yoo Ah-in and himself was sentenced to a prison term of one year and two months, suspended for two years, by a local court on Thursday. The Seoul Central District Court found the defendant surnamed Shin guilty of violating the Narcotics Control Act. It also ordered that he forfeit 270,000 won ($200) and undergo a 40-hour drug treatment program. The defendant is accused of administering propofol for Yoo on 17 occasions from

The National Police Agency on Wednesday shared on its official YouTube page a video of a teenage girl who came across a pile of cash and helped return it to the owner. In the surveillance camera footage, a man was shown dropping 1.22 million won ($890) in cash while riding a bicycle in Hadong-gun, South Gyeongsang Province, on Feb. 27. A few moments later, a young girl came by and stopped in her tracks. She took out a phone to take a photo of the money, after which she picked up the bills. The

The bereaved family of a 37-year-old man who died recently had decided to donate his organs for those in need, the state-run organ agency said Thursday. According to the Korea Organ Donation Agency, Choi Seong-cheol's family decided to donate both his kidneys, liver, lungs, and both his eyes to respect his wishes to help others. Throughout most of his life, he suffered from an intellectual disability that he got as a result of severe school violence from when he was in high school. Choi had

The number of calls made by stalking victims to the state-run women's counseling hotline jumped more than three-fold over the past three years, government data showed. A total of 9,017 cases of over-the-phone counseling were provided by the 1366 emergency counseling service, according to a joint report by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the ministry-affiliated Women's Human Rights Institute of Korea. The figure has increased exponentially, having recorded 2,710 in 2021. The emerge

A 23-year prison term has been confirmed for a South Korean man who killed his fiance by stabbing her 191 times, after the defendant did not appeal until the deadline Wednesday. The sentence was issued by the Chuncheon branch of the Seoul High Court last week. The 28-year-old defendant, surnamed Ryu, had until Wednesday to file an appeal. The prosecution, which initially requested a 25-year prison term for Ryu, did not appeal either, resulting in the sentence being confirmed. Ryu was convicted o

Nearly 90 percent of those who filed for bankruptcy in Seoul last year were aged at least 50, with a substantial portion of the number being male or living alone, Seoul government data showed Wednesday. The data released by Seoul Financial Welfare Counseling Center, an affiliate of the city-run Seoul Welfare Foundation, showed that 86 percent of valid bankruptcy applicants last year were 50 or older, and 64.4 percent were male. Of those who declared themselves bankrupt, 83.5 percent had been ben

Among newly hired employees in Korea in 2023, 50.5 percent were college graduates. Of the 28.41 million people newly hired across the country, 14.36 million had a higher education degree, according to the Korean Statistical Information Service run by Statistics Korea. The figure includes graduates from two-year college courses and those with postgraduate degrees. The number of new employees with tertiary education degrees rose by 1.2 percent compared to the year before. The figure rose from 30.2

The personal information of a 26-year-old South Korean man accused of stabbing his girlfriend to death and injuring the victim's mother was released online Monday. Kim Re-a's full name, age and mugshot were posted by the Suwon District Public Prosecutors' Office on its homepage, after its deliberation committee on revealing information of suspects reached a decision earlier this month. The suspect has been indicted on charges of murdering his 21-year-old girlfriend on March 25, an

A man who falsely claimed to be engaged to Rep. Bae Hyun-jin of the People Power Party has been indicted for stalking, according to the ruling party lawmaker's office on Monday. The suspect in his 50s, surnamed Choi, faces charges of stalking and spreading falsehoods against Bae, who recently was elected for her third term as a National Assembly member. The Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office on Friday arrested and indicted the suspect, against whom Bae had filed a complaint las

A South Korean man in his 40s was recently arrested for the kidnap and robbery of an internet celebrity, for whom he had provided management services related to the victim's online broadcasts, local police said Monday. The Seoul Gangnam Police Station is investigating the suspect on a charge of special robbery, defined by Article 334 of the Criminal Act as robbery with a weapon, or via collective force, or via the intrusion of private property. The suspect is accused of forcibly putting the

About 70 percent of those newly hired by small and medium-sized enterprises here are aged at least 40, government data showed Monday, highlighting the younger population’s tendency to avoid smaller companies and the country's overall rapid aging. Of the 25.3 million people newly hired by the small and medium-sized companies in South Korea in 2023, 7.8 million were in their 20s or 30s. Those in their 20s accounted for 13.5 percent of new hires, while those in their 30s took up 17.4 per

A Seoul-based restaurant recently posted a notice on its Instagram page that it will not serve anyone taking part in the nationwide medical strike, which has been continuing since the mass walkout by the country's trainee doctors in February. The owners of the Italian restaurant based in Mapo-gu, one recommended in the Michelin Guide Seoul & Busan 2024, said they will refuse service for the doctors on strike from "firm personal beliefs." "For the time being, we will not s

Nearly 6 out of 10 South Koreans read less than one book in a year, a recent report by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism showed Thursday. According to the report, 43 percent of the population read at least one book between September of 2022 and August of 2023. This was down 4.5 percentage points compared to the previous results of the biennial study released in 2021, and was the lowest figure since the government commenced the study in 1994. The survey was conducted on 5,000 adults a

President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating was at 23 percent to mark the lowest figure since he took office, a poll showed Friday, as the ruling party struggled to recover from its crushing defeat in the general elections held last week. The Gallup Korea poll, conducted on April 16-18 on 1,000 adults across the country, showed that positive assessment of Yoon's performance dropped 11 percentage points from the previous survey, which was taken at March 26-28 before the parliamentary election. The

Police investigating the recent deaths of four people at a hotel in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, have found more evidence to suggest the men had murdered the two women before killing themselves. The two men were found to have sent messages saying, "Shall we kill (them)?" "Yeah," right before overpowering the two women in the hotel room, according to the Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency. The case was first reported on April 11. The two killers had jumped to their deaths the

The South Korean police said it recently found and protected a severely malnourished mentally disabled man, after he made 360 calls to the 112 emergency services and hung up without saying a word. Jeju Dongbu Police Station tracked down the 40-something man dumpster diving at the Jeju International Airport on March 5, who was in extremely poor health due to not having eaten for days. Authorities have provided emergency medical care for the man, who has since been discharged and is staying at a s

The state-run organ agency said Friday that the bereaved family of a man who died from a rare condition had decided to donate his vital organs to help those in need of transplants. Jeong Su-yeon, who was 52, died last month at Inha University Hospital in Incheon, according to the Korea Organ Donation Agency. He had been suffering from Vogt–Koyanagi–Harada disease, a multisystem disease of presumed autoimmune causes that he was diagnosed with 20 years ago. His heart, lung, liver and k

Busan police on Thursday arrested the operators of an illegal website that offered illegal gambling services mostly for teenagers, run primarily by teenagers. The cyber investigation unit of the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency arrested a man in his 20s on the charge of operating an illegal online gambling website. Also under investigation are 16 teenagers suspected to be operators of the site, including two suspected to be the founders. Officers believe that the website was created by two boys,

Three South Korean men under trial for stealing an expensive watch have pleaded for leniency, with one of the defendants claiming to have too low an IQ to have had a clear idea of what he was getting himself into. Jeju District Court on Wednesday held a hearing on a 19-year-old man who stole a Rolex watch worth about 19 million won ($13,800) in Jeju city, along with his two accomplices, both aged 20. The suspects were caught while trying to sell the watch at a pawn shop in another part of the ci