The head of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said Tuesday that the government may downgrade the infectious disease notification level of COVID-19 from the current second-highest level of "alert" to the third-highest of "caution." "We (the government) are currently discussing the downgrade. Exactly when it will take place hasn't been decided yet, but we're watching the situation and thinking it should be after the winter season (sometime next year

Incheon District Court on Tuesday ruled that the South Korean court should pay 100 million won ($76,000) in compensation to a man who was wrongfully arrested and jailed during the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising. The civil suit was filed by a man who was arrested by police during the pro-democracy movement of May 18, 1980. The military junta Chun Doo-hwan had declared martial law as the anti-government movement spread across the country, and subsequently ordered the bloody crackdown on the cont

Incheon Seobu Police Station on Tuesday said it is investigating a high school student on suspicion of threatening to kill elementary school students, which he claimed was a joke. The suspect, whose exact identity was withheld by authorities, is believed to have posted that he would "kill all the kids while they are on their way home from school" around 9:35 a.m. Monday, via a KakaoTalk instant message board shared by parents of children who attend an elementary school in Seo-gu, Inche

After Jimin and Jungkook's enlistment on Tuesday, all seven member of K-pop superstar band BTS will be enlisted in the mandatary military service, which is required by all able-bodied South Korean men. V in particular has his eyes on becoming a member of the special forces unit of the command defending the nation's capital. It has been reported that the soon-to-be 28-year-old has applied to serve in the 35th Special Mission Battalion, a counterterrorism unit of the Capital Defense Comm

With fewer couples getting married each year here, the amount of combined debt of recently married couples recorded an all-time high, a report showed Monday. According to a report on those recently married by Statistics Korea, the median amount of combined debt for these households in South Korea in 2022 was 164 million won ($124,000), marking both an all-time high and jump of 7.3 percent from the year before. It also showed that 89 percent of such couples overall are in debt. The report concern

A commemorative ceremony in honor of the late Lt. Col. Kim Oh-rang, who died while battling the rebel forces during the 1979 military coup, will be held Tuesday in his hometown of Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province. According to city officials, the annual ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. near Kim's bust erected between Samjeong Middle School and Samseong Elementary School, which the deceased soldier graduated from. The ceremony has been held each year since 2014, when the government conferre

The National Police Agency said Monday the drug investigation into G-Dragon was nearing the end, with no clear evidence of wrongdoing by the K-pop star discovered so far. "We've conducted an objective verification process (of G-Dragon's allegations) and summoned six people for testimonies. The investigation is more or less in its final stage," Woo Jong-soo, the head of the National Office of Investigation at the NPA told reporters in the regular press briefing. "We will

Male divorcees' biggest fear in finding a new spouse is meeting someone who is a freeloader, while female divorcees said they are afraid to meet someone who needs to be taken care of all the time, a survey showed Monday. Only-You, a local matchmaking company exclusively for divorcees, conducted a survey on 516 people wishing to get married on the issue of "what makes you hesitant toward remarriage." For men, the No. 1 reason was that the potential spouse "may have a tendency

A group of street vendors on Jongno 3-ga Pocha Street have decided to temporarily close up shop following controversy over the vendors' supposedly overpriced dishes, according to local media outlets on Monday. According to the Korea Democratic Street Vendors Confederation, an umbrella group of street vendors in South Korea, around 60 street eateries, called "pojangmacha," have conducted an overhaul of their shops late last month. The group said it was in reflection of the rec

LGBTQ+ rights groups have launched a fundraiser for the Rev. Lee Dong-hwan, who was expelled from the Korean Methodist Church for blessing gay people at a queer festival, the groups said in a statement Sunday. Groups including the South Korean Coalition for Anti-Discrimination Legislation and Rainbow Jesus -- a group consisting of Christians in the LGBTQ+ community -- vowed to support Lee "all the way." The groups are conducting a fundraiser for the fees required for the judicial proce

A survey released Sunday by a civic group showed that 15.3 percent of South Korean workers have been subject to direct physical or verbal abuse at work, highligthing the ongoing issue of workplace harassment. Nongovernmental organization Workplace Gapjil 119 conducted a survey on 1,000 employed individuals across the country, asking if they have been subject to abuse. About 14.8 percent of office workers; 17.2 percent of those in manual labor; and 15.2 percent of those in service industries said

A Russian national currently seeking refugee status in South Korea has been arrested on suspicion of growing cannabis at his home, the Korea Coast Guard said Sunday. The man in his 20s is accused of growing the plants at his home at a residential-commercial complex in Ulsan. He is also alleged to have smoked the home-grown marijuana multiple times. The drug unit of the Coast Guard had received a tip-off that the suspect was involved in a drug crime, and had managed to catch him in the act on Nov

On Dec. 4, a fire broke out at a home in a residential-commercial complex in Jungnang-gu, eastern Seoul, killing a poodle that was home alone at the time. Fire authorities provisionally concluded that the fire was caused by the dog, who is thought to have inadvertently turned on the electric stove. The incident was the second fire in a week thought to be caused by a pet left home alone. The first fire was reportedly caused by a cat that accidentally turned on an electric stove in Geumcheon-gu,

South Korean police investigating legal complaints filed by San Diego Padres' infielder Kim Ha-seong, who has alleged that he is being blackmailed over a fight that occurred two years ago, have been questioning witnesses including local professional baseball players who were present at the fight. According to Seoul Gangnam Police Station on Saturday, officials have called in for questioning several acquaintances of Kim, including teammates from when he played with the Kiwoom Heroes of the K

A South Korean man in his 30s was fined 2 million won ($1,500) for throwing a pomeranian out of the second floor of a building, local court said Sunday. The dog in question survived the fall, but sustained severe injuries to its spine and nervous system, including paralysis of its hind legs. The Seoul Northern District Court recently handed the sentence to the defendant for violating the Animal Protection Act, which states that those inflicting pain on an animal without just cause shall be punis

The National Pension Service said Friday that 1,035 retired couples across South Korea are receiving 3 million won ($2,300) or more through their combined pension plans, marking the first time the number of such couples has exceeded 1,000. The figure is significant as it means those in retirement are making close to what a couple would make on average while working. According to a Statistics Korea December 2022 report, the average nationwide income per person was 22.2 million won, roughly 1.85 m

Young South Korean couples without children cited intense competition among students and financial issues as why they decide to go childless, in a meeting with government officials held Thursday evening. The Ministry of Health and Welfare hosted six young couples who do not plan to have children at the meeting hosted in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul, in a bid to acquire ideas for policies that will help tackle the issue of the faltering birth rate in South Korea. Several of the participants raised c

Singer Nam Tae-hyun recently joined the growing list of South Korean celebrities facing drug charges. The prosecution on Thursday requested a two-year prison term for the former member of the boy band Winner, while seeking 1 year and six months for reality show star Seo Min-jae on charges of alleged drug use. It is unclear what the future holds for the 29-year-old K-pop star, but his career had been mostly on hold since the array of controversies surrounding him. After being caught drunk driving

Tradition, by definition, is a pattern or custom established over a long time. But the collaboration between Lee Jung-hyun, a musical instrument designer, and Ahn So-ra, a lacquer artisan, goes one step beyond preserving the time-honored practice of "ottchil," natural lacquering derived from the sap of staghorn sumac trees, blending Ahn's craft with Lee's invention in the lacquering of an electric guitar. "Rather than to keep the tradition going, I think what we're

A South Korean court on Friday handed a 12-year prison term to a 30-year-old Turkish woman, who stabbed her boyfriend to death after being repeatedly assaulted by him. The defendant has been charged with murder after she killed her boyfriend in Daegu in August. The crime had been spontaneous, as the victim physically assaulted her multiple times in the past and had been beating her up at the time of the crime. "The court took into account that the defendant had been physically assaulted by