A recent YouTube video has sparked a conspiracy theory related to January departure of Joo Hyun-young as a crew of SNL Korea, with some alleging that she had been forced to quit over her parody of first Kim Keon Hee. The 28-year-old Joo gained popularity with her appearances in the Korean version of "Saturday Night Live" since 2021. Little known at the beginning of her "SNL" stint, she rose to stardom for her witty depiction of various characters, including the character of

A Daegu court said Thursday it has cleared a 60-year-old man of drunk driving charges, ruling that his consumption of alcohol after stopping his car made it impossible to determine if he had been intoxicated while driving. The man was initially suspected of driving 2.4 kilometers in Daegu with a blood alcohol content of 0.128 percent. He was stopped by police in the city’s Jung-gu district on Sept. 16 at 11:38 p.m. and his breath was tested by police 40 minutes later. The driver was charge

A South Korean rapper who pretended that his mental illness had worsened in order to shorten his mandatory national service will be subject to a suspended prison term, the country's top court confirmed Wednesday. Announcing the ruling, which it said was made last month, the Supreme Court upheld a 14-month sentence, suspended for two years, for the rapper Nafla, who was convicted last year of violating the Military Service Act and the Criminal Act, specifically for obstructing the performanc

A handful of South Korean gamers were treated to an unintended limited-time offer for the popular computer game Diablo 4 on Wednesday, when its publisher inexplicably put it on sale for 1,575 won ($1.20) for less than an hour in the wee hours of the morning. The short-term price for the standard edition of the action role-playing game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment was posted at the company's Battle.net website some time before 3 a.m. It reverted to its initial price of 6

The South Korean soccer association violated multiple regulations in hiring the current and former national team coaches, the Ministry of Culture Sports and Tourism confirmed Wednesday. The ministry, however, said that it remained unclear whether the violations would invalidate the contract of Hong Myung-bo, the current coach who replaced Juergen Klinsmann. "The Korea Football Association had said that all regulations were met in hiring the national team coach, but the probe revealed inap

South Korean emergency room medical staff have experienced increasing instances of physical and verbal abuse in recent years, government data showed Tuesday. Doctors or nurses were subject to abuse from patients at emergency rooms 707 times in 2023, up from 602 in 2022 and 585 in 2021, according to Ministry of Health and Welfare data submitted to Rep. Kim Mi-ae of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea. Of the 707 cases for last year, 457 were related to verbal abuse. Physical violence

A Busan man living by himself was recently found dead in his home, after the emergency workers he had called for failed to track him down due to an error in their GPS system. According to local media reports Monday, the victim in his 50s called the 119 emergency hotline on Sept. 8 to report that he was experiencing severe health issues. He notified the operators of his specific address, including the name of the residential-commercial building he was in and the unit number. But the rescue work

While passengers getting off an airplane before takeoff is uncommon, government data showed Tuesday that such cases have occurred 2,985 times between 2019 and August of this year. The passengers got off the plane on their own account in 2,548 cases, and a simple change of heart by passengers was responsible for 389 of these cases, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport data submitted to Rep. Yeom Tae-yeong of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea. In the 417 re

A couple who saved someone who appeared to be attempting suicide in a car was commended by police, officials of Seoul Gwanak Police Station said Monday. Bae So-dam, 33, and Kim Du-hyeon, 41, saw smoke coming out of a vehicle as they were taking a walk a park in Sillim-dong, Gwanak-gu in Seoul on Sept. 22. They found a person sitting in the driver's seat, pulled them out and reported the case to the authorities. Officials presented a certificate of appreciation to Bae and Kim, along with A

Illegal sales of prescription ADHD medication to students have been on the rise in South Korea recently, and government data Friday showed that such distribution soared before the crucial Suneung mock test. The local authorities spotted 669 cases of illegal sales of such medications to students from Aug. 4-14 in a special illegal drug distribution inspection targeting college applicants, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety data submitted to Rep. Han Ji-ah of the ruling People Pow

Government data showed Friday that the number of foreign workers victim to occupational accidents has increased every year since 2019, indicating that this year's figure could exceed the 10,000 mark for the first time ever. From January to August of this year, there were 6,715 reported cases of occupational accidents with foreign national victims here, according to the Ministry of Employment and Labor data submitted to Rep. Kim Ui-sang of the ruling People Power Party. The figure rose eve

A July ruling by the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples are eligible to apply for spousal coverage under the state insurance program, but recent reports have shown that state insurance authorities are still refusing to accept such couples as eligible for spousal coverage. Multiple media outlets reported this week that the National Health Insurance Service has turned down requests from same-sex couples to receive spousal coverage. A notification on such rejection was revealed recently, dat

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Friday it has conducted secret inspections into recent allegations of forced shopping, with findings confirming that such practices exist on some level among tourism packages here. The city hired several foreign nationals to pose as tourists in seven low-priced package tours -- three that were sold in China and four sold in Vietnam -- to check the programs' quality. Most of the packages focused more on shopping than tourism, which the city government&#

The host company of the 68th annual Miss Korea competition issued an official apology Thursday, concerning a question for the finalists about videos using deepfake technology. During this year's event in Seoul on Tuesday, 15 finalists had to answer various pre-prepared questions. One of the questions was, "If the image of myself in a deepfake video looks more attractive (than myself), how could I reduce the gap (between the image) and my actual self?" "It was wrong for us as

Emergency rescue operators in Busan said Thursday that an ambulance carrying a middle school student had been turned away from multiple hospitals due to a lack of medical staff, causing a delay of treatment for the boy. The mother of the 15-year-old living in Busan called the 119 emergency service when her son suffered what turned out to be acute appendicitis at around 7:30 p.m. on Monday, according to the Busan Metropolitan City Fire and Disaster Headquarters. But the university hospital that

The South Korean police said Thursday it is investigating a man who called a ruling party lawmaker's office to say President Yoon Suk Yeol will die on Oct. 26. It was revealed that the man had said so based on a prophecy made by a local shaman. The man called the office of Rep. Ihn Yo-han of the ruling People Power Party Wednesday afternoon, saying, "The president will pass away on Oct. 26, so they should reinforce protection for him," according to Seoul Yeongdeungpo Police Stat

South Korean internet circles have been buzzing over a heartwarming tale of a bus driver who rushed to help a man in a wheelchair stranded in the middle of a crosswalk on a rainy night. Several citizens during the Chuseok holidays posted online compliments about the driver of Seoul bus No. 470 for his actions in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul, at around 9:40 p.m. on Sept.13. A man on a self-propelled wheelchair was wheeling himself across the crosswalk when the light changed and he was barely halfw

After police caught a man who warned of a knife attack at the Kangwon National University festival on Tuesday, it was revealed that members of the school's student council had played a crucial role in apprehending the suspect. The suspect -- who was revealed to be a 21-year-old student of the school -- posted on his Instagram page at 6:50 p.m. Tuesday that he would attack those at the student-run bar at the festival on the university's main campus in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province. He w

Despite the South Korean government increasing the quota of non-professional work visas to an all-time high this year, less than 30,000 have actually been recruited so far, data from the Ministry of Employment and Labor showed Wednesday. As of July, 29,316 foreign nationals were issued the E-9 visa for non-professional employment this year, according to the ministry data submitted to Rep. Kim Ui-sang of the ruling People Power Party. A total of 13,102 workplaces have received permits to hire wor

Accidents at kids' cafes are rising, with trampolines accounting for the largest proportion, prompting a government agency to issue a warning. According to the Korea Consumer Agency, 1,205 accidents occurred at kids' cafes -- indoor playing facilities for children -- from 2019 to 2023. The number of accidents went from 397 to 150 in 2020 and 97 in 2021, likely due to COVID-19 social distancing -- but the number rebounded to 225 in 2022 and 337 in 2023. The data showed that by equipme