North Korea's trash-carrying balloons have disrupted runway operations at South Korea's two biggest airports for an accumulated 413 minutes this year, government data showed Wednesday. Operations at Incheon International Airport and Gimpo International Airport were disrupted 20 times this year as of Monday, according to the Seoul Regional Aviation Administration data submitted to Rep. Yang Bu-nam of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea. This first occurred at Incheon on June

A woman in her 30s in cardiac arrest died last week due to delays in finding an emergency room to treat her during the Chuseok holidays, a government report revealed Monday. It was found that emergency medical technicians in Busan called hospitals in the area 92 times to find a ER that could treat her, but failed to locate while the patient was suffering multiple heart attacks, according to the data submitted to Rep. Youn Kun-young of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea. The woman su

Next year's budget for a state-run call center for victims of digital crimes has been cut by nearly 20 percent, while the country sees a rise in such crimes, government data showed Tuesday. The Korea Communications Commission's 2025 budget for protection of internet users -- which is used to operate the Online Damage 365 Center for victims of digital crimes -- has been revealed to be 921 million won ($690,000), according to KCC data submitted to Rep. Hwang Jung-a of the main oppositi

A woman in her 20s is under investigation over allegations of releasing digitally produced pornographic images of her former boyfriend, in the first reported deepfake case involving a male victim in Korea. According to local media reports on Tuesday, Busan Metropolitan Police is investigating the suspect for allegedly releasing fake pornographic videos and images of the male victim, also in his 20s. She is also accused of other crimes such as sharing the victim's nude photos on social med

The civic group behind a civilian patrol unit of dog owners said Tuesday said it was recruiting new members as it plans to expand its operations nationwide. The non-government Clear City (City Without Abandoned Dogs) said it had started receiving applications to join the Dog Patrol Program, which previously had operated only in Seoul, Busan, Incheon and other cities in Gyeonggi Province with the cooperation of the respective regional governments. First launched in 2022 in Seoul, the program invi

The Supreme Court said Monday it has confirmed a two-year prison term for a former government worker for abuse of power and using the names of senior citizens and welfare recipients to win the rights to operate stores and vending machines at educational facilities. South Korea's top court confirmed the lower court ruling that found the former employee of the Daejeon Metropolitan Government guilty of obstruction of performance of official duties by fraudulent means, ordering the seizure of 4

A civic group said Monday it has filed defamation and insult charges against Park Yong-eon, the vice president of the Korea Medical Association who recently told nurses to "butt out" of doctors' treatment roles after recent passage of the Nurses Act. The People's Welfare Countermeasure Committee said Park's comment would hurt the trust between those in the medical circles by sending a message that the doctors do not respect nurses. The KMA has been at the forefront of

The death of Jeon Yeongjin, 25, who took his own life last year after experiencing severe bullying at his workplace, has been ruled an "occupational accident" by the state authority on workers' welfare. Jeon's bereaved family members told local media Sunday that the Seoul committee of the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service recently decided that his death should be considered an occupational accident. Defined in Article 5-1 of the Industrial Accident Compensa

South Korea's telecommunications regulator has requested platforms to revise their content to delete information that can potentially induce suicide on 3,243 occasions since 2020, government data showed Monday. From 2020 to August of this year, content with possibly suicide-inducing content have been reviewed by the Korea Communications Standards Commission on 4,100 occasions, according to the KCSS data submitted to Rep. Lee Jeong-heon of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea. The c

The commemorative space for victims of the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster in Seoul is facing possible removal by the city council, which is refusing to allow unauthorized use of its premises as the location of the memorial. The Seoul Metropolitan Council is reportedly slated to meet with the representatives of the bereaved families next month to discuss removal of the memorial in the plaza in front of the council's main building in Jung-gu, central Seoul. The bereaved families asked for the me

Police said Sunday they will request an arrest warrant for a 48-year-old man accused of starting a fire at an inn after he had recently been kicked out, an incident that has left three guests dead. The suspect is believed to have set fire to the three-story building in Sangdang-gu of Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, at 1:46 a.m. on Saturday, according to the Sangdang Police Station. A long-term guest at the establishment, he was evicted a day earlier by the innkeeper when he failed to pay h

Several doctors in the ongoing medical strike against government reform defended a trainee doctor who is currently under criminal investigation for making and distributing a blacklist of physicians not participating in the prolonged walkout. Lim Hyun-taek, president of the Korea Medical Association, said called Jeong "a victim" of the government. "Both the doctor who has been arrested and put behind bars, and everyone who was harmed after being on the list, are victims of the go

The controversy-ridden appointment of men's national soccer team head coach Hong Myung-bo will be reviewed by the National Assembly on Tuesday morning, during the sports committee's assessment of the current issues in the sports circles. Hong, Korea Football Association chief Chung Mong-gyu, and KFA Technical Director Lee Lim-saeng who headed the coaching selection, were chosen to be witnesses in the questioning by the members of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee. The

Cha Su-hyeon, a former student of Daegu University who passed away due to cancer, received an honorary degree from her school Friday in appreciation of her donating 6 million won to be used as a scholarship fund for fellow students. Daegu University on Friday held a ceremony in honor of Cha, who was 22, to deliver her father Cha Min-su the honorary diploma from the department of biological education where she had attended. Six students of the same department each received 1 million won in schola

Some 40 percent of South Korean workers who reported workplace bullying said they faced retaliation from their superiors afterward, a survey by a local civic group showed Wednesday. Workplace Gabjil 119, an organization that assists victims of workplace abuse, surveyed 1,000 workers across the country in the second quarter of this year about bullying at the workplace. Of the 305 respondents who said they had been bullied, only 12.1 percent said they had reported the case to the company or labo

Nearly a quarter million South Korean young people have been unemployed for at least three years, recent government data showed Thursday, with over 80,000 saying they were neither looking for work nor receiving education related to their career during the period. According to Statistics Korea, 238,112 people aged 15-29 were found not to be working at least three years after graduating from their most recent educational institution, as of May this year. Of those, 82,545 said they weren't d

The South Korean police said Thursday that a man, who had been signaling to other drivers to go around his car after it broke down in a tunnel, was run over and killed by another driver who was temporarily distracted and did not see him. Officials are investigating a 20-something-year-old man for causing the accident at 4 a.m. on Wednesday, which fatally injured a man in his 40s, whose car had broken down. The younger man told investigators that he had been occupied with his smartphone's

South Korea's food delivery industry continued to grow this year, with the most prominent increase seen in fast-food delivery services, according to a Thursday report by a local data analysis firm. The value of food delivery services came to 7.87 trillion won ($5.9 billion) in the first half of the year, according to Finda, marking a 6.55 percent increase compared to the same period last year. Fast-food delivery in particular saw a rise of 22.72 percent to come in at 1.72 trillion won for t

The Seoul High Court said recently it upheld a six-year prison term for a 67-year-old North Korean defector for the attempted murder of another defector over a faulty investment opportunity. A defendant was found guilty of attempted murder, after he stabbed the 70-year-old victim nine times and assaulted him with his fist at 11:40 p.m. on Nov. 14. The court turned down his claim of not intending to murder the victim, pointing out that he called the police after the crime and said he had "ju

A man whose conviction for making deepfake pornography of an acquaintance was overturned is now seeking state compensation for his legal fees, local media outlets reported Wednesday. The former university student surnamed Lee recently requested the Seoul High Court to compensate him for his losses from the conviction. Although he did actually make the images, he was cleared by the Supreme Court in April 2024, partly because the relevant legislation was not in place at the time of his actions. Le