Fire erupts at POSCO Pohang plant; 1 worker injured

A fire broke at a Posco factory in the southeastern city of Pohang early Sunday, leaving one worker injured, fire authorities said. The fire started with multiple explosions at the steel company's third Finex furnace of the plant, located about 270 kilometers southeast of Seoul, at around 4:20 a.m. The blaze was initially contained by around 6:30 a.m. and completely extinguished at around 9:20 a.m. Witnesses reported hearing explosions that felt like an earthquake, and some said they felt the gr

Nov. 10, 2024

Drug use rises, but 13 addiction clinics treated no one last year: report

The number of estimated drug users in South Korea has surged to over 400,000 this year, but several of the state-designated hospitals for drug addiction treatment have not treated a single patient this year. According to local DongA Ilbo newspaper, a Ministry of Health and Welfare report estimated that 400,530 people in South Korea are thought to have used illegal drugs this year. This figure is derived from the ministry's formula of multiplying by 30 the actual number of those investigated

Nov. 9, 2024

Police bust illegal casino in Gangnam office space

Police have cracked down on an illegal gambling house disguised as a regular business office in Gangnam, southern Seoul, which reportedly wagered hundreds of billions of won in bets. Seoul Metropolitan Police’s International Crime Investigation Unit said Thursday that it has apprehended the 54-year-old ringleader, who allegedly ran gambling establishments across the Nonhyeon, Sinsa and Yeoksam neighborhoods from June 2023 to August 2024. The man has been charged with violating the Tourism

Nov. 9, 2024

Sunken fishing boat's location confirmed; fishing net hinders search

South Korean officials have confirmed the location of the sunken fishing boat off the coast of Jeju Island, but a tangled fishing net is making the search for the vessel difficult, Jeju Coast Guard said Friday. Officials from the Coast Guard held a briefing at 2 p.m. on the search and rescue operations for the crew of the 129-ton Geumseong which sank early Friday morning, leaving two of the 27 crew dead and 12 unaccounted for. Sixteen of the crew were Korean and 11 were of foreign nationality. U

Nov. 8, 2024

Top court upholds 8-year sentence for mother who killed newborns, stored bodies in freezer

South Korea’s Supreme Court has upheld an eight-year prison term for a woman who killed her two newborn babies and hid their bodies in her refrigerator. The top court confirmed a lower court’s verdict that sentenced the mother, in her 30s, on charges of murder and concealing of a corpse on Oct. 8, according to media reports Friday. She was convicted of strangling a daughter and a son to death shortly after their birth in November 2018 and November 2019, respectively. Prosecutors said

Nov. 8, 2024

Murder charge sought over death of mentally disabled student who was pushed into sea

South Korean prosecutors on Thursday requested an appellate court to hand a 25-year prison term to a 20-year-old over the death of a mentally disabled 18-year-old, who died after the accused pushed him into the sea for losing a game. Prosecutors want the defendant convicted of murder, after a lower court found him guilty only of a lesser offence. He pushed the victim into the sea in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, on Feb.1. The defendant lured the victim to the port by suggesting to go fishing,

Nov. 8, 2024

Police nab 20 suspects connected to ‘international sender’ phishing texts

Seoul police have uncovered six companies accused of mass-sending phishing messages beginning with “international sender” under the direction of criminal organizations, authorities said Thursday. After investigating the six firms from May to October this year, police sent 20 individuals -- among them a key operator named Kim, his employees and system developers – to the prosecution on charges of violating the Telecommunications Business Act and the Information and Communicati

Nov. 8, 2024

Woman jailed for hiding her baby's body for 4 years

A woman accused of causing her newborn's death and then hiding the baby's body was sentenced to a four-year prison term by a local court, officials said Thursday. Daejeon District Court on Oct. 26 found the defendant guilty of violating Article 4 of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes, death resulting from child abuse. The defendant in her 30s was held responsible for the death of her child, who died a week after being born in September 2019. The de

Nov. 8, 2024

2 dead, 12 missing after fishing boat sinks near Jeju Island

A fishing boat carrying 27 people sank off the coast of Jeju Island on Friday, leaving two dead and 12 missing as authorities set up an emergency task force for rescue operations. As of Friday morning, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province is commanding rescue operations at the emergency headquarters in Jeju City. Dozens of vessels and multiple aircraft from the Coast Guard, Navy, Air Force and the civilian sector are conducting search and rescue operations in the waters off Biyangdo Island. Pr

Nov. 8, 2024

Tourist doing yoga in front of Gyeongbokgung stirs debate

Photos of a woman practicing yoga in green leggings in front of Gyeongbokgung in Seoul have stirred up debate online. The incident occurred when a woman, 37, from Hanoi, Vietnam shared photos on TikTok showing herself doing a yoga handstand pose in front of the stone wall surrounding Gyeongbokgung, the main royal palace of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), during a visit to Seoul, Sunday. The photos went viral on social media, drawing criticism for being "rude," "disgraceful" a

Nov. 8, 2024

13 dentists caught smuggling uncertified dental equipment via AliExpress

South Korea’s customs agency said Wednesday it has caught 13 dentists smuggling uncertified dental equipment into the country by purchasing it on Chinese e-commerce platform AliExpress. The dentists are accused of importing 11,349 pieces of equipment, worth approximately 140 million won ($100,000), that were allegedly used on patients, according to the Korea Customs Service at Seoul Regional Customs. The seized items included tools such as dental handpieces and burs for cavity treatment an

Nov. 7, 2024

By tree color, Busan still holds on to summer

While the country faces chilly weather on Thursday with the onset of winter based on the lunar calendar, Busan has yet to burst into autumn gold and amber, leaving foliage spots still verdant, the state weather agency said. According to the Busan branch of the Korea Meteorological Administration, as of Wednesday, South Korea's second-largest city has not officially begun its autumn foliage season, nearly a week behind the city’s average, with ginkgo trees typically changing color by

Nov. 7, 2024

City of Suwon searches for aggressive deer

The city of Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, has started the search for an unknown number of deer that have appeared on trails and attacked local parkgoers. In a joint operation among the city government, Suwon Fire Station and Suwon Jungbu Police Station, officials are scouring Gwanggyo Lake Park and Gwanggyosan to capture the deer that have attacked people at least twice and were seen several times in some neighborhoods in northern Suwon. According to reports, a deer was spotted in Yeonmu-dong early

Nov. 7, 2024

Koreans still do not prefer Trump as US president: survey

As Donald Trump gets ready to kick off a second nonconsecutive term as the president of the United States, a survey shows that the majority of South Koreans do not prefer him as the leader of the country's most important ally. Local pollster Gongjung conducted a Nov. 4-5 survey of 1,000 adults, commissioned by media outlet Dailian, which showed that 76.8 percent of respondents here thought that a Kamala Harris win in the US presidential election would have been most beneficial for South Kor

Nov. 7, 2024

Son kills abusive father, then tries to kill himself, his mother

A man in his 30s was arrested for murder of his father, who is thought to have inflicted repeated physical abuse on the son and his wife for years. Seoul Seobu Police Station said Thursday that it has forwarded the case to the prosecutors. The suspect is accused of beating his father, who was in his 70s, to death with a blunt object at their home in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, on Oct.27. The suspect had gotten infuriated by his father, who cursed at his mother and demanded money to buy alcohol. The sus

Nov. 7, 2024

Rock climbing route names accused of being misogynistic

A popular natural rock climbing park in Wonju, Gangwon Province is being criticized for the names of three of its courses being misogynistic. The criticism came to light in a report in local weekly Women News on Monday. The report found names such as “Dolimbbang” which can be read as slang referring to “gang rape," “Hyeongsu,” an older brother's wife or "sister-in-law," and "Hyeongsu II." The names were found on a sign displayed in the

Nov. 6, 2024

Vulnerable residents of Gyeonggi Province finally get postal addresses

Gyeonggi Province has newly assigned addresses to a total of 27,297 low-income dwellings that previously did not have their own addresses, officials said Wednesday. These mostly small, often single-room units located in 3,980 buildings are home to some of Gyeonggi Province's most financially vulnerable residents. The lack of addresses has made it difficult for the occupants to access essential government services, including public benefits, and causes inconveniences such as lost or return

Nov. 6, 2024

South Korean man busted in Philippines for running illegal IPTV service

A South Korean man in his 50s has been arrested in the Philippines for allegedly running an illegal internet TV service that broadcast Korean content for a profit, police said Wednesday. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the National Police Agency coordinated with Interpol and the Philippine National Police to apprehend the suspect in August, who allegedly operated the illicit IPTV service for mostly Korean nationals in the Philippines. The suspect has been extradited to Korea. Pol

Nov. 6, 2024

Gangnam doctor under investigation for illegal propofol administration

Police have launched an investigation into a prominent doctor in Seoul’s Gangnam district for allegedly administering propofol and other controlled substances to patients without properly documenting it in charts. Seongdong Police Station said Tuesday it is investigating a man in his 50s on suspicion of violating multiple laws, including the Narcotics Control Act and the Medical Service Act. The doctor is accused of administering propofol and other narcotics to about 30 patients over hundr

Nov. 6, 2024

S. Korea to expand scope of deepfake sex crime undercover probes

In an effort to clamp down on the rapid spread of deepfake sex crimes here, investigative authorities will be able to go undercover to catch digital sex offenders in cases where victims are adults and enable online platforms to block sexually explicit content before review, the Korean government said Wednesday. Rolling out a comprehensive package of strengthened measures to handle AI-generated sexual abuse, the government announced plans to push for a revision to the Act on Special Cases Conce

Nov. 6, 2024