A food delivery rider, who had risen to internet stardom as the highest-earning delivery driver in the nation, died Sunday night, a month after he was struck by a bus while riding his motorcycle. According to the Incheon Yeonsu Police Station on Tuesday, the fatal accident took place at 2:30 p.m. in Yeonsu-go, Incheon, July 31, when an intra-city bus collided with the delivery worker in his 40s at a crossroad. Investigations revealed that the bus driver had violated a traffic signal, striking th

Social Affairs Aug. 27, 2024

In Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, $1,500 in US dollar banknotes were accidentally dumped in the trash. Thanks to impressive civil services and a stroke of luck, the cash was retrieved and returned to its owner, according to Andong City Government on Monday. It all started with an urgent call to Andong City Hall at around 1 p.m. Friday. The call was from a citizen who reported accidentally discarding the US dollar bills, meant for upcoming overseas travel, with their trash. Upon realizing the

Social Affairs Aug. 26, 2024

A labor union of bus drivers in Gyeonggi Province, responsible for the operation of over 90 percent of all bus routes in the province, plans a general strike early next month, sparking concerns about disruptions in the public transit system. The walkout plan was approved in a vote Thursday, with 98.3 percent of the 12,613 participants voting in favor. The union, under the Korean Automobile and Transport Workers’ Federation, represents 16,592 members across 45 bus companies in 31 cities i

Social Affairs Aug. 23, 2024

The death of a woman found in the back of a police vehicle in Hadong, South Gyeongsang Province, on Saturday was likely due to heatstroke from being in the hot car for up to 36 hours, police said Tuesday. The Hadong Police Station unveiled initial autopsy results from the National Forensic Service that suggested a high likelihood that the woman’s death was related to hyperthermia -- a life-threatening condition caused by an excessively high body temperature. The woman in her 40s was foun

Social Affairs Aug. 20, 2024

A woman reported missing by her family was found dead in the back of a police vehicle in Hadong, South Gyeongsang Province, Saturday. In an unexpected turn of events, local police revealed Sunday that she appeared to have entered the empty, parked car for unknown reasons and was unable to get out for 36 hours amid blistering heat, leading to her death. The backseat doors of police vehicles cannot be opened from the inside, a feature designed to prevent suspects from escaping. The front seats a

Social Affairs Aug. 18, 2024

Iraq was the destination for nearly 70 percent of South Korea's tear gas exports in the first half of this year, making it the largest buyer by volume, police data showed Sunday. Data from the Korean National Police Agency, obtained and provided by the minor Basic Income Party's Rep. Yong Hye-in, shows that Iraq imported 478,000 of the 713,000 tear gas canisters exported by South Korea in the first half of this year, accounting for 67 percent of the total. The data, available from 2019

Social Affairs Aug. 18, 2024

How might AI alter filmmaking? Young South Korean filmmaker Kwon Han-sl has shown the impact could be massive. The 31-year-old spent five days last summer working with over six AI tools to create a three-minute horror film. It was a personal experiment in which he handled every aspect himself, from writing the screenplay to using AI tools and producing the entire film. But the result ended up better than he thought. “One More Pumpkin” garnered international acclaim, winning both th

Hashtag Korea Aug. 17, 2024

A common sight in South Korea on sunny days used to be of older women holding frilly parasols. But in the past few years, the deadly summers associated with climate change have made parasols no longer the choice of just a single demographic. In fact, more Koreans of all ages and genders are spotted using regular umbrellas on sunny days this summer, which experts say makes perfect sense, as the current heat wave has already claimed 24 lives here. Not only do people resort to ordinary umbrella

Hashtag Korea Aug. 15, 2024

A Seoul bus driver is under investigation after a passenger was killed when the vehicle sped off before they had fully disembarked, police said Wednesday. The Seoul Yeongdeungpo Police Station have filed a case against the driver for professional negligence resulting in death for the fatal accident that occurred in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, Monday. The victim, in her 80s, fell to the ground while disembarking when the vehicle began to move. She got caught in the rear wheel and was later pronounc

Social Affairs Aug. 14, 2024

Kimchi jjigae or doenjang jjigae? South Korea's media has long pitted the two against each other, though the choice has always been more or less a toss-up for Koreans. But while the two stews remain daily favorites, recent years have seen the scales tip towards one in particular. That is, these two representatives of Korea's jjigae repertoire no longer enjoy equal popularity, which in part mirrors broader shifts in taste and culinary trends in Korean society. Kimchi jjigae as today

Hashtag Korea Aug. 13, 2024

Over 200,000 international students came to South Korea for studies in the first six months of this year, setting a new half-year record, data showed Monday. According to the Korea Tourism Organization, 204,000 foreign students entered South Korea for studies from January through June, a 50.6 percent increase from the same period last year. This is the first time that the half-yearly number of student arrivals has exceeded 200,000, though the total number of students at universities here has

Social Affairs Aug. 12, 2024

Sniffer dogs are typically tasked with detecting narcotics and explosives, but in South Korea, their roles have expanded to include finding bed bugs and submerged human remains. This week, two dogs made their debut in these new tasks: Ceco, who is trained to detect bed bugs, and Alpha, who locates human remains in water. Commissioned as South Korea’s first bed bug detection dog on Wednesday, Ceco is a beagle owned by local pest control company Cesco. Ceco showcased its exceptional olfactor

Social Affairs Aug. 9, 2024

The number of insomnia patients in South Korea continued its upward trend, nearing 800,000 last year, recent health data showed Thursday. According to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, 782,381 patients visited hospitals for insomnia treatment last year, a 3.4 percent increase from the previous year’s figure of 756,635. Over the past decade, the number of insomnia patients has surged over 70 percent, rising from 448,000 recorded cases in 2013. The number of sleep-deprived

Social Affairs Aug. 8, 2024

Last year, Kang Heon-koo, 63, undertook an intriguing personal project: reconstructing a map of his family's now-defunct old village using the memories of his 93-year-old mother. The goal of the map-making was twofold: to visually preserve his mother’s memories before they fade and to keep himself engaged in a productive pursuit during retirement. With his old Samsung Galaxy smartphone, he recorded the process of piecing together the lost landscape of a small village in Bucheon, Gye

Film Aug. 7, 2024

Jeju Island, a beloved tourist spot, is home to Jejueo, a language on the brink of extinction despite the island's popularity. To preserve the language and promote its learning among young generations, the Jeju Dialect Institute launched an online dictionary on Tuesday, which contains over 20,000 word definitions. It also features a collection of Jeju dialect content spanning from literature to songs and videos. The digital source, built upon the institute-made dialect dictionary released

Social Affairs Aug. 7, 2024