Police in Incheon are searching for a man for possible child endangerment, following reports of an individual riding a motorcycle with a child without any protective equipment. Incheon Gyeyang Police Station received a report at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday of a motorcyclist holding a child using only one hand at the Gyeyang-gu three-way intersection, according to local media reports. The child was reportedly not in a baby carrier. South Korea's Road Traffic Act states that all drivers with motor vehi

Social Affairs Oct. 18, 2023

The number of cyclist deaths in cycling accidents came to 91 last year, rising by 30 percent from a year prior, Ministry of the Interior and Safety data showed Sunday. The number of deaths from such accidents in 2021 amounted to 70. With the increase, the proportion of overall traffic accident deaths accounted for by such cases rose to 3.3 percent, up from 2021's 2.4 percent. Of the 91 cyclist deaths, 40 were from solo accidents while 49 were in collisions between cyclists. Two cyclists die

Social Affairs Oct. 16, 2023

A man was arrested without a warrant on charges of using methamphetamine after he had called the police asking for help for his ankle, Thursday. According to Seongnam Sujeong Police Station in Gyeonggi Province, the suspect, a man in his 40s, was taken into custody after allegedly violating the Narcotics Control Act by using the prohibited narcotic. The police reported receiving an emergency 112 call from the man at 12:40 a.m. on Thursday. He said he had jumped from a high place and requested me

Social Affairs Oct. 5, 2023

A man in his 30s has been taken into police custody for wielding a weapon against middle school students in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province. According to Pohang Nambu Police Station on Thursday, the suspect faces charges of special intimidation -- intimidation with a lethal weapon -- which is punishable by imprisonment of up to seven years. The incident occurred at a convenience store around 2 p.m. on Sept. 24, when three middle school students spoke to the suspect outside the shop mistaking h

Social Affairs Oct. 5, 2023

A man in his 20s was apprehended by police for allegedly killing his father in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. According to the Seongnam Jungwon Police Station, the suspect is being held on suspicion of murder after he reportedly killed his father at their family home in Jungwon-gu, Seongnam. The suspect is reported to have stabbed his father several times after his father told him to stop watching YouTube videos. The suspect then fled the scene while his mother called the police. The su

Social Affairs Oct. 4, 2023

Chuseok is a time for enjoying many different traditional foods in Korea. Among them, one of the must-have sweet treats is songpyeon. Songpyeon is a Korean traditional rice cake, or tteok, with filling that varies from region to region. Vibrant five-colored songpyeon of Seoul Seoul-style songpyeon are colorful and small, while most of the images of songpyeon that people know well are osaek songpyeon. Osaek, or five-colored, songpyeon is traditionally dyed with natural colorants including omija,

Food Sept. 29, 2023

A man in his 40s has been sentenced to prison for producing child pornography using an artificial intelligence image generator for the first time in Korea, local media reported Monday. According to reports, the man was sentenced to 2 1/2 years on charges of violating the Act on the Protection of Children and Youth. The accused created a total of 360 sexually explicit images on an image-generating AI program installed on a laptop in April with commands including "10 years old," "nu

Social Affairs Sept. 25, 2023

A woman in her 20s has been arrested on charges of attempted murder, after she allegedly attacked with a knife an acquaintance who blocked her online. According to Seoul Dongdaemun Police Station, the 24-year-old suspect allegedly stabbed the 27-year-old victim on Friday. The victim sustained injuries to her back and hands, and the suspect was apprehended later the same day. The attack is said to have been motivated by the victim having blocked the suspect on social media after the two had a fal

Social Affairs Sept. 11, 2023

A man in his 40s has been detained for using an electric shocker on a woman in her 50s. Yangsan Police Station in South Gyeongsang Province said Thursday they have requested an arrest warrant for the suspect on the charge of special violence. Special violence under local laws is punishable by imprisonment of between one to 10 years, and can be applied in cases such as assault using a potentially lethal weapon, and assault carried out by a group. The man also violated the act on the safety manage

Social Affairs Sept. 7, 2023

Discovery of a veterinary drug in ham that was served as part of a public high school meal has ignited a government probe on Wednesday. According to local news reports, the foreign substance -- later confirmed as Aluspray, a veterinary spray used to stop bleeding in livestock and not meant for human ingestion -- was discovered in ham at a high school in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province. According to the school, the substance was found by the school’s nutritionist. The ham was produced by a well

Social Affairs Sept. 7, 2023

The police officer who fell to death in August during an alleged drug-taking gathering may have at times supplied drugs to the group, local media reported Tuesday. The officer in his 30s was found dead in an apartment complex at around 5 a.m. on Aug. 27. An autopsy showed that he had fallen to his death. According to local media reports, the officer -- affiliated with the Gangwon Provincial Police Agency -- purchased drugs directly from his mobile phone. It was found that he had searched for ket

Social Affairs Sept. 5, 2023

One in four nurses suffered physical or verbal violence from doctors in the last six months, a study showed Tuesday. The research team, led by Park Eun-jun, a nursing professor at Korea National Open University, recently published a paper on the theme of nurses’ experience of violence at work in the journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education. In the study, 71.1 percent of the 1,000 nurses who voluntarily participated in the study at 40 hospitals nationwide from Nov. 14 to Dec.

Social Affairs Sept. 5, 2023

The authorities are searching for a man apparently swept away by the current in a fatal swimming accident in which another man drowned in North Chungcheong Province. According to the police and fire authorities, two men of Thai nationality in their 30s seem to have been swept away by the current in Cheongmicheon Stream, Jucheon-ri, Gamgok-myeon, Eumseong-gun, North Chungcheong Province on Sunday at approximately 3:44 p.m. Police and fire authorities were dispatched to the scene after receiving a

Social Affairs Sept. 4, 2023

The death of a man in Osan, Gyeonggi Province, has sparked a row over police response, with the man having been killed after being brought under police custody. According to reports, the deceased, a man in his 20s, was killed after he was run over by a bus while lying on the road in the early hours of Aug. 13. According to Osan Police Station in Gyeonggi Province on Monday, officers were dispatched to a restaurant in response to a report by the restaurant owner at 1:59 a.m. on Aug. 13. When two

Social Affairs Sept. 4, 2023

As K-pop’s global reach continues to expand, so has attention on K-pop fan culture. It's common for fans around the world to devote their time and resources to their favorite celebrities, but Korean fans’ expression of their love stands out for the way in which it is more organized and systematic, and often based around communities. “On the way home” One fan phenomenon is named after the Korean expression that literally means “the way home after work,” a

K-pop Aug. 30, 2023