An umbrella group of local polling companies on Wednesday recommended the government to ban the use of automated response systems in polling for major elections. In a press release, the Korea Research Association said the National Election Commission should no longer use the ARS in opinion polls, saying the system is no longer a scientific method of polling. "There recently have been controversies related to allegations about the opinion polls (of elections) supposedly being rigged, and the

Social Affairs Nov. 27, 2024

Over half of South Koreans think it is better for couples to live together before getting married, but men and women have differing opinions about living together without agreeing to get married eventually. Local dating app Noondate conducted the survey of 15,000 unmarried adults across the country, showing that 57 percent of male respondents and 52 percent of female respondents said it is better for couples to live together if they have agreed to get married. But when asked about living togethe

Social Affairs Nov. 27, 2024

A 44-year-old man, who had asked soccer superstar Son Heung-min's father Son Woong-jung for a settlement related to the elder Son's child abuse accusation, recently received a suspended jail term for false accusation and stalking in a separate case. The appellate division of the Incheon District Court on Nov. 15 upheld an earlier court ruling that sentenced the defendant, surnamed Kim, to 18 months in prison, suspended for three years, for stalking and false accusation against multip

Social Affairs Nov. 26, 2024

Singer Psy recently had his luxury home in Seoul temporarily seized by authorities after he failed to pay an administrative penalty imposed by the district office, local media outlets reported Monday. According to a report by Biz Hankook, the 46-year-old's home located in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, was recently reported to the district office for an illegal modification. The home is a unit in a luxury apartment complex in the affluent Hannam-dong district, in which the star's family has live

Social Affairs Nov. 26, 2024

The traditional calligraphy of the Korean alphabet Hangeul will be designated as part of the country's National Intangible Cultural Heritage, the Korea Heritage Service said Tuesday. The state-run agency announced the plan to include "Hangeul Calligraphy (Hangeul Seoye)" in the new list of intangible cultural heritage, following a 30-day period in which it will receive opinions from experts in related fields, and a deliberation by the Intangible Heritage Committee. Hangeul Calligr

Culture Nov. 26, 2024

South Korean firefighters managed to install an air mattress just in time to help a young man who jumped from the roof of an 18-story building, rescue authorities in South Chungcheong Province said Tuesday. Officials at the Nonsan Fire Station received a report at around 2 p.m. Sunday that a man was attempting to jump from an apartment building. Firefighters arrived to find the man in his 20s sitting on the building's roof. One of the rescue workers approached the man to persuade him not

Social Affairs Nov. 26, 2024

A person who submitted an edited a voice recording to win a civil lawsuit was found guilty of attempted fraud, a local court said Sunday. Chuncheon District Court sentenced the 41-year-old defendant to a 10 million won ($7,100) fine for attempted fraud. The defendant, who was involved in a legal feud with another person over a bar they had jointly operated, claimed that the partner had promised to pay 50 million won as a form of reimbursement for investing in the bar. A voice recording of the tw

Social Affairs Nov. 24, 2024

A local court ruled against a Daegu hospital that challenged government's decision to withdraw funding after the institution's refused to admit a teenage emergency patient, leading to her death. Th Health Ministry decided not to provide government subsidies to four universities, including the Daegu Catholic University Medical Center (DCMC), for six months in response to their actions concerning a 17-year-old emergency patient in March. The girl sustained a serious injury after fallin

Social Affairs Nov. 24, 2024

A 26-year-old man was found guilty of evading national service after he was found to have deliberately gained weight to avoid serving in the military. Seoul Eastern Dongbu District Court recently sentenced the defendant to one year in prison, suspended for two years, for violating the Military Service Act. The act stipulates that those who evade their mandatary military service without justifiable cause can be punished by up to three years in prison. The defendant deliberately gained weight by

Social Affairs Nov. 24, 2024

The number of newly hired workers in their teens and 20s marked the lowest figure since an official tally has been kept since 2018, a government data showed Sunday. A total of 1.45 million new hires among people under the age of 30 occurred in the second quarter of this year, down 8.6 percent from 1.59 million in the same quarter in last year, according to the Korean Statistical Information Service data by the Statistics Korea. The number of existing jobs held by the same worker for Q2 marked

Economy Nov. 24, 2024

There have been 80,368 calls made with possibly malicious intent to the 120 Dasan Seoul Call Center from 2020 to October this year, the state-run foundation for the city's official information service said during a conference on Wednesday. The 120 Dasan Call Foundation hosted a seminar on the emotional labor of call center workers at the Seoul City Hall, during which it revealed the statistics related to problematic complaints or calls made to the call center. It defined malicious petitio

Social Affairs Nov. 23, 2024

A local online forum platform that been embroiled in series of crimes involving minors, has imposed a ban on underage users from writing in a forum about depression. DC Inside said Wednesday that underage users have been restricted from writing posts or replies on its "Depression Gallery," as part of the protection policy focused on minors recommended by the Korea Communications Commission. Investigative authorities and operators of the website will monitor the posts and replies on the

Social Affairs Nov. 21, 2024

A 56-year-old YouTuber who killed another YouTuber was sentenced to a lifetime in prison on Wednesday, after which he shouted "thank you" for unexplained reasons. Busan District Court found the defendant surnamed Hong guilty of retaliatory murder, rejecting his claims that he had never intended to kill the victim. The court pointed out that it was a planned crime, and that the defendant stabbed the victim 12 times to inflict critical wounds. South Korea's Criminal Act stipulates

Social Affairs Nov. 21, 2024

South Korean police said Thursday a recently born girl was found inside the bathroom of an underground shopping district, and that the mother is under investigation for abandoning the baby. The child was found inside a bag placed in the bathroom of the shopping district in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, at around 5 p.m. Wednesday. The child was in good health, and still had the umbilical cord attached. The child was taken to a nearby hospital for medical care. Police used surveillance footage to

Social Affairs Nov. 21, 2024

South Korean police said Wednesday they are pursuing criminal charges against 715 individuals related to a nationwide illegal gambling operation, which is thought to have brought in around 100 billion won ($72 million) in revenue. Busan Metropolitan Police Agency arrested seven individuals suspected of running a poker-themed bar franchise with 15 local branches across the country that conducted an illegal gambling operation from March 2021 to April this year. The others are being investigated wi

Social Affairs Nov. 20, 2024