The Korea Times

Seoul’s Ttareungyi public bike service under probe for data leak of 4.5 million users

City authorities in Seoul are investigating a massive data leak affecting millions of users of its public bicycle service Ttareungyi after reports surfaced that personal information may have been exposed online. The Seoul Facilities Corporation (SFC), a public entity that operates Ttareungyi, said Friday it was informed by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s cyber investigation unit about the suspected leak of the personal data of some 4.5 million users. Ttareungyi, a key part of Seoul’s green transportation network launched in 2015, had more than 5 million cumulative users as of the end of 2025. According to the SFC, the leaked data appears to include user IDs and mobile phone numbers. Officials said no evidence indicates that more sensitive personal information, such as names or resident registration numbers, was collected or leaked. Police are working to identify the scope of the breach and how it occurred. In response, the SFC reported the incident to the Personal Information Protection Commission and the Korea Internet & Security Agency. The SFC also launched an emergency res

Jan 30, 2026By Lee Hae-rin

Seoul’s Ttareungyi public bike service under probe for data leak of 4.5 million users

Law & Crime

Coupang CEO questioned over data breach case

Harold Rogers, interim CEO of Coupang, appeared before police on Friday for questioning over allegations that the e-commerce giant tampered with evidence related to its massive personal data leak. Rogers arrived at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency headquarters in central Seoul at about 2 p.m. and left shortly after 2:20 a.m. Saturday. He did not respond to reporters’ questions about whether he admitted to the allegations or planned to leave the country. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s special task force on the Coupang case summoned Rogers on suspicion of obstructing official duties and business operations related to the data breach that allegedly affected the personal information of more than 33 million customers. "Coupang has fully and will continue to fully cooperate with all of the government investigations that are now looking into us. We will also fully cooperate with the police investigation today," Rogers told reporters before entering the agency building. He did not answer any questions from reporters about the data breach. Rogers had defied two previous summonses e

Jan 30, 2026By Lee Hae-rin

Coupang CEO questioned over data breach case

Travel & Food

In Year of the Red Horse, experts tie Korea's tourism strategy to AI, sustainable travel

Korea’s tourism industry will be reshaped this year by a stronger focus on sustainability, wider use of artificial intelligence (AI) and more customized travel experiences, the Tourism Sciences Society of Korea (TOSOK) said Thursday, unveiling its first annual vision under the slogan “RED UNICORN,” to mark the Year of the Red Horse. At a New Year's press conference in Seoul, TOSOK President Seo Won-seok said 2026 marks “a great turning point when the entire industry ecosystem must be overhauled,” driven by simultaneous shifts in AI, sustainability standards, demographics and intensifying global competition. “The key task is not only to achieve the quantitative goal of 30 million inbound visitors, but to connect that achievement to qualitative growth in the structure and content of Korean tourism,” he said, stressing that visitor volume alone does not guarantee competitiveness. Seo said Korea must move beyond a model centered on short-term visits and their associated shopping and lodging to one that “refines the very content and methods of tourism” through convergence w

Jan 29, 2026By Lee Hae-rin

In Year of the Red Horse, experts tie Korea's tourism strategy to AI, sustainable travel

Others

China begins relocating some West Sea structures

China said Tuesday that it was relocating maritime structures it had installed in overlapping waters of the West Sea between China and Korea. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul welcomed the move as a “meaningful step forward.” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said in a press briefing that “a Chinese company is currently carrying out work related to moving a management platform.” Guo added that the move is “an arrangement autonomously adjusted by the company in line with its own operational and development needs.” China installed the Shenlan 1 and 2 structures in 2018 and 2024, respectively, in the Provisional Measures Zone of the West Sea, where the exclusive economic zones of Korea and China overlap. In 2022, it dispatched an oil drilling ship to manage these facilities. President Lee Jae Myung said on Jan. 7 that the Chinese side had expressed its intention to withdraw some facilities related to the West Sea structures, which have become a source of tension between Korea and China. His comments came two days after his summit with Chinese President Xi

Jan 27, 2026By Lee Hae-rin

China begins relocating some West Sea structures

Society

Korea must treat foreign elder care workers as skilled pros, not cheap labor, experts warn

As Korea continues down the path of a super-aged society and grapples with growing labor shortages in elder care, one migration policy expert is urging the government to move beyond short-term fixes and build a system like Japan’s — one that treats foreign caregivers as skilled professionals rather than low-wage, disposable workers. By 2028, Korea is projected to face a shortfall of roughly 116,000 elder care workers, according to government and industry data. With older adults already accounting for more than one-fifth of the population — 10.84 million people, or 21.2 percent as of 2025 — the country is firmly a super-aged society. “Even now, the situation is extremely serious,” Kim Dong-seon, a visiting professor in the department of tourism and wellness at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, told The Korea Times in a recent phone interview. She recalled visiting the state-run Seoul Nursing Home, operated by the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS), where the waiting list was several times the facility’s capacity, yet beds still sat empty. “They cannot fill all t

Jan 27, 2026By Lee Hae-rin

Korea must treat foreign elder care workers as skilled pros, not cheap labor, experts warn

Health

Koreans say money matters most for health, surpassing genes and habits: report

More Koreans now see money and social status as the strongest determinants of their health, overtaking previously dominant factors such as genetics and lifestyle habits, a new survey showed Sunday. According to the 2025 Health Perception Report released by the Korea Health Promotion Institute, 33.3 percent of respondents said income and social status most influenced their health. That figure exceeded all answers, including access to workout facilities and parks at 14.8 percent, genetic factors at 12.8 percent, and personal lifestyle or coping skills at 11.5 percent. The poll, conducted from Oct. 31 to Nov. 14 last year, surveyed 2,000 men and women aged 20 to 69 across the country. It marks a notable shift in Koreans' perceptions, as genetics had previously topped the list in 2023 and 2024. The perception that wealth matters most for health was consistent across generations. The portion of respondents choosing income and social status as the top factor was highest among those in their 40s and 50s at 36.4 percent, followed by seniors in their 60s at 32.6 percent and those in their 20s an

Jan 25, 2026By Lee Hae-rin

Koreans say money matters most for health, surpassing genes and habits: report

Society

Why Koreans hold celebrities to sky-high moral standards

Korea’s harsh moral expectations for public figures have once again come under scrutiny, as star chef Im Seong-keun saw his hard-won fame evaporate almost overnight following revelations of past drunk-driving offenses. Sociologists say this goes beyond cancel culture, reflecting how Korean society views celebrities as moral proxies, emotional surrogates and symbols of justice in an unequal society. Im shot to national fame on Netflix’s “Culinary Class Wars" Season 2, where viewers praised his skill, humor and easy rapport with younger chefs. His simple, affordable recipes went viral on YouTube, and by early January his inbox was overflowing with collaboration requests and commercial offers from major broadcasters and brands. The momentum collapsed on Sunday, when he posted a YouTube video confessing to multiple drunk driving offenses over roughly a decade, saying he had "made mistakes because of my love for alcohol" and had even had his license revoked. Subsequent reporting revealed at least four DUI cases, including one involving riding a motorcycle while intoxicated and without

Jan 22, 2026By Lee Hae-rin

Why Koreans hold celebrities to sky-high moral standards

Travel & Food

Inside world’s esports capital: Seoul’s PC bangs and pro gaming scene

Outside Jonggak Station in central Seoul on a chilly Saturday evening, the air carried a hum of anticipation as an escalator climbing toward the third floor of a downtown office complex funneled hundreds of fans toward a single glowing destination: LoL Park, the home of Korea’s League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) and the beating heart of Seoul’s esports scene. An hour before the big match between KT Rolster and Gen.G began, the concourse felt like a high-stakes cross between a football derby and a movie premiere. Fans in team-branded beanies lined up for BBQ chicken and beer, while others posed for photos under towering character statues. While only 450 fans can fit inside the arena, hundreds of thousands more tune in online — on platforms such as SOOP, Chzzk and YouTube — turning what is billed as a regional Saturday match into a globally watched event. Gamer's pilgrimage Inside LCK Arena — a modern colosseum where seats wrap 360 degrees around an open stage — the intimacy is staggering. Players sit barely 5 meters from the front row, close enough for fans to witness the

Jan 22, 2026By Lee Hae-rin

Inside world’s esports capital: Seoul’s PC bangs and pro gaming scene

Health

Korean researchers identify brain differences linked to suicide risk

A Korean research team has identified distinct differences in brain networks among people with depression who have attempted to take their own lives, suggesting that altered neural wiring, not simply more severe symptoms, may increase the risk of suicidal behavior. Researchers at Korea University Anam Hospital said on Wednesday that patients with depression who had attempted suicide showed weaker connectivity between the brain’s visual cortex, which processes what people see, and the frontal lobe, which governs judgment and emotion. The findings were based on a study of 123 patients diagnosed with depression, compared to 81 participants in a control group, the team said. The team, led by psychiatry professors Han Kyu-man and Ham Byung-joo, analyzed brain activity using MRI scans taken while patients were at rest, along with clinical data and standard questionnaires on childhood trauma. The researchers focused on how different regions of the brain communicate with one another when a person is not performing any specific task, a method often used to detect underlying network difference

Jan 22, 2026By Lee Hae-rin

Korean researchers identify brain differences linked to suicide risk

Society

Korea moves to extend labor protections to 8.6 mil. freelancers, platform workers

Freelancers, platform workers and others long excluded from labor protections will gain new rights under sweeping changes expected to be passed by May 1. The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced a legislative package Tuesday that introduces a “presumption of worker status” and enacting a new Basic Rights of Working People Act, aiming to close legal loopholes that have left at least 5.7 million, and possibly up to 8.6 million people, without basic labor rights. Under the proposed system, anyone who provides labor for another person’s business will be presumed a worker in civil disputes. The burden of proof will shift from workers to employers, who must prove that a claimant is not an employee. The change is expected to make it easier for contract and gig workers, including delivery riders and subcontracted professionals, to claim unpaid wages, severance or minimum wage protections. Once enacted, the system will reverse the current structure that forces workers to prove their own status as employees, a hurdle that has disadvantaged freelancers and special employment workers. I

Jan 20, 2026By Lee Hae-rin

Lee Hae-rin

Read more

Seoul’s Ttareungyi public bike service under probe for data leak of 4.5 million users

Coupang CEO questioned over data breach case

In Year of the Red Horse, experts tie Korea's tourism strategy to AI, sustainable travel

China begins relocating some West Sea structures

Korea must treat foreign elder care workers as skilled pros, not cheap labor, experts warn

Koreans say money matters most for health, surpassing genes and habits: report

Why Koreans hold celebrities to sky-high moral standards

Inside world’s esports capital: Seoul’s PC bangs and pro gaming scene

Korean researchers identify brain differences linked to suicide risk

Korea moves to extend labor protections to 8.6 mil. freelancers, platform workers

Top 5 stories