The Korea Times

4 in 10 Seoul women returning to work after career breaks face lower pay, longer job searches than men

Women in Seoul who return to work after career breaks for pregnancy, childbirth, or caregiving face a steep “motherhood penalty,” as they are more likely than men to start new jobs with lower pay and after a longer job search, a report showed Sunday. According to a report released by the Seoul Foundation of Women & Family, 42.5 percent of women who took a career break and later found a new job saw their wages fall compared with their previous positions. In contrast, only 25 percent of men in the same situation reported earning less. The analysis is based on a survey of 2,754 employed Seoul residents aged 19 to 64. The time it took to find employment was equally stark. Women spent an average of 48.4 months securing a new job after a care-related break, more than double the 20.4 months recorded for men. Researchers noted that these breaks result in long-term career interruptions for women, cementing gender gaps in both pay and job stability. A notable finding in the report is the perceived improvement in work-life balance. While 32.2 percent of women said their work-life balance improv

Jan 12, 2026By Lee Hae-rin

4 in 10 Seoul women returning to work after career breaks face lower pay, longer job searches than men

Environment & Animals

PHOTO Heavy snowfall in southwestern Korea

A resident walks through heavy snow in Muan, South Jeolla Province, Sunday, as a heavy snow advisory was issued in the region. Some regions in the southwestern parts of the country received more than 25 centimeters of snow since Saturday evening. A cold snap is forecast to continue in the coming days, with daytime highs expected to hover near or below freezing in central areas amid lingering clouds and light snowfall. Yonhap

Jan 11, 2026By Lee Hae-rin

[PHOTO] Heavy snowfall in southwestern Korea

Law & Crime

EXPLAINER Life or death? Possible sentences for Yoon Suk Yeol’s insurrection charge

As Korea awaits a landmark sentencing against former President Yoon Suk Yeol, expected within months, prosecutors find themselves legally constrained by the country’s narrow range of possible punishments. Yoon faces charges of insurrection over his Dec. 3, 2024, martial law declaration, making him the first president in Korea’s democratic history to be indicted on such counts for actions taken while in office. Under the Criminal Act’s strict provisions governing insurrection ringleaders, sentencing options are limited to three: death, life imprisonment with labor, or life imprisonment without labor. The special counsel investigating the case will seek one of the three during the final hearing slated for Tuesday. Although South Korea has not carried out an execution in more than a quarter-century, the unprecedented nature of the case — compounded by Yoon’s steadfast denial of responsibility — has reignited a national debate over whether the ultimate penalty should be considered, nearly 30 years after it was last sought against a former head of state. Prosecutors and lawyers cl

Jan 11, 2026By Lee Hae-rin

[EXPLAINER] Life or death? Possible sentences for Yoon Suk Yeol’s insurrection charge

Travel & Food

What new KTO chief's appointment means for K-tourism

A nearly two-year gap in leadership at the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) has been filled, with the appointment of a new figure whose experience lies more in global marketing boardrooms than in public service. On Jan. 1, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism named Park Sung-hyeuck, a former executive at advertising giant Cheil Worldwide, as the new president of the KTO, filling a post that had been vacant since January 2024, after his predecessor resigned to run for a National Assembly seat. The long-delayed appointment is more than a personnel change and marks a test of whether Korea can move beyond headline tourism figures toward a sustainable, strategy-driven approach. For years, the KTO has been described as the “command tower” of Korea’s tourism policy — the agency that translates government goals into on-the-ground campaigns, partnerships and products. Yet the captain’s seat on this ship has rarely been occupied by someone with firsthand experience in the tourism industry. Since 2000, not one of the agency’s chiefs has come from the tourism industry, and in its

Jan 8, 2026By Lee Hae-rin

What new KTO chief's appointment means for K-tourism

People & Events

Comedian’s hyperreal skit goes viral, stirring debate on misogyny in Korea

A hyperreal role-play skit by comedian Kang Yu-mi has gone viral on YouTube, touching off an emotional debate over pervasive gender bias and internalized misogynistic attitudes in Korean society. On Jan. 1, Kang uploaded a video titled “Middle-aged nammisae” to her YouTube channel, portraying a well-off, image-conscious mother obsessively devoted to her son and notably indulgent toward men. Nammisae is a derogatory Korean slang term, shortened from a phrase meaning someone “crazy about men.” Wearing luxury labels from head to toe, the character lavishes attention on male colleagues with mock concern — “Why are you dressed so lightly? You’ll catch a cold” — while harshly judging female co-workers as “fake innocents” and “girls who flirt with their eyes.” The character’s doting attitude toward her son and reproduction of patriarchal norms in the office have drawn criticism, with lines like “Girls are too emotional” and “If a girl hits you, hit her back” cited as normalizing gender stereotypes and trivializing male violence. Since her 2004 debut on a popu

Jan 8, 2026By Lee Hae-rin

Comedian’s hyperreal skit goes viral, stirring debate on misogyny in Korea

Society

As winters warm, Korea’s famed ice festivals face uncertain future

Korea’s best-known winter festivals are struggling to adapt to an increasingly unreliable cold season, with climate change unsettling the ice, snow and fishing conditions that once defined them. In North Gyeongsang Province, the city of Andong canceled the Amsan Ice Festival just 10 days before its scheduled opening on Jan. 17, after ice at the riverside venue failed to reach the minimum 25 centimeters required for safe sledding, skating and ice fishing. The festival, which typically draws about 300,000 visitors, was called off for the second time in three years because of poor ice conditions. Festivals in Gangwon Province have been dealing with similar setbacks. Inje County scrapped its signature smelt ice fishing festival on the Soyang River for a third consecutive year, after an unusually rainy autumn raised dam reservoir levels and repeated warm spells prevented the ice from forming properly, with flooding in parts of the planned venue. Nearby Pyeongchang postponed the opening of its trout festival from Jan. 1 to Jan. 9 and shortened its planned 40-day run by about 10 days after ic

Jan 7, 2026By Lee Hae-rin

As winters warm, Korea’s famed ice festivals face uncertain future

Society

Seoul’s landmark soup kitchen faces threat as neighborhood gentrifies

A yearslong legal battle over Babfor, Seoul’s most storied soup kitchen, has ignited a debate over the rising pressures of urban redevelopment and the fraying of Korea’s social safety net. Last month, a court blocked the Dongdaemun District Office’s attempt to demolish the site, handing a temporary reprieve to a Christian charity that has served as a lifeline for some of the city's most impoverished residents since 1988. The conflict comes as Korea grapples with the highest elderly poverty rate in the developed world, with nearly 40 percent of those over 65 living in relative poverty. Against a backdrop of low public social spending, Babfor — Korean for "sharing rice" — remains a critical stopgap, feeding up to 1,000 people daily. Yet as the neighborhood gentrifies, the charity’s future remains precarious, reflecting a broader tension between Seoul’s drive for modernization and its obligation to its most vulnerable citizens. The friction has intensified as Cheongnyangni, a neighborhood in northeastern Seoul, sheds its reputation from a gritty transit hub to luxury high-rise

Jan 7, 2026By Lee Hae-rin

Seoul’s landmark soup kitchen faces threat as neighborhood gentrifies

Travel & Food

Everland opens sledding slopes as winter break begins

Everland has opened its signature Snow Buster sledding hill and expanded its winter attractions as schools enter winter vacation and the new year begins, the theme park’s operator said on Tuesday. Samsung C&T said all Snow Buster courses at Alpine Village are now running, following the weekend launch of the Express course, a roughly 200-meter run designed to resemble a white alpine slope. The Express Course seats up to four riders in a giant circular tube, allowing groups to face each other while experiencing a thrilling ride. The Racing Course, which opened last month, offers solo riders a faster downhill run that highlights the speed and excitement of winter racing, the company said. A rail slide next to the sledding area, available year-round, gives visitors another way to race down three different sledding tracks. Everland has also expanded its Snow Playground to some 793 square meters, adding body slides and wooden sleds for visitors of all ages to play freely in the snow. Its Snow Yard area caters to families with young children where they can build snowmen and ride mini sleds t

Jan 6, 2026By Lee Hae-rin

Everland opens sledding slopes as winter break begins

Travel & Food

Beyond Seoul, Busan and Jeju, can Korea turn tourism surge into lasting growth?

Beyond Seoul, Busan and Jeju, Korea’s regional cities are emerging as the next hot spots for overseas visitors, buoyed by a global shift toward slower, experience-driven travel that looks beyond marquee destinations. For years, most foreign visitors to Korea have gravitated toward a familiar trio: the shopping streets and royal palaces of Seoul, the beaches and nightlife of Busan and the volcanic landscapes of Jeju Island. Now, with inbound tourism expected to reach record highs, that pattern is beginning to shift. What sets this recovery apart from earlier booms is not just the number of visitors, but how — and where — they travel and spend. Industry tracker Yanolja Research projects that 20.36 million foreign tourists will visit Korea this year, up 8.7 percent from a year earlier and surpassing the pre-pandemic peak, with the figure possibly climbing to 21 million if geopolitical tensions redirect more Chinese travelers from Japan to Korea. Data from travel platform Klook indicates that the number of products targeting foreign tourists in provincial regions has doubled from a yea

Jan 6, 2026By Lee Hae-rin

Beyond Seoul, Busan and Jeju, can Korea turn tourism surge into lasting growth?

Travel & Food

Seoul Lantern Festival extended after drawing record 2.7 mil. visitors

The 2025 Seoul Lantern Festival, which has drawn a record 2.77 million visitors in its first 20 days, will be extended by two weeks through Jan. 18 along central Seoul’s Cheonggye and Ui streams, according to the Seoul Tourism Organization. Held under the theme "My Light, Our Dream, Seoul’s Magic," the annual nighttime event has enjoyed booming popularity among both locals and international tourists with its blend of traditional hanji paper lanterns and immersive media art installation that transform the downtown waterway into a glowing corridor. Originally scheduled to end Sunday, Jan. 4, the festival will now continue through Jan. 18 between Cheonggye Plaza and Samil Bridge, a 1.1-kilometer stretch in the heart of the city, organizers said. The festival will be closed on Monday for maintenance and rearrangement of installations before reopening the next day. The extension follows a roughly 60 percent increase in visitors from the previous year. City officials view the festival as a signature winter attraction, part of broader efforts to boost nighttime tourism and to diversify exp

Jan 5, 2026By Lee Hae-rin

Lee Hae-rin

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4 in 10 Seoul women returning to work after career breaks face lower pay, longer job searches than men

PHOTO Heavy snowfall in southwestern Korea

EXPLAINER Life or death? Possible sentences for Yoon Suk Yeol’s insurrection charge

What new KTO chief's appointment means for K-tourism

Comedian’s hyperreal skit goes viral, stirring debate on misogyny in Korea

As winters warm, Korea’s famed ice festivals face uncertain future

Seoul’s landmark soup kitchen faces threat as neighborhood gentrifies

Everland opens sledding slopes as winter break begins

Beyond Seoul, Busan and Jeju, can Korea turn tourism surge into lasting growth?

Seoul Lantern Festival extended after drawing record 2.7 mil. visitors

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