Lee Hae-rin

Seoul subway fares to rise by 150 won after presidential election in June

A round-trip subway fare across Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province will exceed 3,000 won ($2.12) as the price is set to increase by 150 won around the end of June, after the presidential election, industry officials said Sunday. The change was approved by the Gyeonggi Provincial Council during a meeting Tuesday, when it decided to increase the current basic subway fare of 1,400 won to 1,550 won in the metropolitan area. Subway fares increased from 1,250 won to 1,400 won in October 2023, and the Seoul government said a further 150 won increase would come in 2024. The administrative process for raising rates is expected to be completed after policy consultations between the local governments of Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, as well as the state-run railway operator Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL). The price hike aims to tackle years-long financial difficulties for Seoul Metro, the operator of subway lines 1 to 8 and part of Line 9, which had a net loss of 724 billion won last year and saw a cumulative deficit standing at 18.9 trillion won as of this year. The company's debt stands a

University students slammed for reels mocking stalking by chasing random women

Some male university students in Korea are facing public outrage after posting short videos showing themselves chasing female students walking alone at night. Claiming to be "helping her get home safely" after late-night midterm study sessions, the videos instead mock the fear and panic women experience when approached or followed by strange men at night. An Instagram account run by students of Korea University’s Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (@ku_electreels) posted a video with subtitles that read, “Choosing a random woman and helping her get home safely” last week. Without any context, the 10-second-long video shows a man running after a woman in an empty street at night. Disturbed by the presence of a stranger, the woman runs away without once looking back. The video, which was posted to promote the student group’s midterm snack giveaway event, raised online controversy for reminding viewers of stalking crimes targeting women. A few days later, the Instagram account took down the video and issued an apology. Similar videos were posted by Chungbuk National

Korea’s gender equality ranking drops amid reinforced stereotypes

Korea’s national gender equality index dropped for the first time, reaching an all-time low since tracking began in 2010, the government said Thursday. The gender gap in decision-making fields remained persistent, while stereotypes surrounding gender roles in families grew more entrenched, according to the latest data. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said the country’s latest gender equality index for 2023 stood at 65.4, a decrease of 0.8 from the previous year. The annual index, rated on a scale from zero to 100, measures overall gender equality by quantifying the equality rate across various social fields. A score of 100 indicates complete gender equality. Since the inaugural figure of 66.1 points in 2010, the index has seen small but steady increases each year, reaching 75.4 in 2021. In 2022, the ministry revised the methods used to calculate the index. It removed outdated indicators, such as “gender ratio of a third child,” and added new, more relevant standards, including “gender role stereotypes within a family” and “share of caring for the elderly.” After

Meeting on illegal gambling prevention

Participants of The Korea Times and the Korea Tourism Science Society of Korea's (TOSOK) periodical meeting on development of integrated resorts pose at the newspaper's headquarters in central Seoul, Wednesday. They discussed ways to regulate illegal gambling and foster healthy gaming culture. From left in the front row are Korea Casino Association Secretary General Shin Jong-ho, National Gambling Control Commission Secretary General Lee Jin-sik, TOSOK President Seo Won-seok and Mayfield Hotel Seoul CEO Kim Young-moon. Center in the back row is Kim Jae-kyoung, managing director of The Korea Times' Content & Business Planning Division. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Incheon airport hits quarterly record high in number of int’l travelers

Incheon International Airport, the country’s largest international air transport hub, saw more than 18.6 million international passengers in the first quarter of this year, the highest quarterly figure since the airport began operations in 2001, the airport’s operator said Wednesday. The figure is a 7.8 percent increase from 17.2 million in the same period last year, the Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) announced at a press briefing at the airport. Notably, the increase is driven by China's temporary visa exemption for Korean nationals introduced in November last year. As a result, travelers between the two countries showed the greatest gains among international routes at 24.1 percent this quarter compared to the same period last year and was 14.3 percent of the total international travelers, according to the IIAC. Flights between Korea and neighboring Japan and Northeastern Asian countries also reflected growing travel demands, showing 10.4 percent and 16.1 percent growth in passenger volumes during the same period, respectively. While full-scale carriers saw an overall in

Seoul Queer Culture Festival seeks new venue for record turnout in June

This year’s Seoul Queer Culture Festival (SQCF), set for June 14 in downtown Seoul, is searching for a new venue as it moves on from its past location of Seoul Plaza due to the growing number of attendees, organizers said Tuesday. “We have all cherished those glorious times when the festival took place in Seoul Plaza,” Yang Sun-woo, chairperson of the SQCF organizing committee, said during a press conference in Seoul. “But the event has grown to accommodate over 150,000 participants each year, and considering the safety concerns of the square, we will not be returning to that location.” The committee has not applied for the use of the square this year and is instead searching for an alternative venue. "All we know for sure so far is that it will take place in the city center," she said, explaining that the celebrations will continue to seek visibility, as they traditionally have, rather than being held in a remote park or stadium, as some have suggested. The SQCF launched in 2000 with around 50 participants in the Daehangno area of northeastern Seoul. It grew over the years, ev

Why are sinkholes popping up all over Korea?

A series of sinkholes appearing across the country has highlighted growing concerns over safety as underground construction projects are carried out in various locations. The most recent incident occurred Monday morning near a metro extension construction site in Busan’s Sasang District, which has seen 14 sinkholes over the past three years. A sinkhole, approximately 3 meters wide and 2 meters deep, appeared 200 meters away from another one that measured 5 meters wide and 3 meters deep, which appeared just a day earlier. Followed by a collapse at a subway construction site in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, on Friday, Seoul also saw multiple sinkholes over the weekend. According to safety and emergency offices, a sinkhole opened at a crossroad in Gangdong District on Sunday, just three kilometers away from where a 20-meter-wide, 20-meter-deep sinkhole opened at an intersection last month, killing a motorcyclist. This is the third sinkhole in the district recently after another sinkhole appeared near an elementary school earlier this month. Meanwhile, in Seoul’s Mapo District, another

Strategy meeting on US tariffs

French missionary Bishop Rene Dupont who made Korea his home dies at 95

French-born missionary Bishop Rene Dupont, who devoted over 70 years of his life to the poor and underprivileged in rural Korea and contributed to human rights movements in the country, died Thursday. He was 95. The bishop had been receiving treatment at a hospital in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, after undergoing emergency surgery for a cerebral infarction earlier this week. Born in 1929 in Orleans in north-central France, Dupont entered seminary to become a missionary in 1950. He was ordained a priest in 1953. He was dispatched to Korea in 1954, shortly after the 1950-1953 Korean War. During his seminary years, he worked for the poor and underprivileged in rural areas. He said in interviews with local media that his teenage experiences with World War II helped him understand and sympathize with war-shattered Korea. In his early years of priesthood in Korea, Dupont started pastoral work in Daejeon, where he chose the Korean name “Dubong” and served poor farmers, leprosy patients and people with disabilities as the head of the Korean branch of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. B

T'way crew members save French passenger with CPR during flight

T'way Air crew members saved a passenger’s life by quickly responding to an emergency cardiac arrest situation on board, the Korean budget carrier said Friday. On April 2, T'way cabin crew member Kim Sang-man found a French national in their 60s experiencing a heart attack during the first meal service on a flight from Paris to Incheon. Kim immediately checked the passenger’s condition and performed CPR after finding he had no pulse and was not breathing. Another crew member reported the situation to the cabin manager and the cockpit and searched for medical personnel among the passengers on board. Cabin Manager Lee Hyun-jin, along with other crew members, continued CPR measures and used an automatic external defibrillator (AED). Once the passenger's heartbeat and breathing returned and he regained consciousness, crew members moved him to a seat in business class to rest, where the passenger's condition was observed with the help of a French nurse who was on board. The passenger was able to respond to questions from crew members and eat and drink, the airline said. "When I first found h