Korea Times K-Culture Reporter
Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Korea is moving to widen the political, economic and sociocultural participation of over 2 million foreign residents in the country, as the Presidential Committee for National Cohesion recently launched a special panel to draw up better immigrant policies.
Several local governments, including Seoul, Incheon and Busan, are scrambling to stop the spread of bedbugs amid growing reports of infestations across Korea.
Some Thai nationals are campaigning against visiting Korea and opting for other neighboring countries after a growing number of travelers from the Southeastern Asian country have been denied entry to Korea.
Four Seasons Hotel Seoul’s modern Italian restaurant, Boccalino, received the "Two Bottles" award in recognition of this year's selection of top Italian restaurants by Gambero Rosso, Monday.
Tucked away in the bustling heart of Seoul’s vibrant Gangnam District stands a lofty gray building that bears no sign, yet gives off a sense of serenity and undisturbed tranquility upon walking into the entrance.
The bereaved family of a Korean businessman, Jee Ick-joo, allegedly kidnapped and killed by Filipino police officers at the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters seven years ago, turned to Foreign Minister Park Jin for help in ascertaining the truth and deliver justice.
“We still have names to remember,” reads a memorial plaque written in Korean and engraved on the ground of a narrow alley a few meters away from the exit of Itaewon Station.
Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun was grilled at a National Assembly audit, Thursday, over allegations that he was responsible for the belated emergency response on the night of the Itaewon Halloween crowd disaster last year and that he directed investigations to shift blame away from the police.
Police will deploy over 1,000 personnel for crowd control in Itaewon and 15 other areas in Seoul that expect to attract a large number of people celebrating the Halloween weekend, a year after the deadly Itaewon crowd crush that claimed at least 158 lives.