The Korea Times

Immigration detainees lack access to key forms, rights information: watchdog

The state human rights watchdog has called for stronger procedural safeguards for foreign nationals in immigration detention after inspections found inadequate access to review and temporary release forms, as well as insufficient guidance on detainees’ rights. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) said Monday it inspected the Seoul Immigration Office, the Hwaseong Immigration Detention Center and the Cheongju Immigration Detention Center to see how the revised Immigration Act has operated in the field since taking effect in June 2025. The revised law allows immigration officials to detain foreign nationals facing deportation for an initial period of up to two months. That period can be extended for three months at a time following review by a detention review panel. Detention is capped at a maximum of nine months, extendable to 20 months in cases such as delays in enforcement over refugee applications or violations of the National Security Act. The NHRCK found that the facilities lacked sufficient review request forms and temporary release applications. It also identifi

Aug 31, 2026By Park Ung

Immigration detainees lack access to key forms, rights information: watchdog

Society

COVER STORY International students, Korean companies find fit at Hanyang University career fair

Until last year, Angelina Chrysanta Antolis, a 21-year-old Indonesian student at Hanyang University (HYU), did not have a specific plan for which companies she wanted to join in Korea and did not know what job positions were available. That changed at last year's HYU Global Career Fair, where she met recruiters from various companies in person and discovered her dream career: a global marketer who plans advertising campaigns. On Thursday, she returned to this year's fair with that goal in her sights. “When you look for job information online, you can't ask questions directly, so you end up just guessing. But at a job fair like this, you get solid information about what companies are looking for,” Antolis told The Korea Times. “Even if I don't get hired right away, the company gets to know me and can reach out later if I'm a good fit.” Launched in August last year, the HYU fair connects companies with international students looking for jobs here. It has gained attention quickly. The first edition saw 560 students join, followed by 1,021 at the second edition in March this year and

Aug 28, 2026By Park Ung

[COVER STORY] International students, Korean companies find fit at Hanyang University career fair

Society

Trained to infiltrate N. Korea, then forgotten: Ex-agent recounts 3 secret years

In 1984, Ha Tae-jun, then 24, spotted a notice recruiting for a special unit at the Military Manpower Administration office in central Seoul's Yongsan District. The notice was scrawled on the wall in marker, with little explanation. Ha applied, and his life was changed forever — training as a South Korean operative for covert missions into North Korea. “About a month after submitting background check documents, they said I'd passed and told me to meet at a cafe near my house,” Ha, now 66 and president of the Association of Bereaved Families of Special Mission Agents, said in an interview with The Korea Times. At the time, he had no idea it would be three years before he saw home again. Taken to a safe house on Mount Cheonggye in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, he passed a fitness test and got into a car, believing it would take him home. Instead, the car took him to another safe house in Sokcho, Gangwon Province, operated by the Headquarters of Intelligence Detachment, a South Korean military unit that trained and dispatched agents on covert infiltration missions into North Korea. The n

Aug 27, 2026By Park Ung

Trained to infiltrate N. Korea, then forgotten: Ex-agent recounts 3 secret years

Society

Gyeonggi deploys 300 officers to protect teachers from malicious complaints

The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education launched the country's first dedicated teachers' rights protection officer system Saturday, bringing previously scattered support functions under a single channel. The system was one of Gyeonggi Superintendent Ahn Min-seok's core policy initiatives, pledged shortly after he took office amid growing cases of false child abuse reports and malicious complaints against teachers. “I made the decision to establish the dedicated teachers' rights protection officer system while thinking of the teachers who tragically passed away, unable to endure malicious complaints,” Ahn said at the inauguration ceremony. “I will delegate all substantive authority related to the superintendent's teachers' rights protection activities to you. At this very moment, I declare an all-out war against malicious complaints. Teachers, just teach. We will protect you.” The response far exceeded expectations. Open recruitment held from July 15-28 drew 1,823 applicants for 50 positions, a competition rate of more than 36 to 1. Citing the unexpectedly large pool of qualif

Aug 25, 2026By Park Ung

Gyeonggi deploys 300 officers to protect teachers from malicious complaints

Society

Jeju missing person cases raise doubts over police readiness for sole investigative power

Distrust of police is deepening over the premature closure of multiple missing person cases on Jeju Island, raising questions about the force's readiness to take full control of criminal investigations. President Lee Jae Myung ordered the creation of a government body in charge of measures to reform the police on Tuesday, a day after police found the body of Jang Mi-ran, a 37-year-old woman missing for months. The case sparked controversy after it emerged that a police officer had closed it without confirming her whereabouts. Police said Tuesday they had removed all four officers in the chain of command at Jeju Seobu Police Station from their duties pending an investigation. The Jeju Provincial Police said Tuesday an autopsy on the body found at a palm farm on Jeju Island confirmed it was Jang. They said its position when found suggested she died by hanging. “The recent breakdown in police discipline and irresponsibility in public safety matters have become serious problems,” Lee said during a Cabinet meeting, adding that police are likely to wield more power than any other state ins

Aug 25, 2026By Park Ung

Jeju missing person cases raise doubts over police readiness for sole investigative power

Society

How Daejeon evolved from 'boring city' to 'city of bread'

In 2019, Daejeon Metropolitan City made an unusual pitch to tourists, asking them to post their own flowchart for visits to what it jokingly called “Boring Daejeon.” It worked like a decision tree for visitors to Daejeon. Participants could answer “yes” or “no” to questions about the city and where to go, but no matter the path, it always ended the same way: “Stop by Sungsimdang — a historic bakery nestled in the heart of Daejeon.” The humorous chart reflected how Daejeon is widely seen even by its own residents as a dull and uninteresting city, a place without the standout attractions that drew people to other comparably-sized cities. Despite this reputation, last year the city drew 90.94 million visitors — the most since the Korea Tourism Data Lab began tracking the figures. Nearly half of those visits, 48.1 percent, were driven by food tourism. Much of Daejeon's draw is its bakery scene, led by Sungsimdang, a famed purveyor of bread with a legacy that traces back decades and highlights the city's history as a hub for flour-based foods. After the 1950-53 Korean War e

Aug 25, 2026By Park Ung

How Daejeon evolved from 'boring city' to 'city of bread'

Society

Illegal imports of obesity drugs surge 3.5-fold in Korea

The number of illegally imported obesity treatment drugs detected surged in the first half of this year, driven largely by drugs ordered from foreign websites and shipped through international mail. According to the Korea Customs Service (KCS) Monday, authorities detected 4,155 instances of illegal imports of Mounjaro, Wegovy and other obesity drugs between January and June, nearly 3.5 times the 1,189 cases for all of last year. Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Eli Lilly's Mounjaro are both once-weekly injectable obesity treatments that suppress appetite. Wegovy launched in Korea in 2024, while Mounjaro followed in 2025. Illegal import cases have risen quickly since the two drugs' domestic debuts, from four cases in 2024 to 1,189 last year and more than 4,000 in the first half of this year. By comparison, only 596 cases were formally cleared through customs via import companies over the same period, rising from 14 in 2024 to 191 in 2025 and 391 in the first half of this year. International mail was the most common route, accounting for 84.8 percent of cases, as more people ordered the drugs fro

Aug 24, 2026By Park Ung

Illegal imports of obesity drugs surge 3.5-fold in Korea

Health

Regaining weight after diet medication linked to 4-fold rise in suicidal thoughts: study

People who have taken weight-loss medication and regained weight afterward were more than four times as likely to have suicidal thoughts, highlighting mental health concerns tied to the medications. According to a study by a research team at Asan Medical Center on Sunday, people who took weight-loss medication were 1.9 times more likely to experience depression and 2.7 times as likely to have suicidal thoughts than those who had not. The team analyzed data on 27,741 adults, including 10,908 men and 16,833 women, drawn from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted between 2013 and 2022. The team divided the group into 846 who had taken medication prescribed by a doctor for weight control in the past year and 26,895 who had not. The study did not distinguish between types of medication. Among medication users, 22.1 percent experienced depressive feelings for two or more consecutive weeks, compared with 11.4 percent of non-users. Mental health counseling was sought by 8.4 percent of medication users, compared with 3.4 percent of non-users. A similar gap appeared o

Aug 23, 2026By Park Ung

Regaining weight after diet medication linked to 4-fold rise in suicidal thoughts: study

Society

WEEKENDER Inside Korea's only prison tasked with handling foreign inmates

CHEONAN, South Chungcheong Province — A roughly 30-minute drive from Cheonan-Asan Station leads to a remote, little-visited area. After surrendering all electronic devices and passing through a security check, visitors navigate a maze-like building and pass through seven or eight heavy steel doors to step inside Cheonan Correctional Institution, Korea's only prison tasked with handling foreign inmates. The prison became the world's first correctional institute designated for foreign inmates in 2010, after the number of foreign nationals in Korea, and crimes among them, rose through the 2000s. As of August, it houses about 500 inmates from 51 countries alongside some 920 Korean nationals. Overcrowding has led to foreign nationals being distributed across multiple prisons, including Daejeon and Yeoju in Gyeonggi Province, but the Cheonan prison is the only one mainly tasked with handling them, complete with an International Affairs division. About 10 staff members speak various languages, including English, Chinese, Russian, Thai, Mongolian and Arabic, helping inmates with personal conce

Aug 21, 2026By Park Ung

[WEEKENDER] Inside Korea's only prison tasked with handling foreign inmates

Society

After 14 years with foreign inmates, correctional officer says crime has no nationality

CHEONAN, South Chungcheong Province — The only real difference between Korean and foreign inmates, says Min Byung-kwon, is their skin color. Min, 52, has spent 14 years of his 27-year career working at Cheonan Correctional Institution, Korea's only prison tasked with handling foreign inmates, and his time listening to them convinced him that a fearlessness about committing crime crosses every nationality. “Some inmates don't want to be deported upon release because they like Korea and others demand better treatment, claiming Korea is a wealthy country,” Min said in an interview with The Korea Times. “Sometimes it's surprising to see inmates from distant countries speak fluent Korean.” But such fluency is rare, with most foreign inmates having limited Korean proficiency. Those from Russia and Uzbekistan tend to struggle the most, while many Chinese inmates are ethnic Koreans from China whose Korean is good enough to interpret for others. The fearlessness Min describes shows in the crimes that land the inmates in prison. Drug offenses are the most common, followed by fraud. Some

Aug 21, 2026By Park Ung

Park Ung

Read more

Immigration detainees lack access to key forms, rights information: watchdog

COVER STORY International students, Korean companies find fit at Hanyang University career fair

Trained to infiltrate N. Korea, then forgotten: Ex-agent recounts 3 secret years

Gyeonggi deploys 300 officers to protect teachers from malicious complaints

Jeju missing person cases raise doubts over police readiness for sole investigative power

How Daejeon evolved from 'boring city' to 'city of bread'

Illegal imports of obesity drugs surge 3.5-fold in Korea

Regaining weight after diet medication linked to 4-fold rise in suicidal thoughts: study

WEEKENDER Inside Korea's only prison tasked with handling foreign inmates

After 14 years with foreign inmates, correctional officer says crime has no nationality

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