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Park Ung

Korea Times Politics & City Reporter

I cover a wide range of stories about Korean society — one of the most dynamic places in the world. To me, journalism means being on the ground, uncovering untold stories and amplifying marginalized voices, especially in an era when AI is reshaping the media landscape. That’s why I’m always here to listen. Tips and stories are welcome — feel free to reach out via email. Before becoming a journalist, I traveled through 24 countries over 702 days, served two years as a military police officer in the Republic of Korea Air Force and later studied filmmaking at the Korea National University of Arts.

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Society

Amputated leg discovered at Incheon recycling center prompts convalescent hospital probe

Police are investigating a convalescent hospital in Incheon after an amputated leg belonging to an elderly patient turned up at a public recycling facility, raising questions about medical oversight and waste management practices at long-term care facilities. According to police Friday, the convalescent hospital in Jung District bandaged the amputated leg of a patient in their 80s and disposed of it in a medical waste container earlier this month. The following day, a volunteer cleaning a trash mistook the leg for plaster cast debris and placed it in a recyclables bag. The leg was discovered last week by a resource recovery center employee sorting recyclables in Yeonsu District, Incheon. Unable to identify the owner, police mobilized more than 100 personnel and collected DNA from families of adult missing persons in Incheon and Gyeonggi Province. The case was resolved Wednesday when the hospital came forward voluntarily, and the National Forensic Service confirmed a match between the patient and the recovered leg. Police said they plan to consult experts, including the Korean Medical Ass

Jun 19, 2026By Park Ung
Amputated leg discovered at Incheon recycling center prompts convalescent hospital probe
Society

Human rights body calls for detained foreigners' access to outside hospitals

The state human rights watchdog recommended that foreign nationals held in immigration detention who require surgery be allowed to receive surgical treatment at outside hospitals, saying the failure to provide appropriate care amounts to a human rights violation. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea said Friday it recommended to Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho that immigration detainees needing surgery be given access to outside hospitals, following two complaints filed in January. In the first case, a petitioner acting on behalf of a detainee at an immigration detention center alleged that the center director had neglected to provide appropriate care for the detainee's toe and finger injuries, which required surgery. In the second, a detainee at the same facility filed directly with the commission, alleging the center had failed to provide appropriate medical care for a knee injury requiring surgery. The detention center told the commission that outside medical visits require strict approval based on injury severity and flight risk. It added that its medical unit had been providi

Jun 19, 2026By Park Ung
Human rights body calls for detained foreigners' access to outside hospitals
Society

LNG leak in southern Seoul forces 130 to evacuate

A liquefied natural gas leak on Thursday in southeastern Seoul's Songpa District prompted the evacuation of about 130 residents. No injuries were reported. According to fire authorities, a report of a gas leak was received Tuesday at around 2:46 p.m. near Exit 4 of Hanseong Baekje Station on Seoul Metro Line 9. Firefighters dispatched 10 vehicles and 38 personnel to secure the scene, blocking the station's exits and surrounding roads. Immediately after the incident, both directions of traffic were fully restricted on the road stretching from Exit 4 of the station toward Bangi Market. Nearby residents were evacuated as a precaution. After the leak was contained, all traffic restrictions were lifted and vehicle flow returned to normal. Safety measures related to the city gas system have also been completed. Fire authorities are investigating the exact cause of the leak and the circumstances of the incident.

Jun 18, 2026By Park Ung
LNG leak in southern Seoul forces 130 to evacuate
Politics

S. Korea conveys concern to China over N. Korea's silence on denuclearization

The South Korean government reportedly raised concerns with China over growing speculation that Beijing is tacitly condoning North Korea's nuclear weapons, a perception fueled by China's recent silence on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. According to South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nam Jin, director general of its Northeast and Central Asian Affairs Bureau, met Wednesday with Director-General Liu Jinsong of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Liu was visiting Korea, and the two discussed the North Korean nuclear issue and other matters. Speculation that China is effectively tolerating North Korea's nuclear arsenal gained traction after the North Korea-China summit in Pyongyang this month did not publicly address denuclearization. The South Korean government reportedly conveyed its position that theories suggesting China is condoning North Korea's nuclear weapons are undesirable and unhelpful to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. Despite these concerns, the government reportedly believes China is not condoning North Korea's nuclear weapons, citing Beijing's c

Jun 18, 2026By Park Ung
S. Korea conveys concern to China over N. Korea's silence on denuclearization
Society

Overcharging hotels risk losing star rating under new rules

Hotels found to have overcharged customers could face a 30-point deduction in their rating evaluation, a penalty steep enough to cost a hotel its star rating. The move signals a tougher stance on price gouging, penalizing such offense three times more heavily than most other violations. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Thursday that it had issued advance public notice of a proposed revision to the guidelines governing hotel grading operations. Under the revised plan, tourist hotels face a new 30-point rating deduction for overcharging customers, compared with a 10-point deduction for most other violations, including hotel fires, illegal activity and administrative sanctions from sanitation or fire inspections. With up to 1,000 points given under the rating system and only a 100-point gap between five-star and four-star thresholds, overcharging violations could push a hotel below its rating tier. The new criterion came after a price gouging controversy surrounding BTS' concerts in Busan, when many accommodations throughout the southern port city simultaneously raised their

Jun 18, 2026By Park Ung
Overcharging hotels risk losing star rating under new rules
Society

Korean universities rise in QS rankings as internationalization, graduates' reputation improve

Korea's universities have climbed in world rankings, backed by improvement in internationalization and graduates' reputation with employers. But they still lag behind Asia's top performers due to weak academic reputation and research impact, a global ranking agency said. Korea saw 43 universities place in the QS World University Rankings 2027, with four in the global top 100 and seven in the top 200. Their improvement was reflected in rising numbers, with 53 percent of the universities reaching higher rankings than the previous assessment and only 18 percent falling. This marks the third-best net improvement in Asia behind Hong Kong and mainland China, where 78 percent and 72 percent of schools showed rises in the rankings. Among Korean schools, Seoul National University (SNU) topped the national rankings, placing 38th globally, followed by Yonsei University at 42nd and Korea University at 52nd. The dominance of the three universities, known in Korea as “SKY,” remained intact but the gap is narrowing. While SNU held steady in the global top 50, Yonsei University and Korea University h

Jun 18, 2026By Park Ung
Korean universities rise in QS rankings as internationalization, graduates' reputation improve
Society

JTBC files for court receivership as costly World Cup, Olympics deals push JoongAng Group into crisis

A court froze the assets of five JoongAng Group subsidiaries and affiliates, Monday, after they filed for court receivership amid a financial crisis driven largely by the Korean media conglomerate's costly bids for exclusive broadcasting rights to major international sporting events. The Seoul Bankruptcy Court issued preservative measures and a general prohibition order against JoongAng Holdings, the group's parent company, as well as JTBC, Contentree JoongAng, Megabox JoongAng and JoongAng P&I. The JoongAng, the group's flagship newspaper, is said to pursue a restructuring workout process following the rehabilitation filings by the parent company and its affiliates. The preservative measures bar the companies from disposing of assets or making preferential repayments before formal rehabilitation proceedings, while the general prohibition order freezes creditor claims, blocking enforcement actions, attachments or auctions until then. Last week, JTBC defaulted after failing to repay a 20.6 billion won ($13.6 million) debt coming due, citing a sharp contraction in the television advertisi

Jun 16, 2026By Park Ung
JTBC files for court receivership as costly World Cup, Olympics deals push JoongAng Group into crisis
Society

'Teach You a Lesson' inspires real-life proposal to protect Korean teachers

A think tank of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea proposed a dedicated agency to protect teachers from complaints and legal proceedings that currently burden them individually, modeled on a fictional body featured in the Netflix series “Teach You a Lesson.” A policy suggestion from the Institute for Democracy proposed bringing to life the Korean Educational Rights Protection Bureau, a fictional squad in the drama deployed to salvage classrooms from unruly students and toxic parents, sometimes through vigilante violence. The proposal envisions it as an education activity protection bureau within the Ministry of Education, handling protective procedures, conflict mediation and shared accountability. “The buzz around the Netflix drama 'Teach You a Lesson' reflects how popular culture is capturing the anxiety felt on school grounds ... The fictional agency in the drama is a fantasy, but teachers having to personally bear complaints, reports, investigations and lawsuits is a very real problem,” said Lee Gyeong-a, a research fellow at the institute. “The core is to prevent indivi

Jun 15, 2026By Park Ung
'Teach You a Lesson' inspires real-life proposal to protect Korean teachers
Society

US tech firm files defamation suit against KBS over report on its technology

U.S. tech firm SeeDevice has filed a defamation lawsuit against Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) and its U.S. affiliate, KBS America, accusing them of inaccurate reporting on its technology that cost the company a major commercial opportunity and wasted years of research. The company said last week that a trial has been set at the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to begin in January 2027. The case stems from an August 2024 KBS report alleging the Korean government decided to retract its research grant after finding the company's technology to be fraudulent. At the center of the dispute is QMOS, SeeDevice's proprietary sensor technology designed to simultaneously detect visible light as well as X-rays, ultraviolet and short-wave infrared wavelengths invisible to the human eye, without the specialized materials and processes that many conventional infrared sensors require. In its reporting, KBS cited an insider who alleged that the technology, developed by Korean American Kim Hoon, founder and CEO of SeeDevice, lacked substance. It reported it had raised questions

Jun 14, 2026By Park Ung
US tech firm files defamation suit against KBS over report on its technology
Society

Mexican man apologizes for racist gesture toward Korean YouTuber at World Cup

A Mexican football fan who made a racist gesture toward a Korean YouTuber during the Korea-Czech Republic match at the 2026 FIFA World Cup apologized amid widespread controversy. Korean YouTuber Ino Cat, who has 6.6 million subscribers, posted a video Thursday from Akron Stadium in Zapopan near Guadalajara, Mexico, where she had watched the Group A opener between Korea and the Czech Republic. In the caption, she asked viewers, “Tell me if I'm just being too sensitive,” with the English caption “POV: When you experienced racism at the World Cup.” The footage shows her taking a selfie and waving at the camera while, behind her, a Mexican man looks directly into the lens and pulls both eyes back with his index fingers — a gesture long recognized as insulting toward people of Asian descent. The man in the video was later identified as Ulises Fernando Bernal Miramontes, president of an engineering association in the Mexican state of Jalisco. As the controversy grew, he posted a video apology over the weekend. “I sincerely regret everything this situation has caused. I have taken t

Jun 14, 2026By Park Ung
Mexican man apologizes for racist gesture toward Korean YouTuber at World Cup
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