my timesThe Korea Times
South Korea

Society

Korea Times
About Us
Introduction
History
Contact Us
Products & Services
Subscribe
E-paper
RSS Service
Content Sales
Site Map
Policy
Code of Ethics
Ombudsman
Privacy Policy
Youth Protection Policy
Terms of Service
Copyright Policy
Family Site
Hankookilbo
Dongwha Group
FacebookXYoutubeInstagram
CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

Echoes of Cold War: S. Korean civilians continue drills for an unseen war

At 2 p.m. Wednesday, an air raid siren pierced through the midday quiet at Seoul City Hall. The siren was followed by a public broadcast from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, which announced the immediate start of a nationwide air raid drill. Minutes later, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon left his sixth-floor office and moved to a fortified, bunker-like underground control center. The facility is designed to monitor and manage emergency situations for the capital’s population of over 9.3 million. On a large screen, a simulated wartime scenario was being managed, showing scenes of vehicles being cleared from the busy Sejong-daero thoroughfare and civilians being evacuated at Lotte World Mall in southern Seoul. The drill served to highlight how South Korea maintains its state of readiness in the face of persistent military threats, decades after fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War that was halted with a ceasefire agreement. The 20-minute nationwide civil defense drill was conducted as part of the annual Ulchi exercise, a government-led program designed to prepare the country for wartime e

Aug 20, 2025By Park Ung
Echoes of Cold War: S. Korean civilians continue drills for an unseen war

Missing Itaewon disaster first responder found dead

A firefighter who suffered from depression since being dispatched to the 2022 deadly crowd crush was found dead Wednesday, 10 days after going missing, officials said. A police officer discovered the 30-year-old's body under a bridge near an expressway in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, at about 12:30 p.m., after he went missing on Aug. 10, according to the police. The man was last seen early that morning after passing a nearby tollbooth in his vehicle. No signs of foul play were detected and police suspect that he died after walking toward the Siheung area. They plan to investigate the exact circumstances of his death. The firefighter had been treated for depression after responding to the deadly crowd crush in the nightlife district of Itaewon during Halloween weekend in 2022, which claimed 159 lives. He had reportedly left a note apologizing to his family and friends before going missing. Rescue officials mobilized 330 personnel for the search efforts over the past 11 days. President Lee Jae Myung expressed condolences over the death of the firefighter, noting the government will make efforts

Aug 20, 2025By Yonhap
Missing Itaewon disaster first responder found dead

Favorability toward India drops sharply in Korea: Pew

Koreans’ favorability toward India has plunged more than any other country surveyed over the past year, according to new research. The 16-percentage-point drop marks the lowest level since the survey began in 2007. The Pew Research Center said on Aug. 19 that global views of India are slightly more positive than negative, with 47 percent favorable and 38 percent unfavorable across 24 countries polled. In 16 of those countries, including Kenya (65 percent), Nigeria (57 percent), the United Kingdom (60 percent) and Germany (57 percent), positive opinions outweighed negative ones. By contrast, negative views dominated in Turkey (56 percent) and Australia (54 percent). The survey of 24,788 respondents was conducted from January to April, before the April clash between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, Pew noted. In Korea, views were split, with 42 percent positive and 43 percent negative. Favorability, however, plunged from 58 percent last year to 42 percent this year, the steepest decline among the 24 nations surveyed. Analysts suggested the drop may be linked to India’s reopening of its

Aug 20, 2025By Hankookilbo
Favorability toward India drops sharply in Korea: Pew

Jeju Island tries new way to remind visitors to behave

Confronting a surge in unruly tourist behavior, Jeju has unveiled the nation’s first multilingual etiquette notice, seeking to instill order on the southern resort island. The Jeju Provincial Police said Monday it printed 8,000 notices in Korean, English and Chinese, hoping to bridge cultural gaps and help foreign visitors grasp local laws and customs. The notices caution visitors against minor infractions — from jaywalking and littering to smoking in restricted areas and public drunkenness — and appeal for cooperation in maintaining order. “Officers carry the notices during patrols and hand them out when they encounter minor violations on the spot,” an official at the Jeju Provincial Police Agency told The Korea Times. “Serious offenses are dealt with immediately, but for minor ones we usually issue the notice instead of stricter action.” The official noted that offering a warning for petty violations, instead of imposing penalties on the spot, could defuse tensions with tourists and lighten the load for officers. After years of pandemic disruption, Jeju, a perennial touris

Aug 20, 2025By Park Ung
Jeju Island tries new way to remind visitors to behave

2 subcontract workers killed in train accident in Cheongdo

Two subcontract workers were killed and another four were seriously hurt Tuesday when they were struck by a passenger train in the southeastern county of Cheongdo, officials said. The accident occurred around 10:50 a.m. near the Cheongdo Bullfighting Stadium when a Mugunghwa train bound for Jinju in South Gyeongsang Province hit seven workers as they were moving to inspect structures on a slope near the tracks, according to police and the state-run Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL). They were taken to nearby hospitals, but two died. The remaining one worker sustained light injuries. The train hit the seven workers from behind. The group included a KORAIL employee, while the rest were from a safety inspection company. Eighty-nine passengers were on board the train, with no injuries reported so far. The workers were moving near the tracks to inspect damage to the structures from recent heavy rains in Cheongdo, according to KORAIL. A fire agency official said the workers may have not noticed the approaching electric passenger train, which is generally quieter than trains powered by other types of

Aug 19, 2025By Yonhap
2 subcontract workers killed in train accident in Cheongdo

Air-raid siren to be sounded Wednesday as part of civil defense drill

An air-raid siren will be sounded on Wednesday, restricting people's outdoor movement as part of a nationwide civil defense drill this week, officials said Tuesday. The 20-minute drill, slated for 2 p.m. Wednesday, will include civil evacuation training and traffic restrictions in an air raid attack scenario, according to the Ministry of Interior and Safety. When the mock air raid warning siren goes off at 2 p.m., outdoor movement will be restricted nationwide for 15 minutes, and people will be required to evacuate to the nearest shelters. Restrictions on outdoor movement will be lifted at 2:15 p.m. with an alert warning. All restrictions will be removed and people can go back to their normal routines at 2:20 p.m., when the warning is completely lifted. This year's four-day exercise, which began Monday, will focus on ensuring emergency passageway for fire trucks and ambulances. Drivers are required to turn on hazard lights, slow down and yield the right of way when fire trucks and ambulances approach. Hospitals, subways, airlines and ships will operate as normal on the day of the drill to

Aug 19, 2025By Yonhap
Air-raid siren to be sounded Wednesday as part of civil defense drill

Lavish hotel proposals catch on with young Korean couples

Proposals staged at high-end hotels, often paired with luxury gifts and carefully curated Instagram posts, have become a rising trend among young Koreans, a new study finds. The study, led by Yang Su-jin, an associate professor of consumer science at Sungshin Women’s University, analyzed 128 Instagram posts. To collect the data, acquaintances with an average age of 29 — considered an ideal marriageable age in Korea — were asked to search the platform for proposal-related content last September. The posts were then reviewed to track how proposal practices are evolving among young Koreans. While the sample does not capture every kind of proposal, the findings point to a growing tendency among young Koreans to stage the moment as a public performance — meticulously crafted for social media and fueled by a desire for recognition and display. The study found that hotels were the most common setting for proposals, representing 42 percent of all posts, or 55 in total. Of those, 38 posts disclosed the venue, including 17 set at five-star hotels. The most frequently featured was Signiel

Aug 18, 2025By Park Ung
Lavish hotel proposals catch on with young Korean couples

Substitute driver in his 60s crashes into Seoul home, killing car owner in passenger seat

A man in his 50s was killed after being ejected from a vehicle when a substitute driver in his 60s crashed into a residential building in a narrow alley in Dongjak District, Seoul, late Saturday night, according to police and fire authorities on Sunday. The accident occurred around 11:34 p.m. in Sangdo-dong, when the driver of the vehicle drove it into a flower bed, exterior wall and utility pole of a house. The impact threw the car’s owner, who had been sitting in the passenger seat, out of the vehicle. He was rushed to hospital in cardiac arrest but later pronounced dead. The substitute driver sustained minor injuries and was also transported to a hospital. Police said there was no evidence of alcohol consumption or drug use at the time of the crash. Authorities are analyzing the car’s black box and nearby CCTV footage to determine the exact cause of the accident. Police said they plan to book the driver on charges of fatal traffic negligence. This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times

Aug 18, 2025By Hankookilbo
Substitute driver in his 60s crashes into Seoul home, killing car owner in passenger seat

More graduates delay finishing school amid hiring freeze

Kim, a 26-year-old physics graduate hoping to work in semiconductors, says he has applied even to jobs outside his field but has repeatedly failed to pass the document screening stage, leaving his confidence badly shaken. “If I had known it would be like this, I would have delayed graduation like my friends,” he added with a sigh. With the job market tightening, more young people are choosing to delay graduation and remain “fifth-year students.” Instead of risking unemployment after graduation, they see advantages in keeping student status, which provides access to career counseling, training and other benefits. According to data from the Korea Educational Development Institute released on Sunday, the number of students deferring graduation reached 17,597 last year, up by about 2,500 from 2023. Statistics Korea also reported that it now takes an average of four years and four months to complete college, the longest since records began in 2007. Creative ways to postpone Graduation delays take many forms. Some complete their credits but officially defer graduation by paying a fee of

Aug 18, 2025By Hankookilbo
More graduates delay finishing school amid hiring freeze

Family requests help searching for missing firefighter traumatized by Itaewon disaster

A 34-year-old firefighter in Incheon who had struggled with depression since responding to the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush has been missing for a week after leaving a note that read “I’m sorry.” According to Incheon Fire Headquarters on Sunday, the firefighter, identified only by the surname A, went out of contact on Aug. 10 after sending the message to family and friends. Police and fire officials said A drove out of the Nam Incheon Tollgate on the Second Gyeongin Expressway at about 2:30 a.m. that day, parked on the shoulder and disappeared. His mobile phone was last detected near an apartment complex in Seochang-dong, Namdong District, Incheon, but no signal has been picked up since. A had been dispatched to the Itaewon disaster site in October 2022 and later received treatment for depression. In a past media interview, he said, “My parents felt distressed just knowing I was there. How much more painful must it be for the victims’ parents? I kept thinking, ‘I wish this wasn’t real.’” His family has been distributing leaflets both online and offline in a desperate search.

Aug 18, 2025By Hankookilbo
Family requests help searching for missing firefighter traumatized by Itaewon disaster
previous page
107108109110111
next page

Most Read in South Korea