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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.

Banned at home, Korean tattoo artists thrive abroad

SEATTLE — Tattooing by people other than doctors has long been banned in Korea, but that didn’t stop Korean artists from making their mark overseas. Their intricate fine-line work turned heads in New York and Los Angeles, even as they remained underground back home. In New York, Jay Shin of Bang Bang Tattoo became known for fine-line and black-and-gray realism, while Woocheol Choung, better known as Low, was singled out by Vogue Magazine in 2022 as one of six artists reshaping tattoo culture, praised for his minimalist designs that merge Korean and contemporary styles. On the West Coast, Korean American artists have established their own studios in Los Angeles, helping to turn “K-tattoo” into a recognizable global trend. Now, with broader legalization finally set to happen in Korea, artists are welcoming the changes. “It’s about time,” says J.C. Chung, a 34-year-old tattoo artist who works while traveling between Los Angeles and Seattle. “I don’t regret starting a career here in the U.S., but the change in law will definitely help artists in Korea.” Part of the reason

Sep 27, 2025By Jane Han
Banned at home, Korean tattoo artists thrive abroad

Gas explosion at Yangju sauna leaves 28 injured

A gas explosion inside a Korean-style sauna left 28 people injured Saturday. The explosion occurred at 10:17 a.m. inside the dry sauna in Yangju, some 25 kilometers north of Seoul. Firefighters said one employee and two customers were severely injured by the accident, which caused dozens of customers to evacuate. The authorities are investigating the exact cause of the accident.

Sep 27, 2025By Yonhap
Gas explosion at Yangju sauna leaves 28 injured

Gov't to focus on restoring crippled state online services after data center fire

The government said Saturday it will do its utmost to restore the administrative computer network disrupted by a fire at the central state data center, caused by a battery explosion. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety held a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarter and decided to focus on repairing the affected network equipment by Sunday to normalize key services directly tied to people's daily lives and the economy. "We apologize for causing great inconvenience to the public by delaying civil applications and the issuance of certificates," Interior Minister Yun Ho-jung said. The central disaster headquarters said when the fire broke out at the National Information Resources Service in the central city of Daejeon, the government shut down 647 online systems, including the mobile identification system and online postal service. Of the affected services, 436 are public programs and 211 are intranet systems for government officials. A total of 96 systems were directly damaged by the fire, it added. The blaze began at 8:15 p.m. Friday when a lithium-ion bat

Sep 27, 2025By Yonhap
Gov't to focus on restoring crippled state online services after data center fire

PM apologizes for state service disruptions after fire at data center

Prime Minister Kim Min-seok apologized Saturday for government service disruptions following a fire at a state-run data center and vowed to restore affected services quickly. A fire broke out at the national data infrastructure center in the central city of Daejeon on Friday, leaving one injured and halting hundreds of online government services. The lithium battery fire broke out at the National Information Resources Service at about 8:20 p.m. Friday and was brought under control early Saturday morning. Due to the fire, 647 online government services, including the mobile identification system and the online government platform for complaints and petitions, have been suspended. "I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused by the service malfunction," Kim said, adding the government will work to restore affected services. The prime minister said deadlines for tax payments and others will be extended to minimize any inconvenience.

Sep 27, 2025By Yonhap
PM apologizes for state service disruptions after fire at data center

'The Terminal' in real life? Guinean man spends 150 days in airport limbo

A Guinean man who says he fled political persecution won his first legal victory in Korea, securing the right to undergo a full refugee screening process and ending a five-month ordeal that left him stranded at an airport in the southern port city of Busan after being denied entry into the country. The Busan District Court on Wednesday ordered the head of Gimhae Airport Immigration Office to overturn a previous decision that had deemed the man ineligible for refugee screening. When a non-Korean applies for refugee status upon arrival at a Korean airport or seaport, authorities first interview the applicant to decide if there are sufficient grounds for a full review, rather than starting the screening process immediately. In May, the Ministry of Justice ruled that the Guinean man in his 30s — who arrived in April and whose name is not being publicly released — was ineligible for refugee screening. He had since been confined in the airport’s holding facility for those denied entry. “Guinea is a very dangerous place for political activists. I have been jailed twice myself,” the ma

Sep 26, 2025By Park Ung
'The Terminal' in real life? Guinean man spends 150 days in airport limbo

Another driver missing on Incheon Bridge, third incident this month

A driver went missing after leaving a car parked on Incheon Bridge, prompting a search by the Korea Coast Guard. According to the Incheon Coast Guard on Thursday, authorities received a report at 3:33 a.m. from the bridge control center that “someone may have fallen into the sea.” Responding officers found a vehicle stopped near one of the main towers of the bridge. Three patrol boats were deployed to search the surrounding area. The incident is the latest in a string of similar cases on Sept. 9 and Sept. 22. Since its opening in 2009, at least 80 people have died at Incheon Bridge. Authorities have attempted to implement safety measures, including the installation of 1,500 plastic barriers along the hard shoulder in November 2022 to stop vehicles from parking. However, the barriers were removed last month after safety officials argued that emergency stopping space on the bridge was necessary. This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.

Sep 26, 2025By Hankookilbo
Another driver missing on Incheon Bridge, third incident this month

Service workers struggle with holiday shifts, fight for rest

Many service workers in retail, hospitality and health care can still not rest on weekends or even during major holidays such as Chuseok, even though Korea adopted a five-day workweek in 2004. Employees in these sectors say that weekend and holiday work has become normalized, yet their right to rest with family and friends should be guaranteed. While some are offered substitute days off during the week, they rarely get two consecutive days of rest, making it difficult to recover and recharge. Take the example of a 45-year-old cosmetics saleswoman at a department store who is a mother of three children aged 11, 9 and 2. Her day begins early, taking her youngest to day care before working until 8 p.m. at the store. She said she often misses weekends and holidays with her children. “Even if I get a weekday off in exchange, it is meaningless when I cannot spend time with my family. To be with my children, I need to rest on the same weekends as everyone else,” she said. Others working in wedding halls face similar problems. With most weddings held on weekends, they often miss their own fr

Sep 26, 2025By Hankookilbo
Service workers struggle with holiday shifts, fight for rest

Nuclear watchdog delays decision on lifespan extension of Kori-2 reactor

Korea's nuclear watchdog said Thursday it has delayed a decision on whether to extend the lifespan of the 42-year-old Kori-2 nuclear reactor by 10 years. The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission convened a meeting Thursday to decide on the reactor's future but said it will take more time to review a request from Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), the state-run operator, to restart and run the reactor beyond its initial 40-year license. This is the first of 10 lifespan extension requests submitted by KHNP for its aging reactors and is expected to serve as a barometer for the fate of the others. The 650-megawatt Kori-2 lightwater reactor on Korea's southeast coast started commercial operation in April 1983. It is the country's oldest active reactor, aside from the Kori-1 and Wolsong-1 reactors, which have been permanently shut down. Kori-2 has been offline since April 2023, when its 40-year operating license expired. If approved, its operation would be extended until April 2033. It would also become the first nuclear facility in Korea to receive a lifespan extension since 2015, when the

Sep 25, 2025By Yonhap
Nuclear watchdog delays decision on lifespan extension of Kori-2 reactor

Korea legalizes tattooing by nonmedical professionals after 33-year ban

The National Assembly voted overwhelmingly Thursday to legalize tattooing by nonmedical professionals, ending a decadeslong ban that had criminalized the country's thriving tattoo industry. The landmark Tattooist Act passed a plenary session of parliament with 195 votes in favor and seven abstentions out of 202 members present. Despite the popularity and cultural acceptance of the body art, nonmedical tattooists in Korea have faced potential criminal punishment under the Medical Act since a 1992 Supreme Court ruling classified the practice as a "medical act." The move marks a significant legislative shift after 33 years, finally bringing the practice out of the legal shadows. Under the new law, both tattoos and semi-permanent makeup are defined as "tattooing acts." It establishes a licensing system, granting exclusive recognition as tattooists only to those who obtain a license. However, tattoo removal by nonmedical professionals remains strictly prohibited, as does tattooing on minors without parental consent. To safeguard public health, the law requires all licensed tattooists to undergo

Sep 25, 2025By Yonhap
Korea legalizes tattooing by nonmedical professionals after 33-year ban

Increase in birthrate reflects shifting attitudes among Koreans

More Koreans are expressing favorable attitudes toward marriage and having children, signaling change in a nation that has recorded the world’s lowest fertility rate, which fell to 0.75 last year, well under the 2022 OECD average of 1.51. A report released Wednesday by the Presidential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Policy surveyed 2,800 people aged 25 to 49 on marriage, childbirth and raising children. This was the fourth poll conducted since March 2024, providing a view of evolving public attitudes over the past year. Among unmarried men and women, 62.6 percent expressed a positive view of marriage, up 6.7 percentage points from March of last year, while willingness to marry rose to 64.5 percent, an increase of 3.5 points. Willingness to have children rose even more sharply, with 61.2 percent of unmarried respondents saying having children was necessary, up 11.2 percentage points. The share willing to have children also climbed to 39.5 percent, up 10 percentage points. Reflecting this shift in perception, Korea’s fertility is rebounding. According to Statistics Korea, t

Sep 25, 2025By Park Ung
Increase in birthrate reflects shifting attitudes among Koreans
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