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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.

Factory death prompts removal of hit baseball snack amid public outcry

For one convenience store owner in central Seoul, who asked to be identified only by her surname Kim, the past few days have been consumed by the complex task of relocating her shop. As she carefully moves inventory to the new location, she’s also reassessing the range of products she carries. One item that stands out is SPC Samlip’s bread, created in collaboration with the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). It holds an ambiguous position on her shelves — neither a top seller nor a flop. While it hasn’t flown off the shelves, Kim notes that it has performed steadily enough to avoid being considered a failure. “It never failed to sell,” Kim told The Korea Times. “Unlike other types of bread, I’ve never had to throw it out. Baseball fans always bought it.” Indeed, fans absolutely loved it. Many weren't just buying the bread for a snack, but for the thrill of collecting the photo stickers of baseball players tucked inside each package. This passionate collecting frenzy fueled an unprecedented sales surge. Just last month, the KBO bread line blew past 10 million items sold

May 30, 2025By Park Ung
Factory death prompts removal of hit baseball snack amid public outcry

Taiwanese man arrested for filming NIS headquarters in Seoul

A Taiwanese man in his 30s has been arrested on suspicion of filming Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) headquarters without authorization, police said Wednesday. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s industrial technology security unit, the man, identified only as A, was taken into custody around 12:33 p.m. Thursday near the main gate of the NIS compound in Naegok-dong, Seocho District, Seoul. He was arrested on the spot for violating the Act on the Protection of Military Bases and Installations. Police responded to a report from an NIS staff member who noticed a civilian filming the agency’s premises. Officers from Seocho Police Station apprehended the man and transferred him to the metropolitan police agency for investigation. Authorities said the man was seen loitering near the compound and allegedly filming inside the restricted area. His mobile phone has been voluntarily submitted to police, who plan to conduct a digital forensic analysis to determine the nature and purpose of the footage. This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The

May 30, 2025By Hankookilbo
Taiwanese man arrested for filming NIS headquarters in Seoul

US parents honor late daughter with annual scholarship for Korean students

The parents of a U.S. English teacher who died in a traffic accident in Korea have been sending scholarship funds to an elementary school in Ulsan for eight consecutive years in honor of their daughter’s love and dedication to her Korean students. According to the Ulsan Metropolitan Office of Education on Thursday, Yeompo Elementary School in Buk District held a scholarship ceremony on May 24 in memory of the late Sarah Dinell, a former English teacher at the school. Dinell, an American national, began teaching at Yeompo Elementary in August 2015. She passed away in a car accident in November 2016 at the age of 24. In 2018, her parents pledged to donate 1,000 dollars annually for 10 years to support the school, hoping to carry on their daughter's passion for teaching Korean students. The initiative, named the Sarah Dinell Scholarship, has been awarded to students each year since. In its eighth year, this year’s scholarship was presented to seven students, who also wrote letters of gratitude to Dinell’s parents. One student wrote, “Thank you, Sarah Dinell teacher and your parents.

May 30, 2025By Hankookilbo
US parents honor late daughter with annual scholarship for Korean students

No emergency communication occurred before fatal patrol plane crash: Navy

Crew members aboard a maritime patrol aircraft that fatally crashed earlier this week had no communication, suggesting an emergency situation with the ground control tower, the Navy said Friday. A Navy P-3CK patrol plane crashed on a mountain in Pohang, about 270 kilometers southeast of Seoul, at 1:49 p.m. Thursday, six minutes after taking off for routine training from a nearby air base, killing all four Navy officers aboard. No civilian casualties were reported. "The last communication between the control tower and the aircraft occurred at 1:48 p.m., and there were no details indicating an emergency situation," the Navy said. The aircraft was usually based on the southern island of Jeju but had flown to Pohang for touch-and-go training, due to heavy civilian air traffic at the Jeju airport. The accident occurred when the aircraft was circling to the right after completing its first round of training, according to the Navy. The aircraft remained on a pre-arranged flight route, and the weather conditions in Pohang were favorable at the time of the accident, officials said. The armed servi

May 30, 2025By Yonhap
No emergency communication occurred before fatal patrol plane crash: Navy

‘Hopeful,’ ‘hesitant,’ but still voting: Citizens rush to early polls

A polling station in central Seoul’s Euljiro area was already bustling with voters on Thursday morning as the two-day early voting period for the June 3 presidential election kicked off at 3,568 voting sites nationwide. It took about 30 minutes for voters who weren’t registered in the district to reach the booths, while a separate line was designated for district residents. After presenting their resident registration cards and scanning their fingerprints for identification, voters received a ballot and an envelope to seal it in. Voters entered booths to mark their choices, then placed their folded ballots in envelopes and sealed them with stickers. Election observers monitored the entire process. While their preferred candidates differed, voters emphasized the importance of participating in a democracy and expressed hopes that the next president would revive the struggling economy. “You need to vote if you want a better country. That’s why I came out this morning,” said Jung Jung-yong, a 70-year-old print worker who voted before heading to work. “I hope this election brings

May 29, 2025By Park Ung
‘Hopeful,’ ‘hesitant,’ but still voting: Citizens rush to early polls

Hurdles remain for voters with disabilities in Korea

While Koreans headed to early voting stations for the June 3 presidential election on Thursday, a sizable segment of the electorate — voters with disabilities — confronted persistent barriers to accessing crucial election information and casting their ballots at polling sites. As of 2024, about 2.64 million Koreans — 5.1 percent of the population — have disabilities. According to the National Election Commission (NEC), this group has a high turnout rate of around 70 percent in elections. However, they still face significant barriers to fully exercising their political rights. Structural impediments have ignited frustration and a renewed call for action from disability rights advocates. “The voting rights of people with developmental disabilities remain barred, but we will not just sit and wait here. Guarantee our rights to cast ballots!” a group of voters with developmental disabilities and disability advocacy activists said during a press conference in downtown Seoul, Thursday. The group called on the government to make elections more inclusive for people with disabilities b

May 29, 2025By Lee Hae-rin
Hurdles remain for voters with disabilities in Korea

Will Korean universities step up to embrace Harvard’s displaced int'l students?

As uncertainty mounts for international students in the U.S., a prestigious Korean university is stepping up as a possible refuge. Korea University announced it would accept students whose academic futures are imperiled by the latest changes from the Trump administration, which include recent actions to limit foreign student enrollment, particularly at institutions like Harvard University. This is the first time a Korean university has moved to accommodate affected students, following similar actions by institutions in Japan and Hong Kong. In those countries, universities have announced plans while governments are reviewing support measures to attract Harvard students who may be forced to pause their studies in the U.S. Korea University announced it will launch a special support program for students, professors and postdoctoral researchers affected by the recent controversy over Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP). The initiative aims to offer academic and research assistance to those facing uncertainty amid the policy dispute. On May 22, U.S. President Donald Trump a

May 29, 2025By Jung Da-hyun
Will Korean universities step up to embrace Harvard’s displaced int'l students?
  • How Trump administration's move will affect Harvard's international students

License revocation constitutional for taxi drivers convicted of child sex crimes

The Constitutional Court ruled Thursday that the current law revoking a taxi driver's license upon conviction for sexual offenses against young people conforms to the Constitution. The Passenger Transport Service Act prohibits any person who receives a sentence heavier than a suspended prison term for a violation of the Act on the Protection of Children and Youth against Sex Offenses from obtaining a taxi driver's license during the probation period. Incumbent taxi drivers, if affected by the law, should have their licenses revoked. The court made the ruling in a petition filed by an incumbent taxi driver in Busan who was sentenced to 1 1/2 years in prison, suspended for three years, in February last year for violating the child protection law. The driver began the constitutional petition as well as an administrative lawsuit after the Busan mayor canceled his taxi driver's license in May last year. The court said it is important to protect the public from crimes and relieve the public's anxiety over using passenger transport services.

May 29, 2025By Yonhap
License revocation constitutional for taxi drivers convicted of child sex crimes

1 in 4 Koreans experience generative AI services in 2024: survey

One in four Koreans have used generative artificial intelligence (AI) services, such as ChatGPT, last year, a government survey showed Thursday. In the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) poll, which surveyed 4,420 people aged 15 to 69 who use smartphones and accessed the internet more than once a day, 24 percent of respondents said they had used generative AI services last year. The figure is nearly double the 11.7 percent reported a year earlier. Users mainly utilized these services for text creation, voice and music generation and image production. Seven percent said they paid for generative AI services in 2024, nearly a sevenfold increase from 0.9 percent a year earlier. South Korea ranked second after the United States in terms of paid subscriptions for generative AI services, the KCC said. By contrast, those who had not used the services cited reasons such as the high level of knowledge required and concerns over potential personal data leaks. Respondents also expressed concerns over various side effects, including job displacement, reduced creativity, copyright infringement and po

May 29, 2025By Yonhap
1 in 4 Koreans experience generative AI services in 2024: survey

All 4 Navy officers aboard patrol aircraft killed after crash in Pohang: Navy

All four Navy officers aboard a maritime patrol aircraft were killed after the plane crashed on a mountain in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, Thursday, the Navy said. The crash occurred at around 1:49 p.m., and witnesses reported smoke rising from the mountain with sounds of explosions. "A P-3 maritime patrol aircraft that took off at 1:43 p.m. for landing and takeoff training from an air base in Pohang crashed at a nearby location at around 1:49 p.m., due to an unspecified reason," the Navy said. Four people were on board — two commissioned officers and two noncommissioned officers. The Navy said it recovered the bodies of all four officers. The officers' identities have yet to be confirmed. The aircraft was usually based at a Navy unit on the southern island of Jeju, but had flown to Pohang for training, a Navy official said. The Navy said it has launched an investigative unit to look into further details and grounded the P-3 maritime patrol aircraft. No civilian casualties were reported. Acting President Lee Ju-ho was briefed on the crash by acting Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho and ca

May 29, 2025By Yonhap
All 4 Navy officers aboard patrol aircraft killed after crash in Pohang: Navy
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