South Korea - The Korea Times

Family of lawyer killed in Tesla crash sues automaker over suspected sudden acceleration

The family of a lawyer who died in a 2020 Tesla Model X crash in Seoul has filed a lawsuit against Tesla’s U.S. headquarters and its Korean subsidiary, alleging sudden unintended acceleration and vehicle defects. Attorney Ha Jong-seon, representing the victim’s family, held a press conference on Thursday and announced that a civil complaint had been filed with the Seoul Central District Court a day earlier. The case centers on a fatal accident that occurred on Dec. 9, 2020, when a Tesla Model X crashed into the wall of an underground parking garage in Yongsan District, Seoul. At the time, the vehicle was being driven by a chauffeur, identified as Choi, while attorney Yoon, a passenger in the car, was killed in the crash and ensuing fire. The family claims that telematics monitoring data retrieved from the vehicle raises serious questions about the cause of the accident. According to the data, the accelerator pedal was allegedly pressed at 100 percent displacement for six seconds, yet the vehicle’s speed increased by only 39 kilometers per hour — from 55.84 to 94.95 kilometers per

Jun 20, 2025By Hankookilbo

Family of lawyer killed in Tesla crash sues automaker over suspected sudden acceleration

Global Friends hosts 1st Global Peace Awards in celebration of 20th anniversary

Global Friends, a Seoul-based nonprofit known for its humble yet consistent acts of service, marked its 20th anniversary with the inaugural Global Peace Awards ceremony at the Korea Press Center in Seoul on Thursday. Under the leadership of President Choi Kyou-taek, the organization presented awards in three categories: the Walton Walker Award, the Choi Jae-hyung Award and the Global Friends Service Award. Founded on the principle of “doing small but necessary work,” Global Friends has spent two decades supporting marginalized communities in Korea and assisting with education and postwar recovery efforts in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Though modest in size — comprising fewer than 200 members — the group has maintained a spirit of sustained and heartfelt volunteerism, relying on small contributions from everyday citizens rather than large-scale funding. The Walton Walker Award was posthumously awarded to U.S. Army Sergeant Kim Shin-woo, a Korean American medic who died in Iraq in 2007 at the age of 23 after throwing himself on a grenade to save his fellow soldiers. In 2017, the U.

Jun 19, 2025By Cho Jae-hyon

Global Friends hosts 1st Global Peace Awards in celebration of 20th anniversary

Excessive private education at early age hinders children's cognitive, social development: experts

Korea’s enthusiasm for early education may come at a significant cost to children as experts warn that excessive private tutoring and mounting academic pressures are taking a toll on their well-being and hindering their healthy cognitive and social development. “Excessive academic focus during early childhood can hinder the development of creativity, play skills and social abilities — all of which are critical areas for healthy growth,” said Eom So-yong., a professor at Yonsei University’s College of Medicine, during a forum on reducing private education for children held Wednesday by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and the Seoul Metropolitan Council. “Persistent stress at this age can negatively affect brain development. Excessive secretion of stress hormones can harm cognitive function and emotional stability," the professor explained. "It can later decrease interest in learning during the school years, lower motivation and lead to poor academic performance, reduced self-esteem and emotional problems as well." The remarks come amid Korea’s relentless pursuit o

Jun 19, 2025By Lee Hae-rin

Excessive private education at early age hinders children's cognitive, social development: experts

Korea’s gender pay gap is the world’s worst. Will transparency fix it?

Korea holds many firsts. But not all are worth celebrating. Since joining the OECD in 1996, the country has consistently ranked first among member nations for its gender pay gap. According to the most recent OECD data from 2023, Korea's gap stood at 29.3 percent— the widest in the organization. It means for every 1 million won ($725.32) earned by a man, a woman earns only 707,000 won. Although the disparity is shrinking, it still far exceeds the OECD average of 11.3 percent. This is not some obscure or irrelevant fact. A survey conducted by the labor rights group Workplace Gapjil 119 on March 8 — International Women's Day — found that Koreans already consider the gender pay gap the most serious gender-related issue in the workplace. "I was shocked to learn that a colleague with a lower title and less experience was earning almost the same salary," one respondent said. Another said, "I've heard people say that women shouldn't be promoted." Despite public awareness, the root causes of the gap remain difficult to trace. There is no clear statistical framework or government data to accur

Jun 19, 2025By Lee Yeon-woo

Korea’s gender pay gap is the world’s worst. Will transparency fix it?

Kim Keon Hee allegedly promised 40% return on $1.44 million entrusted to stock ring

Prosecutors investigating the alleged stock manipulation scheme involving Deutsche Motors have obtained audio recordings in which first lady Kim Keon Hee is heard promising a 40 percent profit in exchange for entrusting 2 billion won ($1.44 million) to individuals implicated in the scheme. The recordings raise fresh suspicions that Kim was aware her account was being used to manipulate stock prices. According to sources contacted by the Hankook Ilbo on Wednesday, the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, which reopened the investigation in April, secured hundreds of audio files during a search of Mirae Asset Securities. In one of the recordings, Kim is heard saying, “I left my account with Blackpearl Invest, and I’m supposed to give them 40 percent of the profit.” Investigators suspect that this revenue-sharing arrangement supports the allegation that Kim colluded in the manipulation. Kim’s Mirae Asset account was found to have been used for trades suspected of being pre-arranged, a common tactic in stock manipulation, between October 2010 and January 2011. During that period, she alleg

Jun 19, 2025By Hankookilbo

Kim Keon Hee allegedly promised 40% return on $1.44 million entrusted to stock ring

Five more subway maintenance workers diagnosed with blood cancer, bringing total to 13

Five additional maintenance workers at Seoul Metro have been diagnosed with blood cancers, bringing the total number of known cases at the agency to 13, officials said Wednesday. The latest cases include two workers who have already died, raising new concerns over workplace safety and potential long-term exposure to carcinogenic substances. The workers, who were responsible for maintaining electric railcars on Lines 1 through 8, were found to have leukemia or lymphoma, both types of blood cancer. All five had performed core maintenance tasks such as dismantling, cleaning, repairing, welding, grinding and repainting trains over several years. The findings follow the discovery last year that eight other workers had been similarly diagnosed. According to a recent report submitted to Seoul Metro by the Korea National Open University’s industry-academic cooperation team, which conducted an investigation beginning in December 2023, two of the five newly identified workers died from acute leukemia. One, born in 1970, joined the company in 1993 and was diagnosed in 2009 after years of maintenan

Jun 19, 2025By Hankookilbo

Five more subway maintenance workers diagnosed with blood cancer, bringing total to 13

Agriculture ministry to launch task force on stabilizing food supply amid price hikes

The agriculture ministry said Wednesday it will launch a task force on stabilizing the supply of agricultural and livestock products to rein in soaring food prices. The move comes as part of the government's broader plan to control rising prices of agricultural and processed food products and ease the financial burden on people's livelihoods. Prices of processed foods here rose more than 4 percent from a year earlier in April and May as some 60 local food companies raised the prices of their products since late last year, according to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Rural Affairs. The task force plans to hold meetings with food companies to discuss ways to minimize the price hike of their products and devise measures to relieve financial burdens on local firms amid a hike in international prices of cocoa, coffee and other food ingredients. The agriculture ministry plans to extend the import tariff quota of four food ingredients, initially planned to be lifted this month, until the end of this year and provide a 20 billion-won ($14.6 million) subsidy to small and medium-sized food m

Jun 18, 2025By Yonhap

Agriculture ministry to launch task force on stabilizing food supply amid price hikes

Korean firefighters hailed for 'swift response' in rescuing crash victim in Colorado

A team of firefighters from Korea, who were taking part in a swiftwater rescue training course in Colorado, sprang into action at the scene of a motorway crash. They were praised by U.S. emergency services for their quick and professional response. According to the National Fire Agency of Korea, five firefighters rescued an unconscious driver who was trapped inside an overturned vehicle following a collision involving two cars near Denver at around 10:50 p.m. local time on June 13. The five firefighters — Lee Ki-pyeong, Pyeon Young-beom, Jo In-seong and Kim Young-jin of the Central 119 Rescue Headquarters, and Kim Goo-hyeon of the South Jeolla Fire Department — had been returning to their accommodations after training when they witnessed the crash. They immediately pulled over their vehicle, called 911 and began a rescue operation. After entering the overturned vehicle through the rear window, they extricated the unconscious driver and performed CPR until local emergency services arrived and took over. Despite their efforts, the driver was later pronounced dead in a hospital. Neverth

Jun 18, 2025By Kim Hyun-bin

Korean firefighters hailed for 'swift response' in rescuing crash victim in Colorado

YouTube dominates news consumption among older, conservative Koreans: study

Koreans aged over 50 and those with conservative political leanings tend to consume news through YouTube much more than younger people and those with progressive tendencies. According to the latest issue of Media Survey, published by the Korea Press Foundation on Tuesday, these findings were included in the Digital News Report 2025, a survey conducted by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford. Since its first edition in 2012, the annual report has compiled survey results on digital news usage and perceptions in major countries. This year’s edition is based on an online survey of 98,072 individuals across 48 countries, including 2,038 respondents from Korea. The survey shows that, alongside the Philippines, Korea ranks fourth in terms of YouTube news consumption, with usage at 50 percent. This puts it behind Thailand and India at 55 percent, and Kenya which has a usage rate of 54 percent. The figure was 20 percentage points higher than the global average of 30 percent, indicating that YouTube has become a major news source in the country. Notably, t

Jun 18, 2025By Lee Hae-rin

YouTube dominates news consumption among older, conservative Koreans: study

Namyeong-dong: Where Korea’s democracy was beaten, not broken

In May 1984, Lee Kyung-eun, who had lost her unborn child after being beaten by the police while attending a memorial rally for victims of the 1980 pro-democracy movement in Gwangju, wrote a letter to her baby. “I wonder if there’s an angel in heaven to hold you. Mommy wants to be by your side right now…,” she wrote. “Your older brother cries ‘Mommy, Mommy’ whenever I’m out of sight, but I’ve never even heard you cry.” In the letter, Lee recounted how she had lost her child. “On May 19, your father and I attended a memorial rally while you were still in my womb. On the way home, we were followed by the cold stares of countless plainclothes police officers. We had believed their promise that participants could return home safely, but before long our path was blocked by unknown young men and riot police. Struck by shields and batons, we fell to the ground and were trampled on mercilessly.” Her story is one of many featured at the National Museum of Korean Democracy, which opened last Tuesday in the former Anti-Communist Interrogation Office building in Namyeong-don

Jun 18, 2025By Park Ung

Society