Society

T'way crew members save French passenger with CPR during flight

T'way Air crew members saved a passenger’s life by quickly responding to an emergency cardiac arrest situation on board, the Korean budget carrier said Friday. On April 2, T'way cabin crew member Kim Sang-man found a French national in their 60s experiencing a heart attack during the first meal service on a flight from Paris to Incheon. Kim immediately checked the passenger’s condition and performed CPR after finding he had no pulse and was not breathing. Another crew member reported the situation to the cabin manager and the cockpit and searched for medical personnel among the passengers on board. Cabin Manager Lee Hyun-jin, along with other crew members, continued CPR measures and used an automatic external defibrillator (AED). Once the passenger's heartbeat and breathing returned and he regained consciousness, crew members moved him to a seat in business class to rest, where the passenger's condition was observed with the help of a French nurse who was on board. The passenger was able to respond to questions from crew members and eat and drink, the airline said. "When I first found h

High school senior assaults teacher after being scolded for gaming

A high school senior in Seoul assaulted his teacher during class after being scolded for playing mobile games. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, the incident occurred on Thursday at a high school in Sinjeong-dong, Yangcheon District. The male student struck the teacher after being reprimanded for gaming during the lesson. Footage of the incident shows the student approaching the teacher at the front of the classroom and engaging in a heated confrontation. He slammed his hands on the teacher’s desk and threw teaching materials to the floor. When the teacher instructed him to leave the classroom, the student ignored the order and continued throwing objects. Moments later, he hit the teacher in the face with the hand holding his phone. The teacher was sent to a hospital following the incident, while the student was ordered to return home immediately. “The school has requested an official summary of the case from the local education support office,” said an official from the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. “The student was immediately separated from the t

Train services resume after disruptions caused by derailment

Train services on the southwestern Jeolla Line resumed after a brief interruption caused by a cargo train derailment at Jeonju Station on Thursday, the state railway operator said. The accident occurred around 4:30 a.m., when one of the wheels of a moving cargo train derailed, according to the Korea Railroad (KORAIL). Two KTX trains on the Jeonju-Iksan section of the Jeolla Line were halted, and passengers were provided alternative transportation on two buses, KORAIL said. Services resumed around 7 a.m., and an investigation is under way into the cause of the accident. (Yonhap)

Visitors tour Cheong Wa Dae

No belly landing marks found on Muan Airport runway after crash, suggesting lift remained until impact

New photos have raised fresh questions about the Jeju Air crash that killed 179 people in December, showing no visible signs of a belly landing on the Muan International Airport runway where the aircraft was reported to have touched down. Officials also confirmed that no runway repairs have been carried out since the accident. While the aircraft's collision with a localizer mound, part of the airport's navigation system, remains the primary cause of the massive loss of life, experts say signs that the aircraft maintained lift until impact could become a key variable in determining the exact circumstances of the crash. According to documents Rep. Son Myoung-soo of the Democratic Party of Korea received from the Korea Airports Corporation, no runway repairs were made following the Dec. 29 disaster. “Joint inspections by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board on Jan. 7, and a special inspection by the Busan Regional Aviation Administration on Feb. 10, found no significant runway damage,” the corporation said. Photos of

Busan sets new record with 30,000 medical tourists

Approximately 30,000 foreign patients visited Busan last year for medical treatment, the highest number since the southern port city launched its medical tourism initiative in 2009. This represents a significant recovery following the declines caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war. The Busan metropolitan government said Monday that it became the most visited medical tourism destination outside of the Seoul metropolitan area for the first time last year, surpassing Jeju Island and Daegu. The number of visitors to Busan more than doubled from approximately 12,000 in 2023. Japanese patients ranked first, accounting for 24.3 percent of all foreign medical tourists, followed by visitors from Taiwan, China and Russia. The island nation — just 49.5 kilometers from Busan at its closest point — topped the list for the second consecutive year. Last year’s figure represents a 500 percent increase from 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began. In 2022, the Ukraine war further decreased the number of Russian visitors to Busan, as direct flights between Russia and Busan were suspend

3 districts in Seoul to offer after-school programs for multicultural students

Starting in May, a new after-school program designed for students in need of extra support, including those from multicultural backgrounds, will be launched in Seoul’s southern districts. This initiative will expand upon an existing one called Neulbom School. The Seoul Nambu District Office of Education announced on Tuesday that it will launch a tailored after-school program in Yeongdeungpo, Geumcheon and Guro districts — areas with the highest concentration of multicultural students in Seoul. According to the office, 29 percent of the students in these districts come from multicultural backgrounds. The original Neulbom afterschool program was introduced as part of a nationwide government initiative to combat the country’s low birthrate by easing the child care burden on working parents. Building on this model, the education office is launching a more specialized program to meet the evolving needs of its student population. While the existing Neulbom School model offers the same standardized programs to a mixed group of around 20 students with varying backgrounds, the new initiativ

Major doctors' group urges talks to resolve prolonged standoff over medical reform plan

Korea's largest advocacy group for doctors on Tuesday called for the resumption of talks between the government and the medical community to end their prolonged standoff over a government-initiated medical reform plan. "We ask the government and the National Assembly to open a negotiation table to discuss the medical community's proposal of measures to normalize the medical system," the Korean Medical Association (KMA) said in a press briefing. "Normalization of the medical system is an issue the current government must solve before the next administration comes in," it added. The KMA's call comes amid a protracted walkout by thousands of trainee doctors and medical school students over the government's medical reform plan, which included a sharp increase in the medical school admissions quota. The ongoing walkout has disrupted hospital services across the nation, particularly emergency room operations. Students at most medical schools nationwide returned to classrooms last month as the government announced a conditional decision to bring the medical school enrollment quota back to around

Rehiring after retirement better than extending retirement age for boosting productivity: BOK report

Reemploying workers after retirement is more effective than simply extending the retirement age in keeping senior citizens more productive and active in the labor market, a central bank report said Tuesday. According to the report by the Bank of Korea (BOK), Korea's labor force is projected to shrink by 1.41 million workers over the next decade due to demographic changes, which is expected to reduce the country's gross domestic product (GDP) by an average of 0.33 percent per year. Under the circumstances, it is an urgent task to create a labor market where senior citizens work longer and more productively, but the extension of the statutory retirement age without wage adjustment would rather cause side effects, the BOK said. "If the retirement age is extended without reforming the seniority-based wage system and other market rigidities, we would continue to experience such side effects as a decline in youth employment, more early retirements and the dual structure in the labor market," Oh Sam-il, chief of the BOK's employment research team, said. "As of last year, about 38 percent of com

Victims' lawyers demand disclosure of communication records in Jeju Air crash

The legal support group for the Jeju Air victims, made up of lawyers from Gwangju and South Jeolla Province, held a press conference on Monday to demand a thorough and transparent investigation into the cause of the crash, according to Newsis and other outlets. The event marked exactly 100 days since a Jeju Air flight from Bangkok crash-landed without its landing gear at Muan International Airport, killing 179 of the 181 people on board, the deadliest passenger plane crash in Korea’s history. The group said it would file official information disclosure requests regarding air traffic communications and pursue various legal actions, including preservation of evidence and potential criminal complaints at the request of victims’ families. The Gwangju Bar Association’s Jeju Air disaster legal support group and the Gwangju-South Jeolla branch of Lawyers for a Democratic Society (Minbyun) held a press conference at the Gwangju Bar Association office, demanding full disclosure of all details surrounding the crash. “We will continue to fight alongside the bereaved families until the truth