South Korea - The Korea Times

Nat'l Fire Agency launches nationwide effort to speed up emergency care for mothers, babies

The National Fire Agency unveiled a nationwide integrated transport system designed to shatter provincial boundaries in emergency medicine, a move aimed at ensuring that critical patients — particularly high-risk mothers and newborns — reach life-saving care within the golden hour. The new framework, managed by the Central 119 Emergency Medical Services Control Center, acts as a high-stakes air traffic controller for the country’s ambulances and helicopters. By pairing a central command with a national dispatch operation, the agency can now coordinate hospital selection and transport methods in real time, often bypassing local facilities that are at capacity or ill-equipped for specialized crises. Recent cases illustrate the system’s clinical precision. In late April, a mother in Namyangju, a city in the northeast part of Gyeonggi province, suffering from a suspected amniotic fluid embolism — a catastrophic delivery complication — was stabilized by paramedics and whisked across the city line to a tertiary center in Seoul through central coordination. Days later, a foreign n

May 6, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan

Nat'l Fire Agency launches nationwide effort to speed up emergency care for mothers, babies

Presiding judge of ex-first lady's appeals trial found dead

The presiding judge of former first lady Kim Keon Hee's appeals trial on corruption charges was found dead near a Seoul court early Wednesday, officials said. Police discovered judge Shin Jong-o's body on a flower bed near the Seoul High Court compound in southern Seoul at around 1 a.m. after receiving a report about an hour earlier. A suicide note was apparently found at the scene, with police investigating the exact cause of his death, including the possibility of Shin jumping to his death. Shin presided over the appellate trial of Kim, the wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, at the Seoul High Court following her conviction by a lower court in January. Last month, the appellate court raised her sentence to four years from 20 months in prison, finding her partially guilty of involvement in a stock price manipulation scheme and guilty of accepting luxury gifts from the Unification Church.

May 6, 2026By Yonhap

Presiding judge of ex-first lady's appeals trial found dead

7 universities chosen for new AI education push

The Ministry of Science and ICT said Tuesday it has selected seven universities from among 10 schools to lead the training of artificial intelligence (AI) talent under a new “AI-focused university” initiative. The selected universities — Gachon University, Korea University, Sogang University, Sungkyunkwan University, Soonchunhyang University, Soongsil University and Yonsei University — will transition from the existing software-centered university program to the new AI-centered model. The initiative aims to upgrade university education systems around AI by leveraging the software education infrastructure already built at participating schools, in response to surging demand for AI talent across industries. Each selected university will receive up to 24 billion won ($17 million) over eight years, or about 3 billion won annually. Under the program, universities are required to establish a presidential-level task force dedicated to AI and AI transformation education, introduce AI convergence bridge courses, provide basic and applied AI education to all students and develop industry-l

May 5, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo

7 universities chosen for new AI education push

Mount Gwanak's surge in popularity takes its toll

Mount Gwanak, riding a wave of surging popularity, is struggling with growing problems of littering, vandalism and safety as visitor numbers continue to climb. On Monday, photos went viral of a puddle fouled with what appeared to be instant noodle broth and other waste, drawing sharp criticism. Local authorities managing Mount Gwanak moved quickly to respond. After the site was suspected of falling within its jurisdiction, southwestern Seoul's Geumcheon District said Monday it had confirmed that the puddle was located outside its boundaries. That same day, Gyeonggi Province's Gwacheon dispatched workers to clean the puddle. As the mountain is not a national park, it is jointly managed by multiple local authorities, including Seoul's Gwanak and Geumcheon districts and the Gyeonggi Province cities of Anyang and Gwacheon. Improper disposal of waste is not the only concern. Last month, graffiti spray-painted on rocks near a hiking trail prompted Gwanak District to carry out restoration work. The incidents follow a surge in visitors to Mount Gwanak, driven in part by a well-known fortune telle

May 5, 2026By Park Ung

Mount Gwanak's surge in popularity takes its toll

Over 50,000 back petition to restrict life-size sex doll imports into Korea

More than 50,000 people have signed a National Assembly petition calling for strict curbs on the import and distribution of life-size sex dolls, saying they violate women’s human dignity. This comes after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of an importer in April, confirming that adult-shaped sex dolls are not obscene materials under the Customs Act and can be legally brought into the country. As of Sunday, the petition had gathered 53,500 signatures, surpassing the threshold for a formal review. The petition was posted on the Assembly’s site on April 7, three days after the ruling. The petitioner argued that hyperrealistic dolls pose broader social harms and said imports should be halted, at least until a clear social consensus is reached. “Real (sex) dolls realistically replicate women’s bodies and treat them as sexual tools. This runs counter to the values of gender equality our society strives for and carries a high risk of encouraging people to see women not as persons, but as possessions or instruments,” the petitioner wrote. “Although the latest verdict was premised on t

May 5, 2026By Jung Min-ho

Over 50,000 back petition to restrict life-size sex doll imports into Korea

Korea's early education frenzy puts children's rights at risk, human rights chief warns

Korean children may excel in the classroom, but many are falling behind when it comes to physical and mental well-being, the country’s top human rights official warned Monday, sounding the alarm over the extreme culture of early private education that has come to define childhood for many families. In Korea, children as young as 4 are being funneled into English-language preschools, while many others enter private cram schools years before elementary school graduation to gain an edge in the country’s notoriously cutthroat college admissions race. Calling the spread of so-called “Entrance exams at age 4 and 7” a serious violation of children’s rights, Ahn Chang-ho, chair of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, warned that childhood is being consumed by an unhealthy obsession with competition. “Children should grow not according to the speed of competition, but through the depth of time in which they are respected,” he said in a statement released ahead of Children’s Day on Tuesday. The warning comes as the country’s educational success masks deeper vulnerabilit

May 5, 2026By Park Han-sol

Korea's early education frenzy puts children's rights at risk, human rights chief warns

Human rights watchdog chief says 'extreme' early education poses serious rights issue

The head of the national human rights watchdog on Monday took issue with the country's "excessive" early education fervor for young children, saying it is depriving them of their childhood. Private preschool programs, especially those specializing in English, have recently come under growing scrutiny over their intensive classes designed to prepare young children for competitive academic admissions. "The expansion of extreme early education is a serious children's rights problem," Ahn Chang-ho, chair of the National Human Rights Commission, said in a statement released a day before Children's Day. "Such excessive early education deprives children from time to play, rest and express themselves, as well as undermining their healthy growth and development," he said. Ahn cited a recent United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) report that ranked Korea fourth in terms of children's skills, but 34th in mental health and 28th in physical health out of 43 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the European Union. "While our children could be leading in ter

May 4, 2026By Yonhap

Human rights watchdog chief says 'extreme' early education poses serious rights issue

Half of upper elementary students use smart devices for over 2 hours

Nearly one out of every 2 upper-grade elementary school students use smart devices, such as smartphones and tablets, for more than two hours a day after school, a survey showed Monday. The Korean Teachers and Education Workers' Union conducted the survey on 2,804 elementary school students in grades 4 through 6 from April 9-22 and released the results ahead of Tuesday's 104th Children's Day. Nearly half of them, or 49.2 percent, answered that they use smart devices for more than two hours after school. Specifically, 21.1 percent reported using smart devices for two to three hours, followed by 15.9 percent for three to four hours and 12.2 percent for more than four hours. In particular, it was found that smart device use increases as students' grade level rises. On the other hand, only 4.7 percent of the respondents said they do not use smart devices after school. Notably, 7 in 10 respondents said they use generative AI, such as ChatGPT and Gemini. In response to a question about their experience using AI, 57.4 percent reported using it "occasionally" and 14.7 percent reported using it "fr

May 4, 2026By Yonhap

Half of upper elementary students use smart devices for over 2 hours

InterviewSeoulTech bets on industry-embedded campus model to stand out in AI era

Seoul National University of Science and Technology (SeoulTech) is doubling down on its identity as a practice-oriented institution, pushing to train graduate-level researchers in advanced fields and position itself as the go-to partner for Korean industry. SeoulTech President Kim Dong-hwan, who took office in December 2023, has centered his agenda on education innovation, stronger research capacity, deeper industry-academia cooperation and an expanded startup ecosystem. “SeoulTech is reinforcing a system where research outcomes translate into technology transfer and commercialization, drawing on its strengths in applied research and industry collaboration to build a university model that contributes to industrial development and national competitiveness,” Kim said during a recent interview with The Korea Times. “To produce top-tier engineers in advanced fields — particularly semiconductors and AI (artificial intelligence) — training must extend beyond the undergraduate level to graduate education,” he said, emphasizing that the university’s core strategy is to supply indu

May 4, 2026By Jung Da-hyun

SeoulTech bets on industry-embedded campus model to stand out in AI era

Seoul steps up school support for immigrant youth

Seoul will strengthen educational and emotional support for immigrant youth with a range of expanded programs to facilitate their integration into school life. Immigrant youth are those who enter Korea between ages 9 and 24 after being born and raised abroad, including children of multicultural families, overseas Koreans and those born abroad to North Korean defectors who married foreign nationals. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Monday the expanded programs are available at the Seoul Global Youth Education Center in Yeongdeungpo District, where key programs include Korean language classes on weekday afternoons and weekends. To accommodate students' schedules, the center has expanded its class hours to run weekdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For immigrant youth newly enrolled in university and struggling with academic language and peer relationships, the center offers tailored mentoring and multilingual peer counseling led by fellow immigrant youth who majored in psychology. To further expand its reach, the center signed agreements in February with

May 4, 2026By Park Ung

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