my timesThe Korea Times
South KoreaSociety

Society

Korea Times
About Us
Introduction
History
Contact Us
Products & Services
Subscribe
E-paper
RSS Service
Content Sales
Site Map
Policy
Code of Ethics
Ombudsman
Privacy Policy
Youth Protection Policy
Terms of Service
Copyright Policy
Family Site
Hankookilbo
Dongwha Group
FacebookXYoutubeInstagram
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.

Korean schools deploy AI surveillance to stop bullying in real time

Inside the control room of a high school in Seoul's Seodaemun District on Wednesday, a monitor displayed students playing on the field, each tracked by a blue square marker. The moment two students appeared to push each other, the system flagged a possible fight on the screen and sent an alert to a school administrator's phone. The demonstration highlights how artificial intelligence (AI)-powered surveillance technology is turning school security from a passive tool into a real-time warning system. By rapidly detecting and analyzing unusual movement when two or more people are close to each other, the technology helps staff intervene immediately. Traditional security cameras have long drawn criticism from educators for only providing after-the-fact evidence. Now, schools are racing to eliminate blind spots. S-1, a security company, said its sales of video analysis systems — including AI-powered cameras provided to schools — increased 74 percent from January to May compared to the same period last year. The Seodaemun high school recently installed 14 additional AI-powered cameras equ

Jun 12, 2026By Hankookilbo
Korean schools deploy AI surveillance to stop bullying in real time

Retrospective honors Japanese pastor who captured humanity of Seoul's vanished shantytowns

Long before Korea transformed into an economic juggernaut and a global cultural powerhouse, parts of its capital were defined by sprawling shantytowns where the displaced and impoverished lived on the margins of society. On Saturday, a poignant new exhibition at the Cheonggyecheon Museum will pay tribute to an unlikely guardian of that era: the Rev. Motoyuki Nomura, a Japanese pastor and social activist who dedicated decades of his life to Seoul’s poorest residents. The special retrospective, titled "Nomura Motoyuki: The Star of Cheonggyecheon," opens June 13 to mark the first anniversary of his death at age 94. Drawing from a massive archive of roughly 3,800 photographs, diaries and scrapbooks donated by Nomura himself, the exhibition offers a rare, unflinching look at the final days of Seoul’s forgotten slums before they were erased by urban renewal. Nomura first arrived in Korea in 1968. Driven by a deep sense of atonement for the historical injustices perpetrated during Japan's colonial rule, he returned to the country more than 50 times between 1973 and 1985 to conduct relief

Jun 12, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
Retrospective honors Japanese pastor who captured humanity of Seoul's vanished shantytowns

1 in 4 Korean high school students sleep in class: report

Korean high school students have one of the lowest long-term absenteeism rates among OECD countries, but their actual classroom participation remains in question, with more than one in four students admitting to sleeping during class, a recent report showed. The findings suggest that schools are struggling to function as places of learning, as classes remain heavily geared toward college entrance exams and fixed curricula. The report called for changes to class material, teaching methods and student assessment standards. According to the report published by the Korean Educational Development Institute (KEDI) on Thursday, Korea recorded the lowest rate of long-term absenteeism among OECD countries. Korea’s rate also stood at 2 percent when the Programme for International Student Assessment measured students who had been absent from school for more than three months in 2022. The rate averaged 7.6 percent among the other countries surveyed. The low absenteeism rate, however, did not mean students were fully engaged in class, the report found. KEDI distinguished attendance from participatio

Jun 12, 2026By Hankookilbo
1 in 4 Korean high school students sleep in class: report

POSCO E&C faces headquarters audit, nationwide safety inspections after fatal accident

The Ministry of Employment and Labor has announced sweeping inspections of POSCO E&C after a series of fatal industrial accidents at the company’s construction sites, including the recent death of a subcontracted worker at the Sinansan Line subway project in Seoul. According to officials on Thursday, Minister Kim Young-hoon, who is currently attending the International Labour Organization’s conference in Geneva, was briefed on the latest incident and immediately ordered inspections of POSCO E&C’s headquarters and all its construction sites nationwide. The move follows an accident at a Sinansan Line construction site on Tuesday, in which a 35-year-old subcontracted worker fell about 15 meters to his death while carrying out work to widen an opening for cable tray installation. According to the ministry, one worker died in industrial accidents at the company's construction sites in 2023, three in 2024 and five last year. In cooperation with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, labor authorities will launch inspections at construction sites for the Sinansan Line, focusi

Jun 11, 2026By Jung Min-ho
POSCO E&C faces headquarters audit, nationwide safety inspections after fatal accident

‘It’s about democracy, suffrage, sovereignty of people’

University students across the country denounced the ballot shortages in last week's local elections as a fundamental violation of the right to vote and the Constitution, demanding sweeping reforms at the National Election Commission (NEC). They warned the political parties, both liberal and conservative, that they should not use the issue for their own political gains, saying the students are calling for a thorough investigation to establish the reason behind the ballot shortages and measures to prevent a repeat of the incident. Student bodies at 18 universities issued a joint declaration Wednesday, a week after at least 91 polling stations nationwide faced ballot shortages, leaving many voters unable to cast their ballots or forced to wait past the 6 p.m. closing time. Former NEC Chairman Roh Tae-ak resigned days later to take responsibility, and a joint police-prosecution investigation was launched this week. “We gathered here not merely to speak about the flaws in the electoral system, but to speak about the one vote that was taken from us,” Hwang In-seo, emergency council head

Jun 11, 2026By Park Ung and Jung Da-hyun
‘It’s about democracy, suffrage, sovereignty of people’

Gender equality minister backs anti-discrimination law, diverse family recognition

Korea’s gender equality minister has endorsed a comprehensive anti-discrimination law and pledged to reflect a broader range of family forms in government policy, while promising to take tougher action on crimes targeting women and present the government’s stance on juvenile offender reform by the end of this month. Speaking at Thursday’s press conference marking the first anniversary of the Lee Jae Myung administration, Gender Equality and Family Minister Won Min-kyong said legislation against hate speech and discriminatory action would be a major step toward protecting vulnerable groups. “Anti-discrimination legislation is highly significant, as it would provide effective remedies against unfair treatment of diverse families within our policy scope — including single-parent families and families with migrant backgrounds — and help protect their rights,” Won said. “I think the debate should be led by the National Assembly and the government ministries directly responsible for drafting the relevant laws. In that process, we can actively support those efforts.” Won also

Jun 11, 2026By Jung Min-ho
Gender equality minister backs anti-discrimination law, diverse family recognition

Korea's pandemic generation is struggling: New education chiefs are being told to act

Education experts are urging the 16 regional education superintendents, who officially begin their four-year terms July 1, to prioritize the severe learning and behavioral deficits of the pandemic generation over promises of cash handouts. Analysts say these handouts received far more attention during the June 3 local elections than structural policies tailored to specific student characteristics. Education experts warn that current elementary, middle and high school students belong to a generation that experienced the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2021 during a critical growth period, causing lasting developmental impacts. They urged incoming officials to carefully implement student policies that address these unique vulnerabilities. Declining reading scores and behavioral issues A primary characteristic of students who lived through the pandemic is a severe lack of basic reading skills and classroom discipline. Jang Se-rin, a teacher at Geumgu Elementary School, said that in underperforming rural and urban school districts, some upper elementary students still struggle with basic dic

Jun 11, 2026By Hankookilbo
Korea's pandemic generation is struggling: New education chiefs are being told to act

Lee calls for end to violence against police at protests over ballot shortages

President Lee Jae Myung on Wednesday urged protesters gathered in southern Seoul in protest over ballot shortages in last week's local elections to refrain from using violence against police officers stationed on site. "The insults and mockery directed by some protesters at police officers stationed at the protest site in Jamsil have crossed the line," Lee wrote on social media platform X. "(The protesters) have reportedly accused police officers at the scene of being 'fake police,' hurled verbal abuse at them, and even gone so far as to detain and assault them," he said. Lee's remarks come as protesters continued to rally for the sixth day Wednesday near the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Songpa District, protesting ballot shortages that occurred during the June 3 local elections. The lack of ballot papers temporarily halted voting at 26 polling stations nationwide on the election day, according to the National Election Commission (NEC), prompting public outrage. Some protesters who amassed at the vote-counting facility have reportedly used abusive language against police officers on d

Jun 10, 2026By Yonhap
Lee calls for end to violence against police at protests over ballot shortages

Why Korea’s pregnancy seats are so hard for pregnant women to use

Pregnancy is often celebrated as the start of new life, but for many women it also brings months of physical strain, caution and discomfort. Pregnant women have to watch what they eat, move more slowly and sometimes cope with mood swings, making everyday routines — including a subway or bus ride — harder than they may look to others. Pregnancy has long required public accommodation and Korea’s low birthrate has added urgency to campaigns encouraging people to support pregnant women in public spaces. The Ministry of Health and Welfare oversees the program, while the Korea Population, Health and Welfare Association handles the production and distribution of the badges. A small badge meant to make pregnancy visible on public transport has become a test of how much trust strangers will extend to one another. Most citizens support the badge’s purpose, but some complain about misuse or about pregnant women taking the courtesy for granted. The debate around priority seats for pregnant women has sharpened into a familiar divide. Some say passengers should give up seats as a matter of bas

Jun 10, 2026By Hankookilbo
Why Korea’s pregnancy seats are so hard for pregnant women to use

AI glasses used in TOEIC cheating case in Korea for 1st time

Cheating attempts using artificial intelligence (AI) smart glasses were caught during a Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) last month, the first such cases detected on one of Korea's most widely taken English proficiency exams. YBM Korea TOEIC Committee, which administers the exam in Korea, said Tuesday that two such attempts were caught during last month's regular session, with proctors noticing examinees wearing the devices. One examinee wore glasses that can be purchased through an overseas online retailer, while the other wore a model not yet available in Korea. AI smart glasses are wearable devices that combine cameras, microphones and speakers with generative AI. First released in Korea last month, the glasses can analyze whatever the camera captures and display the results directly on the lens, with no smartphone required. An examinee looking at a test sheet could see answers and translations appear in real time, making the devices highly susceptible to misuse. To address the risk, the committee has been training proctors to identify various forms of electroni

Jun 10, 2026By Park Ung
AI glasses used in TOEIC cheating case in Korea for 1st time
previous page
2122232425
next page

Most Read in South Korea