South Korea - The Korea Times

'Too exhausted': Korean soldier’s urine turns cola-colored after alleged forced push-ups

A soldier at a front-line military unit in Gangwon Province developed rhabdomyolysis, a severe muscle condition, after a superior allegedly forced him to continue doing push-ups despite repeated requests to stop. Authorities from the Ministry of National Defense said they are investigating the incident following a formal complaint from the victim's family, who allege abuse of authority, abuse and assault. The episode occurred March 9 during a physical training session when a company commander ordered soldiers to complete a run and 100 push-ups. The victim was exercising with a fellow soldier when the offender intervened. At approximately 15 repetitions, the sergeant allegedly pushed on his back, criticized his form and forced him to continue doing push-ups. The soldier explicitly asked to stop three times, telling his superior, "I'm too exhausted, sergeant," "I don't think this is right" and "I don't think I can do this because I'm exhausted." The sergeant ignored his requests, forcing the victim to complete nearly 100 repetitions before the soldier began breathing heavily and stopped. T

May 28, 2026By Hankookilbo

'Too exhausted': Korean soldier’s urine turns cola-colored after alleged forced push-ups

Seoul overpass collapsed during inspection of deflected section, city gov't says

Workers on the Seosomun overpass had already detected a dangerous deflection in the structure hours before it collapsed, but continued to work on the span rather than leave the site, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Wednesday in its first detailed account of the accident. According to Lim Choon-keun, head of the city government's infrastructure bureau, workers began cutting the S9 slab — the ninth deck segment spanning the railway — of the 60-year-old overpass at around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday. Roughly an hour later, they detected a deflection of about 29 millimeters between two girders and halted the operation. By midafternoon, as engineers and officials were back on the span to inspect the damage and discuss whether to shut down road and rail traffic below. At 2:33 p.m., without warning, a 15-meter section collapsed onto the tracks, killing three people and seriously injuring three others. Asked why the workers were sent onto a section that had already shown dangerous signs, the official said it was probably difficult to assess the damage from outside. “To check the condition of

May 27, 2026By Jung Min-ho

Seoul overpass collapsed during inspection of deflected section, city gov't says

Childbirths soar to 7 year-high in March amid growing number of new marriages

The number of babies born in Korea shot up nearly 20 percent in March to a seven-year high from 2025 amid a higher number of marriages, government data showed Wednesday. A total of 25,200 babies were born in March, jumping 19.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics. It marked the highest number since 27,049 tallied in March 2019. The number of newborns has been on an upward trend since July 2024. Over the January-March period, the total number of births came to 75,013, up 14.8 percent from a year earlier. It was also the highest since the first quarter of 2019. The country's total fertility rate, the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime, rose 0.15 from a year earlier to 0.93 in March. The rate still remains well below the 2.1 births per woman needed to maintain a stable population without immigration. The number of marriages in March rose 10.1 percent from a year earlier to 21,112. The figure rose for 22 consecutive months through January before tumbling in February on the fewer number of working days d

May 27, 2026By Yonhap

Childbirths soar to 7 year-high in March amid growing number of new marriages

K-water partners with OpenAI on AI-driven climate, water management

Korea Water Resources Corp. (K-water) and OpenAI signed a memorandum of understanding Tuesday to develop artificial intelligence (AI)-powered water management technologies for climate change and disaster response, marking OpenAI's first collaboration with a climate-tech company worldwide, K-water said. Under the agreement, the two sides will cooperate in four key areas: accelerating AI transformation in water management, exploring generative AI solutions tailored to K-water, jointly developing AI technologies for climate disaster response and water management, and pursuing global expansion in climate and water-tech businesses. The partnership combines K-water's decades of operational expertise with OpenAI's globally competitive AI capabilities to strengthen responses to climate-related disasters such as floods and droughts, the state-run corporation said. K-water has been accelerating the adoption of AI-based technologies across the water management sector, including digital twin systems that recreate waterways in virtual environments and AI-powered water purification plants. The compan

May 27, 2026By Jung Da-hyun

K-water partners with OpenAI on AI-driven climate, water management

InterviewHow shy Cambodian student became AI developer in Korea through GKS

Studying, finding employment and settling down in a foreign country is rarely a smooth process — even for recipients of the Global Korea Scholarship (GKS), a government-funded program that covers tuition, living costs and language training for outstanding international students. What it cannot guarantee is that they stay. Sereimony Sek, a GKS alumna who arrived from Cambodia at 17 and now works as an artificial intelligence (AI) developer at a Seoul telecommunications company, says the difference often comes down to something simpler: whether students ask for help. “I think it’s important to seek help when we need it because I’ve seen some GKS students give up their scholarships and return home for various reasons,” she told The Korea Times in a recent interview. “Because we come here through the GKS program, we already have a strong support network around us, so students shouldn’t be afraid to reach out to others or ask for help.” Sek believes that such support systems and alumni networks can play an important role in helping international students adapt to life in Korea

May 27, 2026By Jung Da-hyun

How shy Cambodian student became AI developer in Korea through GKS

3 dead, 3 injured as Seoul overpass collapses under demolition

A collapse at an overpass demolition site left three people dead and three others injured in Seoul on Tuesday. According to fire and city authorities, the collapse occurred at around 2:33 p.m. at the site of the Seosomun Overpass demolition in Seodaemun District, central Seoul. Officials say part of the bridge deck suddenly caved in during safety inspection work, falling onto workers and vehicles below. Among the 12 workers present at the site, three men — one in his 50s and two in their 60s — were killed. Three others sustained injuries to the head, waist, ribs and other parts; all were transported to nearby hospitals. The incident occurred while engineers were carrying out a safety assessment following the discovery of a subsidence gap during slab-cutting work earlier in the day, according to officials. Lee Jong-un, head of the Seodaemun Fire Station’s disaster safety bureau, told reporters it appears that the girder collapsed while they were inside. Girders are structural beams that support the weight of a bridge deck. Emergency responders arrived at the scene within minutes. At

May 26, 2026By Jung Min-ho

3 dead, 3 injured as Seoul overpass collapses under demolition

580 mil. sheets, largely unread: Election pamphlet waste problem returns ahead of June 3 vote

With the June 3 local elections approaching, election pamphlets are set to arrive at households nationwide, but concerns are growing that the mass mailings waste resources while going largely unread. Under the Public Official Election Act, election pamphlets must be mailed to every household no later than 10 days before election day. This year's election pamphlets were sent out by Sunday and are expected to arrive by month's end at the latest. The law caps pamphlets for local government heads at 12 pages and those for local council members at eight. The environmental cost is steep. According to the National Election Commission (NEC), election pamphlets for the 2022 local elections totaled 580 million sheets and weighed 12,853 tons, enough to consume some 210,000 trees. Yet few voters actually read them. A survey of 6,820 eligible voters by the Korean Government Employees' Union between February and March found that just 11 percent read the pamphlets in detail, while 52 percent skim them and 37 percent do not read them at all or throw them away unopened. Some lawmakers have tried to move

May 26, 2026By Park Ung

580 mil. sheets, largely unread: Election pamphlet waste problem returns ahead of June 3 vote

Seoul expands hunt for global unicorns with high-stakes startup prize

Korea’s capital is ramping up efforts to position itself as a premier global tech hub, leveraging the international momentum of K-culture to lure promising foreign startups into its ecosystem. The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Tuesday that it was launching the "2026 Seoul Unicorn Challenge," a prominent international startup competition aimed at discovering innovative companies and embedding them within the city’s rapidly growing venture network. The initiative reflects a broader strategy by municipal officials to upgrade Seoul's domestic startup landscape to global standards while forging cross-border corridors for local firms. Established in 2020 as the "Korea Challenge," the competition underwent an institutional pivot in 2023 to allow non-Korean entrants. Past graduates have secured significant venture capital. The 2025 grand prize winner BeringLab, an artificial intelligence translation developer, successfully raised 3 billion won ($2.2 million) during a pre-Series A round following its victory. This year, the city has adjusted its quotas to heavily favor internationa

May 26, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan

Seoul expands hunt for global unicorns with high-stakes startup prize

Central Seoul district candidate pushes foreign tourist tax

The increasing number of international tourists visiting Korea has prompted calls to review the introduction of a tourist tax to cover local government expenses to address problems resulting from overtourism. The idea was floated recently by Lee Dong-hyun of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), a candidate for head of Jung District in central Seoul, with party leaders also supporting the suggestion. Lee has made an international tourist tax a centerpiece of his campaign pledges, promising to turn the tourism boom into benefits for residents. “Jung District is the most visited district in Korea among foreigners, yet the burden of waste and noise falls entirely on residents,” Lee said during a Sunday campaign rally. “But not a single benefit from that prosperity flows back to our residents. I will absolutely open the floodgates of our district's development through the introduction of a foreign tourist tax.” Jung District, located at the heart of Seoul, is home to some of Seoul's most iconic landmarks, including Myeong-dong, Mount Nam, Namdaemun Market, Dongdaemun Design Pla

May 25, 2026By Park Ung

Central Seoul district candidate pushes foreign tourist tax

1 in 14 youths repeat self-harm attempts within 2 months

One in 14 people aged 24 and under who visit an emergency room in Seoul following a suicide attempt or self-harm returns within two months for the same reason, highlighting the need for stronger postcrisis care for young people. According to the findings of a joint research team from Seoul Metropolitan Government-Seoul National University Hospital Boramae Medical Center and Yonsei University College of Medicine, released this month, the 7.1 percent revisit rate was recorded among 1,445 people aged 24 and under who visited Seoul emergency rooms for suicide attempts or self-harm between 2015 and 2022. They made up 32.5 percent of the 4,452 total patients during the period. Among those aged 24 and under, 75.4 percent were female, with most attempts being impulsive and nonlethal, and 79.4 percent were discharged home. The study also identified several factors associated with higher revisit risk. Women were 1.93 times more likely than men to return, while the risk faced by those living alone was 1.57 times higher. A history of psychiatric treatment raised the risk by 2.41 times, and a prior