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Soonchunhyang University launches college dedicated to int'l students

Soonchunhyang University announced Thursday that it will establish a new college dedicated exclusively to international students as part of a broader overhaul of its education system to cultivate global talent. The new college will operate as an independent academic unit exclusively for international students, with its own curriculum and administrative system rather than placing foreign students across existing departments. The college will offer several specialized majors for international students, including undeclared major programs, global health, global industrial engineering and global sports management. The program will adopt a phased curriculum that integrates Korean-language instruction with major coursework across each academic year. The initiative will also align with the university’s strategic focus on AI-driven medical convergence. Leveraging its biomedical research infrastructure, affiliated hospitals and industry partnerships, the university plans to expand global programs in fields such as health care, medicine and industrial engineering. It aims to collaborate with loca

Mar 12, 2026By Jung Da-hyun
Soonchunhyang University launches college dedicated to int'l students

Itaewon tragedy hearing turns emotional as survivor recounts horror, police trade blame

The long-awaited public inquiry in the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush opened Thursday with tearful testimony from survivors and heated exchanges between police officials accused of mishandling emergency calls on the night of the disaster. The hearing came more than three years after the 2022 tragedy, following prolonged political gridlock, disputes over accountability and repeated delays in forming an independent investigative body. The National Commission for the Investigation of the Oct. 29 Itaewon Disaster, the special fact-finding group investigating the tragedy, began the first of two days of hearings in central Seoul. The session drew bereaved families and witnesses whose testimonies shed new light on a chain of failures preceding the crowd surge, resulting in the deaths of 159 people during Halloween celebrations. Tears filled the hall as Min Seung-ho, a survivor of the events, recounted the moments before the crowd crush in a narrow alley in Itaewon turned fatal. “From 10 to 11 p.m., there were at least three big pushes,” Min recalled. “No one was intentionally shoving, but peopl

Mar 12, 2026By Lee Hae-rin
Itaewon tragedy hearing turns emotional as survivor recounts horror, police trade blame

Record number of new PhD holders face low-wage trap in Korea

The number of new doctorate holders in Korea hit a record high of nearly 20,000 last year, but an increasing percentage of these highly educated professionals are taking low-wage jobs in a labor market structurally incapable of absorbing them. According to data released Tuesday by the Korea Education Statistics Service under the Korean Educational Development Institute, 19,831 individuals earned a Ph.D. from domestic graduate schools in 2025. This marks a 51.6-percent surge compared to 2015, the highest since the institute began tracking data in 1999. When records began in 1999, the country produced just 5,586 new doctorates annually. That number steadily increased, surpassing the 10,000-mark in 2010 before nearly doubling again over the following 15 years. Women largely drove the surge, accounting for a record-high 43.5 percent of all new Ph.D. recipients last year with 8,629 graduates. In 1999, only 1,144 women earned a doctorate, representing 20.5 percent of the total. The latest figure reflects a 7.5-fold increase over the past 26 years. Despite holding advanced degrees, a growing sha

Mar 12, 2026By Hankookilbo
Record number of new PhD holders face low-wage trap in Korea

Chonnam Nat'l University microfluidics study features on cover of leading journal

A research team at Chonnam National University has drawn international attention after its microfluidics study was featured as the cover paper of the 25th anniversary issue of a leading scientific journal. According to the university Wednesday, the team led by Park Jin-soo, a professor in the university’s School of Mechanical Engineering, conducted the international joint research with scientists from Germany’s Technische Universitat Ilmenau. The study appeared on the cover of Lab on a Chip, an international journal published by the U.K.-based Royal Society of Chemistry. Building on years of research in microfluidics, which examines how fluids behave at microscopic scales, Park’s team investigated how biological particles such as cells, bacteria and microalgae move and interact in fluid environments. Many earlier studies treated biological particles as perfectly spherical when conducting theoretical or computational analyses. Yet such assumptions often failed to align with results observed in experiments and clinical settings. To address this gap, the researchers focused on the fact

Mar 12, 2026By Jung Da-hyun
Chonnam Nat'l University microfluidics study features on cover of leading journal

80,000 subcontracted workers seek bargaining rights on 1st day of ‘yellow envelope law’

The first day after Korea’s revised Trade Union Act — the so-called “yellow envelope law” — took effect saw more than 80,000 subcontracted workers at 221 parent companies and public institutions seek bargaining with what they consider their primary employers. Officials at the Ministry of Employment and Labor told reporters Wednesday that, as of 8 p.m. the previous day, a total of 407 subcontractor unions and branches, representing about 81,600 workers, had filed bargaining requests with 143 private firms and 78 public entities. Among the companies facing new union requests for talks are major employers such as Hyundai Motor Group, Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Glovis, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hanwha Ocean, GM Korea, Yonsei University, CJ Logistics, POSCO, Coupang CLS, Korea Railroad Corp. and Incheon International Airport Corp. Only five of them — Hanwha Ocean, POSCO, Coupang CLS, Hwaseong city government and Busan Transportation Corp. — have posted notices acknowledging the bargaining demands and begun the legal process to handle them, including deciding whether to unify bar

Mar 11, 2026By Jung Min-ho
80,000 subcontracted workers seek bargaining rights on 1st day of ‘yellow envelope law’

Middle East crisis prompts honeymooners, church groups to rethink trips

Koreans planning honeymoons, pilgrimages and long-awaited overseas trips are scrambling to revise their itineraries as the conflict in the Middle East shuts down key transit hubs and throws global aviation into turmoil. For many engaged Korean couples, the crisis has hit hard. Over the past few years, Dubai has transformed from a mere layover into a standalone honeymoon hot spot for Koreans, marketed as “affordable luxury” and bundled with resort destinations like the Maldives and Mauritius. Its appeal has grown with K-drama shoots, social media buzz over Dubai chocolate and visa-free entry for Korean travelers, helping push Korean arrivals up 225 percent in 2023 and another 51 percent in the first half of 2024, according to Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism. That booming demand is now colliding with anxiety over war. Since the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February, Iran’s retaliatory attacks have raised fears that major Middle Eastern cities could become targets, particularly after reports that United Arab Emirates air defenses intercepted missiles and drone

Mar 11, 2026By Lee Hae-rin
Middle East crisis prompts honeymooners, church groups to rethink trips

Gov't to provide free sanitary pads in public facilities

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family will launch a pilot project to place sanitary pads in public facilities so all women can access menstrual products, marking the first such initiative by any Korean government. The ministry proposed the plan at a Cabinet meeting held at Cheong Wa Dae Tuesday. While existing support programs provide monthly vouchers worth 14,000 won ($10) to some low-income people aged between 9 and 24, the new plan would also install sanitary pad dispensers in public facilities for anyone to use. “The ministry will select 10 regions for the pilot program, taking into account factors such as population size and existing project conditions,” said Gender Equality and Family Minister Won Min-kyung. Sanitary pads will be placed in public facilities such as community service centers, public health centers and family centers. In rural, farming and fishing areas, they will also be supplied to locations such as village halls to improve accessibility for residents. The ministry plans to conduct the program with a budget of about 3 billion won funded by the central gove

Mar 11, 2026By Hankookilbo
Gov't to provide free sanitary pads in public facilities

About 6,300 Koreans leave Middle East over past 7 days

About 6,300 Korean nationals have left countries across the Middle East over the past seven days amid the ongoing military conflict in the region, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. The number of Koreans remaining in 14 countries in the region stood at about 14,700 as of Monday, down from some 21,000 last Tuesday, the ministry said, as many seek to return to their home country due to the widening conflict. The number of Korean short-term travelers in those countries fell to roughly 2,100 from around 4,100 over the same period, according to the ministry. The ministry has been making efforts to help Koreans safely leave the region. The Korean Embassy in Iraq helped 17 people, including one foreign national, depart for Kuwait on Monday. A special flight carrying 322 Koreans arrived home early Tuesday after departing from Qatar.

Mar 10, 2026By Yonhap
About 6,300 Koreans leave Middle East over past 7 days

Prosecutors indict woman accused of fatally drugging 2 men

Prosecutors on Tuesday indicted a 20-year-old woman accused of murdering two men by giving them drug-laced drinks. The Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office said Kim So-young was indicted under physical detention on charges of murder, special bodily injury and violating the Narcotics Control Act. Kim is accused of handing the drinks containing benzodiazepine, a depressant, to three men on separate occasions between last December and last month, resulting in two deaths. One of the three men recovered after treatment. Police took Kim into custody last month shortly after one of the victims was found dead. Prosecutors believe Kim murdered the victims to avoid conflict after exploiting them for financial gain. Investigators have determined the crimes were premeditated. Kim has been diagnosed as a psychopath after she met the criteria for antisocial personality disorder in a Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised test administered by police.

Mar 10, 2026By Yonhap
Prosecutors indict woman accused of fatally drugging 2 men
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