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  • Society

    Paichai High School baseball team suspended 6 months over 'Tank Day' chant against Gwangju school

    The Paichai High School baseball team has been suspended from national tournament play for six months after a chant evoked Starbucks Korea's controversial "Tank Day" promotion during a national tournament match against a school from Gwangju. The Korea Baseball Softball Association held a sports fair play committee meeting Wednesday to review the incident and imposed the suspension after determining the chant violated the spirit of sportsmanship and disrupted order on the field. During Monday's match against Gwangju Jeil High School at the 81st Cheongnonggi National High School Baseball Championship in Seoul's Mokdong Baseball Stadium, some Paichai players repeatedly chanted “Let's go, let's go, let's go to Starbucks” in unison. One student even shouted “Tank Day.” The chant was a direct reference to Starbucks Korea's "Tank Day" promotion launched on May 18 — the 46th anniversary of the Gwangju Uprising — which used the phrase in a reference widely condemned as denigrating the pro-democracy movement. The backlash at the time drew responses from consumers and politicians alike

    2 MIN READBy Park Ung
    Paichai High School baseball team suspended 6 months over 'Tank Day' chant against Gwangju school
  • Society

    Korean high school where 1 in 4 graduates heads straight to Samsung Electronics

    3 MIN READBy Hankookilbo
    Korean high school where 1 in 4 graduates heads straight to Samsung Electronics
  • Society

    New PM orders thorough measures with heavy rain forecast to hit southern region

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    New PM orders thorough measures with heavy rain forecast to hit southern region
  • Politics

    Presidential unification body adds over 2,000 advisers, plans overseas expansion

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Presidential unification body adds over 2,000 advisers, plans overseas expansion
  • Defense

    Navy chief to visit Hawaii this week for RIMPAC exercise

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Navy chief to visit Hawaii this week for RIMPAC exercise
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Society

Memorial services held across Korea on 12th anniv. of ferry disaster

Memorial services were held across Korea on Thursday in remembrance of victims killed in the 2014 Sewol ferry sinking. A total of 304 people, mostly students on a trip from a high school in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, died when the overloaded Sewol ferry capsized on April 16, 2014. The memorial events took place in an array of locations, including in Ansan, with President Lee Jae Myung in attendance. A service was also held in waters off the southwestern county of Jindo, South Jeolla Province, where bereaved families tied yellow ribbons carrying handwritten messages on cherry blossom decorations and threw chrysanthemums into the sea. Some 1,800 people attended the memorial service held in Ansan, where Lee said he felt "heavy responsibility" over the maritime tragedy and pledged his utmost efforts to make sure such a disaster never happens again. It marked the first time a sitting president has attended a ceremony related to the sinking. A siren rang for a minute at 4:16 p.m. across Ansan in remembrance of the day the ferry sinking occurred. Similar memorial services took place in Seoul and I

Apr 16, 2026By Yonhap
Memorial services held across Korea on 12th anniv. of ferry disaster
Law & Crime

Seoul court hands down jail term to operators for prostitution of Japanese women, adult film actresses

A Seoul court has sentenced the operators of a prostitution ring that brought Japanese women, including adult film actors, to Korea, marking the first time authorities have prosecuted an international network of this kind. Investigators said the ring exploited Korea’s 90-day visa-free entry program for Japanese tourists to smuggle the women into the country. The Japanese women involved avoided punishment because investigators could not confirm their identities. The Seoul Central District Court sentenced the ring's finance manager to 18 months in prison, suspended for two years, according to court records released Wednesday. A day manager and a night manager received suspended sentences of six months and four months, respectively. The court fined an employee 3 million won ($2,038). A hotel operator who provided venues in Seoul’s Gangnam District and other areas was fined 10 million won, while a customer who paid 1.3 million won for an encounter received a 2 million won fine. The judge rejected the venue provider’s claim that he was unaware the hotel was facilitating illegal activity

Apr 16, 2026By Hankookilbo
Seoul court hands down jail term to operators for prostitution of Japanese women, adult film actresses
Defense

Defense chief visits naval command center to inspect military readiness

Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back on Thursday visited the command and control center of the Navy to inspect military readiness posture, according to the defense ministry. Ahn made the visit to the command center of the Republic of Korea Fleet that oversees the Navy's missions at sea, underwater and on air at a naval base in the southeastern port city of Busan, according to the ministry. "I am proud of fellow soldiers diligently guarding the vast waters thrice the territory of Korea," Ahn was quoted as saying, while urging troops to "firmly" maintain their readiness posture with the mindset of guarding national security on the front lines. During the visit, Ahn also urged the Navy to upgrade their capabilities based on advanced assets, such as nuclear-powered submarines, while calling on the Marine Corps to assume its operational control over its military units, which currently lies with the Army.

Apr 16, 2026By Yonhap
Defense chief visits naval command center to inspect military readiness
Politics

PPP candidates keep distance from party leadership ahead of June 3 elections

Candidates from the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) are distancing themselves from party leadership ahead of the June 3 local elections, as internal tensions deepen and criticism mounts over leader Jang Dong-hyeok’s recent trip to Washington D.C. A growing number of mayoral and provincial candidates have called for the establishment of region-based campaign committees, effectively pursuing independent campaign structures rather than relying on the central party. The move reflects mounting concern that current leadership could hurt rather than help electoral prospects. The trend is visible across key battleground regions. In the conservative stronghold of Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, for example, there have been calls for a joint regional campaign committee to consolidate local support. In Seoul, incumbent mayor Oh Se-hoon — who is expected to win the PPP’s mayoral primary on April 18 — is considering setting up his own campaign team, while Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok is also distancing himself from party leadership. In Busan, Mayor Park Heong-joon has signaled a

Apr 16, 2026By Bahk Eun-ji
PPP candidates keep distance from party leadership ahead of June 3 elections
Campus

Korean researchers advance high-speed production of nano-thin lenses

A joint research team from Sungkyunkwan University and Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) has developed a breakthrough manufacturing process capable of producing advanced flat “metalenses” — ultrathin lenses engineered with nanostructures — at unprecedented speed, a step that could bring the technology closer to widespread industrial use. The researchers said Thursday that they had developed a roll-to-roll nanoimprinting process capable of producing more than 300 metalenses per second, boosting productivity by roughly 100-fold compared with existing methods. The findings were published Thursday online in Nature, one of the world’s leading scientific journals, the team said. The researchers said the technology overcomes a key bottleneck that has confined metalens production largely to laboratory settings, opening the door to high-speed, low-cost mass manufacturing. Metalenses are ultrathin optical devices that use nanostructures hundreds of times thinner than human hair to control light. They can replace bulky conventional lenses but have been difficult to com

Apr 16, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
Korean researchers advance high-speed production of nano-thin lenses
Law & Crime

Special counsel seeks 2-year sentence for ex-President Yoon over perjury

A special counsel team on Thursday sought a two-year prison term for former President Yoon Suk Yeol on charges of giving false testimony during former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo's insurrection trial. Special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team requested the sentence during the first and final hearing of Yoon's perjury trial at the Seoul Central District Court, saying the former president gave the false impression that the Cabinet meeting he convened before declaring martial law in December 2024 was planned before Han suggested it. "The defendant claims that he held the Cabinet meeting in order to declare martial law but he did not prepare the relevant documents in advance," a member of the team said. "On the contrary, he colluded with Han Duck-soo and (former Defense Minister) Kim Yong-hyun to write a false martial law proclamation after the event," he added. During Han's trial in November, Yoon was asked as a witness whether the then prime minister had proposed convening a Cabinet meeting to make the martial law declaration appear procedurally lawful. Yoon protested that the question was loaded

Apr 16, 2026By Yonhap
Special counsel seeks 2-year sentence for ex-President Yoon over perjury
Society

More fatal than DUI? Rising death toll linked to elderly drivers sparks concern in Korea

Traffic accidents and injuries declined last year in Korea, but fatalities linked to elderly drivers increased, highlighting growing safety concerns in an aging society. According to the 2025 traffic accident statistics released by the Korean National Police Agency and the Korea Road Traffic Authority Thursday, the total number of traffic accidents fell to 193,889, down 1.3 percent from the previous year. The number of injuries also dropped 2.4 percent to 271,751. However, total fatalities rose 1.1 percent to 2,549. Accidents involving elderly drivers — typically defined in Korea as those aged 65 and older — increased significantly. Such accidents rose 8.3 percent year-on-year to 45,873, while related deaths jumped 10.8 percent to 843. Accidents involving elderly pedestrians also edged up 1.7 percent to 11,498. Authorities said the rise reflects demographic changes, noting that the elderly population grew from 9.93 million to 10.51 million, an increase of 5.8 percent. The number of driver’s license holders in the same age group also rose 8.9 percent, from 5.17 million to 5.63 millio

Apr 16, 2026By Hankookilbo
More fatal than DUI? Rising death toll linked to elderly drivers sparks concern in Korea
South Korea

Report shows gov't aided over 10,000 victims of digital sex crimes in 2025

More than 10,000 victims of digital sex crimes received government-backed support last year, as Korea confronts a surge in online exploitation and growing fears over the spread of illicit content, the government said Thursday. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said a total of 10,637 victims were assisted in 2025 through the Central Digital Sex Crime Victim Support Center, according to a newly released report. The ministry said the center provided more than 352,000 cases of support — including counseling, content removal and referrals to investigative, legal and medical services — marking a 3.2 percent increase from a year earlier. Deletion of illicit content accounted for 90.3 percent of all services, rising 5.9 percent from 2024, the ministry said. The report showed that younger victims made up the overwhelming majority. Those in their teens and 20s accounted for 77.6 percent of all victims, while cases involving manipulated or edited images disproportionately affected younger groups, with 91.2 percent involving victims in their teens and 20s. The ministry said anxiety over

Apr 16, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
Report shows gov't aided over 10,000 victims of digital sex crimes in 2025
Society

Jung District to offer $28 mil. in credit guarantees, loans for small businesses

Seoul’s Jung District is providing financial support to small businesses and microbusiness owners facing economic uncertainties driven by domestic and global factors, including instability in the Middle East. Starting this month, the district office will offer 37 billion won ($28 million) in financial support to small business owners. The package includes 35 billion won in special credit guarantees that require no collateral, plus an additional 2 billion won in low-interest development loans available through June. The district has accelerated the rollout of the special guarantees by about two months compared to last year. On April 6, it signed an agreement with five commercial banks — Woori Bank, Hana Bank, KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank and NH NongHyup Bank — as well as the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation to expand support for local businesses. Under the agreement, the district and participating banks contributed a combined 2.8 billion won to the foundation. Based on this contribution, the foundation will provide guarantees worth approximately 35 billion won, equivalent to 12.5

Apr 16, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Jung District to offer $28 mil. in credit guarantees, loans for small businesses
Society

Gangnam District to mark Children's Day with 2 family festivals

Gangnam District will hold a pair of festivals for kids to celebrate Children's Day, offering hands-on activities, performances and outdoor play across two venues in the southern Seoul district. The first event, “Play, Laugh and Dream,” runs May 2 from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Irwon Eco Park in the southern outskirts of the capital. The interior of Irwon Eco Park will feature eight themed zones — including “All Yellow,” “All Pink,” “Play With Hinoki Cypress,” “Play With the Sea,” “Memories of the ’70s and ’80s,” “Glamping Go Go,” “Dinosaur Alert” and “Green Jungle Party” — designed to engage children’s five senses. An outdoor play zone will offer big blocks, a rail train, spinning riders and bouncy castles, while the surrounding lawn area will host photo opportunities, face painting and keyring-making activities. The second event called “Wriggling Playground of Hope” will take place on Children's Day on May 5 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Gangnam Children's Hall. Programs will be spread across the building from the basement to the sixth flo

Apr 16, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Gangnam District to mark Children's Day with 2 family festivals
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