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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
South Korea

Japan extradites comic piracy site operator to Korea for 1st time under bilateral treaty

In a milestone for international copyright enforcement, Korean authorities on Thursday extradited a 37-year-old man from Japan accused of running a massive online piracy network that illicitly distributed famous Japanese comics and funneled profits into illegal gambling advertisements. The suspect, identified only as "A," was taken into custody at Gimpo International Airport following an extradition process overseen by Korea’s Ministry of Justice and Japanese authorities. The handover marks the first time Japan has extradited one of its own naturalized citizens to Korea since the two nations signed a bilateral extradition treaty in 2002. The suspect, a former Korean national, left for Japan in 2017 and obtained Japanese citizenship in 2022. Prosecutors alleged that from 2015 to 2022, the suspect operated a rogue digital sharing site, illegally uploading more than 1,400 prominent copyrighted Japanese comic book titles, including global sensations like "Slam Dunk," "One Piece" and "Detective Conan." To monetize the traffic, the platform prominently displayed advertisements for illicit

Jun 12, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
Japan extradites comic piracy site operator to Korea for 1st time under bilateral treaty
South Korea

Seoul asks public to trade cars for bikes to cut carbon emissions, save fuel

Amid prolonged instability in the Middle East and growing volatility across global energy supply chains, municipal authorities in Seoul are turning to a ubiquitous fixture of city transit — the public bicycle — to curb oil dependence and reduce carbon emissions. The Seoul Energy Corporation, with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Korea Energy Agency, announced Friday the launch of the "2026 Energy Donation Riding" campaign. The monthlong initiative challenges the public to swap their steering wheels for handlebars, transforming ordinary morning and evening commutes into acts of environmental and civic charity. Beginning Monday through July 10, residents can register for the campaign through the city's public bike-sharing app "Ttareungyi." To tie the initiative explicitly to the working week, tracking is strictly limited to weekday commuting windows: 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. for morning trips, and 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. for evening returns. Participants can log up to two qualifying trips per day. The initiative aims to lower the barrier to sustainable living by embedding it within a dail

Jun 12, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Seoul asks public to trade cars for bikes to cut carbon emissions, save fuel
Health

Gov't to supply clinical-grade stem cells to speed up biotech breakthroughs

Korea’s National Stem Cell Bank will begin distributing clinical-grade induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to researchers and biotech firms later this month, a move expected to significantly lower the financial and regulatory barriers gripping the country’s regenerative medicine sector. iPSCs are adult cells, like skin or blood cells, that have been genetically reprogrammed back into an embryonic-like state, allowing them to turn into any type of cell in the human body. The distribution program, scheduled to accept applications on June 30, follows the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) breakthrough assembly of the cells in March. By establishing a formalized regulatory contract system, the government can now provide raw materials directly to laboratories developing advanced biopharmaceuticals, including cell therapies and artificial blood. For the country’s nascent biotechnology sector, the logistical assistance is immense. Securing raw materials that meet strict Good Manufacturing Practice standards has long been a bottleneck for local research institutions and startups. Bu

Jun 12, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Gov't to supply clinical-grade stem cells to speed up biotech breakthroughs
Law & Crime

Ex-President Yoon sentenced to 30 years in prison in drone infiltration case

A Seoul court on Friday sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison after finding him guilty of ordering drone infiltrations into North Korea in an attempt to heighten cross-border tensions and create a basis for his martial law declaration in December 2024. The Seoul Central District Court convicted the jailed former president on charges of benefiting the enemy and abuse of power in its ruling that matched special counsel Cho Eun-suk's sentencing recommendation. The court recognized that Yoon had ordered the operation in October 2024 to provoke Pyongyang and use the anticipated increase in cross-border tensions as a pretext for his Dec. 3 declaration of martial law. Yoon's legal team appealed the ruling hours later. The court also sentenced former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun to 30 years in prison for his role in such operations, higher than the 25 years sought by the special counsel. It sentenced Yeo In-hyung, former head of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, to 15 years in prison for his involvement in the operation, while Kim Yong-dae, former chief of the Dr

Jun 12, 2026By Yonhap
Ex-President Yoon sentenced to 30 years in prison in drone infiltration case
South Korea

Ballot shortage tests trust in Korea's election system: US expert

SEATTLE — A ballot shortage that disrupted voting during South Korea's recent local elections could have longer-lasting consequences for public confidence in the country's electoral system, according to a U.S. scholar of Korean politics. The controversy deepened Thursday when police raided the National Election Commission (NEC) and several local election offices as part of an investigation into ballot shortages that temporarily suspended voting at 26 polling stations nationwide during the June 3 local elections. More than 100 investigators took part in searches of seven locations, including the NEC headquarters in Gwacheon and local election offices in Seoul that experienced shortages. Police are investigating possible election law violations and dereliction of duty, while former NEC Chairman Rho Tae-ak, who resigned over the incident, has reportedly been listed as a suspect. The shortages sparked days of protests by demonstrators demanding a rerun of the elections, though election officials have maintained that the incident does not constitute grounds for a revote. Celeste Arrington,

Jun 12, 2026By Jane Han
Ballot shortage tests trust in Korea's election system: US expert
Law & Crime

US air base in Gunsan searched over fraud allegation against Korean worker

Prosecutors on Thursday visited a U.S. air base in the western coastal city of Gunsan to investigate allegations of fraud involving a Korean national working at the base. The Jeonju District Prosecutors' Office carried out the search and seizure at Kunsan Air Base in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, and the worker's home as part of its probe into the allegations. The worker is accused of buying materials for air base maintenance from an electronic material supplier at costs higher than the market value from 2021 to 2023 and partially pocketing the price difference. Prosecutors suspect the worker gained unfair profits of around 240 million won ($157,000) from such deals. A prosecution official said they were securing evidence related to suspicions of corrupt acceptance of benefits by a contract supervisor, while declining to give details of an ongoing investigation.

Jun 11, 2026By Yonhap
US air base in Gunsan searched over fraud allegation against Korean worker
Law & Crime

Samsung office raided over alleged insider trading tied to takeover of robotics firm

Prosecutors raided the headquarters of Samsung Electronics over suspicions employees of a local robotics company gained unfair profits using insider information when it was acquired by the chipmaker, legal sources said Thursday. Investigators from the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office carried out a search-and-seizure operation at the chipmaker's headquarters in Suwon, south of Seoul, the sources said. Financial authorities have referred a total of 16 people, including the head of the local industrial robot maker, Rainbow Robotics, and the firm's chief financial officer, to the prosecution for alleged violation of the Capital Markets Act. They are suspected of gaining around 3 to 4 billion won ($2.6 million) worth of unfair profits using insider information, when Samsung was acquiring the company's shares from 2022 to 2024. Rainbow Robotics is currently a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics. Prosecutors previously conducted a search-and-seizure operation at the robotics company's headquarters in Daejeon, some 160 kilometers south of Seoul, in March.

Jun 11, 2026By Yonhap
Samsung office raided over alleged insider trading tied to takeover of robotics firm
Society

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
2026 local elections

‘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’
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