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  • Society

    Behind bars in Cheonan, foreign inmate weighs past and future

    CHEONAN, South Chungcheong Province — Joe, identified by a pseudonym, is serving an 18-month sentence at Cheonan Correctional Institution, Korea's only prison tasked with handling foreign inmates. His name, age and nationality are being withheld at his request. “I caused a car accident while out with friends and entered prison last August,” Joe told The Korea Times. “I'm very sorry to my parents and the victim, who suffered great pain and harm because of me.” Inside the prison, his days follow a strict routine. He wakes up at 6 a.m., prepares for inspection, eats breakfast and waits for the next inspection. He spends his time studying English and religion, drawing and writing letters to friends. “At first it was hard to adjust, but the correctional officers helped a lot, so I haven't had any difficulties. I'm also adjusting to the culture here. Before coming to prison, I was too busy working to pick much up, but now I've been attending a prison program called 'Good Morning Korea,' learning about Korean culture.” Culture is one thing, but sharing a cell with strangers is ano

    2 MIN READBy Park Ung
    Behind bars in Cheonan, foreign inmate weighs past and future
  • South Korea

    To guard borderlands, Korea opts to screen foreign land purchases on 353 islands

    2 MIN READBy Lee Kyung-min
    To guard borderlands, Korea opts to screen foreign land purchases on 353 islands
  • Politics

    Lee to discuss pan-government drive to eradicate corruption

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Lee to discuss pan-government drive to eradicate corruption
  • Defense

    S. Korea-US combined exercise to conclude ahead of schedule after Trump order

    2 MIN READBy Yonhap
    S. Korea-US combined exercise to conclude ahead of schedule after Trump order
  • Society

    WEEKENDER Inside Korea's only prison tasked with handling foreign inmates

    4 MIN READBy Park Ung
    [WEEKENDER] Inside Korea's only prison tasked with handling foreign inmates
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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.

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Health

Military statistics show Korean Gen Z men growing heavier

The average weight of 19-year-old Korean men rose nearly 4 kilograms over a decade, and the obesity rate increased by about 8 percentage points. The Military Manpower Administration (MMA) announced Friday it designated the health indicators for 19-year-old Korean men as official national statistics and will publish the data annually. The statistics are based on conscription medical exam data from all 19-year-old Korean men and cover 24 indicators, including body mass index, blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, triglycerides, liver function, complete blood counts and mental health. Men born in 1996 weighed an average of 69.44 kilograms at age 19, while those born in 2006 weighed 73.37 kilograms, marking an increase of 3.93 kilograms. The weight gains were disproportionate: The heaviest 10 percent gained an average of 7.8 kilograms, compared with just 0.6 kilograms among the lightest 10 percent. The share classified as obese, defined as a body mass index of 25 or higher, rose from 23 percent to 31 percent, while the share of those at a normal weight fell from 49 percent to 41 percent

Aug 3, 2026By Hankookilbo
Military statistics show Korean Gen Z men growing heavier
Defense

Investigation launched over death of Marine noncommissioned officer in Pohang

Military authorities and police launched an investigation Monday after a Marine noncommissioned officer was found dead from an apparent gunshot wound at an off-base housing unit in the southeastern city of Pohang, officials said. The officer, whose identity remained withheld, was found dead with the gunshot wound at the housing unit for Marine Corps officers in Pohang, some 270 kilometers southeast of Seoul, earlier in the day, according to the armed service. The late officer is believed to have held the rank of sergeant first class. A Marine Corps official said they went to the accommodation unit to look for the officer as he did not show up for work and could not be reached by phone. No signs of foul play were found at the scene, according to officials. But it was not certain how a firearm and live ammunition were moved from the military unit, which was several kilometers away from his accommodation. The military authorities and the police are looking into the exact account of his death, as well as the origin of the weapon.

Aug 3, 2026By Yonhap
Investigation launched over death of Marine noncommissioned officer in Pohang
Defense

Navy conducts 1st undersea mine-sweeping trial using 'AI officer,' unmanned vessels

The Navy said Monday it carried out its first mine-sweeping trial using artificial intelligence (AI) technology and unmanned vessels, as it seeks to advance its future maritime operational capabilities. The trial, jointly led by South Korean defense company Hanwha Systems, took place at a naval base in the southeastern port city of Busan, involving its 730-ton Ongjin minesweeper and spy drones, as well as two unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and one autonomous underwater vehicle developed by Hanwha, the Navy said. The hypothetical exercise began under the scenario that the Busan port was blockaded by enemy mines. Hanwha's USVs are not equipped for minesweeping purposes, but they acted as if they were during this trial, as the vessels are expected to be upgraded with mine-clearing capabilities in the future, the Navy said. The trial mission was directed by an "AI staff officer" system, which analyzed weather and sea current conditions to guide the human commander on the Ongjin vessel and the two unmanned vessels. Based on the report from the AI staff officer, the Ongjin and the unmanned sh

Aug 3, 2026By Yonhap
Navy conducts 1st undersea mine-sweeping trial using 'AI officer,' unmanned vessels
Defense

Korea, US launch joint underwater survey for Korean War aircraft wreckage

Korea and the United States on Monday launched a joint underwater excavation project in waters off the country's eastern coast to find wreckage of U.S. aircraft that went down during the 1950-53 Korean War, Seoul's defense ministry said. The project, which is scheduled to run through Aug. 28, will take place in Gangneung and Yangyang in Gangwon Province, involving the ministry's Agency for KIA Recovery & Identification and the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). Some 40 people will be deployed for the project, including personnel from the Korean Navy's First Fleet and the Air Force's 18th Fighter Wing, as well as U.S. underwater planners and divers, according to the ministry. The search will begin in waters off Yangyang County, about 215 kilometers east of Seoul, to find the wreckage of a U.S. F4U Corsair fighter aircraft. The fighter jet crashed while conducting an escort mission of another damaged U.S. attack aircraft in February 1952, leaving one pilot dead, records showed. The research team will then focus on retrieving the wreckage of U.S. military transport aircraft, kno

Aug 3, 2026By Yonhap
Korea, US launch joint underwater survey for Korean War aircraft wreckage
South Korea

Korea wins key halal concessions from Indonesia to protect K-beauty exports

Korea’s booming cosmetics industry scored a crucial regulatory victory in Southeast Asia on Monday after a Korean delegation successfully negotiated a series of concessions to ease strict halal certification rules in Indonesia. Following high-level bilateral talks in Jakarta, Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced a landmark agreement that slashes administrative red tape just months before Indonesia’s mandatory halal labeling law takes effect on Oct. 18. Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population, represents a cornerstone market for Korean beauty exports. However, impending mandates requiring all cosmetics sold domestically to bear official halal certification threatened to stall K-beauty momentum due to stringent labor and facility requirements. In response, a joint public-private delegation led by Korean regulators met with Indonesia’s Halal Product Assurance Organizing Agency (BPJPH) and the Indonesian Food and Drug Authority (BPOM) from July 20-22. The negotiations yielded immediate breakthroughs designed to keep supply chains moving smoothly. Unde

Aug 3, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Korea wins key halal concessions from Indonesia to protect K-beauty exports
Society

Labor unions slam alleged gov't move to ease 52-hour workweek rules for Gwangju chip cluster

The nation's two major umbrella labor unions on Monday strongly condemned the government's alleged move to relax the 52-hour workweek rule for a new semiconductor production cluster to be built in the southwestern city of Gwangju. The Federation of Korean Trade Unions and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions issued a joint statement vowing to block the proposed special law that would exempt some white-collar workers in the Gwangju cluster from the 52-hour workweek rule and introduce other labor deregulation measures there. The labor unions then demanded a meeting with President Lee Jae Myung to discuss the issue. The special law, reportedly disclosed by the labor ministry to some ruling party lawmakers last week, included a plan to exempt managers and researchers in the top 3 percent of income earners from the 52-hour workweek limit, as well as overtime, night and holiday work allowances, and instead provide them with fixed allowances. The nation's 52-hour workweek law, introduced in 2018 to prevent overwork, mandates that overtime be limited to 12 hours a week, capping the total wor

Aug 3, 2026By Yonhap
Labor unions slam alleged gov't move to ease 52-hour workweek rules for Gwangju chip cluster
Politics

Lee returns home from South America tour

President Lee Jae Myung returned home Monday from an 11-day overseas tour that included meetings with the heads of leading U.S. tech firms and summits with the presidents of three South American nations. The trip first took Lee to San Francisco, where he met with Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang and the heads of three other leading U.S. tech companies to promote bilateral cooperation on artificial intelligence. During subsequent visits to Brazil, Chile and Argentina, Lee held summits with their presidents and agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation in areas ranging from critical and strategic minerals to crude oil imports. At his final stop in Frankfurt, he briefly met with members of the Korean community in Germany. Back in Seoul, the president was scheduled to resume receiving policy briefings from government ministries and agencies, beginning with the trade, environment and labor ministries Tuesday, followed by the foreign, defense and unification ministries the next day. Additionally, the president was set to hold a special meeting with his aides later in the day to disc

Aug 3, 2026By Yonhap
Lee returns home from South America tour
Campus

Undergraduate student wins excellent paper award at International Conference on Intelligent Computing

A Sejong University student won an excellent paper award at the 21st International Conference on Intelligent Computing (INTCOM 2026) held in Prague, the Czech Republic, from July 3-6. The university said Friday that Jang Ye-rin, a student majoring in artificial intelligence data science, earned the award for her paper, “AmbICL: Retrieval-Augmented In-Context Learning for Ambiguous Robotic Command Resolution.” INTCOM is an international academic conference in the field of information and communication technology, organized by the Korean Society for Internet Information. Jang was a member of a research team led by Gu Yeong-hyeon, a professor in the Department of Artificial Intelligence Data Science at Sejong University. She was the paper’s first author, with Gu and doctoral student Piao Xianghua serving as co-authors. “It is especially meaningful to achieve such a positive result at an international academic conference as an undergraduate student,” said Jang. She added, “I will use this award as motivation to continue conducting in-depth research that can make a meaningful and pr

Aug 3, 2026By Park Yoon-bae
Undergraduate student wins excellent paper award at International Conference on Intelligent Computing
Defense

S. Korea overhauls decades-old demining policy to reclaim borderlands

In a fundamental departure from decades of military-led legacy operations, South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense unveiled its inaugural five-year blueprint for landmine clearance, Monday. The initiative, formally titled the First Basic Plan for Mine Action (2027–2031), marks a historic shift in how the nation handles the hazardous explosive remnants buried across its landscape — transitioning from a reactive military chore to a standardized, civilian-inclusive national project. The scale of the danger remains a stubborn legacy of 20th-century conflict. Across approximately 200 sites covering 85 square kilometers — primarily clustered near the Civilian Control Line bordering the Demilitarized Zone, which separates South Korea and North Korea, and around former rear-area air defense posts — unexploded ordinance and landmines still restrict land use and pose quiet risks to nearby residents. Historically, the South Korean military handled clearance purely through the lens of tactical necessity, deploying soldiers with traditional detectors in broad, uncoordinated sweeps that

Aug 3, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
S. Korea overhauls decades-old demining policy to reclaim borderlands
Politics

PPP urges Lee to veto bill on stripping prosecution of investigative powers

The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) on Monday called on President Lee Jae Myung to veto a recently passed bill aimed at abolishing the prosecution's direct investigative powers. PPP lawmakers made the appeal as they held a meeting of the party's Supreme Council outside Cheong Wa Dae, slamming the bill as a measure that would only benefit criminals and undermine the rule of law. "When the passage of the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act abolishing the supplementary investigative authority was declared, the rule of law in South Korea was handed a death sentence," PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok said. "This is a bill that only benefits criminals, including President Lee," he added, noting that Lee's own criminal trials are currently suspended. Rep. Jang warned that public calls for Lee's impeachment would grow stronger if he refuses to veto the bill, stressing that the legislation is opposed by a majority of the public, legal experts and even some ruling party lawmakers amid concerns it could weaken protection for victims. Under the bill, the prosecution will be stripped of its aut

Aug 3, 2026By Yonhap
PPP urges Lee to veto bill on stripping prosecution of investigative powers
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