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Korean student accused of assaulting teacher for 20 minutes, throwing chair

Education authorities in Jeju are investigating an incident where an elementary school student allegedly assaulted a teacher for about 20 minutes in a state-run school counseling program. The assault took place in mid-April, according to the Jeju City Office of Education and Jeju Teachers' Union. During the confrontation, the student punched and kicked the teacher and threw a chair and other objects. The teacher suffered injuries to the hands and feet, requiring two weeks of treatment. The teacher took sick leave and has received treatment for insomnia, anxiety and depression. The regional teachers' rights protection committee under the Jeju City Office of Education opened an investigation on April 20 at the teacher's request. "I hope what I went through does not happen again," the teacher said through the Jeju Teachers' Union. "I also hope proper measures will be taken so the student can reflect on his behavior, and that a safe educational environment will be created where teachers' mission and responsibility are not neglected." The Jeju Teachers' Union said stronger protections for teac

May 15, 2026By Hankookilbo
Korean student accused of assaulting teacher for 20 minutes, throwing chair
Politics

Lee appoints new vice health minister, customs office commissioner

President Lee Jae Myung has appointed a new vice health minister, the head of the customs office and four other senior government officials, a presidential official said Friday. The president appointed Hyun Soo-yeob, currently a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Welfare, as first vice health minister, the Cheong Wa Dae official said in a press briefing. Lee Jong-wook, currently a senior official at the Korea Customs Service, was appointed as the chief of the agency. Hyun is a graduate of Seoul National University, where she majored in nursing, and has served in various posts at the health ministry, while Lee majored in economics at Yonsei University and has spent much of his career at the customs office, according to Lee Kyu-youn, senior presidential secretary for public relations and communication. In the personnel shake-up, Mun Seong-yo, a former senior official at the land ministry, was appointed head of the Saemangeum Development and Investment Agency, while former lawmaker Hong Mi-young was named chair of the National Commission on Sustainable Development. Paik Jong-woo, a

May 15, 2026By Yonhap
Lee appoints new vice health minister, customs office commissioner
South Korea

Seoul targets Europe’s lucrative MICE market with global partnership push

The Seoul city government is taking an aggressive new swing at Europe’s lucrative meetings and conventions market, dispatching a coalition of hotels, convention operators and travel agencies to Germany next week in a bid to attract more international events to the Korean capital. The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Tourism Organization said Friday they will operate a standalone Seoul promotional pavilion during IMEX Frankfurt 2026, Europe’s largest MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) trade show, from Monday through Wednesday in Frankfurt, Germany. The city plans to strengthen direct marketing to global event organizers while deepening partnerships with international meeting planners and convention networks. Twelve members of the Seoul MICE Alliance will participate under the banner “TEAM SEOUL,” including Coex, Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas, The Westin Seoul Parnas, Four Seasons Hotel Seoul, Hotel Shilla, MNC Communications, Kims M&T, Travel Easy, Sally Tour, Golden Tour Korea DMC, HNT and E TourisM. The Seoul pavilion will focus heavily on

May 15, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
Seoul targets Europe’s lucrative MICE market with global partnership push
South Korea

Korean farm tech finds growing market in Uzbekistan

Korea moved to deepen agricultural ties with Uzbekistan this week, advancing exports of Korean dairy breeding technology and expanding cooperation on high-yield rice cultivation projects that officials said could help modernize farming in Central Asia. The Rural Development Administration said Friday that Administrator Lee Seung-don visited Uzbekistan Wednesday and Thursday to strengthen the spread of Korean dairy and rice farming technologies through joint projects with the Uzbek government. During a field demonstration at Sultan Farm in the Syrdarya region Wednesday, Korean embryo exporters and the Uzbek farm signed a letter of intent on the export and import of Korean dairy cattle embryos, formalizing plans for broader cooperation. According to the administration, pregnancy success rates for cattle implanted with Korean dairy embryos reached 50 percent, compared with 30 percent for other imported embryos. Dairy cows treated with Korean veterinary medicines also produced an average of 2.4 kilograms more milk per day. Lee later visited Uzbekistan’s Rice Research Institute, where he me

May 15, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
Korean farm tech finds growing market in Uzbekistan
South Korea

Ancient royal tombs open forest paths to visitors this spring

For most of the year, the pine-scented silence of Korea’s royal burial grounds remains undisturbed, a sanctuary for the spirits of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) and the centuries-old ecosystems that guard them. But on Friday, the heavy gates to these secluded landscapes swung open, marking the start of a brief seasonal window where the public can traverse the inner sanctums of South Korea’s UNESCO-listed heritage. The Korea Heritage Service announced the reopening of nine specialized forest trails surrounding the royal tombs, a 19-kilometer network of paths stretching across the capital and surrounding Gyeonggi Province. From now through June 30, visitors can walk through wooded corridors in Seoul, Guri and Namyangju that are typically cordoned off to protect their ecological and historical integrity. The program, which launched in 2019, seeks to balance growing public demand for immersive nature retreats and contemplative spaces with the strict preservation requirements of these sovereign sites. At Donggureung in Guri, the largest cluster of royal tombs in the country, hikers can

May 15, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
Ancient royal tombs open forest paths to visitors this spring
Others

Korea’s extreme heat puts construction workers, farmers at growing risk of illness, death

Last July, a Vietnamese migrant worker in his 20s was found dead while working at an apartment construction site in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province. His body temperature was measured at 40.2 degrees Celsius, while the city’s daytime high reached 38.3 degrees on the day he died. That same month, another worker in his 60s lost consciousness and died while organizing shopping carts in a shopping mall parking lot in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. In both cases, their death was linked to extreme heat. Such grim cases could happen again this year, as forecasters warn of another unusually hot summer. For outdoor workers at construction sites and farmers in fields and paddies, who spend long hours under scorching sunlight, the risk of heat-related illness and even death is far from isolated. Heat-related illness is increasingly becoming an issue that requires actions from employers as well, such as guaranteed rest breaks, and also from the health and labor authorities. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said Thursday it will begin its annual surveillance of emergency room pati

May 15, 2026By Hankookilbo
Korea’s extreme heat puts construction workers, farmers at growing risk of illness, death
K-universities

Sejong University team selected for webtoon copyright protection project

A Sejong University research team has been selected for a government-supported research and development (R&D) project aimed at addressing copyright protection issues of webtoons and characters, the school said Thursday. The team will be led by professor Gu Yeong-hyeon of the Department of Artificial Intelligence Data Science and professor Han Chang-wan of the Department of Cartoon and Animation. The university said the team will carry out a global copyright issues rapid response project under the “2026 Culture, Sports and Tourism R&D Program” promoted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency. The project aims to develop “opt-out” response technologies and evaluation models for the protection of character and webtoon copyrights in generative artificial intelligence (AI) environments. Webtoon refers to a type of digital comic that originated in Korea and is designed specifically for reading on smartphones or computers. A school official said the project is significant as the copyright protection of webtoons and characters has emerged as a

May 15, 2026By Park Yoon-bae
Sejong University team selected for webtoon copyright protection project
Society

Lee says will do utmost to create conditions for teachers to focus only on education

President Lee Jae Myung on Friday pledged his best efforts to create conditions in which teachers can concentrate solely on teaching their students. Lee made the pledge in a message posted on his Facebook account on Teachers' Day amid growing calls for stronger protection for teachers following a recent series of incidents where teachers were subject to abusive behavior by parents and students. "I am well aware that the difficulties and responsibilities (teachers) must shoulder are increasing amid the rapidly changing educational environment," the president noted. "I will do my best to create a better environment in which teachers can devote themselves entirely to education," Lee said, promising "practical support and changes" to help teachers maintain their "passion and sense of calling." "Today's South Korea has been made possible by the efforts and devotion of teachers," the president also commented, expressing his "deep respect and gratitude" to teachers across the country.

May 15, 2026By Yonhap
Lee says will do utmost to create conditions for teachers to focus only on education
Society

Korea's birthrate uptick masks demographic crisis, advocate warns

Korea’s slight rebound in births should not lull politicians into a false sense of security, said a leading family policy advocate, calling for mayoral and gubernatorial candidates to treat low birthrates as an urgent structural crisis rather than a past problem. “We may have seen a rebound, but the current numbers are nowhere near a level where we can feel complacency,” Hwang In-ja, executive representative at the Federation for Korean Families and former lawmaker, said during an interview in Seoul, May 7. “This still is a national crisis and in Seoul it is even more serious. The city’s total fertility rate last year was 0.63.” Hwang said her organization began preparing for the June 3 local elections late last year out of concern that birthrate policy was slipping down the political agenda. “In the past five years or so, low fertility was at the center of every election,” she said. “But as soon as the numbers ticked up a little, we saw candidates losing interest. We created this manifesto precisely to wake them up again.” Hwang said the upcoming elections should be

May 15, 2026By Jung Min-ho
Korea's birthrate uptick masks demographic crisis, advocate warns
Society

Seoul mayoral candidates urged to put families at heart of every policy

The next mayor of Seoul should put families at the center of every major policy decision, from transport and housing to labor and budgeting — instead of merely adding yet another targeted support scheme. That is the core message of 172 civic groups ahead of the June 3 local elections, as they call for the adoption of a new “family impact” standard to be applied across all city policies. At a policy forum hosted by the Federation for Korean Families and nine other organizations in central Seoul on May 7, the groups released a joint manifesto urging all mayoral candidates to “reflect family impact in all Seoul governance,” not just in a handful of welfare programs. “Over the past few decades, central and local governments have poured astronomical sums of money into trying to overcome this (demographic) crisis. But what has been the result?” the joint statement said. “The reason is clear. Policy has not treated the family as a single, living community, but has instead carved people up into fragmented individuals — women, children, older people and youth. One-off cash han

May 15, 2026By Jung Min-ho
Seoul mayoral candidates urged to put families at heart of every policy
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