On July 26th, Getbols (Korean tidal mudflats) were registered as a United Nations Educational, Scientific , and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site in recognition of their value to biodiversity conservation. This is the 2nd World Natural Heritage Site in Korea after Jeju Volcanic Isla
A confirmed case of African Swine Fever (ASF) infection was found at a pig farm in Yeongwol, Gangwon-do. According to the authorities on May 5th, two suspected cases at a pig farm were confirmed. The pig farm owner found two pigs dead when he entered the breeding farm to feed them. The confirmed cas
On April 25th, a 22-year-old man, Son Jung-min, who was a student of the Department of Medicine at Chung-Ang University, went missing at the Han River. After six days of searching, he was finally found dead in the river. On the day he disappeared, it was discovered that he had been drinking with his
The 38th Election for Seoul mayor was held on April 7th, 2021. During the election campaign, both representative parties appealed to the people by promising policies that they care about. There were a total of 15 candidates for the mayoral election, and the two strongest candidates were Park Youngsu
Bitcoin is a well-known cryptocurrency worldwide and is also widely used in Korea. In April, Bitcoin prices peaked at 79 million won, drawing attention to the Kimchi Premium. The reason behind this phenomenon is because Korea’s stock market has seen a sudden rise in users. Individuals looking for ne
The AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine is a weakened version of a common cold virus from chimpanzees. It was developed by Oxford University and was first approved for use on December 30th of 2020 by the UK’s vaccination programme. It has been used to vaccinate over 500,000 people within 13 days in South Korea
The illegal property speculation of the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) employees in March was a huge controversy in South Korea. LH is a corporation in charge of constructing new buildings to develop the areas outside the capital. Some of the chosen areas are Wangsuk in Namyangju, Gyosan in
On January 25th, the Court withdrew the decision that Gimpo International Airport customs office made to withhold the import of a Real Doll and decided to allow the import of Real Dolls. A Real Doll is a full-body doll that has sexual functions in order to serve as a sex partner, and for a time, the
On the 8th of February, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission revealed its recommendation regarding real estate fees. In this recommendation, new sections have been added: 900 million to 1.2 billion won for buying transactions and 600-900 million won for leasing transactions. The previous
In November, the government announced several measures to prevent the overwork of couriers after several lost their lives from overworking. The number of deaths assumed as death from overwork reached 13 this year. Due to COVID-19 and the efficiency of online shopping, delivery volume heavily increas
On November 10th, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) pre-announced the amendment of the Enforcement Decree of the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act. Starting December 30th, no personal information may be disclosed when the government informs the route of confirmed cas
On October 7th, the government unveiled its plan to amend legislation to allow abortion within 14 weeks of p regnancy without any criminal charges. Under the current Mother-Child Health Act, abortion is only permitted when pregnant women have genetic diseases and in case of rape or incest within 24
At the end of September, there was an issue regarding Shinsung Pharm, a pharmaceutical company that delivered 5.78 million doses of flu vaccines to the government, which makes up 85% of the total supply. The issue was that some of the flu vaccinations were exposed to heat during the delivery process
K-pop band BTS hit No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart (dated Sept. 5th), writing a new chapter in K-pop history. The Billboard chart is a record chart that tabulates the songs and albums in the US, provided weekly by Billboard magazine. The charts are ranked based on the data compiled from sa
Most companies have reduced the number of recruits and postponed hiring in the aftermath of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), so the number of employees with recruitment plans reached the lowest since the 2008 financial crisis. The 2008 financial crisis was a severe global economic disaster t
August 1st, 2020 marks exactly one year since the Korean government made legal revisions to the Higher Education Act. The revised act was enacted with the intention of increasing part-time lecturers’ job satisfaction by providing benefits that included a one-year employment guarantee, normal wages d
Recently, certain Youtube influencers have come under fire for producing content ridden with undisclosed sponsorships. The issue first came to light on July 21st when Youtuber Cham PD exposed the activities that were quite regularly taking place behind the scenes. Although influencers involved in th
About the Korean Version of the New DealOn May 4th, Hong Namgi, a minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, stated that a Korean version of the New Deal would be announced in early June. Also, President Moon Jae-in illustrated how the government would introduce it in his special add
President Moon Jae-in and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates have agreed to strengthen cooperation for developing treatments for COVID-19 as important partners to maintain close communication. On April 10th, the two had a 25-minute telephone conversation at the request of Gates, who is also co-chairman
A local food research institute in Gyeonggi Province has launched a so-called Good Customer Campaign to help local farmers hit by the COVID-19. A Good Customer Campaign that promotes consumption to help farmers, restaurants, and businesses hit hard by the COVID-19 has emerged. As farms that supply f