Gangneung City, located in Gangwon Province, has faced its worst-ever drought on record, leading to a severe water shortage crisis. The water level of the city’s main reservoir, Obong Reservoir, once dropped to a dangerously low point, forcing authorities to implement water rationing measures affect
The Lee Jae-myung administration is set to actively pursue labor policies aimed at reducing working hours. On September 17th, the Ministry of Government Legislation announced plans to complete the enactment and revision of 66 subordinate regulations, which include initiatives to improve working cond
The South Korean government has decided not to designate October 10th as a temporary public holiday, ending speculation about a potential extended “golden holiday.” If designated, the day would have created a 10-day break, combining Chuseok, National Foundation Day, Hangul Day, and the proposed Octo
On August 12th, the Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant for former First Lady Kim Keon‑hee, making her and ex-President Yoon Suk‑yeol the first former presidential couple in South Korean history to be detained simultaneously. Judge Jung Jae‑wook, who issued the warrant, cited conce
On July 22nd, the government officially repealed the Mobile Device Distribution Improvement Act (MDDIA). The MDDIA was enacted in October 2014 to prevent telecommunication carriers and retailers from selling smartphones with excessive subsidies to improve the transparent distribution of mobile devic
From July 16th to 20th, the heaviest downpour in 200 years swept through South Korea. Most cities and counties were hit with at least 300mm to 500mm of rain, while Hadong County and Hapcheon County recorded a heavier rainfall of 621.5mm and 699mm, respectively. The heaviest rain recorded was over 70
The 21st presidential election date is set for Tuesday, June 3rd. Per the Constitution and the Public Official Election Act, the presidential election must be held within 60 days of the vacancy. Thus, the National Election Commission began registering the preliminary candidates for the 21st presiden
SK Telecom, a Korean telecommunications operator, announced on April 20th that their users’ universal subscriber identity module (USIM) information was leaked through malicious code. The company first detected abnormal activities on April 18th and identified the actual data breach on the 19th. Howev
With wildfires spreading across the southern region of Korea in the last weeks of March, the Korea Forest Service (KFS) issued a level-three alert, the highest wildfire response level, in Gyeongsang Province. This particular wildfire was suspected to have been started on March 22nd by a man clearing
In March, the Ministry of Science and ICT implemented the Science and Engineering Research Living Allowance project that would benefit approximately 50,000 students. The plan provides various forms of stipends for research activities, including student grants and research fellowships specifically fo
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) invoked last February an exception to the total release limitation of greenbelt lands to promote development projects in certain regions. This followed President Yoon Suk-yeol’s vow to ease greenbelt regulations in his 13th Policy Discussion
On February 25th, the first prototype of the Low Observable Wingman Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle System (LOWUS) was introduced by South Korea’s Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and Korean Air. LOWUS is an unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) designed to conduct autonomous missions such as reconnaissanc
The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MHW) reported that only 199 of the 9,220 formerly resigned trainee doctors, comprised of interns and residents, have reapplied, according to the results from the residency reappointment application for the first half of 2025, held from January 15th to 19th. They w
On January 20th, the Bank of Korea (BOK) announced South Korea’s expected 2025 gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate at 1.6%-1.7%, which was lower than the previous forecast of 1.9% that they released in November 2024. Although the country maintained a consistent increase in economic growth from
Jung Keun-sik, the single liberal candidate, was inaugurated as the superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on October 17th. In a by election with the lowest voter turnout rate since 2008, he secured 50.24% of votes and defeated his conservative rival, Cho Jun hyuk, by 4.15%p. J
South Korea’s real gross domestic product (GDP), a vital measure of the economy, grew by 0.1% on-quarter during the July-September period, according to data released by the Bank of Korea (BOK) on October 24th. Since early 2023, the country’s GDP growth remained positive for five consecutive quarters
On September 19th, teenagers who sold over 1,380 deepfake sexual abuse materials on a social media platform, Telegram, were caught by the police. These teenagers downloaded videos from overseas deepfake pornography sites and sold them, including fake videos targeting underage celebrities. Student A
The National Assembly Research Service published the 2024 National Audit Issue Analysis in August. On September 9th, the National Assembly enacted the Five Laws on Protecting Teacher Rights in response to the teacher suicide incident at Seoi Elementary School in July 2023. Despite the establishment
Starting in July this year, the two Korean e-commerce platforms, Tmon and Wemakeprice, went through a liquidity crisis where they failed to settle payments with sellers and refunds to consumers. Being unable to receive the goods or services purchased, the consumers lost trust in the platforms, exace
A North Korean soldier defected to South Korea last August 20th by crossing the mine-laden Military Demarcation Line (MDL) on foot. Considering that most Korean defectors used to enter South Korea through other third countries, defection through the MDL was a rare case that has not happened since 20
