SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s National Health Insurance Service said Monday that new medical analysis has reaffirmed smoking as the dominant cause of lung cancer, just days before an appellate court ruling in the country’s landmark tobacco lawsuit. According to the National Health Insurance Service, an assessment of male lung cancer patients involved [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — Prescriptions of methylphenidate, a stimulant medication used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), have risen sharply among children and teenagers in South Korea, with usage in the first nine months of last year already surpassing totals for the entire previous year, government data show. According to the Ministry of [...]
DAEJEON, Jan. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — Researchers in South Korea have found that silica nanoparticles—widely used in cosmetics and industrial materials—may subtly alter early brain development, even without causing immediate or visible damage, raising new questions about the safety of everyday nanomaterials. The study, released Thursday by the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, used [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea will strengthen its public system for supplying essential medicines and medical devices in 2026, seeking to prevent treatment disruptions and reduce patients’ financial burdens, the government said this week. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said it will expand emergency import programs for rare and essential drugs, [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — Unverified health claims promoting butter as a cure-all—from cancer remission to weight control and even children’s brain development—are spreading rapidly across social media in South Korea, prompting warnings from medical and nutrition experts about potential health risks. Videos circulating on platforms such as YouTube, Instagram and TikTok urge viewers to [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — When an elderly man in his 80s fell from his bed in a home in Daejeon last November, it was not a family member or a phone call that brought help, but a caregiving robot. The device detected the emergency, issued an alert and guided firefighters to the scene, allowing [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans spend nearly 250 million won (about $190,000) per person on medical care over their lifetimes, according to a new analysis that underscores how rapidly rising healthcare costs are becoming concentrated in old age as the population grows older. A report released Wednesday by the Health Insurance Research Institute [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — Nearly half of South Korea’s general high school students are sleeping less than six hours a night because of academic pressure, a new government-backed study has found, underscoring mounting concerns about student well-being in one of the world’s most education-driven societies. According to a basic analysis report on children’s and [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s efforts to boost parental leave as part of its fight against ultra-low birthrates continue to run up against a stark divide between large corporations and small businesses, according to a new government-commissioned survey that highlights persistent workplace barriers for parents. The findings, released Wednesday, show that while awareness [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — People with low incomes, chronic illnesses, mental health conditions or alcohol-related disorders face a sharply higher risk of dying alone, according to a major South Korean study that underscores the growing social costs of inequality and isolation. Researchers at Bundang Seoul National University Hospital analyzed police forensic records and National [...]