SEOUL, Dec. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — Seoul plans to launch a pilot car-free running program next spring, allowing residents to jog through parts of the city center on weekend mornings, Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced during a visit to Kuala Lumpur this week. The initiative takes inspiration from Kuala Lumpur’s “Car-Free Morning,” a municipal fitness program that [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — Cigarette smoking among South Korean adults has fallen over the past year, but the use of e-cigarettes has increased, underscoring shifting consumption habits amid persistent public health concerns, according to new national survey data released Monday. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) analyzed findings from its 2025 Community [...]
HWASUN, Dec. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea has shipped its first domestically manufactured anthrax vaccine, marking a major milestone in strengthening national preparedness against bioterrorism and infectious disease emergencies, health authorities said Monday. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced that GC Biopharma began initial shipment of Baritrax, the world’s first genetically engineered [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean police have reassigned an investigator specializing in medical crimes to reexamine allegations that resident doctors at a major Seoul hospital received illicit kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies, signaling renewed scrutiny of a case long criticized for lackluster enforcement. According to officials and reporting by Yonhap News Agency, the Seoul [...]
BUSAN, Dec. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — More than half of Busan residents say they feel heavily burdened by their children’s education expenses, which now average 860,000 won (about $660) per month, according to the city’s latest annual social survey. The 2025 Busan Social Survey, released Friday and based on responses from 31,774 residents, paints a detailed [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea will soon allow health authorities to obtain real-time information on medical staffing at hospitals and clinics during national emergencies, under a revised law passed by the National Assembly this week. The amendment to the Health and Medical Workforce Support Act, approved on December 2 and set to take [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s newest generation is expected to live longer than any before it. Government data released Wednesday show that babies born in 2024 can expect an average lifespan of 83.7 years — a modest increase from the year prior, but another step in a long arc of rising longevity. [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — A new study suggests that while health apps and online wellness advice have proliferated in South Korea, a significant share of the population—especially older adults—lacks the ability to properly access, interpret and use digital health information. Researchers at Samsung Medical Center’s Clinical Epidemiology Research Center and the Quality of Life [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s Navy conscripts report markedly higher levels of insomnia and depression than their counterparts in other branches, according to a Defense Ministry mental-health survey that lawmakers say underscores the urgent need for branch-specific interventions. The survey — conducted jointly by the ministry, the Armed Forces Medical Command and Seoul [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Amid persistent air pollution across South Korea, a new study has found that prolonged exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in Seoul significantly increases deaths from ischemic heart disease — including heart attacks — particularly among older adults. According to research released Thursday by Seoul National University Hospital’s public health [...]