SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — FC Seoul’s English midfielder Jesse Lingard has been fined 190,000 won (US$143) for riding an electric scooter in Seoul without a license, police said Thursday. The fine was imposed after Lingard underwent questioning about his alleged unlicensed e-scooter ride at the Seoul Gangnam Police Station in southern Seoul on [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Korea Bizwire) – In a significant shift that could reshape geopolitical dynamics in Southeast Asia, South Korea is on the brink of its first-ever arms sale to a communist nation. Industry insiders and government sources revealed on September 18 that negotiations to export the K9 self-propelled howitzer to Vietnam are progressing positively. While [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Korea Bizwire) – For Ahmed Lababidi, a 31-year-old Syrian refugee who fled forced military conscription in 2012, January marked a bittersweet milestone. After 12 years in South Korea, Lababidi, who uses the Korean name La Yeonu, finally reunited with his family in Turkey, only to find that time had transformed them into near-strangers. [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Korea Bizwire) – With the South Korean government pushing to strengthen its defense industry competitiveness and become one of the world’s top four arms exporters, the country’s flagship weapons systems are undergoing significant upgrades to expand their presence in the global market. At the International Defense Industry Exhibition (MSPO) held in Poland earlier [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — Mobile phone spam in South Korea reached a record high through August, despite ongoing government efforts to curb unwanted messages and advertisements, parliamentary data showed Wednesday. From January to August, 280.4 million spam messages and calls were reported or detected by the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), up [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — Excess funds held by South Korean households has fallen for eight quarters in a row amid high inflation and interest rates, data showed Wednesday. The monthly surplus of a local household came to 1.01 million won (US$753.3) per month on average in the second quarter, down 1.7 percent from [...]
SEOUL, Sept.17 (Korea Bizwire) – The National Police Agency of South Korea has closed over 200 police substations (police box or police stand) since announcing a nationwide closure plan last October, according to recent data. The closures, which have disproportionately affected Seoul, reflect an apparent sensitivity to concerns about potential security gaps in certain areas. Representative [...]
SEOUL, Sept.17 (Korea Bizwire) – As South Korea celebrates its annual Chuseok harvest festival, a group of domestic workers from the Philippines, part of a new government initiative to address the country’s low birth rate, finds itself at a cultural crossroads. The program, launched on September 3 by the Ministry of Employment and Labor in conjunction [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 17 (Korea Bizwire) – Smoking accounted for more than 80 percent of in-flight illegal acts reported by South Korea’s 10 carriers in the past five years, government data showed Tuesday. In the five years through July this year, 1,509, or 80.8 percent, out of 1,868 illegal acts were related to smoking onboard, according [...]
SEOUL, Sept.16 (Korea Bizwire) – In a stark contrast that highlights the growing cultural divide between North and South Korea, the consumption of dog meat has emerged as a contentious issue on the Korean peninsula. While South Korea has recently moved to prohibit the practice, North Korea continues to promote it as a cherished culinary tradition. [...]