South Korea's Labor Ministry will launch an investigation into workplaces suspected of screening out job applicants who graduated from women's universities, a ministry official said Thursday. The investigation plans have come after a post on anonymous online employee forum Blind went viral. “As a corporate recruiter, It's not like we exclude all women but if (the applicant) is from a women's college, we don't even read the resume," the author of the post, who

A 4.0 magnitude earthquake hit the southeastern city of Gyeongju at 4:55 a.m. on Thursday, the state weather agency said, prompting mobile phones across Korea to blare en masse from the emergency text alert. No damage has been reported as of Thursday afternoon. The second-strongest quake to hit Korea this year struck the historical city of Gyeongju, located 277 kilometers southeast of Seoul in the wee hours of the morning. The quake's depth was measured at a shallow 12 kilometers and it was

The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Thursday chose “sky coral,” a color derived from the pink sky when the sun sets over the Han River, as the city's color next year, as part of its new annual initiative called “Color of Seoul.” Prior to developing the Color of Seoul, the city government analyzed places frequently visited by Seoul citizens and their key interests between 2022 and 2023 based on the 2022 Seoul Survey results and the 2022 Korea Tourism Data Lab resul

A man in his 30s has been arrested for lighting fire to a piece of paper placed between the toes of a sleeping co-worker, as well as for filming and sharing about the action on social media, local news media reported Wednesday. The incident occurred on Oct. 12, when the suspect, who works at a bar located in Sangmu-Jigu in Gwangju, put a piece of tissue between his co-workers toes and lit it on fire. He then filmed the scene while sharing the video on his social media account, as well as in the

An online threat claiming a bomb had been sent to Yonsei University in Seoul sparked a midnight scramble for police and firefighters, resulting in the evacuation of some 100 people on campus. Police received a report at 11:38 p.m. Wednesday of an online post that claimed a package carrying a bomb would be delivered to the campus, according to Seodaemun Police Station and Seodaemun Fire Department on Thursday. The post had been uploaded at around 10 p.m. on the bulletin board for Yonsei Universit

A 60-something man in Busan in the early hours of Thursday fell out of the bed and injured himself, shaken not by the 4.0 magnitude earthquake that rocked nearby Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province but ironically by a state-issued emergency mobile alert about the tremor. The man, who lives in Haeundae-gu, Busan, received the notification, together with its loud warning alarm, on his phone at 5:39 a.m. and fell, injuring his face, resulting in him getting rushed to a nearby hospital for medical t

Members of a drug ring engaged in the production and distribution of methamphetamine derived from off-the-shelf cold medicine have been arrested, police authorities said. According to Jeju Provincial Police on Thursday, two individuals, both in their 50s, were sent to the prosecution Wednesday on charges of violating the Narcotics Control Act. The accused include a man responsible for manufacturing the drug and his accomplice. Both men are suspected of manufacturing a total of 20 grams of meth

A coalition of civic groups in Paju, northern Gyeonggi Province, said Thursday that they oppose plans to bury the remains of Chun Doo-hwan, a former president who rose to power through a military coup, in the city. The family of the former military strongman is seeking to bury Chun's remains in Jangsan-ri, in accordance with his last wishes to be buried in a place with a view of North Korea. "Residents of Paju have been fiercely proud of the new era of reconciliation between South an

A 4.0 magnitude earthquake occurred in the early hours of Thursday, 19 kilometers southeast of Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, the Korea Meteorological Administration said. According to the KMA, the initial earthquake occurred at about 4:55 a.m., followed by five tremors ranging up to 1.5 magnitude until 5:50 a.m. The earthquake led to emergency national disaster alert across the country being sent out about 8 seconds after the event was detected. No reports of damages or injuries have been

A waste disposal center in Yesan-gun, South Chungcheong Province has come under fire for refusing to hire a woman, local media reported Wednesday. During a meeting of Yesan-gun's Resident Support Council, a 69-year-old female member and resident of the district asked what the qualifications for the post of resident monitor were. But a high-ranking member of the group answered that they cannot hire women. Resident support councils are groups formed by regional governments to aid functions re

The website of the National Health Insurance Service warned of a "dangerous" level of risk of heat-related illnesses Tuesday, just as the country is going through a cold snap, adding fuel to public anger over a series of breakdowns in online government services in recent weeks here. The warning, which appeared on the NHIS homepage and alarm service page, came on the heels of four major breakdowns that hit South Korea's administrative service networks over the course of a week star

A dog shot and severely injured by an arrow has made full recovery and will head for his new home in New York at 8:35 p.m. tonight, a Jeju Island-based animal protection group said Wednesday. According to Hondidorang, the dog, who received the name Cheonji, has been adopted by an American woman in her 30s, who took in another stray dog in the past. The decision was made Nov. 22 after a monthlong deliberation, the group said. Cheonji, formerly a stray, made headlines in August 2022 when he was

A Buddhist monk has been arrested for driving into eight parked cars and causing damage, police said Wednesday. The monk was reported to have been acting out of frustration over a land compensation dispute between him and real estate developers. The unidentified monk in his 70s, from a temple located in Songha-dong, Gwangju, got into an argument with officials from the developer around 8:20 a.m., Tuesday. The development project involves land on which his temple is located. The monk got in his c

Using an AI-powered IoT system and blockchain technology, Thekie aims to create a future where users can voluntarily participate in reducing energy usage and strengthening environmental sustainability. Developed with its own solutions, the carbon credit market platform Lucia allows users to trade and offset carbon credits. Blockchain-implicated carbon credits assure transparency, providing secure and reliable trading. Users can also explore and participate in diverse crowdfunding that contribu

Daehan E&C is a company with over 25 years of experience in environmental technology, tackling the issue of improperly managed waste by turning it into usable energy. “Many countries still do not manage their waste properly, and most of it ends up in landfills. In this process, the waste decays and produces methane gas, which is a major contributor to global warming,” the firm said. The company provides facilities that convert waste into high-quality alternative fuel called Refus

Korean company Blakstone utilizes smart sensors to tackle the problem of rising temperatures in “heat islands.” Heat islands refer to urban areas that experience higher temperatures than its surrounding regions. As urban structures such as buildings, roads and other infrastructure absorb and re-emit the sun’s heat more than natural landscapes, cities are prone to becoming “islands” of higher temperatures relative to outlying areas. Blakstone’s Clean Road Syste

Dongha, which specializes in resource circulation, is the only domestic company that reuses coffee grounds to make them into decks placed in parks and beaches. Also known as "coffee decks," the products developed by Dongha contain coffee ground content of 51 percent, and the components that are generated when roasting coffee beans -- cafestol and melanoidine -- have been proven to strengthen the quality of its products. While Dongha’s coffee decks officially entered the market th

To solve water shortage problems exacerbated by climate change, Amogreentech developed a gravity driven membrane system that can purify water using only a pressure difference with a nanofiber membrane. The system, developed by the Korean advanced material and component firm, boasts a high efficiency. The system's device wastes no excess energy and equipment to install and operate to remove contaminants and waterborne bacteria from the water. The device is easy to maintain with its effective

A total of 16 South Korean climate tech companies, ranging from promising startups to well-established companies, have been chosen to represent the country at the United Nations’ 28th COP28 climate conference, slated for Nov. 30 to Dec. 12 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, according to the Ministry of Environment. Korea will set up a national pavilion, themed “Green Industry for a Sustainable Future,” at the venue and will present various technologies. The 16 companies, represent

Female scientists in South Korea struggle with the highest gender barrier in the world, a study revealed Tuesday. Korea scored an average of 4.09 out of 5 in a scale that measures the gap between the effects of marriage, pregnancy, childbirth and child care on male and female scientists, according to a 2022 survey analysis conducted by the Association of Korean Woman Scientists and Engineers. Higher scores indicate that respondents experienced tougher gender barriers. Korea outscored 86 other co