Two environmental samples taken from Hong Kong’s Mai Po nature reserve have tested positive for the “highly pathogenic” H5 avian flu virus, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has said. A department spokesman said that a research team from the University of Hong Kong’s School of Public Health had confirmed the positive tests on samples collected on Wednesday as part of regular surveillance. “The AFCD is closely monitoring the situation of the birds in the Mai Po nature...

China and the United States have a shared interest in preventing artificial intelligence (AI) from being misused, but differing views over what constitutes a serious safety incident could complicate efforts to build a bilateral communication mechanism, according to analysts. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday that Washington and Beijing should cooperate on AI risks while harbouring no illusions about their differences. He noted the two governments had established a new dialogue...

Hong Kong education authorities have ordered a nursery in Kowloon Tong to submit a report after it allegedly failed to explain why a two-year-old pupil had a large bump on the back of his head after classes. The Education Bureau said it was highly concerned about the incident at Cannan Kindergarten (Waterloo Road) and had told the school to submit a report. “Upon receiving the complaint from the parents, the bureau immediately contacted the parents and the school to understand the situation and...

A 14-month-old girl died in Hong Kong on Friday after catching influenza, the third death of a child recorded by the city’s health authorities this flu season. The Centre for Health Protection said that although influenza activity had shown signs of decline since the city entered flu season in late June, it remained above the baseline thresholds. Twenty-nine severe cases involving children have been recorded. Apart from the three who died, two children remained in a serious condition in...

Choi Jong-in, 78, still aches for his friend Jeon Tae-il, who was just 22. When Jeon set himself on fire in the middle of Pyeonghwa Market in Seoul's Jung District on Nov. 13, 1970, Choi was the first to rush to his side, taking off his jacket to smother the flames. “His hair was burning and curling like nylon fabric, his lips were turning inside out, but he sprang back to his feet and shouted, ‘We are not machines!” More than half a century has passed, and one might expect Choi to recount the incident with the composure of an elderly man who has come to terms with life. But for a while, he cannot bring himself to continue. He has never really given an interview about Jeon. While Jeon's mother, the late Lee So-sun (who died in 2011), was alive, Choi says he held back because he did not want to cause her further grief. Even after she passed away and was reunited with her son, he found it too painful to speak. The trauma never entirely left him, but it did not break him. Instead, he turned his guilt over losing Jeon, chairman of the Samdong Friendship Association (Samdonghoe), into a

For some young Korean workers, leaving the office on time matters more than finishing every task, and avoiding the responsibilities of a permanent position can be more appealing than climbing the corporate ladder. These attitudes are emerging among members of Generation Z, who are challenging workplace expectations long shaped by loyalty, overtime and deference to senior colleagues. In a roundtable discussion organized by the Hankook Ilbo, young participants shared their views on work, career advancement and workplace relationships, revealing both generational differences and contradictions in their own approaches to professional life. Their experiences suggest that while younger employees increasingly demand clearer boundaries and more explicit instructions, they sometimes struggle to meet those same expectations when they become responsible for guiding others. Leaving work on time, even with tasks unfinished For Korea's Generation X, now largely in their 50s, staying late at the office was once considered a badge of dedication. In her 2000 novel "A Very Old Joke," acclaimed Korean author

Samsung Guide Dog School, which marks its 33rd anniversary this year, is Korea’s first guide dog training institution and the world’s only guide dog school operated by a single corporation, with its operations fully funded by Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance. The school was established in September 1993 by late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee as part of efforts to foster greater understanding and acceptance of people with disabilities. At the time, corporate involvement in guide dog training was unprecedented worldwide. The school became a full member of the International Guide Dog Federation in 1999 and went on to host the organization's general assembly in Korea in 2002. Lee was also honored by the federation that year for his efforts to raise awareness of people with disabilities. Since its first guide dog, Bada, was paired with a visually impaired person in 1994, the school has provided more than 320 guide dogs to visually impaired partners free of charge. Its responsibilities extend beyond raising and training guide dogs. The school also teaches visually impaired partners how

Completing professional training does not mean a guide dog is immediately ready to accompany a visually impaired person. The dog must first be matched with a suitable partner, and the two must learn to walk and live together. Few understand this process better than Yoo Seok-jong of Samsung Guide Dog School. Born with a visual impairment, Yoo now lives with his fifth guide dog. Drawing on his own experience, he helps visually impaired people find dogs suited to their needs and lifestyles. During an interview at the school in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, on Nov. 2, Yoo was accompanied by Gori, a 5-year-old demonstration dog. Yoo's own guide dog was at a veterinary clinic after falling ill that morning. Friendly and sociable, Gori normally helps introduce visitors to guide dogs and accompanies visually impaired people on trial walks. Yoo said one of the most important factors in matching a guide dog with a prospective partner is walking speed. "The person's walking speed needs to match the dog's natural pace," he said. "Trying to force either one to adjust can be difficult." Temperament is equa

As Jerry, a Labrador retriever, approached a crosswalk, he came to a stop at the curb. His trainer, Keum Jung-hun, had given no command. Jerry simply recognized the boundary between the sidewalk and the road and stopped on his own. Keum pressed a small device, producing a sharp click. Known as a clicker, the tool signals that Jerry has performed a task correctly. "It means he did a good job," Keum explained. "Verbal praise takes time, but a clicker lets us mark the exact moment he does something right." Jerry is an almost 2-year old guide dog in training. The Korea Times met him during a training session at Samsung Guide Dog School on Nov. 2. The school in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, is fully funded by Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance. After six to seven months of professional training, he has passed his final walking assessment and is now completing the remaining steps before being paired with a visually impaired partner. Accompanying Jerry and Keum on their morning training walk outside the school grounds near Bundang Central Park in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, revealed that guide dog tr

The memory business has rarely had it this good, thanks to the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. Korea’s chipmakers are reporting extraordinary earnings and unusual confidence that the good times will last. SK hynix’s third-quarter operating profit rose more than sevenfold to 83.3 trillion won ($62 billion), an operating margin of almost 80 percent. Samsung Electronics’ rose nearly ninefold to 107.4 trillion won, with its memory business setting records of its own. Across the West Sea, China’s challengers are sharing in the windfall. ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) remains far smaller, but its quarterly revenue rose more than sevenfold to 118.7 billion yuan ($17.8 billion), with a net profit attributable to shareholders of 54.4 billion yuan, reversing years of losses. CXMT and Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) are the twin pillars of China’s drive for memory self-sufficiency, part of Beijing’s broader pursuit of technological independence facing U.S. export restrictions. Fresh capital, new factories and increasingly sophisticated technology are helping them challenge th

President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating slipped back to 39 percent this week, a weekly poll showed Friday, amid negative sentiment over his real estate policies and economic concerns. The survey, conducted by Gallup Korea from Tuesday through Thursday on 1,002 people aged 18 and older, showed that positive assessments of Lee's performance fell 2 percentage points from the previous week, when the figure stood at 41 percent. Lee's approval rating has fluctuated around the 40 percent mark in recent weeks after hitting a low of 37 percent in October. Those who disapproved of Lee's handling of state affairs remained unchanged from the previous week at 50 percent. Real estate policies were cited the most by those who disapproved of Lee's performance at 17 percent, followed by economic and livelihood concerns at 15 percent. Among those who positively assessed Lee's performance, 19 percent cited economic and livelihood issues, followed by diplomacy at 17 percent and communication at 9 percent. The latest survey came amid political disputes over a controversial special counsel bill over allegatio

For the emergency dispatchers staffing Seoul’s 119 hotline — Korea’s equivalent of 911 — every second counts. Yet over the past year, a handful of individuals treated the city’s critical lifeline for fires, accidents, and medical emergencies as a personal bulletin board, a late-night cab service and a sounding board for drunken rants. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Friday that it had filed criminal complaints against five habitual callers who collectively flooded the 119 emergency dispatch center with 8,710 non-emergency calls and text messages between September 2025 and August 2026. The barrage intensified over the summer. Between June and August alone, the five individuals accounted for 4,034 separate contacts — an average of more than 40 disruptions a day. Among the worst offenders, one individual placed 2,661 phone calls, while another sent 2,886 text messages. According to the Seoul Emergency Operations Center, the nature of the contacts ranged from perplexing to blatantly disruptive. Dispatchers fielded silent calls where nobody spoke on the line, incoherent ra

Korea on Friday held the inaugural meeting of a new task force aimed at developing policies to reduce living costs and boost real disposable income for wage earners. First Vice Finance Minister Kwon Dae-young chaired the meeting with officials from relevant ministries to discuss detailed implementation plans following the presidential office's announcement of the initiative this week. The task force comprises four working groups covering existing support measures, taxation, fiscal policy and finance, respectively, to identify practical ways to achieve those goals. The new team will focus particularly on helping workers cope with labor market changes driven by structural changes in industry, along with the growing financial burden of caring for children and elderly parents. Other key goals will include helping workers build assets, improve job security and manage their health. "The measures in the 2026 tax revision bill and next year's budget proposal are directly linked to wage earners' household finances next year," Kwon said. "While respecting deliberations at the National Assembly, we w

The remains of two Korean independence fighters laid to rest in the United States and Uzbekistan will return home next week to mark the 80th anniversary of a project to repatriate the remains of such activists from overseas, the veterans ministry said Friday. The remains of Ho Si-han and Lee Gwal will be brought back from the U.S. and Uzbekistan, respectively, on Sunday, according to the ministry. It marks the first time that the remains of an independence fighter buried in Uzbekistan will return home. An event marking their return will be held at a memorial park in Seoul on Monday, attended by some 300 personnel, and the remains will later be buried at the national cemetery in the central city of Daejeon. Ho, born in Seoul in 1885, was arrested by the Japanese police while raising military funds following the March 1 independence movement against Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea. He also took part in a number of fundraising schemes to support the Korean independence movement from 1927 to 1945, before he died in Los Angeles in 1956. The Korean government posthumously awarded him the

Korea's rice output declined for the fifth consecutive year in 2026 amid changing dietary habits, data showed Friday, with the cultivation area also reaching a new low. Rice production decreased 0.9 percent year-on-year to 3.5 million tons this year, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Data and Statistics. It marked the fourth-lowest level since the government began compiling the data in 1965. The combined area of rice paddies in the country fell 1.1 percent year-on-year to 670,000 hectares, the smallest on record. Despite the decline in overall production, output per 1,000 square meters increased 0.2 percent year-on-year to 524 kilograms this year, according to the ministry. Rice remains a staple food in Korea, but consumption has steadily fallen in recent decades amid shifts in dietary preferences. The decrease in production also came amid the government's efforts to manage output while encouraging farmers to switch to other crops. By region, South Jeolla Province and Gwangju together produced 736,000 tons of rice, followed by South Chungcheong Province with 681,000 tons and Nor

The defense ministry said Friday it is surveying military cadets on the proposal to integrate the Army, Air Force and Navy academies as the government seeks to revise the plan amid pushback from alumni groups and key stakeholders. The online survey, running from Friday through Tuesday, will poll 2,350 cadets across all four class years, excluding about 143 naval cadets set to be deployed for rotational training, a ministry official told reporters. The ministry is pushing to merge the three institutions into a unified military academy, but the plan has drawn fierce opposition from cadets and alumni who say it could erode the distinct identity and specialized capabilities of each armed service. The ministry is now reportedly weighing the option of relocating the military academy of the Army out of Seoul as planned while retaining the two others, a move seen as backtracking from its original merger plan. "The survey aims to evaluate the current military academies and collect cadets' opinions as part of broader efforts to gather input from various sectors to refine the plan for establishing

Oh Hyun-joo, former third deputy director of the presidential National Security Office, has been named to head the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the foreign ministry said Friday. Oh will formally take office on Monday to lead the agency, which is affiliated with the foreign ministry and responsible for the government's official development assistance (ODA) programs. After entering the foreign service in 1994, Oh held various posts in development cooperation and multilateral diplomacy, including deputy chief of mission at South Korea's U.N. mission. She became South Korea's first female ambassador to the Holy See in January 2023 and was appointed third deputy director of the National Security Office in June last year. "Oh is expected to actively realize KOICA's vision of becoming a leading global development cooperation agency that pursues universal values and shared national interests, while strengthening its role as an integrated platform for South Korea's grant aid programs," the ministry said in a statement. The KOICA president serves a three-year term and is selected

President Lee Jae Myung on Friday reiterated his commitment to capital market reform, pledging to address what he has called "undervaluation" of Korean stocks by boosting market confidence and cracking down on market irregularities. Lee made the pledge during a policy discussion on the capital market held at the Korea Exchange, which brought together experts, corporate representatives and government officials. "Normalizing the capital market is our government's unwavering policy direction and commitment," the president said. The president described the undervaluation of Korean stocks as an "unreasonable abnormality," reaffirming his administration's commitment to reforming the capital market and the broader financial market to boost investor confidence. Lee's remarks came amid significant volatility in Korea's stock market in recent months, with the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) trading in the mid-5,000-point range on Friday, after reaching an all-time closing high of 9,114.55 points in late June. The president cited investor confidence as the most important value in

The government promised Friday to exercise zero tolerance against cheating using artificial intelligence (AI) glasses in next week's nationwide college entrance exam after suspicions of such cheating arose over an unrealistic score in this year's certified tax accountant exam. The suspicions emerged following revelations that the highest scorer in the tax accountant exam received a near-perfect score, missing only one question out of the 160 on the first-round test, earning 397.5 points out of a possible 400, a score many test-takers view as unrealistic. That has raised concerns that AI cheating can be used in the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), set for Thursday. "The government views cheating using AI smart glasses as a serious issue that infringes upon fair opportunities for students who have worked diligently, and takes people's concerns regarding this matter very seriously," the Office for Government Policy Coordination said in a statement. "The government will take a zero-tolerance approach toward any cheating that compromises the fairness of examinations and will make sure

Credit card users will be able to convert their dormant reward points into regional cash vouchers starting May next year, officials said Friday, as part of efforts to boost consumption and breathe vitality into local economies, The government announced the measure after President Lee Jae Myung instructed officials in late June to allow the conversion of "various hidden or dormant points into local currency to boost consumer vitality and revitalize traditional markets and neighborhood shops," officials said. The Office for Government Policy Coordination under the prime minister's office has since worked with the interior ministry, the Financial Services Commission and the Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute to come up with details, officials said. Credit card points will be the first to be allowed for the conversion. Accumulated card points amount to 2.1 trillion won ($1.57 billion) and such points already have well-established systems for conversion into cash, officials said. Once the conversion service begins in May, card users can use "account info" or "regional c

A member of the family that founded conglomerate LG Group has been repatriated from Cambodia eight years after leaving Korea to escape an investigation into stock manipulation charges, police said Friday. Koo Bon-hyun, a nephew of the late LG Group honorary chairman Koo Cha-kyung, was detained upon arriving in the country Monday to undergo an investigation on suspicion of violating the Capital Markets Act, embezzlement and breach of trust, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. The 57-year-old left for the Netherlands in 2018 amid suspicions that he made illegal profits of 14.5 billion won ($10.9 million) by disclosing false information about a KOSDAQ-listed company he had acquired without capital. He is also accused of embezzling 4.6 billion won from the firm, including for entertainment expenses. Police obtained a detention warrant for Koo in 2019 and requested that Interpol issue a Red Notice for him. Cambodian police apprehended him in September and repatriated him back to Korea this week. He was formally arrested Wednesday under a court-issued warrant. In 2012, Koo receiv

Click here for more articles by Kormedi.com. A practicing surgeon has issued a strong warning about the dangers of soju — a popular traditional Korean alcohol that is now mass manufactured — drawing on his own experience of severe alcohol addiction. Lee Jun-suh, a hepatopancreatobiliary surgeon, appeared on the YouTube channel Doctor Dinho on Tuesday and said, "Soju is a drink that should not exist." "Its alcohol content is far too high for its price, fueling alcohol addiction," he said. Gastroenterologist Kim Tae-kyun agreed, saying, "At that price and concentration, shouldn't soju be considered a drug rather than an alcoholic beverage?" Lee said, "Alcoholic drinks like this type of diluted soju are uncommon. The availability of soju makes it far too easy for people to drink alcohol." Lee, who has overcome alcohol addiction, said he once underestimated the severity of his own dependence even while treating patients with end-stage liver and pancreatic diseases. "Even as I treated terminally ill patients, I thought, 'I'm different from them,'" he said. "At the time, there was a social at

Korea on Friday called on Japan to fully acknowledge the history of wartime forced labor at the Sado mine complex as it held a separate memorial ceremony for Korean victims of forced labor for the third consecutive year. Korean Ambassador to Japan Lee Hyuk made the call during the ceremony held at a hotel on Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture, with nine family members of the victims attending. "Many Korean workers had been mobilized against their will and forced to work at the mine through government-arranged labor placement and conscription under the involvement of the Japanese colonial government-general," Lee said in his memorial address. "Remembering the pain of the past and sharing our condolences here today will deepen our sense of empathy and healing, and provide an opportunity for everyone to fully understand the entire history of the Sado mine as a World Heritage site," he added. More than 1,500 Koreans were mobilized to work at the Sado mine during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea. Many were assigned to dangerous underground tasks, and some lost their lives in underground

The Korean government said Friday that Google has complied with security requirements imposed as a condition for allowing the transfer of high-precision map data overseas. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said a government-led consultation body reviewed Google's implementation of security measures following its conditional approval in February to export 1:5,000-scale digital map data. The review found that the global tech giant had implemented measures to prevent the exposure of geographic coordinates, as well as sensitive military and security facilities, on its global Google Maps and Google Earth services, including web and mobile platforms. To meet the requirements, Google developed a dedicated control system for Korea and introduced safeguards to block app updates if they risk exposing restricted geographic coordinates. In August, Google also signed an agreement to obtain satellite imagery processed for security purposes by the National Geographic Information Institute (NGII) through a local partner. Google is said to have chosen the local navigation company, TMAP Mo

The Korean government is stepping up efforts to crack down on cheating involving artificial intelligence (AI)-powered smart glasses, as concerns spread beyond the annual college entrance exam to national licensing tests, with even top scorers facing suspicions of misconduct. However, concerns are also emerging that widespread suspicions, even without concrete evidence, could undermine public trust in the fairness of exams. While authorities have pledged zero tolerance for cheating ahead of the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), growing allegations involving high scorers in other major exams have prompted the government to seek additional funding for electronic signal detectors and dedicated personnel to prevent high-tech cheating. According to the National Assembly, Friday, Rep. Kim Wi-sang of the main opposition People Power Party has proposed an additional 6.57 billion won ($4.92 million) in next year's budget to crack down on cheating involving AI-powered smart glasses and other high-tech devices in national licensing exams. The proposal comes after the growing use of such device

One in four high school students in Korea gets less than five hours of sleep a night on weekdays, with those sleeping fewer hours reporting higher rates of stress, depression and suicidal thoughts. According to the National Youth Policy Institute on Friday, 27.3 percent of high school students slept less than five hours on average during weekdays, while 59.1 percent got fewer than six hours. The findings were based on responses from 54,170 middle and high school students nationwide. The study found that students who slept less tended to report poorer mental health. Among those getting fewer than five hours of sleep on weekdays, 33.4 percent reported experiencing depression, compared with 18.9 percent of those sleeping eight hours or more — a difference of 14.5 percentage points. Students sleeping less than five hours were also nearly twice as likely to experience high levels of stress, with 57.9 percent reporting frequent stress, compared with 29.2 percent of those getting at least eight hours of sleep. The gap extended to suicide attempts, with 3.9 percent of students in the shortest

Three members of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK)'s Supreme Council boycotted a council meeting Friday in protest of party leader Kim Min-seok's decision to order an ethics probe into one of the officials over controversial remarks about President Lee Jae Myung. The three officials, who are aligned with former DPK leader Jung Chung-rae, criticized Kim for ordering the party's ethics committee to investigate Rep. Choi Min-hee's remarks suggesting that Lee had opposed former President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment. Choi, along with Reps. Lee Sung-yoon and Han Min-soo, who together make up three of the party's five elected Supreme Council members, skipped the meeting and held a press conference at the National Assembly instead. "It should be Chairman Kim himself who should face an ethics investigation right now," they said. Rep. Choi also came under fire this week for referring to journalists as "a pack of hyenas" in a KakaoTalk group chat. The lawmakers took aim at Kim for raising allegations that anti-Lee party lawmakers had colluded with the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a nonmains

A court issued a warrant Friday to arrest a man suspected of murdering a 15-year-old girl who allegedly was sexually assaulted by his son. The suspect, 59, was apprehended by police at a short-term rental property in northern Seoul on Wednesday after allegedly murdering the girl on the premise the previous day. The Seoul Northern District Court issued the arrest warrant for the suspect, citing concerns he could destroy evidence or flee. According to investigators, the suspect purchased a weapon and a charcoal briquette on the day of the alleged crime before entering the rental property together with the girl. Around three hours later, he left the building alone, destroyed the victim's cell phone and threw it away. The girl reportedly did not attend school, frequently ran away from home and reported family troubles to the police multiple times before admitting herself to a youth shelter early this year. In January, she allegedly became the victim of statutory rape involving the murder suspect's son, and a prosecution investigation had been under way following a complaint by her parents. The

A bill to change South Korea’s legal term for North Korean defectors set off a shouting match at the National Assembly Thursday after an opposition lawmaker challenged Unification Minister Chung Dong-young over the proposed name. “Minister Buk Dong-young, why is it OK to call me ‘bukhyangmin?’” asked Rep. Park Choong-kwon of the main opposition People Power Party, who fled North Korea in 2009. He had replaced Chung’s surname with “buk,” the Korean word for north. Rep. Lee Ki-heon of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea shot back by asking whether he could call Park “Tal Choong-kwon.” He took “tal,” meaning escape, from “talbukmin,” the term commonly used for North Korean defectors in the South. Chung demanded an apology. Park apologized before the meeting resumed. The exchange came as the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee took up a bill introduced by Rep. Kim Jae-won of the Rebuilding Korea Party. It would replace the legal term for North Korean defectors with bukhyangmin, a term for people whose hometowns are in North Korea. The unification ministry

A global Microsoft outage disrupted operations at major Korean companies on Friday, leaving some employees unable to access emails, coordinate with business partners and manage daily workflows as the tech giant struggled to restore its systems. The disruption affected multiple Microsoft services, including its Outlook email, parts of its Teams messaging app, Microsoft 365 productivity tools and Copilot artificial intelligence (AI) assistant. While the impact varied by company depending on the services used, some employees were forced to postpone work or turn to alternative communication channels. Some major companies sent urgent companywide notices alerting employees about the outage and asking them to check which Microsoft services were affected. Some companies also circulated email notices identifying services that were unavailable. An information technology (IT) industry official said employees had turned to other messaging apps to keep some work moving but the workaround offered only limited relief. “Since we cannot use email, we are exchanging files through messaging apps. But some