Off-duty firefighter saves elderly lady while visiting childhood home

A 44-year-old firefighter provided emergency care for an elderly woman he encountered during the Lunar New Year holidays, Seoul Metropolitan Fire & Disaster Headquarters said Friday. Capt. Lee Hyeong-eun of the Eunpyeong Fire Station was visiting his childhood home in Incheon on Feb. 18, when he saw the victim fall backwards and hit her head on the floor. He called emergency services and provided emergency medical assistance by supporting her spine to prevent additional damage. Officials said Le

March 13, 2026

Dying man calls 119, but emergency workers fail to find him in locked building

A government worker called the 119 emergency service hours before he was found dead Friday, but the officers who were dispatched to the scene failed to pinpoint his location to provide medical care. The victim's body was found at around 6:45 a.m. on Friday inside the Suseong-gu District Office building in Daegu where he worked. Police did not find evidence suggesting foul play or suicide and found remains of food he is thought to have eaten. According to the Daegu Fire & Safety Department, the v

March 13, 2026

Father injures son, wife while lecturing son for 'not studying'

A man in his 40s was arrested for inflicting injuries with a knife on his wife and son, South Korean police said Friday. The father had allegedly been reprimanding the son for not studying. The incident occurred at around 11:32 p.m., Thursday, at an apartment in Gwangju, according to the Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station. The son supposedly showed defiance, which enraged the suspect and led to him bringing a knife from the kitchen, apparently to scare him. His son and his wife tried to restrain hi

March 13, 2026

She went to help her neighbor, but his parked truck rolled free and killed her

A woman in her 60s was crushed to death while out helping her neighbor Thursday, when his parked truck rolled down a hill. The incident occurred at around 1:13 p.m. at a home in Jindo-gun, South Jeolla Province, according to the Jindo Police Station. The victim was helping out a neighbor, a man in his 60s, dry his seaweed when the man's truck rolled down the hill. The car was parked in front of the home, about 7 or 8 meters uphill from the front yard where the fatal accident occurred. The car ow

March 13, 2026

Immigrants swoop rural county out of population collapse

Goesan-gun, a small county in the rural parts of North Chungcheong Province, has recently averted a severe population decline thanks to a substantial inflow of immigrants. The immigrant population of Geosan was 1,850 in 2024, according to the Korean Statistical Information Service, marking an all-time high and more than doubling from 904 in 2015. It increased by 167 compared to the previous year, continuing an upward trend. The county's population decreased to 36,252 in 2024 compared to 38,787 i

March 13, 2026

AI-generated image used for fraud, as woman falsely claims manicure injury

A woman recently tried to extort money from a local nail salon by using an image generated by artificial intelligence that made it appear as if her treatment caused minor injuries to her fingers. South Korean police on Thursday said they had transferred the case to the prosecution for fraud and obstruction of business. The suspect also fabricated medical records in the process, but the police did not press charges of counterfeiting private documents. The suspect allegedly made a fake image of he

March 13, 2026

Ruling party lawmaker loses seat after fraud conviction; mulls constitutional complaint

The Supreme Court on Thursday confirmed a suspended prison sentence for Rep. Yang Moon-seok of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, effectively stripping him of his seat in the National Assembly. South Korea’s highest court upheld an earlier ruling sentencing Yang to 18 months in prison, suspended for three years, saying the lower courts made no error in applying the relevant laws. Yang was found guilty of fraud after he and his wife fabricated documents to obtain an unlawful loan in their daug

March 12, 2026

Young Koreans turning to AI lawyers

As artificial intelligence advances, a growing number of young South Koreans are turning to generative AI for legal advice in relatively minor criminal cases. The Maeil Business Newspaper reported Wednesday that a 23-year-old college student used generative AI to develop a legal strategy before being questioned by police over sexually insulting remarks made while playing an online video game. “I explained the facts and trained the AI on relevant legal provisions and precedents. It helped me get

March 12, 2026

96 child abuse deaths in Korea in 5 years, most involving parents

Nearly 100 children in South Korea died from abuse over the past five years, most at the hands of their own parents, according to police data covering tens of thousands of reported cases nationwide. A total of 63,575 child abuse cases were recorded during the five-year period, resulting in 96 deaths, according to data from the National Police Agency released Thursday by Rep. Chung Choon-saeng of the minor Rebuilding Korea Party. In 2025 alone, 14,211 cases were recorded, up from 11,572 in 2021,

March 12, 2026

Foreigners through eyes of media: Does coverage lead to prejudice?

Crimes committed by foreigners account for only a small share of offenses in South Korea. But news coverage and public debate often make them appear far more common than the numbers suggest. As of 2024, the number of “foreign residents” — defined by the Interior Ministry as foreign nationals staying in Korea for more than 90 days, naturalized citizens and their children — surpassed 2.58 million, the highest figure on record. They now make up roughly 5 percent of the population. Despite this demo

March 10, 2026