Category: Korea-General Topics

Considering how cheap health care is in South Korea it is not surprising that Koreans are going to the doctor more on average than other countries:

South Koreans on average visit local medical clinics 18 times a year, far exceeding those in other similar countries, a recent report showed.

The report on South Koreans’ health care usage found that the average number of annual outpatient visits per capita reached 18 in 2023. This figure is almost three times the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development average of 6.4 in 2022.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

It appears that the horrible wildfires in South Korea are finally contained:

 A massive wildfire that began in Sancheong County and swept through nearby regions in South Gyeongsang Province has been fully contained, authorities said Sunday.

The main fires were under control as of 1 p.m. Sunday, nearly 10 days after they first broke out March 21, according to forestry officials.

The wildfire has scorched an estimated 1,858 hectares of woodland, equivalent to around 2,600 football fields.

At least 30 people have died from the recent wave of nationwide wildfires, including 26 reported in North Gyeongsang Province.

Yonhap

Here is what started the fire Gyeongsangbuk-do:

Meanwhile, police authorities said they have booked a man suspected of starting the massive wildfires in North Gyeongsang Province.

The 56-year-old man is accused of causing the fire at around 11:25 a.m. on March 22 while performing an ancestral rite at a family grave on a hill in Uiseong County, North Gyeongsang Province.

The fire then spread rapidly to nearby Andong, Cheongsong, Yeongyang and Yeongdeok for days due to gusty winds amid dry conditions.

You can read more at the link, but investigators are still trying to determine who started the other wildfires.

Having driven this stretch of I-40 in Arizona many times before I know from first hand experience how treacherous the hill west of Williams can be in snowy weather. Unfortunately this time the accident that occurred was extremely deadly:

Arizona officials are working to determine whether additional human remains discovered in the debris of a fatal pileup crash on Interstate 40 on March 13 are those of the South Korean family who went missing in the area at the time of the crash.

Jiyeon Lee, Taehee Kim and Junghee Kim have been missing for nearly two weeks after driving through a winter storm on their road trip between the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas.

Investigators have confirmed that one of the vehicles in the collision, which involved multiple passenger vehicles that “were rear-ended, pushing them into, and in some cases, underneath crashed tractor-trailers,” was a BMW SUV, an update from the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office said on Monday. The family had been traveling in a BMW rental vehicle, the sheriff’s office said.

CNN

You can read more at the link.

The horrible wildfires in South Korea continue to burn and have become even more deadly:

This photo shows fires in parts of a village in Uiseong County, some 180 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on March 25, 2025. (Yonhap)

The death toll from a wave of wildfires that tore through southeastern region has risen to 18, with one person missing, forest service officials said Wednesday, as firefighters still battled to contain the rapidly spreading blazes.

The fires that began in Sancheong County in South Gyeongsang Province last Friday have spread to nearby Uiseong, and were advancing to neighboring Andong, Cheongsong, Yeongyang and Yeongdeok, fueled by strong and dry winds.

Of the victims, two were found in Andong, three were in Cheongsong, six were in Yeongyang and seven in Yeongdeok, officials said. The remaining one person was missing in Cheongsong.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It is not often South Korea is hit with deadly wildfires like they are currently experiencing:

At least four people were killed, six people were injured and some 1,500 people were evacuated as wildfires fueled by strong winds have scorched areas of the nation’s southeastern region, disaster authorities said Sunday.

The fire began in Sancheong County, about 250 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Friday and spread to other parts. 

Of the six people who were injured, five were seriously harmed. All victims were found in Sancheong, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

You have to figure her husband was being arrested she would of course been highly upset:

First lady Kim Keon Hee purportedly berated the Presidential Security Service (PSS) for failing to stop investigators from detaining President Yoon Suk Yeol in January, according to sources Wednesday.

Kim’s alleged remark was described in arrest warrants police sought for two senior PSS officials — acting chief Kim Seong-hoon and bodyguard division chief Lee Kwang-woo — on Monday on charges of obstructing investigators’ first attempt to detain Yoon on January 3., according to the police and prosecution sources.

The warrants reportedly described the first lady as berating a PSS officer after investigators succeeded at their second detention attempt Jan. 15, saying, “What’s the point of carrying a gun? You’re supposed to stop something like that.”

She also allegedly expressed her despair by claiming to want to “shoot Chairman Lee Jae-myung and then die myself,” referring to the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

You have to be mentally unwell to kill yourself in this fashion:

This file photo provided by a reader shows police investigating the site where a presumed Yoon supporter set himself on fire in Seoul on March 7, 2025. (Yonhap)

A man in his 70s who was presumed to be a supporter of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol died Wednesday after setting himself on fire earlier this month, according to police. 

The 79-year-old man, whose name was withheld, staged a self-immolation action after scattering printouts illustrating support for Yoon on the rooftop of a building near Seoul City Hall on March 7.

According to police, the man died while being treated at a hospital specializing in burn injuries in Seoul at around 1 p.m. 

It marked the second case of a supporter of Yoon dying from self-immolation.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

As long as this cable car boom is focused on high traffic mountains and not every mountain in South Korea I really don’t have a problem with it. Anyone who has rode the cable car at Seoraksan for example knows they need another cable car up that mountain with its incredibly long lines:

South Korea is experiencing a cable car boom.

Of the 41 cable cars currently operating nationwide, 17 have been built in the past five years, according to the Korea Transportation Safety Authority.

Yeosu, a coastal city in South Jeolla Province, serves as a model demonstrating the benefits of a successful cable car installation.

The city opened the Yeosu Maritime Cable Car in 2014, which was the first marine cable car in South Korea and links the mainland with Dolsando just across the water.

Drawing visitors to the spectacular views of the coastline and surrounding islands from the cable car, the city has attracted more than 13 million visitors annually, which led to a revitalization of the tourism industry, city officials said.

Wonju, Gangwon Province, is also hoping to duplicate Yeosu’s success with its newly launched Sogeumsan Cable Car. This area already has the nation’s longest pedestrian bridge, which stretches 200 meters across a canyon.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link, but of course the environmentalists are upset about the cable cars impacts on wildlife and forests.

Accordingto the article this person was terminated from their position, I would prefer that this person be sitting in a jail cell instead:

 A U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) contractor employee was terminated after attempting to board a flight to South Korea with export-controlled information on nuclear reactor design software, a report showed Monday.

Idaho National Laboratory (INL), one of the DOE’s national laboratories, terminated the person during the reporting period from Oct. 1, 2023 through March 31 last year, the DOE report to Congress said, as questions persist over why South Korea was placed on the DOE’s “Sensitive and Other Designated Countries List (SCL)” in early January.

The information in question is proprietary nuclear reactor design software owned by INL. The DOE’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) conducted a search of the employee’s government email and chat history showing the employee’s knowledge of export control restrictions and communications with a foreign government. 

“This is an ongoing joint investigation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations,” the report said.

Hours earlier, Seoul’s foreign ministry said that South Korea’s placement on the SCL was because of a security issue related to a DOE-affiliated research institution rather than a foreign policy matter.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.