Category: Korea-General Topics

It appears dog meat farms will be a thing of the past in South Korea by 2027:

Nearly 80 percent of dog meat farms in Korea have closed as of this month, revealing the fast pace of shutdowns ahead of the government’s plan to begin penalizing violators in February 2027.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, 125 dog meat farms shut down between Aug. 7 and Dec. 21 this year, while the number of dogs bred for consumption declined by 47,544 during the same period.

As a result, 1,204 of the 1,537 registered farms, or 78 percent, have now closed since the Special Act on the Termination of Breeding, Slaughter and Distribution of Dogs for Consumption was enacted in February last year, a month after the National Assembly passed the law.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Instead of fines and sternly worded letters why doesn’t the Lee administration seize these ships and sell them? That would be a real deterrent to the illegal Chinese fishing fleet that has literally for decades plundered Korean waters:

President Lee Jae Myung on Tuesday instructed maritime police to take stern measures against illegal fishing by Chinese vessels in South Korean waters.

During a policy briefing by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Lee asked whether the Korea Coast Guard was shifting its approach from simply repelling or blocking Chinese fishing boats to actively detaining them when they operate illegally in South Korea’s exclusive economic zone in the Yellow Sea.

Lee criticized what he described as violent resistance by some Chinese vessels against Korean law enforcement, including acts of intimidation and the installation of iron window bars, calling such behaviors “too mean.”

“If they act violently while engaging in illegal fishing to avoid enforcement, shouldn’t they face much stronger sanctions?” Lee said during the briefing held at the ministry’s new headquarters in the southeastern city of Busan.

Lee said fines should be raised to levels that would increase the financial burden and risk of illegal fishing in Korean waters.

He added that tougher enforcement would have a stronger deterrent effect, noting that selective crackdowns have been less effective because Chinese fishermen often pool money to pay fines imposed by Korean authorities.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is going to be pretty awesome once it is built. California could only dream of building something like this:

The government has completed the development of core technologies for a next-generation high-speed train capable of operating at 370 kilometers per hour, making it the world’s second-fastest in terms of commercial operating speed, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Monday.

The train, named EMU-370, has a technically designed maximum speed of 407 kph. Developed under a national research and development program led by the Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI) with participation from seven public and private organizations, the project ran from April 2022 to December 2025.

A total of 22.5 billion won ($15.23 million) was invested in the project, including 18 billion won from the government and 4.5 billion won from private firms.

The government plans to begin manufacturing the first EMU-370 vehicles next year and conduct test operations in 2030, with commercialization expected after 2031. Once deployed, the EMU-370 would rank second globally in commercial operating speed, following China’s CR450, which is undergoing tests at 400 kph ahead of its planned commercial launch in 2027. Major high-speed trains in France, Germany and Japan currently operate at around 320 kph.

Compared with Korea’s current fastest train, the EMU-320, known as KTX-Cheongyong, the EMU-370 features a 47.4 percent higher motor output, 12.3 percent lower air resistance, a 33 percent reduction in horizontal vibration acceleration and a 2-decibel decrease in indoor noise. The train will seat 479 passengers and has a motor capacity of 560 kilowatts, equivalent to the combined output of 75 midsize sedans.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

In the U.S. the activists would claim this is cruel and the person should be allowed to stay because it was just minor crimes. It is good to see the ROK is upholding their immigration laws:

 A Seoul court has upheld an earlier decision by the justice ministry to deny naturalization to a foreign national over his past criminal record.

According to legal sources Sunday, the Seoul Administrative Court dismissed a lawsuit filed by the foreigner, who had sought to overturn the ministry’s rejection of his naturalization application.

The applicant, whose nationality was not disclosed, had applied for a South Korean passport after marrying a South Korean citizen. After the couple divorced, the legal basis for his application changed, and the ministry rejected the request, citing his criminal record.

The ministry ruled that the person failed to meet the “good conduct” requirement under the Nationality Act. The foreigner was once referred to juvenile protection proceedings for aggravated theft and was also fined for driving without a license.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The last time I was in Itaewon it did not seem any busier than usual, but apparently this year the number of foreigners visiting the district has increased:

Itaewon has seen a sharp rise in visitors this year, a trend driven in part by Yongsan District’s effort to revive the area’s local-brand commercial district.

According to the Yongsan District Office on Friday, the initiative is now entering its final stage and has begun to deliver tangible results. 

The number of domestic visitors climbed from 1.25 million last year to 1.3 million as of November. Foreign tourist arrivals also exceeded 250,000, up from 240,000 a year earlier.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This is actually a pretty good idea to make using public transit easier for foreigners. With that said it is not that hard to figure out how to pay for public transit in Korea:

The government has begun reviewing a system that would allow foreign tourists to use buses and subways in Korea with overseas-issued credit cards, officials said Sunday.

The land and transport recently launched a bid to commission a study on introducing an open-loop public transportation payment system, which was to begin this month and run through the end of next year, according to the officials.

The study aims to enable foreigners to pay public transportation fares directly with international credit cards. Currently, visitors must purchase and top up transportation cards with cash or buy prepaid cards designed specifically for foreigners, which often causes inconvenience.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This is quite a high number of Koreans who choose to live alone, the article says that South Korea aging population is the main driver of this:

South Korea’s demographic structure is shifting at its fastest pace yet, with the share of single-person households surpassing 36 percent for the first time last year and the senior citizen population crossing the 10 million mark, new government data showed Sunday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s statistics yearbook on social security, the number of single-person households reached a record high of nearly 8.05 million last year. This marks a sharp rise from 5.2 million households in 2015 to 6.64 million in 2020, with the figure first exceeding the 30 percent threshold.

If the current pace continues, the ministry projects single-person households will reach 8.55 million by 2027, 9.71 million by 2037 and nearly 10 million by 2042, cementing the model as the country’s dominant living arrangement.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

President Lee wants more penalties for data breaches, but maybe South Korea should stop hiring Chinese since the Coupang data breach was an inside job perpetuated by a former Chinese employee who fled to China:

President Lee Jae Myung called Tuesday for strengthening penalties and implementing the punitive damages system in the event of data leaks similar to the massive breach at e-commerce giant Coupang.

Lee issued the call during a Cabinet meeting days after the company said the personal information of nearly 34 million customers had been stolen, including names, addresses and phone numbers.

“We must swiftly determine the cause of the accident and strictly demand accountability,” he said during the meeting at the presidential office, expressing shock that the company had been unaware of the breach for five months. (……)

Police said Monday they are tracking down the suspect behind the data breach after securing the Internet Protocol (IP) address that was used.

The breach began in June, and a former employee, a Chinese national who has since left South Korea, has been identified as the perpetrator, Coupang said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

South Korea continues to make strides in their efforts to add a space industry to their economy:

Arirang 7, South Korea’s multipurpose satellite, has successfully entered orbit after lifting off from a space center in South America, the country’s space agency said Tuesday.

Also known as the Korea Multipurpose Satellite 7, the satellite was deployed from the Vega-C rocket 44 minutes after launching from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana at 2:21 p.m. Monday (French Guiana time), or 2:21 a.m. Tuesday (Korean time), according to the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA). The rocket is operated by France-based Arianespace.

The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), the developer of Arirang 7, confirmed the satellite’s condition when it made contact with Russia’s Antarctic ground station at 3:30 a.m. (Korean time).

KARI also verified its successful orbital insertion through data from Arianespace.

Arirang 7, equipped with an ultra-high-resolution electro-optical camera and an infrared sensor, is expected to provide high-quality imagery for environmental and disaster monitoring, and urban heat island analysis.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.