LUCENA CITY — Multi-sectoral groups have joined forces to intensify a campaign supporting more than 250 farming families in Sariaya, Quezon, who have been stripped of their rights to lands awarded to them under the government’s agrarian reform program. The “Save Sariaya Now!” campaign was launched at the Diocese of Lucena’s Sentro Pastoral in Lucena

BAGUIO CITY — Delegations from across the Cordillera performed their signature festival dances before residents and weekend tourists here on Saturday, Oct. 17, as the region marked Indigenous Peoples Month and sought to sustain tourism. The fifth Cordillera Festival of Festivals comes as the region faces economic pressures from rising fuel and food prices and

SAN ILDEFONSO, Ilocos Sur — The municipal government of Santa Lucia in this province recently launched the Paleng-QR PH Plus program to promote cashless transactions among market vendors, transport operators, small businesses and consumers. The initiative, spearheaded by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in partnership with the Department of the Interior and Local Government

MANILA, Philippines — The Psychological Association of the Philippines (PAP) has condemned a podcast’s discriminatory remarks about Kris Aquino’s son Josh, who is on the autism spectrum, and urged content creators to produce sensitive and ethical content. In a now-deleted podcast episode, Tito P, one of the five male hosts of “Machong Chismisan,” mocked Josh

"This new hire is really strange. Even when calls come in, they do not answer, and when given instructions, they do not respond. They ignore most KakaoTalk messages and only reply to things that benefit them." Senior employees in their 30s who work with new hires in their 20s with impressive credentials frequently voice this grievance. They complain that open communication with junior staff remains difficult despite considerable effort. However, the 20-somethings targeted by this criticism counter that their true intent — exchanging precise information and avoiding getting hurt while communicating — is not getting across. Why young workers avoid office phones Participant 4: Why do people in their 20s avoid phone calls these days? Participant 2: We prefer text messages because they let us reply after preparing our thoughts. That is especially true for work-related matters. Because text leaves a written record, we can check details directly from the message without having to ask again later. Even if a phone call is recorded, it is more inconvenient because we have to go back and listen

Not long ago, I asked Conrad, a British participant on a food tour, what he considered the most quintessentially British food. I expected him to name the famous fish and chips or a full English breakfast spread. But without hesitation, he answered, “curry.” Seeing my puzzled expression, he smiled and explained. While Britain has its traditional signature dishes, curry is one of the foods Britons eat most frequently today. That got me wondering: What food or food culture best represents Korea today? When I posed the same question to Conrad, his unexpected answer was “coffee and cafe culture.” The other participants on the tour nodded in agreement. When I take foreign visitors on food tours, I often hear the same questions: “Why are there so many cafes in Korea?” and “Why are cafes still so crowded late in the afternoon?” I could explain that Koreans simply love coffee. But a look at Seoul's cafes suggests there is more to it than that. Cafes line nearly every alley, stay lit late into the night and draw long queues outside popular spots on weekends. This is less a matter

What might it look like if gentle waves rippled across the surface of the sea? The sky shimmers and the grass seems to undulate across an uneven metal surface. The wall of this building, stretching horizontally at a height of 3.6 meters and reflecting the surrounding scenery, looks strangely familiar. Then it becomes clear: It resembles "bangjja yugi," traditional Korean hammered brassware often seen on carefully arranged tables at Korean restaurants. The intricate patterns, painstakingly hammered into the metal, refract light to create its distinctive sheen. This place wrapped in a long bangjja yugi on its exterior is the Seoul SeMA Seo-Seoul Museum of Art. Built this year in Geumnarae Central Park near Geumcheon District Office Station in Geumcheon District, it won the Grand Prize at the 44th Seoul Architecture Awards last month. Seoul selects and awards city buildings every year. This year, it selected one Grand Prize winner, two Top Excellence Prize winners, four Excellence Prize winners and three New Architect Prize winners. Among these, public buildings that anyone can freely visi

President Lee Jae Myung paid his respects Saturday to a firefighter who died while responding to a factory fire in Bucheon, west of Seoul, the presidential office said. Lee posthumously awarded firefighter Kim Jin-seok the Okjo Order of Service Merit in recognition of his dedication and sacrifice, and offered condolences to his bereaved family, the office said. After paying his respects, Lee said, "The government must provide firefighters with recognition and support commensurate with their dedication and sacrifice." Lee also stressed the need to strengthen on-site safety measures to ensure that firefighters can perform their duties in safer working conditions. The president instructed Interior Minister Yoon Ho-jung, who accompanied him, to provide all necessary support for the treatment and recovery of firefighters injured in the blaze. The government also plans to provide further honors for Kim, including arrangements for his burial at a national cemetery. The fire broke out at a four-story metalworking factory at 8:38 a.m. Friday and was fully extinguished at 11:06 a.m., according to fi

Advanced rehabilitation involving wearable robotics has traditionally remained out of reach for many due to high costs and limited availability outside major medical centers. Now, a pioneering municipal program in western Seoul is bringing this cutting-edge technology directly into neighborhood streets. The Mapo District office is running a specialized robotic rehabilitation initiative designed to help registered residents with mobility impairments regain independence. By partnering with the Seoul Seobuk Hospital and wearable robotics firm Angel Robotics, the district has established a collaborative support framework bridging public health infrastructure with advanced medical engineering. Driven by leading tech firms, research institutes and startups like Hyundai Motor, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and Angel Robotics, Korea has rapidly expanded wearable robot technology beyond specialized medical rehabilitation into everyday industrial, agricultural and community mobility applications. The program utilizes robotic exoskeletons to analyze participants' gaits and

Korea has always been conscious of its own image, even as K-content exports and inbound tourism numbers continue to break records. But that global spotlight comes with an unspoken condition: show the shiny face, and sweep the unpolished parts under the rug. From outside, the country is often viewed through rose-tinted glasses, a tidy utopia of cute cafes and picture-perfect K-drama lifestyles. The Dark Side of Seoul Podcast offers something that doesn't fit on a postcard: an unvarnished look at Korean history and culture, aimed at the genuinely curious rather than the credulous, equally comfortable with the country's dark folklore as with its murders, crimes and political purges, distant and not so distant. The show is hosted by Joe McPherson and Shawn Morrissey, who have both lived in Korea for more than two decades and together lead The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk. To be clear, this isn't a foreigner-complaint fest where the hosts look down on Korean culture. It respects the culture and its listeners enough to give the fuller picture, with a dark sense of humor that labels certain

The number of voice phishing transactions confirmed as fraud after being flagged by monitoring systems at major commercial banks doubled last year from a year earlier, data showed Sunday. According to the data submitted by the Financial Supervisory Service to Rep. Park Seong-hoon of the People Power Party, the five major banks — KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank, Woori Bank and NH Nonghyup Bank — detected 8,760 such transactions through their fraud detection systems (FDS) in 2025 and subsequently confirmed them as actual fraud after taking temporary measures to suspend them. The figure more than doubled from 4,343 cases in 2024. An FDS is a technical system that monitors transactions, user activity and other data in real time to identify and flag suspicious behavior. The banks' FDS flagged 1.11 million suspected voice phishing transactions last year, up 39.9 percent from 796,000 in 2024. Of those, the banks took temporary measures against 157,000 transactions in 2025, up from 125,000 in 2024. Recently, Korean financial institutions are stepping up efforts to strengthen their cyb

The number of inmates released on parole before serving 60 percent of their full sentence has increased due to prison overcrowding, a lawmaker said Sunday. A total of 634 inmates who had served less than 60 percent of their full sentence were granted early parole in the January-August period, Rep. Joo Jin-woo of the main opposition People Power Party said, citing justice ministry data. The figure is around 3.7-fold bigger than the annual total of 172 in 2025, according to the lawmaker. The number of inmates who were released before fulfilling 60 percent of their sentence remained below 40 between 2022 and 2024 but sharply jumped last year. The increase was attributed to overcrowding at prisons across the country. As of the end of August, correctional facilities were operating at 126.2 percent of their capacity, compared with 122.1 percent in 2025, the data showed, according to Joo. To lower the rate, the justice ministry has been expanding early paroles for elderly and sick inmates who were deemed to have a low risk of reoffense. The ministry has said it plans to increase the number of ear

Police have apprehended a Kazakh man suspected of carrying out an ambush-style attack on a car at night in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, in an incident captured on dashcam footage that went viral recently. The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency and Icheon Police Station said Saturday that they detained the suspect, 21, on suspicion of aggravated intimidation and property damage. He and a fellow Kazakh national, 25, allegedly pursued and blocked a car carrying a driver in his 30s and a passenger on a road in Majang township on July 29. They allegedly left their own vehicle to threaten the occupants and kick the front of the vehicle. The case drew public attention after the footage was featured on the YouTube channel Han Moon-chul TV last month, garnering hundreds of thousands of views. As the footage spread, politicians such as Rep. Na Kyung-won of the opposition People Power Party questioned the state of public safety and called on police to mobilize all available investigative resources to catch the suspects. Police reopened the probe last month, and forensic specialists recovered som

Students from Jeonbuk National University’s Department of Sociology won top honors in an academic presentation competition for projects examining urban history, youth anxiety and changes in university life from a sociological perspective. The department said Friday that Kim Min-seo and Jang Eun-seong won the grand prize in a presentation competition organized by the Korean Sociological Association for supporters of the 2027 ISA World Congress of Sociology. Organized by the International Sociological Association (ISA), the congress will be held in Gwangju from July 4-10 next year. Two other teams received excellence awards. They were Bae Sol and Seon Hwa-pyeong, and Kim Se-jeong and Kim Yong-man. The grand prize-winning team explored the theme “How We Remember Gwangju,” examining the city’s history and urban spaces through a sociological lens to highlight the significance of hosting the World Congress of Sociology in Gwangju. The team examined a diverse range of historical sites and everyday spaces, including the former South Jeolla Provincial Office and Jeonil Building 245, artist

SINGAPORE, LONDON, SEOUL — Artificial intelligence (AI) is rewriting the rules across industries and higher education is no exception. While Korean universities are racing to establish AI departments and expand enrollment in advanced technology fields, some of the world’s leading institutions are taking different approach in adapting to the rapidly evolving technology. Rather than focusing solely on expanding AI-related education, these universities are rethinking the fundamentals of higher education, from what students should learn and how their abilities should be assessed to which academic strengths will remain valuable as AI takes on tasks once performed exclusively by humans. At Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore, AI education is no longer limited to engineering and computer science majors. The university is working to make AI part of learning across every discipline, including the arts and humanities. The university aims to integrate AI into 40 percent of courses across all 52 undergraduate degree programs by 2030, up from just 5 percent today. Under the initiat

President Lee Jae Myung on Sunday reaffirmed his opposition over ending the livestreams of Cabinet meetings, saying he is open to all opinions exchanged during the meetings. Lee's remarks came just days after he wrote on his X account that he disagrees with a need to end the livestreams, calling a recent new report on alleged calls from Cabinet members to end them a "false claim." "It is difficult to understand why they are pressing against disclosing part of the Cabinet meetings by even lying that 'Cabinet members cannot speak up because the meetings are public,'" the president wrote in a message on X. He also shared a YouTube broadcast opposing such calls and introducing cases in which Lee embraces opposing opinions from Cabinet members during the meetings. "I have intentionally increased the number of participants by a significant number to listen to various opinions regarding state affairs," Lee said. "I have always liked debates and especially respected people who propose opposing views," he said, adding he has always emphasized the role of people with opposing views to prevent probl

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Choo Mi-ae faces growing backlash over derogatory remarks portraying firefighting as a drain on provincial finances, with her subsequent apology drawing further criticism for lacking sincerity after a firefighter died battling a factory blaze in a city in the province. Choo’s repeated attempts to explain her intentions have only backfired as they were seen as lacking sincerity, with the opposition demanding a clearer apology and some members of her own party urging a disciplinary measure against her. The controversy began on Tuesday during a National Assembly audit of the Gyeonggi Provincial Government, when Choo mentioned the burden of firefighters’ personnel costs on local finances. “Firefighting seems to be the biggest headache, like a straw sucking up our finances,” she said, seeking to highlight that local governments still have to pay firefighters’ salaries even though they are now national government employees. But her analogy sparked anger for appearing to treat people who risk their lives to protect the public as a budgetary burden. Amid the row,

Residents of Gyeonggi Province can directly propose the bus routes they need for their commutes, giving them a standing invitation to participate in the province’s route planning. Gyeonggi Province said last week it has opened a proposal board where residents can suggest routes for Gyeonggi Pyeonha G Bus, a reserved-seat rush-hour bus service that connects major hubs in the Seoul metropolitan area. The board is designed to factor actual commute demand data into new route selection and is open to proposals at any time. Each resident can propose one route and may edit an existing proposal if their needs change. Proposals are regularly forwarded to the city or county where each route would start, to inform reviews of new routes. Proposed routes are selected only after cities and counties assess feasibility, draw up business plans, survey demand, secure budgets and consult other relevant local governments. The province will look first at areas such as new towns, where commuting is difficult due to a lack of buses, subways or other transit methods. Areas where demand is concentrated at rush

A six-year-old daughter’s letter to her father, a firefighter killed while battling a factory blaze in Bucheon on Friday, has offered a glimpse into the grief of the family he has left behind. “You passed away yesterday, but I miss you so much,” the daughter wrote in a letter, shared on social media Sunday by Rep. Song Young-gil of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. “And I know you loved me the most.” Beside the text was a drawing of a fire engine. “Dad, I miss you. Let’s make sure we meet again someday. I’ll probably be grown up by then. I love you, Dad. I miss you,” she added. The firefighter, Kim Jin-seok, was nearing the end of a 24-hour shift and due to finish at 9 a.m. Friday when an emergency call came in at 8:38 a.m. Kim immediately boarded a fire engine and was among the first responders to arrive. Kim and three colleagues entered the factory’s third floor, where rapidly spreading flames trapped him and another firefighter. His colleague was later rescued, but Kim was found about five meters farther inside, already in cardiac arrest. He was later pronounced

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made an offering at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Saturday, bringing to the fore a decades-old sore point with neighboring Korea and China, both of which suffered heavily from Japanese imperial aggression in the first half of the 20th century. The offering came as the shrine’s three-day autumn festival began. Japanese media reported that Takaichi plans to hold off on visiting the shrine personally, a move interpreted as an effort to avoid further diplomatic friction. The shrine honors about 2.46 million people who died in domestic conflicts associated with the 1868 Meiji Restoration and in the subsequent military campaigns launched by imperial Japan. Nearly 90 percent are linked to the Pacific War, Japan’s 1941-45 conflict with the United States and its allies as part of World War II. The religious site also enshrines several Class A war criminals, including wartime Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, who was executed in 1948. Korea and China have long protested when Japanese politicians send offerings or visit the shrine, which they see as representing

Sejong University said it is expanding Korean language education and international exchanges through its partnership in operating the first King Sejong Institute in Macao. The university held a signboard unveiling ceremony for the King Sejong Institute Macao at the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) on Oct. 9, Hangeul Day. It is the first King Sejong Institute operated in partnership with Sejong University. In June, Sejong University and MUST were selected to participate in the 2026 program supporting the establishment of new King Sejong Institutes. The King Sejong Institute Foundation designates overseas institutions that offer Korean language and cultural education as King Sejong Institutes and supports their operations by dispatching instructors, providing curricula and teaching materials and organizing cultural programs. King Sejong Institutes operate either independently under local institutions or jointly with Korean institutions and overseas diplomatic missions. The program aims to strengthen the foundation for Korean language education abroad and provide local learne

From a pair of cat mummies to a limestone statue of an elite family, a special exhibition co-hosted by Yonhap News Agency, South Korea's key newswire service, is set to offer a rare glimpse into the wonders of ancient Egyptian civilization. The exhibition, titled "Unraveling the Mysteries of Ancient Egypt," will bring together some 150 artifacts from the Brooklyn Museum's ancient Egyptian art collection, including mummies, sculptures and jewelry. The event, co-hosted by Yonhap, the Brooklyn Museum, local newspaper Donga Ilbo and broadcaster Channel A, will be the first exhibition in four years to display Egyptian mummies in South Korea. The total insured value of the artifacts to be on display is said to reach nearly $120 million. The exhibition will begin with artifacts that show the everyday lives of the Egyptian people from thousands of years ago. They include a tomb painting of woman kneeling on a green mat, a piece of an artifact that shows the sophisticated fashion style of the Egyptian elite from 3,000 years ago, as well as a statue of Nykara, Scribe of the Granary, his wife and so

The number of complaints submitted by foreigners on alleged taxi fare overcharges in Seoul over the past five years came to more than 6,000, but corrective measures have been taken on only about 3 percent of them, a lawmaker said Sunday. The number of such reports submitted between 2021 and August this year totaled 6,481, Rep. Mo Gyeong-jong of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea said, citing Seoul city government data. Of the total, administrative measures were taken on only 204 cases, or 3.1 percent. Of those, drivers in only 28 cases had their licenses suspended or canceled, while those involved in the remaining 176 cases were given mere warnings. Over 67 percent, or 4,368, of all reported cases were closed internally due to difficulties in verifying an overcharge and voluntary withdrawal of complaints, according to the data. In 2013, the city government revised a policy on taxi fare overcharge complaints, allowing foreigners to apply to receive 500,000 won ($374) in compensation should their report result in an administrative measure. The data showed there has been no case in which t

Hong Kong homebuyers are poised to see new residential launches in the coming days and weeks following a sell-out weekend of more than 360 flats in two major projects in the city. Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP), one of Hong Kong’s major developers and landlords, was set to hold a second round of sales for Sierra Sea Phase 2C(2) in Shap Sze Heung, which is between Sai Kung and Ma On Shan, with 152 flats on offer on Wednesday, it said in a statement. Among them, 128 flats would be sold via a...

Professor Qian Jiang, a senior eye expert at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, has moved back to China full time to pursue research on eye transplants. For more than two decades, Qian built and ran the genetic data hub at Johns Hopkins’ renowned Wilmer Eye Institute. He was welcomed at a ceremony on October 5 at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital in Hangzhou, part of Zhejiang University, the hospital said. At the ceremony, Qian said he would also work on “virtual cells” – computer models...

Find out Windhorst’s biggest scoop and hottest NBA take in this quick-fire interview with Rappler!

The reality on the ground and at sea is that a 'peace-loving' China can still inflict harm — economically and physically

MANILA, Philippines — Super Typhoon Champi is expected to enter the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) on Tuesday, Oct. 20, and will be named Rosal, bringing strong winds and heavy rains to northern Luzon and Bicol, according to the weather bureau. In its 5 a.m. bulletin on Sunday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services

SAN ILDEFONSO, Ilocos Sur — Police are investigating a reported holdup at a gasoline station in Currimao, Ilocos Norte, where two motorcycle-riding men allegedly threatened a pump attendant with a gun and fled with an undisclosed amount of cash early Saturday, Oct. 17. The Currimao Municipal Police Station said the incident occurred at 12:10 a.m.

Massive holiday crowds and immigration bottlenecks overwhelmed Hong Kong’s newly revamped Huanggang Port on Sunday, prompting authorities to issue their first “busy” alert just six days after the border crossing reopened. The 24-hour land crossing between Hong Kong and mainland China, which reopened on October 12, logged over 130,000 passenger trips on Saturday as it kicked off its opening weekend alongside the three-day Chung Yeung Festival holiday, according to official data. Outbound...