Chemicals, heat fueled ferry fire; 16 charged

Inquirer.net - Nov 13, 2026

MANILA, Philippines — A chemical reaction involving hazardous cargo and intense heat from a malfunctioning engine fueled a ferry fire that killed 77 people off Coron, Palawan, in September, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said on Thursday as it confirmed the filing of a criminal complaint against 16 individuals. BFP spokesperson Fire Supt. Anthony

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Lee's approval rating falls back below 40%: poll

Nov 13, 2026

Lee's approval rating falls back below 40%: poll

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

Seoul files criminal complaints against 5 serial 119 prank callers

Nov 13, 2026

Seoul files criminal complaints against 5 serial 119 prank callers

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

Gov't holds first task force meeting to ease living costs for wage earners

Nov 13, 2026

Gov't holds first task force meeting to ease living costs for wage earners

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

Two 17th-century Buddhist temple halls earn national heritage honors

Nov 13, 2026

Two 17th-century Buddhist temple halls earn national heritage honors

Two 17th-century Buddhist worship halls in southeastern Korea have been designated as national cultural treasures, the Korea Heritage Service said Friday. Under Korea’s heritage ranking system, a treasure sits just one tier below the country's top national treasure status, honoring buildings and artifacts of major historical and artistic value. The newly recognized buildings are Daeung Hall at Unheung Temple in Goseong County, South Gyeongsang Province, and Daeung Hall at Geodong Temple in Yeongcheon, North Gyeongsang Province. Both serve as the main prayer halls of temples traditionally traced to the seventh-century monk Uisang, though the surviving wooden structures date to the late Joseon Dynasty. Unheung Temple’s main hall, constructed in 1682, stands as a monument to wartime resilience. During the 1592–1598 Japanese invasions of Korea, the temple served as a strategic stronghold for warrior monks before being burned to the ground in battle. Analysis of its pillars and beams confirmed that the timber used to rebuild the hall was felled between late 1681 and early 1682. Every s

Winter blooms transform Seoul Botanic Park into festive garden

Nov 13, 2026

Winter blooms transform Seoul Botanic Park into festive garden

Tucked inside western Seoul’s Gangseo District, Seoul Botanic Park is defying the winter chill with a vibrant seasonal showcase of more than 40 tropical orchid varieties, 300 poinsettias and imaginative plant displays designed to liven up indoor spaces. The exhibition, titled “Between Winter and Plants,” runs from Friday through Jan. 31, 2027, across the park’s greenhouse, Seed Library and Garden Support Center. At the Tropical Hall, a display titled “Today, Orchids” features Aria, a miniature Phalaenopsis orchid developed domestically in 2019, alongside more than 40 varieties of tropical orchids, including Oncidium, Cattleya, Vanda and Cymbidium. The Mediterranean Hall presents a Christmas garden featuring 300 plants from 15 domestically developed poinsettia varieties, including red Flame, Green Star, peach Grace and Pink Bell. The display also features unusual spherical-bracted varieties called Sugar Ball, Red Ball and Snow Ball, while a fountain installation inspired by Rome incorporates a Christmas tree arrangement made with Flame poinsettias. At the Seed Library, an exhib

Remains of 2 Korean independence fighters to return home from US, Uzbekistan

Nov 13, 2026

Remains of 2 Korean independence fighters to return home from US, Uzbekistan

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 production falls for 5th year in 2026 amid changing diets

Nov 13, 2026

Korea's rice production falls for 5th year in 2026 amid changing diets

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

Defense ministry conducting poll on military cadets over proposed academy integration

Nov 13, 2026

Defense ministry conducting poll on military cadets over proposed academy integration

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

Former presidential security official named new KOICA chief

Nov 13, 2026

Former presidential security official named new KOICA chief

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

Lee pledges capital market reform to address stock undervaluation

Nov 13, 2026

Lee pledges capital market reform to address stock undervaluation

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

Gov't vows zero tolerance against cheating with AI glasses

Nov 13, 2026

Gov't vows zero tolerance against cheating with AI glasses

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

Italian cuisine week returns to Korea with Michelin-starred chefs, temple food exchange

Nov 13, 2026

Italian cuisine week returns to Korea with Michelin-starred chefs, temple food exchange

From Michelin-starred dining to an unexpected encounter between Italian monastic cuisine and Korean temple food, the flavors of Italy will come alive across Korea this month as the country celebrates the 11th annual Week of Italian Cuisine in the World. Hosted by the Embassy of Italy in Seoul, the Italian Trade Agency (ITA), the Italian Cultural Institute, the Italian National Tourist Board (ENIT) and the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Korea (ITCCK), this year's event will run from Monday to Dec. 9. This year's edition holds special significance, following the inscription of Italian cuisine on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December 2025. It will be held under the theme of "Italian cooking, UNESCO Heritage: territories and value chains of excellence." "We shall recount the story of what makes Italian cuisine unique — thread that binds every dish to the territories where it was born and to those who, with passion, safeguard its quality," Emilia Gatto, Ambassador of Italy to Korea, said. The event will feature a diverse program including m

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