Asia South Korea A landmark ruling by the Seoul High Court recognised the legal status of same-sex couples, allowing them to have the same health insurance rights as heterosexual couples
Asia South Korea Apple Pay digital payment service will finally be launched in South Korea; the announcement made official the collaboration with local partner Hyundai Cars, who also released a statement saying it is ‘looking forward’ to the event
Asia South Korea Parliament passed a bill to impeach Minister of Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min for the "inadequate response" to the Itaewon crowd crush, with 179 votes in favor, 109 against and 5 abstained - at least half of the votes from all 299 lawmakers were requir
Asia South Korea Face masks will no longer be required indoors starting Monday 30th Jan, except in high-risk places such as hospitals and on public transportation; schools, kindergartens, child care centers and department store will be mask-free
Asia South Korea Hundreds of people had to be evacuated after a fire broke out in Guryong Village in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, the only remaining slum area in Gangnam-gu
Asia South Korea Use-by-date instead of sell-by-date, with milk as only exception, is among the changes expected for 2023 with an impact at daily life level; others include the adoption of global standards of age counting and the abolition of university admission fees
Asia South Korea The annual bell-tolling ceremony to celebrate New Year's Eve will resume after two years of suspension due to COVID-19; hosted by the Seoul metropolitan government, it will take place at 11:30 pm at Bosingak Pavilion with about 100.000 people attending
Asia South Korea Amid the demographic crisis affecting the country, a law will make its citizens one or two years younger on official documents, eliminating the traditional method of counting ages and adopting the international standard
Asia South Korea Prosecutors on Friday demanded five years in prison and a fine of 12 million won ($9.225) for former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, who stands accused of academic irregularities involving his children and interference with an inspection into a corruption case
Asia South Korea "Talchum", the traditional Korean mask dance, was added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list
Asia South Korea Car exports jumped 28,5% on-year in October thank to a rise in demand for eco-friendly cars; the value of outbound shipments of automobiles came to $4,92 billion, the largest ever for any October
Asia South Korea The country has entered a week of national mourning for the over 150 victims of Saturday night’s human stampede in Itaewon, the worst tragedy in a decade after the Sewol ferry disaster
Asia South Korea The country has begun consultation with the EU on this year's draft resolution on North Korea's human rights abuses, breaking a 4-years silence towards NK’s violations; the resolution has been adopted for 20 consecutive years, unanimously since 2016