South Korea

World News

Bullfighting For Buddhists: A Less Bloody Alternative In South Korea

11:19am April 30, 2015

by Marius Stankiewicz

There are no matadors, no swords and little gore, just two bulls butting heads at the country's annual bullfighting festival. In the end, neither creature dies; each just expresses its "emotions."

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Boston on Monday.

The Past Haunts The Present For Japan's Shinzo Abe

2:18pm April 28, 2015

by Elise Hu

As Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seeks to strengthen ties with America, he's facing tense times in his own neighborhood, mainly because of his views on World War II.

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Riot police at the entrance to a subway station in central Seoul.

World News

Heavy Police Presence At Ferry Demonstrations Bring Seoul To A Halt

1:08pm April 18, 2015

by Elise Hu

Thousands of police formed a perimeter around the heart of South Korea's capital Saturday, in an effort to dampen a third day of protests over the government handling of a ferry disaster one year ago.

People pay tribute at a group memorial altar for victims of the sunken South Korean ferry Sewol at a remembrance hall in Ansan on Thursday.

World News

South Korean President Promises To Raise Sewol Ferry, One Year After Tragedy

10:21am April 16, 2015

by Bill Chappell

President Park Geun-hye has pledged to salvage the ferry, which capsized and sank, killing 304 people — most of them students. The rescue effort was widely viewed as bungled.

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Relatives of victims of the Sewol ferry accident stand before a banner featuring victim photos during a protest. More than 300 people, most of them high school students, died in the accident. Nine people remain missing.

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A Year After Ferry Disaster, South Koreans Await Answers

5:39am April 16, 2015

by Elise Hu

The root causes of the accident that killed 304 people are still unclear, and parents of the victims are embroiled in a political tug of war.

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Students take the annual College Scholastic Ability Test, or college entrance exam, at a high school in Seoul last November. Students face enormous pressure to do well on the test and get into a top university. Airplanes are grounded on the day of the tes

The All-Work, No-Play Culture Of South Korean Education

3:39pm April 15, 2015

by Elise Hu

A new report finds South Korean students feel greater stress than those in any other developed nation. The country is weighing the relentless pressure it places on studying and exams.

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Koreans — many of them elderly — line up to receive 500 won, or about 50 cents, from Shin Banpo Church in southern Seoul. Each week, organizers say, a few hundred seniors show up at each church that offers the service, and the line starts hours in adv

A Forgotten Generation: Half Of South Korea's Elderly Live In Poverty

7:21pm April 14, 2015

by Elise Hu

In a country known for its tech advances and rapid economic rise, the generation responsible for the growth isn't faring so well. Half of South Korea's seniors live below the poverty line.

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Language instructor Soh Bor-am teaches eight Mandarin classes a day, as Chinese tourism to South Korea swells.

A Chinese Tourism Boom Has South Koreans Cramming

3:02pm April 02, 2015

by Elise Hu

South Korea is the top foreign destination for Chinese tourists, which means Koreans are scrambling to adjust to the hordes of travelers from the mainland.

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U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert waves as he leaves a hospital in Seoul, where he recovered from being attacked by a knife-wielding South Korean nationalist.

World News

U.S. Ambassador Leaves Hospital After Attack In South Korea

1:48pm March 10, 2015

by Bill Chappell

"I'm walking, talking, holding my baby, hugging my wife, so I just feel really good," U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert says as he is released from a Seoul hospital days after he was attacked.

U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert leaves Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Seoul, South Korea, after the attack.

North Korea: Attack On U.S. Ambassador Is 'Deserved Punishment'

1:27pm March 05, 2015

by Scott Neuman

Pyongyang said it welcomed the attack on Ambassador Mark Lippert, who was assaulted in Seoul by a knife-wielding political activist who said he opposed joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises.