99,000 homes break ground in greater Seoul; gov't eyes 80% of annual target

An Uzbek man who spent more than 16 years behind bars serving a life sentence for robbery-murder and other charges was released Thursday after a court granted him a retrial, citing serious problems with the police investigation that led to his conviction. Bozorov Akmal, 37, walked out of Changwon Prison Thursday evening, after the Changwon District Court suspended the enforcement of his sentence pending a final ruling in the retrial. He tearfully reunited with his father, who was waiting outside the prison. “I have suffered greatly, feeling that I was wrongfully imprisoned. But at the same time, I am truly sorry for the great pain this could cause the victim’s family,” said Akmal. “I will speak truthfully throughout the remaining court proceedings.” The case dates back to March 24, 2009, when a taxi driver in his 50s was found murdered inside a taxi parked in an alley in Myeongseo-dong, Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province. On July 6 that year, police arrested three people, including Akmal, then 19, in connection with a separate taxi robbery. Police subsequently identified Akma

A crackdown on cheating using artificial intelligence (AI)-powered smart glasses is raising concerns over mounting pressure on teachers tasked with detecting the devices, with the college entrance exam just a month away. The Ministry of Education plans to require exam supervisors to inspect all test takers wearing glasses before each session of this year's College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), or Suneung, as part of efforts to prevent AI-assisted cheating. Under the rules, even possessing smart glasses without using them will be considered cheating. Violators will have their exam results invalidated and be barred from taking Suneung the following year. The tougher measures come amid a series of cheating cases involving AI glasses during recent university entrance exams. On Oct. 10, a student was caught wearing smart glasses during an entrance exam at Yonsei University. Although exam supervisors had checked students before the test began, the student reportedly switched glasses afterward, evading detection until later in the test. A similar case was reported at the University of Seoul on

Only about half of Korean adults wash their hands with soap after using the restroom, a survey showed, while the average time spent washing hands fell far short of the recommended 30 seconds. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) on Thursday announced the findings of its survey on infection prevention practices for the first half of 2026, conducted jointly with the National Medical Center. The survey observed the hand-washing behavior of 4,560 adults at 120 public restrooms nationwide from May 28 to June 30. Exit interviews were also conducted with 1,800 of the participants. The survey found that 86 percent of people washed their hands after using the restroom, up 1.9 percentage points from 84.1 percent last year. The proportion who washed their hands with soap rose 1.7 percentage points from a year earlier to 46.7 percent. Another 39.3 percent washed their hands with water only, while the remaining 14 percent did not wash their hands at all after using the restroom. The amount of time people spent washing their hands was also notably short. The average total hand-washing

Gender Equality Minister Won Min-kyong on Friday called for abolishing a legal provision that bars punishing perpetrators of domestic violence if the victims do not wish punishment. Under the current law, authorities cannot punish domestic violence offenders if victims express opposition to punishment. Critics have said the provision has led offenders to pressure victims to settle cases. "Since the policy briefing in December last year, I have consistently called for abolishing the clause on domestic violence as a crime not punishable against the victim's will," Won said in a YouTube interview. She added that President Lee Jae Myung shares her view. Stalking crimes had previously not been punishable against the victim's will but a legal revision abolished the provision in June 2023.

President Lee Jae Myung on Friday appointed a new vice industry minister and a new deputy chief of the Financial Services Commission (FSC). Park Dong-il, a senior official at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, was named vice minister, while Shin Ji-chang, a senior FSC official, was appointed the commission's vice chairman, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said. Kang described Park as an industry policy expert with extensive experience in planning and coordinating industrial policies, expressing hope that he would play a role in spearheading the country's push to achieve unrivaled leadership in future strategic industries. The presidential spokesperson portrayed Shin as a career official well versed in the financial and industrial sectors, with expertise in financial programs for low-income people and small merchants, as well as the housing market.

Some Samsung Electronics employees have drawn criticism from online users after appearing to welcome a nearly 9 percent plunge in their company's share price on an anonymous workplace community. Posts written by Samsung Electronics employees on the company's board on Blind, an anonymous community for office workers, spread across online communities and social media Thursday. Blind requires users to verify their employment through their company email addresses, and displays the name of their employer alongside their usernames. According to the Korea Exchange, Samsung Electronics closed Thursday's regular trading at 210,000 won ($147), down 9.48 percent, or 22,000 won, from the previous session. One person believed to be a Samsung Electronics employee posted on Blind under the title, "Please let the stock plunge to 100,000 won." Another employee wrote a post titled, "Isn't a falling stock price actually better for Samsung Electronics employees?" The employee said, "From the Device Solutions (DS) division's perspective, a higher stock price only increases the risk associated with OPI2," ref

Eighteen professors at Kwangwoon University have been named among the World’s Top 2% Scientists, highlighting the research excellence and international academic influence of the university’s faculty. The World’s Top 2% Scientists list for 2026 was recently released by Stanford University and Elsevier, a global provider of academic information. It evaluates researchers’ scientific impact using data from Elsevier’s Scopus database. The list comprises two categories: Career-long citation impact, which measures a researcher’s cumulative impact throughout their career, and single-year scientific impact, which reflects citation impact in 2025. The 2026 edition uses citation data through the end of last year. Ten Kwangwoon University professors were named in the career-long category. They include Kim Young-hun (chemical engineering), Kim Tae-kyun (mathematics), Park Myun-joo (electronics convergence engineering), Park Jae-yeong (electronic engineering), Park Chul-hwan (chemical engineering), Lee Sang-shin (electronic engineering) and Jang Min (environmental engineering). Fourteen pro

A man accused of injuring eight people in a knife attack at a commercial complex in Incheon earlier this week attended an arrest warrant hearing on Friday. The hearing began at 2 p.m. at the Incheon District Court after prosecutors requested an arrest warrant for the suspect on charges of attempted murder and carrying weapons in public spaces. The 59-year-old man is suspected of attempting to kill 10 people with knives attached to both of his hands at the shopping complex in Incheon, just west of Seoul, on Tuesday. The attack left eight people injured, including one who remains unconscious after suffering cardiac arrest. The two others escaped unharmed. The suspect reportedly has 10 prior convictions, two of them attempted murder. "I am sorry," the suspect said while walking toward the court for his hearing, noting he has made a serious mistake. According to police, the man has cited his frustration over his medical treatment at a local hospital as the motive for the attack. He had staged a one-man protest in front of the hospital for 2 1/2 months since August. During those protests, the

President Lee Jae Myung stressed the need for constitutional revision, Friday, on the 47th anniversary of the pro-democracy uprising in Busan and Masan — the latter now part of Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province — renewing his push for amendments despite political disputes over presidential powers and reelection rules. Speaking at Busan City Hall during a ceremony commemorating the uprising, Lee urged lawmakers to begin discussions a day after again dismissing claims on X that his push for constitutional revision was intended to allow him to seek another term. “The Busan-Masan uprising did more than bring an end to a dictatorship,” he said, tracing its legacy through subsequent pro-democracy movements, including the May 1980 Gwangju uprising, the June Democratic Uprising of 1987 and protests against then-President Yoon Suk Yeol’s Dec. 3, 2024, declaration of martial law. “Haven’t both ruling and opposition parties repeatedly spoken with one voice about including the spirit of Gwangju uprising and the Busan-Masan uprising in the constitutional preamble?” Lee said. “Now

Sungkyunkwan University said it has recruited world-renowned scholars in key fields, including medicine, biotechnology, energy and semiconductors, as distinguished professors to lead international collaborative research with its faculty. The scholars include Peter J. Park of Harvard Medical School, Gerbrand Ceder of the University of California, Berkeley, and Konstantin Novoselov, who shared the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics. Harvard University physicist Philip Kim will also participate in the initiative as an international research collaborator. The initiative goes beyond nominal affiliations, enabling researchers and students to work directly with leading scholars on joint research projects. Sungkyunkwan University plans to establish a framework that integrates research collaboration with talent development through joint projects, researcher exchanges, campus visits by the scholars and joint supervision and mentoring of students. “Close collaboration with world-renowned scholars will help Sungkyunkwan University establish itself as a global research hub in cutting-edge fields of science

A high-risk pregnant woman whose water broke was airlifted about 240 kilometers from Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, to a university hospital in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, after emergency responders were unable to find a nearby hospital capable of treating her and her baby. Paramedics in Gyeonggi Province contacted about 18 hospitals in surrounding areas, including South Chungcheong Province, but were unable to secure a facility capable of providing neonatal intensive care. According to the South Chungcheong Fire Headquarters on Thursday, its emergency responders were dispatched after receiving a request for assistance from Gyeonggi paramedics at around 4 a.m. on Oct. 8. The woman, who was at an obstetrics and gynecology clinic in Pyeongtaek, was transported by a firefighting helicopter to a university hospital in Changwon. The woman had gestational diabetes and was less than 35 weeks pregnant when her water broke. The fetus was also in a breech position, requiring urgent medical care. A fire official said the baby was expected to require treatment in a neonatal intensive care u