Hotel Shilla CEO's son earns near-perfect score on university entrance exam SEOUL, December 5 (AJP) - Hotel Shilla president Lee Boo-jin has garnered fresh attention this week as it was revealed that her son earned a near-perfect score on last month's university entrance exam, creating a buzz among many parents. With this year's exam being one of the toughest as only five students achieved perfect scores, her son reportedly missed just one question. The news spread shortly after former conservative lawmaker Park Sun-young shared it on social medi December 5, 2025

Seoul Metro increases subway trains as heavy snow disrupts commuters SEOUL, December 5 (AJP) - More subway trains were put into service during the morning rush hour in Seoul on Friday to prevent delays and disruptions caused by heavy snowfall the previous night. Seoul Metro said, "To minimize inconvenience due to snow, we increased the number of trains between 7 a.m. and 9:30 a.m." The capital and other metropolitan areas saw their first snow of the winter the previous day, with more than 5 centimeters falling in just a few hours, paralyzing traff December 5, 2025

When it snows, it downpours in Seoul: first snow causes chaos SEOUL, December 05 (AJP) -Heavy snowfall across Seoul and southern Gyeonggi triggered a wave of accidents and commuter chaos from rush hour in Wednesday evening to late night as icy roads and inadequate snow removal efforts left drivers stranded and public transportation overwhelmed. In Seoul, the first snow has now become something of a pattern: when it snows, it downpours—the second year in a row in which the season’s first flakes arrived as a full-blown snowstorm. December 5, 2025

Korean replaces Chinese as foreign favorite language amid K-pop rise SEOUL, December 04 (AJP) - In another sign of Korean pop culture's global reach, Korean has become the sixth most-studied language on Duolingo, one of the world's largest language-learning platforms, increasingly replacing Chinese as a preferred foreign language. According to the 2025 Language Report released Thursday, Korean trailed only English, Spanish, French, Japanese and German in global popularity. It also ranked as the second-fastest-growing language in Western December 4, 2025

NTS to crack down on tax evaders in real estate inheritances SEOUL, December 4 (AJP) - The National Tax Service plans to intensify its probe of real estate transferred from wealthy parents to children to evade inheritance and other taxes, the watchdog said in a meeting at the government complex in Seoul on Thursday. The probe is expected to target some 2,077 apartment owners in Seoul's affluent districts of Gangnam, Gangdong, Seocho and Songpa as well as Mapo and Seongdong districts north of the Han River, where prices have soared in December 4, 2025

Fewer top scorers as last month's university exam proves tougher SEOUL, December 4 (AJP) - This year's university entrance exam was tougher than last year's, with only five students achieving perfect scores, down from 11 the previous year. According to test results released by the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE) on Thursday, five students including one retaker who took the test last month, scored perfectly across all sections. With English being the most challenging section, the number of perfect scorers in math December 4, 2025

Korea's income gap widens by largest rate in 3 years SEOUL, December 04 (AJP) - South Korea’s income gap between the top and bottom 20 percent of households widened to 5.78 times last year, snapping a three-year trend of improvement as income growth slowed and gains increasingly concentrated among high-income earners and older asset-holding households. According to the 2025 Household Finance and Welfare Survey released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics on Thursday, average household income rose 3.4 percent to 74.27 December 4, 2025

Yonsei University embroiled in another cheating scandal SEOUL, December 4 (AJP) - Another cheating incident has surfaced at Yonsei University, which was previously embroiled in a similar large-scale scandal. About 200 students took an online quiz for an education-related course early this month. Some allegedly shared questions and answers via anonymous chat rooms, while others collaborated using Google Docs, according to multiple university sources on Thursday. The online course had already faced cheating allegations during midterms December 4, 2025

Driver sentenced to five years in prison for fatal crash in central Seoul SEOUL, December 4 (AJP) - A driver involved in a fatal crash in central Seoul last year was sentenced to five years in prison, as the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the lower court's ruling. The man in his late 60s, identified by his last name Cha, was charged with violating traffic laws after crashing into pedestrians near City Hall in July 2024, killing nine people and injuring five others. Investigations revealed that he had mistakenly pressed the accelerator instead o December 4, 2025

Lee to discuss AI, semiconductor cooperation with SoftBank chairman SEOUL, December 4 (AJP) - President Lee Jae-myung is set to meet with SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son to discuss cooperation in advanced high-technology sectors including artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors. According to the presidential office on Thursday, their meeting is scheduled for Friday morning, with a focus on collaboration and infrastructure investment in these sectors. The meeting will also be attended by key officials including chief of staff Kang Hoon-si December 4, 2025