Buhay Korea

26/08/2025

FOREIGN SEASONAL WORKERS IN JEOLLANAMDO DOUBLED

South Jeolla Province announced that the number of foreign seasonal workers assigned to the region this year has reached 20,718, an increase of 10,315 from last year's 10,403.

The Foreign Seasonal Worker Program is an eight-month employment program designed to address labor shortages in rural and fishing villages.

Local governments sign memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with foreign governments or invite relatives of marriage immigrants and Koreans with foreign nationality.

This year, 27,18 foreign seasonal workers were assigned to South Jeolla Province. By occupation, 15,005 are in agriculture and 5,713 are in the fishing industry.

26/08/2025

BTS V pitches for LA Dodgers and we are all for it being a Dodgers fan 😂

21/08/2025

THE FIREFIGHTER WHO WENT MISSING SUFFERED FROM SEVERE TRAUMA

Firefighter Park who went missing was found under the bridge in Siheung, Gyeonggido. He was said to have suffered from severe trauma from the Itaewon tragedy.

Firefighter Park was appointed as a special emergency firefighter at the Incheon Fire Department in November 2017. He was working at the Michuhol Fire Station in 2022 when the Itaewon tragedy happened.

In a media interview later, he said “I kept having these unbelievable thoughts, like, ‘I hope it’s not real,’ and when I arrived at the scene and transported (the bodies), I felt a bit helpless. I think I felt a bit empty because I couldn’t actually provide first aid.”

He is said to have been diagnosed with depression at a hospital later that year. He received counseling eight times (five times in 2022, once in 2023, once in 2024, and once in 2025) through the Incheon Fire Department’s “Visiting Psychological Counseling” program, and received treatment four times at a hospital (three times in November 2022, once in December 2022).

Firefighter Park exited the Namincheon tollgate on the Second Gyeongin Expressway at around 2:30 AM on August 10, parked his car on the shoulder, threw away his cell phone, and disappeared. On August 20, at around 12:20 PM, he was found dead under a bridge pier in Geum-i-dong, Siheung-si, Gyeonggi-do.

21/08/2025

Seoul International Women's Film Festival 2025

The opening film is the Filipino movie "Sunshine" directed by Antoinette Jadone and starring Maris Racal.

If you're in Korea and want to see the film, there will be two screenings on August 23 at 11am and on August 26 at 5pm at Sinchon Megabox.

For more info on the film festival:
https://siwff.or.kr/eng/

20/08/2025

So will be ordering Happy Meals from September 3 😂

20/08/2025

SEOUL MEDICAL ASSOCIATION PROVIDED MEDICAL SUPPORT TO FILIPINO KOREAN WAR VETERANS AND THEIR FAMILIES

📌 The Seoul Metropolitan Medical Association in collaboration with the Good Medical Forum, conducted a five-day overseas medical volunteer service project in San Pedro, Laguna, Philippines, from the August 13 to 17.

📌 This activity was designed to express gratitude to Korean War veterans and their families and provide free medical care to local residents who lack access to medical care.

📌 This volunteer effort involved 14 doctors, including Director Jang Young-min of the Medical Volunteer Group and CEO Park Han-seong, along with 20 administrative and medical support staff.

📌 The volunteer group established eight departments at the Veterans Memorial, including internal medicine, pediatrics, dermatology, and ophthalmology, and treated a total of 2,951 patients.

📌 They also distributed nutritional supplements like vitamin C and provided transportation assistance to veterans and their widows. They also presented scholarships to descendants of veterans entering medical school and donated 240 T-shirts to flood victims.

20/08/2025

Civil Defense Exercise August 20, 2pm

19/08/2025

KIM SEONG JIN SENTENCED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT

On April 22, 2025, a man named Kim Seong Jin randomly attacked a woman in her 60s at a supermarket in Mia-dong, Gangbuk-gu, Seoul at around 6:17pm while dressed in a patient gown. He then attempted to kill an employee in her 40s.

Two days before the incident, Kim fell while walking drunk and fractured a finger on his right hand, and was hospitalized at a nearby hospital.

The investigation revealed that Kim committed the crimes to relieve stress and anger stemming from the noise in his hospital room and conflicts with his family, driven by the desire to kill someone and go to prison.

On August 19, the 13 th Criminal Division of the Seoul Northern District Court (Presiding Judge Na Sang-hoon) sentenced Kim, who was indicted on charges of murder and attempted murder, to life imprisonment. The court also ordered him to wear an electronic location tracking device for 30 years, prohibit his alcohol intake exceeding 0.03% during the device period, submit a diagnosis and opinion from a neuropsychiatrist every month for mental illness, and restrict his access to online communities that contain provocative or biased posts.

18/08/2025

A FILIPINA FOUND UNRESPONSIVE IN ULSAN AND LATER DIED

At around midnight on August 18, a passerby discovered a Filipino woman in her 30s, Ms. A, collapsed in a state of cardiac arrest on the road near a villa in Buk-gu, Ulsan and reported it.

Fire officials performed CPR and transported Ms. A to the hospital, but she passed away.

Police are investigating the exact cause of death, reporting that Ms. A fell from the third floor of the villa where she lived after an argument with her roommate, a man in his 40s.

18/08/2025

어쩔수가없다 / NO OTHER CHOICE is director Park Chang Wook's highly anticipated film with A-listers Lee Byung Hun, Cha Seung Won, Son Ye Jin, Yeom Hye Ran, Park Hee Soon... what a cast!

Opening in September.

18/08/2025

SOUTH KOREAN FOUND DEAD INSIDE CAMBODIAN SCAM COMPOUND
(from Korea Herald)

I once watched a documentary about these scam compounds in Cambodia and Myanmar.

Also, the Filipino who was caught smuggling illegal substance in Jeju early this year came from Cambodia.

When someone promises a job overseas, be vigilant and make sure it is legal.

The body of a South Korean man has been discovered in an alleged Cambodian scam compound, wrapped in blankets and plastic bags, his face swollen and bruised, in