It is the second devastating blaze in just a month in the advanced country, Asia’s fourth-largest economy. Videos posted on social media showed a patient hanging on to a rope dangling from a helicopter above the hospital in Miryang, and another crawling out of a window to climb down a ladder. The six-storey structure housed a nursing home as well as the hospital, and the National Fire Agency said 33 people had been killed, with 13 critically injured. Another 61 suffered light injuries, a spokesman said, adding the death toll could rise further. "Two nurses said they had seen fire suddenly erupting in the emergency room," said fire chief Choi Man-Woo, but the cause of the blaze was not immediately known. All the patients had been brought out, he said, adding that evacuating 15 patients from the intensive care unit on the third floor took longer as firefighters had to wait for medical staff to supervise the process. "The victims came both from the hospital and the nursing home," he … [Read more...] about 33 dead in South Korea hospital blaze: firefighters
Media in south korea
US begins deploying THAAD system in South Korea
(VOVworld) – The South Korean Defense Ministry announced Tuesday that the US has begun to deploy the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea to cope with growing threats from North Korea. The defense system will take out any missiles considered a threat to South Korea. (Photo: Reuters) Local media said the launch pads and pieces of the system have been transported to an unidentified base of the United States Forces Korea. Meanwhile, the South Korean government said it will provide urgent assistance to small and medium-sized enterprises who are facing financial risks from a series of retaliatory actions by China in protest of Seoul's THAAD installment. The South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy will offer loans of up to 866,000 USD for 5 years to SMEs who may be victims of Beijing's trade restrictions. … [Read more...] about US begins deploying THAAD system in South Korea
Three killed in South Korea shooting
A gunman has opened fire at a convenience store in South Korea, killing three people, local media say. The shooting happened around 08:00 (23:00GMT Tuesday) in Sejong city, an administrative hub 120km (75 miles) from Seoul. The suspect was later found dead in a nearby city. Police said he was the ex-boyfriend of the sister of one of the victims. Gun crime is extremely rare in South Korea. Most men have experience using a firearm because of compulsory military service but private gun ownership is banned. Only security personnel can carry guns, and hunters must keep their firearms at a police station. In June 2014 a South Korean conscript shot dead five of his colleagues near the North Korean border. The young man, who officials said had struggled to adapt to military life, was subsequently sentenced to death. Source: BBC … [Read more...] about Three killed in South Korea shooting
Second Vietnamese bride murdered in South Korea within 3 weeks
A South Korean man has allegedly strangled his Vietnamese wife to death in the east-southern province of Gyeongsangbuk-do, 300 kilometers away from Seoul, local media said Wednesday. According to Yonhap News agency and Yonhap News Television, the victim’s father-in-law discovered her body at around 6:30 am in her house on Wednesday and reported the case to local police. According to police accounts, some family conflicts triggered a row between Nguyen Thi Phuong, 27, and her 42-year old husband Lee Cheong Su, leading him to strangle her to death at 9 pm on Tuesday. Lee, who was arrested by police later, admitted to having used his hands to strangle her to death. The couple got married in 2006. It was Phuong's first marriage and the second of her Korean husband. The couple have lived with the man's family and his own children. They haven not had any child yet. The Vietnamese bride had two elder sisters who are living in South Korea’s two other provinces of Chungnam and … [Read more...] about Second Vietnamese bride murdered in South Korea within 3 weeks
Vietnam says to punish travel firms over tourists’ disappearance in South Korea
"It was a pitiful incident which has tainted the public image of Vietnam and its tourism," chief Nguyen Van Tuan said in an interview with news website Zing. "Such incident must not be allowed to repeat," Tuan said, promising that any company which lets similar incidents happen in the future will be punished more severely. Zing quoted an unnamed source as saying that the missing tourists, of whom 19 have been found, were the clients of three travel companies in Hanoi. They came to Jeju, about 120 kilometers from South Korea's coast, on a flight on Tuesday with another 99 Vietnamese of the same travel group, and disappeared the next day, according to Korean media's reports. Vietnamese nationals have been allowed to enter Jeju and stay there for 30 days without visa since 2011. On Thursday, Korean authorities discovered 10 people who claimed they left to find another accommodation with better location, according to initial information from Vietnamese embassy in South Korea. They are … [Read more...] about Vietnam says to punish travel firms over tourists’ disappearance in South Korea