With spring just around the corner, Songpa-gu Office kicked off its annual cleaning of the 51 monuments commemorating the 1988 Seoul Olympics near Jamsil Sports Complex on Wednesday. The statues, covered in a layer of dust since their last wash about a year ago, were thoroughly cleaned.

Seoul attracted about 900,000 foreign tourists in January, despite political instability caused by the Dec. 3, 2024, declaration of martial law and subsequent impeachment trials. While January is typically a low season for tourism, this year’s figure surpasses the 2019 figure of 880,000, setting a new January record. From the same month in 2024, the city saw a 27 percent uptick in tourist arrivals.

South Korea's foreign reserves fell from a second month in February amid the weak local currency, the Bank of Korea data showed Thursday. The reserves stood at $409.21 billion, down $1.8 billion from a month earlier. This marks the lowest level in 4 years and 9 months.

Baesan Elementary School in Suyeong-gu, Busan, celebrated the first day of school for its first grade students on Tuesday, with parents and guardians invited to watch the children reach milestones. Following a long weekend for the March 1 Independence Movement holiday, March 4 marked the start of the school year in South Korea. This year, more than 18,422 children are starting first grade in Busan, about 2,000 fewer than the number of students who enrolled last year. Compared to two years ago, t