A 3-day food stockpile, still "too optimistic" - the unforeseen circumstances that arose from the Kumamoto earthquake.
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- The number of applications for housing demolition permission, or "tocheo" in Korean, for Seoul apartment buildings has been decreasing for three consecutive months. This trend is also reflected in the slowing down of rising apartment prices in Seoul. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the number of tocheo applications received from January to March this year was 6,337. This represents a 32.7% decrease compared to the 9,421 applications received during the same period last year. Compared to the monthly figures, January saw 2,568 applications, February 2,091, and March 1,678. The number of applications has been decreasing for three consecutive months since January. The decrease in tocheo applications is also reflected in the slowing down of rising apartment prices in Seoul. According to the Korea Real Estate Board, the average price of apartments in Seoul rose 0.38% in March. This is a decrease from the 0.45% increase in February and the 0.83% increase in January. Experts say that the decrease in tocheo applications and the slowing down of rising apartment prices are due to the government's measures to control the real estate market. The government has been implementing various measures to cool down the real estate market, including increasing the down payment ratio and tightening lending regulations. As a result, experts predict that the real estate market will continue to slow down in the coming months. However, some experts also note that the decrease in tocheo applications may not necessarily mean that the real estate market is slowing down. They argue that the decrease in applications may be due to the fact that many developers are choosing to delay their projects until the government's policies become clearer. In any case, the trend of decreasing tocheo applications and slowing down of rising apartment prices is expected to continue in the coming months. The government will continue to monitor the real estate market and implement measures to ensure that it remains stable. hani.co.kr
- A foreign man and two women were arrested on suspicion of abandoning a dead body on hospital grounds in Toyokawa, Aichi Prefecture. The three, whose nationalities were not disclosed, are suspected of leaving the body of a man in his 50s on the grounds of a hospital in Toyokawa late on July 22. Police received a tip about a suspicious person and found the body. The three suspects, who are believed to have been in Japan illegally, were arrested on July 23 on suspicion of abandoning a dead body. They told police they had been asked by someone to dispose of the body. The three are being held in police custody. asahi.com
