Korean broadcasters brace for coronavirus spread

The Korean broadcasting industry is bracing for more cases of the novel coronavirus, after a reality TV producer tested positive Saturday. The producer of season two of “Bob Bless You,” a food-oriented program on Olive TV, returned to Korea on March 18 after a vacation in New York and began showing symptoms of COVID-19 on Friday, according to CJ ENM. As soon as the producer went for a test, all staff members who had direct contact with the producer went into self-quarantine. &ld

TelevisionMarch 29, 2020

Suwon warns of legal action against British COVID-19 patient

A British national who tested positive for the new coronavirus here may face penalties for not observing quarantine rules. The resident of Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, got tested for COVID-19 on the afternoon of March 23, five days after he returned from a trip to Thailand. Although he was required to self-isolate until the results were out, he traveled to another city by bike that evening and the next morning he visited an indoor golf range. He was notified of his positive test results that af

Social AffairsMarch 29, 2020

Lawmakers push to impose stronger punishment on digital sex criminals

South Korean lawmakers are pushing to revise the law in a way that punishes those entering online chat rooms to view illegal videos of sex acts amid public outrage over an online sexual blackmail ring. Rep. Park Kwang-on of the ruling Democratic Party said Sunday he is proposing a revision to the acts on information protection and sexual violence as the chief author to punish those who join online chat rooms to view sexual acts carried out under coercion. Under the revision proposal, all thos

Social AffairsMarch 29, 2020

Two military personnel test positive for coronavirus again after full recovery

Two military personnel, who had been reported to have fully recovered from the new coronavirus, have tested positive again, the defense ministry said Sunday. An Army officer based in Yongin, some 50 kilometers south of Seoul, and an Air Force contractor in the southeastern city of Daegu have tested positive while in a preventive quarantine after leaving the hospital, according to the ministry. Both were reported to have fully recovered from the virus on March 20. They have been in quarantine

DefenseMarch 29, 2020

[Newsmaker] S. Korean coronavirus test kit firms earn US FDA pre-approval

Three South Korean COVID-19 test-kit companies have obtained preliminary approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the foreign ministry said Saturday. The initial FDA approval will allow the Korean test-kit makers to sell the products in the United States, where the number of confirmed coronavirus cases has surpassed 100,000, an official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said over the phone. The official did not provide the names of the three approved test kits or a time frame

PoliticsMarch 29, 2020

S. Korea reports 105 new virus cases to total 9,583 as fully recovered cases top 5,000

South Korea reported 105 new cases of the coronavirus Sunday, bringing the nation's total to 9,583, but the number of fully recovered cases rose more than twice as fast as new infections to top 5,000 in total, officials said. Of the new cases, 41 involved entrants from overseas -- 23 from Europe, 14 from the Americas and four from unidentified Asian countries, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). Imported cases total 412, accounting for 4.3 percent of the t

Social AffairsMarch 29, 2020

Govt. mulling financial support for 10m households in wake of coronavirus

South Korea said Sunday it is considering providing financial support to 10 million lower-income households as part of emergency measures in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Under the plan, a four-member household whose income is below the median income can receive a one-time lump sum of up to 1 million won ($820), according to the Ministry of Finance and Economy. The proposed measure worth up to 6 trillion won is set to be discussed in this week's emergency economic council meeting to b

PoliticsMarch 29, 2020

Chartered flight carrying S. Koreans departs Bolivia amid border closure

Forty-seven South Koreans left Bolivia on a US-arranged chartered flight, the South Korean Embassy in La Paz said, after the South American nation imposed a nationwide lockdown to stem the spread of the new coronavirus. The flight departed Saturday (Bolivia time) with South Korean residents and members of the Korea International Cooperation Agency's volunteer group on board, according to the embassy. Of the 40 members of the volunteer group who applied to take the special flight, two could no

Foreign AffairsMarch 29, 2020

Cheong Wa Dae convenes emergency meeting over N. Korean missile launches

South Korea's national security adviser and other top security officials held an emergency videoconference Sunday to discuss North Korea's firing of two projectiles believed to be short-range missiles, the presidential office said. Chung Eui-yong, chief of the presidential National Security Office, presided over the session held at around 7 a.m., shortly after the North fired the projectiles into the East Sea from the coastal city of Wonsan. Participants, including Defense Minister Jeong Kye

North KoreaMarch 29, 2020

N. Korea fires 2 short-range ballistic missiles into East Sea: JCS

North Korea fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Sunday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, the latest in a series of projectile launches even as the country is on high alert against the coronavirus. Both were fired northeastward from the eastern coastal city of Wonsan at 6:10 a.m. within a 20-second interval and flew around 230 kilometers at a maximum altitude of around 30 km, the JCS said, adding that South Korean and US intelligenc

North KoreaMarch 29, 2020

LIG Group honorary chairman dies at age 86

LIG Group Honorary Chairman Koo Cha-won died Saturday of a chronic illness, the company said. He was 86. Born in 1935, Koo was the second-generation leader at LIG Group, which was spun off from LG Group in 1999. Koo headed LIG Insurance before selling the country's fourth-largest non-life insurer to KB Financial Group Inc., a major South Korean banking group, in 2015. He also served as honorary chairman of LIG Nex1, a key South Korean defense company. Koo was a younger cousin of LG Group Hon

IndustryMarch 28, 2020

Moody's cuts South Africa's credit ratings to junk

Moody's has downgraded South Africa's credit rating to junk status, piling more anguish on an economy already in recession and battered by Africa's worst coronavirus outbreak. Two other major international rating agencies Fitch and S&P had cut the credit rating of Africa's most developed economy to subinvestment level in 2017. Losing its last investment grade rating will see the country being excluded from the FTSE World Government Bond Index. The downgrade late Friday came as South Afric

World BusinessMarch 28, 2020

50% of coronavirus patients recovered in S. Korea

More than half of people who have been infected with novel coronavirus in South Korea have recovered, figures released by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed Saturday. As of midnight Saturday, the country’s accumulated number of COVID-19 patients stood at 9,478 -- 4,811 of whom had fully recovered, with 4,523 still sick and 144 dead. The recovery rate was 50.8 percent and fatality rate 1.52 percent. “Now, there are more people who have recovered than are s

Social AffairsMarch 28, 2020

China virus epicentre eases travel restrictions after lockdown

The Chinese city of 11 million people that was Ground Zero for what became the global coronavirus pandemic partly reopened on Saturday after more than two months of almost total isolation. Wuhan was placed under lockdown in January with residents forbidden to leave, roadblocks ring-fencing the city's outskirts and drastic restrictions on daily life. But the major transport and industrial hub has now signalled the end of its long isolation, with state media showing the first officially sanction

World NewsMarch 28, 2020

Trump invokes defense powers to order GM to produce ventilators

President Donald Trump issued a federal order Friday to force auto giant General Motors to manufacture ventilators, as supplies of the crucial hospital equipment grow short and coronavirus infections mount across the country. Trump invoked the rarely-used Defense Production Act (DPA) to order GM to speed up its commitment to make ventilators in one of its auto plants after delays in negotiations. The act, designed for use in wartime to commandeer private business to manufacture for defense nee

World NewsMarch 28, 2020

Korea’s short-term funding market reels from coronavirus

South Korea’s short-term funding market is showing no signs of stabilizing, despite the central bank’s relief package to help ease the credit crunch amid the global coronavirus pandemic. The interest rate of commercial papers with 85-91 days of maturity -- a frequent short-term debt instrument by nonfinancial companies -- soared to 2.09 percent Friday, up 5 basis points from the previous day’s close, according to data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. The figur

MarketMarch 28, 2020

Calls for basic income subsidy support grow

Provincial governors and mayors urged the central government Saturday to shoulder the cost of basic income subsidies to help citizens. “It is imperative for the (central) government to take more aggressive and proactive measures to bring the society‘s safety net back to normal,” the Governors Association of Korea, composed of the heads of 17 local governments, said in a proposal to Korea‘s central government. “Facing a national emergency, the (central) governmen

EconomyMarch 28, 2020

About 200 S. Korean peacekeepers return home from South Sudan

About 200 South Korean peacekeeping troops returned home Saturday from South Sudan after completing their nine-month rotational mission. They arrived at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, shortly before noon on an Ethiopian Airlines plane chartered by the South Korean government. The soldiers are scheduled to be tested for the coronavirus and be self-quarantined for two weeks if they all test negative. All the troops, however, will be quarantined at the Army Cadet Military School i

DefenseMarch 28, 2020

PM urges youth to stop clubbing

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun urged young people to join the country’s fight against the novel coronavirus by avoiding social gatherings, saying individual efforts are as essential as government measures. “For the youth, especially, it is essential that people stay away from places like clubs,” Chung said during the daily virus response meeting. He also directed related agencies to keep a close tab on how clubs and other entertainment businesses were enforcing vi

Social AffairsMarch 28, 2020

146 newly confirmed with virus in S. Korea; Recovery rate tops 50%

South Korea reported 147 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Saturday, bringing the total to 9,478. Daegu, the southern city hardest by the virus, accounted for nearly half of the new cases with 71, while 24 were identified during the infection screening process of international arrivals. Gyeonggi Province counted 18 new cases, followed by capital Seoul with 18 and Incheon 5. The number of people discharged from hospital after full recoveries exceeded those receiving treatment Saturday

Social AffairsMarch 28, 2020