Vaccine cooperation among key agenda items for Moon-Biden summit: official

Cooperation on COVID-19 vaccines will be a key agenda item during the upcoming summit between the leaders of South Korea and the United States, a senior Seoul official said Wednesday. "One of the main agenda items is vaccine partnership between the two countries," Lee Ho-seung, President Moon Jae-in 's chief of staff for policy, said during a radio interview. Moon and US President Joe Biden are scheduled to hold an in-person summit at the White House on May 21, focused on North Kor

Foreign AffairsMay 12, 2021

Two foreigners nabbed for threatening French Embassy get suspended sentences

Two foreign nationals arrested for posting threatening flyers at the French Embassy in Seoul last November were released on Wednesday after receiving suspended sentences from a court. The Seoul Western District Court sentenced the two men -- one from Russia and the other from Kyrgyzstan -- to imprisonments of six months each, suspended for one year, on charges of posting threats against the diplomatic mission. The two, both known to be 26-year-old Muslim believers, were arrested for posting fo

Social AffairsMay 12, 2021

S. Korea, Israel ink FTA; cars, auto parts among major beneficiaries

South Korea and Israel on Wednesday signed a free trade agreement (FTA) centered on broadening economic ties, a move that could help Asia's No. 4 economy speed up exports of cars and auto parts. Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee officially signed the pact with her Israeli counterpart Amir Peretz during a ceremony in Seoul, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The two sides struck the deal in 2019, three years after they launched negotiations. "The FTA with Israel will not

Foreign AffairsMay 12, 2021

US spy chief visits Seoul ahead of Moon-Biden summit next week

US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines arrived in Seoul on Wednesday, ahead of next week’s summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Joe Biden. According to diplomatic sources, the US spy chief is expected to tour the Demilitarized Zone, including the border village of Panmunjom, on Thursday. Discussions are also reportedly underway for her to meet with Moon and his national security adviser, Suh Hoon. Seoul’s presidential office declined to co

Foreign AffairsMay 12, 2021

Education ministry looks at fully resuming in-person classes in fall

The education ministry is looking at fully resuming in-person classes in the fall, an official said Wednesday, as online classes have been blamed for widening learning gaps between children. Currently, schools follow the government's COVID-19 guidelines in determining how many students are allowed to learn in-person while the rest study remotely. The proportions range from up to two-thirds capacity to online only, depending on the social distancing level in place. The official, who spoke on th

Social AffairsMay 12, 2021

Vaccine shortage stalls Korea’s progress toward herd immunity

A vaccine shortage is stalling Korea’s progress toward herd immunity. Koreans now in line for vaccination -- those aged 65 and up -- have to wait until the last week of May to get their first dose as second doses being are prioritized, health officials said Wednesday. As new vaccination appointments at around 2,000 clinics across the country have been canceled, a senior Ministry of Health and Welfare official Yoon Tae-ho told a press briefing that vaccine shipments were “on their

Social AffairsMay 12, 2021

Local govt. office raided over public servant's alleged land speculation

JEONJU -- Police raided the North Jeolla Province government office Wednesday over alleged land speculation by a public servant. The Jeonbuk Police Agency said it searched the office and the home of the employee hired by the provincial government, located in Jeonju, about 240 kilometers south of Seoul. The suspect's computer files, mobile phone and related documents were seized in the process. The police said the public servant is suspected of using insider information to buy a plot of land ne

PoliticsMay 12, 2021

Moon presents new Supreme Court justice with letter of appointment

President Moon Jae-in gave Cheon Dae-yeop, a veteran judge, a certificate of appointment as a new Supreme Court justice on Wednesday. The president took note of Cheon's "firm faith in judicial independence, a guarantee of basic rights and the protection of the socially underprivileged," according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mee. "As the Supreme Court's ruling has a profound impact on our society and future generations, the burden will be heavy as a Supreme Court jus

PoliticsMay 12, 2021

Teachers worry about students losing social skills during pandemic: survey

Teachers are worried about the effects the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has on their students, a survey showed, as class disruptions continue to take a toll on educators’ well-being. With the 40th Teacher’s Day coming up on Saturday, the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations conducted a survey on 7,991 teachers at kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools and universities across the country from April 26 to May 5. Asked about the worst problem that public educat

Social AffairsMay 12, 2021

Ex-PM asks US for 10 million COVID-19 vaccines

Hwang Kyo-ahn, a former prime minister who once served as acting president, said Wednesday that he had requested 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for South Korea from the US during his meeting with Kurt Campbell, Biden’s point man for the Indo-Pacific region. 　 During his trip to Washington, which began last week, Hwang met key officials in the Biden administration and executives of global pharmaceutical companies to seek vaccine cooperation in response to a looming vaccine shortage.

Foreign AffairsMay 12, 2021

[Newsmaker] Ruling party presidential hopefuls rally supporters

With a year to go before the presidential election, three political heavyweights from the ruling bloc are rallying supporters, with each of their visions focusing on social welfare policies. Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Jae-myung, former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yon and former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, dubbed the ruling party’s Big Three, all launched their own think tanks and began working out their policies and messaging strategies. Front-runner Gov. Lee launched the Korea Growth an

PoliticsMay 12, 2021

S. Korea, US to discuss security amid new NK policy

Senior defense officials of South Korea and the US will hold a two-day dialogue on Korean Peninsula issues as the Biden administration seeks to engage North Korea with a new policy it recently revealed after a monthslong review. The biannual talks, which began Wednesday US time in Washington, are expected to address ways the two allies can coordinate their approach to Pyongyang. Biden’s policy on North Korea, which many see as striking a middle ground between Trump’s “grand b

DefenseMay 12, 2021

[Seoul Struggles 7] Going meat-free troublesome in Seoul where not much is promised

For Kim Seung-mok, a 35-year-old office worker in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul, trying to find a restaurant to dine with colleagues for lunch is a hassle to say the least. As a committed vegan, Kim struggles to agree on a lot of menus that his fellow office workers choose for lunch, when almost everything contains meat. After almost three months of trying, he now opts to bring his own tofu salad or self-made lunch box to the office for a midday meal. “It was awkward for me to sit beside my

Social AffairsMay 12, 2021

[Newsmaker] Seoul prosecution chief indicted over power abuse allegations

Lee Sung-yoon, chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office, was indicted Wednesday over allegations that he exercised undue influence in 2019 to stop an inquiry into the allegedly illegal exit ban imposed on a former senior official. The decision by the Suwon District Prosecutors Office came two days after an indictment was recommended by an independent panel created to review the validity of an ongoing investigation into Lee. Lee is accused of abusing his power in June 2019 to bloc

PoliticsMay 12, 2021

Virus infections traced to Seoul internet cafe rise to 49

A total of 49 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in connection with an internet cafe in northern Seoul, the metropolitan government said Wednesday. The first case was a customer who tested positive on May 3, after which a total of 44 people tested positive by Monday, followed by four more on Tuesday, according to the local government. All of them live in Seoul except for one. An epidemiological survey found that the business followed COVID-19 protocols, but ventilation was difficult and

Social AffairsMay 12, 2021

4 Marines, 3 Army soldiers test positive for virus

Four Marines and three Army soldiers have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Wednesday. The Marines, based in the southeastern city of Pohang, were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 upon returning from vacation while under a cohort isolation, according to the ministry. The other three soldiers, each based in Seoul, the northeastern county of Inje and the southeastern city of Ulsan, were found to be infected after coming into contact with virus patients. The

DefenseMay 12, 2021

New cases back above 600 amid spreading variants

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases rose back above 600 on Wednesday, with health authorities remaining on alert over a potential spike amid spreading variant cases. The country reported 635 more COVID-19 cases, including 613 local infections, raising the total caseload to 128,918, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Wednesday's figure jumped from 511 cases Tuesday, 463 Monday and 564 Sunday though it is lower than the 701 Saturday. The daily caseload usually spi

Social AffairsMay 12, 2021

Spy chiefs of S. Korea, Japan meet to discuss N. Korea, bilateral issues: reports

The intelligence chiefs of South Korea and Japan held a meeting in Tokyo and exchanged views on North Korea and other bilateral issues, Japanese media reports showed Wednesday. Park Jie-won, head of South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS), met with Hiroaki Takizawa, Japan's cabinet intelligence director, on Tuesday, according to JNN and Kyodo News. Park is in Tokyo for trilateral talks with Takizawa and US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines. Park and Takizawa reportedly e

Foreign AffairsMay 12, 2021

US understands S. Korea's difficulty with vaccine shortage: Hwang

White House policy coordinator for Indo-Pacific Kurt Campbell has said the United States understands the problem South Korea faces due to its vaccine shortage and is doing its utmost for its Asian ally, a former South Korean prime minister said Tuesday. Hwang Kyo-ahn said Campbell has also agreed during a meeting with him in Washington to personally report to the White House his request for 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines. US President Joe Biden has said his country will become an "

Foreign AffairsMay 12, 2021

S. Korea, US to hold regular defense talks on N. Korea, OPCON transfer

South Korea and the United States were to hold biannual defense talks in Washington on Wednesday to discuss regional security situations and major bilateral issues, such as the transition of the wartime operational control (OPCON), the defense ministry said. During the 19th Korea-US Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) set to run through Thursday, the two sides will discuss "major pending security issues, such as the assessment of the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and the policy

DefenseMay 12, 2021