COVID-19 vaccines transported to Ulleung Island via military helicopter

The defense ministry said Sunday it transported a batch of COVID-19 vaccines to Ulleung Island in the East Sea to help inoculate local residents, where access through commercial transportation is relatively time consuming and difficult. The ministry said a batch of AstraZeneca's vaccine from the government's vaccine storage warehouse left Icheon, some 80 kilometers southeast of Seoul, and arrived at a Navy base on Ulleung via a CH-47D military transportation helicopter. After its landing, the

DefenseFeb. 28, 2021

Can international court resolve ‘comfort women’ issue?

The “comfort women” issue has come to the fore again in the lingering feud between Seoul and Tokyo. The two neighbors were seen locking horns at the United Nations Human Rights Council last week; separately, a South Korean victim of Japanese military sexual slavery pleaded with Seoul and Tokyo to take the thorny issue to the International Court of Justice for a resolution.  Lee Yong-soo, one of the survivors, called for the matter to be settled in the UN’s highest court

InternationalFeb. 28, 2021

N. Korea's severe virus measures hinder humanitarian aid: State Dept.

The US State Department assessed that North Korea's stringent measures against COVID-19 have significantly impeded efforts of outside organizations to deliver humanitarian aid to the impoverished nation, according to a news report Sunday. Radio Free Asia quoted a State Department spokesperson as saying that Pyongyang's "extremely stringent COVID-19 response" has "significantly hindered the efforts of humanitarian organizations, UN agencies and other countries to deliver aid to th

North KoreaFeb. 28, 2021

S. Korea's bird flu cases tallied at 103

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Sunday it has identified another case of highly pathogenic bird flu traced to poultry farms, with the confirmed caseload staying at 103. The latest case of the deadly H5N8 strain of avian influenza was reported from an egg farm in Pocheon, 46 kilometers north of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. South Korea reported its first highly contagious bird flu case from farms since 2018 in November last year. Cases traced

Social AffairsFeb. 28, 2021

New cases below 400; virus curbs extended for 2 weeks

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell below 400 on Sunday, partly due to fewer testing over the weekend, as the country launched its first mass vaccination campaign last week. The country reported 356 more virus cases, including 334 local infections, raising the total caseload to 89,676, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Sunday's daily caseload marks a decline from 415 tallied the previous day. The figure was gradually increasing throughout last week

Social AffairsFeb. 28, 2021

NK workers stage pep rallies for new 5-year economic development plan

North Korea has staged worker pep rallies en masse across the country to boost morale in achieving a new five-year state economic development put forward by leader Kim Jong-un last month, the country's state media said Sunday. The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that workers' rallies aimed at encouraging the fulfillment of the year-one goals of the five-year economic plan were held in multiple industrial fields and units. The rallies were held as answers to an earli

North KoreaFeb. 28, 2021

New legislation toughens punishment for perpetrators of fatal child abuse

The National Assembly has approved a law revision that would step up the punishment for perpetrators of fatal child abuse in the wake of a series of recent deaths of abused children. The bill to revise the act on child abuse crimes passed a plenary National Assembly session Friday. The revised law newly codifies the crime of child abuse homicide, stipulating the maximum capital punishment and a minimum seven-year imprisonment for perpetrators. Before the revision, the worst cases of child abu

Social AffairsFeb. 28, 2021

[From the scene] ‘I feel safer’: Vaccinations begin for Korea’s front-line workers

After many months, workers on the front lines of South Korea’s pandemic response are finally getting their COVID-19 shots. On Saturday morning, The Korea Herald met a few of the recipients at the National Medical Center -- one of the select institutions in the country capable of managing the Pfizer vaccine, which must be stored at ultralow temperatures. The first person in Korea to get a Pfizer vaccine was Jung Mi-kyung, 51, a member of the state hospital’s cleaning staff. Comme

Social AffairsFeb. 27, 2021

S. Korea announces innovative syringe method to increase vaccine doses

South Korea's health authorities on Saturday issued a new guideline to vaccination centers across the nation, asking medical staff members to maximize the number of jabs per vaccine bottle by utilizing state-of-the-art syringes. One day after the start of the nation's public vaccination program, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said a special model of locally produced syringes has paved the way for increasing the number of vaccine recipients by one to two per vaccine bot

NationalFeb. 27, 2021

Foreign COVID-19 patients on steep rise in Korea this year

The number of foreigners diagnosed with COVID-19 in South Korea has soared this year due mainly to the steady outbreaks of cluster infections at industrial workplaces, a government agency said Saturday. According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters, 1,747 foreign nationals have tested positive for the coronavirus here since the beginning of the year, accounting for 6.6 percent of all domestic cases in the same period. The growth of foreign COVID-19 patients was particularly steeper ov

PoliticsFeb. 27, 2021

[Eye Plus] 18th-century poet’s abode shows there is charm in simplicity

The home of Yi Cheon-bo can be found in a remote town in Gapyeong, a county not far from Seoul. Yi was a member of the Joseon Dynasty elite, spending all his adult life as a trusted adviser to the king. Privately, he was a poet who left behind eight collections. His verses were known for their wit and refreshing absence of pretense.  With faded ivory walls, bare wooden pillars and a slate-gray roof, Yi’s home bespeaks the beauty of moderation. The low stone fence is unthreatening, s

Social AffairsFeb. 27, 2021

[Photo News] COVID-19 vaccine enters Korea

A medical professional extracts the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from a vial at the Dobong-gu public health center in northern Seoul on Friday morning. A health professional prepares the AstraZeneca vaccine on the first day of the COVID-19 vaccination program in Korea at the Geumcheon-gu public health center in southern Seoul. A health official prepares a COVID-19 vaccination at a nursing home in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. (Photos: Yonhap) By Yoon Chae-won (choenayoon@heraldcorp.com)

Social AffairsFeb. 27, 2021

[Weekender] North Korean defector runs in UK election to defend ‘voiceless’

Park Ji-hyun still remembers the feeling when she first arrived in the UK in 2008. Having fled repression and poverty in North Korea and human trafficking in China, she was glad to find a refuge, but also nervous to start a new life thousands of kilometers away from home.   　 “Many people welcomed me when I got here,” Park told The Korea Herald in a recent interview via Zoom. “Back then, I couldn’t fully grasp the meaning of the word ‘welcome,’ but just

North KoreaFeb. 27, 2021

[Photo News] Koreans look forward to a world without COVID-19

Nursing home workers in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, wait in line at the Heungkuk Gymnasium for the first round of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccination on Friday. Booths set up around the gymnasium are where medical workers administer the vaccinations. (Photos: Yonhap) By Song Donna (donnadsong@heraldcorp.com)

Social AffairsFeb. 27, 2021

Front-line medical workers get 1st injections of Pfizer's vaccine in S. Korea

A group of 300 medical workers treating novel coronavirus patients started receiving the first batch of the vaccine developed by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. in South Korea on Saturday, one day after the country kicked off a free vaccination campaign. Doctors, nurses and other health professionals treating COVID-19 patients in the greater Seoul area were administered with their first shots of Pfizer's two-dose vaccine regimen at a state-run vaccination facility in central Seoul. The in

Social AffairsFeb. 27, 2021

In latest attack on Asians in US, woman dragged by car in robbery

CALIFORNIA (AP) -- A woman was dragged by a car in Oakland's Asian business district during a robbery that her husband says left her bruised and shaken, marking the latest in a series of attacks against people of Asian descent in the San Francisco Bay Area and in other parts of the US. Eric Nghiem said his wife, Jenny, who is Vietnamese, had her purse crossed around her neck and shoulder as she was walking to a grocery store when a thief grabbed it and jumped into the passenger side of a car W

InternationalFeb. 27, 2021

About 18,500 Koreans get COVID-19 vaccines on vaccination Day 1

About 18,500 people received a vaccination for COVID-19 in South Korea on the launch day of the nation's public vaccination campaign against the pandemic, a government agency said Saturday. According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, 18,489 people across the country got their first shots of the two-dose AstraZeneca vaccine Friday. "On Friday, 18,489 medical workers, health care workers and nursing home patients received the AstraZeneca vaccine at community h

PoliticsFeb. 27, 2021

S. Korea investigating new suspected case of bird flu, caseload now at 102

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Saturday it is investigating yet another suspected case of highly pathogenic bird flu traced to poultry farms, with the confirmed caseload staying at 102. The latest suspected case of the deadly H5N8 strain of avian influenza was reported from an egg farm in Pocheon, 46 kilometers north of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. South Korea reported its first highly contagious bird flu case from farms since 2018 in Nove

Social AffairsFeb. 27, 2021

New virus cases stay above 400 on 2nd day of mass vaccination

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases stayed above 400 on Saturday, the second day of mass vaccinations, as sporadic cluster infections continued to linger throughout the nation. The country reported 415 more virus cases, including 405 local infections, raising the total caseload to 89,321, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Saturday's daily caseload marks a rise from 406 tallied the previous day. The figure reached a weekly low of 332 on Monday, before g

Social AffairsFeb. 27, 2021

Court upholds ban on conservative groups' rally scheduled for Monday

A Seoul court on Friday upheld a ban on street rallies conservative groups planned to hold on March 1 Independence Movement Day, as concerns continue to mount over the spread of the new coronavirus in the capital city. The Seoul Administrative Court dismissed their request to suspend Seoul city government's measure to prohibit anti-government rallies at Gwanghwamun Square in the city center. The groups are critical of the liberal Moon Jae-in administration. The March 1 Independence Movement Da

Social AffairsFeb. 26, 2021