Police investigate terror threat against Incheon Airport ahead of March 1 holiday

Police are investigating a video that warns of an attack at Incheon International Airport on the March 1st Independence Movement Day. According to the Incheon International Airport Police Corps, they were tipped off by a citizen on Tuesday about a suspicious YouTube video threatening to attack the airport at 11 a.m. on the national holiday. The video, uploaded on Sunday, has since changed its content to a message that Osama Bin Laden, the late leader of Al Qaeda and the mastermind of the Septe

Social AffairsFeb. 25, 2021

Migrant worker posthumously tests positive for coronavirus

A migrant worker who died at home in Yangju, north of Seoul, posthumously tested positive for the coronavirus Thursday, health officials said. The 49-year-old Nigerian national was found dead on Wednesday by an acquaintance, who visited the home at the request of the worker's family member. Health authorities conducted coronavirus testing after the family told them the deceased person recently had cold symptoms. The result came back positive Thursday. officials said. Health officials took inf

Social AffairsFeb. 25, 2021

Upcoming military exercise with US should be postponed or halted: expert

South Korea should put off or suspend its combined springtime military exercise with the United States as part of efforts to improve inter-Korean relations, a researcher at a state-run think tank said Thursday. Kim Sang-ki, a researcher at the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU), made the point in a report amid concern that the joint exercise, expected to take place next month, could provide North Korea with a pretext for provocations. "It is necessary to postpone th

North KoreaFeb. 25, 2021

CIO head vows to maintain political neutrality

Kim Jin-wook, the head of the new powerful investigative agency, on Thursday vowed to remain politically neutral and not to give in to political pressure when it comes to investigations. In his first public debate since taking office last month, Kim, the inaugural chief of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), said he will try his best to listen to different opinions on contentious and divisive issues. "I will be impartial towards everyone with different op

PoliticsFeb. 25, 2021

Parliamentary seeks to toughen punishment for child abuse homicide

The National Assembly is pushing for a law revision to strengthen the punishment of homicide by child abuse in the wake of a series of recent fatal abuse cases that shocked the nation. A subcommittee of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee on Wednesday passed a revision bill on child abuse crimes, under which those convicted of child abuse murder will be punished with at least seven years in prison, life imprisonment or the death penalty. Currently, those who commit child abuse that results

PoliticsFeb. 25, 2021

Doctor-government conflict continues as vaccinations begin

Doctors appear to be losing ground in their conflict with the government after facing negative public sentiment toward their call for collective action. The Korean Medical Association said Wednesday that it agrees with the intention of the bill on revoking licenses for doctors convicted of serious crimes, but argued that adjustments need to be made within the legislative proposal to prevent over-regulation. “We completely agree even within ourselves that doctors who committed severe crim

Social AffairsFeb. 25, 2021

Court recognizes 1st conscientious objector on ethical grounds

Conscientious objectors in South Korea will now be able to perform alternative service instead of reserve forces training if they demonstrate personal beliefs in nonviolence, South Korea’s Supreme Court ruled Thursday. South Korea, which conscripts all able-bodied men for about two years to maintain defense readiness against North Korea and requires reserve forces training for eight years after they are discharged, introduced the program in October to honor a court ruling.  The Cons

DefenseFeb. 25, 2021

Police raid SK Innovation again over battery dispute

Police raided SK Innovation Co. on Thursday in connection with the allegations that it stole electric vehicle (EV) battery technologies from its local competitor. According to the police, the national security investigation division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency launched a search operation at the company in central Seoul earlier in the day. The police have been investigating the case after they received a complaint in May 2019 from LG Chem Ltd. that SK Innovation poached talent from

PoliticsFeb. 25, 2021

4th round of COVID-19 relief handouts may reach more than W19.5tr

South Korea's upcoming fourth round of COVID-19 relief handouts may amount to more than 19.5 trillion won ($17.6 billion), the ruling Democratic Party (DP) said Thursday. The scale of the government's proposal for the new batch of pandemic relief fund has been tentatively set at around 19.5 trillion won, but the final amount could rise further during the National Assembly's review of the related bill, Rep. Yoo Dong-soo, a deputy chief of the DP's policy committee, indicated. "(The size of

PoliticsFeb. 25, 2021

US experts stress need to address human rights issues in normalization talks with N. Korea

Leading experts on North Korea underscored the need Thursday to address Pyongyang's human rights issues should Washington engage in talks on the normalization of relations between the two countries. Speaking at a virtual forum on peace efforts on the Korean Peninsula, Robert Gallucci, former US nuclear negotiator, and Victor Cha, Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, made the point, as the administration of US President Joe Biden is intent on reasserting America's r

North KoreaFeb. 25, 2021

14 USFK-affiliated people test positive for coronavirus

Twelve American service members and two of their family members have tested positive for the coronavirus upon arrival here from the United States recently, US Forces Korea (USFK) said Thursday. Seven service members and two dependents arrived on international commercial flights at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, between Feb. 5 and Feb. 21, according to USFK. The remaining five service members arrived at Osan Air Base on US government chartered flights from the US on Feb. 3 and 22

DefenseFeb. 25, 2021

Unification minister renews calls for individual tourism to NK

Unification Minister Lee In-young said Thursday the government will push to resume long-suspended tours to North Korea on an individual basis as soon as the pandemic eases, saying it is "the best way to break the boundaries" between South and North Koreans. "There are still many South Koreans who wish to visit Mount Kumgang though it has been over 10 years since its suspension," he said, pointing out that such exchanges can help restore "national homogeneity." &qu

North KoreaFeb. 25, 2021

S. Korea to raise guard against African swine fever, hunt more wild boars

South Korea said Thursday it plans to beef up its readiness against African swine fever (ASF) at inter-Korean border areas by hunting more wild boars and installing more fences to prevent them from traveling farther south. Under the plan, the country will reduce their number to just one per square kilometer at the areas infected with ASF from the current 1.4 by hunting more of them in March and April, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The number of wild boars na

Social AffairsFeb. 25, 2021

Discussions still under way on upcoming S. Korea-US combined exercise: defense ministry

South Korea and the United States have yet to finalize the schedule and other details of a planned combined springtime military exercise, the defense ministry said Thursday. The joint computer-simulated command post training is expected to kick off in around the second week of March for about 10 days. But exactly when and how the exercise will be staged has not yet been announced. "The date, content and other details of the combined exercise to be held in the first half of the year are no

DefenseFeb. 25, 2021

January sees record drop in no. of restaurant, hotel workers amid pandemic

The number of people working at restaurants and hotels fell by a record 24,000 in January amid the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the labor ministry said Thursday. The total number of workers in the restaurant and hotel industry stood at 1.05 million last month, down 24,000, or 18.7 percent, from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Employment and Labor. It is the biggest decline for the sector since record keeping began in June 2009, the ministry said. Restaurants

Social AffairsFeb. 25, 2021

[Feature] Why do old people pick up cardboard in Seoul?

When the temperature dropped to minus 7 degrees Celsius in mid-February, Lee Deok-ja, 74, was dragging her handcart around Deungchon-dong, western Seoul, picking up cardboard. It was about 12:30 p.m. and her handcart was empty. Lee said she had already been to the junk shop three times that day. Instead of filling up the handcart -- which appears to weigh more than 40 kilograms when empty -- the petite lady chooses to go to a junk shop several times a day and fill her cart little by little.

Social AffairsFeb. 25, 2021

S. Korean top nuke envoy holds virtual talks on N. Korea with senior US diplomat

South Korea's top nuclear envoy held video talks with a senior US diplomat Thursday about North Korea's denuclearization and related issues, the foreign ministry said. The talks between Noh Kyu-duk and Sung Kim, acting US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, came as the new US administration of President Joe Biden has been conducting a review of policy on North Korea. The US has stressed that the policy review will be carried out in close consultations with South Ko

Foreign AffairsFeb. 25, 2021

Army soldier tests positive for COVID-19

An Army soldier based in Paju, north of Seoul, has tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Thursday. The soldier was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 in a virus test conducted after a vacation in Seoul, according to the ministry. The latest case raised the total number of infections reported among the military population to 571. Of them, 558 have been fully cured and 13 are under treatment. Nationwide, South Korea added 396 new cases Thursday, bringing the tota

DefenseFeb. 25, 2021

S. Korea reports another highly pathogenic bird flu case, total now at 102

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Thursday it has confirmed yet another case of highly pathogenic bird flu, raising the total caseload to 102. The latest confirmed case of the H5N8 strain of avian influenza came from an egg farm in Wonju, 132 kilometers east of Seoul, on the previous day, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Gyeonggi Province that surrounds Seoul accounted for 36 cases, followed by South Jeolla Province with 17. North Jeolla Province took up

Social AffairsFeb. 25, 2021

PM calls for active participation in COVID-19 vaccine program

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on Thursday called on the public to actively participate in the government's public coronavirus vaccine program, as authorities move swiftly to make last minute preparations on the eve of the nationwide inoculation campaign. Earlier in the day, trucks and ships packed with the first of some 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines headed to long-term care hospitals and public health centers across the country. "Please have trust in the government

PoliticsFeb. 25, 2021