S. Korea to roll out prototype of first homegrown fighter jet next month

South Korea will showcase a prototype of the country's first indigenous fighter jet in April, the arms procurement agency has said. Jung Kwang-sun, heading the KF-X program at the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, said the planned rollout event will be a "landmark moment" for the country and the aerospace industry. "After working only with the blueprint so far, we will now have something we can actually see and test whether what we have been studying actually works,&q

DefenseMarch 1, 2021

Moon says S. Korea ready to talk with Japan anytime, urges separation of history with future-oriented ties

President Moon Jae-in stated Monday that South Korea is ready to talk with Japan anytime for stronger cooperation, separate from longstanding disputes over shared history, as it would also be helpful to the trilateral partnership with the United States. "The South Korean government is always ready to sit down and have talks with the Japanese government. I am confident that if we put our heads together in the spirit of trying to understand each other's perspectives, we will also be able to

PoliticsMarch 1, 2021

New virus cases in 300s for 2nd day, cluster infections still worrisome

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases stayed below 400 for the second straight day Monday, but health authorities remained alert over a continued rise in cluster infections ahead of the start of the spring school semester. The country reported 355 more COVID-19 cases, including 338 local infections, raising the total caseload to 90,029, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The tally was lower than the 356 recorded Sunday and 415 on Saturday. The fall in new cases l

Social AffairsMarch 1, 2021

Nation marks subdued Independence Movement anniversary amid pandemic

South Koreans commemorated the 102nd anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement with smaller, subdued commemorations Monday as the nation is battling the coronavirus pandemic. The national holiday is usually observed with large ceremonies, processions and performances remembering the months of popular uprisings against Japan's colonial rule (1910-45), which started in Seoul on March 1, 1919. About 2 million people participated in the protests across the county and more than 7,500 were

Social AffairsMarch 1, 2021

DP, government to allot W9.5tr for 4th relief funds

The ruling Democratic Party and the government agreed Sunday to allot 19.5 trillion won ($17.3 billion) for the country's fourth round of COVID-19 relief assistance. The agreement was made during a tripartite meeting of the DP, the government and Cheong Wa Dae, attended by DP Chairman Rep. Lee Nak-yon, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun and Kim Sang-jo, the presidential chief of staff for policy. The upcoming aid package will be funded by an extra budget bill worth 15 trillion won, with the remaini

PoliticsFeb. 28, 2021

Cardinal Cheong Jin-suk hospitalized due to ailment

Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk, former Catholic archbishop of Seoul, has been hospitalized due to deteriorating health conditions, according to Catholic insiders Sunday. Cheong, 90, was recently admitted to a hospital and was receiving treatment, according to the sources familiar with the cardinal's situation. He has reportedly managed to overcome critical, life-threatening situations on multiple occasions. Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, the current archbishop of Seoul, has reportedly noti

Social AffairsFeb. 28, 2021

[News Focus] Korea’s working-age population falls to 23-year low

SEJONG -- The percentage of working age population in South Korea fell to its lowest level in more than two decades, in the wake of continuously falling births and an ageing population, latest data showed. The nation has seen a gradually declining number of newborns since the 1990s and an ongoing entry of baby boomers -- people born between 1955-1963 -- to the senior population, which started in January 2020. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety

Social AffairsFeb. 28, 2021

Govt. plans sale of land lots confiscated from Japanese collaborators

The veterans affairs ministry said Sunday it plans to prioritize selling 148 land lots confiscated from former pro-Japanese collaborators to better compensate the sacrifices made by Korean independent activists and their families. The ministry said it has selected the pool of land with relative high practical utilization from among the 855 total land lots it controls that were previously owned by Japanese collaborators. When combined, the land designated for priority sales covers some 3.29 mil

PoliticsFeb. 28, 2021

[Newsmaker] Child abuse can now lead to death penalty in South Korea

South Korea is strengthening punishment for child abuse amid a growing number of cases, with the recent revision of a child abuse law now making the death penalty a possibility. On Friday lawmakers passed a bill at the plenary session of the National Assembly to revise a law dealing with penalties for child abuse, making it possible for child abusers to be convicted of murder even if they did not intend to cause death. The amendment, called the Jeong-in Act, is named after a 16-month-old gir

Social AffairsFeb. 28, 2021

S. Korea, US near deal on sharing troop costs

South Korea and the United States are close to inking an agreement that could settle a prolonged dispute over how they should share the cost of maintaining 28,500 US troops here, the Wall Street Journal said Friday. The two allies, whose talks have continually fallen apart since September 2019 because of differences over how much of the burden Seoul should shoulder, are reportedly set to sign a five-year accord. Seoul would pay about $1.3 billion in the fifth year, almost half the cost of stat

DefenseFeb. 28, 2021

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