Moon to deliver New Year's address next Monday

President Moon Jae-in will issue his formal New Year's message next week, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday. During the address slated for Monday, he is expected to unveil policy priorities in the fifth year of his presidency, with South Korea locked in a prolonged fight against COVID-19. Moon plans to emphasize that people here will recover their daily lives through "win-win cooperation" and that they will head "with power" toward the goal of making South Korea a "leading cou

PoliticsJan. 8, 2021

S. Korea past the peak of 3rd COVID-19 wave: officials

South Korea is thought to have passed the peak of the third COVID-19 wave thanks to tough social distancing guidelines as the country reported the lowest number of cases since Jan. 2 on Friday, officials said. Korea saw 674 new COVID-19 new cases – 633 locally transmitted and 41 imported from overseas – raising the total number of cases recorded in Korea to 67,358. The daily number of new cases has stayed below 1,000 for four days in a row, continuing to show signs of slowing down.

Social AffairsJan. 8, 2021

US to create cybercrime bureau against China, N. Korea

The US State Department said Thursday that it is creating the Bureau of Cyberspace Security and Emerging Technologies (CSET) to respond to security threats posed by adversaries including China, North Korea, Russia and Iran. The threats have increased since Congress was notified of the plan in June 2019, the State Department said in a statement. The CSET bureau will lead the US government diplomatic efforts on international cyberspace security concerns that affect US national security and forei

North KoreaJan. 8, 2021

Ex-Cheong Wa Dae inspector gets suspended sentence in official secrets leak case

A former special inspector of the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae was sentenced by a local court on Friday to a one-year prison term, suspended for two years, for leaking classified official secrets. The Suwon District Court in Suwon, south of Seoul, handed out the suspended jail sentence to Kim Tae-woo, who worked for Cheong Wa Dae's special inspection team between July 2017 and November 2018, after convicting him on charges of divulgence of official secrets. Kim, who was a prosecution inve

PoliticsJan. 8, 2021

S. Korea investigating 2 more suspected cases of highly pathogenic bird flu

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Friday it has confirmed the country's 48th case of highly pathogenic bird flu from a poultry farm, with the spread of the disease among wild birds further straining the country's antivirus fight. The latest case of the malign HN58 strain of bird flu came from a duck farm in Yeongam, 384 kilometers south of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. South Korea issued a standstill order on all poultry farms in the region for

Social AffairsJan. 8, 2021

[Newsmaker] Indoor sports facilities dissatisfied with 'nonsensical' COVID-19 exceptions

Business owners expressed discontent and dissatisfaction toward the government for making “unrealistic” and “nonsensical” exceptions to let indoor sports facilities operate in a limited capacity. Starting Friday, indoor sports facilities were allowed to reopen their doors with a cap of nine children at a time, an exception the government made to address the gap in child care. Indoor sports facility owners are frustrated with the response, as the revised rules do not add

Social AffairsJan. 8, 2021

Seoul court orders Japan to compensate sex slavery victims

For the first time in history, a Seoul court has ruled that the Japanese government is liable to pay compensation for wartime sex slavery, ordering it to give 100 million won ($91,340) to each victim. The Seoul Central District Court said at 9:55 a.m. on Friday that “State immunity cannot be applied to crimes against humanity” in regards to the suit that 12 victims had filed against the Japanese government. The case began when the 12 so-called comfort women, including the late Ba

Social AffairsJan. 8, 2021

Busan announces separate economic relief package for city

The Busan Metropolitan Government will provide economic relief for industries in the city that have been affected by the social distancing measures that were extended due to the third wave of COVID-19. Beneficiaries will include artists, the transportation industry and the tourism industry. Busan’s acting Mayor Byun Seong-wan said 154,000 businesses and individuals would receive a combined 220 billion won ($208 million) from city, district and county resources. This is separate from the

Social AffairsJan. 8, 2021

94% of Koreans feel ‘tired’ amid pandemic

Collective exhaustion with coronavirus restrictions is mounting in South Korea amid a prolonged fight against the pandemic, with nine in 10 Koreans saying they feel “tired.” According to a poll of 837 adults from Jan. 6-7 by a job search engine Incruit, 94.1 percent of the respondents said their fatigue had accumulated due to the protracted pandemic. The biggest reasons they felt fatigued about the pandemic was that they had to refrain from meeting their families and friends (12.2

Social AffairsJan. 8, 2021

Seoul has coldest day in 35 years

Cold air from the North Pole gripped the nation on Friday, pushing the mercury down to minus 29.1 degrees Celsius on a mountain peak in Gangwon Province and minus 21.7 degrees in northwestern Seoul. The capital’s official overnight low, measured in Jongno-gu, hit minus 18.6 degrees, the lowest since Jan. 5, 1986. In Gangwon Province, the cold spell froze the Soyang River and Bukhan River in Chuncheon, as well as a waterfall on the Hantan River in Cheorwon. Seawater icicles even formed on

Social AffairsJan. 8, 2021

Denial of citizenship for foreign man caught drunk driving legitimate: court

The government’s decision to deny a naturalization application of a foreign national who was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol was legitimate, according to a local court’s ruling. The Nepalese man, who married a Korean woman in 2014, applied for naturalization in May 2018. He was convicted of drunk driving and given a fine in November 2019 while his application was being reviewed. The Justice Ministry denied the application in February 2020, citing his failure t

Social AffairsJan. 8, 2021

NK state media make no mention of leader Kim's presumed birthday

North Korean state media made no mention of its leader Kim Jong-un's presumed 37th birthday on Friday amid its detailed report on an ongoing rare party congress. The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and the Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the ruling party, carried articles on the eighth party congress of the ruling Workers' Party, the country's biggest political event, but did not mention his birthday. The North's state Korean Central Television (KCTV) also kicked off its program at 9 a.

North KoreaJan. 8, 2021

Local furniture maker under probe over alleged slush fund, bribery

Police have raided the headquarters of South Korea's leading furniture maker Hanssem Co. this week as part of a probe into its alleged slush fund creation and graft charges, an official said Friday. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency sent investigators to the compound in western Seoul the previous day to search for potential evidence. Having combed a computer server room and offices in charge of budget operation and public relations, they secured documents and other materials, according to th

Social AffairsJan. 8, 2021

Ultrafine dust density falls to record low for December

Last month saw a record-low ultrafine dust density for December in South Korea, the government said Friday, citing outcomes from its seasonal management system for air pollution. The Ministry of Environment said last month's national average density of ultrafine dust particles was 24 micrograms per cubic meter, the lowest level for December since relevant record-keeping began in 2015. Ultrafine particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, known as PM 2.5, are a class one carcinogen. Un

Social AffairsJan. 8, 2021

New S. Korean envoy to Japan vows efforts to improve ties with Tokyo

Kang Chang-il, South Korea's new ambassador to Japan, vowed Friday to do his utmost to help improve the country's relations with Tokyo amid increased tensions after a local court ordered Tokyo to pay damages to Korean wartime sexual slavery victims. "I hold a tremendous responsibility to normalize the frayed relationship between Korea and Japan. I feel heavyhearted and heavy-shouldered," he told Yonhap by phone, hours after his appointment became official. "I will make every eff

Foreign AffairsJan. 8, 2021

American soldier in S. Korea dies in car accident during training

An American service member stationed in South Korea died earlier this week in a car accident during a military training, the US military said Friday. Staff Sgt. James Wento, 34, was pronounced dead at the scene Tuesday, as the military vehicle he was driving overturned during the training event of his unit at the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in Pocheon, northeast of Seoul, according to the 2nd Infantry Division. "The circumstances surrounding the accident are under investigation," the

DefenseJan. 8, 2021

USFK reports one more COVID-19 case

A civilian worker for the US Forces Korea (USFK) has tested positive for the new coronavirus, the US military said Friday. The contractor, who works at USFK's Yongsan Garrison in central Seoul, was confirmed to have been infected the previous day and is now in isolation at his residence in Seoul before being transported to a facility designated for COVID-19 patients at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, according to USFK. He last visited the Yongsan base on Dec. 31, it added. "KDCA and USFK h

DefenseJan. 8, 2021

S. Korea past 3rd peak of pandemic, tougher curbs in place against foreign arrivals

The third wave of the coronavirus pandemic appears to be slowly declining after a peak amid tough social distancing guidelines, but health authorities remain guarded against a more transmissible virus variant, officials said Friday. The country added 674 more COVID-19 cases, including 633 local infections, raising the total caseload to 67,360, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. Friday's caseload was the lowest since Jan. 2, when the figure stood at 657 due largely t

Social AffairsJan. 8, 2021

NK paper emphasizes antivirus efforts as party congress is under way

North Korea's official newspaper on Friday urged the people to keep their guard up against the coronavirus pandemic as a rare party congress is under way in Pyongyang with thousands of delegates gathering to join the largest political event. The eighth congress of the ruling Workers' Party, the first of its kind in nearly five years, has been held since Tuesday to determine the country's policy directions for the economy and foreign affairs. Pyongyang had been placed on the highest alert agains

North KoreaJan. 8, 2021

NK leader reviews inter-Korean ties, vows to 'comprehensively' expand external relations

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has reviewed inter-Korean relations and pledged to "comprehensibly" expand external ties during a rare party congress, state media reported Friday. Kim announced the policy line in a report to the third-day session of the eighth congress of the ruling Workers' Party held in Pyongyang the previous day, citing "the prevailing situation and the changed times," according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "The report studied the issu

North KoreaJan. 8, 2021