S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases fall to about 320,000; critical cases at another high

South Korea's new daily COVID-19 cases fell more than 100,000 to around 320,000 on Thursday, but the number of seriously ill patients hit an all-time high amid the continued spread of the highly transmissible "stealth omicron" subvariant. The country added 320,743 new coronavirus infections, including 24 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 13,095,631, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The daily count came to a nearly one-month low of 187,189 o

Social AffairsMarch 31, 2022

Moon sells private home for W2.6b

President Moon Jae-in has recently sold his private home in the southern rural city of Yangsan for 2.6 billion won ($2.1 million), 1.7 billion won higher than the price he bought it 13 years ago, government data showed Thursday. The gains were spent on the construction of a new home in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, which Moon plans to move into after leaving office on May 9, according to Cheong Wa Dae. Moon bought the old home in 2009 for 900 million won and lived there before his 2017 ele

PoliticsMarch 31, 2022

Yoon strongly considering ex-PM Han as first PM: sources

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is strongly considering nominating former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo as his first prime minister, sources said Thursday. Han, 72, has held a number of high positions in government, including finance minister, prime minister under former President Roh Moo-hyun, and ambassador to the United States. In those capacities, he played a key role in negotiating a free trade agreement with the US Han is considered a trade specialist with expertise in foreign affairs, making

PoliticsMarch 31, 2022

N. Korea calls on party officials to wipe out anti-socialist practices

North Korea reiterated calls for the ruling party's propaganda officials to help weed out anti-socialist and non-socialist practices, as it wrapped up a three-day workshop, according to state media Thursday. The workshop for officials in the information field of the ruling Workers' Party concluded the previous day with a study session on prioritizing ideological work as the "very core of the Party work," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. "The workshop called

North KoreaMarch 31, 2022

USFK reveals special ops training following NK ICBM launch

The US Forces Korea (USFK) has revealed it conducted a special commando training earlier this month, in an apparent show of America's military might following North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch last week. In a Facebook post Wednesday, the Special Operations Command Korea (SOCKOR) showed a set of photos depicting commandos engaging in what it termed "special forces readiness training." SOCKOR did not give the exact date, venue or purpose of the training. The

DefenseMarch 31, 2022

Satellite imagery shows 'unusual' movement of N. Korean ballistic missile submarine: US monitor

WASHINGTON -- New satellite imagery of Sinpo South Shipyard has shown "unusual movement" of North Korea's experimental ballistic missile submarine that may indicate a possible submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) test in the future, a US monitor said Wednesday. "Satellite image collected on March 22 shows unusual movement of the 8.24 Yongung (August 24th Hero) experimental ballistic missile submarine (SSBA) within the secure boat basin," Beyond Parallel, a project of t

Foreign AffairsMarch 31, 2022

Seoul mayor's personal wealth worth W5.9b, largest among metropolitan govt. heads

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon reported personal assets worth 5.9 billion won ($4.88 million) as of the end of last year, the largest among the 14 heads of metropolitan governments across the country, a government gazette showed Thursday. According to the Public Service Ethics Committee gazette on the financial statements of high-ranking officials, Oh's net wealth, including those of his direct family members, rose by 1.02 billion won compared to the previous amount reported in July of last year. Oh's o

Social AffairsMarch 31, 2022

More than 80% of lawmakers saw assets increase in 2021: data

More than eight in 10 lawmakers saw their personal assets grow in value last year amid the pandemic, data showed Thursday. As of December 2021, 240 lawmakers, or 83 percent of the 289 legislators who disclosed their assets, said their assets expanded compared with a year earlier, according to the National Assembly data. Of them, 147 reported that their assets increased by between 100 million won ($82,610) and 500 million won. Six lawmakers said their assets jumped by 1 billion won over a one-yea

PoliticsMarch 31, 2022

Over 8 in 10 senior public officials declare wealth increase last year

More than eight in 10 ranking public officials mandated by an ethics law to annually disclose their personal wealth reported an asset increase last year, the government gazette showed Thursday. A total of 1,978 senior government and public officials had declared an average of 1.62 billion won ($1.34 million) in personal assets as of the end of last year, marking a rise of 166.3 million won from a year earlier, the gazette said. It found that 83 percent, or 1,641, of the officials reported an inc

PoliticsMarch 31, 2022

[Feature] Commuters, truck drivers take the brunt of expensive oil

　 Lee, a 41-year-old math teacher at a public high school in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, has been commuting by bike since last week after retail oil prices slid over the 2,000-won mark. From his home in Mohyeon-eup of Cheoin-gu to Pogok-eup, where the school is located, it takes about 10 minutes by car, but 30 minutes by bike. Instead of spending more time in bed, he chose to save money on gas by waking up early. “I used to pay 200,000 won per month for fuel, which went up to almost 300,

Social AffairsMarch 30, 2022

[Newsmaker] Subway protesters face online abuse

Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination, a disability advocacy group that has recently been staging protests at subway stations, is facing increasing hatred online, with some especially emboldened by a conservative political leader. 　 In a series of Facebook posts People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok has called the protest “uncivilized” and “illegal.” He blamed the protesters for deliberately causing subway delays during busy hours and accused them of staging the

Social AffairsMarch 30, 2022

S.Korea test-fires first indigenous solid-fuel rocket, pushes to launch spy satellites

South Korea “successfully” test-launched a homegrown solid-fuel space rocket for the first time, taking one significant step to further develop and launch microsatellites for military surveillance and reconnaissance. The state-run Agency for Defense Development said it conducted the test-firing to “verify the performance” of the solid-propellant carrier rocket developed with indigenous technologies on Wednesday at its own testing site in Taean, South Chungcheong Provinc

DefenseMarch 30, 2022

UCLG Secretary General Saiz to visit Daejeon to check preparations for 2022 UCLG World Congress

United Cities and Local Governments Secretary-General Emilia Saiz will visit the city of Daejeon to check preparations for the 2022 UCLG World Congress in October, the city government said Wednesday. Saiz and other representatives from the UCLG will stay in South Korea from Sunday to April 7 to meet with the working group here to discuss detailed plans for the upcoming event and undertake field tours to inspect related venues. The UCLG World Congress is a large-scale international event, thr

Foreign AffairsMarch 30, 2022

COVID-19 has negative impact on Korea’s multicultural acceptability: study

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on how receptive Koreans are to a multicultural society, a study by government-run think tank Korean Women’s Development Institute suggests. The research, titled the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family’s 2021 Multicultural Acceptability Study, has been conducted every three years since 2012. This year, 5,000 adults aged between 19 and 74 and 5,000 middle and high school students were polled. According to the survey, the adult re

Social AffairsMarch 30, 2022

Koryoin who fled Ukraine arrive home in S. Korea

A group of Koryoin -- ethnic Koreans living in Central Asia as well as Ukraine and Russia -- who fled the Ukraine war arrived in South Korea to seek a new home on Wednesday. The latest group to arrive includes eight children and infants and 13 women, according to Korean Cooperative, also known as Koryoin Village, a Gwangju-based incorporated association representing the ethnic Koreans. Nearly 30 people, consisting of children, women and seniors, will come to the country this week alone

Social AffairsMarch 30, 2022

Controversy surrounding first lady and her clothes still at large

Controversy surrounding first lady Kim Jung-sook and the presidential office continues despite Cheong Wa Dae’s denial that state funds were spent on her outfits. On Tuesday, the presidential office said that recent rumors that Kim used special activity expenses to buy costumes and accessories for herself were “groundless assertions,” saying only “personal expenses” were used for purchases. The office added Kim’s clothes sponsored for overseas visits and inter

PoliticsMarch 30, 2022

Ahn Cheol-soo says will not join Yoon’s Cabinet

Presidential transition committee Chairman Ahn Cheol-soo announced Wednesday he will not take a post in the Cabinet of the incoming government, to “take the pressure off” President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol. “I have thought a lot about my next move (after the transitional committee). ... And I made the personal decision that it would be better to open up room for the president-elect to spread his wings,” Ahn said in a press briefing at the presidential transition committee hea

PoliticsMarch 30, 2022

Democratic Party contemplates Seoul mayoral election picks

The Democratic Party of Korea is struggling to find a candidate for Seoul mayor in the upcoming local elections, hinting at more difficulties for the party after its loss in the presidential election early this month. No Democratic Party figure has so far announced a bid for the post, possibly reflecting views that the current mayor has the upper hand. Mayor Oh Se-hoon of the conservative People Power Party is looking to extend his term. Oh is a central figure within the People Power Party in

PoliticsMarch 30, 2022

[Hwang’s China and the World] Europe will not detract from US focus on Indo-Pacific

The White House in February announced its Indo-Pacific strategy in what seems to be its most inclusive and comprehensive report yet. The report makes no doubt that China’s presence is of utmost importance when it comes to the US’ Indo-Pacific strategy, which was initiated in the Trump administration. In the report, the US looks to seek ways to contain China’s rise, but also maintain a somewhat amicable and cooperative relationship with Beijing. The Indo-Pacific strategy i

PoliticsMarch 30, 2022

Nearly 60% of people oppose granting pardons to ex-President Lee, ex-Gov. Kim: poll

Nearly 60 percent of South Koreans oppose granting pardons to former President Lee Myung-bak and former South Gyeongsang Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo, a survey showed Wednesday. According to the poll conducted by Data Research on 1,000 adults on Monday, 58.7 percent said they are against granting clemency to Lee and Kim, while 32.1 percent said they support pardoning the two. The issue of their pardons surfaced ahead of a meeting Monday between President Moon Jae-in and President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, wit

PoliticsMarch 30, 2022