[Election 101] Branding for office: How candidates are marketed for elections

In every election, candidates offer pledges, but winning support requires a person voters can believe in, and complex marketing and branding tactics are key parts of a candidate's public image. TV advertisements have undoubtedly taken up a large portion of marketing tactics in each presidential election, and successful video appearance has accounted for much of success tales of many former presidents in their bid for the top administrative post. Famously, President Moon Jae-in for the 2017 pr

PoliticsFeb. 23, 2022

S. Korea's total fertility rate hits record low last year

South Korea's total fertility rate hit a record low last year as the number of childbirths continued to fall, data showed Wednesday, underlining the country's bleak demographic situation. The country's total fertility rate -- the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime -- came to 0.81 last year, down from 0.84 the previous year, according to Statistics Korea. It marked the lowest since 1970 when the statistics agency began compiling related data. Last year marked the fourth stra

Social AffairsFeb. 23, 2022

Overseas voting begins, candidates seek to win over expats

As the 20th presidential election for overseas Koreans begins on Wednesday, presidential candidates compete to win over expat voters, pledging to establish the overseas Korean office and improve the current inconvenient election system. Overseas elections take place at 219 polling stations at 177 diplomatic missions in 115 countries worldwide. There are 226,152 registered overseas voters. First voting starts with the New Zealand Embassy and Auckland branch at 4 a.m. on Wednesday. In the case

PoliticsFeb. 23, 2022

S. Korean FM expresses concerns over Japan's Sado mine bid in meeting with UNESCO chief

South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong expressed deep concerns over Japan's move to have a mine linked to the forced labor of Koreans listed as a world heritage site in a meeting with UNESCO chief in Paris on Tuesday (local time), the foreign ministry said. Chung held a 40-minute meeting with UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay in Paris, where he is visiting for the Indo Pacific Ministerial Forum 2022. Tokyo announced its bid to have the Sado mine listed as a UNESCO world heritage site

Foreign AffairsFeb. 23, 2022

S. Korea remains wary of negative economic fallout of Ukraine crisis

South Korea said Wednesday the Ukraine crisis has had limited impacts on the domestic economy, but it will remain vigilant against the possibility that a deterioration of the situation could disrupt energy supplies and increase market volatility. Tensions over Ukraine have been escalating as Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered the deployment of troops to two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine. US and European leaders announced sanctions against Russian banks and officials, viewi

Foreign AffairsFeb. 23, 2022

PM says people should not be scared over number of new COVID-19 cases

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Wednesday that there is no reason to feel fear over the soaring number of COVID-19 cases, as South Korea reported more than 170,000 new cases on Wednesday.Kim made the remark during a COVID-19 response meeting, stressing that the fatality rate and the number of critical patients are being managed stably, as the country reported 171,452 new virus cases, up more than 70,000 from a day earlier. "Although we should not ease our vigilance and execution of antivir

Social AffairsFeb. 23, 2022

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases surge to fresh high of over 170,000 amid raging omicron

South Korea's new COVID-19 infections soared to hit another high of over 170,000 on Wednesday, nearly doubling from a week earlier, as the highly contagious omicron variant continued to spread across the country. The country reported 171,452 new COVID-19 infections, including 171,271 local cases, raising the total caseload to 2,329,182, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). This marked a drastic surge from the previous day's 99,573 and is far higher than the prev

Social AffairsFeb. 23, 2022

[Graphic News] Working age population predicted to fall by 3.2 million in 2020-2030: report

　South Korea is predicted to see its working age population shrink by a whopping 3.2 million during the 2020-2030 period, amid the country’s graying demographics, a government labor report showed.  　The estimate of people aged 15-64 would represent a turnaround from a growth of 1.17 million between 2010 and 2020 and 2.66 million during the previous decade, the Labor Ministry said in a report illustrating the seriousness of the country’s low birthrate and fast-aging population.

NationalFeb. 23, 2022

1 dead, 11 evacuated in apartment building fire

A fire in an apartment building in southern Seoul has left one resident dead and caused 11 others to evacuate, authorities said Wednesday. The fire broke out on the 10th floor of the building in Seoul's Sangdo-dong at 11:48 p.m. Tuesday and was extinguished 40 minutes later. A woman in her 70s was found unconscious on the 10th floor and transferred to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The eleven other residents all safely evacuated the building. Police and fire authorities are investiga

Social AffairsFeb. 23, 2022

S. Korea reports over 150,000 daily COVID-19 cases for 1st time

South Korea's new COVID-19 infections surpassed 150,000 for the first time Tuesday amid the fast spread of the omicron variant across the country. According to health authorities and local governments, a total of 158,005 cases had been confirmed nationwide as of 9 p.m., up 60,070 from 97,935 posted the same time the previous day. The previous daily high was set last Friday at 109,823. The total number for Tuesday is expected to rise further, as daily cases are counted until midnight and announ

Social AffairsFeb. 22, 2022

Yoon, Lee neck and neck at 42.7% vs. 42.6%: poll

  Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol and ruling party candidate Lee Jae-myung are running neck and neck with 42.7 percent and 42.6 percent support, respectively, a poll showed Tuesday. The survey by Hangil Research was conducted on 1,027 adults from last Saturday to Monday. Yoon of the conservative People Power Party gained 0.3 percentage point from the pollster's previous survey conducted Feb. 12-14, while Lee of the liberal Democratic Party gained 0.7 point. In th

PoliticsFeb. 22, 2022

Pandemic’s bereaved seek accountability

The first known COVID-19 death in South Korea was a 63-year-old hospitalized at a closed ward of a psychiatric hospital in Cheongdo, North Gyeongsang Province. The man, who was schizophrenic, died with pneumonia on Feb. 19, 2020, at the hospital where he had been a resident for over 20 years. He tested positive postmortem. In less than a week after his death, six more at the hospital lost their lives to the virus. All of the 101 patients save for just two ended up getting infected. The outbrea

Social AffairsFeb. 22, 2022

Yoon Suk-yeol’s campaign ad accused of ‘pitting men against women’

Presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party has come under fire over a scene in his campaign ad where a man side-eyes a woman during a job interview, with the caption “fairness and common sense destroyed.” In one scene during the one-minute ad, a nervous looking job interview candidate in a suit looks at another man sitting next to him briefly before side-eying a woman. As the man comes out of the room, he appears upset as he takes his name card o

PoliticsFeb. 22, 2022

Feeling lethargic too often? Two books offer advice

In a country known for long working hours, short vacations, and a culture of competition and pressure, many Koreans experience lethargy and burnout syndrome. It’s so common that it is even regarded as a rite of passage at the workplace. Koreans worked 1,967 hours a year per employee in 2019, 241 hours more than the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development average of 1,726 hours. It had the second-longest working hours among OECD member countries. A survey conducted on some

Social AffairsFeb. 22, 2022

[Newsmaker] Teachers’ unions accuse Education Ministry of fanning confusion

Teachers’ unions are voicing out their concerns after the government announced schools will have the choice to provide full remote classes during the first two weeks of March. The Ministry of Education announced Monday that it has designated March 2 -11 to be a new semester adjustment period, allowing schools to hold online-only classes if needed. Previously, the ministry had warned schools to refrain from switching to an online-only class scheme. However, it changed its stance with a s

Social AffairsFeb. 22, 2022

PyeongChang Peace Forum opens to discuss peace, inter-Korean relations, Olympics

An annual international peace forum kicked off in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, on Tuesday for a three-day run to discuss peace, inter-Korean relations and ways that the upcoming Winter Youth Olympics in 2024 could serve as an opportunity for peace on the divided Korean Peninsula. 　 Under the slogan of “Peace, Here and Now!,” the PyeongChang Peace Forum brings together global leaders, scholars and experts in the city of PyeongChang, which hosted the Winter Olympics in 2018. The ev

Foreign AffairsFeb. 22, 2022

‘To merge, or not to merge’: Noise on campaign merger continues

Talks of a campaign merger of presidential candidates Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party and Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor opposition People’s Party continue, despite Ahn withdrawing his initial proposal for merger talks. On Tuesday, Ahn continued his criticism of Yoon, who “fled” from a proposal to compete in a two-way primary to decide on a unified candidate. “I made the suggestion to hold a public primary (for a campaign merger) to Yoon. But (Yoon)

PoliticsFeb. 22, 2022

Moon says Ukraine’s sovereignty must be respected

Amid mounting fears of a Russian incursion into Ukraine, President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday that Ukraine’s sovereignty must be respected and Korea will actively participate in peace efforts for the nation. “Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial preservation must be respected and peaceful solutions should be actively sought through dialogue,” Moon said, presiding over an unscheduled joint meeting of the National Security Council and the Foreign Economic Security Strategy

PoliticsFeb. 22, 2022

Seoul city to provide online street view service of all 14,699 alleys

Street views of all 14,699 alleyways in Seoul, including those of narrow back alleys unavailable even in commercial road view services, will be available within the first half of this year, the city government said Tuesday. The city government created 53,715 images of the alleys over the past two years to offer the complete street views of every alley that even online map services by major internet portals like Naver and Daum have not provided so far, officials said. Street views of 10 districts

Social AffairsFeb. 22, 2022