Nuke envoy stresses need for coordination with US amid increased fluidity on Korean Peninsula

South Korea's top nuclear envoy on Wednesday stressed the importance of coordinating with the United States to manage the increased geopolitical fluidity on the Korean Peninsula from developments at home and abroad. Noh Kyu-duk, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, made the remark as he headed to Hawaii for a meeting with his US and Japanese counterparts, Sung Kim and Hayashi Yoshimasa, respectively, Thursday to discuss regional issues. They are expected to

North KoreaFeb. 9, 2022

Korea’s omicron plan leaves vulnerable patients under 60 on their own

COVID-19 patients recovering at home under the age of 60 will no longer be provided care and monitoring unless they are on Paxlovid, the Pfizer oral antiviral treatment, raising concerns for younger but vulnerable patients. Amid an omicron surge, a record 168,000 patients were under home recovery as of Monday afternoon across South Korea, exceeding the manageable maximum of 166,000 that was set previously by the government. Home recovery became the default care arrangement for patients of

Social AffairsFeb. 9, 2022

Lee Jae-myung’s wife apologizes in regards to ‘gapjil’ controversy

The wife of presidential nominee Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea offered an official apology in person Wednesday in regards to allegations of power abuse while her husband served as the governor of Gyeonggi Province before entering the presidential race. Kim Hye-kyung appeared before reporters Wednesday afternoon and bowed to apologize, saying she has failed to draw distinctions between public and private lives, adding she will take responsibility for any outcome of the in

PoliticsFeb. 9, 2022

Olympic-sparked anti-Chinese sentiment rises as political issue

Anti-China sentiment sparked by controversial decisions at the 2022 Beijing Olympics is growing into a political issue, prompting presidential candidates to jump on the latest bandwagon to woo voters. On Monday, Korean speedskaters Hwang Dae-heon and Lee June-seo were disqualified in different groups for the men’s 1,000-meter semifinals held at the Capital Indoor Stadium in China. While they came in first and second in their respective group races, the two athletes were penalized and

PoliticsFeb. 9, 2022

Cyber scarlet letter: How online abuse drove YouTuber to death

Last Saturday, uncle of YouTuber and online streamer Cho Jang-mi revealed that his niece had taken her own life due to rumors and malicious internet comments. The revelation has since sparked nationwide furor over cyberbullying and a relatively novel phenomenon of “cyberwreckers,” referring to YouTubers who make commentary videos of contentious issues using compiled footage and photos. A particular cyberwrecker involved with the incident was a YouTuber with the channel name PPKKa

Social AffairsFeb. 9, 2022

DP presidential candidate hopes for deeper economic cooperation with Russia

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), on Wednesday said he expects the economic cooperation between South Korea and Russia to be further expanded, especially in the energy field. Lee made the remarks during his meeting with Russian Ambassador to South Korea Andrey Kulik at his party's headquarters in Seoul. "The scale of economic cooperation between the two nations has become very large, and Russia's advanced science technology gives a big help to ou

PoliticsFeb. 9, 2022

Defense chief meets top Canadian envoy, discusses bilateral ties

South Korea's Defense Minister Suh Wook held a meeting with Canada's top envoy in Seoul on Wednesday to discuss the regional security situations, including the Korean Peninsula, his ministry said. Talking with Ambassador Mark Fletcher, Suh noted that the two countries have maintained close ties in the defense sector through various channels, including the Asian Security Summit, also known as the Shangri-La Dialogue and the Seoul Defense Dialogue, according to the ministry. Canada hopes for the d

Foreign AffairsFeb. 9, 2022

Omicron pushes S. Korea’s COVID-19 cases to nearly 50,000

South Korea‘s daily COVID-19 cases nearly reached 50,000 during the 24 hours of Tuesday, due to the quickly-spreading omicron variant, the government said Wednesday. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the country reported 49,567 new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, raising the total to 1,131,248. It is the first time that the country’s daily figure has surpassed 40,000, according to government data. The figure was around 11,000 more than the previous dail

Social AffairsFeb. 9, 2022

South Korea has ended contact tracing. Then what are QR check-ins for?

South Korea has switched to a do-it-yourself contact tracing scheme as the omicron variant changes how the outbreak is handled. And yet people are still required to scan personal QR codes that have so far allowed contact tracers to collect information about exactly where they visited and when. Starting Monday, those who test positive for COVID-19 will need to contact trace themselves through an online questionnaire that asks where the last places they visited were, whether they live with anyon

Social AffairsFeb. 9, 2022

After Olympic furor, US envoy says hanbok Korean

 The top US diplomat to South Korea released a photo donning hanbok and backing its origin as Korean on Tuesday, in an apparent response to the controversy sparked by China’s alleged cultural appropriation over the traditional Korean attire during the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics.   　 Christopher Del Corso, charge d’affaires ad interim at the US Embassy in Seoul, posted two pictures of himself wearing hanbok while touring historic places on his Twitter on Tuesda

Foreign AffairsFeb. 9, 2022

Putting South Korea’s smallest city on the map

Guri, Gyeonggi province, has an area of ​​33.29 square kilometers, making it the smallest city in South Korea. It has a population of around 193,000 as of October last year. The map of this city is changing slowly but surely. The size of the projected population of the city by 2035 is around 235,000. This is an increase of more than 20 percent from now. Guri Mayor Ahn Seung-nam is seeking population growh and regional development through large-scale development projects. Guri Han Riverside

Social AffairsFeb. 9, 2022

Suwon pursues people-centered governance, inclusive social development

Suwon City has turned into a more livable and safer place with people-centered governance and inclusive social development as the major driving force. The city has implemented policies to address entrenched marginalization, empower vulnerable populations including women, children, and the elderly and infirm, and ensure equal opportunities for them. Suwon, the most populous city among 31 cities in Gyeonggi Province, has pursued a people-centered approach and taken steps toward becoming a more

Social AffairsFeb. 9, 2022

Make Guri South Korea’s ‘happiness capital’

Mayor Ahn Seung-nam of Guri, Gyeonggi Province, is known as “the happy preacher.” He uses the word “happy” or “happiness” a lot ever since taking office as the 16th mayor of Guri in July 2018. “Who wouldn’t want to be happy? Most people aspire to be happy. Even if they may not be at the moment, people search for future happiness,” said Ahn, on why he emphasizes happiness so much. As Ahn took office, he put forward “Guri, a special

Social AffairsFeb. 9, 2022

Ruling party lawmaker blames Samsung for 'unfair' short track refereeing

Rep. An Min-suk of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea is once again raising controversy, this time linking unfair decisions at the Beijing Olympics to Samsung. An said in a radio interview Wednesday that the core reason behind the refereeing decisions that disqualified two short track speedskaters in the men’s 1,000-meter semifinals on Monday is that Samsung Group stopped financial support for the Korea Skating Union. Samsung provided financial support for the local skating authority

PoliticsFeb. 9, 2022

Business mogul Chung Mong-joon donates $1m to honor Kissinger

Chung Mong-joon, honorary chairman of Asan Institute for Policy Studies, has donated $1 million to honor the work of Dr. Henry A. Kissinger, a renowned scholar in international relations, the institute said Wednesday. Half of the fund was given to the Center for Strategy and International Studies in Washington, DC, and the other half to the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies. An influential realist scholar

Social AffairsFeb. 9, 2022

[Hwang’s China and the World] Eurasia’s vulnerable geopolitical points: Ukraine, Kazakhstan, North Korea

For the last two years, people the world over have lived with the invisible fear of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are now used to applying sanitizer to our hands and repeatedly lifting up our masks to keep them above our noses. Now the world is somewhat getting used to the pandemic situation. With the number of omicron cases in South Korea going into the tens of thousands a day, and while people are now screened with quarantine passes on their way into restaurants and malls without concern, the tr

Foreign AffairsFeb. 9, 2022

Main opposition fans speculations on Ahn’s merger, forfeiture

Main opposition People Power Party is fanning talks of alliances and forfeiture involving People’s Party’s Ahn Cheol-soo, in an apparent bid to raise pressure on the minor opposition candidate. While Ahn himself has ruled out merging his campaign with that of People Power Party’s Yoon Suk-yeol, and reiterated time and again that he will see the campaign through, the main opposition has publicly mentioned possibility of an alliance, stressing the need for a change of power. L

PoliticsFeb. 9, 2022

Suwon mayor sets example of swift, decisive leadership in COVID-19 response

  On Jan. 22, 2020, at 4:11 p.m., Suwon Mayor Yeom Tae-young took the first step to respond to COVID-19 through his social network service. It was the Lunar New Year holiday, and other heads of regional and local municipalities were resting at home. But Yeom foresaw the ripple effect of the coronavirus. “A suspected patient who visited Wuhan, China and has fever or respiratory symptoms must first seek counseling and treatment at a screening clinic, not a hospital emergency room,&rdq

Social AffairsFeb. 9, 2022

[Voters &] Why can’t overseas Koreans be the casting voter?

Kim Hyun-kyu, 43, who lives in Rotorua, New Zealand, recently registered to vote in the upcoming presidential election in March. But he is still not sure whether he could vote on the day. “To go to the polling station, I need to drive for three hours. When calculating the round trip, I’d need to take a day off. I will see whether I can do that during election day,” Kim said. Kim said the three-hour drive is already a relatively short distance to a polling station there -- m

PoliticsFeb. 9, 2022

USFK reveals last year's special ops training amid tensions caused by NK missile tests

The US Forces Korea (USFK) has revealed it conducted a special commando training late last year, in an apparent move to highlight America's military might following a recent series of North Korean missile launches. In a Facebook post Monday, the US military's Special Operations Command Korea (SOCKOR) showed a set of photos depicting commandos training in what seem to be coastal and mountainous areas. "SOCKOR seized opportunities for cold weather, maritime and ground domain readiness trainin

DefenseFeb. 9, 2022