Moon arrives in Saudi Arabia for talks with crown prince

South Korean President Moon Jae-in held talks with Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday and agreed to work together in areas related to the hydrogen economy. After holding the talks at the Al-Yamamah palace in Riyadh, the two nations signed preliminary deals to jointly develop green hydrogen, which is produced from renewable energy sources, especially solar and wind, and jointly build a hydrogen ecosystem, Moon's office said in a statement. Under the deals,

PoliticsJan. 18, 2022

DP candidate Lee argues for shift to 4-yr presidential term, renewable once

Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung on Tuesday argued for a shift to a four-year presidential term, renewable once, from the current single five-year term, saying he is willing to opt for a shorter term if elected. "For responsible politics, (South Korea) needs a double, four-year term under which power is decentralized," Lee of the Democratic Party said during an interview with cable channel MBN. "Five years is not a span (sufficient for a president) to plan, ena

PoliticsJan. 18, 2022

Omicron’s dominance ‘days away’ in Korea

Omicron will dominate in South Korea in a matter of mere days, top health officials say. Minister of Health and Welfare Kwon Deok-cheol said during a government meeting Tuesday that based on internal models omicron was “predicted to assume a dominant role by this weekend.” The upcoming Seollal holiday is feared to expedite its spread, he said. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s data, omicron appeared in 26.7 percent of all analyzed samples in the

Social AffairsJan. 18, 2022

Education Ministry to cover costs due to students’ vaccine side effects

The Ministry of Education will support medical costs for students who experience adverse events from being vaccinated or are experiencing mental health issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “As many students and parents are worried about children and youths experiencing adverse events from vaccination, we have came up with measures that can relieve the concerns,” Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae said at a press briefing held at the Sejong Government Complex on Tuesday. The ministry wi

Social AffairsJan. 18, 2022

Korea to go in full force for 2050 carbon neutrality

The Ministry of Environment will evaluate the environmental impact of major government policies and projects beginning in September as part of its road map to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. According to the plans revealed Tuesday, the ministry will also monitor the state budget and funds to ensure they contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gases starting in 2023. For private businesses, the ministry will strengthen related regulations to encourage the use of renewable energy. Also, t

Social AffairsJan. 18, 2022

Kazakh national completes 9-day cycle trip to celebrate Korea-Kazakhstan ties

Kazakhstani Damir Kusheyev, a former professional cyclist, has finished a 793.8-kilometer bicycle trip across Korea, which he embarked on to commemorate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Kazakhstan and to support Busan in its bid to host the World Expo 2030. Kusheyev began his trip at Haeundae Beach in Busan on Jan. 8. He cycled over nine days, passing through Samnangjin, Daegu, Mungyeong, Jeungpyeong, Daejeon and Jincheon, before arriving in Seoul. In Seoul, Kush

Foreign AffairsJan. 18, 2022

Century-old ‘Korean age’ triggers confusion over antivirus measures

The “Korean age” system came into the limelight Tuesday following leading presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol’s pledge to make the use of the international age system mandatory for all administrative matters. Alongside the international age calculation that measures how many years and months that a person has lived since his or her birthday, the nation has kept its unique way of counting a newborn as being age 1 from birth. This means a Korean baby, born on Dec. 31 last yea

Social AffairsJan. 18, 2022

US envoy urges NK to cease ‘unlawful’ activities, engage in dialogue

The US envoy for North Korea urged Pyongyang to cease its “unlawful and destabilizing” activities and engage in dialogue in his talks with South Korean and Japanese counterparts on Monday after the North’s latest missile test. 　 US Special Representative for North Korea, Sung Kim, South Korea’s Noh Kyu-duk and Japan’s Takehiro Funakoshi held three-way phone talks immediately after North Korea fired two ballistic missiles –- the latest in a flurry of weapons

North KoreaJan. 18, 2022

[Newsmaker] Is soldier pen pal campaign past sell-by date?

A high school student’s sarcastic letter to a conscripted soldier sent as part of an encouragement campaign, has recently raised questions as to whether it is worth keeping the longstanding practice. The unfriendly letter written anonymously to a conscripted soldier was first posted at an online community site on Jan. 11, with the user complaining of the message deriding the receiver. “Is military life hard for you? Still, work hard. There will be a lot of hardships in life. Don

Social AffairsJan. 18, 2022

Lee pledges to create over 3m jobs through digital, energy transformation

Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung unveiled his job growth vision Tuesday, pledging to create over 3 million jobs by raising an investment fund of 135 trillion won ($113.5 billion). "I will produce over 3 million jobs by achieving great transformations in the digital, energy and social service sectors," Lee said during a campaign event outlining his job growth vision at the Democratic Party (DP) headquarters in Seoul. In order to achieve the proposed digital transforma

PoliticsJan. 18, 2022

Govt. to finalize extra budget plan this week

The government will convene an extra Cabinet meeting this week to finalize a supplementary budget plan aimed at helping small businesses hit by the pandemic, the prime minister's secretariat said Tuesday. Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum will preside over the meeting Friday, a week after he announced the government's plan to draw up an extra budget to assist small businesses and self-employed people. The government is reported to be considering a request for 14 trillion won ($11.8 billion) to be su

PoliticsJan. 18, 2022

‘Tactical guided missiles’ now under production, N. Korea says

North Korea on Monday test-fired a pair of “tactical guided missiles” for the first time in around two years, Pyongyang’s state media reported the following day, saying it did so to confirm the accuracy and efficiency of the weapon system “under production.” The report suggested that North Korea test-fired KN-24 short-range ballistic missiles, which look similar to the US MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS. The KN-24 single-stage solid-propellant mis

North KoreaJan. 18, 2022

Shaman in the house? Yoon Suk-yeol says no

The main opposition People Power Party disbanded a networking subcommittee under the election campaign committee for its presidential nominee Yoon Suk-yeol after claims arose that a shaman was involved in an advisory role for the subcommittee and took part in the campaign. Rep. Kwon Young-se, head of Yoon’s election campaign committee, told reporters Tuesday that the campaign team would disband the subcommittee immediately to firmly respond to any malicious accusations that may be made ag

PoliticsJan. 18, 2022

Cafes, fast-food chains to receive deposits for disposable cups from June: environment ministry

Deposits will be needed to buy drinks using disposable cups at cafes and fast-food chains starting in June as part of efforts to reduce plastic waste spiking amid the pandemic, the environment ministry said Tuesday. Starting on June 10, people will have to pay a deposit between 200 won ($0.17) and 500 won per disposable cup they buy drinks in at coffee shops and fast-food chains. The deposit will be given back when they return the used cups to the stores for recycling. About 38,000 cafes and

Social AffairsJan. 18, 2022

Lee, Yoon to have first one-on-one TV debate next week

The presidential candidates of the ruling and main opposition parties will have their first one-on-one TV debate next week, the ruling Democratic Party (DP) said Tuesday. DP candidate Lee Jae-myung will face off against People Power Party candidate Yoon Suk-yeol at 10 p.m. on Jan. 27 for a 120-minute debate jointly hosted by the three terrestrial TV stations KBS, MBC and SBS. The DP said the broadcasters have requested a four-way debate between Lee, Yoon, Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor opposition

PoliticsJan. 18, 2022

Military reports 24 more COVID-19 cases

South Korea's military on Tuesday reported 24 additional COVID-19 cases, including 23 breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 3,657. Of the new cases, 19 are from the Army, three from the Air Force and two from the Marine Corps. Currently, 237 military personnel are under treatment. Of the total military caseload, 1,833 are breakthrough cases. (Yonhap)

DefenseJan. 18, 2022

[Graphic News] South Korean artists’ activities nearly halved in 2021

　South Korean artists released an average 3.8 artistic works to the public in 2021, a sharp drop from 7.8 pieces in 2018, attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, a government survey showed. 　According to the Culture Ministry’s triennial survey on 5,000 people in the art industry, the classical music scene was the busiest in 2021 out of 14 art sectors, with 6.4 public works released on average, followed by 5.8 pieces by Korean traditional musicians and 4.7 shows from the entertainment indu

NationalJan. 18, 2022

Daily cases back above 4,000 amid omicron woes

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases climbed back above 4,000 on Tuesday as health authorities remain vigilant over a possible upsurge in infections and the spread of the omicron variant ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. The country added 4,072 new COVID-19 infections, including 3,763 local infections, raising the total caseload to 700,102, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The number of critically ill COVID-19 patients stood at 543 Tuesday. The country r

Social AffairsJan. 18, 2022

Moon holds phone talks with Abu Dhabi crown prince, voices condolences over attack victims

DUBAI --  President Moon Jae-in has held telephone talks with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and expressed condolences to victims of a suspected drone attack claimed by Yemen's Houthi rebels, Moon's office said. The 25-minute telephone talks Monday evening came after the scheduled summit between Moon, who is on a weeklong trip to the Middle East, and the UAE's de facto ruler was canceled due to an "unforeseen and urgent matter of state" by the UAE side, accor

PoliticsJan. 18, 2022

N. Korea says it confirmed accuracy of tactical guided missiles in test-firing

North Korea said Tuesday that it conducted the test-firing of a tactical guided missile a day earlier to confirm the accuracy of the weapons system under production. On Monday, South Korea's military said the North fired two suspected short-range ballistic missiles eastward from the Sunan airfield in Pyongyang, marking its fourth show of force this month. "The test-fire was aimed to selectively evaluate tactical guided missiles being produced and deployed and to verify the accuracy of the

North KoreaJan. 18, 2022