N.Korea says ‘hostile forces,’ COVID-19 preclude Olympic participation

North Korea officially notified China that the country would not attend the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics in a letter, citing “hostile forces’ maneuver” and the COVID-19 pandemic as hindrances, the North’s state media reported Friday. North Korea’s Olympic Committee and Ministry of Physical Culture and Sports sent the letter to the related Chinese authorities, including the General Administration of Sport, the Chinese Olympic Committee and the Beijing Organizing

North KoreaJan. 7, 2022

[Election 2022] Ahn softens on possible alliance with main opposition

Presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor opposition People’s Party said Thursday he “can meet” with Yoon Suk-yeol, the nominee from the main opposition if Yoon made the request, showing a slight change in stance on uniting candidacies to win at the March presidential polls. When asked if he would meet with Yoon of the People Power Party to talk about uniting forces in a televised interview, Ahn said, “when politicians say we need to meet, we can. But whether we

PoliticsJan. 7, 2022

S. Korea seeks int'l cooperation for stable resources supply chains

South Korea on Friday sought cooperation with partner nations to overcome current global supply chain disruptions and to seek measures to ensure stable supply chains, the industry ministry said. Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo made the request during a meeting with ambassadors and charge d'affaires of 10 resource-rich nations held in Seoul in the day, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The 10 nations are Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, th

Foreign AffairsJan. 7, 2022

Children's gym owner faces murder charges in bizarre rectum stabbing case

Police on Friday pressed murder charges against the owner of a children's sports center in Seoul on charges of sticking a 70-centimeter plastic stick into the anus of an employee and causing him to die with ruptured organs. The 41-year-old suspect, whose identity was withheld, was arrested Sunday for killing the 20-something employee at the facility in northwestern Seoul on Dec. 31. The Seodaemun Police Station referred the suspect to the prosecution for further investigations. Police said the

Social AffairsJan. 7, 2022

Lee leads Yoon by 10 percentage points: poll

Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung is leading his main opposition rival Yoon Suk-yeol by 10 percentage points with the election just two months away, a survey showed Friday. Lee of the ruling Democratic Party garnered 36 percent, while Yoon of the main opposition People Power Party gained 26 percent, showed the Gallup Korea survey of 1,002 adults conducted Tuesday and Thursday. Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the minor opposition People's Party, came in third with

PoliticsJan. 7, 2022

Appeals court upholds 3 1/2-year prison term for NK defector over spy activities

SUWON -- An appeals court upheld a 3 1/2-year prison term for a North Korean defector charged with spying for Pyongyang, court officials said Friday. The defector, whose identity was not made public, was indicted on charges of meeting with a North Korean official after traveling to a border region between China and the North in May 2018 at the request of his brother staying in the North. During the meeting, the defector allegedly accepted a request from the official to collect and deliver info

Social AffairsJan. 7, 2022

Senior S. Korean, Iranian officials discuss frozen assets

Senior diplomats of South Korea and Iran had discussions on Iranian assets frozen here under US sanctions, the foreign ministry said Friday, with the thorny bilateral issue on the table for the talks in Vienna aimed at restoring the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal. Seoul's First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun met with his Iranian counterpart, Ali Bagheri Kani, in the Austrian capital Thursday (local time), on the sidelines of the eighth round of negotiations to salvage the Joint Comprehensive Pl

Foreign AffairsJan. 7, 2022

Military reports 27 more COVID-19 cases

South Korea's military on Friday reported 27 additional COVID-19 cases, including 25 breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 3,403. Of the new cases, 19 are from the Army, four from the Air Force, two from the Navy and two from the Marine Corps. Currently, 217 military personnel are under treatment. Of the total military caseload, 1,591 are breakthrough cases. (Yonhap)

DefenseJan. 7, 2022

Daily virus cases fall below 4,000 for first time in 3 days amid omicron woes

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases fell below 4,000 for the first time in three days Friday as the country is speeding up booster vaccination shots amid persistent concerns over the potentially more transmissible omicron variant. The country added 3,717 new COVID-19 infections, including 3,529 local infections, raising the total caseload to 657,508, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The figure was down 409 from the previous day's tally and 1,158 fewer than

Social AffairsJan. 7, 2022

[Graphic News] No. of marriages in Seoul nearly halved over 20 years: data

　The number of marriages in Seoul has dropped by almost half in the past 20 years, while births of newborns also dropped by 64 percent, the city government said. 　Marriages in the capital stood at 44,746 in 2020, down 43.2 percent compared with 78,745 in 2000, according to the city’s latest report on population trends. 　The average age of first nuptials for men and women last year were 33.61 and 31.6, respectively, 3.96 and 4.35 years older compared with those 20 years ago. 　Babies bor

NationalJan. 7, 2022

N. Korean nuclear, missile programs pose 'ongoing' threat: Blinken

WASHINGTON -- North Korea's nuclear and missile programs pose an ongoing threat to the region and the international community, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday. The top US diplomat also highlighted the need to strengthen the US-Japan alliance to meet such threats. "Meanwhile, the DPRK's unlawful nuclear, missile programs pose an ongoing threat. And we saw that again this week with the most recent launch," Blinken said, referring to North Korea's test launch of a sel

Foreign AffairsJan. 7, 2022

Remains of another Korean War soldier identified

The remains of a South Korean troop killed in the 1950-53 Korean War have been identified following their recovery from a former battle site last year, the defense ministry said Friday. In October, the ministry's excavation team found the remains of Ssg. Kim Il-soo from the site, White Horse Ridge, inside the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas. It later identified him through a DNA analysis. The identification was possible as his younger brother had registered his DNA sample with the

DefenseJan. 7, 2022

COVID-19 antiviral pills to arrive in S. Korea next week: PM

Antiviral COVID-19 pills will arrive in South Korea next week, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Friday. "We will make sure they can be used swiftly in the medical field," Kim said during a COVID-19 response meeting in Seoul. The government has so far secured oral COVID-19 drugs for around 1 million patients. The country signed a prepurchase contract with US drug giant Pfizer Inc. for its Paxlovid pill for 762,000 patients. It also inked a deal with MSD, a subsidiary of US drugmaker

PoliticsJan. 7, 2022

[Contribution] Toward a fairer society with more reliable employment safety nets

Squid Game, the television series at the forefront of the Korean wave, has won worldwide praise for its ingenious plot. Even more intriguing was the decision that the lead character made while building a team for a deadly, high-stakes game. After much pondering, he chose to partner with elderly people and women, those in socially vulnerable groups who would benefit the most from the cash prize. The responsibility for protecting vulnerable groups, however, should fall on society as a whole rather

Social AffairsJan. 7, 2022

Lee, Yoon reconcile as PPP drops proposal for party chief's ouster

Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol and the chief of his People Power Party reached a surprise agreement Thursday to put their long-running feud behind them and move forward for election victory. PPP lawmakers also withdrew their push to oust party chairman Lee Jun-seok as the two patched up the row that has been blamed for the recent sharp fall in Yoon's public support about two months ahead of the March 9 presidential election. The surprise reconciliation came after Lee sa

PoliticsJan. 6, 2022

'Mergepoint' discount app operators indicted on fraud charges

Prosecutors said Thursday they indicted the two founders of Mergepoint, a once-popular online discount app, for causing some 100 billion won ($83.63 million) worth of damages to customers and member stores by selling virtual coupons that could not be used. The Seoul Southern Prosecutors Office said the sibling founders -- Kwon Nam-hee, CEO of the app operator, Mergeplus, and Kwon Bo-goon, the top strategy executive, -- were charged with fraud and violating the e-transaction law. The latter Kw

Social AffairsJan. 6, 2022

Korea locks in COVID-19 pills for 1m people. Here’s what to know

South Korea has bought an additional 400,000 courses of Paxlovid, the COVID-19 antiviral pills developed by Pfizer, health officials said Wednesday evening. With the latest purchase, the country has secured enough oral treatments for 1 million people in total -- Pfizer’s for 762,000 people, and the rest from Merck. “Adding pills to our treatment protocol will help stabilize and expand the at-home COVID-19 care scheme, a key pillar of our return to normal,” the Korea Disease C

Social AffairsJan. 6, 2022

[Newsmaker] Controversial Harvard professor claims no contemporary evidence on ‘comfort women’

A Harvard professor whose earlier claim that victims of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery were voluntary prostitutes stirred great fury is expected to draw further criticism with his renewed assertion that denies contemporary evidence to back the existence of the euphemistically labeled “comfort women.” The South Korean government, as well as experts here, rebuffed his argument, saying Japan’s sexual enslavement is a historical fact that has already been “proven unive

Foreign AffairsJan. 6, 2022

N. Korea claims it tests ‘hypersonic missile.’ Why does it matter?

North Korea on Thursday claimed that it test-fired another type of “hypersonic missile,” around 100 days after the test launch of the Hwasong-8 “hypersonic missile,” although South Korean authorities did not confirm the validity of the announcement. The test-launch on Wednesdasy “reconfirmed the flight control and stability of the missile in the active-flight stage and assessed the performance of the new lateral movement technique applied to the detached hypersoni

North KoreaJan. 6, 2022

[Election 2022] Main opposition party’s internal strife still not done

The main opposition People Power Party’s internal conflict is intensifying, with some lawmakers demanding party leader Lee Jun-seok’s resignation despite presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol’s declaration of a “new start” for his campaign team. At the general meeting of lawmakers Thursday, Yoon and the members were discussing a resolution to recommend that party leader Lee Jun-seok resign. The results had not been released as of Thursday evening. Lee has come u

PoliticsJan. 6, 2022