Cardinal Yeom to retire as archbishop of Seoul

Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung will retire as the Catholic archbishop of Seoul and apostolic administrator of Pyongyang on Tuesday, after nine years of service in the post. The Archdiocese of Seoul said it will hold a Mass to mark Yeom's retirement at Myeongdong Cathedral in central Seoul at 10 a.m. with about 600 priests and faithfuls attending. Appointed as the archbishop of Seoul in May 2012, Yeom has since served in the post for about nine years. He will be replaced by Archbishop Peter Chu

PoliticsNov. 30, 2021

Home care becomes COVID-19 default

As infections surge and the capacity for beds reaches its limit, the government decided that COVID-19 patients should be treated at home -- with hospital treatment the exception. “New confirmed patients, critically ill patients and deaths are all increasing, and the capacity for beds is getting tighter,” President Moon Jae-in said at the COVID-19 special quarantine inspection meeting Monday. It is the first such meeting in the Seoul metropolitan area since July 12. He said Korea c

Social AffairsNov. 29, 2021

Leading candidates kick off regional rallies in swing region, ruling bloc stronghold

Presidential contenders pushed for support in the provinces Monday, with the opposition candidate visiting a key swing region and the ruling party candidate staying in a party stronghold. Yoon Seok-youl of the main opposition People Power Party chose the Chungcheong provinces as his first campaign destination after the formation of his election committee. “I am a son of Chungcheong and I can say Chungcheong is my hometown,” Yoon said before departing, speaking at the election com

PoliticsNov. 29, 2021

[Newsmaker] Presidential race riddled with accusations, denunciations

The race to the presidency has turned into a mudslinging contest, with the two leading candidates appearing to focus mainly on dragging each other down with accusations. The two-way race between Lee Jae-myung of the ruling party and his main opposition counterpart, Yoon Suk-yeol, has consisted largely of remarks questioning each other’s fitness for the chief post. The main opposition People Power Party on Monday called on Lee to accept a special counsel probe concerning a controversial l

PoliticsNov. 29, 2021

Delving into presidential hopefuls’ N. Korea policy: What’s in the box?

North Korea policy is one of the main dividers between progressives and conservatives in South Korean politics, and the two leading presidential candidates -- Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Seok-youl -- are poles apart on how to secure stability and peace on the Korean Peninsula. They also disagree on the fundamental causes of the current strained inter-Korean relations. But Yoon and Lee both dismiss the redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons as an impractical option and endorse the idea of providin

North KoreaNov. 29, 2021

Govt. to suspend arrivals of migrant workers with travel records to southern Africa

South Korea plans to suspend arrivals of migrant workers with records of recent visits to southern African nations in order to block the inflow of the potentially more contagious omicron COVID-19 variant, officials said Monday. The labor ministry's plan, which could affect the entry of manual workers from 16 Asian countries, is in line with the earlier restriction placed on foreign arrivals from eight African countries over concerns of the emerging virus variant first reported in Africa. "

PoliticsNov. 29, 2021

Education office’s online cartoon attacked for ‘praising NK’

The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education deleted a cartoon after it drew controversy for praising North Korea. The education office uploaded a cartoon on social media Friday, based on a story sent in by an elementary school teacher. The story was about what happened in class when they introduced what school life is like for North Korean students. In the cartoon, a teacher character talks about a typical school day for North Korean children, explaining that the students go home or eat lu

Social AffairsNov. 29, 2021

S. Korea's female population rises 1.1% over 5 years

South Korea's female population expanded slightly over 1 percent over the past five years to surpass the 25 million mark in 2020, census data showed Monday. The number of women in Asia's fourth-largest economy stood at 25.16 million last year, up 275,000 from five years earlier, according to the 2020 census by Statistics Korea. The average age of South Korean women came to 44.2 years last year, 2.6 years older than in 2015. The median age of married South Korean women who tied the knot for th

Social AffairsNov. 29, 2021

S. Korea to host global forum on maritime law

South Korea is set to host an annual international forum on maritime law, setting the stage for judicial officials and academics to discuss emerging challenges from the new oceans technologies and environmental crises, the foreign ministry said Monday. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UN-backed International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) will jointly hold the sixth International Conference on the Law of the Sea on Tuesday and Wednesday in Incheon, west of Seoul. Albert Hoffm

DefenseNov. 29, 2021

Military reports 13 more COVID-19 cases

South Korea's military reported 13 additional COVID-19 cases Monday, bringing the total caseload among its personnel to 2,305. Among the new cases, three Army conscripts stationed in Seoul tested positive after one of them contracted the virus during a vacation. A civilian employee of the Air Force based in Osan, 55 kilometers south of Seoul, tested positive while in self-quarantine. An Army officer stationed in Yangju, north of Seoul, contracted the virus after a family member was infected.

DefenseNov. 29, 2021

Stalking murder suspect appears in public, timidly apologizes

A 35-year-old stalking murder suspect timidly apologized Monday as he appeared before the public eye for the first time since he was arrested and had his identity disclosed on suspicions of stalking and brutally killing his ex-girlfriend. Kim Byung-chan stood in front of reporters and photographers as he was taken from Seoul Namdaemun Police Station to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office for a further investigation and indictment on the stalking murder charges. Kim repeatedly said,

Social AffairsNov. 29, 2021

N. Korea urges full vigilance against Omicron coronavirus variant

North Korea said Monday it has strengthened preventive measures against COVID-19 in response to growing concern about the Omicron variant, a move that heralds a further delay in easing its stringent border control. The reclusive nation had been seen preparing to reopen its land border with China and Russia, at least partially, before the end of this year. But the emergence of a new variant of the coronavirus has put the country and many other parts of the world on high alert. In a report, the

North KoreaNov. 29, 2021

Pentagon chief to visit S. Korea this week for annual security talks

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit Seoul this week for annual defense talks with his South Korean counterpart on the envisioned transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON), North Korean threats, cybersecurity and other issues, Seoul officials have said. Austin is set to depart for South Korea on Tuesday (Washington time) to attend the 53rd Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) slated for Thursday. It marks the first SCM between Seoul's Defense Minister Suh Wook and Austin since the

DefenseNov. 29, 2021

Daily virus cases below 4,000 for 2nd day amid new variant woes

South Korea's new coronavirus cases stayed below 4,000 for the second straight day Monday due largely to fewer tests, but the high number of critically ill patients remained worrisome amid concerns about the new virus variant. The country reported 3,309 new COVID-19 cases, including 3,286 local infections, raising the total caseload to 444,200, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Monday's tally was down from 3,928 reported Sunday and 4,068 on Saturday. The cou

Social AffairsNov. 29, 2021

Yoon leads Lee by 9.4% points in presidential race: survey

Presidential candidate Yoon Seok-youl of the main opposition People Power Party is leading his ruling Democratic Party rival Lee Jae-myung by 9.4 percentage points in a hypothetical multicandidate race, a survey showed Monday. Yoon had 46.3 percent support against Lee's 36.9 percent in the survey of 3,023 adults conducted last Monday to Friday by Realmeter. The difference fell outside the margin of error of plus or minus 1.8 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level. Ahn Cheol-soo, t

PoliticsNov. 29, 2021

Leading presidential contenders stay tight in latest poll

The two leading presidential candidates remained neck and neck with each other in the latest survey released Sunday.    Yoon Seok-youl, the presidential nominee of the main opposition People Power Party, earned 38.9 percent support, while Lee Jae-myung, the candidate for the ruling Democratic Party, had 36.1 percent support in the poll conducted by Embrain Public.    Yoon's lead of 2.8 percentage points was within the margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points

PoliticsNov. 28, 2021

Korea bans foreign arrivals from eight African countries over omicron

South Korea is implementing tougher entry rules for arrivals from eight African countries in response to omicron, a new and potentially more contagious variant of COVID-19 first identified in South Africa and Botswana, starting Saturday at midnight. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency called an emergency meeting Saturday evening with 13 ministries and announced that all foreigners who have been in the newly listed African countries will be refused entry to Korea. The travel restr

Social AffairsNov. 28, 2021

[Election 2022] D-100: Pundits’ take on outlook, impact and fallout

With just 100 days left for South Korea to pick its next president, the question comes down to what significance the race holds and how the landscape could change as voters prepare to cast their ballots on March 9. The candidates are new, and so is the theme of the race. The voters have changed, and what they look for is unique to Korea's political history. What candidates offer and how they present their views are critical at this point, with their ratings shifting every day. The Korea Heral

PoliticsNov. 28, 2021

Suneung answers to be released Monday

The Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation will release the answers for this year’s Suneung, or college scholastic ability test, on Monday, after reviewing 1,014 complaints filed against this year’s exam questions. The institute, which organizes the standardized exam required for university application, will post the answers on its website on Monday at 5 p.m. The 1,014 complaints submitted more than double the 411 complaints made last year. The institute received objections

Social AffairsNov. 28, 2021

Lee Jae-myung criticized for defending murderer nephew

The presidential candidate for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea is facing growing criticism for defending a nephew who brutally killed two women and for later downplaying the case, with the opposition questioning his fitness to hold office. Lee Jae-myung is a qualified lawyer in South Korea, having passed the bar exam in 1986, and he served as a defense attorney for his nephew when he was accused of murdering his girlfriend and her mother in 2006. But the fact that Lee defended his nephew

PoliticsNov. 28, 2021