Car accidents involving unlicensed teenagers rise by 34%: data

Car accidents involving unlicensed teenagers soared by 34 percent between 2018 and 2020, road traffic data showed Thursday. According to a Korea Road Traffic Authority report submitted to Rep. Kang Deuk-gu of the ruling Democratic Party, teenagers caused 833 accidents last year while driving without a license, a sharp jump from 618 and 689 accidents in 2018 and 2019, respectively. More than 3,100 people suffered injuries and 63 died in the total of 2,140 accidents involving unlicensed teenage

Social AffairsOct. 7, 2021

[Graphic News] Traffic accidents involving personal mobility devices soar fourfold from 2018 to 2020

　Traffic accidents involving personal mobility devices, such as electric scooters, quadrupled from 2018 to 2020, government data showed, raising alarm over the safety of riders. 　According to the data from the National Police Agency, disclosed by Rep. Huh Young of the Democratic Party, the number of traffic accidents involving electric scooters and other personal mobility devices came to 897 in 2020, up nearly fourfold from 225 in 2018. 　During the same time period, the annual number of in

NationalOct. 7, 2021

Intelligence chief booked for election meddling

South Korea’s anti-corruption agency has launched an investigation into allegations that South Korea’s spy chief Park Jie-won attempted to meddle in the upcoming presidential election. On Tuesday, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials booked Park on charges of violating the National Intelligence Service Act and the Public Official Election Act. The investigation kicked off around three weeks after Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl’s campaign aides

PoliticsOct. 6, 2021

Moon takes Hyundai Casper for a spin

President Moon Jae-in and his wife Kim Jung-sook on Wednesday test-drove their new car, the Hyundai Casper, renewing awareness for the first private-public experiment to create jobs at a car manufacturing plant.  “Despite its compact size, it is a sturdy car. I like the spacious interior, too,” the president said as the couple was briefed on the car structure and function from a Hyundai Motor official upon the car’s delivery at Cheong Wa Dae. 　 The Casper is a 1-liter m

PoliticsOct. 6, 2021

Delta variant cases account for almost all new variant cases in S. Korea

South Korea has confirmed 3,213 more cases of four major contagious variants of the new coronavirus over the past week, including 3,209 of the highly transmissible delta variant, health authorities said Wednesday. The number of new delta variant cases accounted for 99.9 percent of new variant cases reported last week, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The tally indicates the delta variant is the dominant strain of coronavirus in South Korea, making it more diff

Social AffairsOct. 6, 2021

Land development scandal takes center stage in Labor Ministry audit

Ruling party lawmakers on Wednesday raised pressure on the opposition bloc and the son of Rep. Kwak Sang-do for receiving unreasonably large severance pay in relation to a growing land development scandal. During the annual parliamentary audit of the Ministry of Employment and Labor held Wednesday, lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea pressed Labor Minister An Kyung-duk to provide answers on whether the amount Kwak’s son received from his former employer had been reasonable.

Social AffairsOct. 6, 2021

Daily cases again exceed 2,000, with breakthrough infections 20% of total

The daily number of confirmed COVID-19 cases again topped 2,000 after three days below that mark, officials said Wednesday, with breakthrough infections accounting for more than 20 percent of the total. Breakthrough infections refer to cases in fully vaccinated individuals. As of Tuesday at midnight, the number of new cases had increased by 2,028 in the previous 24 hours, for a cumulative total of 323,379 cases to date. Of the new cases, 2,002 were locally acquired. Of South Korea’s pop

Social AffairsOct. 6, 2021

FM Chung stresses end-of-war declaration in talks with Blinken

South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong stressed the need to declare an official end to the Korean War in his talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, amid recent signs of potential discrepancies between Seoul and Washington in their approaches to Pyongyang. 　 The two envoys held a pull-aside meeting Tuesday on the margins of a meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris. 　 Chung told Blinken that President Moon Jae-in’s recent proposal to

North KoreaOct. 6, 2021

Once tight-lipped Yoon talks self into trouble

In June, former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl stormed the political landscape as he announced his bid to run for the presidential campaign. Since then, polls have repeatedly picked him as one of the front-runners among all presidential contenders both from his People Power Party and the opposite Democratic Party. Yoon has continuously put himself at the center of attention with his controversial comments. His latest lapse came during People Power Party’s televised debate hosted by lo

PoliticsOct. 6, 2021

Vice FM calls for Koreas to build lasting peace with end-of-war declaration

First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun called Wednesday for the two Koreas to work together to build a "future order of peace" on the Korean Peninsula, starting with the proposed declaration of a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War. President Moon Jae-in again proposed the declaration during the U.N. General Assembly last month, in an effort to bring North Korea back to dialogue and revive his stalled drive for peace. "The share of the task to build step by step a future order

PoliticsOct. 6, 2021

DP presidential front-runner Lee projected to step down as Gyeonggi governor in late Oct.

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung, the front-runner in the presidential primary of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), is expected to resign from his governorship late this month to focus on campaigning for next year's presidential election if nominated as the party candidate. According to sources, Lee's team has determined that it would be best for Lee to step down as soon as the parliamentary audit wraps up later this month or no later than Nov. 5, when the main opposition People Power Party

PoliticsOct. 6, 2021

CIO launches probe into spy chief over alleged meddling in presidential election politics

The state anti-corruption investigation office on Wednesday began a probe into National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won over allegations of political meddling ahead of the March presidential race. The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) announced that it booked Park on Tuesday on charges of allegedly violating the National Intelligence Service Act and the Public Official Election Act. Park has been accused by Yoon Seok-youl, former prosecutor general and a

PoliticsOct. 6, 2021

Military reports 9 new COVID-19 cases

Eight service members and a civilian worker for the military have tested positive for COVID-19, the defense ministry said Wednesday. Six Army members and two airmen, and the civilian employee for a unit affiliated with the ministry were confirmed to have been infected either after their recent vacation or developing symptoms consistent with the coronavirus. All of them were confirmed to be "breakthrough infections," as they were fully vaccinated, the ministry added. The latest cases ra

DefenseOct. 6, 2021

Police closed internal probe into case linked to Seongnam development scandal in 3 months: lawmaker

Police were found to have concluded an internal investigation into a case linked to a controversial development project near Seoul three months after receiving a probe request from the state anti-corruption commission without pressing any charges, a document showed Wednesday, with the project now being at the center of a massive political scandal. In a document submitted to main opposition lawmaker Rep. Kim Do-eup, the National Police Agency (NPA) said it assigned the case involving a land owne

PoliticsOct. 6, 2021

New infections back in 2000s after long weekend

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases surged to over 2,000 again after three days on Wednesday following a long weekend, amid concerns over the spread of the pandemic ahead of another extended weekend. The country added 2,028 more COVID-19 cases, including 2,002 local infections, raising the total caseload to 323,379, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Daily infections rebounded after falling below the 2,000 mark on Monday and Tuesday on fewer tests. South K

Social AffairsOct. 6, 2021

Parties plan to hold audit on Joint Chiefs of Staff amid row over corruption scandal

Lawmakers were to hold the annual parliamentary audit of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) on Wednesday, officials said, a day after the planned session for the defense ministry was disrupted due to a partisan strife over a snowballing land development corruption scandal potentially involving the ruling party's presumptive nominee to run for next year's presidential election. The audit is scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. at the JCS headquarters in Seoul, during which the parliamentary national d

PoliticsOct. 6, 2021

FM Chung meets with counterparts from US, Italy, Croatia during OECD gathering

South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong has held a series of bilateral talks with his counterparts from the United States, Italy and Croatia to discuss bilateral cooperation on the margins of a gathering of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), his office said Wednesday. Chung is in Paris to attend the Meeting of the OECD Council at Ministerial Level, which opened Tuesday under the main theme of "Shared Values: Building a Green and Inclusive Future." So

Diplomatic CircuitOct. 6, 2021

Rotary International holds conference in Gyeongju

International Rotary, a nonprofit international volunteer organization, held its 2021 Rotary International President Conference and training session at the K Hotel in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, Tuesday. Themes of the conference were disease prevention and treatment as well as the environment, and the event was attended in person by Rotary International President Shekhar Mehta. The speakers included former Environment Minister Kim Myung-ja, Ehwa Womans University professor Choe Ja

Social AffairsOct. 5, 2021

Lawmakers take aim at presidential frontrunners at audits

Two presidential front-runners embroiled in political controversies came under fire at Tuesday’s parliamentary audits from ruling and opposition lawmakers alike. Lawmakers denounced Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party of Korea and former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, the leading People Power Party hopeful, over allegations of preferential development in the Daejang-dong neighborhood of Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, and abuse of authority in last year’s

PoliticsOct. 5, 2021

9 out of 10 S. Korean adults received at least one vaccine shot

Nine out of 10 South Korean adults have received at least one shot of COVID-19 vaccine, helping the country to get closer to a goal of creating herd immunity, the health authority said Tuesday. A total of 39.7 million people have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, accounting for 77.4 percent of the country's 51.3 million population or 90 percent of those aged over 18, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The number of fully vaccinated people stood a

Social AffairsOct. 5, 2021