Samsung’s Lee Jae-yong walks free on parole

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong walked free from prison Friday after he was granted parole, about 11 months before scheduled release. The de facto leader of Samsung Group walked out of the Seoul Detention Center in a southern suburb of Seoul at 10 a.m. Friday. He is one of 810 prisoners scheduled for release Friday as part of South Korea’s annual tradition of clemency for Liberation Day, which falls on Sunday. “I apologize for causing this much concern to fellow citi

Social AffairsAug. 13, 2021

[Newsmaker] Gyeonggi governor announces in-province universal COVID-19 relief handouts

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung on Friday announced his decision to provide universal COVID-19 relief funds to all provincial residents, contrary to the central government's policy of selective relief payments. Lee, the front-running presidential contender for the ruling Democratic Party, vowed to ensure that all 14 million residents in the province, which surrounds Seoul, will benefit from the government's upcoming emergency disaster relief handouts. In late July, the National Assembly p

PoliticsAug. 13, 2021

N. Korea slams US for putting millions of residents at risk of eviction during pandemic

North Korea on Friday denounced the expiration of a pandemic-related US government ban on residential evictions, saying Washington should address its own human rights issues before "poking its nose" into other countries' affairs. A US government ban on evictions for residents that have failed to pay rent during the COVID-pandemic expired at the end of last month in most parts of the country, putting millions of vulnerable residents at risk of losing their homes. "Before talking

North KoreaAug. 13, 2021

Navy receives first 3,000-ton-class SLBM submarine

The Navy on Friday received the country's first 3,000-ton-class indigenous submarine capable of firing submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) to bolster underwater defense capabilities, officials said. The commissioning ceremony for the mid-class diesel air-independent propulsion submarine, named after prominent South Korean independence fighter Dosan Ahn Chang-ho, took place at the Okpo Shipyard of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co. on the southern island of Geoje. It is th

DefenseAug. 13, 2021

Defense minister apologizes over death of alleged sexual abuse victim in Navy

Defense Minister Suh Wook on Friday apologized over the apparent suicide of a female Navy noncommissioned officer amid a probe into allegations a senior colleague sexually harassed her. The chief petty officer, whose identity was withheld, was found dead at her residence on Thursday, after reporting days earlier that she had suffered sexual harassment in May. "I am sorry to the bereaved family and to the people that what should not have happened has happened," Suh was quoted as sayin

DefenseAug. 13, 2021

S. Korea, US join hands to bolster multilateralism

South Korea and the United States on Friday agreed to join forces in reinforcing multilateralism and resolving other pending global trade issues. Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo held a virtual meeting with his US counterpart, Katherine Tai, to discuss ways to cope with the changing global trade environment, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. During the meeting, the two officials vowed to make efforts to restore the multilateral trade regime by normalizing the function of the G

Foreign AffairsAug. 13, 2021

New COVID-19 cases feared to plateau in 2,000s, citizens urged to stay home over weekend

South Korea's new coronavirus infections stayed at around 2,000 for the third day in a row Friday amid worries that the daily caseload may stay above the threshold due to the spread of the highly contagious delta variant and a potential increase in activities over the weekend. The country added 1,990 COVID-19 cases, including 1,913 local infections, raising the total caseload to 220,182, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The daily cases on Friday were up thre

Social AffairsAug. 13, 2021

S. Korea raises travel alert for Ethiopia's South Wollo, East Gojjam

South Korea on Thursday raised the travel alert for two areas in Ethiopia's northern Amhara region amid escalating armed clashes in the country, recommending citizens cancel or delay plans to travel there. The foreign ministry issued the Level 3 travel alert for South Wollo and East Gojjam -- the second highest in the four-tier system, which asks citizens to cancel their travel plans and those already in the areas to move to safe places. The ministry said that it would continue to review whet

Foreign AffairsAug. 12, 2021

[Anniversary Special] Out of sight, out of mind?

For Lee Ji-min (not her real name), a 32-year-old employee at a South Korean gaming company, the shift to working remotely offers clear benefits: no grueling commute and a distraction-free work environment at home. Lee is one of many Korean workers who have switched from office-based work to working from home due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Although not all Korean companies allow employees to fully work from home, the number of those working remotely has soared as the country has yet

Social AffairsAug. 12, 2021

Pandemic demands revamped, inclusive international order

The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the fragility of the US-led liberal international order, says professor John Ikenberry of Princeton University, but the world should rebuild the system and improve it. Ikenberry, a prominent US scholar whose focus is the liberal international order, acknowledged that the liberal order had been “breaking up” for years and said the pandemic had revealed the system’s limits and the need for international cooperation. “But it’s no

Foreign AffairsAug. 12, 2021

[Anniversary Special] ‘Will COVID-19 end?’ Top vaccine expert urges hopeful patience

Our exit from the COVID-19 pandemic will be a gradual process, with the ferocious beast becoming progressively less threatening until it becomes something we can live with, says the International Vaccine Institute’s director general, Dr. Jerome H. Kim. “Successful vaccination turns the tiger that is COVID-19 into an alley cat. Many fewer people will end up in hospitals or on ventilators, and deaths will be very rare,” he said. Real-world experience from better-vaccinated part

Social AffairsAug. 12, 2021

[Newsmaker] Internal strife continues to weigh on PPP

Main opposition party leader Lee Jun-seok continued to bicker with his own party members supporting former prosecutor general and presidential hopeful Yoon Seok-youl despite concerns that internal fighting will not help the party win next year’s election. The People Power Party plans to hold a debate between the party’s preliminary presidential candidates on Aug. 18, which members of Yoon’s camp have expressed discontent with, saying everyone will attack Yoon, the leading can

PoliticsAug. 12, 2021

[News Focus] Korea lags behind OECD wage average

SEJONG -- South Korea continued to fall short of matching the average annual wage of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in 2020, though the nation’s minimum wage has been drastically hiked since 2018. The yearly wage for Korean employees posted $41,960 on average in 2020, compared to the OECD average of $49,165, according to calculations by the French-based organization. While the OECD average climbed from $48,935 posted in 2019, Korea’s figure retreated fr

Social AffairsAug. 12, 2021

Korean USFK workers protest alleged workforce reduction

Unionized Korean workers for US Forces Korea (USFK) protested Thursday that the American military has been reducing the size of the regular Korean workforce and hiring more irregular workers instead. The union held a press conference outside the National Assembly to demand a series of improvements to the workers' employment conditions, including job security and the direct hiring of subcontracted workers. "USFK's reduction of regular Korean workers and hiring of irregular subcontracted wo

Social AffairsAug. 12, 2021

British submarine arrives in Busan ahead of aircraft carrier's port call

BUSAN/SEOUL -- A British nuclear-powered submarine accompanying the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier has arrived in the southern port city of Busan, the South Korean Navy said Thursday. The HMS Artful submarine docked at the port of the Naval Operations Command in Busan early Wednesday ahead of the aircraft carrier's port call later this month, naval officials said. The submarine plans to examine its equipment and load munitions. Its crew members are taking COVID-19 tests, they said. &quo

DefenseAug. 12, 2021

Kazakh president to visit Seoul next week

Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev will make a two-day state visit to Seoul next week, marking the first presidential visit to the country since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cheong Wa Dae announced Thursday. Kazakhstan, the largest economy in Central Asia, is one of the key partners in the nation’s New Northern Policy, which seeks to strengthen cooperation with Central Asian countries under a vision of peace and prosperity in Eurasia. The Kazakh president is expe

Foreign AffairsAug. 12, 2021

NK envoy demands US troops' withdrawal from S. Korea, denounces military drills as war rehearsal: TASS

North Korea's top envoy in Russia has called for the US troops' withdrawal from South Korea and called the allies' joint military exercise a "war rehearsal," a Russian news agency said Thursday. North Korean Ambassador to Moscow Sin Hong-chol made the demand in an interview with Russia's TASS as Pyongyang recently ramped up criticism of South Korea for going ahead with its summertime combined military exercise with the US. "The US should primarily pull out its aggressive troops

North KoreaAug. 12, 2021

Concerns loom as schools set to reopen amid virus surge

As schools are set to start opening amid the latest surge in infections, health concerns emerge among unvaccinated students, parents and teachers. The Ministry of Education plans to gradually increase in-person classes, but some concerned students and parents are demanding a full review of the policy in posts on the website of presidential Blue House. A petition posted by one student Wednesday reads, “In my school -- although it is hard to generalize -- students’ wearing masks is

Social AffairsAug. 12, 2021

[Newsmaker] Ex-Prosecutor General Yoon widens lead over Gyeonggi gov. in hypothetical 2-way presidential race: poll

Ex-Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, the leading opposition presidential contender, widened his lead over his rival from the ruling bloc, Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung, in a hypothetical two-way presidential race, the latest poll showed Thursday. According to the poll conducted by Realmeter on 2,031 voters nationwide from Sunday-Monday, 42.1 percent of the respondents said they will vote for Yoon of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) in a hypothetical two-horse race against Gy

PoliticsAug. 12, 2021

N. Korea unresponsive to S. Korea's hotline calls for 3rd day

North Korea did not answer South Korea's phone calls via cross-border communication lines for the third straight day Thursday, officials said, in apparent protest against the summertime military exercise between the South and the United States. The morning calls via the inter-Korean liaison office and military communication channels in the eastern and western border regions went unanswered earlier in the day, according to the officials. North Korea began to shun picking up regular calls late T

North KoreaAug. 12, 2021