Another ASF case found, 24,000 pigs culled

South Korea is again on alert to contain the spread of the deadly Africa swine fever after finding a new case at a pig farm just three months after the last discovery. The government-led ASF task force announced Sunday that an ASF case was confirmed at a domesticated pig farm in Goseong-gun, Gangwon Province. The latest discovery of an ASF case in a pig farm comes three months after the last case was found in the province on May 4. The country so far has located a total of 18 ASF cases at loca

Social AffairsAug. 8, 2021

Seoul subway workers gear up for strike vote

Seoul’s subway workers are mulling a full-scale strike as Seoul Metro prepares to carry out a massive restructuring plan to resolve continuing financial losses. Unionized workers at Seoul Metro are planning to hold a vote, along with union members who work for subway corporations in Busan, Daegu, Daejeon, Incheon and Gwangju, from Aug. 16 to 19 to decide whether to launch a full-scale strike to protest Seoul Metro’s plan to reduce its head count by 1,539 employees. Seoul Metro&rsqu

Social AffairsAug. 8, 2021

Social distancing rules questioned amid surge in cases

Despite having its most restrictive social distancing measures in place for nearly a month, South Korea is still scrambling to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The country reported 1,729 newly confirmed cases in the 24 hours ending Saturday at midnight, setting yet another record. It is the highest daily case tally on a weekend since the outbreak began early last year. “The fourth wave led by the delta variant, unlike the past waves, is characterized by faster spread and stronger in

Social AffairsAug. 8, 2021

Tropical storm Lupit approaching East Sea near Korea, heavy rain forecast

Tropical storm Lupit is approaching the East Sea near South Korea and is forecast to pour heavy rains on the country's east coast, the weather agency said Sunday. Around midnight, Lupit is predicted to land on Japan's Kyushu before presumably passing further northward between the South Korean side of the East Sea and the northern coast of Japan the next morning, the Korea Meteorological Administration said. As of 11 a.m., Lupit's central pressure stood at 992 hectopascals, and it is estimated

Social AffairsAug. 8, 2021

Seoul, Washington eye aid to engage Pyongyang

South Korea and the US are discussing the possibility of offering humanitarian assistance to North Korea as a way to engage the recalcitrant regime, but it remains to be seen whether Pyongyang is ready to return to dialogue.  South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held phone talks Friday, during which the two officials consulted on avenues of cooperation with the North, including humanitarian cooperation, and agreed to continue their efforts

North KoreaAug. 8, 2021

New COVID-19 cases fall below 1,800 amid stepped-up vigilance

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell below 1,800 on Sunday but still marked the highest tally for a Sunday to date, with the country extending its stringent virus curbs amid few signs of the situation abating. The country added 1,729 COVID-19 cases, including 1,670 local infections, raising the total caseload to 210,956, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The latest caseload is down from 1,823 reported Saturday but up from 1,704 on Friday. Daily case

Social AffairsAug. 8, 2021

NK leader orders full state support for flood recovery efforts

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered full state support for recovery efforts in a flood-hit eastern province as the country convened an emergency meeting of the provincial military commission to come up with recovery plans, state media reported Sunday. About 1,170 homes were destroyed or flooded, and some 5,000 residents were evacuated urgently and large tracts of farmlands were flooded as up to 307 millimeters of rain fell in the eastern South Hamgyong Province between Aug. 1-2, accordi

North KoreaAug. 8, 2021

S. Korea decides to conduct military exercise with US as planned despite NK warning

South Korea has tentatively decided to conduct the upcoming military exercise with the United States as planned, albeit in a scaled-back manner due to the pandemic, sources said Sunday, despite North Korea's warning the maneuvers will cast a pall over inter-Korean relations. Whether and how to conduct the summertime exercise has drawn keen attention, particularly after Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, warned the drills will dampen the conciliatory mood created after P

DefenseAug. 8, 2021

S. Korea's foreign minister reiterates calls for N. Korea’s return to dialogue

South Korea's foreign minister has renewed calls for North Korea to return to dialogue during a regional security forum, his office said Saturday, as Seoul seeks to resume nuclear diplomacy with Pyongyang following the recent restoration of inter-Korean communication lines. Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong made the call during Friday’s virtual Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum (ARF), a rare multilateral forum involving North Korea. North Korea‘s Ambassador to In

North KoreaAug. 7, 2021

New cases bounce back above 1,800 despite stepped-up vigilance

South Korea‘s daily new coronavirus cases bounced back to over 1,800 on Saturday, though the country tightened its vigilance with the extension of stringent virus curbs amid few signs of the situation improving. The country added 1,823 COVID-19 cases, including 1,762 local infections, raising the total caseload to 209,228, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The latest caseload is up from 1,776 cases reported Thursday and 1,704 on Friday. The country add

Social AffairsAug. 7, 2021

Police seek arrest warrant for labor leader over July 3 rally

Police on Friday sought an arrest warrant for the leader of a labor umbrella group on charges of holding a mass rally last month in violation of COVID-19 rules. Yang Kyung-soo, chief of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, has been booked on charges of holding the rally in downtown Seoul on July 3 in defiance of a COVID-19 ban by the city government and the police. Around 8,000 people attended the event, according to the KCTU, to demand improvements to labor conditions. Sources told Yonh

Social AffairsAug. 6, 2021

Ruling party wants bold action on N. Korea: report

South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party wants the US to endorse its initiative to rebuild ties with North Korea, the Washington Post said Friday, citing party leader Rep. Song Young-gil. Seoul is eager to pick up the momentum for diplomacy with Pyongyang by using the hotlines that the two Koreas reconnected a week ago. The North, which severed them a year ago, had reached out to the South, which sees an opportunity to resume what it calls a trust-building process to revive inter-Korean dial

North KoreaAug. 6, 2021

Patients on life support at ‘all-time high’ as fourth COVID-19 wave drags on

South Korea’s fourth wave of COVID-19 is far from reaching its peak and intensive care units equipped to handle COVID-19 patients are rapidly filling up, the authorities warned Friday. Unlike in past waves, those in critical condition are mostly under the age of 60. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s deputy chief, Kwon Jun-wook, told a briefing Friday that Korea was facing its largest, and possibly its longest, surge in infections and it was still “far from p

Social AffairsAug. 6, 2021

FM to court ASEAN countries amid thaw with N. Korea

South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong is expected to meet virtually with Southeast Asian foreign ministers Friday and ask for their support in building lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, as the two Koreas seek to repair ties over recently reconnected hotlines. North Korea is also attending the ASEAN Regional Forum, which brings together top envoys from the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations and their counterparts from 17 countries, including the US and EU. But North

Foreign AffairsAug. 6, 2021

[Newsmaker] Gyeonggi Gov. Lee outstrips ex-top prosecutor to claim lead in poll on presidential hopefuls

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung outstripped ex-Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl to seize the lead among presidential hopefuls, an opinion poll showed Friday. Lee garnered 25 percent of support in the survey conducted on 1,001 voters across the nation from Tuesday-Thursday by Gallup Korea for the most favored next leader of the country. The governor was ahead of Yoon, who had 19 percent, by a margin of six percentage points, which is within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 3.1

PoliticsAug. 6, 2021

Activists charged with espionage for allegedly taking N. Korean orders to stage anti-weapons protests

Four South Korean activists have been charged with espionage for allegedly taking orders from Pyongyang and staging a series of protests opposing Seoul's plan to procure US-built stealth fighter jets, sources said Friday. According to the sources, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and the National Police Agency (NPA) recently requested a local court to issue warrants to arrest the activists who allegedly violated multiple articles of the National Security Act, including the so-called espi

PoliticsAug. 6, 2021

[Newsmaker] Air Force noncommissioned officer denies wrongdoing in sexual abuse hearing

An Air Force warrant officer on Friday denied allegations he pressured the victim of a sexual abuse case not to pursue punishment of the perpetrator in the infliction of "secondary harm" blamed for her suicide. During a preparatory hearing at a military court in Seoul, the warrant officer, surnamed Noh, claimed through his lawyer Kim Sang-ho that he did not blackmail the victim nor had an intention to obstruct the investigation into the case. The victim, a master sergeant surnamed Le

DefenseAug. 6, 2021

Top diplomats of S. Korea, US agree on efforts for NK engagement in phone talks

SEOUL/WASHINGTON -- Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed to make continued efforts to engage with North Korea and foster lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula during their phone talks Friday, the foreign ministry said. The talks came after last week's restoration of inter-Korean communication channels fueled hopes for the resumption of nuclear diplomacy with North Korea, though growing optimism for dialogue was tempered by the North's warning that the

Foreign AffairsAug. 6, 2021

US, S. Korea hold first director-level talks on N. Korea: State Dept.

WASHINGTON -- US and South Korean officials met this week to coordinate efforts to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the State Department said Thursday. The first director-general or deputy-level consultation (DLC) meeting was held in Seoul on Wednesday (Seoul time) between the US deputy special representative for North Korea, Jung Pak, and officials from South Korea's foreign and unification ministries, the presidential office and the National Security Council, according to

Foreign AffairsAug. 6, 2021

7 service members test positive for COVID-19

Six Army soldiers and one Navy officer tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Friday, the latest in a series of COVID-19 infections among the military population across the country. Three enlistees at an Army boot camp in Paju, north of Seoul, were confirmed to have been infected while in quarantine following positive cases earlier, according to the ministry. A soldier affiliated with a separate unit in Paju and an Army officer in the northwestern border town of Yeo

DefenseAug. 6, 2021