Main opposition's approval rating outstrips ruling party's for 1st time in nearly 5 yrs: Gallup

The main opposition party outstripped the rival ruling party in public support for the first time since a major corruption scandal involving former conservative President Park Geun-hye about five years ago, an opinion poll showed Friday. The latest survey by Gallup Korea showed the conservative main opposition People Power Party (PPP) garnered 32 percent of support while the ruling Democratic Party (DP) had 31 percent. The poll was conducted on 1,000 voters nationwide from Tuesday-Thursday. T

PoliticsJuly 9, 2021

All schools in greater Seoul area move online as pandemic worsens

All schools in the greater Seoul area will switch to virtual instruction full-time, as the government decided to raise the virus alert level to the highest next week amid record-breaking COVID-19 cases. The measure will go into effect Wednesday at schools in Seoul, Incheon, 40 kilometers west of the capital, and Gyeonggi Province until July 25, Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae said during a briefing Friday. Cram schools should shut down at 10 p.m. starting Monday. School summer vacation normally

Social AffairsJuly 9, 2021

USFK to toughen COVID-19 quarantine rules amid another wave of pandemic

The US Forces Korea (USFK) decided to implement tougher antivirus rules for two weeks, banning visits to bars and clubs and mandating mask wearing, amid the fast spread of the pandemic in South Korea, the US military said Friday. South Korea has seen a drastic surge in the daily COVID-19 caseload over the past several days, reporting the highest-ever figure on Friday since the outbreak of the pandemic last year. The Seoul government decided to impose the toughest social distancing scheme in the

Social AffairsJuly 9, 2021

2 KBO players test positive for COVID-19

Two members of the South Korean baseball club NC Dinos have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, forcing the league to cancel two games scheduled for Friday. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said the game between the Dinos and the Kiwoom Heroes set to take place at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Friday evening will be rescheduled for a later date. Another game in Seoul, between the LG Twins and the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, has also been canceled out of precaution, becau

Social AffairsJuly 9, 2021

Record COVID-19 surge pushes Seoul to ‘toughest-ever’ social distancing

Korea on Friday announced further restrictions to tame a record surge in COVID-19 cases from Monday onward, including a ban in the capital region on social gatherings of more than two people past 6 p.m. and total closures of bars and other nightlife establishments. In the last 24 hours ending Thursday midnight, the country logged its highest daily total of 1,316 cases, according to official statistics, topping the previous worst 1,275 cases of the day before. Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum to

Social AffairsJuly 9, 2021

Moon to hold emergency meeting on coronavirus crisis next Monday

President Moon Jae-in will hold an emergency inter-agency meeting to discuss the COVID-19 crisis in the greater Seoul area early next week, his office said Friday. Moon instructed that the "special" session be convened at Cheong Wa Dae on Monday, according to presidential spokesperson Park Kyung-mee. Participants will include Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung and Incheon Mayor Park Nam-chun, as well as Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum and Jeong Eun-kyeong, head

PoliticsJuly 9, 2021

Senior diplomat meets senior Congo officials to discuss bilateral cooperation

Ham Sang-wook, deputy foreign minister for multilateral affairs, met senior officials of the Republic of the Congo to discuss bilateral ties and economic cooperation during his trip there this week, the foreign ministry said Friday. On Wednesday, Ham paid courtesy calls on Foreign Minister Jean-Claude Gakosso and Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso, the minister of international cooperation and promotion of public-private partnership. Ham's trip to the capital city of Brazzaville was designed to dee

Foreign AffairsJuly 9, 2021

[Newsmaker] 10 indicted, 12 under probe over death of Air Force sexual abuse victim

Military prosecutors have indicted 10 people over the death of an Air Force sexual harassment victim following a monthlong investigation into a string of irregularities that led to the noncommissioned officer taking her own life, the defense ministry said Friday. The number of officials to stand trial could further rise as a dozen others are still under investigation, the ministry said, announcing the interim results of its probe into the incident that sparked an intense public outcry over the

Social AffairsJuly 9, 2021

Unification minister voices strong regret over PPP leader's call for abolition of his ministry

Unification Minister Lee In-young expressed strong regret Friday after the chief of the main opposition People Power Party suggested a need to abolish the ministry handling inter-Korean affairs. PPP Chairman Lee Jun-seok raised the suggestion during a radio interview earlier in the day, saying it is inefficient to separate the duties of the foreign ministry and the unification ministry. "I would like to ask whether Chairman Lee Jun-seok's remarks represent the party's opinion," Lee s

North KoreaJuly 9, 2021

COVID-19 cases break record for 2nd day, wider Seoul under semi-lockdown

South Korea on Friday reported the highest-ever daily COVID-19 cases since the outbreak of the pandemic, as health authorities decided to impose the toughest virus curbs in the greater Seoul area, the hotbed for the recent spike in virus infections, in an effort to bring the fourth wave of the outbreak under control.  The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said 1,316 more COVID-19 cases were confirmed Thursday, including 1,236 local infections, raising the total caseload to 164,0

Social AffairsJuly 9, 2021

Military reports 3 COVID-19 cases

The military has reported three additional coronavirus cases, the defense ministry said Friday, as South Korea saw the highest-ever daily COVID-19 infections since the outbreak of the pandemic last year. An Army officer in Goyang, northwest of Seoul, and a soldier in the southeastern city of Gyeongsan were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 after developing symptoms, while an officer in the southwestern city of Taean was found to be infected after coming into contact with a person who tested

DefenseJuly 9, 2021

S. Korea to impose highest-level distancing scheme in Seoul area amid virus resurgence

South Korea announced Friday it will place the greater Seoul area under the toughest social distancing rules of Level 4 as concerns of a fourth wave of new COVID-19 outbreaks over the summer grow stronger. The decision to implement Level 4 guidelines in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, 40 kilometers west of the capital, Monday for two weeks was reached in an interagency COVID-19 response meeting chaired by Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum. Under Level 4 rules, gatherings of more than two peopl

Social AffairsJuly 9, 2021

Korean researcher joins IAEA team to monitor Japan's planned release of Fukushima water

The UN nuclear watchdog has formed a team of experts, including a South Korean researcher, to monitor Japan's planned discharge of treated water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, the government said Friday. Kim Hong-suk, a nuclear expert from the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), joined the team that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) formed Thursday, it said, noting his participation will help ensure the safety of the planned water release. The team is known

Foreign AffairsJuly 9, 2021

Brother of late fisheries official asks NK diplomatic missions to deliver letter to leader Kim

The brother of a South Korean fisheries official killed in North Korean waters said Friday he sent emails to the North's diplomatic missions in Hong Kong and Mongolia asking them to deliver his letter to leader Kim Jong-un. The fisheries official was shot and killed by North Korea's military in September while adrift in waters north of the inter-Korean sea border in the Yellow Sea, a day after he went missing the previous day while on duty near the western border island of Yeonpyeong. On Frida

North KoreaJuly 9, 2021

[Graphic News] 95.6% of vaccinated people say they recommend receiving shots: poll

　Nine out of 10 people who have been vaccinated said they would recommend that their families and friends receive shots, a government survey showed. 　The poll, jointly conducted by the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters and the Culture Ministry, showed that 95.6 percent were favorable toward receiving COVID-19 vaccines. 　The share was up 10.4 percentage points from the same survey conducted last month. 　Some 1,000 adults aged 18 and older took part in the latest surv

NationalJuly 9, 2021

N. Korea's malicious cyber activities pose threat to US, allies: State Dept.

WASHINGTON -- North Korea poses a significant cyber threat to the United States and other countries, particularly to financial institutions, a State Department spokesman said Thursday. Ned Price also highlighted the need for joint efforts to counter such threats posed by the North. "North Korea's malicious cyber activities threaten the United States. They threaten our allies and partners, countries around the world," the spokesman said at a press briefing, also elaborating that the N

North KoreaJuly 9, 2021

US still reviewing possibility of first lady's trip to Tokyo Olympics: White House

WASHINGTON -- The United States is still considering the possibility of its first lady, Jill Biden, traveling to Japan for the summer Olympics there, a White House spokeswoman said Thursday. "We are still assessing the feasibility of the first lady attending and our advance team arrives in Tokyo later this week," Jen Psaki told a daily press briefing. Her remarks come shortly after Tokyo said the Olympics will take place without any spectators, amid a resurgence in COVID-19 infection

Foreign AffairsJuly 9, 2021

S. Korea to announce new virus curbs for greater Seoul area on Friday

  South Korea's health authorities said Thursday they will announce new social distancing measures for the greater Seoul area soon, amid expectations that the capital area may be placed under the highest level in the four-tier system. South Korea reported 1,275 new COVID-19 cases on the day, setting a new daily record. The government will announce a readjusted level of social distancing Friday after a COVID-19 control meeting in the morning, officials said. South Korea earlier planned t

Social AffairsJuly 8, 2021

24 more soldiers at Army boot camp test positive for virus

  Twenty-four more newly enlisted soldiers have tested positive for the new coronavirus, bringing the total of recent infections at an Army boot camp to 77, the defense ministry said Thursday, as South Korea braces for another wave of infections. The conscripts at the Korea Army Training Center in the central city of Nonsan were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 as of 6 p.m., after 53 others were found to be infected the previous day, according to the ministry. Following the mass inf

DefenseJuly 8, 2021

Korea delays stronger COVID-19 countermeasures despite record rise in cases

South Korea once again delayed imposing stronger anti-COVID-19 measures, despite counting a record number of new COVID-19 cases Thursday. Korea’s highest one-day increase of 1,275 cases was announced Thursday, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s update, taking the country’s cumulative total to 164,028. The previous high of 1,241 cases was set at the height of the country’s deadliest surge in December. While declaring Korea was “in the

Social AffairsJuly 8, 2021