[News Focus] Number of foreigners in Korea slides to 50-month low

SEJONG -- The number of foreign nationals in South Korea has dropped to the lowest level in more than four years in the wake of the pandemic, state data showed. According to the Korea Immigration Service, the tally for foreign nationals in the nation -- both as long-term residents and short-term visitors -- stayed at 1.99 million in April, down about 9,000 from 1.999 million a month earlier. This was the lowest number in 50 months since the figure stood at 1.986 million in February 2017. Thi

Social AffairsMay 23, 2021

Teenage addiction to smartphones, internet rises in 2021 amid pandemic

The number of South Korean students at high risk of addiction to smartphones and the internet increased last year on extended online classes at home amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a government survey showed Sunday. According to the annual survey of 1.27 million fourth, seventh and 10th graders nationwide by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, a total of 229,000 students were found to be in danger of overdependence on smartphones or the internet, nearly unchanged from a year earlier. Among

Social AffairsMay 23, 2021

[Herald Interview] ‘US-owned hotel should be moved out of proposed Yongsan park’

Yongsan-gu mayor said that a US military resort hotel in the city should be out of an envisioned national park slated to open within a decade. Upon the agreement made between Korea and the US in 2003, the US Forces Korea headquarters and the United Nations Command moved to Pyeongtaek in 2018, ending the US military presence in the city. In 2005, the Korean government announced plans to build the nation’s first urban national park in the area by 2027. “The land occupied by foreign

Social AffairsMay 23, 2021

[Newsmaker] Memorial service held for ex-President Roh Moo-hyun

South Korea held a ceremony Sunday to commemorate former President Roh Moo-hyun, marking the 12th year of his death. It took place at Bongha Village in Gimhae, Roh's hometown located 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, bringing together a number of key government and political figures. They included Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum; Song Young-gil, head of the ruling Democratic Party (DP); Kim Gi-hyeon, acting chief and floor leader of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP); and Lee Cheol-hee,

PoliticsMay 23, 2021

Korea partners with US on COVID-19 vaccines

South Korea, through a newfound partnership with the US, is expected to assume a bigger presence in the global supply chain of COVID-19 vaccines, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Sunday. No concrete plans have been revealed on how this will stabilize the supply of vaccines in Korea. The announcement comes after President Moon Jae-in and the US President Joe Biden agreed on a “comprehensive partnership” on COVID-19 vaccines Friday. Moon went into the summit under pressure

Social AffairsMay 23, 2021

New cases back under 600 again, vaccinations to rev up

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell below 600 again on Sunday due to fewer tests over the weekend amid increased sporadic cluster infections, as the country's vaccination scheme is set to gather pace again. The country reported 585 more COVID-19 cases, including 570 local infections, raising the total caseload to 135,929, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. South Korea reported 666 cases on Saturday and 561 on Friday. There were five additional virus deaths

Social AffairsMay 23, 2021

Additional batch of Pfizer vaccines for 219,000 people arrives in S. Korea

Another batch of the new coronavirus vaccine by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc., enough to inoculate 219,000 people, arrived in South Korea on Sunday, as the country aims to speed up its inoculation program. South Korea and Pfizer earlier signed a direct contract to secure 66 million doses that can vaccinate 33 million people. A total of 3.75 million doses of two-dose Pfizer jabs have been shipped in as of Sunday, with another batch of 3.25 million doses set to arrive here by the end of Ju

Social AffairsMay 23, 2021

Moon visits SK's battery plant construction site in US

ATLANTA/SEOUL -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited a plant construction site of SK Innovation Co., the country's leading battery maker, in the United States on Saturday. The facility in the state of Georgia is regarded as symbolizing close partnerships between the two countries in the electric vehicle (EV) battery sector. The company is investing around 3 trillion won ($2.6 billion) in the construction project, with trial production under way starting in March. "This plant symbo

Foreign AffairsMay 23, 2021

Moon leaves US after visit for summit with Biden

ATLANTA/SEOUL -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in left the United States on Saturday following a four-day trip for summit talks with US President Joe Biden. Earlier in the day, he flew to Atlanta from Washington, D.C. to make a brief visit to a Georgia plant construction site of SK Innovation Co., a South Korea-based battery maker. It marked Moon's first overseas travel since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he is returning home with "better-than-expected" results fro

Foreign AffairsMay 23, 2021

S. Korea, US, Japan rearranging schedule for defense ministers' talks

South Korea, the United States and Japan are rearranging trilateral defense talks after they were forced to cancel a meeting slated for June in Singapore due to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said Sunday. Defense Minister Suh Wook and his US and Japanese counterparts -- Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Minister Nobuo Kishi -- had initially planned to hold talks on the sidelines of the security forum of the Shangri-La Dialogue, set to take place in the Southeast Asian country on June 4-5.

Foreign AffairsMay 23, 2021

[Photo News] South Korean civic groups protest against Israel-Gaza attacks

A total of 160 South Korean civic groups, including People‘s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, National Council of YMCAs of Korea, and Palestine Peace & Solidarity, hold a protest rally against Israel’s bombing of Gaza in front of the Israeli Embassy in Jongro, central Seoul.  Members of the civic groups hold up banners with messages denouncing Israel’s use of bombs and asking for the violence to stop, such as “Cease fire first and now” and “#F

Social AffairsMay 22, 2021

[Weekender] Tired of green-bottle rotgut, drinkers turn to traditional soju

Drinking in South Korea almost invariably involves soju. The ubiquitous green bottle filled with watered-down alcohol has been, and is, at center stage of Seoul’s drinking scene. The soju most people usually think of -- a mixture of water, alcohol and sweeteners -- is very much an integral part of Korea’s social fabric, and accounts for close to 40 percent of all alcohol consumed in Korea. But while it may be an iconic feature of Korean drinking, many say its taste doesn’t l

Social AffairsMay 22, 2021

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon faces steep uphill battle against city’s ruling bloc

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon from the main opposition People Power Party faces a steep wall of resistance within the city’s political scene, dominated as it is by the ruling Democratic Party. This is likely to serve as a roadblock to his reelection next year. The council of district mayors announced Thursday that it was rejecting Oh’s proposal to jointly submit a tax break proposal to the central government. That proposal called for a discount on property taxes on real estate assets valu

PoliticsMay 22, 2021

[Newsmaker] Crab cakes served as main lunch course for Moon and Biden

South Korean President Moon Jae-in's summit meetings with US President Joe Biden in Washington on Friday presented contrasting appearances from those held about a month ago between the leaders of the United States and Japan, officials said. The most noteworthy differences were the length of the summit meetings and the lunch menu. Moon and Biden held 171 minutes of one-on-one, small group and expanded summit meetings, about 20 minutes longer than the April 16 meetings between the US president a

Foreign AffairsMay 22, 2021

Biden makes strong case for engagement, but N. Korea unlikely to react soon: experts

US President Joe Biden has demonstrated a clear commitment to engaging with North Korea by appointing a special envoy to specifically deal with North Korea issues, but whether the North will come to the table in the near future remains to be seen, US experts said Friday. In a joint press conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Biden announced his appointment of Acting Assistant Secretary of State Sung Kim as "US special envoy for the DPRK" to "help drive all these eff

Foreign AffairsMay 22, 2021

Seoul, Washington to cooperate on overseas nuclear plant projects

South Korea and the United States announced said Friday they will broaden cooperation in the nuclear energy sector to penetrate deeper into overseas markets. "We commit to develop cooperation in overseas nuclear markets, including joint participation in nuclear power plant projects, while ensuring the highest standards of international nuclear safety, security and nonproliferation are maintained," the two countries said in a joint statement. The statement came in line with the summit

Foreign AffairsMay 22, 2021

Full text of joint statement of S. Korean, US presidents

The following is the full text of a joint statement by South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Joe Biden released by the White House at the end of their bilateral summit in Washington on Friday. US-ROK Leaders' Joint Statement Over seventy years ago, the alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea was forged on the battlefield, as we stood shoulder-to-shoulder in war. Bonded in common sacrifice, our partnership has helped to keep the peace in the decades since, al

Foreign AffairsMay 22, 2021

Moon, Biden share commitment to vaccine partnership, NK dialogue

President Moon Jae-in and US President Joe Biden agreed at their summit Friday to pursue a global COVID-19 vaccine partnership while reaffirming their commitment to dialogue with a recalcitrant North Korea. The leaders held their first in-person meeting in Washington four months after Biden took office as the pandemic rages on and Pyongyang shows no interest in resuming talks with either Seoul or Washington. Speaking in a joint press conference at the White House following their talks, Biden p

Foreign AffairsMay 22, 2021

Lifting of US missile restrictions signifies Seoul's missile sovereignty, Washington's China strategy: experts

Lifting of US missile restrictions signifies Seoul's missile sovereignty, Washington's China strategy: experts The full lifting of US restrictions on South Korean missiles is expected to beef up Seoul's defense capabilities by allowing it to secure longer-range missiles that can fly beyond the Korean Peninsula, experts said Saturday. The decision is also seen as part of the US strategy to counter China, and South Korea's deployment of longer-range missiles could bring the country further into

North KoreaMay 22, 2021

Moon-Biden summit agreement broadens alliance amid Sino-US rivalry

This week's summit agreement between South Korea and the United States on COVID-19 vaccines, tech supply chains, climate change and other non-security issues underscored a broadening of their alliance amid heightened Sino-US rivalry, analysts said Saturday. During their first in-person summit in Washington on Friday, Presidents Moon Jae-in and Joe Biden agreed on broad-based cooperation, as the US seeks to rally its democratic allies to confront shared challenges such as an assertive China and

Foreign AffairsMay 22, 2021