Sejong University cleared of corruption allegations

Sejong University has been cleared of corruption charges, the institution said Friday. “All charges the Ministry of Education requested investigation on were dropped in December 2020,” the university said in a statement. “There were no violations of laws nor fall in profitability resulting from negligence by Daeyang Foundation board members,” it said, referring to the education institution that operates Sejong University. The university had been under investigation

Social AffairsFeb. 19, 2021

Two court officials arrested over attempt to rape, assault

Two court officials have recently been arrested in separate incidents this month on suspicion of attempting to rape a woman, and assaulting a karaoke owner in Seoul, police said. A drunk official in his 30s chased a woman into a restroom in a building in Songpa-gu, Seoul, where he then beat and attempted to rape the victim on Thursday, police said on Friday. The man, surnamed Kim, fled as the victim resisted and later was arrested by police. The police are investigating him on charges of at

Social AffairsFeb. 19, 2021

Moon says govt. open to special 'consolatory money' for Korean people over coronavirus damages

President Moon Jae-in floated the idea Friday of providing South Korean people with special "consolatory money" once the COVID-19 pandemic is overcome, according to his office. It was unveiled during his meeting with leaders of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) at Cheong Wa Dae. The president was responding to the proposal of offering another batch of emergency cash handouts to support people and businesses against the fallout of the pandemic, Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok sai

PoliticsFeb. 19, 2021

S. Korea exploring ways to help ease food shortage in N. Korea

South Korea is exploring various ways to provide food and fertilizer to North Korea in humanitarian assistance as Pyongyang is believed to be faced with worsening food shortages, the unification ministry said Friday. On Thursday, Unification Minister Lee In-young told lawmakers that the North appears to be faced with a food shortage of about 1.2 million to 1.3 million tons this year mainly due to damage from last year's heavy downpours. "Our position remains the same that humanitarian iss

North KoreaFeb. 19, 2021

Diplomats of S. Korea, US, Japan agree to closely cooperate on peninsula denuclearization, peace

Diplomats of South Korea, the United States and Japan agreed to closely cooperate to achieve complete denuclearization and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula in video talks Friday, the foreign ministry said. Seoul's top nuclear envoy, Noh Kyu-duk, Sung Kim, acting US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, and Takehiro Funakoshi, director-general for Asian and Oceanian affairs at Tokyo's foreign ministry, held the conversation to discuss North Korea-related issues.

Foreign AffairsFeb. 19, 2021

2 Army soldiers, Marine test positive for COVID-19

Two Army soldiers and a Marine have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Friday. The Marine was confirmed to have been infected with COVID-19 in a test required before returning to his unit in the city of Gimpo, west of Seoul, after vacationing in the central city of Boryeong, according to the ministry. In Boryeong, a full-time reservist soldier tested positive following direct contact with another person who contracted the virus. An Army officer based in Hwaseon

DefenseFeb. 19, 2021

PM points to severity of pandemic, vows all-out response for swift containment

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Friday that authorities saw the current state of the pandemic in the nation as being severe and pledged to swiftly deal with the crisis with the government's full capabilities. "Experts are warning that the worst may arrive if the latest growth trend cannot be quickly contained," Chung said during an interagency meeting on the COVID-19 response held at the government complex in Seoul. Chung added, "The government confronts the current situation

PoliticsFeb. 19, 2021

[Newsmaker] Funeral of activist Paek Ki-wan draws thousands of mourners

A funeral ceremony took place early Friday for activist Paek Ki-wan, who devoted his life to the reunification of the two Koreas and many labor and social issues. Paek died at Seoul National University Hospital on Monday at age 88. He had battled complications of pneumonia for a year. Hundreds of mourners had been waiting outside the hospital, holding signs with the lyrics of "March for the Beloved," a famous pro-democracy movement anthem Paek wrote. They watched the vehicle carryin

Social AffairsFeb. 19, 2021

Highly pathogenic bird flu cases in S. Korea nearing 100

The number of highly pathogenic bird flu cases in South Korea is nearing 100, with the prolonged battle against the animal disease set to further push up the price of poultry products. Two new cases of the H5N8 strain of avian influenza (AI) were reported from a duck farm in Goesan, about 160 kilometers south of Seoul, and an egg farm in Hwaseong, about 40 kilometers south of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on Friday. On Friday, yet another suspected cas

Social AffairsFeb. 19, 2021

New COVID-19 cases fall back in 500s; infections at workplaces on rise

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell back to below 600 on Friday, while authorities are stepping up monitoring of manufacturing plants and hospitals to slow the rapid pace of virus transmission. The country reported 561 more COVID-19 cases, including 533 local infections, raising the total caseload to 86,128, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The country added six more deaths, raising the total to 1,550. Friday's caseload was down from the previous two day

Social AffairsFeb. 19, 2021

State Department says Japan's wartime sexual slavery an egregious violation of human rights

The US State Department said on Thursday that Japan's trafficking of women for sexual services during World War II was a serious violation of human rights, flatly contradicting a controversial claim by a Harvard professor that such women were rather voluntary prostitutes. "As the United States has stated many times, the trafficking of women for sexual purposes by the Japanese military during World War II was an egregious violation of human rights," a department spokesperson told Yonha

Foreign AffairsFeb. 19, 2021

Blinken agrees to regular meetings of 'Quad' foreign ministers

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has agreed to regularly meet with his counterparts from three other countries that form a regional forum known as the Quad, the State Department said Thursday. The agreement was made in a virtual meeting that included Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, Indian Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi. "They reiterated their commitment to the Quad meeting at least annually at the ministerial level

Foreign AffairsFeb. 19, 2021

S. Korea confirms another case of highly pathogenic bird flu

  South Korea confirmed another case of highly pathogenic bird flu in poultry Thursday, bringing the total caseload to 98. The latest case of the H5N8 strain of avian influenza (AI) came from a duck farm in Goesan, some 160 kilometers south of Seoul, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said. All poultry within a 3-kilometer radius of the infected farm were culled, officials said. The authorities are investigating another suspected case in Gyeonggi Province near Seoul,

Social AffairsFeb. 18, 2021

Half of Jeju residents opposed to new airport on island: polls

More than half of the residents of Jeju Island are opposed to a new international airport on the southern island, polls showed Thursday. However, residents of the town selected as the site of the airport were in favor of the project in separate surveys by the same pollsters. All of the surveys were conducted from Monday to Wednesday. Nine local news outlets commissioned Gallup Korea to conduct a poll on Jeju residents' view of the central government's drive to build a second international air

Social AffairsFeb. 18, 2021

FM says S. Korea, Japan can seek US' help if it's needed to resolve their rows

Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong said Thursday that South Korea and Japan can seek help from their shared ally, the United States, if it is needed to address their protracted historical rows. Chung made the remarks in a parliamentary session, amid worries that persistent diplomatic tensions between South Korea and Japan could hurt Seoul's efforts to deepen cooperation with the administration of US President Joe Biden, which is intent on tightening its regional alliances. "As I recently he

Foreign AffairsFeb. 18, 2021

COVID-19 could be ‘tamed by November,’ says KDCA deputy chief

The COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea will be “sufficiently tamed by November, or possibly earlier,” Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Deputy Director Kwon Jun-wook said Thursday, referring to the vaccination timetable. The deputy director said COVID-19 rates have fallen globally, largely due to the immunization efforts that are already underway in the US and many countries in Europe. He said that once vaccinations kick off in Korea, this country too can expect the

Social AffairsFeb. 18, 2021

Gyeonggi chief Lee widens lead in presidential hopefuls' poll

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung has widened his lead in a poll of potential presidential candidates released Thursday, with his closest rivals falling behind marginally compared to two weeks ago. In the survey conducted jointly by four polling agencies on 1,007 people over the age of 18 from Monday to Wednesday, 27 percent picked Gov. Lee as their favored candidate in next year's presidential election. The poll was conducted by Embrain Public, Kstat Research, Korea Research International

PoliticsFeb. 18, 2021

Civic activists lose lawsuit to suspend operation of nuclear plant

A group of civic activists and residents lost a lawsuit against a state nuclear safety commission Thursday, in which they sought to suspend the operation of a nuclear power plant in the southeastern provincial city of Ulsan for safety reasons. The Seoul Administrative Court handed down the ruling against 723 complainants who claimed that the Shin Kori-4 plant poses dangers to the protection of people's lives and that the operator, the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Plant (KHNP), should suspend

Social AffairsFeb. 18, 2021

S. Korea's NSC expresses concern about Myanmar situations

South Korea's top security officials voiced concern Thursday about political instability in Myanmar in connection with a recent coup. They also agreed to cooperate with the international community for the "restoration of constitutional order" through a legitimate, democratic and peaceful manner in the Southeast Asian country, according to Cheong Wa Dae. It was briefing media on the results of the weekly session of the National Security Council (NSC) standing committee, presided over

PoliticsFeb. 18, 2021

[Newsmaker] US charges 3 North Koreans over cyberattacks costing $1.3b

The US Justice Department indicted three North Koreans in December on charges related to cyberattacks to steal over $1.3 billion in crypto and traditional currencies from banks and companies. The indictment, filed in December and disclosed Wednesday, alleges that the three -- Jon Chang Hyok, 31; Kim Il, 27; and Park Jin Hyok, 36 -- were members of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, a North Korean military intelligence agency that engages in criminal hacking. Wednesday’s indictment builds

North KoreaFeb. 18, 2021