Pohang city orders mandatory virus testing for each household

Pohang city has ordered its residents to have at least one person get tested for the coronavirus from each household. “Although the spread of COVID-19 is on the decrease across the country, the city of Pohang is seeing an increase in the number of local community transmissions including infections stemming from the Sangju evangelical church facility and sauna-related cases,” said Pohang Mayor Lee Kang-deok in a press conference Monday. “We are issuing an administrative orde

Social AffairsJan. 25, 2021

Moon checks readiness for COVID-19 vaccination

President Moon Jae-in on Monday called for thorough readiness among government offices as the nation prepares to start COVID-19 vaccinations with the imminent arrival of the first batch of vaccines, possibly early next month. “The coronavirus response is entering a new phase. If the past year was a time when we protected ourselves from the virus through social distancing measures, now is a time to fight the virus with vaccines and treatments,” Moon said before receiving a policy br

PoliticsJan. 25, 2021

Total cases of new COVID-19 variants reach 27 in S. Korea

South Korea reported nine more cases of COVID-19 variants over the past week, health authorities said Monday as they scrambled to block the influx of highly contagious new strains into the country. Nine people were infected with the mutated virus variants over the past week -- four from the United Kingdom, three from South Africa and two from Brazil, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. Seven of the patients were confirmed to be infected during the quarantine process

Social AffairsJan. 25, 2021

Investing 101 for teens in South Korea gain popularity

Korean teenagers have jumped on the stock investment bandwagon, as investment tutorials targeted at students -- as young as elementary school kids -- have soared over the winter holidays. Bae Jin-han from the Fine Start Academy recently launched a lecture series over the winter vacation aimed at teens interested in investing in stocks. Nicknamed “super ant” -- a term referring to retail investors -- Bae is a parent of a 15-year-old child who made 600 million won ($543,000) worth

Social AffairsJan. 25, 2021

DP to revise law to establish new state agency on workplace disaster safety

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) has decided to consult with rival parties to establish a new government organization dedicated to promoting occupational safety and better preventing industrial disasters, the party's chief said Monday. In a party leadership meeting, DP Chairman Rep. Lee Nak-yon said that the DP will draft a revised Government Organization Act and submit it to the National Assembly to launch the new agency after consulting with opposition parties. According to Lee, the DP and t

PoliticsJan. 25, 2021

Seoul City recruiting 350 youth interns for global enterprises and startups

New opportunities are opening up for young job seekers after the novel coronavirus caused severe internship cuts in 2020. On Monday the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it would provide 350 job seekers with professional training and field experience. The Seoul Youth Internship Job Training Camp will place participants at global companies such as 3M, GM, Procter & Gamble, Visa and Coca-Cola, as well as at emerging startups in industries such as computer programming and big data.

Social AffairsJan. 25, 2021

Police to crack down on unauthorized entertainment facilities

Police will start cracking down on unauthorized entertainment facilities that hinder quarantine efforts in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the National Police Agency said Sunday. Starting Monday, police will team up with local governments across the country and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for a 3-week long special inspection period. As the government’s ban on gatherings at five types of entertainment facilities such as bars and pubs still remains in effect, the

Social AffairsJan. 25, 2021

[Newsmaker] Justice Party head resigns over sexual harassment

The head of a minor progressive opposition party was removed from his post on Monday over sexual harassment, marking the first time the leader of a political party in South Korea has stepped down due to sexual misconduct. The Justice Party -- which has been a strong advocate on gender equality issues -- has pledged to deal with this issue according to the principle of zero tolerance. On Monday Bae Bok-joo, head of the Justice Party’s gender human rights division, officially disclosed le

PoliticsJan. 25, 2021

S. Korea confirms 9 more cases of COVID-19 variants, total now at 27

South Korea confirmed nine more cases of contagious variants of the new coronavirus on Monday, bringing the variants' total caseload to 27, as health authorities remain vigilant against the possibility that highly transmissible new variants could spark another uptick in virus cases here. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said the nine people were confirmed to have been inflected with the virus variants over the past week. Of them, four arrived in South Korea from Britain, t

Social AffairsJan. 25, 2021

‘NK diplomat is living in South’

North Korea’s former acting ambassador to Kuwait has been living with his family in South Korea for at least a year, a local newspaper reported Monday. The diplomat, Ryu Hyun-woo, was the North’s acting chief of mission in Kuwait in 2019, when he defected to the South with his family, who the source said had motivated him to defect in hopes of a “better future.” If true, it is the third time a ranking official from Pyongyang has defected to Seoul since 2012, when leade

North KoreaJan. 25, 2021

Unification Minister calls for flexible solution to the joint military exercises

Unification Minister Lee In-young on Monday stressed the need to find a flexible solution to the upcoming joint military exercise between Washington and Seoul, to prevent any further flare-up of cross-border tensions. 　 Lee underlined four areas that need to be taken into account when deciding whether to hold the combined military drills, which have long irked Pyongyang. These are COVID-19, the Tokyo Olympics, the lack of an established US policy on the Korean Peninsula, and Seoul’s envi

North KoreaJan. 25, 2021

[Herald Interview] Young feminist runs for Seoul mayor

Shin Ji-hye, a 33-year-old feminist and socially liberal politician, hopes to set off sweeping changes in the nation and challenge social, financial and gender inequality, starting with the Seoul mayoral election. Shin, a representative of the minor Basic Income Party, and other members of her party believe a new social contract is necessary in an era where decent jobs are on the decline, poverty is growing, inequality is widening and housing prices are skyrocketing. “We created this

PoliticsJan. 25, 2021

Labor income gap widened amid COVID-19 pandemic: report

The labor income gap among wage earners in South Korea worsened last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a government report showed, despite narrower disparities in disposable income under the Moon Jae-in administration. The Gini coefficient -- a measure of income inequality within a population -- went up slightly to 0.306 last year when calculated on the basis of hourly labor income, according to a report from the Korea Employment Information Service. The report was based on employment data fr

Social AffairsJan. 25, 2021

12 USFK-affiliated people test positive for COVID-19

Ten US service members and two dependents have tested positive for the new coronavirus upon their arrival in South Korea, US Forces Korea (USFK) said Monday. One service member arrived at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on a US government chartered flight, while the others arrived at Incheon International Airport, west of the capital, on commercial flights from Jan. 8-20, according to USFK. Five of them tested positive on their first mandatory COVID-19 test prio

Social AffairsJan. 25, 2021

S. Korea delays UN peacekeeping ministerial forum to Dec. due to pandemic

South Korea has postponed its hosting of a high-level UN peacekeeping meeting, initially planned for April, to December due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ministries of foreign affairs and defense said Monday. The decision to reschedule the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Conference for Dec. 7-8 came during the third session of a preparatory committee presided over by Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and Defense Minister Suh Wook. "Multiple UN member countries assessed that our decision on the

Foreign AffairsJan. 25, 2021

Virus variants, infection cluster in Daejeon put authorities on alert

South Korea is on alert as a new infection cluster traced to a missionary school in Daejeon could serve as a major threat to the country’s response to its ongoing third COVID-19 wave. Since the outbreak first came to light Saturday, Korea discovered a total of 127 fresh cases traced to the IEM School, a Christian missionary training center in Daejeon, by Sunday’s end, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The boarding school, made to recruit and train teenag

Social AffairsJan. 25, 2021

Border county struggling to get rid of fish inventory from canceled ice fishing fest

HWACHEON -- Many local governments nationwide are struggling to cope with repercussions from the coronavirus-caused cancellations of their seasonal festivals that used to generate sizable economic benefits and tourism income for local residents and merchants. The Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival, a world famous ice fishing event hosted every winter by Hwacheon, a Gangwon Province county near the inter-Korean border, is not an exception, as its 2021 edition was cancelled due to COVID-19. The nu

PoliticsJan. 25, 2021

Despite COVID-19, govt. seeks to expand in-person classes due to challenges of remote learning

South Korean school kids are expected to attend more in-person classes this year, as concerns are growing over the widening education gap and child care among working parents. "The ministry is planning to expand in-person instruction this year, either by giving schools more leeway, or expanding exceptions" to the government's health protocol on the issue, a ministry official told Yonhap News Agency on Sunday. The greater Seoul area, where nearly half of the country's 51.8 million pop

Social AffairsJan. 25, 2021

Minister hopes for 'wise' and 'flexible' solution to joint military drill issue

Unification Minister Lee In-young expressed hope Monday for a "wise" and "flexible" solution on whether to hold joint military drills with the United States so that the issue will not cause serious tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Lee made the remarks during a press conference for the new year in Seoul, weeks after North Korea demanded an end to joint military exercises between South Korea and the US as a major precondition for the improvement in inter-Korean relations. &q

North KoreaJan. 25, 2021

Defense ministry denies media report on alleged push for time-based OPCON transfer

South Korea and the United States are working closely on the conditions-based wartime operational control (OPCON) transfer, as agreed upon earlier, the defense ministry said Monday, rebutting a media report that Seoul seeks to fix a date for the goal. Earlier in the day, local daily JoongAng Ilbo reported that South Korea abandoned its goal of regaining the operational control of its troops from Washington by the end of President Moon Jae-in's term, and instead aims to clearly fix a transition

DefenseJan. 25, 2021