5 military-affiliated people test positive for new coronavirus

Four military officers and one civilian worker of the Air Force have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Tuesday. Two Navy officers, one Air Force officer and the civilian worker, all stationed in the southern city of Sacheon, were confirmed to have been infected after undergoing tests following two earlier COVID-19 cases at their base, according to the ministry. "We are administering tests for all members of the unit, and contact tracing is under way,"

Social AffairsJan. 19, 2021

Outgoing US envoy says hope alone won't resolve NK issue, calls for readiness

Outgoing US Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris said Tuesday that hope alone will not resolve the North Korea issue, highlighting the importance of combined exercises between Seoul and Washington amid the North's threat to continue developing its nuclear capabilities. Harris made the remark at a webinar in Seoul, one day after President Moon Jae-in said South and North Korea can discuss issues regarding the allies' combined military exercises, if necessary, in response to the North's repeate

North KoreaJan. 19, 2021

S. Korea investigating 2 suspected cases of highly pathogenic bird flu

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Tuesday it is investigating two suspected cases of highly pathogenic bird flu from poultry farms as the country continued to cull more chickens in a preventive measure. The latest suspected case of the malign H5N8 strain of avian influenza came from an egg farm in Yongin, just south of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs. The total caseload here reached 66 as of Tuesday, with Gyeonggi Province that surrounds Seoul ac

Social AffairsJan. 19, 2021

Moon to join WEF's virtual meeting next week

President Moon Jae-in will attend an online meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) next week and deliver a keynote speech on responding to the global health care and economic crisis, Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday. The WEF, an international body for public-private cooperation, has invited Moon to its Davos Agenda event to be held from Jan. 25-29, along with the leaders of more than 10 other countries. They include Chinese President Xi Jinping and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The Geneva-base

PoliticsJan. 19, 2021

NK leader urges devotion from newly elected members of Cabinet, ruling party

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un urged the newly appointed members of the Cabinet and the ruling party to devote themselves to the country and serve the people like "God," as he held a photo session with them, state media said Tuesday. Last week, Pyongyang wrapped up the eight-day congress of the Workers' Party, during which it carried out a reshuffle of its ruling party leadership and laid out a five-year economic development plan. On Sunday, the North's rubber-stamp Supreme People's

North KoreaJan. 19, 2021

PM urges public to maintain vigilance amid drop in virus infections

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on Tuesday called for the public to adhere to strict social distancing rules despite a downward trend in the number of new daily coronavirus cases nationwide. "We seem to have recovered a small level of normalcy of our daily lives, but COVID-19 still continues to threaten us from unseeable places," Chung said during an interagency meeting on the COVID-19 response held at the government complex in Seoul. The current third wave of COVID-19 here reached its

PoliticsJan. 19, 2021

New infection cases under 400 for 2nd day; virus curve sliding downhill

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases stayed under 400 for the second straight day Tuesday as infections sharply slowed down on tightened social distancing measures, but health authorities still remain vigilant over potential upticks amid partially eased curbs. The country added 386 more COVID-19 cases, including 351 domestic infections, raising the total caseload to 73,115, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The third wave of COVID-19 here reached its pea

Social AffairsJan. 19, 2021

S. Korea culls 18.8m poultry to prevent spread of bird flu

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Monday it has completed destroying 18.8 million poultry to prevent the spread of highly pathogenic bird flu among local farms, with the number set to further rise down the road on the piling up of new cases. The country has confirmed 66 cases of the malign H5N8 strain of avian influenza since late November, including the latest case from a duck farm in Gimje, about 260 kilometers southwest of Seoul, the previous day, according to the Ministry of Agricult

Social AffairsJan. 19, 2021

Outgoing US envoy meets PM, expresses hope to play role in advancing alliance

Outgoing US Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris on Monday paid a farewell courtesy call on Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun and expressed his wish to play a role in advancing the bilateral alliance between Seoul and Washington. Harris, a former Navy admiral-turned-diplomat, also expressed his wish that the friendship between the two countries further develop in a wide range of areas, including politics, the economy and public health, according to the prime minister's office. The ambassador rec

Foreign AffairsJan. 18, 2021

Consumer watchdog finds ‘not safe’ heated vests

Four types of heated vest products were found to fail safety standards due to high surface temperatures, the Korea Consumer Agency said Monday. Based on a consumer survey, the watchdog selected 10 heated vests, one each from among the top 10 most popular brands, and conducted various tests on the safety, warmth and usability of the products. As the vests use batteries for the heating element, they have to follow electrical appliance safety standards, which require heated clothing’s sur

Social AffairsJan. 18, 2021

Victim of ex-Seoul mayor's sexual harassment urges lawmaker to resign

A victim of sexual harassment by former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon on Monday urged a ruling party lawmaker to resign and apologize over the suspected leakage of information about her complaint against the mayor. “I am horrified by the fact that the complaint against Park could be revealed to him even before I filed the complaint with the police,” the victim and her family said in a statement. Rep. Nam In-soon of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea is under investigation over su

Social AffairsJan. 18, 2021

Foreign residents to get COVID-19 vaccine for free

The South Korean government on Monday said that foreign residents in the country will also be given the COVID-19 vaccine for free, as will Korean nationals, once the vaccines are rolled out. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s chief Jung Eun-kyeong, who will helm the immunization efforts in the country, told a news briefing that “everyone here, including foreign residents, will be given the vaccines free of charge.” The announcement comes as the authorities s

Social AffairsJan. 18, 2021

Uncontrolled carbon emissions could warm Korea by 7 degrees in 60 years, weather agency warns

If carbon emissions are kept at the current level, the temperature on the Korean Peninsula could rise by 7 degrees Celsius within the next 60 years, the Korea Meteorological Agency said Monday. Based on a recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the state-run weather agency released its Korean Peninsula Climate Change Forecast Report 2020. The KMA’s report divided the climate change outlook into two scenarios -- “high-carbon” and “low-carbon.&r

Social AffairsJan. 18, 2021

S. Korea withdraws destroyer to negotiate tanker release

South Korea pulled its anti-piracy Cheonghae Unit from the Strait of Hormuz near Iran in a show of good faith in the negotiation to release a South Korea-flagged tanker seized by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps for polluting the sea, Seoul officials said Monday. Tehran lodged a strong complaint with Seoul on Jan. 5, a day after it seized the tanker, when South Korea deployed the unit to the strait off the Iranian coast. South Korea withdrew the destroyer in a sign of goodwill before fi

DefenseJan. 18, 2021

Webtoon artist creates stir for defaming independence fighters

South Korean webtoon artist Yoon Seo-in was mired in controversy after writing a post that appeared to hail pro-Japanese collaborators and insult Korean independence fighters on his Facebook. The controversial cartoonist faces a lawsuit from an association of the independence fighters who fought against Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, after describing them as “people who have lived lazily.” “While descendants of pro-Japanese collaborators lived th

Social AffairsJan. 18, 2021

Moon hopes Biden will turn tide of talks with NK

President Moon Jae-in on Monday expressed high expectations in working with the upcoming Joe Biden administration, saying the launch of the new US government will become a “turning point” in resuming the stalled US-North Korea and inter-Korean talks. “I think the launch of the Biden administration is a turning point for beginning US-North Korea, inter-Korean talks anew. The talks should inherit and develop from the achievements from the Trump administration,” Moon sai

PoliticsJan. 18, 2021

Discussions on corporate profit sharing heat up amid pandemic-driven economic polarization

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) has set out to find ways to get lucrative companies to share some of their profits with small businesses vulnerable to losses amid the coronavirus pandemic, but it is facing vehement objection from the business community and opposition lawmakers. Last week, a DP task force addressing the growing economic bipolarization from the pandemic began discussions on how to promote profit sharing between the supposed corporate winners and losers amid an economy weighed do

PoliticsJan. 18, 2021

Race for Seoul mayor heats up as political heavyweights announce bids

The race for the upcoming Seoul mayoral by-election is all but set, with the ruling and opposition parties likely to finalize their candidates by the end of this week. The competition has heated up with the addition of each new runner, the latest being former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who declared his candidacy on the ticket of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) on Sunday. All eyes are now on the decision of Park Young-sun, minister of SMEs and Startups, who is widely expected to throw

PoliticsJan. 18, 2021

S. Korea reports 1st COVID-19 variant case from Brazil

South Korea's health authorities on Monday confirmed the country's first case of the new coronavirus variant that was first identified in Brazil. The latest discovery brings the total caseload of new coronavirus variants to 18 here, including 15 with the British COVID-19 variant and two with the South African variant, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Reports say the British and South African variants may spread more readily between people than the original v

Social AffairsJan. 18, 2021

NK parliament reshuffles economic officials

North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament gathered Sunday to pass decisions made by a recent ruling party congress and carried out a major reshuffle of officials in charge of economic affairs, state media said Monday.   　 The 14th Supreme People’s Assembly gathered for a fourth session in Pyongyang on Sunday, with delegates unanimously approving the five-year economic development plans unveiled at the Workers’ Party congress that ended last week, according to the North&rsquo

North KoreaJan. 18, 2021