Kakao to build S. Korea’s 1st K-pop arena in Seoul

South Korean IT giant Kakao and the Seoul Metropolitan Government have signed an agreement to build the country’s first and largest arena dedicated to staging K-pop performances, officials said Monday. Called Seoul Arena, the multicultural complex will begin construction in June and is expected to be completed in October 2025. Seoul Arena will be built in Seoul’s northern Dobong-gu and will be capable of accommodating more than 20,000 concertgoers for a single event. According to

Social AffairsApril 4, 2022

S. Korea‘s daily COVID-19 cases drop to lowest in 6 weeks

South Korea reported the lowest COVID-19 daily cases in around six weeks for the 24 hours of Sunday, according to the country’s health authorities on Monday. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the country’s daily COVID-19 infections reported for Sunday reached 127,190, bringing the total caseload to 14,001,406. This daily figure was the lowest since Feb. 22, when the country reported 99,562 COVID-19 cases. The noticeable decrease Sunday was largely d

Social AffairsApril 4, 2022

Education Ministry earmarks W600b for ‘education recovery’

The Education Ministry said Monday it will inject 600 billion won ($492.69 million) into its “education recovery” project to provide academic and psychological support for students that have had to cope with the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. With the social distancing rules in Korea expected to take a new turn in the gradual return to normalcy, the ministry is set to draw up a new guideline for infectious disease control and prevention at schools. “This week, we will have a

Social AffairsApril 4, 2022

People Power Party to elect new floor leader Friday

South Korea's conservative People Power Party is preparing to elect a new floor leader that is expected to face strong opposition from the liberal Democratic Party of Korea in the following year. The party is holding an internal election on Friday, and its outcome will determine what direction the party will take with the new government and who to pick as key parliamentary supporters of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration that kicks off in May. The new elected floor leader will face an uphill bat

PoliticsApril 4, 2022

Gyeonggi govt. building raided over Lee wife's alleged misuse of government credit cards

Police on Monday raided the Gyeonggi provincial government building as part of an investigation into allegations that the wife of former ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung misused local government credit cards when Lee was governor. Kim Hye-kyung, Lee's wife, came under fire weeks ahead of the March 9 presidential election following revelations that she used credit cards of the Gyeonggi government for personal shopping and eating. Lee was Gyeonggi governor from 2018-2021. Investig

PoliticsApril 4, 2022

Zelenskyy to deliver virtual address to S. Korean lawmakers

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will deliver a virtual address to South Korean lawmakers next week, the chairman of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee said Monday. Zelenskyy's speech will be delivered virtually at the National Assembly Library at 5 p.m. on April 11, Rep. Lee Kwang-jae of the ruling Democratic Party said on MBC radio. "We need to clearly raise our voice (against Russia's invasion of Ukraine) in the international community," he said. "Parliamentary

Foreign AffairsApril 4, 2022

Over 12,000 migrant workers to arrive in S. Korea in H1: govt.

More than 12,000 migrant workers will enter South Korea in the first half of this year to relieve labor shortage in farming and fishing areas, the justice ministry said Monday. Of the total of 12,330 migrant workers invited to the country, 100 from the Philippines first arrived here on Monday, with 200 more expected to come by Wednesday. The 300 Filipino workers have been invited by the Yanggu county government in the eastern Gangwon Province ahead of the busy farming season. Last week, the just

Social AffairsApril 4, 2022

Two Koreas hold daily liaison call despite Pyongyang's renewed threat

The South Korean government called Monday on North Korea to refrain from escalating tensions in the region, responding to the latest statement, directed at Seoul, by Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of North Korea's leader. "The Ministry of Unification clearly points out that North Korea should not cause additional tension on the Korean Peninsula in any case," the ministry's spokesperson Lee Jong-joo told a regular press briefing. The ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs,

North KoreaApril 4, 2022

Yoon's wife considering commencing public activity ahead of husband's inauguration

Kim Keon-hee, the wife of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, is considering commencing public activity ahead of her husband's inauguration in May after keeping a low profile for months, officials said Monday. Kim has stayed out of public view since she came under attack for various charges of misconduct, including allegations she lied on her resume when applying for jobs, even after her husband's election victory last month. "She is thinking hard about ways to make contributions to our society

PoliticsApril 4, 2022

S. Korea's daily infections fall to 6-week low; concerns linger amid eased restrictions

South Korea's new coronavirus cases dropped to the lowest tally in six weeks Monday, but there are lingering concerns of another spike over the eased virus curbs. The country reported 127,190 new COVID-19 infections, including 15 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 14,001,406, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The daily tally marked the lowest number since the 99,562 cases on Feb. 22. The death toll from COVID-19 came to 17,453, up 218 from Sunday, t

Social AffairsApril 4, 2022

Rep. Park, ex-Vice FM Cho considered leading FM candidates: sources

Rep. Park Jin of the main opposition People Power Party is being considered for the first foreign minister of the incoming government, along with former Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yong, sources said Monday. Park and Cho, who is also a PPP lawmaker, are in the United States this week as part of a delegation sent by President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol. If one is nominated foreign minister, the other could be tapped as the next ambassador to the US, according to the sources. Kim Sung-han, a former vic

PoliticsApril 4, 2022

Yoon seeks to strengthen alliance with US, joint efforts to denuclearize N. Korea: delegation chief

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol and his administration will work with the United States to strengthen the countries' alliance and their joint efforts to tackle various issues, including North Korea, the head of Yoon's delegation to the US said Sunday. Rep. Park Jin of Yoon's People Power Party also said the purpose of the delegation's visit was to closely coordinate their policies before the president-elect takes office on May 10. "There are seven of us here with expertise (in various area) t

PoliticsApril 4, 2022

Seoul to actively consider building new crematoriums amid rising COVID-19 deaths

The Seoul city government will actively consider building new crematoriums in addition to adding furnaces to existing ones in an effort to meet soaring cremation demand from rising COVID-19 deaths, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said Sunday. Oh made the remark to reporters during a visit to Seoul Memorial Park, a crematorium on the southern outskirts of Seoul, saying the demand for cremation is difficult to meet even though the facilities have been in operation at full capacity. "Workers in the

Social AffairsApril 3, 2022

Parties agree to pass bill calling for special counsel probe into sexual abuse case

Rival political parties on Sunday agreed to pass a bill calling for a special counsel probe into a sexual abuse case that led to the suicide of a noncommissioned Air Force officer in May.  Rep. Park Hong-keun, the floor leader of the ruling Democratic Party, and his counterpart Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon of the main opposition People Power Party, reached an agreement to present the bill to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly on Monday for a review and pass the bill at a

PoliticsApril 3, 2022

South Korea looks to end social distancing once and for all

Social distancing may come to a complete end in South Korea in two weeks’ time, according to top officials, over prospects that the ongoing omicron wave is leveling off and receding. Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said during a government COVID-19 meeting Friday that there would be “a bold shake-up of the remaining social distancing practices” that are due to expire on April 17. In a news briefing held the same day Minister of Health and Welfare Kwon Deok-cheol said the countr

Social AffairsApril 3, 2022

North Korea warns Seoul of ‘serious threat’ at defense minister’s remarks

Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, denounced South Korea’s defense chief, Suh Wook, for his remarks over the nation’s missile capabilities, warning that Seoul may face “serious threats.”　 Kim, the vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, is a key figure in the Kim family regime, serving her brother Kim Jong-un closely. “(Suh) is a confrontation maniac,” Kim said in an English-la

North KoreaApril 3, 2022

Han Duck-soo nominated as prime minister

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol has tapped former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to join his administration as prime minister, a personnel pick believed to help Yoon exert influence as he takes charge of a minority government in May. In a press conference held Sunday afternoon, Yoon said Han was chosen as he has served in various key positions "regardless of political allegiance but only due to his competence and expertise." "The new government is tasked with setting a foundation for

PoliticsApril 3, 2022

Yoon's office works out initial budget for presidential office relocation in talks with govt. agencies

The office of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol has asked for between 30 billion and 40 billion won ($2.46 million-3.28 million) in reserve government funds for its project to move the presidential office out of Cheong Wa Dae after working out the amount in talks with related agencies, officials said Sunday. "Working-level discussions wrapped up without major disagreements," said an official with Yoon's task force on relocation. "If Cheong Wa Dae gives the OK, we anticipate that appro

PoliticsApril 3, 2022

Daily infections below 300,000 for 3rd day

South Korea's new coronavirus cases stayed below 300,000 for the third consecutive day Sunday as the spread of the omicron variant slowed down after peaking out last month. The country reported 234,301 new COVID-19 infections, including 22 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 13,874,216, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). South Korea has seen a downward trend in daily cases in recent weeks, with a record high of over 620,000 on March 17 falling

Social AffairsApril 3, 2022

Kim Yo-jong slams S. Korean minister's talk of 'preemptive strike,' warns of serious consequence

The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un lambasted South Korea's defense chief for talk of "preemptive strike" capabilities and warned that the South may face a "serious threat" for such a "senseless" remark, according to Pyongyang's state media Sunday. In her rare press statement issued the previous day, Kim Yo-jong called South Korean Defense Minister Suh Wook a "senseless and scum-like guy" for mentioning a preemptive strike at a "nuclear wea

North KoreaApril 3, 2022