Abuse of power claims against Lee Jae-myung and his wife grow

Allegations of power abuse surrounding the presidential nominee for the ruling party and his wife continue to grow, with numerous accusations freshly presented since they were first raised on Jan. 28. A new allegation was made Monday that Lee Jae-myung‘s wife Kim Hye-kyung used a Gyeonggi Provincial Government vehicle for personal purposes, attending to private matters and parking it at a resident welfare center near the apartment where Lee and Kim lived. The two are also suspected of ad

PoliticsFeb. 8, 2022

S. Korea‘s daily COVID-19 cases stay above 35,000 for four straight days

South Korea’s daily COVID-19 infections stayed above 35,000 for a fourth straight day for the 24 hours of Monday, government data showed Tuesday. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the country’s daily COVID-19 cases for the day marked 36,719, raising the total to 1,081,681. The daily infections Monday was a twofold increase from the same day of the prior week, when the country’s COVID-19 cases reached 18,340. The figure is also around four times

Social AffairsFeb. 8, 2022

Moon calls for measures to guarantee voting rights of virus patients, people in self-isolation

President Moon Jae-in called Tuesday for measures to guarantee voting rights of virus patients and people in self-isolation in the upcoming presidential election amid concerns that the ongoing COVID-19 crisis could prevent hundreds of thousands of voters from casting their ballots. Under current election rules, it is virtually impossible for those who are diagnosed with COVID-19 after the early voting period that falls on March 4-5 and people who go into self-isolation just before the March 9

PoliticsFeb. 8, 2022

NK holds key parliamentary meeting in leader Kim’s absence

North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament gathered for two days earlier this week to discuss cabinet work and government budgets, with leader Kim Jong-un absent at the key gathering. 　 The sixth session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly was held in Pyongyang on Sunday and Monday, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said Tuesday. 　 There was no separate message toward Washington or Seoul amid heightening tensions on the Korean Peninsula, unlike last September when

North KoreaFeb. 8, 2022

Subway disrupted as disability groups continue protest

An association of disability groups in South Korea is continuing their protest actions at subway stations, disrupting operations during the morning rush hour for the fourth weekday in a row. On Tuesday, some members of the Solidarity against Disability Discrimination staged a rally at Chungmuro Station at around 7:30 a.m., demanding the government do more to help disabled people. “The protest by the disability rights group, which was held on the morning of Feb. 8, ended at 10:18 a.m.,

Social AffairsFeb. 8, 2022

NK official, known for 2018 cross-border thaw, appears to be leading overseas Korean issues

A North Korean official, known for his role in inter-Korean engagement years ago, has emerged as an apparent policymaker on overseas ethnic Korean affairs, Pyongyang's state media showed Tuesday, raising questions over a potential shift in his job. Maeng Kyong-il led a debate on legislating an act aimed at enhancing rights of ethnic Koreans abroad during a session of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), the North's rubber-stamp parliament, earlier this week, according to the North's main newspa

North KoreaFeb. 8, 2022

Presidential candidates slam penalty for short trackers

Presidential candidates vented their rage Tuesday after two South Korean short trackers were disqualified in questionable referee decisions for alleged infractions at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Skaters Hwang Dae-heon and Lee June-seo were both disqualified from the semifinals of the men's 1,000m on Monday after getting called for making an illegal late passing and a lane change that caused contact with another skater, respectively. Those decisions allowed Chinese skaters to advance to the fi

PoliticsFeb. 8, 2022

N. Korea denies cyberattack allegations, slams US as 'hacking empire'

North Korea has denied allegations it has carried out a series of cryptocurrency thefts and cyberattacks on other countries, calling them a "creation" by the United States. It also denounced the US as a "hacking empire and country of intelligence theft." The North made the claim in a piece posted on the country's foreign ministry website Monday, following a recent report by US blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis that said North Korean hackers stole around $400 million wort

North KoreaFeb. 8, 2022

Moon reiterates call on Nat'l Assembly to swiftly pass extra budget bill

President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday reiterated his call on the National Assembly to swiftly approve an extra budget bill designed to help pandemic-hit small merchants, emphasizing that quick support is the key. "We cannot delay support for small merchants and self-employed people even for a moment," Moon said during a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office. The government will thoughtfully review reasonable plans coming out of the process of the National Assembly's deliberation.&quo

PoliticsFeb. 8, 2022

Military reports 466 more COVID-19 cases

South Korea's military on Tuesday reported 466 additional COVID-19 cases, raising the total caseload among its domestic personnel to 6,742. The new cases included 271 from the Army, 148 from the Air Force, 26 from the Marine Corps, 12 from the Navy, eight from units under the direct control of the defense ministry and one from the ministry. Currently, 2,252 military personnel are under treatment. Meanwhile, the military reported no additional virus cases from the Navy's 304-strong Cheonghae u

DefenseFeb. 8, 2022

Suspect in notorious double murder tests positive for COVID-19

A suspect in a notorious double murder case has tested positive for COVID-19 at a Seoul detention facility where a large number of cluster infections have been reported, officials said Tuesday. The 56-year-old suspect, Kang Yoon-seong, was confirmed to be COVID-19 positive at Dongbu Detention Center in eastern Seoul where he has been under detention on charges of killing two women in August. Officials said the Seoul Eastern District Court handling Kang's murder case has decided to delay a jur

Social AffairsFeb. 8, 2022

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases above 35,000 for 4th day amid omicron woes

South Korea's new COVID-19 infections stayed at more than 35,000 cases for four days in a row Tuesday as the highly infectious omicron variant has become the country's dominant strain.  The country reported 36,719 new COVID-19 infections, including 36,619 local cases, raising the total to 1,081,681, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The accumulated virus caseload surpassed a grim milestone of 1 million on Sunday, two years after South Korea reported its

Social AffairsFeb. 8, 2022

N. Korea convenes key parliamentary meeting without leader Kim's attendance

North Korea had a two-day session of its rubber-stamp legislature earlier this week to discuss budgetary and other pending issues, with the country's leader Kim Jong-un not present, according to its state media Tuesday. The 6th session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) was held in Pyongyang on Sunday and Monday, attended by senior ruling party and Cabinet officials, the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. The major event has drawn keen attention from the outs

North KoreaFeb. 8, 2022

Three-way cooperation of US, S. Korea, Japan 'indispensable' to denuclearizing N. Korea: Price

WASHINGTON -- Trilateral cooperation between South Korea, Japan and the United States is one of the most important and effective tools to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, State Department Press Secretary Ned Price said Monday. He made the remarks as Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to hold a trilateral meeting with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts later this week. "I can be confident that one of the priority issues of discussion in that setting will be the recent provo

Foreign AffairsFeb. 8, 2022

Police investigate gang fight in North Jeolla Province

South Korean police have launched an investigation into a fight between two gangs at a funeral in North Jeolla Province, it said Monday. According to the North Jeolla Provincial Police Agency, two gangs got into a fight at the funeral of a former triad member held in Iksan around 2 a.m. Sunday. Police officers were dispatched after local police received a call from a citizen who had witnessed the brawl. But the involved parties had already fled the scene before the officers arrived, accordin

Social AffairsFeb. 7, 2022

‘Yoon Suk-yeol will not repeat Moon’s COVID-19 mistakes’

The last two years of the pandemic in South Korea have been punctuated by similar, preventable tragedies, and this will stop with Yoon Suk-yeol as president, according to his top COVID-19 adviser. Dr. Jung Ki-suck, who served as the director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2016-17 in the immediate aftermath of the Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak, joined the main opposition People Power Party candidate’s campaign in December. On his role as the c

PoliticsFeb. 7, 2022

N.Korea warns of imperialists’ scheme to ‘overthrow regime’ with ideological infiltration

The North Korean party’s official newspaper on Monday called for more intense ideological education for younger generations, warning about “imperialists’ calculation” to overthrow the North Korean regime with cultural and ideological infiltration. The Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, said “anti-socialist maneuvers of the imperialists have been implemented very subtly and viciously in all aspects, including politics, military, ec

North KoreaFeb. 7, 2022

[Newsmaker] Korea switches to self-reported contact tracing as COVID-19 positivity rate hits record

As the omicron variant spreads rapidly in South Korea, related figures have also hit fresh highs, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Monday. As of midnight Sunday, the percentage of tests that were positive out of all tests administered in the country reached 26 percent, up 5.2 percentage points from the previous day’s 20.8 percent. This means that 1 out of 4 people who received a PCR test got a positive result for COVID-19. The figure has been increasing r

Social AffairsFeb. 7, 2022

Facing omicron wave, schools shift to ‘normalcy’

Schools in Korea are to move into “normalcy” attendance measures for the new semester set to begin in March, the Education Ministry said Monday, announcing new COVID-19 protocols for schools.　 The ministry announced a new four-stage plan regarding school attendance which sets standards, yet allows schools to flexibly respond to virus situations. “We are preparing for the new semester as if we are the parents of students,” Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae said during a pr

Social AffairsFeb. 7, 2022

Top nuclear envoys of S. Korea, US, Japan to meet in Hawaii for talks on NK

Top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the US and Japan will hold a trilateral meeting this week in Hawaii to discuss ways to restart the stalled talks and rid the North of its nuclear weapons, amid escalating tension after the regime’s back-to-back missile launches. 　 South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that Noh Kyu-duk, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, will meet with his American and Japanese counterparts, Sung Kim and Takehiro Funakos

Foreign AffairsFeb. 7, 2022