NK continues nuclear program, relies on cyberattacks for revenue: UN report

North Korea continued to expand its nuclear and missile programs last year despite international sanctions, while the regime relied on cryptocurrency heists as its key revenue source, according to a news report Sunday. 　 A United Nations panel of experts monitoring sanctions on Pyongyang said the regime “continued to develop its capability for production of nuclear fissile materials,” despite no reported nuclear tests or launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles last year, in

North KoreaFeb. 6, 2022

Presidential candidates to register with election watchdog on Feb. 13-14

With the presidential election just 30 days away, South Korea's election watchdog is hastening its preparations for the March 9 vote amid a surge in daily COVID-19 infections driven by the highly contagious omicron variant. According to the National Election Commission (NEC), political parties' presidential candidates have to formally register on Feb. 13 and 14. The candidates' official 22-day campaign period is set to kick off on Feb. 15. Three rounds of TV debate among candidates have been

PoliticsFeb. 6, 2022

South Korea pushes to treat COVID-19 like flu

After just more than two years of the pandemic, South Korea is considering changing the current quarantine system to manage COVID-19 like a seasonal flu, as severe cases decline despite the rapid increase in the spread. Earlier on Friday, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters said it would fully review the possibility of switching to a medical system similar to seasonal flu while evaluating the capacity of the medical system, the final severity rate and the fatality rat

Social AffairsFeb. 6, 2022

Moon to preside over COVID-19 response meeting amid surge in daily cases

President Moon Jae-in will preside over a COVID-19 response meeting on Monday as the nation is grappling with a surge in daily infections driven by highly transmissible omicron variant, according to the presidential office on Sunday. It will be the first time in about six months that Moon presides over a virus response meeting. Due to the rapid spread of the highly contagious omicron, South Korea has set daily records, but deaths have remained relatively low. The daily cases exceeded 38,000 o

PoliticsFeb. 6, 2022

Lee pledges to launch new airport in Busan by 2029

Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung said Sunday he aims to launch a new airport in the southern port city of Busan by 2029. In February last year, the National Assembly approved a bill on a multi-billion-dollar state project to build the new airport on Gadeok Island, the biggest island of Busan, to handle growing air traffic demand and facilitate prosperity in the country's southeast region. Unveiling campaign pledges for Busan, Lee said he will speed up procedures for constructi

PoliticsFeb. 6, 2022

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases hit fresh high of nearly 40,000 amid omicron wave

South Korea's daily virus cases hit another high Sunday, exceeding 38,000, as the highly transmissible omicron variant rages across the country following a holiday season. The country reported 38,691 new COVID-19 infections, including 38,502 local cases, raising the total to 1,009,688, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The accumulated virus caseload surpassed 1 million on Sunday, two years after the country reported its first COVID-19 case. The daily tally s

Social AffairsFeb. 6, 2022

New cases hit fresh high of over 36,000 amid relentless omicron spread

South Korea's daily virus cases exceeded 30,000 for the first time to hit another all-time high of over 36,000 on Saturday amid fast spread of the omicron variant after a holiday season. The country reported 36,362 new COVID-19 infections, including 36,162 local cases, raising the total to 971,018, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The latest figure is a whopping increase of nearly 9,000 from the previous daily record of 27,443 reported on Friday. New infections ha

Social AffairsFeb. 5, 2022

Military to tighten antivirus measures at boot camps amid omicron surge

South Korea's military plans to bolster antivirus measures at boot camps amid a growing number of COVID-19 infections among service members, the defense ministry said Friday. The military reported 298 additional COVID-19 cases Friday, more than doubling from the previous day, raising the total caseload among its domestic personnel to 5,490. Defense Minister Suh Wook held a video-linked meeting with top military commanders and adopted a set of new measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 driven

DefenseFeb. 4, 2022

China might supply Iranian crude oil to N.Korea: CRS

North Korea might be indirectly supplied with Iranian crude oil through China, the US Congressional Research Service said in a recently published report, without further details. The report identified that North Korea “has not pledged to abide by international sanctions against Iran,” adding Pyongyang has similarly been “subject to significant international sanctions.” The CRS notably pointed to potential illicit connections between Tehran and Pyongyang in the “

North KoreaFeb. 4, 2022

Rescuers retrieve body of missing worker from collapsed construction site in Gwangju

Rescue workers on Friday retrieved the body of one more construction worker from the rubble of a collapsed apartment building in the southern city of Gwangju, with three more people still trapped or missing from the accident last month. The body was pulled from a heap of concrete debris on the 27th floor of the high-rise building in the city, about 330 kilometers south of Seoul, the third person found dead and retrieved from the accident site. The exterior walls of the 39-story building unde

Social AffairsFeb. 4, 2022

USFK calls THAAD 'safe, reliable' system amid renewed political debate

The US Forces Korea (USFK) said Friday its THAAD anti-missile system installed in South Korea is a "safe and reliable" asset, as a political debate has been rekindled here over the ideologically sensitive matter in the run-up to the March 9 presidential election. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system has emerged as a hot-button issue during the election season, as Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential candidate of the conservative main opposition People Power Party, pledged

DefenseFeb. 4, 2022

Presidential front-runners clash over security in first TV debate

South Korea’s two leading presidential candidates clashed over plans to reinforce national missile defense against North Korea, while showing discrepancy in their approach to US and China in a two-hour TV debate aired Thursday. The four presidential candidates’ first public discussion on foreign and security policy conspicuously centered on ways to enhance missile defense, which has been challenged by North Korea’s rapidly advancing missile and nuclear capabilities. North K

Foreign AffairsFeb. 4, 2022

COVID-19 patients under self-quarantine may be unable to vote

Concerns are mounting over whether COVID-19 patients will be unable to cast their votes for the 20th presidential election, as those confirmed with the virus after the mail-in ballot registration period may be unable to report to voting booths on March 9. The National Election Commission said Friday it would receive applications for mail-in ballots from Wednesday to Sunday next week. The registration is available to COVID-19 patients housed in treatment centers or those in isolation or self-qua

PoliticsFeb. 4, 2022

Fact check: 1st TV debate for 20th presidential election

Four major candidates met in a studio Thursday night for the first televised debate ahead of South Korea’s 20th presidential election. Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and his main rival Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party met their minor counterparts Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor opposition People’s Party and Sim Sang-jeung of the left-wing Justice Party. In a span of two hours until 10 p.m., the candidates clashed over topics ranging from rea

PoliticsFeb. 4, 2022

Yoon leads Lee 46% to 38%: poll

Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol is leading his ruling party rival Lee Jae-myung with 46 percent public support against Lee's 38 percent, a survey showed Friday. Yoon of the People Power Party (PPP) gained 1 percentage point from a week ago, while Lee of the Democratic Party lost 1 point, according to the Research View survey conducted on 1,000 adults from Tuesday to Thursday. Yoon led Lee by 8 percentage points, which was outside the margin of error of plus or minus 3.1

PoliticsFeb. 4, 2022

Election watchdog reviewing plans for virus-infected voters as daily cases surge

South Korea's election watchdog said Friday it is looking for solutions that allow people who have contracted COVID-19 after the early voting period to cast their ballots in the upcoming presidential election as the country grapples with a surge in daily COVID-19 cases. 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 presidential

PoliticsFeb. 4, 2022

Seoul to introduce new subway trains with free phone chargers, wider seats for pregnant women

Seoul's subway operator will introduce brand new trains equipped with free mobile phone chargers and wider seats for pregnant women starting later this month, officials said Friday. Seoul Metro, the operator of the capital's vast subway system, will put five new trains comprising 40 passenger cars into operation on Line 5 starting this month and add 20 more trains to the line by the end of this year, officials said. The new trains make less noise and offer wireless phone chargers for the firs

Social AffairsFeb. 4, 2022

S. Korea sees new daily high of 27,443 COVID-19 cases

South Korea’s daily COVID-19 infections on Thursday hit a fresh high of 27,443 amid the omicron wave, government data showed Friday. The government also announced Friday that it has decided to extend the current social distancing restrictions for two more weeks until Feb. 20. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the daily cases went up by 4,536 from the previous day’s 22,907. The cumulative total for confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country also reached 934

Social AffairsFeb. 4, 2022

[Weekender] How South Korea went from ‘test, trace, treat’ to ‘let it spread’

South Korea is determined to go easy on omicron, which is behind the ongoing record surge in COVID-19 patients, in the hope that the new dominant variant will not be as bad as the ones that came before. But is this reckless?　 The rationale for the shift to the omicron response plan is that the new variant is less threatening than its predecessor, delta, the government says. Messaging from health officials surrounding omicron has been consistently hopeful. Son Young-rae, spokesperson for th

Social AffairsFeb. 4, 2022

South Korean extortion suspect repatriated from US

A South Korean anti-prostitution activist, who fled to the United States in 2019 after being sought on charges of extortion, has been repatriated home, prosecutors said Friday. The Supreme Prosecutors Office (SPO) said the 40-year-old fugitive, whose name was withheld, was captured in the US in December and was returned to South Korea on Thursday in the form of forced deportation. He was put on a wanted list for extorting money from prostitution establishments in collusion with gangsters while

Foreign AffairsFeb. 4, 2022