Call for justice over trees ‘poisoned’ near Starbucks drive-thru

A local environmental group is calling for justice after three roadside trees were allegedly killed by poisoning in Seoul last July near a new drive-through outlet of Starbucks. The Korea Federation for Environmental Movements’ Seoul Branch on Thursday held a press conference at the site, decrying the state prosecution’s decision not to press charges against the person who admitted to having mistakenly poured pesticides.  “The (accused) has already admitted to spilling

Social AffairsJan. 28, 2022

Lee, Yoon in dead heat at 35% each: poll

Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung and his main opposition rival Yoon Suk-yeol are in a dead heat at 35 percent support each, a poll showed Friday. Lee of the liberal Democratic Party (DP) gained 1 percentage point from a Jan. 18-20 survey, while Yoon of the conservative People Power Party (PPP) gained 2 points, according to the Gallup Korea poll of 1,000 adults conducted from Tuesday to Thursday. Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the minor opposition People's Party,

PoliticsJan. 28, 2022

Moon thanks Kazakh president for return of remains of independence fighter

President Moon Jae-in on Friday thanked Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for last year's return of the remains of a revered Korean independence fighter as they exchanged letters to mark the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties. In August last year, the remains of Hong Beom-do, one of the most revered Korean independence fighters, were laid to rest at Daejeon National Cemetery, after being returned from Kazakhstan. Hong is a historic and highly symbolic figure in Korea's fight

PoliticsJan. 28, 2022

Japan in final consultations to recommend Sado mine as UNESCO heritage site: report

Japan is in "final consultations" internally to press ahead with a plan to recommend a local gold and silver mine as a candidate for UNESCO world heritage despite South Korea's strong opposition, according to a news report Friday. The Japanese government is nearing a decision to recommend the Sado mine in Niigata Prefecture, where thousands of Koreans were forced into hard labor during the 1910-45 colonization of the peninsula, as a candidate for the 2023 world heritage site, just day

Foreign AffairsJan. 28, 2022

Ahn pledges to sign Korea-US nuclear sharing agreement

People Party leader Ahn Cheol-soo promised Friday to push for the signing of a Korea-US nuclear arms sharing agreement in response to the threat of North Korea’s nuclear weaponss if he is elected. “We will defend Korea’s security and peace, the people’s lives and safety against such provocations in collaboration with the international community, and not shy away from resorting to military countermeasures,” Ahn said at the press conference held in the Seoul Foreign

PoliticsJan. 28, 2022

[Newsmaker] Police investigating needle placed in a study room chair

Police have launched an investigation Friday to nab a suspect who secretly stuck a needle into a chair in a study room in Seoul, resulting in injury to the next user of the seat. According to local reports, the victim was stabbed by a sewing needle hidden under the cushion when they sat down at a reading room in Shinlim-dong, Gwanak-gu, on Jan. 2. The victim suffered a minor thigh injury. The reading room is mainly used by college students preparing for the civil service exam. “Assau

Social AffairsJan. 28, 2022

Defector activist indicted over last year's anti-NK leafleting

Prosecutors have indicted a vocal North Korean defector and activist known for anti-Pyongyang leafleting on charges of attempting to send propaganda leaflets and other items aboard balloons to the North last year, sources said Friday. Park Sang-hak, the head of Fighters for a Free North Korea, a North Korean defectors' group, is accused of having sent a total of 10 balloons carrying propaganda leaflets and booklets as well as $1 bills toward the North from the border provinces of Gyeonggi and G

Social AffairsJan. 28, 2022

Military reports 95 more COVID-19 cases

South Korea's military on Friday reported 95 additional COVID-19 cases, including 90 breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 4,378. Of the new military cases, 72 are from the Army, 12 from the Air Force, five from units under the direct control of the ministry, two from the Navy, and two from the Marine Corps. There were also cases from the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and the Defense Media Agency. Currently, 658 military personnel are under tr

Social AffairsJan. 28, 2022

[Graphic News] Poll finds 9 in 10 Koreans feeling climate change firsthand

　Nine out of 10 South Koreans feel climate change firsthand and are willing to accept any inconvenience caused by policies to solve the problem, a poll showed. 　According to the poll of 1,000 adults nationwide by a civic group, 89.2 percent answered that they actually feel the effects of the climate crisis and 88.5 percent expressed a willingness to accept the inconvenience of policies introduced to address the crisis. 　The poll was conducted by pollster Research View from Dec. 14-18 at the r

NationalJan. 28, 2022

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases top 16,000 amid omicron wave

South Korea's daily COVID-19 cases reached yet another record high Friday, as the country grapples with the rapid spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant with a new nationwide virus response system set to come into force. The country reported 16,096 new COVID-19 infections, including 15,894 local cases, raising the total to 793,582, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The daily count broke the record for the fourth consecutive day, spiking from 8,570 on Tues

Social AffairsJan. 28, 2022

Members of Moon's entourage for Middle East visit test positive for COVID-19

A small number of members of President Moon Jae-in's entourage for a visit to the Middle East tested positive for COVID-19 after they returned home, an official at the presidential office said Friday. Moon, who returned home last Saturday from an eight-day trip to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, worked from home for three days until Tuesday in line with the government's containment guidelines. "After returning home and taking PCR tests, a small number of accompanying per

PoliticsJan. 28, 2022

S. Korea calls for swift revision of Trump-era steel tariffs

South Korea's top trade official called on the United States on Friday to swiftly begin talks to revise the Section 232 tariff rules on Seoul's steel exports, the trade ministry said Friday. In 2018, the US waived the tariffs on South Korean steel products, but it was in return for a yearly import quota of 2.63 million tons of steel, or 70 percent of Seoul's average steel products export volume over the past three years. South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo made the request to US Trade Repr

Foreign AffairsJan. 28, 2022

Market access may make US-proposed IPEF more attractive: S. Korean trade minister

Increased market access may make a US-envisioned new economic framework in the Indo-Pacific region more attractive, South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said Thursday. Yeo said the US-proposed Indo-Pacific economic framework (IPEF) may provide common goods by setting rules and standards, especially for newly emerging industries, such as digitalization, but insisted many countries would consider increased market access as a return for taking part in such an initiative. "I think market a

Foreign AffairsJan. 28, 2022

N. Korea confirms test-firing of long-range cruise, surface-to-surface missiles

North Korea on Friday confirmed this week's two rounds of weapons tests involving long-range cruise missiles and surface-to-surface tactical guided missiles, while leader Kim Jong-un publicly visited a munitions factory for the first time in years. On Thursday, South Korea's military said the North fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea, marking its sixth such launch this month. The latest saber-rattling came just two days after Pyongyang launched two a

North KoreaJan. 28, 2022

US equally focused on N. Korea as all other threats: Pentagon spokesman

The United States is equally focused on dealing with the threat posed by North Korea just as it is with all other major security issues, US Department of Defense Press Secretary John Kirby said Thursday. North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles on Thursday (Seoul time), marking its sixth missile launch since the start of this month. "Just because right now one issue obviously is certainly capturing the attention of the world community doesn't mean that we are not equally pursu

Foreign AffairsJan. 28, 2022

A first-year teacher under investigation over alleged sexual harassment against female students

Police are investigating a first-year teacher’s alleged sexual harassment of female students at a middle school in Busan. The Yeonje Police Station in Busan said Thursday that it launched the investigation earlier this month after the 30-something male teacher’s wrongdoings were reported. According to the police probe, the teacher had sent sexually harassing messages to a several female students. Through the messages, the teacher made inappropriate compliments about the female st

Social AffairsJan. 27, 2022

Korea embraces ‘milder’ omicron, opts for focused protection

Health officials in South Korea say omicron is no cause for alarm, as the newly dominant variant smashes case records. The country saw 14,518 cases on Thursday, replacing the record of 13,012 cases set the previous day, when the daily count rose into five digits for the first time. Son Young-rae, the Ministry of Health and Welfare spokesperson, said Thursday that fears over omicron were unjustified and possibly disruptive. “Omicron is only one-fifth as severe as delta. About half of

Social AffairsJan. 27, 2022

[Election 101] TV debates, where the ‘real battle’ takes place

The main opposition People Power Party on Thursday proposed a debate between its candidate Yoon Suk-yeol and Democratic Party of Korea candidate Lee Jae-myung, continuing the ongoing controversy over whether or not a presidential debate would take place ahead of the March election. The proposal, which attempts to bypass a court decision prohibiting the two leading candidates from holding a televised debate without including rivals from minor parties highlights the importance that political par

PoliticsJan. 27, 2022

[Newsmaker] 4 years prison confirmed for Cho Kuk’s wife on academic fraud

The Supreme Court on Thursday confirmed a four-year prison sentence for Chung Kyung-sim, the wife of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, on a number of charges linked to falsifying documents to help her daughter gain admission to medical school and for other actions concerning a private equity fund. The top court found Chung, a former Dongyang University professor, guilty of all charges related to the unfair college admission of her daughter and upheld the August ruling of the Seoul High Court. C

Social AffairsJan. 27, 2022

Yoon pledges to overhaul presidential office, working methods

Presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol vowed Thursday to build a new presidential office at the Seoul Government Complex in Gwanghwamun and return the existing Cheong Wa Dae site to the public if he is elected. “If I become president, the existing Cheong Wa Dae will disappear,” People Power Party candidate Yoon said at a press conference. “A new concept of the presidential office will be created with a completely different organizational structure and working methods.” &

PoliticsJan. 27, 2022