Candidates from ‘third party’ meet up, discuss runoff system

Presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo from the People’s Party met with Rep. Sim Sang-jung from the Justice Party on Monday to discuss how to improve nation’s election system and agreed to push for special prosecution against two key candidates from the ruling and main opposition parties. “We shared that the two party system has caused difficulties in people’s lives. We will cooperate on what we can do to restore the politics for the future, for the people,” Sim s

PoliticsDec. 6, 2021

Almost all youth COVID-19 patients not fully vaccinated: education minister

Almost all of the children and teenagers confirmed to have COVID-19 in the past two weeks were found to have not completed their vaccination, the education minister said Monday. Of a total of 2,990 youths who tested positive, 99.8 percent, or 2,986, had only received the first jab of a COVID-19 vaccine or none, Minister Yoo Eun-hae said during a meeting with superintendents of education offices across the country. One in five coronavirus patients is aged 18 or under, with a daily average of 56

Social AffairsDec. 6, 2021

[Election 2022] How rival presidential candidates differ on US policy

At a time when uncertainty looms large on regional and international security order, South Koreans will head to the polls in March to elect a new president. 　 The leading contenders are Lee Jae-myung of the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea and Yoon Suk-yeol of the conservative opposition People Power Party. While domestic issues such as runaway housing prices and continuing economic fallout from the pandemic are expected to be on the forefront of voters’ minds, the result will al

Foreign AffairsDec. 6, 2021

Omicron’s growing presence puts Korea on alert

The growing presence of omicron is putting disease control authorities on alert in Korea, with the tally rising by 12 in one day to 24 on Monday. Korea now has 24 known omicron cases -- six of them recent travelers from Nigeria and South Africa along with 18 people they came in contact with after returning. Omicron cases were first detected here on Wednesday. Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said in a government meeting concerning the COVID-19 response Monday that “all resources will be dire

Social AffairsDec. 6, 2021

Korea sticking to plan to expand ‘vaccine pass’ to youths

Despite some hiccups, the Korean government will go forward with its plan to implement a “vaccine pass” system for school pupils aged 12 to 18 from February. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said teenagers born between 2003 and 2009 will be allowed to go to private cram schools, cinemas and cyber cafes only if they are fully vaccinated from February. Alternatively, those who have not been fully vaccinated will have to show a recent negative COVID-19 test result for

Social AffairsDec. 6, 2021

[Election 2022] Lee narrows gap with Yoon in poll

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling party, is chasing Yoon Suk-yeol, his rival from the main opposition party, closing the gap in support to 6.5 percentage points, a poll showed Monday. In a survey by local pollster Realmeter, Lee of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea posted 37.5 percent support against Yoon of the main opposition People Power Party at 44 percent. The survey, conducted at the request of OhmyNews, a local online media outlet, took responses from 3,054 p

PoliticsDec. 6, 2021

[Newsmaker] [Election 2022] Yoon mends fences in team, officially kicks off election committee

Smoothing over a month of discord in the party, Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential candidate of the main opposition People Power Party, has officially kicked off his election committee and pledged to reform the government and country, Monday. “The Korea I dream of is a country with strong fundamentals. It should not be the people for the country, but the country for the people,” Yoon said in the inauguration ceremony of his central election committee that will lead his electioneering

PoliticsDec. 6, 2021

Pandemic risk in greater Seoul area at highest level for 2 weeks

The risk level of the pandemic in South Korea's capital area over the past week has been at the highest level for two weeks in a row, health authorities said Monday. Earlier, South Korea introduced a new five-tier assessment system to evaluate the risk level of COVID-19 on a weekly basis that is used to decide whether to further ease virus restrictions under its three-phase "living with COVID-19" scheme, which began on Nov. 1. If the risk level reaches the fourth degree or higher, th

Social AffairsDec. 6, 2021

Seoul to step up monitoring fake news on N. Korea

The South Korean government will beef up efforts to monitor fake news on North Korea that "distort the policy environment" for inter-Korean relations, officials said Monday. On Friday, the National Assembly approved a 1.5 trillion won ($1.27 billion) budget for the unification ministry handling inter-Korean affairs next year, including 200 million won to launch the new monitoring program. The program was suggested following "needs for a more systematic monitoring due to the fre

North KoreaDec. 6, 2021

N.Korea ranked 17th for relative power among 26 Asia-Pacific countries

North Korea was ranked 17th for its relative power among 26 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia’s Lowy Institute said in an annual report. The foreign policy think tank on Sunday released its 2021 Asia Power Index report, which comprehensively gauges the power of Asia-Pacific countries by using 131 indicators across eight thematic measures. The index assessed a wide range of country‘s capacities, including military and economic capabilities, diplomatic and cultural inf

North KoreaDec. 6, 2021

Foreign ministry highlights COVID-19 diplomacy in white paper

South Korea stepped up diplomacy last year to deal with emerging challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic and join global efforts to fight cross-border health threats, according to its annual diplomatic white paper published on Monday. The foreign ministry added a new chapter to the 2021 white paper to detail diplomatic activities in regard to protection of Korean nationals and businesses abroad, securing medical equipment, such as masks, and regional coordination against the pandemic. "The

Foreign AffairsDec. 6, 2021

Moon expects S. Korea's trade to post all-time high of over $1.2tr this year

President Moon Jae-in said Monday that South Korea's trade is expected to amount to an all-time high of more than $1.2 trillion this year on the back of strong exports in a sign that the nation's economic recovery is faster than anticipated. "Exports are forecast to exceed $630 billion and trade volume is expected to surpass $1.2 trillion," Moon told a ceremony marking the 58th Trade Day. In the first 11 months of this year, South Korea's cumulative exports came to $583.8 billion, th

PoliticsDec. 6, 2021

Military reports 19 more COVID-19 cases

South Korea's military reported 19 additional COVID-19 cases, all of which are breakthrough ones, Monday, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 2,531. Of the new cases, 13 people are from the Army, one from the Air Force, two from the Marine Corps and three from units under the direct control of the defense ministry, officials said. Of the cumulative cases in the military, 279 patients are still under treatment. Amid growing fears of the omicron variant, the military has toughen

DefenseDec. 6, 2021

Yoon's top election pledge will be helping economically vulnerable people hit by pandemic: official

Helping economically vulnerable people hit by the COVID-19 pandemic will be the top election pledge of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP)'s presidential candidate, Yoon Seok-youl, the party's campaign chief said Monday. Kim Chong-in, a veteran politician who recently accepted an offer to head Yoon's campaign, said the PPP nominee will focus on providing solutions for economically disadvantaged people amid growing economic inequality prompted by the pandemic. "How to revive peo

PoliticsDec. 6, 2021

Navy's frigate Jeonbuk selected as '2021 top gun' ship

South Korea's Navy has selected the 2,500-ton frigate, Jeonbuk, as this year's "top gun" ship following an annual assessment of its warships' combat capabilities, officials said Monday. The frigate of the Third Fleet Command based in Mokpo, 410 kilometers southwest of Seoul, won the title after it passed final gunnery competitions that took place from September to October, the officials said. The competition to pick the top gun vessel has taken place annually since 1988. They are mea

DefenseDec. 6, 2021

New cases fall below 5,000; 4-week toughened virus rules go into effect

South Korea's new coronavirus cases fell below 5,000 for the first time in three days Monday as the country reimposed toughened social distancing rules amid concerns over the spread of the omicron variant. The country added 4,325 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total caseload to 477,358, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Daily infections soared to a record high of 5,352 cases on Saturday before falling to 5,127 on Sunday. On Monday, the government began

Social AffairsDec. 6, 2021

S. Korea to focus on containing omicron variant with tightened anti-virus measures: PM

South Korea will focus on containing the omicron variant of the novel coronavirus till the end of this year as the country started to enforce tightened social distancing measures amid rising daily infections, Prime Minster Kim Boo-kyum said Monday. "The threat of the omicron variant is becoming apparent," Kim said during a COVID-19 response meeting in Seoul. "Although we do not have a clear grasp of the omicron variant, what looks certain is that it is highly contagious."

PoliticsDec. 6, 2021

US ambassador to UN to join peacekeeping conference virtually

US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield will attend a virtual conference on UN peacekeeping hosted by the Seoul government next week, according to her office. Thomas-Greenfield will lead the US delegation to the virtual 2021 UN Peacekeeping Ministerial hosted by Seoul on Dec. 7 and 8 to reaffirm US commitment to improving peacekeeping operations, the US Mission to the UN said Friday (local time). "UN peacekeeping missions are one of the most effective tools the globa

Foreign AffairsDec. 5, 2021

[Newsmaker] Vaccine Pass: What foreign residents vaccinated abroad have to go through in Korea

From Monday, restaurants, cafes, cinemas and other public places in Korea will ask for proof of vaccination or a negative test for entry, as South Korea brings back stricter social distancing rules in the face of growing daily cases and the new omicron variant.  This means foreign nationals vaccinated overseas are highly likely to be denied access to such venues.  Currently, the country’s vaccination verification system, the Health Ministry-run mobile app COOV, does not recogni

Social AffairsDec. 5, 2021

Cyberattacks targeting S. Korea’s security strategies will increase during elections: NIS

Hackers with the backing of foreign governments will aggressively target information on Seoul’s national security strategies in the runup to the presidential election next March, the South Korean spy agency warned in its recent annual report. The National Cyber Security Center, under the auspices of the National Intelligence Service, last week released the annual report entailing cyber threat assessments and predictions, as well as its countermeasures. In the report, the NCSC predicted

North KoreaDec. 5, 2021