[Photo News] Red crabs preparing for winter

Every year, millions of red crabs migrate from the forest toward the ocean to mate in preparation for winter. On Australia’s Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean, red crab migration season has already begun, as can be seen from the streets literally covered in crabs. A female crab can produce up to 100,000 eggs, and in some areas there can be up to 100 crabs per square meter of beach or rock.  Migration usually begins after the first rainfall. According to the Parks Australia websi

Foreign AffairsNov. 20, 2021

N. Korea raps U.N. human rights council over 'arbitrary' standard

North Korea's foreign ministry on Saturday criticized the U.N. Human Rights Council for adopting "arbitrary" Western standards to attack its human rights conditions. The ministry said the U.N. council's adoption of human rights resolutions "targets particular countries," which is against its purpose of treating human rights issues in a "fair, equal" manner. "The U.N. Human Rights Council has become a stage for pinpointing independent, developing nations

North KoreaNov. 20, 2021

S. Korea's daily COVID-19 cases hover over 3,000 for 4th day

South Korea's new coronavirus cases stayed above 3,000 for the fourth consecutive day Saturday, raising concerns over a virus resurgence ahead of the winter months and the full-fledged reopening of schools. The country reported 3,212 new COVID-19 cases, including 3,194 local infections, raising the total caseload to 412,311, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Saturday's caseload was up 178 from the previous day and marks the third-largest tally since the p

Social AffairsNov. 20, 2021

Ultrafine dust advisory in effect in Seoul

An ultrafine dust advisory was issued for all of Seoul on Friday for the first time in about six months, the metropolitan government said. The advisory was issued at 7 p.m. as the hourly average density of ultrafine dust particles soared to 83 micrograms per cubic meter as of 6 p.m. and to 96 micrograms per cubic meter one hour later in 25 districts across the capital, according to the city-run Research Institute of Public Health and Environment. It was the first ultrafine dust advisory iss

Social AffairsNov. 19, 2021

[From the scene] Korea’s top health protection agency chief gets third COVID-19 shot

CHEONGJU, North Chungcheong Province -- head of South Korea’s national health protection agency was vaccinated with a third dose of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, having received two AstraZeneca doses more than six months ago. Jeong Eun-kyeong, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s commissioner, received the booster at around 11:10 a.m. at a hospital in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province. As immunity from vaccinations wanes over time, Jeong said she fe

Social AffairsNov. 19, 2021

Presidential hopeful Yoon vows to enhance Seoul-Beijing ties

Yoon Seok-youl, the presidential candidate of the main opposition People Power Party, vowed on Friday to enhance ties with China if he becomes president.  Yoon made the remarks during a meeting with Chinese Ambassador Xing Haiming at the party’s headquarters in Yeouido, western Seoul, during which he stressed that South Korea and China are each other’s most important trade partners and that next year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the

Foreign AffairsNov. 19, 2021

Ex-President Lee loses legal fight against forced sale of personal home

Former President Lee Myung-bak on Friday lost a lawsuit aimed at reversing the prosecution's sell-off of his home in southern Seoul as part of fines handed down to him for corruption charges, officials said. Lee, who served as president from 2008 to 2013, is currently serving a 17-year jail sentence over embezzlement and bribery convictions. He was also handed a fine of 13 billion won ($11 million) and an additional forfeiture of 5.7 billion won. The Seoul Administrative Court ruled against Le

PoliticsNov. 19, 2021

Assembly panel passes unification ministry budget amid opposition boycott

A National Assembly committee passed the unification ministry's 2022 budget proposal on Friday despite a boycott by the main opposition party. The ministry had requested 1.27 trillion won ($1.07 billion) for the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund to finance various humanitarian, economic and social projects between the South and the North. The ruling Democratic Party added an extra 10.7 billion won on top and passed the proposal during a meeting of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unificat

PoliticsNov. 19, 2021

Return to normal could stop with rise in serious COVID-19 cases: PM

South Korea could stop its return to normal, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Friday as the country continued to see a sharp rise in the number of critically ill COVID-19 patients, placing a strain on the supply of medical resources. Kim said in a meeting Friday that hospital beds across the country must be efficiently managed as they are quickly being filled, impeding a swift medical response for COVID-19 patients. Setting aside more hospital beds and medical resources is a priority for the go

Social AffairsNov. 19, 2021

Quintuplets born in South Korea for first time in 34 years

South Korea saw the first successful birth of quintuplets in 34 years, with help from dozens of doctors and nurses on the night of the delivery. Seoul National University Hospital said Friday that the four girls and one boy were born there at around 10 p.m. Thursday. Twenty doctors and 10 nurses assisted in the cesarean section delivery. The surgery was done under the lead of Dr. Jun Jong-kwan, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the hospital and an expert in multiple births. The child

Social AffairsNov. 19, 2021

S. Korea expands economic security TF to counter supply chain disruptions

South Korea has expanded a newly minted task force on economic security to better cope with supply chain disruptions and detect emerging risks at an early stage, the foreign ministry said Friday. Lee Seong-ho, deputy minister on economic diplomacy, will lead the task force composed of three subdivisions -- supply chain, digital and new technologies, and environmental, social and governance (ESG) -- the ministry said. The team was launched under the ministry's bilateral economic diplomacy dep

Foreign AffairsNov. 19, 2021

DP office raided over govt. officials' alleged involvement in creating presidential campaign pledges

Prosecutors on Friday raided an office of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) over allegations government officials were illegally involved in the party's policy development process for the upcoming presidential election. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office dispatched a team of investigators to search the party's policy research office at a building inside the National Assembly compound in Yeouido, western Seoul, earlier in the day, according to judicial sources. The search came after

PoliticsNov. 19, 2021

In-person school classes to fully resume next week

In-person school classes will fully resume next week following the end of this year's national college entrance exam, the education ministry said Friday. In line with the government's "living with COVID-19" scheme, all kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools across the country will return to full-fledged in-person classes Monday for the first time in nearly two years since the pandemic broke out. Early this month, the government eased social distancing rules under the firs

Social AffairsNov. 19, 2021

S. Korea holds event to commemorate 1954 Dokdo battle

South Korea held an annual ceremony Friday to commemorate a successful 1954 operation by the country's volunteer fighters to defend the easternmost islets of Dokdo against intruding Japanese ships, the veterans affairs ministry said. A civilian foundation honoring the group of 33 fighters hosted the event at a national cemetery in Daejeon, 160 kilometers south of Seoul, amid a renewed spat between Seoul and Tokyo over the East Sea outcroppings. Territorial tensions flared anew as a senior Jap

DefenseNov. 19, 2021

Labor minister, USTR discuss enhancing intl. labor standards

Labor minister An Kyung-duk met with US Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai on Friday and discussed cooperation in enhancing rights of workers and international labor standards, An's office said. Tai was on a four-day trip to South Korea for talks on pending trade issues, such as supply chains for key components and steel tariffs. During the meeting held at a regional labor office in Seoul, An pointed to the "growing significance in ties between trade and labor on a global scale&quo

Foreign AffairsNov. 19, 2021

Military reports 10 additional COVID-19 cases

South Korea's military reported 10 additional COVID-19 cases Friday, bringing the total caseload among its personnel to 2,175, the defense ministry said. Of the new cases, a marine stationed in Pohang, 374 kilometers southeast of Seoul, tested positive following a case at the base. An Army draftee at a boot camp in Nonsan, 213 km south of Seoul, tested positive through a regular COVID-19 examination. A civilian employee of an Army unit in Cheorwon, 88 km north of Seoul, was infected after an

DefenseNov. 19, 2021

S. Korea's daily COVID-19 cases hover over 3,000 for 3rd day

South Korea's new coronavirus cases stayed above 3,000 for the third consecutive day Friday amid deepening concerns over the continued growth in critical cases and strained medical resources. The country reported 3,034 new COVID-19 cases, including 3,011 local infections, raising the total caseload to 409,099, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Friday's figure marked a fall from an all-time high of 3,292 the previous day, but it is still the fourth-largest d

Social AffairsNov. 19, 2021

[Graphic News] 4 out of 10 North Koreans undernourished: FAO

　More than 4 out of 10 North Koreans are suffering from undernourishment, a recent UN report showed, as the impoverished country struggles from chronic food shortages. 　According to the report from the Food and Agriculture Organization, 10.9 million people, or 42.4 percent of North Korea’s total population, were estimated to have been undernourished between 2018 and 2020. 　The figure is up from 33.8 percent reported from 2004 to 2006. 　North Korea has suffered chronic food shortages t

North KoreaNov. 19, 2021

PM calls for efficient hospital bed management amid surge in serious COVID-19 cases

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum called Friday for efficient hospital bed management as the country continued to see a rising number of critically ill COVID-19 patients amid no signs of letup in daily infections. Kim said the government's priority will be swiftly adding hospital beds and supporting medical resources needed at hospitals as quickly as possible. "There are concerns that our journey to return to normalcy may stop for a while if we cannot overcome this crisis," Kim said duri

PoliticsNov. 19, 2021