[Newsmaker] Doctors protest operating room surveillance bill

Doctors in South Korea are fiercely opposing the passage of a bill that would require surveillance cameras being installed inside operating rooms, as they believe the move would negatively influence surgical procedures and serve as potential leak of personal data. The Korean Medical Association has been staging a one-person rally since Tuesday to oppose the bill from being enacted on coming Monday during the next plenary meeting of the National Assembly. KMA head Lee Pil-soo started the rally o

Social AffairsAug. 27, 2021

K-beauty, K-food should make most of free trade pact: Colombian minister

Colombia can help Korean businesses with their popular cosmetics and food products by supplying exotic ingredients, Colombia’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Rodolfo Enrique Zea, said in an interview with The Korea Herald on Thursday. He gave the example of copoazu, an Amazon fruit that can be used to make desserts and confectionery. The minister was visiting Seoul this week, accompanying President Ivan Duque’s three-day state visit. The president held summit talk

Diplomatic CircuitAug. 27, 2021

Pilot error caused crash-landing of medical chopper in July: Army

A pilot error caused July's crash-landing of an Army medical chopper, and the same type of helicopters will be allowed to resume operations, the Army said Friday. In July, five people were injured after the ambulance helicopter, Medion, crash-landed at a military base in Pocheon, north of Seoul, on its way to pick up a patient. The Army immediately suspended the operations of the same type of aircraft and launched an investigation. "Our investigation found that the pilot misunderstood t

DefenseAug. 27, 2021

N. Korea remains unresponsive to S. Korea's hotline calls even after summertime joint exercise wraps up

North Korea did not answer liaison calls from South Korea on Friday morning, a unification ministry official said, dashing hopes Pyongyang could pick up the phone now that joint military exercises between the South and the United States are over. The calls via the inter-Korean liaison office went unanswered at 9 a.m., the official said. North Korea also refused to respond to the military communication channels in the eastern and western border regions. The inter-Korean communication lines were

North KoreaAug. 27, 2021

Former lawmaker named as vice chief of presidential council on unification

Lee Seok-hyun, former six-term lawmaker and deputy speaker of the National Assembly, has been tapped as executive vice chairman of the presidential National Unification Advisory Council, Cheong Wa Dae announced Friday. Lee is replacing Jeong Se-hyun, former unification minister, to assume the minister-level post. The council, chaired by President Moon Jae-in, is a constitutional body to help establish and implement bipartisan policies on democratic and peaceful unification. Moon also appointed

PoliticsAug. 27, 2021

Seoul installs QR codes to guide visitors at riverside parks

Seoul has placed QR codes at all of its riverside parks that would serve as tourist information centers. The city government said Friday that it has posted 176 QR code posters across 11 riverside parks in Seoul for visitors to scan and receive guides on where to tour, locate nearby facilities and receive tour guides on their smartphones. The QR code will direct users to a website designated for each riverside park and provide links to use audio guide for tourism courses, give directions to nea

Social AffairsAug. 27, 2021

S. Korea denounces deadly bombings near Kabul airport

South Korea strongly denounces the suicide bombings near an airport in Kabul that killed  dozens and wounded more than 100, the foreign ministry said Friday. "Our government defines the bombings as terrorist attacks, expresses deep concern that it has incurred many casualties and strongly denounces the attacks," ministry spokesperson Choi Young-sam said in a commentary. "We extend our deepest condolences to the victims and their bereaved families," Choi said. South

Foreign AffairsAug. 27, 2021

Military reports 4 new COVID-19 cases

Three Army members and a Navy sailor tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Friday, the latest in a series of infections among service members across the nation. The two Army soldiers and the sailor were confirmed to have been infected after their recent vacation, and a civilian official for the Army tested positive following the infection of one of his family members, according to the ministry. The latest cases brought the total caseload among the military populati

DefenseAug. 27, 2021

N. Korea's main paper urges ideological education for youth ahead of anniversary

North Korea's main newspaper on Friday stressed the importance of ideological education for younger generations ahead of the county's Youth Day, urging officials to look out for any "exotic elements" in their lifestyles. The Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the North's ruling Workers' Party, made the appeal in an editorial, referring to the youth as a generation vulnerable to capitalistic ideas and foreign culture as they have "never experienced the hardships of a revolution." &q

North KoreaAug. 27, 2021

New cases under 1,900 for 2nd day, critical patients on rise

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases hovered under 1,900 for the second day Friday, while the number of critical patients continued to rise, as health authorities stepped up vaccination campaigns to control the worst wave driven by the highly infectious delta variant. The country added 1,841 more COVID-19 cases, including 1,811 local infections, raising the total caseload to 245,158, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Friday's tally compares with 1,882 o

Social AffairsAug. 27, 2021

US currently has enough capabilities to counter N. Korean threat: Strategic Commander

The United States has enough capability, including missile interceptors, deployed to counter any threats emanating from North Korea at least for now, the commander of US Strategic Command said Thursday. Adm. Charles Richard still highlighted the importance of an early warning system that he said can allow his country to do more with less. "I am confident that, in the least now, that we have paced the threat," the Navy admiral said when asked if he thinks the US has deployed enough in

Foreign AffairsAug. 27, 2021

Canada halts Afghanistan evacuations as deadline looms

TORONTO (AP) -- Canada has ended evacuations from Kabul's airport, a Canadian general said Thursday, as the clock ticks down on dramatic Western efforts to help people flee the Taliban takeover ahead of a full American withdrawal. General Wayne Eyre, the country's acting chief of Defense Staff, said the vast majority of Canadian personnel left the airport and all the other countries have to leave before the Americans can wrap up their mission. Canadian military flights evacuated about 3,700 peo

InternationalAug. 26, 2021

Taiwan plans stricter laws against economic espionage by China

TAIPEI (AFP) -- Taiwan will tighten its laws in an effort to fight talent poaching and intellectual property theft from its lucrative tech industry by China, officials said Thursday. The planned amendment to the island's national security act will make economic espionage a crime punishable by a jail term of between five to 12 years. It aims to protect "trade secrets in key technologies" from being poached by China or other "hostile external forces", the justice ministry sai

InternationalAug. 26, 2021

S. Korea to lift entry restrictions on EU, Schengen Area countries next month

BERLIN -- South Korea will lift entry restrictions on people from European Union (EU) and Schengen Area countries from next week, diplomatic officials here said Thursday. Visa waiver and visa free entry programs on EU and Schengen Area countries will resume Sept. 1, according to officials of the South Korean Embassy in Germany. Seoul has suspended visa waiver and visa free entry programs of the regions since April 13, 2020, in a move to curb COVID-19 spread. The decision will allow South Korea

Foreign AffairsAug. 26, 2021

Western nations warn of terror threat at Kabul airport

KABUL (AFP) - Western nations warned their citizens Thursday to immediately leave the surrounds of Kabul airport over a terror threat, as thousands of people try to reach a dwindling number of evacuation flights. Nearly 90,000 Afghans and foreigners have fled Afghanistan via the US-led airlift since the hardline Islamist Taliban movement took control of the country on August 15. Huge crowds continue to throng the airport, their bid for a way out of Taliban rule becoming increasingly desperate

InternationalAug. 26, 2021

Hong Kong 'patriot' committee removes opposition lawmaker from office

HONG KONG (AFP) -- A powerful new Hong Kong committee tasked with vetting politicians and officials for their loyalty disqualified an opposition lawmaker for the first time on Thursday, as authorities purge its institutions of anyone deemed disloyal to Beijing. Cheng Chung-tai, one of just two opposition figures left in the city's legislature, was deemed disloyal on the basis of his previous statements and behaviour, chief secretary John Lee, who heads the vetting committee, told reporters. &q

InternationalAug. 26, 2021

Seoul city rejects queer festival organizer's application to set up non-profit foundation

The Seoul city government said Thursday it has rejected an application from a LGBTQ festival organizer to establish a non-profit foundation, citing concerns of social conflict if the request were to be approved. The city government sent a letter Wednesday to the Seoul Queer Culture Festival (SQCF) Organizing Committee explaining its reasons for rejecting the application filed in October of 2019. The city government said it "assessed there being factors that could disrupt the public intere

Social AffairsAug. 26, 2021

Japan stops use of 1.63m Moderna doses over contamination

TOKYO (AFP) -- Japan will halt the use of 1.63 million doses of Moderna's Covid vaccine after reports of contamination in several vials, drugmaker Takeda and the health ministry said Thursday. Takeda, which is in charge of sales and distribution of the Moderna shot in Japan, said it had "received reports from several vaccination centres that foreign substances have been found inside unopened vials". "Upon consultation with the health ministry, we have decided to suspend the use

InternationalAug. 26, 2021

[Herald Interview] Prize of war is peace, freedom: Colombian veterans

Peace and freedom was the prize of the Korean War that South Korea earned, and it should be a reminder for all South Koreans that its vibrant democracy with a strong economy came at a cost, Colombian veterans of the 1950-53 Korean War said Thursday, during an interview with The Korea Herald in Seoul. Separated by the Pacific Ocean, Colombia is the only Latin American country to field ground troops and a warship to help South Korea fight back North Korea and China during the war, which sti

DefenseAug. 26, 2021

Letting under-50s take AstraZeneca vaccine ‘not risk-assessed’: KDCA director

No risk assessment was carried out before letting people as young as 30 take AstraZeneca’s vaccine again starting last week, the director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s COVID-19 vaccination council revealed. The director said in a phone call with The Korea Herald on Wednesday that the KDCA “did not conduct a cost-benefit analysis” that supports permitting AstraZeneca vaccination in younger people, while reaffirming that the shot is “only rec

Social AffairsAug. 26, 2021