Top court confirms opinion rigging conviction of President Moon's ally

The top court upheld the opinion rigging conviction of South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo, a close aide to President Moon Jae-in, on Wednesday, a decision that will strip Kim of his governorship and potentially deal a political blow to the president. The Supreme Court maintained the verdict by the appeals court in November that Kim colluded with a team of online bloggers, including Kim Dong-won, widely known by his alias Druking, to illegally generate favorable opinions about the pre

PoliticsJuly 21, 2021

NK paper calls on officials to make 'big leap' in achieving economic goals

North Korea's official newspaper on Wednesday warned officials against working irresponsibly and urged them to make a "big leap" to achieve the country's economic goals. The Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the ruling Workers' Party, made the appeal, urging officials to wage a battle "beyond the limits of their ability and potential." "The party and people have very high expectations for our officials as they break through unprecedented challenges," the paper said. "

North KoreaJuly 21, 2021

[Newsmaker] Over 65% of S. Koreans support Moon's decision not to visit Japan: survey

The majority of South Koreans support President Moon Jae-in's decision not to visit Japan for the opening of the Tokyo Olympics and summit talks, a poll showed Tuesday. In the R&Search survey of 1,095 people aged 18 and older, 65.5 percent of the respondents were in favor of Moon's decision, while 26.7 percent were against it. Cheong Wa Dae announced Monday that the president decided not to visit Tokyo as the two neighboring countries failed to achieve sufficient progress in consultations

PoliticsJuly 21, 2021

23 more Cheonghae unit members test positive for COVID-19; total at 27

An additional 23 members of the virus-hit Cheonghae naval unit tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Wednesday, raising the confirmed infection cases among the 301-member unit to 270. According to virus tests conducted on all the members upon their return home from Africa the previous day, 270, or 89.7 percent, of them have tested positive for COVID-19, while 31 tested negative, the ministry said. The unit on an anti-piracy mission in waters off Africa first report

PoliticsJuly 21, 2021

PM urges labor group to cancel scheduled rallies amid virus flare-up

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum on Wednesday urged a major umbrella labor group to cancel its protests scheduled for later this week as authorities struggle to contain the country's fast-spreading fourth COVID-19 wave. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) plans to stage two large rallies in Wonju, 140 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Friday and a week later, with over 1,000 members reportedly planning to gather at the event slated for Friday. The rallies were reportedly arranged to sup

PoliticsJuly 21, 2021

New daily cases set another record of over 1,700 amid rise of delta variant

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases hit a fresh high of over 1,700 on Wednesday as cluster infections continued to spread across the nation amid a fast rise of highly contagious delta variant cases. The country added 1,784 COVID-19 cases, including 1,726 local infections, raising the total caseload to 182,265, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The latest figure was the highest ever since the country confirmed the first case in January 2020. The daily

Social AffairsJuly 21, 2021

Deputy Secretary of State Sherman renews calls for N. Korea to resume dialogue

SEOUL/WASHINGTON -- US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman renewed calls Wednesday for North Korea to return to dialogue, stressing Washington's willingness to take "some patience" and holding out prospects of a "brighter future" for Pyongyang. Sherman made the remarks following trilateral talks with her South Korean and Japanese counterparts, Choi Jong-kun and Takeo Mori, respectively, in Tokyo after North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Son-gwon rejected US' overtures for d

Foreign AffairsJuly 21, 2021

S. Korea, Japan agree to continue efforts to resolve pending issues despite tension over diplomat‘s remarks　

　 　South Korea and Japan agreed Tuesday to continue efforts to resolve pending issues rooted largely in wartime history, the foreign ministry said Tuesday, despite the flare-up of tension over a Japanese diplomat‘s disparaging remarks on President Moon Jae-in’s approach to Tokyo. 　 　First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun shared the understanding with his Japanese counterpart, Takeo Mori, during their bilateral talks in Tokyo on Tuesday, the ministry said. 　 　“The two vice m

PoliticsJuly 20, 2021

Virus-hit Cheonghae unit arrives home on aerial tanker

 Members of South Korea‘s virus-hit Cheonghae naval unit returned home from Africa on Tuesday, the defense ministry said, after cutting short their anti-piracy mission following an unprecedented mass outbreak that infected 247, or 82 percent, of the 301-member unit. 　One of two KC-330 Cygnus multirole aircraft dispatched to airlift all of the troops returned to an air base south of Seoul at 5:30 p.m., carrying 160 infected members, including 16 who had been treated at local hospi

DefenseJuly 20, 2021

Assault rifle project suspended over potential security breach

South Korea’s arms procurement agency recently suspended its project to replace the K1A assault rifle for special forces after it found the defense firm contracted for the job had unauthorized access beforehand to the type of weapons the agency was planning to develop.  The K1A uses rifle ammunition but is classified as a submachine gun by the military. “Nothing, really, has been decided on what to do with the project yet … we’ll have to see how the trial unf

DefenseJuly 20, 2021

[Herald Interview] Opposition leader against opening up to refugees

Lee Jun-seok, 36, the youngest-ever leader of the nation’s main opposition People Power Party, has been outspoken on a number of sensitive issues since taking office last month. Sitting down with The Korea Herald on Monday, he candidly spoke about hot topics like refugees, immigrants and North. When asked about the nation’s immigration policies, Lee said that South Korea should accept immigrants who can help the nation’s economy, but should be cautious about refugees. &ldqu

PoliticsJuly 20, 2021

[News Focus] Korea No. 1 in growth of part-timer portion in OECD

SEJONG -- South Korea recorded the highest growth in the percentage of workers in part-time positions among 34 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in the past two years. In its analysis on the part-time workers by the Paris-based organization for its members, 15.37 percent of all employed Koreans aged 15 or over had part-time job status as of 2020. Compared to 2018, when the figure stood at 12.2 percent, this marked a surge of 3.17 percentage points in only tw

Social AffairsJuly 20, 2021

[Diplomatic Circuit] AustCham Korea, GGGI discuss future of mobility

The Australian Chamber of Commerce in Korea and the Global Green Growth Institute co-hosted an industry roundtable on the future of mobility and sustainability in driving innovation within various sectors Thursday. The roundtable is part of the campaign for blue skies and net zero by 2050 for Korea, launched in 2020. According to GGGI Assistant Director Shin Kyung-nam, the GGGI has actively supported partnerships and country transport implementation in more than 20 member nations, including C

Diplomatic CircuitJuly 20, 2021

[Diplomatic Circuit] Uzbekistan holds conference on regional connectivity

Uzbekistan hosted the International Conference on Central and South Asia: Regional Connectivity, Challenges and Opportunities on July 15-16. The conference was attended by the leaders of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan, and foreign ministers of Central and South Asian countries, with delegations from 44 countries and 30 international organizations, as well as research and analytical centers. “In global geopolitical transformations, the revival of mutual ties between Central and Sou

Diplomatic CircuitJuly 20, 2021

[Newsmaker] The worst of heat yet to come

With heat wave warnings issued nationwide Tuesday, Korea is likely to see temperatures near 40 degrees Celsius this week, and possibly a return of the record-breaking heat in 2018 due to a “heat dome” phenomenon, the chief of a nongovernmental weather agency said. “Korea saw the hottest day ever recorded on Aug. 1, 2018, when temperatures hit 39.6 degrees in Seoul and 41 degrees in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province. These were official observatory records, and automatic weather stat

Social AffairsJuly 20, 2021

Variant cases top 4,600, delta spreading fast in S. Korea

South Korea has confirmed 1,252 more cases of four major contagious variants of the new coronavirus over the past week, with the portion of the highly transmissible delta variant spiking, health authorities said Tuesday. The country's total cases of four major variants stood at 4,605 as of Saturday, and of the variant cases newly identified between July 11 and 17, the delta variant accounted for 76 percent, or 951 cases, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The

Social AffairsJuly 20, 2021

No breakthrough in sight for Seoul-Tokyo ties after summit called off

  President Moon Jae-in’s last-minute decision not to visit Japan has dashed hopes that the upcoming Tokyo Olympics might offer the bickering neighbors an occasion to make a breakthrough in their relations, which have been at their lowest ebb in decades.   　 Moon expressed disappointment after calling off a trip to Japan that may have included his first summit with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, his senior aide said Tuesday.   　 Park Soo-hyun, Moon’s press s

Foreign AffairsJuly 20, 2021

Defense chief apologizes for worst COVID outbreak aboard ship

Poor decision-making was behind the failure to vaccinate the 301-strong crew on an anti-piracy ship before they left for Africa, Defense Minister Suh Wook said as he apologized Tuesday for a huge COVID outbreak aboard the 4,400-ton destroyer Munmu the Great. Suh was facing criticism over the outbreak that forced the military to cut short its overseas mission for the first time. The military said the seamen could not get COVID shots because they had little expertise in handling a possible allerg

DefenseJuly 20, 2021

CIO raids home of presidential aide over alleged illegal exit ban case

A state anti-corruption probe agency raided the home of a presidential civil affairs secretary on Tuesday over his suspected involvement in an allegedly illegal travel ban on a former justice minister, informed officials said. Investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) searched the home of Lee Gwang-cheol, a presidential secretary for civil affairs and justice, to secure evidence related to his charge of abuse of power in allegedly orchestrating an i

PoliticsJuly 20, 2021

Incheon trashes Greater Seoul’s landfill hopes

The Ministry of Environment has once again come up empty-handed in its attempt to find a local government willing to build an alternative landfill to take in waste generated from Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province. Incheon’s Sudokwon Landfill has been handling garbage from Seoul and Gyeonggi Province since 1992, but the city government announced last year that it would scrap the arrangement after 2025 when the contract expires. The Environment Ministry first conducted a search for po

Social AffairsJuly 20, 2021