Jeju expecting 207,000 visitors during Lunar New Year holiday: tourism association

JEJU -- More than 200,000 people are expected to travel to Jeju Island during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday despite growing concerns over the spread of the omicron coronavirus variant, according to travel industry officials Tuesday. According to the Jeju Tourism Association, the number of visitors to the resort island during the extended holiday period, from Saturday to Feb. 2, is expected to reach 207,000, up 35.2 percent from a year ago. The number of scheduled Jeju-bound flights durin

Jan. 25, 2022

New Gwanghwamun Square to open in July with fresh attractions

Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul will reopen in July after completing over 1 1/2 years of renovation that will more than double the total area, including tripling the space for trees and other plants, the city government said Tuesday. The square, located in front of the royal Gyeongbok Palace and the US Embassy, has been one of the must-visit places for tourists and citizens. Since November 2020, construction has been under way to expand the square from 18,840 square meters to 40,300 square

Jan. 25, 2022

Military reports 78 more COVID-19 cases

South Korea's military on Tuesday reported 78 additional COVID-19 cases, including 67 breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 4,020. Of the new cases, 63 are from the Army, seven from the Marine Corps, four from units under the direct control of the defense ministry and four from the Air Force. The Army infection count included 30 trainees based at a boot camp in Nonsan, 213 kilometers south of Seoul. Currently, 406 military personnel are under treatment. Of

Jan. 25, 2022

Mongolia rolls out fourth COVID vaccine shot to combat omicron surge

Mongolia has begun administering a fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine nationwide on a voluntary basis starting from Jan. 7, the Embassy of Mongolia in Seoul said in a press statement Sunday. Some 66 percent of the Mongolian population have received two shots of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 28.7 percent have had the third shot. The press statement said Mongolia’s mortality rate from COVID-19 was lower compared to developed countries due to its immediate vaccination campaign and that it ha

Jan. 24, 2022

Moon calls time on 3T strategy as omicron begins to dominate

Omicron has risen to dominance all across South Korea about eight weeks since its discovery here. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported Monday that omicron has displaced delta as the dominant COVID-19 variant, representing slightly over 50 percent of sequenced positive samples for the prior seven days. The agency said based on the latest metrics the risk level for COVID-19 was “very high” in Seoul and the rest of the country alike. In the previous 24 hours to

Jan. 24, 2022

[Newsmaker] COVID pass will not be required from people who have been hospitalized with vaccine side-effects

People who have been hospitalized due to adverse events and allergic reactions to COVID-19 vaccines are exempt from the country’s vaccine pass mandate, starting on Monday. 　 According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, the government will grant the exemption if people have received hospital treatments within six weeks after they received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Those people who requested the government compensate them for vaccination side-eff

Jan. 24, 2022

Horse’s death after cruel TV stunt is in spotlight. But life is no better for other ex-racehorses

The death of a retired racehorse which tripped for a TV drama scene has erupted a public outcry over animal cruelty in South Korea. But the life of other former racehorses is not any better, according to animal rights groups. “The average life span of a horse is approximately 25 years, but racehorses generally retire at the age of 8, which is when they can no longer win races, after enjoying their heyday at ages 2-5. Those which get injured are kicked out of racetracks a little earlier,

Jan. 24, 2022

Military to bolster coronavirus testing capacity amid omicron fears

South Korea's military plans to beef up its COVID-19 testing capacity amid the emergence of the omicron variant as the dominant strain in the country, according to the defense ministry Monday. Health authorities said omicron took up 50 percent of newly added variant infections last week, sparking concerns over the spread of the more infectious strain in the country. In response, the military said it plans to enhance its polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing capacity by increasing the number

Jan. 24, 2022

New COVID-19 cases above 7,000 for 3rd day amid persistent omicron fears

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases stayed above 7,000 for the third straight day Monday amid deepening concerns over the fast spreading omicron variant that has become the dominant strain in the country. The country added 7,513 new COVID-19 infections, including 7,159 local infections, raising the total caseload to 741,413, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The latest tally almost doubled from last Monday's 3,857. It marks the fourth-largest daily figure s

Jan. 24, 2022

Number of discouraged workers hits new high in 2021

The number of discouraged workers in South Korea touched a fresh all-time high in 2021 due to a weak job market amid the prolonged coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Monday. Asia's fourth-largest economy had 628,000 discouraged workers, the largest tally since related data tracking began in 2014, according to the data from Statistics Korea. Discouraged workers refer to those who are currently unemployed and have not sought to find jobs in the last four weeks due to no suitable job op

Jan. 24, 2022

Firefighters battling fire at fiber factory in Ulsan

Firefighters have been trying overnight to put out a blaze that broke out at a synthetic fiber manufacturing factory in the southeastern city of Ulsan on Sunday, authorities said. The fire broke out at 6:55 p.m. at a combined seven-story factory of Hyosung TNC Corp. and has not been contained for over 11 hours, according to the Ulsan Fire Department. Two of the factory's workers were sent to a hospital after inhaling smoke while trying to extinguish the fire at an early stage. The fire is ass

Jan. 24, 2022

With omicron nearly dominant, Korea prepares new measures

As the omicron variant spreads rapidly and daily caseloads exceeded 7,000 for a second consecutive day, the government plans to operate a new quarantine system nationwide. As of Saturday midnight, the number of COVID-19 confirmed patients in Korea increased by 7,630 from the previous day, recording the second-largest figure to date. Of the newly confirmed cases, 7,343 were locally transmitted and 287 were imported. The number of critically ill patients was 431, down two from the previous day

Jan. 23, 2022

New COVID-19 cases spike to second-largest figure amid omicron woes

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases on Sunday spiked to the second-largest figure since the pandemic outbreak, putting health authorities on alert amid the fast spread of the omicron variant. The country added 7,630 new COVID-19 infections, including 7,343 local infections, raising the total caseload to 733,902, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Sunday's figure marks the second-largest tally since the daily record high of 7,848 on Dec. 15. The daily tally

Jan. 23, 2022

Daily cases bounce to over 7,000 for 1st time in month amid omicron woes

South Korea‘s daily coronavirus cases jumped to over 7,000 for the first time in a month on Saturday amid the fast spread of the omicron variant. 　 The country added 7,009 new COVID-19 infections, including 6,729 local infections, raising the total caseload to 726,274, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). 　 It is the first time since mid-December that the number of daily infections stayed above 7,000. 　 The daily tally has surged at a fast pace this week fro

Jan. 22, 2022

Ministry of Justice opens third visa application center in Europe

The Ministry of Justice has opened another third-party visa application center in London earlier this week, the latest in a series of moves to reduce the workload of embassy staff. “Starting from January 17, 2022, the Government of the Republic of Korea will open the Korea Visa Application Center (KVAC) in London, operated by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), to manage Korean visa applications submitted by UK nationals and third country nationals regularly residing in th

Jan. 21, 2022

Court allows YouTube outlet to broadcast most of Yoon's wife's taped conversations

A court on Friday allowed a YouTube-based media outlet to broadcast most of its recordings of phone conversations between one of its staffers and the wife of main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol. In an injunction suit launched by Kim Keon-hee, Yoon's wife, the Seoul Southern District Court allowed Voice of Seoul to disclose the recordings, except for parts that delve into private matters of Kim's family and conversations between Kim and third party entities. The existence of th

Jan. 21, 2022

Thousands of Buddhist monks hold rally to demand apology from president for 'anti-Buddhist bias'

Thousands of Buddhist monks held a rally in Seoul on Friday, demanding President Moon Jae-in apologize for what they called the government's anti-Buddhist bias after a ruling party lawmaker accused temples of collecting admission fees from visitors to national parks. The lawmaker, Rep. Jung Chung-rai of the Democratic Party, has been under a firestorm of criticism from South Korea's largest Buddhist sect, the Jogye Order, since he compared temples collecting "cultural asset viewing fees&qu

Jan. 21, 2022

S. Korea to lower age minimum for COVID-19 pills to 60

The South Korean government will lower the age minimum for COVID-19 treatment pills from 65 to 60 to better counter the spread of the omicron variant, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Friday. Kim announced the measure during the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting, along with other changes that the government will bring into the country’s COVID-19 response system. “(The government) will make several changes in the country’s response system to mor

Jan. 21, 2022

S. Korea's daily cases near 7,000, county braces of omicron impact

South Korea‘s daily COVID-19 cases stayed above 6,000 for a second consecutive day as of midnight Thursday, largely as the spread of the omicron variant picks up pace. As of midnight Thursday, the country added 6,769 new COVID-19 cases, which raised the total caseload to 719,269, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. The country‘s daily caseload surpassed 6,000 on Wednesday for the first time in 27 days, after staying below the mark since Dec. 24, when the figure re

Jan. 21, 2022

Korea to limit PCR testing as omicron rises

Korea is limiting the polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests -- which have long remained the gold standard of COVID-19 diagnosis -- in parts of country where omicron is dominant, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare Friday. Coming into effect from Jan. 26 in three cities of Gwangju, Pyeongtaek, Anseong and the entire South Jeolla Province, the new testing protocol will be expanded to the rest of Korea once omicron officially becomes dominant nationwide. Omicron showed up in 47 p

Jan. 21, 2022