[Newsmaker] Fingerless Korean goes missing after climbing all 14 Himalayan peaks

A fingerless South Korean mountaineer went missing after achieving the record-breaking feat of climbing all of the world's 14 highest peaks in the Himalayas, officials here said Monday. "I received a call that Kim Hong-bin went missing on his way down from the peak," Lee In-jeong, president of the Union of Asian Alpine Associations (UAAA), said. "I heard that climbers there tried to rescue him, but failed." Kim reached the summit of the 8,047-meter-high Broad Peak, located

July 20, 2021

Govt. goes all out to ensure stable power supply amid heat wave

South Korea is making concerted efforts to ensure a stable supply of electricity as the country's power reserves are feared to plumb their lowest level this week amid a heat wave, officials said Tuesday. The country remains gripped by the scorching heat wave in the wake of the annual rainy season, stoking concerns that a surge in electricity consumption could result in a power shortage. To fend off such a scenario, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said it will likely resume operation

July 20, 2021

Aerial tanker carrying virus-hit Cheonghae unit heads home from Africa

A South Korean aerial tanker carrying members of the virus-hit Cheonghae unit departed Africa on Monday to bring the troops home from an overseas anti-piracy mission, the defense ministry said, after 247 of them tested positive for the new coronavirus in the worst-ever mass infection among service members. The military sent two KC-330 multirole aerial tankers to Africa the previous day to bring back all the members of the 301-strong unit under an operation codenamed "Mission Oasis,"

July 19, 2021

Korea’s recent outbreaks tied to ‘adult entertainment’ venues nationwide

In most parts of a fourth wave-struck Korea, “adult entertainment” businesses were able to stay open until outbreaks forced closures. A third of about 200 cases detected this month so far on Jeju Island, a popular summer destination, were linked to adult entertainment spots, prompting officials there to close them down while contact tracing is underway. Starting this week, the island has been placed into the second-strictest level of social distancing in the four-tier scheme, b

July 19, 2021

Seoul says foreign teachers can get jabbed without prior reservation

People who are eligible under Seoul’s priority vaccination plan can get jabbed at COVID-19 vaccination clinics without prior registration, city officials said Monday. The change in policy comes after complaints that vaccine appointments were denied to over 10,000 people, many of them foreigners. Now, the city says there is no need to book a date at all before priority groups can get vaccinated. Seoul was allotted Pfizer vaccines enough for 200,000 people by the Korea Disease Con

July 19, 2021

Seoul to ban rallies during Liberation Day holiday next month amid flare-up in COVID-19 cases

The Seoul city government has decided to ban all rallies planned to take place around the upcoming Aug. 15 Liberation Day due to concerns over the rapid spread of the coronavirus, sources said Monday. According to the sources, the city government recently notified civic organizations that they are not allowed to hold rallies from Aug. 14-16. Some groups have already reported to police that they will hold such events during the period. The notice has been sent to liberal groups, such as the Sou

July 19, 2021

[Newsmaker] ‘Fingerless’ Kim Hong-bin, 1st disabled person to climb world’s 14 highest peaks

South Korean mountaineer Kim Hong-bin has become the first disabled person to successfully climb the 14 highest mountain peaks in the world -- without the use of his fingers. According to local alpine club Gwangju Alpine Federation on Monday, Kim conquered the summit of Broad Peak, the third peak of Pakistan’s Karakoram Range located in the northeastern part of Kashmir, on Sunday. This is an unprecedented accomplishment by Kim, making him the first disabled person and the world’s

July 19, 2021

Gangneung eyes nighttime closure of beaches to combat rising COVID-19 cases

GANGNEUNG -- Gangneung, one of South Korea's most popular destinations for summer vacationers, mulls over the nighttime closure of beaches and other unprecedented quarantine measures against COVID-19, officials said Monday, following an earlier decision to lift its social distancing rules to the toughest restrictions of Level 4. Gangneung, an east coast city 240 kilometers from Seoul, has said that Level 4, the highest in the nation's four-tier social distancing system, will be enforced for sev

July 19, 2021

Delta variant cases surge amid 4th wave of pandemic

South Korea has continued to report a rising number of the highly transmissible delta variant cases, adding 719 of such cases over the past week, health authorities said Monday. The number of new delta cases accounted for 71.8 percent of 1,001 new cases of four major contagious variants of the new coronavirus reported over the cited period, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The number of new delta variants came to only 17 during the third week of June but sur

July 19, 2021

Heat wave warning issued for Seoul, many parts of S. Korea

A heat wave warning was issued for Seoul and many other parts of the country Monday, the state weather agency said, forecasting daytime highs of up to 36 C for the rest of the week. The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said it has issued the heat wave warning for all of Seoul and many areas in the central provinces of Gyeonggi, Gangwon and Chungcheong, as well as the southwestern provinces of Jeolla, as of 10 a.m. Such a warning is issued when sensible temperatures are expected to exc

July 19, 2021

Korea to grant visa reprieves

The Ministry of Justice said Monday that it would extend the period of stay for some 90,000 registered foreign residents and overseas Korean (F-4) residents whose authorized stay in the country is set to expire soon. The measure, effective the same day, will grant them an extension of stay for three months as part of efforts to prevent the community spread of COVID-19 as the nation raises its social distancing rules to the toughest level in the four-tier system for Greater Seoul. The minist

July 19, 2021

Vaccination begins for high school seniors

High school seniors began receiving their coronavirus shots Monday, becoming the first teenagers in the country to be inoculated. According to the Education Ministry and health authorities, high school faculty members including teachers, school administrative staffers and other workers who are in close contact with students started getting their shots Monday along with the teenagers. The students and teachers are getting Pfizer’s vaccine. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approved i

July 19, 2021

Police book 23 KCTU members for holding massive rally amid pandemic

Police said Monday they have booked 23 members of a major umbrella labor group for holding a massive rally in downtown Seoul in defiance of antivirus rules, which has sparked concerns over further infections amid rising new cases. The Seoul Metropolitan Police said a special investigation team has launched a probe into 25 members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) over their role in holding the rally on July 3 and booked 23 of them for allegedly violating quarantine regulations.

July 19, 2021

Fingerless Korean becomes world's 1st disabled person to climb all 14 Himalayan peaks

A fingerless South Korean mountaineer has climbed all of the world's 14 highest mountains in the Himalayas, a local alpine club said Monday, becoming the world's first person with a disability to accomplish such a feat. Kim Hong-bin reached the summit of the 8,047-meter-high Broad Peak, located in Pakistan's Karakoram Range, at 4:58 p.m. Sunday (local time), conquering all of the world's tallest Himalayan peaks, according to the Gwangju Alpine Federation in the southwestern city. With the feat

July 19, 2021

[Newsmaker] Justice ministry seeks to grant legal status to animals to enhance their welfare

The Ministry of Justice on Monday gave advance notice of a revision to the civil law that would grant animals legal status as individuals with lives that deserve to be protected. The ministry said it has added the new clause, "animals are not objects," to article 82 of the Civil Code. Under the existing law, animals are identified as "an object that takes up space" and are not separated from inanimate things, so animal abusers have been punished only for damaging property i

July 19, 2021

Number of discouraged workers hits fresh monthly high in June

SEJONG -- The number of discouraged workers in South Korea hit a new monthly high in June amid the prolonged coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Monday. Asia's fourth-largest economy had 583,000 discouraged workers, up 46,000 from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It was the largest tally for June since related data tracking began in 2014. The number has also renewed monthly highs for the 16th straight month. Discouraged workers refer to those who are curre

July 19, 2021

New daily cases over 1,000 for 2 weeks, tougher virus rules in place nationwide

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell slightly Monday due to fewer tests over the weekend, but the daily caseload has stayed above 1,000 for nearly two weeks. prompting authorities to tighten virus curbs across the nation to contain the spread ahead of the summer holiday season. The country added 1,252 COVID-19 cases, including 1,208 local infections, raising the total caseload to 179,203, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The latest figure was down

July 19, 2021

Glitches put foreign teachers behind Korean colleagues in vaccine queue

Some foreign teachers in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province say they were unable to book COVID-19 vaccine appointments at the same time as their South Korean colleagues, raising questions about discrimination. Earlier this month, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency allotted Pfizer’s vaccines to Seoul and Gyeonggi Province and let the municipal offices decide which groups to prioritize depending on their own risk assessments. Seoul was handed enough Pfizer doses to cover 200,0

July 18, 2021

S. Korea to enforce 4-person cap on private gatherings in non-Seoul metropolitan regions: PM

South Korea will ban gatherings of more than four people in regions outside the greater Seoul area starting Monday to curb the nationwide spread of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Sunday. Most regions outside the wider capital area have been placed under Level 2 measures, in which gatherings of more than eight people are banned. But the government decided to toughen the antivirus scheme, as the non-Seoul metropolitan regions have also seen a surge in new cases in recent days.

July 18, 2021

Gatherings limited to four people nationwide

As the fourth wave of COVID-19 infections raged in Greater Seoul and spread nationwide, the government announced plans Sunday to tighten restrictions on private gatherings across the country to the same level as the capital region. “From tomorrow, we will apply the same permissions for private gatherings outside the Greater Seoul area,” Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Sunday. The government said the new measure is to unify restrictions on private gatherings to minimize travel bet

July 18, 2021