[News Focus] Working age population declines by 750,000 over 4 years

SEJONG -- South Korea is heading toward a labor shortage in the wake of record-low fertility rates and the rapidly aging population. The baby boomer generation -- defined in Korea as those born between 1955-1963 -- is beginning to enter retirement age, with the working-age population classed as those aged 15-64. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the working age population fell to 71.4 percent of the total in December, the lowest in at least 12 years. The portion was 72.4 perce

Jan. 24, 2021

Korea’s COVID-19 numbers fall, but risks still loom

The number of official cases of the novel coronavirus in South Korea is so far on a downward slope, but risks of a fresh flare-up are still imminent, health officials and experts say. Korea on Sunday confirmed 369 locally transmitted and 23 imported cases of COVID-19, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency situation report, bringing the cumulative total to 75,084. Twelve more people died, pushing the death toll to 1,349. The national health agency’s deputy director

Jan. 24, 2021

Mayor Baek Kun-ki transforms Yongin into a hub for semiconductors

Baek Kun-ki, the mayor of Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, and a retired four-star Army general, is a strategist. He also served as a member of the 19th National Assembly from March 2014 to December 2015. As soon as he was elected mayor in 2018, he drew up his “big picture” plan for Yongin. He promised to enhance services to improve on the housing shortage and transportation environments tainted by reckless development, and pledged to create a clean and amiable living environment for res

Jan. 24, 2021

Green projects, growing competitiveness marked Yongin’s 2020

Yongin, Gyeonggi Province -- a city of some 1 million located about 40 kilometers south of Seoul -- announced the top 10 news items most popular with residents of the city. An online survey to determine the top 10 news stories was conducted from Dec. 10-22. A total 15,392 participants each selected up to five policies out of 20 listed. The number more than doubled from last year’s 7,110, with 1,727 participants (12 percent) from other cities also joining the survey. According to the sur

Jan. 24, 2021

SFS appoints Tom Alexander as new assistant head of school

The Seoul Foreign School has appointed a financial expert in the education sector as its new assistant head of school - finance and operations, the school announced Sunday. Tom Alexander assumed the position this month after serving in various financial positions for independent schools across several major metropolitan areas. SFS is an international independent school in Seoul with more than 1,450 students aged 2 to 18. Alexander’s 35 years of financial experience, 17 years of them bein

Jan. 24, 2021

[Feature] ‘Lost decade’ possible for South Korea as employment prospect dims among young job seekers

Landing a full-time job, climbing up the corporate ladder, complaining about higher-ups and being constantly bothered by team dinners is what 28-year-old Jang Hyeon-seok has dreamed of since graduating college in 2017. But the closest he has ever been to these dreams was just a three-month-long internship at a marketing startup last summer. Jang said he has submitted applications to hundreds of companies for a full-time job, but all he received were emails starting with “We are sorry to i

Jan. 24, 2021

New virus cases under 400 again, alert in place against potential upticks

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell back below 400 on Sunday, following a brief rise a day earlier, but health authorities remain vigilant against possible upticks amid an apparent slowdown. The country added 392 more COVID-19 cases, including 369 locally transmitted infections, raising the total caseload to 75,084, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Sunday's daily caseload was down from 431 cases reported the previous day. The third wave of COVID-

Jan. 24, 2021

Watchdog set to announce results of probe into ex-Seoul mayor's alleged sexual abuse

The state human rights watchdog is set to announce the results of its investigation into former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon's alleged sexual abuse of a secretary as early as this week. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea has been looking into allegations Park sexually harassed the former municipal government employee over several years until his death in an apparent suicide in July. The results will be discussed during a plenary meeting of the watchdog's members on Monday, according to

Jan. 24, 2021

[Newsmaker] 3 missing as fishing boat capsizes near Geoje Island

GEOJE -- Search operations were under way off the southern island of Geoje after three crew members of a capsized fishing boat went missing on Saturday, authorities said. The 339-ton vessel capsized at around 4 p.m. in waters 1.11 kilometers southeast of the island, located some 400 km south of Seoul, with 10 crew members aboard -- nine South Koreans and one Indonesian -- according to the Coast Guard. Seven of them, including the Indonesian, have been rescued, but search operations were still

Jan. 24, 2021

Korea calls new variants big risk in pandemic fight

South Korea's health authorities warned Saturday that their efforts to contain COVID-19 face a potentially major challenge from the spread of new variants. Kwon Joon-wook, deputy director of the Central Disease Control Headquarters, even raised the possibility that the nation will be drawn back into a "nightmare" similar to that in December last year, when the daily number of infections exceeded 1,000. "Mutant viruses are more contagious than existing ones," he said during

Jan. 23, 2021

PM directs ministry to mull expanding in-person classes

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun directed the education ministry Saturday to consider expanding in-person classes in schools in the new semester. South Korean schools mostly offered remote learning or limited physical attendance last year to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. "This year should be somewhat different," Chung said at a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters in Seoul. "The Ministry of Education is directed to consult with healt

Jan. 23, 2021

New COVID-19 cases back above 400 as authorities warn of danger of variants

South Korea's daily new COVID-19 cases rose back to above 400 on Saturday, health authorities said. The country added 431 more COVID-19 cases, including 403 locally transmitted infections, raising the total caseload to 74,692, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The number of new infections was tallied at 404 on Wednesday and 401 the following day. It then fell to 346 on Friday in the midst of weeks of toughened social distancing restrictions. Seoul, Gyeonggi

Jan. 23, 2021

S. Korea confirms another case of highly pathogenic bird flu

South Korea confirmed another case of highly pathogenic bird flu in poultry Firday, raising the total caseload to 69. The latest case of the H5N8 strain of avian influenza (AI) came from an egg farm in Icheon, just south of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. All poultry within a 3-kilometer radius of the infected farm were culled, officials said. The farm was raising 478,000 chickens. The country has discovered 69 cases of highly contagious bird flu since

Jan. 22, 2021

US govement isses movement restriction order for Kunsan base over virus cases

US Forces Korea (USFK) on Friday imposed movement restrictions on all individuals affiliated with its air base in the western city of Gunsan due to the recent coronavirus outbreak there. Under the order, travel to and from Kunsan Air Base is prohibited until Monday, though members can be granted exceptions “to perform assigned and authorized duties and missions only,” USFK said in a Facebook post. The directive came a day after three service members on the base tested positive for

Jan. 22, 2021

Seoul education office’s push for LGBT students protection faces opposition

Seoul education office’s push to protect LGBT students and eradicate discrimination at schools is facing opposition after the office released its 2021-23 draft plan to protect the human rights of students. In the draft plan, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education included its plan to support and protect minority pupils –- from multicultural to LGBT students -- to make sure schools are free from hatred and discrimination for their safety and welfare. The education of

Jan. 22, 2021

Appellate court approves 7-year sentence for late Hanbo founder's son

An appellate court on Friday upheld a lower court's seven-year prison sentence for a son of Chung Tae-soo, the late founder of the now-defunct Hanbo Group, who was convicted of embezzlement and other crimes last year after 21 years on the run abroad. The Seoul High Court also ordered Chung Han-keun, the fourth son of the late Hanbo founder, to forfeit 40.13 billion won ($32.6 million) after finding him guilty of embezzlement, illicit capital flight and violating the foreign exchange law. The j

Jan. 22, 2021

[Newsmaker] Rocker Jeon In-kwon faces police investigation over neighbor dispute

Korean rock icon Jeon In-kwon is facing a police investigation over a dispute with his neighbor, multiple media reported Friday. Seoul’s Jongno Police Station called in the legendary rocker on Wednesday over property damage allegations, according to reports. Jeon allegedly threw a roof tile at his neighbor’s front door in September. The rocker had gotten into a dispute with his neighbor, claiming that the neighbor re-constructed their house to raise the height of the roof by one

Jan. 22, 2021

S. Korea remains alert over possible uptick ahead of Lunar New Year, reports under 400 new cases

Authorities warned against coronavirus complacency as potential risk factors still remain at large even though South Korea has been reporting fewer cases in recent days due to tougher virus curbs. Health Ministry official Yoon Tae-ho said in a press briefing Friday that the government is cautious about easing social distancing rules as conditions still remain for the virus to gain force under the nation’s third COVID-19 wave. “Although (the number of new cases) has stayed in the 30

Jan. 22, 2021

Ex-therapist of local triathlon team sentenced to 8 yrs in prison in abuse case

A former physical therapist of a municipal triathlon team was sentenced to eight years in prison on Friday for sexually and physically abusing an athlete who took her own life last year. The Daegu District Court handed down an eight-year prison term and a fine of 10 million won ($9,090) to Ahn Joo-hyeon, a former therapist of the Gyeongju city government's triathlon team, on charges of fraud, sexual and physical assault, and violation of the Medical Service Act. The court also banned Ahn from

Jan. 22, 2021

Religious facilities biggest source of infection clusters: KDCA

Religious facilities were the biggest source of COVID-19 group infections in South Korea for the past year, with one in three confirmed patients being in their 40s and 50s, according to health authorities’ analysis.  According to the analysis by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on COVID-19 cases from Jan. 20 last year to Jan. 19 this year, 45.4 percent of all coronavirus cases in Korea were classified as “mass infections.” A mass infection is a group of

Jan. 22, 2021