New COVID-19 cases hit over 5-month low as omicron slows

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell to the lowest level in more than five months on Monday, partly due to fewer tests over the weekend, providing a clear indication of the slowing spread of omicron. The country added 3,538 new COVID-19 infections, including 96 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,280,090, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Monday's figure marks the lowest since the 3,094 reported on Jan. 11. Daily infection numbers tend to drop on Mondays

June 20, 2022

Man in 60s found dead in burned car in Gimpo

A man in his 60s has been found dead in a burned car near the Han River in the city of Gimpo, police said Monday. Upon a fire report at 11:40 p.m. the previous day, policemen and firefighters extinguished the blaze in a car parked near a riverside road in Gimpo, west of Seoul, and found the man dead inside the vehicle. Police identified him as an office worker in his 60s and the owner of the car. An initial investigation showed he left his house at around 11 p.m. the previous day without telling

June 20, 2022

Rallies near homes of incumbent and former presidents turn into partisan feud

The rallies near the homes of President Yoon Suk-yeol and his predecessor, Moon Jae-in, are turning into partisan feuds among people with little regard for residents affected by the demonstrations, with both sides proposing a volley of revisions to amend the demonstration law. Since April this year, a total of seven legislative motions, most of them separately, by the People Power Party and Democratic Party of Korea, have been proposed to revise the demonstration law. But local residents will

June 19, 2022

Public, private sector throw weight behind Busan expo bid

South Korea is going full steam ahead in its bid to host the World Expo in 2030, with a delegation of top government and business leaders set to attend a presentation for the bid in Paris. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo is set to attend the general assembly at the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the organization overseeing the World Expos, on Tuesday, accompanied by more than 50 top officials. South Korea’s Busan is competing against Rome and Riyadh for the international festiv

June 19, 2022

[Subway Stories] Why Euljiro 3-ga Station is also called 'Shinhan Card Station'

When navigating through Seoul’s subway system, you will see that some stations have two names. Euljiro 3-ga Station, located in central Seoul with Line 2 and Line 3 running through, is also called “Shinhan Card station” after a credit card company whose headquarters is 10 minutes away on foot. English teacher David Stewart, 31, said displaying two names, which is designed to generate additional income for the city’s railway system, is understandable. “I barely p

June 19, 2022

New COVID-19 cases below 10,000 for 10th day

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases stayed below 10,000 for the 10th straight day Sunday, with fewer tests conducted over the weekend amid the slowing spread of the virus. The country added 6,071 infections, including 83 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,276,552, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The tally marked a fall from 7,198 on Friday and 6,842 on Saturday. The nation's coronavirus cases have been trending downward since peaking at an all-time h

June 19, 2022

[Weekender] ‘Cat moms’: Purr-fect allies or cat-astrophe?

Venturing into a narrow street of Nogosan-dong, western Seoul, one would stumble across a quiet neighborhood cluttered with small houses. Some of them have small trays laid out in front, one with a sign that reads, “A small diner for stray cats. Our regulars will briefly visit for a meal and be on their way. Please turn a blind eye to them.” Ask any Korean who they are, and the answer will probably be the same, “cat moms.” It’s a term widely used to refer to peop

June 18, 2022

New COVID-19 cases below 10,000 for 9th day

South Korea's new coronavirus cases remained below 10,000 for the ninth day in a row Saturday, as the spread of COVID-19 is apparently slowing down. The country added 6,842 COVID-19 infections, including 79 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,270,481, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. The country reported 11 deaths, raising the death toll to 24,427. The fatality rate stood at 0.13 percent. The number of critically ill patients came to 71, down from 82 t

June 18, 2022

Deadbeat parents face travel, driving bans

Forty-nine child support obligors will be punished for refusing to pay for their children’s basic living expenses, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced Friday. The ministry has revealed on its website the names of two noncustodial parents who did not pay the court-ordered expenses and requested a travel ban on 17 obligors and a driver’s license suspension for another 30. The punitive measures against such noncustodial parents were first imposed in October, follow

June 17, 2022

Education Minister nominee denies favoring spouse on studies

Education Minister and Deputy Prime Minister nominee Park Soon-ae denied the allegation she had inappropriately included her husband in studies. Park, a former professor at Seoul National University’s Graduate School of Public Administration, has been accused of inappropriately including her husband in researches and academic journals. The Education Ministry released a statement Thursday, denying the allegation. “The studies were more than just joint authorship between the nomine

June 17, 2022

Panel votes not to differentiate minimum wage by industry next year

A tripartite panel tasked with determining next year's minimum wage has agreed not to apply different rates to different industries, maintaining the current system, officials said Friday. The Minimum Wage Commission, which is composed of 27 representatives, nine each from labor, business and the general public, met at the government complex in Sejong for its fourth plenary session this year to negotiate next year's minimum wage. A differentiated minimum wage was adopted in 1988, when t

June 17, 2022

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases below 10,000 for 8th day

South Korea's new coronavirus cases remained below 10,000 for the eighth day in a row Friday, as the spread of the coronavirus is apparently slowing down. The country added 7,198 COVID-19 infections, including 68 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,263,643, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The country reported nine COVID-19 deaths, raising the death toll to 24,416. The fatality rate stood at 0.13 percent. The number of critically ill patients c

June 17, 2022

Govt. to extend quarantine mandate for COVID-19 patients for 4 more weeks: PM

The government will extend the current seven-day quarantine mandate for COVID-19 patients for four more weeks because rolling back the obligation could accelerate a resurgence of the virus, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Friday. The current level of virus spread is within the country's capacity to manage, but infection concerns linger and the number of COVID-19 deaths has not sufficiently reduced, Han said in a virus response meeting. "If the quarantine obligation is eased, the timing of

June 17, 2022

As tasty as narcotics?

   Korea is known as a relatively drug-free nation, where most people have no experience whatsoever of drugs. But when 31-year-old David from Canada recently browsed restaurant menus on a local food delivery app, he couldn’t help but wonder: Do people know what narcotics are actually like?  From kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew), kalguksu (knife-cut wheat flour noodles) to tteokbokki (spicy rice cake), a variety of food and beverage items were being sold with a reference to &ldq

June 16, 2022

Colonial-era apartment block to be torn down

Chungjeong Apartment, one of the oldest apartment buildings in South Korea, will be torn down, as part of plans for redevelopment in central Seoul, the Seoul city government said Thursday. The city has looked to redevelop the area for about 40 years, but projects have been put off because of disputes over compensation. With the fate of the building decided, delayed plans for the redevelopment area, which includes part of Seodaemun-gu and Jung-gu, are expected to proceed. The five-story buil

June 16, 2022

[Newsmaker] Gender Ministry abolition is ‘definite’: minister

The abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family is “definite,” its new minister said Thursday. 　 “Things have changed over time, and the abolition of the ministry will clearly come,” Gender Equality Minister Kim Hyun-sook told reporters at a press event in central Seoul, though she said that there has not yet been detailed discussion on its abolition. Kim is a former lawmaker who has been in office for a month. Abolishing the ministry was one of the biggest

June 16, 2022

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases below 10,000 for 7th day

South Korea's new coronavirus cases remained below 10,000 for the seventh consecutive day on Thursday as the country moves toward returning to pre-pandemic normalcy. The country added 7,994 COVID-19 infections, including 90 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,256,457, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The country added eight COVID-19 deaths, raising the death toll to 24,407. The fatality rate stood at 0.13 percent. The number of critically ill p

June 16, 2022

President’s supposed ‘love of English’ raises eyebrows

President Yoon Suk-yeol’s unusual tendency of mixing English words into official comments has sparked controversies in South Korea, with some accusing the country’s leader of toadyism toward the US and the West in general. The most recent case of Yoon’s supposed preference for English expressions occurred during a meeting with leaders of the ruling People Power Party, when he suggested a name change for the recently opened Yongsan Park, formerly a site for the US Forces Korea

June 16, 2022

Seoul Queer Culture Festival to return on July 16 after weekslong protests

Seoul’s citizen-led council decided on Wednesday to allow the Seoul Queer Culture Festival to take place at Seoul Plaza next month, but only for one day. The decision comes two months after the organizing committee of the event filed a request in April to use the central plaza located in front of Seoul City Hall for six days from July 12-17. The event will go ahead on July 16, marking the first time the LGBTQ event will take place in person in three years. The festival took place onlin

June 15, 2022

Dokdo not marked on maps provided by embassies in S. Korea

Seo Kyung-duk, a professor at Sungshin Women’s University in Seoul and an expert on Dokdo issues, on Wednesday, said that Dokdo islets were absent from the online maps provided by embassies of major countries. The Dokdo islets are controlled by South Korea but also claimed by Japan. The dispute has been a cause of much tension between Seoul and Tokyo, as well as between the people of the two countries. Seo argued that the countries that have stationed their diplomats in their embassies

June 15, 2022