S. Korea’s daily COVID-19 cases go under 60,000

South Korea’s daily COVID-19 cases dropped under 60,000 for the 24 hours of Wednesday, government data showed Thursday. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s report, the country added 57,464 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total caseload to 17,144,065. The number of deaths from COVID-19 on the day came to 122, down 19 from the previous day’s 141. The death toll reached 22,588, with the fatality rate standing at 0.13 percent. Severe cases, ho

April 28, 2022

Supreme Court confirms acquittal of ex-judge in alleged power abuse case

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld lower courts' acquittal of a former judge accused of meddling in several politically sensitive trials during the previous administration. The top court confirmed a not guilty verdict by a district court and an appellate court for Lim Seong-geun, a former senior justice of the Seoul High Court who was indicted in 2019 on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of another person's exercise of right for allegedly meddling in several trials between 2015 and 201

April 28, 2022

Defectors' group sends balloons carrying propaganda leaflets to N. Korea

GIMPO -- A North Korean defectors' group has sent 20 big balloons carrying propaganda leaflets, including those on the news of Yoon Suk-yeol's election as president, to North Korea across the western inter-Korean border, the group said Thursday. Some 1 million anti-Pyongyang leaflets were sent over to North Korea in the latest leaflet campaign carried out in Gimpo, west of Seoul, on Monday-Tuesday, the Fighters for Free North Korea (FFNK) said in a press release. Some of the leaflets were carr

April 28, 2022

Woori Bank employee turns himself in after embezzling W50b of company funds: police

An employee of Woori Bank, one of South Korea's largest domestic banks, has been taken into custody after he turned himself in for embezzling about 50 billion won ($39.5 million) from the company, police said Thursday. The employee, whose identity was withheld, confessed to his actions at Namdaemun Police Station in central Seoul at around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to officials. The confession was made while police were taking measures to issue a travel ban on the employee after they recei

April 28, 2022

S. Korea reports 57,464 new cases amid slowdown of omicron wave

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases went down to fewer than 60,000 on Thursday as most of the country's virus restrictions have been lifted amid the slowdown of the omicron wave. The country added 57,464 new COVID-19 infections, including 21 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 17,144,065, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Thursday's tally is slightly down from 76,787 cases reported Wednesday and sharply down from 90,867 a week earlier, the

April 28, 2022

S. Korea ‘one step closer toward a return to normal’

The South Korean government expects that the country will be able to return to normal soon, given the recent downward trend in the pandemic. “(The country) is one step closer toward a return to normal,” said Lee Seung-woo, vice minister for disaster and safety management, during the Central Disaster Management Headquarters meeting Wednesday. According to Lee, the COVID-19 pandemic here has settled down, with the country’s health care capacity sufficient to handle daily infe

April 27, 2022

Nominee denies scholarship interference amid snowballing accusations

Kim In-chul, the nominee for deputy prime minister and education minister, denied allegations that his family unfairly received Fulbright scholarships from an association he was closely related to, arguing all procedures were fair. On Wednesday, the parliamentary confirmation hearing team for the Education Ministry representing Kim released a statement denying the allegations brought against his family over the scholarship. “Suggesting Kim’s family was selected as recipients becau

April 27, 2022

COVID-19 response: What Yoon plans to do differently

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol comes into office as South Korea’s huge omicron wave is subsiding. Daily cases have been falling for six consecutive weeks, now down by nearly 80 percent from the peak in mid-March. The presidential transition team’s COVID-19 task force on Wednesday unveiled a plan illustrating how the new administration would handle the recovery phase of the pandemic. Last week incumbent President Moon Jae-in celebrated “the return of normal” before the

April 27, 2022

Fine dust levels to soar to 'very bad' in central S. Korea due to yellow dust

Fine dust will rise to "very bad" levels in South Korea's central region, including the greater Seoul area, on Wednesday morning due to the influx of yellow dust originating from deserts in northern China and Mongolia, the state weather agency said. The density of fine dust particles smaller than 10 micrometers in diameter, known as PM 10, will reach "bad" levels in the eastern Gangwon Province and most of the southern region, including Jeju Island, according to the Korea Met

April 27, 2022

S. Korea logs over 80,000 new COVID-19 cases

South Korea added over 80,000 new COVID-19 cases during the 24 hours of Monday, bringing the total caseload to 17 million, government data showed Tuesday. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the country’s daily COVID-19 infections on Monday reached 80,361, while the total caseload came to 17,009,865. The daily tally increased from the previous day’s 34,370 as they tend to fall on Mondays due to fewer tests over the weekend. But, the daily count reported

April 26, 2022

Bus drivers withdraw strike in Seoul, buses continue to operate normally

The Seoul Bus Union’s planned general strike on Tuesday has been called off as the union and bus companies reached a deal on a wage hike at the last minute before the suspension of city bus services. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Tuesday, the bus union and bus companies came to a compromise at 1:25 a.m., around 2 1/2 hours before 18,600 unionized drivers were set to go on strike. The two sides agreed on a 5 percent wage increase after a 10-hour long bargain that star

April 26, 2022

[Newsmaker] More versions of BA.2 omicron gaining ground in Korea

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said Tuesday new versions of omicron’s BA.2 subvariant were making up increasingly larger proportions of circulating variants in the country. According to the KDCA’s weekly analysis posted Tuesday, BA.2, which was first spotted here in late January, showed up in 94.2 percent of cases in the third week of April. In a further breakdown of variants, BA.2.3 represented most of cases at 63.5 percent. BA.2 had the second-largest shar

April 26, 2022

Seoul offers free pet dog education

Seoul is offering a series of free programs for dog owners, including a pet school for puppies with behavior problems. The school, set to open in May, will provide socialization and obedience training for dogs younger than 1 year old. For older dogs, the course will be divided by issue, such as for aggression and being overly attached with owners. There will also be online courses for pet owners and prospective pet owners, officials at the Seoul Metropolitan Government said. More are planned

April 26, 2022

S. Korea seeks to build new Busan airport as country's first 'floating airport'

South Korea plans to build the country's first floating airport in the southern port city of Busan by 2035, the land ministry said Tuesday. Last year, the National Assembly approved a bill on a mega state project worth some 13.7 trillion won ($10.97 billion) to build the new airport on Gadeok Island, the biggest island of Busan, to handle growing air traffic demand and facilitate prosperity in the country's southeast region. According to the detailed plan announced by the land ministry on Tuesda

April 26, 2022

Current, former USFK employees under investigation on graft charges

DAEGU -- Ten current and former employees of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) are under investigation on charges of accepting bribes in exchange for jobs at an unidentified US Army base, with two of them in custody, police said Tuesday. The suspects, who were recruitment officers, were accused of receiving 175 million won ($140,000) from five South Koreans in return for hiring them between April 2018 and December 2020, according to the Daegu Metropolitan Police. They allegedly had the applicants' ca

April 26, 2022

S. Korea's new infections jump to over 80,000 amid slowdown of omicron wave

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases jumped to over 80,000 on Tuesday as most of the country's virus restrictions are lifted amid the slowdown of the omicron wave. The country added 80,361 new COVID-19 infections, including 16 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 17,009,865, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Tuesday's tally is sharply up from 34,370 cases reported on Monday as the daily counts tend to fall on Mondays due to fewer tests on th

April 26, 2022

Sollute Study to launch summer camps in Canada, New Zealand

With the world slowly phasing into a post-COVID-19 pandemic era, Sollute Study Abroad Business Group is to arrange educational camps in Canada and New Zealand for teenagers this summer. Sollute Study Abroad Business Group is an education company that arranges camps for youths in English-speaking countries in partnership with local education offices and schools since 2014. Some 1,050 teenagers participated in camps arranged by the company until January 2020, before the pandemic hit the world.

April 25, 2022

Bye-bye clappers. Fan chants, sing-alongs are back at K-pop concerts

  On the evening of April 18, a four-way intersection in front of the Gangbuk-gu District Office in northwestern Seoul was filled with crowds and loud music, playing host to an outdoor concert.  Hundreds of people sang along as the night’s acts, including Dynamic Duo, played on the stage in a show organized by the district office to commemorate the 62nd anniversary of the April Revolution.  “The vibe was definitely different from before when people were not allowed t

April 25, 2022

Voicing out for a green Earth

With the ticking time bomb of climate change, more young activists are feeling an urgent need to speak up and take action. In light of the Earth Day which fell on Friday this year, The Herald Business and nonprofit organization Green Environment Youth Korea held an online roundtable session with young environmental activists across Asia, sharing their experiences and thoughts. Nurul Sarifa from Indonesia, who represents KPOP 4 Planet, a platform which calls on Korean entertainment agencies to

April 25, 2022

Disability rights group’s protest pauses, subway disruption temporarily halts

Delays in subway operations will stop temporarily as a disability rights advocacy group decided to pause its daily rush-hour subway protests. Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination, Korea’s largest disability rights group, said Sunday night that it would pause its subway protests until next Monday. The disability rights advocacy group said it will wait until next Monday when finance minister nominee Choo Kyoung-ho is expected to give an official answer to its request at a hearing

April 25, 2022