4 killed in collision, crash of 2 Air Force trainer jets

SACHEON, South Korea -- Two Air Force KT-1 trainer jets collided in midair and crashed in southern South Korea on Friday, killing all four pilots aboard the planes, the Air Force and local disaster response officials said. The jets went down in a rice paddy in Sacheon, about 300 kilometers south of Seoul, after colliding with each other in midair at around 1:37 p.m. during training, just minutes after their takeoffs from a nearby base, they said. Over 62 firefighters and emergency responders wer

April 1, 2022

S. Korea to ease private gathering limit to 10 people, pushes back curfew to midnight

The South Korean government announced Friday that it will raise the private gathering size limit to 10 people and push back the current 11 p.m. curfew on restaurants and cafes to midnight. “Other COVID-19 preventive measures will remain unchanged,” Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said during a COVID-19 response meeting in Seoul on Friday. The new social distancing rules will be effective from Monday for two weeks. Previously, expectations were growing for the latest change to soci

April 1, 2022

[Newsmaker] Dozens of dog carcasses dumped by vet clinic

A veterinary clinic employee allegedly dumped the remains of dozens of animals at a mountain in Eumseong County in North Chungcheong Province, police said Thursday. Police summoned a veterinary hospital employee to investigate the charges of dumping about 70 dead dogs, including newborn puppies and skeletal remains, on a mountain in Geumwang-eup. An animal registration chip was found in one of the carcasses that contained medical records of the dog for the clinic where the suspect is emplo

April 1, 2022

1st reported omicron-positive patient indicted for lying in epidemiological survey

The first reported patient of the COVID-19 omicron variant in South Korea has been indicted for lying to health authorities during an epidemiological survey following her infection in November, according to legal sources Friday. The 40-something woman living in Incheon, 40 kilometers west of Seoul, was charged without detention for allegedly violating the Infectious Disease Control Act by lying about her transportation use when questioned by local authorities after testing positive for omicron o

April 1, 2022

GCF board approves $190m for projects to support climate actions

The Green Climate Fund (GCF), an international organization on fighting climate change, has approved $190 million in funding for two new green energy projects, South Korea's finance ministry said Friday. The board of the GCF, headquartered in Songdo of Incheon, 40 kilometers west of Seoul, endorsed the funding plan for projects to help 14 emerging countries fight climate change, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. It said $73 million will be spent to support a climate-smart agricul

April 1, 2022

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases dip below 300,000 as omicron wave tops out

South Korea's new daily COVID-19 cases dipped below 300,000 on Friday as the omicron wave that gripped the country for months appears to be topping out with one in every four people having had the virus. The country reported 280,273 new COVID-19 infections, including 48 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 13,375,818, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. South Korea has seen a downward trend in daily COVID-19 infections for the first time in about three mon

April 1, 2022

As it happened: South Korea’s deadly omicron experiment

South Korea retreated from its pandemic response strategy known as “test, trace, treat” on the premise that with omicron, COVID-19 had transformed into a more flu-like disease. Omicron’s emergence called for a new strategy “attuned to the changes in the characteristics of the virus” and a departure from the earlier ways of handling the pandemic, health officials have said. The touted promise of a milder virus is fading by the day so far into Korea’s omicron

March 31, 2022

S. Korea’s severe cases hit another record high

South Korea’s severe cases reached another record high for the 24 hours of Wednesday, the country’s health authorities reported Thursday. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the number of critically ill patients reached 1,315 on Wednesday, up 14 from the previous record set a day earlier. The number of severe cases has spiked in the last few days. The figure remained at around 1,100 in the third week of March, but the figure surpassed 1,200 on Saturday a

March 31, 2022

Ban on single-use plastics returns

　After a two-year hiatus during the pandemic, Korea has brought back the ban on in-store use of single-use products at food service businesses, causing mixed reactions from employees, customers and environmental activists. 　Starting Friday, customers dining in at restaurants, cafes, food stalls, and bars cannot use single-use products, including plastic cups, containers, wooden chopsticks, and toothpicks. The products will only be available for takeout or delivery service customers. 　The ba

March 31, 2022

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases fall to about 320,000; critical cases at another high

South Korea's new daily COVID-19 cases fell more than 100,000 to around 320,000 on Thursday, but the number of seriously ill patients hit an all-time high amid the continued spread of the highly transmissible "stealth omicron" subvariant. The country added 320,743 new coronavirus infections, including 24 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 13,095,631, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The daily count came to a nearly one-month low of 187,189 o

March 31, 2022

Seoul mayor's personal wealth worth W5.9b, largest among metropolitan govt. heads

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon reported personal assets worth 5.9 billion won ($4.88 million) as of the end of last year, the largest among the 14 heads of metropolitan governments across the country, a government gazette showed Thursday. According to the Public Service Ethics Committee gazette on the financial statements of high-ranking officials, Oh's net wealth, including those of his direct family members, rose by 1.02 billion won compared to the previous amount reported in July of last year. Oh's o

March 31, 2022

[Feature] Commuters, truck drivers take the brunt of expensive oil

　 Lee, a 41-year-old math teacher at a public high school in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, has been commuting by bike since last week after retail oil prices slid over the 2,000-won mark. From his home in Mohyeon-eup of Cheoin-gu to Pogok-eup, where the school is located, it takes about 10 minutes by car, but 30 minutes by bike. Instead of spending more time in bed, he chose to save money on gas by waking up early. “I used to pay 200,000 won per month for fuel, which went up to almost 300,

March 30, 2022

[Newsmaker] Subway protesters face online abuse

Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination, a disability advocacy group that has recently been staging protests at subway stations, is facing increasing hatred online, with some especially emboldened by a conservative political leader. 　 In a series of Facebook posts People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok has called the protest “uncivilized” and “illegal.” He blamed the protesters for deliberately causing subway delays during busy hours and accused them of staging the

March 30, 2022

COVID-19 has negative impact on Korea’s multicultural acceptability: study

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on how receptive Koreans are to a multicultural society, a study by government-run think tank Korean Women’s Development Institute suggests. The research, titled the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family’s 2021 Multicultural Acceptability Study, has been conducted every three years since 2012. This year, 5,000 adults aged between 19 and 74 and 5,000 middle and high school students were polled. According to the survey, the adult re

March 30, 2022

Koryoin who fled Ukraine arrive home in S. Korea

A group of Koryoin -- ethnic Koreans living in Central Asia as well as Ukraine and Russia -- who fled the Ukraine war arrived in South Korea to seek a new home on Wednesday. The latest group to arrive includes eight children and infants and 13 women, according to Korean Cooperative, also known as Koryoin Village, a Gwangju-based incorporated association representing the ethnic Koreans. Nearly 30 people, consisting of children, women and seniors, will come to the country this week alone

March 30, 2022

Kyung Hee, Stanford universities to conduct joint research on sustainability in Asia

Kyung Hee University has signed an agreement with Stanford University to conduct joint research on sustainability in Asia, the Seoul school officials said Wednesday. Under the agreement signed last month, the two schools will partner to research various topics related to the enhancement of sustainability in Asia, create exchange programs for researchers and students and raise funds for the project, according to Kyung Hee University. Earlier this month, the universities discussed data constructio

March 30, 2022

Illegal Chinese fishing activities in S. Korean waters rampant in March: Coast Guard

An average of 65 unlicensed Chinese fishing boats have been appearing in waters near the western inter-Korean sea border every day this month ahead of the April-June crab catching season, a sharp rise from about 15 boats on average during the same period last year. According to the Coast Guard, the average number of illegal Chinese fishing boat entries across the western inter-Korean sea border, known as the Northern Limit Line (NLL), for March represents a fourfold increase compared to 2020. Th

March 30, 2022

51.9% oppose Yoon's plan to relocate presidential office

About half of South Koreans are against President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's plan to move the presidential office out of Cheong Wa Dae, while some 44 percent support the idea, a poll showed Wednesday. According to the poll of 1,004 adults, conducted by pollster Embrain Public on Sunday and Monday, 51.9 percent said the presidential office should remain at Cheong Wa Dae and 44.3 percent said they back the relocation plan. Yoon has decided to move the presidential office from Cheong Wa Dae to what

March 30, 2022

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases rise to over 420,000; critical cases at record high

South Korea's new daily COVID-19 cases rose to over 420,000 Wednesday amid concerns over the continued rise in seriously ill patients and deaths over the fast spread of the highly transmissible "stealth omicron" subvariant. The country added 424,641 new coronavirus infections, including 42 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 12,774,956, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The daily count shifted to an upturn Tuesday after five days of a consta

March 30, 2022

After 7 days of COVID-19, patients are left stranded

COVID-19 patients who remain sick beyond the seven-day isolation are struggling to find access to care and pay hospital bills. In January, as omicron’s share of new cases was rising, the government shortened the isolation period to seven days. Once the seven-day isolation expires, all COVID-19-related medical costs are no longer covered by the government. “The government considers a patient to no longer be a COVID-19 case past day seven. And yet some patients are still on oxygen

March 29, 2022