7-yr jail term confirmed for mother for beating adult son over 2,000 times to death

The Supreme Court on Wednesday confirmed a seven-year prison term for a 64-year-old woman for beating her adult son over 2,000 times with a bamboo stick for more than two hours and causing him to die. The mother was indicted on charges of beating to death her 35-year-old son at a Buddhist temple in August 2020 by either assaulting him with a stick or kicking. Two lower courts sentenced her to seven years in prison. According to CCTV footage, the assault took place for about 2 1/2 hours. The son

March 16, 2022

Seoul mayor to return to work this week following at-home virus treatment

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon plans to return to work this week after ending his at-home isolation treatment for his COVID-19 infection, officials said Wednesday. Oh, who tested positive for the virus last week, will finish his seven-day isolation Thursday and return to his office Friday. He plans to attend the opening ceremony of the 2022 Seoul Fashion Week at the Seoul Museum of Craft Art scheduled Friday. According to officials, Oh has been overseeing the city government's management through remote

March 16, 2022

First on-campus unisex toilet opens at Seoul university

A gender-neutral toilet that can be used by anyone regardless of sex or disability has been installed at a Seoul university for the first time among domestic universities. Sungkonghoe University said Wednesday it has completed the construction of the unisex toilet on the first basement floor of a lecture building called the New Millennium Hall. The toilet, named "Everyone's Toilet," is equipped with various convenience facilities, such as voice assistance, automatic doors, Braille bloc

March 16, 2022

PM calls for adjusting infectious disease level of COVID-19 amid surging cases

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum on Wednesday asked health officials to consider adjusting the infectious disease level of COVID-19 to better cope with surging cases. The novel coronavirus is currently classified as "Class 1 infectious disease," the highest in the four-tier classification that falls under the same category with diseases like the Ebola virus and the Middle East respiratory syndrome. The Class 1 infection diseases require high-level isolation, such as negative pressure isolat

March 16, 2022

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases surpass somber 400,000 milestone amid omicron wave

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases hit yet another somber milestone of more than 400,000 on Wednesday, driven by the dominant omicron variant spreading at an overwhelming speed. The country added 400,741 new daily COVID-19 infections, mostly locally transmitted, raising the total caseload to 7,629,275, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. It's an all-time high since South Korea reported the first COVID-19 case on Jan. 20, 2020, and a big jump from Tuesday's 362,338. The pre

March 16, 2022

S. Korean parents lukewarm to government’s vaccination program for children

Parents in South Korea are wary of a government plan to vaccinate children aged 5 to 11 against COVID-19 starting later this month, with many worried about the potential side effects. The government on Monday announced that it will begin inoculating children in that age group on March 31 at around 1,200 designated medical facilities. Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty, which was approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for child vaccination last month, is expected to be used.

March 15, 2022

Omicron’s BA.2 subvariant rising to dominance in Korea

An even more transmissible subvariant of omicron called BA.2 is soon to become the dominant strain in Korea, which could protract the current wave, experts say. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s weekly update on circulating variants of concern, posted Monday, the BA.2 strain accounted for 26.3 percent of all analyzed cases in the previous seven days. The share of BA.2 in Korea jumped from 4.9 percent in the third week of February to 10.3 percent in the last

March 15, 2022

[Newsmaker] For kids with COVID-19, everyday life can be a struggle

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Eight-year-old Brooklynn Chiles fidgets on the hospital bed as she waits for the nurse at Children's National Hospital. The white paper beneath her crinkles as she shifts to look at the medical objects in the room. She's had the coronavirus three times, and no one can figure out why. Brooklynn's lucky, sort of. Each time she has tested positive, she has suffered no obvious symptoms. But her dad, Rodney, caught the virus when she was positive back in September, and he died from

March 15, 2022

Departure order for foreigner who drove 1 meter while intoxicated unfair: commission

A departure order for a foreigner who drove approximately 1 meter while under the influence of alcohol has been ruled unfair, the Central Administrative Appeals Commission (CAAC) said Tuesday. The CAAC, under the Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission, said it has repealed the immigration authorities' departure order for the foreigner, which was issued after the person was caught driving under the influence in October 2020. The person, who was drinking with a friend at the time, was found

March 15, 2022

52,684 students test positive for COVID-19 last week, more than double from week ago

A total of 52,684 students from the kindergarten to the high school level tested positive for COVID-19 in Seoul last week, more than doubling from the previous week, the Seoul education office said Tuesday. The tally from the week ending Sunday marks a steep hike from 25,122 cases a week earlier, and the rise was driven mainly by infections among elementary school students, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said. COVID-19 cases involving elementary school students totaled 667.9 out of e

March 15, 2022

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases above 300,000 for 4th day amid omicron spread

South Korea's new daily COVID-19 cases stayed above 300,000 for four straight days Tuesday as the country battles through the worst virus wave yet, sparked by the highly transmissible omicron variant. The country added 362,338 new COVID-19 infections, mostly locally transmitted, putting the total caseload at 7,228,550, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Tuesday's tally marks the second-highest daily count after the all-time high of 383,664 reported Saturday. It's also

March 15, 2022

S. Korea to vaccinate children aged under 11 later this month

South Korea will make COVID-19 vaccinations available to children aged between 5 and 11 later this month, the government announced Monday. According to Interior Minister Jeon Hae-cheol‘s announcement at a COVID-19 response meeting Monday, the government will begin inoculating children on March 31 at around 1,200 designated medical facilities. The country’s health authorities will take reservations from March 24, Jeon added. Jeon said the government’s decision came amid an i

March 14, 2022

[Exclusive] Abolishing Gender Equality Ministry ‘premature’ for Korea, warns OECD economist

South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s key election pledge of removing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family is “premature,” and would give the “completely wrong policy signal,” according to a senior economist at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In an email response to The Korea Herald’s inquiries about the main conservative People Power Party president-elect’s gender policy promises, Willem Adema, senior economist

March 14, 2022

7-yr prison term confirmed for pastor for sexually harassing teenage girls

The Supreme Court on Monday confirmed a seven-year prison term for a 71-year-old church pastor convicted of sexually harassing two teenage sisters at a children's welfare center repeatedly in 2008. The pastor has denied the charges that he sexually molested the sisters, 17 and 14 at the time, frequently in his office in Chuncheon, 85 kilometers northeast of Seoul, in the summer of 2008, but two lower courts sentenced him to seven years in prison based on consistent testimonies from the victims,

March 14, 2022

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases above 300,000 for 3rd day as omicron rages

South Korea reported more than 300,000 new COVID-19 cases for a third consecutive day Monday as the virus wave, fueled by the highly contagious omicron variant, continued to grip the nation. The country added 309,790 new COVID-19 infections, the majority of which coming from local transmissions, putting the total caseload at 6,866,222, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Monday's count is a drop from the previous day's 350,190, due largely to fewer tests on the weeke

March 14, 2022

Govt. to begin vaccinating children aged 5-11 against COVID-19 in late March

The government will begin vaccinating children aged 5-11 against COVID-19 late this month, Interior Minister Jeon Hae-cheol said Monday. The safety of COVID-19 vaccines for children has been sufficiently proven abroad while COVID-19 patients aged 11 or under have surpassed 15 percent of all cases in the country, Jeon said during a COVID-19 response meeting. "The government will carry out vaccination for young children aged between 5-11, who have been excluded from inoculation, from late M

March 14, 2022

S. Korea‘s daily COVID-19 cases stay over 350,000, critical cases rise

South Korea‘s daily COVID-19 infections stayed over 350,000 for two days in a row, government data showed, Sunday. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the country reported 350,190 new COVID-19 cases during the 24 hours of Saturday. The daily tally was slightly down from the all-time high of 383,665 seen the previous day. The decrease was likely due to fewer people being tested during the weekend. Of the locally transmitted cases reported, infections from Seoul a

March 13, 2022

Foreign ministry extends COVID-19 advisory against all overseas travel

The foreign ministry renewed its COVID-19 special advisory against all overseas travel for another month Sunday in what is expected to be the last extension of the advisory that was first issued two years ago. In the advisory effective until April 13, the ministry warned against travelling to all countries and regions due to the global spread of the omicron variant while asking those overseas to take measures to prevent exposure to the virus. The advisory was first issued in March 2020 and has b

March 13, 2022

New COVID-19 cases above 350,000 for 2nd day amid omicron wave

South Korea's daily COVID-19 cases stayed above 350,000 for the second straight day Sunday as the country is grappling with the fast spread of the omicron variant. The country reported 350,190 new COVID-19 infections, including 350,157 local cases, raising the total caseload to 6,556,453, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The tally fell from an all-time high of 383,664 on Saturday due largely to less testing on the weekend. The omicron variant is spreading a

March 13, 2022

Main fire of east coast wildfires extinguished: KFS

ULJIN -- The main fire of massive wildfires in the eastern coastal areas has been put out after more than 213 hours since the blaze started more than eight days ago, the Korea Forest Service said Sunday. Choi Byeong-am, head of the Korea Forest Service (KFS), said although the main fire has been extinguished, firefighters are still working to put out the remaining fires. The blaze started in the east coastal town of Uljin on March 4, about 330 kilometers southeast of Seoul, and became the coun

March 13, 2022