Police investigate gang fight in North Jeolla Province

South Korean police have launched an investigation into a fight between two gangs at a funeral in North Jeolla Province, it said Monday. According to the North Jeolla Provincial Police Agency, two gangs got into a fight at the funeral of a former triad member held in Iksan around 2 a.m. Sunday. Police officers were dispatched after local police received a call from a citizen who had witnessed the brawl. But the involved parties had already fled the scene before the officers arrived, accordin

Feb. 7, 2022

[Newsmaker] Korea switches to self-reported contact tracing as COVID-19 positivity rate hits record

As the omicron variant spreads rapidly in South Korea, related figures have also hit fresh highs, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Monday. As of midnight Sunday, the percentage of tests that were positive out of all tests administered in the country reached 26 percent, up 5.2 percentage points from the previous day’s 20.8 percent. This means that 1 out of 4 people who received a PCR test got a positive result for COVID-19. The figure has been increasing r

Feb. 7, 2022

Facing omicron wave, schools shift to ‘normalcy’

Schools in Korea are to move into “normalcy” attendance measures for the new semester set to begin in March, the Education Ministry said Monday, announcing new COVID-19 protocols for schools.　 The ministry announced a new four-stage plan regarding school attendance which sets standards, yet allows schools to flexibly respond to virus situations. “We are preparing for the new semester as if we are the parents of students,” Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae said during a pr

Feb. 7, 2022

Moon says current surge ‘last hurdle,’ warns against panic

President Moon Jae-in on Monday warned against panic in face of the spike in COVID-19 cases saying that it could be the “last hurdle” in returning to normalcy. “They say it’s always the darkest before dawn,” Moon said, referring to the record number of COVID cases in Korea. “I think this is the last hurdle on the way to recovery. If we believe in the government and work together, we will be able to progress toward normal life more quickly.” Moon made t

Feb. 7, 2022

Rescuers locate body of presumably last missing worker at Gwangju construction accident site

GWANGJU -- Rescue workers on Monday discovered the body of presumably the last missing person trapped under rubble at the site of last month's apartment construction accident in the southwestern city of Gwangju. The body, presumed to be that of the sixth worker who went missing following the accident on Jan. 11, was found on the 27th floor of the damaged building in Gwangju, about 330 kilometers south of Seoul, as search operations have entered the fourth week. The body, which has yet to be re

Feb. 7, 2022

29 Afghan evacuees find jobs at Hyundai Heavy: justice ministry

Twenty-nine Afghan evacuees airlifted to South Korea last year have been hired by a subcontractor of the shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., leading to their departure Monday from the government-provided temporary residence, officials said. The newly hired and their family members, totaling 157 people from 29 households, will move into company housing provided by Hyundai Heavy in Ulsan, about 415 kilometers southeast of Seoul, according to the justice ministry. They are among 391 Afghan

Feb. 7, 2022

Omicron surge sparks shortage fears of home test kits

The rapid spread of COVID-19 has demand for at-home test kits rising at an alarming rate, with major convenience store chain CU temporarily ceasing distribution to franchises. According to local reports Monday, CU stores across the country have been unable to order new stock of at-home kits since Friday. This is believed to be due to a spike in sales during the Lunar New Year holiday last week, a CU official was cited as saying. CU reported a 700 percent increase in sales of at-home test kits

Feb. 7, 2022

Military reports 150 more COVID-19 cases

South Korea's military on Monday reported 150 additional COVID-19 cases, raising the total caseload among its domestic personnel to 6,277. The new cases included 75 from the Air Force, 20 from the Navy, 20 from the Marine Corps, 21 from units under the direct control of the defense ministry and 14 from the Army. Currently, 1,975 military personnel are under treatment. Meanwhile, three more sailors of the Navy's 304-strong Cheonghae unit operating in waters off Africa tested positive, bringing

Feb. 7, 2022

Bear with me: Animal rights awareness in Korea takes strides

Late last month, the Ministry of Environment announced that all bear farming will be outlawed in Korea as of Jan. 1, 2026, and the currently farmed bears will be relocated to shelters for protection by 2025. The decision follows decades of controversy on the practice, which started in 1981 due to high demand for the bear bile used in traditional medicine. “The declaration to cease bear breeding is particularly meaningful because the government, the agricultural industry and civil societ

Feb. 7, 2022

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases above 35,000 for 3rd day as omicron's spread picks up

South Korea's new COVID-19 infections stayed at more than 35,000 cases for three days in a row Monday despite fewer tests over the weekend, as the highly infectious omicron variant rages across the country following a major holiday. The country reported 35,286 new COVID-19 infections, including 35,131 local cases, raising the total to 1,044,963, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The accumulated virus caseload surpassed a grim milestone of 1 million the previo

Feb. 7, 2022

South Korea pushes to treat COVID-19 like flu

After just more than two years of the pandemic, South Korea is considering changing the current quarantine system to manage COVID-19 like a seasonal flu, as severe cases decline despite the rapid increase in the spread. Earlier on Friday, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters said it would fully review the possibility of switching to a medical system similar to seasonal flu while evaluating the capacity of the medical system, the final severity rate and the fatality rat

Feb. 6, 2022

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases hit fresh high of nearly 40,000 amid omicron wave

South Korea's daily virus cases hit another high Sunday, exceeding 38,000, as the highly transmissible omicron variant rages across the country following a holiday season. The country reported 38,691 new COVID-19 infections, including 38,502 local cases, raising the total to 1,009,688, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The accumulated virus caseload surpassed 1 million on Sunday, two years after the country reported its first COVID-19 case. The daily tally s

Feb. 6, 2022

New cases hit fresh high of over 36,000 amid relentless omicron spread

South Korea's daily virus cases exceeded 30,000 for the first time to hit another all-time high of over 36,000 on Saturday amid fast spread of the omicron variant after a holiday season. The country reported 36,362 new COVID-19 infections, including 36,162 local cases, raising the total to 971,018, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The latest figure is a whopping increase of nearly 9,000 from the previous daily record of 27,443 reported on Friday. New infections ha

Feb. 5, 2022

Rescuers retrieve body of missing worker from collapsed construction site in Gwangju

Rescue workers on Friday retrieved the body of one more construction worker from the rubble of a collapsed apartment building in the southern city of Gwangju, with three more people still trapped or missing from the accident last month. The body was pulled from a heap of concrete debris on the 27th floor of the high-rise building in the city, about 330 kilometers south of Seoul, the third person found dead and retrieved from the accident site. The exterior walls of the 39-story building unde

Feb. 4, 2022

Seoul to introduce new subway trains with free phone chargers, wider seats for pregnant women

Seoul's subway operator will introduce brand new trains equipped with free mobile phone chargers and wider seats for pregnant women starting later this month, officials said Friday. Seoul Metro, the operator of the capital's vast subway system, will put five new trains comprising 40 passenger cars into operation on Line 5 starting this month and add 20 more trains to the line by the end of this year, officials said. The new trains make less noise and offer wireless phone chargers for the firs

Feb. 4, 2022

S. Korea sees new daily high of 27,443 COVID-19 cases

South Korea’s daily COVID-19 infections on Thursday hit a fresh high of 27,443 amid the omicron wave, government data showed Friday. The government also announced Friday that it has decided to extend the current social distancing restrictions for two more weeks until Feb. 20. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the daily cases went up by 4,536 from the previous day’s 22,907. The cumulative total for confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country also reached 934

Feb. 4, 2022

[Weekender] How South Korea went from ‘test, trace, treat’ to ‘let it spread’

South Korea is determined to go easy on omicron, which is behind the ongoing record surge in COVID-19 patients, in the hope that the new dominant variant will not be as bad as the ones that came before. But is this reckless?　 The rationale for the shift to the omicron response plan is that the new variant is less threatening than its predecessor, delta, the government says. Messaging from health officials surrounding omicron has been consistently hopeful. Son Young-rae, spokesperson for th

Feb. 4, 2022

Probe under way over alleged embezzlement by head of independence fighters' association

Police have opened an investigation into embezzlement allegations raised against the head of a state-funded association of national independence fighters and their descendants, officials said Friday. Kim Won-wung, a former three-term lawmaker who heads the Heritage of Korean Independence, is facing allegations that he misappropriated a total of 45 million won ($37,465) last year of the business proceeds from a cafe his organization operates inside the National Assembly compound. He allegedly

Feb. 4, 2022

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases hit fresh high of 27,443 as omicron surges

South Korea's daily virus cases on Friday hit another all-time high with infections exceeding 27,000 for the first time amid the fast spread of the omicron variant after a holiday season. The country reported 27,443 new COVID-19 infections, including 27,283 local cases, raising the total to 934,656, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The previous daily record was 22,907 reported on Thursday. The death toll from COVID-19 came to 6,836, up 24 from Thursday. The

Feb. 4, 2022

Confusion on day of Korea’s big shift to omicron plan

From Thursday onward, Korea has begun its transition to the omicron response that entails a reduced governmental role in controlling the spread of the coronavirus and patient management, but a lot of the foretold changes are yet to be implemented in practice. Despite announcing that select primary care doctor offices would take on rapid antigen testing and both remote and in-person care of nonhospitalized patients, the list of clinics providing these services had not yet been disclosed as of

Feb. 3, 2022