3 migrant workers dead in car crash on icy road: police

A vehicle skidded on an icy road in central South Korea and struck and killed three migrant workers who were out on the road to take care of an earlier accident, police said Tuesday. The mishap happened in the city of Asan, about 85 kilometers south of Seoul, on Monday evening when four people -- two Russians, one Uzbek and one Kazakh -- were helping out the Filipino driver of a 1-ton freight truck stranded on the slippery road. The four had got out of their Sorento SUV on the way home to help

Dec. 28, 2021

[Best Brand] KIS values learning experience

Korea International School, in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province, focuses on providing students a chance to learn about global citizenship, integrity, adaptability, balance in life, and empowerment. The international school honors diversity. Students and faculty members of thirty-seven nationalities and their cultures are represented at KIS. It supports multilingual students, allowing them to use more than one language to process their learning. Teachers invite students to share their languages and c

Dec. 28, 2021

Feeling shut out, the unvaccinated stick together online

On Sunday, gazaahome.com launched with a list of a few hundreds of restaurants in the country that do not “discriminate against” unvaccinated people. As of Tuesday afternoon, the digital map showing the location of the businesses garnered some 70,000 views, with entry suggestions flowing in from users, according to its developer Goda. “It seems that our society is going through a somewhat chaotic period due to the recently strengthened vaccination pass policy. I have deve

Dec. 28, 2021

New rail network opens in Yeongnam

South Korea opened its first-ever hyper-regional light rail network outside the capital region, celebrating the opening of 142.2 kilometers of new subway lines in southeastern parts of the country. President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday visited Taehwagang Station in Ulsan to attend the opening ceremony of four new light rail lines spanning across the North and South Gyeongsang provinces, as well as Ulsan and Busan. The president himself took the train from Taehwagang Station to Ilgwang Station in Bus

Dec. 28, 2021

77.8% of wage earners support 52-hour workweek: labor ministry

About 78 percent of salaried workers support the 52-hour workweek that was introduced in 2018 to reduce long working hours, a labor ministry survey showed Tuesday. According to the survey of 1,300 people, 71 percent said the reduction of the maximum weekly working hours to 52 from 68 was a good decision. Of the wage earning respondents, in particular, 77.8 percent were in support of the shorter workweek. The Nov. 26-30 survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.72 percentage points and

Dec. 28, 2021

UN rapporteurs voice concerns about arrest of KCTU leader over illegal rallies

UN special rapporteurs on human rights expressed concerns over the October arrest of the leader of a major South Korean umbrella labor union, and the government has countered that his arrest was warranted because he organized illegal rallies in disregard of antivirus rules. The special rapporteurs sent a letter to the South Korean government on Oct. 22, saying Yang Kyeung-soo, the leader of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), legitimately exercised his rights to freedom of expressi

Dec. 28, 2021

Police open probe into resume falsification allegations involving wife of Yoon

Police launched an investigation Tuesday into allegations that the wife of Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential candidate of the main opposition People Power Party, falsified credentials on her resume for teaching jobs. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has taken over the complaints filed against Yoon's wife, Kim Keon-hee, and planned to hold an interview Wednesday afternoon with civic group officials who filed the complaints, officials said. Two civic groups filed the complaints, claiming Kim f

Dec. 28, 2021

New COVID-19 cases drop below 4,000 for 1st time in nearly a month

South Korea's new coronavirus cases fell below 4,000 for the first time in 28 days Tuesday due partly to antivirus restrictions and fewer tests over the weekend, but the number of critical cases remained high. The country added 3,865 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total caseload to 615,532, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The figure marked the first time daily cases fell below 4,000 since Nov. 30, and represented a sharp decline from a daily record hi

Dec. 28, 2021

Neighbors mourn death of infant found at clothing donation bin; Mother arrested

Neighbors left flowers, gifts and heartfelt notes at a roadside clothing donation bin in Osan, Gyeonggi Province, where an infant was found dead earlier this month. The baby -- a boy -- was found by the bin’s operator on Dec. 18, wrapped with a towel. On Sunday, local police arrested a 20-something woman living nearby as a suspect. The woman confessed to having given birth to the baby at home and abandoning him at the bin, out of fear that her husband could find out about her extramar

Dec. 27, 2021

COVID-19 cluster infections rising at Seoul's educational facilities

Coronavirus cluster infections have been on the rise at young children's educational facilities in Seoul, the city government said Monday. The Seoul government said as many as 270 children tested positive for COVID-19 last week as parts of infection clusters traced to daycare centers, kindergartens and other educational facilities. The number of COVID-19 infections traced to an English language academy in the southern ward of Gwanak, for instance, reached 76 from Dec. 19-25, while similar clus

Dec. 27, 2021

Civic groups vent outrage over pardon for jailed ex-President Park

Civic groups vented outrage Monday over the recent special pardon for ex-President Park Geun-hye imprisoned on corruption charges, arguing that the decision is a blow to the country's democracy. Activists representing 1,001 civic groups, including the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, staged a press conference in front of Cheong Wa Dae earlier in the day, calling for the withdrawal of the amnesty. "President Moon Jae-in's

Dec. 27, 2021

State intelligence agency on alert over fake $50 note

South Korea's state intelligence agency formally raised the alarm Monday about the possibility of counterfeit $50 bills being distributed in the nation, especially before and during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) made public a photo of a fake bill, similar to a so-called supernote in its highly deceptive characteristics, which it had acquired recently. "Such a $50 counterfeit has not yet been found in South Korea, but it is continuing to ci

Dec. 27, 2021

Korea approves Pfizer oral drug

An oral drug for COVID-19 is likely to become available via prescription from late January, following the Food and Drug Ministry’s decision Monday to issue emergency authorization for Paxlovid, Pfizer’s oral pill for COVID-19.　 The announcement came five days after the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency requested emergency authorization of the drug manufactured by the global drug giant. “As the number of COVID-19 patients and those in serious condition has been i

Dec. 27, 2021

Employment rate of college, grad school graduates falls to record low last year

The employment rate of students with bachelor's, master's or doctorate degrees fell to a record low last year as the COVID-19 pandemic dealt a severe blow to job markets, government statistics showed Monday. Their employment rate stood at 65.1 percent last year, the lowest since the education ministry started compiling such data in 2011, according to its statistics. According to the statistics, 553,521 people graduated from colleges and graduate schools across the country between August 2019

Dec. 27, 2021

New COVID-19 cases below 5,000 for 1st time in 20 days; critical cases remain high

South Korea's new coronavirus cases fell below 5,000 for the first time in 20 days Monday due partly to antivirus restrictions and fewer tests over the weekend, but the number of critical cases remained high. The country added 4,207 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total caseload to 611,670, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The figure marked the first time daily cases fell below 5,000 since Dec. 7, and represented a sharp decline from a daily record high

Dec. 27, 2021

Cold wave hits nation with heavy snow

Over the Christmas weekend, extreme cold with heavy snowfall hit large parts of Korea, with temperatures dropping to as low as minus 25.4 degrees Celsius in some regions and heavy snow leading to flight cancellations. With the mercury beginning to fall from Saturday afternoon, the capital city’s Sunday morning low reached minus 16 C, the coldest temperature in December in nearly 41 years. The lowest temperature ever recorded in Seoul in December was minus 16.2 C on Dec. 29, 1980. The c

Dec. 26, 2021

Military reports 31 more COVID-19 cases

South Korea's military on Sunday reported 31 additional COVID-19 cases, including 30 breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 3,120. Of the new cases, 22 are from the Army, six from the Navy and three from units under the direct control of the defense ministry. Currently, 278 military personnel are under treatment. Of the total military caseload, 1,327 are breakthrough cases. (Yonhap)

Dec. 26, 2021

New infections below 6,000 for 2nd day; critical cases at 1,081

South Korea's new coronavirus cases stayed below 6,000 for the second straight day Sunday following fewer tests on Christmas Day but critical cases remained high. The country added 5,419 more COVID-19 cases, including 5,339 local infections, bringing the cumulative total to 607,463, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Sunday's tally fell from 5,842 cases on Saturday, 6,233 on Friday and 6,917 on Thursday, apparently helped by antivirus restrictions. The number of crit

Dec. 26, 2021

[From the scene] Will this be last Christmas of pandemic?

INCHEON -- The second Christmas of COVID-19 has passed as South Korea battles its worst surge in the pandemic yet. 　 Just ahead of Christmas last year, the third big wave of COVID-19 had mainly swept across nursing homes. This Christmas, said Dr. Eom Joong-sik, an infectious disease doctor at Gachon University Medical Center, was “even more brutal” than the last. About half of the patients in the COVID-19 intensive care unit rooms of the hospital in Incheon had traveled from far-of

Dec. 25, 2021

[Eye Plus] Smart shelters to stay before your bus arrives

A decade ago, Seoulites were exposed to all of the elements of climate alongside automobile exhaust while waiting for the next bus to come. Today, the city has adopted digitally renovated bus stops that alert passengers of incoming vehicles, protect them from weather changes and help them better respond to medical emergencies.  Known as “smart shelters,” these tech-savvy bus stops are equipped with screen doors for safety, smartphone chargers, Wi-Fi internet access, air-condi

Dec. 25, 2021