S. Korea extends pandemic-driven advisory against overseas travel until Oct. 13

South Korea on Monday extended its special advisory against overseas travel for another month, the foreign ministry said, amid the continued spread of the new coronavirus. The measure, which calls for citizens to cancel or postpone trips abroad, will remain in effect until Oct. 13. The current advisory was set to expire Monday. The extension came as many countries struggle with the outbreaks of various COVID-19 variants around the world and continue to ban or restrict the entry of people arri

Sept. 13, 2021

New cases fall under 1,500 on fewer tests; potential upticks worrisome during holiday

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases dropped under 1,500 on Monday due to fewer tests as health authorities focus on their virus response during the Chuseok holiday that starts this week. The country added 1,433 COVID-19 cases, including 1,409 local infections, raising the total caseload to 274,415, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The latest caseload was down 322 from 1,755 cases the previous day. Virus cases usually begin spiking Wednesday when more peop

Sept. 13, 2021

Korea to expand at-home COVID-19 care in ‘phased return to normal’

South Korea is seeking to have more patients with less severe COVID-19 symptoms stay home from now on in a push to shift toward a more relaxed pandemic response, buoyed by progress in vaccinations. The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Friday that as vaccination rates rise and Korea prepares to open up again, patients with mild or asymptomatic COVID-19 will be put in home isolation to protect the health care system from being overloaded beyond its capacity. “In our path to a return t

Sept. 12, 2021

[Seoul Struggles 11] Do I have to detour again to avoid the protest?

On July 3, streets in central Seoul were flooded with thousands of members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions giving voice to their cause. For the vast majority of people, however, the rally was a source of irritation and inconvenience. "They think they can take the street whenever they like, and I don’t know where that right comes from," said 41-year-old office worker Kim Seung-hye, who was in the area at the time to dine out with a friend. "I had to walk at lea

Sept. 12, 2021

Typhoon Chanthu forecast to affect S. Korea this week

Typhoon Chanthu, the season's 14th tropical storm, is forecast to affect South Korea this week, with heavy downpours expected for Jeju Island and southern coastal regions, the state weather agency said Sunday. The typhoon was located 170 kilometers southeast of Taipei as of 9 a.m., heading northeastward at a speed of 21 kilometers per hour, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). Its maximum wind speed was clocked at 50 meters per second. The KMA said the storm is expected to

Sept. 12, 2021

2.1 magnitude quake hits southeastern South Korea, no damage reported

A 2.1 magnitude earthquake struck southeastern South Korea early Sunday, but no damage was reported. The quake hit some 4 kilometers southeast of Changnyeong County, about 260 km southeast of Seoul, at 2:04 a.m. from a depth of 13 kilometers, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said. The epicenter was located at a latitude of 35.53 degrees north and a longitude of 128.53 degrees east. The maximum seismic intensity scale was 2, which means that the tremor can be felt only by a small nu

Sept. 12, 2021

New cases fall under 1,800; infections in capital region still worrisome

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases dropped under 1,800 on Sunday as health authorities try to stem virus infections ahead of a major holiday amid persistent infections in the greater Seoul area. The country added 1,755 COVID-19 cases, including 1,725 local infections, raising the total caseload to 272,982, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The latest caseload was down from over 1,800 cases over the past two days. However, it was the second-largest figure fo

Sept. 12, 2021

Number of gov't certified social enterprises tops 3,000: labor ministry

  The number of social enterprises certified by the government has reached over 3,000, with a majority of the firms committed to providing jobs to underprivileged people, according to officials Sunday. The labor ministry's expert committee on social enterprise development on Wednesday certified 97 businesses as new government-approved social enterprises, bringing the total number of social companies in the country up to 3,064. The 3,000-mark milestone was reached in 14 years since the gov

Sept. 12, 2021

Gov't seeks to promote education of critical foreign languages

The government has drafted a new mid-term plan to expand the education of 53 foreign languages that are less commonly taught but deemed increasingly important to the nation's engagement with the world, officials said Sunday. Education, justice, gender and other ministers Wednesday discussed the education ministry's proposal for the second five-year basic plan for the education of the critical foreign languages, which will be implemented in 2022. The 53 languages designated by a presidential de

Sept. 12, 2021

[Photo News] Preparation of Apples for Chuseok

Ripe apples are picked by a worker at an apple orchard in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province. On Thursday, workers carefully examine and select the season’s apples. Employees organize the apples and group them into similar sizes and shapes. Apples that have been sorted out are put into crates, all ready to be shipped out for the Chuseok holiday.

Sept. 11, 2021

New cases in 1,800s for second day amid spread in capital area

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases stayed in the 1,800s for the second straight day Saturday as infections continued to spread in the greater Seoul area. The country added 1,865 more COVID-19 cases, including 1,816 local infections, raising the total caseload to 271,227, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The number of new cases was down 27 from Friday but still 62 more than a week ago. In the past week, the number of new cases has ranged from 1,375 to 2,049, aver

Sept. 11, 2021

8 in 10 Koreans vow to stay at home during Chuseok: poll

Nearly eight out of 10 South Koreans have no plans to visit their hometowns or travel during the upcoming Chuseok holiday amid the widespread COVID-19 fears, a poll showed Friday. In the survey of 1,001 adults nationwide conducted by Gallup Korea from Tuesday to Thursday, 77 percent said they do not have any plans to leave their homes for more than one night during the Chuseok holiday, the autumn harvest celebration. This year's Chuseok runs from Sept. 20-22, and it will be extended by an extra

Sept. 10, 2021

Adjusted distancing rules do not mean loosening efforts: PM

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum on Friday made it clear that the government is not shifting gears toward letting guard down against the coronavirus. Kim cautioned against adjustments in guidelines around fully vaccinated people as being interpreted as a change in strategy of learning to live with the coronavirus in circulation at a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters. "The fourth wave is currently ongoing as we saw the number of newly confirmed cases stayin

Sept. 10, 2021

Website helps users navigate complex pandemic rules

A university student developed a website to make it easier for people to navigate a web of ever-changing social distancing rules on private gatherings. The creator, Kim Joon-tae, said he developed the website (www.canwemeet.us) to reduce inconveniences coming from complicated rules on private gatherings that differ depending on time of the day, vaccination status and regions, among other things. The service, which went up Tuesday, asks a user seven questions about a planned gathering to ultima

Sept. 10, 2021

[News Focus] Tally for discouraged workers up 50,000 on-year

SEJONG -- The job market of South Korea has shown few signs of improvement this year after it was severely hit by the pandemic throughout last year, data from a state agency showed. According to Statistics Korea, the number of people who abandoned looking for jobs stood at 633,000 in July, the latest month for which data is available, up 9.1 percent -- or 53,000 people -- from 580,000 posted a year earlier. These are dubbed “discouraged workers,” referring to those who did not car

Sept. 9, 2021

BTS and Seoul say ‘Your Seoul goes on’

BTS and the Seoul city government have released a video to promote tourism for the city, as the global K-pop phenomenon continues to serve as honorary tourism ambassadors for the South Korean capital. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Thursday it has worked with the K-pop stars for a fifth year to carry out this year’s promotional campaign, including launching a promotional video titled “Your Seoul Goes On.” The promotional video seeks to deliver the message that Seoul d

Sept. 9, 2021

Law unfair to foreign performers: lawmaker

South Korea’s regulations on foreign performers are unfair and may violate freedom of expression, a lawmaker said Thursday. Rep. Lee Sang-hun of the ruling Democratic Party said Korea unfairly regulates performances by foreigners, citing ambiguity in the Korea Media Rating Board’s “Foreigners’ performance recommendation system.” Under the current law, foreigners must be recommended and reviewed by the board if they want to perform in Korea. If they perform wit

Sept. 9, 2021

Loss-struck small-business owners stage nationwide rally

Thousands of small-business owners took to the streets late Wednesday in the first nationwide protest against COVID-19 rules they claim are jeopardizing their livelihoods. They say they’ve had enough of restrictions on private gatherings and operating hours, and that the measures are drowning small businesses in debt. From 11 p.m. Wednesday to 1:15 a.m. Thursday, small-business owners in nine regions across South Korea staged a drive-past rally under the lead of a committee of small-busi

Sept. 9, 2021

New cases exceed 2,000 for 2nd day amid worries over further upticks

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases remained in the 2,000s for the second day Thursday as health authorities warned that new infections may further rise ahead of a major national holiday when millions travel. The country added 2,049 more COVID-19 cases, including 2,018 local infections, raising the total caseload to 267,470, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The latest caseload is similar to 2,048 cases reported a day earlier, when the tally bounced back to

Sept. 9, 2021

Hospitals ‘forced to evict’ COVID-19 patients early to free up beds

Some hospitals in Korea have come forward in recent days saying they are being forced to move patients out of COVID-19 wards earlier than they should be in order to comply with government measures intended to boost bed turnover rates. Despite the August mandate on larger hospitals to set aside some of their intensive care beds for COVID-19 patients, the current wave of the pandemic is straining Korea’s response capacities. Korea has been seeing record-high numbers of critic

Sept. 8, 2021