Funeral wreaths and ‘green terrorism,’ an unsual controversy at Seoul schools

The clash over Seoul education authorities’ Green Smart Future School project is growing, with some opponents accusing the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education of “green terrorism” and putting children at risk, expressing their opposition by sending condolence wreaths or ribbons to the school. The form of sending condolence messages has been widely adopted as a form of protest in recent months, particularly during the pandemic where holding rallies are more strictly prohibi

Sept. 8, 2021

Self-employed workers set to stage drive-thru protests against COVID-19 restrictions

Thousands of self-employed people in South Korea are set to hold drive-through protests in several cities across the country Wednesday night to call for eased COVID-19 restrictions and more compensation, the organizer said. Around 2,000 to 3,000 people are expected to stage the rallies in nine regions, including Seoul, Ulsan, and provinces of North Jeolla, South Gyeongsang and Gangwon, from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m., according to an emergency committee of the self-employed. "We do not intend to

Sept. 8, 2021

Less-crowded, outdoor travel destinations more preferred this year amid pandemic: report

Preference for traveling to less crowded or outdoor destinations has grown this year in South Korea amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a report showed Wednesday. The Korea Culture & Tourism Institute (KCT) compared two surveys -- one conducted on 2,061 people from April to May last year and the other conducted on 3,136 from May to June this year -- to study any change in domestic travel trend that could be attributed to COVID-19. The report showed more people have chosen to travel to l

Sept. 8, 2021

Court again rules against family of wartime forced labor victim

The Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday again ruled against the bereaved family of a victim of World War II forced labor in a damages suit against a Japanese company. Four children of the late victim, surnamed Jeong, filed the suit in April 2019 seeking 200 million won ($171,940) in compensation from Japan's Nippon Steel Corp. Jeong claimed he was conscripted to forced labor in a Nippon Steel plant from 1940-42 when the Korean Peninsula was a colony of Japan. The same court on Aug. 11

Sept. 8, 2021

New cases spike to over 2,000 again; rising infections in greater Seoul worrisome

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases surged to over 2,000 again in a week on Wednesday as authorities step up antivirus efforts and the vaccination drive to curb the pandemic. The country added 2,050 more COVID-19 cases, including 2,014 local infections, raising the total caseload to 265,423, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The latest caseload bounced back to over 2,000 in a week. It is up from 1,597 on Tuesday, 1,375 on Monday and 1,490 on Sunday,

Sept. 8, 2021

National cemeteries to close during Chuseok holiday to prevent COVID-19 spread

National cemeteries will be closed during the upcoming Chuseok holiday to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, the veterans affairs ministry said Wednesday. From Sept. 18-22, visits to 11 national cemeteries across the country will be restricted, according to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. Chuseok is one of the country's biggest traditional holidays, during which families hold rituals thanking their ancestors and visit their graves. This year, South Koreans are set to en

Sept. 8, 2021

More Moderna arrivals prompt call for return to standard dosing interval

More than 1.3 million Moderna doses were added to Korea’s stockpile of COVID-19 vaccines on Tuesday, raising calls for switching back to a shorter dosing interval. Due to supply shortages in the summer, Korea extended the administration period between two doses of vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna to six weeks apart from August. The recommended gap is three weeks for Pfizer, and four weeks for Moderna. Since then, vaccination clinics across Korea have reported having administered Pfiz

Sept. 7, 2021

Korea’s race to vaccinate 70% of population with first dose nears finish line

The race for vaccinating 36 million people or 70 percent of the Korean population with one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Chuseok, beginning in less than two weeks, is nearing its end. By Monday’s end, more than 30 million people here had been at least partly vaccinated. The upcoming Chuseok marks the first major national holiday after the vaccine program kicked off in February, with the government seeking to permit more social distancing-free family gatherings and celebrations.

Sept. 7, 2021

[News Focus] Average age of Koreans likely to top 45 in 2024

SEJONG -- The average age of South Koreans reached 43.5 as of August, climbing by five years compared to a decade earlier in August 2011 when it stayed at 38.5, government data showed. This is attributed to a surge in the portion of seniors, aged 65 or over, and a sharp drop in the percentage of children and babies, aged under 15. After topping 40.0 in October 2014 for the first time since the nation started compiling the relevant figures, Koreans’ average age has continued to rise, acc

Sept. 7, 2021

[Us and Them] Misguided anger fans growing gender conflict

The conflict between the sexes -- more pronounced between feminists and anti-feminists online -- is growing, and spilling out into the real world, affecting corporate activities and even election results. The battle appears mostly limited to extreme ends of the spectrum with radical anti-feminists branding feminists as obese, socially inadequate women throwing tantrums. Those at the other end of the spectrum are just as antagonistic, with members of “feminist” online groups referr

Sept. 7, 2021

Delta variant cases near 20,000 in S. Korea

South Korea has confirmed 3,091 more cases of four major contagious variants of the new coronavirus over the past week, including 3,070 of the highly transmissible delta variant, health authorities said Tuesday. The caseload of such infections reached 23,388 here, with the number of delta cases, first reported in India, tallied at 19,951, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The tally indicates the delta variant is becoming the dominant strain of COVID-19 here,

Sept. 7, 2021

Police arrest 18, including TV celebrity, on charges of trafficking, using illegal drugs

C HUNCHEON -- Police in the eastern city of Chuncheon said Tuesday they arrested 14 people on charges of smuggling and distributing illegal drugs, and another four people, including TV celebrity Amy, who allegedly used narcotics from them, officials said Tuesday. The Gangwon Police Agency recently busted a drug trafficking operation that allegedly brought in drugs from Vietnam, the Philippines and other countries, largely by international airmail, and sold them to clients in South Korea via th

Sept. 7, 2021

Seoul launching multilingual COVID-19 campaign

The Seoul city government is encouraging foreigners in the city to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as the proportion of foreign residents with COVID-19 grows. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, foreign residents accounted for 9.2 percent of all COVID-19 patients in Seoul in August, up from 6.3 percent in July. The city government said the increase could be due to language barriers preventing those who don‘t speak Korean from accessing information about the nationwide vaccinat

Sept. 7, 2021

Nearly 2 million Korean adults illiterate: survey

About 2 million adults in South Korea are illiterate, the Ministry of Education said Tuesday. According to the National Institute for Lifelong Education’s survey on adult literacy, 4.5 percent of the country’s 44 million adults, or about 1.987 million people, do not have the basic reading, writing and math skills that are necessary for daily life. They were categorized as Level 1 in the survey, meaning they need elementary school education at the first or second grade level. The

Sept. 7, 2021

New cases bounce back to near 1,600; virus resurgence in wider Seoul worrisome

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases rose to slightly below 1,600 on Tuesday while authorities strive to tighten their guard against the pandemic and raise the vaccination rate ahead of a major national holiday. The country added 1,597 more COVID-19 cases, including 1,563 local infections, raising the total caseload to 263,374, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The latest caseload was the highest for any Tuesday despite tough social distancing measures

Sept. 7, 2021

Murder suspect offers apology to his victims and their families

An ex-convict accused of killing two women before and after cutting off his location-tracking device appeared in public on Tuesday for the first time after his identity was made public last week. Kang Yoon-seong was escorted out of a police station where he was under police arrest before being taken to the prosecution. In a brief appearance before media, Kang said, "I apologize to the victims and their families." He also said he murdered them "for money, not sexual reasons,&qu

Sept. 7, 2021

[From the scene] ‘Don’t give COVID-19 any chances’

ANYANG, Gyeonggi Province -- At critical case wards across Korea, health care workers have put their lives on the line quite literally every day for the past year and a half as they battle the pandemic. The squad of doctors and nurses at the Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital’s center for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO -- the last stage of life support for the sickest patients -- is weathering “the worst of COVID-19” on a daily basis. The ECMO center&r

Sept. 6, 2021

No more lining up for tickets at Seoul Grand Park

The Seoul Grand Park will no longer require visitors to line up to buy admission tickets, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Monday. Seoul City said that the amusement park has poured 5.5 billion won ($4.75 million) into building a new front gate that allows visitors to tag their transit cards to pay for entrance. Visitors can also purchase tickets online and scan the given QR code at sensors installed by the gates to enter the park. People will still be able to purchase tickets at booths

Sept. 6, 2021

Korean medical clinics see 76.5% decline in visits by foreigners in 2020: report

The number of foreign patients at medical institutions in South Korea plummeted more than 75 percent last year as the COVID-19 pandemic restricted international travel and lowered demand for medical tourism. According to a report released Aug. 30 by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, the number of foreigners who visited Korean medical institutions last year came to 117,069, down 76.5 percent from 497,464 in 2019. The patients who did seek treatment here represented fewer countries

Sept. 6, 2021

[Newsmaker] Over 90% of public says climate crisis should be major presidential election issue: survey

More than 90 percent of South Koreans think the climate crisis should be a prominent issue in the upcoming presidential election, a survey showed Sunday. According to the Gallup Korea poll, conducted at the request of environmental group Green Korea and involving 1,500 people nationwide, 91.1 percent of the respondents said Korea’s climate crisis response should be a major topic ahead of the March 9 election. Where most public opinion polls target people over 19, Green Korea said, the m

Sept. 6, 2021