Domestic trips decline 35% in 2020 due to pandemic: data

The number of domestic trips taken by South Koreans dropped sharply last year due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, a research institute said Sunday. South Koreans are estimated to have taken 225.19 million domestic trips in 2020, down 34.7 percent from a year earlier, the Korea Culture & Tourism Institute said in a report based on a survey of more than 50,000 people last year. The report showed South Koreans on average took 4.95 domestic trips per person last year, down from 7.61 in 2019

June 27, 2021

Local authorities to take charge of police from July 1

South Korea is slated to officially put local governments in charge of regional police forces from next month, in the biggest reform of the police force since its launch in 1945. The National Police Agency said Sunday that the change would take effect on July 1, with many duties handed over from the national police. The plan, introduced by the Presidential Committee on Local Autonomy Development in 2018, will put local governments in charge of their regional police agencies and directly run sa

June 27, 2021

2 die after inhaling toxic gas in bathroom

BUSAN -- Two workers have died after inhaling toxic gas in a bathroom at a shipyard in the southeastern city of Busan, police said Sunday. The two, one of them 48 years old and the other 28, were found unconscious in the restroom at 11:04 a.m. on Saturday before being taken to a hospital. The 48-year-old died less than an hour later and the other died Sunday. Police said the two were believed to have inhaled hydrogen sulfide and ammonia in the bathroom. Tests have shown that hydrogen sulfide

June 27, 2021

Private think tank researcher indicted on espionage charges

A researcher from a Seoul-based private think tank has been indicted on espionage charges after allegedly contacting a North Korean agent and spying for the North, prosecutors said Sunday. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office said it has referred Lee Jeong-hun, a research fellow of the April 27 Era Research Institute, to court for trial on charges of meeting and communicating with a North Korean agent who infiltrated South Korea, in violation of the National Security Law. The 57-year-

June 27, 2021

New virus cases stay in 600s for 5th day as S. Korea readies for revamped distancing rules

South Korea's daily new virus cases stayed in the 600s for the fifth straight day Sunday as health authorities brace for revamped social distancing rules while pushing to accelerate vaccinations. The country reported 614 more COVID-19 cases, including 570 local infections, raising the total caseload to 155,071, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The latest figure was down 54 from the previous day but still worrisome as daily virus cases on Sundays had been below 600 i

June 27, 2021

King Sejong Institute to launch new Korean language test next year

A state-run Korean language education foundation said Sunday it plans to adopt a new Korean language proficiency test next year to help foreign learners assess their Korean skills. The Sejong Korean Language Assessment (SKA), developed by the King Sejong Institute Foundation, aims to evaluate overall language skills of test takers, including reading, listening, speaking and writing. Korean learners of different levels, ranging from beginner to intermediate, will be able to test their language

June 27, 2021

13 USFK-affiliated individuals test positive for COVID-19

Eleven American soldiers and two dependents in South Korea have tested positive for the new coronavirus, US Forces Korea has said. Nine service members and a family member of a soldier stationed at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, were confirmed to have been infected earlier this week after coming into direct contact with people who tested positive recently, USFK said Friday. A dependent of another service member from Camp Humphreys and two service members at Camp C

June 26, 2021

New cases surpass 600 for 4th day as S. Korea braces for eased distancing

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases stayed over 600 for the fourth straight day Saturday due to outbreaks of cluster infections nationwide as the authorities prepare to announce a new set of eased social distancing rules. The country reported 668 new cases, including 611 local infections, raising the accumulated caseload to 154,457, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. The country added three COVID-19 deaths, raising the death toll to 2,012. The fatality rate came to 1.

June 26, 2021

Universities to gradually expand in-person classes in fall semester

Universities and colleges in South Korea are planning to gradually expand in-person classes in the fall semester in line with the nation's rising rate of vaccinations against COVID-19, officials said Saturday. The Ministry of Education recommended earlier this week that the proportion of in-person lectures be gradually increased at universities and colleges nationwide after late September, when about 70 percent of the country's 52 million population are vaccinated with at least one vaccine dos

June 26, 2021

Korean health officials split over impact of delta variant

Top officials at two major public health offices -- the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency -- offered disparate views on the potential impact of the delta variant, first detected in India, on the pandemic situation here. Son Young-rae, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Welfare, downplayed the concerns over the delta variant in a closed-door briefing Thursday, saying that it did not present serious enough of a cause to delay the easing

June 25, 2021

[Newsmaker] ‘Thanks for saving me’: Suspected child molester’s words could be play for leniency, experts say

Choi Chan-wook, 26, who is accused of using boys aged between 11 and 13 to produce videos of sexual exploitation, and in some cases molesting them himself, said he was “grateful that adults saved” him before his actions got worse, stoking public outrage online. Choi, who stood in front of press cameras Thursday before police turned him over to the prosecution, said, “(I) got here after starting out of curiosity. … I’m grateful that adults saved me before it got wo

June 25, 2021

Two Army soldiers test positive for COVID-19

Two soldiers tested positive for the new coronavirus following their recent vacation, the defense ministry said Friday. The latest cases raised the total number of infections reported among the military population to 1,012. Nationwide, South Korea reported 634 new cases, including 602 local infections, raising the total caseload to 153,789, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The ministry said its inoculation program is going smoothly, with 91.4 percent of service mem

June 25, 2021

S. Korea to give all-out support for phase 3 trials of homegrown COVID-19 vaccine candidates

South Korea said Friday it will strengthen support for homegrown COVID-19 vaccine development so that candidates can enter late-stage phase three clinical trials by the end of the year in a move to bolster its vaccine arsenal against the pandemic. The country will also step up efforts to develop messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine technology to catch up to global pharmaceutical giants. The government has so far secured vaccines from multiple global pharmaceutical companies to inoculate nearly double

June 25, 2021

New cases in 600s for 3rd day as eased distancing rules set to run from July

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases stayed in the 600s for the third straight day Friday due to sporadic cluster infections as the country is set to implement eased social distancing rules starting next month. The country reported 634 new cases, including 602 local infections, raising the total caseload to 153,789, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Cluster infections involving churches, restaurants, education facilities and hospitals continue to take place acro

June 25, 2021

[Herald Interview] Founder of Sunfull campaign proposes ‘vaccine’ of positive comments against cyberbullying

As more people stay home and get connected in cyberspace during the COVID-19 pandemic period, the volume of hateful online comments has gone up. Min Byoung-chul, who has been at the forefront of battling cyberbullying, said that it is time to recognize its root causes and take action to prevent such malicious comments on the internet. “Cyberbullying has been on the rise after the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, and we should identify the underlying reason why people are engaged in such destru

June 24, 2021

[News Focus] Political parties can’t agree on cameras in operating rooms

A bill to install closed-circuit TVs in operating rooms failed to win a consensus at the National Assembly as the opposition party and the medical community took a cautious stance and called for further discussion. On Thursday, the National Assembly’s welfare committee met to review a change to the medical law that would have required closed-circuit TVs in operating rooms. It was the fourth review since November last year. Both the ruling and opposition parties agreed that operating roo

June 24, 2021

More households move from cities for farming in 2020: data

The number of urban households in South Korea that moved to provinces to take up farming rose last year, data showed Thursday, as more people searched for new job opportunities outside cities. The number of return-to-farm households came to 12,489 in 2020, up 9.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. By age group, those in their 50s accounted for the largest portion of 35 percent among those movi

June 24, 2021

Tightened traffic law brings down number of DUI cases: police

The number of drunk driving accidents in Seoul sharply dropped two years into enforcing stronger DUI laws, police data showed Thursday. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, 931 DUI accidents have been reported in the capital from December last year to June, down 41.2 percent from 1,583 from December 2017 to June 2018. The number of deaths in such accidents also dropped by 33.3 percent to eight over the same period. In late 2018, the National Assembly revised DUI-related laws, in

June 24, 2021

New cases in 600s for 2nd day on cluster infections

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases stayed in the 600s for the second straight day Thursday on sporadic cluster infections amid concerns over virus variants.  The country reported 610 new cases, including 576 local infections, raising the total caseload to 153,155, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Cluster infections involving churches, restaurants, gymnasiums and hospitals continue to take place across the country, and virus variant cases stayed at 30 to

June 24, 2021

Police drop assault case involving Belgian ambassador's wife

Police closed an assault case involving the wife of the Belgian ambassador to Seoul on Wednesday, without charging her due to diplomatic immunity and the victims' request of non-punishment Xiang Xueqiu, the spouse of Ambassador Peter Lescouhier, has been questioned by police over allegations that she slapped a clothing store employee in the face and another staff in the back of her head in early April. Yongsan Police Station said it decided not to charge the suspect, citing the wife's diplom

June 23, 2021