Number of 'short-time workers' in S. Korea hits new high in May

SEJONG -- The number of "short-time workers" in South Korea reached an all-time high in May amid increasing labor costs, a report showed Tuesday. A total of 1.56 million employees in Asia's fourth-largest economy worked fewer than 15 hours per week, according to the report released by Rep. Choo Kyung-ho of the main opposition People Power Party. It was the largest monthly tally since the government began tracking related data in January 2000. The number of short-timer employees, or

June 15, 2021

New virus cases in 300s for 2nd day; vaccinations in higher gear

South Korea's daily new COVID-19 cases remained under 400 for the second day Tuesday on fewer tests over the weekend as the country's vaccination drive picks up steam with one in four South Koreans receiving at least one jab. The country reported 374 more virus cases, including 347 local infections, raising the total caseload to 148,647, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The latest tally is down from 399 cases on Monday and 452 on Sunday, and marks the lowest since M

June 15, 2021

105 administrative errors reported out of 14.79m vaccinations: KDCA

Health authorities on Monday said they have confirmed 105 administrative errors out of 14.79 million vaccinations given here. Of the 105 errors, 85.7 percent or, 90 cases, involved administering vaccines to unauthorized people, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. Most of them were cases of giving the AstraZeneca vaccine to people aged under 30. Due to risk of possible blood clots, health authorities since April 12 decided not to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine to

June 14, 2021

Some J&J vaccine recipients in Korea not given blood clot warning

Some recipients of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine were not given any warnings of potential rare blood clots as the rollout began last week, The Korea Herald has found. People who had received the Janssen vaccine during the early days of its rollout say no warnings or information was given about the rare but serious side effect. The blood clotting condition, termed thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, or TTS, is associated with two adenovirus-based vaccines developed by J

June 14, 2021

[Newsmaker] Man fined for running unauthorized school teaching US curriculum

A person who ran an unauthorized school teaching US curriculum in Gangnam was fined 3 million won ($2,700) for violation of the elementary and secondary education law. The school, set up in July 2018, taught subjects such as English language, American history and biology under a US curriculum to about 110 students from ninth to 12th grades from 8:30 a.m. until 3:10 p.m. for a tuition fee of 12 million won per semester, and ran after-school club activity programs as well. The accused insisted t

June 14, 2021

[News Focus] Korean households getting smaller: 4 in 5 have fewer than four members

SEJONG -- The proportion of households in South Korea with fewer than four members has reached an all-time high, government data showed. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the numbers of one-, two- and three-member households came to 9.21 million, 5.49 million and 4 million, respectively, in May. Collectively, these 18.71 million households made up 80.5 percent of the nationwide total, which was 22.22 million. This means only 1 out of every 5 households had four or more members

June 14, 2021

Delivery worker in coma after collapsing from overwork: workers' group

A parcel delivery worker has suffered a cerebral hemorrhage caused by overwork and fallen into a coma, a couriers' advocacy group said Monday. According to the group, the 47-year-old employee at Lotte Global Logistics Co.'s branch in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, was sent to a hospital after showing abnormal symptoms, such as stiffness of the body, while he was sleeping at home early Sunday morning. The courier, surnamed Lim, underwent surgery for a serious case of a cerebral hemorrhage but r

June 14, 2021

Controversial launch of new educational governance body in sight

The official launch of a new educational governance body is in sight as demand grows for comprehensive reform of South Korea’s educational system. The National Assembly’s Education Committee approved a bill Thursday to install a new body tentatively called the National Education Commission. The bill is expected to be put to a vote at a plenary session within this month in hopes of the commission officially launching by the end of this year. Under the bill, the commission would comp

June 14, 2021

Virus cases at over 2-month low; vaccinations tipped to top 14m this week

South Korea's daily new COVID-19 cases rose by the smallest amount in more than two months due to fewer tests over the weekend as the country is preparing for eased virus restrictions starting next month amid an accelerating vaccination drive. The country reported 399 more COVID-19 cases, including 360 local infections, raising the total caseload to 148,273, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Monday's figure was sharply down from 452 cases on Sunday and 565 on Saturda

June 14, 2021

[Newsmaker] S. Korea’s first Vatican prefect looks forward to arranging pope’s visit to NK

South Korean Archbishop Lazzaro You Heung-sik, the newly appointed Vatican prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, said he will work toward arranging a visit to North Korea for Pope Francis if he is given the opportunity to do so.　 “The pope had expressed his willingness to go to North Korea,” You, 69, said at a press conference held Saturday at the Daejeon Diocese in Sejong, following the Vatican’s announcement of his appointment Friday. “If North Korea invites the

June 13, 2021

[Newsmaker] In-person attendance at middle schools in greater Seoul to increase ahead of full reopening

Middle schools in the greater Seoul area are set to increase the portion of students attending in-person classes starting Monday ahead of the government's plan to fully resume classes from the fall semester, according to educational officials. Under the plan, the cap on in-person attendance will increase from one-third of registered students to two-thirds under the Level 2 social distancing guidelines, enabling more students to take part in in-person classes, the education ministry and local ed

June 13, 2021

New virus cases back under 500; fully vaccinated travellers to be exempt from 2-week quarantine

South Korea's daily new virus cases dropped below 500 Sunday for the first time in four days due to fewer tests over the weekend, and health authorities plan to exempt people who were fully vaccinated overseas from mandatory two-week isolation from July. The country reported 452 more COVID-19 cases, including 419 local infections, raising the total caseload to 147,874, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Sunday's tally marked a sharp decrease from Saturday's 565 cases

June 13, 2021

Moon congratulates Korean archbishop on appointment to Vatican secretary position

President Moon Jae-in sent a congratulatory telegram to South Korean archbishop Lazzaro You Heung-sik, who has become the first Korean appointed to a secretary position at the Vatican, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Saturday. Pope Francis appointed You, chief of the diocese of Daejeon in central South Korea, as the new prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Clergy earlier this week. It is the first time that a South Korean has been appointed to a secretary position at the

June 12, 2021

Seoul says J&J vaccine supply not from troubled Baltimore factory

Johnson & Johnson's Janssen COVID-19 vaccine supplied to South Korea was not produced in a troubled Baltimore factory that was forced to throw out about 60 million doses over possible contamination, the health ministry said Saturday. South Korea has been administering Janssen's single-shot vaccine since Thursday to reserve forces, civil defense members and others in charge of defense and foreign affairs after the US. government donated 1 million doses to Korean armed forces. A total of 45

June 12, 2021

New virus cases in mid-500s for 2nd day amid continued cluster infections

South Korea's daily new virus cases remained under 600 for the second straight day Saturday, as health authorities have decided to extend the current social distancing rules for another three weeks to stem cluster infections. The country reported 565 more COVID-19 cases, including 525 local infections, raising the total caseload to 147,422, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. The daily tally marked an increase of nine from Friday's 556 cases but stayed in the mid-500s for the

June 12, 2021

KDCA chief got second AstraZeneca shot behind closed doors, four weeks after the first

Jeong Eun-kyeong, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s commissioner, received her second dose of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine in April, four weeks after the first one as opposed to the recommended 11 to 12 weeks, the agency said Friday. The belated announcement came after the agency initially declined to publicly respond to a question from The Korea Herald at Friday’s televised briefing. When asked when she planned to get her second dose of the vaccine, she s

June 11, 2021

[News Focus] ‘Unique’ apartment policy incurs new social conflicts

SEJONG -- The Moon Jae-in administration’s real estate policy has brought about social discord, as preferential treatment was effectively given to particular groups, irrespective of its initial policy intentions. The groups who benefited include people with large cash holdings and young married couples in their 20s or 30s. Though the government has not officially provided special favors for those with huge cash holdings in purchasing homes, property regulations including tight mortgage

June 11, 2021

Man sent to prosecution over filming, sharing nude videos of boys, men

Police on Friday sent a man to the prosecution on charges of filming and distributing nude photos and videos of more than 1,300 boys and men. Kim Young-jun, whose identity was disclosed by the police earlier this week, is accused of filming about 27,000 nude videos of the victims, including 39 minors, and sharing them online from 2013 until recently. On Friday morning, the 29-year-old appeared in front of reporters for the first time as police officers took him from Jongno Police Station in ce

June 11, 2021

New virus cases back under 600, distancing rules extended for 3 weeks

South Korea's daily new virus cases fell back to below 600 on Friday, but health authorities decided to extend the current social distancing rules for another three weeks before adopting revamped antivirus measures. The country reported 556 more COVID-19 cases, including 541 local infections, raising the total caseload to 146,859 the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Daily virus cases stayed in the 400s on Monday and Tuesday but spiked to the 600 range on Wednesday and T

June 11, 2021

Distancing rules again extended, revamped restrictions set to be implemented in July

South Korea will extend its current virus restriction measures for another three weeks and plans to adopt eased measures as part of a set of new distancing rules afterward, health authorities said Friday. Currently, the greater Seoul area, along with the southeastern city of Daegu and the resort island of Jeju, is under Level 2 distancing in the five-level scheme, while the rest of the country is under Level 1.5. The ban on gatherings of five or more people nationwide will be also in place, bu

June 11, 2021