S. Korea to open new test bed for antivirus home products, promote exports

South Korea said Tuesday it plans to establish new test facilities designed to verify the safety of antivirus home products to cope with their soaring demand amid the new coronavirus pandemic. The country plans to allocate a 4.8 billion won ($4.23 million) budget to establish infrastructure to test products, such as hand sanitizers and protective masks, under cooperation with the Korea Testing & Research Institute, according to the state-run Korean Agency for Technology and Standards. The

March 9, 2021

2 Army officers test positive for COVID-19

Two Army officers have tested positive for the new coronavirus after infections were reported at their bases, the defense ministry said Tuesday. The officers serving in the southwestern county of Jangseong and the northeastern county of Inje, respectively, were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 after they came into contact with soldiers at their units who tested positive earlier, according to the ministry. The latest cases raised the total number of infections reported among military peopl

March 9, 2021

[Newsmaker] Police raid LH headquarters over land speculation scandal

Police on Tuesday launched a raid on the headquarters of the state housing corporation over allegations of land speculation by more than a dozen of its employees. The Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agency sent investigators to the Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) headquarters in Jinju, 434 kilometers southeast of Seoul, to seize material on the transactions based allegedly on insider information. The police agency also dispatched investigators to LH offices in Gwacheon and Incheon, both located near S

March 9, 2021

Clusters, rising travel drag on virus battle; new infections over 400 again

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases bounced back to above 400 on Tuesday as continued cluster infections and increased outdoor activity are feared to ignite another surge in virus infections. The country reported 446 more COVID-19 cases, including 427 local infections, raising the total caseload to 93,263, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Daily infections stayed below 400 on Monday apparently due to less testing over the weekend after exceeding the threshold f

March 9, 2021

S. Korea, EU vow cooperation on COVID-19 vaccine supplies

South Korea and the European Union (EU) on Monday agreed to step up cooperation on COVID-19 vaccine supplies, with the EU pledging to smoothly supply vaccines to Seoul. The agreement was made in a telephone conversation between South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, Seoul's foreign ministry said in a statement. South Korea and the EU agreed to maintain their partnership in trade, investment, the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, according t

March 8, 2021

New virus cases under 400 on less testing; potential resurgence still worrisome

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell back below 400 on Monday apparently due to less testing over the weekend, but health authorities remained wary of a potential resurgence as outdoor activity increases due to warmer weather. The country reported 346 more COVID-19 cases, including 335 local infections, raising the total caseload to 92,817, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Daily infections had been above 400 for two consecutive days, with 418 cases Satur

March 8, 2021

No link found yet between COVID-19 vaccines and deaths: KDCA

South Korean public health authorities said Monday that they had yet to find any evidence that COVID-19 vaccines played a role in eight deaths that had occurred among newly vaccinated people. Jung Eun-kyeong, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency commissioner, told a news briefing that its investigations so far had found no link between the vaccines and the deaths. For three more vaccinated people who died in the past day, investigations will proceed swiftly, she said. Jung said th

March 8, 2021

7 Thais nabbed for allegedly trafficking meth disguised as vitamins

JEONJU -- A group of Thai nationals has been apprehended for allegedly smuggling narcotics worth tens of millions of dollars into South Korea, local police said Monday. The Jeonbuk Police Agency said they were investigating seven illegal immigrants from Thailand on charges of trafficking some 5 kilograms of methamphetamine and 10,000 tablets of "ya ba," a combination of methamphetamine and caffeine, and selling them to fellow Thais working in South Korea from September. The drugs we

March 8, 2021

S. Korea tipped to OK AstraZeneca vaccine for over-65s

South Korea's health authorities are likely to approve AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine for people aged 65 and older this week following the publication of new data overseas showing effectiveness. An independent panel under the health ministry has concluded that the AstraZeneca vaccine is OK for older people, following in the footsteps of several European countries that reversed decisions on the two-dose regimen developed by British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and Oxford University f

March 8, 2021

S. Korea confirms 20 more cases of COVID-19 variants, total now at 182

South Korea has confirmed 20 more cases of contagious variants of the new coronavirus, bringing the total to 182, according to health authorities Monday amid concerns that the variants may worsen the country's virus battle. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said the 20 people were confirmed to have been infected with three kinds of variants that are known to be more transmissible over the past week. Of them, nine people were local infections, all South Korean nationals, an

March 8, 2021

[Newsmaker] Polls show opposition only has chance if Seoul mayoral vote is two-horse race

Survey results released by two pollsters Monday showed that the opposition could win the Seoul mayoral election next month, but only if they unify their candidacies. The same day People Power Party’s Oh Se-hoon and minor opposition People’s Party leader Ahn Cheol-soo revealed they had begun talks on doing so. Oh and Ahn said in radio interviews Monday morning that they met Sunday night over beer and agreed that unifying the candidacy was a must, and that it should be done before o

March 8, 2021

50 employees of livestock meat facility additionally diagnosed with COVID-19

ANSEONG -- More than 50 employees from a livestock meat processing and auction facility south of Seoul have tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said Monday, becoming the latest in a recent string of mass infections at industrial workplaces. According to the municipality of Anseong, 77 kilometers from Seoul, 50 employees of the Anseong Livestock Product Joint Market were additionally confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 after two others first tested positive for the virus Saturday.

March 8, 2021

85,000 foreign workers in Gyeonggi ordered to take COVID-19 test before March 22

All foreign workers in Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds Seoul, were ordered Monday to take the coronavirus test before March 22, as part of authorities' efforts to cope with a recent spike in COVID-19 cases in foreigner-dense areas and workplaces. The latest administrative order from the provincial government of Gyeonggi was delivered to about 85,000 foreign workers in the nation's most populous province via their employers, officials said. Under the order, the migrant workers hired by some

March 8, 2021

[Newsmaker] Another delivery worker dies from apparent overwork

Another parcel delivery worker was found dead from apparent overwork last weekend, a labor union said Monday. The 48-year-old man, surnamed Lee, was found dead by police at his "gosiwon," a low-cost accommodation facility, in southeastern Seoul on Saturday afternoon, according to the Taekbae Union, which represents couriers here. Lee, who was employed by Coupang Corp., the country's leading e-commerce operator, is the latest delivery worker to die from apparent overwork. Last year, 1

March 8, 2021

Monthly average of foreign arrivals below 10,000 from April to Dec. last year

Fewer than 10,000 foreign tourists visited South Korea a month last year after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, official data showed Monday. According to the state-run Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), the average number of foreign travelers here was only 9,722 per month from April to December last year, illustrating the drastic impact COVID-19 had on the local tourism sector. The number of inbound tourists has yet to recover from the coronavirus crisis after hitting an annual low in

March 8, 2021

2 American soldiers in Dongducheon test positive for coronavirus

Two American soldiers based in South Korea have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the US Forces Korea (USFK) has said. The soldiers at Camp Hovey in Dongducheon, 40 kilometers north of Seoul, were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 on Thursday and Friday through the US military's surveillance testing program, according to the USFK. USFK recently restricted its members from off-post dining in Dongducheon, and banned travel to and from the city except for approved mission essential act

March 8, 2021

New virus cases under 400 on less testing; potential resurgence

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell back below 400 on Monday apparently due to less testing over the weekend, but health authorities remained wary of a potential resurgence as outdoor activity increases due to warmer weather. The country reported 346 more COVID-19 cases, including 335 local infections, raising the total caseload to 92,817, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Daily infections had been above 400 for two consecutive days, with 418 cases Saturda

March 8, 2021

2 nurses test positive for COVID-19 after Pfizer vaccine shots

Two nurses working at a hospital in Seoul have tested positive for the new coronavirus after receiving their first doses of Pfizer vaccine shots last week, officials said Sunday. Chung Ki-hyun, head of the National Medical Center where the nurses work, said the test results are not related to the vaccine administeration as it takes at least two weeks for antibodies to be formed after vaccination. The first nurse working at a ward for mild COVID-19 patients tested positive Saturday after experi

March 7, 2021

S. Korea conducts anti-virus inspections of workplaces with foreign employees

The government has launched a nationwide inspection of manufacturing workplaces with foreign employees to check if they are properly following the anti-virus guidelines amid a series of cluster infections reported at such facilities, officials said Sunday. On Thursday, the Ministry of Employment and Labor began the inspection on some 12,000 workplaces of manufacturing businesses that employ five or more foreigners and operate a dormitory for the workers, according to health authorities. Of t

March 7, 2021

Couple indicted on murder charge over fatal abuse of 10-year-old niece

Prosecutors said Sunday they have indicted a couple on murder and child abuse charges over the death of their 10-year-old live-in niece last month who was found to have suffered assault, including water torture. The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office said the child's aunt and her husband, both in their 30s, maltreated her to exorcise evil spirits, believing that she was "possessed." The wife was found to be a shaman. The two were arrested last month after the niece, daughter of the

March 7, 2021