S. Korean minister to chair UNESCO session on cultural diversity

South Korea's Culture Minister Park Yang-woo is set to chair a six-day UNESCO online meeting aimed at boosting cultural diversity, the ministry said Monday. Park will chair the 14th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Culture Expressions from Monday to Saturday, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.  The teleconference will be attended by delegates from 149 countries, including 24 committee member countries, i

Feb. 1, 2021

Civic group launches campaign to build Korean War memorials in 67 countries

The Voluntary Agency Network of Korea has launched a global campaign to build Korean War memorials in 67 countries that helped South Korea during the Korean War. To this end, the civic group started a petition Monday on the world’s biggest petition website, change.org. The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs is currently working with the Korean War Veterans Memorial Foundation to build what has been called a Wall of Remembrance inside the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washingto

Feb. 1, 2021

7 in 10 Koreans stressed due to coronavirus: survey

Levels of stress and depression increased among South Koreans as the coronavirus pandemic dragged on, a survey showed Monday, with 7 in 10 Koreans saying they were stressed. According to a survey of 1,016 Koreans by a team led by professor Yoo Myung-soon of the Seoul National University Graduate School of Public Health, 72.8 percent of the surveyed said they were stressed, up 15.7 percentage points from the survey conducted last October. Only 4.5 percent of the respondents said they were no

Feb. 1, 2021

Ministry to provide nationwide support for replacing old gas hoses

The South Korean government will expand the project to replace liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) hoses used in people’s houses with safe metal pipes nationwide, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Sunday. The central and local governments will spend 2.9 billion won ($2.6 million) this year for the replacement project that will cover 14,000 households across the country, according to the ministry. The project used to be carried out for low income households, including recipients o

Feb. 1, 2021

9 in 10 workplace sexual harassment victims experience retaliation: study

Only 4 in 10 victims who experienced sexual harassment at work came  forward, a recent study showed. And of those who did, 9 out of 10 suffered retaliatory actions such as bullying or dismissal. Workplace Abuse 119 (Jikjang Gapjil 119), a nongovernmental organization, published an analysis on Sunday of the 364 sexual harassment reports it had received since November 2017. Among the sexual harassment victims who turned to the organization for help, 136 people, or 37.4 percent, filed forma

Feb. 1, 2021

S. Korea confirms 7 more cases of COVID-19 variants, total now at 34

South Korea has confirmed seven more cases of contagious variants of the new coronavirus, bringing the total caseload to 34, according to health authorities on Monday The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said the seven 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, four variants were from Britain, followed by one from South Africa and two from Brazil, the KDCA said. The authorities

Feb. 1, 2021

7 killed in van rollover accident

SEJONG -- A speeding van with 12 construction workers and others on board overturned on an expressway exit ramp in central South Korea on Monday, killing seven and injuring the five others, police and expressway officials said. The fatal accident occurred on the Dangjin–Yeongdeok Expressway's Sejong section, about 120 kilometers south of Seoul, at 8:20 a.m., when the Starex van turned upside-down on a road leading to the South Sejong Toll Gate after colliding into a roadside signpost. It

Feb. 1, 2021

Social distancing rules could be revised before Lunar New Year: PM

South Korea is mulling an adjustment to its social distancing rules ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday as the country looks to curb the ongoing virus wave and save the livelihoods of small merchants and businesspeople at the same time. Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said in a meeting Monday that the government will monitor the virus situation throughout this week and review whether to ease any rules for the holiday weekend spanning from Feb. 11 to Feb. 14. “If we obtain a belief that we

Feb. 1, 2021

Prosecution appeals suspended prison sentences for supplying company's employees over tainted burger patties

The prosecution has appealed a court's ruling that gave suspended prison terms to three employees of a supplier that had distributed contaminated burger patties to McDonald's Korea, judicial sources said Monday. On Tuesday, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced an executive and a factory manager of the burger patty supplier to three years in prison, suspended for four years, on charges of distributing 63 tons of contaminated food. The investigation showed that the patties tested positive

Feb. 1, 2021

Local govts. compete to pay universal pandemic relief to residents

Many local governments in South Korea are gearing up to resume the provision of universal disaster relief funds to their residents stricken by the prolonged coronavirus pandemic. Gyeonggi Province, the nation's most populous province with about 14 million residents, and Ulsan, a southeastern metropolitan city, began the process of delivering their emergency COVID-19 relief handouts Monday, while a number of other provinces, cities and counties nationwide are moving to follow suit. Gyeonggi and

Feb. 1, 2021

S. Korea confirms new case of highly pathogenic bird flu

South Korea confirmed another case of highly pathogenic bird flu in poultry Monday, bringing the total caseload to 83. The latest case was discovered on an egg farm in Anseong, 77 kilometers south of Seoul, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said. All poultry within a 3-kilometer radius of the infected farm were culled, officials said. The country has now confirmed 83 cases of highly contagious bird flu since late November, when it reported the first such case in nearly three

Feb. 1, 2021

New virus cases in 300s for 2nd day amid extended curbs

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases rose by the smallest amount in over two months to stay in the 300s for the second straight day on Monday due to fewer tests over the weekend amid extended tough virus curbs. The country added 305 more COVID-19 cases, including 285 local infections, raising the total caseload to 78,508, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The figure fell from 355 cases Sunday, 458 Saturday and 469 Friday. On Sunday, the tally fell back

Feb. 1, 2021

COVID-19 curfew, gatherings ban to extend through Seollal

The South Korean government on Sunday decided against lifting social distancing restrictions as planned, amid concerns holiday travel and gatherings could lead to a COVID-19 surge. This means the 9 p.m. curfew for places with high-contagion risks including food outlets and the ban on gatherings of five people or more will remain in place for another two weeks until after the Seollal holiday on Feb. 14. “The ban on gatherings includes family members who don’t live together. No exce

Jan. 31, 2021

S. Korea extends tougher virus curbs for 2 weeks ahead of holiday

South Korea decided Sunday to extend tougher social distancing measures for another two weeks, as it is wary of a pileup in cluster infections ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. The country will maintain the Level 2.5 measures, the second-highest in its five-tier scheme, in the greater Seoul area and Level 2 in other regions until Feb. 14, according to health authorities. It will also continue to ban private gatherings of five or more people in an effort to rein in the spread of the new coro

Jan. 31, 2021

Oldest metal-printed book published in Korean, English

Jikji, the world's oldest book printed with movable metal type, has been published in Korean and English, the Jogye Order, South Korea's largest Buddhist sect, said Sunday. Jikji, written in Chinese characters by Buddhist monk Baegun Gyeonghan, is the abbreviated title of a Buddhist document whose full title, "Jikji Simche Yojeol," can be translated as "anthology of great Buddhist priests' Zen teachings." It was printed in 1377 at the Heungdeok Temple in the central city of

Jan. 31, 2021

[News Focus] Challenges remain for S. Korea’s 2nd school year under pandemic

The government plans to increase the number of in-person classes and roll out measures to address the learning gap between students from different socioeconomic backgrounds, but risks remain. Armed with virus control plans for expanded in-person classes, budget-backed child care programs and improved digital assets, the education authorities are optimistic as they map out the learning ecosystem for students in the new school year starting in March. 　 But their upgrades and adjustments continu

Jan. 31, 2021

New virus cases dip below 400, tougher virus curbs extended

South Korea's new coronavirus cases fell back to below 400 Sunday, but health authorities decided to extend tougher virus curbs amid a continued rise in cluster infections, mostly tied to mission schools. The country added 355 more COVID-19 cases, including 325 local infections, raising the total caseload to 78,205, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The figure was lower than 458 cases Saturday and compared with 469 on Friday and 497 Thursday. The tally fell

Jan. 31, 2021

Seoul's new daily cases hit two-week high

Seoul on Saturday reported more than 150 new daily coronavirus cases, marking the highest figure in two weeks. According to the metropolitan government, the number of new COVID-19 cases in the capital rose by 154, the highest since Jan. 15, when 156 new cases were added. The city's daily caseload has remained in the 100s for the last 23 days after falling from 297 on Jan. 6, the government said. The figure has also fluctuated within the range of the early 100s over the past two weeks, it added

Jan. 30, 2021

Justice ministry starts deposit program for foreigners subject to deportation

The Ministry of Justice said Saturday that it has introduced a deposit program to encourage foreigners subject to deportation to voluntarily leave the country as part of efforts to ease crowding in temporary detention centers amid the coronavirus pandemic. Under the new policy, foreigners who are ordered to leave the country following a violation of the immigration law can avoid being detained if they make a deposit of up to 20 million won ($17,800). It was introduced to reduce crowding at det

Jan. 30, 2021

Working days lost due to strikes soared in 2020: report

The number of working days lost due to labor disputes surged by nearly 40 percent in South Korea last year, a report said Saturday, indicating a likely deterioration in labor-management relations at local firms. According to the report by the state-funded Korea Labor Institute, the number of lost work days totaled 554,000 days in 2020, soaring 37.8 percent from the previous year's 402,000 days. The figure had steadily fallen from 862,000 days in 2017, when the Moon Jae-in government took offic

Jan. 30, 2021