3 in 10 drivers use smart devices on the road: report

Koreans have broken less traffic rules last year, but concerns still remain as an official report showed an increasing frequency of jaywalking and a growing number of drivers using smart devices on the road, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Wednesday. The Transport Culture Index, which measures driving and walking behaviors and the level of transport safety across 229 cities and counties, recorded a score of 78.94 last year, increasing by 2.30 points compared to 2019. A

Jan. 28, 2021

1 in 2 job seekers not confident about getting job: survey

Half of job seekers in South Korea were not confident landing a job in the first half of this year mostly due to a grim economic outlook amid the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a survey by job search engine Job Korea of 934 people preparing to enter labor force in the first half of this year, 49.3 percent of the respondents said they were not confident in landing a job. Those who majored in humanities were less confident (55.4 percent) than those who studied science-related subjects (46.5 pe

Jan. 28, 2021

Korea unveils plans to raise healthy life expectancy by 2030

South Korea has unveiled plans to promote healthy lifestyles in order to help extend one’s period of prime health by three years, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said. The ministry said it has earmarked a 2.5 trillion-won budget to carry out a comprehensive blueprint to promote public health, which will be implemented from this year through 2030. Korea’s life expectancy recorded 82.7 years in 2018, exceeding the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s ave

Jan. 28, 2021

Restaurants, internet cafes demand longer opening hours, compensation

Owners of restaurants, internet cafes and other small businesses called on the government Thursday to extend their opening hours and compensate their losses amid ongoing restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. At a press conference outside the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, leaders of small business groups said the government's social distancing rules have pushed many shops to the brink of closure, as most are required to close at 9 p.m. and bars and nightclubs are subject to an as

Jan. 28, 2021

Ministry busts misleading cosmetics ads

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has found hundreds of advertisements falsely promoting certain cosmetics as the answer to skin troubles caused by wearing a face mask everywhere during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Altogether, 413 websites have been found to be in violation of the Cosmetics Act because of misleading or exaggerated advertisements, the Drug Ministry said Thursday. The pages have been shut down. According to the ministry, 318 of the sites advertised their cosmetics as if t

Jan. 28, 2021

What is cheapest option for Lunar New Year grocery shopping?

Traditional markets are the cheapest option for grocery shopping for the upcoming Lunar New Year’s holiday, recent data showed, with food prices skyrocketing due to unusual weather patterns and the spread of bird flu. An average four-member household in South Korea can expect to spend about 240,700 won ($215) on groceries for the “charye” table at a traditional market, up 16.4 percent from last year, according to data collected by Korea Price Information. At a big supermarke

Jan. 28, 2021

Gyeonggi Province plan to offer 100,000 won in cash relief, explained

Gyeonggi Provincial Government said Thursday that it will offer 100,000 won ($89) in emergency cash payouts to all registered residents, including foreigners, starting on Feb. 1, as part of efforts to help cope with the COVID-19 economic fallout. Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung said at an online press briefing that now is “the right time” to distribute relief funds given the devastating economic situation and the slowing infection rate.  Q. Who is eligible for the

Jan. 28, 2021

[News Focus] South Korea No. 5 in relative income poverty: OECD

SEJONG -- South Korea has placed No. 5 in an indicator for relative income poverty among 33 countries, according to report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In the French-based organization’s analysis of 2019 figures or the latest available data, it put the poverty rate at 16.7 percent for Korea. The OECD defines the poverty rate as the ratio of the number of people whose income falls below half of the national’s median household income. It made Korea t

Jan. 28, 2021

Here’s how S. Korea plans to get to herd immunity by November

The South Korean government on Thursday unveiled its long-awaited plan for vaccinating the public, with the rollout set to kick off in a few weeks. The first doses will be offered to front-line health care workers in the Seoul area, where the active outbreaks have been concentrated, starting next month. From March, older adults and workers at long-term care homes and other congregate settings and first responders, including contact tracers, will be getting the jabs. Next in line are adults ag

Jan. 28, 2021

Coronavirus cluster from missionary group spreading nationwide

A coronavirus cluster originating from a local Christian missionary group called the International Mission (IM) appears to be spreading nationwide, as officials said Thursday as many as 340 people have been infected so far. According to local governments, 41 IM-related educational and research facilities in 13 metropolitan cities and provinces reported 269 COVID-19 cases out of their combined membership of 866 as of 10 p.m. Wednesday, marking an infection rate of 31.1 percent. The Internationa

Jan. 28, 2021

ASEAN-Korea Centre recognizes 10 winners of 2020 essay contest

The ASEAN-Korea Centre presented awards on Wednesday to 10 winners of the 2020 ASEAN-Korea Academic Essay Contest. The contest, jointly organized by the ASEAN-Korea Centre, the Korea National Diplomatic Academy’s Center for ASEAN-India Studies and the Center for Strategic and International Studies Indonesia, received 112 entries from students throughout the ASEAN region and South Korea from August to November last year. The topic was promoting digital partnership between ASEAN countries

Jan. 28, 2021

Man seeks compensation for spending 20 yrs in prison on wrongful murder conviction

A man has asked a court to compensate him for serving a prison term after he was wrongfully convicted of raping and killing a girl more than two decades ago, judicial sources said Thursday. According to the sources, Yoon Seong-yeo filed the claim on Monday with the Suwon District Court, south of Seoul, seeking more than 2.5 billion won ($2.25 million) in compensation for spending 20 years in prison on the wrongful murder conviction of a 13-year-old girl in 1989. The 54-year-old was arrested on

Jan. 28, 2021

S. Korea to expand in-person classes and care programs at schools

South Korea will expand the proportion of in-person classes and improve the quality of online learning and child care programs so that the new academic year can proceed without delays, the Ministry of Education announced Thursday. The Education Ministry said the country’s new school year will kick off as scheduled in March and provide more than 190 class days for elementary, middle and high school students and over 180 days for those in kindergarten. The move will also allow Korea to car

Jan. 28, 2021

Parking not fine: Abandoned cars cause Incheon Airport headache

On top of the crisis posed by the pandemic, Incheon Airport has another headache: A growing number of apparently abandoned vehicles in the airport parking lot, with one such car there for seven years. The number of such cars has doubled in the past year. Because long-term parking is not illegal in most airports, the process of disposing abandoned vehicles is not simple. According to the Incheon International Airport Corp. on Wednesday, some 48 vehicles have been in the airport parking lot fo

Jan. 28, 2021

New virus cases around 500 for 2nd day amid continued rise in cluster infections

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases stayed around 500 for the second straight day on Thursday as cluster infections traced to religious facilities continued ahead of an adjustment of the level of social distancing measures this week. The country added 497 more COVID-19 cases, including 479 locally transmitted infections, raising the total caseload to 76,926, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The figure was down from 559 on Wednesday. The new daily cases

Jan. 28, 2021

[Newsmaker] Heavy snow advisory issued for Seoul, northern Gyeonggi

A heavy snow advisory was issued for Seoul and northern Gyeonggi Province on Thursday, the state weather agency said, predicting up to two hours of snowfall in the morning. The Korea Meteorological Administration said the advisory took effect in northwestern Gyeonggi at 8:30 a.m. and in Seoul and northeastern Gyeonggi at 9 a.m. The warning is issued when the expected snowfall is 5 centimeters or more within 24 hours. Incheon, the western coast of Gyeonggi and northwestern Gyeonggi will likely

Jan. 28, 2021

S. Korea confirms 4 more cases of bird flu, caseload now at 77

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Thursday it has confirmed four additional cases of highly pathogenic bird flu, raising concerns over the further spread of the disease in the country. Of the new cases, one case each was confirmed in Pocheon, Paju, Icheon, and Anseong the previous day, all in Gyeonggi Province that surrounds the capital city, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. A seven-day standstill order has been issued on all poultry farms in the four ar

Jan. 28, 2021

Worsening slump hits Korea’s magazine industry

Amid the drop in demand for print media, the local magazine industry has seen a huge loss in both sales and number of workers over the past two years. According to the “2020 Magazine Industry Status Survey,” published by the Korea Press Foundation on Wednesday, the total magazine sales profit was 777.5 billion won ($703 million) in 2019, a 24.9 percent drop from 2017. A total of 1,264 publishers were surveyed, and the average annual sales for a single company was estimated to be 4

Jan. 27, 2021

Delivery workers announce strike in protest of unchanged conditions

Delivery workers said Wednesday they will launch a strike later this week, accusing logistics firms of violating the terms of their recent agreement to improve working conditions. The Parcel Delivery Workers' Solidarity Union said the walkout will begin Friday with the participation of 2,800 members working for private logistics firms, such as Hanjin Transportation Co., Lotte Global Logistics Co. and CJ Logistics Co. Another 2,650 members affiliated with the state postal service, Korea Post, w

Jan. 27, 2021

'Woman of steel' charts a new course for Seongnam

Seongnam Mayor Eun Soo-mi is famous for her fight against COVID-19. The Seongnam Citizens Medical Center has saved hundreds of COVID-19 patients. “Two years ago, I was chosen by a million citizens to become mayor,” Eun said. “I put in full effort and achieved abundant results. This is all thanks to the citizens.”　 Since her election, Eun has ranked No. 1 two consecutive years in the National Local Government Evaluation among the 16 cities with populations of more than 5

Jan. 27, 2021