[Newsmaker] ‘Winter did not have to be this bad’

A winter surge of COVID-19 infections was something that Korea was well warned against but did not do enough to prepare for, experts say, arguing that any further delay in response could exact a greater toll in lives than earlier heights of the pandemic. Korea just saw its worst weekend yet for COVID-19 cases, tallying record-high numbers of new infections for two consecutive days at 950 cases and 1,030 cases. For the first time since the virus took hold, the number of patients under treatment

Social AffairsDec. 13, 2020

[Newsmaker] Gyeonggi Gov. Lee seeks emergency mobilization of college dorm to treat COVID-19 patients

SUWON -- Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung said Sunday that he will seek an emergency measure to mobilize a private university dormitory to accommodate new coronavirus patients. In a tweet, Lee announced his first such plan to mobilize a private facility to tackle the public health care crisis, as the province is running short on hospital beds and other facilities to treat the growing number of COVID-19 patients. Earlier in the day, the provincial government sent a document to Kyonggi Unive

Social AffairsDec. 13, 2020

[Newsmaker] Notorious child rapist released from prison amid strong protests

Cho Doo-soon, one of South Korea's most notorious child rapists in recent memory, was released from prison on Saturday amid strong protests against the heinous criminal's return to society. Cho served a 12-year term for kidnapping and raping an 8-year-old girl in a church bathroom in Ansan, 42 kilometers southwest of Seoul, in December 2008. A huge public outcry has erupted over what has been seen as too lenient a punishment for a horrendous sexual crime against a minor. He left the correction

Social AffairsDec. 12, 2020

[Newsmaker] Officials on alert over release of infamous child rapist

Local authorities are on alert with the scheduled release of infamous child rapist Cho Doo-soon less than 24 hours away, as they seek to protect nearby residents and prevent possible acts of revenge against him. Cho, 68, will be released Saturday morning after serving 12 years in prison for brutally assaulting an 8-year-old girl in 2008. It is not known which correctional center he will be released from, but he will be set free between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. Upon release, Cho will be tracked at all

Social AffairsDec. 11, 2020

[Newsmaker] N. Korea says no confirmed cases of coronavirus as of early Dec.: WHO

North Korea has conducted tests on more than 9,000 people, but there has been no reported outbreak of the coronavirus in the country, a World Health Organization report showed Friday. The North has conducted tests on 9,373 people and claims that no cases have been reported as of Dec. 3, according to the agency's latest weekly situation report on COVID-19. Nearly half of those tested had influenza like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) or were people who developed fev

North KoreaDec. 11, 2020

[Newsmaker] Cram schools prepare lawsuit over 'unfair' virus restrictions

Local cram schools are planning to take legal action against the government, saying they have been treated unfairly in being forced to close their doors under stricter social distancing schemes. Directors for a number of cram schools in the capital region, which includes Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, are preparing to file a lawsuit against the government for forcing after-school study institutes to halt operations amid Level 2.5 social distancing. The cram school directors are in searc

Social AffairsDec. 10, 2020

[Newsmaker] Justice ministry holds disciplinary session over prosecution chief's alleged wrongdoing

The Ministry of Justice held a meeting Thursday to discuss disciplinary measures against Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl over alleged irregularities, after delaying the session twice amid backlash. Last month, Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae suspended Yoon for six counts of alleged wrongdoing, including surveillance of the judiciary, the first time a justice minister has taken such a step in the country's history. Yoon, who fiercely refuted all allegations against him, has been restored after wi

PoliticsDec. 10, 2020

[Newsmaker] NK’s Kim Yo-jong lashes out at South Korean FM for coronavirus remark

Kim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s powerful younger sister, lashed out at South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha for questioning Pyongyang’s claim that it is free of the coronavirus, warning that she may “pay dearly” for the remarks, state media said Wednesday.   　 Kim was apparently responding to Kang’s remark delivered Saturday at the Manama Dialogue, an annual regional security forum held in Bahrain. Seoul’s top diplomat said that i

North KoreaDec. 9, 2020

[Newsmaker] S. Korea confirms 6th highly pathogenic bird flu case from farms

South Korea said Wednesday it has confirmed the sixth case of highly pathogenic bird flu from a duck farm, raising concerns over the disease penetrating deeper into the local livestock industry. Local authorities identified the latest case from Naju, 355 kilometers south of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The country has been reporting highly pathogenic cases from different regions, ranging from Gyeonggi Province to South Jeolla Province. Highly pathoge

Social AffairsDec. 9, 2020

[Newsmaker] US says willing to help N. Korea fight coronavirus

The United States will seriously consider helping North Korea contain the spread of the coronavirus if it requests such assistance, Robert O’Brien, US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, said Monday. “They (North Korea) have been reticent to ask for outside help for things in the past but if they did we would certainly look at that very seriously,” O’Brien said in an interview with 19FortyFive, a website on global affairs. He said Pyongyang appears

North KoreaDec. 8, 2020

[Newsmaker] USFK under fire over no-mask dance party amid virus resurgence

The US Forces Korea is facing criticism over a dance party held at one of its bases last week at which participants did not wear face masks amid South Korea's heightened social distancing scheme to stem the resurgence of new coronavirus cases. The party took place at Flightline Tap Room at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, on Friday, with dozens of people dancing side by side without wearing masks, according to officials. On the same day, South Korea's daily number of new COVID-19

DefenseDec. 8, 2020

[Newsmaker] Questions remain as infamous child rapist set for release on weekend

Infamous child rapist Cho Doo-soon is set to be released Saturday, with controversy lingering as to whether he should be released and what the country should do to protect potential victims. Cho, who brutally assaulted an 8-year-old girl in 2008, will be released from prison Dec. 12 after 12 years in prison. It is not known which correctional facility he will be released from on that date, but he will be set free between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. Upon release, Cho will be tracked at all times via a GP

Social AffairsDec. 7, 2020

[Newsmaker] Moon urges measures for thorough tracing of coronavirus infections

President Moon Jae-in instructed the government Monday to mobilize "every available" workforce for thorough tracing of COVID-19 infections, Cheong Wa Dae said. He called for measures to enhance the capabilities of tracking and tracing coronavirus-related contacts in response to continued surges in infections especially in and around Seoul, according to Chung Man-ho, senior presidential secretary for public communication. Health authorities here have been suffering increased difficult

PoliticsDec. 7, 2020

[Newsmaker] International human rights group condemns anti-leafleting bill as violation of free expression

A human rights group condemned the South Korean parliament’s push to penalize the launching of propaganda leaflets into North Korea as a violation of the freedom of expression, calling on the National Assembly to reject the proposed legislature.   　 Human Rights Watch, a New York-based organization, said in a statement Saturday that if the bill that bans leafleting campaigns is enacted, it would violate South Koreans’ rights to the freedom of expression, making “engaging

North KoreaDec. 6, 2020

[Newsmaker] Ancient asteroid dust collected by Japan's Hayabusa2 space probe arrives on Earth

TOKYO (AFP) -- In a streak of light across the night sky, samples collected from a distant asteroid arrived on Earth on Sunday after being dropped off by Japanese space probe Hayabusa-2. Scientists hope the precious samples, which are expected to amount to no more than 0.1 grams of material, could help shed light on the origin of life and the formation of the universe. The capsule carrying samples entered the atmosphere just before 2:30 am Japan time (1730 GMT Saturday), creating a shooting-st

World NewsDec. 6, 2020

[Newsmaker] Court mulls arrest warrants for 3 Industry Ministry officials over closure of Wolsong-1 reactor

A local court on Friday began reviewing whether to issue arrest warrants for three high-ranking Energy Ministry officials suspected of destroying documents about the controversial closure of the Wolsong-1 nuclear reactor. The Daejeon District Court on Friday afternoon started an arrest warrant hearing for the three officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. This followed a request from the Daejeon District Prosecutors’ Office on Wednesday. The officials are under investig

Social AffairsDec. 4, 2020

[Newsmaker] S. Korea probes 10 suspected cases of highly pathogenic bird flu

South Korea said Friday it is investigating 10 suspected cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI) found from wild bird droppings, sparking concerns over the nationwide spread of the virus among poultry farms. The new suspected cases came from samples gathered from major wild bird habitats across the nation, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. It will take up to five days to determine whether they are highly pathogenic. South Korea reported its first highl

Social AffairsDec. 4, 2020

[Newsmaker] How Korea held its nationwide college entrance exam with COVID-19

South Korea on Thursday held the nation’s annual rite of passage -- the Suneung, the standardized college entrance exam -- on which it’s an understatement to say that students stake their future. The question of how to hold a college entrance exam during a global pandemic has been a headache for many. In the US, the Educational Testing Service has made its graduate admissions test, the GRE, available at home in the interest of social distancing, while the College Board went back on

IndustryDec. 3, 2020

[Newsmaker] North Korea enforces tougher antivirus measures in Pyongyang amid heightened alert

North Korea has been enforcing tougher antivirus measures in Pyongyang since the capital was recently put on the highest level of alert against the global coronavirus pandemic, according to state media. "Preventive efforts to block the inflow of the vicious virus into Pyongyang have been under way in a more proactive manner," the state-run Korean Central Broadcasting station said. All people entering through the Mankyongdae region, a western gateway to Pyongyang, should get their tem

North KoreaDec. 3, 2020

[Newsmaker] Not just students being examined as Suneung puts ‘K-quarantine’ to test

Tens of thousands of college hopefuls in South Korea will take the annual national college entrance exam Thursday, so important that many here describe it as one of the most pivotal moments in life. The College Scholastic Aptitude Test, or the Suneung, will begin at 8:40 a.m. at over 1,300 testing sites across the country, and will last until 5:40 p.m. Some 493,433 college hopefuls are to sit the marathon test. Coming amid a fresh wave of COVID-19 infections, this year’s Suneung is argu

Social AffairsDec. 2, 2020