The discovery of the first cases of community transmission of more contagious coronavirus variants is putting authorities on high alert, prompting worries that this will set back South Korea’s efforts to curb the ongoing third COVID-19 wave and may signal the start of another more serious wave. Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun urged officials Thursday to increase their efforts to prevent additional community transmission of variants traced to the UK, South Africa and Brazil. The Korea Disea

Social Affairs Feb. 4, 2021

Local farmers are protesting strengthened regulations on living shelters for foreign laborers introduced in the wake of a Cambodian worker’s death, claiming the measures are ill-devised and demanding more support from the government. In a press conference Tuesday near the Ministry of the Employment and Labor building in Sejong, the Korean Advanced Farmers Federation demanded the government retract the measure that stipulates improved shelter conditions for foreign workers. “Chaos i

Social Affairs Feb. 3, 2021

Korea’s progress towards a cleaner environment is being pushed back by the surge in plastic waste fanned by the COVID-19 pandemic. With the pandemic pushing people to buy food and drinks via takeaway or deliveries that come in plastic packaging, the amount of waste has surged, causing concerns the changes in consumption trend could permanently damage Korea’s green initiatives and disrupt people’s everyday lives. According to the Ministry of Environment, the number of food de

Social Affairs Feb. 2, 2021

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

Social Affairs Feb. 1, 2021

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

Social Affairs Jan. 31, 2021

In a few weeks from now, South Korean will kick off its long-awaited plan for nationwide vaccination, following the steps of other countries to overcome the pandemic by obtaining herd immunity within this year. Under the government’s plan unveiled Thursday, the country will vaccinate 1.3 million people by March, 9 million by June and the rest of the 33.25 million in following months. Korea is also installing 250 vaccination centers to handle some vaccines that are harder to store and tran

Social Affairs Jan. 29, 2021

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

Social Affairs Jan. 28, 2021

The South Korean government and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea are pushing for a legislation to compensate the self-employed and small-business owners for losses incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. But the move faces budgetary constraints and criticism from opposition parties, which say the ruling camp is using the plan to boost its ratings ahead of the April 7 mayoral by-elections. The Democratic Party is internally discussing a bill that it hopes will pass during the provisional ses

Politics Jan. 27, 2021

With the discovery of coronavirus outbreaks at alternative schools that are not accredited or supported by the Ministry of Education, authorities are concerned that these institutions could serve as a catalyst for the ongoing COVID-19 wave to continue or even gain steam. Officials say these institutions may not have abided by the social distancing rules as no government agency or ministry has official jurisdiction over them, enabling them to stay in a disease control blind spot. The

Social Affairs Jan. 26, 2021

South Korea is on alert as a new infection cluster traced to a missionary school in Daejeon could serve as a major threat to the country’s response to its ongoing third COVID-19 wave. Since the outbreak first came to light Saturday, Korea discovered a total of 127 fresh cases traced to the IEM School, a Christian missionary training center in Daejeon, by Sunday’s end, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The boarding school, made to recruit and train teenag

Social Affairs Jan. 25, 2021

Landing a full-time job, climbing up the corporate ladder, complaining about higher-ups and being constantly bothered by team dinners is what 28-year-old Jang Hyeon-seok has dreamed of since graduating college in 2017. But the closest he has ever been to these dreams was just a three-month-long internship at a marketing startup last summer. Jang said he has submitted applications to hundreds of companies for a full-time job, but all he received were emails starting with “We are sorry to i

Social Affairs Jan. 24, 2021

Authorities warned against coronavirus complacency as potential risk factors still remain at large even though South Korea has been reporting fewer cases in recent days due to tougher virus curbs. Health Ministry official Yoon Tae-ho said in a press briefing Friday that the government is cautious about easing social distancing rules as conditions still remain for the virus to gain force under the nation’s third COVID-19 wave. “Although (the number of new cases) has stayed in the 30

Social Affairs Jan. 22, 2021

South Korea is preparing 250 vaccination centers across the country as it looks to kick off a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination program next month. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said Friday that the government was moving ahead of schedule with its preparations to start the program after it became possible that the first batch of purchased vaccines will come before the Lunar New Year holiday, as opposed to originally expected timeframe of late next month. The government is planning to i

Social Affairs Jan. 22, 2021

School violence in South Korea nearly halved from a year earlier in 2020 but cyberbullying gained greater presence among students as the COVID-19 pandemic limited the number of in-school interactions, a government data showed Thursday. According to an online Ministry of Education survey of 3.57 million students between 4th grade and 11th grade conducted from September 2019 to October 2020, 0.9 percent of respondents said they experienced school violence, down 0.7 percentage points from the same

Social Affairs Jan. 21, 2021

South Korea may be headed for delivery chaos ahead of next month’s Lunar New Year holiday, as unionized parcel delivery workers consider a full-scale walkout next week in their fight for better working conditions and wages. The Parcel Delivery Workers’ Solidarity Union said Wednesday that a nationwide vote among its 5,500 members has started and will end Thursday. The members will decide whether to go ahead with the collective action as its negotiations with logistics firms and the

Social Affairs Jan. 20, 2021