Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, on Wednesday blamed South Korea for the COVID-19 outbreak in the North, and threatened the “extermination” of South Korean authorities. 　According to the North’s Korean Central News Agency, Kim Yo-jong blamed “unusual objects” of South Korean origin -- anti-North Korea leaflets sent from the South -- for COVID-19 outbreaks in North Korea at a disease control meeting presided over by her brother. 　&ldqu

North Korea Aug. 11, 2022

The authority has elevated landslide warnings for North Jeolla Province and North Gyeongsang Province as of 11 a.m. Thursday as rain cloud move south. In Seoul, Incheon, Daejeon, Sejong, Gyeonggi Province, Gangwon Province, North Chungcheong and South Chungcheong Province, a lower alert level will be maintained. According to the Korea Forest Service, torrential rains of up to 200 mm are expected in Chungcheong Province, North Jeolla Province, and North Gyeongsang Province between Wednesday an

Social Affairs Aug. 11, 2022

The search for those missing following Monday’s record-breaking downpour in Seoul and its surrounding areas continues, with eight people still unaccounted for as of 6 a.m. Thursday. Eleven have been confirmed dead, and hundreds remain displaced. Three of the eight missing were lost in Seoul’s Seocho-gu district, including a woman who is reported to have been swept into a manhole. She was swept away with her brother, who was found dead around 3 p.m. Wednesday. They w

Social Affairs Aug. 10, 2022

A video of a person swimming on flooded roads spread online, drawing fire from internet users as heaviest downpour in 80 years struck throughout Seoul metropolitan region.　 A video titled “Sillim-dong Phelps” -- the title alludes to the US swimming great Michael Phelps -- was posted on online Monday. The six-second-long video showed a person wearing a red swimsuit, purple swimming cap and flippers on a flooded road in Sillim-dong, Seoul. Netizens pointed out that there was a risk o

Social Affairs Aug. 9, 2022

More than 1,000 vehicles sustained water damage due to the heavy rains that hit Seoul and surrounding regions late Monday and early Tuesday. According to the insurance industry’s figures, more than 1,000 cases of vehicle flooding have been reported as of Tuesday morning. Some larger insurers, including Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance and DB Insurance received hundreds of reports, with damages amounting to several billion won, or millions of dollars. 　 Small insurance companies are

Social Affairs Aug. 9, 2022

A civic group on Thursday denounced the Japanese government over a pension payment of less than $1 to victims of forced labor during Japan’s occupation of the Korean Peninsula. According to the Japanese Forced Mobilization Civic Group, a number of victims of forced labor during the Japanese colonial era received 931 won ($0.74), from the Japanese government as pension. The victims and civic group deplored the payment, saying it is “a malicious ridicule and an insult.” The gro

Social Affairs Aug. 5, 2022

An independent counsel probe led by prosecutor Ahn Mi-young has requested an extension of the investigation period for the death of the late Sgt. Lee Ye-ram, a victim of sexual violence in the Air Force. 　 　The team said it asked the president‘s office to extend the investigation period on Thursday. 　 　The independent counsel probes are limited to 70 days, but the investigation can be extended by up to 30 days with the approval of the president. 　 　The team launched an investigation on Jun

Social Affairs Aug. 4, 2022

The number of critical COVID-19 cases rose above the 300 mark for the first time in over two months, while daily cases stayed above 100,000 for the third consecutive day, fueling concerns of another surge following the summer vacation season. 　In the 24 hours ending midnight Wednesday, the country recorded 107,894 new COVID-19 infections, pushing the cumulative figure over 20 million, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. 　The number of seriously ill patients increased by 26 f

Social Affairs Aug. 4, 2022

Kookmin University is facing backlash from alumni, current students and the main opposition party over its decision regarding first lady Kim Keon-hee’s papers. Kookmin University, where Kim attended her Ph.D. program, announced after eight months of investigation on Monday that among Kim’s four controversial papers, doctoral dissertation and two articles published in academic journals had no sign of plagiarism, saying “they do not correspond to plagiarism or cheating to the ex

Social Affairs Aug. 3, 2022

A new police bureau under the Interior Ministry was finally launched on Tuesday amid fierce opposition from police officers, represented by the National Police Commission. The NPC expressed regret and warned of legal action against the ministry for not going through the deliberation and resolution process. Senior Superintendent-General Kim Sun-ho, the head of the National Security Investigation Bureau under the National Office of Investigation at the National Police Agency, became the chief of

Politics Aug. 2, 2022

Opposition from the education community and parents against the Ministry of Education’s elementary school entry age reorganization plan is intensifying. On Friday, at the meeting with President Yoon Suk-yeol, Education Minister Park Soon-ae reported the plan to gradually lower the enrollment age at elementary schools to 5 years old starting as early as 2025. The plan was never mentioned in Yoon’s campaign pledges or in state affairs announced at the presidential transition committe

Social Affairs Aug. 1, 2022

On July 17, a freshman at Inha University in Incheon, was formally arrested on charges of raping and causing the death of his schoolmate. Shocked that such a terrible crime took place inside the campus, people demanded that the suspect’s identity be disclosed, but police decided not to reveal it on the grounds that the suspect’s charge does not belong to the six major crimes subject to personal information disclosure. The decision reignited a decades-long controversy over the discl

Social Affairs Aug. 1, 2022

An appeals commission upheld the cancellation of a driver’s license for drunken use of an electric scooter Thursday. An office worker’s license was revoked after they were caught using an electric scooter while drunk in April. The worker’s blood alcohol level was above 0.08 percent, the threshold at which drivers lose their licenses. The person requested an administrative trial to the Central Administrative Judgment Commission of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commissio

Social Affairs July 28, 2022

The ruling and main opposition parties on Friday reached an agreement on the parliamentary committee formations, finally allowing the National Assembly to restart operations after 53 days of hiatus. The ruling People Party Party floor leader and acting chair Rep. Kweon Seong-dong and Rep. Park Hong-keun, floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, agreed on the allocation of committee chiefs’ posts at a meeting presided over by National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo. A

Politics July 22, 2022

The National Police Agency announced that it has issued two Purple Notices related to new drug smuggling methods via airplane or ship components, which were shared with 195 member countries of the International Criminal Police Organization, or Interpol, Monday.　 Interpol Notices are “international requests for cooperation or alerts allowing police in member countries to share critical crime-related information” according to the official Interpol website. The Purple Notice is one of

Social Affairs July 18, 2022