The 20th National Assembly held its final plenary session Wednesday and approved 141 pieces of legislation, including a bill to prevent online sex crimes and another addressing historical human rights violations committed by the state. The sex crime bill obligates service providers, including internet giants Naver and Kakao, to remove illegal pornographic materials and block access to them. Recently the so-called “Nth Room case” caused a furor over the circulation of illegal sex

Politics May 20, 2020

The prosecution is set to probe corruption allegations against Yoon Mi-hyang, a lawmaker-elect from the ruling Democratic Party and a longtime activist for the rights of victims of Japanese wartime sexual slavery. The Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office on Tuesday assigned the case involving Yoon, former president of the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, to a criminal division for direct investigation. A handful of c

Social Affairs May 19, 2020

The South Korean government and nonprofit organizations are offering quarantine and medical supplies to countries fighting the novel coronavirus in a bid to boost relations in challenging times. According to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs on Monday, the 70th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemoration Committee will deliver 10,000 face masks and other health protective items to the members of native American Navajo tribe who fought in the 1950-53 Korean War. Currently, the na

Social Affairs May 18, 2020

The South Korean government urged citizens to refrain from gatherings and access to enclosed facilities over the weekend in the wake of a growing number of infection cases as a virus breakout at clubs and bars in a popular Seoul nightlife area is spreading. Health authorities are on alert as COVID-19 is penetrating deeper into the country after Seoul’s Itaewon emerged as a new cluster early this month, generating secondary and tertiary infections. “The number of infection cases

Social Affairs May 15, 2020

South Korea reported 27 new cases of coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 11,018, according to the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday. The death toll remained at 260 as the country saw no additional death from the respiratory virus. The fatality rate stood at 2.36 percent. The trend of domestic infections outnumbering imported ones continued largely due to ongoing aggressive tests on people who have been to Seoul’s Itaewon, the count

Social Affairs May 15, 2020

Korea is at a critical moment in its struggle to prevent a second wave of coronavirus infections, as a virus breakout at clubs and bars in a popular Seoul nightlife area threatens to turn into a wider spread into communities. Korea reported 29 additional cases of the novel coronavirus on Thursday, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 10,991, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of the new cases, 20 were traced to establishments in Seoul&r

Social Affairs May 14, 2020

South Korea reported 29 additional cases of the new coronavirus Thursday, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 10,991. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said among the cases confirmed the previous day, 12 were from Incheon, six from Gyeonggi Province and four from Seoul. North Chungcheong Province reported three new cases. Nearly 90 percent of the newly diagnosed patients, or 26 people, were found to have domestically transmitted infections in the afte

Social Affairs May 14, 2020

Aggressive testing and contact tracing are back in full swing in South Korea, as new chains of coronavirus infections continue to pop up sequentially after an outbreak linked to nightclubs and bars in Itaewon, central Seoul. Health authorities added four new clubs and bars -- MADE, Soolpan, The Fountain and Pistil -- to the list of locations where mass transmissions are believed to have occurred. That raises the number of establishments in Seoul’s popular nightlife spot under the scr

Social Affairs May 13, 2020

South Korea reported 26 more cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing the national’s total infections to 10,962, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. The latest figure continued to show a reversal of the downward trend that reached zero cases in late April with an emergence of a new infection cluster in Seoul’s Itaewon, packed with nightlife entertainment facilities. Of the 26 new patients, four were imported cases and the rest were domestic infect

Social Affairs May 13, 2020

Coronavirus may have been spreading undetected in late April and early May, prior to the Itaewon nightclub transmissions, health authorities investigating infection routes of over 100 patients linked to the club cluster said Tuesday. Kwon Jun-wook, deputy director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the mass infection that occurred in Itaewon has multiple epicenters. He said there were cases with no apparent correlation with the cluster’s first identified pa

Social Affairs May 12, 2020

South Korea reported 27 more cases of the new coronavirus on Monday, bringing the nation‘s total infections to 10,936, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday. It marked the fourth day in a row that the country logged double-digit increases in daily infections. Death toll from the coronavirus rose by two to 258. The total fatality rate stood at 2.36 percent. The country has been seeing a new spike in COVID-19 cases stemming from nightclubs and bars

Social Affairs May 12, 2020

The reopening of schools, which was scheduled for Wednesday for high school seniors, has been postponed in South Korea amid the specter of another wave of COVID-19 infections. One-week delays in school resumption schedules, in stages spanning from this week through June 1, were announced Monday afternoon after at least 90 coronavirus cases were identified in a new cluster of infections that occurred in Seoul’s popular party district of Itaewon. Health authorities expect the caseload t

Social Affairs May 11, 2020

South Korea has so far identified a total of 79 novel coroanvirus cases linked to clubs in Seoul’s Itaewon district, in a new cluster of infections that has stoked fears of a resurgence of the virus here. “As of 8 a.m. Monday, the accumulated caseload linked to the Itaewon clubs stands at 79,” Yoon Tae-ho, a senior Health Ministry official, said during the daily briefing on the virus. Itaewon’s popular clubs and bars emerged as a new center of virus transmissions af

Social Affairs May 11, 2020

Foreigners who visited clubs or bars in Seoul’s Itaewon, a nightlife spot popular among locals and foreigners alike, during last week’s holidays are urged to get tested for the coronavirus after the area emerged as a hotbed of COVID-19. “We request those who visited clubs in Seoul’s Itaewon between late April and May 6 to refrain from going out and to follow instructions from community health centers to undergo a diagnostic test,” Korea Centers for Disease Con

Social Affairs May 10, 2020

Ruling Democratic Party of Korea on Thursday elected Rep. Kim Tae-nyeon as its new floor leader to head the party which secured an absolute majority in parliament amid a stack of pressing issues involving the economy dampened by the coronavirus pandemic awaiting to be solved. In his second attempt, four-term lawmaker Kim succeeded to take the position by defeating two other candidates Rep. Jeon Hae-cheol and Rep. Jung Sung-ho. He received 82 votes out of 163. “I will gather the party

Politics May 7, 2020