The South Korean government will decide in early May whether the outdoor mask mandate will be lifted, Interior Minister Jeon Hae-cheol said during a COVID-19 response meeting Wednesday. Jeon noted that the mask mandate will stay in place for the moment as wearing face masks is still important for preventing the spread of infection at the current stage of the pandemic. Regarding the government’s planned downgrade of the COVID-19 infectious disease level, Jeon said that the government wil

Social Affairs April 20, 2022

Around 65 percent of patients infected with COVID-19 said they experienced at least three different types of post-COVID-19 symptoms, according to a local survey Friday. Myongji Hospital conducted a survey among 748 patients between March 21 and April 11 out of the 1,077 people who visited its post-COVID-19 care center. “Most of the patients who visited the post-COVID-19 care center here said they suffered from at least two or more aftereffects,” Myongji Hospital COVID-19 Sequela

Social Affairs April 15, 2022

South Korea will lift all COVID-19 social distancing rules, except a mask mandate, starting Monday, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said during a COVID-19 response meeting Friday. It is the first time in around two years for the government to lift all social distancing rules. South Korea first introduced social distancing measures in March 2020, when it recommended to operations be suspended at religious facilities and some businesses. Kim said, “the government has decided to boldly lift s

Social Affairs April 15, 2022

The number of severe COVID-19 cases dropped to three digits for the first time in almost six weeks, according to government data Thursday. The number of critically ill patients, as of midnight Wednesday, marked 962, down 52 from the previous day, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency figures showed. It was the first time for the figure to drop below 1,000 since March 7, when the country reported 955 severe cases. The occupancy rate of hospital beds for critically ill COVID-19 patient

Social Affairs April 14, 2022

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, one of two major umbrella labor groups in South Korea, on Wednesday pushed ahead with a rally of some 10,000 members at Jongmyo Park in central Seoul, calling on President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol to communicate with the labor community. Since the presidential election last month, the two major umbrella labor unions – the KCTU and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions -- have asked President-elect Yoon to come to the negotiating table with the labor c

Politics April 13, 2022

South Korea’s new COVID-19 cases came to just under 200,000, continuing the recent downward trend, government data showed Wednesday. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the country added 195,419 COVID-19 cases during the 24 hours of Tuesday. The total caseload reached 15,830,644. The number of new COVID-19 deaths came to 184 on Tuesday, bringing the death toll 20,034. The fatality rate stood at 0.13 percent. The number of severe cases also reached 1,014 as o

Social Affairs April 13, 2022

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said Tuesday that he would seek close cooperation with the incoming Yoon Suk-yeol administration on Seoul’s housing policy to increase housing supply and suppress runaway real estate prices. “I think it is important to work closely with the central government to increase the housing supply. But the city will approach the issue carefully so as not to cause any unnecessary surges of real estate prices,” Oh said during a press meeting held in line with th

Politics April 12, 2022

The South Korean government said Monday that discussions on scrapping COVID-19 restrictions have begun as the omicron wave continues to recede. “(The government) has started a discussion over what to do with overall COVID-19 restrictions, including a mask mandate and social distancing measures,” Son Young-rae, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said Monday. Son added that the government is looking into a post-omicron scheme as well. As COVID-19 figures have tren

Social Affairs April 11, 2022

S. Korea’s daily COVID-19 infections remained below 200,000 for the second straight day as of midnight Saturday. As the omicron wave shows a clear downward trend, the government noted it will soon announce a post-omicron scheme, along with a decision on downgrading the infectious disease level of COVID-19. 　 According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency‘s report Sunday, the country added 164,481 new COVID-19 infections during the 24 hours of Saturday, bringing the to

Social Affairs April 10, 2022

US investor Jim Rogers is in the city of Paju, Gyeonggi Province, which includes a portion of the Demilitarized Zone that divides North and South Korea, where he was previously tapped to become an inter-Korean project cooperation adviser. Rogers arrived in South Korea on Tuesday and was scheduled to sign the related agreement the following day. In an email interview Wednesday, Rogers expressed hopes for possible peace and exchanges despite the ongoing tug-of-war between the two countries, in

North Korea April 7, 2022

South Korea’s daily COVID-19 infections rebounded to over 260,000 during the 24 hours of Monday, the government reported Tuesday. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the country’s daily COVID-19 cases came to 266,135, up 138,945 from the previous day’s 127,190. The total caseload rose to 14,267,401. The country’s daily coronavirus cases jumped, largely as more people received COVID-19 tests after the weekend. The number of COVID-19 tests du

Social Affairs April 5, 2022

South Korea reported the lowest COVID-19 daily cases in around six weeks for the 24 hours of Sunday, according to the country’s health authorities on Monday. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the country’s daily COVID-19 infections reported for Sunday reached 127,190, bringing the total caseload to 14,001,406. This daily figure was the lowest since Feb. 22, when the country reported 99,562 COVID-19 cases. The noticeable decrease Sunday was largely d

Social Affairs April 4, 2022

Lee Soon-ja, the widow of South Korea’s late authoritarian leader Chun Doo-hwan, will take on legal proceedings involving a civil case against Chun, as she decided to inherit her late husband’s assets. Lee, however, will not be entitled to pay the penalty that Chun failed to pay during his life, which amounts to 95.6 billion won ($78.6 million), or 43 percent of the 220.5 billion won that the court ordered him to forfeit. Under the current law in South Korea, forfeiture cannot be

Social Affairs April 1, 2022

The South Korean government announced Friday that it will raise the private gathering size limit to 10 people and push back the current 11 p.m. curfew on restaurants and cafes to midnight. “Other COVID-19 preventive measures will remain unchanged,” Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said during a COVID-19 response meeting in Seoul on Friday. The new social distancing rules will be effective from Monday for two weeks. Previously, expectations were growing for the latest change to soci

Social Affairs April 1, 2022

South Korea’s severe cases reached another record high for the 24 hours of Wednesday, the country’s health authorities reported Thursday. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the number of critically ill patients reached 1,315 on Wednesday, up 14 from the previous record set a day earlier. The number of severe cases has spiked in the last few days. The figure remained at around 1,100 in the third week of March, but the figure surpassed 1,200 on Saturday a

Social Affairs March 31, 2022