A group of civic activists on Tuesday called for the removal of a stone monument related to former President Chun Doo-hwan in Incheon, west of Seoul, condemning him as the mastermind of a bloody massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators in the southwestern city of Gwangju in 1980. Marking the 41st anniversary of the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement, the activists demanded that the stone monument erected by Chun in 1984 in memory of the 1950 Incheon landing operation during the Korean War b

Social Affairs May 18, 2021

Construction materials and daily necessaries were brought onto the US THAAD missile defense base in South Korea on Tuesday to improve living conditions for service members, the defense ministry said. Earlier in the day, the military moved construction equipment and materials, as well as daily necessaries for service members, such as water onto the US Forces Korea (USFK) base in the central town of Seongju, which hosts the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. Residents opposed to

Defense May 18, 2021

South Korea has confirmed 247 more cases of major variants of the new coronavirus, raising the total caseload to over 1,000, amid concerns that the country's fight against the pandemic may be stressed by more transmissible strains of the virus. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said of the newly identified variant cases from May 9 to 15, 195 were local infections, while 52 were imported cases, bringing the total variant cases the country has confirmed since October last yea

Social Affairs May 18, 2021

A total of 38 South Koreans who arrived from India this month on special flights tested positive for the new coronavirus, health authorities said Tuesday. Of 1,039 Koreans brought home from the pandemic-ravaged country, 3.2 percent were confirmed to have been infected with COVID-19, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Of the patients, 15 Koreans were screened at the airport and the reminder tested positive while being placed under quarantine at state-designated

Social Affairs May 18, 2021

GWANGJU -- South Korea marked the 41st anniversary of the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in Gwangju on Tuesday, as the historic incident drew fresh attention amid Myanmar citizens' struggle against the military junta. About 200 people were killed and thousands injured in the southwestern city from May 18-27, 1980, as the military brutally cracked down on protestors who rose up against the ruling junta led by Chun Doo-hwan. In a commemorative social media message, President Moon Jae-in expressed s

Politics May 18, 2021

Investigators from the defense intelligence command raided the arms procurement agency over allegations that an agency official leaked confidential information on major defense projects, officials said Tuesday. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) official is suspected of leaking internal documents on several military technology development projects to private defense firms, including the development of a submarine sonar system, according to the officials. During Monday's raid

Defense May 18, 2021

The employment rate of North Korean defectors in South Korea fell 3.8 percent last year amid the coronavirus pandemic, the unification ministry said Tuesday. The ministry released the latest data in a new master plan on settlement support for North Korea defectors for 2021-2023 and the implementation plan for this year. The employment rate of North Korean defectors last year was 54.4 percent, down from the previous year's 58.2 percent, behind that of South Korean-born citizens (60.4 percent).

North Korea May 18, 2021

One member of the South Korean national women's hockey team tested positive for the new coronavirus Tuesday, a local government said. The athlete, in her 20s, received the positive result while training in Jecheon, about 170 kilometers southeast of Seoul, according to the city government. On Monday, she got tested for the virus after being notified that she had come into contact with a COVID-19 patient living in Goyang, just north of Seoul. The national team has been training at a hockey stad

More Sports May 18, 2021

Hybe Edu, an affiliate of K-pop powerhouse Hybe, plans to develop learning material for Korean classes at overseas elementary and middle schools, the company said Tuesday. The company said it recently signed a business partnership with the International Korean Education Foundation to develop support material for Korean language classes at overseas schools. The new learning material will be distributed at elementary and middle schools abroad through Seoul's education ministry starting early nex

Social Affairs May 18, 2021

South Korean President Moon Jae-in will make a five-day trip to the United States this week for his first face-to-face summit talks with his American counterpart, Joe Biden, Cheong Wa Dae announced Tuesday. Their summit will be held at the White House on Friday afternoon (local time) followed by a joint press conference, according to Chung Man-ho, senior Cheong Wa Dae secretary for public communication. Moon plans to leave for the US capital on Wednesday afternoon. He is scheduled to begin hi

Foreign Affairs May 18, 2021

Samsung Electronics Co. on Tuesday unveiled new power-controlling chips that minimize overall power consumption while boosting performance of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM). The world's largest memory chip producer said its three power management integrated circuit (PMIC) products -- S2FPD01, S2FPD02, and S2FPC01 -- are available for DDR5 DRAM modules. A PMIC is an integrated circuit that receives the main power input and distributes the power to each electronics part with efficiency an

Industry May 18, 2021

A civilian worker for the military tested positive for the new coronavirus even though he received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, marking the fifth such case among the military population, the defense ministry said Tuesday. The employee working on an Army base in the southern city of Busan was confirmed to have been infected after coming into contact with one of his colleagues who earlier tested positive, according to the ministry. He got the first jab of AstraZeneca's vaccine late la

Defense May 18, 2021

A North Korean propaganda outlet on Tuesday described a 1980 pro-democracy uprising in South Korea as a "historic event" in the anti-fascism movement, highlighting people's fearless fight in the face of a bloody crackdown. On Tuesday, South Korea marks the 41st anniversary of the May 18 uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju quelled ruthlessly by the military junta led by then Gen. Chun Doo-hwan. The crackdown left more than 200 people killed and 1,800 others wounded. "The

North Korea May 18, 2021

Audio-based social networking service Clubhouse will launch on Google's Android operating system in South Korea this week, its US-based developer Alpha Exploration Co. said Tuesday, in a move to expand its growing user base. While the app had previously been available only on iPhones, the company said it will upload a beta version of the app available for download on Google Play in South Korea on Wednesday. The audio social media app, in which users enter rooms to chat with one another by voic

Technology May 18, 2021

With his first career PGA Tour win in the bag, South Korean golfer Lee Kyoung-hoon will be chasing another victory of sorts: a ticket to the Tokyo Olympics in summer. By winning the AT&T Byron Nelson in Texas on Sunday, Lee soared from 137th to 59th in the world rankings. That massive jump made Lee the third-highest ranked South Korean player, behind Im Sung-jae (No. 23) and Kim Si-woo (No. 50). That's an important development because Lee is now in the mix for one of two South Korean spots

Golf May 18, 2021