South Korea's military said Saturday it has added three more COVID-19 infections, raising the cumulative caseload to 1,548. The latest cases were reported from barracks in Yangpyeong and Dongducheon, located in Gyeonggi Province surrounding Seoul, and an Army unit in the southwestern city of Gwangju, the defense ministry said. The two cases in Gyeonggi were "breakthrough infections," as the service members have been fully vaccinated with Pfizer's shots. This puts the breakthrough

Social Affairs Aug. 14, 2021

President Moon Jae-in vowed Saturday to strive to resolve the pending issue of wartime sexual slavery victims, saying that such efforts are the path to avoid "a repeat of the unfortunate past." Moon made the remarks in a video message, as the country marks the national memorial day for "comfort women," a euphemism referring to sexual slavery victims who were forced to work at Japanese brothels during World War II. "Resolving the comfort women issue is the way to not r

Politics Aug. 14, 2021

South Korea has asked US drugmaker Moderna Inc. to speed up its delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to Seoul in accordance with a prior contract, visiting government officials said Saturday. The request was made during a South Korean government delegation's visit to the headquarters of Moderna in the U.S. state of Massachusetts on Friday, they said. It came after Moderna notified Seoul that it plans to supply less than half of the 8.5 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine planned for August. Vice Mi

Politics Aug. 14, 2021

South Korea's daily coronavirus infections continued to stay around 2,000 on Saturday amid concerns over yet another potential virus spike after the public holiday running through early next week. The country added 1,930 COVID-19 cases, including 1,860 local infections, raising the cumulative caseload to 222,111, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Daily cases are counted until midnight and announced the following day. Saturday's tally was down by 60 from 1,990 count

Social Affairs Aug. 14, 2021

Consumer complaints have erupted over a local online discount app operator's abrupt decision to significantly reduce its much-touted financial reward service. In recent months, Mergepoint has gained huge popularity in Korea for its discount service under which consumers can buy the so-called Mergepoints at a discount of 20 percent off the regular price and use them in about 60,000 places nationwide, like local retail chains, convenience stores and coffee shops. It has attracted about 1 milli

Social Affairs Aug. 13, 2021

Eight American service members and a family member have tested positive for the new coronavirus upon their arrival here in the past two weeks, US Forces Korea said Friday. Four service members arrived at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on a US military flight, while the others arrived on commercial flights via Incheon International Airport, west of the capital, according to the US military. "Thorough cleaning of all transportation assets and quarantine rooms h

Social Affairs Aug. 13, 2021

A consortium led by GS Retail Co., the supermarket operating unit of GS Group, has acquired Yogiyo, the No. 2 online food delivery app in South Korea, for 800 billion won ($684.3 million), the retailer said Friday. The consortium, including Affinity Equity Partners and Permira, has reached the deal with Germany's Delivery Hero for the acquisition of a 100 percent stake in Yogiyo, according to the retailer. GS Retail said it will take over 30 percent of the share worth 240 billion won and pay

Consumer Aug. 13, 2021

The foreign ministry called in a senior Japanese diplomat on Friday to protest Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi's visit to a war shrine in Tokyo seen as a symbol of Japan's past militarism. Lee Sang-ryeol, director general for Asia Pacific affairs, lodged a stern protest when he met with Naoki Kumagai, deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, the ministry said in a release. Kishi, along with Yasutoshi Nishimura, economic and fiscal policy minister, visited the controver

Foreign Affairs Aug. 13, 2021

South Korean stocks plunged more than 1 percent Friday, extending their losing streak to a seventh session, as major chipmakers came under heavy sell-offs by foreign investors amid concerns of a fall in chip prices. The Korean won declined against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) retreated 37.09 points, or 1.16 percent, to close at 3,171.29 points, after hitting an intraday low of 3,146.76 points. Trading volume was high at about 684 million shares worth s

Market Aug. 13, 2021

CL, the fierce and talented K-pop singer-rapper, will release her solo debut studio album in October following a series of single releases starting this month, her label said Friday. In the run-up to the full album release, CL is first set to drop a single for the solo project "Alpha" on Aug. 24 with another single scheduled to follow in September, according to Very Cherry. The album will be released in its entirety in October. Her agency did not elaborate on the details for the full

K-pop Aug. 13, 2021

The Seoul city government said Friday it will hold an international online forum marking the annual memorial day for the victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery. The forum, themed on how to remember the victims, euphemistically called comfort women, will be livestreamed on Seoul city government's official YouTube channel (https://youtu.be/kEbE4SSijzI) from 10 a.m. Saturday. Prominent scholars specializing in modern Japanese history -- Prof. Carol Gluck from Columbia University and Prof. Andr

Social Affairs Aug. 13, 2021

The foreign ministry on Friday extended the special advisory against overseas travel for another month, citing the continued spread of the coronavirus pandemic and virus variants. The advisory, effective until Sept. 13, calls for South Koreans not to go abroad unless the trip is essential, and for those staying outside of the country to take extra precautions for safety. The measure can be extended again. The extension takes into account the importance of citizens refraining from overseas trav

Foreign Affairs Aug. 13, 2021

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung on Friday announced his decision to provide universal COVID-19 relief funds to all provincial residents, contrary to the central government's policy of selective relief payments. Lee, the front-running presidential contender for the ruling Democratic Party, vowed to ensure that all 14 million residents in the province, which surrounds Seoul, will benefit from the government's upcoming emergency disaster relief handouts. In late July, the National Assembly p

Politics Aug. 13, 2021

North Korea on Friday denounced the expiration of a pandemic-related US government ban on residential evictions, saying Washington should address its own human rights issues before "poking its nose" into other countries' affairs. A US government ban on evictions for residents that have failed to pay rent during the COVID-pandemic expired at the end of last month in most parts of the country, putting millions of vulnerable residents at risk of losing their homes. "Before talking

North Korea Aug. 13, 2021

The Navy on Friday received the country's first 3,000-ton-class indigenous submarine capable of firing submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) to bolster underwater defense capabilities, officials said. The commissioning ceremony for the mid-class diesel air-independent propulsion submarine, named after prominent South Korean independence fighter Dosan Ahn Chang-ho, took place at the Okpo Shipyard of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co. on the southern island of Geoje. It is th

Defense Aug. 13, 2021