South Korea's new coronavirus cases inched down Saturday as the country works to return to pre-pandemic normalcy.  

The country added 12,048 COVID-19 infections, including 41 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,153,851, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

The daily tally is down from 12,542 on Friday and from 14,396 a week earlier.

Daily infections have shown a downward trend after posting an all-time high of over 620,000 in mid-March.

The death toll came to nine, down from 17 the previous day, with the fatality rate at 0.13 percent. The number of critically ill patients stood at 141, down from 160 the previous day, the KDCA said.

Of the 12,007 locally transmitted cases, Seoul accounted for 2,254 cases, with its surrounding Gyeonggi Province reporting 2,745 cases. There were also 518 additional infections in Incheon, 40 kilometers west of the capital city.

As of midnight Friday, 44.6 million, or 86.9 percent of the population, had completed the full two-dose vaccinations, and 33.32 million, representing 64.9 percent, had received their first booster shots. More than 4.17 million people had gotten their second booster shots, the KDCA said. (Yonhap)