Global map of COVID-19 cases

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South Korea   Cases 9,478｜Deaths 150

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  Social affairs

  50% of coronavirus patients recovered in S. Korea

  • 146 newly confirmed with virus in S. Korea; Recovery rate tops 50%

• Politics
  

  S. Korea begins mandatory 14-day self-quarantines on arrivals from US

  91 new COVID-19 cases were reported, bring total infections to 9,332, while recovery rate stands at 48.5 percent

• Social affairs
  

  PM says hard to ban overseas arrivals

  Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Friday that it was difficult to ban arrivals from Europe and the US to contain the novel coronavirus, as 90 percent of imported cases were Korean nationals. “The number of newly confirmed cases in the country has gone down to a stable level, but the share of imported cases are rising. Managing risks from overseas has become more important,” Chung said at the beginning of a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters. &

• Social affairs
  

  Govt. set to decide on school opening date next week

  South Korea is expected to announce early next week whether to open schools in early April or postpone it further as new cases of the coronavirus show no signs of abating. "(The government) plans to announce on Monday or Tuesday whether school closures will end on April 6 or whether they will be further extended," Lee Sang-soo, a senior official at the Ministry of Education, said in an online briefing Friday. "If the closure is extended, then classes may be held remotely,"

• Defense
  

  US Forces Korea reports new infections, total 12

  United States Forces Korea said Friday that a soldier and a contract worker at Camp Humphreys, its headquarters in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, bringing its tally to 12. Of the 12 patients, two have been American soldiers -- one at Camp Humphreys, the other at Camp Carroll near Daegu -- and the rest were either the service members’ family or contract employees working for the US Army garrison. Two days earlier on Wednesday, USFK declared

• Foreign Policy
  

  Government evacuates 198 Koreans stranded in Peru

  South Koreans stranded in Peru are to arrive home over the weekend via a repatriation flight, as the Latin American country has suspended commercial flights to and from the country to contain the novel coronavirus, the Korean Embassy in Peru said Friday. A total 198 Koreans, including tourists and volunteer workers with the Korea International Cooperation Agency, departed from a military airport in Peru’s capital Lima on Thursday afternoon, local time, on a chartered flight arranged by t

• Social affairs
  

  S. Korea-bound passengers with high fever to be banned from boarding flights

  Any passenger with a body temperature of higher than 37.5 C will be banned from boarding flights to South Korea starting next week, South Korea's health authorities said Friday, as they seek to contain new coronavirus cases involving people coming from overseas. Beginning Monday, people who are flying to South Korea will be required to get fever checks by airlines at airports, they said. For passengers who are banned from boarding flights to South Korea, each airline will return their fares to

• Industry
  

  Samsung, LG, Hyundai close more overseas plants

  South Korean firms are shutting down more facilities across the world given the coronavirus spread, according to industry sources Friday. Samsung Electronics has reportedly decided to shut down its home appliance factory in Campinas, Brazil, following the closure of its smartphone plant in Manaus in the country earlier this week. The Campinas facility will be closed for two weeks from Monday through April 12. The shutdown of the Manus plant will also be extended to April 12. LG Electronics

• Money
  

  [Weekender] How to raise W100m by 30: Millennial investment strategies

  Defying YOLO image, some millennials start investing in their 20s

NEWSMAKER

• Social affairs

  

  Ex-FT Island singer additionally convicted for filming rape victims

  The 31-year-old Choi was additionally indicted later on charges of filming and photographing his rape victims, sharing the footage and photos with friends in mobile chat rooms and offering 2 million won ($1,650) to a police officer after being caught driving under the influence in February 2016. The same Seoul court handed out the suspended jail sentence to Choi after finding him guilty of the additional allegations. It also ordered Choi to undergo 80 hours of sex offender treatment and barred

LATEST NEWS

• Today

  

  Industry

  LIG Group honorary chairman dies at age 86

  LIG Group Honorary Chairman Koo Cha-won died Saturday of a chronic illness, the company said. He was 86. Born in 1935, Koo was the second-generation leader at LIG Group, which was spun off from LG Group in 1999. Koo headed LIG Insurance before selling the country's fourth-largest non-life insurer to KB Financial Group Inc., a major South Korean banking group, in 2015. He also served as honorary chairman of LIG Nex1, a key South Korean defense company. Koo was a younger cousin of LG Group Hono

• Today

  

  World Business

  Moody's cuts South Africa's credit ratings to junk

  Moody's has downgraded South Africa's credit rating to junk status, piling more anguish on an economy already in recession and battered by Africa's worst coronavirus outbreak. Two other major international rating agencies Fitch and S&P had cut the credit rating of Africa's most developed economy to subinvestment level in 2017. Losing its last investment grade rating will see the country being excluded from the FTSE World Government Bond Index. The downgrade late Friday came as South Afric

• Today

  

  World News

  China virus epicentre eases travel restrictions after lockdown

  The Chinese city of 11 million people that was Ground Zero for what became the global coronavirus pandemic partly reopened on Saturday after more than two months of almost total isolation. Wuhan was placed under lockdown in January with residents forbidden to leave, roadblocks ring-fencing the city's outskirts and drastic restrictions on daily life. But the major transport and industrial hub has now signalled the end of its long isolation, with state media showing the first officially sanction

• Today

  

  World News

  Trump invokes defense powers to order GM to produce ventilators

  President Donald Trump issued a federal order Friday to force auto giant General Motors to manufacture ventilators, as supplies of the crucial hospital equipment grow short and coronavirus infections mount across the country. Trump invoked the rarely-used Defense Production Act (DPA) to order GM to speed up its commitment to make ventilators in one of its auto plants after delays in negotiations. The act, designed for use in wartime to commandeer private business to manufacture for defense nee

• Today

  

  Markets

  Korea’s short-term funding market reels from coronavirus

  South Korea’s short-term funding market is showing no signs of stabilizing, despite the central bank’s relief package to help ease the credit crunch amid the global coronavirus pandemic. The interest rate of commercial papers with 85-91 days of maturity -- a frequent short-term debt instrument by nonfinancial companies -- soared to 2.09 percent Friday, up 5 basis points from the previous day’s close, according to data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. The figur

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SPOTLIGHT

• K-pop

  

  Goo Hara’s brother pushes for law under her name

  Late Goo Hara’s brother Goo Ho-in is pushing forward his petition to legislate a “Goo Hara Law,” while also juggling a lawsuit against his mother over the singer’s inheritance. During a recent interview with local publication Woman Chosun, he spoke candidly on his reasons for the legal battle, only three months after the singer passed away. “I am wary of how my acts have been portrayed as mere defamation against our mother. I petitioned for the ‘Goo Hara L

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  Arts&Design

  Art auction markets perform well despite COVID-19 threat

  The two main art auction houses in Korea saw better performance than expected in March despite the COVID-19 outbreak clouding the art market. Seoul Auction, the nation’s largest auction house, saw its auction success rate at 60 percent at the first auction of the year, held Tuesday. The total sales amounted to 5 billion won ($4.1 million), according to the company. “We worried about the auction result because the viral infection has frozen the art market, but it turned out to be

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  Culture

  Seokchon Lake to be shut down until mid-April to prevent COVID-19 infection

  Entrances to Seokchon Lake, a famous sightseeing destination for its cherry blossom trees that bloom in spring in Jamsil, southeastern Seoul, will be temporarily shut down until mid-April to prevent people from visiting the area during the COVID-19 outbreak. The decision came after the Songpa District Office announced the cancellation of its annual Cherry Blossom Festival last week. The festival was originally scheduled to take place from April 3 to 12. Seokchon Lake is one of the most popu

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  Social affairs

  Seoul observes record early cherry blooming

  The first cherry blooming in Seoul this spring was observed Friday, the earliest in record due to warmer weather, the state weather agency said. It was seven days earlier than last year's April 3 and 14 days earlier than the average date of April 10 between 1981 and 2010, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). This year's blooming was also the earliest since the nation began to record data in 1922. The first bloom is declared when at least three blossoms of a KMA-design

GRAPHIC NEWS

• 

EDITORIAL

• Surging unemployment

  Bailout funds must be paid quickly, social safety net tightened

• Heightening breakwater

  Korea needs to conclude currency swap deals with more nations including Japan

VIEWPOINTS

THE INVESTOR

• Second Opinion

  

  [Second Opinion] Conversation with Tada driver, before service is disbanded

   “Do you often use Tada?,” A driver asked me yesterday when I used the van-hailing service as usual. 　 　My conversation lasted 15 minutes during my ride home. Normally, Tada’s drivers barely talk with customers, other than asking if the temperature setting is OK or reminding us to fasten the seat belt. 　 　After all, one of the reasons Tada’s service became popular was because they don’t make small talk with customers. This simple quiet service was appealing t

• 

  Startups & Investors

  Non face-to-face food ordering services popular amid social distancing trend

  Baemin Order, an ordering and payment service for restaurants, accumulated over 2 million orders in five months since its launch in November, its operator Baedal Minjok said Friday. 　Baemin Order, which can be accessed through the Baedal Minjok delivery app, is a service in which users can order and pay for food in advance of a visit to a restaurant. This service allows users to either pick up the food or dine in at the restaurant without making contact with a server, Baedal Minjok explained.

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  Startups & Investors

  SendBird boosts in-app API with voice, video functions

  SendBird, a leader in chat and messaging application programming interface service for mobile and web applications, announced March 26 that it had added real-time voice and video interaction capabilities to its in-app chat experience. The company said it hopes to improve the user experience for an increasing number of messenger users across the world and facilitate human connections by adding the new functions.  “With every e-commerce transaction, every grocery delivery, every

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  Startups & Investors

  Hosts angry at Airbnb for COVID-19 policies

  In January, Airbnb superhost Diana Jeong quit her job as she was expecting a baby this spring. What she did not expect was a pandemic that would upend her plan to become a full-time Airbnb host. The former college lecturer made that decision because she found great satisfaction in providing hospitality to guests, but more importantly she could make a living renting her three-bedroom apartment on the global house-sharing platform. She now finds herself selling used items on the secondhand mar

K-POP

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  Goo Hara’s brother pushes for law under her name

• 

  How K-pop is becoming mainstream on US talk shows

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  BTS puts off N. American leg of world tour over COVID-19

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  What it’s like to be stuck at home as a music reporter

HERALD INTERVIEW

• Industry

  

  ‘COVID-19 to affect humans’ short-term evolution’ Macrogen CEO

  A human life is not only determined by the genomic structure, but also by what types of viruses and microbiomes the body interacts with. CEO Yang Gap-seok of Macrogen, a company that has recently been touted as an essential cogwheel in the research to understand the novel coronavirus, says that what COVID-19 is doing will affect our short-term evolution. The company Yang represents has been leading the research for the virus specific to Korea. Macrogen was the first to identify nine muta

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  K-pop

  DKB hopes to make splash with free-spirited, rebellious energy

  Having joined the competitive K-pop scene just last month, DKB has already proven itself as a breakout rookie group, equipped with rebellious energy and various talents. The nine-member act is the first boy band under Brave Entertainment in eight years, an agency founded by K-pop hit maker Brave Brothers. An abbreviation of “Dark Brown Eyes,” referring to “nine Asian brown-eyed boys stretching out to the world,” DKB debuted with its first EP “Youth” and lead

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  Music

  Lauv says working on two songs with BTS was natural progression

  Lauv, the US pop star who is popular among Korean fans for his songs “Paris In The Rain” and “I Like Me Better,” described his two collaborations with K-pop sensation BTS as a natural progression. “Basically, I met them at their show in London, and right after that they asked me to do the remix for ‘Make It Right’ and I was super-flattered and said, ‘of course,’” Lauv stold The Korea Herald by email. “Make it Right” is

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  Social affairs

  New head Kim pledges trustworthy, futuristic Korea Coast Guard

  INCHEON -- President Moon Jae-in was pinning high hopes on Kim Hong-hee when appointing the vigorous maritime police officer to be commissioner general of the Korea Coast Guard as part of a powerful reform drive. Moon promoted Kim by two ranks as part of a noteworthy personnel policy early this month. Compared to his 16 predecessors, Kim, 52, is a relatively young chief of what is seen as the maritime police agency of South Korea. “My life has been the continuation of challenges from th

PHOTO NEWS

• Travel

  

  Befriend fluffy alpacas in Gangwon Province

  If you are looking for a picnic spot where you can bring your kids, trek through the woods and enjoy spring sunshine, check out this alpaca-themed park in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province. The park, named Alpaca World, sits on an 360,000 square-meter plot where visitors can walk through and take a monorail ride around the area.  At certain spots, visitors can experience the mild-tempered animals that may try to eat parsnips out of your hands. You and your children can approach the animals

VIDEO

• Education

  

  College students have tough time with online classes

  COVID-19 forces universities to shift to remote learning, but glitches abound

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  Education

  Online education now the new normal due to coronavirus pandemic

  As the start of the spring semester has been postponed over the coronavirus outbreak and online classes are encouraged to minimize infections in the classrooms, teachers are trying to adapt to remote teaching. The majority of universities in South Korea started to provide online classes. This comes as social distancing is the most effective way to prevent the cluster infections of COVID-19. Professors are notified that they should conduct their classes via online solutions through the end of

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  Social affairs

  Koreans adapt to mask rationing system to protect themselves against coronavirus

  South Korea introduced a mask distribution policy under which individuals can buy only two masks per week, a move aimed at resolving the dire shortage of the protective tool

• 

  Culture

  Wearing face masks, people go makeup free, change style

  Wearing face masks has freed some from makeup, while others try new looks

MOST POPULAR

• 146 newly confirmed with virus in S. Korea; Recovery rate tops 50%
• Govt. set to decide on school opening date next week
• S. Korea begins mandatory 14-day self-quarantines on arrivals from US
• Ex-FT Island singer additionally convicted for filming rape victims
• 50% of coronavirus patients recovered in S. Korea
• PM says hard to ban overseas arrivals
• S. Korea puts US, UAE, Indonesia on priority list for quarantine supplies export
• PM urges youth to stop clubbing
• Goo Hara’s brother pushes for law under her name
• New infections again skid, clusters, imported cases still concerns

FEATURES

• Technology

  

  Remote work culture finally takes off in Korea, but will it stick?

  Sudden shift to remote working upon coronavirus pushes local businesses to test solutions

• 

  Social affairs

  Coronavirus fears to lower turnout for April election

  The coronavirus pandemic is expected to disrupt the upcoming April general elections, as its consequences have extended to every corner of the daily lives of voters. The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented uncertainty on the election, as voters could eschew casting ballots in fear of the risk of contagion in crowded polling places. Revised election rules adopting a mixed-member proportional representation system, which will be applied to the poll for the first time, gave birth to ne

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  Markets

  Brokerages on risky structured bets to take quick breather

  South Korea’s brokerage houses suffering from recent losses on risky structured products that placed bets on foreign stock indexes are expected to get some relief after the government allocated a larger-than-expected slice of its stimulus package to the sector.  Reporting on the results of a meeting presided by Moon Jae-in on Tuesday, the Financial Services Commission said authorities would inject 5 trillion won ($4.1 billion) to help securities firms deal with the stress, as part o

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  Economy

  Impact of plunging oil prices on Korean markets

  The plunging crude oil prices may increase pressure on South Korea’s financial market with rising volatility forcing investors to secure cash, not to mention its negative impact on the economy. The sharp drop in oil prices in recent weeks has rattled the stock market, already reeling from the deepening coronavirus pandemic. Oil refining and chemical industries are bearing the brunt, not only from plummeting demand but also lackluster investor sentiment.  According to data of the

WEEKENDER

• Money

  

  How to raise W100m by 30: Millennial investment strategies

  Defying YOLO image, some millennials start investing in their 20s

• 

  Transport

  Hyundai or Benz: Why is Korea’s car market so polarised?

  History and strategy behind lopsided shares in Korean car market

• 

  Culture

  Love in a time of coronavirus

  Roses are red, violets are blue. The season of love is here, and the coronavirus is too. “I was supposed to get married on White Day but I delayed it to this fall due to the coronavirus,” a bride-to-be commented on Naver blog Make My Wedding, a popular online community with more than 38,997 members who are preparing for weddings. In Korea, White Day, which falls on March 14, sees men giving candy to women. On Valentine’s Day, women typically give chocolate to men. “I

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  Social affairs

  Keeping safe from virus

  Some seek peace of mind with ‘full protection,’ while others opt for DIY solutions