Mar 28, 2020   Social affairs

50% of coronavirus patients recovered in S. Korea

More than half of people who have been infected with novel coronavirus in South Korea have recovered, figures released by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed Saturday. As of midnight Saturday, the country’s accumulated number of cases stood at 9,478 -- 4,811 of whom had fully recovered, with 4,523 still sick and 144 dead. The recovery rate was 50.8 percent and fatality rate 1.52 percent. “Now, there are more people who have recovered than are sick,”

Mar 28, 2020   Defense

About 200 S. Korean peacekeepers return home from South Sudan

About 200 South Korean peacekeeping troops returned home Saturday from South Sudan after completing their nine-month rotational mission. They arrived at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, shortly before noon on an Ethiopian Airlines plane chartered by the South Korean government. The soldiers are scheduled to be tested for the coronavirus and be self-quarantined for two weeks if they all test negative. All the troops, however, will be quarantined at the Army Cadet Military School i

Mar 28, 2020   Social affairs

PM urges youth to stop clubbing

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun urged young people to join the country’s fight the coronavirus outbreak by avoiding social gatherings, saying individual efforts are as essential as government measures. “For the youth, especially, it is essential that people stay away from places like clubs,” Chung said during the daily virus response meeting. He also directed related agencies to keep a close tab on how clubs and other entertainment businesses were enforcing virus prevention

Mar 28, 2020   Social affairs

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

South Korea reported 147 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Saturday, bringing the total to 9,478. Daegu, the southern city hardest by the virus, accounted for nearly half of the new cases with 71, while 24 were identified during the infection screening process of international arrivals. Gyeonggi Province counted 18 new cases, followed by capital Seoul with 18 and Incheon 5. The number of people discharged from hospital after full recoveries exceeded those receiving treatment Saturday

Mar 28, 2020   Social affairs

Seoul to turn off lights for 'Earth Hour' campaign

Seoul, the South Korean capital, will join the global lights-out campaign Earth Hour in turning off its lights for an hour Saturday, the municipal government said. Seoul landmarks including Lotte World Tower, N Seoul Tower, the 63 Building and bridges over the Han River will go dark from 8:30 p.m., according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government. But the lights in Seoul City Hall, where the city's situation room is dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, will remain on, it added. Launched by th

Mar 28, 2020   Social affairs

Popular Seoul park to close on virus fears

A park in southeastern Seoul, famous for its picturesque cherry blossom trees, will close until mid-April as part of precautionary measures to contain the new coronavirus. Seokchon Lake Park in Songpa Ward will close from Saturday to April 12, according to a Facebook post written by ward chief Park Sung-soo. The ward will open four gates to the park from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. every day for residents who pass through the park for their commute, according to the post. The closure comes in line

Mar 27, 2020   Foreign Affairs

Foreign ministry calls in Chinese Amb. Xing over Beijing's abrupt decision to ban entry of foreigners

The foreign ministry called in Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming on Friday over Beijing's banning of the entry of foreigners without prior notice, which a senior Seoul official called "regrettable." Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Gunn met the Chinese envoy, a day after Beijing announced it would temporarily suspend the entry of foreigners, even those with visas or residence permits, starting Saturday, to help prevent any inflow of COVID-19. Appearing at the ministry, Xing

Mar 27, 2020   Politics

S. Korea likely to maintain suspension of visa-waiver program for Japan over pandemic: PM

South Korea's prime minister said Friday the government is expected to continue suspending a visa-free entry program for Japanese nationals for the time being, citing the rising number of new coronavirus cases in Tokyo. On March 9, South Korea halted a visa-waiver program for Japan in a tit-for-tat response to Tokyo's decision to impose new entry restrictions for South Korean visitors over COVID-19. "Tokyo has recently reported a considerable number of confirmed cases. If the situation c

Mar 27, 2020   Foreign Affairs

S. Korea puts US, UAE, Indonesia on priority list for quarantine supplies export

South Korea has put the United States, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia on its priority list for exporting quarantine supplies, such as coronavirus test kits, a Seoul official said Friday, as nearly 120 countries seek to secure the products manufactured here. The foreign ministry official made the remarks a day after the government held the first meeting of an interagency team formed for discussions on striking a delicate balance between domestic demand and the export or humanitarian prov

Mar 27, 2020   Politics

Parties focus on virus responses for April elections

Appealing to voters with measures to tackle the new coronavirus, political parties ramped up election campaigning on Friday, the second and last day of candidate registration for the April 15 elections. The candidate registration for the parliamentary polls will end at 6 p.m. according to the National Election Commission (NEC). A total of 300 National Assembly seats will be up for grabs, with the number of the directly elected slots reaching 253 and that of proportional representation spots 47

Mar 27, 2020   Social affairs

[Newsmaker] 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

Mar 27, 2020   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,"

Mar 27, 2020   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

Mar 27, 2020   Foreign Affairs

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