The labor union for the Seoul subway said Saturday it reached an agreement with the Seoul city government to extend public transportation operations past midnight, two years after they were scaled back due to the COVID-19 pandemic.    Unionized workers of Seoul Metro, the operator of the Seoul subway system, said operation hours will be extended from midnight to 1 a.m. on weekdays starting as early as next month, with the exact dates varying depending on the subway line.

South Korea reported fewer than 20,000 COVID-19 cases for the third consecutive day Saturday, with critical cases dropping to a 10-month low, amid the receding omicron wave.    The country added 14,398 new infections, including 45 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,067,669, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.    The number of critically ill patients stood at 196, dropping below 200 for the first time in around 10 months.  

South Korea reported fewer than 20,000 COVID-19 cases for the second consecutive day Friday as the pandemic's grip on the country appears to be loosening. The country added 16,584 new infections, including 49 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,053,287, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The daily tally fell to a 17-week low for a Friday and declined around 34 percent from a week earlier, as the virus curve has turned downward since mid-March. So

The third session of this year‘s H.eco Forum focused on plastic pollution in the oceans, as well as the ongoing efforts in the private sector to address this issue. In the session, Na Kyung-soo, CEO of SK Geo Centric, stressed the importance of business efforts to counter plastic pollution in the oceans. Na said that measures to counter plastic pollution should be taken immediately worldwide, and businesses should join the efforts. “Due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the amo

Leading environment experts weigh in to raise awareness and propose solutions to threatening changes

Climate crisis is an ocean crisis, said Sylvia Earle, marine biologist and National Geographic explorer-in-residence, during a forum Thursday in Seoul. “It took time for climate scientists to recognize the inextricable connection between the atmosphere and the ocean, between climate and the ocean, between Earth’s living systems and climate. Now we know that the climate crisis is an ocean crisis,” she said. Earle, who spent “thousands of hours” over five decades o

Increasing temperatures and rapidly rising sea levels pose a grave threat to humanity, experts warned Thursday. Speaking during the first session of H.Eco Forum on rising sea levels, experts warned that the oceans are headed for irreparable damage. Professor Axel Timmermann, the director of the IBS Center for Climate Physics at Pusan National University, was the first speaker and gave a speech titled, “Using basic science to avert climate changes.”  Timmermann reviewed th

Small island countries were on the front lines of climate change but the clock is now ticking for the developed world, former president of Kiribati, Anote Tong, said at the H.eco Forum in Seoul on Thursday. “Hurricane Katrina hit the southeastern US in 2005, at a time when many parts of the country were still in denial of climate change,” Tong said. “The scale of destruction caused by that hurricane left even the most economically developed country on the planet struggling.&r

The second edition of the H.eco Forum was held Thursday, shedding light on climate change and its effects on the marine environment. This year’s event was held under the theme of “Climate Crisis and the Ocean” on Nodeul Island – also known as Nodeulseom -- inviting environment scholars, activists and experts in and out of Korea. Some speakers from abroad gave their speeches online due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. “This year’s H.eco Forum focuses on ma

South Korea reported fewer than 20,000 COVID-19 cases Thursday as the rapid spread of the omicron variant is under control. The country added 18,816 new infections, including 34 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,036,720, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The daily tally fell to a 17-week low for a Thursday and declined around 33 percent from a week earlier, as the virus curve has been trending downward since mid-March. South Korea's daily case

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a 1 1/2-year prison term for Seungri, the disgraced former member of K-pop boy band BIGBANG, on prostitution mediation, overseas gambling and other charges. Upholding a lower court's ruling, the top court found the 32-year-old, whose real name is Lee Seung-hyun, guilty of all nine charges in a far-reaching sex and drug scandal surrounding Burning Sun, a nightclub in Seoul affiliated with him, which roiled the K-pop industry in 2019. He was found guilty o

A group of exchange students at Hanyang University on Wednesday had to face an overtly discriminatory caution sign written in red when they arrived at the university to get tickets for the university’s annual festival. About a hundred foreign exchange students waited in line to get tickets to enter the festival’s main performances, featuring popular celebrities including Psy. However, they were told that they were barred from the “Hanyang Zone,” the area directly faci

As South Korea grows more multicultural, more voices call for legal framework to stop racial discrimination

This year’s H.eco Forum, held under the theme of “Climate Crisis and the Ocean,” is to shed light on the risks our oceans are facing and the possible consequences for humanity. H.eco Forum, launched last year, is an annual event designed to bring awareness on climate crisis. It invites environment experts in and out of Korea, serving as a platform for discussions. The upcoming edition of the forum will take place at Multipurpose Hall on Nodeulseom in Seoul, Thursday, featu

The World Health Organization (WHO) is checking suspected COVID-19 data released by North Korea after the secretive country shared related information on its virus outbreak, the UN agency's report showed Wednesday. The North reported to WHO over 1.62 million people with fever and 23 associated deaths between May 13 and 18, according to the organization's latest regional COVID-19 situation report. The report, however, noted the North has not provided the case definitions for the figures