South Korea will prohibit operations of nightlife establishments outside of the greater Seoul area for a week as part of the country's tighter social distancing requirements aimed at reducing COVID-19 infections during the upcoming Chuseok holiday, the prime minister said Friday. Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said tighter disease prevention rules will be adopted for restaurants, amusement parks, movie theaters and other frequently visited entertainment places in the capital area. Starting Wedn

A court has rejected arrest warrants for a priest and a church elder over their alleged obstruction of the government's efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. The Seoul Central District Court declined to issue them late Thursday night, citing low flight risk and small chance of the destruction of evidence. The two officials of Sarang Jeil Church in northern Seoul, a recent hotbed of the coronavirus pandemic with more than 1,100 cases linked to it, were suspected of violating t

South Korea's new coronavirus cases stayed above 100 for the third straight day Friday due to continued rises in sporadic cluster infections, putting the country's virus fight to the test ahead of a major holiday. The country added 114 more COVID-19 cases, including 95 local infections, raising the total caseload to 23,455, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). It marked a fall from 125 new cases reported Thursday but stayed higher than 110 cases Wednesday. Daily

South Korea's internet censorship body on Thursday decided to block public access to a controversial doxing website that discloses personal information of alleged sex offenders and pedophiles over concerns of false accusations. The "Digital Prison" website was created earlier this year after public anger mounted over high-profile sex abuse cases that were not properly dealt with under the current judiciary system. The site came under intense scrutiny after a 20-year-old South Korean

Some conservative groups are backtracking on their plans to hold mass anti-government rallies in central Seoul on Oct. 3, in the face of coronavirus concerns. Former Gyeonggi Province Gov. Kim Moon-soo and other conservative figures announced Thursday that they were calling off the protests scheduled to take place in Gwanghwamun on National Foundation Day and asked other right-wing groups to follow their lead. Instead of street protests, they will hold a car parade of about 200 vehicles, they s

Of 16 areas nationwide, Busan, Daegu, Gwangju rank within top 4

Fourth-year medical students are willing to take the state medical licensing exam after boycotting it in protest of the government's medical workforce reform plan, their representatives said Thursday. Senior students have been boycotting the state licensing exam, which took place earlier this month, urging the government to withdraw its plan to increase admission quotas at medical schools. Fourth-year students from a total of 40 medical schools across the country said they intend to take the e

COVID-19 is weighing heavily on charities this Chuseok season, with funds drying up and volunteers slow to offer their services due to fear of the virus. Chuseok, the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving, falls next Thursday this year at a time of heightened vigilance over the possible further spread of the coronavirus. The government has urged the nation to refrain from the Chuseok tradition of traveling to hometowns and meeting in large groups with relatives to help contain the virus. Charity

The government will propose a bill that will make class actions available in all areas beyond the securities field, the justice ministry said Thursday, in an effort to solve collective disputes and compensate victims more efficiently. The Ministry of Justice said it will announce the legislation plan Monday to enable class actions to be applied to all cases with more than 50 victims. All the victims will be bounded by the final judgment or a settlement unless they choose to opt out of the proce

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court's prison sentences for Jung Joon-young and Choi Jong-hoon, two South Korean singers convicted of rape and other crimes. In May, Jung, a disgraced singer and TV personality, and Choi, a former member of boy band FT Island, were sentenced to five years and 2 1/2 years, respectively, in prison by an appeals court on charges including sexually assaulting women in 2016. Jung and Choi received prison terms of six and five years, respectively, from

The ruling party, the government and the presidential office agreed in a meeting on Thursday to give out 5 trillion won ($4.3 billion) of the 7.8 trillion-won extra budget to those severely affected by the COVID-19 epidemic before Chuseok next week. The money will go to small business owners who were hit hardest by the latest COVID-19 spread; people struggling due to weakened job security and lower incomes; and families having difficulties in childcare due to online schooling, Democratic Party

Korean government stops recognizing negative test results issued by 2 Uzbek institutions

Ministry of Health and Welfare Park Neung-hoo on Wednesday said he would apologize over an unprecedented flop involving flu vaccinations once it is “established that there have been errors made.”  He also said he “regrets” the inconvenience caused to the public. The government plan to immunize up to 57 percent of the population against seasonal flu is facing a major setback after instances of mishandling some millions of doses were reported Monday. The f

The Korean government said Wednesday that taxes on liquids for use in electronic cigarettes, also called “e-liquid” or “vape juice,” will nearly double starting next year. The “health promotion tax” on nicotine solutions, which are heated in the battery-powered devices to produce vapor instead of smoke, will be raised from the current 525 won (45 cents) to 1,050 won a milliliter. The changes to the national health promotion laws were approved by the Cabine

Jung Eun-kyeong, the director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, is one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2020. “I will do my best to combat COVID-19,” Jung said in a brief message to reporters Wednesday upon making the US-based magazine’s annual list. She shares the spotlight with several prominent figures who played a key role in handling the pandemic, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the US National Institute of Allergy an