South Korean agricultural authorities on Wednesday reported an additional confirmed case of highly pathogenic bird flu from a local farm. The outbreak occurred in a duck farm in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, bringing the total number of such outbreaks to 29 since the first confirmed case in fall last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The farm is known to be raising some 9,000 meat ducks. Upon the report, the government cordoned off the duck farm a

South Korea's military on Wednesday reported 144 additional COVID-19 cases, raising the total caseload among its domestic personnel to 5,056. The new cases included 90 from the Army, 23 from the Air Force, 11 from the Navy, 11 from the Marine Corps, one Joint Chiefs of Staff member and one from the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command. There were also four cases from units under the direct control of the defense ministry and three from the ministry. Currently, 1,406 military personnel are u

US requests UN Security Council to hold consultations on IRBM missile launch

Politicians tend to turn to shamanism to predict their uncertain futures despite public concerns

WASHINGTON -- The US special representative for North Korea has condemned Pyongyang's recent missile launch but stressed readiness for "serious and sustained diplomacy" with the recalcitrant regime, the State Department said Tuesday. Ambassador Sung Kim made the remarks during phone talks with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts -- Funakoshi Takehiro and Noh Kyu-duk-- respectively, on Saturday and Sunday (Washington time) following the North's test-firing of what it calls the H

Traffic on major highway sections began to slow Wednesday as people headed home after spending time with their loved ones or finishing trips on the last day of the Lunar New Year's holiday. This year's Lunar New Year holiday ran from Monday to Wednesday and was extended by two days due to the preceding weekend. As of 8:15 a.m., traffic on some sections of the inland expressway linking Yangpyeong near Seoul to the southeastern city of Changwon slowed, while congestion was also seen in parts of

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife, Ri Sol-ju, have attended an art performance marking Lunar New Year's Day, Pyongyang's state media reported Wednesday. It marks Ri's first public appearance since last September when the couple visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the bodies of Kim's late grandfather and national founder Kim Il-sung, and his late father and former leader Kim Jong-il lie in state. Kim and Ri, along with senior North Korean officials, watched the performance

South Korea's daily virus cases on Wednesday exceeded 20,000 for the first time since the country reported its first virus case two years ago, due to the fast spread of the omicron variant. The country reported 20,270 new COVID-19 infections, including 20,111 local cases, raising the total to 884,310, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The death toll from COVID-19 came to 6,787, up 15 from Tuesday. The fatality rate was 0.77 percent. The number of criticall

More than three in 10 children out of school have been suffering depression, being at risk of possibly taking one's own life, a survey showed Wednesday. The National Youth Policy Institute (NYPI) found through a survey that 35 percent and 29 percent of out-of-school children were experiencing depression and anxiety, respectively, while 36.8 percent were exposed to suicidal risks. The survey was conducted from July to August on 5,937 students between fourth graders in elementary schools and hi

Actor Park Bo-gum, currently serving in South Korea's Navy, has passed a state exam to become a licensed barber, military officials said Wednesday. Park, who has been fulfilling his mandatory military service since 2020, took the exam last month, the officials said. He is currently stationed in the Gyeryongdae military headquarters, 160 kilometers south of Seoul. Park is set to complete his military service in April. All able-bodied South Korean men must carry out compulsory service for about

A senior policeman has been sentenced to four years behind bars on charges of breaking into the house of a younger colleague and sexually assaulting her, officials said Wednesday. The 51-year-old police inspector in Seoul, only known by his surname Lee, was indicted in May last year, nearly two years after he broke into the colleague's house and sexually assaulted her in 2019. Charges against him also included sexually assaulting her on a separate occasion in 2018 while she was inebriated afte

Bear bile farming will be fully banned in Korea from 2026. The Ministry of Environment announced Wednesday, it would put a stop to breeding bears for bile farming by 2025. Korea is one of few countries that allow bear bile farming. As of 2021, there are 24 bear bile farms across the country with a total of some 360 bears. In bear bile farming, bears are kept in captivity to harvest their bile, a digestive fluid produced by the liver and stored in the gallbladder, which is used by some tradit

The employment rate of the nation’s full-time employees working 40 hours a week has remained in the 50 percent rage for two consecutive years, raising concerns over deteriorating labor market amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, a lawmaker said Monday.  The “full-time equivalent” employment rate for 2021 posted 58.8 percent, nearly unchanged from 58.6 percent estimated a year earlier, according to Rep. Yoo Gyeong-joon of the main opposition People Power Party, citing

To cover operating losses amid pandemic, Seoul puts station names up for auction

After more than a year wait, the Joe Biden administration has decided on a new US ambassador to South Korea, according to sources here. It will nominate Philip Goldberg, a career diplomat currently serving as US Ambassador to Colombia, to lead the US mission in Seoul at a critical moment on the Korean Peninsula. Observers are trying to determine what Washington’s selection would mean for the future of the 70-year alliance and its approaches to nuclear-armed North Korea, as well as how it