The government will lift restrictions on universities to train 150,000 people with expertise in the semiconductor industry over the course of 10 years, the Ministry of Education’s road map showed Tuesday. The announcement comes less than a month after President Yoon Suk-yeol called for special measures to boost the semiconductor industry, including training the next generation of talent. The local chip industry has repeatedly pointed out shortage of manpower to be a problem as many expe

The Education Ministry said it will tighten access to campuses at night and increase the number of closed-circuit TVs at Inha University in Incheon in response to the recent death of a student. “We are deeply sorry about the death of a student at Inha University, which happened on Friday,” the Education Ministry issued an official statement Monday. “We will do our best to ensure the safety of the university campus.” The ministry proposed increasing the number of close

Yoon says he ‘waited long enough,’ vows stern response to ‘illegal’ actions

President Yoon Suk-yeol instructed officials Tuesday to pay special attention to seriously ill COVID-19 patients amid a resurgence of the virus across the country. More than 73,000 new cases were reported Tuesday as the highly contagious omicron subvariant BA.5 continues to spread, more than double the 26,299 reported a day earlier. "COVID-19 is at a crossroads of a resurgence," Yoon said during a Cabinet meeting. "We must go all-out to take care of people's lives and health

A female service member of the Air Force was found dead at the barracks of her base south of Seoul on Tuesday, a military source said, as investigators are looking into the exact cause of her death in cooperation with local police. The body of the 21-year-old technical sergeant was found by her colleague at around 8:10 a.m., according to the source. She was a member of the 20th Fighter Wing based in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, where another female soldier, who apparently took her own lif

Korea’s contribution to the Central American Bank of Economic Integration (CABEI), a regional development bank, has helped boost El Salvador’s economic development, El Salvador Ambassador to Korea Jaime Jose Lopez Badia said at the Global Business Forum hosted by The Korea Herald. Korea’s entry into CABEI in January 2020 as one of seven nonregional member countries and its injection of an initial capital of $450 million for private and public sector infrastructure projects in

The South African Embassy celebrated Nelson Mandela Day on Monday, with officials from the embassy and the South African Chamber of Commerce volunteering at the Boys Town, a welfare center for children in Mapo-gu, Seoul. 　 The embassy called upon everyone around the world to designate 67 minutes to make a difference in the lives of others, in honor of the 67 years Mandela fought for human rights and the abolition of apartheid. “It is an annual celebration of Nelson Mandela’s life

The UN General Assembly unanimously approved a special resolution to strengthen connectivity between Central and South Asia on July 11, the Uzbekistan Embassy said in a press statement. The resolution was adopted with the co-authorship of 40 countries: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Angola, Vietnam, Vanuatu, Ghana, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Ivory Coast, China, Qatar, Egypt, Iran, Nepal, Malaysia, Mongolia, Morocco, Pakistan, Russia, Senegal, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Sri Lanka, and the Philip

President Yoon Suk-yeol said Tuesday he believes the country has "waited long enough" for a strike at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME) to end, hinting at the possibility of using force to break up the prolonged walkout. Subcontract workers at DSME have been striking since June 2, leading to a standstill in shipbuilding operations and causing up to trillions of won in losses for the company. The workers have demanded higher wages and occupied the firm's shipyard

Daily cases increase faster than government estimates

A South Korean national considered to be one of the country's biggest drug traffickers based in Southeast Asia was repatriated from Vietnam on Tuesday, police said. The 47-year-old suspect, only identified by his surname Kim, was the subject of an Interpol red notice for supplying illegal substances, such as methamphetamine, through Telegram, since 2018, the National Police Agency (NPA) said. He did not respond to questions from reporters as he was escorted to a police vehicle outside a ter

South Korea and Britain had their first vice-ministerial strategic defense dialogue in London earlier this week to discuss bilateral security cooperation, Seoul's defense ministry said Tuesday. Seoul's Vice Defense Minister Shin Beom-chul and his British counterpart, Annabel Goldie, held the meeting on Monday to implement the defense segment of the "bilateral framework for closer cooperation" adopted during last month's bilateral summit. On the margins of a North Atlanti

North Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases dropped below 300, according to its state media Tuesday. More than 250 people showed symptoms of fever over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters. It did not provide information on whether additional deaths have been reported. As of July 5, the death toll had stood at 74, with the fatality rate at 0.002 percent. The t

South Korea and Japan appear to be making good on their respective leaders’ pledges to seek better relations, with Seoul’s foreign minister making the first official visit to the country in nearly five years. On Monday, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin met with his Japanese counterpart Yoshimasa Hayashi to discuss a series of contentious issues between the two countries, as well as North Korea-related issues It is Park’s first official trip after the inauguration of P

2019 repatriation of fishermen sparks legal debate