Daily new fever cases stay below 100,000 for two consecutive days, data shows

The ruling and opposition parties agreed Sunday on a 62 trillion-won ($49.4 billion) extra budget aimed mainly at helping pandemic-battered small merchants and others, a ruling party official said. Kweon Sung-dong, floor leader of the ruling People Power Party, said he and his Democratic Party counterpart, Park Hong-geun, reached the agreement to handle the supplementary budget bill at a parliamentary plenary session to open at 7:30 p.m. The rival parties had been at loggerheads over details of

A South Korean-made armored vehicle roared through puddles, traversed unpaved roads and shifted course smoothly in its first local capability demonstration open to the press at an Army training site. The manufacturer, Hanwha Defense, held the event highlighting the maneuverability of the Redback -- the vehicle designed to meet the Australian military's operational requirements -- at the 11th Maneuver Division in Hongcheon, 102 kilometers east of Seoul, on Friday. The Redback has been in a c

More than 170 employees from banks and other financial firms have embezzled more than a combined 100 billion won ($79.62 million) over the past five years, but about a mere 11 percent has been retrieved, data showed Sunday. Calls have grown recently for financial firms and authorities to strengthen overall management and supervision in the wake of a series of embezzlement cases, particularly after a Woori Bank employee was arrested last month for allegedly pocketing more than 60 billion won in c

Former and incumbent Herald Corp. senior managers met at Cheonggyesan, a mountain located in the district of Seocho-gu in Seoul, on May 28, to promote solidarity and harmony.  It was the first time the members of the Herald Retirees’ Club met in three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was attended by about 40 members, including club Chairman Park Haeng-hwan, Honorary Chairman Yun Ik-han, Herald Corp. CEO Jeon Chang-hyeop and former CEO Kwon Chung-won.

President Yoon Suk-yeol on Sunday congratulated director Park Chan-wook and actor Song Kang-ho on winning the best director and the best actor awards at the Cannes Film Festival, saying the prizes confirmed the competitiveness of the Korean movie industry. In a message to Park, Yoon praised the director's Cannes-winning movie "Decision To Leave," saying it "again confirmed the Korean movie's unique originality and outstanding competitiveness." In a separate message,

New COVID-19 cases stayed below 20,000 for the fourth consecutive day Sunday, as the omicron-fueled spread of the virus has slowed down in recent weeks. The country added 12,654 new infections, including 26 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,080,323, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. It marked the lowest in 18 weeks for any Sunday and came to about half the level logged two weeks earlier. The number of critically ill patients stood at 188, the lowes

TOKYO -- Defense ministers of South Korea, the United States and Japan have been arranging trilateral talks on the sidelines of an annual security forum in Singapore next month, Japan's Kyodo News reported Sunday. South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup and his US and Japanese counterparts, Lloyd Austin and Nobuo Kishi, are reportedly expected to join the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore set for June 10-12. Citing a Japanese government official, the report said that the three defense min

North Korea's daily new suspected COVID-19 cases stayed below 100,000 for the second straight day, according to its state media Sunday. More than 89,500 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 again gave no information on whether additional deaths were confirmed. The total number of fever cases reported in the country sin

South Koreans headed to the polls Saturday on the second and last day of early voting for next week's nationwide local elections and parliamentary by-elections as the ruling and main opposition parties made last-minute pitches for support.  The first-day turnout reached 10.18 percent, which was higher than 8.77 percent in the 2018 local elections. Of the 44.3 million eligible voters, 4.5 million cast their ballots on Friday, according to the National Election Commission (NEC).  

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Saturday he will try to find a new nominee after a former official reportedly tipped as the head of government policy coordination showed his intent not to accept the nomination.    "This is a decision he made feeling pressure as discussions were under way. So I hope the people will respect it," Han told Yonhap News Agency by phone. "We'll swiftly begin (the process of selecting a new nominee)."    Yoon Jong-won, chief

    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.

The ruling and main opposition parties agreed Saturday to cancel the National Assembly plenary session initially expected to be held later in the day to deal with an extra budget bill.    The ruling People Power Party and the main opposition Democratic Party tentatively agreed to hold the session at 7:30 p.m. Sunday instead.    The PPP and the DP have been at loggerheads for weeks over the size of the supplementary budget for compensating small businesses hit by the COV

   North Korea's daily new suspected COVID-19 cases dropped below 100,000, according to its state media Saturday.    More than 88,520 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 marks a 20,560 decrease from a day earlier, it added without giving information on whether additional deaths were co

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.