South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell for a third consecutive day to stay below 30,000 on Friday, as the government pushed back the plan to relax more virus restrictions, citing the continuing omicron wave and possible spread of other variants. The country added 25,125 new COVID-19 infections, including 22 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 17,914,957, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The daily counts have steadily declined this week, from 35,113 on T

Prosecutors are looking into whether to bring Ponzi fraud charges against CEO Do Kwon of Terraform Labs, sources said Friday, a day after investors sued him over the shocking crash of the firm's two cryptocurrencies. In a crash starting last week, Terraform's two main tokens, TerraUSD and sister coin Luna, had registered more than 99.99 percent falls from their highs, wiping out more than $38 billion of investors' money in a week, according to data by CoinMarketCap. Financial authorities said ab

US President Joe Biden is set to arrive in South Korea on Friday for his first summit with President Yoon Suk-yeol on a range of issues, including North Korea's nuclear program and supply chain risks. Biden's visit, his first since taking office, comes as both Seoul and Washington believe a North Korean nuclear or intercontinental ballistic missile test is imminent and could happen while he is in South Korea or Japan, the second leg of his tour. The visit also comes only 10 days after

One person has been killed and nine others injured in an explosion at a refinery run by South Korean oil refiner S-Oil Corp. in the country's southwest, firefighters said Friday. The deceased was a subcontractor who was among the 10 others doing repair work at the alkylation processing line in the refinery in Ulsan, about 415 kilometers southwest of Seoul, when the blast occurred at 8:52 p.m. Thursday. The nine others sustained injuries, mostly severe or minor burns. They were all sent to a

The United States is committed to engaging with North Korea in serious dialogue and is willing to take "action for action" with North Korea toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Thursday. It marks a rare occasion a ranking US official has confirmed US willingness to reciprocate North Korea's denuclearization measures. "(We) made no bones about the fact that since the very beginning of this administration, we

Lacking vaccines and treatments, North Korea is deploying unconventional methods to fight its growing COVID-19 crisis. In a mere week since “first” cases were acknowledged on May 12, the number of suspected cases there climbed to nearly 2 million. Outside experts say these estimates are likely a vast undercount of the true scale of the outbreak. Kim Jong-un’s double-masking act North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was spotted wearing two masks while visiting pharmacies in

The Ministry of Environment said Thursday it will announce more details on the new deposit refund scheme for single-use cups to ease the burden on small-business owners. From June 10, franchise cafes, bakeries and fast-food franchises with more than 100 branches have to charge a 300 won (24 cent) deposit per single-use cup to customers. The ministry said it would help businesses adapt to the new rules, after some franchisees complained about it being a burden. “We empathize with th

US, S. Korea say North Korea could conduct missile and nuclear tests during Biden’s first visit to Asia

Renowned photojournalist Kadir van Lohuizen warns of potential dangers of fast-rising sea levels, urges action

A mother who has been accused of drowning her newborn baby in a toilet has been referred to public prosecution. Pyeongtaek Police Station in Gyeonggi Province handed over the case to the prosecution, with the woman in her 20s as a suspect of murder and abandonment of the body. She was suspected of killing a baby she gave birth to at her house in Pyeongtaek on May 11. It is suspected that the woman drowned the infant in the toilet and then buried the body in a nearby mountain. The crim

Over 70 percent of job seekers in South Korea said they were willing to get a position at a startup company, a survey showed Thursday. According to online recruiting platform JobKorea’s survey of 1,063 workers and job seekers, the most-selected reason for expressing a willingness to work at a startup was their growth potential, with 52.9 percent. Respondents could pick more than one reason, and 35 percent said they believed working at a startup would provide many learning opportunities,

Outcome likely to reflect sentiment on Yoon administration

Typical Korean apartment balconies get makeover

North Korea has remained unresponsive to South Korea's bid for a formal offer of consultations on providing COVID-19 medical assistance for the fourth day, according to a ministry official here Thursday. The Ministry of Unification had sought to deliver a related fax message to the North on Monday through their liaison office to hold working-level talks and offer assistance to the impoverished neighbor struggling with the recent outbreak. But the North did not express its intention to accep

The US military has flown a reconnaissance plane toward the East Sea, an aviation tracker said Thursday, amid concerns about the possibility of another intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch by North Korea. In a Twitter post, Aircraft Spots released an image showing an RC-135S Cobra Ball aircraft en route to the East Sea. It said the flight was to "monitor the North Korean missile launch window." The previous day, Kim Tae-hyo, the first deputy chief of South Korea's pres