A Siberian cold wave hit South Korea on Tuesday, causing temperatures to plunge across the country to the lowest points this winter, grounding flights and stranding traffic in some parts on the last day of the four-day Lunar New Year weekend. The most affected region was Jeju Island, where all 476 flights to and from the nation's southern island were axed, leaving some 43,000 passengers stranded, according to Jeju Regional Office of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. "

Face masks or coverings will no longer be required indoors in Korea starting Monday, except in high-risk places such as hospitals and on public transportation like buses and trains. Places that will be mask-free include schools, kindergartens, child care centers and department stores. Also on the mask-free list are outdoor and indoor spaces at subway and train stations and airports. The requirement to wear face masks at virus-prone facilities such as hospitals, long-term care facilities, pharm

The coldest day of the season gripped South Korea on Tuesday, with morning lows dropping to minus 16.4 degrees C in Seoul and to minus 25.5 C in the northern county of Cheorwon, the state weather agency said. The lowest apparent temperature for Seoul was minus 25.5 C, while that of Cheorwon was minus 39.3 C, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said. A cold wave warning is issued when the morning low is below minus 15 C for more than two consecutive days, or when the temperature drops s

South Korea reported 12,262 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, staying below 20,000 for the third consecutive day, health authorities said, due to fewer testing over the Lunar New Year holiday. The new cases, including 31 from overseas, brought the total caseload to 30,021,018, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. It marked a slight rise from 9,227 cases reported on the previous day, although it fell around 28,000 from a week earlier. South Korea, with a population of 51.6 million, saw

With the growing number of multicultural families in the country, the government plans to announce a multicultural family policy road map in March, which will set the direction of overall policies regarding immigrants and their children from 2023 to 2027. The five-year plan will be announced within March after consultations with related ministries and approval from the Multicultural Family Policy Committee under the prime minister's office, according to the Ministry of Gender Equality and F

Cold wave alerts will be issued for most parts of South Korea on Monday, the third day of the four-day Lunar New Year holiday, according to the nation’s weather agency. The Korea Meteorological Administration said the cold wave warning will take effect for Seoul as of 9 p.m. The cold wave warnings are issued when the daily low falls below minus 15 degrees Celsius for more than two consecutive days, or when the temperature drops sharply and major damage is expected. The warnings will be

Traffic on major highways started to build up nationwide Monday morning, as millions of South Koreans started to return to Seoul on the third day of the four-day Lunar New Year holiday. This year's holiday, one of the country's largest, started Saturday, with the annual exodus of people from Seoul and its surrounding areas to their hometowns for Lunar New Year, which fell on Sunday. With the extended holiday ending Tuesday, those same people began making their way back to the nation's capital

South Korea reported 9,227 new COVID-19 cases Monday, the lowest number in more than three months, health authorities said, amid a slowdown in infections and less testing over the Lunar New Year holiday. The new cases, including 60 from overseas, brought the total caseload to 30,008,756, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The nation, with a population of 51.6 million, also reached the grim milestone of 30 million, three years after its first COVID-19 case was reporte

A South Korean court sided with the police agency's decision to punish a veteran police officer for verbally abusing a subordinate and having her run his personal errands, showed a court ruling Monday. Judges in the Seoul Administrative Court in December dismissed an officer's suit against the nation's chief of police to nullify a reprimand warning -- the lightest punishment on a six-tier scale -- handed down by the national police agency in March 2021. The court ruling indicated

Approximately 4.5 percent of the youth population in Seoul have been cut off from society, a recent report by the metropolitan government said Wednesday, with many of them citing difficulties in finding jobs and personal relationships as the main culprit. The report by the Seoul Metropolitan Government surveyed 5,513 people aged between 19 and 39 living in the city, and found that 4.5 percent of them could be defined as “isolated” or “reclusive.” City officials defined &l

Just like people, pets also lose large amounts of blood from accidents, diseases and surgeries, and therefore require blood transfusions. But, there is currently not enough donated blood in South Korea. That’s why keen attention is being paid to a bill recently proposed at the National Assembly that aims to set up a control tower within the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to oversee and facilitate blood collection for animals. Demand for blood transfusion for animals

COVID-19 cases Sunday, the lowest number for a Sunday in 15 weeks, health authorities said, amid a slowdown in infections and less testing over the Lunar New Year holiday. The new cases, including 70 from overseas, brought the total caseload to 29,999,529, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The tally marked the lowest for any Sunday since Oct. 9, when the country reported 17,646 new cases. The country added 24 COVID-19 deaths, bringing the death toll to 33,209. The numb

Traffic on some highway sections slowed down Saturday as people hit the road to visit their hometowns or go on trips as the Lunar New Year holiday began. This year's extended Lunar New Year holiday runs from Saturday through Tuesday, with the nation celebrating its first such holiday without social distancing restrictions since the outbreak of COVID-19 three years ago. According to the Korea Expressway Corp. (KEC), some sections of the Gyeongbu Expressway, which links Seoul to the southea

One of the biggest traditions of the Korean Seollal holiday is sebae, or the act of bowing to your elders and wishing them a happy new year, after which older relatives share cash gifts. This long-held tradition has gone on in Korean households for generations. However, times are changing. The question of how much money it is appropriate to give or receive -- or whether anything should be given or received at all -- is a hard one to reach a consensus on. In a survey conducted by SK Communication

Seollal is one of Korea's two main holidays along with Chuseok. Both kick off a mass movement of people going to visit their hometowns. The race to return home involves people competing for bus, train and air tickets online, as well as at ticket booths. Just a few years ago, however, people lined up at train stations and bus terminals, with thousands queueing up for tickets. Some even camped outside, while thousands more braved the expressways in their cars. With the network of expressways