South Korea's new COVID-19 cases spiked to over 71,000 on Tuesday amid concerns that cases could sharply rise again ahead of the winter months. The country reported 71,476 new COVID-19 infections, including 84 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 27,031,319, according to data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. Tuesday's tally sharply increased from the 22,327 reported Monday when infection cases are generally low due to fewer tests over the weekend. Bu

By Dr. Oh Ju-hwan Earth Defense Command meetings to protect human life and happiness against the invasion of alien species are popular themes in movies. Reality is sometimes ahead of the movies. On November 30, 2022, even before we have a film featuring the best solution from the Earth Defense Command responding to the collective attack of microbes such as viruses and bacteria that cannot be seen with the naked eye, health ministers from 15 countries and intergovernmental organizations will gat

  President Yoon Suk-yeol could issue an order to force truckers to return to the workplace, as he pledged Monday to take a hard-line stance on their strike, blasting them for causing serious supply chain disruptions nationwide. Yoon's office said in a statement that a Cabinet meeting will take place Tuesday to review the feasibility of the order, which has never been issued in Korea's history. Failure to comply with the order would be subject to a punishment of at most three years in jail

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Monday it would kick off the construction of the Wirye Line Tram at the end of this month as the project was approved by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The construction is an eco-friendly new transportation project that connects 12 stations, including two transfer stations: Bokjeong Station on Line 8 and the Suin-bundang Line, and Namwirye Station on Line 8. Trams were first introduced in Seoul in 1899 and operated for nearly 70 years u

Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon turned over five reporters from Citizen Press the Tamsa TV on suspicions of housebreaking and retaliation, Seoul Suseo Police Station said Sunday. On Sunday at around 1:30 p.m., five reporters from the online media outlet allegedly broke through Han’s apartment building doors in Dogok-dong, southern Seoul. According to footage from the Tamsa TV’s official YouTube channel, the journalists tried to enter the minister’s residence by pressing keys on

Forecasting the heavy rain followed by strong cold wave to hit the country from Monday, the Korea Meteorological Administration predicted that this winter will be colder than usual, although it will not break records. "Strong low pressure will pass through Korea from Monday to Tuesday, bringing heavy downpour across the country. After the rain stops, cold continental high atmospheric pressure will expand from Wednesday, causing sub-zero temperature until Friday,” the weather agency sa

Police brought in a Yongsan Ward chief and a former high-ranking intelligence officer for questioning on Monday for the second time as part of their ongoing investigation into the bungled response to the crowd crush in Seoul's Itaewon neighborhood. Yongsan Ward office chief Park Hee-young, who oversees the Itaewon district, and Park Sung-min, a superintendent general, appeared before a special investigation team at a building in western Seoul separately as suspects. The Yongsan Ward chief h

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell below 30,000 on Monday due to fewer tests over the weekend, but the government remains on alert over the virus's possible resurgence during the winter. The country reported 22,327 new COVID-19 infections, including 53 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 26,959,843, according to data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. Daily infections jumped to 72,860 cases on Tuesday last week but have since been on the decline fr

Economic hardships of young people become increasingly detrimental to society, evident particularly through crash in fertility rate

Changed diet suggests why Koreans' rice consumption has decreased

YANGYANG -- Five people were killed in a helicopter crash near a Buddhist temple in the eastern coastal county of Yangyang on Sunday, fire officials said. Identification of the victims was under way, as officials had initially presumed only the two people on board -- a 71-year-old pilot and a 54-year-old mechanic -- had been killed. The chopper, an S-58T on lease by the local governments of Yangyang, Sokcho and Goseong, crashed on a hill around 10:50 a.m. while surveying the area against forest

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell below 50,000 on Sunday, but health authorities remained on edge over a possible spike in transmissions in the winter season. The country reported 47,028 new COVID-19 infections, including 70 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 26,937,516, according to data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. This marked the first time in six days that the daily cases have fallen below 50,000. The latest reading was down from the previou

Striking cargo truckers and the government will sit down next week to seek a negotiated solution to the nationwide walkout that continued to disrupt supply chains across the cement and steel industries on its third day Saturday. Truck drivers went on strike Thursday, the second strike this year in less than six months, demanding the government extend temporary rules guaranteeing minimum freight rates, citing high fuel prices. The rules are set to expire at the end of this year. According to the

Convicted child rapist Cho Doo-soon recently gave up on moving to a new home in Seonbu-dong, Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, after fierce protests from residents, according to local media reports citing Ansan residents. Cho and his wife recently signed a deal to rent a home in Seonbu-dong, but Cho's wife on Thursday was given back the 10 million won ($7,522) deposit along with a 1 million won cancellation fee. It was reported by local media that the couple plans to stay at his current residence i

A special police investigation team called in the chief of the Yongsan Fire Station for questioning on Saturday as part of its widening investigation into the bungled response to the crowd crush in Seoul's Itaewon neighborhood. Choi Seong-beom, chief of the Yongsan Fire Station, appeared at the investigation team's office in Seoul's Mapo district earlier in the morning for his second interrogation in connection with the Oct. 29 incident that killed at least 158 people. He was firs