The family of Lee Dae-jun, a 47-year-old fisheries official who was fatally shot by North Korea in 2020, has asked for the Democratic Party of Korea’s support in the disclosure of records from the Moon Jae-in administration. Among the information the family is seeking are what was briefed to Cheong Wa Dae by the intelligence and armed services in the time between the capture and killing of Lee on Sept. 22, 2020, as well as the orders given by Cheong Wa Dae. The family has also asked for

A survey conducted by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family showed less than half of children from multicultural families in Korea enroll in higher education institutions, far below the national average. The ministry conducts a survey of multicultural households in Korea every three years, through face-to-face interviews with multicultural families. In the survey, conducted over 2021, 15,578 multicultural families were interviewed. Of those surveyed, 82.4 percent were families wit

Family last seen leaving guesthouse on the night of May 30

South Korea's Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang will visit the Czech Republic and Poland this week to support local firms in winning contracts for building new power plants there, his office said Monday. Lee is scheduled to make a two-day trip to the Czech Republic from Tuesday before flying to Poland for another two-day stay, as the two European nations are undergoing a process to construct new nuclear power plants to ensure their own energy security and to achieve carbon neutrality goals,

South Korea's new coronavirus cases fell below 3,500 on Monday as the COVID-19 pandemic is in retreat and fewer tests were conducted over the weekend. The country added 3,429 new COVID-19 infections, including 114 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,329,448, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Monday's tally is down 109 cases from a week ago and 2,704 from four weeks ago. Daily COVID-19 cases have declined at a steady pace to stay below 10,000 sinc

Military service, or lack thereof, leaves lasting impact on men living in country divided by war

South Korea's financial regulator has launched a probe into Woori Bank for its alleged involvement in irregular foreign currency transactions worth billions of won, industry sources said Monday. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) carried out a spot inspection into one of the bank's branches last week after the bank found in a recent internal audit that foreign currency deals that go beyond conventional practices have been conducted there, according to the sources. The deals in que

Seoul recorded the highest-ever morning low for June on Sunday, with temperatures hitting 24.8 C or higher, the state weather agency said. The figure, recorded at 2:34 a.m., broke the previous record of 24 degrees set on June 19, 1997, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. The city of Incheon, 40 kilometers west of Seoul, also recorded the highest morning low in 117 years with 23.5 C at 1:55 a.m. The city's previous record high morning low was 22.8 C in 1904. Other cities ac

South Korea's new coronavirus cases remained below 7,000 for the second consecutive day Sunday as the omicron variant is slowing down. The country added 6,246 new COVID-19 infections, including 135 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,326,019, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Sunday's tally is down from Friday's 7,227 and Saturday's 6,790. The daily caseload has been on the decline and stayed below 10,000 since June 10, after hitting mo

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo delivers a speech during a commemorative ceremony to mark the 72nd anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War in Seoul on Saturday. About 1,500 participants including senior government and military officials, veterans and citizens took part in the event, which was held under the slogan of “Freedom preserved, Peace to protect.”

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases dropped below 7,000 on Saturday, marking a moderate downtrend amid the easing omicron wave. The country added 6,790 new COVID-19 infections, including 85 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,319,773, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The KDCA reported 18 more deaths from COVID-19, raising the death toll to 24,516. The fatality rate stood at 0.13 percent. The number of critically ill patients came to 50, down from Friday's

Coast Guard Commissioner Gen. Jeong Bong-hoon and eight top officers offered their resignations on Friday over the Coast Guard’s involvement in the developments that followed the death of a South Korean fisheries official in 2020. Jeong and eight chief superintendent generals and senior superintendent generals felt “keen responsibility” in their handling of the aftermath of the incident, according to the Coast Guard. The fisheries official, Lee Dae-jun, was killed by North K

South Korea’s first confirmed monkeypox patient, who entered the country from Germany, was found to have proceeded unchecked through Incheon Airport’s health inspection, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The KDCA said the monkeypox patient reported at the airport’s lobby after having passed the airport’s screening Tuesday. When entering the country, the patient’s symptoms were a low-grade fever of 37 degrees Celsius, sore throat, fati

SK Bioscience’s SKYCovione expected to obtain government authorization as early as next week

President Yoon Suk-yeol said Friday that a revision to the 52-hour legal work week has not been officially decided by the government yet. Labor Minister Lee Jeong-sik told reporters a day earlier that the government will consider revising the 52-hour work week system in a way that will allow employers and workers to flexibly spread the hours over a period of a month. "The deputy prime minister apparently collected the suggestions of people from private research associations and such and tol