At Yoon admin’s 1st COVID-19 meeting, second thoughts about lifting isolation order At the first COVID-19 meeting after Yoon Suk-yeol administration was inaugurated, senior health officials said the preceding administration’s promise of scrapping isolation orders were being reconsidered. The meeting was led by Yoon’s first Vice Health Minister Lee Ki-il, appointed to the post Tuesday, as Health Minister nominee Chung Ho-young still awaits confirmation. “As we speak,

The changes we are seeing in the ocean right now are already irreversible, said climate scientist Axel Timmermann. Timmermann is the director of the IBS Center for Climate Physics at Pusan National University, working to address changes in the climate and ecosystem. Prior to the upcoming H.eco Forum on May 26, where he is to give a lecture under the title of “Using basic science to avert climate changes,” Timmermann warned that the oceans have already reached “thresholds for

From waking up a dozing student to tidying up graves, online advertisements with unusual but real job descriptions offer a peek into the Korean society. The Korea Herald looks at some of these unusual ads. The following is the first installment. -- Ed. Last week, a self-proclaimed mother posted an ad on a hyperlocal online marketplace, looking to hire a helper for her high school son. Job description? Wake the boy up whenever he dozes off. “My son (high school freshman) studies for tw

President Yoon Suk-yeol made his first commute to work by motorcade Wednesday, an unusual spectacle that followed his relocation of the presidential office. Yoon left his private home in southern Seoul at 8:21 a.m. and arrived at his office in the central district of Yongsan at 8:34 a.m. The president will commute everyday for now while the foreign minister's official residence is being converted into the new presidential residence. Yoon has moved both the presidential office and the presidentia

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases stayed above 40,000 for the second straight day Wednesday amid the government's effort to move the country back to pre-pandemic normalcy. The country added 43,925 new COVID-19 infections, including 37 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 17,658,794, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The tally decreased from 49,933 on Tuesday and was down from 49,055 a week ago. The public health agency reported 29 COVID-19 deaths,

President Yoon Suk-yeol was sworn in as the 20th state leader of South Korea on Tuesday morning, vowing to rebuild the nation based on values of liberal democracy and a market economy. More than 40,000 people, including political leaders, foreign envoys and residents, were invited to the inauguration ceremony held at the National Assembly from 11:00 a.m.  A state prosecutor for 27 years and a political novice, Yoon came out victorious in the March presidential election that was the closes

The chief of the Bank of Korea (BOK) has been elected to the highest decision-making body of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), Seoul's central bank said Tuesday. BOK Gov. Rhee Chang-yong was elected to the 18-member board of the Switzerland-based BIS on Monday (local time) and began his three-year term, the BOK said in a press release. Rhee is the second South Korean central banker to take a seat on the board. His predecessor, Lee Ju-yeol, assumed the position from early 2019 until t

South Korean shipyards are suffering from a labor shortage due mainly to massive layoffs years earlier, stoking concerns over output disruptions amid bumper orders, industry sources Tuesday. The local shipbuilding industry had a combined workforce of some 93,000 as of the end of last year, down a whopping 54 percent from seven years earlier, according to the Korea Offshore & Shipbuilding Association. The tumble results largely from large-scale layoffs that local shipbuilders carried out to c

Police launched an investigation into an online posting talking about a bomb attack at the inauguration ceremony of President Yoon Suk-yeol, officials said Tuesday. An unidentified person wrote the posting on a popular community website, Bobaedream, Monday night, seeking an accomplice to detonate a grenade at the ceremony, the National Police Agency said. The suspect also mentioned Yun Bong-gil, a national independence fighter who killed high-ranking Japanese officials by setting off a bomb du

South Korea's new coronavirus cases bounced back to above 40,000 on Tuesday amid the government's eased virus curbs to move the country back to pre-pandemic normalcy. The country added 49,933 new COVID-19 infections, including 23 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 17,614,895, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The tally is up from 40,064 on Sunday and 20,601 on Monday. The jump came as family and religious gatherings increased last week as Child

The confirmation hearing for President Yoon Suk-yeol’s arguably most contested Cabinet pick, Justice Minister nominee Han Dong-hoon, was gripped by partisan tensions. During the hearing held on the eve of Yoon’s inauguration, Han argued that the Democratic Party of Korea-led prosecutorial reforms -- which entail expanding police powers while curtailing those of the prosecution -- would end up hurting the public while aiding criminals. Han was also pressed to give his position&nbs

Upcoming administration is expected make adjustments to the country’s return to normal scheme

South Korea's new coronavirus cases fell Monday, a week after the government lifted the outdoor mask mandate in the latest attempt to return to pre-pandemic normalcy amid a downward trend in COVID-19 cases. The country added 20,601 new COVID-19 infections, including 19 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 17,564,999, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The tally is down from 40,064 on Sunday and 39,600 on Saturday. The daily count tends to fal

More than half of single 20-somethings in South Korea do not want to have babies after marriage due apparently to concerns over high child-rearing costs in the country, a poll showed Monday. According to a survey reported in a monthly economic journal by the state-run Korea Development Institute, 52.4 percent of unmarried Koreans in their 20s think it is OK not to have children after tying the knot. The percentage is sharply up from 23.3 percent in the same survey conducted five years earlier. I

South Korea’s daily COVID-19 cases for Saturday rebounded week-on-week for the first time in around six weeks, government data showed Sunday. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the country added 40,064 new COVID-19 infections during the 24 hours of Saturday. The total caseload came to 17,544,398. The daily figure on Saturday was up from 37,771 cases on Saturday a week ago. It was the first time in 46 days that the daily COVID-19 infections increased week-on-we