Uncertainties over how much genomic sequencing occurring nationwide

Firefighting authorities on Tuesday mobilized all available manpower and equipment to contain the main fires in the northeastern border town of Yanggu hit by a large-scale forest fire for the third day. According to the Korea Forest Service (KFS), the fire extinguishing rate reached 95 percent as of 6:30 a.m. in Yanggu, 175 kilometers northeast of Seoul and about 20 km south of the border with North Korea. Authorities deployed 30 helicopters and 788 firefighting personnel shortly after sunrise t

WASHINGTON -- Incheon International Airport, the main gateway to South Korea, became the world's second-busiest cargo airport in 2021, up one notch from the previous year, a trade body said Monday. Incheon International Airport handled 3.23 million tons of international cargo, up 18.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the Airports Council International (ACI). The airport, some 40 kilometers west of Seoul, ranked third in the world in terms of international cargo handling in 2019 and 2020

Group leader calls out incoming president’s lack of interest in plight of foreign laborers

The transition committee for President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol said Monday that it would amend laws to use international age instead of “Korean age” to reduce social and economic costs associated with allowing more than one way to count age. Under the Korean age system, Koreans are 1 year old at birth, and they get a year older on New Year’s Day regardless of their birth date. The system is widely used, though official records usually follow the international norm that starts at

Daily COVID-19 cases continue to drop, below 100,000 for first time in 7 weeks

On the streets of Seoul’s central Gwanghwamun Square on Friday, Koreans gathered in remembrance of the pandemic’s victims. People grieving lost loved ones opened up and shared their stories in one of the capital city’s busiest districts during the afternoon rush hour, and the crowd grew larger as more people passing by stopped to listen. It was one of the first such events to take place in public. COVID-19 has kept patients cut off from visits at hospitals up to their final

Retired US Army Col. William E. Weber, a highly decorated Korean War veteran noted for his dedicated efforts to help American people remember the 1950-53 conflict, called "The Forgotten War," has passed away. He was 97. Weber reportedly died at his residence in Maryland on Saturday (local time). During the war, Weber served as a member of the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team and joined key missions, including the Incheon Landing Operation, to repel North Korean invaders. He lost h

  The following is part of Seoul Subway Stories, a Korea Herald series exploring the city’s subway stations and surrounding areas. -- Ed. 　 Dongmyo Station on Subway Lines No. 1 and 6 takes its name from a shrine for a Chinese god of war -- Guan Yu.  Most visitors, however, are indifferent to the pavilions that stand behind the shrine’s stoned wall, and do not seem to question why the Han Dynasty warrior, later deified as a god in China, is enshrined there.  Wha

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell below 100,000 for the first time in seven weeks on Monday, as the omicron wave is slowing after reaching its peak in mid-March. The country added 90,928 new COVID-19 infections, including 21 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 15,424,598, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Monday's tally marks the first drop to five digits since the Feb. 22 count of 99,562. It is also nearly a two-month low after the 90,438 registere

A fire broke out at a low-cost accommodation facility in Seoul early Monday, leaving two dead, officials said. The two men in their 50s and 70s were found with severe burns in the corridor on the second floor of the "gosiwon," tiny one-room occupancies, in Yeongdeungpo district and sent to a nearby hospital but died, according to officials. Seventeen others in the building escaped by themselves without sustaining any injuries. Firefighters were putting out small fires after containing

S. Korea’s daily COVID-19 infections remained below 200,000 for the second straight day as of midnight Saturday. As the omicron wave shows a clear downward trend, the government noted it will soon announce a post-omicron scheme, along with a decision on downgrading the infectious disease level of COVID-19. 　 According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency‘s report Sunday, the country added 164,481 new COVID-19 infections during the 24 hours of Saturday, bringing the to

The third body retrieved in a search and rescue operation of six South Koreans who went missing in waters west of Taiwan has been identified as one of the missing crew members, Seoul's foreign ministry said Sunday. According to ministry, the remains of the missing crew member of the Kyoto 1 were found in the waters southeast of Penghu, Taiwan, at around 1 p.m. Saturday. The body has been moved to a nearby hospital in Taiwan. On Thursday, Taiwanese maritime authorities received a distress call

South Korea's daily COVID-19 cases fell below 200,000 for the second straight day Sunday amid a downtrend in the virus curve, as the country is poised to further relax antivirus curbs in efforts to return to normalcy. The country added 164,481 new COVID-19 infections, including 27 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 15,333,670 out of the 52 million population, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The daily count has trended in or below the 200,000 range in the p

A 3.4 magnitude earthquake struck off South Korea's east coast Sunday, the weather agency said, but there were no reports of damage. The quake occurred in waters 23 kilometers east of the southeastern coastal county of Yeongdeok, North Gyeongsang Province, at 2:45 a.m. with a depth of 18 km, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). According to officials, a 3 magnitude tremor was apparently noticed throughout the province, with fire authorities having received around 10 report