South Korea's daily COVID-19 cases fell below 170,000 Friday but critical cases and deaths from the virus rose at a fast pace amid the continued spread of the highly contagious omicron variant. The country reported 165,890 new COVID-19 infections, including 165,749 local cases, raising the total caseload to 2,665,077, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). It is slightly down from the previous day's 170,015. Daily infections surpassed the 100,000 level for the first

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Friday that the country is expected to see the peak of the omicron wave in mid-March with daily cases hovering around 250,000. South Korea's daily virus infections surpassed the 100,000 level for the first time last week, and soared to a record high of 171,452 on Wednesday due to the highly transmissible omicron variant of COVID-19. "Some experts are saying that it may hit the peak faster than expected," Kim said during a COVID-19 response meeting in Se

Another South Korean woman who was forced into sexual slavery by Japan during World War II has died, the gender equality ministry said Thursday, reducing the total number of the country's registered surviving victims to 12.    The woman, whose name was withheld, died on Feb. 17, according to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. Other information, including her age, was not available.    The bereaved family notified the government of her death after completing funera

Patients found dead on Seoul streets later test positive

Groups representing people with disabilities have announced they have stopped subway protests which went on for weeks after being acknowledged by presidential candidate Sim Sang-jung of the minor opposition Justice Party during a recent TV debate. During a TV debate earlier this week, Sim dedicated her last minute to the protestors. “Disabled people are protesting on the subway every morning, urging for a budget for their rights to travel. “Though many citizens who commute on the

Some parents protest admission of refugee kids to school in Ulsan

A Seoul court on Thursday ruled partially in favor of a group of college entrance exam takers and their parents in a lawsuit seeking state compensation for an erroneous early "time is up" signal that shortened the exam time by two minutes. The exam time for the fourth session of the 2021 College Scholastic Ability Test, held in December 2020, was cut short for exam takers in a high school in western Seoul as the bell signaling the session's end was sounded earlier than normal by mistak

South Korean household income rose for the second quarter in a row in the fourth quarter of last year thanks to an economic recovery amid eased antivirus curbs, data showed Thursday. The average household earned 4.64 million won ($3,876) per month in the October-December period, up 6.4 percent from the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It marked the largest increase for any fourth quarter since 2011 when the figure advanced 7.2 percent. But the fourth-quarter on-year in

Employment for wage workers in South Korea grew at a slow clip in the third quarter of 2021 from three months earlier amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Thursday. The number of paid employee jobs came to 19.6 million as of end-September, up 2.6 percent, or 491,000, from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The tally was much lower lower than an on-year increase of 681,000 in the second quarter of last year. In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, the accommodations

South Korea's daily COVID-19 cases stayed above 170,000 for the second consecutive day Thursday amid the fast spread of the highly contagious omicron variant across the country. The country reported 170,016 new COVID-19 infections, including 169,846 local cases, raising the total caseload to 2,499,188, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The number is slightly down from a record high of 171,452 on Wednesday. The country added 82 more deaths from COVID-19 on Thurs

Plans underway for bringing in alternatives

Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has been appointed as an endowed chair at Seoul National University's (SNU) Department of Political Science and International Relations earlier this month, school officials said Wednesday. Ban plans to advise the university's graduate students on their research and careers until January 2025, according to SNU. The school, one of the country's most prestigious universities, grants chair professorships to scholars with outstanding academic achievements or gl

A series of accidents involving trucks mounted with aerial ladders have prompted safety concerns in South Korea, where these ladders are widely used for moving in and out of tall apartment buildings. On Monday, a ladder of a moving truck collapsed in an apartment complex in Nowon-gu, Seoul, killing one resident and injuring another. Police suspect the ladder’s length at the time of the accident to have been around 40 meters, given that the accident took place after finishing moving hous

Authorities try to reassure people as Korea steps into new state of pandemic

A Seoul court on Wednesday ruled against South Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced labor in a damages suit filed against Japanese companies, apparently on grounds that the cases' statute of limitations has expired. The suit was filed against Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and Kumagai Gumi Co. by a 104-year-old victim named Kim Han-soo and the bereaved family of a late victim, surnamed Park, with the Seoul Central District Court in April 2019. Kim and Park claimed they were conscri