South Korea's new COVID-19 infections rose again to just shy of 100,000 on Tuesday amid fears that the cases could further surge due to the fast spread of the omicron variant across the country. The country reported 99,573 new COVID-19 infections, including 99,444 local cases, raising the total caseload to 2,157,734, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). New daily infections have risen at a fast pace in recent weeks, surpassing the 100,000 mark for the first time F

DAEJEON -- A 32-year-old man has been sentenced to three years in prison for putting liquid bathroom cleaner into the intravenous drip line of another patient for unclear reasons while in hospital for burn treatment, sources said Tuesday. The man committed the crime at a hospital in Daejeon, about 160 kilometers south of Seoul, in March last year. Following the infusion, the patient complained of chest pains and a nurse changed the IV solution, but the man put the cleaner into the line again abo

South Korea’s top health official said Monday the surge the country is experiencing now is necessary to move toward an endemic phase from the pandemic, and omicron’s milder severity aids the transition. Son Young-rae, the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s spokesperson, said the recent uptick in hospitalizations and deaths driven by the omicron variant “does not warrant the same level of alarm as with the delta wave.”　 From cases diagnosed Jan. 16-29, the overall f

South Korea stopped monitoring COVID-19 patients younger than 60 beginning Feb. 10 in a switch to what is known as a self-care scheme, after the milder omicron overtook delta as the dominant strain here.  But following deaths among younger patients isolating at home, concerns are rising over possible safety oversights in the new system. 　 According to health authorities Monday, at least two patients died in the Seoul area while in home isolation over the weekend. In Suwon, Gyeonggi Provi

A galvanizing moment may be coming for licensing and registration system for giving tattoos, which has been outlawed for 4 decades

Feces controversy is only the latest in headaches related to the homeless residing at nation’s largest and busiest station

The Seoul city government will provide North Korean defectors with free health checkups, online tutoring services for students and other support measures to help them better settle in their new homeland, officials said Monday. It is the first time in nine years that Seoul has put together support measures for defectors. Seoul is home to 6,759 defectors, about 21.4 percent of the total, and about 3.4 billion won ($2.85 million) has been earmarked for this year's support plan, up 1.5 billion won f

Beach pollution is a serious problem. Some 11 million metric tons of plastic waste end up in the ocean annually, according to a 2020 study co-authored by researchers at the Pew Charitable Trusts. Against this backdrop, one couple in Gangneung on the east coast of South Korea in Gangwon Province have embarked on a mission to clean up Korea’s shores and the ocean. “We have actually been keeping record of trash on the beaches even before the pandemic began and masks are now much more

The average monthly salary of wage earners in South Korea rose 3.6 percent on-year in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, a government report showed Monday. Wage workers in Asia's fourth-largest economy earned a monthly average of 3.2 million won ($2,669) in December 2020, up from 3.09 million won a year earlier, according to the report from Statistics Korea. The average salary of the median income bracket came to 2.42 million won, up 3.5 percent from the previous year. The figure for workers wi

Six out of 10 South Koreans are positive about the relaxation of COVID-19 curbs on businesses, a poll showed Monday. In the survey by the Korea Society Opinion Institute, 62.1 percent said the government should enhance the protection of severely ill patients and those with underlying conditions while easing the curfew on restaurants, cafes and other businesses. But 32.6 percent said restrictions on business hours should be maintained firmly until infections are back on the decline. The survey wa

South Korea said Monday it plans to step up the monitoring of local farms and implement stronger quarantine steps to curb the spread of African swine fever (ASF) and highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI). The country has reported an increase in the outbreak of ASF cases from wild boars in recent weeks, and a series of bird flu cases at local farms since November last year across the country. Swine fever has shown signs of spreading further to southern regions after being recently reported in th

A court has ruled in favor of GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of General Motors Co., in a lawsuit filed against the government's decision to retrieve its subsidy provided for a facility the carmaker disposed of in 2019, sources said Monday. The suit was filed by GM Korea to annul the labor ministry's order for the company to return 2.23 billion won ($1.86 million) of residual value from a total of 3.25 billion won of state subsidy it received for building and operating a technology institute

South Korea logged fewer than 100,000 daily coronavirus cases Monday, due to less testing over the weekend, while health authorities forecast the current COVID-19 wave to peak between late February and March. The country reported 95,362 new COVID-19 infections, including 95,218 local cases, raising the total caseload to 2,058,184, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Monday's tally is down from 104,829 on Sunday when the country's new caseload surpassed 100,000

Thousands of unionized parcel delivery workers were set to hold a large-scale rally in Seoul on Monday to demand CJ Logistics Corp., South Korea's largest logistics firm, agree to hold talks with striking workers seeking better working conditions. The courier union under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), the more militant of the country's two major umbrella unions, said around 2,000 workers are expected to gather at the demonstration to be held in front of Cheonggye Stream in cent

Government to provide additional 21 million self-test kits this week