South Korea's new COVID-19 infections stayed at more than 35,000 cases for three days in a row Monday despite fewer tests over the weekend, as the highly infectious omicron variant rages across the country following a major holiday. The country reported 35,286 new COVID-19 infections, including 35,131 local cases, raising the total to 1,044,963, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The accumulated virus caseload surpassed a grim milestone of 1 million the previo

Daily cases continue to surge, but severity remains low

South Korea's daily virus cases hit another high Sunday, exceeding 38,000, as the highly transmissible omicron variant rages across the country following a holiday season. The country reported 38,691 new COVID-19 infections, including 38,502 local cases, raising the total to 1,009,688, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The accumulated virus caseload surpassed 1 million on Sunday, two years after the country reported its first COVID-19 case. The daily tally s

South Korea's daily virus cases exceeded 30,000 for the first time to hit another all-time high of over 36,000 on Saturday amid fast spread of the omicron variant after a holiday season. The country reported 36,362 new COVID-19 infections, including 36,162 local cases, raising the total to 971,018, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The latest figure is a whopping increase of nearly 9,000 from the previous daily record of 27,443 reported on Friday. New infections ha

Rescue workers on Friday retrieved the body of one more construction worker from the rubble of a collapsed apartment building in the southern city of Gwangju, with three more people still trapped or missing from the accident last month. The body was pulled from a heap of concrete debris on the 27th floor of the high-rise building in the city, about 330 kilometers south of Seoul, the third person found dead and retrieved from the accident site. The exterior walls of the 39-story building unde

Seoul's subway operator will introduce brand new trains equipped with free mobile phone chargers and wider seats for pregnant women starting later this month, officials said Friday. Seoul Metro, the operator of the capital's vast subway system, will put five new trains comprising 40 passenger cars into operation on Line 5 starting this month and add 20 more trains to the line by the end of this year, officials said. The new trains make less noise and offer wireless phone chargers for the firs

South Korea’s daily COVID-19 infections on Thursday hit a fresh high of 27,443 amid the omicron wave, government data showed Friday. The government also announced Friday that it has decided to extend the current social distancing restrictions for two more weeks until Feb. 20. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the daily cases went up by 4,536 from the previous day’s 22,907. The cumulative total for confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country also reached 934

Omicron revives talk of herd immunity

Police have opened an investigation into embezzlement allegations raised against the head of a state-funded association of national independence fighters and their descendants, officials said Friday. Kim Won-wung, a former three-term lawmaker who heads the Heritage of Korean Independence, is facing allegations that he misappropriated a total of 45 million won ($37,465) last year of the business proceeds from a cafe his organization operates inside the National Assembly compound. He allegedly

South Korea's daily virus cases on Friday hit another all-time high with infections exceeding 27,000 for the first time amid the fast spread of the omicron variant after a holiday season. The country reported 27,443 new COVID-19 infections, including 27,283 local cases, raising the total to 934,656, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The previous daily record was 22,907 reported on Thursday. The death toll from COVID-19 came to 6,836, up 24 from Thursday. The

From Thursday onward, Korea has begun its transition to the omicron response that entails a reduced governmental role in controlling the spread of the coronavirus and patient management, but a lot of the foretold changes are yet to be implemented in practice. Despite announcing that select primary care doctor offices would take on rapid antigen testing and both remote and in-person care of nonhospitalized patients, the list of clinics providing these services had not yet been disclosed as of

The daily COVID-19 tally in Seoul has surpassed 5,000 for the first time, setting an all-time high for the second consecutive day, officials said Thursday. The Seoul city government reported 5,218 new cases Wednesday, up 1,009 from the previous high of 4,209 tallied the previous day. The latest tally was 1,789 higher than 3,429 recorded a week ago. Of the total, only 27 were cases of travelers from abroad. The proportion of omicron variant among new weekly infections rose to 60.5 percent la

South Korea is predicted to see its working age population shrink by a whopping 3.2 million during the 2020-2030 period amid the country's graying demographics, a government labor report showed Thursday. The estimate of people aged 15-64 would represent a turnaround from a growth of 1.17 million between 2010 and 2020 and 2.66 million during the previous decade, the labor ministry said in a report illustrating the seriousness of the country's low birthrate and fast-aging population. People age

Almost three out of 10 women in Seoul believe they can have babies outside marriage, a city government report showed Thursday. According to the report, 28.1 percent of women and 31.6 percent of men living in the capital said they can have children even if they are not married. About six in 10 women and men said they can live together with their partners before marriage. The report was based on various surveys conducted on Seoul residents between 2018 and 2021. There were about 9.79 million

JEJU -- Tourist arrivals on the southern resort island of Jeju surged over 30 percent from a year ago during the just-ended Lunar New Year holiday, industry data showed Thursday, amid mounting concern about the spread of the omicron variant. According to the data from Jeju's tourism association, 203,437 visitors arrived on Jeju during the extended holiday, which ran from Saturday to Wednesday, marking an increase of 32.9 percent from 153,132 visitors during last year's Lunar New Year holiday.