With South Korea fixated on COVID response, Seoul sees 82% drop in HIV testing in 2020

The Seoul city government will renovate worn-out buildings into low-carbon ones and increase the proportion of electric cars in the city by 2026 as part of efforts to respond to climate change, officials said Thursday. The measures were announced as part of a five-year project from 2022 to 2026 to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Last year, South Korea finalized its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, as the nation started tackling the challenge of simultaneously responding to climat

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases jumped to over 6,000 for the first time in 27 days Thursday amid growing worries over the spread of the omicron virus variant ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.   The country added 6,603 new COVID-19 infections, including 6,357 local infections, raising the total caseload to 712,503, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Health authorities are on high alert over a possible spike in infections as many people trave

An appellate court on Wednesday upheld life sentence of a South Korean man who murdered three women in the same family. While upholding the lower court’s ruling, the Seoul High Court also insisted the 26-year-old murderer Kim Tae-hyun should be sentenced to life in prison without parole. “Although the judicial authority’s opinion has no binding force to parole decisions, the court should clarify its opinion regarding the opportunity of parole,” the court said. “Th

The South Korean government is on alert as the omicron cases increase

South Korea's state intelligence agency said Wednesday it has identified more than 100 sets of Internet of Things (IoT) equipment in the country that have been infected with malware. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said it has detected the Mozi botnet infection after cooperating with Russian authorities in December last year. It has found a total of around 12,000 devices exposed to the malware in 72 countries. The infected equipment, which can be used in distributed denial-of-service (

Heavy show fell in Seoul, Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces on Wednesday, prompting authorities to issue alerts over potential traffic disturbances and frozen roads. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, Seoul received 3.5 centimeters of snow while Gangwon Province‘s Seoraksan and the southeastern Ulleung Island saw heavy snow of 18.5 centimeters and 19.5 centimeters, respectively, as of 2 p.m. The weather agency lifted a heavy snow alert, which indicates that snow of at le

South Korea's military on Wednesday reported 70 additional COVID-19 cases, including 69 breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 3,727. Of the new cases, 53 are from the Army, 12 from the Air Force, two from the Navy, two from the Marine Corps, and one from a unit under the direct control of the defense ministry. The Army infection count included 29 trainees at the KATUSA training academy located in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, according to an inf

Investigators on Wednesday raided the headquarters of HDC Hyundai Development Co. in connection with a recent accident at its construction site in Gwangju that left one worker dead and five others missing. Officials from the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the National Police Agency conducted a joint raid of the real estate developer's headquarters in central Seoul to search for evidence in connection with the accident that occurred on Jan. 11. Search operations have continued for a week

Authorities in Seoul and nearby areas remained on alert Wednesday as the greater capital region was expecting heavy snow throughout the day. The Seoul metropolitan government mobilized about 9,000 workers and 1,200 snow-removing cars and other equipment as a heavy snow alert has been issued across the city as of 9 a.m. More buses and subway trains have also been allocated during commuting hours to prevent transportation inconveniences. Heavy snow alerts were also issued throughout most of the

Omicron will dominate in South Korea in a matter of mere days, top health officials say. Minister of Health and Welfare Kwon Deok-cheol said during a government meeting Tuesday that based on internal models omicron was “predicted to assume a dominant role by this weekend.” The upcoming Seollal holiday is feared to expedite its spread, he said. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s data, omicron appeared in 26.7 percent of all analyzed samples in the

The Ministry of Education will support medical costs for students who experience adverse events from being vaccinated or are experiencing mental health issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “As many students and parents are worried about children and youths experiencing adverse events from vaccination, we have came up with measures that can relieve the concerns,” Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae said at a press briefing held at the Sejong Government Complex on Tuesday. The ministry wi

Customers must pay deposit for disposable cups at coffee or fast food franchises starting in June

Mixed use of Korean, international age in vaccine policy puzzles many, prompts calls for unified standards

Poison pen pals raise ire, but critics call practice outdated, unnecessary remnant of Japanese colonial rule