Number of COVID-19 patients in serious condition hits all time-high

  A local court has ruled in favor of a once-promising gymnast who became paralyzed after being injured in an excessive training regime enforced by school trainers, ordering related parties to pay her 1.2 billion won ($1 million) in compensation. The Incheon District Court said Thursday it has handed the 22-year-old plaintiff a partial win in the damage suit filed against Incheon Metropolitan City, the operator of the school she attended, and Incheon School Safety Mutual Aid Association.

South Korea's total population is expected to record its first decline this year, the statistics agency said Thursday, a grim assessment of its demographic situations amid the country's chronically low birthrate, rapid aging and a decline in incoming foreigners during the pandemic. The country's total population is estimated to have peaked at 51.84 million last year before falling to an estimated 51.75 million this year and an estimated 37.7 million in 2070, according to the latest medium varia

Nearly half of recently newlywed couples in South Korea had no children, data showed Thursday, amid the country's chronic low birthrate and changing social norms. Some 44.5 percent of the country's 1.18 million couples, who were legally married in the five years up to November 2020, did not have children, up from 42.5 percent a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The newlyweds include first-time and other newly married couples residing in the country. The proportion of

A Seoul court on Thursday ordered the government to pay 10 million won ($8,520) in compensation each to 44 people who were barred from the national teacher qualification exam last year due to their COVID-19 infections. The ruling by the Seoul Central District Court came after the Ministry of Education forbade those who had COVID-19 from taking the primary qualification test for would-be elementary and middle school teachers in late 2020. The complainants had initially sought compensation of 15

South Korea's new coronavirus cases stayed above 7,000 for the second consecutive day Thursday and the number of critically ill patients hit an all time-high amid waning immunity and colder weather. The country confirmed 7,102 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total caseload to 496,584, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The daily tally was slightly down from a daily record-high of 7,175 reported a day earlier, the KDCA said. The number of critically ill C

South Korea expanded its entry ban to two additional African countries Wednesday amid growing concerns over the fast-spreading omicron coronavirus variant.    From Friday to next Thursday, short-term foreign arrivals from Ghana and Zambia will be banned. South Korean nationals and long-term foreign arrivals from these countries will face a mandatory 10-day quarantine, regardless of their COVID-19 vaccination status.    Effective Nov. 28, South Korea had earlier banned fore

OSONG, North Chungcheong Province -- South Korea’s Minister of Food and Drug Safety Kim Ganglip says his 30 years of office in public health has prepared him to serve the country during an unprecedented public health crisis. As the third pandemic year dawns and omicron darkens prospects, the minister said fresh weapons against the pandemic are coming. The Korea Herald spoke with Kim on Monday afternoon at his office in Osong, North Chungcheong Province, about some of the mo

It has been more than 10 years since South Korea entered the OECD Development Assistance Committee, which shifted the country’s status to a key donor from a onetime recipient of foreign aid. The total volume of South Korea’s official development assistance now reaches some $2.25 billion, marking around a threefold increase over the past decade. As the amount of assistance grows, the need to improve the quality of assistance has also grown in the past years, said the Korea Labor an

United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai last month met with South Korea Minister of Employment and Labor An Kyung-duk to share the Biden administration’s worker-centered trade policy and to discuss the importance of worker rights, which has become increasingly important amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the “fourth industrial revolution” that has been much-hailed during the crisis. The pandemic has not only accelerated the fourth industrial revolution, but also sparks n

Free lunch will be served to all kindergartners in Seoul starting in March, completing the city's universal free meal program up to high school, officials said Wednesday. Seoul's education office, city government and council of ward offices signed an agreement to provide funds for the program to all 790 public and private kindergartens, according to officials. A total of 71,876 kindergartners were enrolled in Seoul as of April. About 69.9 billion won ($59.4 million) will be necessary a year

South Korea’s daily COVID-19 cases reached an all-time high Wednesday, surpassing 7,000 for the first time since the virus crisis began nearly two years ago. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said 7,175 cases were registered in the preceding 24 hours to Tuesday midnight, exceeding the 7,000 mark for the first time, a week after staying in the 5,000 range since Dec. 1. The latest tally puts the country’s total caseload at 489,484. The number of patients in serious

The average price of Seoul apartments has soared more than twofold in about five years under the current Moon Jae-in administration, according to a civic group analysis Wednesday. According to the analysis by the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ), an apartment in Seoul fetched 43.09 million won ($36,590) per pyeong, or 3.3 square meters, on average as of November, up 109 percent compared to May 2017 when Moon was sworn into office. The average price of 99.1-square-meter apartment

Nearly one in three households in South Korea consists of one person last year, data showed Wednesday, as the number of single-member families has risen amid a delay in marriage and rapid aging. One-person families accounted for 31.7 percent of the total last year, up from 30.2 percent the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. Households consisting of a single member totaled 6.64 million in 2020, up from 6.15 million a year earlier, the statistics agency said. The propor

A 77-year-old man was rescued after being locked in a bathroom for 15 days at his home in Iksan, North Jeolla Province, local police said Wednesday. He lives alone in an apartment unit there. According to local media reports and the Iksan police, the man was found lying on the floor of the bathroom by a rescue team sent to check on him, following a police report field by an acquaintance that the man had been out of contact for nearly three weeks. When found, the man could barely move or t