On Black Friday, which refers to the day after Thanksgiving in the US, stores there typically offer goods at highly discounted prices. In recent years, retailers have tended to prolong the duration of the promotion, cutting prices before Thanksgiving even starts. Korean online shoppers have bought enormous amounts of products directly from foreign websites in the past few days. Due to the Black Friday shopping spree, packages containing a variety of goods shipped from the US were piling up at

Prosecutors on Saturday questioned a former Supreme Court justice suspected of having helped clear Lee Jae-myung, now the ruling Democratic Party's presidential nominee, of an election law violation charge last year in return for a post-retirement job. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office brought in Kwon Soon-il, sources said, as investigators are accelerating a probe into a high-profile urban development corruption scandal involving an asset management firm, called Hwacheon Daeyu A

South Korea's military reported nine additional COVID-19 cases Saturday, bringing the total caseload among its personnel to 2,273. Among the new cases, a draftee of an Army unit in Yeoncheon, 62 kilometers north of Seoul, and another in Pocheon, 50 km northeast of Seoul, tested positive before and after their return to the units from vacation, respectively. An officer of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul contracted the virus after a family member was infected. The other cases include an of

South Korea's new coronavirus cases rose above 4,000 with the numbers of deaths and critically ill patients hitting fresh record highs Saturday, deepening worries about the further spread of COVID-19 under a phased scheme for a gradual return to normal life. The country reported 4,068 new COVID-19 cases, including 4,045 local infections, raising the total caseload to 436,968, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The number was up 167 from 3,901 on Friday but down fro

The rate of COVID-19 infection among those aged 18 and under has surpassed that of adults, according to government data. Amid the increasing number of new coronavirus infections among young people, Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae asked parents to get their children vaccinated. The minister’s request came as concerns over children’s infections have mounted, particularly after the government allowed all schools across the country to resume full-time in-person classes this month. Yo

An appellate court on Friday reversed a local court’s ruling of life imprisonment for an adoptive mother who murdered her toddler daughter, to a sentence of 35 years in prison, citing lack of proof for “such a heavy sentence.” The court upheld the lower court’s ruling of a five-year prison sentence for the adoptive father, holding him responsible for child abuse in the highly publicized case. The Seoul High Court admitted that the mother, surnamed Jang, is guilty of m

The South Korean government has decided to postpone announcing an emergency COVID-19 response plan until Monday, Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol said Friday. The minister’s announcement followed a government meeting on Thursday, where health authorities discussed the possibility of reintroducing toughened measures to contain the resurgence of the coronavirus. They, however, failed to come to a conclusion and have delayed the announcement. On Friday, the country reported 3,901 new COVID

Expats’ overseas vaccine records not recognized here

Some 900 victims of the brutal crackdown on a 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju launched a damage suit against the government Friday, a law firm said, days after the death of former President Chun Doo-hwan, accused of ordering the crackdown. LKB & Partners said it has filed the suit on behalf of the plaintiffs who were subject to brutal violence by soldiers during the democracy protests in May 1980 in Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of Seoul, to demand the govern

South Korea's new coronavirus cases stayed below 4,000 for the second straight day Friday, but critical cases rose to a record high amid worries the virus could quickly spread under eased social distancing rules. The country reported 3,901 new COVID-19 cases, including 3,882 local infections, raising the total caseload to 432,901, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The number was down from 3,938 on Thursday. It was also down from 4,115 reported Wednesday, whic

Country sees yet another record number of COVID-19 hospitalizations

Government to launch official consultative body to discuss ban on dog meat consumption

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday imports of childlike sex dolls should be banned, because they could lead to the perception of children as sexual objects and increase the danger of potential sex crimes against minors. The ruling overturned lower courts' decisions that imports of child sex dolls should be allowed, like those of adult dolls. In 2019, the top court allowed imports of adult sex dolls on grounds that they are sex toys used in private life, an area in which the state should not inter

The number of jobs for wage workers in South Korea expanded nearly 4 percent in the second quarter amid signs of the economy's recovery from the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Thursday. The number of paid employee jobs had reached 19.6 million as of the end of June, up 3.6 percent, or 681,000, from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. By age, the number of jobs for those in their 60s swelled 15.4 percent on-year, or 392,000, marking the highest incre

Unionized truck drivers launched a three-day general strike Thursday to protest rising transport costs and demand a hike in freight rates, raising fears of a nationwide logistics crisis. The Cargo Truckers Solidarity (CTS), composed of self-employed truck drivers and those working for companies, said its members across the country commenced the general strike at the beginning of the day to demand an extension of the "Safe Trucking Freight Rates System" designed to prevent dangerous dr