Seoul man under home care dies, the first since program’s launch last month

SEJONG -- Land owned by foreigners in South Korea has reached an all-time high in terms of combined size, amid their active purchases of apartments or sites for business, such as manufacturing and leisure facilities, government data showed. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, foreigners owned 253.3 million square meters of land as of December 2020, which is the latest figure available. Though this accounts for less than 0.3 percent of the nation’s entire terri

Amid stalemate in investigation, prosecutors fail to prove Yoo’s breach of duty charges

The Seoul city government said Sunday it will begin normalizing late-night public transportation operations on weekdays, months after they were reduced due to social distancing measures against COVID-19. It plans to put intra-city buses and subway lines No. 2, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 back in normal operation Monday followed by subway lines No. 3 and 4 on Dec. 1. The city has reduced its public transit services after 10 a.m. on weekdays by up to 20 percent since July. The measure led to an average 35

JEJU -- South Korea's Coast Guard has seized a Chinese boat for fishing without a permit in the country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the southern resort island of Jeju, its officials said Sunday. The 272-ton vessel carrying 11 crew members is suspected of conducting fishing activities in waters 116 kilometers south of the city of Seogwipo on the island at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday without any authorization. The vessel is also alleged to have attempted to flee despite the Coast Guard's repe

South Korea's daily COVID-19 cases fell below 1,500 on Sunday amid signs of a letup in the fourth wave of the pandemic, with the country seeking to phase out social distancing restrictions, as its vaccination rate reached the milestone of 70 percent. The country reported 1,423 new cases, including 1,395 local infections, raising the total caseload to 351,899, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Sunday's tally is down from the 1,508 counted the previous day. New virus

South Korea on Saturday achieved its goal of fully inoculating over 70 percent of the country‘s population earlier than scheduled amid its accelerating vaccination drive. A total of 35.94 million people have received their both shots of COVID-19 vaccines as of 2 p.m., accounting for 70 percent of the country’s 51.3 million population, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). South Korea began its nationwide vaccination campaign in late February. The ach

The National Library of Korea is welcoming visitors looking for a new way of reading books through its digital library, called Silgam Seojae. The digital library aims to bring books, especially old texts, closer to readers with the latest technologies.  Visitors can search for books on a touch screen where they receive book suggestions based on the search results, which they can share with other visitors. Old texts are offered digitally for reading, with annotations to help readers who are

Yangcheon Urban Agricultural Park is hosting various events from Thursday to Oct. 29 at Sintree Park, located in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, to give children an opportunity to experience various events that aren’t easily accessible in the city. The program offers safety education on agricultural equipment and hands-on experiences with activities such as rice cutting and threshing machine observation -- with the supervision of a farming instructor.  After the hands-on activities, children c

A chemical used for fire suppression leaked from the basement of a high-rise building under construction in southwestern Seoul on Saturday, leaving two workers dead and nine others injured, firefighters said. The fatal chemical leak occurred on the third basement floor of the 18-story Gasan Metro Knowledge Industry Center building under construction in the capital‘s southwestern ward of Geumcheon shortly before 9 a.m., they said. Two male workers aged 50 and 45, respectively, were rushe

South Korea saw its new coronavirus cases rise slightly Saturday, but the daily caseload stayed below 2,000 for the 15th straight day, as the country‘s vaccination rate was nearing a key milestone of 70 percent. The country reported 1,508 new cases, including 1,487 local infections, raising the total caseload to 350,476, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Saturday’s tally is up from the 1,439 counted the previous day. The death toll came to 2,745, up 20

The justice ministry on Friday ordered the military to drop its plan to challenge a court ruling that said it was unjust for the military to discharge a transgender soldier over her gender reassignment surgery. Justice Minister Park Beom-kye accepted a recommendation from an advising committee on administrative suits which reviewed the case of Byun Hee-soo. "The court's ruling is not intended to allow transgender people to serve in the military, but it's saying that the military's compul

Whether the Ministry of Gender Equality & Family should remain in existence again surfaced as a hot button issue Friday, as opposition lawmakers criticized its work over the past year in caring for women in need. During the annual audit of the ministry by the National Assembly’s Gender Equality and Family Committee, lawmakers of the main opposition People Power Party grilled Minister of Gender Equality and Family Chung Young-ai on whether her office was helpful in caring for women&rsq

A Chinese fishing boat was seized Friday for fishing illegally in South Korean waters in the Yellow Sea, Korea Coast Guard officials said. The 60-ton boat was caught operating in waters about 25 kilometers west of the island of Baengnyeong at around 2:40 a.m. after crossing 7 kilometers into South Korean waters from north of the inter-Korean sea border, known as the Northern Limit Line (NLL). A 500-ton Coast Guard vessel patrolling the area found the Chinese boat and sent a speedboat to seize

70% vaccination rate in sight