Prime minister says October post-vaccine normal a ‘road that must be taken’

South Korea seeks to gradually return to normal daily life, while managing the spread of the novel coronavirus, between late October and early November, the health minister said Tuesday. The government earlier envisioned the "With Corona" scheme, under which COVID-19 is treated as an infectious respiratory disease like the seasonal influenza, with eased distancing being implemented. "The transition is likely to be around late October when 80 percent of adults are fully vaccinate

Cancer remained the top cause of death in South Korea, with the number of deaths hitting a record high last year, a government report showed Tuesday. In 2020, 304,948 deaths were reported in South Korea, up 3.3 percent from a year earlier. It marked the highest annual number since Statistics Korea began compiling such data in 1983. The statistics agency said 593.9 deaths were reported per 100,000 South Koreans last year. It also said 160.1 per 100,000 people died of cancer last year. Cance

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases remained in the 2,000s for a third day Tuesday as infections spiked outside the greater Seoul area in the aftermath of a mass migration during the Chuseok holiday. The country reported 2,289 new COVID-19 cases, including 2,270 local infections, bringing the total caseload to 305,842, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The daily caseload touched a fresh high of 3,272 on Saturday before slightly falling to 2,771 on Sunday.

Benefits of COVID-19 shot not as great in children as in adults, according to top health agency

An enforcement decree for the new workplace disaster law aimed at better protecting workers from industrial accidents will be reviewed during a Cabinet meeting this week, according to labor and business community sources Monday, despite criticism from both manager and labor groups over the government proposal. In January, the National Assembly passed a bill that strengthens the punishment of business owners and CEOs of companies with five or more employees in the event of serious workplace disas

Nearly half of South Koreans are in favor of a cautious approach to the issue of COVID-19 vaccinations for teenagers aged between 12 and 17, a poll showed Monday. In the poll of 1,006 people aged 18 and above conducted by the Korea Society Opinion Institute on Friday and Saturday, 49.1 percent said the government should take some time to observe vaccination situations in other countries before administering COVID-19 vaccine shots to the teen group. In contrast, 42.6 percent said vaccinations for

South Korean tattooists once again filed a petition with the Constitutional Court Monday against the medical law that requires tattooing to be conducted only by licensed medical personnel. A total of 153 tattooists associated with the Korea Fashion Tattoo Association and the Korea Tattoo Federation said Article 27 of the medical law that outlaws tattooing by people with no medical license violates their constitutional rights. "South Korea is the only country that punishes tattooing by non-m

Skin color directly linked to discrimination

President Moon Jae-in raised the need Monday for the government to consider imposing a formal ban on dog meat consumption in South Korea. "Hasn't the time come to prudently consider prohibiting dog meat consumption?" Moon told Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum during their weekly policy consultation session, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mee. The president made the remarks while being briefed by the prime minister on the government's plan to improve the system to take ca

South Korea will begin administering COVID-19 vaccines to pregnant women and younger children starting Oct. 18 as part of its efforts to inoculate more people amid little signs of letup in the fourth wave of the pandemic, health authorities said Monday. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced the list of fourth-quarter vaccine recipients to achieve its goal of inoculating more than 80 percent of the country's adults by end of October and achieve herd immunity by November

President Moon Jae-in instructed his government Monday to make all-out efforts to tackle the rapid spread of COVID-19 infections across South Korea, Cheong Wa Dae said, as the country is preparing to implement measures in stages to ease social distancing rules and recover the normal life of the public. He delivered the message to Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum during their weekly meeting, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mee. "In order to achieve the phased recovery of daily

More than 42 percent of 30-somethings in South Korea remained unmarried last year, census data showed Monday, underscoring the trend in which many young people delay or give up on marriage amid a prolonged economic slowdown. Out of 13.7 million singles aged 15 and older, 2.82 million people in their 30s were single last year, up from 2.68 million five years earlier, according to the 2020 census by Statistics Korea. The percentage of unmarried people in their 30s reached 42.5 percent last year, u

Men have taken up more than 20 percent of admissions for nursing universities in South Korea for the first time this year, data showed Monday. According to Jongro Academy, one of the country's leading educational institutions for college admissions, 2,249 male students entered nursing universities in 2021, accounting for 20.5 percent of the total 10,993. The tally was up by 161, or 7.7 percent, compared to 2,088 enrollments last year. This marked the first time the proportion of male admissions

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases remained in the 2000s for a second day Monday amid concerns the daily caseload may sharply increase as more people get tested after the extended holiday. The country reported 2,383 new COVID-19 cases, including 2,356 local infections, bringing the total caseload to 303,553, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The daily caseload touched a fresh high of 3,272 on Saturday before slightly falling to 2,771 on Sunday. But health au