South Korea said Monday it is speeding up efforts to cull poultry in areas affected by highly pathogenic bird flu amid growing concerns over the nationwide spread due to migratory birds. The country has identified 13 highly pathogenic bird flu cases across the nation so far this year, with the latest case being reported at a chicken farm in Gimpo, located just west of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. South Korea reported its first farm-related case in Je

A winter surge of COVID-19 infections was something that Korea was well warned against but did not do enough to prepare for, experts say, arguing that any further delay in response could exact a greater toll in lives than earlier heights of the pandemic. Korea just saw its worst weekend yet for COVID-19 cases, tallying record-high numbers of new infections for two consecutive days at 950 cases and 1,030 cases. For the first time since the virus took hold, the number of patients under treatment

SUWON -- Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung said Sunday that he will seek an emergency measure to mobilize a private university dormitory to accommodate new coronavirus patients. In a tweet, Lee announced his first such plan to mobilize a private facility to tackle the public health care crisis, as the province is running short on hospital beds and other facilities to treat the growing number of COVID-19 patients. Earlier in the day, the provincial government sent a document to Kyonggi Unive

Cho Doo-soon, one of South Korea's most notorious child rapists in recent memory, was released from prison on Saturday amid strong protests against the heinous criminal's return to society. Cho served a 12-year term for kidnapping and raping an 8-year-old girl in a church bathroom in Ansan, 42 kilometers southwest of Seoul, in December 2008. A huge public outcry has erupted over what has been seen as too lenient a punishment for a horrendous sexual crime against a minor. He left the correction

Local authorities are on alert with the scheduled release of infamous child rapist Cho Doo-soon less than 24 hours away, as they seek to protect nearby residents and prevent possible acts of revenge against him. Cho, 68, will be released Saturday morning after serving 12 years in prison for brutally assaulting an 8-year-old girl in 2008. It is not known which correctional center he will be released from, but he will be set free between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. Upon release, Cho will be tracked at all

North Korea has conducted tests on more than 9,000 people, but there has been no reported outbreak of the coronavirus in the country, a World Health Organization report showed Friday. The North has conducted tests on 9,373 people and claims that no cases have been reported as of Dec. 3, according to the agency's latest weekly situation report on COVID-19. Nearly half of those tested had influenza like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) or were people who developed fev

Local cram schools are planning to take legal action against the government, saying they have been treated unfairly in being forced to close their doors under stricter social distancing schemes. Directors for a number of cram schools in the capital region, which includes Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, are preparing to file a lawsuit against the government for forcing after-school study institutes to halt operations amid Level 2.5 social distancing. The cram school directors are in searc

The Ministry of Justice held a meeting Thursday to discuss disciplinary measures against Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl over alleged irregularities, after delaying the session twice amid backlash. Last month, Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae suspended Yoon for six counts of alleged wrongdoing, including surveillance of the judiciary, the first time a justice minister has taken such a step in the country's history. Yoon, who fiercely refuted all allegations against him, has been restored after wi

Kim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s powerful younger sister, lashed out at South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha for questioning Pyongyang’s claim that it is free of the coronavirus, warning that she may “pay dearly” for the remarks, state media said Wednesday.   　 Kim was apparently responding to Kang’s remark delivered Saturday at the Manama Dialogue, an annual regional security forum held in Bahrain. Seoul’s top diplomat said that i

South Korea said Wednesday it has confirmed the sixth case of highly pathogenic bird flu from a duck farm, raising concerns over the disease penetrating deeper into the local livestock industry. Local authorities identified the latest case from Naju, 355 kilometers south of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The country has been reporting highly pathogenic cases from different regions, ranging from Gyeonggi Province to South Jeolla Province. Highly pathoge

The United States will seriously consider helping North Korea contain the spread of the coronavirus if it requests such assistance, Robert O’Brien, US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, said Monday. “They (North Korea) have been reticent to ask for outside help for things in the past but if they did we would certainly look at that very seriously,” O’Brien said in an interview with 19FortyFive, a website on global affairs. He said Pyongyang appears

The US Forces Korea is facing criticism over a dance party held at one of its bases last week at which participants did not wear face masks amid South Korea's heightened social distancing scheme to stem the resurgence of new coronavirus cases. The party took place at Flightline Tap Room at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, on Friday, with dozens of people dancing side by side without wearing masks, according to officials. On the same day, South Korea's daily number of new COVID-19

Infamous child rapist Cho Doo-soon is set to be released Saturday, with controversy lingering as to whether he should be released and what the country should do to protect potential victims. Cho, who brutally assaulted an 8-year-old girl in 2008, will be released from prison Dec. 12 after 12 years in prison. It is not known which correctional facility he will be released from on that date, but he will be set free between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. Upon release, Cho will be tracked at all times via a GP

President Moon Jae-in instructed the government Monday to mobilize "every available" workforce for thorough tracing of COVID-19 infections, Cheong Wa Dae said. He called for measures to enhance the capabilities of tracking and tracing coronavirus-related contacts in response to continued surges in infections especially in and around Seoul, according to Chung Man-ho, senior presidential secretary for public communication. Health authorities here have been suffering increased difficult

A human rights group condemned the South Korean parliament’s push to penalize the launching of propaganda leaflets into North Korea as a violation of the freedom of expression, calling on the National Assembly to reject the proposed legislature.   　 Human Rights Watch, a New York-based organization, said in a statement Saturday that if the bill that bans leafleting campaigns is enacted, it would violate South Koreans’ rights to the freedom of expression, making “engaging