Seoul court on Friday afternoon has suspended the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s forthcoming policy requiring kids as young as 12 to be fully vaccinated or tested to access public spaces until a further decision is made. It also suspended the requirement for those entering large stores to have proof of vaccination or a negative coronavirus test. The requirement for minors was to begin taking effect from next month, or March at the latest. The court said “the incidence of hospi

When the inevitable omicron explosion descends on South Korea, the kind of restrictive approach to dealing with the virus will have run its course, top officials say. In a news briefing Friday, the Health and Economy ministries said Korea will focus on keeping its businesses and other aspects of daily life as open as possible once the new variant starts dominating the scene. The characteristics of omicron called for “a shift in a paradigm toward a more flexible response,” said He

Omicron is by far the most heavily mutated variant of COVID-19 to date, and on course to dethrone delta as the dominant strain. Since the strain was first detected in Korea on Dec. 1, the variant has been found in over 160 cases here. Of them, 39 have recent travel history and the rest are close or indirect contacts. Community transmission, public health authorities say, is probably already underway. To understand the implications of the newest variant, too nascent to be able to grasp the f

As deaths and hospitalizations continue a record-breaking streak, the South Korean government says it has yet to decide if COVID-19 restrictions will be brought back. The Ministry of Health and Welfare’s spokesperson Son Young-rae told Tuesday’s news briefing that it “may need to evaluate” if reintroducing restrictions is necessary. He denied accusations that the government was “delaying restrictions,” explaining, economic implications also had to be taken

The head of Korea’s disease control agency said Monday that the state of the COVID-19 outbreak here has gone from “low risk” to “high risk” over the last three weeks as the country began its phased return to normal. Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong told a televised briefing that “intensive care beds at Seoul hospitals were nearly full to the brink,” with other metrics worsening all across the country. 　 In re

South Korea saw the highest number of new COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic Thursday, just 17 days into its return to normal scheme. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said 3,292 cases were registered in the preceding 24 hours, exceeding the 3,000 mark for the second day in a row. The previous one-day record was 3,270 cases on Sept. 25, in the aftermath of Chuseok holiday season. The new all-time high comes as the country takes its first step toward normal life, wit

St. Andrew’s Anglican Church sits in a small town of Onsu, Ganghwado, one of the around 150 islands and islets in the Incheon archipelago.  The church was built by British missionary Mark N. Trollope, who came to Ganghwado in 1896 and later went on to become the third Anglican bishop in Korea from 1911 until his death.  Designed and completed during the early years of the imperial reign of Gojong -- the last king of the Joseon era who assumed the title of emperor in 1897 -- the

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on Friday launched a COVID-19 immunization safety surveillance and research committee, to be operated by the National Academy of Medicine of Korea. The committee’s head Dr. Park Byung-joo, the national academy’s vice president, said the committee aimed to provide a scientific basis for assessing each adverse event’s potential link to vaccination. Asked how the committee’s role would differ from the KDCA’s existing

South Korea on Monday unveiled its road map for a “return to normal,” about a year and nine months since the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed here. The government COVID-19 response headquarters, comprising several ministries and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, said social distancing restrictions and other public health precautions will be lifted on a phased basis stretching over a dozen weeks. The timeline put forth shows Korea will be entering phase one on

South Korea is expanding at-home care in a bid to return closer to normal in about a month’s time, by the second week of November at the latest, according to public health officials.  The key to safe home care is whether remote monitoring can be done efficiently, which raises concerns for patients who may not speak Korean fluently. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare earlier this week, patients staying at home need to report any changes in symptoms and other important

At 36, Lee Jun-seok made history by becoming the youngest-ever leader of the main opposition People Power Party. His success has fanned hopes for significant changes in the political arena, but an uglier side of South Korean society has ascended along with him. Two months before he was elected party chairman, the party won the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections. Although the candidates were favored across age groups, young male voters showed overwhelming support. Post-election analyses s

South Korea “may face a health system collapse” if it fails to tackle the ongoing resurgence of coronavirus, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Director Jung Eun-kyeong said Monday, calling for immediate interventions to beat back the transmission. Health officials reported 197 new coronavirus cases Monday, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 15,515. The daily new cases have been in triple-digits for four straight days, a number not seen s

Health officials said Wednesday they would improve security at quarantine sites following series of recent escapes from the facilities. In a regular coronavirus briefing, Ministry of Health and Welfare spokesperson Son Young-rae said more patrols and closed-circuit television cameras will be installed around quarantine sites after three Vietnamese sailors managed to slip through security and escape on Monday. Since April, a 14-day quarantine has been compulsory for all arrivals. Foreign nati

Korea confirmed 59 more cases of the novel coronavirus disease in the last 24 hours ending Thursday midnight, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s database, bringing the total to 13,979. Seoul and the surrounding area continue to account for most of the newly identified local cases, quickly replacing Daegu as the epicenter of the epidemic in the country. The cumulative count in the region surpassed 3,000 as of Friday. Only a quarter of intensive care beds

South Korean health officials said Tuesday they may start charging passengers arriving with COVID-19 for medical expenses, if the coronavirus influx continues to place a strain on the medical capacity. Yoon Tae-ho, director general for public health policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said in a regular closed-door briefing that the government may have to start asking arriving patients to pay parts of their medical bills, should the pandemic persist. Under the current regulations, the