K-pop supergroup BTS holds a global press conference for its much-awaited digital single “Butter” in Seoul, Friday. (Photos: Yonhap) By Yoon Chae-won (choenayoon@heraldcorp.com)

Safari Bus passengers look at tigers at the event “Adieu Safari Bus, Welcome Safari World Wild Tram” at Everland in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.  The Safari Bus ferries its final Safari tour as Everland is set to replace it with a tram with frameless windows and a lower floor height to allow passengers to get a better view of the wildlife.  Staff wave at the Wild Tram as it sets off for the first time.  Everland staff take a commemorative photograph in front of the

Students at the College of Agriculture and Life sciences at Kangwon National University practice rice planting at Kangwon National University’s subsidiary farm in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province.  A farmer plants rice seedlings using a rice transplanter machine in a field in Taean, Chungnam, for the first rice-planting in Taean this year. (Photos: Yonhap) By Yoon Chae-won (choenayoon@heraldcorp.com)

Children make paper carnations at a kindergarten attached to Hanil Elementary School in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. Namdaemun Flower Market is crowded with people purchasing flowers for Parents’ Day.  Park Sung-soo, the mayor of Songpa-gu, and staff from the Songpa-gu Saemaeul Women’s Society deliver carnations and kimchi to a senior citizen living alone in southeastern Seoul.  (Photos: Yonhap) By Yoon Chae-won (choenayoon@heraldcorp.com)

At SD Biosensor’s factory in Osong, North Chungcheong Province, the South Korean drugmaker producing COVID-19 self-test kits and its staff conduct a final inspection before the products go on sale at local pharmacies and online channels.  The test kits of SD Biosensor use a sterile nasal swab by which people can detect specific antigens of COVID-19 present in specimens collected from the nasal cavity.  Those who use the home test kits are able to see the test results in 15 to

Daejeon City is fully committed to hosting the 2022 United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) World Congress in October next year, the city’s mayor said in an interview with The Korea Herald. The UCLG World Congress is a large-scale international event in which approximately 1,000 city leaders from about 140 countries gather together to boost mutual cooperation and common prosperity among local governments. The forum, which will be in its seventh year, is expected to welcome around 5,0

Daejeon Mayor Her Tae-jeong emphasized the city’s accomplishments in a recent interview with The Korea Herald. “We are seeing the seeds that we sowed in the difficult times coming to fruition one after another,” Her said. Under the grave circumstances brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic last year, the city succeeded in being designated an Innovation City. As a result, the city’s public institutions are now required to hire local talent. With its own local currency, cal

Staff of the Jeju Stockbreeding Promotion Institute release Jeju horses at Jeju Horse Pastureland, located on the side of Hallasan. Before being set free in the pastures of Hallasan, 83 Jeju horses spent the last winter in pastureland inside the institute.  The horses, designated as National Treasure No. 347, enjoy their freedom in Yonggang-dong of Jeju City. (Photos: Yonhap) By Yoon Chae-won (choenayoon@heraldcorp.com)

A Humboldt penguin chick stares at other marine animals in the hallway on the way to a wellness check at Lotte World Aquarium in southeastern Seoul. Visitors take pictures of the Humboldt penguin chick with aquarium staff on the way to a checkup. A member of the aquarium staff weighs the chick, and a veterinarian performs a physical examination. (Photos: Yonhap) By Yoon Chae-won　(choenayoon@heraldcorp.com)

A yellow dust warning was issued for Seoul on Monday. Warnings are issued when average fine dust concentrations are forecast to stay above 800 micrograms per cubic meter for two hours or longer. From the bridge Banpodaegyo, Gangnam District appears in a gray haze of fine dust.  A street full of cherry blossoms in Yeouido is coated with a cloud of fine dust.  (Photos: Yonhap) By Yoon Chae-won (choenayoon@heraldcorp.com)

To celebrate the launch of a collaborative collection with Polaroid, Lacoste recently set up six pop-up zones on Garosu-gil street featuring huge, brightly colored crocodiles. Visitors to the flagship Lacoste store on Garosu-gil in Gangnam, Seoul, look through a shop window at the exhibition “Lacoste X Polaroid.”  Visitors take pictures of their reflections in the store’s rainbow mirror in southern Seoul. (Photos: Yonhap) By Yoon Chae-won (choenayoon@heraldcorp.com)

Cherry blossoms begin to form pink clouds of flowers near Yeojwacheon Romance Bridge in Jinhae-gu, Changwon in South Gyeongsang Province.   Against a clear sky without fine dust, Magnolia Kobus are in full bloom on the campus of Chonnam National University, located in Gwangju. Fully-bloomed plum blossoms attract honey bees to the campus of Chonnam National University in Gwangju. (Photos: Yonhap) By Yoon Chae-won (choenayoon@heraldcorp.com)

Above the skyscrapers, the rising sun is blurred by fog and fine dust, as fine dust levels in Seoul continue to exceed 100 micrograms per cubic meter.  In the city’s central district of Jongno, where emergency fine dust reduction measures have been taken, citizens head to work. In front of the entrance to Deoksugung in central Seoul, cleaners wash fine dust off the streets.  Wonhyodaegyo is seen in a haze of fine dust as people take early morning walks or ride bikes in Ye

The Portofino M is showcased for the first time in Korea at the Banpo Ferrari showroom in southern Seoul.  The brand new Italian car shows off an enhanced V8 engine with 620 electrical horsepower, upgrading from the previous edition with 600 electrical horsepower.  The sleek model boasts its luxury with a smooth, yet stylish design. (Photos : Yonhap) By Yoon Chae-won (choenayoon@heraldcorp.com)

A medical professional extracts the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from a vial at the Dobong-gu public health center in northern Seoul on Friday morning. A health professional prepares the AstraZeneca vaccine on the first day of the COVID-19 vaccination program in Korea at the Geumcheon-gu public health center in southern Seoul. A health official prepares a COVID-19 vaccination at a nursing home in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. (Photos: Yonhap) By Yoon Chae-won (choenayoon@heraldcorp.com)