Coronavirus spreading via small-group religious gatherings in the crowded capital region is the biggest source of concern in South Korea’s fight against the contagion, health officials said Thursday. Seoul and surrounding areas have been on high alert due to sporadic infection clusters popping up following outbreaks seen in the Seoul nightlife district of Itaewon and a large logistics center in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province.　 “COVID-19 spreads in closed, crowded and concentrated fac

Social Affairs June 4, 2020

South Korea’s pharmaceutical industry and health authorities are struggling with insufficient blood plasma derived from coronavirus survivors to develop a therapy, officials said Wednesday. The shortage comes as the Korea National Institute of Health and GC Pharma are working to roll out a plasma therapy in the second half of this year. A total of 12 people who have recovered from the novel coronavirus have promised to offer their plasmas, as of Wednesday, according to the Korea Centers

Social Affairs June 3, 2020

Former Prime Minister Rep. Lee Nak-yon slipped in favorability ratings as a potential presidential candidate, but retained the top spot for the 12th consecutive month, a poll showed Tuesday. The lawmaker from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea saw his support drop to 34.3 percent, down 5.9 percentage points from the previous month, according to pollster RealMeter. 　 Lee lost support most noticeably in Gangwon Province, where 25.7 percent of voters said they favored him, down 11.9 percentag

Politics June 2, 2020

Despite sporadic, small-scale outbreaks jolting the metropolitan area, the South Korean government is committed to reopening, allowing its people to resume normal life, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Tuesday. “We cannot stop taking steps to return to our daily lives because of fear,” Chung said at a Cabinet meeting in the administrative city of Sejong, vowing all-out efforts on early containment of the outbreaks. “We are at another critical moment, with infections at a

Politics June 2, 2020

Two women on trial for killing their children ahead of suicide attempts were sentenced to prison, with a judge calling the parents’ act nothing but “extreme child abuse,” Ulsan District Court said Monday. In the two separate cases, the defendants, aged 42 and 40, were each sentenced to four years behind bars last week, according to Ulsan District Court. “This is a form of extreme child abuse. As many experts point out, ‘double-suicides’ cannot be glamorized

Social Affairs June 1, 2020

South Korea’s new cases of the novel coronavirus dropped below 30 for the first time in five days on a slowdown in infections tied to a logistics center outbreak, health authorities said Sunday. Despite the decline in the daily virus tally, the threat of the virus has risen particularly in the capital region, which has seen cluster infections in Itaewon, a popular nightlife district in central Seoul, and Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, according to Health Minister Park Neung-hoo. “Th

Social Affairs May 31, 2020

Amid a steady rise in the number of foreigners residing in Korea, four additional centers for immigrants are to open for one-stop services, the government said Tuesday. The new “Multicultural Immigrants Centers” will be established in different areas with a relatively large population of multinational residents -- one each in North Chungcheong Province and South Jeolla Province and two in Seoul, according to the Ministry of Interior and Safety. “Among the four areas, Eumseo

Social Affairs May 26, 2020

The Seoul Metropolitan Government looks set to inject an additional 232.8 billion won ($188.4 million) into its emergency disaster relief fund after failing to accurately predict the number of beneficiaries. The city’s budget for the project, aimed at helping low-income citizens to weather the COVID-19 pandemic, will increase to 560 billion won, up 71.2 percent from the initial 327.1 billion won. To secure the extra funds, the city plans to submit another supplementary budget to the c

Social Affairs May 26, 2020

Life is getting back to some semblance of normality in South Korea, with people out and about on the streets and in parks, students returning to school in stages, and public transportation crammed during rush hours. Also getting back into gear is the police’s war against drunk driving. Police, who in the past months could only sparingly test drivers’ breath for alcohol due to virus fears, are now employing a new tool -- non-contact DUI testing equipment that does not require dri

Social Affairs May 26, 2020

Those riding public transportation in South Korea are required to have their masks on, as part of a new measure, effective Tuesday, to prevent community spread of the novel coronavirus, health authorities said Monday. The Central Disaster Management Headquarters said the face-covering mandate affects both passengers and staff on buses, taxis and subways. Masks are deemed critical in curbing COVID-19 here. Airline passengers on board all domestic and international flights will be instructed t

Social Affairs May 26, 2020

South Korea’s tally of coronavirus infections rose by 20 on Friday, with community spread of the disease lingering, health authorities said. Counting the new cases, the virus has sickened 11,142 patients here, while the death toll remained 264, according the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The proportion of patients in their 20s who contracted the virus at nightclubs, bars and karaoke establishments, among other places, is on the rise,” KCDC Director Gene

Social Affairs May 22, 2020

Most high school seniors here returned to school on Wednesday, but some schools were forced to postpone physical reopening due to virus-related risk factors, related officials said. Two high school seniors in Incheon tested positive for COVID-19, leading the school they attended as well as two nearby high schools to delay resumption of in-person classes by a day, according to the city’s education office. Students at 66 high schools across five districts in Incheon were directed to go ba

Social Affairs May 20, 2020

Four nurses at one of the largest hospitals in South Korea tested positive for the novel coronavirus in a new cluster of infections putting authorities on high alert again Tuesday. The infections have sounded the alarm about asymptomatic patients, as two of the four nurses had not displayed symptoms of the virus. The first case, involving a surgical nurse, was confirmed at Samsung Medical Center on Monday evening and three more nurses were diagnosed with COVID-19 early Tuesday, Seoul Mayor P

Social Affairs May 19, 2020

People who test positive for the novel coronavirus after making a full recovery do not transmit the disease to others, health authorities said Monday, reversing earlier guidance directing for an additional two-week quarantine in such cases. Jung Eun-kyeong, director general of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said health authorities arrived at this conclusion after examining 790 people who had come into contact with 285 patients who tested positive again post-recovery. &

Social Affairs May 18, 2020

South Korea’s daily count of new coronavirus cases stayed below 20 for the third day in a row on Monday, as the outbreak from Seoul’s party district of Itaewon seems to have been contained, health authorities said. The accumulated number of infections here reached 11,065, up 15 from the previous day, as of Monday, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One patient succumbed to the virus, putting the death toll at 263. Of the new cases, 10 were imported

Social Affairs May 18, 2020