Seoul and nearby Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, were placed on heightened alert for a potential spike in COVID-19 infections, as a string of new virus cases were identified at large hospitals there. The key concern is Uijeongbu St. Mary’s Hospital, with nearly 2,500 staff members and inpatients, where more than 10 people tied to the hospital tested positive over the course of three days. The institution, closed until Friday, has been testing the entirety of its staff and patients for t

Social Affairs April 1, 2020

The Seoul Foreign British School has introduced a new curriculum centered on three frameworks, boasting innovative education and preparing students upon graduation, the school said Thursday.  According to Seoul Foreign British School, it is the first school in Seoul to roll out the system to “not only prepare students for the rigors of high school, but wherever else their lives may take them.” While maintaining the English national curriculum at its core and English and math p

Social Affairs April 1, 2020

Yongsan District in Seoul said Tuesday it has sought a police investigation of a Polish patient of COVID-19 accusing him of violating his 14-day quarantine. The district filed a complaint against the man in his 40s with Yongsan Police Station on Monday. The Polish national was ordered to self-isolate from March 13-26 after coming into contact with another Polish national who tested positive. The man was later diagnosed with COVID-19 infection. Following his diagnosis, the office found out

Social Affairs March 31, 2020

Travelers from abroad entering Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province, are being quarantined at a forest retreat site, the city government said Tuesday. “Considering that a high ratio of people from overseas have been confirmed (with COVID-19), we have directed 10 people to self-quarantine for two weeks at Seongjusan Recreation Forest since March 28,” said Boryeong Mayor Kim Dong-il in a press briefing. The directive is aimed at preventing the spread of the virus, Kim said. He add

Social Affairs March 31, 2020

South Korea is to implement stricter screening of foreigners with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis to prevent any inflow of the infectious disease, Korea Centers of Disease Control said Tuesday. Effective Wednesday, a total of 16 countries, including Kazakhstan, Ukraine and South Africa, have been added to the list of high-risk countries for tuberculosis, which brings the number of countries in the category to 35, according to the KCDC. Foreigners from high risk countries seeking a long-term

Social Affairs March 31, 2020

Seoul Metropolitan Government is handing out 100,000 face masks free of charge to foreigners who have been largely sidelined in the country‘s public mask rationing system, the city said Tuesday. Each person will be given one cotton mask and five replacement filters at designated places. “This measure is for international students and foreign workers who had difficulty buying masks and for the safety of Seoul citizens,” said Kim Hak-jin, deputy mayor for Safety Management at

Social Affairs March 31, 2020

South Korea’s Ministry of Education has stocked up about 3 million small medical masks for kindergarteners and first and second grade students ahead of the planned reopening of schools next week, the ministry said Monday. Some 2.2 million masks have been secured on top of 764,000 that the government previously had on hand for immediate distribution by school in case a student shows symptoms of the novel coronavirus or tests positive, according to the Education Ministry. It has also sepa

Social Affairs March 30, 2020

Amid the rising number of imported cases of COVID-19 infections, a Polish national who tested positive reportedly carried out outdoor activities while in quarantine, sparking concerns of a community spread, local reports said Monday. The Yongsan District in Seoul posted online last week that a Polish man in his 40s had contracted the virus after coming into contact with a previously confirmed virus patient and that he had completed the two-week mandatory quarantine. Multiple Yongsan residents

Social Affairs March 30, 2020

South Koreans stranded in Peru are to arrive home over the weekend via a repatriation flight, as the Latin American country has suspended commercial flights to and from the country to contain the novel coronavirus, the Korean Embassy in Peru said Friday. A total 198 Koreans, including tourists and volunteer workers with the Korea International Cooperation Agency, departed from a military airport in Peru’s capital Lima on Thursday afternoon, local time, on a chartered flight arranged by t

Foreign Affairs March 27, 2020

The suspect who was arrested for selling videos of sex acts involving minors via Telegram chat rooms was a volunteer at an orphanage and managing editor of a college newspaper, who once wrote on how schools should respond to sex crimes, it was revealed Tuesday. The identity of 24-year-old Cho Ju-bin, the main suspect who ignited a public uproar here, was made public by police. On the encrypted messaging app Telegram, he went by the nickname “doctor.” The National Policy Agency, i

Social Affairs March 24, 2020

Amid public fury over a sexual abuse ring operating on Telegram, South Korea’s police chief on Monday vowed a thorough investigation of the case, as well as any similar crimes connected with the encrypted messaging platform. “We will conduct a rigorous investigation by cooperating closely with law enforcement agencies overseas,” said Min Gap-ryong, commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency, in a statement. “We are looking into the distribution of illeg

Social Affairs March 23, 2020

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea saw a slight uptick in the polls with some 42 percent support, while President Moon Jae-in flagged his highest approval rating this year, a poll showed Monday. Support for the liberal party inched up 0.6 percentage point from last week and stood at 42.1 percent, followed by the main opposition United Future Party 33.6 percent, up 1.5 percentage points, and the People’s Party on 4 percent, according to local pollster Realmeter. The survey was conducte

Politics March 23, 2020

A COVID-19 patient in her 90s returned home over the weekend after making a full recovery and became the oldest person in South Korea to have recovered from the deadly virus, a government official said Monday. The woman, 93, is the oldest among approximately 3,100 people here who had been declared clear of the virus as of Monday at 12:01 a.m. The patient returned home Saturday, after 13 days of treatment at a medical facility in Seoul. “She is the eldest patient to have recovered from

Social Affairs March 23, 2020

A woman in her 40s and her two children in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, were admitted to a hospital showing symptoms of intoxication after the woman used a methanol-based substance to disinfect her home against COVID-19, a government agency said Sunday. According to the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, earlier this month the woman sprayed a 9:1 solution of methanol to water on furniture, blankets and other items in her home about 10 times. The woman later showed signs of acute i

Social Affairs March 22, 2020

Public anger has exploded over a recently busted Telegram sexual abuse ring, prompting millions to sign petitions for the disclosure of the full identities of the operators as well as their tens of thousands of clients. A petition filed with Cheong Wa Dae calling for the disclosure of the main suspect, arrested last week, quickly garnered a record number of signatures: 1.85 million as of 4 p.m. Sunday. A separate petition calling for the disclosure of some 260,000 users of Telegram chat roo

Social Affairs March 22, 2020