’Virus stole our precious opportunities to explore culture, interact with locals‘

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon sexually harassed his female secretary over four years, making unwanted physical contact and sending inappropriate text messages, claimed a lawyer and a women’s group representing the secretary on Monday, shortly after the funeral service for the heavyweight politician concluded. Park was found dead in the early hours of Friday at age 64 while serving his third term as mayor after allegations of sexual misconduct emerged. “This case is a sexual harassm

The official funeral ceremony for Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon was held at City Hall on Monday morning, with eulogists honoring his pioneering work in civic movements and his citizen-centric policies while in office. But the image of the capital’s longest-serving mayor was tainted by fresh details of his alleged sexual misconduct, announced at a press conference just hours after the service. About 100 people -- including the bereaved family, civic group representatives, Seoul Metropolitan

Eleven more American service members newly assigned to South Korea have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the US military said Monday, amid rising concerns about increases in imported cases. The announcement came after US Forces Korea reported nine new virus cases on Friday, many of them in newly assigned service members. On Monday, South Korea reported 62 new infections and 43 of them came from overseas, the highest imported cases in 110 days. The latest USFK cases brought the total n

A former secretary on Monday accused late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon of sexually harassing her over a period of at least four years, calling for a transparent and just probe into the potential MeToo case. "During the long hours of silence, I was in pain, alone ... To protect myself, so powerless and vulnerable against huge power, I wanted to guard myself through the protection of just and fair law," the former secretary said in a statement read out by civic group officials. Officials

The number of COVID-19 cases entering the country shot up, pushing the number of new cases in South Korea to 62 on Sunday. According to the country’s quarantine authorities, 62 new cases were confirmed as of midnight Monday, pushing up the total to 13,479. Of the new cases, 43 were individuals who entered the country, and 19 were locally transmitted cases. The latest figure for imported cases is the highest seen since March 25, when 51 individuals who entered the country were found pos

South Korea saw torrential rain on Monday, with floods in low-lying areas, traffic disruptions and property damage mostly in the southern part of the country. At least three people have died, and some regions received over 200 millimeters of rain between Sunday and Monday morning. Two men in their 70s were swept away to their deaths Monday morning in Hamyang County, South Gyeongsang Province, after a stream overflowed. They were trying to fix a water pipe when the accident occurred. Their bodie

The government has decided to bury late Korean War hero Paik Sun-yup at a national cemetery in the central city of Daejeon after consultations with his family, the defense ministry said Monday. Paik, South Korea's first four-star general and most renowned war hero, died on Friday at age 99. He is credited for bravely leading key battles during the 1950-53 war and contributing greatly to the modernization of South Korea's armed forces. His supporters blasted the government's decision to bury h

SEJONG -- The total value of unemployment benefits paid out in June set a new record due to the continuing negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy, data showed Monday. The Ministry of Employment and Labor said the government paid out 1.1 trillion won ($916 million) last month in unemployment, up by a whopping 62.9 percent from 428.7 billion won a year ago. The figure has broken record after record since February when the COVID-19 pandemic started battering the economy and f

Friends, family and supporters gathered in pouring rain Monday to say their final goodbyes to Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, a prominent human rights lawyer and civic activist who was regarded as a potential candidate for the next presidential race. The funeral was also livestreamed online as a precaution against the new coronavirus. Following an hourslong search involving hundreds of police and rescue officers, the three-term mayor was found dead at Mount Bugak in central Seoul on Friday. The ci

South Korea's new virus cases bounced back to above 60 on Monday as imported cases increased by the largest number in nearly four months amid rises in cluster infections in major cities. The country added 62 cases, including 19 local infections, raising the total caseload to 13,479, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). The tally marked a sharp rise from 44 new virus cases reported Sunday and 35 cases Saturday. It marked the highest since the number of dail

　Reports of violence by romantic partners rose last year from a year earlier, police said, vowing to step up efforts to prevent this type of crime and protect victims. 　The number of dating violence cases reported to police came to 19,940 in 2019, up from 18,671 a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the National Police Agency. In 2017, the figure came to 14,136. 　Of the total, 9,858 people were booked for criminal charges last year, compared to 10,245 in 2018, the data showed.

South Korea will require foreigners arriving from high-risk nations to submit a certificate showing they tested negative for the new coronavirus from Monday, as the nation struggles with a steady rise in imported cases.  The high-risk nations are Bangladesh, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, according to websites of South Korean embassies in the nations.  Starting Monday, foreign nationals from the four nations will be required to provide certificates issued within 48 hours provin

Korea ranks 31st among 37 OECD members in youth employment

Thousands continued to mourn the death of former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon on Sunday, but the somber mood was marred by controversy over his alleged sexual misconduct. A solemn ceremony will be held Monday morning with 100 people in attendance, including the bereaved family, civic group representatives and leaders of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, to which he belonged, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government. The funeral service will be streamed online, as the number of parti