Twenty-six American service members and five civilians affiliated with the US Forces Korea (USFK) have tested positive for the new coronavirus upon their arrival here over the past few weeks, the US military said Tuesday. Of them, 13 service members and three family members arrived at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on government-chartered flights, while 13 other service members, one civilian worker and one dependent came here on commercial flights via Incheon Interna

A special investigation unit tasked with reinvestigating the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster has announced Tuesday that it has cleared most of the allegations, putting an end to a 14 months-long investigation. The team said, “A total of 20 people were indicted after confirming that the Coast Guard command had violated its duty of care and that government officials such as Cheong Wa Dae and the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries interfered with the special investigation committee’

South Korea's health authorities said Tuesday that the ban on flights from Britain will be extended by one week again and arrivals from Brazil will have to prove that they are virus-free as the country stepped up measures against new coronavirus variants that are known to be more transmissible. A total of 18 COVID-19 variant cases have been reported in the country, including 15 from Britain, two from South Africa and one from Brazil, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency

Women in Seoul spend nearly four times more hours on housework than men, a city government report showed Tuesday. According to the 2020 Seoul gender statistics report, girls and women aged 15 or older spent 2 hours and 26 minutes on household chores every day, which was about 3.6 times longer than men's 41 minutes. The report was based on 2019 data from Statistics Korea and the city government's own research. Women's labor force participation rate rose to 55.2 percent in 2019, up from 52.5 pe

The number of new COVID-19 cases in South Korea remained below 400 for the second day on Tuesday, signaling a continued slowdown in the spread of the coronavirus, while the authorities called for continued vigilance. A total of 386 new cases were added, raising the total number of people infected so far to 73,115, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. The daily number of new cases over the past 15 days went from 714 to 838, 869, 674, 641, 657, 451, 537, 561, 524, 513, 580, 520,

South Korea said Tuesday it has decided to ease the existing anti-graft law over the upcoming Lunar New Year's holiday in order to help boost local demand for agricultural and fisheries products amid the new coronavirus pandemic. Under the revision, the ceiling on the value of gifts that can be received by public servants, educators and journalists will be set at 200,000 won ($180), according to the Anti‑Corruption and Civil Rights Commission and the agricultural and fisheries ministries. The

Four military officers and one civilian worker of the Air Force have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Tuesday. Two Navy officers, one Air Force officer and the civilian worker, all stationed in the southern city of Sacheon, were confirmed to have been infected after undergoing tests following two earlier COVID-19 cases at their base, according to the ministry. "We are administering tests for all members of the unit, and contact tracing is under way,"

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Tuesday it is investigating two suspected cases of highly pathogenic bird flu from poultry farms as the country continued to cull more chickens in a preventive measure. The latest suspected case of the malign H5N8 strain of avian influenza came from an egg farm in Yongin, just south of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs. The total caseload here reached 66 as of Tuesday, with Gyeonggi Province that surrounds Seoul ac

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases stayed under 400 for the second straight day Tuesday as infections sharply slowed down on tightened social distancing measures, but health authorities still remain vigilant over potential upticks amid partially eased curbs. The country added 386 more COVID-19 cases, including 351 domestic infections, raising the total caseload to 73,115, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The third wave of COVID-19 here reached its pea

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Monday it has completed destroying 18.8 million poultry to prevent the spread of highly pathogenic bird flu among local farms, with the number set to further rise down the road on the piling up of new cases. The country has confirmed 66 cases of the malign H5N8 strain of avian influenza since late November, including the latest case from a duck farm in Gimje, about 260 kilometers southwest of Seoul, the previous day, according to the Ministry of Agricult

Korea Consumer Agency releases safety, warmth test results of 10 heated vests

A victim of sexual harassment by former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon on Monday urged a ruling party lawmaker to resign and apologize over the suspected leakage of information about her complaint against the mayor. “I am horrified by the fact that the complaint against Park could be revealed to him even before I filed the complaint with the police,” the victim and her family said in a statement. Rep. Nam In-soon of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea is under investigation over su

Korea ‘still in midst of 3rd wave,’ says KDCA chief

Failure to cap pollution could destroy ozone layer, pose serious crisis for humankind: report

South Korean webtoon artist Yoon Seo-in was mired in controversy after writing a post that appeared to hail pro-Japanese collaborators and insult Korean independence fighters on his Facebook. The controversial cartoonist faces a lawsuit from an association of the independence fighters who fought against Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, after describing them as “people who have lived lazily.” “While descendants of pro-Japanese collaborators lived th