Four more tested for suspected coronavirus infection

The number of dads taking child care leave from work exceeded 20,000 for the first time last year, according to the Ministry of Employment and Labor on Wednesday.The number of men working in the private sector who took parental leave last year was 22,297, up 26.2 percent from the previous year. This is the first time that the tally surpassed the 20,000 mark. Men accounted for 21.2 percent of all parents taking child care leave, with this figure exceeding 20 percent for the first time. Civil

A Korean transgender sergeant was forcibly discharged Wednesday from the military after undergoing sex reassignment surgery while enlisted, despite her wish to continue service as a female officer. What the solider has done falls into “reasons” deemed unfit for military service in accordance with related laws, the Army said Wednesday, through the Defense Ministry in a statement after a committee convened to review whether to discharge the sergeant earlier in the day. The staff s

Cloudy weather, with a chance of rain or snow, is forecast for the coming Seollal holidays from Friday to Tuesday. Throughout the holiday, temperatures in Seoul will be mild, with highs reaching about 7 degrees Celsius on average, the Korea Meteorological Agency said Wednesday.Starting Monday, rain is expected nationwide, with Gangwon Province likely to see either rain or snow. Southern regions and Jeju Island will also see up to 80 millimeters of rain until next Tuesday.Throughout Monday and Tu

Mother helps other parents struggling to accept their LBGT children

South Korea is ramping up screening and quarantine efforts to prevent the spread of Wuhan coronavirus here, especially ahead of the four-day Lunar New Year holidays this week, as the SARS-like illness has been confirmed to spread between humans, the health protection agency said Wednesday.The country reported its first confirmed case of the new coronavirus on Monday when a Chinese resident who arrived at Incheon International Airport, the country's main gateway on Sunday, tested positive for the

A 28-year-old man was sentenced to eight months in prison on Wednesday for the brutal killing of a lost dog.The Seoul Western District Court handed down the prison sentence to the man, surnamed Jeong, on charges of breaching animal protection law.Jeong, who worked at a local fried chicken restaurant, was charged with killing a lost dog in Seoul's western ward of Mapo in October last year. The dog was found with severe wounds to its head."The method of the crime was very cruel and showed (Je

Ultrafine dust in the capitals of South Korea and China is made up of similar components, most coming from automotive emissions and coal power plants, joint research by the two countries showed Wednesday.According to the research released by the Korea-China Air Quality Joint Research Team, ultrafine dust collected in Seoul and Beijing was found to contain similar elements such as ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate and organic matter, though composition ratios differed.In Beijing, ammonium nitrat

How justice system fails the underprivileged

　The number of traffic accident deaths in Seoul fell 19.1 percent last year from a year earlier, data showed.　A total of 246 people died in traffic accidents in Seoul in 2019, down from 304 tallied a year earlier, with a daily tally of 0.67, according to the data compiled by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. (Yonhap)

The Justice Ministry said Tuesday that 8,093 foreign nationals who had been staying in Korea illegally voluntarily left in the period of one month, thanks to new incentives that exempt them from penalties if they leave by June 30 and allow them to reenter the country on short-term visas.The daily average number of those leaving Korea more than doubled after the incentives were introduced on Dec. 11, the ministry said.From March 1, those found to have overstayed their visas will be slapped with f

The Unification Ministry and local governments are taking steps to provide emergency support to destitute defectors from North Korea.Surveys conducted last year showed that 553 -- or 1.7 percent -- of the 31,000 defectors from the North residing in South Korea were suspected to be in “crisis” and in urgent need of help, the ministry said Tuesday.The inquiries were made in a bid to locate those in the blind spot of the welfare system, after a woman from North Korea and her 6-year-old

Nearly half of Korean women who married foreigners in 2018 chose Chinese or American grooms

South Korea's quarantine authorities said Thursday they are ratcheting up efforts to contain a new type of Chinese coronavirus amid reports that it could possibly spread among humans, after the country reported the first confirmed case of the SARS-like disease early this week.  Multiple media reports showed that two Chinese confirmed to be infected with the new strain of the pneumonia-like illness currently spreading in China and across other parts of Asia have never been to the centra

Police are investigating the death of a 62-year-old North Korean defector who was found dead last week at a cemetery in Daegu.The Daegu Suseong Police Station said Monday that the defector, from the North’s Ryanggang Province, was found by a rescue dog at around 10:20 a.m. Friday at the cemetery in Suseong, a southeastern district in the city. According to the police, the man, who came to South Korea in 2008, had been living by himself on government subsidies since 2010, when he could no l