Presidential candidate Sim Sang-jung of the minor progressive Justice Party returned to the race Monday, five days after she suspended all campaign activities, declaring she will not give up. Sim had announced the suspension of all her campaign activities Wednesday, followed by the resignation of all members of her election campaign committee the next day. 　 “I am part of the politics that shaped the world of inequality and discrimination. I am infinitely responsible,” Sim said at

Politics Jan. 17, 2022

Anyang City, located in Gyeonggi Province, is expecting big changes this year, such as expansion of the local job market, improvements in its railroad network, upcoming renovation projects and more. Mayor Choi Dae-ho addressed some important agenda for the city in his New Year’s message. Amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, Choi, who took the helm in July 2018, stressed community health to be the foremost agenda of the year, highlighting that the city would strengthen its disease contr

Social Affairs Jan. 13, 2022

People’s Party presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo is taking a firmer stance against the two main parties and their candidates, as well as on a potential merger of his campaign as his support ratings rise. Recent polls show that Ahn has passed the 10 percent bar, absorbing voters peeling away from the major two candidates, the Democratic Party of Korea’s Lee Jae-myung and People Power Party’s Yoon Suk-yeol. Ahn had been at 3 percent support only a few weeks ago. Backed with

Politics Jan. 12, 2022

The Ministry of Education is again drawing fire over sharing cartoons encouraging students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 despite the court order suspending vaccine mandate measures on education facilities for young students. On Friday, the ministry posted a cartoon on its social media account, titled “Why did these friends have to take out tteokbokki (rice cakes in a red chili sauce)?” The cartoon shows two students going to a diner for tteokbokki. The owner asks them whether

Social Affairs Jan. 12, 2022

People’s Party presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo has rapidly gained on his ruling and main opposition rivals in recent weeks, as he is appearing to absorb voters peeling away from People Power Party’s Yoon Suk-yeol. Ahn came out on top in a Realmeter poll of 3,042 people released Monday in a hypothetical alliance with the main opposition party. The poll, requested by local media outlet Oh My News, was held from Jan. 2 to Friday. Some 35.9 percent answered they would vote for hi

Politics Jan. 10, 2022

As of Saturday, 90.1 percent of 18-year-olds have received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, passing the 90 percent threshold. More than 79.6 percent have received a second shot. However, following the suspension of the vaccine pass enforcement at cram schools, the increase of the overall vaccination rate in minors above 13 has slowed down. According to the Education Ministry, some 76.2 percent of those aged between 13 and 18 who were born between 2004 and 2009, have received the first sho

Social Affairs Jan. 9, 2022

With schools going into winter vacation and more youths being vaccinated, the number of COVID-19 cases in schools have decreased to the 1,200s. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Tuesday, 1,237 students from kindergarten to high school tested positive for COVID-19 in Seoul last week, along with 107 faculty members. Cases of COVID-19 among students dropped by 34.2 percent, 642 cases from a total of 1,879 cases in the previous week. Of the total cases involving students

Social Affairs Jan. 4, 2022

Korea International School, in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province, focuses on providing students a chance to learn about global citizenship, integrity, adaptability, balance in life, and empowerment. The international school honors diversity. Students and faculty members of thirty-seven nationalities and their cultures are represented at KIS. It supports multilingual students, allowing them to use more than one language to process their learning. Teachers invite students to share their languages and c

Social Affairs Dec. 28, 2021

With less than three months to go before the presidential election, slips of the tongue by candidates and election committee bigwigs are continuing to cause problems for their campaigns. The Korea Herald rounded up some of the more notable times the presidential candidates and politicians around them have put their respective feet in their mouths. 　 Lee Jae-myung, presidential candidate for ruling Democratic Party When and where: Social media, November 24 What: “One of my family memb

Politics Dec. 28, 2021

An oral drug for COVID-19 is likely to become available via prescription from late January, following the Food and Drug Ministry’s decision Monday to issue emergency authorization for Paxlovid, Pfizer’s oral pill for COVID-19.　 The announcement came five days after the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency requested emergency authorization of the drug manufactured by the global drug giant. “As the number of COVID-19 patients and those in serious condition has been i

Social Affairs Dec. 27, 2021

Over the Christmas weekend, extreme cold with heavy snowfall hit large parts of Korea, with temperatures dropping to as low as minus 25.4 degrees Celsius in some regions and heavy snow leading to flight cancellations. With the mercury beginning to fall from Saturday afternoon, the capital city’s Sunday morning low reached minus 16 C, the coldest temperature in December in nearly 41 years. The lowest temperature ever recorded in Seoul in December was minus 16.2 C on Dec. 29, 1980. The c

Social Affairs Dec. 26, 2021

Veteran electioneer Kim Chong-in is once again taking a central role in the presidential election, following yet another power struggle within the People Power Party. Less than three weeks after the party’s Chairman Lee Jun-seok and presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol settled their differences, chaos has struck again with Lee resigning from the election committee following an argument with the committee campaign’s communications chief, Rep. Cho Su-jin. On Wednesday, Kim held a p

Politics Dec. 22, 2021

The main opposition People Power Party’s chairman on Tuesday said he will resign from the election committee, following the latest spat with a party lawmaker that again highlighted the young leader’s struggle to take command. People Power Party Chairman Lee Jun-seok announced the intent to resign from the committee following an argument with the election committee campaign’s communication chief Rep. Cho Su-jin on Monday. Lee will maintain his post as party chairman. “

Politics Dec. 21, 2021

Four local governments in the central region of South Korea -- Daejeon, Sejong and the North and South Chungcheong provinces -- are gearing up in their shared bid to host the 2027 FISU World University Games. The Chungcheong Megacity Bid Committee, a joint organization launched by the local governments for the bid, has completed the needed procedures, and is now working on promotions with local residents. According to the CMBC, local residents in the Chungcheong Megacity region are supporti

Social Affairs Dec. 21, 2021

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea is concentrating fire on Kim Keon-hee -- People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol’s wife -- raising one allegation after another related to her career history. Adding on to the allegedly inaccurate information on Kim’s resume that she sent to universities while applying for teaching positions, the Democratic Party is raising suspicions on Kim’s claims to have studied at New York University. The ruling party claims that whi

Politics Dec. 20, 2021