In one of the most heated elections for the National Assembly, former presidential spokesperson Go Min-jung of the ruling party clinched victory in Seoul’s Gwangjin B precinct over an opposition heavyweight figure, election results showed Thursday. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s Go, who joined the administration after her time as a TV presenter, narrowly defeated former Seoul Mayor and one-time lawmaker Oh Se-hoon with 54,210 votes, or 50.3 percent, according to the Nationa

Politics April 16, 2020

The Seoul Metropolitan Government is holding an online contest on a global scale to select images and video artwork illustrating the battle against the novel coronavirus, and is offering total prize money of 30 million won ($24,673), Seoul City said Tuesday. “The contest was prepared to deliver a message of hope and encourage Seoulites and people around the world to overcome COVID-19 together as the situation prolongs,” a city official said. Applicants are required to either submi

Social Affairs April 14, 2020

South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on Tuesday instructed relevant government agencies to compose a pan-governmental group to assist the development of vaccines and treatments for the novel coronavirus. The directive comes as health authorities aim to develop vaccines in Korea by the second half of 2021 or 2022, and a plasma-based treatment within the next two to three months, depending on the availability of blood from virus survivors. “Development of vaccines and medicine for C

Social Affairs April 14, 2020

South Koreans in their 20s are the most complacent about social distancing even though the age group makes up the largest proportion of confirmed COVID-19 patients, a survey showed Monday. The survey on public awareness of the novel coronavirus conducted by Hankook Research found that respondents in their 20s were less likely to limit time spent outdoors. About 70 percent of respondents in this age group said they were holding back on outdoor activities, compared to the overall average of 77

Social Affairs April 14, 2020

Police said Monday that they had apprehended a man in his 60s for allegedly violating self-quarantine rules twice in one day and were considering whether to seek an arrest warrant. All overseas travelers are required to self-isolate for 14 days upon arriving in South Korea, regardless of their nationality, to prevent an influx of the novel coronavirus. The 68-year-old man in custody, who landed here Friday from the US, was first caught breaking quarantine Saturday afternoon and was subsequent

Social Affairs April 13, 2020

South Korean authorities said Friday that the country’s latest tracker enabling epidemiological surveys in just 10 minutes does not compromise the personal information and privacy of COVID-19 patients or people in self-quarantine. Using big data and artificial intelligence, the virus tracker known as the “COVID-19 smart management system” allows health investigators to immediately obtain the data of those being surveyed, receive analysis on virus clusters and identify likely

Social Affairs April 10, 2020

South Korea’s early voter turnout for the parliamentary elections flagged a record high as of Friday at noon on the back of voters seeking to avoid large crowds on April 15 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Out of 43.9 million eligible voters, 2.5 million, or 4.9 percent, had voted, according to the National Election Committee. By comparison, this is two times the turnout by the same time during the 2016 parliamentary elections and the highest ever since early voting for national elections w

Politics April 10, 2020

Amid a dose of optimism Thursday after counting the lowest number of new infections in a single day, South Korean health authorities are growing uneasy over a steady increase in the number of patients who have tested positive twice. As of Thursday at 12:01 a.m., Korea had 74 recovered patients who tested positive for the virus for a second time, up nine from the previous day, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Reactivation of the virus is the most probable expl

Social Affairs April 9, 2020

South Korea’s death toll from the novel coronavirus rose above 200 on Wednesday, with patients aged 80 or older making up the largest proportion of the deceased. After seeing fewer than 50 new infections for two consecutive days, new cases inched up 53 from the previous day, bringing the total to 10,384 as of Wednesday at 12:01 a.m., according to figures from the Korea Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. There were 202 virus-related deaths as of Wednesday morning, including the

Social Affairs April 8, 2020

Night clubs and bars here were on high alert after it was revealed Tuesday that a female bar employee at one of Seoul’s biggest bar districts was confirmed with COVID-19. The employee, 36, whose test results turned out to be positive last Thursday, is believed to have contracted the COVID-19 after coming into contact with a virus patient, Yoon Hak of K-pop group Supernova, on March 26. The singer, 37, was diagnosed with the infection on April 1 and has since been in isolation at a medic

Social Affairs April 7, 2020

Two patients infected with COVID-19 have recovered after plasma treatments, in the first such cases here, a Seoul-based hospital said Tuesday. Doctors at Severance Hospital in Shincheon had plasma of virus survivors injected into the two patients, who were in critical condition, and both have since been declared free of the virus. No side effects have been reported, the hospital said. “Both patients showed improvements in inflammation and the number of lymphocytes, among others, after

Social Affairs April 7, 2020

South Korea reported fewer than 50 new cases of COVID-19 for the second day in a row on Tuesday, offering a degree of relief, as authorities urge young people to maintain physical distancing to stem the contagion. Korea counted 47 new patients and six more deaths from the previous day, pushing the respective tallies to 10,331 and 192 as of Tuesday at 12:01 a.m., according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters. The capital area added 14 and local epicenter Daegu not

Social Affairs April 7, 2020

South Korea reported 47 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Monday, the lowest number since late February. Still, the trend toward more new cases in the capital area has authorities on edge. As of Monday at 12:01 a.m., the total number of COVID-19 infections to date stood at 10,284, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.　 This is the first time infections reported in a single day have fallen below 50 since late February. At its peak on Feb. 29, the country count

Social Affairs April 6, 2020

The number of people testing positive for the novel coronavirus for the second time after making a full recovery is growing, sparking fresh concern in the country’s fight against the pathogen. Health authorities are on high alert as seven staff and inpatients at a nursing hospital in North Gyeongsang Province were rediagnosed with COVID-19. The nursing hospital was closed after reporting nearly 70 confirmed virus cases, including seven deaths. This pushed the number of repeat patien

Social Affairs April 5, 2020

South Korean authorities are zoning in on sex crimes involving encrypted messaging app Telegram, but the platform is not the only one used for sex crimes. After the discovery of an alleged sexual blackmail and abuse ring on Telegram operated by Cho Ju-bin, local reports say access to illegal material is also being sold on Discord, another messaging app that is newer, and less widely used than Telegram. One of the servers on Discord was found to carry content of a sexual nature with some 900

Social Affairs April 2, 2020