JEJU -- More than 200,000 people are expected to travel to Jeju Island during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday despite growing concerns over the spread of the omicron coronavirus variant, according to travel industry officials Tuesday. According to the Jeju Tourism Association, the number of visitors to the resort island during the extended holiday period, from Saturday to Feb. 2, is expected to reach 207,000, up 35.2 percent from a year ago. The number of scheduled Jeju-bound flights durin

Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul will reopen in July after completing over 1 1/2 years of renovation that will more than double the total area, including tripling the space for trees and other plants, the city government said Tuesday. The square, located in front of the royal Gyeongbok Palace and the US Embassy, has been one of the must-visit places for tourists and citizens. Since November 2020, construction has been under way to expand the square from 18,840 square meters to 40,300 square

South Korea's military on Tuesday reported 78 additional COVID-19 cases, including 67 breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 4,020. Of the new cases, 63 are from the Army, seven from the Marine Corps, four from units under the direct control of the defense ministry and four from the Air Force. The Army infection count included 30 trainees based at a boot camp in Nonsan, 213 kilometers south of Seoul. Currently, 406 military personnel are under treatment. Of

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases hit a record high of 8,571 on Tuesday, driven by the fast spread of the new dominant omicron variant, as the country is set to put in force revised virus curbs to rein in the highly transmissible variant. Tuesday's cases, including 8,356 local infections, took the total caseload to 749,979, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. It marks the first time the daily caseload has surpassed the 8,000 mark since the country reported the firs

Outbreak among staff grips Health Ministry

People who have been hospitalized due to adverse events and allergic reactions to COVID-19 vaccines are exempt from the country’s vaccine pass mandate, starting on Monday. 　 According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, the government will grant the exemption if people have received hospital treatments within six weeks after they received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Those people who requested the government compensate them for vaccination side-eff

From forced breeding to slaughter, cruel fate awaits ex-racehorses in Korea

South Korea's military plans to beef up its COVID-19 testing capacity amid the emergence of the omicron variant as the dominant strain in the country, according to the defense ministry Monday. Health authorities said omicron took up 50 percent of newly added variant infections last week, sparking concerns over the spread of the more infectious strain in the country. In response, the military said it plans to enhance its polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing capacity by increasing the number

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases stayed above 7,000 for the third straight day Monday amid deepening concerns over the fast spreading omicron variant that has become the dominant strain in the country. The country added 7,513 new COVID-19 infections, including 7,159 local infections, raising the total caseload to 741,413, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The latest tally almost doubled from last Monday's 3,857. It marks the fourth-largest daily figure s

The number of discouraged workers in South Korea touched a fresh all-time high in 2021 due to a weak job market amid the prolonged coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Monday. Asia's fourth-largest economy had 628,000 discouraged workers, the largest tally since related data tracking began in 2014, according to the data from Statistics Korea. Discouraged workers refer to those who are currently unemployed and have not sought to find jobs in the last four weeks due to no suitable job op

Firefighters have been trying overnight to put out a blaze that broke out at a synthetic fiber manufacturing factory in the southeastern city of Ulsan on Sunday, authorities said. The fire broke out at 6:55 p.m. at a combined seven-story factory of Hyosung TNC Corp. and has not been contained for over 11 hours, according to the Ulsan Fire Department. Two of the factory's workers were sent to a hospital after inhaling smoke while trying to extinguish the fire at an early stage. The fire is ass

Cases exceed 7,000 for two days in row, with omicron taking up around half

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases on Sunday spiked to the second-largest figure since the pandemic outbreak, putting health authorities on alert amid the fast spread of the omicron variant. The country added 7,630 new COVID-19 infections, including 7,343 local infections, raising the total caseload to 733,902, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Sunday's figure marks the second-largest tally since the daily record high of 7,848 on Dec. 15. The daily tally

South Korea‘s daily coronavirus cases jumped to over 7,000 for the first time in a month on Saturday amid the fast spread of the omicron variant. 　 The country added 7,009 new COVID-19 infections, including 6,729 local infections, raising the total caseload to 726,274, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). 　 It is the first time since mid-December that the number of daily infections stayed above 7,000. 　 The daily tally has surged at a fast pace this week fro

The Ministry of Justice has opened another third-party visa application center in London earlier this week, the latest in a series of moves to reduce the workload of embassy staff. “Starting from January 17, 2022, the Government of the Republic of Korea will open the Korea Visa Application Center (KVAC) in London, operated by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), to manage Korean visa applications submitted by UK nationals and third country nationals regularly residing in th