SEJONG -- Home transactions in South Korea sank more than 30 percent in April from the prior month due to tougher property rules and the coronavirus impact, government data showed Tuesday. The number of homes changing hands nationwide stood at 73,531 last month, down 32.3 percent from the previous month, according to the data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Yet the figure was up roughly 29 percent from the same month a year earlier, when housing transactions were ane

Economy May 19, 2020

The foreign ministry called in a senior Japanese diplomat on Tuesday to lodge a protest after Tokyo's latest annual diplomatic book repeated territorial claims to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo. Kim Jung-han, director general for Asia and Pacific affairs at Seoul's foreign ministry called in Hirohisa Soma, a senior official from the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, to express regret over the book's content and urge for Tokyo to retract the claims. Soma walked into the ministry building a

Foreign Affairs May 19, 2020

South Korea said Tuesday it has developed a new test kit for the African swine fever (ASF) that can pave the way for the country to speed up its battle against the fatal animal disease and reduce its dependency on imported tools. The state-run Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency has completed the development of a kit that can test acute forms of ASF, under the cooperation with the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience & Biotechnology and Korea University. The country, which has been depen

Economy May 19, 2020

INCHEON -- The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Incheon traced to an infected private academy instructor at the center of the port city's latest outbreak of cluster infections have increased by eight to 25, the municipal government said Tuesday. The latest victims include a Chinese couple who used a taxi driven by a 66-year-old man who contracted COVID-19 after driving the instructor in Incheon, about 50 kilometers west of Seoul, on May 4, the government said. The Chinese couple, aged

Social Affairs May 19, 2020

Four nurses working at Samsung Medical Center have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, authorities said Tuesday, raising concerns over the first infection involving health workers at a major hospital here. Four nurses working at the cardiothoracic and ob-gyn operating rooms in the hospital in southern Seoul tested positive on Monday and Tuesday, local government officials said Tuesday. Of the 277 patients and hospital workers who must be checked for the virus, 265 have undergone screen

Social Affairs May 19, 2020

Schools finally reopen Wednesday for high school seniors after a spate of delays due to safety concerns over the novel coronavirus. The planned school reopening for high school third graders will proceed as scheduled, 79 days after the original semester start day of March 2, the education ministry said. But it will proceed in a limited fashion: Classes will be shortened and no extracurricular activities will be allowed. Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae said during a briefing Tuesday that classe

Social Affairs May 19, 2020

The global TV market shrank nearly 16 percent in the first quarter of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic, with only South Korean makers reporting slight growth, a market tracker said Tuesday. Worldwide TV shipments stood at 43.29 million units in the January-March period, down 16.4 percent from a year earlier, according to Omdia, formerly IHS Markit. TCL and other Chinese TV manufacturers saw their sales dip 14.4 percent to 15.13 million, with those of Sony and other Japanese players tu

Economy May 19, 2020

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) has merged with its sister party, cementing its mega-majority status for the National Assembly's new term, according to the National Election Commission (NEC) on Tuesday. The DP and the Platform Party, a satellite party that the ruling party created as an election strategy for the April 15 parliamentary elections, submitted a declaration of their merger to the NEC a day earlier. Approving the declaration, the NEC officially announced the merger the same day. U

Politics May 19, 2020

South Korean health authorities were put on edge again on Tuesday as yet another cluster case looms, at a major hospital in Seoul, following mass infections tied to nightclubs and bars in the nightlife district of Itaewon. Four nurses working at Samsung Medical Center, one of the country's five major general hospitals, were confirmed to have been infected with COVID-19, and more related cases are likely to come as transmission routes are unknown, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Con

Social Affairs May 19, 2020

어머니와 다툰 20대 아들이 어머니의 포르쉐 차량을 망치로 부수다 현행범으로 체포됐다. 광주 남부경찰서는 특수재물손괴 혐의로 A(20)씨를 불구속 입건했다고 19일 밝혔다. A씨는 전날 오전 1시 30분께 광주 남구 주월동 한 아파트 주차장에서 어머니의 포르쉐 차량 보닛 부분을 망치로 때려 망가뜨린 혐의다. A씨는 어머니와 다퉈 감정이 좋지 않은 상황에서 술을 마시고 이러한 일을 벌인 것으로 드러났다. A씨의 망치질을 목격한 시민의 신고로 출동한 경찰이 A씨를 현행범 체포했다. 가족이 절도·사기 등 재산 범죄를 저질렀을 경우 형을 면제하는 '친족상도례'가 있지만, 재물손괴 혐의는 적용을 받지 않아 A씨는 형사처벌을 피하기 어렵게 됐다. 경찰은 A씨를 상대로 정확한 사건 경위를 조사하고 있다. (연합뉴스)

한국어판 May 19, 2020

A meeting of national Olympic organizations set to take place in Seoul this fall has been postponed to next year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) and the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) jointly announced on Tuesday that the 2020 ANOC General Assembly, scheduled to be held Nov. 25-26 this year in Seoul, will instead take place in 2021. "ANOC and KSOC mutually agreed that given the current global pandemic and wide-spread res

More Sports May 19, 2020

The number of South Korean air travelers fell to the lowest level in more than two decades in April due to entry restrictions and lower demand amid the coronavirus pandemic, industry data showed Tuesday. The number of air passengers on domestic and international routes here plunged to 1.35 million last month, down 22 percent from 1.74 million a month earlier and down 87 percent from 10.14 million a year earlier, according to Air Portal, an aviation data provider operated by the Korea Civil Avi

Mobility May 19, 2020

In the young Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season, NC Dinos' leadoff man Park Min-woo is elevating the term "hitting machine" to a whole new level. In one of the most remarkable stats so far in 2020, Park has swung and missed on just one pitch in the strike zone. Park has been to the plate 48 times in 11 games through Sunday, and has seen 120 strikes. And he has fanned on exactly one of those 120 pitches, or 0.8 percent of the time. Park has put 43 of those strikes in play, foul

Baseball May 19, 2020

신종 코로나바이러스 감염증(코로나19) 사태로 닫혔던 학교 문이 20일 고등학교 3학년 개학을 시작으로 다시 열린다. 19일 교육계에 따르면 교육부는 고3 등교 개학을 20일 예정대로 진행하기로 했다. 등교 개학은 코로나19 사태로 5번 미뤄진 끝에 추진된다. 앞서 교육부는 전국 유치원과 초중고 등교 개학을 3월 2일에서 같은 달 9일·23일, 4월 6일로 연기한 바 있다. 이후 4월 9일로 네 번째 개학을 연기하면서 등교 대신 사상 초유의 학년별 순차적 온라인 개학을 도입했다. 이달 초 코로나19 신규 확산세가 주춤해지자 교육부는 5월 13일 고3을 시작으로 순차적 등교 수업을 진행하겠다고 발표했다가 이태원 클럽발 집단감염 우려가 고개를 들자 등교 개학을 일주일 또 연기했다. 결국 원래 개학일이던 3월 2일 이후로 따지면 79일 만에 개학하게 된 셈이다. 코로나19 감염 우려가 완전히 수그러들지 않았음에도 교육부가 등교 개학을 추진하는 것은 코로나

한국어판 May 19, 2020

도널드 트럼프 미국 대통령은 18일(현지시간) 신종 코로나바이러스 감염증(코로나19)에 대비해 말라리아 치료제인 하이드록시클로로퀸을 일주일 넘게 매일 복용하고 있다고 밝혔다. 로이터통신 등에 따르면 트럼프 대통령은 이날 백악관에서 식당업계 대표들과 회동한 뒤 취재진과 질의응답에서 "지난 일주일 반 동안 매일 하이드록시클로로퀸과 아연보충제를 먹고 있다"고 밝혔다. 다만 그는 자신이 코로나19에 노출되지 않았으며 "증상은 없다(zero symptoms)"고 밝혔다.     트럼프 대통령은 주치의가 권한 것은 아니지만 자신이 복용을 원했다고 말했다. 그는 "나는 그것이 좋다고 생각해서 먹기 시작했다"면서 "여러가지 좋은 이야기를 들었다"고 말했다. 하이드록시클로로퀸은 트럼프 대통령이 코로나19 치료제 후보로 극찬한 약이다. 그러나 전문가들은 그 효능에 의문을 제기하

한국어판 May 19, 2020