An appellate court on Wednesday upheld life sentence of a South Korean man who murdered three women in the same family. While upholding the lower court’s ruling, the Seoul High Court also insisted the 26-year-old murderer Kim Tae-hyun should be sentenced to life in prison without parole. “Although the judicial authority’s opinion has no binding force to parole decisions, the court should clarif...

South Korea’s daily coronavirus cases surpassed 5,000 for the first time in 20 days as the omicron variant began to spread rapidly. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s announcement on Wednesday, the country added 5,805 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Tuesday, raising the total to 705,902. The figure was 1,733 up from that of the previous day. The figure went ov...

Kazakhstani Damir Kusheyev, a former professional cyclist, has finished a 793.8-kilometer bicycle trip across Korea, which he embarked on to commemorate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Kazakhstan and to support Busan in its bid to host the World Expo 2030. Kusheyev began his trip at Haeundae Beach in Busan on Jan. 8. He cycled over nine days, passing through Samnan...

South Korea will strengthen cooperation with the United Arab Emirates in major technologies related to the hydrogen economy, President Moon Jae-in said Sunday. The president, who is in Dubai for a three-day visit as part of his trip to the Middle East, made the remark at a business forum attended by Suhail bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure of the UAE. “Korea and th...

The government is set to announce its latest decision on the vaccine pass mandate Monday, amid continued controversy over the measure. The measure, which would have prevented unvaccinated people from using a number of facilities including department stores from Monday, has been put on hold in Seoul following the Seoul Administrative Court’s ruling that large shops based in Seoul should be tempor...

Seoul Foreign School announced Thursday that Andre Jin Coquillard has been named Alumnus of the Year for his athletic achievement. The award is the highest honor the school grants on its alumni, who presented excellence in their chosen field of endeavor and outstanding service to the community or profession, as well as devotion to SFS. For Coquillard, the school thought highly of his efforts in...

People’s Party presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo on Thursday openly attacked Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, saying that those linked to allegations against him have been “silenced with death.” Ahn also strongly demanded prosecutors to launch a special investigation into the scandals and their possible connection with presidential candidate Lee. “People who he...

While improving social welfare programs, Baek said the city government will continue its efforts to turn Yongin into an eco-friendly city, in line with the country’s roadmap to carbon neutrality by 2050. During his tenure, Baek made a series of efforts to bring about a greener Yongin and a more balanced development of urban spaces. Baek said the city will continue to increase green spaces by es...

A man convicted of killing three people in an arson fire at a motel in Seoul was sentenced to 25 years in prison, the Supreme Court of South Korea ruled Monday. The 71-year-old man was indicted on charges of setting a fire at a motel located in Mapo-gu, Seoul, in November 2020, which led to a total of eight casualties. The man demanded the owner of the motel give him alcohol, but the owner refu...

South Korea‘s vaccine pass mandate, which requires people to show proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test conducted within 48 hours to shop in large retail and department stores, became effective on Monday. According to the government, there will be a one-week grace period until Jan. 16 to reduce confusion. After the grace period, penalties can be levied on people who enter those facilities...

South Korea‘s daily coronavirus cases continued to drop, falling below 4,000 for the first time in three days for Thursday. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency‘s data, the country added 3,717 new COVID-19 cases as of midnight Thursday. South Korea has recently seen a modest downward trend in daily COVID-19 cases lately. The numbers of COVID-19 cases for Tuesday and Wedn...

South Korea’s military said Wednesday that it failed to stop a North Korean defector even though he was caught on surveillance cameras five times. The Joint Chiefs of Staff on Wednesday disclosed the results of its on-site investigation into how the 30-something North Korean man returned to the North Saturday night. The military currently believes that the defector is the same person who defect...

Prosecutors have decided not to indict the late former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, who was accused of sexually harassing his secretary, according to local reports Tuesday. The decision was reached by prosecutors at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday. Prosecutors closed the case as they no longer have the right of arraignment to file an indictment against the deceased Park. ...

South Korea’s new coronavirus cases remained below 4,000 for the second straight day as of midnight Sunday, but the number of critically ill patients continued to surpass 1,000. Two deaths in connection with the omicron variant of the coronavirus were reported on Monday. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, South Korea added 3,129 new COVID-19 cases during Sunday, raisin...

South Korea’s military said Sunday that an unidentified person crossed the eastern inter-Korean border into North Korea. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said an individual was spotted crossing the Military Demarcation Line at around 9:20 p.m. Saturday, through surveillance equipment installed in the border region. The JCS added it confirmed the person crossed the border at 10:40 p.m., some ...