South Korea will accept rapid antigen tests for people boarding a flight to Korea and entering the country starting on Monday, the country’s health authorities said Sunday. Under the new entry rule, arrivals with a RAT result will be accepted if the test was taken no more than one day prior to travel. Arrivals with a negative polymerase chain reaction test result will continue to be accepted. The RAT results, however, must have been conducted under professional supervision. Results fro

The number of metaverse users across major virtual world platforms in South Korea has dropped sharply since social distancing measures were lifted, a report showed Sunday. According to big data analysis firm Mobile Index, the number of Roblox’ weekly active users recorded 773,678 during the period between May 9 and 15, a nearly 18 percent drop from the previous weekly figure. It was the lowest number recorded since the last week of June 2021. During the same period, the amount of time s

Hana Financial Group is expanding its project to help youth startups nationwide, as it has signed the first regional partnership with the Korea National University of Cultural Heritage, the group said Sunday. According to the group, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding at the KNUCH in Buyeo, South Chungcheong Province on Friday. They agreed to provide support for startup ideas related to traditional culture, co-create educational content and offer hands-on experiences for local c

South Korea's new coronavirus cases fell below 20,000 for the first time in six days on Sunday in a downward trend in virus cases amid the government's effort to move the country back to pre-pandemic normalcy. The country added 19,298 new infections, including 24 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 17,957,697, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The daily tally jumped to 35,104 cases on May 17 from the previous day's 13,290 but continued to

Timeline set by Moon admin delayed

The Green Climate Fund (GCF), an international organization on fighting climate change, has approved $330 million in funding for five green energy projects, South Korea's finance ministry said Friday. The board of the GCF endorsed the funding plan for projects to support six emerging countries' efforts to battle climate change, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. A combined $301.5 million will be spent to support four new projects, including $200 million for India's

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell for a third consecutive day to stay below 30,000 on Friday, as the government pushed back the plan to relax more virus restrictions, citing the continuing omicron wave and possible spread of other variants. The country added 25,125 new COVID-19 infections, including 22 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 17,914,957, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The daily counts have steadily declined this week, from 35,113 on T

Prosecutors are looking into whether to bring Ponzi fraud charges against CEO Do Kwon of Terraform Labs, sources said Friday, a day after investors sued him over the shocking crash of the firm's two cryptocurrencies. In a crash starting last week, Terraform's two main tokens, TerraUSD and sister coin Luna, had registered more than 99.99 percent falls from their highs, wiping out more than $38 billion of investors' money in a week, according to data by CoinMarketCap. Financial authorities said ab

One person has been killed and nine others injured in an explosion at a refinery run by South Korean oil refiner S-Oil Corp. in the country's southwest, firefighters said Friday. The deceased was a subcontractor who was among the 10 others doing repair work at the alkylation processing line in the refinery in Ulsan, about 415 kilometers southwest of Seoul, when the blast occurred at 8:52 p.m. Thursday. The nine others sustained injuries, mostly severe or minor burns. They were all sent to a

The Ministry of Environment said Thursday it will announce more details on the new deposit refund scheme for single-use cups to ease the burden on small-business owners. From June 10, franchise cafes, bakeries and fast-food franchises with more than 100 branches have to charge a 300 won (24 cent) deposit per single-use cup to customers. The ministry said it would help businesses adapt to the new rules, after some franchisees complained about it being a burden. “We empathize with th

Renowned photojournalist Kadir van Lohuizen warns of potential dangers of fast-rising sea levels, urges action

A mother who has been accused of drowning her newborn baby in a toilet has been referred to public prosecution. Pyeongtaek Police Station in Gyeonggi Province handed over the case to the prosecution, with the woman in her 20s as a suspect of murder and abandonment of the body. She was suspected of killing a baby she gave birth to at her house in Pyeongtaek on May 11. It is suspected that the woman drowned the infant in the toilet and then buried the body in a nearby mountain. The crim

Over 70 percent of job seekers in South Korea said they were willing to get a position at a startup company, a survey showed Thursday. According to online recruiting platform JobKorea’s survey of 1,063 workers and job seekers, the most-selected reason for expressing a willingness to work at a startup was their growth potential, with 52.9 percent. Respondents could pick more than one reason, and 35 percent said they believed working at a startup would provide many learning opportunities,

Typical Korean apartment balconies get makeover

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell to around 28,000 on Thursday, continuing the modest decline as the omicron spread has been slowing for weeks. The country added 28,130 new COVID-19 infections, including 15 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 17,889,849, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Thursday's tally marks a further fall from 31,352 and 35,117 counted for Tuesday and Monday, respectively. Daily infection numbers have stayed in the 10,0