South Korean students infected with the novel coronavirus or in self-quarantine can still take the national university entrance exam at separate sites in early December. The Ministry of Education unveiled Tuesday the plan for the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), the country's biggest academic event of the year, which includes measures to safely hold the test for approximately 480,000 students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The plan, devised jointly with health authorities and education

GWANGJU -- Human remains found at the site of a former prison in Gwangju appear to be unrelated to the May 18 Democratization Movement that took place in the southwestern city in 1980, officials said Tuesday. The remains of 262 people have been discovered at the former prison's graveyard, where deceased prisoners with no family ties were buried, triggering speculation that they may belong to victims of crackdowns during the pro-democracy uprising. The National Forensic Service (NFS) has so fa

Damage from heavy rain that pounded the country's central region earlier this week continued to grow, leaving 12 dead and 14 missing as of Tuesday. More than 1,000 were forced to leave their homes, while some 5,751 hectares of farm land were swamped or buried as of 6 a.m., according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters. Most recently, six deaths were reported in Pyeongtaek and Gapyeong, both in Gyeonggi Province, as landslides engulfed a makeshift workplace and a mou

South Korea said Tuesday it will release data on restaurants that follow sanitary guidelines meant to avoid the spread of the new coronavirus to induce people to dine out more without being excessively concerned about safety. "The data on the safe restaurants will speed up the efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19," the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said in a statement. "We plan to build more open data that can lend a hand to the country's anti-virus fight.

An Army draftee and a military intelligence command officer tested positive for the new coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections among the military population to 79, the defense ministry said Tuesday. The soldier based in Yangju, just north of Seoul, has been in isolation after coming into close contact with an outside counselor who was infected with COVID-19 late last month, according to the ministry. The soldier tested positive on his second test required to exit mandatory quara

South Korea reported 34 more cases of the new coronavirus Tuesday, with the number of imported cases almost twice that of local infections, health authorities said. The new cases -- 21 imported cases and 13 local infections -- raised South Korea's total cases of COVID-19 to 14,423, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). The number of new COVID-19 cases had been in the 30s since Friday, when South Korea reported 36 new virus cases. The number fell to 31 on Sa

　The number of fake South Korean banknotes found here continued to decline in the first half, and the combined face value of the counterfeits also dropped sharply, central bank data showed. 　In the January-June period, the number of counterfeit banknotes found here came to 129, down 19.4 percent from 160 bills found a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea. 　The half-year tally marks a steady decline since the second half of 2017. (Yonhap)

The heavy rain that has pounded South Korea in the past few weeks likely stems from global warming, weather and environment experts said Tuesday. The country's southern region saw one of its longest monsoon seasons this year. Rain fell for 49 days between June 10 and July 28 in the longest monsoon season on the southern resort island of Jeju and for 38 days between June 24 and July 31 in the southern region. In the central region, which has seen the biggest damage during the recent rainfall,

The average South Korean youth gets seven hours and 18 minutes of sleep per night, one hour short of the average in developed countries, a survey showed Monday. More than half of them suffer from sleep deprivation, mostly due to study and internet surfing. The state-funded National Youth Policy Institute released the results of its survey on health and lifestyle habits of teenagers. It was conducted with 8,201 students and 310 teachers between May and July in 2019. The study found the average

Korean doctors nationwide said over the weekend they would stage a walkout in protest of the government’s health care reform bills that seek to transform the way the country recruits and manages its health care workforce. The Korean Medical Association, which is the largest trade union for doctors here, said in a statement that the doctors would strike on Aug. 14 if their concerns over health reforms are not addressed by the government. “The administration pushed forward a series

Action for Clean Environment, a global nonprofit organization with a mission to facilitate global environmental activism, held its first annual ceremony for the completion of the 2020 Fellowship for Young Leaders Program on Saturday at Westin Chosun Hotel in Seoul, organizers said. The event celebrated the successful completion of its program for young students interested in learning how to solve real-world problems through engaging and dynamic discussion and activities related to global envir

Torrential rains that pounded much of the country over the weekend and Monday are expected to continue, putting authorities on high alert to further damage to regions that have already seen significant casualties and property damage. At least six are dead and several are unaccounted for since the rains began, as heavy rain prompted flash floods and landslides. The combination of a typhoon, the North Pacific High and pockets of cold, dry air moving in from the north is locking the monsoon fron

The military has put service personnel on emergency standby to fully prepare for possible damage from heavy rains and to extend support to civilians, the defense ministry said Monday.  Torrential rains have pounded South Korea's central areas since late last week, leaving six people dead and eight others missing, according to the Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters.  The defense ministry has been running its own disaster management team since late last month in the wa

South Korea’s coronavirus situation is stably under control with more than 80 percent of new cases confirmed to be under the government’s watch, health authorities said Monday, as the country reported only three locally-transmitted cases. 　 Korea reported 23 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, including 20 imported cases from overseas. The country’s total caseload as of Monday was 14,389, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 　 The number of domesticall

All crewmen of ships departing from Russia are required to submit a certificate showing they tested negative for the new coronavirus upon arriving in South Korea starting Monday, health authorities here said. The certificates must be issued within 48 hours prior to the departure. South Korea has been making it mandatory for all foreign arrivals from six countries --Bangladesh, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines and Uzbekistan -- to hand in the health certificates. The country