Korea is limiting the polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests -- which have long remained the gold standard of COVID-19 diagnosis -- in parts of country where omicron is dominant, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare Friday. Coming into effect from Jan. 26 in three cities of Gwangju, Pyeongtaek, Anseong and the entire South Jeolla Province, the new testing protocol will be expanded to the rest of Korea once omicron officially becomes dominant nationwide. Omicron showed up in 47 p

Social Affairs Jan. 21, 2022

Omicron is spreading through South Korea at a faster pace with the potential to cause a sharper rise than earlier projections, according to an expert advising the government. Dr. Jung Jae-hun, a preventive medicine specialist and COVID-19 adviser to the prime minister, said Thursday the omicron wave is “feared to be worse than previously thought.” Three weeks ago, all of the scenarios modeled by Jung’s team showed more than 10,000 cases a day and up to 2,000 intensive care a

Social Affairs Jan. 20, 2022

The South Korean government said Monday it would appeal a Seoul court’s decision to suspend the vaccine pass mandate requiring children and adolescents to be fully vaccinated or negative in tests to access public places. The Ministry of Health and Welfare told a news briefing it would incorporate a part of the court’s decision to retract the mandate at lower-risk facilities for adults, while maintaining that the passes for school-age children and teens are necessary to protect them

Social Affairs Jan. 17, 2022

Seoul court on Friday afternoon has suspended the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s forthcoming policy requiring kids as young as 12 to be fully vaccinated or tested to access public spaces until a further decision is made. It also suspended the requirement for those entering large stores to have proof of vaccination or a negative coronavirus test. The requirement for minors was to begin taking effect from next month, or March at the latest. The court said “the incidence of hospi

Social Affairs Jan. 14, 2022

When the inevitable omicron explosion descends on South Korea, the kind of restrictive approach to dealing with the virus will have run its course, top officials say. In a news briefing Friday, the Health and Economy ministries said Korea will focus on keeping its businesses and other aspects of daily life as open as possible once the new variant starts dominating the scene. The characteristics of omicron called for “a shift in a paradigm toward a more flexible response,” said He

Social Affairs Jan. 14, 2022

Omicron is by far the most heavily mutated variant of COVID-19 to date, and on course to dethrone delta as the dominant strain. Since the strain was first detected in Korea on Dec. 1, the variant has been found in over 160 cases here. Of them, 39 have recent travel history and the rest are close or indirect contacts. Community transmission, public health authorities say, is probably already underway. To understand the implications of the newest variant, too nascent to be able to grasp the f

Social Affairs Dec. 19, 2021

As deaths and hospitalizations continue a record-breaking streak, the South Korean government says it has yet to decide if COVID-19 restrictions will be brought back. The Ministry of Health and Welfare’s spokesperson Son Young-rae told Tuesday’s news briefing that it “may need to evaluate” if reintroducing restrictions is necessary. He denied accusations that the government was “delaying restrictions,” explaining, economic implications also had to be taken

Social Affairs Dec. 14, 2021

The head of Korea’s disease control agency said Monday that the state of the COVID-19 outbreak here has gone from “low risk” to “high risk” over the last three weeks as the country began its phased return to normal. Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong told a televised briefing that “intensive care beds at Seoul hospitals were nearly full to the brink,” with other metrics worsening all across the country. 　 In re

Social Affairs Nov. 22, 2021

South Korea saw the highest number of new COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic Thursday, just 17 days into its return to normal scheme. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said 3,292 cases were registered in the preceding 24 hours, exceeding the 3,000 mark for the second day in a row. The previous one-day record was 3,270 cases on Sept. 25, in the aftermath of Chuseok holiday season. The new all-time high comes as the country takes its first step toward normal life, wit

Social Affairs Nov. 18, 2021

St. Andrew’s Anglican Church sits in a small town of Onsu, Ganghwado, one of the around 150 islands and islets in the Incheon archipelago.  The church was built by British missionary Mark N. Trollope, who came to Ganghwado in 1896 and later went on to become the third Anglican bishop in Korea from 1911 until his death.  Designed and completed during the early years of the imperial reign of Gojong -- the last king of the Joseon era who assumed the title of emperor in 1897 -- the

Culture Nov. 13, 2021

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on Friday launched a COVID-19 immunization safety surveillance and research committee, to be operated by the National Academy of Medicine of Korea. The committee’s head Dr. Park Byung-joo, the national academy’s vice president, said the committee aimed to provide a scientific basis for assessing each adverse event’s potential link to vaccination. Asked how the committee’s role would differ from the KDCA’s existing

Social Affairs Nov. 12, 2021

South Korea on Monday unveiled its road map for a “return to normal,” about a year and nine months since the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed here. The government COVID-19 response headquarters, comprising several ministries and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, said social distancing restrictions and other public health precautions will be lifted on a phased basis stretching over a dozen weeks. The timeline put forth shows Korea will be entering phase one on

Social Affairs Oct. 25, 2021

South Korea is expanding at-home care in a bid to return closer to normal in about a month’s time, by the second week of November at the latest, according to public health officials.  The key to safe home care is whether remote monitoring can be done efficiently, which raises concerns for patients who may not speak Korean fluently. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare earlier this week, patients staying at home need to report any changes in symptoms and other important

Social Affairs Oct. 13, 2021

At 36, Lee Jun-seok made history by becoming the youngest-ever leader of the main opposition People Power Party. His success has fanned hopes for significant changes in the political arena, but an uglier side of South Korean society has ascended along with him. Two months before he was elected party chairman, the party won the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections. Although the candidates were favored across age groups, young male voters showed overwhelming support. Post-election analyses s

Politics Sept. 6, 2021

South Korea “may face a health system collapse” if it fails to tackle the ongoing resurgence of coronavirus, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Director Jung Eun-kyeong said Monday, calling for immediate interventions to beat back the transmission. Health officials reported 197 new coronavirus cases Monday, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 15,515. The daily new cases have been in triple-digits for four straight days, a number not seen s

Social Affairs Aug. 17, 2020