South Korea is not yet in a situation where social distancing measures need to be tightened nationwide, although the government is still grappling with both small-scale outbreaks in the country as well as imported cases from overseas. The nation reported 44 more COVID-19 cases Tuesday, with the number of imported cases exceeding domestic ones for the first time in two weeks, as many parts of t...

South Korea reported 44 more COVID-19 cases Tuesday, with the number of imported cases exceeding domestic cases for the first time in two weeks as many parts of the world grapple with surging coronavirus infections. Of the total, 24 cases were imported and the rest locally transmitted, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of the imported cases, 16 people were detec...

The novel coronavirus spreading in South Korea now has its origin in Europe and the US, health authorities said Monday, and it is known to be six times as infectious as the original strain that emerged in China. The variant belongs to the GH clade, which has largely been circulated in Europe and the US, according to an analysis by Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on 526 genome sa...

An appeal by a former Korean sergeant, who was forcibly discharged from the military after sex reassignment surgery, to revoke the decision to has been denied, the Army said Friday. Byun Hee-soo, 22, was discharged from the military on Jan. 22 after undergoing sex reassignment surgery while enlisted, despite her wish to continue service as a female officer. What she has done “falls into reasons...

In South Korea, known for its education fervor, the English widely taught at schools and private institutes is American English. Challenging the US dominance in the Korean English education market is one of the tasks facing the Embassy of Australia here, an Australian diplomat told The Korea Herald. “Australia wants to make clear to Koreans we should be the destination of choice for people who ...

Korean health authorities said Tuesday they are testing the blood of 3,055 Koreans for antibodies for the novel coronavirus to better understand the degree of immunity in the country, as they gear up for a protracted antivirus fight amid the ongoing second wave of infections. Some 3,055 Koreans are being tested for antibodies -- 1,555 samples collected from the National Nutrition Survey and 1...

The police Monday raided a kindergarten in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, as part of an investigation into mass food poisoning that has sickened some 114 people so far. The Ansan Sangrok Police Station searched the kindergarten for about two hours, and seized CCTV footage and documents after parents of the pupils filed a complaint against the head of the kindergarten Saturday. The police are to look...

“We are not removed from race relations because Korean people in other countries face a lot of discrimination because of the COVID-19 crisis. They are being discriminated against in Western countries because many people say ‘go back to China’ or ‘take back your disease to China,’” she said. “I am standing here for my kids. My kids are not white. I hope they can grow up in a better world than I g...

BUSAN -- With the arrival of summer holiday season, beaches are getting crowded in South Korea despite growing fears of a second wave of COVID-19 infections, causing a headache to health authorities in their efforts to contain the spread of the virus. On Saturday afternoon the country’s most-visited beach, at Busan’s Haeundae, was brimming with early vacationers enjoying the sun. Families...

The majority of South Koreans perceive that the society is discriminative and human rights violations are serious, though they believe their own human rights are largely being respected, a survey showed Friday. A combined 69.1 percent of respondents think the degree of discrimination is serious -- “very serious” at 13.7 percent and “somewhat serious” at 55.4 percent -- while 29.2 percent answere...

Nkuka Lulendo and his family stepped on South Korean soil after a long, grueling 10 months of being trapped inside Incheon International Airport’s transit zone in October last year. But it was only the beginning of their journey to win refugee status. “Our hopes and dreams today are that we want the government to acknowledge us and give us refugee status,” Lulendo said in French during an interv...

Immigration detention centers in South Korea, where foreign nationals are held till deportation, have nearly reached their full capacity, with international flights rarely available amid the coronavirus pandemic. As of May 18, the number of foreigners being held at three detention centers across the country surged by 85.1 percent -- from 389 in March to 720 in May, according to data from the ...

An international online forum on the future of education amid the rise of distance learning in the post-coronavirus era will be held Wednesday, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said Monday. Organized by KAIST’s Global Strategy Institute, the forum will take place between 9 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. at a conference hall at KAIST’s main campus in Daejeon, to be livestreamed on the ...

The US Embassy in Seoul said Tuesday that the Black Lives Matter banner draped on the facade of its building in Seoul had been removed to “avoid misperception” amid reports about President Donald Trump’s displeasure over the display. The embassy hung the banner on the front of its building Saturday in what was seen as a rare show of open support for the Black Lives Matter movement, with the US E...

Three in 10 abusers of older people were sons of the victims, with emotional abuse being the most common form of abuse reported, government data showed Monday. Some 31.2 percent of elderly abusers nationwide were sons, followed by spouses (30.3 percent) and care home workers (18.5 percent), according to data released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The number of elderly abuse cases repor...