The government of Daegu, the southeastern city hit hardest by the coronavirus outbreak, on Monday announced emergency financial assistance of about 660 billion won ($517 million) to help about 640,000 households suffering economic fallout from the disaster. The municipal government said it will secure its first COVID-19-linked supplementary budget of 659.9 billion won to hand out varying amounts of financial support to low-income households, small business owners and self-employed people, begi

Social Affairs March 23, 2020

바이러스 증식에 관여하는 프로테아제 구조 해독 독일 뤼벡대 힐겐펠트 교수팀, 저널 '사이언스'에 논문 바이러스의 기능 단백질 구조를 분석하는 건 바이러스 억제제(inhibitor) 등 작용물질(active substance)을 개발하는 데 매우 유용하다. 부연하면, 효소 등 기능 단백질 구조를 정확히 알아야 바이러스 치료제 개발을 어디부터 시작할지 판단할 수 있다. 모든 단백질의 기능은 해당 단백질의 입체 구조(3D architecture)와 밀접히 연관돼 있기 때문이다. 세계적 대유행(팬데믹)으로 확산일로에 있는 신종 코로나바이러스도 마찬가지다. 미국 등 의학 선진국들은 신종 코로나바이러스의 예방 백신 개발을 서두르고 있다. 하지만 그 상용화 시점과 효과에 대해선 회의적인 시각이 적지 않다. 해마다 변종이 찾아오는 계절 독감 바이러스에서 보듯이, 바이러스 예방 백신의 효과는 제한적일 수밖에 없다. 게다가 신종 코로나바이러스는 아직 감염자의 항체 형성 여부도 확인되지

한국어판 March 23, 2020

Samsung Electronics Co. edged out Apple Inc. to take third place in the global mobile application processor (AP) market last year, a report showed Monday. Samsung, which makes Exynos chipsets, had a 14.1 percent share of the global mobile AP market in 2019, up 2.2 percentage points from a year earlier, according to data from industry tracker Counterpoint Research. Apple settled for fourth place after its market share declined by 0.5 percentage point to 13.1 percent last year, data showed.

Technology March 23, 2020

The South Korean national Olympic body is taking a wait-and-see approach in its buildup for the Tokyo Olympics, which may well be postponed due to the global coronavirus pandemic. Following an Executive Board meeting Sunday in Lausanne, Switzerland, the International Olympic Committee said it will step up its "scenario-planning" for Tokyo 2020, with changes to the start date of the competition among the possibilities. The IOC's decision is expected within the next four weeks. The IO

Olympic Games March 23, 2020

CHANGWON (Yonhap) -- The southeastern city of Changwon on Monday barred public access to major cherry blossom-viewing sites to stem the spread of the coronavirus. Late last month the city government canceled its annual Jinhae Gunhangje Festival, one of South Korea's largest cherry blossom events, scheduled to open this Friday. In a news conference, Mayor Huh Sung-moo announced additional measures to keep visitors away, as about 360,000 cherry trees in the industrial city, 400 kilometers sout

Social Affairs March 23, 2020

South Korea is exploring ways to provide humanitarian support to Iran to help its fight against the new coronavirus, the foreign ministry said Monday, as the Middle East country struggles with shortages of medical supplies under US sanctions. Seoul's consideration appears to have accelerated after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani reportedly sent a letter to South Korean President Moon Jae-in earlier this month to request 3.2 million COVID-19 diagnostic kits and other quarantine supplies. &quo

Foreign Affairs March 23, 2020

South Korea is considering sending a chartered flight to South Sudan to bring back some of its peacekeeping troops amid coronavirus concerns, the defense ministry said Monday. About 210 rotational troops of the 270-strong Hanbit Unit are expected to return home without replacement, after the African country asked Seoul and other foreign countries not to send fresh troops in the wake of the spread of the COVID-19 virus across the globe. "We have had close consultations with the host natio

Foreign Affairs March 23, 2020

South and North Korea should work together in preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus from the perspective of "humanitarian" and "mutually beneficial" cooperation, Seoul's unification ministry said Monday. The emphasis on cross-border cooperation came a day after North Korea announced that US President Donald Trump expressed an intention to help its fight against the coronavirus in a personal letter to leader Kim Jong-un. "Our government's

North Korea March 23, 2020

The United States stuck to its demand for $4 billion in Seoul's financial contribution to stationing 28,500 American troops here in last week's defense cost-sharing talks with South Korea, a diplomatic source indicated Monday. The figure was down from the US' initial call for a fivefold increase to $5 billion in Korea's share of the cost for the upkeep of the US Forces Korea (USFK), but Seoul officials believe that the figure is still unrealistically high. "Basically, there wasn't a chan

Defense March 23, 2020

The office of President Moon Jae-in announced the replacement of four vice minister-level officials and two of Moon's secretaries in a partial shake-up Monday as his administration nears its third anniversary. It followed the resignation of some senior officials seeking to run in the April 15 general elections, affecting the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the National Agency for Administrative City Construction. Moon

Politics March 23, 2020

A South Korean baseball club canceled its practice and closed its home stadium on Monday after a player reported a fever. The Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said the unidentified player will be tested for the novel coronavirus later in the day, and the rest of the team will be self-isolated in their homes in the meantime. The Giants, based in Busan, 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul, came home from their spring training in Australia last Tuesday. They had three days of

Baseball March 23, 2020

South Korea on Monday launched another round of trade talks with Russia to flesh out details on the two country's pending free trade agreement (FTA) in the service and investment segments. The two countries have decided to hold the four-day video conference on their free trade talks due to the global spread of the novel coronavirus, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. So far, the two countries held three rounds of trade negotiations, with the previous meeting being held in

Economy March 23, 2020

More than 2 million people have signed an online petition as of Monday demanding the government unveil the identity of a man who allegedly ran a group chat room where photos and videos of violent sex acts, involving underaged victims, were distributed. At least 74 victims are known to have been exploited in the so-called Nth room case, in which a man surnamed Cho allegedly lured victims into taking naked photos and later threatened and exploited them into more gruesome sex acts. Cho, who used

Social Affairs March 23, 2020

The management agency of K-pop boy band BTS will this week launch a series of short video clips designed to provide Korean language education to non-Korean fans, the agency said Monday. Big Hit Entertainment said the first three episodes of the series, "Learn Korean with BTS," will hit Weverse, the mobile app for the BTS fan community, Tuesday afternoon. Following the release of the first three episodes, one new episode will hit Weverse every Monday morning, with a total of 30 clip

K-pop March 23, 2020

One Air Force officer stationed in the southeastern city of Daegu has tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Monday, the first infection reported in barracks in about two weeks. The new case brought the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the military to 39. Of the total, 21 were in the Army, 14 in the Air Force, two in the Marine Corps and one each in the Navy and a unit under the direct control of the ministry. The numbers include 19 people who have ful

Social Affairs March 23, 2020