South Korean heath authorities are studying a possible case of a coronavirus reinfection found in a woman in her 20s, officials said Saturday. "Research on a suspected reinfection case is under way in the country," Kwon Joon-wook, deputy director of the Central Disease Control Headquarters, said in a press briefing. The patient, who was first diagnosed with COVID-19 in March, tested positive again in early April, he said. The authorities believe the woman was likely infected through

Sitting on the lower slopes of Bukaksan is Samcheong Park.  Samcheong Park is the first officially designated park in Seoul, and still among the more popular areas for a stroll in the Samcheong-dong area. This park is busiest in April for its cherry blossoms, but many locals and tourists visit year-round. The park has a library as well as a learning center for children and sports facilities.  Located around 500 meters to the north from Samcheong Park is Malbawi, a popular spot to lo

Traditional rites for one of Korea’s largest holidays are likely to be scaled down further as social distancing continues

Models strutting and posing on the runway in a hall packed with celebrities and fashion industry movers and shakers. A crowded backstage where makeup artists stand tightly next to models, applying colorful eye shadow and lipstick. This year, it may be difficult see any of these scenes unfold as the COVID-19 pandemic has halted on-site fashion shows. In their place, the fashion industry has begun to embrace online shows. The Korea Creative Content Agency was the first to adapt to the “n

Charcuterie shop expands to second location in Samseong-dong

As the 2020 League of Legends World Championship looms closer with the opening ceremony on Sept. 25, ESPN released its annual power rankings for the teams competing this year, Wednesday. Damwon Gaming, the top-seeded team coming out of LoL Champions Korea, placed second out of the 22 teams participating in the event, as ranked by the four ESPN analysts. To no surprise, analysts of ESPN assessed China’s first seed Top Esports as the strongest team coming into the event, as did most other

Columnist for The Korea Herald and the Elders Press of Korea, Kim Myong-sik has released “All in the Same Boat,” a compilation of 140 columns that he wrote for the Elders Press of Korea from March 2017 to July 2020. This is a second compilation of his columns. “Jongno Square,” containing three year‘s worth of columns, was published in 2013. In journalism for more than 40 years, Kim has served as a correspondent for Reuters, managing editor of the Korea Times and

Two foreign workers were killed as a fire gutted a waste recycling facility located south of Seoul, authorities said Saturday. The incident occurred at around 4 a.m. inside a plastic waste recycling plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeongggi Province. The blaze appears to have been started by the explosion of a transverse kiln, firefighters said. The fire killed two foreign workers, whose identities were withheld, and burned down two buildings. About 100 tons of plastic waste were apparently stored in the

K-pop superstar BTS has delivered a performance of its new single "Dynamite" and several of its past hits at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in the United States. The seven-member boy band presented a prerecorded live stage performance of its new disco-pop single, along with its past hits -- "Make It Right," "Spring Day" and "Boy With Luv" -- at the event, which was streamed online Friday evening (US time). BTS was booked along with Alicia Keys, Migos, Th

The members of global K-pop superstar BTS on Saturday delivered a powerful motivational speech for South Korean youth, sharing candid tales of their inner struggles on the path to becoming one of the world's most popular music acts in history. The speech, delivered in turns by all of the group's seven members, was made at the country's inaugural Youth Day ceremony at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae. BTS made history last month by becoming the first South Korean recording artists to reach

A worker at a Hyundai Motor plant in the southeastern city of Ulsan tested positive for the new coronavirus, local sources said Saturday. The man in his mid-30s was confirmed in the morning to have contracted COVID-19 and is now in good health, the municipality said. Sources said later he is a Hyundai Motor employee and works at the facility management department, not at assembly lines. Authorities are tracing his contacts and plan to test 25 people, including his co-workers, for the vir

Rep. Kim Hong-gul, the youngest son of late former President Kim Dae-jung, issued an apology Saturday, one day after he was expelled from the ruling party amid controversy over his dubious amassing of properties. The Democratic Party stripped the first-term lawmaker of party membership Friday for underreporting wealth and refusing to cooperate with an in-house probe. "I accept the party's decision on the expulsion heavily and solemnly," Kim said in a message sent to reporters. "

President Moon Jae-in pledged his administration's every effort to enhance fairness in South Korea's society and economy, as he addressed the country's inaugural Youth Day ceremony at Cheong Wa Dae on Saturday. "We still hear the rage of young people who complain that unfairness still persists" despite the government's campaign for fairness and justice as well as an egalitarian society, Moon said during the event held at Nokjiwon, a verdant garden inside the presidential compound. Pr

South Korea's new coronavirus cases stayed in the 100s for the 17th consecutive day on Saturday, with local infections unabated in the greater Seoul area. The country added 110 more COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the total caseload to 22,893, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).  The new cases mark a decline from 126 reported Friday but are higher than Tuesday's 106. Of the new cases, 106 were locally transmitted and the rest came from overseas

Russia plans to allow the resumption of flights to and from South Korea late this month, Russia's state coronavirus crisis center said.  Russia banned the entry of foreign nationals and international flights in March to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and has been lifting the ban gradually since August.  The government body announced Friday that flights between Moscow and Incheon, west of Seoul, will restart on Sept. 27 on a weekly basis.  Operations to and from Belarus, Kyrgyzs