It is little more than six months since a novel coronavirus that first emerged in China’s Wuhan late last year arrived in South Korea. A tourist from Wuhan tested positive on Jan. 20, becoming the first confirmed patient of COVID-19 here. About a month later, the country experienced an explosion of infections, with as many as 909 cases reported in a single day. Fast-forward to mid-August, the virus hasn’t gone away. But it appears to be under control. Daily new cases have remain

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the world and it has prompted calls for sweeping changes across society. While its impact on South Korea has been relatively small compared to other advanced economies, the pandemic has set in motion changes that will have far reaching consequences for Korea both within and outside the country. Larger role in international community For South Korea, the pandemic has brought unexpected changes in the field of diplomacy. Aided by the c

The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said Saturday it has raised the current health protection level against the new coronavirus in Seoul and the surrounding areas to restrict its people's travels and other off-base activities in the wake of a recent surge in fresh cases. Effective at 6 p.m. Saturday, the USFK heightened the Health Protection Condition Level (HPCON) by one notch to Charlie, or HPCON C, for Area II (+) that encompasses Seoul, the western city of Incheon, and eight districts of Gyeongg

A heavy rain advisory has been lifted for some parts of Gyeonggi Province and Incheon amid a decrease in precipitation, South Korea's weather service said Saturday. The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said as of 12:30 p.m. it has canceled previously issued warnings for 24 regions in Gyeonggi and the city of Suwon, as the amount of rain has decreased markedly. It said similar action has been taken for the port city of Incheon, west of Seoul, as well as Gangwha Island and small island

Large Liberation Day demonstrations are taking place in Seoul on Saturday despite new COVID-19 cases in the country reaching a five-month high of 166, with authorities reinstating stricter social distancing guidelines as the highly infectious disease is spreading at an alarming rate. The demonstrations come as a Seoul court mostly upheld local government's injunctions to ban large gatherings in light of public safety concerns and as police have warned they will not permit unlawful protests.

Less than a month after welcoming fans back to stadiums, South Korea professional sports teams in Seoul and its surrounding region will revert to having empty stands due to a recent spike in coronavirus virus cases. The government on Saturday raised the three-tier social distancing scheme in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province from Level 1 to Level 2, effective Sunday. It will stay there for two weeks. With that, all indoor gatherings of 50 or more people and outdoor gatherings of 100 or more people

South Korea on Saturday placed stricter social distancing guidelines on the greater Seoul area after daily new COVID-19 cases in the country reached a five-month high of 166, as transmissions in and around the capital continue to spread at an alarming rate. The decision to raise the social distancing plan in Seoul and the Gyeonggi region up one notch to "level 2" was reached at a pan-governmental COVID-19 meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, chai

South Korea saw new COVID-19 virus cases reach the triple digits for the second day in a row Saturday, as sporadic local infections in the greater Seoul area piled up again ahead of the three-day weekend holiday. The country's new daily coronavirus cases reached 166 as of midnight Friday, raising the total caseload to 15,039, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). Of the new cases, 155 were local infections. New daily infections reached triple digits for t

The leader of a minor religious sect at the center of the early coronavirus outbreak in South Korea was indicted Friday for allegedly obstructing the government’s efforts to contain the spread of the pandemic. Prosecutors in Suwon, south of Seoul, indicted Lee Man-hee, the leader of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, and 11 other sect officials. Lee, 89, is accused of submitting false documents to health authorities on the locations and number of participants at Shincheonji’s gath

South Korea’s daily locally transmitted COVID-19 cases surged to a four-month high on Friday, mainly due to sporadic outbreaks at churches in the Greater Seoul area, leading the government to consider tightening social distancing rules to contain the coronavirus spread. Of the country’s 108 new COVID-19 cases reported, 85 cases were locally transmitted, the most since 88 cases were registered on March 31. The total caseload has risen to 14,873, according to the Korea Centers for D

Three maintenance workers were killed at a commercial residential complex building in Seoul on Friday, apparently after being electrocuted while replacing water pumps of the building's water storage tank, firefighters said. According to the fire authorities, the three men -- two in their 50s and one in his 60s -- collapsed while replacing a water pump in the second underground level of the building in the southwestern ward of Yeongdeungpo late Friday morning. The workers received CPR from fir

Prosecutors grilled Rep. Yoon Mi-hyang, a longtime activist for the rights of the victims of wartime sexual slavery committed by Japan, on Thursday over allegations that she embezzled donations for the women. The interrogation went on for over 11 hours beginning at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office, followed by perusing through the prosecution’s records of her statements for over three hours until she went home at around 4 a.m. on Friday. Pro

The Ministry of Justice said it is working on revising a 67-year-old criminal law that made abortion a crime punishable by up to three years in prison. The Committee of Gender Equality under the ministry confirmed Friday that it is drafting a policy recommendation for the ministry to move closer to repealing the decades-old law. The belated move came more than a year after the country's Constitutional Court declared in April last year in a landmark ruling that the anti-abortion law is uncons

The South Korean government on Friday launched a review on raising the level of social distancing as new cluster infections in the greater Seoul area fanned fears of a possibly bigger outbreak. The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters said it views the status quo in a "grave" manner, saying it has started to review tightening social distancing by one notch in the so-called capital area, which includes Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. "We are facing another critica

Thousands of doctors on Friday staged a nationwide walkout as talks with the government over medical reform plans fell through. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 24.7 percent of 33,836 medical clinics, hospitals and institutions announced Thursday that they would be closed on Friday. The ministry said the actual closure rate for Friday could be higher considering the ongoing vacation season. Under the lead of the Korea Medical Association, which represents 130,000 doctors, medi