Feb 20, 2020   Politics

NSC discusses coronavirus response

South Korea's National Security Council convened Thursday and  discussed the coronavirus outbreak, as the country reported the first death of an infected person. In its weekly standing committee meeting, top national security officials checked the "seriousness of the situations at home and abroad and the international community's moves and reviewed ways the government will respond going forward," according to Cheong Wa Dae. South Korea announced 53 new confirmed COVID-19 cas

Feb 20, 2020   Social affairs

Mass infection feared at a hospital in Cheongdo

Daenam Hospital could emerge as new COVID-19 cluster with 15 cases, including potential first death

Feb 20, 2020   Social affairs

S. Korea reports 1st military member infected with coronavirus

A Navy sailor on the southern island of Jeju was confirmed Thursday to have contracted the new coronavirus in the first confirmed case among service personnel in South Korea, government officials said. The man in his 20s was one of the country's 104 patients of COVID-19, according to the officials. He was known to have visited his hometown, Daegu, 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, recently, where dozens of confirmed cases have been reported since Wednesday. (Yonhap)

Feb 20, 2020   K-pop

Why Naver is finally shutting down comments on celebrity news

The nation’s largest web portal, Naver, will not publish comments under its entertainment news until further notice, for the sake of celebrities’ mental health. “We acknowledge that the current technological efforts aren’t enough to relieve the pain felt by celebrities and have decided to close the comment section for entertainment news until a further structural overhaul,” the company said Wednesday. The move takes effect sometime next month. Kakao, which owns th

Feb 20, 2020   Business

[Graphic News] COVID-19 helps toy sales

　Sales of toys are surging in South Korea as children stay home longer and people pay more attention to their health due to the prolonged scare over COVID-19, a respiratory disease caused by a new coronavirus, industry sources said. 　Online shopping site Auction said its sales of toys for toddlers and children skyrocketed from a year earlier in the seven-day period to Feb. 9. 　Sales of ball tents and toy blocks surged 285 percent and 72 percent, respectively, with those of mobile toys like

Feb 20, 2020   Defense

Military suspends drafting soldiers in Daegu

South Korea’s Military Manpower Administration said Thursday that it had decided to suspend physical examinations for potential conscripts in Daegu and adjacent North Gyeongsang Province until March 6. The decision was a response to the recent spike in cases of COVID-19 linked to a church there. Men who have already passed the physical and are waiting to join the military will be asked to delay enlistment, the agency said. It has also postponed interviews for Navy and Air Force applica

Feb 20, 2020   Social affairs

[Breaking] S. Korea reports 1st death from coronavirus

South Korea reported the nation's first death from the new coronavirus, with the number of confirmed cases surpassing 100, officials said Thursday. The patient, who had been under treatment at a hospital in the southeastern city of Cheongdo, died earlier in the day, health officials said. The health authorities are working to determine the exact cause of the patient's death. (Yonhap)

Feb 20, 2020   Economy

S. Korea takes aim at Gyeonggi to curb housing prices

Gov’t tightens loan rules for expensive houses in Suwon, Anyang, Uiwang

Feb 20, 2020   Television

‘Crash Landing on You’ star Lee Sin-young sues over school bullying rumors

Rising star Lee Sin-young, who played a supporting role in the hit drama “Crash Landing on You,” is taking legal action after being accused of school bullying, Lee’s agency, Forest Entertainment, said Thursday. A lawyer from law firm Gangnam, on behalf of the agency, released an official statement saying libel and blackmail complaints have been filed against a man claiming to have suffered school bullying by Lee. Earlier this month, a man claiming to have been Lee’s m

Feb 20, 2020   Economy

[News Focus] Number of de facto jobless up 440,000 in 2 months

SEJONG -- South Korea saw the number of de facto jobless people -- meaning those underemployed -- increase sharply in recent months, the latest data showed. According to Statistics Korea, the “extended (or sentiment-reflected)” unemployment rate climbed to 12.1 percent in January 2020. The figure indicates that 3.58 million of the extended economically active population of 29.65 million are de facto unemployed. This far exceeds the nation’s official jobless rate (4.1 pe

Feb 20, 2020   Film

[Herald Interview] Salaryman-turned-director Kim Yong-hoon debuts big

Newcomer aspires to add color to Korean cinema scene

Feb 20, 2020   Foreign Affairs

FM to attend UN session on human rights, disarmament meeting in Geneva next week

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha will travel to Geneva next week to attend a UN session on human rights and a disarmament conference, her ministry said Thursday. Kang will attend the 43rd UN Human Rights Council and the Conference on Disarmament slated to take place in Geneva on Monday, Kim In-chul, ministry spokesperson, told a press briefing. "As a member of the Human Rights Council from 2020-22, Minister Kang will talk about human rights issues that are of our government's concern and

Feb 20, 2020   Social affairs

Coronavirus cases double in a day to surpass 100

Seoul reports first death, presumably related to COVID-19; Daegu fears becoming Korea’s Wuhan with largest cluster