In a press briefing that marks 100 days in office, People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok called on the opposition party and its supporters to be wary of false and misleading videos on YouTube. To win the presidential election, Lee said the party should focus on people thinking logically and rationally instead of people who see only what they want to see. “A new media called YouTube recommends videos that you might want to watch through algorithms,” Lee said. “The algori

The annual exodus for Chuseok, the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving, began Friday as South Koreans head to their hometowns for family reunions and take trips during the extended holiday. This year's three-day Chuseok holiday runs from Monday to Wednesday and it is extended by an extra two days due to the preceding weekend. Traditionally, Koreans head back to their hometowns to be with their family members and visit their ancestors' graves to commemorate them. The nationwide exodus is expected t

Four Army soldiers and four airmen have tested positive for the new coronavirus, raising the total caseload reported among the military population to 1,681, the defense ministry said Friday. Three airmen in the eastern coastal city of Gangneung were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 after a virus case was reported at their base, while an Air Force officer in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, was found to have been infected after a business trip, according to the ministry. In the west

South Korea plans to start to compensate pandemic-hit small merchants from late October for their losses incurred by anti-virus restrictions, a senior government official said Friday. The government set aside 1.03 trillion won ($873 million) to operate a state scheme to compensate small merchants for losses that have been generated since July due to state orders to shut down or suspend business over the pandemic. "The government is making seamless preparation to provide compensation to the

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases exceeded 2,000 on Friday again amid concerns a major holiday may stoke further upticks in virus cases. The country added 2,008 COVID-19 cases, including 1,973 local infections, raising the total caseload to 281,938 according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The daily caseload remained in the 2,000s on Tuesday and Wednesday before falling to 1,943 on Thursday. Daily cases have stayed above the 1,000 threshold for more than 70 days am

　The number of delivery workers in South Korea swelled nearly 12 percent in the second half of last year to hit a record high amid the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed. 　Asia’s fourth-largest economy had 390,000 carriers as of the end of December last year, up 11.8 percent from a year earlier, according to data from Statistics Korea. 　The tally covers mail carriers, door-to-door couriers, food delivery workers, newspaper delivery workers and carriers of milk and other bev

Diplomats of South Korea and Japan held talks in Tokyo on Thursday to discuss the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and historical issues between the two countries, the foreign ministry said, after tensions flared anew with North Korea's recent missile launches. The talks between Lee Sang-ryol, the ministry's director general for Asian and Pacific affairs, and his Japanese counterpart, Takehiro Funakoshi, came after the North fired off two short-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday fo

South Korea and Vietnam agreed Thursday to strengthen cooperation in defense affairs and the arms industry during annual vice-ministerial talks, Seoul officials said. South Korean Vice Defense Minister Park Jae-min and his Vietnamese counterpart, Hoang Xuan Chien, held the Defense Strategy Dialogue in the Southeast Asian nation and discussed regional security issues and ways to strengthen their defense ties, according to Seoul's defense ministry. "The two sides agreed to boost cooperatio

Jeju made preparations for the impact of Typhoon Chanthu on Thursday as the storm moved toward the resort island from the south, packing strong winds and heavy precipitation, the weather agency said. As of 6 p.m., the typhoon was travelling north-northeastward at a speed of 19 kilometers per hour over waters about 220 km south-southwest of Jeju, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said. The slow-moving typhoon was forecast to begin picking up speed later in the day and move the close

South Korea is halving the minimum amount of time until a second dose of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine to four weeks from eight weeks, in the hopes of accelerating the drive for full vaccination coverage. Kim Ki-nam, leading the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s COVID-19 vaccination planning council, told a press briefing Thursday that “a stabilizing supply of vaccines has allowed us to expand eligibility and move up the timeline for second doses.” He sa

Expat turnout low due to lack of polling stations

Decline seen in real estate, cashable assets as of 2020