A hike in the number of novel coronavirus patients linked to a club-goer in Itaewon, a nightlife district in Seoul, has put many South Koreans and health authorities on edge, officials said Friday. The club-goer residing in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province is estimated to have come into contact with at least 1,500 people during his roughly four-hour long club hopping on May 2, sparking renewed health concerns over a potential mass infection amid the country’s transition to relaxed “everyd

The trial began in Seoul in a lawsuit involving former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, his Korean wife and her ex-husband. During the first court hearing at the Seoul Family Court on Thursday, the Korean man whose identity has been withheld repeated his claim that the former German leader was responsible for the failure of his marriage. He is seeking 100 million won ($82,000) in compensation. Yonhap News Agency quoted the plaintiff’s proxy as saying at the court, “The marri

The cost of COVID-19 treatment averages between some 3.3 million ($2,690) and 70 million won per patient, differing on the severity of illness, National Health Insurance, South Korea’s public insurance institution, said Thursday. It costs from 3.3 million won to 4.7 million won to treat a mild case, from virus testing to isolation to treatment at a hospital, according to the institution’s approximation based on information it received from some 20 general hospitals and treating vir

  Exploring unchartered territories is a daunting path for anyone, but fear of the unknown has not held back South Korean explorer Kim Hyeon-gug, 52, from traversing Eurasia four times. In his latest voyage from May-October, Kim, a law graduate-turned-explorer, ventured over 20,000 kilometers on his motorcycle, going from Busan to Siberia before heading to Amsterdam. He also traveled the area in 1996, 2014 and 2017. “It is vital for export-dependent South Korea to secure various log

With South Korea set to officially end stringent social distancing Wednesday, health authorities on Tuesday expressed both caution and confidence on the country’s fight against COVID-19. Kwon Joon-wook, deputy director at the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said officials were on edge over the possibility that the pathogen is spreading silently somewhere undetected. But even if that turns out to be true, authorities are prepared more than ever before to handle it, he

Male and female students experience vastly different levels of stress stemming from physical appearance, a survey by the Seoul City government showed Monday. In the survey commission by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and conducted by the Seoul Foundation of Women and Family, 6,847 combined youth and guardians under the age of 18 residing in the capital were asked a slew of questions on when they felt discriminated against and the source of their stress, among other questions, from Oct. 2 t

South Korea’s infectious disease experts said Thursday that dead virus fragments were the likely cause of over 260 people here testing positive again for the novel coronavirus days and even weeks after marking full recoveries. Oh Myoung-don, who leads the central clinical committee for emerging disease control, said the committee members found little reason to believe that those cases could be COVID-19 reinfections or reactivations, which would have made global efforts to contain the vi

South Korea’s health officials said the country was still far from completely stemming the novel coronavirus and that the upcoming long weekend will be another challenge in keeping the virus curve as flat as it is now. More than 2 in every 5 transmissions of the coronavirus could occur while the original patient is in the early stages of the infection, officials said Tuesday. “Besides asymptomatic cases, COVID-19 is highly infectious at least two days prior to showing symptoms, a

Kim Chong-in, a veteran politician who joined the party to lead its election campaign, was made interim leader of the main opposition United Future Party during a party meeting Friday. The development comes amid objection from conservative heavyweights who raised concerns over granting Kim excessive authority, as the party struggles to restore itself after a crushing defeat in the general election. After days of conflict on the how much power to give Kim, the party and the economist-turned-

A television journalist has been suspended due to his alleged links to the Telegram sex abuse chatroom case, with the police looking into the case, related officials said Saturday. The journalist with local broadcaster MBC, who allegedly paid 700,000 won ($563) to access the sex crime chatroom, was reportedly booked by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency for his involvement. The police said they “cannot give a confirmation” on the matter. The police are believed to have caught

Korean health authorities said Thursday they were beefing up medical equipment against a potential massive coronavirus outbreak, saying the country could face another round worse than the initial outbreak in Daegu. “Right now we have no shortage of ecmo (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) devices and quarantine beds,” Yoon Tae-ho, a senior Health Ministry official, said at a daily virus update. “But we’re preparing for the possibility of a bigger outbreak (than happe

South Korea’s health authorities said Wednesday that patients who test positive for the novel coronavirus after making a full recovery may have little or no chance of infecting others. The center has completed in-depth examinations of six relapse cases and in all of them, the virus was detected in the patient’s body in polymerase chain reaction testing, widely used for COVID-19 diagnosis. But when the pathogen was separated out and cultivated, nothing came out, according to the Kor

  South Korea on Wednesday saw 11 new COVID-19 patients, reporting a daily increase of around 10 for the fifth day in a row, health authorities said. With the modest rise, Korea’s total number of virus patients came to 10,694 people as of Wednesday at 12:01 a.m., according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The virus claimed the life of one more person, putting the number of deaths here at 238. Three new cases were from Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province co

A second wave of coronavirus infections appears inevitable and South Korea will do everything necessary to prepare for it, the country’s health authorities said Tuesday. Saying that the citizens should take pride in the flattened virus curve, adding only nine new cases in the past 24 hours, Kwon Jun-wook, deputy director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also revealed that four frontline medical staff - all nurses -- had contracted the virus while treating COVID-1

South Korea’s daily COVID-19 tally was in the single digits Tuesday, hovering around 10 for the fourth day in a row, health authorities said. Nine people were officially sickened by COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases to date to 10,683 as of Tuesday at 12:01 a.m., according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One patient died, putting the death toll at 237. Five of the new patients were from overseas. Four cases were reported in the capital region -- two in

Marriage immigrants and permanent residents in Gyeonggi Province are eligible to receive an income supplement to help them navigate the economic fallout from the novel coronavirus outbreak, province officials said Monday. Since the start of April, the province has doled out disaster relief in the amount of 100,000 won ($81.90) per person to South Korean citizens, but not to foreigners. The latest decision will expand the scope of beneficiaries to include an estimated 48,700 foreign spouses a

South Korea seems to have the novel coronavirus pretty much under control right now, reporting 13 new infections Monday. But a top official in the country’s virus fight said the pathogen could strike the country again in winter. “We believe there is a possibility the virus could come and go for the long-term or a number of years,” Jeong Eun-kyeong, chief of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a daily briefing. She said the virus is likely to r

South Korea confirmed 13 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Monday, showing a slight increase from the single-digit daily tally it reported a day earlier, health authorities said. With the new patients -- seven from overseas and six domestic -- the country’s total COVID-19 cases rose to 10,674, while two more people died, putting the death toll at 236 as of Monday 12:01 a.m., according to the Korea Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. The number of people who have recovered a

Daily virus infections dropped to the single digit for the first time in 61 days in South Korea on Sunday, but authorities extended a partially eased social distancing campaign until early May, urging the public not to let their guard down yet. The novel coronavirus’s marked slowdown is a result of stringent social distancing earlier, but the past week’s respite with the nationwide election, Easter services and apparently increased social contact could lead to a second wave of infec

Political heavyweight Na Kyung-won of the main opposition party faced a crushing blow in Seoul’s Dongjak district against former judge Lee Su-jin of the ruling party, according to election results Thursday. According to the National Election Commission, political newcomer Lee edged out four-term lawmaker Na, grabbing 61,407 votes, or 52.1 percent of the total. Na won 53,026 votes. Na has served as floor leader of United Future Party and is considered one of the conservative bloc’s