South Korea is readying 60 percent more testing rooms and 30 percent more personnel for the Dec. 3 nationwide college entrance exam, as the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic looms, the Education Ministry announced Wednesday. “We now have upped our test administration system to accommodate up to 120 test-takers infected with COVID-19 and up to 3,800 potential patients under quarantine,” Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae said, before presiding over a meeting with local education chi

Three students were awarded the grand prizes at the largest English speech contest in South Korea, the International Youth Fellowship announced Tuesday. Leading up to the 20th IYF English Speech Contest held Saturday, 1,400 students across the country competed in the regional preliminary competition, and the best 74 reached the finals of the annual contest held online and broadcast live via YouTube. Each of the middle school, high school and college students competing in the finals gave a spee

Criticism is mounting over the government’s response to labor rallies held in Seoul and other major cities over the weekend, with some accusing the authorities of applying double standards in regulating rallies depending on their political inclinations. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, one of the two major umbrella labor groups in the country, and its affiliated groups held 31 rallies with 99 participants each in 61 locations throughout Seoul, while hosting 13 additional demonstr

The National Assembly on Monday began deliberations on the government’s 556 trillion won ($502.12) budget for next year. The parliament’s Special Committee on Budget and Accounts held its first meeting Monday to tackle the government’s spending requests. The Moon Jae-in administration drew up the 555.8 trillion won budget bill for 2021, up 8.5 percent from 2020’s budget, with a focus on creating new jobs and reinvigorating the economy, which is struggling as a result

More than 70 percent of Koreans are in favor of the fines imposed on violators of face mask rules that went into effect Friday, a poll showed Monday. According to a Realmeter survey of 500 adults, 72 percent of respondents said they support penalizing those violating the face mask mandate. Some 24.8 percent said the fines are excessive, and the rest replied with no opinion. Starting Friday, South Korea began imposing fines of 100,000 won ($90) on those who do not wear masks in designated publi

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea is considering whether to move 11 of the country’s 18 parliamentary committees out of Seoul as part of a plan to relocate the National Assembly to Sejong, some 120 kilometers south of the capital. The relocation is included in the party’s master plan to make Sejong the true administrative capital of the country, party officials said. It is expected to be unveiled in the coming days.　 “We will develop Seoul into an economic and financial c

A local court granted bail to Lee Man-hee, the leader of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus which was at the center of South Korea’s early coronavirus outbreak in late February through March. The Suwon District Court on Thursday accepted the bail request of Lee, 89, citing his old age, deteriorating health and low risks of him destroying evidence. His bail bond is set at 100 million won, and Lee will be required to wear an electric device for his whereabouts to be tracked real-time. The co

A court ruled in favor of a local education office that dismissed a middle school ethics teacher for showing a film with nudity to students during class. The Gwangju District Court on Thursday dismissed a complaint from Bae-Lee Sang-heun filed against the Gwangju educational authority, which asked for the cancellation of his dismissal from a teaching position. The court said the dismissal is valid, as some students felt sexually offended and disturbed by the screening, and that Bae-Lee did no

The government said Thursday that it would work to ensure shorter working hours for delivery workers following a recent series of courier deaths, allegedly from overwork, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Labor Ministry and the Transport Ministry announced in a joint press briefing that the government will consult with logistics companies, push for legislative revisions and introduce improved workplace guidelines to protect couriers. “A limit to quantitative growth (of the e-commerce and

Social distancing protocols and heightened attention toward person hygiene from prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in sharply lower cases of other infectious diseases, a study found Wednesday. According to a study led by Dr. Kang Ji-man, a pediatrics professor at Yonsei University Severance Hospital, measures introduced to reduce the spread of COVID-19 have helped people avoid other infectious diseases such as chicken pox, measles and mumps. From February to July this year, South Korea

The population of foreign residents in South Korea has decentralized from Seoul to other parts of the country, and has become more diverse in terms of nationality, a study said Wednesday. According to researchers at Chonnam National University, Seoul was home to 30.8 percent of foreigners residing in Korea in 2010, but its share dropped to 22.7 percent in 2018. Over the same period, the proportion of foreign residents living in Gyeonggi Province grew from 30.3 percent to 33.8 percent. The tw

The South Korean national who operated the world’s largest child pornography website remains free, after a local court denied an arrest warrant for him late Monday night. The Seoul Central District Court denied the request from the prosecution on Monday, as the accused, Son Jong-woo, has been closely cooperating with the investigation and is deemed unlikely to flee or destroy evidence. “The suspect has acknowledged his crimes, and much of the basic evidence has been compiled alread

A flight attendant took her own life after experiencing financial difficulties stemming from the coronavirus outbreak, the police said Sunday. According to the Seoul Gangseo Police Station, the woman in her 20s was found dead in her studio apartment in Gangseo-gu, western Seoul, Saturday. There were no signs of foul play, the police said. It was reported that the deceased had been on unpaid leave for months and had encountered financial difficulties. As air travel sharply contracted due to th

South Korea will prepare extra face masks for public places, as it is set to begin imposing fines for mask rule violations starting Friday. Libraries, train stations, express bus terminals, airports and other public facilities are required to have face masks ready for sale or available for free, under guidelines from the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters. Medical facilities, restaurants, athletic centers, cram schools and distribution centers will also be asked to offer

Seoul High Court on Friday upheld the earlier sentence of a two-year imprisonment for South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo, nearly two years after he was convicted of conspiring to manipulate online opinions in favor of President Moon Jae-in during his election campaign. The Seoul High Court upheld the lower court’s ruling on Kim for colluding with Kim Dong-won, a blogger better known as “Druking“, to illegally manipulate online opinion. The lower court previously f

South Korea on Friday saw a void in child care services across the country following a mass one-day strike by thousands of after-school care attendants. More than 6,000 after-school care workers launched a nationwide strike Friday in protest of proposed changes to school child care management and their employment status, causing some disruption in child care services. The workers - part of a coalition of non-regular school workers - staged rallies in front of the Ministry of Education in Sejon

Prosecutors demanded a seven-year prison sentence for the wife of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, who stands accused of forging school documents and making illegal investments in a private equity fund. The Seoul Central District Court on Thursday held the final hearing in the trial of Chung Kyung-sim, a professor at Dongyang University who has been indicted on 11 charges, including falsifying official documents, obstruction of business, insider trading, embezzlement and withholding evidence.

Police, after investigating four prosecutors accused of helping former Vice Justice Minister Kim Hak-ui escape justice in a sexual bribery scandal, said Thursday they could not determine whether the public prosecutors committed a crime. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Sophisticated Crime Investigation Division wrapped up their probe and sent the case to the prosecution late last month, with a recommendation that the four not be indicted. Investigators at the division had looked

More than 6,000 after-school care attendants are expected to launch a strike Friday in protest against proposed changes to school child care management and their employment status, sparking fears of a major disruption in child care services. A coalition of nonregular school workers said in a press briefing Thursday that more than half of its 12,000 members working as care workers at schools are expected to join the one-day strike. The collective action is aimed at blocking a legislative revi

Thousands of after-school care attendants are threatening a one-day strike Friday, demanding better working conditions. A coalition of nonregular school workers announced Wednesday that more than a quarter of its 13,000 members working as after-school care providers are expected to join the walkout. That is about 3,300 workers at 2,200 elementary schools nationwide. The planned action is to block a legislative revision that would make after-school care a community-level project planned and ma