Prosecutors have decided not to indict the late former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, who was accused of sexually harassing his secretary, according to local reports Tuesday. The decision was reached by prosecutors at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday. Prosecutors closed the case as they no longer have the right of arraignment to file an indictment against the deceased Park. As prosecutors have closed the case, the connection of his death with the accusation will not b

South Korea’s new coronavirus cases remained below 4,000 for the second straight day as of midnight Sunday, but the number of critically ill patients continued to surpass 1,000. Two deaths in connection with the omicron variant of the coronavirus were reported on Monday. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, South Korea added 3,129 new COVID-19 cases during Sunday, raising the total to 642,207. It was down from that of the previous day, which recorded 3,833 cases

South Korea’s military said Sunday that an unidentified person crossed the eastern inter-Korean border into North Korea. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said an individual was spotted crossing the Military Demarcation Line at around 9:20 p.m. Saturday, through surveillance equipment installed in the border region. The JCS added it confirmed the person crossed the border at 10:40 p.m., some 80 minutes after the military immediately deployed its unit to locate the person. The J

Lee Seok-ki, a former left-wing lawmaker who was imprisoned for plotting a rebellion against the South Korean government in case of a war with North Korea, was released on parole Friday. Lee was released from a detention center in Daejeon with an ankle bracelet that allows officers to monitor offenders on parole. Previously, Lee refused to wear the ankle bracelet. Upon his release, Lee criticized the government’s announcement that came earlier in the day, which granted a special pardon

A special pardon for Park Geun-hye, the former president serving a 22-year prison term for corruption, has sparked a wide range of responses in South Korea’s political circles. The ruling Democratic Party appeared largely to respect the president’s decision, while lawmakers from the opposition parties voiced different opinions, mostly raising doubts about the special pardon. Democratic Party Chairman Song Young-gil announced that the party “honors” the president&rsquo

South Korea will secure 10,000 additional hospital beds for COVID-19 patients in January to counter the increasing number of critically ill coronavirus patients, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Wednesday. If the government successfully adds hospital beds, the total number could increase to 25,000. “(The government) will take preemptive measures in case the country’s daily COVID-19 cases reach 15,000,” Kim said during a COVID-19 response meeting of the Central Disaster and

The number of protests held this year has jumped, even as the country’s daily coronavirus tally and the number of critically ill patients have continued to increase throughout this year. According to the National Police Agency’s report released Tuesday, the number of demonstrations held nationwide during the January-November period reached 79,407, around 238 protests per day. Last year, the figure marked 77,453 over the same period, police said. Demonstrations particularly spik

President Moon Jae-in on Monday ordered the government to secure additional COVID-19 hospital beds, health care workers and testing centers to counter the growing numbers of COVID-19 cases. “The government will take extraordinary measures to secure enough medical capacity” to counter the resurgence of cases, Moon said in a statement released by Cheong Wa Dae. Moon also ordered concerned government agencies to designate additional public hospitals for exclusive care of COVID-19 pati

The number of critically ill patients with COVID-19 in South Korea hit an all-time high Saturday, the government announced the same day. The increasing number of critical COVID-19 cases continues to overwhelm the country’s medical capacity. The number of critical COVID-19 cases reached 1,025 as of midnight Saturday, surpassing the previous high of 1,000 reported just the previous day, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The number of hospital beds for COVID-19

South Korea has decided to reinstate toughened social distancing rules and a 9 p.m. curfew for restaurants and cafes to combat record-high surges of COVID-19 infections, top officials said Thursday. During the 16-day period between Saturday and Jan. 2, private gatherings will be capped at four people nationwide -- if they are fully vaccinated. People who are not vaccinated will only be able to dine out alone, or use takeout or delivery services, according to the reintroduced social distancing

The COVID-19 pandemic has prolonged a global economic recession, accompanied by disruptions in global supply chains that jeopardize many work environments.　 Chung Hyoung-Woo, secretary-general and CEO of the Korea Labor and Employment Service, said the ongoing economic difficulties could potentially escalate conflicts between labor and management over a wide range of matters, including wages, layoffs, safety, work hours and unionization. “The outbreak of the COVID-19 variant has cast un

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum on Wednesday held an offline meeting with parents and students to reassure the safety of vaccination for children, amid a growing backlash against the government’s inoculation policy for the adolescent population. Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae and Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong also joined the meeting held in central Seoul, where some 20 students and parents also participated. “The government has carefully r

The Institute for National Security Strategy kicked off the 2021 Global Intelligence Summit on Monday, to discuss the theme of a “Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative.” The Global Intelligence Summit is an annual conference that invites intelligence and security experts from both here and abroad to share opinions about enduring multilateral security and peace in Northeast Asia. Speakers who are invited to this year’s event include former founding director of the C

Lee Seok-gu, retired lieutenant general officer of the South Korean Army, has been appointed the country‘s ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday. The Foreign Ministry said Lee will be well suited for the position, given his decadeslong experience in the defense industry and military. After graduating from the Korea Military Academy in 1980s, Lee served as the director operations at the Army Headquarters, the commander of Capital Mechanized

South Korea‘s new COVID-19 cases again topped 7,000 on Thursday, remaining in the 7,000s on three consecutive days, government data showed Friday. “As daily cases remained in the 7,000 for three days straight, with seniors aged 60 or older accounting for 35 percent of the confirmed cases, the country’s medical capabilities are being rapidly overwhelmed,” Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said in a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, held

It has been more than 10 years since South Korea entered the OECD Development Assistance Committee, which shifted the country’s status to a key donor from a onetime recipient of foreign aid. The total volume of South Korea’s official development assistance now reaches some $2.25 billion, marking around a threefold increase over the past decade. As the amount of assistance grows, the need to improve the quality of assistance has also grown in the past years, said the Korea Labor an

United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai last month met with South Korea Minister of Employment and Labor An Kyung-duk to share the Biden administration’s worker-centered trade policy and to discuss the importance of worker rights, which has become increasingly important amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the “fourth industrial revolution” that has been much-hailed during the crisis. The pandemic has not only accelerated the fourth industrial revolution, but also sparks n

The Guro Industrial Complex, located in Guro-dong, southwestern Seoul, was once the heart of South Korea’s labor-intensive light industries back in the late 20th century.  The Guro Industrial Complex, established in 1965, was the first of its kind in South Korea. The district, which was relatively empty before, was soon filled up with manufacturing facilities and factory workers. The complex, which included textile manufacturing and other labor-intensive industries, continued to gro

South Korea is moving to strengthen immunity for police officers and improve training, following controversy sparked by a recent stabbing incident. In the incident, a pair of police officers -- a man and a woman -- were dispatched to an apartment complex in Incheon on Nov. 15 over a noise complaint. The man living on the fourth floor, who was the subject of the complaint, came down with a knife to the third floor and stabbed the woman who filed the complaint in the neck. The policewoman, who

Songwol, a South Korean towel maker, has received a presidential award for its decades-long effort to improve labor-management relations, the Korea Labor and Employment Service, Wednesday.　 Founded in 1949, Songwol is a local towel manufacturer with around 35 percent of the market share. Now a leading towel maker, Songwol was on the verge of bankruptcy during the Asian financial crisis of 1997, when South Korea sought official assistance from the International Monetary Fund. Songwol said the