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Additional batch of Moderna vaccines arrives in Korea

About 1.26 million doses of coronavirus vaccines produced by Moderna Inc. are unloaded from an airplane at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on Sunday. YonhapOver 1.2 million doses of coronavirus vaccines produced by Moderna arrived in South Korea on Sunday following a supply disruption at the U.S. pharmaceutical company that drew protest from Seoul, which is striving to vaccinate its people against the pandemic.An airplane carrying about 1.26 million doses of Moderna vaccines landed at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, at around 3:30 p.m., according to officials. This marks the fourth batch of Moderna vaccines that has arrived here since the U.S. drug company promised to supply 7 million doses last month.Moderna earlier planned to supply 8.5 million doses of vaccines to South Korea in August but notified Seoul of an adjustment in which the amount would be more than halved due to a production issue. South Korea sent a delegation to its headquarters in mid-August in protest, and Moderna promised to send 7 million doses of vaccines in the following two weeks.Mod

Sep 5, 2021
Additional batch of Moderna vaccines arrives in Korea

Nearly 60% of Koreans have received at least one shot of COVID-19 vaccine

Visitors stand on an observation deck beneath the Seoul Tower with a view of residential and commercial buildings in Seoul, Sept. 3. AFP-YonhapOver 30 million South Koreans have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine as of Sunday, health authorities said, as the vaccine rollout is gaining speed among the general public. Slightly more than 30 million people have been inoculated with their first vaccine shots as of 11:15 a.m., accounting for around 58 percent of the country's 52 million population, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.A total of 17.7 million, or 34.6 percent of the total population, have been fully vaccinated since the inoculations began on Feb. 26, the KDCA said.The country's inoculations topped the 10 million mark on June 10, breached 20 million on Aug. 3, and the vaccination rate has been rising as adults aged between 18 and 49 have started getting their shots since Aug. 26.The government aims to vaccinate at least 36 million, or 70 percent of the total, by the Chuseok holiday, which falls on Sept. 20-22 this year, under the goal of cr

Sep 5, 2021
Nearly 60% of Koreans have received at least one shot of COVID-19 vaccine

Women are most frequent target of online hate speech in Korea: survey

gettyimagesbankOver 8 out of 10 South Koreans have encountered hate speech against women online, a survey showed Sunday.According to the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) survey on 1,200 people aged 15 and older from May 20-25, 80.4 percent of the respondents said they have read malicious online comments targeted at women. Hate speech against people from certain regions, feminists and the elderly came after at 76.9 percent, 76.8 percent and 72.5 percent, respectively. Other online targets included men, sexual minorities and the disabled. In real life, seniors were the most frequently attacked group at 69.2 percent, followed by people from certain regions at 68.9 percent and women at 67.4 percent. Over 60 percent of the respondents also said they saw hateful comments against feminists, the disabled and sexual minorities. A majority of the respondents thought hate speech appeared to be more serious online than in real life.Online news articles and their comment sections were cited as the biggest source of hate speech. Hateful comments were also frequently seen across va

Sep 5, 2021
Women are most frequent target of online hate speech in Korea: survey

New virus cases dip to 1,400s on fewer tests; tough restrictions extended

A woman wearing a face mask walks by signs for the precaution against the coronavirus at a park in Seoul, Sept. 2. AP-YonhapSouth Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell to the 1,400s on Sunday due to fewer tests over the weekend, while health authorities extended the tough restrictions ahead of a major national holiday.The country added 1,490 more COVID-19 cases, including 1,461 local infections, raising the total caseload to 260,403, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).The latest tally is down from 1,804 on Saturday and 1,709 on Friday. Daily cases have stayed above 1,000 for the last two months.The country added six more deaths from COVID-19, raising the death toll to 2,321.Health authorities have been stepping up anti-virus efforts as the pandemic has shown few signs of abating due in large part to the spread of more transmissible COVID-19 strains, including the delta variant.Ahead of the coming five-day weekend that includes Chuseok, the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving, the government decided to keep the current distancing measures ― Level 4 in

Sep 5, 2021
New virus cases dip to 1,400s on fewer tests; tough restrictions extended

Questionable vaccines administered to 140 people at Seoul hospital

Vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine / Reuters-YonhapAs many as 140 people at a general hospital in Seoul were given shots last week of questionable Pfizer vaccines that had passed or were nearing their recommended vaccination use deadline after being thawed out, health officials said Saturday.According to the officials, Korea University Guro Hospital in southern Seoul used Pfizer vaccines that came close to or exceeded the deadline for use after thawing, during vaccinations conducted on Aug. 26 and 27.About 140 people received the questionable vaccines that were supposed to be discarded, they said, adding some of them visited the emergency room later after having abnormal reactions.The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency is reportedly debating whether to re-vaccinate the recipients due to concern the possibly problematic vaccines may not be effective.Officials said Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccines should be stored frozen and thawed in a refrigerator or at room temperature before use. (Yonhap)

Sep 4, 2021
Questionable vaccines administered to 140 people at Seoul hospital

New virus cases rise above 1,800 amid tight vigilance

Digital screens showing precautionary measures to take against COVID-19 are seen on a subway train in Seoul, Sept. 3. AP-YonhapDaily new COVID-19 cases rose above 1,800, Friday, though the country kept tight vigilance with the extension of stringent social distancing measures ahead of a major national holiday.The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 1,804 more coronavirus infections, including 1,776 local ones, raising the total caseload to 258,913.The latest tally is up from 1,709 reported for Thursday ― daily new cases have stayed above 1,000 for the last two months.Seven more deaths from COVID-19 were recorded, raising the toll to 2,315, the KDCA said, with a fatality rate of 0.89 percent.The health authorities have been stepping up anti-virus efforts as the pandemic has shown few signs of abating due in large part to the spread of more transmissible COVID-19 strains, including the Delta variant.Ahead of Chuseok, the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving, which takes place from Sept. 18 to 22, the government decided to keep its current distancing measures ― Leve

Sep 4, 2021
New virus cases rise above 1,800 amid tight vigilance

Bill proposed to ban discrimination against multicultural families

Rep. Kwon In-sook of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea / Korea Times file.By Lee Hae-rinA bill to ban discrimination against multicultural families and support their settlement here in a financial and administrative manner has been proposed. Rep. Kwon In-sook of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and fellow DPK lawmakers introduced the bill, Friday, which will revise the Multicultural Family Support Act.The current act does not have a provision that prohibits discrimination against multicultural families and there is no basis for evaluating the differentiation of multicultural policies, drawing flak for its failure to enhance multicultural acceptance. The revised bill includes an anti-discrimination clause, and obligates the government and local municipalities to evaluate and enhance their multicultural policies with respect to discrimination.Also, the current act lacks a legal basis to provide government aid for establishing and running multicultural family support centers. The revision allows multicultural family support centers to apply for government funds. There are 2

Sep 3, 2021By Lee Hae-rin
Bill proposed to ban discrimination against multicultural families

Gov't has long way to go to implement agreement with healthcare workers' union

Na Soon-ja, left, the head of the Korean Health and Medical Workers' Union, and Kwon Deok-cheol, the minister of health and welfare, hold their documented agreement after their last-ditch negotiations at the Korea Institute for Healthcare Accreditation in Seoul, Thursday. YonhapBy Jun Ji-hyeThe government is facing a pile of tasks to implement an agreement it reached with unionized healthcare workers to improve their working conditions amid their worsening burnout and fatigue due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic that began early last year. Though the agreement stopped the workers' plan to go on a general strike, the possibility remains that conflict between the two sides could arise again at any time during the process of implementing the agreement, which could deal a heavy blow to the country's medical system amid no signs of a slowdown in coronavirus infections.The Korean Health and Medical Workers' Union, associated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, called off their planned strike, Thursday, just about five hours before the strike was set to begin, as they reached t

Sep 3, 2021By Jun Ji-hye
Gov't has long way to go to implement agreement with healthcare workers' union

Gov't eases COVID-19 restrictions for Chuseok holiday

An individual gets tested for the coronavirus at a testing center near Seoul Station, Friday. Yonhap Eased distancing measures feared to worsen COVID-19 situation By Lee Hyo-jin The government has decided to ease private gathering bans for the upcoming Chuseok holiday amid growing complaints from small business owners ― although the current social distancing measures will be extended for four more weeks until Oct. 3. The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters announced Friday a set of special virus control measures to be applied during the five-day weekend. The national holiday runs from Sept.18 through 22, during which millions of people are expected to travel across the country to visit their families and relatives.According to the government, Seoul and its surrounding areas will remain under the current social distancing measures ― Level 4, while Level 3 will continue in the rest of the country.Under the measures, from Sept 17 to 23, up to eight

Sep 3, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin
Gov't eases COVID-19 restrictions for Chuseok holiday

Korea detects 3 'Mu' variant cases for first time

In this Aug. 3 file photo, foreign arrivals follow instructions from health care workers at Incheon International Airport. YonhapSouth Korea has confirmed the country's first cases of a coronavirus strain called "Mu" from three patients, health authorities said Friday.The variant, which was first identified in Colombia, was confirmed from three imported cases from Mexico, United States and Colombia, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said, without providing further details.The World Health Organization earlier said the Mu variant has been detected in 39 countries so far, labeling it as a "variant of concern" and joining the ranks of the Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta variants of the virus. The KDCA said it will continue to monitor such variants from imported cases. (Yonhap)

Sep 3, 2021
Korea detects 3 'Mu' variant cases for first time
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