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Korea set to begin COVID-19 shots for businessmen traveling overseas

gettyimagesbankSouth Korea will start coronavirus vaccinations for people traveling overseas to do business starting next month, the industry ministry said Wednesday.South Koreans planning on essential overseas business trips to high-risk countries should apply for new coronavirus shots in advance in order to get vaccinated.The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) will give the go-ahead for the inoculation of businesspeople who visit countries with massive infections or outbreaks of COVID-19 variants.Coronavirus jabs will also be administered to South Koreans when their visiting countries or organizations require a certificate of vaccination.The ministry said it had received a total of 632 applications for COVID-19 shots from local businesspeople for eight days from March 17.Vaccination will kick off in April after the industry and 12 other government agencies complete the deliberation process and the KDCA gives the green light, it added.South Korea is ramping up efforts to bring the new coronavirus under control. Last week, AstraZeneca COVID-19 shots for elderly citize

Mar 31, 2021
Korea set to begin COVID-19 shots for businessmen traveling overseas

New COVID-19 cases back above 500 as virus spread accelerates

A woman wearing a face mask as a precaution against the coronavirus takes a photograph under blooming cherry blossoms in Seoul, March 30. APSouth Korea's daily new coronavirus cases bounced back above 500 on Wednesday, in a sign that virus infections are accelerating across the country as people's movement increases amid spring weather. The country reported 506 more COVID-19 cases, including 491 local infections, raising the total caseload to 103,088, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. It marked the highest daily tally in four days. The country added two more deaths from COVID-19, increasing the total to 1,731.In South Korea, a third wave of infections, which began in mid-November last year, has shown little signs of slowing down, with the nation reporting daily cases that have hovered around 400 over the past week.Ahead of the Easter weekend and by-elections next week, health authorities have urged people to comply with distancing rules. To contain the continued rise in new infections, health authorities extended the current Level 2 social distancing rules

Mar 31, 2021
New COVID-19 cases back above 500 as virus spread accelerates

Debate surfaces over single mom by choice Sayuri's appearance on childcare-themed TV program

Television personality Sayuri, who became a single mother by choice, appears in “The Return of Superman,” a childcare-themed TV program on KBS, the broadcaster announced last week. Screenshot from KBSBy Jung Da-min After a local TV program announced last week that television personality Sayuri, who became an unwed mother by choice, would join the program, controversies have risen over the appropriateness of her appearance on the childcare-themed TV program. Debates have especially been fueled after someone petitioned the Cheong Wa Dae website asking the government to ban her appearance on the program entitled, “The Return of Superman,” saying that the public broadcaster KBS should not bring a single mother by choice onto the program because it could encourage an “abnormal” concept of family.Sayuri, the Korea-based Japanese entertainer gave birth to a son last November through artificial insemination with donor sperm.Her decision to have a child outside of marriage has since stirred debate over women's right to choose to be a single mother in Korea,

Mar 30, 2021
Debate surfaces over single mom by choice Sayuri's appearance on childcare-themed TV program

Korea faces setbacks in securing COVID-19 vaccines, achieving herd immunity by Nov.

A medical worker puts boxes of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine in a freezer at a vaccination center in Seongdong District, Seoul, Tuesday. The vaccines will be administered to elderly citizens aged 75 or older. YonhapBy Jun Ji-hyeKorea is facing possible setbacks in carrying out its COVID-19 vaccination program as planned, due to unstable supply of vaccines amid growing competition between countries to secure the products.India, a major supplier of the AstraZeneca vaccine, has decided to curtail exports of the vaccines to meet domestic demand as infections have been rising in the country, triggering difficulties for many other nations in securing vaccines, according to Reuters.In addition, Novavax has also reportedly delayed the signing of a contract with the European Union to supply its vaccines, citing a lack of some raw materials. Health authorities here are paying keen attention to the possibility that these situations could exert an adverse influence on the country's vaccination program, which began on Feb. 26 with an aim of administering vaccines to 12 million people by the first hal

Mar 30, 2021By Jun Ji-hye
Korea faces setbacks in securing COVID-19 vaccines, achieving herd immunity by Nov.

Korea's global image tarnished due to marginalization of foreigners, LGBT

People stand in line at a temporary COVID-19 testing center set up for foreign workers in Geumcheon District, Seoul, March 21. YonhapGov't faces growing criticism over poor response to minority human rights issuesBy Lee Hyo-jin South Korea, a country with an advanced democracy in terms of guaranteeing basic political freedoms and civil liberties, generally respects the individual political and civil rights of its citizens, offering protection of their fundamental human rights. However, discrimination against marginalized groups such as sexual minorities, foreigners, women and the disabled remains severe inside the country. Human rights activists in and outside of the country have been criticizing the government for showing very little effort to address a recent series of human rights violation issues concerning various minorities.Outcry of discrimination over mandatory COVID-19 testing order for foreign nationalsBeginning with the Gyeonggi provincial government's mandatory coronavirus testing order for all foreign workers, implemented on March 8, other local governments around the co

Mar 30, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin
Korea's global image tarnished due to marginalization of foreigners, LGBT

10 Uzbek roommates test positive for coronavirus in Jeungpyeong

gettyimagesbankTen Uzbek nationals have tested positive for the new coronavirus while living together in the central county of Jeungpyeong, officials here said Tuesday. According to government officials of North Chungcheong Province and Jeungpyeong County, the first case of the cluster infection involved a 20-something-year-old college student of Uzbek nationality who tested positive for COVID-19 Monday morning.The student was sharing a house with 10 other roommates from the central Asian country, all in their 20s, in Jeungpyeong, about 100 kilometers southeast of Seoul. The student, enrolled at a university in the greater Seoul area, got tested for the virus Sunday after showing symptoms, according to the officials.Following the confirmation of the initial case, the 10 roommates underwent virus tests, and the results for nine of them came back positive Monday afternoon.Five of the additionally confirmed had shown COVID-19 symptoms, such as coughing or headache, according to the officials.The patients will be transported to hospitals for treatment, while the one uninfected roommate w

Mar 30, 2021
10 Uzbek roommates test positive for coronavirus in Jeungpyeong

New virus cases back above 400 as cluster infections continue

People wearing face masks as a precaution against the coronavirus, sit on a bench while maintaining social distancing at a park in Seoul, March 29. APSouth Korea's daily new coronavirus cases rose above 400 again on Tuesday as a string of cluster infections continued to emerge at various facilities and workplaces nationwide. The country reported 447 more COVID-19 cases, including 429 local infections, raising the total caseload to 102,582, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.The country added three more deaths from COVID-19, increasing the total to 1,729.In South Korea, a third wave of infections, which began in mid-November last year, has shown little signs of slowing down, with the nation reporting daily cases that have hovered around 400 over the past week.Ahead of the Easter weekend and by-elections next week, health authorities have urged people to comply with distancing rules. To contain the continued rise in new infections, health authorities extended the current Level 2 social distancing rules in the greater Seoul area, where more than half of the coun

Mar 30, 2021
New virus cases back above 400 as cluster infections continue

Korea reports 40 more cases of COVID-19 variants; total now at 289

A woman wearing a glove as a precaution against the coronavirus holds a vial for her test as she waits in a line at a coronavirus testing site in Seoul, March 22. APSouth Korea on Monday reported 40 more new cases of COVID-19 variants, including 22 local infections, amid growing woes over the spread of more transmissible strains.Of the additional cases, 38 people were confirmed to have been infected with the coronavirus variant believed to have originated in Britain, followed by the South Africa variant with two cases, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).South Korean nationals accounted for 29 of the newly added variant cases.Variant cases were identified from numerous locations, ranging from an automobile firm in Ulsan, 414 kilometers south of Seoul, to a private gathering south of Seoul.The total number of the three types of variant cases confirmed here since October last year came to 289. So far, variants traced to Britain accounted for 249, followed by South Africa with 32 and Brazil with eight.The country has been raising its guard against the tra

Mar 29, 2021
Korea reports 40 more cases of COVID-19 variants; total now at 289

New virus cases again back below 400 on fewer tests

People wait in lines to receive COVID-19 tests at a makeshift testing center near Seoul Station in central Seoul, Monday. YonhapSouth Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell back below 400 on Monday due to fewer tests over the weekend, but health authorities warned of the continued emergence of cluster infections at religious facilities and workplaces. The country reported 384 more COVID-19 cases, including 370 local infections, raising the total caseload to 102,141, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.The country added four more deaths from COVID-19, increasing the total to 1,726.In South Korea, a third wave of infections, which began in mid-November last year, has shown little signs of slowing down, with the nation reporting daily cases that have hovered around 400 over the past week.Health authorities have urged people to comply with containment rules as people's movements are expected to increase amid spring weather. To contain the continued rise in new infections, health authorities extended the current Level 2 social distancing rules in the greater Seou

Mar 29, 2021
New virus cases again back below 400 on fewer tests

Rescue dogs to get better medical treatment

gettyimagesbankBy Jun Ji-hyeRescue dogs that have been playing important roles for emergency teams nationwide will receive more systematic medical treatment and healthcare services through an agreement between the National 119 Rescue Headquarters and the Armed Force Medical Science Research Institute.The National Fire Agency said Sunday that the two institutes signed the agreement on March 25.Rescue dogs have been specially trained to perform duties such as finding people in scenes of fires or tracking down missing persons trapped in natural disaster areas or deep within mountainous areas.The Armed Forces Medical Science Research Institute is based under the Armed Forces Medical Command.Under the agreement, the rescue headquarters and the research institute will enhance their cooperation in healthcare and medical treatment for rescue dogs and share relevant documents and information.So far, privately run animal hospitals have been contracted to treat rescue dogs, the fire agency said, noting that the latest agreement will enable the dogs to receive more systematic healthcare and trea

Mar 29, 2021By Jun Ji-hye
Rescue dogs to get better medical treatment
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