South Korea - The Korea Times

Gov't to keep import ban on seafood from regions near Fukushima

Vice Fisheries Minister Park Sung-hoon, center, speaks during a press briefing on the water being discharged into the ocean from the Fukushima nuclear plant at the administrative building in central Seoul, Sept. 13. YonhapThe government has received no requests from Tokyo to expand imports of Japanese seafood and plans to maintain the import ban as is, officials said Wednesday, denying a news report that Japan is trying to increase seafood exports to Korea.Vice Oceans Minister Park Sung-hoon made the remark when asked of a report saying state-backed Japan External Trade Organization included Korea among the list of countries to increase seafood exports, as part of the country's efforts to bolster its seafood industry."The import ban on seafood produced in eight prefectures near Fukushima will remain in place without exceptions," Park said during the government's daily briefing. "Imported seafood that can pose harm to people's safety and health will never enter" the country.The media report comes as the government of Japan has recently been seeking new trade routes for its seafood, af

Sep 13, 2023

Gov't to keep import ban on seafood from regions near Fukushima

Health ministry to review medical law system to prevent controversy over nursing act

Second Deputy Health Minister Park Min-soo speaks during a press conference with foreign media in Seoul, Tuesday, in this photo provided by the ministry. YonhapThe South Korean government will start the process to review the country's unitary medial law system that covers the entire health professional, including doctors and nurses, in follow-up measures against a controversial nursing act that had rocked the local medical community, a vice health minister said Tuesday.The nursing act, which passed the parliament led by the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) in April, was designed to clarify the roles and responsibilities of nurses and nursing assistants separately from other experts, such as medical doctors, dentists and Korean medicine doctors, described in the Medical Service Act. The bill also includes phrases that allow nurses to open nursing homes and care centers in local communities.The law had divided the medical circles for months, with nurses, doctors and other health care workers, including nursing assistants and radiological technologists, staging multiple rallies and

Sep 12, 2023

Health ministry to review medical law system to prevent controversy over nursing act

Civic group's marches against Fukushima water release permitted near presidential office

A protest rally is in progress in central Seoul on Sept. 2 against Japan's release of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant. YonhapA Seoul court on Friday ruled in favor of a civic group seeking to reverse a police decision to partially ban its plan to march toward the presidential office in protest against Japan's release of treated radioactive water.A civic group, called Collective Action Against Japan's Release of Contaminated Radioactive Water had filed a notification of its plan to stage protest marches toward the presidential office in Yongsan in central Seoul on Saturday and the two following Saturdays.The police, however, partially forbade the march plans on the grounds that they could create traffic jams and come into conflict with other organizations' rallies filed in advance.The civic group has since filed a case to reverse the decision. The Seoul Administrative Court ruled to permit the group to march to a 1.4-kilometer distance from the presidential office, which encompasses Samgakji Station, saying the police ban constitutes an "exces

Sep 8, 2023

Civic group's marches against Fukushima water release permitted near presidential office

Korea-made space payload ready to join NASA's Artemis project

A part of the lunar space environment monitor (LUSEM) is seen in this photo provided by the Ministry of Science and ICT. YonhapKorea's homegrown lunar monitoring payload, which will carry out science experiments as part of the U.S. moon exploration Artemis program, is ready to join the unmanned space mission next year, the science ministry said Monday. The lunar space environment monitor (LUSEM), developed by the state-run Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), has been completed and will be headed to the headquarters of Intuitive Machines Inc. in Houston, Texas, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT.LUSEM will be loaded on Intuitive Machines' lunar lander, the Nova-C, in 2024 as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS), to send small robotic landers and rovers with a few science payloads to the surface of the moon through commercial space transportation services to support Artemis.This illustration provided by the Ministry of Science and ICT shows LUSEM operating on the moon. YonhapLUSEM, a sensor that detects high-energy particles with 50 keV, or

Sep 4, 2023

Korea-made space payload ready to join NASA's Artemis project

Accessibility gap in ERs, ICUs widens between Seoul, remote regions

gettyimagesbankBy Jun Ji-hyeNine in 10 Seoul residents managed to visit an emergency room (ER) within an hour after an emergency situation occurred, according to recent data. But the ratio for rural and regional areas was nearly half that, showing a serious gap in ER accessibility between the capital and regions.According to the statistics published on Sunday by the National Medical Center, the large gap was found in not only ER accessibility but also other medical services such as the use of high-level general hospitals and intensive care units (ICU). The statistics showed that the ratio of visiting an ER within an hour on average was tallied at 72.8 percent as of 2021. The figure stood at 90.3 percent in Seoul, 86.7 percent in Incheon and 77.6 percent in Gyeonggi Province.Among cities outside the greater Seoul area, Daegu, Gwangju and Busan saw higher figures than the average at 91.1 percent, 89.2 percent and 85 percent, respectively. On the other hand, the figures for South Jeolla Province, North Gyeongsang Province and Gangwon Province were well below the average at 51.7 percent,

Sep 4, 2023By Jun Ji-hye

Accessibility gap in ERs, ICUs widens between Seoul, remote regions

Korean traveler dies from dengue fever after trip to Bangladesh; authorities urge caution

GettyimagesbankKorea's foreign ministry on Friday urged travelers to take precautions against dengue fever after a citizen recently died from the virus following a trip to Bangladesh.The Korean national, who frequently visited Bangladesh and Africa for business purposes, was hospitalized at a local hospital in Bangladesh after showing symptoms on Aug. 22 but died two days later, according to the ministry and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).A total of 107 people in Korea have contracted dengue fever this year as of Aug. 26, more than tripling in number than that of the same period last year. All infections were imported cases from abroad, and no dengue fever-related deaths have been reported within the country as of now, health authorities said.The ministry and the KDCA advised travelers to be equipped with mosquito repellents and related gear when traveling to Southeast Asia and South Asia, where dengue fever cases saw a surge this year due to rising temperatures and humidity. (Yonhap)

Sep 1, 2023

Korean traveler dies from dengue fever after trip to Bangladesh; authorities urge caution

Seoul Paik Hospital closes down after 82 years

Medical staff and other employees of Inje University Seoul Paik Hospital shed tears at the building's entrance, Thursday, as the hospital closed its doors permanently. YonhapLegal battle still ongoing as employees seek to suspend shutdown decisionBy Jun Ji-hyeInje University Seoul Paik Hospital ended all work activities including the operation of its emergency room and wards, as it closed its doors permanently on Thursday due to mounting losses.The closure put an end to the hospital's 82-year history, which began after the late Paik In-je, a pioneer of modern Korean medicine, founded the Paik Inje Surgical Clinic in 1941, which later became the current hospital. However, the closure has caused ongoing internal conflicts around a group of professors working at the hospital and teaching at Inje University who have resisted the Inje Educational Foundation's decision to shut down the facility.“We cannot accept the shutdown,” the professors said in their statement. “Those involved in illegal and unfair activities during the decision-making process should all be punished.

Aug 31, 2023By Jun Ji-hye

Seoul Paik Hospital closes down after 82 years

Korea downgrades COVID-19 to lowest infection level

People wait in line to receive tests at a makeshift COVID-19 testing station in Daegu, Aug. 23. YonhapThe infection level of COVID-19 was reduced to the lowest Class 4, on a level with seasonal flu, in Korea on Thursday as part of the country's effort to fully return to a pre-pandemic level, health authorities said.The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said its COVID-19 infection level transition measures, aimed at fully transitioning the medical system to a normal state, took effect the same day.Under the measures, the coronavirus, which had been categorized as Class 2 along with tuberculosis, measles and cholera, became grouped with Class 4 infectious diseases like influenza and hand, foot and mouth disease. COVID-19 was categorized as Class 1 in January 2020 and lowered to the second level in April last year.Starting Thursday, the government discontinued the daily tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases, which has been in place since the outbreak of the pandemic.Infectious diseases in the fourth group are monitored mainly by designated sampling centers, while Class 2 di

Aug 31, 2023

Korea downgrades COVID-19 to lowest infection level

Korea begins intensive radiation tests on salt fields over Fukushima concerns

A worker collects salt at a salt field in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, Aug. 21. YonhapKorea has launched intensive radiation tests on salt fields across the country amid safety concerns over Japan's release of contaminated water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, the oceans ministry said Wednesday. Last week, Japan began discharging radioactive water from the power plant into the ocean, sparking concerns about its impact on the environment, seafood and public health.Commissioned by the government, private institutions began inspecting the radiation levels of all the country's 687 smaller-sized salt farms Tuesday, Vice Oceans Minister Park Sung-hoon said during a regular briefing on the Fukushima issue.The ministry has been carrying out radiation tests on the country's 150 major salt fields since April, and it decided to strengthen the move by mobilizing private entities to ease public concerns about the safety of salt and other marine products."We will wrap up the tests on salt farms by October, when this year's salt production ends. The government will then carry out r

Aug 30, 2023

Korea begins intensive radiation tests on salt fields over Fukushima concerns

Radiation levels of Korean seawater within safe range after Fukushima release: Seoul gov't

A researcher conducts a testing on levels of radioactive materials in seafood products at the Health and Environment Research Institute in Seoul, Aug. 24. YonhapThe radiation levels in seawater near Korea were found to be within the safe range despite Japan's release of contaminated water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, Seoul's oceans ministry said Tuesday. The ministry's emergency tests on four locations in its territorial waters and high seas showed that the concentration levels of cesium and tritium stood well below the standard set by the World Health Organization for drinking water, Vice Oceans Minister Park Sung-hoon said during a regular briefing on the Fukushima issue.The Korean government has carried out emergency radiation tests on about 30 spots in the waters since Thursday when Japan began discharging radioactive water from the power plant into the ocean, and all the samples have met the safety standards.No radiation has been detected in domestic seafood or imported marine products so far, Park added.The government expanded the number of testing points fr

Aug 29, 2023

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