South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea again broke its daily records for coronavirus infections and deaths and confirmed three more cases of the new omicron variant as officials scramble to tighten social distancing and border controls.

The 5,352 new cases reported by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on Saturday marked the third time this week the daily tally exceeded 5,000. The country’s death toll was at 3,809 after a record 70 virus patients died in the past 24 hours, while the 752 patients in serious or critical conditions were also an all-time high.

SEOUL, Dec 2 (Reuters) - The defence chiefs of the United States and South Korea said on Thursday they would review and update ways to deter North Korea, even as they emphasised a growing regional role for Seoul.

North Korea's missile and weapons developments are increasingly destabilising for regional security, U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said after talks with his South Korean counterpart, Suh Wook, but the two sides also discussed issues beyond the Korean peninsula.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday that China’s pursuit of hypersonic weapons “increases tensions in the region” and vowed the U.S. would maintain its capability to deter potential threats posed by China.

Austin made the remarks in Seoul following annual security talks with his South Korean counterpart that focused on challenges from China and North Korea and other issues facing the allies.

SEOUL, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Monday urged a rapid administration of booster shots against the COVID-19 as the eased anti-virus rules raised the number of severe cases and deaths.

Moon presided over a COVID-19 response meeting, saying the country's pandemic situation got serious amid the higher number of new infections, severe cases and deaths, as well as fewer hospital beds for severe patients.

SEOUL, Nov 25 (NNN-YONHAP) – South Korea’s central bank, today, expected the real gross domestic product (GDP), adjusted for inflation, to grow 4.0 percent this year.

The 2021 outlook was unchanged from the Bank of Korea (BOK)’s previous forecast, unveiled three months earlier.

The BOK raised its outlook for this year’s headline inflation by 0.2 percentage points, to 2.3 percent.

The central bank forecast that, the real GDP would expand 3.0 percent in 2022, and 2.5 percent in 2023.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — New coronavirus infections in South Korea exceeded 4,000 in a day for the first time since the start of the pandemic as a delta-driven spread continues to rattle the country after it eased social distancing in recent weeks to improve its economy.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said most of the new 4,116 cases reported Wednesday came from the capital Seoul and its surrounding metropolitan region, where an increase in hospitalizations has created fears about possible shortages in intensive care units.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea reported its biggest daily jump in coronavirus infections since the start of the pandemic as hundreds of thousands of masked students flocked to schools on Thursday for the country’s highly competitive college entrance exam amid growing concerns about the delta-driven spread.

About 509,000 students were taking the one-day exam at 1,395 sites across the nation, including hospitals and shelters.

SEOUL, Nov 10 (Reuters) - A senior U.S. diplomat will meet newly selected presidential candidates in South Korea this week, ahead of next year's election that will shape the future of relations between the two allies.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink was due to arrive in Seoul on Wednesday, with plans to hold separate talks with ruling Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung, and Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party.

SEOUL, Nov 8 (NNN-YONHAP) – South Korea will crack down on illegal hoarders of urea water solution, amid a supply shortage of the material, used in diesel vehicles to reduce emissions, the government said today.

Those who do activities cornering the urea water solution market, will face up to three years in jail or a fine of up to 100 million won (84,500 U.S. dollars), according to the joint statement, by the environment and industry ministries, the Korea Fair Trade Commission, the National Tax Service, the Korea Customs Service and the National Policy Agency.

SEOUL, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in's approval rating fell 4.5 percentage points over the week to 34.2 percent last week, a weekly poll showed Monday.

The negative assessment on Moon's conduct of state affairs gained 5.3 percentage points to 62.9 percent, according to the Realmeter survey.

Support for Moon's ruling Democratic Party declined 4.0 percentage points to 25.9 percent last week.

The main conservative opposition People Power Party won 46 percent of approval score last week, up 3.4 percentage points from the previous week.