SouthKorea

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  Firefighter drones to be used for extinguishing high-rise building fires SEOUL -- Through a "New Deal" project designed to upgrade outdated laws and regulations, South Korea's ruling camp approved the use of firefighting drones for extinguishing fires at high-rise buildings. High-rise buildings are one of the toughest environments for firefighters as elevators normally go offline when a fire alarm goes off for safety reasons. Firefighters have to carry heavy hoses and equipment using stairs. Firefighting drones can fly up to quickly put dow 2020-09-23
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  S. Korean bathing beaches report no COVID-19 cases this summer SEOUL -- South Korean beaches for bathing and swimming have built their reputation as a perfect safe zone with no COVID-19 cases this summer by introducing various quarantine measures such as the mandatory use of masks, drones, wristbands, online congestion traffic lights and a reservation system. South Korean bathing beaches opened in late June and shut down on August 23. Preliminary government data showed that some 26.8 million people visited 251 bathing beaches, compared to 67. 2020-09-22
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  S. Korea's anti-epidemic center cautious about COVID-19 re-infection SEOUL -- The head of South Korea's state anti-epidemic center was cautious about COVID-19 re-infection, saying an elaborate clinical and epidemiological investigation has yet to be completed to see if a patient can be re-infected after being cured once. If re-infection confirmed to be true, it would affect the development of vaccines. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) has investigated the suspected case of re-infection involving an unidentified woman in he 2020-09-21
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  S. Korea has no chance of stemming pandemic through collective immunity SEOUL -- There is almost no chance for South Korea to stem a new coronavirus pandemic through collective immunity as there are not many "hidden" or untraceable patients who unknowingly recovered after being infected with COVID-19, according to a state anti-epidemic center. For its second survey in two months, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) collected blood samples from 1,440 people from June 10 to August 13. Antibodies were detected from one person 2020-09-14
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  Regulator hints at blocking access to website for digital punishment of crimes SEOUL -- South Korea's top media regulator has pledged action to block access to an anonymous website titled "Digital Prison," which discloses the personal information of notorious sex offenders, child abusers and murderers, amid growing concerns about privacy and false accusations. Korea Communications Commission (KCC) chairman Han Sang-hyuk said in a parliamentary committee session on September 8 that the watchdog would take action against Digital Prison, describin 2020-09-09
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  S. Korea proposes new kit to simultaneously test flu and COVID-19 SEOUL -- South Korea has led a global anti-epidemic campaign with innovative quarantine technologies such as drive-thru or walk-thru systems to reduce the time for the screening of COVID-19 patients. As the flu season comes near, the country's state anti-epidemic center came up with the new idea of testing flu and COVID-19 simultaneously with one diagnostic kit. Several reagents for simultaneous testing await approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, according to t 2020-09-07
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  Pandemic boosts growth of coffee imports and consumption in S. Korea SEOUL -- A prolonged coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated a global economic slump and put a damper on trade and consumption. However, it's far from dampening South Koreas' thirst for coffee, leading to an increase in imports of coffee beans this year. According to data released by the Korea Customs Office on September 1, South Korea imported 90,355 tons of coffee in the first seven months of this year, up 5.37 percent from 85,749 tons a year earlier. There are more than 66 2020-09-01
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  S. Korea uses digital payment more frequently to offer condolence money amid pandemic SEOUL -- A coronavirus pandemic prompted South Koreans to use digital payment as gift or condolence money for weddings and funerals more frequently as the level of social distancing was heightened due to a sudden increase in COVID-19 cases that followed an anti-government rally by thousands of right-wing Christian activists in the center of Seoul. Kakao Pay, the digital service wing of South Korean web service giant Kakao, said in a statement on August 25 that the weekend usage 2020-08-25
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  Couple ordered to pay compensation for causing retaliatory noise in apartment SEOUL -- A court ordered a couple to pay compensation to residents living in the upper floor of an apartment building for creating tormenting retaliatory noises in a case that epitomized South Korea's social issue over inter-floor noises or vibrations. In South Korea where more than 10 million families live in apartment buildings, neighbors frequently engage in arguments over inter-floor noises, sometimes resulting in violence or murder in extreme cases. In retaliation for no 2020-08-24
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  Electric quarantine vehicle introduced in Seoul for indoor disinfection SEOUL -- An electric quarantine vehicle for indoor disinfection has been put into a test run in Seoul to block the spread of COVID-19. It can be placed in elevators, making it easy to quarantine closed spaces, and spray disinfectant vertically and horizontally for up to up to five hours on a single charge. The so-called K-quarantine vehicle was introduced for the first time for indoor disinfection work at Dobong District in northern Seoul. "The COVID-19 quarantine is a battle a 2020-08-24
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  S. Korea unveils practical goal to vaccinate 70% of population SEOUL -- South Korea will try to make a quick acquisition of COVID-19 vaccines that can inoculate at least 70 percent of its entire population through cooperation with an international body or foreign companies if the independent development of effective vaccines is dragged out. The decision was made at an anti-epidemic conference chaired by Health and Welfare Minister Park Neung-hoo. South Korea has unveiled a roadmap for the treatment of COVID-19 to develop plasma treatment by t 2020-08-21
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  ​Trade minister Yoo regards WTO director-general as last chance of public career SEOUL -- Armed with her abundant experience in multiple trade negotiations, South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee advocates greater relevance, resilience and responsiveness as catchwords for her rigorous bid to become Director-General of the World Trade Organization. "I want to rebuild trust in the multilateral trading system by making it more relevant, resilient, and responsive," Yoo said in a Twitter post uploaded in early August. "WTO should continue to play an 2020-08-21
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  S. Korea digitalizes pothole management for quick monitoring and repair SEOUL -- An unusually long rainy season and heavy downpours caused by global climate change created numerous road potholes in South Korea this summer, damaging cars or leading to fatal accidents. A new digitalized government manual to manage potholes will be drawn out for the automatic dispatch of repair teams. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said it would digitalize its existing pothole management system to effectively manage and monitor potholes on the surface o 2020-08-20
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  Provincial city retrieves used batteries for recycling thru trade-in campaign SEOUL -- In an effort to reduce toxic heavy metal waste and encourage citizens to actively participate in the separate collection of garbages, a provincial city collects used commercial batteries for recycling through a trade-in campaign. Two new batteries are provided when people bring in 20 used ones to village offices. Commercial batteries consist of heavy metals such as nickel and cadmium. South Korea encourages people to discard used batteries at designated places, but about 16 2020-08-19
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  ​S. Korea's provincial government to adopt IoT-based automated flood control system SEOUL -- An Internet of Things-based flood management system will be adopted in a southern province in South Korea to replace old manual floodgates with new automated ones that can be opened and closed remotely. The government of North Jeolla Province said in a statement on August 13 that it would invest 35.4 billion won ($29.9 million) to set up an Internet of Things (IoT)-based flood management system until 2023. Through the project, 321 automatic floodgates will be installed in 2020-08-13
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  Seoul opens online discussion about ordinance about children's rights to play SEOUL -- Seoul has launched a 30-day open online discussion in a bid to set up an ordinance that will guarantee children's rights to play. Currently, other local governments including the southern port city of Busan has adopted an ordinance to guarantee more free time for children to play and self-develop. According to 2019 data released by Statistics Korea, a state statistical office, 44 percent of teenagers had less than two hours of free time a day. The lack of free time wa 2020-08-13
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  More Seoul citizens use public bicycle service to minimize risk of COVID-19 infection: data SEOUL -- The popularity of personal mobility-sharing and public bicycle services has been growing this year in Seoul as more and more people shun crowded public buses and subway trains to minimize the risk of COVID-19 infection, according to data released by a university research center. In an effort to help ease traffic congestion, Seoul started the service of "Ttareungi," a citywide bicycle rental that charges 1,000 won ($0.84) per hour via a dedicated smartphone app, in 2020-08-11
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  S. Korea discovers three new coronavirus strains from visitors from Pakistan and Uzbekistan SEOUL -- South Korea's state anti-epidemic center has discovered three new strains of a novel coronavirus from inbound visitors from Pakistan and Uzbekistan through genetic sequencing and reported them to the World Health Organization for classification and reference by experts in other countries. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), a state health watchdog, said it has identified three new variants of spike protein in COVID-19 viruses detected from inb 2020-08-10
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  Education ministry starts preaching know-how of operating online classes SEOUL -- A state non-contact educational course was launched in South Korea to help teachers and school workers better operate interactive online classes that have been unexpectedly adopted since a coronavirus epidemic broke out in late February. The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and ICT said in a joint statement on August 10 that a two-week online learning program was implemented for the first selected group of 1,000 teachers and school workers to experience dif 2020-08-10
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  COVID-19 pandemic boosts online sales of Korean rice beer SEOUL -- The social distancing campaign prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a sudden boost in online sales of Makgeolli, Korean rice beer. Makgeolli, also known as Korean rice wine or Korean rice beer, is a milky white-colored alcoholic beverage normally made with rice using the traditional Korean fermentation method. It is favored by drinkers aged more than 40. To promote sales of traditional alcoholic drinks, South Korea has allowed local breweries to sell traditiona 2020-07-31