SouthKorea

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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
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  COVID-19 prompts middle-aged S. Koreans to learn how to watch Netflix and shop online SEOUL -- The nationwide social distancing campaign triggered by a coronavirus pandemic has introduced new forms of entertainment including enjoying Netflix, the world's most popular over-the-top video-on-demand service and online shopping to middle-aged South Koreans who find hard to use smartphones. South Korea with a population of 51.7 million has the largest smartphone penetration rate in the world with 95 percent. However, middle-aged people mainly use smartphones to only 2020-07-24
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  [FOCUS] Unresolved dispute over solid recovered fuel power plant in S. Korea SEOUL -- An acrimonious argument over whether a cogeneration plant using solid recovered fuel is pollution-free has moved its battlefield onto a website run by the office of South Korean President Moon Jae-in after an environmental impact survey let down some villagers who have blocked the plant's commercial operation. Solid recovered fuel (SRF) is produced by shredding and dehydrating solid waste, typically consisting of combustible components of municipal solid waste like pa 2020-07-22
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  Researchers recommend over 90 cm tall protective screen to block droplets SEOUL -- Transparent plastic protective screens are widely used in many countries as a protective shield against COVID-19. South Korean researchers found that such screens should be more than 90 cm tall to act as an effective barrier to airborne droplets. The state-run Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning conducted an experiment and found that a protective partition more than 90 cm tall could block almost 99.9 percent of droplets. Along with protective s 2020-07-20
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  New genetic reference material increases accuracy of COVID-19 diagnostic kits. SEOUL -- Researchers have developed a genetic reference material containing 90 percent of SARS-CoV-2 genomic information that can increase the reliability and accuracy of COVID-19 diagnostic kits. The standard material can be used instantly in South Korea's home-made diagnostic kits which have gained popularity abroad. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a molecular biology technique to amplify and detect DNA and RNA sequences. PCR is highly sensitive and requires minimal templ 2020-07-14
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  Public debate on spent fuel from nuclear power plants begins after months of standstill SEOUL -- After a standstill for months coupled with opposition by environmental activists, a public committee launched the first round of open debate with hundreds of citizen representatives over how to handle piles of spent nuclear fuel rods, which have been a stringent issue in South Korea due to a U.S. ban on reprocessing to prevent potential proliferation in Northeast Asia. The committee led by Kim So-young, a professor at the KAIST Graduate School of Science, Technology and P 2020-07-10
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  Only one found to have developed COVID-19 antibodies in S. Korea SEOUL -- Only one out of 3,055 people was found to have developed antibodies in the first round of public antibody tests conducted by South Korea's state anti-epidemic center. Antibody tests are used by researchers to estimate the extent of coronavirus infections at a population level. When a virus invades the body, the immune system produces antibodies to fight it. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) collected samples from 1,555 people for antibody tes 2020-07-09
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  Debate erupts over website exposing personal background of criminals SEOUL -- An anonymous website titled "Digital Prison" that discloses the personal information of notorious sex offenders, child abusers and murderers has become a social topic, triggering a heated debate over privacy. The website has been ranked high on a list of top search keywords on Naver, South Korea's largest web search portal. The website disclosed dozens of names, details of crimes, ages and their personal background along with photos. The unnamed operator said 2020-07-08
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  ​​Fried chicken and beer banned on beach to prevent COVID-19 SEOUL -- Enjoying a glass of cold beer and fried chicken on the beach to cool off at night has been a favorite pursuit among many vacationers in South Korea. However, such leisure breaks will disappear this year to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said in a statement on Wednesday that it has issued an administrative order to ban nighttime drinking and eating at 21 major beaches that have more than 300,000 visitors annually. The order will be enfor 2020-07-08
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  Doctors association wants enhanced social distancing to prevent infections in large cities SEOUL -- An association of doctors urged South Korea's state anti-epidemic center to enhance social distancing and conduct regular public antibody tests as gene sequencing showed that most recent infections were caused by a highly propagative strain of the new coronavirus reported in Europe, Africa and other regions. South Korea eased strict social distancing in early May after achieving a certain degree of success in its battle to contain a COVID-19 epidemic, but the Korea Ce 2020-07-06