K-News Bulletin

President Moon Jae-in nominated former Vice Justice Minister Kim Oh-soo as the new head of South Korea's prosecution service, the Blue House announced Monday.
 
Justice Minister Park Beom-kye recommended Kim, a long-time prosecutor, for the position of Prosecutor General after Yoon Seok-youl quit the post in March.
 
The president accepted the recommendation, according to Blue House spokesperson Park Kyung-mee.


Full Article: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2021/05/03/national/politics/prosecutors-president-justice/20210503190506984.html

Forty-two years after the crested ibis vanished from Korea, two birds from the endangered species were born in the wild on Tuesday.
 
Two crested ibis chicks hatched from eggs laid by a breeding pair that was released two years ago in the Upo Wetland in Changnyeong, South Gyeongsang, county officials said.


Full Article: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2021/04/29/national/socialAffairs/bird-environment-ibis/20210429175100397.html

Fully vaccinated people will be exempted from the mandatory 14-day quarantine after entering from abroad or coming in contact with a Covid-19 patient starting May 5 — but only if they got the shots in Korea, and not if they're coming from countries where highly contagious virus variants are prevalent.
 
"People who have completed the vaccination in Korea will be exempted from self-quarantine after close contact with a Covid-19 patient […] or have returned from overseas if they test negative on the Covid-19 test and show no symptoms," said Yoon Tae-ho, a senior Health Ministry official, in a regular briefing Wednesday.


Full Article: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2021/04/28/national/socialAffairs/Covid19-Quarantine-Exemption/20210428192400400.html

President Moon Jae-in met Novavax CEO Stanley Erck on Tuesday but revealed little about when its vaccines may be ready for Korea.
 
It was the first time that the president held a face-to-face meeting with a vaccine pharmaceutical company CEO amid public concerns over a slow rollout of vaccines and their safety.


Full Article: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2021/04/27/national/socialAffairs/Novavax-Moon-Jaein-Vaccine/20210427185000401.html

Youn Yuh-jung won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the 93rd Academy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday.
 
Youn followed the milestone set by Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” by becoming the first Korean to ever win an Oscar for acting.


Full Article: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2021/04/26/entertainment/movies/Youn-Yuhjung-Oscars-best-supporting-actress/20210426154200406.html

The Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea (BAI) announced Friday that it had reported Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon to police over allegations of power abuse and corrupt practices in hiring teachers in Seoul. 
 
Cho was elected as the education superintendent of Seoul in 2014 and re-elected in 2018. During the election in 2018, he was the single unified candidate of the ruling party of Korea. His four-year term ends next year.


Full Article: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2021/04/25/national/socialAffairs/Board-of-Audit-and-Inspection-of-Korea-investigates-corruption-allegations/20210425184600390.html

In 2030, a person will be able to travel between any two parts of Korea within two hours, the government promised, after ambitious upgrades to the high-speed rail network. 
 
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Thursday released rail plans focused on connecting major cities with areas without high-speed rail infrastructure. 
 
The goals are to disperse some of the highly concentrated populations in Korea's cities and boost regional economies. More people will be able to live where they wish but commute to jobs anywhere. 


Full Article: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2021/04/22/business/economy/railroad-highspeed-metrocommute/20210422170400424.html

Investors hoping to make a quick buck are turning to alternative coins, cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin, which have prices that sometimes skyrocket by a thousand times in a matter of minutes.
 
The downside of alternative coins, or altcoins, is that their prices can plunge just as quickly.
 
On Tuesday, a new altcoin dubbed Arowana Token was listed on one of Korea's four major exchanges, Bithumb.
 
On its listing at 2:30 p.m, it started trading at 50 won (4.5 cent) per token, then soared to 53,800 won by 3:01 p.m. That's a 107,500 percent rise in 31 minutes.


Full Article: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2021/04/21/business/finance/altcoin-aronawa-token-bithumb/20210421192500388.html

A petition to the Blue House demanding the cancellation of a planned Chinese cultural town in Gangwon has amassed a record number of signatures, forcing the provincial government to deny that it is building an immigrant community –– or a modern Chinatown.
 
Titled “Scrap the Chinatown Construction in Gangwon,” the petition opposed the creation of the Korea-China Cultural Tourism Town, a 1.2 million-square-meter (296 acres) Chinese culture-themed development in Hongcheon, asking, “Why do we need a Little China in Korea?”


Full Article: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2021/04/20/national/politics/Chinatown-Gangwon-petition/20210420192100294.html

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) on Monday decided to form a special committee to address public concerns about real estate policies, following the party's crushing defeat in by-elections earlier this month.
 
The decision reflects the party’s belief that one of the main reasons for its landslide defeat is public disenchantment with rising assessed values of homes, real estate taxes, and restrictions on mortgages.


Full Article: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2021/04/19/national/politics/real-estate-housing-party/20210419185900264.html