▶ Omicron Continues To Fuel S. Korea's Record Surge
South Korea's daily COVID-19 caseload has stayed above 35,000 for a fourth straight day amid an Omicron surge.
A total of 36,619 local infections and 100 imported cases were confirmed in the previous 24 hours, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.
The latest tally is a more than fourfold jump from levels seen two weeks ago.
The death toll from the virus came to 6,922, up 36 from Monday.
The number of critically ill COVID patients in intensive care units decreased by two to 268 for a bed occupancy rate of 18 percent.
But at-home care patients rose by more than 12,000 to over 159,000, keeping the pressure on health workers and government officials.
KDCA Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong warned that the highly contagious Omicron variant could push the at-home treatment number to around 1 million by early March.
▶ Military Sees Record COVID-19 Spike
The South Korean military has reported its highest daily COVID-19 case count since the start of the pandemic.
The defense ministry said it confirmed 466 new infections the previous day, the first time daily transmissions topped 400.
Among the latest cases, 110 are linked to a massive cluster at an Air Force basic training unit in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province.
▶ S. Korea, US, Japan To Discuss N. Korea Issue
The U.S. State Department stressed on Monday that trilateral cooperation between Washington, Seoul and Tokyo is one of the most important and effective tools to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.
Department spokesman Ned Price made the remark as the top diplomats of the U.S., South Korea and Japan are scheduled to meet on Saturday in Hawaii.
Price said discussions will focus on recent provocations by North Korea, including its missile launches.
Seoul's foreign ministry said earlier that Minister Chung Eui-yong will sit down for bilateral talks with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Chung is also seeking to meet with his Japanese counterpart, Yoshimasa Hayashi, for two-way discussions.
▶ France, Russia Hold Marathon Talks On Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin says talks with French President Emmanuel Macron to deescalate tensions regarding Ukraine have been useful and substantive.
Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops on the Ukrainian border.
At a joint news conference at the Kremlin, Putin said some of Macron's ideas on security in Europe were realistic.
The BBC's Steve Rosenberg reports.
[Reporter]
More than five hours of talks did not resolve this conflict.
But diplomatic efforts will continue to deescalate tensions over Ukraine and between Russia and the West.
President Macron said the coming days will be decisive and would require intensive discussions.
President Putin hinted that some progress had been made.
The Kremlin leader said a number of President Macron's proposals that were too early to talk about could form the basis of further joint steps.
Vladimir Putin repeated his warning that if one day Ukraine joins NATO, an attempt to take back Crimea by force, Europe could get sucked into a major conflict.
▶ Korea To Protest Olympic Speed Skating Disqualifications
The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee has announced it will file an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport to "publicize the unfairness" of refereeing during short track speed skating events at the Beijing Winter Games.
"We will do our best to ensure our athletes won't be treated so unfairly in international skating and sporting communities," the committee said in a statement.
The move came after South Korean speed skaters Hwang Dae-heon and Lee June-seo were disqualified from the men's 1,000-meter semifinals on Monday.
They both received penalties during their respective heats for illegal passing and lane change violations.
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