Author: GIKorea

The Three No’s strategy is currently a point of contention in South Korea’s Presidential election:

In the wake of the THAAD retaliation, the Moon administration agreed with the Chinese government on so-called “Three-Nos” policy in order to assuage China. The policy includes no additional THAAD deployments, no participation in the U.S.-led strategic missile defense system and no trilateral military alliance with the United States and Japan.

Lee maintains that the policy is the right direction to go for economic cooperation with China.

“Considering economic cooperation with China, the policy is proper,” Lee said during a TV debate, Feb. 3. 

However, Yoon strongly denounced the Three Nos policy, calling it a subservient and pro-China approach to diplomacy. 

“The Moon government responded with overly accommodating gestures meant to placate China, declaring the ‘Three Nos’ policy. These pledges undercut South Korea’s sovereign right to protect its people. South Korea should never feel compelled to choose between the United States and China; rather, it must always maintain the principled position that it will not compromise on its core security interests,” Yoon said in a Feb. 8 contribution to Foreign Affairs magazine. 

In the wake of controversial decisions by judges at the ongoing Beijing Winter Olympics that favored Chinese athletes over Koreans, anti-China sentiment has been rising sharply, prompting political circles, including presidential candidates, to capitalize on the resentment.

However, some warn that politicians need to refrain from exploiting the populist strategy for the presidential election, which could hurt diplomatic ties with China.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but Yoon Suk-yeol’s has said that he wants South Korea to purchase their own THAAD battery to better protect Seoul. If that happens the Chinese reaction should be interesting to watch.

Health experts had been saying they expected the daily COVID rate to surpass 100,000 before it started to decline. They were right about the 100,000 so hopefully soon Korea will start seeing a decline:

South Korea’s daily COVID-19 cases surpassed 100,000 for the first time Thursday, as the highly transmissible omicron variant fueled a surge of infections around the country.

According to health authorities and local governments, a total of 100,870 cases had been confirmed nationwide as of 9 p.m., up 10,642 from the 90,228 posted the same time the previous day, which was the largest-ever number for that time.

The total number for Thursday is expected to rise further as daily cases are counted until midnight and announced the following morning. (……)

The death toll from COVID-19 came to 7,238, up 36 from Wednesday. The fatality rate was 0.44 percent, the KDCA said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the fatality rate continues to drop when earlier this week it was .49%. Two weeks ago it was .69%.

Yoon Suk-yeol’s wife has absolutely been getting hammered during this Presidential campaign and here is the latest example:

Musician An Chi-hwan’s newly-released rock number, “Lady Who Looks like Michael Jackson,” has caused presidential hopeful Yoon Suk-yeol to fume with rage, as the song allegedly satirized the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) candidate’s wife, Kim Keon-hee, who, facing multiple allegations of misconduct, has been at the center of a number of scandals in the lead-up to the March 9 election. 

The song incensed Yoon, as it mocks his wife, Kim Keon-hee.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Small business owners have been getting hammered by COVID restrictions and it appears they may have had enough:

Hundreds of restaurant and other small business owners demonstrated in central Seoul on Tuesday, demanding the government lift business hour curfews and sufficiently compensate them for losses from the prolonged anti-virus restraints.

Some 200 members of the so-called emergency association of small business hit by COVID-19 gathered near Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul in a protest rally calling for the right to survival. 

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Real estate prices continues to be possibly the hottest topic that voters in Korea care about:

While varying degrees of despondency among non-homeowners are clearly present in the country, Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) infuriated voters in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, with an inadvertent comment during the four leading candidates’ second TV debate on Feb. 11. While discussing the country’s current real estate environment, he said that prices of apartments (the most common housing type in Korea) “with an area under 99 square meters in places like Gimpo are only around 200 million won to 300 million won” ($166,000 to $250,000).

While the average apartment in Seoul costs 1.2 billion won now ― a figure that the majority of low- to middle-income earners cannot afford ― Lee’s comment aroused objections that the range of 200 million won to 300 million won is way lower than what many members of the public thought. Lawmakers from the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) questioned whether the candidate is even aware of the country’s unstable housing market, which the current Moon Jae-in administration has been trying to control for so long.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but this is a rare misstep comment by Lee who is usually very polished in regards to what he says publicly.

Anyway President Moon has spent five years trying to do something about rising housing prices and has not succeeded so I would be surprised if either Presidential candidate will be able to do much to ease rising costs.