This photo, captured from North Korea’s Central TV on Jan. 28, 2022, shows a target island hit by two surface-to-surface tactical guided missiles that the North test-fired the previous day. ((Yonhap)
South Korea has not reached its peak yet for COVID cases and this latest record will likely only grow:
South Korea’s daily COVID-19 cases reached yet another record high Friday, as the country grapples with the rapid spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant with a new nationwide virus response system set to come into force.
The country reported 16,096 new COVID-19 infections, including 15,894 local cases, raising the total to 793,582, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
The daily count broke the record for the fourth consecutive day, spiking from 8,570 on Tuesday. The per day figures have more than quadrupled since Jan. 17, when the tally hovered around 3,800.
The death toll from COVID-19 came to 6,678, up 24 from Thursday. The fatality rate stood at 0.84 percent.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link, but the fatality rate is remaining very low and the .84% number is probably even lower when taking into account the new of COVID cases that are not detected in the population.
I don’t think anyone would be surprised that China would be upset to see Yoon Suk-yeol win the Korean Presidency:
The Chinese Embassy in Seoul has denied the allegation that China tried to meddle in Korea’s upcoming presidential election.
In a statement released to Korean journalists on Monday, the embassy expressed regret that a JoongAng Ilbo newspaper column published on the same day accused China of trying to intervene in the presidential election based on several Chinese officials’ remarks.
“China, like many other countries in the world, is watching the South Korean presidential election, but it has never intervened in it and will never do it,” the press release reads. “China’s announcing of its position and argument on China-related issues is aimed at protecting its interests and the overall development of Sino-Korea relations, and has nothing to do with the so-called interference in the Korean presidential election.”
The Chinese Embassy’s reaction came as the JoonAng Ilbo published a column titled, “China’s attempt to ‘intervene’ in Korea’s presidential election regretful.” In the article written by its chief Beijing correspondent, the journalist cited former Chinese Ambassador to Korea Qiu Guohong’s “inappropriate” comments about Korea during an online international academic conference held Jan. 20.
“I hope presidential candidates of Korea would not mention any sensitive issues related to China,” Qiu was quoted as saying, adding he believes the bilateral relations between China and Korea should not be ruined by some politicians’ remarks.
The JoongAng Ilbo column presented Qiu’s remarks as being disrespectful to Korea, pointing out that the former ambassador was indirectly criticizing recent remarks made by Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential candidate of Korea’s main opposition conservative People Power Party (PPP).The article also mentioned several other Chinese scholars’ remarks about how some conservative politicians in Korea tried to China-bash as a campaign tactic.
Korea Times
You can read more at the link, but Yoon should use this as one of his campaign slogans that he is the candidate that China does not want to see elected.
Here is the latest attempt to bring down Yoon Suk-yeol’s campaign through criticisms of his wife:
The latest fodder emerged Sunday during MBC TV’s airing of recordings of phone calls between Yoon’s wife, Kim Keon-hee, and a reporter for a liberal YouTube channel, in which Kim claimed she was a “spiritual” person who preferred discussing the meaning of life with “dosas,” or gurus, to visiting nightclubs.
Kim’s remark received attention because she has previously been reported to have close ties to shamanism and introduced certain shamans to her husband.
Then, local newspaper Segye Times reported Monday that a shaman introduced by Kim has been exercising undue influence over Yoon’s campaign while working as an adviser for a subunit named “Network Headquarters.”
The PPP scrambled to dispel the allegations, saying the person in question is not a shaman but a Buddhist figure who has made several visits to the campaign but has never been appointed an adviser nor had any sway in the campaign.
On Tuesday, the party announced the dissolution of the Network Headquarters, saying the decision was made by Yoon.
When asked to address the claims, Yoon expressed disbelief.
“I was introduced to him by a party official and we introduced ourselves, but I know him to be a monk,” the candidate told reporters Monday. “I saw the article about (him being involved in) my schedule and public messaging, but it’s a truly absurd story.”
Yoon’s opponents have likened his wife to Choi Soon-sil, a confidante of former conservative President Park Geun-hye, who was also accused of having ties to shamanism and running state affairs from behind the scenes.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link, but the comparison to Choi Soon-sil is ridiculous when Choi was essentially a lobbyist collecting money from Samsung for her sports foundation in return for influence over then President Park. The shamanism claims was just sensationalism added to the story by the media. What is going on now with the claims against the Yoon campaign is likely the same thing. With that said his Kim Keon-hee needs to be careful what she says to the media because they will use anything she says in or out of context to damage her husband’s campaign.
Just like nearby Japan, South Korea has reached a new record for daily new COVID cases:
South Korea’s daily coronavirus cases hit a record high of 8,571 on Tuesday, driven by the fast spread of the new dominant omicron variant, as the country is set to put in force revised virus curbs to rein in the highly transmissible variant.
Tuesday’s cases, including 8,356 local infections, took the total caseload to 749,979, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
It marks the first time the daily caseload has surpassed the 8,000 mark since the country reported the first COVID-19 infection on Jan. 20, 2020. The previous all-time high was 7,848 on Dec. 15 last year.
South Korea has seen the daily counts skyrocket over the past week, from 3,857 on Jan. 17 to 7,513 reported Monday.
The death toll from COVID-19 came to 6,588, up 23 from Monday. The fatality rate stood at 0.88 percent.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link, but with the Lunar New Year holiday coming up it will likely rise to a much higher level before eventually declining.
Japan’s daily COVID case rate continues to surge:
The sixth wave of COVID-19 pushed past its own record in Japan’s capital city on Saturday with 11,227 new cases reported by the metropolitan government.
The new record in Tokyo is nearly double the previous pandemic high of 5,908 in August, according to metropolitan government data online. On Monday, the city reported a modest decline to 8,503 new infections, according to public broadcaster NHK.
Japan reported more than 100,000 new cases on Saturday and Sunday, both record-setting days, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link.
