Author: GIKorea

The virus spread continues in South Korea:

 South Korea’s new coronavirus cases topped 5,000 for the first time Wednesday and the number of critically ill patients hit a fresh high amid concerns over the global spread of the new virus variant.

The country reported 5,123 new COVID-19 cases, including 5,075 local infections, raising the total caseload to 452,350, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The country’s previous highest daily number of cases was 4,115 last Wednesday

South Korea added 34 more deaths from COVID-19 on Wednesday, raising the death toll to 3,658. The fatality rate stood at 0.81 percent, up from 0.78 percent reported a month earlier.

Critically ill patients also reached an all-time high of 723, marking the first time the number breached the 700 mark. The previous daily record was 661 reported Tuesday.

Of the total, 610 of them are aged 60 or over, accounting for 84.4 percent, followed by 66 in their 50s and 25 in their 40s, the KDCA said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I think it is important to put these numbers into context. For example Sweden a country of just over 10 million people recorded a daily case number of over 6,000 cases on November 30th. The fact that South Korea has hit 5,000 cases with five times the population of Sweden shows it is not that bad and Korea can handle the increased cases numbers.

This has to be the largest rape case I have ever heard of:

Nearly 70 foreign students at a local university have been accused of alleged statutory rape of a teenage girl, according to police, Tuesday. 

Gangwon Provincial Police Agency said it is questioning 69 foreign students and graduates of a university in the province for allegedly engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with the middle school student on nearly a 100 occasions since last December.

The students were all of foreign nationalities, including those from Nepal and Bangladesh.

According to the police, they lured the victim into having sex through social media by offering snacks and asking her to hang out at their house. The law enforcement authorities viewed this as statutory rape as the students were aware of the fact that the victim was a minor. 

Under the Korean law, adults who engage in sexual activity with a child younger than 16, or the age of consent, may be charged with child sexual abuse or rape, if they were aware of the victim’s age at the time of the incident.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Apparently the homes on Yongsan Garrison that were handed back to the Korean government are now a popular location for the Korean public to go and take pictures at:

These brick townhouses were once home to American officers and their families, but South Korea has gained control of this tract of land on the southeastern tip of the Army’s Yongsan Garrison, nearly two decades after the U.S. and Korea set in motion a plan to relocate the bulk of America’s troops in the country to a location south of Seoul and return the property to the government. 

The village, which consists of 18 buildings, is now open to the public, and it is crowded with people who came to get a glimpse of the inside of the garrison and to snap selfies against the backdrop of American-style, two- and three-story townhouses.

Korea Times

The omicron is here:

The first suspected cases of the omicron variant of COVID-19 have been detected in South Korea, health authorities said Tuesday, as the nation tightened its entry restrictions for the African region to prevent it from spreading into the country. 

Health authorities have conducted a genome sequencing test on a couple who recently arrived in South Korea from Nigeria and the couple’s acquaintance. They tested positive for COVID-19. 

The authorities expected the result to be announced after 9 p.m. Wednesday. 

The couple, who were fully vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine, visited Nigeria on Nov. 14-23 and tested positive for COVID-19 last Thursday, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but did the health authorities have to give this latest mutation such an ominous sounding name? Additionally the initial reports out of Africa are stating the symptoms from this new variant are very mild and the hospitals there are not swamped with COVID patients.

It looks like the South Korean presidential race has turned into what most political become, a mudslinging contest:

The race to the presidency has turned into a mudslinging contest, with the two leading candidates appearing to focus mainly on dragging each other down with accusations.

The two-way race between Lee Jae-myung of the ruling party and his main opposition counterpart, Yoon Seok-youl, has consisted largely of remarks questioning each other’s fitness for the chief post.

The main opposition People Power Party on Monday called on Lee to accept a special counsel probe concerning a controversial land development project in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, when he was mayor of the city in 2015.

Lee is dogged by suspicions of unlawfully favoring his aides for the project.

“Candidate Lee Jae-myung clearly voiced his intention to accept the special counsel inspection without conditions, but the Democratic Party really has no intention to accept that even though it said it would do so on the surface,” People Power Party spokesperson Jeon Ju-hye said in a commentary Monday.

“In essence, candidate Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party are staging a ‘special counsel inspection show’ while trying to avoid the eyes of the people and evade suspicions of involvement in the Daejang-dong scandal.”

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea a day earlier called on Yoon to respond to accusations about his “problematic” investigative decisions when he was a prosecutor. The party denounced Yoon for avoiding the questions by saying he couldn’t remember.

“The People Power Party and candidate Yoon Seok-youl have resorted to saying ‘I can’t remember’ whenever they fall in disadvantageous situations,” the ruling party’s public relations team said in a statement Sunday.

“Until when are you going to show this cowardly attitude of hiding behind memories? This attitude only emphasizes how he, if he becomes the supreme leader, will hide corruption by his close aides. We will watch when that memory returns.”

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link, but something I did not realize was that Lee Jae-myung back in 2006 represented his nephew as his lawyer to defend him against brutal double murder charges of two women he killed.

It only took a month, but the Moon administration has decided to not move forward with the next steps in its Living with COVID strategy:

President Moon Jae-in said Monday that the government will halt a further easing of social distancing rules amid spiking COVID-19 infections, and speed up the administration of booster shots and secure more hospital beds over the next four weeks. 

Moon made the remarks while presiding over a COVID-19 response meeting, making it clear that the government will not wind down its first-phase measures aimed at returning to normalcy despite a jump in serious cases and infections, and concerns about the omicron variant.

“Hospital beds are in a tight supply as the number of new patients and critically ill patients is on the rise,” Moon said. “However, we can’t retreat to the past by reversing the gradual return to normal life.” 

South Korea has seen a sharp jump in daily coronavirus infections after the government started its first phase of the “living with COVID-19” scheme this month.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the Moon administration was going to further reduce COVID protocols in December as part of its Living with COVID strategy. However, the rise in serious cases and deaths has put a halt to their timeline. The government is going to instead focus on booster shots and getting more hospital beds available.