Author: GIKorea

Here is the latest on the debate about women being added to the mandatory service requirement in South Korea:

 South Korea has again been thrown into a debate over whether women should be drafted into the military alongside men, with political and social circles calling for its serious consideration amid chronically low birth rates.

One of the recent triggers was an online petition demanding female conscription on Cheong Wa Dae’s website.

The other was the new book, “Park Yong-jin’s Political Revolution,” published this week by the eponymous lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party (DP). In it, Park, a candidate for the March 2022 presidential election, suggested that the country replace its draft with a volunteer military system and require both women and men to receive basic military training for up to 100 days.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The Moon administration COVID vaccine plan has fallen apart and they are now looking towards the Biden administration to bail them out from all the criticism they are receiving domestically:

South Korea is “earnestly discussing” forging a swap deal with the United States to secure COVID-19 vaccines, the South Korean foreign minister said Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong revealed the bilateral consultation under way between Seoul and Washington, during a parliamentary session. 

“Currently, (South Korea) is discussing (the potential swap deal) with the U.S. side quite earnestly,” the foreign minister said, responding to a query by Rep. Park Jin of the main opposition People Power Party.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but considering the vaccine hesitancy in the US and the growing stockpiles of vaccines because of it; I would not be surprised if a deal is worked out.

If the US moves forward with COVID booster shots this means less vaccine for the rest of the world to include South Korea:

The country’s COVID-19 vaccination program is facing another potential setback following announcements in the United States that it will consider offering potential booster shots of vaccines in order to increase their effectiveness. 

Boosters are an extra dose of a vaccine given at a predetermined time after the initial injections to raise or maintain immunity against the targeted virus. The issue was recently brought up by U.S. vaccine policy chief Anthony Fauci and the CEOs of Pfizer and Modena.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Here are some interesting survey results from Koreans who voted in the Seoul and Busan mayoral elections that were decisive defeats for President Moon’s ruling Democratic Party:

Only three percent felt the PPP won because of its policies, another three percent because voters supported the individual candidate, and a measly one percent attributed the victory to the main opposition’s accomplishments in the National Assembly. Even among PPP supporters, 81 percent admitted that the party won because of the ruling party’s mistakes.

Some 43 percent blamed the Minjoo Party’s failed real-estate policies for its defeat, followed by its refusal to admit its mistakes (18 percent), railroading through of unpopular policies (15 percent) and lack of remorse over the sexual harassment scandals that ousted the former Seoul and Busan mayors (10 percent).

Some 46 percent said the vote was only a warning to Cheong Wa Dae and the ruling party, but the same proportion said voters have completely turned their backs on President Moon Jae-in and the MP, so it remains to be seen how these ambivalent sentiments play out in the presidential election next year.

Chosun Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

The participation of South Korea in the IAEA team probably isn’t going to matter since the opposition to this Japanese plan is political and not scientific:

Japanese Ambassador Koichi Aiboshi said Monday that he thinks South Korean experts can be part of a U.N. nuclear watchdog-led monitoring team for his country’s planned release of radioactive water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant. 

South Korea has expressed concerns about potential health risks over Japan’s plan to release over 1.2 million tons of Fukushima’s contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean and said it wants to take part in safety verification efforts by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

We are already see the slow build up the past few months towards a North Korean provocation cycle happening:

U.S. intelligence officials believe North Korea will test another nuclear weapon or intercontinental ballistic missile this year as leader Kim Jong-un seeks to gain negotiation leverage. 

The North halted nuclear and ICBM tests in 2018 amid a brief honeymoon with then-U.S. President Donald Trump. The prediction is part of an annual report released on Tuesday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees 18 intelligence agencies.

Chosun Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Korea is seeing the same problem many cities in the US are seeing with e-scooters just strewn around all over the place on sidewalks:

Electric scooters, an innovative eco-friendly form of transportation, have gained increasing popularity in Korea since their sharing platforms were commercialized in 2018. (………)

Users can unlock an e-scooter on the street by scanning a QR code using their smartphone, ride to their destination and park it there after their trip. Unlike rental bicycles, e-scooters do not have designated parking areas they should be returned to.

The “dockless” scheme is what makes the personal mobility devices convenient for riders, but on the other hand, it creates inconvenience for pedestrians, who frequently find pathways blocked by e-scooters left standing in the middle of sidewalks.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but Seoul plans to start issuing fines to e-scooter operators with improperly parked scooters.