Author: GIKorea

It looks like the Chinese propaganda apparatus is at work again as they declare that COVID-19 has been stopped in China:

“We have exerted great effort which led to a momentous and strategic victory in the battle against COVID-19.

” China has announced its victory over COVID-19 on Sep. 8 and presented medals to honor disease experts who were seen as role models in the country’s fight against the virus.

The country has reported zero cases of local infections for nearly a month.

While China has officially declared victory, some are voicing criticism as the rest of the world continues to suffer from the virus.

Korea Times

If you watch the Korea Times video you can see that 5 Chinese travelers to South Korea recently tested positive for the coronavirus which is causing doubt about what the Chinese government is claiming.

It seems the international media is starting to take more notice of the corruption and authoritarian streak of the Moon administration:

This drastic decline in public support for the president and the government illustrates not only the volatile nature of South Korea’s democracy, but also the growing backlash against their attempts to make abuse of power the new norm in the country. 

Indeed, since their stunning election victory in April, President Moon and his party have repeatedly undermined the rule of law, ignored the procedures put in place to ensure the separation of powers, and made controversial moves to further their populist agenda and help their allies escape accountability.

After winning the election with a margin unprecedented in South Korea’s democratic history, which enabled it to dominate all 17 standing committees of Parliament, the DP transformed the National Assembly into its own law-passing agency. It rammed through numerous contentious laws, without subcommittee review or any other consultative procedure required under the National Assembly Act. 

The governing party also railroaded a series of housing laws in an attempt to stabilise skyrocketing real estate prices in the Seoul metropolitan area, where half of the country’s population lives. The measures not only failed to bring the housing market under control, but also drew public anger, as they created more hurdles for middle-class first-time-buyers under the age of 40 – the main support group for the government. In July, as real estate prices in the country continued to rise, the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice, an influential Seoul-based civic group, revealed that 42 governing party legislators elected in the April 15 parliamentary elections owned two or more houses, and made a considerable profit as a result of the soaring real estate prices.

Al Jazeera

You can read much more at the link.

Here is the latest on whether or not current ROK Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae did use her influence to get her KATUSA son extended leave:

“(Seo) inquired about ways to extend his medical leave because he has yet to fully recover,” the master sergeant wrote in records of their second meeting, which are summarized in the documents. The records are dated June 15, 2017. The first meeting took place in April.

“(I) had told him before he went on leave that medical leave is permitted up to one month, but (Seo) said he felt bad about asking (me), and while consulting his parents, found out that they had already filed a request,” he wrote.

The master sergeant continued, “I told him that he has nothing to feel bad about and firmly requested that he ask (me) directly next time and resolve his questions that way.”

The records, if true, indicate that Choo and her husband personally made a request regarding their son’s leave with the defense ministry before the first leave ended.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but besides trying to use her influence to extend her son’s leave, she is also been accused of trying to pressure ROK Army officials to give her son a plush assignment in Seoul and having him selected as an interpreter for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Well someone in the Seoul region is going to have to be host to a huge landfill since Incheon no longer wants to supply the land:

A waste disposal crisis is looming large in the Seoul metropolitan area for 2025 as Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province struggle to find alternative landfill sites that can replace the current one, according to environmental engineering experts.

In 2015, Seoul and Incheon cities, Gyeonggi Province and the Ministry of Environment set out to find a site to replace the current Sudokwon Landfill Site (SLS) which many claim is the world’s largest.

Opened in 1992, it receives an average of 12,000 tons of garbage daily, mostly home- and construction-related waste from Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province where half the country’s population lives. Years of meetings have been fruitless and a look into these reveals the complexity of waste management issues in Korea and conflicts of interest.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but authorities are considering holding a contest to see who wants the landfill in their city.

Another source of technology to China’s Huawei is about to be closed:

After U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s request for countries to join Washington’s move to restrict the direct or indirect use of U.S. technology by Huawei, its top Korean suppliers are rethinking their partnerships with the Chinese tech company.

Pompeo said in a press statement Aug. 17 that Washington urges its allies and partners to join its anti-Huawei campaign. 

“The Department of State strongly supports the Commerce Department’s expansion of the Foreign Direct Product Rule, which will prevent Huawei from circumventing U.S. law through alternative chip production and provision of off-the-shelf (OTS) chips produced with tools acquired from the United States,” Pompeo said in the statement.

The Commerce Department also added 38 Huawei affiliates to its Entity List, which identifies foreign parties prohibited from receiving certain sensitive technologies, while allowing Huawei’s Temporary General License (TGL) to expire. 

The United States has provided ample time for affected companies and people ― primarily Huawei customers ― to identify and shift to other sources for equipment, software and technology and wind down their operations, the statement said, adding, that time was up.

A few weeks after the statement, industry officials said Huawei’s top Korean suppliers ― Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, Samsung Display and LG Display ― were rethinking their partnerships with the Chinese firm and suspending sales of memory chips and high-end smartphone panels for use in its consumer products.

“Amid the tightening rules on Huawei by the Trump administration, there’s no option but to temporarily suspend the sale of components to Huawei,” a high-ranking industry executive told The Korea Times.

Huawei buys “billions of dollars” of memory chips and display panels annually from Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, Samsung Display and LG Display. The suspension of trade will be effective from Sept. 15, the day a new set of rules limits dealing with the Chinese company.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

I wonder if this will be the new normal for Seoul? Not too long ago Seoul reported only 3 local virus cases:

 South Korea’s new virus cases stayed below 200 for the seventh consecutive day Wednesday, but health authorities are still on guard against sporadic cluster infections across the nation.

The country added 156 more COVID-19 cases, including 144 local infections, raising the total caseload to 21,588, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

It marked an increase from 136 new cases Thursday, which also slightly rose from 119 cases added the previous day, the fewest in 24 days.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but if this is the new normal of community virus spread in the Seoul area, it will be interesting to see how long the government can keep people locked down.