Service at Sarang Community Church Sarang Community Church holds a service at its main hall in southern Seoul on May 31, 2020, in this photo provided by the church. (Yonhap)
It looks like the churches in the Seoul region are being given a warning before they will likely be shutdown like the clubs in Seoul were:
This photo, taken June 1, 2020, shows a church in Incheon, west of Seoul, where cluster infections of the new coronavirus were reported. (Yonhap)
Cluster infections at churches are again putting health authorities on edge Monday following a series of mass infections tied to clubs and a distribution center after the country eased social distancing and millions of students went back to schools.
South Korea reported 35 additional cases of the new coronavirus, including 30 local infections, raising the total caseload to 11,503, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
Monday’s tally marked a slight rise from 27 identified the previous day. But the daily number of new cases appears to be on a downward trend after hitting a nearly two-month high of 75 on Thursday.
In yet another alarming sign of further spread in the Seoul metropolitan area, 23 cases have been traced to 13 small churches in Incheon, west of Seoul, and Gyeonggi Province that surrounds the capital.
Here is the latest on the comfort woman fraud case involving left wing national assembly member Yoon Mee-hyang:
Yoon Mee-hyang, a lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party who until recently headed an advocacy group for victims of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery, holds a press conference at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Friday. [YONHAP]
During the Friday press conference, Yoon read from a prepared statement before taking questions from the press, and rejected almost all accusations leveled against her. She also made it clear that she has no intention of giving up her seat. Yoon said she could not discuss all the “small details” because “a questioning by the prosecution is imminent,” referring to an ongoing criminal probe into the Korean Council.
But while denying any misappropriation of funds, Yoon apologized for using her personal bank account to collect public donations, saying she had been “naïve to think it is okay as long as there was no problem about financial [transparency].”
She said that after utilizing the donations, she transferred leftover funds to the Korean Council account, and added, “I have never used donations collected in my account for personal use.”
Yoon said she has raised a total of 280 million won ($227,000) that was deposited into her personal bank account. She said she spent 230 million won of the total on projects related to comfort women victims that were outside the purview of the Korean Council, with the remainder used by the Korean Council. She added that she plans to disclose all of the details to the prosecution.
You can read much more at the link, but this may just be the tip of the iceberg involving this fraud. Yoon’s husband is noted convicted North Korean spy and fraudster himself.
National Palace Museum closedThe National Palace Museum of Korea in downtown Seoul is closed on May 31, 2020, due to a recent resurgence in new coronavirus cases linked to a logistics center in the capital area. (Yonhap)
USFK continues to identify newly arriving personnel with the coronavirus:
51st Fighter Wing medical staff screen an airman for coronavirus symptoms before he enters Osan Air Base, South Korea, Friday, April 3, 2020.
Two newly assigned American soldiers tested positive for the coronavirus after arriving in South Korea on a government-chartered flight from the United States, the military said Saturday.
The confirmation raised to 30 the number of coronavirus cases linked to U.S. Forces Korea, including six active-duty service members, but the command said all other patients have recovered.
Protesting for better jobs Participants in a rally organized by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions sing a song in central Seoul on May 30, 2020. (Yonhap)
General Paik Sun-yup is arguably South Korea’s greatest Korean War hero and if he was to pass away in the near term he may not be allowed to be buried or even have his body removed from the Seoul National Cemetery:
General Paik Sun-yup
It became known on May 26, 2020 that the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs recently visited the hero of the Korean War, General Paik Sun-yup (백선엽) and said, “If the National Cemetery Act (국립묘지법) is revised, [we’re] worried that General Paik could be interred at the National Cemetery in Seoul, only to be pulled out.” General Paik is 100 years old this year and his ability to move has been known to have degraded. The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs said, “I heard that General Baek’s health is not good, so we wanted to ask about his general health status,” but General Paik’s family said “Our family is considering even the most evil scenario.”
You can read the rest at the link, but what is going on is that the newly elected National Assembly dominated by the Korean left, is trying to change the National Cemetery Act to remove the graves of “pro-Japan, anti-minjok [Korean] figures interred in the National Cemetery and install tombstones describing their pro-Japan activities.” This would effectively prevent him from being buried in the Seoul National Cemetery if passed. If General Paik was to pass away before this Act was changed he would face having his body removed from the cemetery.
If the Korean left hates General Paik so much for helping stop a North Korean invasion, establishing the Republic of Korea, and speaking out against communism over the years, then an offer should be made for him to be interred in the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Busan. There I believe he would be properly recognized for his contributions during the Korean War and to the nation of South Korea.
I had the chance to talk to General Paik many years ago and got him to sign a copy of his book, From Pusan to Panmunjon. He was fascinating to talk to because his great memory of events that occurred and people he met during the Korean War. If you haven’t read his book I highly recommend reading it because of the ROK perspective it provides in regards to events during the Korean War.