Author: GIKorea

There has been outbreak of the coronavirus in Seoul from a call center:

 With at least 50 cases, a call center in southwestern Seoul emerged as the biggest COVID-19 infection cluster here Tuesday, triggering concerns over potential mass transmission in the metropolitan area that is home to 25 million, or nearly half of the country’s population.

A high-rise in the neighborhood of Sindorim was closed and disinfected late Monday after workers at a call center on its 11th floor were confirmed as patients, according to Guro Ward, which oversees Sindorim.

In a meeting with other provincial officials, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said 64 cases occurred from the outbreak, while the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) earlier said 50 cases have been traced to the call center.

A total of 46 employees who live in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province have tested positive, in addition to four family members of them. The KCDC said all diagnosed employees worked on the 11th floor, without wearing masks.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Another Korean employee from Camp Walker in Daegu has tested positive for the coronavirus:

A South Korean woman who works for the U.S. military in Daegu tested positive for the new coronavirus, raising the military’s total to nine, the command said Tuesday, as the overall number of cases in South Korea showed signs of slowing.

U.S. Forces Korea said the woman, who worked at Camp Walker, has isolated herself at her off-base residence in the southeastern city, which is at the center of the outbreak that has led to more than 7,500 infections nationwide, with 54 deaths.

South Korean and U.S. military health professionals “are actively conducting contact tracing to determine whether anyone else may have been exposed,” USFK said in a press release, adding the military remains at a “high” risk level across the divided peninsula.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but now nine people related to USFK have tested positive for the coronavirus, but only one of them has been a USFK soldier.

Another person with links to USFK has tested positive for the coronavirus:

 A South Korean construction worker at a U.S. military base in the coronavirus-hit city of Daegu has tested positive for COVID-19, U.S. Forces Korea said Monday, raising to eight the number of USFK-affiliated people who have been infected.

The employee, who was on contract with USFK at Camp Walker, “is currently in isolation at his off-base residence” as directed by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a press release.

U.S. military and South Korean health professionals are investigating the employee’s movements and contacts to determine whether anybody else may have been exposed to the virus, it said.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It appears that China’s “50 Cent Army” has turned its attention on South Korea to help manipulate online public opinion to be favorable towards President Moon:

On February 27, 2020, an online post titled “Chinagate” emerged, causing a controversy.  A self-described Joseonjok (ethnic Korean who migrated to Northeast China prior to 1945 and their descendants) Chinese claimed that “Joseonjok Chinese and Chinese students in South Korea are using social network services to manipulate public opinion on online communities and portals using online comments and other methods” and that “the Moon Jae-in administration and the ruling party are controlled by China.”  The person also posted, “Most of the people who are mobilized for this systematic manipulation of public opinion are [Chinese] university students studying in South Korea, and all of the top-ranked comments on Naver and comments on women’s cafes go through our hands.” [Note: Naver is a popular portal in South Korea.]

Another post appeared later the same day, claiming “Don’t think it’s Koreans that drive online public opinion” and “as soon as ‘the impeachment of Moon Jae-in’ appeared as the Blue House petition, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which considers President Moon as part of it, became active and led 500,000 to support the ‘I support President Moon Jae-in’ petition in a period of two days.”

These posts were claims, but what followed caused a stir.

East Asia Research Center

I highly recommend reading the whole article at the link by Dr. Tara O. Remember the Moon administration is no stranger to manipulating online public opinion as demonstrated by the Druking Scandal prior to the last presidential election.

Obviously coronavirus fears are not stopping the North Koreans from doing their annual wintertime military training:

North Korea fired three short-range projectiles into the East Sea on Monday for the second time in a week in what was believed to be part of a joint strike exercise, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

The projectiles were fired northeastward from areas near its eastern town of Sondok in South Hamgyong Province at around 7:36 a.m, the JCS said, adding that they flew around 200 kilometers, reaching a maximum altitude of around 50 km.

The launches came a week after the North conducted similar firings on March 2.

“Today’s launches appear to be part of its artillery strike drill involving multiple types of multiple rocket launchers for a wintertime exercise, following the previous ones staged on Feb. 28 and March 2,” the JCS said in a release.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but of significance is that North Korea continues to not fire their longer range missiles which is keeping them in compliance with the informal agreement Kim Jong-un made with President Trump.

Even the coronavirus issue has lead to a tit-for-tat between Korea and Japan:

All Japanese citizens will need visas to enter Korea starting today, announced the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs Friday in response to Tokyo’s slapping of quarantines on visitors from Korea over fears of the new coronavirus.

Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Sei-young said in a press briefing Friday evening that all foreign travelers coming from Japan will also have to undergo special entry procedures.

Cho announced the reciprocal measures after Tokyo announced Thursday mandatory two-week quarantines for visitors from Korea and China at designated facilities starting today. Japan also said it will restrict flights from the two countries to Narita International Airport and Kansai International Airport. The measures are expected to last through this month.

Cho said the Korean government “once again expresses our deepest regret that Japan announced the measures unilaterally without prior consultation.”

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.