Author: GIKorea

The news is getting worse out of South Korea in regards to the spread of the coronavirus:

Four more fatalities from the new coronavirus were reported in Korea over the weekend, bringing the total death toll to six as infections skyrocketed to 602.

The Korean government elevated its official alert level for the coronavirus on Sunday to “red,” the highest in its four-tier system, in a meeting presided over by President Moon Jae-in and pledged to mobilize all resources to subdue the outbreak.

Infections remain heavily concentrated in a single city, Daegu, and the surrounding province of North Gyeongsang, with 495, or 82.2 percent of the total. Four of the six deaths are linked to Daenam Hospital in North Gyeongsang’s Cheongdo County, where nearly 110 other people including medical staff have contracted the disease.

A 40-year-old man in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang, who died Friday posthumously tested positive for the coronavirus Saturday, officials from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said.

A 57-year-old man who was hospitalized in the psychiatric ward of Daenam Hospital before being recently transferred to Dongguk University Gyeongju Hospital in Gyeongju died Sunday morning. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

I think the Korean left actually enjoys the fact that Shimane prefecture has had an annual Takeshima Day since 2005 just so they have an excuse to vent their anti-Japanese sentiment:

South Korea lodged a strong protest Saturday against Japan’s renewed claims to South Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo.

Seoul’s foreign ministry called in Hirohisa Soma, a senior official at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, and expressed regret over Japan’s annual event meant to publicize its territorial claim to Dokdo.

“We again sternly urged Japan to immediately repeal” its event on Dokdo, the ministry said in a statement.

The protest came hours after the Japanese prefecture of Shimane held the Takeshima Day event and a senior Japanese government official attended the ceremony. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but Koreans should just ignore this stupidity from a backwater Japanese prefecture, but it is too much red meat for the Korean left wing base to ignore especially before April’s parliamentary elections.

I do have to give the Korean left credit because they have at least toned down their annual response to Takeshima Day. I can remember the good old days of the Great Dokdo War.  I can still remember the hard days when those of us in Korea had to stock up on food and supplies to survive the initial declaration of war from President Roh Moo-hyun.  We made it through multiple cease fires, close calls, and even the failure of the Daemado campaign.  

Times had been so desperate there was even talk about recruiting North Korea to fight off the evil Japanese Imperialists.  Though the casualties on the Korean side have been heavy at times, through it all the brave defenders of Dokdo have continued thwart the massive Japanese armada descending on the islet.  

We were also treated back then to such Korean patriots like Flag Eater Man, Chung Dong-young, the Finger Chopping Lady, the Knife in the Gut Man, Weed Killer Man, the Dokdo Riders, and most importantly that great general of all things Dokdo, Bee-Man.  Sorry Korean Democratic Party, you have nothing on these great defenders of Dokdo.

Here is the latest from USFK on their coronavirus prevention response:

There remains zero confirmed cases of USFK personnel with COVID-19 despite the rise in confirmed South Korean cases to more than 100 patients.

Out of continued abundance of caution and the utilizing the USFK Commander’s authorities to protect the force, the risk for USFK peninsula-wide personnel and installations remains moderate.

To ensure USFK remains vigilant in preventing the spread of COVID-19 within USAG-Daegu and Area IV, the following prudent health protection measures are in effect:

All service member mission-essential only travel to/from/around Daegu, and all service member non-mission essential travel to/from Daegu requires GO/FO authorization; this is highly encouraged for all family members, civilians and contractors.

USFK Website

You can read much more at the link.

The Prime Minister’s message here is making me wonder if they are going to use the coronavirus as an excuse to crackdown on rallies against the ruling government? :

 South Korea’s prime minister called the fast spread of the new coronavirus in the country a “grave” situation on Saturday and urged people to refrain from holding religious events in crowded places.

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun issued a special public message to seek the people’s cooperation with the government’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Chung urged people to refrain from holding religious events in crowded places and to devise other ways to carry them out.

“In accordance with law and principles, the government will sternly deal with acts that interfere with quarantine efforts, illegal hoarding of medical goods and acts that spark uneasiness through massive rallies,” Chung said in the nationally televised message.

Yonhap

If PM Chung is so concerned about religious services and massive rallies why doesn’t he ban all sporting events then? Better yet shouldn’t he be closing down all the subways and buses in Seoul as well where far many more people use every day than go to an anti-government rally.

Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section.