Category: Korea-General Topics

What gets me the most about this case is that when the sexual assault allegation occurred the ROK Foreign Ministry relocated the diplomat to the Philippines of all places:

 A New Zealand advocate for sexual assault victims has expressed disappointment towards the South Korean foreign minister’s recent apology over sexual abuse allegations against a Korean diplomat in the Oceanian country, according to a news report Tuesday.

A former New Zealand employee at South Korea’s Embassy in Wellington has accused a senior South Korean diplomat of groping his body on three occasions in 2017, a case that has drawn attention after the country’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern raised the issue in last month’s phone talks with President Moon Jae-in. 

On Monday, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha in a meeting with senior officials made an apology over the case. According to the minister’s office, Kang stated that the case has been “a diplomatic burden” for the government and apologized “for causing concern to the public.”

Louise Nicholas, a New Zealand advocate for victims of sexual assault, however, expressed frustration with Kang’s apology for it not addressing the victim himself. 

“He’s quite distraught over (the apology) and I don’t blame him at all,” Nicholas, who has been supporting the victim, said in an interview with New Zealand broadcaster Newshub.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The latest growth in coronavirus infections in the Seoul area has now forced schools to go back to online education:

All students in the greater Seoul area from kindergarten to 11th grade will go back to remote learning for the next two weeks as the coronavirus continues to spread throughout the country’s most populous region.  
   
The Education Ministry said Tuesday that 12th graders will be spared from the latest measures as they have to prepare for the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), the grueling eight-hour marathon known here as suneung, which students spend their whole school careers preparing for. The test is slated for Dec. 3.  
   
The online learning mandate for students in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi goes into effect Wednesday and tentatively lasts through Sept. 11, the ministry said, though the duration could be extended depending on the surge in cases. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

It appears the spread of the coronavirus in South Korea may be slowing:

South Korea has reported less than 300 new COVID-19 cases for the second consecutive day. 

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(KCDC) on Tuesday announced 280 cases compiled throughout the previous day, bringing the cumulative total to 17-thousand-945. 

The nation registered 266 cases on Monday after the daily tally hovered over 300 for three days in a row, including the five-month high of 397 on Sunday. 

KBS World

You can read more at the link.

This strike has to do with how the Moon administration plans to increase the quota of students allowed into medical school. The government believes this will allow more doctors to staff rural areas. The Korean Medical Association believes the problem is not the number of doctors, but the fact many of them flock to the Seoul area because of better hospitals and quality of life concerns. If the hospitals and quality of life improved in rural areas the doctors would work there:

Tens of thousands of doctors will go on a full-scale strike as scheduled this week in protest of the government’s medical workforce reform plan and proceed with a rally in a non-contact manner amid spiking virus cases. 

Doctors, including interns and resident doctors at general hospitals and practitioners at neighborhood clinics, plan to begin a three-day nationwide strike starting Wednesday to protest the government’s move to increase the number of medical students, according to the Korean Medical Association (KMA), which has some 130,000 members.

The collective action comes as thousands of trainee doctors have already been staging an indefinite strike since late last week, calling for the government to scrap the plan.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the Korean Medical Association says that doctors supporting COVID-19 care will still report for duty.

The spread of the coronavirus in South Korea is getting worse every day:

South Korea’s daily coronavirus cases spiked to 397 on Sunday, all but 10 of them local infections, as new cases rose sharply not only in the capital area but with provincial infections also jumping to a triple-digit gain.

Of the total COVID-19 cases, 294 were reported in Seoul and the surrounding areas and the other 100 cases in provincial regions, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

The country’s total caseload has risen to 17,399.

Sunday’s new cases are the most since March 7, when the country reported 483 new cases, the KCDC said. 

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but buried in the article is once again there have been no additional deaths leaving the death toll at 309 and there are only 30 people hospitalized.

Here is the latest typhoon that is threatening the Korean peninsula:

Typhoon Bavi, formed off the east coast of Taiwan, is expected to hit the Korean Peninsula on Thursday, the national weather agency said Saturday.

The Korea Meteorological Administration said the season’s 8th tropical storm is moving northwest towards the peninsula at a speed of 28 kilometers per hour and forecast to make landfall on Thursday after passing through the southern island of Jeju.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

The spread of the coronavirus in South Korea is expanding to areas outside of Seoul:

South Korea’s daily new virus cases surpassed 300 again Saturday, and infections were reported in all major cities and provinces, as concerns are growing that the country is entering a new phase in the pandemic with infections spreading throughout the country.

The country added 332 more COVID-19 cases, including 315 local infections, raising the total caseload to 17,002, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

For the first time since the first case was confirmed in January, all of the country’s 17 major cities and provinces reported COVID-19 cases.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but the article goes on to blame churches and the anti-government rally for the recent outbreak. Interestingly buried at the very end of the article is the fact that there has been no additional deaths reported with the death total remaining at an incredibly low 309 people.