Category: Korea-General Topics

As I predicted South Korea’s daily coronavirus infection numbers have dropped sharply after being artificially increased due to Russian sailors and returned expats from Iraq testing positive earlier last week:

 South Korea’s new coronavirus cases dropped to under 60 on Sunday, a day after the country recorded its highest figure in nearly four months due to a surge in infections among people arriving from abroad.

The country added 58 new cases, including 46 cases from abroad, bringing the total to 14,150, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I think this what the new normal in Korea is going to look like, of double digit daily coronavirus infections and the occasional cluster infections pushing the number into triple digits. In other words Korea has the virus well under control until a vaccine is developed.

This high number though is kind of an artificial jump in infections due to a number of Russian sailors and returning Korean workers from Iraq testing positive for the virus. I would suspect next week it will go back down again:

Anchor: The number of COVID-19 cases imported to South Korea from overseas surged to a record daily high on Friday. Due to an influx of infections from Iraq and Russia, South Korea added 86 additional imported cases on top of 27 locally-transmitted infections.
Jim Bulley has more.

Report: The daily increase of COVID-19 cases in South Korea has topped 100 for the first time in 115 days, according to figures released on Saturday.

Many of the new infections are imported cases among Russian sailors and South Korean workers who returned from Iraq on government-arranged flights. 

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(KCDC) announced the latest tally, saying that 113 new cases were reported throughout Friday.

The accumulated total stands at 14-thousand-92.

Of the new infections, 86 are imported including 32 Russian sailors and 36 Korean workers airlifted from Iraq. Eighty-one of the imported cases were detected upon arrival.

An imported caseload of 86 is the highest since the first coronavirus patient was confirmed in South Korea on January 20. The previous high in imported cases was 67, recorded on March 29.

Among the 27 new domestic transmissions tallied Friday, Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province each reported eleven cases tied to a church, a facility for the elderly and a military unit in Pocheon.

KBS World Radio

You can read more at the link.

Since Liberation Day fell on Saturday, August 15th this year, the ROK government should have designated August 17th a national holiday a long time ago:

The South Korean government on Tuesday designated Aug. 17 as a temporary national holiday, allowing workers in the nation to have three consecutive days off during the summer season that’s feared to be dampened by the drawn-out fight against the novel coronavirus.

The Cabinet approved the plan to add the post-weekend holiday on the August calendar during a weekly meeting chaired by President Moon Jae-in at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul.

Moon said the designation is intended to give a “short but precious rest time” to people tired from battling the virus.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

You can read more at the link, but President Moon is likely betting that the majority of the Korean media will continue to cover for the ruling party’s sexual misconduct scandals:

Questions are rising over why President Moon Jae-in is not making any mention of a series of sexual harassment scandals involving star politicians of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).

His silence on the issue is considered unusual, given that he had pledged to be a “feminist President,” and has underscored the need for supporting and empowering women and put a special emphasis on raising the proportion of female leaders in his Cabinet and the presidential office.

There was an expectation that Moon, during Monday’s meeting with senior aides, would mention the death of former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and the allegations that he sexually abused his secretary ― a case that has made headlines in the local media since Park was found dead in an apparent suicide, July 10.

But Moon failed to mention anything related to the Park scandal. The President has also distanced himself from the sexual violence scandals of other DPK heavyweights, such as former South Chungcheong Province Governor An Hee-jung and former Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don. Both politicians stepped down from office due to #MeToo allegations from women who worked closely with them.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

One of my favorite Korean actresses Lee Young-ae has been recognized by the First Lady of Uzbekistan:

Lee Young-ae, one of Korea’s most famous actresses, has received a letter of gratitude from the first lady of Uzbekistan recently in recognition of a favor she did for Uzbek television viewers.

According to her agency, Ziroatkhon Hoshimova, the wife of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, thanked Lee in the letter in June for helping provide “Saimdang, Memoir of Colors,” a big-budget K-drama she starred in in 2017, for free broadcast in Uzbekistan by donating the copyright.

The first lady wrote that she was “very pleased to hear about Lee’s role” in helping the soap opera’s broadcasting in Uzbekistan.

She called Lee’s action “a beautiful one” and that it is “more meaningful in the time of COVID-19 pandemic.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.