Category: Korea-General Topics

It looks like foreign residents in South Korea might eventually become eligible for a COVID-18 stimulus payment:

The South Korean human rights watchdog has stepped in after the governments of Seoul and Gyeonggi Province in March excluded some foreign residents from their disaster relief funds amid COVID-19’s blow to the domestic economy. 

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea said Thursday it had advised Seoul mayor Park Won-soon and Gyeonggi provincial governor Lee Jae-myung to subsidize “all foreign residents” in their regions with registered addresses, according to Korean local news outlet Nocut News.

The independent state agency said that after examining experts’ opinions, precedent cases of COVID-19 subsidies allocated by governments, the constitution and local autonomy laws, it concluded that not paying the money to the foreign residents was “discrimination on an unreasonable ground.”

Article 12 and 13 of the local autonomy law, cited by the agency, states that “residents,” who have the right to local government’s administrative benefits that are fair to all, include foreigners who reported their addresses to local government offices.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It appears that the Moon administration wants to treat the balloon launch human rights activists like they do conservative journalists by threatening them with jail:

The unification ministry said Wednesday that it will file a complaint with police against two North Korean defector groups for sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border, a day after the North cut off all inter-Korean communication lines over such leafleting. 

The ministry said that it will also take action to revoke business permits granted to the groups, Fighters for Free North Korea and Keunsaem, accusing them of putting the safety of people living in border regions at risk by sending leaflets into the North.

“They have violated public interests by heightening tensions between the South and the North and by running squarely against the agreements reached by the leaders of the two Koreas, and also caused danger to the lives and safety of residents in the border regions,” the ministry said in a press release.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this is once again another example of how South Korea is a rule by law nation and not a rule of law nation. These activists have been doing this for years and one of their leaders Park Sang-Hak has faced assassination attempts by North Korean agents and had leftist thugs assault him to stop his balloon protests. Now with a change of government and complaints from North Korea, what they are doing is suddenly illegal.

Besides some schools in the Seoul area the vast majority of South Korea’s schools are now open:

The final batch of students returned to school Monday, completing a three-week phased reopening of schools as Korea steps into the post-Covid-19 age.  
   
Yet even as fifth, sixth and seventh graders finally began their school year after a three-month delay, anxiety loomed in many parts of the Seoul metropolitan area, where several clusters of coronavirus infections have popped up lately.  
   
The Ministry of Education announced that 517 schools remained closed Monday, almost all in Seoul, Incheon or Gyeonggi, due to fear of infections. The closed schools account for about 2.5 percent of 20,902 nationwide schools. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest on the Korean government’s attempt to put Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong behind bars:

 A court in Seoul early Tuesday refused to issue an arrest warrant for Samsung Group’s de facto leader, Lee Jae-yong, who are under investigation over succession-related allegations.

The Seoul Central District Court turned down the prosecution’s request to put Lee, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, behind bars, citing that there is not sufficient probable cause for his arrest.

Two other Samsung executives, Choi Gee-sung and Kim Jong-joong, from the group’s now-disbanded control tower, the Future Strategy Office, also avoided arrest.

“There was insufficient explanation on the need to arrest the defendants against the principle of trial without detention,” Judge Won Jung-sook said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link,

Notice that if the media speculates or even reports facts about the Moon administration they go to jail, but if the media speculates about Lee Jae-yong it is perfectly acceptable:

Samsung Electronics on Sunday appealed to the press not to release “groundless” or “speculative” reports centering on Samsung’s de facto leader Lee Jae-yong, who is being questioned over possible legal violations in the controversial 2015 merger of two affiliates and an accounting fraud to cement his control over the group.

The appeal, which also highlighted Samsung’s contribution to the Korean economy, came a day before the court holds a hearing Monday to decide whether to issue the arrest warrant. Prosecutors on Thursday requested a warrant to detain Lee after he, along with other Samsung executives, requested that prosecutors convene a panel of outside experts to decide the validity of the investigation.  

“Samsung is in a crisis,” said the statement Sunday. “Recently, press reports that haven’t been confirmed or those based on suspicious sources continue to be released. Some of them are based on the premise Lee is guilty. Please refrain from immoderate reports that aren’t based on the truth. The damage imposed on Samsung, its executives and staff members from those reports is not small.”

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link. I have no idea if Lee is guilty of what he is accused of, but what I do know is that Korea is a rule by law nation instead of a rule of law nation. If powers that be want him guilty they can likely make it happen unless Lee gives them what they want.

Here is the latest on the alleged fraud surrounding the fundraising efforts in support of the Korean comfort women by politically connected Yoon Mee-hyang:

The head of a shelter for Japanese wartime sexual slavery survivors run by a civic group under a prosecution probe was found dead in her apartment in Paju, Gyeonggi, Sunday, said police Sunday.    
   
Sohn, the 60-year-old head of the Peaceful Our Home located in Mapo District, western Seoul, was found dead Saturday night at 10:35 p.m. in the bathroom nearest to the entrance of her fourth-floor apartment, according to the Paju police precinct.  
   
The shelter is run by the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, which had been undergoing a probe by the prosecution for allegations of accounting fraud and misuse of donations.  
   
Prosecutors raided the Korean Council’s office, its museum and the shelter for the so-called comfort women victims on May 20 and 21.    
   
Sohn’s acquaintances contacted police Saturday afternoon when she couldn’t be reached. She was already dead when police discovered her.    
   
Police said that there was no evidence of an intruder into Sohn’s home and that her death was not being treated as suspicious.     
   
A police official said that based on the circumstances, Sohn’s death is highly likely to be a suicide. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but this reminds me of when former President Roh Moo-hyun committed suicide to protect all the corrupt people around him. I guess we will see if this suicide has the same effect for Yoon Mee-hyang.

Here is the latest on the coronavirus in South Korea:

South Korea reported 57 additional cases of the new coronavirus Sunday, marking the second consecutive day the number was above 50, raising concerns over new cluster infections in the densely populated greater Seoul area ahead of the final phase of school reopening. 

The new infections raised the country’s total caseload to 11,776, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said. This is the highest number of daily infections since the 58 reported May 29.

The recent spike is mainly due to growth in new clusters at table tennis clubs and health product retailer Richway specialized in door-to-door sales for mostly elderly consumers, both based in Seoul, while group infections from nightclubs, a distribution center and religious gatherings continue to pose problems.

Yonhap

These cluster infections are going to continue to happen, but what you never hear about is how is it effecting hospital capacity? The virus is going to continue to spread, the key is slowing its spread to a level that the hospitals can keep up with treating the critically ill. It appears that South Korea is having no issues currently treating the critically ill.

The BLM protests have spread even to South Korea:

A group of activists held a rally in central Seoul on Saturday to voice their support for the anti-racism movement in the United States that flared up after the death of George Floyd.

Some 100 people participated in the rally, which was held in Myeongdong, central Seoul. Clad in black, they later marched toward Cheonggye Stream, with some holding pickets reading “Black Lives Matter.”

The rally was organized to support the BLM movement that has been spreading across the U.S. and around the world following the death of Floyd, a black American, at the hands of a white police officer.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This is going to be the new normal for a while of cluster infections popping up at indoor locations where people work or congregate:

A health product retailer is emerging as a new coronavirus cluster in the Seoul metropolitan area, officials said Friday.

The densely-populated area has been hit by a string of cluster infections originating from call centers, clubs, churches and warehouses.

According to quarantine authorities, the number of COVID-19 cases traced to the health product seller, called Richway, located in Seoul’s southwestern ward of Gwanak, increased by 19 from the previous day to 29 as of Friday noon. Eighteen of the 29 patients are from Seoul, with Gyeonggi, Incheon and South Chungcheong accounting for five, four and two, respectively.

The authorities are concerned, as most of Richway customers are in their 60s and 70s, who are known as the most vulnerable group for the coronavirus.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.