Category: Korea-General Topics

It was only a matter of time before the Korean media jumped on foreign English teachers for visiting Itaewon:

Concerns are growing at schools as nearly 90 foreign English teachers were found to have recently visited Itaewon in Seoul, a new COVID-19 hot spot connected to more than 90 confirmed coronavirus cases, education officials said Tuesday.

The South Jeolla Office of Education said 36 foreign teachers and 15 Korean teaching staff visited Itaewon and the Hongdae area sometime between April 24 and May 6. Among them two visited nightclubs. The office said 20 tested negative for the virus and 31 are currently undergoing testing.

According to the South Jeolla provincial government, five residents including one foreign teacher were confirmed to have visited Itaewon during the period when a 29-year-old Korean “superspreader” visited a number of nightclubs there from May 1 to May 2, but all tested negative. 

The Gangwon Provincial Office of Education also said 55 foreign teachers and substitute teachers visited Itaewon from April 24 to May 6. They didn’t visit clubs or bars, just a number of restaurants and coffee shops. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but the Korea Times writes an article about how schools are supposedly concerned about foreign born English teachers even though none of them have tested positive yet for the virus.

Does anyone think there were no ethnic Korean teachers that visited Itaewon during this timeframe?

These cluster infections are likely going to keep happening from time to time, so does that mean the schools will be closed each time? If so why bother opening them?:

South Korea on Monday announced plans to reopen schools a week later than scheduled after dozens of infections coming from clubs in the city’s multicultural neighborhood of Itaewon triggered concerns over a bigger outbreak.

“The education ministry, through consultation with health authorities, postponed school reopening for high school seniors to guarantee the safety of students. The reopening for other grades will also be postponed by a week,” Vice Education Minister Park Baeg-beom said in a press briefing.

Under the revised schedule, high school seniors will return to school on May 20, followed by younger students who will return to school in steps concluding on June 8, according to the education ministry.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I think South Korea is providing a good example for other parts of the world to be prepared for cluster infections as people get back to work and their some what normal routines:

The number of new coronavirus infections connected to bars and clubs in Seoul’s popular nightlife district of Itaewon climbed to 94 on Monday, health authorities and local governments said amid growing concerns over a high risk of community spread.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) announced that 86 cases, including 63 club visitors and 23 family members and friends who came in contact with the clubbers, were confirmed as of noon on Monday. 

Later in the day, the Seoul city government reported eight more cases to take the total infections to 94.

By region, Seoul has reported 59 confirmed cases, with 21 in Gyeonggi Province, seven in Incheon, five in North Chungcheong Province and one each in Busan and Jeju Island.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The way I look at this, is that this could have just as easily happened in any nightclub in Seoul with how contagious this disease is:

The LGBTQ community in South Korea fears a rise in discrimination after a reported new spike in coronavirus cases was linked to a man who attended night clubs in Seoul’s gay district and later tested positive for the disease.

As of Saturday, May 9, South Korea confirmed 18 new coronavirus cases — the first time in five days that the number jumped above 10. Most of the cases originated in the popular Itaewon district in Seoul, where a 29-year-old man visited three nightclubs before testing positive for the virus.

The man tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, May 7, while an additional 14 people with who he had contact were also infected on Friday.

The 29-year-old could have also infected an estimated 2,000 people after he also walked around Seoul and other neighboring provinces, including Gyeonggi and Gangwon, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said, according to Reuters.

Business Insider

You can read more at the link.

I am surprised that the ROK military only has a total of 40 coronavirus cases considering the tight barracks conditions

A noncommissioned officer working at the Cyber Operations Command in Seoul has tested positive for the new coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases reported in the military to 40, the defense ministry said Friday.

The staff sergeant working at the command’s service support unit contracted the virus after visiting a club in Seoul’s popular multicultural neighborhood of Itaewon where a COVID-19 patient visited last week, according to the ministry.

Following the test result early Friday, the military restricted the movement of all service members of the unit, and health authorities were tracing the patient’s possible contacts.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is actually pretty clever thing for the Moon administration to do:

President Moon Jae-in offered a virtual tour of his office for kids Tuesday, as a replacement for an annual Children’s Day event on the Cheong Wa Dae lawn, due to the coronavirus.

Moon and first lady Kim Jung-sook participated in the production of a special video clip using the format of Minecraft, a popular sandbox video game.

With recordings of their voices and messages inserted as Minecraft characters, the clip features a tour of Cheong Wa Dae and a press briefing by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the country’s response to COVID-19.

Moon pointed out that children nationwide have been kept out of school for months.

“We are overcoming the coronavirus thanks to your patience,” the president said. “Please remember that just as you do, adults are endeavoring to beat the virus we are going through for the first time. We all are heroes.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Another step towards normalcy in South Korea:

The government has decided to further loosen its guidelines on social distancing, beginning Wednesday, amid clear signs of a slowdown in the number of new COVID-19 infections here, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Sunday.

Under its “Distancing in daily life” plan, the government will allow the phased reopening of facilities that have been shut down amid the coronavirus outbreak, Chung said. 

The government will also allow meetings and events to be held as long as participants abide by some basic quarantine guidelines. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

The ROK government plans to stimulate the economy by giving additional money to pensioners and those on disability:

The government began offering emergency disaster relief funds to some 2.8 million households, Monday, as part of efforts to minimize the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic by boosting consumption, according to the Ministry of Interior and Safety.

Eligible households include those living off the government’s livelihood support, the basic pension or disability programs.

Those households can receive cash payouts up to 1 million won ($816) without going through a separate application process.

The amount depends on the number of family members ― 400,000 won for single-person households, 600,000 won for two-member households, 800,000 won for three-member households and 1 million won for households with four or more family members.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This month South Korean children will be heading back to school as early as May 13th:

South Korea on Monday announced plans to reopen schools starting next week, more than two months after schools were closed in a precautionary measure against the new coronavirus that has infected more than 10,000 here.

“Starting on May 20, which is two weeks after key holidays in May, we will push to (reopen schools) in a phased and sequential process,” Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae said at a press briefing.

Under the plan, high school seniors will return to school on May 13, while other grades will return to school gradually in the following weeks.

Students in grade 2 of high school, grade 3 of middle school and grades 1 and 2 in elementary schools will return on May 20, while those in grade 1 of high school, grade 2 of middle school and grades 3 and 4 in elementary schools will go back on May 27. Students in grade 1 of middle school and grades 5 and 6 in elementary school will return on June 1.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.