Category: Korea-General Topics

Even the coronavirus issue has lead to a tit-for-tat between Korea and Japan:

All Japanese citizens will need visas to enter Korea starting today, announced the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs Friday in response to Tokyo’s slapping of quarantines on visitors from Korea over fears of the new coronavirus.

Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Sei-young said in a press briefing Friday evening that all foreign travelers coming from Japan will also have to undergo special entry procedures.

Cho announced the reciprocal measures after Tokyo announced Thursday mandatory two-week quarantines for visitors from Korea and China at designated facilities starting today. Japan also said it will restrict flights from the two countries to Narita International Airport and Kansai International Airport. The measures are expected to last through this month.

Cho said the Korean government “once again expresses our deepest regret that Japan announced the measures unilaterally without prior consultation.”

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

This is an area that all countries dealing with the spread of the coronavirus should focus on because it is the sick and elderly that are by far the highest demographic being killed by the virus:

The health authorities here are taking extra care with nursing homes, retirement complexes and other facilities housing the elderly as the COVID-19 epidemic has hit senior citizens harder than any other age group, officials said Sunday.

Medical experts said while a major cluster of infections linked to the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus is expected to slow in the coming weeks, the emergence of other mass infections at those facilities is posing a special challenge for the government’s quarantine efforts to contain the spread of the new coronavirus. 

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) confirmed 179 new cases as of 9 p.m., Sunday, bringing the nation’s total number of infections to 7,313. On Saturday, the KCDC detected 367 additional cases.  

So far, 50 people have died from the virus, most of whom were elderly patients with underlying illnesses.

Several cases seen as mass infections have already been reported at nursing facilities and retirement complexes where the frailest of senior citizens reside.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Some rare good news out of South Korea in regards to the coronavirus:

The number of new coronavirus infections in South Korea continued to rise, with an additional 179 cases confirmed Sunday, bringing the total to 7,313.

The number of newly added confirmed cases is lower than 367 additional cases of COVID-19 released on Saturday, the slowest on-day gain since Feb. 26, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). 

It marked the first time in 11 days the number of new infections fell to below 400, possibly offering signs of containment.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is what one poll says about the Moon Jae-in administration’s response to the coronavirus outbreak:

Centrist voters are dissatisfied with the Moon Jae-in administration’s response to the new coronavirus outbreak, a survey showed Wednesday, and their votes for the April general elections will be swayed by the current situation.

According to a poll commissioned by the JoongAng Ilbo and conducted by Hankook Research, 50.9 percent of the centrist voters said they think the government is doing poorly in the fight against the outbreak, while 44.6 percent said the government is doing well. The poll was conducted on Feb. 26 and 27 on 1,000 people across the nation, over the age of 18, and the JoongAng Ilbo released the outcome on Wednesday. 

Of all respondents – liberals, conservatives and centrists – 50.7 percent said they are dissatisfied with the government’s countermeasures against the outbreak, while 47.1 percent said they are satisfied. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Here is an unexpected benefit of the coronavirus, the self deportation of illegal immigrant inside of South Korea:

An exodus of undocumented foreigners here has begun as the coronavirus epidemic continues. Hundreds of illegal sojourners come to the immigration office on Jeju Island each day asking for quick deportation, according to Yonhap News Agency. 

On Tuesday alone, nearly 200 people gave themselves up to Jeju Immigration Office ― nearly as many as the 230 who surrendered throughout last month. Most were Chinese.

“The virus is spreading so fast,” Yonhap quoted an undocumented Chinese working at a restaurant on Jeju as saying. “My family in China worries about me so much, so I decided to return home.” 

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest of President Moon’s approval rating:

Realmeter polling company said Monday that 50.7 percent of the people it surveyed said they disapprove of Moon’s performance, up 1.6 percentage points from the previous week. The poll was conducted from Tuesday till Friday last week at the request of YTN. 

Moon’s approval rating was 46.1 percent in the fourth week of February, down by 1.3 percentage points from the third week of February, according to the poll. The gap between the approval rating and disapproval rating was 4.6 percentage points, which went up higher than the margin of error for the first time in four weeks. 

In Daegu and North Gyeongsang, where infections are skyrocketing day by day, Moon’s approval rating was 30.1 percent, while his disapproval rating was 65 percent. “The coronavirus outbreak will become the most critical factor in the politics in the coming weeks,” Realmeter said. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

This is going to go no where considering President Moon’s political party controls the legislature:

The National Assembly said Monday lawmakers will formally consider a public petition demanding President Moon Jae-in’s impeachment.  

According to the National Assembly Secretariat, a petition was submitted on Friday to the legislature’s online bulletin board, demanding that the National Assembly impeach Moon for his failed response to protect the people’s lives from the deadly coronavirus outbreak. The petition received over 100,000 signatures from the public in just four days and was created by someone surnamed Han.

“The more I see Moon’s response to the latest Wuhan pneumonia crisis, the more I see a president of China, not Korea,” Han wrote, criticizing the administration for the shortage of face masks and its decision to not impose a full entry ban on all travelers from China. “As the president, his top priority should have been protecting the country’s own people. If he had truly cared about the people, he should have imposed an entry ban on travelers from all regions of China.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but this issue does make me wonder if this will be the next thing that Washington Democrats will try to impeach President Trump for?

Here is the latest on the coronavirus spread in South Korea:

South Korea’s new coronavirus caseload approached 5,200 on Tuesday, with an alarming cluster of infections continuing to swell in the southeastern city of Daegu. President Moon Jae-in declared a “war” on the fast-spreading virus.

The 374 new cases, which were identified over the past 16 hours on Tuesday, brought the nation’s total number of infections to 5,186, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said.

Tuesday’s additional cases followed 600 new cases on Monday and the nation’s sharpest daily spikes of 1,062 on Sunday and 813 on Saturday.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is what the founder of the Shincheonji church had to stay about the spread of the virus through his church in Daegu:

Lee Man-hee, founder of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, issued an apology Monday as his secretive sect is investigated for manslaughter for refusing to cooperate to stop the deadly coronavirus outbreak.  

“Regarding the mass infections linked to Patient No. 31, I, as the leader of Shincheonji, offer a sincere apology to the people,” said Lee, 88, in a press conference. “We had no intention [to allow it], but many were infected. We did our best, but we could not completely stop [the spread of the disease]. I apologize to the people.”

After Patient No. 31, a 61-year-old woman and a Shincheonji follower in Daegu, was diagnosed last month, health officials said she may have helped spread the disease. As of Monday morning, 3,260 infections were reported in Daegu and nearby North Gyeongsang. 

In his first public appearance since the church emerged as a nexus in the outbreak, Lee, who founded the controversial doomsday sect in 1984, said Shincheonji is “actively cooperating” with the government and all gatherings of the followers have been stopped. “We will do our best to offer all human and material resources to the government,” he said. 

After reiterating apologies and begging for forgiveness from the government, Lee dropped to his knees and touched his head to the ground twice. “Now is not the time to investigate who is at fault,” he said, “and heaven will help us.” He also asked the public not to “misjudge” his followers. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but Lee Man-hee seems a bit shall I say not all there. However, prosecuting this guy for manslaughter seems to be political to me, unless the church was intentionally spreading the virus which I have seen no evidence of.