Category: Korea-General Topics

Right now the Moon administration will likely not take this medical advice because the political calculations are currently taking precedent. However, if the coronavirus continues to have more huge outbreaks like we saw in Daegu that may change those calculations:

Medical experts and university officials called on the government Wednesday to ban Chinese students from entering Korea amid mounting fears that they could bring the coronavirus with them.

The Korea Medical Association (KMA), the nation’s largest doctors group, which has been calling for the controversial entry ban, stepped up its calls after the health authorities confirmed 15 more cases of COVID-19 Wednesday. It said the contagious virus has been spreading rapidly in local communities.

Universities are also struggling to find ways of managing their Chinese students as nearly 70,000 students are set to return to South Korea for the spring semester. Although health authorities and the Ministry of Education announced a series of initiatives to better manage and prevent the possible spread of the novel virus, the KMA said that restrictions on entry from China is the most urgent action from the government needed right now.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

The woman from Daegu who it is unknown how she contracted the coronavirus has now being called a “superspreader” because of how she likely infected 18 other people at her church:

South Korea confirmed 20 more cases of the novel coronavirus Wednesday, bringing the total number of infections here to 51, with most new patients traced to church services, stoking concerns that the country may identify more virus patients despite tighter quarantine measures.

According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), 18 of the new patients are in Daegu, 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, and in the adjacent North Gyeongsang region.

The country’s 31st patient, probably a coronavirus “super spreader,” is believed to have infected at least 15 others and came in contact with 166 people. The 61-year-old woman, a Daegu resident, started to complain of a fever on Feb. 10 and was confirmed to be infected Tuesday.

A preliminary epidemiological investigation shows that the potential super spreader attended several of the same church services as the other newly confirmed patients and had direct contact with one person at a Daegu hospital.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this lady for Daegu has been using mass transportation in the days before the symptoms of coronavirus began to show. If people in her church became infected it seems people in mass transit with her could get infected as well.

I think one thing that will come out of this is that church attendance across the country will drop.

Anyone surprised that the Moon administration is blaming the poor Korean economy on the coronavirus? They are basically arguing that the Korean economy was on the verge of turning around until the coronavirus hit:

President Moon Jae-in ordered his cabinet on Tuesday to mobilize all available “special” means to handle the “emergency economic situations” attributable to the continued spread of the new coronavirus.

“Emergency situations require an emergency prescription. The current situation is much more serious than [we] thought,” Moon said during his opening remarks during a weekly cabinet meeting at the Blue House. “It is the time when special measures are absolutely necessary to use every possible means that the government can mobilize.”

Moon’s call reflects his resolve to minimize the epidemic’s impact on the Korean economy, which the government said was on the cusp of revival starting in the last quarter of 2019.

“This is not enough,” he added. “In order to respond to the emergency economic situations, I want you to exert policy-related imagination that goes beyond expectations with no restrictions.”

He cited the expansion of tax incentives and regulatory reform to promote corporate investment, special financial support for small- and medium-sized firms and measures to relieve tiny shop owners of rent burdens.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the start of a new fast food trend could be happening in South Korea:

Food companies are continuing to target customers by appealing to their pets, with Burger King releasing an upgraded edition of its “Dogpper” dog biscuits from Monday.

The hamburger chain had first given out dog treats as a limited edition last year. The product takes its name from the American fast-food corporation’s signature burger, the Whopper, and is flavored with a similar taste and smell. Last May, Burger King held a promotional campaign in which customers who ordered home delivery for a two-week period received the free dog treats. 

During those two weeks, Burger King’s home delivery orders increased by 20 percent, the company said, prompting them to continue the promotional deal in June. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

The government is now saying to be ready for more unlinked coronavirus patients:

South Korea’s public health authorities warned Tuesday that the country should prepare for more coronavirus infections not linked to known clusters as its latest confirmed cases are believed to be without links to other existing cases or to China and overseas countries.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said the country is entering a “new phase” with some confirmed cases not being linked to existing spreads or clusters, which means that those patients are judged to have contracted the COVID-19 virus without traveling abroad or coming into contact with other infected patients.

The public health agency admitted that it is still unclear how the three latest virus patients — the country’s 29th, 30th, and 31st — contracted the virus as they had not had contact with other confirmed patients or been abroad recently.

“The three patients’ infection routes are uncertain … and there is a chance of additional similar cases being found,” KCDC director Jung Eun-kyeong said in a press conference.

Yonhap

The latest person infected in Daegu had not been to China or had contact with anyone from there and still got infected. Last month she visited a hospital in Seoul and used public transportation which may explain how she was infected. If she became infected this way how many other people are infected that is not known yet?

This was a horrible accident believed to have been caused by icy roads:

At least three people were killed and 43 others injured Monday in two expressway pileups in southwestern South Korea following heavy snow, authorities said.

At least six of the 43 hurt were said to be in critical conditions.

The first accident occurred at 12:23 p.m. when a tank truck carrying nitric acid reportedly ran into a small pile of cars involved in an earlier accident inside a tunnel on a highway connecting Suncheon and Wanju in North Jeolla Province.

About a dozen other vehicles ran into the truck, which had spilled its load and caught fire, according to police and rescue officials.

The third and latest victim was found in a car crushed under the tank truck. Those injured have been taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is pretty concerning that doctors currently do not know how the latest Korean to contract the coronavirus became infected with it:

The 30th case of the new coronavirus in Korea was confirmed Monday as the wife of Patient No. 29, an 82-year-old Korean man who had been volunteering with low-income senior citizens and spent days visiting several medical clinics and pharmacies before his diagnosis.  

Patient No. 30, a 68-year-old Korean woman, tested positive for the virus the previous day, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). Her husband, Patient No. 29, who had not traveled overseas in recent months nor come into contact with any known coronavirus patients, was confirmed as having tested positive for the new coronavirus earlier Sunday.  

How the elderly couple, who are residents of Jongno District, central Seoul, contracted the virus is still unclear. Authorities are scrambling to trace all the people they came in contact with in the past two weeks amid heightened concerns of secondary and tertiary infections.  

Patient No. 29 had a pre-existing heart condition and visited two different local clinics and two pharmacies prior to going to Korea University Anam Hospital’s emergency room in Seongbuk District, central Seoul, Saturday morning, with complaints of chest pains. The doctor there discovered through a CT scan that the man had symptoms of pneumonia and tested him for the coronavirus. The couple is being treated at Seoul National University Hospital in central Seoul, one of the state-designated facilities for the virus, officially called Covid-19, since Sunday, and they are both in a stable condition with mild fevers. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but if they cannot put this man in proximity of other coronavirus patients that likely means there are people infected in Seoul with the virus that don’t know it.

Via a reader tip comes this article that explains why the Moon administration has not implemented robust travel restrictions on flights from China:

South Korea has waffled on these sorts of restrictions. Its dominant trading partner is China. It exports more there than to the United States. Seoul’s current government has sought an outreach to China for many reasons and does not wish to burn this bridge. A rapprochement with China would reduce its dependence on US security guarantees, which the current government finds both irksome and now unreliable under US President Donald Trump. Better terms with Beijing also help forge this government’s much-sought new path with North Korea. And finally, better relations with China offers an alternative to improving relations with Japan, a deeply divisive topic in South Korea because of Japan’s history of imperialism in Korea.

National Interest

You can read more at the link.

It figures that the Moon administration would bring up the GSOMIA issue again before April’s parliamentary elections in order to promote anti-Japanese sentiment:

Controversy is resurfacing over the possible termination of a military intelligence sharing agreement with Japan, ahead of the March 1 Independence Day and the April 15 general election. 

Speculation is mounting that the government could ultimately terminate the General Security of Information Sharing Agreement (GSOMIA), given the absence of any significant outcome from bilateral negotiations to remove Japan’s trade restrictions imposed on certain Korean companies last summer. In response to the restrictions, the government announced the termination of the agreement, but held off on this in November to show its commitment to bilateral negotiations to settle the trade dispute. (……)

During a recent press conference, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said that Korea could still consider terminating the GSOMIA depending on what is deemed best for the “national interest.” “There have been talks between the export authorities, but we have still not returned to the situation before July 1 [when Japan imposed the exports ban],” Kang said.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but it is pretty clear how important April’s vote is for the Blue House. They have changed election laws that will increase the number of unelected left wing parliament seats, covered up the investigations into Blue House corruption, fired the head of Statistics Korea to get better economic stats, has not reached a cost sharing deal with the U.S., and now threatening to cancel the GSOMIA pact again.