Category: Korea-General Topics

I guess we will see how long this regulation lasts since the incoming Yoon administration is opposing it:

A ban on coffee shops and restaurants offering disposable plastic cups will be reinstated on April 1, but the incoming administration of Yoon Suk-yeol is already objecting.     
   
The ban on disposable cups, which was first instituted in 2018, was temporarily lifted during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Environment Ministry, stores that fail to comply face fines of up to 3 million won ($2,400).    
   
In June, a system in which retailers have to pay for returned empty bottles and cans will be implemented.    
   
The transition team for the Yoon government has asked for the disposable cup ban to be put off.   

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

It looks like South Korea’s COVID numbers is beginning to trend downward to finally match what is going on in much of the rest of the world:

South Korea’s new daily COVID-19 cases fell below 200,000 for the first time in 25 days Monday, as the omicron-driven virus peak appears to have passed amid growing concerns over the spread of the even more transmissible “stealth omicron” subvariant.

The country added 187,213 new coronavirus infections, including 25 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 12,003,054, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. 

It is the first time since March 2 that the daily caseload dropped below 200,000. On March 2, the figure came to 198,803.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see if landlords do drop rents when these property taxes are frozen or just pocket the extra income:

The government is expected to freeze property tax for the entire homeowners including owners of one expensive home with an officially appraised value of over 1.1 billion won ($905,000) subject to the Comprehensive Real Estate Tax, according to government ministries, Sunday. The hefty Comprehensive Real Estate Tax is imposed for retaining expensive homes. 

The measure is part of the real estate market policy revisions pledged by President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, whose win by a razor-thin margin was underpinned in considerable part by public fury over the housing prices doubling under the Moon Jae-in administration due to two dozen botched government policies. 

Higher housing prices led to a tax spike for homeowners, almost all of whom passed the unexpected burden to tenants in the form of higher rent, threatening their stable living arrangements. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but it will also be interesting to see what losing all this property tax revenue will do to the national budget.

South Korea’s daily COVID rate continues to shatter records:

South Korea’s new daily COVID-19 cases spiked to more than 600,000 on Thursday, setting another record high, fueled by the spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant amid an easing of virus curbs.

The country reported 621,328 new COVID-19 infections, including 62 cases from overseas, raising the total to 8,250,592, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. 

The latest tally marks a 55 percent surge in just one day. South Korea has seen a spike in the caseload since it reported the first five-digit figures in late January of this year. Since then, the numbers have grown fast, surpassing 300,000 on March 9.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but remember the days when the Moon administration was gloating about their COVID policies and wanting it to be a model for the world. Looking back it appears the Swedes were right all along.

It is amazing that likely one cigarette butt has caused this much damage:

Police and fire officials conducted a probe Wednesday at an east coast mountain site believed to be the ignition point of a recent major wildfire.

The wildfire, which started in Uljin, 330 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on March 4, became the country’s most devastating on record as it spread to nearby areas in the eastern province of Gangwon, wiping out 643 facilities and scorching an estimated 20,923 hectares of woodland. 

Officials from the police, the National Forensic Service and the Korea Forest Service (KFS) conducted a joint probe at the purported ignition site, taking photos and collecting various evidence.

Authorities believe the blaze may have started due to a cigarette butt thrown from a passing vehicle, as the fire was kindled near a road, according to CCTV footage.

The KFS and police have identified the owners of four vehicles that passed through the area close to the time when the fire broke and also obtained black boxes from the vehicles in question. Officials said they plan to further the investigation based on the collected evidence and results of their forensic analysis.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It is just becoming bizarre how South Korea just continues to set new record highs for COVID cases while most of the rest of the world is in a steep decline. However with that all said the fatality rate continues to drop to .14% when it was .69% back in early February:

South Korea’s new COVID-19 cases hit yet another somber milestone of more than 400,000 on Wednesday, driven by the dominant omicron variant spreading at an overwhelming speed. 

The country added 400,741 new daily COVID-19 infections, mostly locally transmitted, raising the total caseload to 7,629,275, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. 

It’s an all-time high since South Korea reported the first COVID-19 case on Jan. 20, 2020, and a big jump from Tuesday’s 362,338. The previous record high was 383,659 reported last Saturday.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Rhee Keun is still alive in Ukraine and it will be interesting to learn at some point what the Ukraine military has him tasked to do:

 A former Korean Navy special warfare officer who recently left for Ukraine to join the war against Russia as a volunteer soldier posted news of his survival on social media Tuesday.

“I’m alive,” Rhee Keun wrote on his Instagram account in an apparent denial of recent rumors about his death after Russia claimed to have killed about 180 foreign volunteer fighters in an attack on a training base in western Ukraine.

“My teammates withdrew safely from Ukraine, and I’m alone in the country,” he said. “I have a lot of things to do. I’m busy combating every day. There will be no news from me until I complete my mission,” he added.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Remember when the Korean government said that they would not ditch their “Living with COVID” strategy even if case rates went over 10,000? Before the case rates could even hit 10,000 the Moon administration implemented COVID restrictions once again. It seems like a long time ago, but this all only happened back in December. Now that it is March it is clear that the COVID restrictions did not work as case rates have hit a new record of 383,664:

South Korea’s daily COVID-19 cases stayed above 350,000 for the second straight day Sunday as the country is grappling with the fast spread of the omicron variant.

The country reported 350,190 new COVID-19 infections, including 350,157 local cases, raising the total caseload to 6,556,453, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

The tally fell from an all-time high of 383,664 on Saturday due largely to less testing on the weekend.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.