Category: Korea-General Topics

It seems inevitable with the constant nuclear threats from North Korea plus the growing militarism of the Chinese that the Korean public would want its own nukes to defend itself with:

There has long been a desire among South Koreans for domestic nuclear weapons capability, but a poll shows that in the face of North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and an assertive China, that view has ballooned to more than 70 percent of the population — most of whom want to go nuclear even when the potential drawbacks are explained.

The poll, released Tuesday by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, found robust support for nuclear weapons in South Korea: South Koreans want nuclear weapons even when they feel confident about the country’s alliance with the United States and about the strength of their own military. And those who support nuclear weapons now see a level of prestige associated with them.

Washington Post

You can read more at the link, but fortunately the poll showed that the Korean public did not view the Japanese as a military threat like they do the North Koreans and Chinese. You wouldn’t know that from past Korean media articles that make it sound like a Japanese invasion of Dokdo is ready to happen at any minute.

Cases continue to rise, but the fatality rate from COVID has continued to plummet for ROK citizens; just three weeks ago it was .69% and now it is .35%:

South Korea’s new COVID-19 infections surpassed 150,000 for the first time Tuesday amid the fast spread of the omicron variant across the country.

According to health authorities and local governments, a total of 158,005 cases had been confirmed nationwide as of 9 p.m., up 60,070 from 97,935 posted the same time the previous day. The previous daily high was set last Friday at 109,823.

The death toll from COVID-19 came to 7,508, up 58 from Monday. The fatality rate was 0.35 percent, according to the KDCA.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

With things escalating in the Ukraine it makes me wonder if North Korea will be asked by the Russians to start a provocation cycle to split U.S. attention between two theaters?:

President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday that Ukraine’s sovereignty must be respected and South Korea will join efforts for a peaceful resolution to the crisis.

Moon made the remarks during a National Security Council meeting convened after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the deployment of troops to two breakaway regions in Ukraine after recognizing their independence.

“Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected,” he said. “Countries around the world must come together and work for a swift and peaceful resolution to the situation in Ukraine. South Korea will actively participate in these efforts as a responsible member of the international community.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Health experts had been saying they expected the daily COVID rate to surpass 100,000 before it started to decline. They were right about the 100,000 so hopefully soon Korea will start seeing a decline:

South Korea’s daily COVID-19 cases surpassed 100,000 for the first time Thursday, as the highly transmissible omicron variant fueled a surge of infections around the country.

According to health authorities and local governments, a total of 100,870 cases had been confirmed nationwide as of 9 p.m., up 10,642 from the 90,228 posted the same time the previous day, which was the largest-ever number for that time.

The total number for Thursday is expected to rise further as daily cases are counted until midnight and announced the following morning. (……)

The death toll from COVID-19 came to 7,238, up 36 from Wednesday. The fatality rate was 0.44 percent, the KDCA said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the fatality rate continues to drop when earlier this week it was .49%. Two weeks ago it was .69%.

Small business owners have been getting hammered by COVID restrictions and it appears they may have had enough:

Hundreds of restaurant and other small business owners demonstrated in central Seoul on Tuesday, demanding the government lift business hour curfews and sufficiently compensate them for losses from the prolonged anti-virus restraints.

Some 200 members of the so-called emergency association of small business hit by COVID-19 gathered near Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul in a protest rally calling for the right to survival. 

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

South Korea is experiencing a huge amount of cases, but it is actually leading to a lower fatality rate as more Koreans recover from the virus:

South Korea’s daily virus cases surpassed the grim milestone of 80,000 Tuesday, as the highly transmissible omicron variant fueled a surge of cases around the country.

According to health authorities and local governments, a total of 85,114 infection cases had been confirmed nationwide as of 9 p.m., up 28,787 from the same time a day ago. 

The figure was up 2.1 times from a week ago and 5.4 times from two weeks ago. (……)

The KDCA said the death toll from COVID-19 came to 7,163, up 61 from the previous day. The fatality rate was 0.49 percent.

The KDCA said the number of critically ill COVID-19 patients was 314, up eight from a day earlier, it added. The daily tally stayed above 300 for the second straight day.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but just two days ago when the daily COVID number was over 56,000 the fatality rate was .52%. Nearly two weeks ago the fatality rate was .68%.

It seems that President Park still has a strong base that supports her:

Over a thousand supporters of former President Park Geun-hye, along with tourists, showed up in a small town in Daegu where her new residence is located, according to police on Sunday.

Banners supporting Park were hung at the entrance to the village. Three of them read, “Welcome back home Ms. President,” “Please stay healthy President Park,” and, “We call upon President Park to form a party.”

Hundreds of visitors toured around the residence, taking selfies in front of the closed gate and stepping on a guardrail surrounding the mansion trying to catch a glimpse of the inside from over the fence, while some even streamed their visit live on YouTube, according to the local reports.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see what the reaction of parents will be if this proposed plan is implemented:

 The education ministry is considering requiring kindergarten and elementary students to take rapid COVID-19 tests at home before going to school twice a week starting next month, officials said Monday.

“We’re conducting discussions while leaving various possibilities open, including a measure to have students go to school after tests at home,” a ministry official said. 

Schools are bracing for the new semester next month amid the rapid spread of omicron, which has recently driven up the daily new COVID-19 tally to over the 50,000 level.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

At this point I don’t even know what the point of publishing daily case counts are now. Authorities should instead just publish hospitalizations and deaths:

South Korea’s daily COVID-19 cases hit a fresh record of 56,431 on Sunday, as the highly transmissible omicron variant continued to spread quickly across the nation.

The fresh cases, including 56,297 local infections, raised the country’s total caseload to 1,350,630, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

The latest figure marks the fourth day in a row with daily infections above the 50,000 level. A total of 54,941 cases were reported Saturday. (………..)

The number of critically ill COVID-19 patients was 288, up 13 from a day earlier, the KDCA said. The daily tally has stayed in the 200s for 16 days in a row.

The number of patients receiving at-home treatment also rose to an all-time high of 214,869.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

South Korea shows you can still hold a national election during a pandemic without relying on mail in voting:

A parliamentary panel on Thursday passed a bill to allow COVID-19 patients and people in quarantine to vote from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on the day of the March 9 presidential election after regular polling closes.

The revision to the Public Official Election Act passed the National Assembly’s special political reform committee.

In order to cast their votes, virus patients and quarantined people need to get temporary leave permits from health authorities. 

However, quarantined people living in rural areas with mobility difficulties are permitted to cast their votes before 6 p.m.

The bill will now go through the parliamentary legislation and judiciary committee before being put to a vote at a plenary session of the National Assembly next Monday. 

The revision came amid concerns that the ongoing virus situation may prevent hundreds of thousands people from casting their ballots on election day.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.