Category: Korea-General Topics

Some how I doubt the first thing on these kids minds will attending school will be converting people to Islam:

Some locals are protesting the government’s decision to enroll Afghan children resettled in the southern city of Ulsan at a single elementary school and kindergarten.  
   
“I can’t help but wonder if my children won’t be influenced, including by Islamic practices,” wrote one user on an online community forum of parents in Ulsan on Wednesday, following the announcement by the city’s education office of schools and kindergartens for the Afghan families resettled in Ulsan.  
   
When Kabul fell to Taliban forces last August, Korea airlifted 391 Afghans out of the city. Members of the families brought to the country had worked for Korea’s embassy in Kabul or on Korean aid projects and include medical professionals, IT experts and interpreters. They did not enter Korea as refugees but as “special contributors” and were issued long-term residence visas after relevant laws were amended.  
   
Of them, nearly half — 157 Afghans of 29 households — were employed by a subcontractor of Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan last month. 

As the Afghans resettled in the southern city — the eighth most populated city in Korea, also known as a hub for shipbuilding industry — some Korean parents asked the local government to ensure that the Afghan children be dispersed throughout several schools and kindergartens, “for fear of the safety” of their own children.  
   
A few even held rallies in front of an elementary school in the city to demand they do not accept Afghan students.  
   
The Afghan children brought to Korea include 16 kindergartners, 28 elementary school students, 19 middle school students and 22 high school students. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but not properly integrating these kids into South Korean society is what will cause issues later on if they feel isolated as adults.

It is amazing how COVID just continues to spread in South Korea, but there has been a sharp drop in the mortality rate. Last month it was .84% and now it is .24%:

South Korea’s daily coronavirus cases surpassed 200,000 for the first time Wednesday as the highly transmissible omicron variant continues its frenetic spread across the nation.

The surge came after the government temporarily suspended the enforcement of the vaccine pass system Tuesday, citing the lack of staff handling the pandemic. 

The country reported a record high of 219,241 new coronavirus infections, including 219,173 local cases, raising the total caseload to 3,492,686 according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

The daily caseload exceeded 100,000 for the first time in mid-February.

Virus-related deaths fell to 96 on Wednesday from 112 a day earlier, bringing the death toll to 8,266. The fatality rate was 0.24 percent, the KDCA said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the fact that South Korean teachers are handing out self test kits to kids in schools will likely mean the daily case rate number will only rise further.

South Korea’s COVID situation continues to be pretty bizarre because across the rest of the world cases are dropping significantly while the ROK’s continues to skyrocket. Anyone have any guesses on why this is?:

 South Korea’s new COVID-19 infections hit a fresh high of over 176,000 on Tuesday amid the fast spread of the omicron variant across the country.

According to health authorities and local governments, a total of 176,786 cases had been confirmed nationwide as of 6 p.m., up 58,786 from the tally posted at the same time the previous day, and marked an all-time high. The previous daily record was set on Feb. 23 at 171,451.

The total number for Tuesday is expected to rise further, as daily cases are counted until midnight and announced the following morning.

Earlier, the country reported 138,993 new coronavirus infections, including 138,935 local cases, raising the total caseload to 3,273,449, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

President Moon criticizes Japan in his March 1st speech to show a humble attitude towards its wartime past, but mentions nothing about North Korea and China to do the same. Those two countries most recently went war against the ROK and are responsible for more death and destruction on the peninsula than Japan ever caused:

“We will never again experience that pain from one hundred years ago,” Moon said. “We will safeguard the survival and raise the pride of all Koreans through peace and prosper in peace.” 

Moon also called for Japan to look squarely at history and show a humble attitude over its wartime past in order for the two countries to overcome historical feuds and move forward for cooperation.

“In this time of many difficulties, Korea and Japan — close neighbors — must be able to overcome the history of the once unfortunate past and cooperate for the future,” Moon said. 

“Beyond Korea-Japan relations, I sincerely hope that Japan will take leadership as an advanced nation. To this end, Japan must squarely face history and be humble before it,” Moon said. 

South Korea remains open to dialogue with Japan to work together on various regional and global issues, such as COVID-19 and supply chains, Moon said. 

Moon said Seoul “will always keep the door open for dialogue to join forces not only for regional peace and prosperity but also in responding to global challenges — ranging from COVID-19 and the climate crisis to the supply chain crisis and the new economic order.”

With North Korea showing signs of ratcheting up tensions by test-firing ballistic missiles, Moon said dialogue with the North must be resumed to bring peace to the Korean Peninsula. 

Recalling heightened tension about five years ago, when North Korea conducted a nuclear test, Moon said his administration “was able to achieve peace through dramatic dialogue. However, dialogue has been suspended, making our peace tenuous.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

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.