Category: Korea-General Topics

South Korea has not reached its peak yet for COVID cases and this latest record will likely only grow:

South Korea’s daily COVID-19 cases reached yet another record high Friday, as the country grapples with the rapid spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant with a new nationwide virus response system set to come into force. 

The country reported 16,096 new COVID-19 infections, including 15,894 local cases, raising the total to 793,582, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. 

The daily count broke the record for the fourth consecutive day, spiking from 8,570 on Tuesday. The per day figures have more than quadrupled since Jan. 17, when the tally hovered around 3,800. 

The death toll from COVID-19 came to 6,678, up 24 from Thursday. The fatality rate stood at 0.84 percent.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the fatality rate is remaining very low and the .84% number is probably even lower when taking into account the new of COVID cases that are not detected in the population.

Just like nearby Japan, South Korea has reached a new record for daily new COVID cases:

South Korea’s daily coronavirus cases hit a record high of 8,571 on Tuesday, driven by the fast spread of the new dominant omicron variant, as the country is set to put in force revised virus curbs to rein in the highly transmissible variant.

Tuesday’s cases, including 8,356 local infections, took the total caseload to 749,979, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. 

It marks the first time the daily caseload has surpassed the 8,000 mark since the country reported the first COVID-19 infection on Jan. 20, 2020. The previous all-time high was 7,848 on Dec. 15 last year.

South Korea has seen the daily counts skyrocket over the past week, from 3,857 on Jan. 17 to 7,513 reported Monday. 

The death toll from COVID-19 came to 6,588, up 23 from Monday. The fatality rate stood at 0.88 percent.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but with the Lunar New Year holiday coming up it will likely rise to a much higher level before eventually declining.

This is an unusual deal, good on South Korea for being trusted to do important work like this:

South Korea said Sunday it has signed a deal with Egypt to dismantle and restore the gateway of an ancient temple in the Egyptian city of Luxor.

South Korea plans to begin restoring the pylon and refurbish the access road of the Ramesseum, a mortuary temple of Pharaoh Ramses II, starting next year, according to the Cultural Heritage Administration.

The move came as Mostafa Waziry, secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, requested the Cultural Heritage Administration to restore the Ramesseum during senior-level talks on Thursday.

On Friday, the two sides inked a memorandum of understanding during President Moon Jae-in’s visit to Cairo.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the omicron variant has become the dominant strain in South Korea now judging the by the increasing case numbers despite enhanced social distancing measures being implemented:

 South Korea’s daily coronavirus cases on Sunday spiked to the second-largest figure since the pandemic outbreak, putting health authorities on alert amid the fast spread of the omicron variant.

The country added 7,630 new COVID-19 infections, including 7,343 local infections, raising the total caseload to 733,902, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

Sunday’s figure marks the second-largest tally since the daily record high of 7,848 on Dec. 15.

The daily tally surged at a fast pace last week from the 4,000 level to over 6,000 on Thursday and above 7,000 on Saturday, nearly doubling in less than a week.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but despite the increasing cases the Korean government has decided to lower the quarantine period from 10 to 7 days. This is arguably because too many people are being put out of work for too long thus impacting the economy.

The Iranians though their Houthi rebel proxies in Yemen may have just sent a message to South Korea with this drone attack in the UAE:

The Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen attacked the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in an apparent drone strike Monday that killed three people while President Moon Jae-in was in the country. The Blue House confirmed the safety of the Korean leader.    
   
UAE authorities said that three transport tankers exploded at an oil facility, and another fire broke out at an extension of Abu Dhabi International Airport. Two Indians and one Pakistani were killed at the oil facility, while at least eight people were injured, including two airport employees, according to Abu Dhabi police.    
   
Moon had been visiting the UAE since Saturday, as a part of an eight-day tour of the Middle East, and had been attending an event in Dubai, some 100 kilometers (62 miles) away from the Abu Dhabi airport, at the time of the attack.    
   
Moon expressed to Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the de facto ruler of the UAE, “deep condolences and sympathy” for the victims of the suspected drone attack in a 25-minute phone call Monday evening. 

“We express our serious concern over acts that threaten peace and stability in the Middle East region, including the UAE, and we strongly condemn attacks on civilians and the taking of lives as unacceptable acts of terrorism,” he added.    
   
The two leaders’ summit meeting in Abu Dhabi was unexpectedly canceled shortly before Moon’s arrival in the country, upon the request of the UAE side. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but the UAE and South Korea have a close defense relationship which includes a $3.5 billion deal to sell surface to air missiles to the UAE that was signed on Sunday. Those missiles are clearly being bought to protect the UAE from Iranian aggression and this attack is arguably sending a message to the Moon administration that the mullahs in Tehran are unhappy about this.

I wonder if this Pfizer anti-viral pills will become a subject of conspiracy theories like their vaccine?:

The first batch of Pfizer Inc.’s antiviral COVID-19 treatment pills arrived in South Korea on Thursday as the country is working to stem the spread of coronavirus infections, health officials said. 

The U.S. pharmaceutical giant’s oral pills for 21,000 people landed at Incheon airport, west of Seoul, at around 2 p.m. and were delivered to a logistics center in Ochang, 120 kilometers south of the capital, at 5:25 p.m., according to the authorities. 

The Paxlovid pills will begin being administered to patients with compromised immune systems and those aged over 65 on Friday. 

“They will be delivered to designated pharmacies and treatment centers across the country by tomorrow, or the day after,” Lim Sook-young, a senior official at the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest controversy with the cancel culture crowd, it is now controversial to be anti-communism:

There are signs of a boycott movement against Starbucks Korea sparked by Shinsegae Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin’s recent anti-communist remarks on social media. Shinsegae is the parent company of E-mart, which owns 67.5 percent of Starbucks Korea.

On Monday, some netizens started spreading images on various online communities calling for a boycott. 

On Jan. 6, Vice Chairman Chung had uploaded on Instagram an image of an article from Korean daily Chosun Ilbo that had a picture of Chinese President Xi Jinping and was criticizing the Korean government’s silence toward a high-level Chinese official who had referred to Korea as a “minor country.” Chung tagged the image with the hashtag, “destroycommunism” (“myeolgong” in Korean), and it set off controversy. Later that day, the vice chairman replaced the image with a photo of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The vice chairman has uploaded anti-communist posts on social media five times in recent months.

The incident spread to the political circle and the spokeperson for ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung subsequently tweeted that he will not drink Starbucks coffee anymore. Supporters of the DPK showed their intention to join the boycott of Shinsegae. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but maybe I missed something here; what is controversial about being anti-communist? Is it now inappropriate to be against regime’s with horrible human rights records?

It will be interesting to see how long this vaccine pass system lasts:

Criticism is mounting over the COVID-19 vaccine pass mandate for large supermarkets, discount outlets and department stores, which came into effect from Monday, with critics calling on the government to justify the scientific grounds for implementing the new measure. 

The vaccine pass system, which requires either proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test result to be presented to enter multiuse facilities, has been expanded to shopping malls, retail outlets, department stores and bookstores measuring 3,000 square meters or more in floor space.

These large stores have been freshly added to the list of multiuse facilities subject to the vaccine pass system, including eateries, cafes, libraries and indoor gyms. 

But criticism is escalating over the system, among people who find it unscientific and excessive. 

According to government data, 427 and 327 infections occurred at large retail stores and department stores, in 2021, respectively, whereas 7,491 cases were linked to churches. But religious facilities still remain excluded from the vaccine pass since it was introduced on Dec. 6. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but oddly the employees at these stores do not have to get vaccinated due to work place laws. Additionally it seems like at this point if the government wants to discourage the spread of the omicron variant than they should be requiring people to get a booster which has more efficacy against the virus. They of course will not do this because that would inconvenience the ~80% of the population that is vaccinated before this Spring’s elections. This means the vaccine pass system arguably an inconvenience imposed on the ~20% of the population that hasn’t been vaccinated yet to encourage more of them to get vaccinated.