Category: Korea-General Topics

This is interesting, India would like to work with South Korea to export their specific model of the K-9 Thunder howitzer. It makes me wonder which countries they have in mind to export the K-9 to?:

India is seeking to export the K9 self-propelled howitzer to third countries in cooperation with South Korea, India’s secretary for defense production said Thursday, stressing his country is pushing for a “win-win” partnership between the two sides.

Raj Kumar made the remarks during an exclusive interview with Yonhap News Agency, expressing satisfaction over India’s recent deployment of the K9s, which were manufactured by the Indian company, L&T, in technical collaboration with the South Korean company Hanwha Defense.

“The Indian armed forces are very satisfied with the performance of the K9 Vajra platform, where the K9 Thunder has been very effectively adapted and indigenously built for Indian conditions and requirements,” the secretary said.

“The variant of the platform also has good potential in third countries, and our governments (of India and South Korea) and industries are cooperating to take these opportunities forward,” he added.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

South Korea now has a higher fully vaccinated rate than the U.S. and that is driving a decision to reduce COVID restrictions on the general population:

 South Korea will gradually phase out coronavirus restrictions starting next month to embrace a new scheme of returning to normal life backed by the rising rate of vaccinations, health authorities said Monday. 

A government-led committee announced a draft roadmap meant to get people’s lives back to normal on a gradual basis.

The move came as 70.1 percent of 52 million South Koreans were fully vaccinated in eight months after the country kicked off its nationwide inoculation campaign.

The government will relax most of its coronavirus restrictions, such as nighttime curfews on cafes, restaurants and other multi-use facilities under the “living with COVID-19” scheme to be carried out in three phases starting on Nov. 1. 

Currently, cafes and restaurants in the greater Seoul area — home to about half of the country’s population of 52 million — are allowed to operate until 10 p.m. while in the other parts of the country are allowed until midnight. Operation hours of such facilities will be completely free starting on Nov. 1, according to the authorities.

Business of entertainment facilities, including clubs and other kinds of nighttime facilities, in the greater Seoul area, have been banned since June while in other parts of the country have been allowed until 10 p.m. Under the first phase of the scheme, business hours of such facilities will be allowed until midnight.

The authorities will introduce the “vaccine pass” system, which requires a vaccination certificate or a negative test result for entry into multi-use facilities, such as entertainment facilities and indoor gyms.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The authorities in Seoul seem to be showing more concern about Halloween parties spreading COVID than the 25,000 KCTU protesters that showed up in the middle of Seoul:

The health authorities are on high alert over Halloween, as the upcoming celebration, during which time popular areas such as Itaewon and Gangnam are expected to be crowded with partygoers, could serve as catalyst for massive COVID-19 infections ahead of the government’s planned shift to its “Living with COVID-19” plan.

They are also redoubling their efforts to boost the vaccination rate among foreign residents amid growing concerns that their lower participation in the inoculation program could pose a major setback to the policy shift.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Rocket failures during testing is part of perfecting space technology. NASA, SpaceX, etc. have all had rocket failures. I am sure the ROK scientists will learn from this and correct the identified issues with the third stage of the rocket that failed to reach 7.5 km per second which is the orbital velocity needed to put a satellite into orbit:

South Korea failed to put a dummy satellite into orbit with its first homegrown space rocket Thursday, dealing a setback to the country’s decade-long project to join the elite global space club.

The KSLV-II rocket, also known as Nuri, flew to a target altitude of 700 kilometers but failed to place the 1.5-ton dummy satellite into orbit.

“The test-launch of Nuri-ho was completed. I am proud of it,” President Moon Jae-in said in a press briefing at the Naro Space Center in the country’s southern coastal village of Goheung. “Regrettably, we did not perfectly reach the goal, but we made a very creditable achievement in the first launch.” 

The failure underscores the challenges of sending a satellite into orbit, a space launch vehicle technology that South Korea has been seeking to acquire for more than a decade for its space program.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this rocket launch likely means the North Koreans are going to launch something in response in the near term. We saw that they recently launched an SLBM not long after the ROK tested theirs. I would not be surprised if North Korea attempts a space launch in the near term to try and show up the ROK.

It looks like the KCTU has immunity to coronavirus prevention measures put in place across South Korea. The next time any organization wants to hold a large gathering I guess they can just call it a KCTU protest and they will be okay:

The protesters affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) poured onto the streets in downtown en masse around 1:30 p.m. and began marching toward Seodaemun Station, holding flags and banners calling for labor rights.

Some of them scuffled with police trying to prevent them from moving to the rally site.

Police mobilized about 12,000 personnel and set up fences and bus walls in central Seoul to prevent the rally.

The strike was held despite the government’s call for restraint amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unionized members called for guaranteeing workers’ rights and ensuring better working conditions, as they sought to bring labor issues to the forefront in the run-up to the 2022 presidential elections.You can read more at the link.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the KCTU claims 27,000 protesters showed up.

Like many other places in the world it appears that the spread of the coronavirus is now seeing sharp drop in cases in South Korea as well:

 South Korea’s daily coronavirus cases dropped to the lowest level in more than three months Monday as the country eased restrictions on private gatherings ahead of preparations for a gradual shift to the “living with COVID-19” scheme. 

The country reported 1,050 new cases, including 1,030 local infections, raising the total caseload to 343,445, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

Monday’s tally is the lowest daily number since July 7, when the country reported 1,211 additional virus cases on the onset of the fourth wave of the pandemic. The daily cases have since stayed in the quadruple digits, including the record high of 3,273 on Sept. 25.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but hopefully the cases continues to drop so some kind of normal life can return to the people and small businesses in South Korea.

Some early cold this year for everyone living in South Korea:

Temperatures in Seoul sharply dropped to nearly 1 degree Celsius on Sunday, marking the coldest morning for mid-October in 64 years, the state weather agency said.

The morning low in Seoul came to 1.3 C in the day, the lowest since Oct. 19, 1957, when the figure was minus 0.4 C, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA).

Some areas of the capital city saw the mercury drop below zero, and the season’s first ice was seen in the city, 17 days earlier than average, it added.

Cold weather also hit other parts of the country, with temperatures on average nationwide falling more than 10 C from a day earlier.

Temperatures on Mount Seorak in Gangwon Province plunged to minus 9.3 C in the mornning, and the border county of Yeoncheon saw its mercury dive to minus 3.9 C, the agency said, adding that first ice and frost were witnessed across the country.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is an interesting academic corruption nugget from the Korea Times:

Nearly half of all underage co-authors listed in research papers from Seoul National University (SNU) were the children of SNU professors, a ruling party lawmaker said, Thursday, calling for harsher disciplinary action against misconduct involving research by professors abusing their status. 

According to Rep. Seo Dong-yong of the Democratic Party of Korea, who is on the National Assembly Education Committee, the university’s 22 research papers that listed minors as co-authors were concluded as cases of misconduct. Among them, nine involved children of SNU professors.

Among the nine cases, four professors listed their own children as co-authors, while five listed children of their colleagues. 

Other than children of SNU professors, there were more cases involving children of their acquaintances, such as friends and relatives, Rep. Seo said. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but this is a clever way that these professor are giving their children a leg up on college admissions by showing their have published research articles when really their parent likely did all the work for them.