Category: Korea-General Topics

It looks like President Moon stepped into an unforced controversy with some remarks he recently made:

A coalition of adoptive parents and adoption activists slammed President Moon Jae-in Tuesday for remarks about allowing people to swap their adopted children if they fail to get along, saying they could discourage people thinking about adopting.  

In a press conference held near the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, representatives of the group, whose name roughly translates as the National Adoptive Families’ Coalition, also criticized the Blue House’s follow-up explanation of Moon’s remarks, calling it a “secondary attack” on adoptive parents-to-be.  

The controversy began Monday as Moon was taking questions from Blue House correspondents in a New Year’s press conference. At one point, the topic turned to the October death of Jeong-in, a 16-month-old toddler who allegedly suffered physical abuse from her adoptive mother.  

The case caught public attention only recently after a local broadcaster aired an investigative report on it.  

“It is heartbreaking to hear about the deaths of young children abused at home, and I agree that the country has to address the issue full on,” Moon said Monday during the press conference. “We have to come up with a system that will be able to detect earlier on signs that the children are being abused at home, and then separate the children from their parents once these signs are detected.”  

Then came the contentious statements.  

“There should be thorough research beforehand to find out if the parents are fit to adopt children […] and even after the adoption, the family should be checked on to see if the adoption is working out,” he said. “If it is not, then there should be measures to cancel the adoption. […] If the problem is that the parents don’t get along with the children, then they should be able to find ways to make it work, such as changing the adopted child.” 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but the Moon administration is in damage control right now and are already walking back President Moon’s comments.

If you are going to commit suicide at least do it some place private and not in the middle of a shopping mall:

A man in his 40s died in an apparent suicide inside a shopping mall on Yeouido, Seoul, according to police, Monday. 

The man jumped off the first basement level of the IFC Mall to the third basement level at about 4:20 p.m. last Friday.

He was rushed to a nearby hospital, but was pronounced dead on arrival. 

There were a considerable number of visitors inside the shopping mall when the man died, with some people witnessing the scene firsthand.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Some more cold and snowy weather is coming to the peninsula:

Most of Korea is expected to see some 3 to 10 centimeters (1.2 to 3.9 inches) of heavy snow by Monday morning, the weather agency said, sparking concerns of rush-hour mayhem.  
   
The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said early Sunday afternoon that snow was expected to fall across most parts of the country from around 6 p.m. due to snow clouds formed in the Yellow Sea and blown over the country by westerly winds. Snow will slowly ease off toward midnight, only to pick up again on Monday morning.   

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

The daily COVID infection numbers have improved over the past week thus allowing the government to ease restrictions on many small businesses:

Starting Monday, people in the Seoul metropolitan area will be allowed to eat and drink in coffee shops and go to the gym.   
   
Health authorities announced new social distancing guidelines for Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi — also known as greater Seoul — last Saturday, saying the measures will stay in place for two weeks from Monday to Jan. 31.  
   
The eased restrictions came in response to mounting protests from small-business owners who had been forced to shut down for over a month as daily coronavirus cases peaked last month.  (………….)

Coffee shops, which had been providing only take-out services, will now be allowed to let customers eat and drink inside their facilities until 9 p.m. People will be strongly recommended to stay only up to an hour if they’re with others, and masks must be worn at all times except when eating or drinking.   
   
Cafes that are 50 square meters (538 square feet) or larger must space out their customers by leaving every other seat or table empty, setting each table one meter apart from each other or setting up plastic dividers.  
   
Gyms can reopen, but must stay closed between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m., and accept only one customer for every 8 square meters of space. Sweaty group exercise programs offered at gyms such as Zumba, Spinning and aerobics will remain banned.  
   
Noraebang (singing rooms) and hagwon (private cram schools) can reopen as well, but can accept only one customer for every 8 square meters of space.  
   
Houses of worship can resume in-person services under the condition they fill a maximum 10 percent of seats. All sideline events, such as prayer group meetings and meals, will remain prohibited.  
   
Restaurants still can’t allow anyone to eat inside their facilities between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. Hotels, resorts and guesthouses must continuously keep one-third of their rooms vacant. Clubs and bars that involve table-hopping must remain shut.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

It would be great if this veteran is able to find her mother’s siblings to let them know of the dire health she is in:

Air Force veteran Isabelle Hyon DuCharme knew it would be a long shot.

The Salt Lake City, Utah, resident had spent several years attempting to reconnect her mother, Hyon Chu DuCharme, with the sister and two brothers she left behind in South Korea.

Hyon Chu had maintained regular contact with her siblings since immigrating to the United States in 1989, speaking to them often over the phone. However, when the DuCharmes’ home was foreclosed upon in the early 2010s, the family lost not only their phone number, but many of their possessions — including the address book containing the contact information of Hyon Chu’s relatives.

Stars & Stripes

You can read the rest at the link, but her mother, who’s maiden name is Hwang Hyon-chu was seriously injured in a car accident and then contracted the coronavirus at the hospital. She is now on a ventilator and in a dire condition. If anyone knows how to contact her siblings Isabelle can be contacted through her Twitter page.

It can be argued that Lee Man-hee’s acquittal shows that the government was looking for a scapegoat to blame for the first major COVID outbreak last spring and he was the easy mark:

A local court on Wednesday acquitted the leader of a minor religious sect of charges of obstructing the government’s response to COVID-19 during an outbreak at his church last year.

Lee Man-hee, the 89-year-old founder of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, was indicted in August on charges of misleading health authorities on the size and locations of the church’s gatherings in February, which were blamed for a massive spike in coronavirus cases in the country.

Prosecutors sought a five-year prison sentence and a 3 million won (US$2,738) fine for Lee, saying he mocked the government’s authority and obstructed its efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This seems pretty naive on Moon’s part to the political realities in the U.S. that incoming President Biden is going to follow any policy that Trump advocated for:

South Korea proposed to the incoming Joe Biden administration a reopening of dialogue with North Korea in the spirit of the 2018 Singapore summit, according to a senior official in Seoul on Monday.  
   
The official told the JoongAng Ilbo that Seoul cast outgoing President Donald Trump’s agreement with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at Singapore in June 2018 as a success, and encouraged new talks along similar lines.  
   
It was not revealed to whom in the Biden camp the message was relayed, or how, although the recipients are believed to be diplomatic figures associated with the president-elect. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

It appears that the increased social distancing measures is helping to decrease the daily COVID infection rate:

South Korea’s new coronavirus cases rose by the smallest number in 41 days Monday apparently on the back of tightened social distancing measures and fewer tests over the weekend.

The country added 451 more COVID-19 cases, including 419 local infections, raising the total caseload to 69,114, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

“The COVID-19 pandemic is on the path toward a slow downturn, yet dangers of cluster infections on the community level still persist,” Jeong Eun-kyeong, KDCA chief, said. 

Monday’s daily caseload marks the first time since Dec. 1 that the daily figure stayed in the 400 range and also a sharp drop from 665 recorded on Sunday, 641 on Saturday and 674 on Friday.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It is cold outside right now in Korea:

South Korea posted the lowest temperatures of the season Friday, with many regions seeing record lows close to minus 20 C and continuing to receive heavy loads of snow.

In Seoul, the cold snap that began earlier this week pushed the temperature down to minus 18.6 C, the second-lowest since records began in 1980, after minus 19.2 C on Jan. 5, 1986, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration.

The central city of Daejeon posted minus 16.9 C, the southwestern city of Gwangju minus 12.7 C, southeastern Busan minus 11.4 C and the southern island of Jeju minus 1.1 C.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.