Category: Seoul

No relief for Seoul’s small business owners who have at least another week of being shutdown ahead of them:

South Korea on Friday decided to extend tougher anti-virus curbs on restaurants, bakeries and coffee shops in the greater Seoul area for another week, as sporadic cluster infections and untraceable cases are still popping up in the densely populated area.

Since Sunday, the country began limiting operations of restaurants, bakeries and franchise coffee chains in the Seoul metropolitan area under the so-called Level 2.5 social distancing guidelines, while implementing the Level 2 measures across the country since mid-August.

The toughened distancing in daily lives for the capital area, originally set to end Sunday, will be maintained until Sept. 13. The Level 2 measures in place across the country will also be extended by two weeks until Sept. 20, according to health authorities.

“In order to regain our control over the spread of the virus and to secure a stable medical system, we need to extend the social distancing measures until the number of new patients clearly drops,” Health Minister Park Neunghoo said during a briefing.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest on the coronavirus front in Seoul:

The number of additional new coronavirus cases fell to below 200 for the first time in more than two weeks Thursday, but cluster infections continued to pop up across the country and critically ill patients are on the rise.

The country reported 195 new COVID-19 cases, including 188 local infections, raising the total caseload to 20,644, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

Thursday’s daily tally marks the smallest since 197 on Aug. 17. 

Health authorities said this week will be critical in determining whether the virus curve sharply flattens or not.

The country plans to decide whether to extend the quasi-Level 3 scheme in greater Seoul beyond Sunday over the weekend.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but Yonhap is still blaming churches and the anti-government protest for the virus spread. Buried at the end of the article is that only 329 people out of a nation of 51 million have died from the coronavirus.

It will be interesting to see the effect this has on case numbers:

The city of Seoul on Sunday designated this week as a “week of standstill” for nearly 10 million citizens in its latest measure to fight the spread of the new coronavirus in the capital area.

During the “10 Million Citizen Standstill Week,” which runs from Sunday to next Sunday, citizens are advised to remain at home and stay away from social gatherings as much as possible, Seo Jeong-hyup, the city’s acting mayor, said in an online press briefing. 

“This is a time of burden sharing. … Over the next week starting today, I ask you to thoroughly abide by quarantine requirements with a resolution to almost sacrifice your everyday routines,” the acting mayor said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

To everyone in the greater Seoul area be safe on the roads:

Major highways running across Seoul were partly closed on Thursday, with the first flood alerts in nine years issued for areas near a major bridge on the Han River, as heavy rains pushed up the water level of the river that flows through the capital city.

Several sections of the Dongbu Urban Expressway, Seoul Inner Loop, Olympic-daero and Gangbyeon Northern Highway have been closed to traffic due to the inner city river’s swelled water level, according to the police and the city of Seoul. 

As heavy rains continued to batter the country’s metropolitan and central regions, authorities opened the floodgates of Soyang River Dam and Paldang Dam a day earlier, releasing the waters to empty into the sea through the Han River.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

So how many ROK Heads would want to do this?:

I never step back from a chance to try something new, especially activities that are likely to get my adrenaline pumping.  
   
For someone who dreams about going skydiving one day, the chance to take a walk around Lotte World Tower’s newly opened Sky Bridge and see a miniature-sized Seoul from about 541 meters up (1,775 feet), was one that I could not pass up.  
   
Lotte World Tower is the tallest building in Korea and the fifth tallest in the world.  
   
When I arrived at the elevator that would transport me to the bridge, I was greeted with a promotional video showing two steel peaks connected by an 11-meter-long bridge. The video filled with quick cuts of sky-high views got my heart palpitating. Would I be able to do this?  

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

The Seoul government is saying they will investigate the sexual misconduct allegations against former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon who committed suicide last week. Will see how serious this investigation is, but more details about his conduct is now coming out:

The city government was responding to growing calls to uncover the truth about the allegations and seek justice for its employee, as the police are not expected to conduct an investigation. 

Hwang also said the city will ensure the victim doesn’t suffer any secondary damage. 

“It will be a priority for city officials to prevent secondary damage inflicted on the victim. We will not tolerate city employees who reveal her personal information or make personal attacks.”

Through her lawyer, the victim claimed Park had pushed for unwanted physical contact and made sexual advances toward her, sending her inappropriate photos and text messages for almost four years. 

The victim’s lawyer also said the victim had reached out to the city government for help before reporting the matter to the police, as she was ignored. 

The city government previously said it had not been aware of the allegations before Park’s death. But, that left the victim’s lawyer asking how Park had learned about the police complaint before being officially notified by them. It is illegal for a government official to leak work-related information. The police and Cheong Wa Dae said they hadn’t told Park of the complaint.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This plan would be disastrous to the various parks and green space around Seoul if approved:

South Korea is considering opening up greenbelt zones in the Seoul metropolitan area to make more land available for housing as part of efforts to help resolve the country’s housing supply shortage in the densely populated area, the transport ministry said Wednesday. 

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said it has formed a task force with the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Seoul city, Gyeonggi and Incheon regional governments to discuss ways to supply more homes in the capital city and adjacent areas. 

In less than a week, the government has changed its stance toward easing the construction ban in the development restriction areas designated by the country to resolve housing shortage problems.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but does anyone still think all of Yongsan Garrison will become a park?

This is odd and hopefully Mayor Park Won-sun is found to be okay:

The mayor of South Korean capital Seoul has been reported missing and search operations are underway on Thursday, police said.

Police officers said they are looking for Mayor Park Won-sun at Seoul’s Sungbuk neighborhood where his mobile phone signal was last detected.

His daughter called police earlier Thursday and said her father has been unaccounted for, the police officers said, requesting anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media on the matter.

Kim Ji-hyeong, an official from the Seoul Metropolitan Government, confirmed that Park did not show up for work on Thursday because of unspecified reasons and canceled all his schedules, including a meeting with a presidential official at his Seoul City Hall office.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but according to Yonhap his daughter called police after he “had left home four to five hours ago after leaving words like a will, with his phone currently off.” Totally bizarre and hopefully this doesn’t turn into a Roh Moo-hyun situation.

For some expats living in Seoul you may be getting a check from the City of Seoul soon:

Foreigners living in Seoul will receive a one-time Covid-19 relief payment, a city official confirmed Wednesday.  

During a plenary session Tuesday, the Seoul Metropolitan Council passed a supplementary budget bill that included plans to allocate 33 billion won ($27.4 million) for a program to dole out emergency funds to foreigners.  

But the city has been light on basic details, including the timing and payment amounts.  

Seoul’s decision to provide Covid-19 emergency payments to foreigners came less than a month after Korea’s human rights watchdog, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, issued a policy recommendation to the metropolitan government of Seoul and the provincial government of Gyeonggi not to discriminate against foreigners when providing Covid-19 relief. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.