South Korea is experiencing a huge amount of cases, but it is actually leading to a lower fatality rate as more Koreans recover from the virus:

South Korea’s daily virus cases surpassed the grim milestone of 80,000 Tuesday, as the highly transmissible omicron variant fueled a surge of cases around the country.

According to health authorities and local governments, a total of 85,114 infection cases had been confirmed nationwide as of 9 p.m., up 28,787 from the same time a day ago. 

The figure was up 2.1 times from a week ago and 5.4 times from two weeks ago. (……)

The KDCA said the death toll from COVID-19 came to 7,163, up 61 from the previous day. The fatality rate was 0.49 percent.

The KDCA said the number of critically ill COVID-19 patients was 314, up eight from a day earlier, it added. The daily tally stayed above 300 for the second straight day.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but just two days ago when the daily COVID number was over 56,000 the fatality rate was .52%. Nearly two weeks ago the fatality rate was .68%.

It seems that President Park still has a strong base that supports her:

Over a thousand supporters of former President Park Geun-hye, along with tourists, showed up in a small town in Daegu where her new residence is located, according to police on Sunday.

Banners supporting Park were hung at the entrance to the village. Three of them read, “Welcome back home Ms. President,” “Please stay healthy President Park,” and, “We call upon President Park to form a party.”

Hundreds of visitors toured around the residence, taking selfies in front of the closed gate and stepping on a guardrail surrounding the mansion trying to catch a glimpse of the inside from over the fence, while some even streamed their visit live on YouTube, according to the local reports.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see what the reaction of parents will be if this proposed plan is implemented:

 The education ministry is considering requiring kindergarten and elementary students to take rapid COVID-19 tests at home before going to school twice a week starting next month, officials said Monday.

“We’re conducting discussions while leaving various possibilities open, including a measure to have students go to school after tests at home,” a ministry official said. 

Schools are bracing for the new semester next month amid the rapid spread of omicron, which has recently driven up the daily new COVID-19 tally to over the 50,000 level.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It looks like Yoon Suk-yeol’s comments about investigating the Moon Jae-in administration if elected had the desired effect of giving him a slight bounce in the polls:

A latest poll showed that the gap between the two leading presidential candidates Yoon Suk-yeol and Lee Jae-myung has shrunk since Yoon’s remarks that he will go after corruption allegations of the Moon Jae-in administration if he wins the March 9 election.    
   
According to the survey released by the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI) on Monday, Yoon of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) scored 43.5 percent and Lee of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) scored 40.4 percent. Compared to the previous week, Lee’s rating went up by 2 percentage points, while Yoon’s dropped by 1.1 percentage points, narrowing the two candidates’ gap from 6.2 percentage points last week to 3.1 percentage points this week.  
   
The latest poll was conducted on Friday and Saturday, shortly after an emotional quarrel between Yoon and President Moon Jae-in. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

US troops in South Korea are about to get some more freedom:

American troops stationed in South Korea will soon be allowed to dine in local restaurants after U.S. Forces Korea announced on Thursday that it was lifting some COVID-19 restrictions.

USFK is loosening some social distancing measures Friday, and will permit “any indoor and outdoor activity” allowed under South Korea’s guidelines, according to a command news release.

That means service members, their families, civilian employees and contractors may again dine in off-base restaurants and visit shopping malls. USFK, the command responsible for approximately 28,500 troops, banned those activities on Jan. 8 as the number of COVID-19 cases increased throughout the country. (…..)

However, USFK is not changing its coronavirus risk level, which is at condition Bravo-plus. Travel to Seoul is still limited to official duties or to visit the Dragon Hill Lodge, a hotel at Yongsan Garrison. Local bars, clubs, bathhouses and karaoke clubs are still off-limits.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This would be quite the odd couple if they do decide to combine their campaigns:

Minor presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo officially proposed merging candidacies with main opposition candidate Yoon Suk-yeol on Sunday to ensure an “overwhelming victory” against the governing party.

Ahn of the centrist People’s Party also proposed selecting a unified candidate between the two through opinion polls, just like he unified candidacies with Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon of Yoon’s People Power Party ahead of last year’s local by-elections.

“Winning is important, but in order to overcome the current crisis and carry out future-oriented reform tasks, there should be an overwhelming victory amid people’s trust. This can’t be done by any single person alone,” Ahn said during a press conference held via YouTube.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.