Here is the latest on the COVID situation in Japan:

The U.S. and Japan on Sunday agreed to keep American troops within their bases as worries grew about a sharp rise in coronavirus cases in the country. 

The restrictions starting Monday will last 14 days, confining U.S. military personnel to base facilities except for “essential activities,” a statement from the U.S. Forces in Japan said. The Japanese Foreign Ministry released the same statement. 

The allies will share information and cooperate on coronavirus measures, “given the extraordinary virulence of the omicron variant spreading throughout Japan,” the statement said. 

U.S. military members will wear masks, both on and off base, when outside their homes, and will continue to carry out strict testing before leaving for and after arrival in Japan, it said. 

New COVID-19 cases have surged in Japan, jumping above 8,000 on Saturday, a four-month record. The spike has been most pronounced in areas near U.S. bases. Last week, Japan asked the U.S. for cooperation in keeping its military personnel on base.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It looks like it is going to be a tough few weeks for U.S. troops in South Korea as they face nearly a soft lockdown on their off post activities:

 U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said Saturday it has decided to toughen social distancing rules for its service members amid the growing number of infections among its troops.

The USFK had confirmed a weekly record high of 682 additional COVID-19 cases among its personnel from Dec. 28 to Tuesday. It did not offer more details, including the number of breakthrough cases or locations of the infected members.

“Due to the continued presence of COVID-19 within United States Forces Korea and South Korea, USFK has increased its health protection condition to ‘Bravo Plus’ peninsula-wide effective today at 12 p.m. until further notice,” the USFK said in a statement.

Under the scheme, the U.S. military will prohibit all personnel from visiting off-base facilities, such as indoor malls and gyms.

Access to bars and saunas will also be banned, though the USFK had previously banned such activities for non-vaccinated personnel only.

Seated dining at restaurants outside the base will also be restricted.

The USFK added it will prohibit its personnel from traveling to Seoul except for official duties or those who live there.

The total number of COVID-19 cases reported among the USFK-affiliated population totaled 3,027 as of Tuesday. The USFK said nearly 90 percent of its affiliated community is vaccinated.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

If you are committed to ruining your lungs THIS cigarettes gives you the option to do it as cheaply as possible:

Two decades after its entry into the United States, local tobacco maker KT&G became the fifth best-selling cigarette company in the country. 

The low price of THIS cigarettes, which used to be widely smoked in Korea in the 1990s, is the reason why. In its first month of sales in the United States in December 2017, KT&G sold 1.36 million THIS cigarettes – a figure that skyrocketed to 38.25 million in June 2018. By June 2019, that figure jumped to 200.4 million, almost fivefold from the same month a year earlier. 

KT&G is particularly proud considering that the United States, along with China and Indonesia, are major cigarette markets that see fierce competition among some 100 global companies. KT&G’s market share in the United States now stands at fifth, ahead of JTI, or Japan Tobacco International, according to market research firm Euromonitor International.

KT&G attributed its success to its cheap price. Distributed at big-box retailers like Costco and Walmart’s Sam’s Club, THIS cigarettes cost as little as $2.97 per pack. The product is promoted in the United States with the tagline, “Is This price for real?”

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section.

I guess we will see how long this position lasts with other electronic rivals like Sony and Apple developing plans to enter the EV market:

After Sony made a surprise announcement that it would start making electric vehicles, everyone at CES 2022 wanted to know if Samsung Electronics was going to too.  

Han Jong-hee, the vice chairman of the tech giant who oversees consumer electronics and smartphones, suggested not Wednesday, although automotive devices and parts are of interest to the company.   

“We’ve expanded the automotive business, especially through an acquisition of Harman,” Han said during a press conference on the sidelines of the tech trade show, which runs through Jan. 7.    
“But we don’t have any plan to enter car manufacturing,” he said. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but Samsung at one time had Samsung Motors that built cars. However, this venture failed and they ended up selling it to Renault. This prior failure may be why they are hesitant to enter the EV market.

Condolences to the friends and families of these firefighters:

Three firefighters that went missing Thursday at the scene of a fire in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, were found dead Thursday afternoon.   
   
Two were found at 12:22 p.m. on the second floor of a seven-story refrigeration warehouse construction site and the other at 12:41 p.m. nearby, according to the fire department.   
  
Communication with the three was cut off around 9 a.m. after they searched for people inside the construction site for about an hour. Two other firefighters with them got out and were sent to the hospital for smoke inhalation.  
   
The three were found with emergency safety equipment including an air tank that could last up to 50 minutes. They are believed to have been trapped by flames. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

As always when it comes to fake news, what is important is who is the one defining what North Korea related fake news is?:

South Korea’s Ministry of Unification (MOU) has set aside funding to start systematically monitoring “fake news” related to North Korea next year, though it is unclear whether the government plans to levy penalties for reports deemed false.

The ministry has earmarked $170,000 (200 million won) for the project to counter fake news in its budget for the fiscal year 2022. Announced on Friday, the budget’s total amount reaches $1.27 billion (1.5 trillion won), a 1.86% increase from 2021.

“There are frequent occasions when misinformation or manipulated information related to North Korea gets spread mainly through new media,” unification ministry spokesperson Lee Jong-joo said in a regular briefing on Monday, referring primarily to online platforms.

“Hence, the purpose [of this project],” she said, “comes from the need for more systematic monitoring, considering how such incidents cause various bad influences such as distorting the environment for pursuing policies.”

NK News

You can read more at the link.