I guess we will see if NASA’s budget will continue to be supported to actually put a person on the Moon this decade:

Japan revised the schedule of its space exploration plans on Tuesday, aiming to put a Japanese person on the moon by the latter half of the 2020s.

“Not only is space a frontier that gives people hopes and dreams but it also provides a crucial foundation to our economic society with respect to our economic security,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told a meeting to finalize the plan.

According to the draft schedule of the plan, Japan aims to put the first non-American on the moon as part of the Artemis program, a U.S.-led initiative that aims to return astronauts to the moon.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Squid Game fans will not only have a season 2 to watch, but likely a season 3 as well:

The global TV sensation “Squid Game” will likely return not only with season 2 but also with season 3, its creator Hwang Dong-hyuk said Tuesday.

“I’m in talks with Netflix over season 2 as well as season 3,” Hwang said in an online interview with Korean broadcaster KBS. “We will come to a conclusion any time soon.”

It is the first time that the director-writer has hinted at the possibility of a third season of the biggest Netflix original series after he confirmed a plan to produce another season in a media interview last month. 

He said the next season will feature the story of Gi-hun, the final winner of the deadly contest of heavily debt-ridden people to win 45.6 billion won (US$38.9 million) in prize money.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I still believe we need to shift our thinking from COVID case counts to critical hospitalizations because the vaccines and prior infections are significantly reducing hospitalizations and deaths:

Daily COVID-19 cases fell to the three-thousand range for the first time in four weeks, but the number of critical cases remained above one-thousand for over a week.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said Tuesday that three-thousand-865 new infections were reported throughout the previous day, raising the accumulated caseload to 615-thousand-532. 

The daily figure dropped to the three-thousand range for the first time since November 30. It fell by about 340 from a day ago and over 13-hundred from a week ago. The fall is likely due to more booster shots and stepped-up social distancing rules. 

However, the number of patients in serious or critical condition rose by 24 from the previous day to one-thousand-102, the second highest tally to date. The number remained above one-thousand for the eighth consecutive day. 

KBS World

You can read more at the link, but when the metric of COVID effectiveness is 1,102 people in serious conditions at the hospital in a country of over 50 million it doesn’t appear to be as bad. It would be interesting to see how the 1,102 number compares to other hospitalizations such as car accidents, heart attacks, etc. to provide further context for decision makers.

The article also stated that total death is at 5,346 and that is a .87 death rate. That means people infected with COVID in South Korea have less than 1% chance of dying from the disease. Once again some useful context would be how does that percentage compare to other leading causes of death in South Korea?

The controversy over Yoon Seok-yul’s wife may cost him the Korean presidency if he can’t shore up his support with conservatives. Lee Jae-myung maybe able to win this election if he is able to gain support from Ahn Cheol-soo:

On December 27, a poll showed that the lead, which Yoon Seok-youl, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, had over Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea’s candidate, has narrowed (0.7%) to within the margin of error, suggesting a very close race.

Upon the request of OhmyNews, Realmeter conducted a survey of 3,090 people from December 19 to 24, and the results this day showed that 39.7% supported Lee Jae-myung, while 40.4% supported Yoon Seok-youl. Lee managed to obtain the support of 1.7% more voters from the previous survey (Dec. 12-17), while Yoon lost 4.0% of support. The difference between the two candidates was only 0.7%, 6.4% closer than in the previous survey.

Lee Jae-myung lost 2.7% of support from the progressives, but managed to gain 2.4% more support among the moderates, which contributed to his overall rise in support. Meanwhile, Yoon Seok-youl’s approval rating dropped 5.8% among the conservatives and 2.6% among the moderates. The controversy surrounding his wife, Kim Keon-hee and her fabricated resume and his conflicts with People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok appear to have influenced his drop in support.

Kyunghyang Shinmun

You can read more at the link.

Let this be a lesson to not hand your kid over to be watched overnight by a juicy girl you hardly know:

 South Korean prosecutors recommended a 30-year prison sentence for the woman accused of killing a U.S. soldier’s 3-year-old boy left in her care in September.

Jamaica Eblacas, 30, displayed a “weak-willed repentance” for the death of Noa Calhoun, the son of Army Pvt. James and Kourtney Calhoun, prosecutor Kim Jin-kyu told a three-judge panel at Suwon District Court on Wednesday. Eblacas was back in the Pyeongtaek branch court Wednesday to continue a sentencing hearing begun earlier this month.

James Calhoun, a 2nd Infantry Division soldier stationed at Camp Humphreys, was introduced to Eblacas, a Filipina bartender, by a mutual acquaintance, he told Stars and Stripes on Dec. 7. Calhoun said he left Noa and his 7-year old brother in Eblacas’ care before hanging out with friends the night of Sept. 5. He said he expected to pick them up the following morning.

Police responded to a disturbance call in the morning and discovered the child’s bruised body in a home near Eblacas’ workplace.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

USFJ is trying to mitigate the repetitional damage done to the command with the Japanese public with these new changes:

U.S. Forces Japan re-imposed a testing requirement for personnel heading to Japan on Thursday after the country’s foreign minister admonished the U.S. military for breaching its border protection measures. 

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi expressed “deep regret” to USFJ commander Lt. Gen. Ricky Rupp that a unit of Marines was not tested for COVID-19 before it arrived on Okinawa aboard a U.S. government flight. The newly arrived Marines were quarantined at Camp Hansen but permitted base access for five days before being tested, Hayashi said at a Wednesday news conference in Tokyo. 

Marine Corps Installations Pacific on Dec. 17 said “multiple” Marines in the group had tested positive for COVID-19, the coronavirus respiratory disease. By Thursday, that cluster had grown to 227, up from 180 on Monday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said at a news conference that morning.

Matsuno said he would continue to push the U.S. military to “take more thorough measures” to prevent the virus from spreading and hopefully ease locals’ concerns.

USFJ said the Hansen cases have prompted changes, according to a statement emailed to Stars and Stripes by spokeswoman Yukiko Date.

“In light of the current omicron variant, the COVID-19 positive cases at Camp Hansen in Okinawa, and to ensure the health and safety of all SOFA members and the citizens of Japan, USFJ has updated our COVID Health Protection Guidance to require pre-arrival testing for all SOFA members within 72 hours of flights departing for Japan on all forms of transportation,” the statement said. 

USFJ acknowledged Hayashi’s complaint but said it followed guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Defense Department and Indo-Pacific Command when it discontinued pre-departure testing in September.

The Okinawa Department of Public Health and Medical Care believed the U.S. military was testing its personnel before they boarded flights for Japan until it learned otherwise on Wednesday, a spokesman for the department said during an online press conference on Thursday.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.