The omicron is here:

The first suspected cases of the omicron variant of COVID-19 have been detected in South Korea, health authorities said Tuesday, as the nation tightened its entry restrictions for the African region to prevent it from spreading into the country. 

Health authorities have conducted a genome sequencing test on a couple who recently arrived in South Korea from Nigeria and the couple’s acquaintance. They tested positive for COVID-19. 

The authorities expected the result to be announced after 9 p.m. Wednesday. 

The couple, who were fully vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine, visited Nigeria on Nov. 14-23 and tested positive for COVID-19 last Thursday, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but did the health authorities have to give this latest mutation such an ominous sounding name? Additionally the initial reports out of Africa are stating the symptoms from this new variant are very mild and the hospitals there are not swamped with COVID patients.

It looks like the South Korean presidential race has turned into what most political become, a mudslinging contest:

The race to the presidency has turned into a mudslinging contest, with the two leading candidates appearing to focus mainly on dragging each other down with accusations.

The two-way race between Lee Jae-myung of the ruling party and his main opposition counterpart, Yoon Seok-youl, has consisted largely of remarks questioning each other’s fitness for the chief post.

The main opposition People Power Party on Monday called on Lee to accept a special counsel probe concerning a controversial land development project in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, when he was mayor of the city in 2015.

Lee is dogged by suspicions of unlawfully favoring his aides for the project.

“Candidate Lee Jae-myung clearly voiced his intention to accept the special counsel inspection without conditions, but the Democratic Party really has no intention to accept that even though it said it would do so on the surface,” People Power Party spokesperson Jeon Ju-hye said in a commentary Monday.

“In essence, candidate Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party are staging a ‘special counsel inspection show’ while trying to avoid the eyes of the people and evade suspicions of involvement in the Daejang-dong scandal.”

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea a day earlier called on Yoon to respond to accusations about his “problematic” investigative decisions when he was a prosecutor. The party denounced Yoon for avoiding the questions by saying he couldn’t remember.

“The People Power Party and candidate Yoon Seok-youl have resorted to saying ‘I can’t remember’ whenever they fall in disadvantageous situations,” the ruling party’s public relations team said in a statement Sunday.

“Until when are you going to show this cowardly attitude of hiding behind memories? This attitude only emphasizes how he, if he becomes the supreme leader, will hide corruption by his close aides. We will watch when that memory returns.”

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link, but something I did not realize was that Lee Jae-myung back in 2006 represented his nephew as his lawyer to defend him against brutal double murder charges of two women he killed.

It only took a month, but the Moon administration has decided to not move forward with the next steps in its Living with COVID strategy:

President Moon Jae-in said Monday that the government will halt a further easing of social distancing rules amid spiking COVID-19 infections, and speed up the administration of booster shots and secure more hospital beds over the next four weeks. 

Moon made the remarks while presiding over a COVID-19 response meeting, making it clear that the government will not wind down its first-phase measures aimed at returning to normalcy despite a jump in serious cases and infections, and concerns about the omicron variant.

“Hospital beds are in a tight supply as the number of new patients and critically ill patients is on the rise,” Moon said. “However, we can’t retreat to the past by reversing the gradual return to normal life.” 

South Korea has seen a sharp jump in daily coronavirus infections after the government started its first phase of the “living with COVID-19” scheme this month.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the Moon administration was going to further reduce COVID protocols in December as part of its Living with COVID strategy. However, the rise in serious cases and deaths has put a halt to their timeline. The government is going to instead focus on booster shots and getting more hospital beds available.

You would think that people on Chun Doo-hwan’s side of this debate would just keep quiet because no apology will ever be accepted by the opposing side:

The apology by the widow of Chun Doo-hwan for past wrongdoings inflicted by the former dictator has only refueled the anger of victims of the bloody suppression of the 1980 Gwangju pro-democracy movement, as Chun’s side made it clear that the massacre was not subject to the apology.

Former first lady Lee Soon-ja made the apology during Chun’s funeral in Seoul, Saturday, four days after he died of a type of blood cancer. The former Army general, who seized power through a military coup in 1979 and served as president from September 1980 to February 1988, was responsible for the brutal suppression of Gwangju citizens but went to his grave without ever making an admission of guilt or an apology.

In a speech as a family representative, Lee said, “On behalf of my husband, I would like to deeply apologize, especially to those who suffered pains and scars during his time in office.”

Lee’s apology was initially assumed to be for the victims killed in the May 1980 uprising. But civic groups related to the movement, including those of bereaved families, criticized it for being vague and incomplete, saying they couldn’t accept the apology.

Then Chun’s former secretary Min Jeong-ki told local reporters that Lee was not talking about Gwangju.

“Lee clearly said ‘during his time in office,'” Min told reporters hours after Lee’s remark, at Seoul Memorial Park where the cremation took place. He explained that the Gwangju incident took place before his presidency, which officially began on Sept. 1, 1980.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest on the relocation of the MCAS Futenma on Okinawa that features so many similarities to the expansion of Camp Humphreys in South Korea. They only difference so far is that the Futenma relocation hasn’t had in Braveheart style battles yet:

Tamaki, not surprisingly, denied the application filed in April 2020. He wrote the Japanese government to say the seafloor at the site may be unstable and requires further investigation, along with other environmental concerns.

The seabed in Oura Bay in Henoko, where land is being reclaimed for the runway, is softer than builders anticipated. The prefecture has also raised concerns over endangered species of coral nearby.

“There are many people of Okinawa and of Japan who are anxious, furious and sad to see the government using iron fists and forcing the reclamation work without providing a sufficient explanation,” Tamaki said at a press conference Thursday. “We have repeatedly expressed to the government that relocation (of MCAS Futenma) to Henoko would not lead to an immediate removal of danger.”

This is Tamaki’s latest bid to halt a project that he campaigned on stopping. His efforts have largely been overruled by the Japanese courts and Cabinet-level authorities. (……)

The fight to relocate Marine air operations from a central urban area on Okinawa to the rural northern coast at Camp Schwab began over 25 years ago. Work finally began in 2017 but has been beset by legal and administrative challenges by successive governors. Cost overruns and delays have pushed the completion date past 2014 to 2030 and the cost from $2.2 billion to at least $8.7 billion.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

The trickle of ethnic Koreans from Russia’s Sakhalin island continue to trickle back to South Korea:

Twenty-one ethnic Koreans who were taken to Russia’s far eastern island of Sakhalin for forced labor during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule returned to their home country Saturday, the foreign ministry said.

A total of 91 people, including the former forced laborers and their family members, arrived at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, under a government support project that will help them get permanent residency here or get dual citizenship if they apply. They all have Russian citizenship.

The average age of the ethnic Koreans who were relocated to Sakhalin during World War II was 88, with the oldest one at age 90.

After a 10-day quarantine, the returnees and their family members will reside in rental homes in Ansan, 42 kilometers south of Seoul, and Incheon, 40 km west of the capital.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.