Here is the latest on the vaccine efforts in South Korea:

The government is temporarily suspending AstraZeneca vaccines for people under 60 after a third blood clot developed in a patient after an AstraZeneca shot.  
   
Korea’s Covid-19 vaccination Task Force team said Wednesday that a medical worker in her 20s was diagnosed with blood clots in her legs and lungs twelve days after she got her first AstraZeneca jab on March 17.    
   
She developed shortness of breath on March 29.   
   
This was the third case of blood clot problems following AstraZeneca inoculations. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

This is not a good sign for the ruling party and President Moon who’s policies have become increasingly unpopular in South Korea:

Oh Se-hoon of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) is expected to win the Seoul mayoral seat by a solid margin in Wednesday’s by-elections, seen as a major bellwether for next year’s presidential election, an exit poll showed.

Oh defeated his rival from the ruling Democratic Party (DP) Park Young-sun 59 percent to 37.7 percent in the exit poll, jointly released by three broadcasters: KBS, MBC and SBS.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I have a theory that many of these racist messages being hurled at Asian-American celebrities is actually from Chinese and Russian bot accounts looking to increase racial strife in the US. It would be fascinating if someone was able to analyze the racist messages Chloe Kim received and track down if they are real people or not:

Like many public figures, Chloe Kim gets a lot of bizarre direct messages on her social media accounts, but far too many of them are filled with hurtful, racist words, the Olympian revealed this week.

In an Instagram story that has since expired, the accomplished snowboarder opened up about her personal experiences with racism and admitted that she feels “really helpless and afraid at times.”

As reported by ESPN, Kim shared a screenshot Wednesday of a message she had received that read “You dumb Asian b—-. Kiss my ass.” In her post, Kim went on to explain that it’s not unusual for her to receive such hurtful comments.

Today Show

You can read more at the link, but there is assuredly racist jerks on the Internet. However, it would totally be in the Chinese and Russian interest to continue to promote racial strife in America, especially the Chinese. They want to mitigate criticism of their own controversial policies by calling their critics racist. This basically is a staple of American domestic politics as well.

The bottom line is that if you don’t like being trolled then you should not be on social media. I have been called all kinds of things on this blog over the years by what I suspect are 50 Cent Army trolls, but I understand that this is the risk you take posting on the Internet.

There is now one less major mobile phone manufacturer:

LG Electronics said Monday it will withdraw from the mobile business after years of money-losing performance amid intensifying competition with bigger rivals. 

The South Korean tech powerhouse said in a regulatory filing that its mobile communications (MC) unit will no longer produce and sell handsets after July 31, citing its long slump and fierce competition in the industry. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but according to the article LG Electronics has accumulated $4.4 billion in debt from the lack of mobile phone sales.

It seems like a pretty big unforced error for Sery Kim, but who knows maybe this is what the people in the district she is running for want to hear. Additionally it has given her national media attention because I have never heard of her until now:

Multiple U.S. media outlets reported that Young Kim and Steel issued a joint statement to say they cannot continue to support Sery Kim, who is running to represent Texas’ sixth Congressional District.

“As the first Korean American Republican women to serve in Congress, we want to empower and lift up fellow members of the AAPI community who want to serve their communities,” the lawmakers said in the statement CNN reported on Saturday. “We talked with Sery Kim yesterday concerning her hurtful and untrue comments about Chinese immigrants, and made clear that her comments were unacceptable.”

Sery Kim is currently mired in controversy, after she answered a question about U.S. immigration during a forum on Wednesday. “I don’t want them here at all,” she said, referring to Chinese immigrants.

“They steal our intellectual property, give us the coronavirus, and they don’t hold themselves accountable,” she said. “And quite frankly, I can say that because I’m Korean.” The candidate also lashed out at China, claiming that the coronavirus was created at a lab in Wuhan, according to a YouTube video recording of the event uploaded by Kim’s election camp.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

By not having their athletes at the Olympics this will more easily allow the North Koreans to make trouble this summer. What better time to start a provocation cycle that will get the world’s attention on you than the Olympics:

North Korea said Tuesday it will not participate in the upcoming Tokyo Summer Olympics to protect its athletes against the coronavirus pandemic, dashing South Korea’s hopes to use the games to kickstart the stalled peace process with Pyongyang.

The decision was made during a general assembly meeting of the North’s Olympic Committee held in Pyongyang on March 25, according to Sports in the DPRK Korea, a website on sports affairs in North Korea.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but will the U.S., ROK, and Japan cut a deal to end a provocation cycle before the Olympics just to get the Kim regime to behave? I guess we will see what happens.