Another source of technology to China’s Huawei is about to be closed:

After U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s request for countries to join Washington’s move to restrict the direct or indirect use of U.S. technology by Huawei, its top Korean suppliers are rethinking their partnerships with the Chinese tech company.

Pompeo said in a press statement Aug. 17 that Washington urges its allies and partners to join its anti-Huawei campaign. 

“The Department of State strongly supports the Commerce Department’s expansion of the Foreign Direct Product Rule, which will prevent Huawei from circumventing U.S. law through alternative chip production and provision of off-the-shelf (OTS) chips produced with tools acquired from the United States,” Pompeo said in the statement.

The Commerce Department also added 38 Huawei affiliates to its Entity List, which identifies foreign parties prohibited from receiving certain sensitive technologies, while allowing Huawei’s Temporary General License (TGL) to expire. 

The United States has provided ample time for affected companies and people ― primarily Huawei customers ― to identify and shift to other sources for equipment, software and technology and wind down their operations, the statement said, adding, that time was up.

A few weeks after the statement, industry officials said Huawei’s top Korean suppliers ― Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, Samsung Display and LG Display ― were rethinking their partnerships with the Chinese firm and suspending sales of memory chips and high-end smartphone panels for use in its consumer products.

“Amid the tightening rules on Huawei by the Trump administration, there’s no option but to temporarily suspend the sale of components to Huawei,” a high-ranking industry executive told The Korea Times.

Huawei buys “billions of dollars” of memory chips and display panels annually from Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, Samsung Display and LG Display. The suspension of trade will be effective from Sept. 15, the day a new set of rules limits dealing with the Chinese company.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

I wonder if this will be the new normal for Seoul? Not too long ago Seoul reported only 3 local virus cases:

 South Korea’s new virus cases stayed below 200 for the seventh consecutive day Wednesday, but health authorities are still on guard against sporadic cluster infections across the nation.

The country added 156 more COVID-19 cases, including 144 local infections, raising the total caseload to 21,588, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

It marked an increase from 136 new cases Thursday, which also slightly rose from 119 cases added the previous day, the fewest in 24 days.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but if this is the new normal of community virus spread in the Seoul area, it will be interesting to see how long the government can keep people locked down.

Despite all the dirt that is coming out on Cho Mi-ae, since she is the Justice Minister covering up all the illegal deeds around the Moon administration, I doubt anything will happen to her:

When Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae was serving as the ruling party’s chairwoman, someone from her officeasked the Defense Ministry to give preferential treatment to her son, who was doing his military service, former Defense Minister Song Young-moo told the JoongAng Ilbo on Monday.    

In an exclusive phone interview with the newspaper on Monday, Song said he recently learned that the military was asked to select Choo’s son as an interpreter for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in February 2018.    

Song served as defense minister from July 2017 to September 2018, and Choo served as chairwoman of the Democratic Party (DP) from August 2016 to August 2018. She became justice minister in January 2020.    

“I belatedly received a briefing yesterday that such a request had been made, but [officers in charge of the selection process] rejected it,” Song said Monday. “I was briefed that the request came from the office of the DP’s chairwoman.”    

The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) has raised a series of allegations that Choo abused her power to seek special treatment for her son when he was serving his mandatory military duty. Choo’s son, surnamed Seo, served in the Korean Augmentation to the United States Army, or Katusa, for the 2nd Infantry Division of the U.S. 8th Army from November 2016 through August 2018.    

In his latest revelation, PPP Rep. Shin Won-sik, a former lieutenant general who once served as deputy chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Sunday that officials in the administration and the National Assembly had tried to influence the selection process of military interpreters for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics to grant a post to Seo.    

Shin quoted a former Army colonel who served as the commander of the Katusa forces at the time, as saying that he was pressured by the office of the defense minister and the liaison office of the National Assembly to dispatch Seo as an interpreter to the sporting event. The colonel said he had resisted the pressure to ensure fairness and selected 65 soldiers for the plum assignments by drawing lots.   

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but good on this Colonel for resisting the pressure from both the Defense Minister and National Assembly to select Choo’s son for the position.

Here is the latest restrictions on people in Seoul:

The Seoul metropolitan government on Tuesday restricted access to crowded areas of Han River parks starting at 2 p.m. to help contain the spread of COVID-19.

The affected areas are two squares at Yeouido Han River Park, parts of Ttukseom Park and two picnic zones at Banpo Han River Park.

Across the Han River parks, 28 stores and seven cafes will end at 9 p.m. every day. Forty-three parking lots at 11 Han River parks will also deny entry from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Congratulations to Samsung on winning this huge contract:

Samsung Electronics signed a 7.9 trillion won ($6.6 billion) deal to supply network equipment to U.S. telecommunications company Verizon, the Korean IT firm disclosed Monday in a public filing.

Under the contract, Samsung Electronics America will provide equipment, including for 5G connections, to Verizon for five years through December 2025. By volume, it’s the biggest single supply deal for network equipment ever secured by a Korean company.    

Samsung had worked with domestic mobile carriers last year to make Korea the first country to commercialize 5G connections. After 5G debuted April 2019, the company has signed network equipment supply deals with major telecommunications operators, including Canada’s Videotron, the U.S.’s Cellular and New Zealand’s Spark.   

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but hopefully Samsung continues to beat out contracts over Huawei, their main Chinese competitor. ROK Heads may remember that Huawei has been accused of spying on behalf of the Chinese communist party.

Ultimately the coronavirus is going to be a good thing for big business that can survive the restrictions because many of their small business competitors are going under:

Small businesses are being devastated by the pandemic, with the mom-and-pops, restaurants, travel agencies and similar establishments going out of business at a rapid rate, according to recent statistics.    
   
The situation is set to worsen as the government over the weekend has extended the social distancing orders that have hit food-and-beverage outlets especially hard.      
   
Many small businesses were already on the ropes before the pandemic, and the crisis has made an already bad situation worse. Owners are becoming desperate, with at least one suicide being reported related to the financial stress faced by a small business operator.      
   
The number of small shops in Seoul dropped 5.4 percent in the second quarter when compared to the first quarter, according to a report by Budongsan 114 based on a study by the Small Enterprise and Market Service (Semas). The total reported was 370,321, meaning 21,178 small stores that existed at the beginning of the year are now gone.  
   
Over the same period, 10,040 restaurants went out of businesses, a 7.5 percent decline on quarter. The number of hair salons dropped by 3,473 stores, a 5.1 percent decline. In the travel agency, leisure and entertainment — which includes noraebang, or singing rooms — and computer cafe category, 1,260 businesses shut for good, a 10.8 percent decline. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.