It will be interesting to see if President Moon tries to crush opposition rallies by using the coronavirus as an excuse:

The President demanded the authorities bring criminal charges against those hampering epidemiological investigations and quarantine operations and, if necessary, apprehend them on site and seek an arrest warrant.

“The core principle of the nation’s fight against COVID-19 is swiftly detecting and testing those who have come into close contact with coronavirus patients, and isolating and treating infected people,” Moon said during a visit to the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s (SMG) office in charge of the city’s disaster and safety countermeasures. “But some people and organizations are systematically hampering the government’s efforts to stem the spread of the virus.”

Some local churches are facing mounting controversy and public anger as they have appeared to be uncooperative in tracing and isolating potential COVID-19 patients.

Among the churches is the Sarang Jeil Church in Seoul led by conservative pastor Jun Kwang-hoon who has led several anti-government rallies, with the most recent one held in central Seoul Aug. 15. The rally brought together thousands of demonstrators despite the government’s advice to follow social distancing guidelines.

Korea Times via a reader tip

You can read more at the link.

The spread of the coronavirus largely in the Seoul area continues to get worse:

South Korea’s health authorities warned Friday they will consider upping the level of social distancing to the highest level if nationwide outbreaks of the new coronavirus continue after the weekend.

The country’s virus fight has reached a critical phase as its daily new virus cases surpassed 300 for the first time since early March on Friday due largely to church-linked cluster infections in the wider capital area and other regions.

The country added 324 more COVID-19 cases, including 315 local infections, raising the total caseload to 16,670, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

Friday’s tally marked the most since March 8 when the daily virus cases reached 367.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This just confirms what I have been saying for years, the Kim regime is never going to give up their nuclear weapons:

North Korea is believed to have up to 60 nuclear bombs and the world’s third-largest stockpile of chemical weapons totaling up to 5,000 tons, the U.S. Army has said.

The U.S. Department of the Army headquarters made the assessment in its report, titled “North Korean tactics,” which was published last month, saying Pyongyang is unlikely to give up these weapons to ensure the regime’s survival.

“Estimates for North Korean nuclear weapons range from 20-60 bombs, with the capability to produce 6 new devices each year,” the U.S. military said, noting that some reports state that the regime could obtain as many as 100 by the end of this year.

“North Korea sought nuclear weapons because its leaders thought the threat of a nuclear attack would prevent other countries from contemplating a regime change,” according to the report, which also pointed out that leader Kim Jong-un witnessed the case of Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi and “does not want something similar to happen in North Korea.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

That is what some political observers in the Korea Times are speculating about:

Some political watchers say signs of a political slump for Moon have already emerged, citing the continuous fall in his approval rating and hints of defiance among his supporters over key policies ― two important characteristics of a lame duck presidency.

The support rate for Moon, which hovered over 70 percent in early May following the nation’s good response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s (DPK) landslide victory in the April 15 general election, has been on a steep decline, falling to 39 percent in a Gallup Korea poll, Friday.

The drop has become clearer in recent weeks amid criticism of the government’s latest real estate policy, which produced the opposite result of its intention of preventing speculative purchases and stabilizing the housing market. Public sentiment became even more negative as some senior Cheong Wa Dae officials owning multiple homes were reluctant to sell their properties despite the presidential chief of staff’s recommendation to do so.

Kim Hyung-joon, a professor at Myongji University, pointed to several signs indicating a political slump for Moon.

“The core situation of the political slump in a president’s fourth year is the loss of support from their base,” Kim said. “In Moon’s case, women, people in the capital area and those in their 30s or 40s were his core base, but they have broken away from him because of his policy failures.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Something these news stories never mention about this breakout of the coronavirus in Seoul is whether the hospitals are being overwhelmed or not? That is the key factor people need to remember, is the spread contained enough to where the hospitals can handle the sickest people:

 South Korea’s daily new virus cases have now soared by three-digit figures for a week straight as the country on Wednesday reported the largest number of cases since early March, with infections traced to churches in the capital city of Seoul continuing to swell. 

The country added 297 more COVID-19 cases, including 283 local infections, raising the total caseload to 16,058, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). 

Over the past week, the daily new virus cases have been in the triple digits, with almost 1,300 cases being newly identified. Wednesday’s daily tally marks the most since March 8, when the country reported 367 COVID-19 cases.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Via a reader tip comes news that Korea’s National Health Insurance Service may go bankrupt by 2023 due to changes made by the Moon administration:

The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic is causing an unexpectedly large health insurance deficit this year. Critics were quick to blame the deficit on President Moon Jae-in’s policy, dubbed “Mooncare,” which plans to expand the coverage of the state-run health insurance to 70 percent by 2023, and warned of its failure. But experts and the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) view it’s too early to worry.

According to data from NHIS, the health insurance deficit reached 943.5 billion won in the first half of the year, up 548.9 billion won from a year earlier, as the country has suffered from financial difficulties due to the unprecedented pandemic.

The deficit marked the third year in a row that the health insurance balance has been in the red. In 2019 the current account deficit stood at 3.2 trillion won and in 2018 it was at 177.8 billion won after running a surplus for seven straight years. 

The administration vowed to continue expanding NHIS coverage, especially for those in the low-income brackets, children and elderly, but Mooncare is facing strong protest from political opponents and medical doctors.

Critics of Mooncare claim premium increases are inevitable and the health insurance fund may run out of money as early as 2023 if the President maintains his rigid stance on boosting the health insurance coverage rate to 70 percent by the end of his term. Conservatives warns that if Mooncare’s pace remains unchanged, health insurance finances will be left severely depleted.

Korea Times

It seems like common sense that you cannot expand coverage of something without increasing taxes to pay for it. However, with politicians they like to make voters think they are getting something for nothing and someone will eventually have to pay for it long after the politician is out of office.