Suki Kim has an article in the New Yorker that compares the Moon administration’s response to the coronavirus outbreak to how the former Park administration responded to the Sewol ferry tragedy:

Three years after Moon campaigned on a promise of governing more effectively during an emergency than Park, the incumbent’s response to one has resembled that of his predecessor. After the ferry disaster, Park blamed the tragedy on the ship’s owner, a founder of a different religious group also considered a cult. After the Park administration issued an arrest warrant for the ferry owner, he went into hiding. Eventually, he was found dead, an apparent suicide. On March 1st, the city of Seoul, whose mayor, like Moon, is a member of the Democratic Party, asked prosecutors to charge Lee Man-hee, the founder of the Shincheonji Church, and the religious group’s other leaders for murder for their alleged role in spreading covid-19. 

The New Yorker

I recommend reading the whole thing at the link.

Kim Jong-un is playing good cop, bad cop with the South Korean government with his sister playing the role of bad cop now:

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent a personal letter to “comfort” South Koreans fighting the novel coronavirus epidemic just a day after his sister condemned Seoul as a “frightened dog barking”, the South’s presidential office said Thursday.

Pyongyang has imposed strict restrictions and closed its borders to try to prevent an outbreak and insists it has not had a single case of the novel coronavirus which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan and has since spread around the world.

The South has reported the largest number of cases in the world outside China and its total passed 6,000 Thursday.

In his letter to President Moon Jae-in, Kim “conveyed his message of comfort to the South Korean people who are battling against the outbreak”, said Yoon Do-han, a senior official at the presidential Blue House.

Kim said he was “worried” about Moon’s own health, Yoon added, and “underlined his unwavering friendship and trust towards” Seoul.

AFP

You can read more at the link.

Here is what one poll says about the Moon Jae-in administration’s response to the coronavirus outbreak:

Centrist voters are dissatisfied with the Moon Jae-in administration’s response to the new coronavirus outbreak, a survey showed Wednesday, and their votes for the April general elections will be swayed by the current situation.

According to a poll commissioned by the JoongAng Ilbo and conducted by Hankook Research, 50.9 percent of the centrist voters said they think the government is doing poorly in the fight against the outbreak, while 44.6 percent said the government is doing well. The poll was conducted on Feb. 26 and 27 on 1,000 people across the nation, over the age of 18, and the JoongAng Ilbo released the outcome on Wednesday. 

Of all respondents – liberals, conservatives and centrists – 50.7 percent said they are dissatisfied with the government’s countermeasures against the outbreak, while 47.1 percent said they are satisfied. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Here is an unexpected benefit of the coronavirus, the self deportation of illegal immigrant inside of South Korea:

An exodus of undocumented foreigners here has begun as the coronavirus epidemic continues. Hundreds of illegal sojourners come to the immigration office on Jeju Island each day asking for quick deportation, according to Yonhap News Agency. 

On Tuesday alone, nearly 200 people gave themselves up to Jeju Immigration Office ― nearly as many as the 230 who surrendered throughout last month. Most were Chinese.

“The virus is spreading so fast,” Yonhap quoted an undocumented Chinese working at a restaurant on Jeju as saying. “My family in China worries about me so much, so I decided to return home.” 

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is something interesting, it appears that Kim Jong-un is now allowing his sister to take shots at South Korea:

On Tuesday night, Kim issued her first official statement, strongly slamming South Korea’s presidential office for complaining about the North’s recent short-range projectile launches, claiming that they were just an act of self-defense.

She stopped short of directly criticizing President Moon Jae-in but heaped vitriolic criticism and scorn over Cheong Wa Dae’s “senseless” and “foolish” act, saying that the South is demanding a stop to the North’s customary training while pushing for its own military drills with the United States. 

North Korea fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles on Monday, the first such launch in about three months. North Korean media later said it was a long-range artillery firing drill overseen by leader Kim.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest of President Moon’s approval rating:

Realmeter polling company said Monday that 50.7 percent of the people it surveyed said they disapprove of Moon’s performance, up 1.6 percentage points from the previous week. The poll was conducted from Tuesday till Friday last week at the request of YTN. 

Moon’s approval rating was 46.1 percent in the fourth week of February, down by 1.3 percentage points from the third week of February, according to the poll. The gap between the approval rating and disapproval rating was 4.6 percentage points, which went up higher than the margin of error for the first time in four weeks. 

In Daegu and North Gyeongsang, where infections are skyrocketing day by day, Moon’s approval rating was 30.1 percent, while his disapproval rating was 65 percent. “The coronavirus outbreak will become the most critical factor in the politics in the coming weeks,” Realmeter said. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.