Here is another unexpected consequences of relying on Chinese parts:
The nation’s largest automaker Hyundai Motor confirmed Tuesday it will suspend all production lines at local plants in phases due to the disruption of parts supplies from China.
The decision follows three-hour talks between the labor union and management, and the suspension is expected to last until around Monday.
The production shutdown is due mainly to the inventory shortage of wiring harnesses, which are mostly produced in China. Handmade wiring harnesses need to be laid on the floor of vehicles during their initial assembly. Because every car model uses a different wiring harness, inventories are not usually accumulated due to difficulties in management, industry watchers said.
Korea Herald
You can read more at the link, but this should give Korean companies a taste of what would happen if the Chinese decided to put a squeeze on the Korean economy for political reasons.
Well it looks like that if Seungri some how gets off from all the charges he is filing the ROK government is ready to still get him by making him do his mandatory military service:
Seungri, a former member of K-pop boy band BIGBANG, has been sent a notification of his mandatory military service, while he has been on trial on charges of gambling and arranging prostitution, the military manpower agency said Tuesday.
Last month, the prosecution indicted the scandal-ridden celebrity without physical detention on charges of gambling overseas and breaching the foreign exchange transaction act, as well as the act on the punishment of arranging commercial sex acts.
“As the investigation into singer Seungri finished, we’ve sent the notice to have him serve the due duty,” the Military Manpower Administration (MMA) said in a release.
If he is allowed to postpone military service repeatedly because of his trial under way at a civilian court, he could eventually end up evading the service as the legal age limit for the service could pass, the agency said.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
If you ever wanted to visit Jeju Island without crowds now is the time:
Jeju Island has been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus outbreak since its economy relies to at least 70 percent on tourism, mostly from China.
The government is halting visa-free entry of Chinese tourists from Tuesday, and Koreans are shunning the southern resort island because they are afraid of running into infected Chinese tourists there.
Last year 1.73 million foreigners visited Jeju, 62.5 percent of them from China, but since late last month, when the new coronavirus started spreading throughout China, Chinese visitor numbers have plunged.
Flights between Jeju and China dwindled from 24 a day on Jan. 21 to just seven on Sunday. There are 18 direct routes to Chinese cities, and 15 of them are currently on hold while the remaining ones are only 44 percent full, compared to 90 percent in boom times.
Chosun Ilbo
You can read more at the link.
It is not even safe to visit Thailand now:
South Korea on Tuesday confirmed its 16th case of the novel coronavirus infection, with the latest patient having recently visited Thailand, as more stringent quarantine measures are being taken to stem the spread of the virus.
The patient, a 42-year-old South Korean woman, returned from a trip to Thailand on Jan. 19 and started feeling chills on Jan. 25, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
Her condition did not improve despite receiving treatment for several days, so she was tested at a general hospital in Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of Seoul, on Monday, with the test results coming back positive. Thailand has reported 19 cases of virus infections.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
The calls to stop Chinese nationals from entering South Korea is growing:
South Korean websites have been flooded with comments calling on the government to block or expel Chinese and racist remarks about Chinese eating habits and hygiene. A popular Seoul seafood restaurant frequented by Chinese tourists posted a sign saying “No entry for Chinese” before taking it down Wednesday after an online backlash.
About 600,000 South Koreans have signed an online petition filed with the presidential Blue House calling for a temporary ban on Chinese visitors. Some conservative opposition lawmakers publicly back these steps, and about 30 people rallied near the Blue House on Wednesday demanding the government immediately ban Chinese tourists.
“Unconditional xenophobia against the Chinese is intensifying” in South Korea, the mass-circulation JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said in an editorial Thursday. “Infectious diseases are a matter of science, not an issue that can resolved through an emotional outpouring.”
Associated Press
You can read more at the link.
