This might be the first Chuseok in a long time without bumper to bumper traffic if this poll is to be believed:
This file photo taken in a rural village in Boseong, southwestern South Korea, on Sept. 14, 2020, shows a banner written by village elders to urge their urban sons and daughters not to visit their hometowns during the Chuseok holiday due to the coronavirus outbreak. (Yonhap)
Three in four Seoul citizens don’t have any plans to visit their hometowns or travel long distances during the Chuseok holiday due mainly to fears of coronavirus transmission, a poll showed Saturday.
In the survey of 849 citizens aged 18 or older, 56.8 percent said they have no plans to travel long distances during Chuseok, while another 16 percent said they have canceled their holiday travel plans due to COVID-19.
Merely 12.4 percent said they have travel plans during the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving, with 14.8 percent saying they are still undecided whether to travel.
You can read more at the link, but what I always tell people is that the best time to go to Seoul is on Chuseok. It is easy to get around with little to no lines for anything because of how many people leave the city for the holiday. Apparently that will not be the case this year.
It looks like the Korean government in addition to using libel laws, will now sue the organizers of anti-government rallies:
Thousands of people take part in an anti-government rally in central Seoul on Aug. 15, 2020. (Yonhap)
The Seoul city government said Friday it plans to file a 4.6 billion-won (US$3.9 million) compensation suit against a pastor blamed for worsening the new coronavirus outbreak here by holding mass rallies in central Seoul.
Despite warnings against holding mass rallies, Jun Kwang-hoon, who pastors Sarang Jeil Church in northern Seoul, is suspected of leading anti-government protests in central Seoul in mid-August that thousands of people attended. Jun, himself, later tested positive.
This is an interesting idea for an affordable single family home in Seoul:
Thirty three square meters of land doesn’t seem big enough to build a house on. But architect and educator Choi Min-wook designed a five-story residential building for himself, his wife and their cat on a tiny plot of land in the heart of Seoul.
The couple settled there in March last year.
This year, their house won the best architecture award conferred by the Seoul Metropolitan Government. (…….)
Each of the house’s five floors were conceptualized to have a unique purpose: The first floor for parking, the second floor for reading, the third floor for cooking and dining, the fourth floor for sleeping and the fifth for bathing.
The Korea Times has an article about two British expats in Seoul who have a very successful Youtube channel where they conduct short documentary like interviews of random Korean people:
His understanding of Korea and Korean culture is reflected in the roughly 150 videos uploaded to his YouTube channel. Teaming up with his business partner Joel Bennet, they explore Korea to shoot mukbang, have casual discussions about Korea-related topics and create short documentary-style videos. Those videos aim to show the real Korea, starring Bright’s neighbors and other ordinary people he meets. As of Thursday, “Dan and Joel” has some 272,000 subscribers.
You can read much more at the link, but I started browsing through their videos today. One of the videos I watched that was featured with the article was of them interviewing one of Korea’s ubiquitous cardboard collecting ladies. Definitely a tough life for the elderly people doing that job.
Enchanting Seoul view from Mt. Bukhan Climbers enjoy an autumn view of Seoul from the top of Mount Bukhan in northern Seoul on Sept. 13, 2020, in this photo provided by Park Chang-young, head of the Bukhansan safety volunteer service team. (Yonhap)
I wonder if this will be the new normal for Seoul? Not too long ago Seoul reported only 3 local virus cases:
A medical worker works at a makeshift clinic in Gwangju, 320 kilometers south of Seoul, on Sept. 9, 2020. (Yonhap)
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.
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.
Empty streets in Seoul The main downtown streets of Seoul are almost empty of people and cars on Sept. 6, 2020, as South Korea maintains tightened social distancing rules to stem the spread of COVID-19. (Yonhap)
Little activity at COVID-19 screening stationA COVID-19 screening station set up outside the Yongsan Ward community health center in Seoul sees little activity on Sept. 5, 2020, as the number of infected people in the capital city stayed under the 200 mark for the third straight day. (Yonhap)
Virtual learning for most students in the Seoul metro area will continue until at September 20th:
High school seniors go to school in Seoul on Aug. 26, 2020. (Yonhap)
The Ministry of Education said on Friday that schools in Seoul and its surrounding cities will remain online-only until Sept. 20, in accordance with the government’s decision to extend stricter social distancing rules in the area.
The measure will apply to all kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools in the metropolitan area — Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province. But high school seniors are not subject to the policy in order to prepare for the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), the yearly national university entrance exam slated for Dec. 3.
