Tag: South Korea

It appears that the increased social distancing measures is helping to decrease the daily COVID infection rate:

South Korea’s new coronavirus cases rose by the smallest number in 41 days Monday apparently on the back of tightened social distancing measures and fewer tests over the weekend.

The country added 451 more COVID-19 cases, including 419 local infections, raising the total caseload to 69,114, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

“The COVID-19 pandemic is on the path toward a slow downturn, yet dangers of cluster infections on the community level still persist,” Jeong Eun-kyeong, KDCA chief, said. 

Monday’s daily caseload marks the first time since Dec. 1 that the daily figure stayed in the 400 range and also a sharp drop from 665 recorded on Sunday, 641 on Saturday and 674 on Friday.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

So much for the Korean government wanting to supposedly improve relations with the Japanese:

South Korean victims of wartime sexual enslavement won their first legal victory Friday against the Japanese government in a landmark ruling.

The Seoul Central District Court ordered Tokyo to make financial reparations of 100 million won (US$91,300) each to 12 “comfort women” who were dragged away from their homes and forced to work in front-line military brothels for Japanese soldiers during World War II.

“Evidence, relevant materials and testimonies show that the victims suffered from extreme, unimaginable mental and physical pain due to the illegal acts by the accused. But no compensation has been made for their suffering” the court said in a verdict.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the Japanese government says they are ignoring this ruling because all the comfort women issues were resolved by the agreement they signed with the ROK government in 2015. The Moon administration scrapped the agreement when they came to power.

It looks like the ruling party realizes that the end of the Moon administration is nearing which means the potential of the conservatives winning the next election. If that was to happen no doubt the conservatives would look to start locking up their liberal political adversaries just like the Moon administration has done to them:

Ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Lee Nak-yon is seeking to propose pardons for former presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, who have been behind bars on corruption charges, to President Moon Jae-in.

“I will propose pardons for the two former presidents to President Moon Jae-in at an appropriate time,” Lee said during a New Year interview with local news agency Yonhap. Lee said the pardons of the two former presidents could be a way to promote reconciliation and overcome the ideological gap between conservatives and liberals.

“This year is the de facto final year for President Moon to practice policies, and this matter (of pardoning the two former presidents) needs to be solved at a right time,” Lee said. “I am seeking to propose it (to President Moon) apart from pros and cons from the supporters of the ruling bloc. … The party will have to play a more active role from now on.”

As former President Lee was sentenced to 17 years by the Supreme Court last October while Park is still on trial, a special pardon and suspension of sentence will be sought for each case, if President Moon pardons the two former presidents.

Korea Times

Something that is important to remember is that this is about more than just Presidents Park and Lee being locked up, there has been numerous journalists and conservative commentators prosecuted and locked up as well for speaking out against the Moon administration.

South Korea is reporting a death rate of 1.47% from the coronavirus which is likely much lower considering that many people with the virus either don’t know or don’t get tested:

South Korea’s new coronavirus cases stayed above 1,000 for a second straight day Wednesday and variant cases rose to five amid tougher virus curbs across the country. 

The country added 1,050 more COVID-19 cases, including 1,025 locally transmitted infections, bringing the total caseload to 59,773, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

The daily infections fell slightly from 1,046 cases a day earlier amid the stricter Level 2.5 virus curbs in the greater Seoul area, which were extended earlier by one week until Sunday.

South Korea’s daily cases have hovered around 1,000 for the past week due mainly to mass cluster infections.

Twenty people have died from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 879, with the fatality rate of 1.47 percent.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Though South Korea is having it highest daily infection numbers yet, it is important to keep perspective. For a country of 51 million people these numbers are basically the equivalent of a large American city:

South Korea reported more than 1,100 daily new coronavirus cases on Saturday, adding pressure on authorities to tighten social distancing rules to flatten the curve of infections.

The country reported 1,132 more COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, including 1,104 local infections, putting the total caseload at 55,902, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). 

The tally is slightly lower than Friday’s new record high of 1,241. The death toll rose by 20 to 793, with the fatality rate at 1.42 percent.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I would not be surprised of the daily case numbers stay over 1,000 based on the trends we are seeing in other northern hemisphere countries right now:

 South Korea’s new coronavirus cases spiked by more than 1,000 for the fifth straight day to hit a fresh record high Sunday, putting the country’s virus battle in the most trouble so far amid rising death tolls.

The country added 1,097 more COVID-19 cases, including 1,072 local infections, raising the total caseload to 49,665, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

The tally marked a rise from 1,053 cases Saturday and 1,062 Friday. The previous record high was reported at 1,078 on Wednesday.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.