Tag: South Korea

South Korea’s daily coronavirus case rate has now reached the same levels of when Daegu was ground zero for the global pandemic back in March:

The daily number of novel coronavirus cases in South Korea surpassed 500 for the first time in over eight months on Thursday due to sporadic cluster infections across the country as health authorities strive to curb a third wave of infections. 

The country added 583 more COVID-19 cases, including 553 local infections, raising the total caseload to 32,318, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

It marks the first time that the country’s daily virus cases exceeded 500 since March 6, when the figure reached 518 due to a massive outbreak in the southeastern city of Daegu. 

It is also above the peak in the country’s second wave of virus infections on Aug. 27, when 441 cases were confirmed in a single day.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the ROK Army cluster infection is now up to 68 cases, a dance academy in Seoul had 66 cases, a sauna in Seoul had 48 cases, and a Korean traditional drum class in Ulsan had 53 cases. It is pretty clear that large group gathers indoors is what drives the spread of the coronavirus when looking at these numbers.

I would think he understood the ramifications of giving the blessing prior to the festival, so his suspension shouldn’t be too surprising:

“A hundred years from now, the church will have changed. And when that time comes, I want you to be sure that you won’t be embarrassed of your own decisions. Don’t be a sinner in the face of history.”  
   
When Pastor Lee Dong-hwan began to doubt his decision to give a blessing at the second Incheon Queer Culture Festival last year, his wife was the one who encouraged him to stand strong not only in the face of history, but also God.  
   
On Aug. 31, 2019, Lee, who is part of the Korean Methodist Church, took to the stage of the queer festival, clad in a white robe to bless those in attendance, throwing flower petals and offering a prayer. Just three days afterward, he was required to attend a meeting at a gathering in Suwon, Gyeonggi, where his church is located.  
   
A day later on Sept. 4, he was reported by the Incheon Pastor’s Gathering for Healthy Society (represented by Pastor Seong Jung-kyeong) and the Chungcheong Annual Conference of the Korean Methodist Church (represented by Pastor Lee Gu-il) to the Gyeonggi Annual Conference for violating the Book of Doctrines and Discipline by advocating and agreeing with homosexuality.  
   
On Oct. 15 this year, he was sentenced to two years of suspension of duty by the Korean Methodist Church. He appealed that decision but a retrial date has yet to be set, leaving Lee in limbo as he cannot preach.  

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

The Moon administration must really think the Biden administration is going to reduce sanctions to let them restart these cross border projects to make tribute payments to economic cooperation with Kim Jong-un through:

The government is seeking to revive deadlocked inter-Korean economic projects, including the reopening of a joint factory park, expecting that cross-border cooperation could resume earlier than some forecast.

Unification Minister Lee In-young held a meeting with business leaders in Seoul, Monday, to gauge their opinions on the plan as part of the government’s re-launching of the Korean Peninsula peace process initiative. Representatives from local companies, including Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor, SK and LG that accompanied President Moon Jae-in on his visit to Pyongyang in September 2018, participated.  (……)

“While building an environment for economic cooperation between the two Koreas, the government plans to reignite inter-Korean projects such as individual tours to the North by South Koreans, cross-border railway and road connections and the resumption of work at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex,” Lee said. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but does anyone really think the money the Kim regime will make from restarting these projects will go to improving the lives of North Koreans? As history has shown us the Kim regime uses these payments to make great advances in their military, nuclear, and missile capabilities. Why will this time be any different?

The South Korea economy ever before the coronavirus pandemic was tough for young Koreans and it is only getting worse, especially for women:

By gender, a 30.5 percent (65,000) increase was reported among women, while the growth for men stood at 18.5 percent (53,000).

The 2020 situation has been much affected by the novel coronavirus. Nevertheless, similar state figures on employment or unemployment for the past three years indicate that there was little apparent improvement in the hiring index, despite a series of extra budget allocations and cash support for young job seekers.

While the nation’s employment rate was 61.5 percent in May 2017, the figure de facto unchanged to 61.3 in May 2018 and 61.5 percent in May 2019. It had recovered slightly to 60.4 percent in October 2020 after sliding to 59.4 percent in April 2020.

In May 2017, when President Moon pledged to actively increase jobs for the young generation particularly, the de facto jobless rate among those aged between 15-29 was 22.9 percent, according to the Supplementary Index III for Employment compiled by Statistics Korea.

Index III provides a relatively new method of calculating unemployment, counting underemployed people among the de facto unemployed. This category, also called “extended-based” jobless, includes those who work fewer than 36 hours a week and want to work more, as well as seasonal workers who are out of work for part of the year.

The de facto jobless rate rose to 23.2 percent in May 2018, to 24.2 percent in May 2019, and to 26.3 percent in May 2020. It had eased to 24.4 percent in October.

Korea Herald

You can read the whole thing at the link, but it might be time for President Moon to get a new head for Statistics Korea again.

The Korea Herald has an article about a ethnic Filipina from Hawaii who was bashed on social media for a tattoo resembling the rising sun flag:

A brutal war of words erupted on social media from what started as a mistake by a Filipino American TikTok personality.

Over the past few days, ethnic Koreans and Filipinos have been exchanging derogatory and discriminatory insults over social media, with the Filipino side sharing posts with hashtags like #CancelKorea. An air of reconciliation was looming just as the weekend arrived.

It all comes down to a dance video posted on TikTok on Sept. 5. A Filipino American TikTok personality in Hawaii named Bella Poarch posted a video of herself dancing on the social media platform with a tattoo resembling the Rising Sun design.

The sunburst symbol with 16 rays is regarded as offensive by some, especially among Koreans and Chinese, for its association with Japanese imperialism and war crimes in the early 20th century, similar to the Nazi swastika. 

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link, but the woman apologized and said she would cover up her tattoo or even get it removed. However, she and Filipinos in general were further attacked by racist comments by Korean social media users. This caused a back and forth of racist comments.

At Gusts of Popular Feeling he has a good posting up about this incident that discusses how little many Koreans know about their own colonial and World War II history with Japan:

What amazes me about this story is the way in which Koreans felt the need to explain that the rising sun flag has negative connotations for Koreans due to the actions of the Japanese military… to people from a country that was invaded by Imperial Japan and whose citizens resisted the invasion. Korea, it should be remembered, never fought a war with Japan. Japanese troops landed in Korea in February 1904 and Emperor Gojong quickly signed a treaty of alliance with Japan. Yes, from 1906 to 1909 the Righteous Armies waged a guerrilla war against the Japanese, and tens of thousands of people rose up against Japanese rule in 1919, and there were sporadic acts of resistance in the following years, but Korea never fought a war against the Japanese in 1904 or any time after. The same can’t be said for the Philippines, where hundreds of thousands died (particularly during the Manila massacre in 1945). The time period when Koreans suffered the most under Japan was during WWII when they were forced to toil or fight for the Japanese war machine that oppressed the Philippines. The number of Koreans who died during the entire colonial period is almost certainly less than the number of Filipinos who died during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines. 

Another uncomfortable fact is that the theater with the largest number of deaths of Korean soldiers serving in the Japanese army during WWII was… the Philippines (according to the Japanese records quoted in Brandon Palmer’s book, Fighting for the Enemy: Koreans in Japan’s War, 1937-1945, 2,156 of 5,870 Korean soldiers recorded as having died during WWII fell in the Philippines). Needless to say, these soldiers certainly didn’t die fighting on behalf of Filipinos (as Filipinos did fighting on behalf of Koreans during the Korean War).

That Korean netizens feel the need to explain to Filipinos the nature of the brutality of Imperial Japan just goes to show how narrowly Korean textbooks and popular culture depict colonial era history, with, for example, high school textbooks spending only two pages on World War II. 

I recommend reading the whole thing at the link because plenty of more good points are made. With that all said, I see this stuff and it just makes me wonder how much of this online racist back and forth is being fueled by the 50 Cent Army to raise tensions between Filipinos and Koreans?

With the weather getting colder these spikes in cases are occurring all over the northern hemisphere, but South Korea’s spike is way smaller than others:

South Korea’s new coronavirus cases hovered above 300 on Wednesday to reach the highest level since late August, setting alarm bells ringing over another potential wave of the pandemic.

The country added 313 more COVID-19 cases, including 245 local infections, raising the total caseload to 29,311, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

The daily figure exceeded 300 for the first time since Aug. 29, with the daily caseload hovering over 200 in the last four days.

Cluster infections from private gatherings, public facilities and hospitals continued to occur in several parts of the nation, making it harder for health authorities to pin down potential cases and curb the spread of the virus.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It looks like someone has finally decided to purchase Asiana Airlines, but it took a huge government investment to make it happen:

Korean Air Lines, the country’s largest carrier, will acquire cash-strapped rival Asiana Airlines with the help of the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB).

The new airline will become the world’s No. 7 carrier by capacity to transport passengers and cargo, according to 2019 IATA numbersprovided by KDB.  

On Monday, the bank announced that it will indirectly provide financing to Korean Air Lines, which will use those funds and additional proceeds from a stock sale to buy a significant stake in Asiana Airlines.  

In the complex transaction, KDB will invest 500 billion won ($451.6 million) in Hanjin KAL and buy 300 billion won of the company’s exchangeable bonds. Hanjin KAL, which already owns 29.27 percent of Korean Air Lines, will buy 730 billion won of a 2.5-trillion-won share offering by the airline.  

The carrier will then use 1.8 trillion won of the newly raised capital to become the biggest shareholder of Asiana Airlines, by purchasing 1.5 trillion won of the airline’s new shares and 300 billion worth of perpetual bonds.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

For people that have done beach clean ups would know, plastic packaging is a major pollution concern in the world’s oceans. This is a small start to trying to reduce the pollution:

McDonald’s Korea has announced a new campaign aimed at contributing to the environment and community under the slogan “Small but great changes for a better community.

In light of the current COVID-19 situation, the American fast food restaurant chain presented four actions ― Our Planet, Food Quality & Sourcing, Community Connection and Jobs, Inclusion & Empowerment ― to aid local communities and protect the environment. 

McDonald’s Korea said it will implement concrete plans for each to achieve sustainable growth. 

Our Planet

The company plans to expand the operations of eco-friendly restaurants through reducing its use of plastics, using environmentally friendly packaging materials and replacing all of its delivery scooters with green electric vehicles. 

By 2025, McDonald’s plans to transition 100 percent to recyclable, recycled, or certified packaging materials by to end plastic use, and to replace the inks used on such materials with natural ones. To this end, the company will also introduce cup lids that allow customers to enjoy their drinks without using a plastic straw.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

The COVID issue continues to expand in South Korea:

South Korea’s new coronavirus cases exceeded 200 for a second straight day on Sunday due to cluster infections, with health authorities considering raising the social distancing scheme by a notch in the five-tier system.

The country added 208 more COVID-19 cases, including 176 local infections, raising the total caseload to 28,546, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). 

The daily new cases stayed in the triple digits for the eighth consecutive day. The cases exceeded 200 for the first time in 73 days with a mark of 205 on Saturday. 

KDCA reported one additional death, raising the total to 493. The fatality rate came to 1.73 percent.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but once again context is important. 200+ daily coronavirus infections in a country of 51 million people is extremely low. For example the city of El Paso, Texas which is a coronavirus hotbed right now, had 981 new cases and 762 deaths. El Paso has a population of 682,000 people.

Anyone think that it is just a coincidence that when the left wing KCTU wants to do a rally the rules changed to accommodate them?:

Labor activists pushed ahead with street rallies in Seoul and other major cities Saturday despite concerns over spikes in COVID-19 infections. 

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), a major umbrella labor organization, and about 20 affiliated unions took to the streets across the country to stage scores of small-scale demonstrations in commemoration of the 50th year since Chun Tae-il, a pioneer of the nation’s labor activism, self-immolated, Nov. 13, 1970, in the cause of workers’ rights

In Seoul alone, the KCTU and progressive groups were allowed to hold 31 rallies at 61 locations. Conservative groups also reported plans for 47 political demonstrations in 85 locations in the capital, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. 

The rallies came as the nation’s new coronavirus cases exceeded 200 for the first time in 73 days amid lingering infection clusters nationwide.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but if the conservative protesters were smart they would have stayed home and then blame the current COVID spike on the KCTU like the Korean left did to them back in August.