Tag: South Korea

What I find of interest from President Moon’s plan is that the government is not going to fund major infrastructure projects but instead digital projects and small neighborhood projects:

President Moon Jae-in proclaimed a “Korean New Deal” on Wednesday to create jobs in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.  

He also announced that the government plans to give 1.5 million won ($1,200) to people who lost their jobs but aren’t covered by employment insurance, which has never been done before.

Preventing layoffs and creating jobs have become the top priority of the government with job losses hitting their highest numbers in a decade.  

During the government’s fifth economic emergency council meeting on Wednesday, Moon promised a Korean New Deal.  

“New Deal jobs should not be temporary positions but innovative growth projects that will continue through the post-Covid-19 era,” Moon said. 

“The government has to boldly push forward major projects that would create new jobs.”  

According to Finance Minster Hong Nam-ki, the Korean New Deal projects will be digital, have jobs that don’t have much face-to-face contacts and also include small neighborhood public projects.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Here is another example of a healthcare official trying to cover for all possibilities which ends up getting everyone worked up about something that may not happen:

Another large-scale outbreak of coronavirus could take place in winter, South Korea’s top health official has warned, asking people not to let their guard down until a vaccine and effective treatment are developed. 

Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Jung Eun-kyeong issued the warning at a Monday briefing, citing the patterns of surge-flattened-resurgence in bygone pandemics and many facets of virus information that are still left in the dark. 

“COVID-19 shows its ups and downs when it comes to infection power” Jung said. “Cold air normally provides a favorable environment for viruses to flourish, while people spend more time indoors in winter. If these happen at the same time, in the worst-case scenario, it could lead to a second outbreak of a coronavirus pandemic.” 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

I guess somebody has to pay for the free money the DPK plans to handout after their election win:

The ruling Democratic Party, now in control of both the Blue House and a majority in the National Assembly after last week’s elections, is expected to move swiftly to reshape real estate policy in Korea.

Lawmakers are expected to soon begin discussing proposals for a comprehensive real estate tax increase, with the goal of passing a bill before the current session ends at the end of May. The quick turnaround would allow the new rules to be applied before the June 1 deadline, when property taxes are levied.

The new proposals follow recent increases to the government’s assessed values of real estate.

The government is currently proposing increasing the maximum property tax for people who own a single apartment from 2.7 percent to 3 percent. For those with multiple apartments, the tax rate would increase from 3.2 percent to 4 percent. 

The government is also pushing to raise the maximum tax that could be levied on owners of two or more apartments in areas it has designated as speculative or overheated. In the case of Seoul, that’s every district.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but the article says that apartment owners in Seocho and Gangnam could pay an additional $58,000 in property tax this year.

It looks like Koreans will soon see some money heading their way for voting for the DPK this past week:

Following its win in Wednesday’s general election, the ruling party is reigniting the drive to offer emergency disaster relief money to every household to ease economic strain from the coronavirus pandemic ― in the face of the government’s opposition due to pressure on financial soundness. 

On Sunday, the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) held a trilateral meeting with Cheong Wa Dae and the government in Seoul to seek an understanding on expanding the scope of recipients. DPK Chairman Rep. Lee Hae-chan and floor leader Rep. Lee In-young sat with Senior Presidential Secretary for Policy Kim Sang-jo and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki. 

The initial government scheme was to deliver between 400,000 won ($328) and 1 million won in accordance with the number of household members in the bottom 70 percent of income-earners. But during the election campaign, the DPK pledged to give the disaster allowance to every citizen in an effort to gain votes.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

The coronavirus news continues to get better in South Korea:

South Korea on Sunday reported eight new cases of COVID-19 to mark the first time in around two months for the total to rise by a single-digit number, making the country confident enough to partially ease its thorough social distancing drive.

The figure for cases detected on Saturday fell from a day earlier when new infections reached 18, bringing the total infections to 10,661, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is at least one positive highlight from the parliamentary election beatdown South Korean conservatives took in this week’s voting:

 A high-profile North Korean defector won a constituency seat in this week’s general elections, becoming the first person hailing from the communist nation to be chosen directly by South Korean voters as their representative.

Thae Yong-ho, a former No. 2 diplomat at North Korea’s Embassy in London, was elected to the National Assembly as the main conservative opposition United Future Party’s candidate in Seoul’s southern affluent district of Gangnam.

Thae received 58.4 percent of the votes cast Wednesday in the Gangnam constituency, one of the conservative party’s main strongholds, far ahead of his opponent Kim Sung-gon, a four-term lawmaker from the ruling Democratic Party who earned 39.6 percent.

“I plan to devote the best of my ability so that our parliament and government can face the reality, and implement sustainable and feasible policies on North Korea,” Thae said Thursday when his election victory became almost certain.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but Thae is going to be a rule thorn in the side of the Korean left in the parliament as they likely attempt to reopen the Kaesong Industrial Complex, the Kumgang Resort, and other projects with North Korea to circumvent international sanctions.

This should come as no surprise to people following this topic that the ruling Democratic Party in Korea is expected to win the parliamentary election that just occurred:

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) is forecast to win a majority of parliamentary seats in Wednesday’s elections as voters apparently supported the government’s efforts to contain the new coronavirus.

South Korea held the quadrennial parliamentary elections to fill the 300-member unicameral National Assembly — with 253 directly contested seats and 47 proportional representation (PR) slots — in the midst of the country’s battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of 11:24 p.m. when 58.2 percent of the votes had been counted, the DP had taken the lead in 154 constituencies across the nation, followed by the main opposition United Future Party (UFP) with 94 districts, according to the National Election Commission (NEC), the state election watchdog.

If combined with potential PR seats to be distributed to the Platform Party, the DP’s satellite party that only targets PR slots, the ruling bloc may be able to secure around 170 parliamentary seats.

South Korea’s general elections have been closely watched from overseas as the country became the first major country to hold nationwide polls since the COVID-19 crisis began sweeping the globe.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the ruling party had a number of factors going for them to ensure they won the election. The coronavirus response by the Moon administration is obviously the most prevalent. The administration overall did a good job handling the pandemic and even the areas where they obviously screwed up they did not have to worry about a partisan media continuing to hype it like what you see in the US with the Trump administration.

The Moon administration very early on in their tenure made sure to take control of most of the media in the country to include jailing journalists who publish articles they do not agree with. This led to largely positive domestic and then international press coverage even though the administration’s pandemic response was not as strong as other countries in the region.

The ruling party also passed an election law bill that ultimately allowed them to increase the amount of unelected proportional parliament members. The Democrat Party then went and created satellite parties that shared their same ideology to take these proportional seats. This effectively decreased the amount of seats their conservative rivals could win in the elections.

Then you throw in the online opinion rigging to include the Democratic Party reportedly being backed by China’s 50 Cent Army it should come as no surprise they were able to win the parliamentary elections. What we have to wonder about is what comes next? Will the Korean left use their political power to try and change the ROK constitution to give President Moon another term in office? Or will they also use it to advance their Kaesong and Gumgang Resorts projects and ultimately their confederation ideas with North Korea? I guess we will find out over the next two years of what will largely be an unchecked Moon administration.

Not every industry is apparently suffering during the current coronavirus pandemic:

Despite the end in sight for the pandemic in Korea, some companies are jumping on the Covid-19 bandwagon, from conglomerates to underwear makers.

They are looking for the corona boom to continue, or to export to where the outbreak is not yet under control. 

Some are hoping that outbreak-related products, such as masks, become more permanent accessories in our wardrobes and style will become as important as function.

The trend is especially evident in the apparel industry, which has been struggling as the business has been weak for some time.

LF’s Hazzys in late March released a mask with a replaceable filter. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Here are the restrictions in place for this week’s parliamentary elections:

As for Wednesday’s general elections, the government announced that hospitalized patients and quarantined people with symptoms will not be allowed to cast a vote, but that asymptomatic people under quarantine will be allowed.

Those who are quarantined and do not show any symptoms Wednesday will be allowed to leave their homes from 5:20 p.m. to arrive at their polling station by 6 p.m. On their way, they must wear a face mask and either walk or drive and not use public transport. Once they arrive at the polling station, they will wait in a separate location until other voters finish casting their ballots.  

Once the other voters have completely left the station after 6 p.m., asymptomatic people under quarantine will place their votes, after which they must return back home by 7 p.m. The government warned that anyone who wanders off during this time will be severely punished. Quarantined people who wish to vote must respond to a text message sent by their local government office Monday or Tuesday, or in case they were told to self-quarantine after Tuesday noon, contact their local government office to inform their will to vote.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.