Tag: South Korea

Here is some interesting coronavirus statistics from South Korea:

South Korea had released 4,811 fully recovered novel coronavirus patients from hospitals as of Saturday, up 283 from a day earlier, the KCDC said.

It marked the first time the number of cured people exceeded the number of quarantined patients since Jan. 20, when the virus was first detected on South Korean soil.

South Korea’s cure rate for people infected with the virus is 50 percent, an achievement that South Korean officials hailed in their fight against the contagious respiratory illness.

“The 50 percent cure rate is a small achievement that all in our society should celebrate, though we have a long way to go,” Yoon Tae-ho, director-general for public health policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said in a briefing.

South Korea said the number of imported cases out of the 146 newly confirmed patients came to 41 — 25 from Europe, 12 from the United States and Mexico, and four from Thailand.

The KCDC said the number of imported cases came to 363 out of the 9,478 confirmed cases.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the small number of infections brought by people traveling to South Korea is a small number compared to the amount of media reports it has been receiving. It is also good to hear that so many people in South Korea have recovered. Hopefully this trend continues.

Here is an update on the bizarre video sex case in South Korea:

A man suspected of blackmailing dozens of victims, including minors, into performing violent sex acts and selling the videos in mobile chat rooms was handed over to the prosecution on Wednesday for further investigation.

At least 74 people, including 16 underage girls, are known to have been exploited in the case, widely known as the “Nth room case,” in which prime suspect Cho Ju-bin allegedly lured victims into taking photos and later coerced them into performing more gruesome sex acts.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency sent Cho’s case to the prosecution on charges including violation of the act on the protection of children and youth against sex offenses.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but it looks like someone might have roughed up Cho a bit judging by the picture.

The articles blaming foreigners for spreading coronavirus in South Korea has expanded to include the United States now:

As of Monday, the number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. surpassed 33,400, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the third largest in the world after China and Italy. 

“As the number of virus patients increases quickly in the United States, health authorities should conduct virus tests on all arrivals from North America,” said Kim Woo-joo, a professor of infectious medicine at Korea University Guro Hospital.

Experts warned that the number of imported cases involving U.S. travelers could increase. Of the 14 new imported cases reported on Monday, eight of them were from the United States. 

Doctors said that arrivals from the United States should also be quarantined for two weeks even if they test negative for the virus because of the virus’ incubation period and possible asymptomatic carriers.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is a weird case because the victims were allegedly being extorted digitally to do sex acts with no threats of physical force:

President Moon Jae-in called Monday for a thorough investigation into shocking sex crimes against women, including underage girls, in which group chat rooms of the Telegram messenger service were used.

He described the acts of the offenders in the so-called Nth room case as “cruel” behavior that destroyed the lives of victims and said he “feels sympathetic” to the “justifiable” public fury over it.

At least 74 women, including 16 minors, were sexually abused and exploited for several months, as they were virtually enslaved with threats of spreading photos of their naked bodies, according to police. They were forced to photograph or film themselves doing sexual acts, even grotesque ones. Those were shared with a host of viewers in the chat rooms. The number of members, who paid money for the materials, reportedly reaches 260,000.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

On top of the coronavirus test they will also be held in quarantine for 14 days:

South Korea on Sunday began conducting new coronavirus tests on all arrivals from Europe and requiring even those with negative results to undergo a 14-day self-quarantine as part of efforts to prevent any inflow of the virus from outside.

Starting at midnight, the government set in motion the screening measure for both its citizens and foreigners, amid growing concerns over a steady rise in the number of imported COVID-19 cases.

On Sunday, more than 8,510 people are to arrive in Korea from overseas. Of them, about 1,000 are from Europe, which has become a new front line in the global fight against the virus, with Italy having clocked more than 4,820 deaths.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see if the schools actually do reopen on April 6th:

South Korea said Tuesday it will be postponing the new school year for another two weeks as it fights COVID-19 group infections that have occurred at churches, hospitals and even Zumba classes.

Under the measure, the new school year at kindergartens and elementary, middle and high schools nationwide will begin on April 6, five weeks later than in normal years, according to the education ministry.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It seems like there is more and more media articles targeting foreigners in South Korea in regards to the COVID-19 pandemic. There must be an election coming up:

The government said Thursday it will deport foreigners who do not comply with COVID-19 measures despite being suspected or confirmed of having the coronavirus.

The Ministry of Justice has unveiled stronger measures against foreigners who do not follow health authorities’ requests to be tested, treated or quarantined.

“If they refuse to comply with requests by health officials, we will immediately enforce the new rules, including deportation and entry ban,” the ministry said.

If any foreigners cause financial damage by violating the health measures, the ministry said it will continue to seek compensation from them.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

I would say that this is what unemployment insurance is for instead of implementing a universal basic income:

Nearly 60 percent of Koreans say they oppose introducing a universal basic income in response to the economic shock of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a survey conducted on Friday by Embrain Public, a local pollster, 57.6 percent of those questioned said they were against giving every citizen 1 million won ($830), while 39.8 percent said they were in favor. The rest (2.6 percent) did not respond.

Among supporters of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, 57.7 percent were in favor of the idea, whereas 81.5 percent of the main opposition United Future Party were against it.

The findings come as politicians across the country discuss the need for support for people whose businesses have been hit hard by COVID-19.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.