Tag: South Korea

I wonder if this Pfizer anti-viral pills will become a subject of conspiracy theories like their vaccine?:

The first batch of Pfizer Inc.’s antiviral COVID-19 treatment pills arrived in South Korea on Thursday as the country is working to stem the spread of coronavirus infections, health officials said. 

The U.S. pharmaceutical giant’s oral pills for 21,000 people landed at Incheon airport, west of Seoul, at around 2 p.m. and were delivered to a logistics center in Ochang, 120 kilometers south of the capital, at 5:25 p.m., according to the authorities. 

The Paxlovid pills will begin being administered to patients with compromised immune systems and those aged over 65 on Friday. 

“They will be delivered to designated pharmacies and treatment centers across the country by tomorrow, or the day after,” Lim Sook-young, a senior official at the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest controversy with the cancel culture crowd, it is now controversial to be anti-communism:

There are signs of a boycott movement against Starbucks Korea sparked by Shinsegae Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin’s recent anti-communist remarks on social media. Shinsegae is the parent company of E-mart, which owns 67.5 percent of Starbucks Korea.

On Monday, some netizens started spreading images on various online communities calling for a boycott. 

On Jan. 6, Vice Chairman Chung had uploaded on Instagram an image of an article from Korean daily Chosun Ilbo that had a picture of Chinese President Xi Jinping and was criticizing the Korean government’s silence toward a high-level Chinese official who had referred to Korea as a “minor country.” Chung tagged the image with the hashtag, “destroycommunism” (“myeolgong” in Korean), and it set off controversy. Later that day, the vice chairman replaced the image with a photo of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The vice chairman has uploaded anti-communist posts on social media five times in recent months.

The incident spread to the political circle and the spokeperson for ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung subsequently tweeted that he will not drink Starbucks coffee anymore. Supporters of the DPK showed their intention to join the boycott of Shinsegae. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but maybe I missed something here; what is controversial about being anti-communist? Is it now inappropriate to be against regime’s with horrible human rights records?

It will be interesting to see how long this vaccine pass system lasts:

Criticism is mounting over the COVID-19 vaccine pass mandate for large supermarkets, discount outlets and department stores, which came into effect from Monday, with critics calling on the government to justify the scientific grounds for implementing the new measure. 

The vaccine pass system, which requires either proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test result to be presented to enter multiuse facilities, has been expanded to shopping malls, retail outlets, department stores and bookstores measuring 3,000 square meters or more in floor space.

These large stores have been freshly added to the list of multiuse facilities subject to the vaccine pass system, including eateries, cafes, libraries and indoor gyms. 

But criticism is escalating over the system, among people who find it unscientific and excessive. 

According to government data, 427 and 327 infections occurred at large retail stores and department stores, in 2021, respectively, whereas 7,491 cases were linked to churches. But religious facilities still remain excluded from the vaccine pass since it was introduced on Dec. 6. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but oddly the employees at these stores do not have to get vaccinated due to work place laws. Additionally it seems like at this point if the government wants to discourage the spread of the omicron variant than they should be requiring people to get a booster which has more efficacy against the virus. They of course will not do this because that would inconvenience the ~80% of the population that is vaccinated before this Spring’s elections. This means the vaccine pass system arguably an inconvenience imposed on the ~20% of the population that hasn’t been vaccinated yet to encourage more of them to get vaccinated.

It seems to me a fairway to handle this is that any information about the site include the fact that Korean forced laborers were used her during the Imperial era. However, this makes too much sense and likely won’t happen:

A government panel proposed Tuesday that a gold mine site on the island of Sado, Niigata Prefecture, be a candidate for the 2023 UNESCO World Heritage designation.

But in a rare move, the Cultural Affairs Agency released a statement saying that the candidate selection by the Council for Cultural Affairs does not mean that the government has decided to recommend the site to UNESCO.

The agency said that the government will consider the matter comprehensively.

Under ordinary circumstances, the Japanese government would submit a recommendation to UNESCO by Feb. 1 next year after obtaining approval from related ministries and agencies and the Cabinet.

As South Korea claims that workers from the Korean Peninsula were forced to work at the Sado mines, however, it is unclear whether the Japanese government will recommend the site for World Heritage listing.

Yomiuri Shimbun

You can read more at the link.

According to experts the COVID spread is likely going to get much worse before it gets better in South Korea:

The government’s COVID-19 quarantine measure of home treatment for non-critical patients is feared to have increased infections among family members as well as the number of serious cases, health experts said Wednesday. 

This concern was raised as the country’s daily new number of coronavirus cases soared to a record high of 7,175 for Tuesday, a sharp rise of 2,221 from the previous day, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Health experts are now saying the number of daily infections could reach 10,000 in a few weeks.

The number of critically ill patients also hit an all-time high of 840.

Along with the high numbers, the government’s policy of expanding home treatment for COVID-19 patients ― a measure to counter a shortage of hospital beds ― has fueled concerns because a patient’s family members have to stay at home under self-quarantine and may contract the virus.

In Seoul alone, more than 8,800 people were under home treatment as of Tuesday.

The experts warned that at-home treatment could lead to secondary infections among the patient’s family members and thus further fuel the increasing trend in cases here.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but this at home treatment policy may help explain why Japan has such a significantly lower COVID spread than nearby South Korea.

South Korea’s surge in COVID cases just continues to get worse:

 South Korea’s new coronavirus cases hit an all-time high on Wednesday as infections continued to surge around the country amid waning immunity and colder weather.

The country confirmed 7,175 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total caseload to 489,484, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). 

The daily tally was up by 2,221 from a day earlier, the biggest daily jump since the pandemic began early last year. The previous record of 5,352 was set on Saturday. The average daily infection cases were 5,012 for the seven days ending Tuesday.

Infections were rising especially among older adults who suffer a drop in vaccine efficacy and children who have yet to receive their first shots, according to the KDCA. 

The number of critically ill COVID-19 patients also jumped to a record high of 840, up 66 from a day ago, putting further strain on the country’s already overwhelmed health care system. More than 83 percent of them were aged over 60.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but with waning efficacy of vaccine shots it makes me wonder if the Moon administration will eventually require booster shots in order to enter certain businesses?

By the way something that continues to be very unusual is how in Japan, just a short distance away the seven day daily COVID case average is 107 in a country with well over double to population of the ROK.

President Moon continues to push hard for an end of war declaration for the Korean War before he exits office early next year:

The scheduled visit to China by President Moon Jae-in’s top security advisor is widely believed to be seeking Beijing’s support and cooperation for the President’s proposal of declaring an official end to the Korean War. However, experts say it remains to be seen how actively China will work on the issue, given the complex geopolitical situation.

Cheong Wa Dae said, Wednesday, that National Security Advisor Suh Hoon will visit Tianjin from Thursday to Friday for talks with his Chinese counterparts, at the invitation of the Chinese Communist Party’s head of foreign affairs, Yang Jiechi.

The presidential office said that Suh’s trip will be a reciprocal visit for Yang’s visit to Busan in August last year, and the two will discuss, “South Korea-China relations, Korean Peninsula issues, regional and international affairs and other topics of mutual interests.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This has to be the largest rape case I have ever heard of:

Nearly 70 foreign students at a local university have been accused of alleged statutory rape of a teenage girl, according to police, Tuesday. 

Gangwon Provincial Police Agency said it is questioning 69 foreign students and graduates of a university in the province for allegedly engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with the middle school student on nearly a 100 occasions since last December.

The students were all of foreign nationalities, including those from Nepal and Bangladesh.

According to the police, they lured the victim into having sex through social media by offering snacks and asking her to hang out at their house. The law enforcement authorities viewed this as statutory rape as the students were aware of the fact that the victim was a minor. 

Under the Korean law, adults who engage in sexual activity with a child younger than 16, or the age of consent, may be charged with child sexual abuse or rape, if they were aware of the victim’s age at the time of the incident.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

The trickle of ethnic Koreans from Russia’s Sakhalin island continue to trickle back to South Korea:

Twenty-one ethnic Koreans who were taken to Russia’s far eastern island of Sakhalin for forced labor during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule returned to their home country Saturday, the foreign ministry said.

A total of 91 people, including the former forced laborers and their family members, arrived at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, under a government support project that will help them get permanent residency here or get dual citizenship if they apply. They all have Russian citizenship.

The average age of the ethnic Koreans who were relocated to Sakhalin during World War II was 88, with the oldest one at age 90.

After a 10-day quarantine, the returnees and their family members will reside in rental homes in Ansan, 42 kilometers south of Seoul, and Incheon, 40 km west of the capital.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

South Korea’s new “Living with COVID” strategy is now being fully put to the test as daily cases have reached a record high:

 South Korea’s new coronavirus cases hit an all-time high on Thursday since the start of the pandemic amid eased social distancing rules, putting health authorities on alert over further upticks.

The country reported a record high of 3,292 new daily cases, including 3,272 local infections, raising the total caseload to 406,065, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). 

Thursday’s daily caseload marks the highest since the country reported its first COVID-19 case in January last year and exceeds the previous record of 3,270 reported on Sept. 25.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but what is unusual about the spread of the virus in South Korea is that nearby Japan is experiencing near disappearance of the virus with a seven day average of only 163 daily COVID cases as of today despite having a population more than double that of South Korea.