D-100 for Election 2022, new COVID variant ‘Omicron’ emerges, and dog meat task force launched
K-NEWS BITES
Mon 2021-11-29 (KST)
Seoul bids for Hong Kong’s crown as Asia’s financial hub (4 min read)
“... [The] city’s aspirations have gained new impetus recently amid questions over the future of Hong Kong, the region’s main business and financial hub… Seoul, however, faces a host of obstacles to realising its vision. When compared to Hong Kong or Singapore, South Korea suffers from a rigid labour market, cumbersome regulations, relatively high taxes and a lack of spoken English... In the latest Global Financial Centres Index… Seoul ranked 13th, up three places from last year, but behind cities including Hong Kong, Singapore, London, New York, Paris, Shanghai and Beijing.”
[Election 2022] D-100: Pundits’ take on outlook, impact and fallout (7 min read)
“With just 100 days left for South Korea to pick its next president… The Korea Herald seeks to dissect key details of the 2022 presidential election with analyses from three local experts on election campaigns and politics…. [Promising] fairness and justice for Korean society is a key theme of the race… ‘As seen from their victories in the primaries, people are looking for fresh change in the political scene by expressing support for candidates with no legislative experience.’” And the voices demanding fresh change are loudest among voters in their 20s and 30s,” who account for 34 percent of voters.
900 victims of 1980 Gwangju crackdown file damage suit against govt. (1 min read)
“LKB & Partners said it has filed the suit on behalf of the plaintiffs who were subject to brutal violence by soldiers during the democracy protests in May 1980 in Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of Seoul, to demand the government pay 94.3 billion won (US$79 million) in total for their psychological sufferings… The lawsuit is reportedly the largest litigation filed by survivors since the Constitutional Court ruled in May that past compensation failed to properly address and heal the psychological pains of victims.”
Korea bans foreign arrivals from eight African countries over omicron (3 min read)
“South Korea is implementing tougher entry rules for arrivals from eight African countries in response to omicron, a new and potentially more contagious variant of COVID-19 first identified in South Africa and Botswana, starting Saturday at midnight…. The travel restrictions apply to South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi. Korean citizens departing from the southern African countries will be required to quarantine at a government-approved facility for 10 days upon arrival, regardless of their vaccination status… ‘While it’s wise to act fast, very little is known about it so far’… No cases of omicron have been detected in Korea...”
Daily cases drop below 4,000; deaths, critical cases hit record highs (2 min read)
The country reported 3,928 new COVID-19 cases… raising the total caseload to 440,896. The tally was down from 4,068 on Saturday but higher than 3,901 on Friday... The country reported the highest daily infections of 4,115 on Wednesday… The country added a daily record high of 56 more deaths from COVID-19 on Sunday, raising the death toll to 3,548. The fatality rate stood at 0.8 percent. Critically ill patients also reached an all-time high of 647, marking the fifth straight day such cases stayed above 600.
General COVID Information for residents in Korea:
Ministry of Health and Welfare, South Korea
Coronavirus Statistics for South Korea
No US request for talks over potential diplomatic boycott of Beijing Olympics: official (1 min read)
“South Korea has not received any request from the United States for consultations over a possible diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics slated for February, a foreign ministry official said Friday. The official's remarks came as U.S. President Joe Biden said last week Washington is considering a diplomatic boycott of the Games, apparently in protest over China's treatment of an ethnic minority group in its western Xinjiang region. Under the boycott, U.S. athletes will compete in the Games, but a delegation of government officials will not attend the sporting event.”
Why Did the 2015 Japan-Korea ‘Comfort Women’ Agreement Fall Apart? (6 min read)
“On December 28, 2015, the South Korean and Japanese governments announced an Agreement on Comfort Women, without showing the text of a formal agreement. Foreign ministers of the two countries read a statement, not the agreement, in front of a TV camera together… [however, through] the government’s consistent denials after the joint statement, it was Japan who broke the spirit and promise of the comfort women agreement in the first place...” Yuji Hosaka is an emeritus professor of political science at Sejong University and explains in her article why she believes this is the case.
Report casts doubt on claim a North Korean was sentenced to death for smuggling 'Squid Game' (3 min read)
NK News — a South Korea-based news service focused on reporting on North Korea — sought to debunk a recent story published by Radio Free Asia (RFA), a US government-funded nonprofit news service focusing on Asian countries. “NK News published an analysis in which border experts said it is ‘highly unlikely’ the show could have made it into North Korea.” However, another expert said, “Ultimately… it wasn't easy to say either way whether RFA's story held weight or whether it could be debunked… Reporting on North Korea is notoriously difficult…”
Fashion police? North Korea bans leather coats to stop citizens from copying Kim Jong-un's style: Report (1 min read)
“North Korea is reportedly imposing a ban on leather jackets and trench coats so that common people do not copy the style of their supreme leader, Kim Jong-un. Radio Free Asia reported, citing sources in the country that authorities in North Korea are saying that it is disrespectful to copy the fashion choices of the country's leader.“
National AI complex project starts in South Korea: New AI hub in making (1 min read)
“South Korea will be getting its first-ever National AI Industrial Convergence Complex, which is expected to be completed by 2024… the Korean government has invested $330 million in the AI infrastructure project in the southwestern city, Gwangju… It aims to support upcoming startups and commercial AI plans... [and will also] be providing a data center and office space to more than 70 Korean AI startups… [The] National AI complex aims to curate a small ecosystem and set a bar before the other Korean tech companies.”
Self-driving bus changes lanes, slows on 10-km route in Sejong (1 min read)
“The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport held a ceremony to demonstrate the final results of technical development of [their] public transportation system based on self-driving technology… The demonstration showed the entire process of the bus's self-driving on a 10-km route in the city… The bus decelerated, stopped and changed lanes based on data received… from nearby vehicles, traffic signals and road conditions.... The ministry by 2025 plans to commercialize transportation and logistical services based on autonomous operations, including self-driving buses. When commercialized, such services are expected to reduce travel time 20%-36% and improve safety on regular routes.”
South Korea to launch task force on banning dog meat (3 min read)
“South Korea on Thursday said it will launch a task force to consider outlawing dog meat consumption after the country’s president offered to look into ending the centuries-old practice… The government says the initiative, the first of its kind, doesn’t necessarily guarantee the banning of dog meat. The joint statement noted that ‘public awareness of the basic right (to eat preferred foods) and animal rights issues are tangled in a complicated manner’ when it comes to dog meat consumption.”
[Weekender] Exam skills won’t help you survive ‘Squid Game’ (4 min read)
“In a country where well over 70 percent of high school graduates advance to college, getting good Suneung scores and enrolling in an elite university is proof of success -- at least early in life. In ‘Squid Game,’ protagonist Gi-hun’s weird obsession with boasting that his childhood friend Sang-woo is the ‘pride of Sangmoon-dong’ and ‘graduated from Seoul National University with honors’ reflects this same outlook… Perhaps the fate of [Sang-woo and] considering where his SNU diploma landed him, is a reflection of where Korean education is headed unless something changes.”
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