Korea carbon neutral by 2050, $3mil Squid Game crypto scam, Coupang sells cooking oil that expired 16yrs ago
K-NEWS BITES
Wed 2021-11-03 (KST)
299 caught drunk driving on 1st day of 'living with COVID-19' scheme: police (1 min read)
“… Of them, 89 were caught with blood alcohol levels high enough to have their license suspended and another 200 with levels warranting license revocation, according to the National Police Agency. The remaining 10 were caught for refusing to take a breathalyzer test… Police said they will conduct crackdowns on drunk driving from this month to January of next year as gatherings involving alcohol are expected to increase in the year-end season in line with measures to return to normalcy.”
Moon to report Seoul’s emissions goal at UN climate summit (1 min read)
“Moon is set to deliver a keynote speech at the Monday summit, where he is expected to urge the world to urgently tackle the climate crisis and highlight South Korea’s role in combating climate change. Last month, South Korea finalized a decision to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent from 2018 levels by 2030... South Korea also confirmed that it will achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, as the nation started tackling the challenge of responding to climate change and attaining sustainable growth simultaneously.“
Nearly half of Seoul's recent COVID-19 cases breakthrough infections: city govt. (1 min read)
“‘Of the 646 new cases confirmed in Seoul on Sunday, 49.4 percent, or 319 cases, were breakthrough cases*,’ Park Yoo-mi, a disease control official at the Seoul metropolitan government, said in a briefing. ‘The rate of breakthrough infections in Seoul is higher than the nationwide average,’ she noted. According to the city government, Seoul has recorded 12,663 breakthrough infections so far… The official advised senior citizens and those with underlying diseases, for whom a vaccine booster shot is currently available, to receive the additional dose.”
[*breakthrough case = when a person tests positive for COVID-19 after being fully vaccinated]
New infections fall below 2,000 for 2nd day amid 'living with COVID-19' (1 min read)
“The country reported 1,589 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total caseload to 367,974, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said… The death toll rose by 16 to 2,874 on Tuesday, the health authorities said… The health authorities remain on high alert as there might be cluster infections following the Halloween weekend, with daily new cases possibly [rising] by twofold or threefold.”
General COVID Information for residents in Korea:
Ministry of Health and Welfare, South Korea
Coronavirus Statistics for South Korea
South Korea and U.S. quietly hold joint air exercises amid calls for talks with North (1 min read)
“The exercises, previously called Vigilant Ace, once mobilized tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of cutting-edge fighter jets, bombers and other warplanes. But the program has been scaled back since 2017 to facilitate talks aimed at ending Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs in return for U.S. sanctions relief. The allies began the drills, which will last five days, without announcing or naming them. The South’s Yonhap news agency said that some 100 aircraft were dispatched from each side, including South Korea’s F-15Ks and KF-16s and U.S. F-16s, but that no equipment or soldiers from the U.S. mainland would join the exercises.”
South Korea chipmakers grapple with U.S. deadline for supply chain data (1 min read)
“South Korean chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have only a week left to decide how they will respond to the U.S. request for information on their supply chains…
The disclosures sought include those pertaining to client information, sales, inventory and plans to boost output. Many chipmakers have concerns about handing over sensitive data that, if leaked to outside parties, could disadvantage their company when negotiating contracts.”
China, Russia revive push to lift UN sanctions on North Korea (3 min read)
“China and Russia are pushing the United Nations Security Council to ease sanctions on North Korea by reviving a 2019 attempt to remove a ban on Pyongyang’s exports of statues, seafood and textiles, and expanding it to include lifting a refined petroleum imports cap.. ‘with the intent of enhancing the livelihood of the civilian population’ in the isolated Asian state. North Korea has been subject to UN sanctions since 2006 over its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes… Several UN diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the refreshed draft resolution would find little support.”
Will forestry cooperation speed up inter-Korean talks? (3 min read)
President Moon said in his keynote speech at the 26th Conference of the Parties or COP26 held in Glasgow, Scotland, “‘We will reduce greenhouse gas emissions on the entire Korean Peninsula through forestry cooperation between South and North Korea.’... Forestry cooperation was one of the key commitments made during an inter-Korean summit held in Pyongyang in September 2018… It remains to be seen how North Korea will respond to the renewed offers of forestry cooperation. The North has been lukewarm on a series of proposals made by Moon, such as humanitarian aid and a COVIID-19 partnership.”
'Squid Game' cryptocurrency collapses in a $3 million scam (1 min read)
“A cryptocurrency inspired by Squid Game successfully enticed enough investors to see its value soar to over $2,800... before its creators cashed out and vanished... At 5:40AM on Monday morning, however, the coin's value plummeted to $0, its website disappeared (you can view an archive here) and its Twitter account got blocked. As Gizmodo explained, its creators staged what's called in the crypto world as a ‘rug pull,’ wherein the coin's creators cash out for real money and disappear. The scammers may have made off with as much as $3.38 million.”
Coupang hit for selling expired cooking oil (2 min read)
“Korea's largest online retailer has come under fire for allegedly selling a bottle of cooking oil that expired more than 16 years ago. Coupang said it has launched an internal investigation into the allegation.... [This] also led to suspicions that a different customer may have abused Coupang's return policy by intentionally sending back an expired bottle of cooking oil after receiving a new one, and the returned bottle was then sent off to a new purchaser. If this is true, Coupang will face another backlash for not properly inspecting refunded or returned items.”
[Seoul Struggles 13] Motorcyclists ignore laws, endanger pedestrians (3 min read)
“A delivery worker suddenly drives a motorcycle onto the sidewalk, honking at pedestrians to make way before heading to an apartment complex…. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, 58 people died from traffic accidents involving motorcycles in the first nine months of this year, up 23.4 percent from the same period a year earlier… By law, motorcycles are classified as regular vehicles, meaning they can’t be parked on sidewalks or in other pedestrian-only areas. Motorcyclists are required to drive on designated motor roads and to abide by the same traffic laws as drivers of four-wheeled vehicles.”
Female directors account for only 4.1% of financial firms' boards in S. Korea (1 min read)
“The portion of female directors at the financial companies represented only one-sixth that of the listed companies in the members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the report said… Among 209 outside directors at 13 banks, 27 brokerage houses and 12 insurance companies, only 12 were female, a report by Korea Insurance Research Institute said. Of 129 internal directors at the companies, only two were female, the report said.”
Thanks for reading! Feel free to spread the word by forwarding this email to your friends! (or hit the share button below).
If you’re new to K-News Bites, you can subscribe by hitting the button below:
GamSaHabNiDa! 🙇