Presidential race begins, N Korea holds artillery fire competition, and Natural Wine is in fashion
Trial: K-News Bites to be sent 3 times a week (M, W, F)
K-NEWS BITES
Mon 2021-11-08 (KST)
As of this week, we will trial a change in the frequency of K-News Bites to 3 times a week (Mon, Wed, Fri). The hypothesis is that you’ll get more interesting articles, reduced repetition, and some extra help with the information overload we all have to deal with on a daily basis!
Agree? Disagree? Let me know via this quick poll, to have your say! (It’s just one question, takes < 30 secs) 🗳️
Korea to promptly import diesel additive from China, Australia (3 min read)
“The government will make all-out efforts to solve the ongoing shortage of diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) ― sometimes called ‘urea water’ ― an essential additive for diesel-powered vehicles, by seeking to import it from major producers including China and Australia. It will also temporarily simplify customs clearance and offer tax incentives for its importation.” DEF is used in selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems, to prevent diesel-powered vehicles from producing harmful emissions. “Given that the SCR systems are fitted to most modern cargo trucks, any shortage could hit domestic logistics networks with ripple effects disrupting entire industries and the domestic economy.”
Presidential race begins in earnest (3 min read)
“The four-month presidential campaign has fully begun in earnest, but both the ruling and main opposition candidates face a series of hurdles ranging from a lack of appeal outside party supporters to allegations that could potentially bring them under the scrutiny of law enforcement. For both the ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s Lee Jae-myung and main opposition People Power Party’s Yoon Seok-youl, winning over younger generations and female voters are critical tasks, amid unprecedentedly low public support for the contenders.” The article also includes mugshots of these two handsome gentlemen.
Living with COVID-19: What to expect (5 min read)
“US author and business professor Scott Galloway suggests in his book ‘Post Corona: From Crisis to Opportunities’ that… The virus has accelerated all business trends… including e-commerce and remote work, which he speculates will allow tech titans and other powerful players in the business sector to grow more dominant. But because ideas best flourish in person… Galloway says he believes more companies will adopt a hybrid mode -- combining remote work with regular in-person meetings. Whether the virus has reshaped the world or merely set things back a bit remains to be seen, as Korea and the rest of the world prepare for a world ‘with COVID-19.’”
Number of critically ill COVID patients rises after rules relaxed (2 min read)
“… Korea is seeing an increasing number of critically ill patients who need ventilators. As of midnight at Saturday, the number was 405, up from 343 a week prior… the government has already asked some 80 hospitals nationwide to prepare more beds to treat COVID-19 patients -- the third time it has made that request, having previously done so in December last year and August this year.” Experts say that “it is only a matter of weeks, not months, before the number of new cases hits 5,000 per day, half the number the government said it would be able to handle.”
New cases over 2,000 for 4th day amid relaxed virus curbs (2 min read)
“South Korea's new coronavirus cases stayed above 2,000 for the fourth consecutive day Saturday as the country relaxed virus curbs under its "living with COVID-19" scheme that allows people to gradually return to normalcy…. The country reported 2,248 new COVID-19 cases, including 2,219 local infections, raising the total caseload to 377,712… Saturday's figure is down from 2,344 cases from the previous day but still substantially larger than this week's low of 1,589 on Tuesday... The death toll rose by 20 to 2,956. The daily number of deaths from COVID-19 has been at least 20 over the past three days. The fatality rate came to 0.78 percent.”
General COVID Information for residents in Korea:
Ministry of Health and Welfare, South Korea
Coronavirus Statistics for South Korea
How Would a Yoon Seok-Youl Administration Approach North Korea? (3 min read)
“The Diplomat previously analyzed candidate Lee’s foreign policy platform; what would South Korean diplomacy look like under a President Yoon [which was covered in the 2021/10/26 edition of K-News Bites]. Yoon announced his policies on foreign affairs, including North Korea policies, last month. Surprisingly, he suggested similar policies to those Moon has adopted, such as … providing unconditional humanitarian assistance to North Korea… [which] has been the signature North Korea policy of the ruling Democratic Party. However, Yoon has also proposed a policy that the ruling Democratic Party would never consider adopting: preparing procedures for deploying U.S. nuclear weapons in South Korea in case of an emergency, and conducting regular operations under this policy to raise confidence in the U.S. nuclear umbrella.”
N. Korea holds artillery fire competition: state media (1 min read)
“The competition was held Saturday to inspect ‘how the mechanized troops of the KPA have conducted drills in order to increase their mobile artillery combat capabilities,’ according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). KPA stands for the Korean People's Army. Pak Jong-chon, a member of the Presidium of the Politburo of the ruling party, guided the competition. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un did not attend the event… The unit that won [first place] received a ‘master gunner certificate, medal and badge,’ and Pak was ‘greatly satisfied with the competition results,’ the report said. It's unusual for the North to unveil an artillery fire competition that was not presided over by leader Kim.”
America’s diplomatic approach with North Korea is flawed. It’s time to change tack | Daniel L Davis (3 min read)
“Kim Jong-un regards his nuclear arsenal as being the best guarantee against a US military attack against his country and regime. It would be irrational, therefore, to expect the North Korean leader to willingly hand over his only strategic deterrent in exchange for mere promises from Washington. It’s not going to happen… The US already has the military power to deter Pyongyang indefinitely. The administration should therefore do whatever it takes, in a diplomatic step-by-step process, to lower the tensions and increase the chances for peace.”
S. Korea to expand high-level communication with U.S. on chip supply chain cooperation: gov‘t (1 min read)
“South Korea will expand high-level communication with the United States to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in ensuring stable semiconductor supply chains, the Seoul government said Sunday. Deputy Prime Minister for economic affairs Hong Nam-ki led a meeting on economic security, a day before the deadline by which the U.S. government asked global semiconductor manufacturers to submit information to help address global chip shortages… The U.S. Commerce Department’s request for information has triggered concerns among global chip makers, as the provision of some information could amount to a disclosure of their trade secrets.”
3 foreign car companies to recall over 32,000 vehicles over faulty parts (1 min read)
“This is the latest in a series of recalls by carmakers in South Korea and vehicle importers due to problems with vehicle components…. The problems include a faulty airbag system in Mercedes-Benz's S 580 4MATIC sedan, a faulty reflector in the Yamaha GPD124A two wheeler, and faulty brake calipers in Royal Enfield Himalayan two wheelers, it said. The companies will begin to provide repair and replacement services on Friday. Vehicle owners can contact or visit designated repair and service centers to replace the parts free of charge, the [transport] ministry said.”
[Weekender] Natural wine is hip. What’s the hype all about? (4 min read)
“Natural wine is produced with organically grown grapes that have not been sprayed with pesticides and usually involve as little technical intervention as possible. It is free of chemical additives that are typically used in the conventional brewing process and only a minute dose of sulfites -- less than 30 milligrams per liter -- are added before packaging. Conventional wine has around 300 milligrams per liter of sulfite, according to experts… Conventional wine… can involve up to 200 different chemical additives. Some believe such additive-free drinks also result in less of a hangover…”
Over 80% of workers positive about pandemic-led working culture changes (1 min read)
“According to the survey by Job Korea of 412 workers, 86.9 percent said they were satisfied with the coronavirus-induced working ‘culture.’ When multiple answers were allowed, 48.9 percent of respondents said they were positive because they could keep a balance between work and everyday life; 38 percent said the changed trend should be maintained; and 33.2 percent said their work efficiency increased.”
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