Purists fear the rise of ‘Konglish’, N Korea yet to start a vaccine program, and green tracksuit sales soar
Shorter format to be trialed for the next week
K-NEWS BITES
Mon 2021-10-11 (KST)
Dear Friends; starting today, you will notice the format has slightly changed - the summaries are much shorter. We will trial this shorter format for the next week, and then I’d like to get your feedback as to which you prefer. There will be another announcement sent next Monday (18th Oct), on how you can send your feedback through. In the meantime, I hope you continue to enjoy the newsletter, and a sincere Thank You to all of you for subscribing - your support means much more than you may realise! Have a great week ^^.
Assembly speaker appeals to British counterparts to support end-of-war declaration (1 min read)
Speaker of the House of Commons Lindsay Hoyle was quoted as saying, “Peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula are important not only to Asia but also to the world. We always support Korea’s efforts.”
Seoul city gov't bans labor group's planned street rallies this month (1 min read)
“The Seoul city government has prohibited South Korea's major umbrella labor group from staging street rallies this month in accordance with a law on preventing the spread of infectious diseases, an official said Sunday.”
Korea adds period disorders to list of reportable COVID-19 vaccine side effects (1 min read)
“The matter started gaining attention after a disproportionate rise in reports of menstrual changes, as the rollout extended to the general public in August.”
New infections under 2,000 for 2nd day amid concerns over spread during holidays (2 min read)
“The country added 1,594 more COVID-19 cases, including 1,560 local infections, raising the total caseload to 331,519, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.”
General COVID Information for residents in Korea:
Ministry of Health and Welfare, South Korea
Coronavirus Statistics for South Korea
Koreans celebrate their language but fear foreign encroachment (4 min read)
“Imported English phrases are becoming commonplace, but linguistic purists fear’ the adoption of "Konglish." Experts say more foreign words are used in South Korea as a result of globalization and international media.”
What’s Behind North Korea’s Extreme Vaccine Hesitancy? (3 min read)
“Like the iconic nighttime satellite image of a dark North Korea surrounded by a sea of light from South Korea and China, North Korea is a blank in global maps of national COVID-19 vaccination programs.”
North Korea quietly marks 76th founding anniversary of ruling party (1 min read)
“Pyongyang may be skipping the military parade as this year's anniversary does not fall on a fifth or 10th anniversary and as it staged a scaled-down parade last month to mark the country's founding anniversary.”
Squid Game’s success reopens debate over who should pay for rising internet traffic (4 min read)
“The breakout success of the Korean drama Squid Game has prompted a local broadband provider to launch legal action to force the maker, Netflix, to help pay for the huge surge in traffic, the latest flashpoint in the argument over who should carry the burden of the spiralling costs of data fuelled by the global streaming boom.”
Samsung to produce industry’s first 3 Nano chipsets in 2022 (2 min read)
“The new 3-nano process technology will be 35% smaller than 5 nm semiconductors, yet it is expected to have 30% better performance than its counterparts.”
Sejong's hangul (Image News) (1 min read)
“People gather in front of the statue of King Sejong at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul to mark the 575th Hangul Day on Saturday, during a long weekend which runs through Monday.”
You’ve seen the gory Squid Game TV show? Now buy the tracksuit… (3 min read)
“Fans have sent sales of the show’s signature green tracksuits and white Vans slip-ons soaring – up 7,800%, according to data provided by Sole Supplier – and South Korean dalgona biscuits are fast becoming a youth craze.”
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