Winters get shorter, ancestral grave visits go virtual, and Softbank sells some Coupang shares
K-NEWS BITES
Mon 2021-09-20
Spring flowers bloom earlier, ice freezes later than before: report (1 min read)
“Spring flowers in Korea are blooming earlier while ice is forming increasingly later in the last three decades, a recent report from the Korea Meteorological Administration showed... the blooming date of spring flowers… were one to five days earlier than the previous recordings... the first cicada sound was recorded on July 10, at three days earlier. The KMA said the changes were consistent with the earlier onset of spring and summer brought about by climate change. On the other hand, the start date of frost and ice moved back three days to Nov. 15 and 16, respectively. This was in line with winter getting shorter.” The full dataset can be found on the KMA’s Weather Data Service website.
Major highways see congestion on 1st day of Chuseok holiday (1 min read)
“Many sections of major highways in South Korea remained congested with heavy traffic Saturday morning as millions of people headed to their hometowns to celebrate the Chuseok holiday with their families...The KEC estimated that around 4.47 million vehicles will be on roads nationwide Saturday.As of 9 a.m., it was estimated to take five hours and 10 minutes to drive from Seoul to Busan, four hours and 50 minutes to Ulsan, three hours and 40 minutes to Gwangju and two hours and 40 minutes to Gangneung, respectively...Health authorities have advised people against long-distance travel and large-group gatherings amid worries infections could spike after the five-day holiday.”
Gov't ministry offers virtual visits to ancestral graves amid pandemic (1 min read)
“eSky is a free online memorial platform jointly developed by the Ministry [of Health and Welfare] and the Korean Funeral Culture and Policy Institute (KFCP), [since last September] where people can create a virtual memorial space and share it with other family members via social media… over 133,600 people have accessed the website to set up virtual memorials during the first two weeks of September, amounting to over 5,100 daily users… In response to the current social distancing measures in place… all 11 national cemeteries will be closed... while local municipalities, including Seoul and Incheon either are limiting the number of memorial participants or closing their cemetery facilities during the Chuseok holiday.” A screenshot example of eSky’s online memorial site is included in the article.
New cases fall below 2,000 amid concerns about spike in outbreaks after Chuseok holiday (2 min read)
“The country reported an additional 1,910 COVID-19 cases, including 1,871 local infections, raising the total caseload to 285,931, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.The country added 10 more deaths from COVID-19, raising the death toll to 2,404. The fatality rate was 0.84… Concerns linger over a spike in transmissions after the Chuseok holiday, when millions of people usually travel across the country to meet relatives.”
Coronavirus Statistics for South Korea
North Koreans Resentful of Missile Launches Amid Hunger and Poverty (5 min read)
“Citizens in North Korea are becoming increasingly angry that state media is touting this week’s cruise missile tests as a major national defense achievement when many are struggling to find their next meal”. Examples of what some local sources said to Radio Free Asia include, ““They are saying that the People’s Army can’t fight a war because the soldiers are subsisting on corn and rice, and they can’t survive in the military unless their family sends money to support their military life… They don’t have the strength to even hold bullets. If you don’t have money to send to your enlisted son, you have to steal for him… the lack of nutrition for soldiers was more dangerous to them than any external threat… Kim Jong Un just imitates his grandfather, right up to the hairstyle… What’s the point of copying his appearance? He needs to fix the rot in this country but he’s not doing that.”
Expert criticizes U.S. for double-dealing on Korean Peninsula (1 min read)
“An international affairs analyst in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) criticized the United States on Friday for double-dealing on the Korean Peninsula… according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)... The KCNA quoted a commentary by analyst Kim Myong Chol as saying that the U.S. described the recent activities carried out by the DPRK for self-defence as "threats to international peace and security," while keeping mum about South Korea's actions…[this] is based on its [the US] deep-seated repugnance of the DPRK, which he called "a stumbling block in the way of solving the Korean Peninsula issue" and a catalyst straining tensions. The United State[s] "is the exact reason behind the stalemate in the DPRK-U.S. talks," he added… Pyongyang has called on Washington to end its hostility towards the DPRK as a precondition for returning to the negotiating table.”
N. Korea-China Trade Volume Rises for Third Month (1 min read)
“Trade data showed that North Korea's trade with China increased for the third consecutive month in August amid the COVID-19 pandemic. According to China's General Administration of Customs on Saturday, trade volume between the two nations came to 28-point-78 million U.S. dollars in August, up 37-point-five percent from a month earlier… However, the latest trade volume still represents a mere 12-point-one percent of the comparable figure for August of 2019, before the outbreak of the pandemic.”
SoftBank Group sells $1.7bn of shares in South Korea's Coupang (1 min read)
“SoftBank Group's Vision Fund [SVF] sold $1.7 billion in shares of South Korean e-commerce company Coupang, cashing in on one of the fund's most lucrative investments… it had sold a total of 57 million shares in Coupang at $29.7 per share. The transaction was on Tuesday, according to the filing. But SVF still owns 568.2 million shares in Coupang after the sale… The South Korean company has been one of the Vision Fund's most successful investments. The fund invested about $2.8 billion in Coupang and the stake had grown tenfold by the end of March, shortly after the company went public.”
Google seeks to clean up corporate image after sanctions (2 min read)
“... in what is believed to be a move to restore its corporate image here… The Korean branch of Google stressed that it has contributed to the development of Korea's economy, creating more than 54,000 jobs and bringing business benefits worth 10.5 trillion won ($8.9 billion) annually since it began operating here… The press event came after recent punitive measures taken by the National Assembly and the Fair Trade Commission over Google's abuse of its market dominance, which seems to have stirred up negative consumer sentiment. On Sept. 14, the FTC fined Google 207.4 billion won for abusing its market dominance to prevent the entry of other developers of smart device operating systems (OS).”
[Graphic News] Number of delivery workers hits new high in 2020 amid pandemic (1 min read)
“The number of delivery workers in South Korea swelled nearly 12 percent in the second half of last year to hit a record high amid the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed.... The tally covers mail carriers, door-to-door couriers, food delivery workers, newspaper delivery workers and carriers of milk and other beverages.”