Friday August 14, 2020
Round-up of important news from major Korean dailies and from international media today
The Korea Post (http://www.koreapost.com/)
President Moon's four-day trip to the United Arab Emirates
https://youtu.be/dZMUXv63UdI
“We promote religious, cultural exchanges with many countries, including Japan, China”
Ven. Youngsan Hongpa, chief abbot of the Myogak-sa Buddhist Temple in Seungin-dong near the East Gate in Seoul, said, “We are making substantial efforts to promote the Buddhist and cultural exchanges between Korea and many countries of the world, especially with Japan and China.”
At a recent interview with The Korea Post media, publisher of 3 English and 2 Korean-language media outlets since 1985, Ven. Hongpa then said, “We had a special tripartite Buddhist program this year among Korea, China and Japan this year, but we had to postpone it to some other appropriate time due to the continuous spreading COVID-19 contagious disease.
The Korean Buddhist Gwaneum Order, of which Ven. Hongpa is the leader as chief abbot, ranks among the fourth or fifth largest among all Korean Buddhist orders, with the Chogye Order leading the Buddhist world in Korea with a 40 to 50 percent share.
Uzbekistan hosts web-forum on global solidarity, sustainable development, human rights
The Asian Forum on Human Rights, ‘Outcomes of the Seventieth Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Challenges and Reality’ was held in Samarkand City on November 22 and 23, 2018. The Forum’18 was held as part of the initiative of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sh. M. Mirziyoyev. The forum’s participants familiarized themselves with international practices in measuring progress within the field of human rights while determining national comparative indicators to formulate the main tasks, directions and forms of the further development and improvement of the activities of legislative, executive and judicial branches of government, within the field of protecting the fundamental rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of citizens, and enhancing their legal culture and awareness.
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KBS (http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/)
S. Korea Sees Daily COVID-19 Cases Top 100 for 1st Time in 20 Days
South Korea’s daily COVID-19 cases rose back to over 100 following a hike in local transmissions, marking the highest daily tally in over four months. The central disease control headquarters in South Korea reported 103 new COVID-19 cases as of 12 a.m. Friday, raising the nation's cumulative tally to 14-thousand-873.
Bae Joo-yon has more.
Report: South Korea’s daily COVID-19 cases has topped 100 following a surge in cases in Seoul and surrounding areas.
Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Surpasses Ex-PM Lee in Prospective Pres. Candidate Poll
Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung has surpassed Democratic Party(DP) Rep. Lee Nak-yon for the first time in a popularity poll of South Korea's prospective presidential candidates.
According to a Gallup Korea survey of one-thousand-one adults nationwide from Tuesday to Thursday, 19 percent of respondents selected the Gyeonggi governor as their favorite presidential hopeful, up six percentage points from the previous month.
Seventeen percent named the ruling party lawmaker as their pick, down seven percentage points on-month and ending the former prime minister's seven-month streak in the top spot.
Moon Vows to Seek Resolution of 'Comfort Women' Issues until Victims Satisfied
President Moon Jae-in vowed to seek ways to resolve issues surrounding Korean victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery, and to continue working until the victims say it's "fair enough."
In a video message played at a ceremony marking the annual Japanese Military Comfort Women Victims Memorial Day on Friday, Moon stressed that the key principle to resolution is "victim-centrism."
The president noted that the victims have proposed a "new direction" for resolving issues, suggesting that the future generations of the two countries present ways to jointly move toward peace and human rights.
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Yonhap (http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr)
Local virus cases at over 4-month high, strict social distancing under review
The number of daily local virus cases in South Korea jumped to an over 4-month high on Friday as sporadic clusters in the greater Seoul area piled up, forcing health authorities to consider raising the level of social distancing to stem further spread.
The country's new daily coronavirus cases, including 85 locally transmitted ones, reached 103, raising the total caseload to 14,873, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
The number of newly identified local infections marks the most since 88 on March 31.
The daily tally nearly doubled from 56 new virus cases reported Thursday and also marked the highest level since July 25, when new virus cases reached 113.
N.K. leader warns against accepting outside flood aid due to virus risk
English-language report; CORRECTS spelling of new politburo member's name; ADDS photos)
By Yi Wonju
SEOUL, Aug. 14 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said the country suffered serious damage from recent heavy downpours, but it should not accept any outside assistance due to the coronavirus risk, state media reported Friday.
Kim made the remark while presiding over a politburo meeting of the ruling Workers' Party on Thursday to discuss measures to recover from the flood, stressing the importance of concentrating on COVID-19 prevention efforts and maintaining the "state emergency anti-epidemic system," according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
4 new virus cases tied to Dongdaemun Market
The number of new coronavirus cases linked to Seoul's Dongdaemun Market rose to four, including a married merchant couple running a shop there, authorities said Friday, as the virus continues to spread, especially in the capital and nearby Gyeonggi Province.
The store is located in Tongil Shopping Mall, home to more than 600 shops selling clothing-related materials, such as zippers and buttons.
The couple tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, and two of their family members were additionally confirmed on Friday to have contracted the virus, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
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HanKyoReh Shinmun (http://english.hani.co.kr)
S. Korean, Japanese civic groups join forces for inter-Korean peace and against Japan’s militarization
Civic groups in South Korea and Japan launched an alliance aimed at resolving conflicts between the two sides and achieving true reconciliation and peace, with a “joint declaration for peace in East Asia” adopted as their first step. In the declaration, they called for solidarity and cooperation among members of the public on both sides, predicting that “concrete progress with the Korean Peninsula peace process can contribute to stopping Japan’s push to become a military power and to preserving the Peace Constitution.”
At 11:30 am on Aug. 12, the Korea-Japan Reconciliation and Peace Platform held a press conference in the Mugyo neighborhood of Seoul’s Jung (Central) District.
S. Korea, US agree to “remain in close communication” about Seoul’s inclusion in G7 summit
High-level diplomats from South Korea and the US reconfirmed their plan to “remain in close communication” about South Korea’s participation in the G7 summit.
South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Gunn participated in a video conference on Aug. 12 with US Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell, during which the two officials discussed South Korea’s participation in the G7, an idea that the US had proposed at the end of May.
“South Korea will fulfill the role and make the contribution expected by the international community,” Kim told his American counterpart. Stilwell responded by saying that the US would remain in close communication with South Korea, South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) reported.
Twitter now lets users decide who can reply to their tweets
South Korean portal sites such as Naver, Daum, and Nate have recently removed the comments section on articles related to celebrities, entertainment, and sports to fight cyberbullying. In a similar light, Twitter announced on Aug. 12 that it has developed a feature that allows users decide who can and can’t respond to their tweets. The feature is meant to protect users from verbal abuse and cyberbullying as well as spam. While blocked users cannot reply to a user’s tweet, they can still like it, retweet it, and share it.
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Chosun Ilbo (http://english.chosun.com)
Fears of Flood Damage to N.Korean Nuclear Reactor
Part of North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear complex may have been damaged as the Kuryong River overflowed its banks, according to the website 38 North at Johns Hopkins University on Wednesday.
The website warned that flood waters reached the pump houses that send cooling water into the 5 MW nuclear reactor there, which could at least mean that it had to be shut down.
Top Chinese Official to Visit Seoul
Senior Chinese official Yang Jiechi plans a visit next week to Korea, which is under growing pressure to join various U.S. initiatives to keep China in check.
Yang is a powerful Politburo member and director of the Communist Party's Office of Foreign Affairs. The unexpected visit amid the protracted coronavirus epidemic has raised speculation that Beijing may be seeking to rally allies as its conflict with the U.S. intensifies.
"The two governments are fine-tuning the schedule of the visit," a government source here said Thursday. The source added that Yang will meet President Moon Jae-in as well as national security adviser Suh Hoon and National Intelligence Service chief Park Jie-won.
Book to Reveal Letters Between Trump and Kim Jong-un
Veteran reporter Bob Woodward is to reveal 25 personal letters exchanged between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a new book next month.
"Rage," the successor to bestseller "Fear" by the famous Watergate journalist, is due out on Sept. 15, according to publishers Simon & Schuster on Wednesday.
It is touted as "an unprecedented and intimate tour de force of original reporting on the Trump presidency from Bob Woodward."
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The Dong-A Ilbo (http://english.donga.com/)
Yongbyon Nuclear Center may have been damaged by flooding, says 38 North
The possibility of partial damage to North Korea’s Yongbyon Nuclear Center due to heavy rain has been raised.
“Commercial satellite imagery of the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center from August 6 reveals significant flooding along the Kuryong River. The August 6 imagery, when compared to imagery from July 22, shows a dramatic rise in the water level of the Kuryong River,” the U.S.-based media dedicated to North Korean matters, 38 North, reported on Wednesday (local time). “The overfall dam that was built to ensure a constant reservoir of water and is available for cooling the reactors was also fully underwater.” 38 North also suspected that the facilities’ power and cooling water supply systems were damaged.
Genesis sells over 10,000 units per month for 4 consecutive months
Hyundai Motor Company’s luxury brand Genesis’ sales are soaring. The brand has recorded over 10,000 unit sales for four months in a row, solidifying the likelihood of breaking the 100,000 sales records until the end of this year. The luxury car brand with just four models is selling better than Mercedes-Benz, No. 1 imported car, as well as GM Korea and Renault Samsung Motors. This so-called “Genesis effect” was possible as the brand has built the image of a luxury brand by improving its design and performance while imported cars’ rarity dwindles and South Koreans’ purchasing power increases.
Items from Japanese colonial period to be showcased in 80 years
The Suwon municipal government announced on Thursday that a special exhibition titled “Return: Back to where it’s supposed to be” showcasing donated relics at Bukukwon until November 29.
Bukukwon is a nursery and farming equipment company founded in 1923 during the Japanese colonial period. Since the Korean War, its building had used as the office of Suwon District Court and Prosecutors' Office until the 1980s when it was renovated into a private clinic. The Suwon municipal government purchased the building facing demolition in 2015 and has been using it as an exhibition space for modern history and culture. The building was registered as a cultural property by the Cultural Heritage Administration in 2017.
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The KyungHyang Shinmun (http://english.khan.co.kr/)
Environmental Ministry, “Four Major Rivers Project Dams Increased the Dangers of Floods”
The Ministry of Environment made a statement on the flood-prevention effects of the Four Major Rivers Project (Han River, Nakdong River, Geum River, Yeongsan River) promoted by the Lee Myung-bak government and announced, “The dams built by the Four Major Rivers Project were not effective in preventing floods.” The ministry refuted the argument of the United Future Party, which claimed that the areas surrounding the Seomjin River suffered from massive floods because the river was not part of the Four Major Rivers Project.
The Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-water), under attack for mismanaging the dams and aggravating the damage as the nation suffered from the longest monsoon in history, claimed that the damage was big because more rain fell than was forecasted by the Korea Meteorological Administration.
Tighter Regulations on the Management of Ingredients Used in Kindergartens: It’s No Use, If They’re Not Kept
On August 12, the government released the results of an epidemiological investigation of A, a private kindergarten in Ansan-si, Gyeonggi-do, where a mass food poisoning occurred in June. Investigators confirmed conditions that suggested that the kindergarten had not properly managed the ingredients, such as setting the temperature of the storage refrigerator 10 degrees higher than the requirement. However, they failed to identify the exact route of how the food poisoning began and spread. The incident in Ansan was serious. Seventy-one people including 69 kindergarteners were infected with enterohemorrhagic escherichia coli (EHEC), and among them seventeen were diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), commonly referred to as the “hamburger disease.” Some children even had to undergo dialysis treatment. Regardless of the fact that the kindergarten violated regulations and did not cooperate with the investigation, the results of the latest investigation are disappointing.
Transgender Byun Hee-soo Launches a Legal Battle: The Former Staff Sergeant Says, “I Will Ask What Justice Is in a Place Filled with Hatred”
“I am filing an administrative lawsuit to ask what social justice is in a place filled with hatred.”
Former Staff Sergeant Byun Hee-soo, in a white shirt and jeans instead of an Army uniform, calmly read her statement. It was a different sight from last February, when she was swept by emotions and in tears several times, while disclosing the fact that she had been involuntarily discharged from the Army for having undergone a sex-change operation.
Byun filed an administrative lawsuit to cancel her discharge. A group working to have the transgender soldier Byun Hee-soo reinstated held a press conference at the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy in Jongno-gu, Seoul on August 11 and announced that they had filed the lawsuit at the Daejeon District Court.
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Maeil Business News Korea (http://www.pulsenews.co.kr/)
Samsung Life stk swings on Q2 earnings, Samsung Elec unloading talk
Shares of Samsung Life Insurance Co. have been on a roller coaster ride on Thursday and Friday as the insurance giant may have to sell a large part of holdings in Samsung Electronics Co. if a bill revision proposed by ruling Democratic Party lawmakers in June passes the National Assembly.
Samsung Life Insurance closed Thursday at 71,900 won ($60.63), up 21.04 percent from the previous session on 45 percent jump in second quarter bottom line and anticipation of stretch in cash flow from divesture in shares in Samsung Electronics. The stock gain over the past four trading days amounted to 46 percent. As of 11:50 a.m. on Friday, the shares lost 7.65 percent to 66,400 won.
SK Biopharm narrows losses in Q2 on qtr, claims steady sale in products in US
SK Biopharmaceuticals Co., the biotech unit under South Korea’s SK Group, managed to narrow losses in the second quarter from the previous quarter on reduced market expenses after it began to roll out treatments in the United States.
In its first statement disclosure on Friday since it went public last month, the company said that it posted an operating loss of 57.84 billion won ($48.8 million) in the April-June period on a consolidated basis, improving from a loss of 65.1 billion won in the previous three-month period but worsening from 38.4 billion won in the same period last year. It claimed the year-ago comparison is less meaningful as it did not have products on the U.S. market last year.
SK Bioscience to produce antigen for US Novavax’s COVID-19 shot hopeful
SK Bioscience, a vaccine house under SK Chemicals, said on Thursday it has signed a contract to produce antigen for Novavax`s coronavirus vaccine hopeful NVX-CoV2373 at its L-House vaccine facility in Korea.
The contract, which follows SK Bioscience’s prior production arrangement with AstraZeneca last month, encompasses SK Bioscience’s global supply of NVX-CoV2373 after additional development of Novavax`s shot candidate with antigen manufacturing technology transferred from the U.S. to Korea.
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What’s ticking around the world at this second?
See what the world media around the world have to report:
USA Today www.usatoday.com aallman@gannett.com
The New York Times www.nytimes.com inytletters@nytimes.com
Wall Street Journal www.wsj.com support@wsj.com, service@wsj-asia.com
Financial Times www.ft.com ean@ft.com
The Times www.thetimes.co.uk help@timesplus.co.uk
The Sun www.thesun.co.uk talkback@the-sun.co.uk
Chinese People's Daily www.people.com.cn kf@people.cn
China Daily www.chinadaily.com.cn circulation@chinadaily.com.cn
GwangmyeongDaily www.gmw.cn webmaster@gmw.cn
Japan's Yomiuri www.yomiuri.co.jp japannews@yomiuri.com
Asahi www.asahi.com customer-support@asahi.com
Mainichi www.mainichi.jp
Le Monde www.ilemonde.com
Italy LaRepubblica www.quotidiano.repubblica.it vittorio.zucconi@gmail.com
Germany Frankfurter AllgemeineZeitung www.faz.net anzeigen.ausland@faz.de
SüddeutscheZeitung www.sueddeutsche.de forum@sueddeutsche.de
AustraliaBrisbaneTime www.brisbanetimes.com.au syndication@fairfaxmedia.com.au
Sydney Morning Herald www.smh.com.au
Colombia Reports http://www.colombiareports.com
BogotaFree Planet http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com bfp@bogotafreeplanet.com
El Universal https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/english
Andes https://www.redaktionstest.net/andes-info-ec/
Ecuador Times https://www.ecuadortimes.net/
The Jordan Times https://www.jordantimes.com/
LSM.lv https://www.lsm.lv//
The Baltic Times http://www.baltictimes.com, lithuania@baltictimes.com, estonia@baltictimes.com, editor@baltictimes.com
El Pais https://english.elpais.com/
Philippine Daily Inquirer https://www.inquirer.net/
Daily News Hungary https://dailynewshungary.com/
Budapest Times https://www.budapesttimes.hu/
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The Korea Post is running video clips from the different embassies.
Azerbaijan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR8CBpcQ4WM
Sri Lanka: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hByX92Y2aGY&t=22s
Morocco: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfFmp2sVvSE
And many other countries.
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