Tuesday September 1, 2020
Round-up of important news from major Korean dailies and from international media today
The Korea Post (http://www.koreapost.com/)
President Moon expresses deep regret over strike carried out at the expense of the health of COVID cases
President Moon Jae-in today expressed deep regret concerning the srike carried out by doctors in Korea at this time when the COVID-19 situation in Korea is very serious.
“We deeply regret that the medical community in Korea collectively refused to receive patients who needed medical treatment in this severe situation,” said President Moon in a special message issued on August 31.
Moon said, “We do not have much time because the Corona situation is very serious. We do not have many options from the standpoint of the government, which has to enforce the law to protect it. Then he said, “I strongly urge and look forward to the medical community's decision to return to work as soon as possible, take care of patients, and end the public anxiety."
“Many churches cooperated with Government in the control of COVID-19, but some fail to do so”
President Moon Jae-in met with the Protestant Church leaders in Korea on Aug. 27, 2020, and asked them for cooperation in the effort to control the spread of COVID-19. Excerpts from the statement of the President follow:
Today, I hope we can sit down and talk together. I am very glad to have leaders from Korea’s Protestant churches here at Cheong Wa Dae. Some of the participants have traveled far despite today’s very bad weather from the typhoon. I believe all of you are joining us out of like-minded concern for our country and the people who face truly difficult situations. I am grateful to you all.
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KBS (http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/)
S. Korea's Total COVID-19 Cases Top 20,000
South Korea's cumulative COVID-19 cases have crossed the 20-thousand-mark.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(KCDC) said on Tuesday that 235 COVID-19 cases were newly confirmed in the past 24 hours ending 12 a.m., lifting the total number of infections to 20-thousand-182.
The country reached the milestone 225 days after the first local case was reported on January 20.
It also marks the third day in a row less than 300 new cases were registered as a strict set of social distancing rules has been in place across the nation since Sunday.
S. Korea Proposes 555.8 Tln Won Budget for 2021
South Korea has proposed a nearly 556 trillion won budget for next year, up eight-and-a-half percent from this year's budget.
The government approved the 2021 budget on Tuesday at a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office and plans to submit it to the National Assembly on Thursday.
The total budget will rise to a record 555-point-eight trillion won next year. Compared to this year's spending including three extra budgets, it represents an increase of one-point-six percent.
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Yonhap (http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr)
With 'Dynamite,' BTS becomes 1st S. Korean artist to top Billboard Hot 100
BTS became the first South Korean artist to land at No. 1 on Billboard's main singles chart in the United States on Monday. "BTS achieves its first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, as 'Dynamite' debuts at the summit," Billboard reported Monday, one day before its chart will be refreshed.
Previously, the highest-charting South Korean artist ever on the Hot 100 was soloist PSY with his 2012 viral hit "Gangnam Style," which peaked at the No. 2 spot.
The only Asian to make it to the top of the Hot 100 in the past was Japanese singer Kyu Sakamoto with "Sukiyaki" in 1963. BTS has topped Billboard's main album chart, the Billboard 200, four times since May 2018, starting with "Love Yourself: Tear and following up with successive releases -- "Love Yourself: Answer," "Map of the Soul: Persona" and "Map of the Soul: 7."
New virus cases under 300 for 3rd day, rising infections with unknown routes worrisome
The number of daily new coronavirus cases in South Korea stayed under 300 for the third consecutive day Tuesday, but health authorities remain vigilant over a rise in cases with unknown transmission routes and a growing number of patients in critical condition.
The country reported 235 new COVID-19 cases, including 222 local infections, raising the total caseload to 20,182, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
The total caseload surpassed the 20,000 mark for the first time since the country reported its first case on Jan. 20.
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HanKyoReh Shinmun (http://english.hani.co.kr)
Failure to contain COVID-19 this week will inevitably result in Level 3 social distancing
Measures by the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (CDSCHQ) to increase the social distancing regime to Level 2.5 went into effect at 12 am on Aug. 30. Scheduled to continue through Sept. 6, the new measures heavily restrict economic and social activity; for example, franchise coffee shops in the Seoul Capital Area (SCA) are permitted only to offer beverages for takeout or delivery. It’s a desperate step to avert a large-scale outbreak. More than ever, the situation calls for the public’s cooperation, participation, and patience.
A COVID-19 tragedy: dying patients can’t spend their last days with their families
“I didn’t even get to be with my mother on her deathbed, and I was shocked to see her body lying there behind a screen in the first-floor lobby of the nursing home.”
It’s heartrending for Shin, a 58-year-old living in Gwangju, to recall how her mother died. Her mother, surnamed Jang, passed away at a nursing home in Gwangju’s Buk (North) District on July 24, at the age of 84. Jang had spent seven months in the nursing home, where she’d been admitted in December 2019 after suffering from dementia for several years. Shin gets angry when she thinks of the nursing home’s practices shortly before her mother’s death.
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Chosun Ilbo (http://english.chosun.com)
Coronavirus Curfew Empties Streets
Streets in Seoul were eerily empty again when a virtual curfew kicked in at 9 p.m. Monday as bars and restaurants shut under new lockdown rules.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Monday that people who are spotted wearing their face masks on their chins or just covering their mouths will be fined the same as those who fail to wear one.
Jung Eun-kyeong, the chief of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, "Severing the chains of transmission this week by strictly adhering to social distancing will be crucial in managing the second wave of the coronavirus epidemic."
Typhoon Maysak to Hit Korea on Wednesday
Typhoon Maysak is expected to land on the southern coast early Wednesday morning, the Korea Meteorological Administration said Sunday.
Maysak will bring strong winds and a huge amount of rain before moving out to the East Sea.
"Jeolla Province and Jeju Island will be the first to see rain on Tuesday, which will expand across the country on Wednesday and Thursday," a weatherman said.
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The Dong-A Ilbo (http://english.donga.com/)
Researchers find coronavirus infection from lavatories
A new research finding has shed a light on the case of getting infected with the coronavirus from asymptomatic patients at an airplane lavatory. The unprecedented revelation sounds the alarm on the need for a safety guideline for using bathrooms on airplane.
Heukseok Battle to be marked as Korean War’s fierce battlefield
Seoul was a fierce battlefield between the invading North Korean army and the South Korean army trying to defend the capital city right after the Korean War broke out in 1950. To stop North Korea from advancing to the south of the Han River, the South Korean army was engaged in live-or-die battles in regions around the Han River’s line of defense. Examples of such battles include the Noryangjin Battle delaying the North Korean army’s crossing of the Han River via a pedestrian bridge and a railroad bridge and the Heukseok Battle against the North Korean army who crossed the river in an area now known as Hyosajeong Park. The two battles are recorded as the representative battles delaying the North’s southward advancement at the beginning of the Korean War. Despite its historical importance in the Korean War, there has been no facility or monument marking them for the past 70 years.
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The KyungHyang Shinmun (http://english.khan.co.kr/)
COVID-19 Death Toll Rises and Number of Critical Patients Jumps 5-Fold in 2 Weeks
As a second wave of COVID-19 sweeps through the nation, the number of deaths triggered by the virus has jumped. Recently, the percentage of senior citizens, a high-risk group, increased among the patients confirmed positive for COVID-19. In addition, contact tracing has not been able to keep up with the speed at which the pathogen is spreading, leading to a steep rise in the number of patients in critical condition, who face a high risk of death. Quarantine authorities are concerned that the increase in fatalities could continue for the time being.
Interns and Residents Continue to Strike and Government Claims to “Continue with Legal Proceedings Beginning with the Most Urgent Areas”
Interns and residents who have been engaging in an indefinite strike since August 21 have decided to continue the strike after internal discussions. The prolonged strike has led some major hospitals to drastically reduce the number of ambulatory care, triggering concerns of a lack in health care. The government repeated its hardline position and said, “We will proceed with legal procedures against the medical staff in the emergency rooms (ERs) and intensive care units (ICUs), directly linked to the lives of the patients.”
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Maeil Business News Korea (http://www.pulsenews.co.kr/)
Korean Air mulls selling Wilshire Grand Center in LA instead of collateralizing it
South Korean flag carrier Korean Air Lines Co. may opt to surrender ownership in Wilshire Grand Center in downtown Los Angeles, the United States, instead of using it for collateral for fresh loans to hoard as much cash as possible to survive the protracted pandemic crisis.
According to sources on Monday, Korean Air Lines dropped its refinancing scheme over the shopping mall in L.A. and instead entered discussions with lenders for rollover in the existing collateralized loans that mature in September.
Korean chaebol owner families tighten grip despite low stake-holding
Owners and owner families of South Korean major conglomerates have managed to hold strong control over their business through indirect investment, such as affiliate share-holdings, despite a dip in their actual stake-holding this year, data showed Monday.
According to a survey conducted by Fair Trade Commission (FTC), stake-holding by owner families, their relatives, affiliates and in the form of treasury stocks at 64 large Korean business groups and their 2,292 affiliated companies was 57.6 percent in May, down 1 percentage point from a year ago.
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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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