Wednesday September 2, 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”
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 Braces for Strong Typhoon Maysak
Typhoon Maysak is likely to affect South Korea on Wednesday and Thursday, bringing heavy rains and strong winds.
According to the Korea Meteorological Administration(KMA), the season's ninth typhoon was traveling northward over waters some 430 kilometers south of Jeju Island as of 3 a.m. Wednesday.
The typhoon is expected to pass through waters east of Jeju Island Wednesday night and reach southern coastal areas near Busan at around 3 a.m. Thursday.

US Issues Advisory on N. Korea's Weapons Programs
U.S. government organizations issued a joint advisory on Tuesday against North Korea's continued pursuit of a ballistic missile program.
In the joint global advisory, the Treasury, Commerce and State Departments detailed North Korea's activities and "deceptive" techniques to obtain equipment and materials for its nuclear and missile programs.
The departments then warned that those aiding the communist country, even unknowingly, may be subject to U.S. and international sanctions.

Unification Minister Calls for Tokyo's Support for Inter-Korean Cooperation
South Korean Unification Minister Lee In-young on Tuesday sought Tokyo’s cooperation in Seoul’s efforts to improve inter-Korean relations.
During his first meeting with Japanese Ambassador Koji Tomita since he was appointed as unification minister last month, Lee stressed the need to create circumstances conducive to peace on the Korean Peninsula by way of improving South-North ties, saying it will also prove beneficial to Japan.
Lee said that he heard some concerned voices within Japan about the impact of rapid development of Seoul-Pyongyang relations, but asked the country to support the South’s conciliatory moves toward the North with broad viewpoints and a big heart.
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Yonhap (http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr)
S. Korea on high alert as powerful typhoon approaches
South Korea's provincial governments are on high alert Tuesday as another typhoon forecast to be more powerful than one that hit the country last week is approaching the country and expected to affect their regions.
According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, Typhoon Maysak was traveling north-northeastward at a speed of 16 kilometers per hour from waters some 220 kilometers west of Japan's Okinawa Island as of 3 p.m.

S. Korea gears up for long virus battle as infection cases top 20,000
South Korea is bracing for a prolonged virus combat as the number of cases involving unknown transmission routes and critically ill patients increases, with the country's infection cases surpassing the grim 20,000 mark.
South Korea, once praised for its successful containment of COVID-19, reported 235 new cases Tuesday, raising the nation's total to 20,182.
The country's battle against the novel virus has had its ups and downs, with daily new virus cases peaking at 909 in late February. But it had managed to keep the number in double-digit figures until early August.

Samsung unveils Galaxy Z Fold 2 with enhanced design, multitasking features
Samsung Electronics Co. on Tuesday officially introduced its latest foldable phone, Galaxy Z Fold 2, which boasts enhanced design and multitasking capabilities as the South Korean tech firm aims to solidify its leading status in the foldable handset market.
At the Galaxy Z Fold 2: Unpacked Part 2 online event, Samsung unveiled advanced features of its third foldable smartphone, highlighting a unique mobile experience.
"With the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2, we closely listened to user feedback to ensure we were bringing meaningful improvements to the hardware, while also developing new innovations to enhance the user experience," Roh Tae-moon, head of mobile communication business at Samsung, said.

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HanKyoReh Shinmun (http://english.hani.co.kr)
BTS, Blackpink usher in new era of global K-pop
South Korea’s leading boy bands and girl groups are shaking up the global music industry. Fans around the world have been going wild over new songs released a week apart by two giants of K-pop, BTS and Blackpink. Amid high hopes for the two acts to drive a historic “twin success” for K-pop on the global stage, observers are focused on the new records they are poised to set.
“Dynamite,” the latest single released by BTS on Aug. 31, is already setting records. The song ushered in a new chapter in K-pop history on Sept. 1 when it hit the number one spot of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Some Christian leaders insist on in-person services, despite continuing COVID-19 outbreak
Even as Protestant churches come under fire for being the epicenters of the latest outbreak of COVID-19, pastors and leaders at some churches are still insisting on in-person services. These churches claim that their worship services are “as precious as life itself,” but critics explain this behavior as representing “the self-interested desire to hold their churches together and bring in the offerings they need to pay rent.”

Activists run ad in Times Square demanding punishment of Welcome to Video operator
An activist group called Kedo Out has set up an ad in New York’s Times Square demanding the proper punishment of Son Jong-woo, 24, former operator of Welcome to Video, the world’s largest child pornography site. The ad claims that Son made US$4 million in profit from the site, adding that a Korean court merely gave him an 18-month sentence, which many activists see as a slap on the wrist. South Korea denied a request to have Son extradited to the US back in July. (provided by Kedo Out)

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Chosun Ilbo (http://english.chosun.com)
Telecommuting Brings Fresh Headaches
A surge in coronavirus infections has prompted businesses across the country to make their staff work from home again wherever possible.
Kindergartens and schools have closed, so many parents have to juggle both office work and household chores in often cramped conditions.
One 37-year-old office worker with a child in third grade said, "It's really tough for me to focus on work at home because of my child, so my husband and I take turns working in a coffee shop in our neighborhood. But I'm not sure how safe it is to work outside."

Business Hire Fewest Staff Since 2008 Financial Crisis
The number of new hires at Korean businesses has fallen to the lowest level in 11 years as companies brace for a prolonged coronavirus epidemic.
According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor on Monday, businesses with at least five staff planned to hire 238,000 workers in the second and third quarters, down by 13,000 on-year. That is the lowest number since the first quarter of 2009.
But the hiring plans were tallied on April 1 and may have shrunk further since.

Bangtan Boys Make History by Topping U.S. Singles Chart
Boy band Bangtan Boys, also known as BTS, became the first K-pop act to top the U.S.' Billboard Hot 100 chart on Monday with their latest single "Dynamite."
The weekly chart ranks the most popular singles based on U.S. streaming record, sales data and radio airplay.
Earlier, rapper Psy's "Gangnam Style" reached No. 2, where it stayed for seven weeks, but never got to No. 1.
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The Dong-A Ilbo (http://english.donga.com/)
Yoshihide Suga to be Japan’s next prime minister
It has been practically determined that Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga would be the next prime minister of Japan. The main faction of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party has expressed support for Suga as the next president of the party and the party has decided to elect its next leader through informal voting, rather than voting by all members. Under the country’s cabinet system, the president of the ruling party is elected as the prime minister.

SOC budget reaches record levels at 26 trillion won
The government has allocated 26 billion won to social overhead capital (SOC) for next year, 12 percent up from this year. Meanwhile, education spending will decrease as a result of dwindling contributions from local governments.
According to the government on Tuesday, the SOC spending will rise by 11.9 percent from 23.2 trillion won this year to 26 trillion won next year. Its plan is to overcome the economic downturn triggered by COVID-19 by increase spending on SOC and investing proactively in promising industries such as smart logistics and smart cities.

Musk becomes third richest man in the world
The stock market rally centering around large tech stocks over the past few months is inflating assets of the richest people in the world. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has become the third richest person in the world on Monday (local time) thanks to Tesla’s meteoric surge.
According to Bloomberg, Musk’s net worth was 115 billion dollars as of Monday, which is the third-largest in the world and surpasses Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg who has 111 billion dollars. The richest man on earth is Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos with 202 billion dollars and the second richest person is founder of Microsoft Bill Gates with 125 billion dollars.
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The KyungHyang Shinmun (http://english.khan.co.kr/)
The Glass Ceiling Remains Firm: Only 7 out of 100 Senior Public Officials Are Women
A recent survey found that only seven out of a hundred senior public officials were women. This was an increase from last year, but it still falls far behind the OECD average, showing that the nation has a long way to go.
On August 31, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family released the results of a survey on the implementation status of its “Plan to Increase Female Representation in the Public Sector” in the first half of this year reviewed by the Gender Equality Commission.

Spending Falls in July after 3-Month Rebound Triggering Concerns of a Domestic “Spending Cliff” in the Second Half of the Year
Spending continued to rebound for the third consecutive month thanks to the easing of physical distancing and the government’s economic stimulus package, but in July it headed back down. And now with a second wave of the novel coronavirus sweeping through the Seoul metropolitan area, this raises concerns of a domestic “spending cliff” in the latter half of the year.
According to the “July 2020 Industrial Activities Trend” released by Statistics Korea on August 31, retail sales, which refer to consumer spending, dropped 6.0% from the previous month. The drop was similar to the fall in February, when the nation experienced the first wave of COVID-19. Spending had constantly increased for three months since April, recovering to surpass last year’s performance, but in July, spending collapsed.

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.

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Maeil Business News Korea (http://www.pulsenews.co.kr/)
Samsung heir indicted on charges of violating capital markets law
South Korea’s most powerful conglomerate heir Jay Y. Lee, vice chairman at Samsung Electronics Co., was indicted on Tuesday by prosecutors on charges of violating the country’s capital market law, a move against a civilian panel’s recommendation not to indict him two months ago.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday indicted Lee on allegations of unfair trading, stock price manipulation, and breach of trust that are against the capital market law.

S. Korean gov’t proposes record deficit-budgeting for next year
The South Korean government is proposing another supersized budget of 555.8 trillion won ($469.6 billion) for next year to jump-start the economy after its first contraction in 22 years and virus battering throughout 2020.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance on Tuesday packaged a 2021 spending scheme of 555.8 trillion won, up 8.5 percent from original 2020 budget of 512.3 trillion won, which was raised by 9.3 percent from last year. Spending this year however was stretched to 546.9 trillion won after three rounds of supplementary budgets in the first half to fight the virus spread.

BTS Dynamite lights up pinnacle of Billboard Hot 100
Global foray by K-pop superstar BTS has finally reached the zenith, with newest song “Dynamite” lighting up the pinnacle of the U.S. Billboard’s Hot 100 chart - the first-ever achievement by a Korean artist.
“BTS achieves its first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, as ‘Dynamite’ debuts at the summit,” Billboard said. “’Dynamite’ … is the 1,109th No. 1 in the Hot 100’s 62-year history.”

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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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