Tuesday September 8, 2020

 

 Round-up of important news from major Korean dailies and from international media today

The Korea Post (http://www.koreapost.com/)
First place winner in polls: Will he make Korea’s next President after Moon?
Chairman Lee Nak-yon of the ruling Democratic Party won the top place with a 24% support in a nationally conducted opinion survey on the Presidential hopefuls in Korea to succeed President Moon Jae-in a little over a year later.
This was published after a joint opinion survey recently conducted by four major opinion survey organizations in Korea, namely Embrain Public, Kstat Research, Korea Research, and Hankuk Research. The follower-up winner was Governor Lee Jae-myung of the Gyeonggi Province with a 20% support.

“It celebrates the men and women who carried a great dream of freedom”
Ivorians, my dear compatriots,
Dear friends of Côte d'Ivoire,
Côte d'Ivoire is celebrating the 60th anniversary of its independence on Friday, August 7, 2020. This date marks an important date in the history of our country. It celebrates the men and women who carried a great dream of freedom for each of us. First of all, I have a thought for the founding father of the Ivorian Nation, our model, President Félix HOUPHOUËT-BOIGNY, and for his companions who, united and together, fought and obtained the independence of our country. The celebration of this 60th anniversary of the independence of our country is a tribute to their memory. This celebration is also a tribute to all these generations of men and women who have worked and who continue to work, sometimes at the cost of ultimate sacrifices, to build our beloved Côte d'Ivoire. 
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KBS (http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/)
S. Korea Boosts KCDC Autonomy to Fight Future Epidemics
Anchor: The status of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or KCDC, will be elevated this week to an independent state agency overseeing the country's infectious disease response. Dubbed the "Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency" or "KDCA," the organization will exercise its own autonomy in infectious disease policy making. The move comes in an effort to prepare for future pandemics. Kim Bum-soo has more.
Report: The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or KCDC, has been operating under the supervision of the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
President Moon Jae-in and his cabinet ministers on Tuesday held a meeting to turn the nation's anti-epidemic command post into an independent authority with greater policy discretion and manpower.

Gov't Not to Allow Additional Applicants for State Medical Licensing Exam
The South Korean government reiterated its plans to not allow additional applicants for the state medical licensing exam that began on Tuesday.
Health Ministry spokesperson Son Young-rae said this is because the exam has already been postponed once and the application period extended amid doctors' recent strike in protest of government health care reforms.
A majority of medical students who oppose the Korean Medical Association(KMA), the ruling Democratic Party(DP) and the government's agreement reached last Friday to start over on reform discussions did not apply for the exam.

KDI Marks down Growth Outlook for 2020, 2021
The Korea Development Institute has marked down the nation’s economic growth outlook for both this year and next year.
In a revised economic outlook report released on Tuesday, the state-run think tank projected that the nation’s economy will post growth of minus one-point-one percent this year, down one-point-three percentage points from an earlier forecast issued in May.
The institute forecast that next year the economy will grow three-and-a-half percent, down point-four percentage points from the May forecast. 
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Yonhap (http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr)
New virus cases below 200 for 6th day; cluster infections still drag on virus fight
South Korea's new virus cases stayed below 200 for the sixth consecutive day Tuesday, but sporadic cluster infections across the nation continued to put health authorities on edge.
The country added 136 more COVID-19 cases, including 120 local infections, raising the total caseload to 21,432, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
It marked a slight increase from 119 additional cases reported Monday, the fewest in 24 days.

Will COVID-19 change S. Korea's Chuseok holiday?
Every autumn, Gu Mi-hoi gathers with her siblings and their families at her mother's house to celebrate the Chuseok fall harvest holiday. They cook delicacies like "jeon" -- meat, fish and vegetables dipped in flour and egg and fried -- and enjoy traditional games like "yut nori" while munching on half-moon shaped "songpyeon" rice cakes.
But for the first time ever, the Gu family has decided to call it off and celebrate one of the country's biggest national holidays at their homes, respectively.
"It's a joyous event where more than 20 people spanning four generations gather to enjoy homemade food and relax. But this year we thought it won't hurt to be extra careful," said the 60-year-old Seoul resident on Tuesday.
"We all try to be careful and follow the social distancing guidelines, but it's a bit scary

Sales of food delivery app hit fresh high amid virus pandemic
South Korean food delivery applications saw their sales hit a fresh high in August as more people refrained from dining out and stayed home amid the stricter social distancing scheme, data showed Tuesday.
The combined transactions made through the country's four major food delivery applications came to 1.2 trillion won (US$1 billion) in August, up 28 percent from a month earlier, according to the industry tracker WiseApp.
Sales from the four applications reached a whopping 7.6 trillion won over the January-August period, already surpassing the 7.1 trillion won in total last year, the data also showed.

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HanKyoReh Shinmun (http://english.hani.co.kr)
S. Korean medical community divided in debate over collective strike
A committee representing South Korea’s trainee doctors has agreed to provisionally suspend the collective walkout that it had organized in response to the government’s plan to increase admission quotas as medical schools and to establish a public medical school. The committee also intends to have medical interns and residents return to their posts following an online convention on Monday. But the dust hasn’t settled yet with interns and residents on the front lines staunchly opposed to calling off the walkout and medical students still refusing to take the government’s medical licensing exam.

CEO of BTS’ management company may become one of S. Korea’s 10 wealthiest stock owners.
If Big Hit Entertainment, BTS’ management company, goes public next month, Bang Si-hyuk, the company’s co-CEO and majority shareholder, is expected to become one of South Korea’s 10 wealthiest people in terms of stock holdings.
The prospectus filed by Big Hit Entertainment shows that Bang would hold a 36.6% stake in the company (12,377,337 shares) following the initial public offering (IPO). If the offering price is set at 135,000 won (US$113.73), at the upper end of the intended range, Bang’s stake would be valued at 1.67 trillion won (US$1.41 billion).

Controversial pastor arrested after court revokes bail for violating disease prevention measures
J​​​​​​un Kwang-hoon, head pastor at Sarang Jeil Church in Seoul’s Seongbuk District, was incarcerated after a court revoked his bail on Sept. 7, 140 days after his initial release. Jun, who had been released on bail amid an investigation into charges of violating South Korea’s public election law back in April, held a massive rally in Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square on Aug. 15, ignoring a government ban on public assemblies to contain the COVID-19 epidemic. Prosecutors accused Jun of violating the conditions of his bail and disease prevention measures, and the Seoul Central District Court subsequently revoked his bail.

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Chosun Ilbo (http://english.chosun.com)
1,100 Shops Close down Every Day
More than 100,000 retail stores vanished across the country in the second quarter due to the coronavirus crisis.
According to the Small Enterprise and Market Service, the number of retails stores fell 3.9 percent or 103,943 on-quarter to some 2.57 million in the second quarter. That boils down to 1,142 closures a day.
The figure paints a devastating picture of the effects of the global lockdown on small businesses and the economy as a whole.

Pyongyang Elite 'Volunteer' for Flood Recovery Efforts
North Korean state media on Monday claimed that some 300,000 members of the Workers Party in Pyongyang have responded to a call to help with recovery efforts in the provinces after recent floods.
The claim came just a day after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un urged party members in the capital to "come to typhoon-hit areas."
On Sept. 6 alone, "some 300,000 party members pledged to help with recovery from damage in North and South Hamgyong Provinces with eagerness to follow the party's initiatives," the Rodong Sinmun reported.

Simplified COVID-19 Test Kit in Development
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday that it is developing a test kit capable of detecting coronavirus infections from simple saliva samples rather than throat and nose swabs.
The new method will allow more tests to be done faster.
KCDC chief Jung Eun-kyeong said, "To prepare for the seasonal flu together with the coronavirus epidemic in the autumn, we are developing a diagnostic kit that can detect both."

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The Dong-A Ilbo (http://english.donga.com/)
Samsung clinches $6.64 billion 5G supply deal with Verizon
Samsung Electronics has signed a network supplies contract with Verizon, the biggest telecommunications company in the world. The deal is the largest export in size for South Korea’s telecommunications industry.
On Monday, Samsung announced that it will provide 5G telecommunications supplies worth 6.64 billion dollars (7.9 trillion won) to Verizon over the next five years. Clinching 5G supply deals with the major players including Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint, Samsung Electronics has become a core supplier of telecommunications equipment in the United States.

Secretary Suga affirms hardline stance on Korea-Japan relations
Yoshihide Suga, the incumbent chief cabinet secretary of Japan and the prospective successor to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has reiterated the message to stick to his hawkish stance on the issue over reparations of the forced laborers under Imperialist Japan.
In an interview with the Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun on Monday, Secretary Suga said he will make a thorough response to any breach of international law in regard with the conscription issue. “The basis of Japan-Korea relations lies in the claims settlement agreement reached in 1965,” said Mr. Suga in an interview with the Sankei Shimbun, adding that it is natural to stand by the agreement.

Silla’s royalty uses dolphin meat for ancestral rites
The types of food used by Silla’s royalty for ancestral rites about 1,500 years ago have been revealed for the first time. From clams and fish to sea urchins, blowfish, which is tricky to handle, and dolphins were used for their memorial ceremonies.
The National Museum of Korea published a report on Monday with new findings from the re-excavation of Seobongchong in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province conducted from 2016 to 2017.

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The KyungHyang Shinmun (http://english.khan.co.kr/)
Government Plans to Hand out Second COVID-19 Relief Fund Before Chuseok
On September 6, the Democratic Party of Korea, the government and Cheongwadae decided to draw up a 7-trillion-won fourth supplemental budget to overcome the crisis triggered by COVID-19. The second disaster relief fund in response to the novel coronavirus will first be handed out to people in vulnerable industries and in the low-income tier, who have suffered big damages. The ruling party and government plan to submit the draft of the fourth supplemental budget at the National Assembly this week so they can hand out the funds before the Chuseok holiday.

Higher Delivery Fees Bring Everyone Down
A, an employee who works at a sandwich shop in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, recently paid delivery service firms a “premium”on several occasions. Orders kept coming in, but there was no one to deliver the food. Orders that were supposed to arrive in thirty minutes often got delayed to an hour, and A even received calls from the delivery service provider that there were no couriers available.“We have to get the orders delivered no matter what, don’t we? If we have a big order, then we tell them we will pay the couriers more than the fee stated in the application.”
After a second wave of COVID-19 swept through the nation, the issue of delivery fees has surfaced. When a stronger level 2 (2.5) physical distancing was enforced in the greater Seoul area, orders for delivery increased, and some delivery service providers raised their fees. Consumers and self-employed business owners complain that they have had to shoulder the higher delivery fees. Some couriers claim the higher fees have not contributed to an increase in their income or in improvements to their work environment.

Supreme Court Overturns Government Decision to Outlaw the Korean Teachers Union after 7 Years
On September 3, the grand bench of the Supreme Court overturned a ruling by a lower court that recognized the legitimacy of the government measure to outlaw the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (Korean Teachers Union) and sent the case back to the Seoul High Court. According to the bench, it was unjust to deprive the Korean Teachers Union of its labor union status on grounds that the organization included dismissed teachers. However, the Supreme Court dismissed the union’s request for the suspension of the effectiveness of the government’s measure. Still, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced, “We will begin the process to withdraw our measure according to the Supreme Court decision.” Thus the Korean Teachers Union will be able to restore its legal status as a labor union seven years after the government notified the organization that it would be delegalized in October 2013 during the Park Geun-hye government. It is fortunate that the judiciary righted the improper measure, albeit belatedly.
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Maeil Business News Korea (http://www.pulsenews.co.kr/)
Samsung Elec Q3 OP may return to 2018 heyday on premium phones, appliances
South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. may return to its 2018 heyday in a pandemic-stricken year as brokerages are projecting over 10 trillion won ($8.5 billion) in operating profit in the third quarter thanks to milestone orders from U.S. tech majors and warm response to its high-end phones and TVs.
Hana Financial Investment in its report on Monday put Samsung Electronics’ operating profit at 10.15 trillion won ($8.54 billion) in the quarter ending September, up from 8.15 trillion won a quarter ago and 6.6 trillion won a year earlier.

KDI negative about a meaningful rebound in 2021
State think tank Korea Development projected the Korean economy to contract 1.1 percent this year, revised sharply down from 0.2 percent gain estimated in May and more or less in line with the Bank of Korea’s estimate of 1.3 percent fall.
The recovery in next year on the back of this year’s fall would stop at 3.5 percent due to delayed pickup in domestic demand, it said.
The government think tank usually is more optimistic than others on economic forecasts.

S. Korea’s 2020 fiscal deficit widens to $84.1 bn by July
The red in South Korean public balance stretched to near 100 trillion ($84 billion) despite an increase in tax revenue for the first time this year in July after three rounds of supplementary budgets and at this rate, the fiscal deficit is projected to reach 691 trillion won by 2022, according to the finance ministry..
According to data released by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, total revenue came to 280.4 trillion won in the January-July period and total expenditure 356 trillion won. When excluding social security funds including pension and employment insurance, the country’s fiscal deficit was 98.1 trillion won during the cited period. 
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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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