Monday, July 11, 2022
Round-up of important news from major Korean dailies and from international media today

The Korea Post ( www.koreapost.com )

Trade Minister Ahn attends Global Investment Summit
Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun attended the Global Investment Summit held at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul on July 6 and gave a congratulatory message. The event was attended by approximately 200 persons from various foreign-invested companies and relevant local government bodies, including Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) President Yu Jeong-yeol and LG-Ericsson South Korea & Taiwan Operations CEO Håkan Cervell.

 

POSCO CEO Choi secures supply chain of key raw materials in Australia
CEO Choi Jeong-woo of POSCO Group visited Australia on June 20 to check strategic investment assets in the eco-friendly future material business such as lithium and nickel, and to discuss business cooperation with raw material partner companies. CEO Choi visited Western Australia and met Gina Rinehart, chairwoman of Hancock, an Australian resource development company, and signed an MOU for strategic cooperation.

 

Angola seeks foreign investment in agriculture, fishery and construction fields
Angola seeks investment from foreign countries in the agriculture, fishery, construction, education, mining, textile and environmental fields such as ESG (environment, social and governance),” said Chairman Antonio Henriques Da Silva of the Agency for Private Investment and Exports Promotion (AIPEX) on July 6. in an exclusive interview with The Korea Post media. Chairman Silva said, “Angola has huge potential, including young manpower and good quality agricultural products.

 

                                                                                             

 

Chosun Ilbo (http://english.chosun.com)
Rich Older Koreans More Prone to Worrying

Rich older Koreans are more prone to worries that they may lose their money and social status, a study suggests. "As income or assets among the elderly rise, anxiety levels tend to drop, only to surge again in the top 20 percent of the income bracket or more than W1 billion in assets," the Korea Institute for Health and Social Welfare said in a report published early this week (US$1=W1,300).

Young Crypto Bros Line up at Bankruptcy Court
Young Korean cryptocurrency investors are lining up at bankruptcy courts after losing huge amounts of money when the bubble burst this year. The Seoul Bankruptcy Court recently agreed to write off soured loans taken out by crypto bros, which is expected to prompt more of them to throw themselves on the mercy of the court.
 

Korean Air Ranks 1st in Global Customer Satisfaction for 18th Consecutive Year
Flagship air carrier Korean Air has been ranked No. 1 in the airline industry's Global Customer Satisfaction Index for 18 consecutive years. Korean Air was recognized for its efforts to enhance customer service even during the pandemic by providing a safe environment for passengers such as non-contact check-in options and social distancing policies.

                                                                                             

Joongang Ilbo (https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com )

Electricity reserve empties as heatwave continues
Korea's electricity reserve is declining as an earlier-than-expected heat wave continues to blanket the country. Demand for electricity reached a record high of 92,990 megawatts on Thursday, the highest in three years since 92,478 megawatts on July 24 in 2018. The increase in demand led the electricity reserve to fall to 7.2 percent on the same day. The reserve is the amount of electricity being generated that is not being used.

 

Yoon Suk-yeol, Korean business leaders send condolences after death of Shinzo Abe
President Yoon Suk-yeol and other Korean political and business leaders expressed their condolences following the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday. Abe, 67, died from injuries sustained from a shooting while delivering a campaign speech in front of a small crowd on a street in Nara on Friday, ahead of Japan's upper house elections Sunday.

 

Nuclear energy is back in style, and Korea wants in
Nuclear power is making a major comeback worldwide, including in Korea, and the country is eager to seize the rising opportunities. After the Fukushima nuclear power disaster in 2011, the world shifted away from nuclear energy. Recently, many countries are changing their tune amid growing instability in the energy supply, labeling nuclear power as green despite the inherent risk associated with potential leaks.

 

                                                                                               

 

The Dong-A Ilbo (http://english.donga.com/)

New U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg starts his term in S. Korea
Philip Goldberg, the new U.S. ambassador to South Korea, arrived in Seoul on Sunday, filling the gaps left open for the past one and a half years since his predecessor Harry Harris left the country last January. Before leaving for Seoul, Ambassador Goldberg briefly told reporters upon his arrival at Incheon International Airport that he is pleased to arrive in Seoul.

 

SK Telecom to showcase UAM vision at Busan Motor Show
SK Telecom announced on Sunday that it will participate in Busan International Motor Show 2022, which will start on Friday, as the only South Korean urban air mobility (UAM) player. SK Telecom will set up a 400m² exhibition hall at the motor show to introduce its UAM business goals and provide a virtual air taxi experience.

 

Daily COVID-19 cases go over 20,000 in 45 days
The Omicron Subvariant BA.5, more immune-evasive than the Omicron Variant of COVID-19 by three times, has dominated South Korea, raising the daily number of new cases up to more than 20,000 for two days running. In response, South Korean quarantine authorities consider expanding the range of citizens subject to the 4th vaccination program to those in their 50s.

 

                                                                                                             

 

Maeil Business News Korea (http://www.pulsenews.co.kr/)

Seoul to exempt tariffs on seven daily necessities this month to ease inflation
South Korea grappling with inflation at 6 percent will entirely exempt tariffs on meat, powder and other staples to help ease the burden of grocery and dining-out costs. The seven commonly consumed consumer items subject to temporary tariff exemptions under a tariff quota system are beef, chicken, pork, milk powder, coffee beans, ethanol production raw materials, and green onion, the government announced after an emergency economic response meeting overseen by President Yoon Suk-yeol on Friday.

 

A rush of IPO candidates from materials, parts, and equipment due on Kospi this month
IPO contestants from materials, parts, and equipment companies are filling the thinned IPO pipeline for South Korea as risk aversion sentiment amid rising interest rates turns investors’ attention to manufacturers of future mobility and electronic components versus growth bio stocks.

 

Korea’s POSCO, LS add EV auto parts factories in Mexico ahead of USMCA rules
South Korean companies POSCO International and LS Electric are expediting establishment of manufacturing facilities on automotive components for electric vehicles in Mexico to be ready for the 2023 effectuation of automotive parts provision of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) that requires 75 percent of passenger vehicle and light truck components to be manufactured from the three countries to be exempted with tariffs.

 

                                                                                             

 

HanKyoReh Shinmun (http://english.hani.co.kr)

Remembering Lee Dong-woo, a fierce advocate for “comfort women” in the US
I was visiting Korea to make arrangements for the estate of my mother, who had passed away unexpectedly this past spring, when I learned another piece of heartbreaking news. Lee Dong-woo, who had been my comrade in grassroots organizing for the not-insignificant length of time of 14 years, had passed on to heaven. Having heard she was unwell before my trip, I had intended to visit her at her home in Tampa, Florida, but time had not been on my side.

 

Presidential office incredulous at accusations of cronyism
Reports have surfaced that a relative of President Yoon Suk-yeol is currently working as a senior administrative official in the office of the personal secretary to the president amid controversy that the wife of the secretary to the president for personnel affairs, a personal acquaintance of Yoon and first lady Kim Keon-hee, accompanied Yoon and Kim to the NATO summit in June.

 

Yoon marshals audit agencies for no-stone-unturned probes into Moon administration
The National Intelligence Service (NIS), the Board of Audit and Inspection, prosecutors and police are simultaneously conducting internal inspections, audits and investigations on cases related to the former Moon Jae-in administration. These recent developments show how significant headway is already being made on President Yoon Suk-yeol’s pledge to pass judgment on the previous government — something he had promised since the early days of his candidacy.

 

                                                                                    

 

The KyungHyangShinmun (http://english.khan.co.kr/)

Lee Jun-seok’s Party Membership Suspended: An Unusually Heavy Penalty for a Ruling Party Leader
On July 8, the People Power Party (PPP) central ethics committee decided to suspend the party membership of leader Lee Jun-seok for six months. During the suspension, Lee will not be able to attend to the duties of the party leader. The decision is seen as a severe penalty. The ethics committee believed that Lee ordered his close aide and political affairs director, Kim Cheol-geun, to destroy evidence in order to conceal his alleged sexual bribery and decided that this violated his obligation to maintain dignity.

 

He Was a Friend Who Worked in the Election Campaign with Us” President Yoon’s Answer to Controversial Employment of Distant Cousin
He is a friend who officially worked in the Ima Building and in my election campaign since I first entered politics,” President Yoon Suk-yeol said in response to the controversy over Choi, the president’s distant cousin who was hired as a senior administrative official. This morning, on his way to work at the presidential office in Yongsan, President Yoon gave this answer when reporters asked about the controversy surrounding Shin, a civilian who accompanied the president on his trip to Madrid, Spain, and Choi, who was hired as a senior administrative official.

 

Presidential Office Hires President Yoon’s Distant Cousin, Fueling Controversy over Personal Connections
News that Shin, the spouse of Lee Won-mo, secretary to the president on human resources, accompanied President Yoon Suk-yeol and the first lady to Madrid, Spain for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit has fueled the controversy over unofficial figures surrounding the president. What’s more, Choi, a distant cousin of the president was hired as a director-level senior administrative official and is currently working in the Office of the Private Secretary to the President.


                                                                                                


KBS(http://world.kbs.co.kr/service)

Yoon to Visit Memorial Altar for Abe at Japanese Embassy in Seoul
President Yoon Suk Yeol plans to visit a memorial altar to be set up at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul for former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who died on Friday after being shot during a campaign speech. According to the presidential office on Sunday, Yoon will soon visit the altar and pay his respects to the deceased former prime minister.

 

Nuke Envoys of S. Korea, US, Japan Reaffirm Diplomacy on N. Korean Issues
The top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan have reaffirmed their commitment to bolstering trilateral cooperation in response to threats from North Korea. U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Sunday that U.S. Representative for North Korea Sung Kim met with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, Kim Gunn and Takehiro Funakoshi, in Indonesia on Friday on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers' meeting.

 

JCS: N. Korea Fires Presumed Artillery Shots
North Korea appears to have fired artillery shots, possibly from multiple rocket launchers, on Sunday afternoon. The Joint Chiefs of Staff(JCS) said on Sunday evening that it detected flight trajectories presumed to be North Korean artillery from 6:21 p.m. to 6:37 p.m. The JCS reportedly detected two flight trajectories.

 

                                                                                                               

 

Yonhap (http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr)

Yoon's approval rating falls below 40 pct amid turmoil at ruling party
President Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rating fell below the 40 percent mark in two months since he took office, a poll showed Monday, reflecting the negative sentiment amid an ongoing power struggle at the ruling party. In the poll of 2,525 voters nationwide conducted by Realmeter from Monday to Friday last week, only 37 percent gave a positive assessment of his performance, while 57 percent disapproved of Yoon's handling of state affairs.

 

Yoon calls for waking up from 'fiscal universalism'
President Yoon Suk-yeol sounded the alarm on the country's fiscal health on Thursday, saying people should wake up from the "fantasy" that increasing government spending will automatically improve people's livelihoods. Yoon made the remark while presiding over a fiscal strategy meeting with members of the government and the private sector at Chungbuk National University in Cheongju, 112 kilometers southeast of Seoul.


Korean Air plane makes emergency landing in Azerbaijan after engine defect
A Korean Air plane that departed from Turkiye made an emergency landing in Azerbaijan after a defect was found in one of its engines, the Seoul-based firm said Sunday. The Incheon-bound KE9956 aircraft with 215 passengers and 10 crew members aboard landed at Heydar Aliyev International Airport in the capital of Baku, about 1 1/2 hours after taking off from Istanbul at 6:25 p.m. on Saturday (local time).

 

                                                                                  

 

The Korea Herald (http://www.koreaherald.com)

Inside Hanawon: How N. Korean defectors build a new life in S. Korea
With high walls and barbed-wire fences, the Hanawon resettlement center has the country’s top security level, but for thousands of people it has also offered a step toward freedom. Hanawon is where North Korean defectors prepare to start a new life and fend for themselves in South Korea before integrating into an unfamiliar world that they desired to live in.

 

Exports up 4.7% during first 10 days of July
South Korea's exports rose 4.7 percent on-year in the first 10 days of July on demand for chips and petroleum products, but the country suffered a trade deficit on soaring fuel costs, data showed Monday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $15.8 billion in the July 1-10 period, compared with $15.1 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.

 

Ruling party falls into chaos
The ruling People Power Party has been left mired in confusion by its leader’s refusal to step down from his post despite the suspension of his party membership in connection to allegations of sexual bribery.On Friday, the party’s internal ethics panel decided to suspend Chairman Lee Jun-seok’s membership for the next six months in connection to allegations that Lee received sexual favors as well as bribes from a business owner in 2013.

 

                                                                                    

 

The Korea Times (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr)

Abe's death to test waters in Korea-Japan relations
Until earlier last week, optimism about Korea-Japan relations after the upper house elections in Japan had dominated in foreign policy circles. Although President Yoon Suk-yeol was unable to sit down with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a bilateral summit on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Madrid, Spain in late June, many experts here predicted that the two leaders would eventually meet for a summit after the July 10 upper house elections in Japan.

 

Paradox of Yoon pursuing market-driven economy while taming inflation
The Yoon Suk-yeol administration is pursuing a number of policies that seem at odds with his stated objective of "setting the market economy upright" as it pushes to tame the soaring inflation that is threatening people's livelihoods. The dispute centers on proposals attempting to lower inflation directly through salary freezes, as well as indirectly by curbing wholesale electricity price increases to lessen the burden of financial losses at public corporation Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO).

 

Korea grapples with energy crisis fears
The energy minister visited Korea Midland Power (KMP), a state-run power company in Seoul, to ensure the stable supply of electricity and operation of power plants in the months to come, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Sunday. This was to help forestall a possible energy crisis this summer, as foreboded by record-breaking energy demand and falling reserve margins as of late.
                                                                                                                   

 

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

Australia Brisbane Times www.brisbanetimes.com.au syndication@fairfaxmedia.com.au

Sydney Morning Heraldwww.smh.com.au

Colombia Reports http://colombiareports.com

Bogota Free Planet http://bogotafreeplanet.combfp@bogotafreeplanet.com

El Universal http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/english

Andes http://www.andes.info.ec/en

Ecuador Times http://www.ecuadortimes.net

The Jordan Times https://www.jordantimes.com

LSM.lv http://www.lsm.lv/en

The Baltic Times http://www.baltictimes.com lithuania@baltictimes.com, estonia@baltictimes.com, editor@baltictimes.com

El Pais http://elpais.com/elpais/inenglish.html

Philippine Daily Inquirer https://www.inquirer.net

Daily News Hungary http://dailynewshungary.com

Budapest Times http://budapesttimes.hu
                                                                                                               

 

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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