Tuesday, December 20, 2022
Round-up of important news from major Korean dailies and from international media today
The Korea Post ( www.koreapost.com )
Embassy of India hosts a curtain raiser event to mark the Korea-India 50th anniversary next year
The Embassy of India, Seoul organized a special event as a curtain raiser on Dec. 16, 2022 to celebrate the upcomming 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and the Republic of Korea next year at the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre in Seoul. The event included remarks by H.E. Mr. Amit Kumar, Ambassador of India to ROK and H.E. Mr. Youngsam Choi, Deputy Minister of Political Affairs, ROK MOFA. Ambassador Amit Kumar along with Deputy Minister Youngsam Choi jointly unveiled the logo for the 50th anniversary celebration of diplomatic ties that was selected through a contest jointly organized by both Embassies in Seoul and New Delhi.
The Embassy of Bangladesh in Seoul observes the “Int’l Migrants Day-2022” event
The Embassy of Bangladesh in Seoul observed the “International Migrants Day-2022” favor and festivity on Dec. 18, 2022 at the Embassy premises. Twenty-six Bangladeshi EPS workers in six categories which include sending highest amount of foreign exchange, staying under the same employer for the longest period of time, receiving awards from the Korean Government, attaining language proficiency and engaging in voluntary services. Ten Korean employers were honored for employing the highest number of Bangladeshi EPS workers.
Chairman Lee Chul-woo says, “We will promote regional diplomacy in earnest”
For full-fledged regional diplomacy, the Governors Association of Korea announced that it held the “2022 Meeting with the Envoys of Foreign Diplomatic Missions in Korea” at the Grand Hyatt Seoul on Dec. 2. As an annual event celebrating its 13th anniversary this year, the 2022 foreign envoys invitation meeting was a success with the largest number of foreign ambassadors in Korea attending. Chairman Lee Chul-woo of Governors Association of Korea, also Governor of Gyeongsangbuk-do, delivered a keynote speech titled "Resolving the Contemporary Problems through the Local Era."
Chosun Ilbo (http://english.chosun.com)
Paris Metro Airs Announcements in Korean
Paris' legendary Metro has started public service announcements in Korean warning visitors of pickpockets at stations close to major tourist attractions. They have already been aired in English, German, Spanish and Japanese. The Korean Embassy in France said, "PSAs will be made in Korean in the summer and winter holidays when there are many Korean visitors at Metro stations near the Champs-Élysées, Eiffel Tower, Louvre Museum and Montmartre." The announcers were chosen in a competition among Korean residents in France.
Korean and U.S. Navy SEALs Train Together
Naval SEALs from South Korea and the U.S. trained together at a special warfare training center on the U.S. west coast recently as joint exercises resume across the board. According to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command on Sunday, a U.S. West-Coast based SEAL team and the South Korean Naval Special Warfare Flotilla held combined training exercises for two weeks until Dec. 9 in California. They also took part in urban combat training exercises. "We will continue realistic high-intensity training to prepare for any situation," a special forces officer here said.
N.Korea Fires 2 Mid-Range Ballistic Missiles
North Korea fired two medium-range ballistic missiles at a steep angle from Tongchang-ri in North Pyongan Province into the East Sea on Sunday. The regime seems to be testing new solid-propellant missiles, after testing a high-thrust solid-fuel rocket engine at the same place on Dec. 15. The Joint Chiefs of Staff here said U.S. military bases on Guam and in Japan are within the range of the missiles. Fired at a high angle at around 11 a.m. and noon, the missiles flew 500 km and fell into waters outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.
Joongang Ilbo (https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com )
North claims space images were reconnaissance satellite test
North Korea said Monday that it launched a test satellite the previous day as part of a final test for the development of the regime's first reconnaissance satellite. The report by Pyongyang’s state-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) was accompanied by low-resolution black-and-white photos showing a view from space of Seoul and Incheon, which the agency said was taken by the test satellite.
A Korean SpaceX set to launch suborbital test rocket in Brazil
Korea's private-sector space business is about to take off, literally. Innospace, a local space start-up, is scheduled to launch a technology demonstration rocket at 6 a.m., Tuesday, to the altitude of 100 kilometers (62.1 miles) in a suborbital test from Alcântara Launch Center in northern Brazil. Hanbit-TLV, the test vehicle, is a 16.3-meter single-stage rocket designed to verify the performance of a 15-ton-thrust rocket engine developed by Innospace. The Sejong-based company aims to develop Korea’s first private commercial satellite launcher, the Hanbit-Nano, with data collected from the test launch.
FTC to allow expedited review for a wider range of companies
The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) will speed up the business combination evaluation process for some companies. The antitrust regulator said on Monday it will allow a wider range of companies to go through the simplified evaluation and declaration process. Those that invest in private equity funds, situations in which an executive of one company is appointed an executive at another company following an investment in that company and cases of investment in land and warehouses will be qualified for expedited review.
The Dong-A Ilbo (http://english.donga.com/)
LG to introduce recycled materials and eco-friendly manufacturing
Although the Fed has slowed down the pace of raising interest rates unprecedentedly fast, it has only temporarily taken its foot off the clutch of austerity measures and did not step on the brake. The speed may have slowed down, but the Fed made clear its intention to hike interest rates next year. With the Fed’s upward adjustment of the target benchmark interest rate to 5 percent or even higher, Korea’s interest rate is likely to rise above the previously expected 3.5 percent. At the FOMC meeting on Wednesday, the Fed raised interest rates by 0.5 percentage points to 4.25 to 4.5 percent, the highest rate in 15 years since October 2007, when the interest rate was 4.75 percent.
People Power Party to elect its leader through 100% member votes
The ruling People Power Party may elect its party leadership only through party member votes, planning to deliver the decision by Christmas. Although the faction that is not friendly towards President Yoon Suk-yeol strongly opposes the complete exclusion of non-party member votes, both newly-elected and re-elected representatives of the party held press conferences on Thursday in a show of support for the party leadership’s decision to revise the election rules. Rep. Chung Jin-suk, chair of the ruling party’s emergency committee, emphasized that no country in the world adopts opinion polls to make decisions regarding the party’s general meeting.
U.S. pushes for a bill to ban ‘money laundering’
The U.S. Congress is pushing for a bill to ban the ‘money laundering’ of virtual currencies. Some project that this bill's passage will blow a heavy blow to North Korea, which has been raising funds for its nuclear and missile programs by hacking virtual currencies. On Wednesday, U.S. Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Republican Sen. Roger Marshall announced they are introducing a “Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act.” “The rogue states, Oligarchy (newly emerging conglomerates in Russia), and drug dealers are using virtual currencies to launder money and avoid regulations.
Maeil Business News Korea (http://www.pulsenews.co.kr/)
KEPCO in talks of estimated $31 bn nuclear export deal with Turkiey
South Korea’s state-run utility company Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) is in talks with the Turkish government for a possible nuclear power deal worth about $30.8 billion, raising expectations for another mega export of homegrown reactors after the successful deal with Poland in October. According to the KEPCO mid- to long-term business purpose report 2023-2027 obtained by Maeil Business Newspaper on Wednesday, KEPCO is seeking to initiate a joint business feasibility study for a nuclear power plant project with the Turkish government from next year.
South Korea proceeds with plan for financial stability after Fed’s rate hike
South Korea’s Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said on Thursday that the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to raise interest rates by half a percentage point was an expected move. Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho presided over a meeting on Thursday to discuss macroeconomic and financial issues with high-ranking financial officers, including central bank chief Rhee Chang-yong and Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Joo-hyun.
S.Korea’s November export price drops most in almost 14 years on won, oil
South Korea’s export price fell the most in nearly 14 years in November, marking the first dip in three months because of a stronger won, fall in crude oil prices and sluggish global demand. The export price index reached 125.82 in November, down 5.2 percent from 132.74 a month ago, according to the Bank of Korea data released Thursday. It is the first drop in three months and the most on-month fall since April 2009. The index, however, is still 8.6 percent higher compared with November last year.
HanKyoReh Shinmun (http://english.hani.co.kr)
Why there haven’t been updates on probe into N. Korean fisher repatriation
Prosecutors are entering the final stage of their investigation into the previous administration’s response to North Korea’s killing of a South Korean civil servant in the waters off Korea’s western coast in 2020, indicting and detaining Suh Hoon, the former Blue House national security advisor. On the other hand, in the last two months there have been no updates about another national security case directed at the previous administration — namely, the repatriation of two North Korean fishermen to the North. This is in stark contrast to the beginning of the case, when the presidential office, National Intelligence Service, Unification Ministry and prosecutors slammed the repatriation in concert as a “crime against humanity.”
Japan must heed neighbors’ fears over ramped up attack capabilities
This Friday, the Japanese government plans to amend its National Security Strategy (NSS), National Defense Program Guidelines (NDPG), and Medium Term Defense Program (MTDP). The major changes include the reorganization of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF), a large increase in defense spending, and the acquisition of “enemy base strike capabilities,” which would allow Japan to launch direct strikes against missile bases in North Korea or China in an emergency situation. While they don’t amend the Constitution itself, the changes pose a serious risk of substantially altering the pacifist document that has been maintained for over 75 years since World War II, and Japan’s principle of exclusively defense-oriented policies.
Korea to pay parents of newborns 700K won per month starting Jan. 1
The government will be providing 700,000 won (US$540) a month to parents of children under 12 months old, and 350,000 won a month to parents of children between 13 and 24 months old, starting in January. Moreover, the government will require prospective nursery school teachers to have graduated from a relevant four-year university department starting in 2025, when the government’s plan to place nurseries and preschools under the control of provincial and metropolitan offices of education in a bid to unify early childhood education and daycare goes into effect.
The KyungHyangShinmun (http://english.khan.co.kr/)
The Key Figure in the Daejang-dong Case, Kim Man-bae, Attempted Suicide: Investigation Expected to Be Interrupted with Kim in the ICU
Kim Man-bae, a key figure in the alleged corruption surrounding the Daejang-dong development project, attempted to take his own life. The latest development is expected to interrupt the prosecutors’ investigation. According to the Suwon Jungbu Police Station in Gyeonggi on December 15, Kim’s lawyer called 119 and reported that Kim, the biggest shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, tried to commit suicide inside a car parked on a street in Jangan-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi at around 9:50 p.m. Wednesday.
Itaewon Victims’ Families, “Are the Rash Words Disparaging the Parliamentary Inquiry the Official Position of the Ruling Party?”
The bereaved families of the victims who died in the Halloween crowd crush in Itaewon visited the National Assembly on December 13 and called for lawmakers to quickly conduct a parliamentary inquiry, which has been at a standstill for twenty days. They fiercely denounced the ruling People Power Party P(PPP) figures who have been opposing the parliamentary inquiry. A group of citizens including the group representing the families of the October 29 Itaewon disaster victims and 188 civic groups held a press conference at the National Assembly on Tuesday and called for a parliamentary inquiry with no sanctuary and for a formal apology from the president.
“Health Insurance Faces a Financial Crisis Because of Moon Care” President Yoon Begins Launching Anti-Moon Jae-in Policies
President Yoon Suk-yeol raised the issue of reforms in the labor market and the national health insurance policy on December 13. He presented changes focusing on abolishing “Moon Jae-in Care (stronger coverage with the national health insurance policy)” and the 52-hour workweek. The president seems to be changing national policies to implement his own policies, but conflicts between the ruling and opposition parties are expected in the process. President Yoon presided over a cabinet meeting at the Office of the President on Tuesday and said, “Normalizing the national health insurance policy, which is the last line of defense in protecting the people’s health, is urgent,” and argued that changes in the national health insurance policy was not optional but vital.
KBS(http://world.kbs.co.kr/service)
UN Adopts N. Korea Human Rights Resolution for 18th Straight Year
The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on Thursday condemning human rights violations by North Korea and called for efforts to address the issue. In a General Assembly meeting at the UN headquarters in New York, the resolution was passed by consensus without a vote, making it the 18th of its kind since 2005 and the first to be co-sponsored by South Korea in four years. This year's resolution added calls for North Korea to release all information pertaining to foreign nationals who have been subjected to human rights violations by the regime to their families and national governments.
Yoon Calls for IAEA Support for N. Korea Denuclearization
President Yoon Suk Yeol met with the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) on Thursday and discussed North Korea's nuclear weapons and other issues. During the meeting at the presidential office, Yoon expressed concerns over the North's nuclear program and asked for the IAEA's participation in efforts to denuclearize North Korea through strengthened monitoring and inspection readiness posture regarding Pyongyang's nuclear activities.
N. Korea Claims Successful Test of High-thrust Solid-fuel Motor
North Korea said it has successfully tested a "high-thrust solid-fuel motor" as part of the development of a new strategic weapon at its Sohae Satellite Launching Ground. The North's official Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) said on Friday that an institute under the Academy of Defense Science successfully conducted the static firing test of a solid-fuel motor with a thrust of 140 ton-force on Thursday morning. The KCNA said the test was conducted to verify all technical-specific features of the high-thrust solid-fuel motor and the results proved the motor's reliability and stability.
Yonhap (http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr)
Yoon wraps up 1st year in office amid signs of rebounding from record-low approval ratings
President Yoon Suk-yeol is wrapping up his first year in office marked by record-low approval ratings blamable in part on unpopular policy and personnel decisions and a series of gaffes at home and abroad, though the numbers have recently shown signs of picking up. Yoon's approval rating plunged from 52 percent in his first week in office to 24 percent in the first week of August, according to Gallup Korea, a number rarely seen during previous presidencies.
Subway train malfunctions over Han River, leaves 500 stranded for 2 hours
A Seoul subway train malfunctioned and stopped over a bridge on the Han River on Thursday, leaving some 500 passengers trapped and stranded for over two hours, according to officials. The Line 1 subway train heading toward Noryangjin Station from Yongsan Station in central Seoul malfunctioned and halted on the Hangang Railroad Bridge at 7:58 p.m. The state-run Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) towed the train with another railcar to Noryangjin Station at 10:05 p.m.
N. Korea conducts 'important' test of new strategic weapon: state media
North Korea has successfully conducted a test to verify the "high-thrust solid-fuel motor" features in developing another "new-type strategic weapon system," according to its state media Friday. "An important institute under the Academy of Defence Science succeeded in the static firing test of high-thrust solid-fuel motor with a thrust of 140tf (ton-force), the first of its kind in the country, at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground on the morning of Dec. 15," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in an English-language report.
The Korea Herald (http://www.koreaherald.com)
Yoon vows to make nation safe for women and from drugs
President Yoon Suk-yeol vowed to make Korea a safe nation from sexual and drug crimes, touching on multiple economic, welfare and labor issues in a rare pangovernmental meeting broadcast live on Thursday afternoon. In the meeting presided over by Yoon and attended by all ministers and 100 ordinary people, Yoon and his officials answered questions from a public panel in three sessions about the economy, balanced regional development and reforms to labor, pension and education policies.
Key suspect of land corruption scandal hospitalized
A key suspect of a high-profile land corruption scandal in South Korea was sent to hospital Thursday after he stabbed himself with a knife in an apparent suicide attempt. The suspect Kim Man-bae was in stable condition, but was hospitalized in an intensive care unit of Ajou University Hospital in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, due to injuries in his neck and chest.
US Fed’s half-point rate hike widens gap with Korea
The US Federal Reserve decided to slow down its interest rate hike pace, raising the benchmark interest rates by a half-point. The Korea-US gap widened, which could lead to the outflow of foreign funds and volatility in currency exchange. Upon concluding a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, the US central bank raised its benchmark rate by 50 basis points to a 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent target range. Expectations are growing over whether the central bank will take a step back on its monetary policy in line with the US or continue the steep hike to lessen the gap of differentials between the two countries. The next decision on Korea’s policy rate will be made on Jan. 13.
The Korea Times (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr)
N. Korea claims successful test of 'high-thrust solid-fuel motor' at satellite launching site
North Korea has successfully conducted a test to verify the "high-thrust solid-fuel motor" features in developing another "new-type of strategic weapon system," its state media said Friday. "An important institute under the Academy of Defense Science succeeded in the static firing test of high-thrust solid-fuel motor with a thrust of 140tf, the first of its kind in the country, at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground on the morning of Dec. 15.," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in an English-language report.
President vows to reform labor market at meeting with public
President Yoon Suk-yeol reaffirmed his decision to reform the labor market during a meeting with the public, Thursday, saying such changes are a must and not an option. "Reforms are not popular, but we have to pursue them and must not avoid them," Yoon said at the meeting, whose purpose was to check the progress of his administration's key policy tasks and communicate with the public about their implementation. Describing the three major reforms in pension and education as well as labor as "indispensable" for the nation's sustainable growth and the future generation, the president said, "Unless the government is successful in reforming the labor market, the labor issue could turn into a political matter, which would spoil the economy and politics."
Widening interest rate gap with US raises questions about BOK's rate goal
The interest rate gap between Korea and the United States has widened to a more-than-22-year high, raising questions about whether the Bank of Korea's (BOK) policy rate will be able to settle at its target of 3.5 percent in 2023.The borrowing rate of the U.S. was raised to the range of 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent following the Federal Reserve's 50-basis-point hike, Wednesday, which is significantly more than that of Korea at 3.25 percent. This maximum 1.25-percentage-point gap between the U.S. and Korea is the highest since Oct. 5, 2000, when the U.S led Korea 6.5 percent to 5.25 percent in their respective benchmark interest rates.
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