Wednesday August 12, 2020
Round-up of important news from major Korean dailies and from international media today
The Korea Post (http://www.koreapost.com/)
President Moon's four-day trip to the United Arab Emirates
https://youtu.be/dZMUXv63UdI
“We promote religious, cultural exchanges with many countries, including Japan, China”
Ven. Youngsan Hongpa, chief abbot of the Myogak-sa Buddhist Temple in Seungin-dong near the East Gate in Seoul, said, “We are making substantial efforts to promote the Buddhist and cultural exchanges between Korea and many countries of the world, especially with Japan and China.”
At a recent interview with The Korea Post media, publisher of 3 English and 2 Korean-language media outlets since 1985, Ven. Hongpa then said, “We had a special tripartite Buddhist program this year among Korea, China and Japan this year, but we had to postpone it to some other appropriate time due to the continuous spreading COVID-19 contagious disease.
The Korean Buddhist Gwaneum Order, of which Ven. Hongpa is the leader as chief abbot, ranks among the fourth or fifth largest among all Korean Buddhist orders, with the Chogye Order leading the Buddhist world in Korea with a 40 to 50 percent share.
“Korea’s spectacular development is for Côte d'Ivoire a model to emulate”
“Côte d'Ivoire was the first African country to establish diplomatic relations with the Republic of Korea (south) on July 23, 1961, and since that date, the two countries have continued to maintain relations of sincere friendship and frank cooperation.” So said Ambassador Sylvestre Kouassi Bile of the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire in Seoul in an exclusive interview with The Korea Post media at his office in Seoul on Aug. 3, 2020.
Then he disclosed Korea’s spectacular development in the time span of half a century is for Côte d'Ivoire a model to emulate.”
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KBS (http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/)
Pres. Office Announces 2 Senior Secretary Nominees
The presidential office on Wednesday announced nominees for two other senior secretary positions.
Chung Man-ho, a former vice Gangwon Province governor, was tapped as senior secretary for public communication. Deputy Minister for Administration Affairs Yoon Chang-ryul was named senior presidential secretary for social affairs.
It came two days after the top office nominated the new occupants of three other senior secretary posts -- Senior Secretary for Political Affairs Choi Jae-sung, Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs and Justice Kim Jong-ho and Senior Secretary for Civic and Social Affairs Kim Je-nam.
S. Korea's Job Loss Continues for Fifth Month
South Korea lost jobs for the fifth consecutive month in July amid the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Statistics Korea on Wednesday, the number of employed people reached 27-point-one million last month, down 277-thousand from a year earlier.
Jobs have dropped for five straight months since March. It is the first such occurrence since it posted job losses for eight straight months from January 2009 during the global financial crisis.
Joint Team to Investigate Flood Prevention Function of Barrages at 4 Rivers
The government has decided to set up a private and public joint team to look into the controversial function of flood prevention of barrages built at four major rivers.
They were built on the Nakdong, Han, Youngsan and Geum rivers as part of the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project under the Lee Myung-bak government.
According to the Environment Ministry, the government plans to form a probe team comprising officials from the ministries of environment and land and civilian experts.
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Yonhap (http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr)
Moon taps former Gangwon vice governor as new communication secretary
President Moon Jae-in named Chung Man-ho, former vice governor of Gangwon Province, as his new senior secretary for public communication on Wednesday, Cheong Wa Dae said.
He also tapped Yoon Chang-yul, an official at the Office for Government Policy Coordination, as senior secretary for social policy, according to presidential spokesman Kang Min-seok.
Chung served as vice governor of the eastern province for economic affairs for three years from 2017 after working as policy situation and protocol secretary to President Roh Moo-hyun in the early 2000s.
Gov't doubles state aid for disaster relief
South Korea's government on Wednesday decided to double the state aid for disaster relief and recovery, as the unusually prolonged rainy season has wrecked havoc on houses, farm land and infrastructure nationwide.
The decision was made during a meeting among the government, the ruling Democratic Party (DP) and Cheong Wa Dae at the National Assembly.
"In the case of a death, state support will be raised to 20 million won (US$1,695) from the current 10 million won," said DP spokesman Kang Hoon-sik during a briefing, adding a flood victim will get 2 million, up from the original 1 million won. The current disaster aid scheme was drawn up in 1995.
Job losses extend into July amid pandemic, unemployment rate up to 4 pct
South Korea lost about 277,000 jobs in July, marking a decline in the number of the employed for a fifth consecutive month, as the new coronavirus pandemic strained business activities, data showed Wednesday.
The country's jobless rate rose by 0.1 percentage point on-year to 4 percent in July, with the number of employed people falling to 27.1 million, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.
It marked the longest fall since the eight months of decline posted in 2009 amid the global financial crisis. The unemployment rate was also the highest for any July since 2000.
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HanKyoReh Shinmun (http://english.hani.co.kr)
S. Korean foreign minister heads to Germany in first overseas trip since February
South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha has departed on her first trip overseas since COVID-19 spread around the world at the end of February, fanning curiosity about the reason for her three-day trip.
Officials at South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained on Aug. 10 that Kang had departed from Incheon International Airport the previous day for a meeting with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas in Berlin. Their meeting represented the second round of strategic dialogue between the two countries. Following the meeting, Kang is planning to return home on the afternoon of Aug. 11.
S. Korea to develop defense system against N. Korea’s long-range artillery by 2030
A “Korean Iron Dome” system designed to shield Seoul against North Korea’s long-range artillery is to be built around 2030. An exclusive global positional system (GPS) for the South Korean military is also being pursued to be established by the early to mid-2030s.
On Aug. 10, the South Korean Ministry of National Defense (MND) released its “Intermediate-Term National Defense Plan, 2021-2025,” which includes plans for military power development and management over the next five years. According to the MND’s announcement, authorities plan to begin development in the next five years on the “Korean Iron Dome,” an interception system capable of defending the Seoul Capital Area (SCA) and key facilities from the threat of North Korea’s long-range artillery.
N. Korea has likely suffered significant flood damage from torrential rains, Unification Ministry says
North Korea appears to have suffered significant damage from recent torrential rains, the South Korean Ministry of Unification (MOU) announced on Aug. 10.
Speaking at a regular press conference that day, MOU Spokesperson Yoh Sang-key said, “If we compare it with 2007, which represented the worst flood damage [in North Korea] to date, 2007 saw 500 to 700mm of rain falling over a seven-day period, while the level this August appears to have been higher than that.” In 2007, an inter-Korean summit that the two sides had agreed to hold in August was postponed two months to October due to flood damage when the Taedong River in Pyongyang overflowed in August.
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Chosun Ilbo (http://english.chosun.com)
N.Korea Clamps down on 'Decadent' Pet Dogs
Pyongyang elite as food supplies run short.
Trumpeted as protecting the country against capitalist "decadence," the move appears aimed at appeasing increasing public discontent amid the dire economic situation.
According to a source, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un issued a ban on pet ownership in July, denouncing it as "a 'tainted' trend by bourgeois ideology."
"Authorities have identified households with pet dogs and are forcing them to give them up or forcefully confiscating them and putting them down."
S.Korea to Develop Nuke-Powered Submarine
South Korea plans to build a 4,000-ton nuclear-powered submarine and an "iron dome" in the capital area that can fend off long-range artillery attacks from North Korea.
The Defense Ministry released its mid-term plans on Monday, which pledge W300.7 trillion to the military over the next five years, with the defense budget expected to exceed W60 trillion in 2024 (US$1=W1,188).
The 4,000-ton sub, much larger than the 3,000-ton sub currently under construction, is to be armed with ballistic missiles and powered by a nuclear reactor. That may require a revision to the nuclear pact with the U.S., which bans South Korea from using nuclear energy for military purposes.
Enlisted Soldiers to Get Steep Pay Rise
The monthly pay of enlisted soldiers will increase to nearly W1 million for a sergeant in the next five years (US$1=W1,188).
Korean soldiers are notoriously underpaid, but the decision to change that will put a strain on a defense budget already groaning under multiple demands, not least from the U.S.
Under the Defense Ministry's mid-term plans released Monday, the monthly pay of a sergeant will increase to W962,900 by 2025. That means a rise of a whopping 78 percent over the next five years from W540,900 at present.
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The Dong-A Ilbo (http://english.donga.com/)
U.S. calls on S. Korea to stop its crackdown on NK human rights groups
Ten former high-ranking U.S. officials have decided to send a protest letter to South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday (local time), urging Seoul to stop its crackdown on human rights groups led by North Korean defectors. Among those who signed the letter led by Suzanne Scholte, American human rights activist and the president of the Defense Forum Foundation, are key figures from the ruling Republican Party and opposition Democratic Party. This reflects the widespread U.S. public opinion that finds Seoul’s crackdown uncomfortable.
OECD raises S. Korea’s growth prospect for 2020 to negative 0.8%
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has raised South Korea’s economic growth prospect for this year to a negative 0.8 percent, which is the highest level among 37 OECD member countries.
The OECD predicted that South Korea’s economy will record shrink 0.8 percent this year without the re-spread of COVID-19 in the OECD Economic Surveys: Korea 2020 released on Tuesday. It is 0.4 percent higher than the figure announced by the organization in June and also the highest among OECD member countries.
The Fortune Global 500 has more Chinese than American
Chinese companies have outnumbered American companies for the first time on the Fortune Global 500, the annual ranking of the world’s largest businesses by revenue.
The American business magazine reported Monday that there are more Fortune Global 500 companies based in Mainland China and Hong Kong than in the United States at 124 vs. 121. Add in Taiwan’s companies, and the Greater China total jumps to 133. The Global 500 list did not have a single Chinese company in 1990 when it first came out and only 11 in 2003 when China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). However, the number of Chinese companies has skyrocketed since then to overtake the number of U.S. companies.
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The KyungHyang Shinmun (http://english.khan.co.kr/)
Removing the Supporting Family Criterion, Not Within President Moon’s Term in Office
* Mandatory Supporting Family Policy
This policy prevents people who, based on their property and income, are eligible for the Basic Livelihood Security from receiving the state benefit, if they have any immediate family--parents or children. The policy has been criticized for threatening people in poverty by keeping them from receiving state benefits, when, in fact, they have no exchanges with their family--usually family only on paper--or when their family is unable to support them.
The government announced that it would gradually abolish the mandatory supporting family standard for the living allowance, one of the major allowances provided by the Basic Livelihood Security Policy, and “improve” instead of abolish the criterion for the health care allowance by 2022. This will make it difficult for the Moon Jae-in government to abolish the mandatory supporting family criterion, which it had set out to do within its term.
Nation Makes Payment of 1.18 Trillion Won in Unemployment Benefits, Another Record-Breaking High
The COVID-19 outbreak led to an increase in unemployment, which in turn forced the nation to pay a record-breaking amount in unemployment benefits last month. Unlike in the service industry, where the number of employment insurance subscribers is showing signs of a rebound, in the manufacturing industry, which provides relatively stable employment, the figures continue to decline.
The manufacturing industry recorded the second biggest drop in the number of employment insurance subscribers since the 1998 Asian financial crisis, with figures falling for the eleventh consecutive month.
South Korea Forces Sam Okyere to Apologize for Pointing Out Racial Discrimination
Sam Okyere (pictured), a Ghanaian TV personality, formally apologized after igniting criticism when he expressed his discomfort over Korean students impersonating black characters. Okyere criticized the students of racial discrimination, but the public found his assessment of the students, who took the pictures for fun, to be excessive. But many people also argued that Okyere’s apology showed how prevalent racial discrimination was in South Korean society.
The controversy started when students of Uijeongbu High School posted their graduation photo, a parody of the Coffin Dance, on August 3. The Coffin Dance was a video of pallbearers bearing a coffin at a Ghanaian funeral. The students disguised themselves as the pallbearers, painting their faces black. On August 6, Okyere wrote on his Instagram account that the blackface was very unpleasant from a black person’s perspective.
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Maeil Business News Korea (http://www.pulsenews.co.kr/)
S. Korea’s fiscal deficit stretches to record $93.2 bn in H1
South Korea’s fiscal deficit widened to a record 110.5 trillion won ($93.2 billion) in the first six months of the year after the government sharply upped spending with three extra budgets on top of an already outsized 2020 budget to stimulate the economy and tax revenue sank during the protracted pandemic.
According to a report released by the Ministry of Economy and Finance on Tuesday, fiscal spending in the January-June period surged 31.4 trillion won year over year to 316 trillion won.
Samsung Biologics building 4th plant at $1.5 bn to double bioreactor capacity
Samsung Biologics Co., already the world’s largest contract drug manufacturer, announced leapfrogging expansion plan to add a fourth plant in its campus at Songdo, Incheon, to nearly double its capacity as early as 2023.
The company said in a regulatory filing that it will invest 1.74 trillion won ($1.5 billion), more than doubling 850 billion won spent on the largest-yet third plant that was completed in 2017 and close to total 2.1 trillion won spent over the nine years in business to build the fourth facility that would outsize all three existing manufacturing houses.
Hyundai Motor stock up 34% this month to test 3-yr high on earnings, EV outlook
Shares of Hyundai Motor Co. have gained over 34 percent this month alone as the Korean automaker fared better than its global peers in the virus-battered first half and raises promising future with its EV portfolio.
Hyundai Motor on Monday and Tuesday tested 170,000 won ($143.58) for the first time since May 2017 after it finished the second quarter better than its global peers and unveiled standalone electric vehicle (EV) brand Ioniq based on much-touted self-developed EV platform.
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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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