Thursday September 3, 2020
Round-up of important news from major Korean dailies and from international media today
The Korea Post (http://www.koreapost.com/)
SVCC, Embassy of India jointly host Illustrated Poem & Essay Competition on Gandhi
Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre (SVCC), Embassy of India, Seoul is organizing Illustrated poem & Essay Competition on Gandhi to mark the conclusion of Commemorative period of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Over the past three years, to mark this commemorative occasion SVCC and the Embassy of India have organized a series of events such as Special lectures, Exhibition on Gandhi, and Painting competition featuring his life and times along with tree plantation and the inauguration of a Gandhi theme park in Gimhae. In this endeavor, SVCC has partnered with various cultural and educational institutions, city administrations, and provincial governments across the country.
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/)
Typhoon Maysak Exits into East Sea
Typhoon Maysak exited into the East Sea on Thursday morning after sweeping through inland areas of South Korea.
The typhoon, which landed at Busan earlier on Thursday, exited into eastern waters near Donghae City in Gangwon Province at around 6:30 a.m.
According to the Korean Meteorological Administration(KMA), the season's ninth typhoon will move up to North Korea around noon as it is heading north northeast at a speed of 70 kilometers per hour.
US Urges N. Korea to Return to Dialogue
A senior U.S. official has urged North Korea to return to the negotiating table rather than remain isolated.
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell renewed the call in a press briefing on Wednesday when asked about a joint advisory issued by U.S. government organizations the previous day against North Korea's weapons programs.
Stilwell said that the Trump administration has gone far further than any other in taking strong actions to let North Korea know that it is going to have to negotiate.
IAEA: N. Korea Still Enriching Uranium
The International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) has reportedly assessed that North Korea appears to have continued to enrich uranium in the past year.
According to Reuters and AFP on Wednesday, the IAEA said in a report that there is no sign North Korea reprocessed spent fuel from its main nuclear reactor into plutonium in the past year, but it seems to have continued to enrich uranium.
The U.S. atomic watchdog, which has not had access to North Korea since 2009, reportedly said that vehicle movements and the operation of cooling units at a fuel-rod fabrication plant at the Yongbyon nuclear site suggests North Korea has been producing enriched uranium with centrifuges there.
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Yonhap (http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr)
Typhoon Maysak set to make landfall on S. Korea's southern coast
Typhoon Maysak was barreling toward South Korea on Wednesday, putting the country on high alert over what was forecast to be one of the most powerful typhoons in years.
The typhoon was moving at 19 kph over seas some 190 kilometers south of Seogwipo in Jeju as of 3:00 p.m., according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). Its maximum wind speed was 45 meters per second.
Maysak was forecast to make landfall between Busan and Geoje at around 1:00 a.m. Thursday before moving northward to the country's eastern coastal regions. It was then expected to travel to North Korea before downgrading near the North's eastern city of Chongjin on Thursday night.
S. Korea on tightrope in virus fight amid slightly flattened curve
South Korea's spiking new daily virus cases have taken a breather, staying under 300 for the fourth consecutive day, but this week may be a critical juncture in determining whether the country will experience yet another round of outbreaks or not, as untraceable infections and patients in serious condition continued to rise.
The country reported 267 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, raising the total caseload to 20,449, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
It marked the 21st consecutive day of a triple-digit rise, but the figure has been slightly decelerating after reaching 441 on Thursday. Since Sunday, the daily number has stayed below 300.
New infections under 300 for 4th day; virus fight harried by untraceable, critically ill patients
The number of additional new coronavirus cases stayed below 300 for the fourth consecutive day Wednesday, but health authorities remain vigilant as untraceable and critically ill patients are still at large.
The country reported 267 new COVID-19 cases, including 253 local infections, raising the total caseload to 20,449, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
It marked the 20th consecutive day of triple-digit rises. The country has been reporting three-digit new COVID-19 cases since Aug. 14, led by group infections from a conservative church in the capital city.
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HanKyoReh Shinmun (http://english.hani.co.kr)
S. Korean prosecutors put Lee Jae-yong and 10 Samsung executives on trial
South Korea’s public prosecutors are putting Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong and 10 other executives on trial, after concluding that a campaign to help Lee inherit control over the Samsung Group had involved wholesale illegality. The prosecutors explained that they’d decided to indict Lee and the others, despite being recommended not to do so by an investigation review board, because of the “gravity of the charges, the obviousness of the evidence, and the need to reach a judicial decision on a case that has aroused suspicions in the public.”
The rise of Jun Kwang-hoon from pastor to political player
Controversial Korean pastor Jun Kwang-hoon recently resigned as the president of the Christian Council of Korea (CCK), raising questions about how he ever became a leader of Korea’s Protestant community in the first place. Today, the CCK is only a shadow of its former self, but for four decades, it was one of the leading groups of conservative Protestants in Korea.
Jun is known for making statements that sound outrageous coming out of the mouth of a Christian. Back in 2006, he said that a true believer would “take their underwear off” if he asked them to; just last year, he said that God would be “done for” if he “got cheeky” with Jun.
Memorial service for victims of Great Kanto Earthquake held on minimal scale
A memorial service for the 97th anniversary of the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, when innocent Koreans were massacred due to false claims that they were poisoning wells, was held on Sept. 1 in Tokyo. Far-right groups in Japan have consistently attempted to thwart memorial services to honor Korean victims. Due to concerns about COVID-19, however, attendance at the memorial service was minimized to press and event organizers. The service was streamed live on YouTube. (Kyodo News/Yonhap News)
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Chosun Ilbo (http://english.chosun.com)
Another Typhoon on the Way
Typhoon Maysak, this year's ninth, brought heavy rains across the country until Thursday morning, and is not the last to batter Korea this season.
Thunderstorms with strong gusts and 50 mm/h of torrential rain drenched the nation on Thursday morning as far out of the way of the typhoon's path as Seoul.
Maysak, the name of an indigenous Cambodian tree, passed through the East Sea around 6 a.m. Thursday.
Over 120 Coronavirus Patients in Critical Condition
Over 120 coronavirus patients in Korea are in critical condition.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 124 patients were in critical condition as of Wednesday morning, while the number of new infections rose by 267 to a cumulative total of 20,449.
That was a decline from a peak of 441 new cases on Aug. 26 but still too high, especially since nearly one-third of infections are occurring among the vulnerable elderly.
Cases where the route of transmission cannot be traced account for a record 24.3 percent of new infections.
Record Funding Allocated to Popularizing Korean Language
The government has allocated a record sum to popularizing the Korean language or hangeul around the world next year.
Korea hopes to tap into the soaring popularity of K-pop acts like Bangtan Boys, also known as BTS, and Black Pink to increase its soft power worldwide.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism unveiled its 2021 budget on Tuesday, which sets aside W89.4 billion for the promotion of the language, up W24.9 billion from this year (US$1=W1,185).
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The Dong-A Ilbo (http://english.donga.com/)
U.S. warns sanctions against aiding N. Korea’s ballistic missile program
Washington issued an advisory on Tuesday (local time), warning that businesses or individuals involved in the development of ballistic missiles for North Korea may be subject to sanctions. This department-wide measure is the first of its kind for the U.S. government to impose sanctions on North Korean ballistic missiles. Some experts say that the measure is an indirect warning to North Korea not to plan any unexpected provocations such as launching medium-range ballistic missiles.
LG’s new smartphone ‘Wing’ to be revealed on Sept. 14
LG Electronics’ new smartphone “Wing” will be unveiled on September 14. The new model features a T-shaped dual-screen display.
LG Electronics sent invitations to global media members on Wednesday for the launch event of “Wing,” the company’s strategic smartphone for the second half of this year, to be held on September 14 with a 20-second video clip. The video showcases the main display turning clockwise, revealing the back display and creating a T shape.
BTS holds online media day event
South Korean boy band BTS shared their feeling of joy and excitement after their new single Dynamite topped the Billboard’s Hot 100 on Tuesday. BTS’ agency Big Hit Entertainment held an online Global Media Day for “Dynamite” on Wednesday morning to celebrate the band’s feat.
The group’s leader RM said he never thought the day would come when he could be talking about how it feels to top the Billboard chart. “I was waiting for the announcement yesterday (Aug. 31 EST) and was surprised to hear the news,” said RM. “Lots of old memories flashed through my mind, those times when we got scolded at our dance studio and when we talked about our songs at the recording studio.”
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The KyungHyang Shinmun (http://english.khan.co.kr/)
Prosecutors Indict Lee Jae-yong: The Court Must Reveal the Truth
On September 1, prosecutors charged Lee Jae-yong, the owner of the Samsung Group and also the vice chairman of Samsung Electronics of irregular transactions, stock manipulation, and dereliction of duty based on the Capital Markets Act. The prosecutors deemed that the merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries in 2015 was carefully designed to secure Lee’s control over the group. They also believe that various illegal activities were involved, including market manipulation and accounting fraud to merge the companies to the advantage of Lee and that Lee and the group’s future strategy office were behind such acts. Thus Lee will stand in court again, three years and six months after he was indicted for handing bribes to former President Park Geun-hye in 2017.
BTS Makes It over the Final Billboard Threshold
The band has become the first Korean artist to top Billboard’s main singles chart, the Hot 100.
On August 31 (all dates are in local time), Billboard announced that BTS’s digital single, “Dynamite,” released on August 21, topped the latest Billboard Hot 100 (first week of September). Thus BTS set a record as the first Asian artist to have topped both the Billboard 200 (album chart) and the Billboard singles chart.
BTS expressed their gratitude to their ARMY (official fan club) everywhere in the world. President Moon Jae-in congratulated the band describing the latest feat as an inspiring achievement that made K-pop proud, and Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris and the singer Psy joined in in congratulating the band.
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.
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Maeil Business News Korea (http://www.pulsenews.co.kr/)
Pangyo Techno Valley, Korea’s tech hub, set to make another leap forward
Pangyo Techno Valley, a thriving tech hub in south of Seoul, South Korea, is set to take another leap forward after the combined revenue of companies based in the area topped 100 trillion won ($84.3 billion) for the first time last year.
According to Gyeonggi Province on Wednesday, a survey conducted by Gyeonggido Business & Science Accelerator on companies based in Pangyo Techno Valley between April and July showed that a total revenue collected by the companies in the industrial complex reached 107.2 trillion won last year.
Samsung Electronics lands order to produce next-generation chips for U.S. Nvidia
Samsung Electronics Co., world’s largest memory chipmaker, has landed another milestone foundry order to produce next-generation graphics processing units (GPUs) for Nvidia Corp., the second high-profile customer after IBM.
Nvidia on Tuesday (local time) unveiled its next-generation GeForce RTX 30 Series GPUs and said production of the new graphics cards will be through Samsung Electronics’ 8-nano foundry.
LG Uplus to spearhead an international XR content alliance on 5G network
LG Uplus breeding 5G contents as its primary growth engine is spearheading an alliance on extended reality (XR) on 5G network with wireless partners in the United States, Canada, Japan and China.
LG Uplus said on Monday it will serve as the facilitator of the Global XR Content Telco Alliance which also groups Qualcomm, Bell Canada, Japan`s KDDI and China Telecom. Felix & Paul Studios, known for its virtual reality Cirque du Soleil film, and Atlas V, a French VR company, participate as XR content production partners.
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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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