Monday September 21, 2020
Round-up of important news from major Korean dailies and from international media today
The Korea Post (http://www.koreapost.com/)
“We try to make Nowon-gu where people will say they won’t leave”
Chairperson Choi Yoonnam of the Nowon District Council in Seoul said, “Many people make great efforts to increase their happiness index and it is the fixed aim of our district to it one where the people would say: ‘I do not want to leave the Nowon-gu District where I wish to stay for good’.”
This statement by Chairperson Choi was made at a recent interview with The Korea Post media, publisher of 3 English and 2 Korean-language media publications since 1985. Details of the interview follow:
Embassy of India hosts a 10-day online workshop with globally renowned experts
Indian Cultural Centre, Embassy of India, Seoul organized a ten-day online workshop on ‘Facets of Modern India’ by globally renowned experts from India - a truly master class of ideas of India, by top class, best and brightest minds from India.
Indian Cultural Centre in Seoul has been a pioneer, in fact a first, in starting this truly intellectual enterprise among all the Indian Cultural Centres worldwide. The sole mission was to develop a rich and nuanced understanding of Modern India, the civilization, the state, in all its diverse manifestations amongst audiences abroad that always wanted to know more and more about India.
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KBS (http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/)
S. Korea Reports 70 COVID-19 Cases
The daily number of new COVID-19 cases in South Korea remained below 100 for the second consecutive day.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) said on Monday that 70 new cases were reported throughout the previous day, raising the total to 23-thousand-045.
Of the latest new cases, 55 were local infections while 15 others were imported.
The daily number, which soared to 441 in late August, steadily dropped, falling below 100 for the first time in 38 days on Sunday. However, risks remain high with the ratio of untraceable cases reaching nearly 30 percent and continued sporadic clusters.
S. Korea's Exports Up 3.6% in First 20 Days of September
South Korea's exports rose three-point-six percent on-year in the first 20 days of September amid the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to tentative data from the Korea Customs Service on Monday, the nation's outbound shipments stood at 25-point-one billion U.S. dollars in the cited period.
Compared to the same period last year, working days were up by two this year. Given the increase, the daily average exports during the 20-day period dropped nine-point-eight percent.
Int'l Tourism Suffers Loss of 440 Mln Arrivals in First Half
A UN report says international tourist arrivals plunged by 65 percent on-year in the first half of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to latest data by the UN World Tourism Organization, the massive drop in global travel demand translates into a loss of 440 million international arrivals.
It also represents about 460 billion U.S. dollars or 540 trillion won in export revenues from international tourism, which is around five times the loss recorded in 2009 amid the global financial crisis.
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Yonhap (http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr)
Students in greater Seoul return to school as virus slows, learning gap widens
Students in Seoul and its surrounding area returned to school for in-person learning Monday as new coronavirus cases have declined recently.
The measure, which will remain effective until Oct. 11, was introduced following the relaxed social distancing guidelines amid a recent drop in new coronavirus cases. It also reflects worries over the widening learning gap.
High school seniors, who have been excluded from the government's school reopening measures, also switched to a mix of remote and in-person learning Monday, as they are wrapping up the normal academic schedule and seriously gearing up for the national university entrance exam slated for December. Schools are allowed to decide what form of instruction they will offer for high school seniors.
New virus cases under 100 for 2nd day; untraceable cases still hurdle in virus fight
South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases stayed below 100 for the second consecutive day Monday in what could be a sign of a slowdown in new infections, but the continued high number of untraceable cases and sporadic clusters pose challenges to the country's virus fight.
The country added 70 more COVID-19 cases, including 55 local infections, raising the total caseload to 23,045, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
On Sunday, the number of daily new infections fell below 100 for the first time in 38 days at 82.
Son-sational: Tottenham's Son Heung-min explodes for 4 goals
Son Heung-min was a one-man wrecking crew for Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, as he went off for a career-high four goals in a rout over Southampton.
The South Korean star led the Spurs' rally for a 5-2 victory in their second Premier League match of the season at St Mary's Stadium in Southampton.
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HanKyoReh Shinmun (http://english.hani.co.kr)
Ruminations from Seoul’s first elevated walkway
You think you’ve gotten so far only to find yourself back where you started. Haste makes waste; run too fast, and you’ll trip up. These are times when we need the wisdom to pause and catch our breath.
Hemingway’s life also divided into pre-Corona and post-Corona
Such mediations bring to mind an unfortunate incident that befell American writer Ernest Hemingway. Due to his wife’s carelessness, a thief at a Paris train station made off with a suitcase carrying a manuscript to which Hemingway had devoted four years of his life. When feelings of rage and futility made it hard for Hemingway to carry on, what brought him comfort and helped him get back on his feet was Corona. I’m not talking about the virus, of course, but the typewriter — more precisely, Corona No. 3.
Are meritocracies really fair?
Tests measure ability, which is the foundation for a meritocracy that justifies a new — and cruel — system of social classes. Because meritocracy provides a justification for inequality, it makes it even harder to achieve equality.
This is the gist of an argument stated by British sociologist Michael Young in his 1958 novel “The Rise of the Meritocracy.” In it, he depicts a fictional 2034 Britain based on social principles of intelligence and ability, where stratification has become entrenched and riots are erupting. The book ends with the main character -- a scholar sharing the author’s name -- being killed in a revolt.
Korean Peninsula sees unusually steep rise in CO2 levels in 2020
There was an unusually steep increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide on the Korean Peninsula last year, a new report says. The increase is attributed to the fact that last year was the second hottest on record. Given projections that this year will be even hotter than last year, the rise in greenhouse gases is likely to be repeated this year.
“Last year’s average concentration of carbon dioxide, as measured at a climate change monitoring station on Anmyeon Island, was 417.9ppm [parts per million], which was 2.7 ppm higher than 2018,” said the National Institute of Meteorological Sciences, which is associated with the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), in its 2019 Global Atmospheric Monitoring Report, published on Sept. 17.
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Chosun Ilbo (http://english.chosun.com)
Coronavirus Infections Ease in Seoul Metropolitan Area
New coronavirus infections fell to just 82 last Saturday, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said Sunday.
That was the first time in 38 days that daily infections fell below 100. It had remained in the triple digits since Aug. 13 and peaked at 441 on Aug. 26. But it fell to 195 on Sept. 2 and remained below 200 ever since.
Among the new cases reported on Saturday, 72 were local infections and 10 were arrivals from overseas.
Asymptomatic Youngsters May Be 'Silent' Virus Spreaders
Since youngsters under 19 often have no or very mild coronavirus symptoms, many of them may be silent spreaders of the disease, a study warns.
The study led by Prof. Han Mi-seon at Boramae Medical Center analyzed 91 patients under 19 from Feb. 18 to March 31.
It found that 57 of them only had mild symptoms that did not require treatment and 20 had none at all.
Lockdown Takes Toll on Mental Health
The coronavirus epidemic is taking its toll on the mental health of many people after about eight months of uncertainty and no vaccine in sight.
For those who still have a job, depression and anxiety are turning into anger amid ongoing restrictions on their movement and endless hectoring from the authorities and the media. For those who have lost their job to the epidemic, the situation is even grimmer.
"The coronavirus crisis is a major disaster not only from an epidemiological standpoint but also from a mental health standpoint," said Kim Sang-wook at the Korean Association of Neuro Psychiatric Practitioners.
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The Dong-A Ilbo (http://english.donga.com/)
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg dies
Americans are mourning the death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, “the icon of liberals” in the U.S. judicial system who died on Friday.
“Our nation mourns the loss of a ‘judicial giant.’ Justice Ginsburg's work helped bring about greater equality for women, secure rights for the disabled, and will continue to influence our Nation for generations to come," President Donald Trump said in a statement. He instructed that flags be lowered to half-staff as a sign of respect for her.
USFK chief: ‘Difficult to transfer OPCON to S. Korea next year’
The Moon Jae-in administration is speeding up steps to take over wartime operational control from the U.S. within the end of its term (May 2022), but Gen. Robert Abrams, commander of United States Forces Korea, reportedly expressed to U.S. military officials his negative view on the South Korean military’s current capability to manage OPCON. Critics are raising concern that if the security environment surrounding the Korean Peninsula shakes up once again after the U.S. presidential election in November, the gap between Seoul and Washington could widen over the timing of OPCON transfer once more.
Hyundai’s Xcient wins innovation award in China
Hyundai Motor Company has won the 2020 Truck Innovation Award in China with the hydrogen fuel cell electric truck that it has recently exported to Europe.
The South Korean car manufacturer said Sunday that its hydrogen electric truck “Xcient” won the second place in the hydrogen fuel cell innovation category at the fifth International Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle Forum, which took place on Tuesday in Shanghai, China.
Hyundai Motor Company was the only foreign automaker that received an award with Chinese companies and institutions sweeping all the other awards from the first prize to participation awards. It was also the only company that won an award for a fully built unit.
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Maeil Business News Korea (http://www.pulsenews.co.kr/)
Hyundai Motor Securities poised to join big league
Hyundai Motor Securities, the brokerage arm of South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group, has joined the 1 trillion won ($860 million) equity club, posting record earnings in the first half of this year after finishing 2019 at an all-time high.
As of late June, the brokerage firm’s equity capital totaled 1.03 trillion won, helped by its record first-half results and the issuance of redeemable convertible preference shares worth 103.6 billion won.
LG Chem battery unit IPO won’t be earlier than early 2022 with 20-30% offering
South Korea’s LG Chem Ltd. won’t be able to list the separated battery-making unit within the first year and will likely offer 20 to 30 percent in initial offering when it goes public in early 2022 to hold onto a controlling stake.
“Even if we immediately go to work (after the standalone battery unit is launched on Dec. 1), it would take at least a year to ready an IPO,” said Cha Dong-seok Friday, chief financial officer of LG Chem in a conference call hurriedly arranged on the following day of the announcement of the spinoff plan that upset investors who invested heavily in the company this year on burgeoning battery outlook.
WKF: Equal access is another hurdle to COVID-19 solution after vaccine development
Multinational efforts are ongoing to develop effective jabs against COVID-19 that already killed nearly 1 million people around the world, but the development of a vaccine alone will not end this global crisis due to multiple challenging issues concerning supplies, mutations and origin of the virus, experts said.
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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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Korean-language Internet edition: http://www.koreapost.co.kr
English-language Internet edition: http://www.koreapost.com
Korean-language print newspaper:
http://pdf.koreapost.co.kr/49/4901.pdf
http://pdf.koreapost.co.kr/49/4902.pdf
http://pdf.koreapost.co.kr/49/4903.pdf
http://www.koreapost.co.kr/pdf/list.php?category=&syear=2018&smonth=03&sday=26&hosu=40
EnglishE-daily: http://www.koreapost.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=21461