Friday, December 11, 2020
Round-up of important news from major Korean dailies and from international media today
The Korea Post (http://www.koreapost.com/)
“Health and beauty of teeth are in the best state when in harmony with each other”
“Health and beauty of teeth are the best when they are in harmony,” MINISH dental hospital CEO Kang Jung-ho said in a recent interview with The Korea Post media.
Speaking at the interview, CEO Kang said, “Being able to laugh is confidence. We can say that teeth are also a source of confidence. The most important thing to avoid is damage to your teeth for aesthetic reasons. Besides, if the treatment damages the aesthetic of the teeth, then it should be considered as well.”
Noting that MINISH dental hospital is working with VITA in Germany, the world's largest dental material company, to jointly develop MINISH blocks tailored to individuals in a milling method, CEO Kang said, “To help you understand the milling method, it's a sculpture. It is the most stable method, away from the plastic method and casting method used to produce dental prosthetics. It is also a treatment that minimizes damage to teeth.”
Hyundai Construction Equipment wins $40 million orders from Russia, Saudi Arabia
Hyundai Construction Equipment has won a series of big orders in emerging markets such as Russia.
Hyundai Construction Equipment, an affiliate of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, announced on Dec. 9 that it has recently won orders from customers in Russia and Saudi Arabia for 415 units, including 130 excavators, wheel loaders, and backhoe loaders, worth a total of $40 million.
The equipment will be supplied sequentially to Russia's Gazprom, the world's largest gas producer, by the first half of next year. It is more than 40 percent of the equipment Hyundai Construction Equipment sold in Russia last year.
Coupang Developer Conference “Reveal 2020” to be held online on Dec. 11
Coupang will commence its “Reveal 2020” developer conference on Dec. 11 to share its technology and experiences with developers from outside the company. Over 4,500 people have already registered since Coupang’s first announcement on the conference, showing significant interest in the event.
Reveal 2020 is an event where Coupang developers will share information on the company’s latest technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) and big data, as well as their experience and know-how gained during the service development process. They will also share about the challenges they have faced while attempting new things, and the various know-how they have accumulated while overcoming these challenges.
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KBS (http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/)
Panel Closes Session Without Conclusion on Disciplinary Action for Top Prosecutor
A Justice Ministry panel held a meeting to decide disciplinary action against Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl on Thursday, but failed to reach conclusion after nine hours of discussion.
The disciplinary committee wrapped up the first round of deliberation at 8 p.m. without reaching a conclusion on the level of disciplinary action Yoon should face over a series of alleged irregularities.
The next meeting will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday. In the Thursday session, the Justice Ministry explained the reasons for requesting disciplinary actions against the top prosecutor, including the alleged surveillance of judges.
Moon: 2050 Carbon Neutrality Initiative to Further Solidify S. Korea's Global Leadership
President Moon Jae-in says South Korea will take the initiative in achieving carbon neutrality, setting a global example and displaying leadership as it has done in the COVID-19 frontline.
Moon declared his vision for the country’s 2050 carbon neutrality initiative in a televised speech Thursday evening.
Since first announcing his administration's carbon-reduction plan in his budget speech at the National Assembly in October, Moon has reiterated his resolve to meet the target in 30 years' time. On Monday, the government put forward a blueprint for the initiative, including a no-industry-left-behind policy in going carbon neutral.
COVID-19 Daily Tally Again Nears 700, Overall Total Eclipses 40,000
Coronavirus cases in South Korea surged by nearly 700 on Thursday, as infection clusters continued to spread despite heightened social distancing in effect nationwide. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) said as of 12:00 a.m. Thursday, 682 additional people tested positive, raising the country's cumulative total to 40-thousand-98.
The overall tally surpasses the 40-thousand-mark nearly eleven months after the country's first case on January 20, and just 19 days after entering the 30-thousands.
The daily increase, which remained at around 100 up until early November, spiked rapidly over the past month to peak in the higher 600s. Six-hundred-46 of the new cases were local infections, of which 489 were in the Seoul metropolitan area.
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Yonhap (http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr)
GM Korea union OKs 2nd tentative wage deal
GM Korea Co. and its union have reached a second tentative wage deal after union members rejected the first deal early this month, the company said Friday. In a vote held from Nov. 30 to Dec. 1, GM Korea workers turned down the first tentative wage agreement as they were not satisfied with the company's proposals on wages and collective agreement terms.
Under the initial agreement, GM Korea offered to provide 4 million won (US$3,600) per worker in performance-based pay and bonuses for the year of 2020 instead of freezing basic salary.
In the second deal, GM Korea agreed to drop a damages suit filed against the union for strike-driven output losses and pay the performance-based pay and the bonuses within this year, a company spokesman said over the phone.
S. Korea on alert over bird flu as highly pathogenic cases near 10
South Korea remained on alert over a further rise in highly pathogenic bird flu cases Friday as the number of highly pathogenic cases in farms approached 10 in less than two months.
The country reported yet another suspected case of highly pathogenic bird flu from Jeongeup, 222 kilometers south of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs. The farm was raising 17,000 ducks.
Authorities were already investigating another suspected case from Jangseong, South Jeolla Province. So far, South Korea has confirmed a total of eight seriously contagious avian influenza cases from local farms nationwide.
Arrest warrant issued for prosecutor-turned-politician in Lime Asset probe
A court issued an arrest warrant on Thursday for former high-ranking prosecutor Yun Gap-geun in a financial fraud scandal involving Lime Asset Management.
The Seoul Southern District Court granted the warrant for Yun, who served as the chief prosecutor of the Daegu High Prosecutors Office and now leads the main opposition People Power Party's North Chungcheong Province office, citing, "fear of fleeing or destroying evidence."
The prosecutor-turned-politician is accused of having received around 200 million won (US$184,000) in kickbacks from Kim Bong-hyun, the jailed former chairman of Star Mobility, known as the main financial source for Lime, to help him resolve the suspension of Lime fund's redemption at Woori Bank.
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The Korea Herald (http://www.koreaherald.com)
Revised laws may have big ramifications for major conglomerates
South Korean businesses on Thursday cried foul over the passage of what they called anti-business bills, saying the revisions could threaten management controls and put pressure on them at a time of unseen hardships stemming from the pandemic.
Among the bills that passed the National Assembly on Wednesday, a revision to the Commercial Act regarding the “3 percent rule” has been met with the most criticism.
The amendment requires listed companies to elect at least one auditor from outside their boards and limits the voting rights of the largest shareholders to 3 percent for the auditor’s appointment.
Moon announces S. Korea’s commitment to carbon neutrality by 2050
President Moon Jae-in officially announced South Korea‘s target of becoming carbon neutral by 2050 in his address to the nation on Thursday.
Moon said going carbon neutral cannot not be delayed any further as Korea looks to overcome the climate crisis and aim for a sustainable future, according to the presidential office.
By promising carbon neutrality, Korea will raise new, promising industries, activate a circular economy and help form a low-carbon ecosystem for the business sector, Moon was quoted as saying.
Ministry opens disciplinary proceedings against prosecutor general
The Ministry of Justice convened a hearing Thursday to decide the level of disciplinary action against Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl over a series of alleged irregularities, in an unprecedented move that highlights a long-simmering conflict between the top prosecutor and Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae.
Yoon absented himself from the meeting, which started at 10:30 a.m. at Gwacheon Government Complex and will determine whether he is subject to disciplinary action over allegations raised by the justice minister against him last month.
The chief prosecutor’s attempt to recuse four of the seven committee members, who were selected by the minister, ended in failure with the committee rejecting the motion filed by his legal team.
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The Korea Times (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr)
'Korea's democracy in crisis'
Concerns are growing over the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) making the most use of its supermajority in the National Assembly, as it continues to steamroller controversial bills through the legislature.
The opposition bloc and experts say such an act is damaging the democratic values that President Moon Jae-in and the DPK had pledged to uphold.
The DPK has 173 seats, almost three fifths of the 300-strong Assembly, and thus is able to push ahead with the passage of contentious bills with the support of several liberal-minded lawmakers. The main opposition People Power Party (PPP), on the other hand, has 103 seats and does not have any practical way to prevent the ruling party from passing the bills.
US delays ruling on LG-SK dispute
As widely-expected, the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) again delayed a decision in an industrial espionage case involving the world's top battery manufacturer LG Energy Solution and rival SK Innovation (SKI), this time to Feb. 10 next year.
The USITC said the decision to delay its ruling was made through a vote of its members, without giving any details.
LG Energy Solution, a key battery supplier for Tesla, General Motors (GM) and other leading car manufacturers, filed a complaint against SKI in a U.S. court last year, alleging the theft of some of its battery patents, something SKI denied. It sought to ban SKI from manufacturing battery cells and packs at its Georgia plant and importing the parts necessary to make them.
Kim & Chang, Mirae Asset may turn to allies from enemies
The saying, "Yesterday's enemy is today's friend," could be an appropriate way to describe the recent relationship between Kim & Chang and Mirae Asset Daewoo.
The two were on opposite sides when the former represented China's Anbang Insurance Group in its legal dispute with Mirae Asset subsidiaries over a disrupted $5.8 billion deal for 15 luxury hotels in the United States, a battle which virtually ended in the victory of the Korean financial firm earlier this month.
However, the nation's leading law firm is now mentioned as a potential legal counsel of a consortium with HDC Hyundai Development Company and Mirae Asset Daewoo in its lawsuit against Kumho E&C and Asiana Airlines over a 251.5 billion won ($231 million) deposit paid before the rupture of the takeover bid for the air carrier.
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HanKyoReh Shinmun (http://english.hani.co.kr)
Gyeonggi Province fills 91.8% of hospital beds for patients in critical or severe condition, approaching saturation
Gyeonggi Province is reaching saturation levels as its hospital beds fill amid a sharp increase in COVID-19 diagnoses, with an average of 250 people per day placed on standby for a hospital bed as the province’s daily caseload exceeded 200 for the first time. The province is currently going all out to acquire additional hospital space in anticipation of a bed shortage.
“At present, Gyeonggi Province has acquired 1,056 beds at community treatment centers, 630 at infectious disease hospitals, and 49 for patients in critical condition, for a total of 1,735 beds,” explained Kim Jae-hoon, director of the Gyeonggi Province health bureau, in a regular briefing on Dec. 9.
“The occupancy rates for infectious disease hospitals and critical patient sickbeds are reaching saturation levels at 89.2% and 91.8%, respectively,” he added. In the case of beds for patients in critical conditions, 45 out of 49 are currently being used, leaving just four to spare.
Prosecutors accused of receiving favors let off the hook because of value of the time spent being entertained
The decision by prosecutors not to press charges against two of three currently serving prosecutors who were treated to drinks by former Star Mobility Chairman Kim Bong-hyun — based on their calculation of the value of time spent at the drinking gathering — has critics accusing investigators of going easy on their own.
On Dec. 8, a dedicated team (headed by Kim Rak-hyeon of the sixth criminal division director) investigating gifts and favors to prosecutors at the Seoul Nambu District Prosecutors’ Office decided to proceed with an indictment without detention on charges of violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act against just one of three currently serving prosecutors who were treated to drinks on July 18 of last year by Kim, a key figure in the Lime Asset Management case.
Kim Yo-jong attacks Kang Kyung-wha for “reckless remarks” on N. Korea’s COVID stats
North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Dec. 9 that Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, had released a statement the previous day in which she said that North Korea will “never forget [. . .] the reckless remarks” of South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha.
Kim, whose official position is first deputy director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), accused Kang of making “reckless remarks” when she voiced disbelief about the North Korean authorities’ official position that not a single case of COVID-19 had been reported inside the country.
“Days ago, I heard a detailed report about [an] impudent comment made by [South] Korean Foreign Minister Kang [Kyung-wha] on the emergency anti-epidemic measures of the DPRK [North Korea] during her visit to the Middle East,” Kim said.
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Chosun Ilbo (http://english.chosun.com)
Coronavirus Tests Free for All
From now on anyone can be tested for coronavirus for free even if they have not come into contact with patients or have no symptoms.
Jeong Eun-kyeong, the chief of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, made the announcement during a virtual conference chaired by President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday.
She pledged to run makeshift test facilities in about 150 locations like popular hangouts for students and railway stations in the capital region during a three-week intensive testing period over the festive season. They will open until 9 p.m. on weekdays and six p.m. on weekends.
Kim Jong-un's Sister Threatens S.Korea over 'COVID Lie'
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister Yo-jong on Wednesday warned that South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha will "pay dearly" for doubting the regime's claim that there are no coronavirus infections in North Korea.
Kim Yo-jong, who has evolved into a hysterical attack dog on behalf of her brother, in a statement denounced South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha's "presumptuous remarks" and said the North will "never forget" them.
Kang had cast mild doubt on the regime's implausible claim, saying at the Manama Dialogue, a security summit in Bahrain last week, that it "is hard to believe."
Movie Theaters Suffer Worst Attendance in Decades
Cinema attendance is likely to fall to the lowest numbers on record this year due to the coronavirus crisis.
Last year, a record 226 million movie tickets were sold, but the number is expected to fall to less than 60 million this year, or barely more than one ticket per person in Korea.
According to the Korea Film Council, the last time ticket sales were this low was in 1999 (54.7 million) and 2000 (64.6 million), in the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
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The Dong-A Ilbo (http://english.donga.com/)
B-1B bomber launches a cruise missile externally
The United States Strategic Command announced Wednesday (local time) that the B-1B Lancer, a strategic bomber dubbed the “swan of death,” has successfully launched a Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM). The U.S. Strategic Command is a military command in charge of controlling the country’s nuclear and strategic weapons including intercontinental ballistic missiles.
This is the first time that the bomber has demonstrated such a capability since it was seen flying with JASSM on external pylon late November. The test appears to be part of the U.S. Air Force’s plan to boost the combat punch of the B-1B bomber in the face of nuclear threats from North Korea and emerging challenges from the Chinese military. Washington has been mounting a series of military pressures since Joe Biden was elected in November by conducing tests on its core strategic weapons, including strategic bombers and stealth fighter jets and deploying major military assets in Asia.
Samsung unveils 110-inch MicroLED TV
Samsung Electronics unveiled Thursday a brand-new premium TV lineup priced at around 170 million won, which is the highest price among Samsung’s household TV models. Samsung explained that the latest model boasts the best resolution ever. Competition over premium TV market is expected to grow fiercer thanks to an increasing number of consumers enjoying various contents at home with higher expectation of better visuals and audio quality.
Samsung’s new MicroLED TVs radiate lights on their own, with tiny LED particles micrometers long obviating the need of back-lights or color filters. About 3.3m² wide, the new model has more than eight million micro LED lights with three colors – red, green, and blue – boasting 4K resolution. “The MicroLED technology reenacts every color of any subject nearly 100%,” said an official from Samsung Electronics.
France approves development of super soldiers
A frail man is enhanced to the peak of human physicality after receiving a serum that gives him strength and stamina 10 times greater than an average soldier. This is how Steve Rogers from “Captain America: The First Avenger” becomes “Captain America.”
Efforts to develop a super soldier like him have officially begun in France. It is expected to intensify the competition among military powers to turn their armed forces into “lethal weapons,” which will be a game changer in warfare.
BBC has reported that France’s military ethics committee gave the French armed forces permission to use medical treatments and implants in order to develop soldiers with enhanced physical, cognitive and psychological capabilities.
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The KyungHyang Shinmun (http://english.khan.co.kr/)
No Hospital Beds for COVID-19 Patients: Families Risk Life with COVID-19-Positive Members
Despite tighter physical distancing, the novel coronavirus is spreading at a faster pace in the Seoul metropolitan area. The previous day, over five hundred new cases were confirmed in the greater Seoul area, a record since the COVID-19 outbreak first began in the nation. Hospitals have already exceeded their intensive care unit (ICU) capacity and are also running out of general beds. In Gyeonggi-do, some patients have to wait 3-4 days to be assigned a hospital bed.
According to the Central Quarantine Headquarters on December 9, 686 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed the previous day. This was the biggest number since February 29 (909), when the first outbreak peaked.
The situation is putting our medical system into overload. Just like in the Daegu, Gyeongsangbuk-do area in February and March, some patients have to wait at home for 2-3 days after they are confirmed COVID-19-positive to get treatment. According to the specific status of confirmed patients in Gyeonggi-do on December 9, the status of patients who were confirmed positive for the novel coronavirus on December 6-7 was still stated as “waiting for hospital beds” or “scheduled to be put under quarantine.”
“Reckless Words Without Thinking of Consequences” Kim Yo-jong Responds to Kang Kyung-wha’s Comment on North Korea’s Response to COVID-19
Kim Yo-jong, first deputy director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, released a statement for the first time in six months and openly condemned Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha’s remarks.
In the statement released by the Korea Central News Agency on December 9, Kim directly attacked Minister Kang saying, “The South Korean foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha made an arrogant assessment of our emergency quarantine measures during her trip to the Middle East.” Kim continued and said, “Watching her pour out reckless words with no consideration of the consequences, I feel she is desperate to send a colder chill on the frozen inter-Korean relations,” and argued, “We will forever remember this, and the costs shall be calculated accurately.”
Kim’s statement was released to refute the foreign minister’s comment at the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, which she attended on December 5 at the invitation of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). This day, during a Q&A session with the panel after her speech, Kang said that she did not believe North Korea’s statement that it was free of COVID-19.
47% of Single-Person Households Pay a Monthly Rent
Last year, nearly half of all single-person households paid a monthly rent for their housing. And single-person households said of all the housing support, they needed help with loans for jeonse (lease on a lump-sum deposit) the most.
According to Single-Person Households Seen Through Statistics 2020, which Statistics Korea released on December 8, last year, there were over 6.1 million single-person households, and they accounted for 30.2% of all households (20.3 million). The proportion of single-person households has been steadily growing each year, and last year it surpassed 30% for the first time. A closer look at the age groups showed that the proportion of single-person households was highest among the twenty-somethings (18.2%), followed by people in their thirties (16.8%), fifties (16.3%), sixties (15.2%), and forties (14.2%). Of the single-person households, 21.1% (1.3 million) lived in Seoul and 21.0% (1.29 million) lived in Gyeonggi, showing that many lived in the greater Seoul area.
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Maeil Business News Korea (http://www.pulsenews.co.kr/)
Koreans feel higher inflation than official CPI rate: BOK
The inflation rate that reflects changes in consumer spending patterns driven by the coronavirus pandemic was higher than the official headline inflation rate, according to data from the Bank of Korea on Thursday.
The bank’s data showed that the difference between the country’s official consumer price index (CPI) and the adjusted index reflecting shifts in spending patterns widened from 0.15 percentage point in January to 0.56 percentage point in May. The wider gap is in line with a global trend in major countries after the Covid-19 pandemic – the United States (0.70 percentage point), Switzerland (0.67 percentage point), and Canada (0.30 percentage point).
Six out of 10 newlyweds in Korea without home, debt rises 12% due to mortgage
Six out of 10 newlyweds in South Korea were without homes and four did not have children as of last year to suggest housing as a major turnoff to marriage and having kids in a country grappling with the world’s lowest birth rate.
Total household debt held by newlywed couples in South Korea gained 12 percent to 110 million won ($101,350) last year from a year ago mainly to purchase homes, data showed Thursday.
According to data from Statistics Korea, 85.8 percent of 998,365 couples that have been married for 5 years or less as of Nov. 1 last year was indebted, up 0.7 percentage point from a year ago. Loans included those borrowed from financial institutions, excluding private loans, for household and corporate purposes.
SK Bioscience chosen to receive $10mn from CEPI for vaccine development
SK Bioscience’s second Covid-19 vaccine candidate GBP510 has been chose to receive $10 million in funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), becoming the first to be supported as part of the global partnership’s Wave 2 initiative, the South Korean company said on Wednesday.
SK Bioscience will use the funding for Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials. Shares of SK Chemical, which owns 98 percent of the vaccine unit, were up 0.8 percent at 386,000 won.
CEPI is a global health partnership launched in 2017 with the aim to accelerate the development of vaccines against infectious diseases and enable equitable access to these vaccines during outbreaks.
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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
Australia Brisbane Times www.brisbanetimes.com.au syndication@fairfaxmedia.com.au
Sydney Morning Herald www.smh.com.au
Colombia Reports www.colombiareports.com
Bogota Free Planet www.bogotafreeplanet.com bfp@bogotafreeplanet.com
El Universal www.eluniversal.com.mx/english
Andes www.redaktionstest.net/andes-info-ec/
Ecuador Times www.ecuadortimes.net/
The Jordan Times www.jordantimes.com/
LSM.lv www.lsm.lv/
The Baltic Times www.baltictimes.com lithuania@baltictimes.com, estonia@baltictimes.com, editor@baltictimes.com
El Pais https://english.elpais.com/
Philippine Daily Inquirer www.inquirer.net/
Daily News Hungary https://dailynewshungary.com/
Budapest Times www.budapesttimes.hu/
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The Korea Post is running video clips from the different embassies.
Azerbaijan: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR8CBpcQ4WM
Sri Lanka: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hByX92Y2aGY&t=22s
Morocco: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfFmp2sVvSE
And many other countries.
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