Tuesday, November 8, 2022
Round-up of important news from major Korean dailies and from international media today
The Korea Post ( www.koreapost.com )
Azerbaijan celebrates 2nd anniversary of the victory gained at the Patriotic War
On November 8, Azerbaijani people are celebrating the Second Anniversary of the Victory gained at the 44-Day Patriotic War in 2020. Late 1980’s and the beginning of 1990’s witnessed the occupation of Azerbaijani territories that ended with the loss of 20% of our territories. Despite several calls by the international community including UN Security Council resolutions that demanded immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian forces - Armenian occupation continued up until 2020. Negotiation process aimed at the peaceful resolution of the conflict failed due to aggressive policy of Armenia. Azerbaijan has been left no other choice but to respond to the Armenian aggression and provocations militarily. It was exactly two years ago when Azerbaijani Armed Forces began responsive measures to counter another military provocation of the occupiers.
LS Electric boosts exports to the ASEAN market with Bac Ninh Plant in Vietnam as a central hub
LS Electric will expand its presence in the ASEAN market with its Bac Ninh plant in Vietnam serving as a central hub of exports. LS Electric announced on Oct. 26 that a full-fledged plant rollout ceremony was held for the Bac Ninh plant at the Yenfong Industrial Complex in Bac Ninh Province, Vietnam. There were 300 officials in attendance, including LS Electric’s CEO Koo Ja-kyun, Chairperson Nguyen Huong Giang of the Bac Ninh Province People’s Committee, and South Korean Ambassador Oh Young-joo in Hanoi.
Korea, Saudi Arabia hold talks on energy supply chain cooperation
Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang held a videoconference with Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman on Nov. 2 at the latter’s request and discussed bilateral cooperation in energy sectors. The two countries shared the emphasis on the need for communication and cooperation between them, as crude oil supplier and consumer, to seek out oil market stabilization measures. Noting that Saudi Arabia is Korea’s major source of crude oil and the two are mutually reliable partners, they concurred that continued collaboration in petrochemicals and other diverse energy and industry sectors is beneficial for supply chain stabilization.
Chosun Ilbo (http://english.chosun.com)
Korean Navy Participates in Japanese Fleet Review
The South Korean Navy took part in Japan's international fleet review on Sunday for the first time since 2015 after relations reached freezing point."We decided to participate in the fleet review in Japan in view of the growing North Korean nuclear missile threat," the Navy said. It was held in Sagami Bay off Kanagawa Prefecture with some 14 countries participating including Australia, Canada, France, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Thailand and the U.S.
Rescued Miners Reveal How They Survived 9 Days Underground
Two miners were miraculously rescued on Friday after being trapped in a collapsed zinc mine for nine days. One of them, a 56-year-old who wished to be identified only by his surname Park, told the Chosun Ilbo on Sunday, "My arms and legs froze in fear the moment the mine collapsed and we were trapped in darkness. But I did everything I could to endure and ended up surviving." "When the mine collapsed, I had four liters of drinking water and 18 sticks of instant coffee mix," he recalled. "I ate one stick a day by dissolving it in water, and two or three when I was really hungry." He boiled the water in a pot that was in the mine, but they ran out after three days. "The water on the ground was dirty, so I collected water dripping from the ceiling to drink."
KFA Cancels Street Cheering Events for World Cup
The Korea Football Association has canceled all mass cheering events for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar in the aftermath of the deadly Halloween stampede in Itaewon. The KFA last Friday said the decision was made out of respect for the victims and their families. Events were planned for Gwanghwamun Plaza as well as other prominent locations across Korea. Street cheering first began during the World Cup in 2002, when the country co-hosted the quadrennial event with Japan.
Joongang Ilbo (https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com )
Twitter Korea decimated, communications team sacked
Twitter Korea is a ghost town, with reports emerging that it may have fired most of its employees. "Departments not directly related to sales were hit hard. Except for Country Director Shin Chang-seob and a few departments, most were dismissed,” one employee said. Shin has been country director since June 2013 and is still listed on LinkedIn as being in that post. The communications department has been sacked entirely, so information coming out of the company is limited — only a single email address has been provided — press@twitter.com
North brags of cruise missile flights South says didn't happen
North Korea said Monday that it launched two "strategic" cruise missiles into waters off South Korea's southeastern coast near Ulsan last week, which apparently were not detected by Seoul's military. The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) revealed in unusual detail a series of military drills it held during a four-day period from last Wednesday to Saturday, which included testing a new long-range missile design and mobilizing 500 warplanes. Pyongyang claimed that its "corresponding military operations" were in response to the U.S.-South Korea Vigilant Storm drill that ran from Oct. 31 to Saturday.
Yongsan police chief wasn't where he said he was on tragic night
Lee Im-jae, chief of the Yongsan Police Station on the night of the deadly Itaewon crowd crush, lied about his whereabouts that night, according to police investigations. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety and police initially said Lee arrived at the scene at 10:17 p.m. on Oct. 29, minutes after the accident occurred, and taken charge immediately. Around 130,000 people gathered in Itaewon for early Halloween celebrations that day. Overcrowding in the alleys behind and next to the Hamilton Hotel in Yongsan District, central Seoul led to the crowd crush at around 10:15 p.m. which led to 156 deaths.
The Dong-A Ilbo (http://english.donga.com/)
N. Korea claims it launched missiles for revenge to near Ulsan
On Monday, the North Korean Army’s General Staff Department claimed that it launched two strategic cruise missiles into the international waters 80 kilometers away from Ulsan in South Korea from North Hamgyong Province on the first day of its four-day military operation against South Korea last week. The missiles traveled 590.5 kilometers. This was not included in the South Korean military’s briefing of North Korean provocations. The South Korean military said the North’s claim was false, and no cruise missile was identified.
Samsung begins mass production of 8th-gen vertical NAND
Samsung Electronics has begun mass producing a 1-terabit (Tb) triple-level cell (TLC) eighth-generation Vertical NAND (V-NAND) with the industry’s highest bit density. The South Korean tech giant promised the plan at Flash Memory Summit 2022 and Samsung Memory Tech Day 2022. Samsung’s eighth-generation V-NAND features an input and output (I/O) speed of up to 2.4 gigabits per second (Gbps), a 1.2 times boost over the previous generation. The eighth-generation V-NAND is expected to be at the forefront of efforts to expand the storage capacity in next-generation enterprise servers while extending its use into the automotive market, where reliability is especially critical.
Pope hopes for religious freedom on his first visit to Bahrain
As Pope Francis on Thursday (local time) visited Bahrain, where around 70 percent of the population is Muslim, Catholics raised hopes that Catholic Church would open dialogue with the Islamic World. According to Reuters, Pope Francis started his three-night itinerary in Bahrain as the first-ever pope to visit the country and attended a welcoming event held by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. It is his 39th overseas trip since his inauguration. The pope accepted the king’s invitation to improve the bonds between Catholics and Muslims.
Maeil Business News Korea (http://www.pulsenews.co.kr/)
Seoul grapples to cap fuel price spike upon LNG price jump
South Korea may have to cap the rise in wholesale utility prices as liquefied natural gas (LNG) import prices already hovering at record levels are bound to head higher in colder weather due to increased demand from the world’s two most populated countries of China and India. According to the fourth quarter natural gas market report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Sunday, Asian spot LNG prices spiked to its record high of above $45 per MMBtu on average in the third quarter after gaining more than 70 percent from a quarter ago.
Naver Q3 income falls on increased capex despite thriving contents biz
South Korean internet giant Naver Corp. on Monday reported subdued income gain due to increased investment on datacenter infrastructure and sluggish equity value despite robust revenue on burgeoning contents business. According to Naver’s regulatory filing on Monday, its consolidated operating income fell 1.8 percent on quarter and 5.6 percent on year to 330.2 billion won in the July-September period, but managed to come above the market consensus of 321.6 billion.
LG Group’s automotive pivot pays off, relevant sales nearly doubles on yr
South Korea’s fourth largest conglomerate LG has achieved 10 trillion won ($7.09 billion) sales milestone from automotives after betting high on electronics and components behind the power of future mobility. Based on third-quarter sales results of companies engaged in automotive business, LG Group earned a total 10.37 trillion won ? 2.35 trillion won from LG Electronics’ vehicle component solutions, 380.8 billion won from LG Innotek’s vehicle components, and 7.65 trillion won from LG Energy Solution producing EV batteries.
HanKyoReh Shinmun (http://english.hani.co.kr)
Calls for parliamentary probe into Itaewon disaster meet pushback from ruling party
For a week now, the special investigations office at South Korea’s National Police Agency (NPA) has been stuck at the internal stage of its investigation, which is focused on recreating the actions of the police leadership on the day of the deadly crowd crush in Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood. Even granting that the police investigation is still in its initial stage, legal experts and politicians object that the investigation will be of limited utility in dealing with the failure of Korea’s disaster response control towers, including the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the presidential office, as long as it’s only considering whether the police leadership can be charged for dereliction of duty.
One week after Itaewon tragedy, one survivor recounts the emotional aftermath
“Hello. I don’t feel like a survivor. I was caught in front of the Waikiki bar and was almost swept into the alley where the incident happened, but…. [. . .] From 10:40 pm onwards I thought, ‘Oh, OK. I’m out of that situation. Can I go get a drink and have fun now?’” “K,” a survivor of the deadly crowd crush in Itaewon, turned her computer on and started to write. After escaping the deadly crowd crush, she was diagnosed as being at high risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at a local mental health welfare center two days later. Ever since that night, K hasn’t even spoken to the friend she had been with that fateful night. Because she lives on her own rather than with friends or family, K has had to take care of herself.
Seoul eyes summits with Japan, US for mid-November
Amid the growing threat of North Korea’s nuclear weapon and missile programs, the leaders of South Korea and Japan are expected to hold a bilateral summit, as well as a summit with the US president, on the sidelines of international events scheduled for mid-November. If South Korea and Japan hold an official summit, it will be their first in three years, since December 2019. In a Saturday report, Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper quoted multiple officials in the government as saying that the Japanese and South Korean governments had begun scheduling a summit that may be held during an international event in Southeast Asia on Nov. 10-16.
The KyungHyangShinmun (http://english.khan.co.kr/)
President Yoon, “We Will Hold Accountable the People Responsible for the Tragic Incident According to the Investigation Result”
On November 7, President Yoon Suk-yeol spoke about the Halloween crowd crush in Itaewon that occurred on October 29 and said, “According to the results (of the investigation), we will strictly hold accountable the people who were responsible.” This morning, the president presided over a meeting to inspect the national safety system in the Office of the President in Yongsan and said, “We will make sure that the investigation into the latest tragic event will be conducted thoroughly. We will disclose the process to the citizens transparently, not leaving a speck of suspicion.”
Yongsan Police Station Reported Dangers of a Crowd in Itaewon to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Early October, “Many Related Reports”
On November 6, it was confirmed that the Yongsan Police Station in Seoul had reported to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency that they “expected a large crowd to gather in Itaewon for Halloween” in early October. This has triggered criticism that the police not only failed to properly respond to 112 calls of a possible crowd crush and to assign additional mobile police units on the day of the tragic event, but that they also failed to utilize “intelligence,” despite receiving information from the frontline police. Voices argue that the police should also be held responsible for such failures.
The Chief of Yongsan-gu Passed by the Site Two Hours Before the Crowd Crush, But Left Without Doing Anything
The whereabouts of Park Hee-young, the district mayor of Yongsan-gu, on the day of the Halloween crowd crush in Itaewon is stirring controversy. Park passed by the place where the tragic incident occurred two hours before the stampede but failed to take any action. It was also revealed that the tragic site was near her residence. At the time of the incident, Park was on her way home after taking part in a festival in Uiryeong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, her hometown. According to the explanation by the Yongsan-gu Office on November 4, the chief of Yongsan-gu visited Uiryeong-gun, her hometown and also a sister city with Yongsan-gu, on October 29.
KBS(http://world.kbs.co.kr/service)
N. Korea Expresses 'Strong Regret' over UN Chief's Condemnation of Missile Launches
North Korea has expressed "strong regret" over the condemnation by the head of the United Nations(UN) of Pyongyang's recent series of missile launches. On Friday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres issued a statement "strongly" condemning the North's salvo of missile launches, urging the North to immediately cease provocations and resume talks on denuclearization. Kim Son-gyong, vice minister for international organizations of foreign affairs, expressed strong regret over the statement in a release carried by the official Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday.
N. Korea Denies Arms Supplies to Russia
North Korea has continued to deny any arms deal with Russia in the face of accusations by the U.S. that the regime has supplied Moscow with materiel for use in its war in Ukraine. A statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday denounced the U.S. for persistently spreading the "groundless rumor" of arms provisions from Pyongyang to Moscow. In the statement, the vice director of military foreign affairs from the North's defense ministry said that Pyongyang has never had any deal with Russia and has no plans to do so.
Incheon Int'l Airport Daily Traffic Tops 90,000 for First Time Since Pandemic
The daily number of passengers traveling through Incheon International Airport has surpassed 90-thousand for the first time in two years and eight months. According to the Incheon International Airport Corporation on Monday, 93-thousand-251 people traveled via the air hub the previous day, exceeding 90-thousand for the first time since February 24, 2020. The figure marks an increase of more than ten times from the nine-thousand-93 logged on January 1 this year. The rise is attributed to eased entry restrictions in Japan and Taiwan, which accounted for nearly a quarter of total demand for flight services at the airport before the outbreak of COVID-19.
Yonhap (http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr)
Yongsan police, ward chiefs, 2 others booked for probe over Itaewon crowd crush
The now-suspended police chief in the district of Yongsan has been booked for an investigation, along with the head of the Yongsan Ward office and two others, on charges of professional negligence resulting in death in connection with the deadly Itaewon crowd crush, officials said Monday. Police and fire authorities, and the Yongsan Ward office have been under fire following revelations that there had been warning signs before the deadly accident, but they did little to prevent it or to respond in a timely manner.
U.S. urges Russia, China to hold N. Korea accountable for recent provocations
A state department spokesperson called on China and Russia on Monday to hold North Korea accountable for its missile launches in violation of U.N. Security Council (UNSC) sanctions, insisting failure to do so will not be in their interest. The call from state department press secretary Ned Price came after Moscow and Beijing blocked U.S.-led efforts to punish North Korea for its recent provocations that included the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, along with more than a dozen short and intermediate range ballistic missiles.
N. Korea voices 'strong regret' over U.N. chief's criticism of recent missile launches: state media
North Korea on Tuesday voiced "strong regret" that the head of the United Nations has denounced Pyongyang's recent barrage of missiles, according to its state media. Last week, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a statement "strongly" condemning the North's missile launches, including an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), and urged the reclusive country to immediately cease provocations.
The Korea Herald (http://www.koreaherald.com)
With official mourning period over, Yoon vows to hold culprits to account
With the end of the national mourning period for the Itaewon disaster, President Yoon Suk-yeol is now grappling with who to hold accountable amid continued revelations regarding the nation’s poor response and growing calls to sack related high-ranking officials. At a national safety system inspection meeting held at the presidential office in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on Monday morning, Yoon said, “We will strictly hold the responsible people accountable according to the (investigation’s) results.”
Seoul, Washington, Tokyo warn Pyongyang provocations only create further isolation
South Korea, the United States and Japan on Monday strongly condemned North Korea for launching an unprecedented number of ballistic missiles last week, and warned that such provocative actions would only further isolate the regime. In a trilateral talk over the phone, South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong spoke with his American and Japanese counterparts, Wendy Sherman and Takeo Mori, to discuss cooperation measures to handle North Korea’s missile threats, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said.
Top officials grilled over deadly Halloween crowd surge
The National Assembly on Monday grilled high-ranking officials over their handling of the Itaewon crowd crush as the country tries to get to the bottom of a tragedy that has left at least 156 people dead. At the parliamentary grilling, the police and the fire authorities came under fire as details of their tardy response emerged. The police station in Yongsan, the district where Itaewon is located, failed to dispatch its teams in time despite getting 11 calls starting from nearly four hours prior to the incident, the lawmakers pointed out.
The Korea Times (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr)
President vows police reforms over Itaewon tragedy
President Yoon Suk-yeol promised Monday to reprimand those who are responsible for the Itaewon crowd crush and overhaul the police's risk management and response system. He also made a formal apology as the president who is in charge of the public's safety. "To protect the people's safety, a sweeping overhaul is required for police services related to risk management and accident prevention," Yoon said during a meeting held to review crowd control and other safety regulations in the wake of the crowd crush that killed 156 people enjoying Halloween festivities on Oct. 29.
Asian countries predicted to suffer from aging population and slower growth: report
Major Asian countries will experience key demographic changes consisting of a shrinking and fast-aging population, while the proportion of their workforces and capital provision, as well as productivity in the global market, are likely to decline further in the near future. This is according to the latest report by the Credit Suisse Research Institute (CSRI), titled "The global effects of Asia's aging population," which surveyed 6,000 people from the six most populous Asian countries out of 10 major regional economies. The report stated that the 10 Asian countries made up 50 percent of aggregated global GDP during the past 10 years from 2009 to 2019.
Italian Egyptologist views future museums as 3-pronged: physical, digital, metaverse
How will a museum survive in the era of digitization and that new buzzword we can't seem to escape ― metaverse? Will the brick-and-mortar repositories of humanity's collective history give way to their virtual counterparts? Egyptologist Christian Greco doesn't believe in that idea of a zero-sum game between the physical and the virtual. In fact, the historian, who also serves as the director of Museo Egizio in Italy's Turin, the second-largest museum in the world dedicated to ancient Egyptian collections after Cairo, characterizes the future of museums as having three equally important pillars:
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