Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Round-up of important news from major Korean dailies and from international media today
The Korea Post ( www.koreapost.com )
Thailand strives to revive tourism industry with its “5F” soft power promotion method
“Thailand is working hard to revive our tourism industry back to the same level as before the COVID-19 pandemic by using its “5F” soft power promotion method – which are Food, Film, Fashion, Festival, and Fight (Thai boxing),” said Amb. Witchu Vejjajiva of Thailand in Seoul. In an exclusive interview with The Korea Post media, publisher of 3 English and 2 Korean-language news publications since 1985, Amb. Witchu Vejjajiva said, “The Ministry of Tourism of Thailand aims to boost tourism by creating a meaningful experience for tourists, while simultaneously advancing towards tourism that is more sustainable, more digital, and more inclusive, by leveraging on Thailand’s “5F” soft power promotion method.”
Many women work in their professional fields in Indonesia
The Republic of Indonesia adopts a presidential system, and the capital, Zakart, is the second most densely populated city center in the world. Despite its huge population and high population density, Indonesia has the highest ecosystem diversity in the world based on its natural nature, and its natural environment is well preserved due to people's consideration and environmental protection. It consists of hundreds of different peoples and languages, and the largest ethnic group is the Zawain. "Unity in diversity" is Indonesia's motto. It is implementing policies that tolerate multiple languages, ethnic diversity, and religious diversity.
The Constitution of Uzbekistan is on the verge of historical changes
The Constitution is a guarantee of rights and freedoms, the foundation of a legal democratic state and a strong civil society. As is known, a state is judged by its Constitution – the Basic Law, according to which the country functions and its people learn, live, create and rest. The Constitution of independent Uzbekistan was adopted on December 8, 1992, at a session of the Supreme Council of the country. Since then, the Basic Law of the country has been amended 15 times.
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Chosun Ilbo (http://english.chosun.com)
Biden Asks Yoon to Lead Session at 'Democracy Summit'
U.S. President Joe Biden has invited his Korean counterpart Yoon Suk-yeol to chair a session at the upcoming Summit for Democracy, the presidential office here said Sunday. Korea is one of the co-hosts of the virtual meeting that will take place on March 29-30. "I look forward to working with you to... bring together leaders from around the world to demonstrate and discuss how democracies can continue to deliver for all of our people," Biden wrote. "I would also like to invite you to lead one of the five plenary sessions on March 29."
Mask Mandate on Public Transport to Be Lifted This Month
Korea is expected to lift the mask mandate on public transportation on March 20. "We've been discussing with experts lifting the mask mandate on public transportation since the COVID situation has been under control over the past month," health authorities said Thursday. The decision will be made in a meeting next week. That would mean masks only have to be worn in high-risk facilities such as hospitals, pharmacies and nursing homes. In a meeting held on Tuesday, most experts on an advisory board agreed that there would be no problem with lifting the mask mandate on public transportation, and some even favored lifting it completely.
China Keeps Ban on Group Tours to Korea
Korea was left out in the cold when China newly authorized group package tours to 40 countries last week. The website of China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism lists 40 countries from France and Spain to Vietnam as permissible destinations for travel agencies that organize group tours from Wednesday, but not Korea. On Feb. 6, China selected 20 countries including Thailand, Indonesia and the UAE as authorized destinations for group tours, but at the time Seoul was locked in a diplomatic tussle with Beijing because it halted short-term visas for Chinese travelers over the coronavirus surge there.
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Joongang Ilbo (https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com )
North Korea fires missile, second this week
North Korea launched a ballistic missile that landed on the East Sea on Tuesday, according to the Joint Chief of Staff. This is the second time North Korea has fired a missile this week in protest to the 11-days joint exercise between South Korea and the United States. It is the first field exercise since 2018.
Investigators indict 137 in draft-dodging scandal
Prosecutors on Monday announced a final round of indictments in a case involving a fixer who helped over 100 men avoid mandatory military conscription by falsifying medical documents, including entertainers and athletes. A total of 137 persons have been indicted in the three-month investigation by Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office and Military Manpower Administration. The team indicted 49 more alleged draft dodgers and nine accomplices accused of helping them on Monday.
International cruise ship operations resume after pandemic hiatus
International cruise ship operations resumed in Korea on Monday after a three-year suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Amadea, an around-the-world cruise run by German operator and travel agency Phoenix Reisen, docked at Sokcho port in the province of Gangwon carrying approximately 500 passengers and 300 crew members. The German cruise was the first foreign country-based cruise ship with passengers to enter Korea since February 2020, when quarantine authorities enforced restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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The Dong-A Ilbo (http://english.donga.com/)
U.S. government says all SVB deposits are safe
The U.S. federal government has decided to fully guarantee deposits in a move to prevent risk contagion after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). This move was made as fears of bank runs began to spread, with small and medium-sized banks at the center of the concerns. The South Korean and Asian financial markets could avoid “Black Money,” as they opened shortly after the government’s announcement. Some predict that the crisis, which was triggered by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s (Fed) intense tightening, will likely bring the government’s rate-freeze pivot earlier than expected.
Kim Jae-won refuses to include record of spirit of Gwangju Uprising in Constitution
Kim Jae-won, a member of the People Power Party’s supreme council, said including a record of the spirit of the Gwangju Uprising in the Constitution is not possible. While South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol proposed it as one of his pledges before the presidential election, the leader of the ruling party is openly refusing it. According to a political source on Monday, Kim attended a united service in Gwanghwamun led by Jeon Kwang-hoon, head pastor of Sarang Jeil Church, on Sunday and said that the supreme council member opposed including a record on the spirit of Gwangju Uprising in the Constitution when asked by Jeon.
China names U.S.-sanctioned Li Shangfu as defense minister
Two prominent figures from China’s most important political events – the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference have garnered global media attention. They are Li Shangfu, the newly appointed National Defense minister, and Yi Gang, the governor of the People's Bank of China who secured his second term. Li Shangfu was appointed as the Defense Minister and State Councilor by the State Council of the People's Republic of China on Sunday. Despite being subject to U.S. government sanctions, Chinese President Xi Jinping elevated Li's position by appointing him as the Defense Minister.
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Maeil Business News Korea (http://www.pulsenews.co.kr/)
Korea closely monitoring SVB collapse as shockwaves felt in venture capital
The recent bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank in California, followed by the closure of Signature Bank in New York, is expected to have a ripple effect on the venture and startup industries in many countries, including South Korea. With the financial market closely tied to venture investment, the Korean government is closely monitoring the situation. It is inevitable that the venture capital industry will see a downturn in sentiment despite the U.S. government’s promise to fully cover failed customer deposits.
Korean won is the world’s fourth-worst performer against U.S. dollar: analysis
The South Korean won has suffered the biggest loss against the U.S. dollar among other major currencies after the Australian dollar, the British pound and the Japanese yen in the past year, suggesting that the export-oriented Korean economy is more volatile to the external environment. According to an analysis of the Bank of Korea data by Maeil Business Newspaper on Sunday, the Korean won fluctuated 0.53 percent on a daily average against the U.S. dollar between March last year and February this year when the U.S. Federal Reserve was engaged in aggressive policy rate hikes.
LG Electronics to expand into the growing private 5G market
LG Electronics Inc. is expected to make inroads into the burgeoning private fifth-generation (5G) network market that will help strengthen its business-to-business (B2B) services by selling network equipment and logistics robots to operators of smart factories and distribution centers on a turn-key basis. According to multiple industry sources on Sunday, LG Electronics has decided to propose the agenda of adding key communications business to its article at the upcoming shareholders’ meeting on March 27.
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HanKyoReh Shinmun (http://english.hani.co.kr)
German university quietly removes “comfort women” statue amid pressure from Japan
After the University of Kassel in central Germany on Thursday suddenly removed a statue dedicated to victims of Imperial Japan’s sexual slavery system that had been erected on campus by its student council, the local Korean community has leapt into action, calling strongly for the work to be restored. It is believed that the university, which has been under constant pressure from the Japanese government to remove the statue, made the decision to do so due to the current South Korean government’s acquiescent attitude on sensitive historical issues between Korea and Japan, as best seen in its unilateral plan to concede on compensation for victims of forced mobilization that was announced on March 6.
S. Korea, US kick off drills that include theater-class field maneuvers
South Korea and the US kicked off their Freedom Shield joint exercise on Monday. The drill, which will run through March 23, includes large-scale field maneuvers. This is the first time in five years that the two sides are staging field maneuvers for the entire Korean Peninsula. Military tensions on the peninsula appear poised to rise with North Korea’s announcement that it had discussed and decided Sunday on measures for the aggressive use of “war deterrence.” While Freedom Shield is a command post exercise focusing on computer simulations, it also includes large-scale field maneuvers involving the use of actual troops and equipment.
Korea watches for fallout of SVB collapse amid fears of recession
The sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) on Friday due to insufficient liquidity and insolvency has drawn attention to real and financial vulnerabilities across the global economy, while bringing to the surface hidden risks within the banking industry. But analysts said that with the bank in question ranking 16th in the US, there was still little likelihood of the collapse escalating into a risk for the entire financial system along the lines of the 2008 Lehman Brothers bankruptcy.
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The KyungHyangShinmun (http://english.khan.co.kr/ )
President Yoon Suk-yeol’s Approval Rating Drops Below 40% after Four Weeks
President Yoon Suk-yeol’s job approval rating fell below 40% for the first time in four weeks, according to a survey by Realmeter. On March 13, the polling firm released the results of a survey requested by Media Tribune, and according to the results, the president’s job approval rating was 38.9%. The poll of 2,508 adults aged eighteen and older nationwide was conducted on March 6-10. The president’s approval rating dropped below 40% in the second week of March for the first time in four weeks since it recorded 36.9% in another Realmeter survey conducted in the second week of February (Feb. 6-10).
Banks Frequently Refuse to Extend Loans for Jeonse Fraud Victims, But Government Keeps Insisting It “Is Possible”
The government announced that it would help the victims of jeonse (housing rental contract based on a lump-sum deposit) fraud get their loans extended, but at the bank desk, a number of victims have had their loan extensions denied. Some victims ended up with bad credit standings after they were forced to repay the loan on the deposit, which the homeowners failed to pay. A was a victim of jeonse fraud in Michuhol-gu, Incheon, who died on February 28. The bank refused to extend his loan after they lost contact with the homeowner.
Lee Jae-myung’s Former Chief of Staff When Lee Was Gyeonggi Governor Found Dead
The former chief of staff of Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung, when Lee served as governor of Gyeonggi, was found dead in his home. The Seongnam Sujeong Police Station in Gyeonggi announced that they discovered Jeon, a former chief of staff in the Gyeonggi Provincial Office, in an apartment in Changgok-dong, Sujeong-gu in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi at around 8:50 p.m. March 9. The police believe Jeon committed suicide based on a note he left behind and are trying to confirm the exact cause of death. Jeon served as the first chief of staff to Lee Jae-myung, when he was the Gyeonggi governor.
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KBS(http://world.kbs.co.kr/service)
JCS: N. Korea Fired Two Short-Range Ballistic Missiles toward East Sea
The Joint Chiefs of Staff(JCS) says North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Tuesday. The JCS said on Tuesday that it detected the launch from the Jangyon area in South Hwanghae Province between 7:41 a.m. and 7:51 a.m. It is believed that the North has never fired a ballistic missile before from Jangyon. The JCS said that the military has strengthened surveillance and vigilance in preparation for additional launches, maintaining a full readiness posture in close cooperation with the U.S.
Yoon, PPP Leader Agree to Hold Semimonthly Meetings
President Yoon Suk Yeol and ruling People Power Party(PPP) leader Kim Gi-hyeon have agreed to meet twice a month to enhance communication between the presidential office and the ruling party. Kim Byung-min, a member of the PPP's Supreme Council, told reporters on Monday that the agreement was made during a dinner meeting between Yoon and the new PPP leadership at the presidential office on Monday.
US Analyzing N. Korea's Submarine Missile Firing
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the United States is analyzing North Korea's recent submarine-launched cruise missile tests, warning that it will not accept acts undermining security. Sullivan made the remarks to reporters on Monday on board Air Force One en route to California with President Joe Biden. The security advisor said that the U.S. will not let any steps taken by North Korea deter or constrain U.S. actions necessary to safeguard stability on the Korean Peninsula, indicating that the North's provocation will not affect the South Korea-U.S. combined military exercises that kick off on Monday.
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Yonhap (http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr )
N. Korea fires 2 short-range ballistic missiles toward East Sea: S. Korean military
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) toward the East Sea on Tuesday, Seoul's military said, a day after South Korea and the United States kicked off a regular military exercise. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said that it detected the launch from the Jangyon area in South Hwanghae Province between 7:41 a.m. and 7:51 a.m. It did not provide other details. "While strengthening its monitoring and vigilance in preparation against the possibility of additional launches, our military is maintaining a full readiness posture in close cooperation with the United States," the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters.
N. Korean FM congratulates Chinese counterpart following new Beijing Cabinet confirmation
North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui has sent a congratulatory message to her Chinese counterpart following the confirmation of Beijing's new Cabinet, according to state media Tuesday. In the message sent to Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Sunday, Choe also expressed her willingness to develop the bilateral ties to a new level and strengthen their "strategic and tactical cooperation" in the field of diplomacy, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
S. Korea's financial market stable amid U.S. bank collapses: finance minister
South Korea's financial market remains stable despite the failures of two U.S. banks, but the government will promptly come up with stabilization measures, if necessary, the finance minister said Tuesday. On Friday, U.S. regulators shut down Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in the largest failure of a U.S. bank since the 2008 financial crisis. It was followed by the collapse of the New York-based Signature Bank. U.S. financial authorities vowed to protect all deposits at the banks.
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The Korea Herald (http://www.koreaherald.com )
How will SVB collapse affect Korea?
President Yoon Suk Yeol said Monday that uncertainty in the financial market is growing due to the bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank, one of the largest banks in the United States. “The cause of the SVB collapse, the progress of the situation, the US authorities’ response, as well as their impact on the domestic financial market and the real economy should be closely examined by the deputy prime minister of economy and others,” he said at a meeting with senior secretaries.
11-day ‘freedom shield’ kicks off amid N.Korean missile threats
South Korea and the United States on Monday kicked off their longest-running, large-scale military exercises re-designed to strengthen defense and response capabilities against escalating threats from North Korea. In response, Pyongyang disclosed its first-ever underwater cruise missile launches on Sunday, raising the curtain on military actions which it had repeatedly warned. Amid North Korea’s accelerating military build-up, the Freedom Shield exercise continues for 11 days without a weekend break to enable South Korea and US troops to enhance their combat readiness and combined defense posture under real war conditions.
Yoon to meet with new ruling party leader ‘twice a month’
President Yoon Suk Yeol and the freshly elected chairperson of the ruling People Power Party, Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, will meet twice a month. Yoon hosted Kim and the rest of the new People Power Party leadership for dinner at the presidential office in Yongsan, central Seoul, on Monday to celebrate their election at the party convention last week. Over the private dinner, the president and the party chairperson agreed to “meet regularly, about twice a month” for coordination on policies and other efforts, Kim Byung-min, a supreme council member who was at the dinner, said in a closed-door briefing.
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The Korea Times (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr )
Retired USFK sergeant hit by stray bullet from Korean police demands justice
March 26, 2020, started out as just another ordinary day for Arnold Samberg, a retired U.S. Air Force tech sergeant living in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. On his way home from the dentist in the morning, he wanted to drop by a convenience store. But after seeing a line of police officers, firefighters and paramedics near the store, he changed his mind and headed straight home. He had no clue what they were up to and did not want to get involved. At that moment, Samberg heard the thunderclap of a gunshot ― a split-second before he felt a sharp pain in his jaw as if a hammer was smashing it. Next thing he knew, he was on the ground bleeding out.
NK fires 2 short-range ballistic missiles toward East Sea
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) toward the East Sea on Tuesday, Seoul's military said, a day after South Korea and the United States kicked off a regular military exercise. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said that it detected the launch from the Jangyon area in South Hwanghae Province between 7:41 a.m. and 7:51 a.m. It did not provide other details. "While strengthening its monitoring and vigilance in preparation against the possibility of additional launches, our military is maintaining a full readiness posture in close cooperation with the United States," the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters.
Gov't move to reform workweek system faces labor resistance
The government's move to increase the maximum weekly work hours to 69 from the current 52 is facing a backlash from workers, who claim that the envisioned measures will only benefit employers and force employees to work longer hours. The government's plan to reform the country's workweek system, announced on March 6, has been billed as offering flexibility beyond the mandatory 52-hour cap on the workweek, introduced by the previous Moon Jae-in administration, by extending the maximum weekly work hours to 69 during weeks with heavy workloads.
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Daily News Hungary http://dailynewshungary.com
Budapest Times http://budapesttimes.hu
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