Category: Korea-General Topics

It will be interesting to see what the Yoon administration decides with this request:

Korea is at a critical juncture over its ties with China as it faces increasing pressure to choose a side amid the intensifying Sino-U.S. rivalry, with any decision potentially causing further uncertainties in bilateral relations. 

Currently, Korea has been asked to respond to the U.S. invitation by the end of August to participate in the envisaged strategic alliance of four global chip powerhouses that also includes Japan and Taiwan, also known as the Chip 4 or Fab 4, a platform apparently aimed at countering China’s growing influence in global supply chains.

In addition, Beijing has urged Seoul to stick to the previous Korean government’s commitment to the “Three Nos” policy on the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) deployment, which called for no additional THAAD deployment, no Korean integration into a U.S.-led regional missile defense system and no trilateral alliance with the United States and Japan. 

Foreign Minster Park Jin admitted during the first interpellation session of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration at the National Assembly, Monday, that the U.S. had proposed a preliminary conference on the chip alliance. 

“We have yet to make a decision on whether to participate in the platform,” he said during a session at the National Assembly in Seoul. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the Yoon administration may be using what limited political capital they have on another unpopular initiative:

Opposition is growing among teachers and parents alike to the government’s plan to move up the elementary school starting age by one year to 5 starting as early as 2025.

Reporting this year’s key policy plans to President Yoon Suk-yeol last week, the education ministry said it will soon begin discussions on the plan to lower the school starting age from the current 6 to 5 and implement it in 2025 at the earliest upon social consensus. 

Through the plan, the government seeks to take on more child care for young children against the backdrop of low birth rates, close education gaps and eventually help school graduates land jobs and start their careers earlier than now.

Many teachers and parents are, however, voicing objections to the plan that they say could further deepen already fierce competition for grades and put the burden of schooling on the intellectually unprepared 5 year olds. 

Teachers and parents point out the plan could put many students at competitive disadvantages, as the 5- and 6-year-olds who started school at the same time in the transition period will have to compete more for college entrance and job opportunities.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but according the article 94% of teachers oppose this and 36 activist groups have come out against it. Anything involving education in Korea becomes a hot button issue as the Yoon administration is finding out.

At least so far the government is not looking to bring back increased COVID protocols despite the large growth in daily cases:

 South Korea’s new COVID-19 cases surpassed the 100,000 mark for the first time in more than three months on Wednesday as the new wave of an omicron subvariant is spreading fast. 

The country added 100,285 new COVID-19 infections, including 532 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 19,446,946, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. 

Wednesday’s number is the largest since 111,291 reported on April 20 and up from Tuesday’s 99,327. The daily infection cases have soared to the five digits from four digits since late June as the rapid spread of the omicron subvariant BA.5 is taking hold.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is something you don’t hear very often happening in South Korea:

A female high school teacher in the southeastern city of Daegu has been under investigation on suspicion of having an inappropriate relationship with one of her students, police said Tuesday.

The unnamed teacher in her 30s, who has taught at a Daegu high school on a term contract, is suspected of having sex with a male student of the same school in late June in violation of the Child Welfare Act, according to the Daegu Bukbu Police Station.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Below is some more background information on the police chief protest that continues to be a major issue in Korea right now. Basically these police chiefs are unhappy about reforms to the National Police University and receiving government oversight after reforms from the last administration gave them more investigative powers from prosecutors:

 Interior Minister Lee Sang-min on Tuesday hinted at overhauling the police personnel system that favors graduates of the national police university, amid backlash from front-line police officers over the planned establishment of a police bureau under the ministry.

“It is unfair to automatically begin a career as a lieutenant, just based on graduating from Korea National Police University,” Lee told reporters before giving a policy briefing to President Yoon Suk-yeol at the presidential office.

A graduate of the four-year university is awarded the rank of a lieutenant, which is equivalent to the chief of a police precinct or the team leader at a police station. It takes at least 17 years of continuous service for an entry-level officer who did not graduate from the school to reach such rank.  (……..)

About 50 senior superintendents across the nation held a meeting Saturday to protest the plan, despite government warnings to desist, with some 140 others attending online. The minister likened the collective action to a “coup.” 

Police officers taking part in the action have expressed concern the bureau’s oversight would compromise their political neutrality and accountability, while the interior ministry has argued it is necessary, as the police are set to take on more investigative roles from the prosecution.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see what the results of this survey are, but expect that it will likely show the majority of the population in South Korea has been infected with COVID:

The results of an on-going large-scale COVID-19 antibody survey, the first of its kind since the outbreak of the pandemic, are expected in early September.

The antibody positivity rate survey, launched last Tuesday, will be conducted on some 10-thousand South Korean citizens over the age of five across 17 cities and provinces nationwide.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, along with the Korean Society of Epidemiology, are currently selecting a demographic group based on age, region and case prevalence that is representative of the nation.

Health authorities hope the survey results will become the stepping stone to a more accurate and scientific COVID-19 policy by finding the scale of “hidden infections” that were excluded from official statistics.

The survey aims to find viral antibodies that were developed through natural infections, not those acquired through vaccinations, which would yield an estimated scale of infections excluded from government statistics.

KBS World News

You can read more at the link.

The fact that the fatality rate is now equivalent to the common flu does not seem to register with the critics that want to bring back stringent COVID protocols to slow the spread of the virus. Considering the sinking approval ratings that the Yoon administration has now, bringing back stringent COVID protocols would sink the administration approval rating even more:

The government decided Wednesday to secure an additional 4,000 hospital beds, as well as increase the number of testing centers and the distribution of self-testing kits amid the resurgence of new COVID-19 infections caused by the fast-spreading BA.5 Omicron subvariant.

Some health experts, however, are urging the government to reintroduce social distancing measures at least to some extent before the infections spiral out of control. The country reported 76,402 new infections for Tuesday, including 429 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,937,971, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The number of critical cases stood at 96, with 12 new COVID-19-related fatalities.

The authorities predicted that the current wave will reach its peak between mid-August and the end of that month, during which the country may see up to 300,000 new infections per day.

Alarmed by the increasing number of infections, the Central Disease Control Headquarters announced Wednesday that it will set up 70 additional temporary testing centers ― 55 in the Seoul metropolitan area and 15 in other regions ― across the nation and expand the distribution of self-testing kits at convenience stores. It also obligated workers at nursing homes to take PCR tests on a weekly basis. 

“If you look at the measures announced by the government so far, you can see that there’s no strategy to reduce the current scale of the spread of the virus,” Eom Joong-sik, an infectious disease expert at Gachon University Gil Medical Center said during an interview with local radio CBS.

“Now that the authorities have decided not to use preemptive distancing measures as a response, the virus will simply spread around freely, considering the increase in the number of people moving around and of person-to-person contact, as well as the vaccination rate and the high transmissibility of the variants,” he warned.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This is not a bad idea for the entrepreneurs that came up with the PC-tel concept, but I guess we will see if the Korean government decides to regulate them out of existence:

An increasing number of teenagers in Korea are heading to unstaffed motels at night to use the venues to play computer games, raising concerns about the facilities’ lack of monitoring against underage visitors.

The issue has stoked further a more deeply troubling side effect of the facilities that they are creating a space for teenagers to engage in the illegal consumption of alcohol, prostitution and sex crimes.

The lodges welcome visitors with kiosks at their fronts instead of concierge staff. The machines offer rooms to anyone who pays in advance, regardless of age. The facilities, because of the unmonitored check-in system and lax screening regarding customer age, are becoming more popular option for teenagers who are restricted from using PC rooms after 10 p.m. under the country’s Youth Protection Act. 

These so-called “PC-tels” ― a compound of PC and motel ― aren’t difficult to locate. One can easily find a list of PC-tels at popular online lodge searching brands using websites or smartphone apps like Good Choice or Yanolja. Users, once agreeing to provide their real-time location information through those search engines, can conveniently browse a list of lodges offering high-performing computers with pre-installed popular games ― like League of Legends or Battlegrounds ― in their vicinity.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see how many claims get submitted to this compensation center:

Korea opened a Covid-19 vaccine injury compensation center on Tuesday as access to fourth vaccine doses was widened amid a new wave of the virus.  
   
Previously, compensation for vaccine side effects was managed by the Covid-19 vaccination task force team under the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).    
   
The newly-created Compensation & Support Center for Covid-19 Vaccine Injury will take over, the KDCA announced Tuesday. It vowed to increase the number of personnel and build the center’s expertise. 

Apart from deciding compensation, the center will also provide counseling to patients with post-vaccine reactions.  
   
Health authorities also announced they will expand financial support for vaccination side effects that were difficult to prove were caused by the jabs.  
   
The KDCA said Tuesday that people with diseases that are suspected to be related to Covid vaccination — but haven’t been proved — can receive up to 50 million won ($38,150), up from the previous 30 million won.  
   
Compensation for post-vaccine deaths that couldn’t be proved was raised from 50 million won to 100 million won.  
   
In addition, the government will give 10 million won to survivors of people who died within 42 days of receiving a Covid vaccine even if the cause of death was not established by a post mortem examination. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Interesting posting over at ROK Drop favorite, Dr. B.R. Myers site about how many students who go into Korean Studies lose interest in it after a year or two:

Many a university here has learned this the hard way. I assume that a higher proportion of Westerners are willing to pay their own money to learn about China or Japan, because such a degree promises enhanced access to a much bigger economy, therefore better job prospects. I doubt if Hallyu fandom and demand for Korea-related courses are even a reliable indicator of an all-surpassing interest in this country. One can be crazy about BTS, and even crazier about Japanese anime.

The question is whether the measures Prof. King proposes will help incentivize young Westerners to pursue a Korean studies degree. Although not in a Korean studies department I have some relevant experience. About a third of my students are from foreign countries. Some stay in Korea for one semester, some for four years, and some settle down here, usually in an enclave of their countryfolk. Most seem to lose interest in studying the host language and culture within a year or two.

Funding is not a factor. Virtually all of my foreign students get at least half their tuition paid for; some are on full scholarships. They tend to become disaffected with the study of Korea because they become disaffected with Korea itself, and its perceived nationalism or xenophobia in particular. To give just one anecdote: recently some of my best foreign students, including one in an advanced stage of pregnancy, were asked to leave a coffee shop lest their alienness unsettle local patrons worried about COVID.

B.R. Myers

You can read more at the link.