South Korea - The Korea Times

COVID-19 -- Common enemy of humanity

By Xing HaimingXing Haiming, Chinese ambassador to Republic of KoreaCivilization and a virus can be connected easily by just a flight. This is an exclamation of an American writer while telling the story of a viral hemorrhagic fever. Dangerous viruses in forests, grasslands, villages, city areas, and every corner of the world can reach any city on earth by plane within 24 hours. Regardless of gender, age, race or fortune, no one can be exempt from its attack. Virus are the common enemy of mankind.In 2020, the enemy we are all facing today is the “coronavirus disease 2019” (COVID-19), the official name given by the World Health Organization (WHO). As the world's largest intergovernmental agency on public health, the WHO opposes intentional linkage of the virus and specific countries or regions. And it is also inappropriate to connect the name of a virus directly to any specific country, region or race. There must be a hidden political purpose behind this stigmatization.The outbreak of COVID-19 came all of sudden, spreading to more than 100 countries and infecting over 200,

Mar 22, 2020

PM says disaster management funds can be used for small businesses, vulnerable people

South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Saturday that the government will allow state disaster management funds to be used to help small businesses and support those socially vulnerable in regards to the novel coronavirus crisis."We are now facing an unprecedented situation, so we need to use all possible means to handle the situation," Chung said during a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters in Seoul.Under a current law, state disaster management funds can be used only for the prevention of disaster situations and emergency recovery efforts. But some municipal governments have been urging the central government to allow the use of such funds for so-called disaster-related basic income to help virus-hit households after the COVID-19 pandemic has weighed down people's economic activities."We believe 17 cities and municipalities can utilize a maximum 3.8 trillion won (US$3 billion) of funds," he said. "Since those are funds created by taxpayers' money, I want to ask mayors and governors to use the funds efficiently to overcome the crisis."With

Mar 21, 2020

Why are governors selling vegetables on social media?

This image, provided by the Gangwon Province office, shows tweets of Gov. Choi Moon-soon promoting unsold potatoes. While businesses across South Korea are struggling to survive the fallout from the new coronavirus, which has affected more than 8,000 here, provincial governors have come up with creative ideas to help local farmers.Gov. Choi Moon-soon, who calls himself the "governor who sells potatoes" on his Twitter profile, is one of them.As potato farms in the mountainous region suffered from plunging sales, the governor decided to sell potatoes himself."Potatoes on major sale, Gangwon's clean potatoes in full stock as potato stew is not selling due to the mean coronavirus. Farmers concerned on full scale (this sort of rhymes)," the governor wrote in a witty March 11 tweet, announcing plans to sell a 10-kilogram box of potato for just 5,000 won ($4).Unsold potatoes were piling up in warehouses as people increasingly began to eat at home and demand at school kitchens almost disappeared as schools postponed the new school year.Thanks to the bargain price, similar to what a cafe

Mar 21, 2020

Why are governors selling vegetables on social media?

Korea, Japan, China FMs hold teleconference

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha speaks during a teleconference with her counterparts from Japan and China, Friday. YonhapBy Do Je-hae Teleconferencing is becoming the primary means of maintaining high-level diplomacy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. On Friday, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha held a video conference with her counterparts from Japan and China. Kang had a teleconference with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi to discuss cooperation in response to the pandemic, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This was the first “meeting” the foreign ministers of the three countries have held since the coronavirus outbreak.“Responding to COVID-19 is a key area of cooperation for our three countries,” Kang said at the beginning of the teleconference. “We need to share our concerns about the reduced exchanges between the peoples of our countries and consult on ways to minimize the socio-economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.” “This meeting will strengthen momentum for closer tril

Mar 20, 2020By Do Je-hae

Korea, Japan, China FMs hold teleconference

All arrivals from Europe to get coronavirus test from Sunday

Sanitary guidelines introduced for general election

Poll workers test a counting machine in preparation for the April 15 general election at a district office in Gwangju, Thursday. YonhapBy Yi Whan-wooAll voters will be required to wear masks at over 14,300 polling stations nationwide for the April 15 general election. They also will have their body temperatures checked, be required to wash their hands with sanitizer and wear sanitary gloves before entering the polling stations. They will need to keep a distance of one meter from each other at all times.These are some of the guidelines introduced by the National Election Commission (NEC) to help protect voters from the coronavirus on Election Day.“We've come up what we think are the best possible measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus,” the NEC said. “We'll continue to do our best to ensure every voter casts their ballot safely irrespective of the national emergency.”For those who forget to bring masks with them, the NEC is consulting relevant ministries on providing masks for free or letting them use separate voting booths that will be sterilized mo

Mar 20, 2020By Yi Whan-woo

Sanitary guidelines introduced for general election

Cash payouts emerging as policy trend

Photo taken on March 19, 2020 shows U.S. dollar banknotes in Washington D.C., the United States. The Trump administration's plan to send Americans relief money as part of a massive stimulus package in response to COVID-19 could be $1,000 per person. Xinhua-Yonhap By Do Je-hae The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic is prompting many countries to come up with drastic measures to combat the economic fallout. One of the most urgent tasks for governments is to make sure that struggling workers and families are able to make ends meet during these tough times. For this, more countries are starting to experiment with the idea of providing direct financial assistance to their citizens during the coronavirus outbreak.The concept is quickly gaining steam in Korea, where many people say that COVID-19 has resulted in one of the worst economic crises since the late 1990s. The world's 12th-largest economy is reeling from the fallout from the pandemic, prompting President Moon Jae-in to h

Mar 20, 2020By Do Je-hae

N. Korean defectors eye politics as weapon to make voice heard

Ji Seong-ho, a North Korean defector-turned-human rights activist, in his office in southwest Seoul. YonhapBy Koh Byung-joonSEOUL (Yonhap) ― Back in North Korea, Ji Seong-ho saw elections as nothing more than a formality, because even a vote against the ruling Workers' Party-picked candidates, let alone criticism of the government, could land voters in prison.Running for office was an unthinkable privilege reserved for elites and well-connected people.That's why, after coming to South Korea, Ji, known for his surprise appearance at U.S. President Donald Trump's State of the Union address in 2018, was stunned to see candidates feverishly campaigning and people passionately debating policy and freely criticizing their president.After more than 10 years of living in South Korea, Ji is now planning to run in the April 15 general elections for a National Assembly seat, with the goal of helping North Korean defectors and people still suffering in the country he escaped from."If elected, I hope to contribute to enacting laws that help improve human rights situations in North Korea and to dr

Mar 20, 2020By Kim Ji-soo

W50 trillion emergency aid package set for small firms

President Moon Jae-in, second from right, pledges allegiance to the flag at the start of the first emergency economic council meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, Thursday. Heads of economy-related ministries and financial institutions took part in the meeting. YonhapBy Do Je-hae President Moon Jae-in announced a sweeping financial aid package worth around 50 trillion won ($39 billion) during an emergency meeting convened at Cheong Wa Dae, Thursday. The inaugural meeting of the so-called Emergency Economic Council (EEC), consisting of the heads of relevant ministries and institutions, focused on measures to relieve the problems of small- and medium-sized firms, small business owners and the self-employed.Moon announced earlier this week that he will chair an EEC meeting every week for the next three months to ensure quick and effective decision-making regarding measures dealing with the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the first time for a Korean president to chair an emergency economic meeting since the global financial crisis in 2008, and is seen to reflect Moon's determin

Mar 19, 2020By Do Je-hae

W50 trillion emergency aid package set for small firms

S. Korea pledges W50 trillion emergency funding for coronavirus-hit small business

President Moon Jae-in speaks during an emergency economic policy meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, Seoul, Thursday. YonhapPresident Moon Jae-in on Thursday pledged 50 trillion won ($39 billion) in emergency financing for small businesses and other stimulus measures to prop up the country's coronavirus-hit economy.The package is the latest in a string of steps Seoul has taken in recent days to curb pressure on Asia's fourth-largest economy, including an interest rate cut, an extra 11.7 trillion won ($9.12 billion) budget and more dollar supplies.The government will issue loan guarantees for struggling small businesses with less than 100 million won ($78,000) in annual revenue to ensure companies can easily and cheaply access credit, Moon said.Local commercial banks and savings banks will also allow loans to be rolled over for small businesses if they cannot afford to pay off the loan when it is due, he said."We've decided to take the measures to prevent small and medium firms and merchants and the self-employed from going bankrupt and ease anxiety in the financial sector", Moon told an emerge

Mar 19, 2020

S. Korea pledges W50 trillion emergency funding for coronavirus-hit small business

Complacency will bring Korea second wave of coronavirus attack: expert

A health worker takes a sample for a test on coronavirus COVID-19 infection at a Seoul hospital. YonhapBy Oh Young-jin Dr. Hakim Djaballah, a New York-based virology expert, told The Korea Times of the possibility of the second wave of novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, if Korea becomes complacent as its current viral crisis is being tamped down. "Most politicians have the tendency to do [so] as the elections are approaching, and with a very short recollection of events; then there would be a much higher risk for a second wave of attack," he warned in his interview with The Korea Times. The second wave could be even more difficult if the virus comes from Europe, the former head of the Institute Pasteur Korea said Wednesday by phone. "It is a different generation of the same virus ... due to its enhanced virulence," he said, adding that with closer monitoring on its perimeter and tighter border controls, South Korea could transform from the "patient of Asia" to the healthiest country in Asia. Regarding talks of ongoing efforts to develop vaccines, he was not supportive for a variety of r

Mar 19, 2020By Oh Young-jin

Politics