K-News Bulletin

Starting July 1, the Seoul metropolitan area will allow private meetings of up to six people and restaurants and bars to stay open until midnight.
 
Most other regions will allow gatherings of up to eight people and will have no limits on businesses hours. Limits on gatherings for all regions are set to gradually be expanded after a two-week trial.
 
Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum announced Sunday that the capital area will be under Level 2 of the revamped four-tier scheme, while the other areas of the country will be under Level 1 — allowing businesses to extend operating hours and easing restrictions on social gatherings from July.


Full Article: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2021/06/27/national/socialAffairs/covid19-social-distancing-rules-level-1/20210627183600407.html

 Universities in Korea will resume in-person classes from the upcoming fall semester, starting with small classes, laboratory courses and other kinds of instruction requiring hands-on teaching.
 
Education Minister Yoo Eun-hye announced Thursday a phased plan to enable college students to return to classrooms full-time from the fall semester of the 2021 school year. This comes after the Education Ministry’s recent announcement of the reopening of kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools in the fall semester.
 
But some returns to class will depend on the country’s progress in vaccinations and gaining of herd immunity. A great many college students won't have gotten vaccinations by the start of the semester. 


Full Article: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2021/06/24/national/socialAffairs/Yoo-Eunhye-Education-Ministry-Facetoface/20210624174706917.html

There is an "almost zero" chance that President Moon Jae-in will travel to Japan for the Olympics, government sources told the JoongAng Ilbo on Wednesday. Culture and Sports Minister Hwang Hee will go instead.
 
“We have finalized a plan that Minister Hwang will attend the opening ceremony [on July 23],” a high-ranking government official told the JoongAng Ilbo in a phone conversation. “For now, there is almost zero possibility that Moon will attend the opening event.” 
 
The source said the government decided to send an envoy based on the principle that politics and sports are separate issues. After Japan refused to remove the Dokdo islets from a map on the official Tokyo Summer Olympics website, political heavyweights, even from the ruling party, demanded that Korea boycott the games.
 

Full Article: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2021/06/23/national/diplomacy/Moon-Jaein-Suga-Olympics/20210623180200631.html

The Bank of Korea (BOK) warned of growing vulnerability to the financial system from mounting household debt, probably signaling a raise in interest rates.
 
The central bank said in a regular financial stability report released Tuesday that should an unexpected economic crisis takes place, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) could contract by as much as 2.2 percent.
 
According to the report, the ratio of household and company debt to GDP hit a record 216.3 percent in the first quarter, up 15.9 percentage points year on year. Household and company debt grew by 9.4 percent on year in the first quarter, and the country's GDP grew at a much slower 1.3 percent.


Full Article: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2021/06/22/business/finance/bank-of-korea-interest-rate-financial-stability/20210622185213621.html

Hackers connected to North Korea stole information about Navy vessels and submarines designed and built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, possibly including research for a domestically designed nuclear-powered submarine, according to multiple government sources on Sunday.
 
“The targeted documents include long-running conceptual research into the development of nuclear-powered submarines that was conducted by Daewoo Shipbuilding,” said one source at the technology protection division of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).
 
“Some of the documents got out, but we haven’t been able to verify that the ones related to the nuclear-powered submarine development were among these,” the source added.


Full Article: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2021/06/21/national/defense/submarine-nuclear-hacking/20210621182100321.html

The remains of a 52-year-old firefighter trapped in Coupang’s blazing warehouse in Icheon, Gyeonggi, on Thursday were found Saturday.
 
What appeared to be the remains of firefighter Kim Dong-shik were found in the basement of Coupang’s four-story warehouse at 10:49 a.m. on Saturday – two days after the fire that appears to have been sparked by a power outlet in the basement early Thursday morning.
 
Kim's remains were discovered 50 meters from the entrance to the basement.


Full Article: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2021/06/20/business/industry/coupang-icheon-warehouse/20210620173000743.html

Starting in July, all adults in their 50s, school teachers and high school seniors will be eligible for their first Covid-19 shots, which will be expanded to everyone over 17 from August.
 
The Covid-19 Vaccination Task Force announced its vaccination plan for the third quarter on Thursday with the aim of inoculating a total of 36 million people, or 70 percent of Korea’s population, by the end of September.
 
In the first three weeks of July, the government will first offer jabs to around 270,000 people whose vaccine appointments were delayed due to supply shortages.


Full Article: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2021/06/17/national/socialAffairs/Covid19-vaccination-third-quarter/20210617174900299.html

The People Power Party (PPP), considered not long ago as a cemetery for political dinosaurs, is being inundated with membership applications after it elected 36-year-old Lee Jun-seok as its new chairman.
 
Many of the new members are in their 20s and 30s.
 
“Because there are so many applicants, the online server crashed twice,” a PPP worker told JTBC.


Full Article: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2021/06/16/national/politics/Lee-Junseok-People-Power-Party/20210616174900287.html

Samsung Electronics signed a contract with UK telecom operator Vodafone to sell 5G equipment -- its first 5G cellular network deal in Europe.
 
That market was dominated for years by China’s Huawei and European vendors like Nokia and Ericsson. Washington’s sanctions on Huawei forced many countries to diversify their network suppliers, and the Korean giant is moving in. 
 
The tech company announced Tuesday it will provide Vodafone a set of advanced wireless access technologies needed for the deployment of 5G, including a virtualized radio access (vRAN) system. vRAN enables telecom companies to run networking functions as software in contrast to the widely-used, centralized radio access network that requires physical hardware upgrades.


Full Article: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2021/06/15/business/industry/Samsung-Electronics-5G-Vodafone/20210615190100631.html

The Korea Development Bank (KDB), the main creditor of beleaguered SsangYong Motor, questioned whether its latest turnaround plan is good enough to attract a buyer.
 
The KDB admitted that buyers with any genuine intention to invest in the carmaker are “very rare" at the moment.
 
“It is true that the latest turnaround plan proposed by SsangYong Motor has progressed compared to before, but a turnaround plan without a detailed business plan is not sufficient for the KDB to decide whether we can provide financial support,” said Lee Dong-gull, chairman of the KDB, at an online press conference on Monday. 


Full Article: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2021/06/14/business/industry/ssangyong-motor/20210614190000528.html