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Tag: South Korea

  •  3 Countries Offering Financial Incentives for Marriage

     3 Countries Offering Financial Incentives for Marriage

    By  Milcah   Tanimu

    As many countries face a decline in marriage rates and its impact on economic growth, some governments have introduced financial incentives to encourage more people to marry. Here are three nations where getting married can come with monetary benefits:

    1. Japan
    In Japan, newlywed couples can receive financial assistance of up to 600,000 yen (approximately $5,700) through the municipality’s newlywed support program. This aid helps cover rent and other living expenses, aiming to bolster marriage rates and support young couples starting their lives together.

    2. Hungary
    Hungary offers a substantial financial incentive for marriage. Couples who marry before the bride turns 41 can access subsidized loans of up to 10 million forints (about $33,000). Moreover, if the couple has three children, they are not required to repay the loan, significantly easing their financial burden.

    3. South Korea
    South Korea, facing a notable drop in marriage rates, has introduced a pilot program offering financial rewards ranging from $64,000 to $85,000 to couples who marry. If successful, this program might be expanded in 2025 to include international residents working or living in the country. The initiative reflects efforts to address the low marriage rates and the associated demographic challenges.

    These programs highlight how governments are using financial incentives to counteract declining marriage rates and support economic stability.

  • North Korea, South Korea Engage is Missile War

    North Korea, South Korea Engage is Missile War

    Both North and South Korea fired ballistic missiles on Wednesday, September 15, increasing tensions in an already hostile Korean peninsula.

    North Korea fired the first missiles on Wednesday, sending two into waters off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula five minutes apart, at 12:38 p.m. and 12:43 p.m. local time (11:38 p.m. and 11:43 p.m. ET), according to Japan, who labeled the action as ‘dangerous’

    South Korea, the North’s neighbor that houses tens of thousands of US troops, replied less than three hours later with their own submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM)

    The South Korean missiles were fired, from a new submerged 3,700-ton submarine ROKS Dosan Ahn Changho, South Korea’s Defense Ministry said, also revealing that South Korean President Moon Jae-in was present for the test.

    The missile hit its target accurately, the ministry said without giving more details.

    South Korea’s weapons development, and its missile capabilities has been on an upward trend as they become more wary of the growing missile program in North Korea.

    Wednesday’s missile tests from both Koreas came just a few hours after Moon met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Seoul.

    China exerts some influence over North Korea, and during the meeting, Moon said Pyongyang has not been responding to efforts by Seoul and Washington to engage in dialogue concerning the situation on the peninsula

    In May, South Korea’s Moon and US President Joe Biden agreed to end a 40-year-old bilateral agreement that limited the range and payload of South Korean missiles

    With the missile launch, South Korea becomes the seventh military in the world to successfully test an SLBM

    The other SLBM nations have nuclear weapons, although South Korea does not have nuclear weapons.

  • Kim Jong-Un apologises after soldiers ‘kill and burn’ South Korean official

    Kim Jong-Un apologises after soldiers ‘kill and burn’ South Korean official

    Kim Jong Un has issued an extremely rare apology after his soldiers were accused of shooting a South Korean official dead and setting his body on fire. 

    The dictator called the killing of a possible defector ‘unexpected and disgraceful’ as he tried to relieve tensions between the two countries. 

    Tuesday’s shooting was the first time the north’s forces have killed a South Korean citizen in more than a decade and prompted what’s thought to be the first official apology from a supreme leader since 1976. 

    A fisheries worker was shot by soldiers after being spotted clinging to a floating object in North Korean waters. Seoul said his body was set on fire while still in the water, apparently as a precaution against coronavirus infection.

    Reading from a letter he said was sent from the north, Suh Hoon, the south’s National Security Adviser, said Kim was ‘very sorry’ for the ‘unexpected and disgraceful event’ that had ‘disappointed President Moon and South Koreans’, rather than helping them in the face of the ‘malicious coronavirus’.

    There was no immediate confirmation of the contents of the message from the north, whose state media did not mention the incident on Friday. North Korean defector turned Seoul-based researcher Ahn Chan-il said it was ‘extremely rare for the North’s supreme commander to offer an apology, especially to South Koreans and their president’.

    He said: ‘I think this is the first since the 1976 Korean axe murder incident,’ referring to the killing of two US officers in the demilitarised zone that divides the peninsula.

    South Korean media reports said the victim was in his 40s with two children, but had recently divorced and had financial problems.

    Wearing a life jacket, he disappeared from a patrol vessel near the western border island of Yeonpyeong on Monday, and North Korean forces located him in their waters more than 24 hours later.

    It’s believed that the man was interrogated while in the water over several hours and expressed a desire to defect, but refused to answer any questions other than saying he’s from South Korea ‘a couple of times.’  According to the letter, North Korean troops first fired blanks but then shot the man 10 times when he tried to flee after an ‘order from superior authority’.

    It added that the body disappeared under water after the shooting and troops only burnt the life jacket, not any human remains. 

    The incident raised tensions again between the two countries, after a series of pacts and summits since 2018. South Korean President Moon Jae-in – a consistent advocate of better relations with Pyongyang – had said the shooting ‘could not be tolerated for any reason.’

    He faced criticism for apparently ignoring intelligence which could have saved the man. Kim Chong-in, a leader of the main conservative opposition People Power Party, called the official’s killing ‘a national security disaster’ that was caused by Moon’s ‘rosy illusion about North Korea.’

    Experts said the apology would have an impact. ’Kim Jong Un’s supposed apology reduces the risk of escalation between the two Koreas and keeps the Moon government’s hopes for engagement alive,’ Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said.

    ‘The shooting incident was also turning South Korean public opinion against offering peace and humanitarian assistance to Pyongyang.’ North Korea is on high alert due to the pandemic and anti-coronavirus measures allow ‘indiscriminate shooting’ at anyone approaching its borders illegally.

    The country’s crumbling health system would struggle to cope with a major virus outbreak but it has not confirmed a single case of the disease that has swept the rest of the world.

  • South Korea coronavirus infections top 2000; case rate slows in China

    South Korea coronavirus infections top 2000; case rate slows in China

    The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in South Korea has climbed to more than 2000, according to figures released on Friday.

    The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) announced 256 new cases, bringing the total number of people infected in the country to 2022, and the number of deaths to 13.

    Most of the cases are still in the south-eastern city of Daegu and its surrounding region.

    Of the new infections reported on Friday, 182 were in the city, and 49 were in the neighbouring North Gyeongsang province.

    More than half the country’s cases have been linked to the Shincheonji church in Daegu, news agency Yonhap reported.

    South Korea’s Culture Minister Park Yang-woo urged religious groups to halt services and gatherings “for a while” to stop the spread of the virus, in comments reported by Yonhap.

    Meanwhile, the number of new infections reported in mainland China was the lowest since January 23.

    China reported 327 new coronavirus infections over the past day, the slowest increase in more than a month, amid hopes the outbreak has peaked, health authorities said Friday.

    The National Health Commission also counted 44 deaths over the past day, of which 41 occurred in Hubei province, the epicentre of the epidemic.

    The slowdown in new infections comes as China has indicated the Covid-19 outbreak may peak in the country in mid-to-late February.

    Renowned epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan said Thursday that China was “confident the epidemic will be basically under control by the end of April.”

    Nevertheless, Ma Xiaowei, director of the National Health Commission, said Thursday risks of an epidemic rebound have increased as people are resuming work and as the number of coronavirus cases in other countries has increased.

    “China faces increased risks of importing the epidemic, and the situation of prevention and control is still complicated,” Ma said.

    The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Beijing was ready to work with Japan and South Korea – where new coronavirus cases have spiked in recent weeks – to reduce “unnecessary cross-border travel” and strengthen inspection and quarantine measures. (dpa)

  • China quarantines 94 travellers on flight from South Korea

    China quarantines 94 travellers on flight from South Korea

    China has quarantined 94 travellers from a flight from South Korea as a precaution against a further spread of the new coronavirus epidemic after three passengers were found with fever, state media reported.

    Authorities in the eastern city of Nanjing found that three Chinese tourists on an Asiana flight from Seoul on Tuesday had fever, CCTV reported.

    Health authorities inspected the rest of the passengers and quarantined travellers three rows in front of and three rows behind the patients who had a fever, totalling 94 out of the flight’s 166 passengers.

    The three patients were taken to the hospital due to fears they might be infected with the new coronavirus. None of them had a history of travel to the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, CCTV said.

    Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, has been rapidly spreading to South Korea, which on Wednesday reported a total of 1,146 cases, including 11 deaths.

    The Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said 169 new infections and one death had been counted over the previous day.

    The outbreak, mainly involving the cities of Daegu and Cheongdo in North Gyeongsang Province, is the largest outside China, where the virus started spreading in December last year.

    Of the new cases, 153 were in North Gyeongsang Province, including 134 in Daegu.

    The majority of the country’s cases have been linked to the Shincheonji church near Daegu, and to a hospital in Cheongdo, the KCDC said.

    On Tuesday, President Moon Jae In described the situation in the country as “very grave,” adding that the week ahead would be critical to combat the spread of the virus.

    A US soldier stationed near Daegu tested positive for Covid-19, becoming the first US service member with the virus, the US Forces Korea (USFK) said.

    Meanwhile, China reported 406 new infections and 52 deaths over the past 24 hours. All the deaths and 401 out of the 406 infections occurred in Hubei province, home to Wuhan, indicating the outbreak may have come under control in the rest of the country.

    The number of deaths in a day is also the smallest since February 1, according to the National Health Commission.

    In total, China has so far reported 78,064 infections and 2,715 deaths.

    Meanwhile, the virus continues to spread on other continents. Italy on Tuesday reported a major increase in new coronavirus cases, with 322 infected and 11 dead, as contagion also spread in Austria, Croatia, Spain and Switzerland.

    Brazil reported the first possible coronavirus case in South America, a man returning from a trip to Italy who was showing symptoms compatible with the virus. (dpa)

  • South Korea to end outbreak of new strain of COVID-19 – President Moon

    South Korea to end outbreak of new strain of COVID-19 – President Moon

    South Korea will soon bring an outbreak of a deadly new strain of Coronavirus (COVID-19) that originated in China in late December under control, allowing the country to refocus its energy on reviving the economy.

    President Moon Jae-in said the country would refocus its energy on reviving the economy.

    “COVID-19 will be terminated in South Korea before long,’’ Moon said, as quoted by Sputnik.

    The president added that medical officials will diligently continue their work to control the spread of the outbreak, however called on lawmakers and business leaders to focus their attention on the economy.

    “Now, it’s time for the government and business circles to join forces and revive the recovery trend of the economy,” Moon stated.

    Moon, as part of efforts to give a boost to the economy, pledged to create more jobs through investment opportunities.

    He also gave support to private firms by offering tax incentives and reforms to regulations.

    Moon, speaking at the South Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the capital of Seoul, stated that quarantine methods enacted to contain the spread of the novel strain of coronavirus.

    Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation has stabilised the situation.

    The number of confirmed cases of the novel strain of coronavirus increased rapidly, after medical health officials in Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak, refined their diagnostic criteria.

    According to the latest official data, over 60,000 confirmed cases have been reported worldwide, resulting in the deaths of over 1,350 people.

    A total of 28 cases have been confirmed in South Korea so far. (Sputnik/NAN)

  • South Korea, Malaysia, France demand entry ban for Chinese travellers

    South Korea, Malaysia, France demand entry ban for Chinese travellers

    Hundreds of thousands of people in South Korea, Malaysia and France, on Wednesday signed online petitions aimed at banning Chinese travellers from entering their countries after the outbreak of a new coronavirus in China. In South Korea, over half a million people supported a petition which had been posted on the website of the president’s office, asking to temporarily bar all visitors from China to avoid the spread of the disease.

    However, as of Wednesday, 578,000 signatures had been collected. The author of the petition’s argument was that the virus was spreading from China, adding that even North Korea, a close ally of China, had barred Chinese nationals from entering the country. Meanwhile, some supporters expressed fears in the comment section, with a hotel employee claiming to be nervous when serving Chinese customers. More than 400,000 people had signed a similar petition in Malaysia by Wednesday, accusing Chinese people of an “unhygienic lifestyle” responsible for its spread.

    In France, citizens of Asian descent have complained of discrimination since the outbreak of the virus. They shared their experiences on social media using the hashtag #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus (I’m not a virus). According to the Daily Straits Times, so far, seven coronavirus cases have been reported in Malaysia. The Korea Times had so far reported four confirmed cases in South Korea, while the French Health Ministry had confirmed at least three cases at the weekend. South Korea is planning to evacuate 700 Korean citizens from the central Chinese city of Wuhan on Thursday and Friday, where the disease is suspected to have originated from wild animals sold at an exotic food market. According to experts, the respiratory disease only affects patients mildly in most cases, and some people do not even show symptoms.