International

A large “Black Lives Matter” banner draped on the outside of the US embassy in Seoul was removed yesterday after President Donald Trump expressed his displeasure about it, two people familiar with the matter said. The banner was hung on the front of the mission building on Saturday as the embassy tweeted a message in support of the anti-racism campaign across the United States and worldwide in response to the killing last month of George Floyd, an African American, in Minneapolis police custody. Trump, who has responded to street protests by declaring himself a “law and order” president and urging US local authorities to crack down, was unhappy about the banner when he learned about it, the two sources said on condition of anonymity. The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The banner was seen as a rare show of open support for the Black Lives Matter movement by a Trump appointee. US ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris had ordered that it be draped on the embassy. After the banner was taken down, embassy spokesman William Coleman reiterated that Harris’s reason for putting it up was “to communicate a message of solidarity with Americans concerned with racism.” But he added: “The Ambassador’s intent was not to support or encourage donations to any specific organisation.” “To avoid the misperception that American taxpayer dollars were spent to benefit such organisations, he directed that the banner be removed,” Coleman said, adding “this in no way lessens the principles and ideals expressed by raising the banner.” Bloomberg News reported earlier that both Trump and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo were displeased about the banner. Harris, a 40-year Navy veteran who started in Seoul in 2018, has privately said he is planning to exit his position before the end of the year.

The sister of North Korea's leader has warned of retaliatory measures against South Korea that could involve the military, in the latest escalation of tensions over defectors from the North who have been sending back propaganda and food. Kim Yo Jong, who serves unofficially as one of Kim Jong Un's top aides, issued the warning in a statement carried by state news agency KCNA on Saturday. ‘By exercising my power authorised by the Supreme Leader, our Party and the state, I gave an instruction to the ... department in charge of the affairs with (the) enemy to decisively carry out the next action,’ Kim said. Her statement, which did not say what the next action could be, came days after South Korea took legal action against defectors who have been sending material such as rice and anti-North leaflets, usually by balloon over the heavily fortified border or in bottles by sea. North Korea said it has been angered by the defectors and in the past week severed inter-Korean hotlines and threatened to close a liaison office between the two governments. As part of the effort to improve ties with the North, South Korean President Moon Jae-in's administration has sought to discourage the leaflet and rice campaigns, and defectors have complained of pressure to avoid criticism of North Korea. On Sunday, South Korea’s National Security Council meeting was held with security and diplomatic chiefs in attendance, ‘to examine the current situation of the (Korean) peninsula,’ the presidential Blue House said, without elaborating. South Korea's Unification Ministry and Defence Ministry each released statements asking the North to honour inter-Korean agreements reached in the past. ‘The South and the North should try to honour all inter-Korean agreements reached,’ the Unification Ministry said in a statement. The Defence Ministry said the military is ready to respond to ‘all situations,’ and added it is closely monitoring moves by the North Korean military. The escalation of tension comes a day ahead of the 20th anniversary of the first inter-Korean summit in 2000, which pledged increased dialogue and cooperation between the two states. In 2018, the leaders of the two countries signed a declaration agreeing to work for the ‘complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula’ and cease ‘hostile acts.’ Analysts say North Korea appears to be using the leaflet issue to increase pressure on South Korea amid stalled denuclearisation talks. ‘The leaflets are an excuse or justification to raise the ante, manufacture a crisis, and bully Seoul to get what it wants,’ said Duyeon Kim, a senior advisor at the International Crisis Group, a Belgium-based independent non-profit organisation. Pyongyang feels betrayed and misled by Seoul’s prediction that the United States would lift some sanctions in exchange for North Korea closing its nuclear reactor site, and is upset that leaflets and US-South Korea military drills continue, Kim said. ‘They’re upset that Seoul has done nothing to change the environment and is again telling Seoul to stay out of its nuclear talks with Washington,’ she added.

North Korea threatened to take revenge on South Korea in retaliation for a leafletting campaign along the border, in a statement made by Kim Yo Jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister.  "The right to taking the next action against the enemy will be entrusted to the General Staff of our army," she said. She did not provide details about the form any future measures could take. "By exercising my power authorized by the Supreme Leader, our Party and the state, I gave an instruction to the arms of the department in charge of the affairs with enemy to decisively carry out the next action," she said.  North Korea has already threatened to close a liaison office and to pull out of a military agreement with the South in 2018, and has since cut off communications with the South. At the time, the statement also came from Kim Yo Jong. Pyongyang is demanding that Seoul take action against activists who allegedly sent some 50,000 leaflets into the reclusive neighbouring nation criticizing the North Korean leader. Such campaigns have generally sought to encourage North Koreans to topple the government. North Korea has threatened military action and accuses Seoul of having done nothing to address the campaign.

Decades after she was sent for adoption in the United States, Kara Bos’ quest to find her birth parents in South Korea moved a step closer yesterday when a Seoul court ruled that a South Korean man was her biological father.  The ruling is the first of its kind in South Korea, which Amnesty International once dubbed the “longest and largest supplier of international adoptees”. It sets the stage for potentially thousands of other adoptees to be officially registered as children of their birth parents, with implications for inheritance and citizenship laws. While laws vary widely from country to country, many jurisdictions are providing more information to adopted children about their biological parents. Advocates say South Korea’s policies remain relatively restrictive. Bos, whose birth name is Kang Mee-sook, broke into tears as she left the courtroom. Removing a medical mask, she said in Korean: “Mom. Can you recognise my face? Please come to me.” Bos is one of more than 200,000 Korean children adopted overseas in the past 60 years, and her struggle to identify her parents highlights the challenges for many adoptees, said Rev Do-hyun Kim, who heads KoRoot, a charity that works with adoptees. “I think Kara’s journey, Kara’s fight, is meaningful because it reminds us that parents, society, and the state itself has public responsibility to clearly inform a child born in South Korean society about their roots,” he said. The ruling officially registers Bos as the child of a man who, according to a DNA test ordered by the court earlier this year, is 99.9981% likely her biological father. That designation could entitle Bos to inheritance. The ruling could also lead to more adoptees with limited or no records to apply for South Korea citizenship, according to the Justice Ministry. The man was identified only by his surname, with no contact details and Bos said the family wished to remain anonymous. Bos said with the positive paternity test and the court ruling, the family finally agreed she could meet her father as soon as next week. In 1983, a two-year-old Bos was found abandoned in a market south of Seoul. Less than a year later, she was adopted by an American family. Bos, who now lives in the Netherlands with her Dutch husband, knew from childhood she was adopted. Her search for her biological parents only began after the birth of her own daughter, who made Bos realise what it would mean to abandon a child at that age. “At that point I realised that there is trauma involved in adoption, and it is much more complex than the saviour story,” Bos said. After several years of searching archives in South Korea, a break came in 2016 when a genealogy website matched her to a young South Korean man, whose grandfather was found to be Bos’ biological father. Bos said she took the case to court after exhausting all other ways of trying to speak to him and his family to find out about her mother. “I even went to one of their houses and begged, literally, on my knees. And they called the police on me.” Bos said she would not sign away any rights to inheritance but her primary goal was to speak to her father and eventually identify her mother. “Without that legal help, I would still be in the dark,” Bos said. “I would still have no options.”

The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is taking a leading role in a new, more hard-line pressure campaign against South Korea, highlighting what analysts say is a substantive policy role that goes beyond being her brother’s assistant.  Believed to be in her early 30s, Kim Yo-jong is the only close relative of the North Korean leader to play a public role in politics. During the 2018-2019 flurry of international diplomacy, Kim Yo-jong garnered global attention by leading a delegation to the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. Later, she was often seen dashing about to make sure everything went well for her older brother, including holding an ashtray for him at a train station on his way to a summit with US President Donald Trump in Vietnam. But this year, Kim has taken on a more public policy role, cementing her status as an influential political player in her own right. “Prior to this, Kim Yo-jong was portrayed in state media as Kim Jong-un’s sister, his protocol officer, or one of his accompanying officials,” said Rachel Minyoung Lee, a former North Korea open source intelligence analyst in the US government. “Now, North Koreans know for sure there is more to her than that.” Kim has worked behind the scenes in North Korea’s propaganda agencies, a role that led the United States to add her to a list of sanctioned senior officials in 2017 because of human rights abuses and censorship. In March, state media carried the first ever statement by Kim, in which she criticised South Korean authorities.  That was followed by several more, including a response to comments by Trump, and last week, a warning that the North would cut communications with South Korea. Lee said Kim’s statements have a unique style, showcasing her wit and underscoring her powerful position.  “In addition to the harsh words and sarcasm, they can be bitingly witty in ways that the other statements are not,” Lee said. “She seems to have more leeway in crafting her statements, which of course is not surprising.”  When state media announced on Tuesday that the hotlines between North and South Korea would be severed, they said Kim Yo-jong and a longtime hard-liner, Kim Yong-chol, championed the decision at a meeting. This rare explanation of a policymaking process portrayed Kim Yo-jong as “a very substantive person,” said Michael Madden, a North Korea leadership expert at the Stimson Centre, a US-based think tank. Madden said this new portrayal of Kim in state media may be a subtle dig at international analysts who have cast doubts on her ability to wield influence in the North’s male-dominated society. “They clearly have high hopes and expectations for her,” he said. “Not necessarily the next leader, but something of a king maker nonetheless.”

A United Nations human rights expert voiced alarm on Tuesday at what he called "widespread food shortages and malnutrition" in North Korea, which have been exacerbated by a nearly five-month border closure with China and measures against Covid-19. Tomas Ojea Quintana, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), urged the UN Security Council to "reconsider sanctions" on the isolated country so as to ensure the flow of food supplies. "There have been reports of an increase of homeless people in large cities - including kotjebi (street children), and medicine prices have reportedly skyrocketed. An increasing number of families eat only twice a day, or eat only corn, and some are starving," he said in a statement. Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman of the UN's World Food Programme (WFP), told a Geneva news briefing that the humanitarian situation in North Korea "remains bleak", with some 10 million, or 40% of the population, needing humanitarian aid. 

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un focused on domestic economic issues at a meeting of the politburo of the country’s ruling Workers Party, state media said yesterday, as the North ramped up pressure on South Korea over defector activities. The two-day politburo meeting comes at a time of economic uncertainty amid the global Covid-19 pandemic that is putting additional pressure on the North’s economy, already battered by international sanctions aimed at stopping its nuclear programme. The meeting discussed “crucial issues arising in further developing the self-sufficient economy of the country and improving the standard of people’s living,” state news agency KCNA said. Kim did not mention the North’s increased criticism of South Korea or of the North Korean defectors who call it home. For several days, North Korea has lashed out at South Korea, threatening to close an inter-Korean liaison office and other projects if the South does not stop defectors from sending leaflets and other material into the North. Yesterday morning, North Korea did not answer a routine daily liaison phone call from South Korean officials for the first time in since 2018, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said. The North later answered an afternoon call, however, without explaining its earlier unresponsiveness, the ministry said South Korea’s government has said it remains committed to following inter-Korean agreements, and it is considering proposing legislation to ban groups from sending material into North Korea.  KCNA’s report on the 13th political bureau meeting focused on domestic economic issues, including the chemical industry and fertiliser production as “a major thrust front of the national economy.” Kim has made an unusually small number of outings in recent months, with his absence from a major holiday prompting speculation about his condition, as Pyongyang has stepped up measures against the Covid-19 pandemic. Although North Korea says it has no confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, South Korea’s main intelligence agency has said an outbreak there cannot be ruled out.

South Korea yesterday imposed limits on the number of pupils going to schools in and around Seoul as officials scramble to tackle fresh coronavirus cases that threaten the country’s success in containing the epidemic.   Only one in three pupils at kindergartens, elementary and middle schools in the Seoul metropolitan area – home to half the population – will be allowed to physically attend school each day, authorities said, with the others remote learning.  And a total of 502 schools near locations linked to cases in the capital area will remain closed to all pupils, a ministry official told AFP.  Schools have been re-opening in phases in a process that is continuing nationwide.  South Korea endured one of the worst early outbreaks of the disease outside mainland China, but appears to have brought it under control thanks to an extensive “trace, test and treat” programme while never imposing a compulsory lockdown.   Social distancing rules were relaxed and the country was returning largely to normal until this week, when it re-imposed some measures in the capital and the surrounding region following fresh clusters of cases.  The South on Thursday reported its biggest spike in new infections in nearly two months, but yesterday’s increase fell to 58, taking its total to 11,402.  An outbreak at a warehouse of e-commerce firm Coupang in Bucheon, west of Seoul, has seen a total of 96 cases as of yesterday, said the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters.   “We have been advising Coupang employees and their family members” not to visit any schools, said vice education minister Park Baeg-beom.  Museums, parks and art galleries were closed again from yesterday for two weeks, while companies were urged to re-introduce flexible working. South Korean health authorities said yesterday they would request imports of Gilead Sciences Inc’s anti-viral drug remdesivir to treat Covid-19, as new outbreaks of the disease flare as social distancing restrictions are eased. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety must approve the import of the drug but a government panel concluded remdesivir showed positive results, Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) Director Jeong Eun-kyeong said. Foster City, California-based Gilead has said the drug has improved outcomes for people suffering from the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus and has provided data suggesting it works better when given in the early stages of infection. Preliminary results from a trial led by the US Institutes of Health showed remdesivir cut hospital stays by 31% compared with a placebo treatment, although it did not significantly improve survival. Remdesivir, which previously failed as a treatment for Ebola, is designed to stop some viruses making copies of themselves inside infected cells. After mounting an intensive campaign of tracing and testing to blunt an initial wave of coronavirus infections in February and March, South Korea has seen smaller but persistent outbreaks as it has lifted some social distancing restrictions in recent weeks. The new spike in infections have been clustered in Seoul and the surrounding areas, raising concern that the densely populated capital city could see a wider outbreak. Those concerns prompted officials this week to close most government-run facilities like museums, galleries and theatres.

South Korea reported its biggest jump in coronavirus infections in seven weeks yesterday, driven by a fresh cluster at an e-commerce warehouse on Seoul’s outskirts, as millions more pupils went back to school.   The country has been held up as a global model in how to curb the virus and has rushed to contain new infections as life returns to normal.  But officials announced 40 new cases yesterday - taking its total to 11,265 - with most new infections from the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area.  It was the largest increase since 53 infections were announced on April 8.  An outbreak at a warehouse of e-commerce firm Coupang in Bucheon, west of Seoul, has seen 36 cases so far, the KCDC added. “It is suspected that the basic regulations were not enforced at the warehouse,” said vice health minister Kim Gang-lip. “If quarantine rules are not implemented at workplaces, it could lead to a dreadful result of a mass infection.”  But officials said the possibility of parcel recipients being infected was low. Social distancing rules have been relaxed in South Korea and facilities such as museums and churches have reopened while some professional sports - including baseball and soccer - started new seasons earlier this month, albeit behind closed doors. More than 2mn students returned to classes yesterday, as part of the phased reopening of schools.  Some high schools were forced to turn back pupils shortly after resuming classes last week over concerns of new virus cases in their neighbourhood. The country endured one of the worst early outbreaks of the disease outside mainland China, and while it never imposed a compulsory lockdown, strict social distancing had been widely observed since March.  But it appears to have brought its outbreak under control thanks to an extensive “trace, test and treat” programme. Two children who are the first suspected cases in South Korea of a rare, life-threatening syndrome linked with the new coronavirus, are recovering following treatment, health authorities said yesterday. The symptoms of “Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome in Children” (MIS-C) are similar to toxic shock and Kawasaki disease, and include fever, rashes, swollen glands and, in severe cases, heart inflammation. Officially called “Pediatric Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome Potentially Associated with Covid-19”, MIS-C cases have been reported in France, Italy, Spain and Britain and the United States, where more than 100 cases were found in the state of New York. The syndrome has raised fears that Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, could pose a greater risk to children than had been understood. Covid-19 so far has taken its greatest toll on the elderly and those with chronic health conditions. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said it launched an investigation after two suspected cases of MIS-C involving an 11-year-old boy and a four-year-old girl were reported on Monday. Both had tested negative for Covid-19, but further analysis was being undertaken, especially as the boy had been in the Philippines between January and March. The boy has already been released from the hospital, and the girl is expected to be discharged soon, KCDC director Jeong Eun-kyeong said. “Both of the two children have recovered from the symptoms,” Jeong told a briefing. “We’re carrying out a Covid-19 antibody test on them to reconfirm whether they were infected, and will determine after the test whether they make the MIS-C cases.” Kwak Jin, a KCDC official in charge of patient management, said the two children had been treated as they would for Kawasaki disease. Having been one of the first countries to suffer an outbreak of Covid-19, South Korea has succeeded in curbing the spread of the virus through a robust strategy to track, trace and contain.

Two children who are the first suspected cases in South Korea of a rare, life-threatening syndrome linked with the new coronavirus, are recovering following treatment, health authorities said on Wednesday. The symptoms of "Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome in Children" (MIS-C) are similar to toxic shock and Kawasaki disease, and include fever, rashes, swollen glands and, in severe cases, heart inflammation. Officially called "Pediatric Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome Potentially Associated with Covid-19", MIS-C cases have been reported in France, Italy, Spain and Britain and the United States, where more than 100 cases were found in the state of New York. The syndrome has raised fears that Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, could pose a greater risk to children than had been understood. Covid-19 so far has taken its greatest toll on the elderly and those with chronic health conditions. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said on Tuesday it launched an investigation after two suspected cases of MIS-C involving an 11-year-old boy and a four-year-old girl were reported on Monday. Both had tested negative for Covid-19, but further analysis was being undertaken, especially as the boy had been in the Philippines between January and March. The boy has already been released from the hospital, and the girl is expected to be discharged soon, KCDC director Jeong Eun-kyeong said. "Both of the two children have recovered from the symptoms," Jeong told a briefing. "We're carrying out a Covid-19 antibody test on them to reconfirm whether they were infected, and will determine after the test whether they make the MIS-C cases." Kwak Jin, a KCDC official in charge of patient management, said the two children had been treated as they would for Kawasaki disease. Having been one of the first countries to suffer an outbreak of Covid-19, South Korea has succeeded in curbing the spread of the virus through a robust strategy to track, trace and contain. 

The new robot barista at the cafe in Daejeon, South Korea, is courteous and swift as it seamlessly makes its way towards customers. "Here is your Rooibos almonds tea latte, please enjoy. It's even better if you stir it," it says, as a customer reaches for her drink on a tray installed within the large, gleaming white capsule-shaped computer. After managing to contain an outbreak of the new coronavirus which infected more than 11,000 people and killed 267, South Korea is slowly transitioning from intensive social distancing rules towards what the government calls "distancing in daily life". Robots could help people observe social distancing in public, said Lee Dong-bae, director of research at Vision Semicon, a smart factory solution provider which developed the barista robot together with a state-run science institute. "Our system needs no input from people from order to delivery, and tables were sparsely arranged to ensure smooth movements of the robots, which fits will with the current 'untact' and distancing campaign," he said. The system, which uses a coffee-making robotic arm and a serving robot, can make 60 different types of coffee and serves the drinks to customers at their seats. It can also communicate and transmit data to other devices and contains self-driving technology to calculate the best routes around the cafe. An order of six drinks, processed through a kiosk, took just seven minutes. The only human employee at the two-storey cafe was a patissier who also has some cleaning duties and refills ingredients. The manufacturer and the scientific institute aim to supply at least 30 cafes with robots this year. "Robots are fun and it was easy because you don't have to pick up your order," said student Lee Chae-mi, 23. "But I'm also a bit of worried about the job market as many of my friends are doing part-time jobs at cafes and these robots would replace humans."

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un hosted a meeting to discuss the country’s nuclear capabilities, state media said yesterday, marking his first appearance in three weeks after a previous absence sparked global speculation about his health. Ruling Workers’ Party officials wore face masks to greet Kim as he entered the meeting of the party’s powerful Central Military Commission, state television showed, but no one including Kim was seen wearing a mask during the meeting. Amid stalled denuclearisation talks with the United States, the meeting discussed measures to bolster North Korea’s armed forces and “reliably contain the persistent big or small military threats from the hostile forces,” state news agency KCNA said. The meeting discussed “increasing the nuclear war deterrence of the country and putting the strategic armed forces on a high alert operation,” adopting “crucial measures for considerably increasing the firepower strike ability of the artillery pieces,” it said. Kim has made an unusually small number of outings in the past two months, with his absence from a key anniversary prompting speculation about his condition, as Pyongyang has stepped up measures against the Covid-19 pandemic. North Korea says it has no confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, but South Korea’s intelligence agency has said it cannot rule out that the North has had an outbreak. US-led negotiations aimed at dismantling North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes have made little progress since late last year, especially after a global battle on the virus began. The Chinese government’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, expressed hope on Sunday that the United States and North Korea could resume meaningful dialogue as soon as possible, “and not squander away the hard-earned results of (previous) engagement.” North Korea’s pledge to boost its nuclear capabilities coincides with news reports that the United States might conduct its first full-fledged nuclear test since 1992, noted Leif-Eric Easley, who teaches international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. “The intention in Washington for pondering such a move may be to pressure Russia and China to improve arms-control commitments and enforcement,” Easley said. “But not only might this tack encourage more nuclear risk-taking by those countries, it could provide Pyongyang an excuse for its next provocation.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hosted a meeting to discuss the country's nuclear capabilities, state media said on Sunday, marking his first appearance in three weeks after a previous absence sparked global speculation about his health. Ruling Workers' Party officials wore face masks to greet Kim as he entered the meeting of the party's powerful Central Military Commission, state television showed, but no one including Kim was seen wearing a mask during the meeting. Amid stalled denuclearisation talks with the United States, the meeting discussed measures to bolster North Korea's armed forces and "reliably contain the persistent big or small military threats from the hostile forces," state news agency KCNA said. The meeting discussed "increasing the nuclear war deterrence of the country and putting the strategic armed forces on a high alert operation," adopting "crucial measures for considerably increasing the firepower strike ability of the artillery pieces," it said. Kim has made an unusually small number of outings in the past two months, with his absence from a key anniversary prompting speculation about his condition, as Pyongyang has stepped up measures against the COVID-19 pandemic. North Korea says it has no confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, but South Korea's intelligence agency has said it cannot rule out that the North has had an outbreak. US-led negotiations aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes have made little progress since late last year, especially after a global battle on the virus began. The Chinese government's top diplomat, Wang Yi, expressed hope on Sunday that the United States and North Korea could resume meaningful dialogue as soon as possible, "and not squander away the hard-earned results of (previous) engagement." North Korea's pledge to boost its nuclear capabilities coincides with news reports that the United States might conduct its first full-fledged nuclear test since 1992, noted Leif-Eric Easley, who teaches international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. "The intention in Washington for pondering such a move may be to pressure Russia and China to improve arms-control commitments and enforcement," Easley said. "But not only might this tack encourage more nuclear risk-taking by those countries, it could provide Pyongyang an excuse for its next provocation." 

* New infections spike, sparking "second wave" fears * Outbreak linked to nightclubs in Seoul * Officials still trying to trace about 3,000 nightclub patrons South Korean officials scrambled on Monday to contain a new coronavirus outbreak, searching for thousands of people who may have been infected in a cluster of cases linked to nightclubs and bars in the capital Seoul. South Korea has been lauded for its quick, effective action on its epidemic, significantly reducing the rate of new infections in recent weeks, but the resurgence of cases has raised worries about a second wave of infections. Officials reported 35 new cases as of midnight on Sunday, the second consecutive day of new cases of that magnitude and the highest numbers in more than a month. Twenty-nine of the new cases were linked to several Seoul nightclubs and bars. Authorities have tested more than 2,450 people who went to the night spots in the Itaewon neighbourhood, but were still trying to track about 3,000 more. Hundreds of other people who came into contact with club patrons have also been tested. "Our top priority is to minimise the spread of the infections," Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun told a meeting with government officials, calling on authorities to work with police. "We should quickly find and test them, and speed is key." The outbreak has highlighted a possible unintended consequence of South Korea's invasive tracing methods and its disclosure of some patient information, including their recent locations, as part of its approach to tackling the coronavirus. The Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said 86 people had tested positive in connection with the Itaewon outbreak, which was made public on Friday, including people who had travelled to the capital and subsequently returned home. Seoul mayor Park Won-soon pleaded with clubgoers to be tested, promising that personal information would be protected and warning that people caught evading testing could be fined. The spike in cases comes just as the government was easing restrictions and reopening schools and businesses. Official data on Monday showed exports and imports suffered a precipitous decline in the first 10 days of May, underlining a bleak outlook for Asia's fourth largest economy. The education ministry put off the reopening of high schools, which was scheduled to begin on Wednesday, by one week in light of the new outbreak. Responding to calls for all teachers and staff to be tested before schools reopen, Vice Minister of Education Park Baeg-beom told a briefing the government did not have the capacity to test all 600,000 of them. Technology firms Kakao Corp and Naver Corp suspended plans for employees to return to work from Monday, after two cases linked to the club outbreaks were reported at IT firm TmaxSoft, company representatives said. TmaxSoft said on Friday it had shut its office near Seoul and would test all employees. The 69 cases reported by the KCDC over the latest 48 hours were equivalent to the entire number of cases recorded over the previous week. Still, KCDC director Jeong Eun-kyeong said while the outbreak was worrisome, it was not appropriate to call it a second wave. "The epidemic is ongoing," she said.

South Korea warned of a second wave of the new coronavirus yesterday as infections rebounded to a one-month high, just as the authorities were starting to ease some pandemic restrictions.  “It’s not over until it’s over,” President Moon Jae-in told the nation, saying a new cluster shows the virus can spread widely at any time, and warning of a second wave late this year. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 34 new infections, the highest since April 9, after a small outbreak emerged around a slew of nightclubs, prompting the authorities to temporary close all nightly entertainment facilities around the capital. The death toll remained at 256. Health Minister Park Neung-hoo said the government will decide on whether it will reopen schools in stages starting from May 13 as planned after examining the impact of the nightclub cases for two to three days. Battling the first major coronavirus outbreak outside China, South Korea brought infections of the virus, and the disease Covid-19 that it causes, down drastically through widespread testing, aggressive contact tracing and tracking apps. The response has helped Asia’s fourth-largest economy come to grips with the pandemic without extensive the lockdowns seen elsewhere. The daily tally of new infections had hovered around 10 or less in recent weeks, with no or very few domestic cases over the past 10 days. The fresh outbreak comes just as the government was easing some social distancing restrictions and moving to fully reopen schools and businesses, in a transition from intensive social distancing to “distancing in daily life.” “We must never lower our guard regarding epidemic prevention,” Moon said in a televised speech marking the third anniversary of his inauguration. “We are in a prolonged war. I ask everyone to comply with safety precautions and rules until the situation is over even after resuming daily lives.” He said the KCDC will get greater power as part of the long-term fight and be renamed the Disease Control and Prevention Administration to reflect its enhanced position, while the authorities beef up local expertise. The resurgence is driven by an outbreak centred around a handful of Seoul nightclubs, which a man in his late 20s had visited before testing positive last week. At least 24 out of the 26 new domestically transmitted infections were traced to that man, bringing the infections related to the case to 54, the KCDC said. The KCDC said officials are tracking down about 1,900 people who have gone to the clubs, which could be increased to 7,000, asking anyone who was there last week to self-isolate for 14 days and be tested.  “This case is once again showing a rapid spread of the virus as well as high infectiousness,” KCDC director Jeong Eun-kyeong told a briefing. “We’re in a battle against time to head off additional transmissions in the local communities.”

* President warns of "prolonged war" against Covid-19 * Cases resurge after small outbreak around nightclubs * Authorities shut nightclubs, karaoke bars * S Korea has kept infections low with aggressive moves  South Korea warned of a second wave of the new coronavirus on Sunday as infections rebounded to a one-month high, just as the authorities were starting to ease some pandemic restrictions. "It's not over until it's over," President Moon Jae-in told the nation, saying a new cluster shows the virus can spread widely at any time, and warning of a second wave late this year. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 34 new infections, the highest since April 9, after a small outbreak emerged around a slew of nightclubs, prompting the authorities to temporary close all nightly entertainment facilities around the capital. The death toll remained at 256. Battling the first major coronavirus outbreak outside China, South Korea brought infections of the virus, and the disease Covid-19 that it causes, down drastically through widespread testing, aggressive contact tracing and tracking apps. The response has helped Asia's fourth-largest economy come to grips with the pandemic without extensive the lockdowns seen elsewhere. The daily tally of new infections had hovered around 10 or less in recent weeks, with no or very few domestic cases over the past 10 days. The fresh outbreak comes just as the government was easing some social distancing restrictions and moving to fully reopen schools and businesses, in a transition from intensive social distancing to "distancing in daily life." "We must never lower our guard regarding epidemic prevention," Moon said in a televised speech marking the third anniversary of his inauguration. "We are in a prolonged war. I ask everyone to comply with safety precautions and rules until the situation is over even after resuming daily lives." He said the KCDC will get greater power as part of the long-term fight and be renamed the Disease Control and Prevention Administration to reflect its enhanced position, while the authorities beef up local expertise. The resurgence is driven by an outbreak centred around a handful of Seoul nightclubs, which a man in his late 20s had visited before testing positive last week. At least 24 out of the 26 new domestically transmitted infections were traced to that man, bringing the infections related to the case to 54, the KCDC said. The KCDC said officials are tracking down about 1,900 people who have gone to the clubs, which could be increased to 7,000, asking anyone who was there last week to self-isolate for 14 days and be tested. "This case is once again showing a rapid spread of the virus as well as high infectiousness," KCDC director Jeong Eun-kyeong told a briefing. "We're in a battle against time to head off additional transmissions in the local communities." 

The heir to the Samsung empire bowed in apology Wednesday for company misconduct including a controversial plan for him to ascend to the leadership of the world's largest smartphone maker. Lee Jae-yong is vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics and was jailed for five years in 2017 for bribery, embezzlement and other offences in connection with the scandal that brought down South Korean president Park Geun-hye. The 51-year-old was released a year later on appeal but is currently undergoing a retrial. ‘Our technology and products are being hailed as first-class but the public gaze towards Samsung still remains harsh,’ Lee said. ‘This is my fault. I apologise.’ Lee bowed three times before flashing cameras at a Samsung Electronics office in Seoul, where reporters sat apart under coronavirus distancing rules. He will not allow his children to succeed him at the firm, he said in steady tones, swallowing occasionally. ‘I will make sure that there will be no more controversy over the succession of management,’ Lee said, adding: ‘I will never take any actions that go against the law.’ Wednesday's apology came at the request of Samsung's compliance committee, which oversees the firm's transparency in its corporate dealings. Lee has effectively been at the helm of the sprawling Samsung group since his father and group chairman Lee Kun-hee was left bedridden by a heart attack in 2014. The court case centred on millions of dollars the Samsung group paid Park's secret confidante Choi Soon-sil, allegedly for government favours including ensuring a smooth transition for Lee to succeed his ailing father. The scandal highlighted shady connections between big business and politics in South Korea, with the ousted president and her friend accused of taking bribes from corporate bigwigs in exchange for preferential treatment. Samsung Electronics is the flagship subsidiary of the group, which is by far the biggest of the family-controlled conglomerates, or chaebols, that dominate business in the world's 12th-largest economy. Its overall turnover is equivalent to a fifth of the national gross domestic product and it is crucial to South Korea's economic health. Chairman Lee Kun-hee is listed as South Korea's richest man -- and the world's 65th -- by Bloomberg Billionaires, with a fortune estimated at $15.7 billion, while Lee Jae-yong has a separate listing of his own, and a net worth of $5.7 billion. - 'No union' - In March, the Samsung compliance committee -- which was set up in response to a court order -- said many ‘disgraceful’ incidents involving the Samsung Group were linked to an alleged succession scheme for Lee and advised him to apologise publicly. It also recommended that Lee address Samsung's previous ‘no labour union’ policy. For almost 50 years Samsung successfully avoided the unionisation of its workers -- sometimes adopting ferocious tactics according to critics -- until last November. ‘I sincerely apologise to everyone who has been hurt by issues involving Samsung's labour union policy,’ Lee said. The company will guarantee workers' rights and act in accordance with employment regulations, he added. Samsung reported a slight fall in first quarter net profits last month at 4.88 trillion won ($4 billion), citing impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. But the firm -- which saw operations suspended at 11 overseas assembly lines -- warned of further falls to come as consumer demand is ‘significantly’ hit by the disease.

A former senior North Korean diplomat apologised on Monday after saying leader Kim Jong Un was likely so ill he could not stand, days before he emerged in state media chain smoking and walking briskly at an event attended by hundreds of officials. Kim disappeared from state media for weeks, sparking a flurry of speculation about his health and whereabouts, and worry about prospects for the nuclear-armed state in the event of an unexpected succession. But on Saturday, North Korean media published photographs of Kim at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the inauguration of a fertiliser plant. His re-emergence came as a blow to the credibility of some high-profile defectors from the North who had speculated that Kim was suffering from a grave illness or could even be dead. One of the defectors, Thae Yong Ho, was North Korea's deputy ambassador to Britain, where he managed secret funds for Kim. Thae fled to South Korea in 2016 and was one of a pair of defectors elected to parliament last month. ‘I am aware that one of the reasons why many of you voted for me as a lawmaker is with the expectations of an accurate analysis and projections on North Korean issues,’ Thae said in a statement. ‘I feel the blame and heavy responsibility.’ ‘Whatever the reasons, I apologise to everyone.’ The other prominent defector elected to parliament, Ji Seong-ho, had said in a media interview he was 99% certain that Kim had died after cardiovascular surgery and an official announcement would come as soon as Saturday. Ji, who was invited to attend US President Donald Trump's State of the Union address in 2018, could not be reached on Monday. Ji told Reuters on Friday he had received information about Kim's death from a source he could not disclose. He added he ran for office to bring attention to human rights abuse in the North. South Korea's ruling Democratic Party criticised the pair for carelessness that it said could do more serious than just misinforming the public. One party member said they should be excluded from the intelligence and defence committees. Daily NK, a South Korean news outlet run by North Korean defectors, reported in April that Kim was recovering from a cardiovascular procedure, sparking international speculation about his health.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un did not undergo surgery during his almost three week absence from public life, South Korean news outlet Yonhap said citing a senior government official, as the two Koreas exchanged gunfire around the border yesterday.  The South Korean official declined to provide reasons for believing that Kim did not undergo surgery, but said speculative reports that he may have had surgery, citing some differences in his leg movements, is not true, Yonhap reported.  Earlier yesterday, North and South Korea exchanged gunfire around the South’s guard post, raising tension a day after North Korean state media showed Kim visiting a factory, the first report of him making a public appearance since April 11.  Multiple gunshots were fired from North Korea at 7:41am local time towards a guard post in South Korea that borders the North, the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staffs (JCS) said in a statement. South Korea responded by firing two shots towards North Korea, no injuries were reported.  After weeks of intense speculation about Kim’s health and whereabouts, which included one report he had undergone cardiovascular surgery, North Korea’s official media published photographs and a report on Saturday that Kim had attended the completion of a fertiliser plant. Kim was seen in photographs smiling and talking to aides at the ribbon-cutting ceremony and touring the plant. State TV footage showed Kim’s leg movements appearing stiff and jerky. The authenticity of the photos, published on the website of the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper, could not be verified. The exchange of gunshots yesterday was the latest confrontation between the rival Koreas that technically remain at war. In a lengthy briefing held later yesterday, an official at South Korea’s JCS said the gunshots did not seem a planned provocation, as the area where it occurred was farmland, but declined to provide a clear conclusion about the incident. “In absence of vision (for the target) and in the fog, would there be an accurate provocation?” the official said. Choi Kang, vice president of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said he believed the timing of the ‘grey area’ provocation shows it could have been planned to show that Kim was still in charge of the North Korean military. “Yesterday, Kim was trying to show he is perfectly healthy, and today, Kim is trying to mute all kinds of speculation that he may not have full control over the military,” Choi said. “Rather than going all the way by firing missiles and supervising a missile launch, Kim could be reminding us, ‘yes I’m healthy and I’m still in power’.” Ewha University international affairs professor Leif-Eric Easley in Seoul said the shooting incident could be aimed at boosting morale in the North Korean military.  “The Kim regime may be looking to raise morale of its frontline troops and to regain any negotiating leverage lost during the rumour-filled weeks of the leader’s absence,” said Easley. “South Korea and the United States should not take lightly such North Korean violations of existing military agreements.”

Shots fired by North Korea across its border with South Korea were likely "accidental," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday as speculation continues to swirl about the health of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. North and South Korea on Saturday exchanged gunfire around a rural guard post, raising tension a day after North Korean state media showed Kim visiting a factory, the first report of him making a public appearance since April 11. South Korea responded to shots fired from across the DMZ but no casualties were reported. "We think those are accidental. South Koreans did return fire. So far as we can tell, there was no loss of life on either side," Pompeo said on ABC This Week. Pompeo declined to discuss whether he knows whether Kim has been gravely ill over the last few weeks - which ratcheted up speculation as Kim missed a celebration of his late grandfather - but said based on video footage of him from state television at a recent event, "It looks like Chairman Kim is alive and well." "We know there have been other extended periods of time where Chairman Kim's been out of public view as well, so it's not unprecedented," Pompeo said.