SEOUL, South Korea – The novel coronavirus outbreak in South Korea is "very grave," President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday as he visited its epicenter while the country's total number of cases approached 1,000.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) confirmed 144 new infections, taking the tally to 977, the largest national total anywhere outside China, where the virus first emerged.
Scores of events have been cancelled or postponed as the outbreak has spread in the world's 12th largest economy, from K-pop concerts to the start of the K-league football season, with casualties on Tuesday including parliamentary sessions and the World Team Table Tennis championships.
More than 80 percent of the infections have been in South Korea's fourth-largest city Daegu and neighboring North Gyeongsang province.
"The situation is very grave," President Moon Jae-in said on a visit to Daegu, wearing the uniform of a government emergency official and vowing full government support.
"We will achieve a victory in the fight against this virus," he added.
The streets of Daegu -- which has a population of 2.5 million -- have been largely deserted for days, apart from long queues at the few shops with masks for sale.
Authorities urged the public to exercise extra caution, advising citizens to stay home if they have a fever or respiratory symptoms.
South Korea's parliament cancelled sessions Tuesday as it closed for cleaning after confirmation a person with the coronavirus had attended a meeting last week.
The country's flag carrier Korean Air also reported a cabin crew member had tested positive, without giving details.
And, the US hinted at scaling back joint military exercises, with Defense Secretary Mark Esper telling reporters in Washington the two allies' militaries were "looking at scaling back the command post training due to concerns about the coronavirus."
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised travelers to "avoid all nonessential travel" to South Korea.
Hong Kong has said it would not allow arrivals from South Korea other than returning residents, while a Mongolian ban on flights to and from the South came into force Tuesday.
Organizers of the World Team Table Tennis championship, due to be held in Busan in March, said new dates in June had been "provisionally reserved."
The Korean Basketball League said it would hold matches behind closed doors "until the situation improves."
GOVERNMENT LIST
Three more people had died, the KCDC said, taking the toll to 10. But the case numbers it announced represented the smallest daily increase for four days.
South Korea has an advanced medical system, a free press and a strong culture of public accountability, and observers say that its health statistics can be treated with confidence.
Most of the country's infections are linked to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, an entity often accused of being a cult.
A 61-year-old female member developed a fever on February 10, but attended at least four church services in Daegu before being diagnosed.
KCDC director Jung Eun-kyeong advised Shincheonji followers to refrain from going outside "as much as possible."
With public criticism growing, Shincheonji's founder Lee Man-hee said the group would provide the government a list of all its members to have them tested for the virus.
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SEOUL — South Korea's central bank on Wednesday cut its key interest rate to the lowest point in 2 years in an effort to prop up its slowing economy as it is hit by a trade spat with Japan.
The move comes as President Moon Jae-in battles to kickstart inflation -- after prices fell for the first time last month -- and boost the stuttering economy, with parliamentary elections due in 6 months.
It also makes the Bank of Korea the latest central bank to slash rates around the world as officials try to prop up their economies in the face of a global slowdown.
The BoK lowered its key rate to 1.25 percent from 1.5 percent, citing contraction of global trade and "sluggishness in exports and facilities investment".
Borrowing costs are now level with their previous record low, which was seen between June 2016 and November 2017. The won fell 0.2 percent against the dollar in afternoon trade.
"As it is expected that domestic economic growth will be moderate and it is forecast that inflationary pressures on the demand side will remain at a low level, the Board will maintain its accommodative monetary policy stance," said the central bank in a statement.
The rate cut comes as the World's 11th largest economy struggles from a prolonged trade row between the US and China as well as Seoul's standoff with Tokyo originating from historical dispute.
The 2 neighbors have been embroiled in a dispute since July, when Japan tightened export controls on 3 chemicals essential to key products of South Korean tech companies such as Samsung.
While both are key US allies in the region, relations between the 2 remain heavily affected by Japan's expansionism in the first half of the 20th century, including its colonization of the peninsula.
Consumer price inflation is expected to hover around zero "for some time" before rising to the 1 percent range from next year, the central bank said, far short of its target of 2 percent.
Analysts warn that South Korea may be entering deflation territory after prices dropped 0.4 percent on-year in September, the first negative reading on record.
The BoK said economic growth is expected to "fall below" the 2.2 percent projection made in July -- the downgrade from an earlier projection of 2.5 percent.
GDP grew 2.7 percent in 2018, the weakest pace in 6 years.
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SEOUL, South Korea - A giant forest fire swept across swathes of South Korea Friday, as authorities declared a rare national disaster, deploying 900 fire engines and tens of thousands of personnel to bring it under control.
Apocalyptic images on television and social media showed walls of flame lighting up the night, buildings ablaze, and clouds of smoke billowing across hillsides during the day.
The fire broke out late Thursday alongside a road in the town of Goseong, in the far northeast of the country and only around 45 kilometers from the border with the nuclear-armed North.
Fanned by strong winds, it quickly spread through the mountainous area, incinerating 400 homes and 500 hectares of land, according to the government.
Nearly 4,200 people were evacuated and one person died while 35 were injured, authorities said.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited the areas in Gangwon province most affected by the blaze, meeting with residents who were forced to leave their homes.
Moon and his staff wore yellow jackets, which symbolize situations of national emergency.
The president's approval rating hit a record low of 41 percent Friday over concerns about the economy.
He visited an elementary school in Goseong where evacuees were staying, and Jangcheon village, where many residential houses are reported to have burned down.
"I hope you take extra care of displaced victims who -- after having lost their homes in an instant -- may now find time to catch their breath," Moon told fire officials.
The National Fire Agency said more than 870 fire engines and some 10,000 emergency personnel were dispatched to fight the blaze.
The military sent 32 helicopters, along with fire engines of its own, and 16,500 soldiers, to help.
"Fortunately, the main fire has been brought under control," provincial governor Choi Moon-soon said in a radio interview with TV channel YTN, but added that others were still burning.
The central government declared a state of national disaster, entitling affected areas to special assistance including goods and equipment, and banning entry to dangerous zones.
The last time Seoul made such a declaration was in 2007, when a crude oil carrier leaked thousands of tons of oil into the sea off the west coast.
Moon told officials to liaise with North Korean authorities if the fire approaches the border, the presidential office said.
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SEOUL - A South Korean military court on Wednesday sentenced a captain to six months in jail for having same-sex intercourse with another soldier, amid accusations that the army is cracking down on gay personnel.
The captain, whose name was not given, was convicted of breaking a clause in South Korea's military law banning homosexual activity by army personnel, the military said, adding it would continue to "handle disorderly conduct according to law."
He was sentenced to six months in prison, plus a suspended sentence of one year.
Homosexual acts are not a crime for civilians in South Korea, but it remains a conservative and patriarchal society and does not recognize same-sex marriage.
New President Moon Jae-In, elected earlier this month, is a former human rights lawyer and seen as a liberal, but came under fire from activists after saying in a televised debate that he did not like homosexuality.
Rights groups say that at least 32 soldiers face criminal punishment for similar actions.
"The captain was charged for having consensual sexual intercourse with his partner in a private space," said Kim Hyung-Nam of the Military Human Rights Centre campaign group.
Last month the organization accused the army of setting up fake accounts on dating apps to find military personnel and conducting homophobic interrogations on those exposed.
Rights group Amnesty International slammed the South Korean army for an "unjust conviction" that should be "immediately overturned".
"What counts is their service not their sexuality," said Roseann Rife, its East Asia research director.
"It is long overdue for South Korea to repeal this archaic and discriminatory provision in the military criminal code, and get up-to-date when it comes to the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex people," she added.
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SEOUL - Liberal politician Moon Jae-in won South Korea's presidential election on Tuesday, exit polls showed, an expected victory that would end nearly a decade of conservative rule and bring a more conciliatory approach toward North Korea.
Moon, 64, is expected to beat conservative challenger, former prosecutor Hong Joon-pyo, by 41.4 percent to 23.3 percent of the votes, exit polls conducted jointly by three network television stations showed.
A decisive win by Moon would end months of political turmoil stemming from a parliamentary vote in December to impeach former President Park Geun-hye over an extensive corruption scandal.
The Constitutional Court upheld her impeachment in March, making her the first democratically elected leader to be removed from office and triggering a snap election to choose her successor.
Wearing a dark blue suit with a blue tie, Moon was seen shaking hands with supporters and officials and smiling on his way to his Democratic Party building on Tuesday evening, TV footage shows.
He told his party he would push for reform and national unity if he was confirmed as the next president.
A Gallup Korea poll last week showed Moon had 38 percent support in a field of 13 candidates.
Moon is expected to be sworn in on Wednesday after the National Election Commission releases the official result. Most candidates including Moon have said they would skip a lavish inauguration ceremony and start work straight away.
The new leader is expected to quickly name a prime minister, who will need parliamentary approval, and main cabinet positions, including national security and finance ministers, which do not need parliamentary confirmation.
Moon's victory was bolstered by strong support from younger people, the majority of whom voted for him, according to the exit polls.
Many of his supporters participated in big, peaceful weekend rallies over the last few months of 2016 and early this year, demanding Park step down.
QUESTION OVER U.S. ANTI-MISSILE SYSTEM
Moon, whose campaign promises include a "National Interest First" policy, has struck a chord with people who want the country to stand up to powerful allies and neighbors.
He wrote in a book published in January South Korea should learn to say "no to America".
Moon favors dialogue with North Korea to ease rising tension over its accelerating nuclear and missile program. He also wants to reform powerful family-run conglomerates, such as Samsung and Hyundai, and boost fiscal spending to create jobs.
Moon, who narrowly lost to Park in the last presidential election, in 2012, has criticized the two former conservative governments for failing to stop North Korea's weapons development. He advocates a two-track policy of dialogue while maintaining pressure and sanctions to encourage change.
The election is being closely watched by allies and neighbors at a time of high tension over North Korea's accelerating development of weapons since it conducted its fourth nuclear test in January last year. It conducted a fifth test in September and is believed ready for another.
Moon said in a YouTube live stream on Tuesday South Korea should take on a more active diplomatic role to curb North Korea's nuclear threat and not watch idly as the United States and China talk to each other.
His election could complicate the deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile system, which the former Seoul government and the U.S. military agreed last year to deploy in South Korea as defence against North Korean missiles.
Moon, a human rights lawyer and former student activist, has said the next administration should have the final say on whether to deploy the system.
Many conservatives worry he will revert to a former liberal governments' policy of promoting economic ties with North Korea, which they say helped fund its weapons development, while undermining the all-important alliance with Washington.
(Reporting by Ju-min Park, Se Young Lee, Cynthia Kim and Jack Kim in SEOUL, Writing by Soyoung Kim; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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