[Stephen Mihm] Why the US doesn’t have enough hospital beds

Hospitals often speak of what’s called “surge capacity” -- the ability to absorb a sudden influx of patients because of a terrorist attack, a natural disaster, or even, yes, a pandemic. Given the possible influx of patients sickened by the new coronavirus, how much of a surge can U.S. hospitals accommodate? Not as much as you might think. For years, cost-conscious hospitals have emulated the lean, just-in-time principles that have revolutionized manufacturing. The result has b

ViewpointsMarch 15, 2020

[Martin Schram] Can we cure pandemic politics?

It is a cliche of our times to hail something as a tipping point -- a happening that will change something forever. And what Americans experienced throughout Wednesday really didn’t happen in a way that felt like we’d been through a suddenly sensational tipping point. What it felt like, at day’s end, was a more subtle sensation of change that built slowly throughout the day. By nighttime, we began to individually sense that what we had just seen and sensed was a day in which w

ViewpointsMarch 15, 2020

National security advisers of S. Korea, US discuss coronavirus response in phone talks

South Korea's national security adviser, Chung Eui-yong, spoke by phone with his US counterpart Robert O'Brien on Sunday and discussed ways of cooperation to tackle the new coronavirus, the presidential office said Sunday. In particular, Chung explained President Moon Jae-in's proposal to hold a special video teleconference among the leaders of the Group of 20 nations and asked O'Brien to relay the offer to US President Donald Trump, Cheong Wa Dae said in a statement. Moon proposed the idea d

PoliticsMarch 15, 2020

[Feature] Ditching middlemen: brands strive to lure consumers directly

More individual brands have been turning to a direct-to-consumer strategy in South Korea, investing in their own online retail outlets and mobile applications to reduce dependence on giant middlemen, or e-commerce platforms. As the preference for online shopping continues to grow -- particularly amid the coronavirus-enforced self-isolation recently -- competition among online retailers has been intensifying to the point that the line separating different industries is slowly blurring.　 Indust

ConsumerMarch 15, 2020

Korean conglomerates to hold shareholders meeting despite COVID-19

A total of 314 South Korean companies, including Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor and SK hynix, will hold shareholders meetings this week. The companies have rolled out measures to counter concerns over potential spread of the coronavirus at the meetings. Samsung Electronics’ annual shareholders meeting is scheduled for Wednesday at Suwon Convention Center in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, with around 2,000 seats available. Samsung Electronics previously asked shareholders to make extensiv

IndustryMarch 15, 2020

BOK likely to cut rate this week amid calls for more stimulus

South Korea’s central bank is likely to convene an emergency meeting of its monetary policy board this week to slash its interest rates to a record-low of 1 percent, amid growing calls to beef up economic stimulus against the novel coronavirus outbreak. On Friday, Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol attended a special economic meeting related to coronavirus at Cheong Wa Dae, presided by President Moon Jae-in. Economy-related ministers including Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong

EconomyMarch 15, 2020

Education Ministry considers delaying opening of schools

South Korea is considering further delaying the opening of kindergartens and schools nationwide until early April amid lingering concerns over the spread of novel coronavirus despite signs of a slowdown in new infections. 　 The opening of kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools were pushed back for two weeks until March 23 as part of the government’s efforts to stem the spread of the virus as the country saw hundreds of new COVID-19 cases in February. 　 　 The Ministry of Educa

Social AffairsMarch 15, 2020

New infections drop to lowest level in 3 weeks

The South Korean government remains cautious on additional clusters of the novel coronavirus infections in Seoul and other populous cities, although new infections dropped below 100 for the first time in over three weeks Sunday. Health Minister Park Neung-hoo said the government was considering virus screening on all international arrivals, not just foreign nationals but Koreans returning from overseas. “It has become pointless to enforce special measures on arrivals from (only) spe

Social AffairsMarch 15, 2020

S. Korea, US resume talks on defense cost-sharing

South Korea and the US will resume talks Tuesday in Los Angeles to discuss the upkeep of 28,500 American troops in Korea and 9,000 Koreans working alongside at the US military here, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Friday. Jeong Eun-bo, Korea’s chief negotiator, is expected to push for a partial agreement to address the salaries of those workers in his two-day talks with James DeHart, the top US negotiator. The Korean workers were notified that they would be put on unpaid leave startin

DefenseMarch 15, 2020

Coronavirus wipes out more than $16tr from global stock markets

The fast-spreading novel coronavirus outbreak has erased $16.7 trillion market capitalization in global stock markets, according to news reports Sunday. The overall market cap in 86 nations dropped 18.7 percent, from $89. 2 trillion on Jan. 20 to $72.5 trillion on March 12, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The market cap loss during the volatile past few weeks is approximately tenfold that of South Korea’s nominal gross domestic product, standing at $1.6 trillion in 2019. Th

MarketMarch 15, 2020

‘The Plague’ by Albert Camus makes bestseller list

More and more Korean readers have found themselves cracking open “The Plague” by Albert Camus anew, amid the spread of the novel coronavirus. The Camus novel was published in 1947 and is set in the same time, though it is believed to be based on the cholera epidemic that killed a large percentage of the population in the French Algerian city of Oran in 1849. “The Plague,” which portrays people’s diverse responses to the plague, won the French Critics’ Pri

CultureMarch 15, 2020

Shinhan Bank’s call center workers start remote working

Shinhan Bank said Sunday that its call center employees will start remote working as part of its preventive measures against the spread of the new coronavirus.  A total of 150 call center employees working regular hours of 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. will start working from home starting Monday. The list, however excludes those who deal with telecommunications fraud and sign language. The decision came amid growing concerns over mass transmission of the virus at call centers. Earlier, nearly 102

MarketMarch 15, 2020

PM calls for parliament to approve extra budget amid coronavirus jitters

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on Sunday urged lawmakers to promptly approve the extra budget bill of 11.7 trillion won ($9.6 billion) currently pending at the parliament, amid the growing concerns over the economic fallout from the spread of the new coronavirus. "South Korea will actively review further necessary measures by closely monitoring the economic situation," Chung said during a meeting with related ministers. "We also urge the National Assembly to promptly pass the ext

PoliticsMarch 15, 2020

Lim Young-woong declared ‘Mr. Trot’ winner after delay in vote counts

Lim Young-woong was declared the victor on TV Chosun’s popular trot singer audition show, “Mr. Trot,” during a special live broadcast Saturday. Host Kim Seung-joo announced that Lim Young-woong took first place in the fan votes, which accounted for 30 percent of the total score, receiving 1,374,748 votes. This led to Lim, who was second after Lee Chan-won before the final fan voting, to overtake Lee and win. “Thank you to all the viewers who watched for such a long ti

TelevisionMarch 15, 2020

Bank deposits surge amid market volatility fears

South Korean banks are seeing a surge in deposits, reflecting investors’ concerns amid growing uncertainties in the capital market, according to latest data Sunday. Nearly 36 trillion won ($30 billion) flowed into bank deposits last month -- the largest in five years -- Bank of Korea data showed.  According to the central bank, the combined bank deposits came to nearly 1770.1 trillion won, up 35.9 trillion won from a month earlier, the biggest monthly change since Dec. 2014

MarketMarch 15, 2020

NK’s US expert replaces Kim Il-sung’s son-in-law as Austrian ambassador

North Korean diplomat Choe Kang-il, an expert on US affairs, has been appointed as the new ambassador to Austria, replacing a son-in-law of the country’s founder Kim Il-sung, according to North’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday.  Choe, a deputy director general for North American affairs at North Korea’s Foreign Ministry, has been part of nuclear talks with the US, including working-level negotiations ahead of US-North Korea summits in Singapore and Hanoi. He was

North KoreaMarch 15, 2020

[Herald Interview] ‘Korea’s impact investors should seek cross-border deals’

South Korea was the first country in East Asia to introduce a legal definition for impact investment under the Promotion of Social Enterprises Act in 2007, which paved the way for a mature ecosystem. Impact investments aim to generate specific beneficial social or environmental effects in addition to financial gains -- actively seeking to make a positive impact, for example, by investing in nonprofits that benefit the community or in clean-technology enterprises that benefit the environment.

MarketMarch 15, 2020

KITA’s online export platforms help firms overcome virus outbreak

The Korea International Trade Association is bolstering remote online export platforms to help domestic companies facing difficulties in export to find new export channels amid the coronavirus outbreak. The KITA said Sunday it has shifted its marketing efforts to the online sphere, strengthening its online business-to-business and business-to-consumer export platforms as series of offline export marketing events have been canceled or delayed by the worsening COVID-19 outbreak. According to

IndustryMarch 15, 2020

US extends travel ban to UK and Ireland, reviews domestic curbs

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The United States said Saturday it was stepping up its fight against the coronavirus and extending a European travel ban to include the United Kingdom and Ireland, while acknowledging that some domestic travel curbs were also being considered. President Donald Trump has decided to "suspend all travel from the United Kingdom and Ireland" effective midnight Monday EST (0400 GMT Tuesday), Vice President Mike Pence told a White House news conference. "Americans

World NewsMarch 15, 2020