S. KOREA PRESIDENT INSTRUCTS CHIEF OF KDCA TO LEAD COVID-19 VACCINE PROGRAM

Highlights –

• S. Korean President instructs Chief of KDCA to lead COVID-19 vaccine program.
• KDCA Commissioner briefed Moon on her plans to administer vaccinations through a pan-government program.
• The Blue House reported the vaccinatio...

JAPAN NPA REPORTS DROP IN NUMBER OF TRAFFIC DEATHS IN 2020

Highlights –

• Japan NPA reports drop in number of traffic deaths in 2020.
• The data showed a drop to a record low of 2,839 in 2020.
• In 2020, a total of 309,000 traffic deaths were confirmed.
• Tokyo reported the highest number ...

JAPAN NPA TO USE A NEW SYSTEM OF ACCEPTING EMERGENCY CALLS WITH VIDEO

Highlights –

• Japan NPA to use a new system of accepting emergency calls with video.
• The police will be able to check the relay footage of crimes and accident scenes from their smartphones sent by the user.
• The Cabinet approved about $...

S. KOREA GOVT. TO HOLD MEETING WHETHER TO RAISE THE SOCIAL DISTANCING SCHEME

Highlights –

• S. Korea govt. to hold meeting whether to raise the social distancing scheme.
• On Thursday, the country’s new COVID-19 infections fell below 1,000.
• The govt. has imposed Level 3 restrictions in detention centers in t...

DONGBU DETENTION CENTER IN SEOUL REPORTS A HIGH NUMBER OF COVID-19 OUTBREAKS

Highlights –

• Dongbu Detention Center in Seoul reports a high number of COVID-19 outbreaks.
• The number of new COVID-19 cases rose to over 700 in total from the detention center.
• On Monday 233 inmates alone were infected with the COVID-...

KDCA CONFIRMS UK RETURN S. KOREAN NATIONALS TO HAVE NEW COVID-19 STRAIN

Highlights –

• KDCA confirms UK return S. Korean nationals to have new COVID-19 strain.
• An elderly man with three of his family members has contracted COVID-19.
• On Monday, the country added 808 more COVID-19 cases.
• S. Korea h...

COVID-19 VACCINE TO BE APPROVED IN A SHORT PERIOD BY S. KOREAN GOVT.

Highlights –

• COVID-19 vaccine to be approved in a short period by S. Korean Govt.
• Around 180 days is required for a vaccine to be approved on a standard licensing procedure.
• The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety is planning to shorten ...

S. KOREA SEALS DEAL WITH J&J JANSSEN AND PFIZER FOR COVID-19 VACCINE

Highlights –

• S. Korea seals deal with J&J Janssen and Pfizer for COVID-19 vaccine.
• The government is said to buy vaccines for 10 million people from Pfizer.
• The government will buy 6 million vaccines from J&J Janssen.
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SOUTH KOREA’S U.S MILITARY BASE – CAMP HUMPHREYS REPORTS 4 POSITIVE COVID-19 CASES

Highlights –

• South Korea’s U.S Military base – Camp Humphreys reports 4 positive COVID-19 cases.
• Two people who visited Camp Humphreys on Friday tested positive on Tuesday.
• A civilian employee tested positive following dir...

REPORT SHOWS S.KOREA VIDEO GAME MARKET RANKS 5TH IN THE WORLD IN 2019

Highlights –

• Report shows S. Korea's video game market ranks 5th in the world in 2019.
• The report was announced by the Korea Creative Content Agency.
• In 2019, the video game market reached sales of 15.6 trillion won ($14.2 billion...

SOUTH KOREA TO PRIORITIZE FRONTLINE WORKERS, HIGH-RISK GROUPS FOR COVID-19 VACCINE

Highlights –

• South Korea to prioritize frontline workers, high-risk groups for COVID-19 vaccine.
• The head Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency gave a briefing about the vaccination plan.
• However, some of the sections of people ...

CHINA’S LARGEST TRAVEL AGENCY REPORTS AN INCREASE IN NEW YEAR HOLIDAY BOOKINGS

Highlights –

• China’s largest travel agency reports an increase in New Year holiday bookings.
• Trip.com Group Limited based in Shanghai reported the popularity of travel destinations increased by 320%.
• Hotel bookings also entered ...

USFK REPORTS 7 AFFILIATED WORKERS CONTRACTED COVID-19 UPON AARIVAL IN THE COUNTRY

Highlights –

• USFK reports 7 affiliated workers contracted COVID-19 upon arrival in the country.
• 5 people tested positive on their first mandatory COVID-19 test prior to entering quarantine.
• 4 service members had arrived by a US govern...

JAXA REPORTS RYUGU ASTEROID SAMPLE CONTAINS MATERIAL IN GASEOUS STATE

Highlights –

• JAXA reports Ryugu asteroid sample contains material in gaseous state.
• Last week JAXA’s Hayabusa2 space probe brought back a sample from the Ryugu asteroid.
• JAXA will conduct a detailed analysis of the molecular and...

JAPAN ADOPTS A 5-YEAR PLAN TO BOOST ANTI-DISASTER MEASURES

Highlights –

• Japan adopts a 5-year plan to boost anti-disaster measures.
• The plan is scheduled through fiscal 2025 and is approved by the Cabinet.
• The total cost would come to around $144 billion from the state budget.
• The ...

ANTI-VIRUS MEASURE COSTS IN TOKYO OLYMPICS LIKELY TO BE BORNE BY JAPAN GOVT.

Highlights –

• Anti-virus measure costs in Tokyo Olympics likely to be borne by Japan Govt.
• The Japan Sports Agency is in process of allocating about 13 billion yen.
• The amount has been earmarked for 3rd supplementary budget for th...

FEDERAL LABOUR AGENCY ACCUSES GOOGLE OF SPYING ON & WRONGFULLY FIRING TWO OF ITS EMPLOYEES

Highlights

• The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has filed a complaint against search engine giant Google accusing it of spying on and wrongfully sacking two of its employees in the United States

• The reason cited by the tech-company for firing these employees...

THAI TO TAKE ON LEAP TO STARTUP COMPANIES ENLARGEMENT

HIGHLIGHTS

• The National Innovation Agency (NIA) is preparing for the improvement of profound tech new businesses in territorial zones, with the mean to prepare 100 new companies in this field more than three years

The "Profound Tech Region...

RYUGU ASTEROID SAMPLES SAFELY LANDS ON EARTH; JAPAN SPACE OFFICIALS EXCITED

Highlights –

• Ryugu asteroid samples safely lands on earth; Japan space officials excited.
• The samples landed safely in the Australian Outback on Sunday.
• The sample may show clues to the origin of the solar system and life on earth.

HAYABUSA2 RETURNS TO EARTH WITH RYUGU ASTEROID SAMPLES; PM OFFICE CONGRATULATES

Highlights –

• Hayabusa2 returns to earth with Ryugu asteroid samples; PM office congratulates.
• The space probe brought back samples from the 4.6 billion-year-old asteroid.
• The PM office congratulated Hayabusa2 project manager Yuichi Ts...