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[Misc] (HL-20200712~20200718) Weekly Headlines Review
최고관리자  |  20-07-10 10:18
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!!! A state-by-state breakdown of US coronavirus cases !!!

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(Mon) Walmart to soon launch Amazon Prime rival
월마트, 아마존 프라임에 대한 대항마 출시 임박

Walmart is reportedly prepared to step up its online fight with Amazon.com by launching a membership program to compete with the online giant's very successful Prime service. Investors are totally buying the idea and sent Walmart's stock more than 6 percent higher on Tuesday. The Walmart subscription service, which will be called Walmart+, according to reporting by tech website Recode, is due to launch later this month at $98 a year. That's about $20 cheaper than the annual fee for Amazon Prime. But how will Walmart+ stack up when it comes to services? Customers will reportedly get same-day delivery options for groceries and other merchandise, discounts at the retailer's gas stations, and early access to deals. No word yet on whether Walmart+ shoppers will get quicker, free shipping. Right now, two-day shipping is free for all customers spending at least $35. Walmart declined to comment on the report. But it has been making an effort to close the wide gap between its online sales and that of Amazon.com. Last quarter it set a company record for online sales with a near 75 percent jump in spending on its website... And it recently announced a partnership with Canadian e-commerce firm Shopify in an attempt to capture a bigger slice of online shopping. It still has a way to go to catch up to Amazon as far as Wall Street is concerned. Amazon shares were down slightly on Tuesday but held above the marquee $3,000 price tag - giving it a $1.5 trillion stock market valuation. Walmart's market cap is just a fraction of that at nearly $360 billion.

(Tue) China warns UK: dropping Huawei will cost you
중국, 영국의 화웨이 배제에 대해 경고

China has a warning for the UK: drop Huawei, and there will be trouble. The country’s ambassador to London made the not-so veiled threat on Monday: "So we want to be your friend, we want to be your partner, but if you want to make China a hostile country you have to bear the consequences.” Liu Xiaoming spoke amid hints that the UK might, after all, ban Huawei from working on its next-generation 5G phone networks. Earlier London had said the Chinese firm could be involved in non-core parts of the network. But last week saw UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson say he didn’t want critical infrastructure controlled by ‘potentially hostile state vendors’. That after the U.S. tightened sanctions on Huawei, and ramped up pressure on allies to shun it. It all leaves London with a tough choice: whether to anger Washington, or Beijing. The Chinese ambassador turned it into a test of post-Brexit Britain: "But when you get rid of Huawei it sends out a very wrong message. It punishes the British image as a free business, free trade country.” The tussle over Huawei has become a battle of wills between the U.S. and China. On Monday one UK minister said a review of its policy was under way, with results to be announced to parliament. Boris Johnson has a very tough choice to make.

(Wed) Anger as Air France cuts jobs despite bailout
에어프랑스, 구제금융 지원에도 불구 감원 계획하며 분노 촉발

Protests Friday outside Air France offices in Paris. That as the airline looks set to shed around 7,500 jobs. The cuts will affect about 15% of the firm’s employees, including pilots, stewards and ground staff. At least half that number is likely to entail voluntary departures and retirement plans. But that still leaves the prospect of thousands of compulsory redundancies. And that has sparked anger, coming just weeks after chief executive Ben Smith secured a state bailout valued at 7 billion euros - or almost 7.9 billion dollars. Long-time staffer Valerie Raphel joined the protests: "Yes, we have a feeling of injustice, we also have a feeling of betrayal and of complicity with the government because the state didn't impose compromises on Benjamin Smith in terms of preserving jobs in exchange for the billions of euros that have been loaned to us.” On Friday ministers called on Air France to pursue cutbacks ‘responsibly’, urging it to avoid forcible departures. The airline says it has no choice but to make changes though. Like rivals, it’s been hard hit by the global slump in air travel. It’s the French half of the broader Air France-KLM group. The Dutch government has given KLM a bailout worth 3.4 billion euros - about 3.8 billion dollars. Friday’s news caps a bad few days for airlines and their suppliers. Plane maker Airbus said this week it would cut 15,000 jobs across Europe. Budget airline easyJet laid off more workers, and rival Ryanair warned that thousands of jobs could be at risk.

(Thu) S.Korea talks COVID-19 drug, U.S. buys most stocks
미국 렘데시비르 물량 선점한 가운데, 제조사와 협상 계획중인 한국

South Korea has started distributing stocks of the COVID-19 treatment remdesivir that were donated by the drugmaker Gilead Sciences - after the United States secured nearly all of its supply of the drug over the next three months. Speaking at a news conference, the director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said South Korea plans to begin talks to purchase more supplies in August - making it the first country to disclose a timeline for talks with Gilead. Remdesivir is expected to be in high demand as one of the few treatments shown to alter the course of COVID-19. But the U.S. has already secured more than 500,000 treatment courses of the drug - which represents 100% of Gilead's projected production for July and 90% in August and September. The intravenously administered medicine has won emergency-use authorization in several countries and full approval in Japan after a clinical trial showed it helped shorten hospital stays. Gilead said this week it has priced remdesivir at $390 per vial in developed countries and based on current treatment patterns, a course of remdesivir equates to $2,340 per patient. The price has been a topic of intense debate since U.S. regulators approved its emergency use in some COVID-19 patients in May. Experts have said Gilead would need to avoid appearing to take advantage of a health crisis for profits. Last week, the European Union's healthcare regulator last week recommended conditional approval of the drug when used in the critically ill. The formal go-ahead by the European Commission is expected to follow soon. Gilead has linked up with generic drugmakers based in India and Pakistan, including Cipla Ltd and Hetero Labs Ltd, to make and supply remdesivir in 127 developing countries.

(Fri) Germany missed chances to catch Wirecard
와이어카드 부정, 적발기회 놓친 독일

Germany missed chances to spot the brewing trouble at Wirecard. That’s according to a Reuters source with knowledge of behind-the-scenes talks. National regulators reportedly twice looked into tightening supervision of the payments firm. But ultimately took no action. That despite years of allegations of fraud by some investors and journalists. The firm then declared insolvency last week, after admitting that 2.1 billion dollars of cash on its books probably didn’t exist. CEO Markus Braun has since been arrested and then released on bail. The source says German financial regulator BaFin first considered putting Wirecard on a supervision list in 2017. There were more talks, this time involving the ECB, in late 2019. But they dragged on into 2020, and were then overtaken by events. The lack of urgency is likely to intensify criticism of BaFin. It’s already under fire for investigating the investors and reporters who questioned Wirecard. One whistleblower faced a criminal inquiry after alleging fraud at the firm. Last week the European Commission asked its markets watchdog to investigate whether BaFin failed in its duties. That could lead to a rare and humiliating rebuke for a national regulator.

** Other Latest Headlines **

* Park Won-Soon

(1) The Korea Times - Seoul Mayor found dead

(2) AP News - Late Seoul mayor was outspoken liberal who eyed presidency

(3) The New York Times - Seoul Mayor Is Found Dead After Harassment Complaint Is Filed

(4) The Guardian - Seoul mayor found dead after being reported missing

* Korean War hero Paik Sun-yup dies at 99

Paik Sun-yup, a famous Korean War hero and South Korea's first four-star general, died Friday at age 99, military officials said. Born in 1920, Paik graduated from a military academy in Manchuria in northeastern China in 1941, and became an officer of the Manchukuo Imperial Army. Manchukuo was a puppet state established by Japan in Manchuria. Korea was under Japanese colonial rule from 1910-45. Upon the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, Paik was assigned to lead the 1st Infantry Division. Under his leadership, the division played a critical role in deterring North Korean troops from taking over the entire South in what is known as the Battle of Tabu-dong, one of the fiercest battles of the war. Paik was also the subject of controversy when he was accused in 2009 of being pro-Japan for his service in the Manchukuo Imperial Army. In accordance with relevant laws, Paik's body will be buried at the national cemetery in Daejeon, central South Korea. While he has been highly recognized as a war hero by the South Korean and U.S. militaries, and his contributions during the war entitled him to be buried in a national cemetery, opponents claim he doesn't deserve the honor due to his alleged pro-Japanese activities.

* Deaths of two leaders left Korean society divided

The recent deaths of two prominent national figures ― Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and Korean War hero Paik Sun-yup ― have seen the emergence of polarized public opinion, focusing society on the deeply dividing and complex issues that the country already faces. The conflict comes amid different assessments of the lives of the two leaders ― some argue that their accomplishments should be honored, thus they deserve respectful treatment in their funerals; while others claim that people should not overlook the wrongdoings they committed. Park, a former civic activist and human rights lawyer, and three-term Seoul mayor, had been considered a potential candidate for the 2022 presidential election. But he took his own life Thursday, a day after he was accused of sexual harassment by a female former secretary. Paik, the South Korea's first four-star general, led the 1st Infantry Division that played a critical role during Korean War in stopping North Korean troops from taking over the entire peninsula. But he was also regarded as a controversial figure due to his "pro-Japanese" activities before the Korean War broke out. The late mayor, a member of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), was found dead on a path on Mount Bukak in Seoul at 12:01 a.m. Friday, a few days after his former secretary filed a complaint with police, Wednesday, over alleged sexual harassment since 2017. Expressing condolences over his sudden death, the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) announced Friday that it would hold a five-day mourning period for Park at Seoul National University Hospital, in accordance with official guidelines, and also place a memorial altar in front of Seoul City Hall for the public to pay their respects. Immediately after the announcement, some members of the public and politicians raised the question of whether it was appropriate to hold a "public funeral" for the late mayor who faced sexual harassment allegations. A citizen posted a petition on the website run by the presidential office, Friday, calling on the memorial and funeral service plans to be cancelled. "Because of Park's death, the police are on course to officially close an investigation of the sexual harassment complaint raised against him before it could even begin," the petitioner wrote. "Why should citizens watch the lavish five-day funeral of an influential politician who apparently killed himself over the sexual assault allegation? What kind of message do they want to send to the public? I believe Park's funeral service should be held quietly among family members."

* Korea's real estate policy fiasco

Since his inauguration in May, 2017, President Moon Jae-in and his administration have been waging a war against real estate speculation by employing all possible measures focused on punitive taxation and lending regulations. With the lofty goal of offering homes to more people at affordable prices, their policy initiatives have been considered to have had good intentions but the attempts have not come to fruition as they defy the basic market principle of supply and demand. Experts said that if the government continues to focus on suppressing demand without supplying more homes in the capital where most Koreans want to live, it will freeze trading and distort the market, eventually fueling pent-up demand and a further hike in home prices over the long term. The side effects of the government's ineffective real estate policies are manifested in the latest data comparing apartment prices in major cities around the world. Apartment prices in Seoul have posted the largest growth for the past three years among those from other mega-cities; a result of the government's "reckless" regulations that have distorted the market. According to Numbeo, the world's largest cost of living database, apartment prices in downtown Seoul have skyrocketed 56.6 percent over the three-and-a-half years since the end of 2016.

* Korean New Deal

President Moon Jae-in's pledge to accelerate the "Korean New Deal," a 160 trillion won ($133 billion) investment to create 1.9 million jobs through 2025, should be like rain amid a drought. The "drought" from the economic fallout from COVID-19 is worsening. On Wednesday, the country awoke to find that the unemployment rate has continued to increase for the fourth consecutive month in June. The job front is expected to deteriorate further as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected the Korean economy to contract by 2.1 percent this year. The 160 trillion won is an increase from the initial vision the liberal government put forth, which was investing 76 trillion won to provide over 550,000 jobs. The program, which the President has said will kick start changes that will last a century, has three pillars to it. Strengthening the country's "digital" or information technology infrastructure, promoting a "green" infrastructure to prop up carbon-neutral industries and expanding the social safety net. Some are already saying the Korean New Deal is a mixed bag of existing policies. But by giving it a five-year timeline and stressing the speed of implementation, President Moon has made it clear it will be one of the top items on his agenda for the remainder of his tenure. Yet at the same time, he has given it an urgency that could become a liability.

* Walmart latest retailer to require customers to wear masks

Walmart will require customers to wear face coverings at all of its namesake and Sam’s Club stores, making it the largest retailer to introduce such a policy that has otherwise proven difficult to enforce without state and federal requirements. The company said Wednesday that the policy will go into effect on Monday to allow time to inform customers. Currently, about 65% of its more than 5,000 stores and clubs are located in areas where there is already some form of government mandate on face coverings. Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart joins a growing but still small list of retailers to require masks at all of its stores, filling the role of states and the federal government that have failed to issue such mandates on an issue that has been highly politicized by President Donald Trump and many of his ardent supporters. Given Walmart’s clout as the largest retailer in the U.S., its decision is expected to push others to issue similar mandates. In fact, hours after its announcement, supermarket chain Kroger Co. said it would follow suit starting July 22.