Snippets of the Current News

Earthquake Strikes Japan

On Monday, January 1, 2024, a huge earthquake of magnitude 7.6 struck the Noto Peninsula on the coast of the Sea of Japan. The earthquake killed more than 200 people, and hundreds of people were reported to be missing or injured. Moreover, it caused thousands of collapsed houses, fires and landslides. After the earthquake, the resulting aftershock devastated the land. The first waves were reported hitting the coast just over 10 minutes after the quake, which then turned into a 4-foot tsunami. As many as 26,000 people are still being housed in evacuation shelters, and about 3,100 were isolated from rescue crews and humanitarian assistance because of damaged roads, increasing the possibility of additional indirect deaths. The government is working to move evacuees, especially the elderly, to other locations as many evacuation centers lacked water and electricity and continued to be affected by smaller quakes. Thousands of survivors are still without water and electricity and have yet to be told when plans to rebuild can begin. Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sent 150 billion yen ($1.02 billion) to restore the quake-hit areas. "Full attention should be given to the economic impact," the government said in its monthly economic report.

South Korean Leader Stabbed

On January 2, 2024, the 59-year-old head of the South Korean Democratic Party, Lee Jae-myung, got stabbed in the neck. Mr. Lee was making his way through the crowd after finishing a tour of the site of a new airport in Busan when a man wearing a plastic or paper crown saying “I am Lee Jae-myung” came up to him and asked for his autograph. As Lee was signing, the man brandished a knife and stabbed him in the neck. Mr. Lee was then taken in an ambulance to a hospital in Busan and flown to a hospital in Seoul, where he had a 2-hour surgery. It was a close call because the wound wasn't at an artery, but a vein. The assailant, who is now charged with attempted murder, is a 66-year-old man, Kim Jin Sung. He was posing as one a supporter and wanted to kill Lee so he would never become president. Kim Jin Sung began stalking Mr. Lee in June 2023, coming to six of his political events all over the country. After investigation, the police came to the conclusion that he had planned this attack for months with others, but Kim kept denying it. “How could I plan this with someone?” he told reporters before entering the prosecutor’s office. The police questioned a man in his 70s, who they said was briefed by Kim Jin Sung about his plan and entrusted with 7 sealed envelopes that contained his 8-page manifesto. Kim Jin Sung asked the man to post his manifesto only to his relatives, but the mail was intercepted by the police before it reached the relatives. “I am sorry for causing concerns,” Kim Jin Sung told reporters. As of today, Mr. Lee is recovering well from surgery.

Updates on the Ukraine-Russia War

It’s been almost 2 years, and the Ukraine-Russia War is still going on. On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Cross-border attacks have continued, killing thousands of civilians and destroying infrastructure. As of January 10, 2024, since the start of the war, the UN human rights office has verified 29,579 civilian casualties: 10,242 people killed, including 575 children, and more than 19,300 injured, including 1,264 children. Civilians in communities close to the border are affected the most by the missile, drone and artillery fire, with nearly 70% of civilian casualties recorded in the Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Heavy Russian airstrikes against Ukrainian civilians and buildings occurred in the past few weeks. Between December 29, 2023 and January 2, 2024, around 96 people were killed and 423 injured. Country-wide drone strikes on December 29, 2023 alone killed 58 people and injured 158 – the highest number of deaths in a single day in all of 2023. The NATO-Ukraine Council met on January 10 after waves of Russian airstrikes. Allies condemned the rise in Russian airstrikes as well as Russia's missiles sourced from North Korea and drones from Iran, and agreed on boosting Ukrainian air defenses. This recent wave of attacks left thousands of civilians without electricity and water supply in the frigid weather, with no end in sight to the war.