Issue 17: 2020. 5. 8. – “Korean Relapse”

Dear all,

Greetings from PACOM! It is the end of another work week, a shortened one here in Korea due to the second half of the Golden Week mentioned previously. Temperatures have remained high, with short-sleeved shirts already being worn by the majority of the PACOM workforce—and we’re just barely into May! I am dreading the summer already.

A rather sad piece of news regarding COVID-19 in Korea came out recently. During the Golden Week period, apparently there was a COVID-19 positive person who visited several nightclubs in the Itaewon region of Seoul in the wee hours of May 2nd. This has resulted in an increase in newly confirmed cases, although definitely not as serious as the first stages that happened in February—as of now, anyway. Whether this new incident causes a secondary outbreak or it will be contained remains to be seen, but it serves a clear message that social distancing is something that will be present in our lives for the foreseeable future.

One sad part about this new incident is that it will probably entail canceling any plans to send masks and hand sanitizer products to other countries which are desperate for them. As some of you may be aware, mask supply was a hot-button issue in the early days of the pandemic, but was sorted out after a few bumps and things had slowly progressed to the point where pharmacies had excess masks and couldn’t do much with them. Hence, there were voices clamoring for a loosening of export restrictions so that products could be sent to places with greater demand (as well as provide an export opportunity).

With report of this new potential outbreak, however, I believe those plans will probably be canceled for the foreseeable future, as demand will definitely re-rise. We’ve received inquiries from our friends abroad regarding whether masks could be sent, and we’ve always had to tell them that our hands are tied. Things were looking closer to resolution in that regard, but I fear that such a loosening will probably be delayed a while longer.

As for PACOM, it is chugging along, albeit in a rather heated state due to the suddenly warm weather. Seriously, the office is not exactly the height of air conditioning technology. My personal gripes aside, all employees are hard at work, whether it be assembling products, managing shipments or managing clients—or, in my case, summarizing the happenings in PACOM and Korea! We’ve remained COVID-free, and everyone is in good spirits and hard at work.

Stay safe everyone, and have a great weekend!

Best regards,
Yu Bum Kim