Issue 20: 2020. 5. 27. – “A Lull in the Updates”

Dear all,

Greetings from PACOM! Middle of the week already—time truly does fly. It seems like only yesterday when there were first reports of a virus outbreak in a Chinese province. Since then, over three months have passed, countless masks have been used, stock and cryptocurrency prices have gone through a rollercoaster, sports leagues have gone through a universal shutdown, and many of us got accustomed to using Zoom. And keep in mind that I haven’t even mentioned the specifics of all of our jobs!

When I put it that way, it has been a crazy first half of this year, hasn’t it? Personally I would have preferred a brighter way to begin a new decade, but I guess that just wasn’t in the cards.

The re-outbreak from stemming from the Itaewon incident has unfortunately not been fully quashed. We have not yet been able to return to the single-digit new cases pre-Itaewon; for the last week, new cases number anywhere between 20 and 40 per day. It’s a sobering reminder that policy must not just be well-planned, but well-executed—not just by policymakers, but also by the people. With many countries looking to relax social distancing somewhat, I hope people don’t take that as a sign that the situation is over. The pessimist in me thinks that 2020 will be dominated by COVID-19—I hope I’m wrong.

Production is picking up at PACOM—the storage areas are becoming fuller. Calendars are forming the bulk of the production at the moment, with increasing production efficiency an area of concentration. The weather has been inconsistent throughout the past week, although thankfully that has not affected production capacity in any significant regard. An area of potential concern is mask usage in increasingly warm weather, which presents obvious issues for those in the factory—we are all ears for any suggestions in that regard.

Have a great and safe rest of the week everyone. Take care!

Best regards,
Yu Bum Kim