The heavy snow in November, when the 'exile' and the 'closed school order' were noisy, was reported.

[News FM Lee Ik-seon Choi Soo-young Issue & People]
□ Broadcast Date: November 28, 2024 (Thu)
□ Host: Lee Ik-seon, Choi Soo-young
□ Cast: Announcer Lee Hyun-woong

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information.
◇ Lee Ik-seon: Let's open the second part with Aung Da-woong News. Announcer Lee Hyunwoong, who will be with us today as well, is here. Hello~

◆ Hello!

◇ Lee Ik-seon: First news. There was another snow bomb in the Seoul metropolitan area all night. There's also a reaction that yesterday was a preview.

◆ [Lee Hyun-woong] That's right. As of 7 a.m. this morning, up to 43 centimeters of snow fell in the Seoul metropolitan area, causing chaos on the way to work. Many of you must have been worried about how to get to work in the morning, looking out the window.

In some apartment complexes, snow piled up from the parking lot to the nearby roads, announcing, "Please move on foot instead of on your own." In some places, the roof of the underground parking lot collapsed, completely blocking vehicle access. The bus was also delayed as cars on the road failed to speed up. In a hurry, I tried to call a taxi, but there were few taxis that could be caught.

As a result, people flocked to the subway. There are so many people that it took a few cars to get on.

There were also a number of office workers who gave up going to work. An official from a company's human resources team said that they keep getting calls saying it's hard to go to work, and posted that normal work will be difficult today.

◇ Choi Soo-young : How is school? I think it would have been difficult for students to go to school, too.

◆ [Lee Hyun-woong] That's right. So, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education informed in advance that the principal could close and adjust the school hours. There is no collective closure at the level of the Office of Education, but we also sent an official letter saying that it can be recognized as attendance if you are unable to attend or late due to heavy snow. As a result, as of 9:30 a.m. today, the principal decided that three schools were closed, and 27 schools adjusted their school hours.

Meanwhile, Gyeonggi-do Province, which raised the emergency level of the Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters to "3rd Stage," has instructed all schools to consider closing schools along with the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education. Whether or not to close is decided at the discretion of the principal. As of 11 a.m. today, 363 kindergartens and elementary, middle and high schools in the province announced their closure, and 189 schools adjusted their school hours.

◇ Lee Ik-seon: The heavy snow warning, which had been issued for two days in Seoul and other metropolitan areas, was lifted this morning, so is it not snowing more now?

◆ Lee Hyun-woong: As of 10 a.m. today, heavy snow warnings were lifted across Seoul, Incheon, Uiwang, Gwangju, and Anyang in Gyeonggi Province. However, heavy snow warnings are still in place in southern Gyeonggi-do, inland Gangwon-do, and North Chungcheong-do and North Gyeongsang-do.

Even if it is an area where the heavy snow warning has been lifted, the snow has not completely stopped. The amount will be reduced, but snow and rain are predicted across the country until tomorrow. But I can't relax. There has already been a lot of snow, and because it is a "heavy snow" full of moisture, there are accidents in which trees are broken or facilities are collapsing.

When traveling by vehicle, as well as when walking on the street, you should look around carefully, including above your head.

◇ Choi Soo-young: Even though it's snowing so much, there are a lot of delivery motorcycles on the road. You can't rest on days like this?

◆ Lee Hyun-woong: I told you that office workers often give up going to work, right? Delivery workers, who may be more vulnerable to snow, also often decide to take a day off from work today.

By the way, it is said that it shakes your heart when you see the notice on the delivery platform. This is because there are promotions such as a significant increase in delivery fares from 1,000 won to 6,000 won per case, and an additional 30,000 won will be paid if eight cases are delivered within 3 hours.

Online communities where delivery workers gather are posting messages saying that it is dangerous and scary, but how can they rest on a day like this?

However, delivery platforms also took measures due to heavy snow. We have limited the range of orders from 3km to 1km, and some areas have suspended services.

Due to the heavy snowfall every day, delivery of mail and courier is also being disrupted. Even if the goods are a little late, it's time for everyone to be patient and understanding little by little.

◇ Profit line: Let's look at the economic news. The Bank of Korea's Monetary Policy Committee was held today, and you cut the benchmark interest rate by surprise.

◆ [Lee Hyun-woong] That's right. Most of the market expected a freeze. A surprise 0.25 percentage point cut was announced. Now the benchmark interest rate has been lowered from 3.25% per year to 3% per year.

The Monetary Policy Committee also lowered the benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points last month. The two consecutive cuts have attracted more attention in 15 years since the 2008 global financial crisis.

In a press conference after the Monetary Policy Committee meeting, Bank of Korea Governor Lee Chang-yong said that it was a more difficult decision than ever, saying that four of the six Monetary Policy Committee members except him were cut and two were frozen.

Nevertheless, the rate cut is attributed to the fact that the outlook for our economy is not as good as it is. The Bank of Korea also lowered the growth rate this year and next year by 0.2 percentage points to 2.2 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively. It can be interpreted as an intention to revive domestic demand by releasing money by lowering interest rates.

However, the rate gap between the U.S. and the U.S., which had been partially narrowed due to the consecutive cuts, has widened again, raising concerns that the risk of foreign investment funds flowing out could further stimulate the unstable exchange rate. In addition, household debt and housing prices in the Seoul metropolitan area, which have been slowing down in the fourth quarter, could also be stimulated again, raising tensions.

◇ Choi Soo-young: Let's see the last news. It's already December in three days, and the door to newborn loans will be widened from next month?

◆ Lee Hyun-woong: Yes, December 1st is Sunday, so to be exact, the relaxed standard will be applied from the loan application on the 2nd.

First of all, to explain the newborn loan, it is a system that lends housing purchase funds of up to 500 million won at low interest to homeless households or single-family households who have given birth or adopted within two years from the date of application for the loan. However, there were many cases where this special loan could not be used because there was a standard of less than 130 million won in combined income for couples. It has been decided to ease this income requirement up to 200 million won.

However, the relaxed requirement is limited to only dual-income couples and that the income of each couple must be less than 130 million won.

◇ Lee Ik-seon: It seems that we are improving the parts that have been pointed out that marriage has disadvantages one by one, and thanks to these efforts, the number of births is rebounding, right?

◆ [Lee Hyun-woong] That's right. The number of births in September increased by 10% compared to a year ago. Including the September statistics, the total fertility rate in the third quarter was 0.76, and on a cumulative basis this year, it was 0.74. Expectations are growing that the total fertility rate, which has been falling all the time, may rebound.

For your information, last year was 0.72, and at the start of this year, there was a lot of concern that it might fall to the 0.6 level.

Analysts say that the reversal leads to childbirth with a time difference as awareness of childbirth is improving due to the influence of the policies mentioned above, and marriage, which was delayed during the COVID-19 period, increases.

◇ Lee Ik-seon: We've looked at all the news prepared today.

◆ Lee Hyun-woong: Yes, thank you.