Are there any reports from Asia in yet??

-- Jennifer Mawby (jennifer.mawby@teekay.com), December 31, 1999

Answers

The following information was pulled directly from the following website http://www.mofa.go.jp/y2k/index.html

First of all, I am indeed very happy to be able to inform you that it appears that so far that have been no serious problems posing any major threat to the people of Japan. We know for sure that as the clock passed midnight operations at the following basic infrastructure facilities were basically running smoothly: all power companies, the major city gas companies, NTT, NHK and other major broadcasting stations based in Tokyo, all drinking water facilities in Tokyo and other designated large cities across the country, the thirty-seven major railway companies, all air traffic control facilities in operation, all primary signaling devices throughout Japan, as well as all nuclear fuel facilities currently in operation, including all nuclear power plants. Furthermore there have been no reports of any large-scale inconveniences in other sectors. In fact I understand that the emergency telephone numbers in Tokyo and other designated large cities around our nation have received no more reports than they do on an average year.

-- Genevieve Richer (genevieve.richer@bloodservices.ca), December 31, 1999.

From Koskinen's 1/3/2000 report and unconfirmed as far as I know:

Presidents Council on Year 2000 Conversion Information Coordination Center 01/03/00

Final K Bullets  7:00 AM Interview

UNDER REVIEW (BACKGROUND)

SOUTH KOREA - South Korea's Vice Minister for Information and Communication, reported that all 13 of the major infrastructure systems, including electricity, water, communication, and transportation, had so far run normally without any problems. Minor Y2K problems reported include: transmission of Cable Broadcasting suspended temporarily, video and book rental stores charged customers overdue fees for 100 years; point-of-sales system failed to read the year 2000; and the heating controller failed to work for 902 families living in 10 different apartment. The Vice Minister estimated that more problems would likely occur in large-size buildings and small and medium-size stores. UNCONFIRMED

JAPAN FINANCIAL MARKETS - The Tokyo Stock Exchange found no Y2K problems in a final check out on its trading system Sunday; however, computer glitches were encountered by 12 member brokerages in back- office transactions. About 30 officials tested the trading system at the Tokyo Stock Exchange by conducting mock buying and selling transactions with the participation of 233 member brokerage firms. Glitches hit 12 securities which use the "Star Three" back-office system developed by Nomura Research Institute, said the think tank affiliated with Japan's top brokerage, Nomura Securities. Trading will resume 1/4/2000 in Japan. UNCONFIRMED

CHINA BANKING - A small number of banks in China experienced Y2K- related problems with internal e-mail and credit card systems but no major breakdowns occurred, Chinese officials said Sunday. Among the minor problems reported were the following: branches of the People's Bank of China in Qinghai Province encountered breakdowns in their internal and inter-bank e-mail systems, machines processing credit card transactions also broke down at some banks on January 1 but have been repaired and were operating normally the next day, and taxi meters in Jiangsu Province blanked out forcing drivers and passenger to calculate fares by hand. UNCONFIRMED

-- Jennifer Bunker (Salt Lake City, Utah) (jen@bunkergroup.com), January 05, 2000.

Koskinen said that four Y2k problems in South Korea were reported by 1/3/2000. According to the following report, eleven problems occurred by 1/3....

Asia Briefs

11 cases of Y2K trouble reported in S. Korea - SEOUL, Jan. 3 2000 Eleven cases of trouble related to the millennium computer bug have been reported since New Year's Day in South Korea, the government's Y2K management office said Monday.

The problems included a temporary suspension of hot water supply at a high-rise apartment complex on the outskirts of Seoul, and two cases in which hospital patients' ages were recorded inaccurately due to computer malfunctions, the office said.

Concise story from Kyodo News Web - Kyodo World Service

http://home.kyodo.co.jp/cgi-bin/kws.concisestory? id=20000103807

-- Lee Maloney (leemaloney@hotmail.com), February 02, 2000.

Re: "Any reports from Tokyo or Korea?"

For the record, Japan reported 25 Y2k glitches by 1/4/00....

Asia Briefs

Japan signals virtual all-clear on Y2K bug - TOKYO, Jan. 4 2000 The government said Tuesday it has basically conquered the Year 2000 computer bug with no major confusion in infrastructure or business, but added 25 minor Y2K glitches were reported in the first four days of the year.

''There have been no major problems regarding our social infrastructure, including the fields of energy, transportation, telecommunications and medicine,'' Chief Cabinet Secretary Mikio Aoki said at a news conference.

Concise story from Kyodo News Web - Kyodo World Service

http://home.kyodo.co.jp/cgi-bin/kws.concisestory? id=20000104827

-- Lee Maloney (leemaloney@hotmail.com), February 02, 2000.