Month: February 2015

South Korea is really a housing bubble burst away from a major recession considering all the debt that people have tied up in their homes:

Record high household debt, including credit cards, edged closer to 1,090 trillion won ($994.3 billion) in December largely due to the central bank’s cut in the benchmark interest rate.

The Bank of Korea reported on Thursday that household debt at the end of December was 1,089 trillion won, a 2.8 percent increase from the previous record of 1,059.2 trillion won in the third quarter of 2014. When compared to the end of 2013, household debt expanded 6.6 percent from 1,021.4 trillion won.

Overall household debt has set records for seven consecutive quarters.(………………)

“The household debt to disposable income ratio, which is an indicator of households’ debt burden, at the end of 2013 was 160.7 percent, which is relatively high compared to major advanced economies, including the United States,” said Kim Yong-beom, director general of the financial policy bureau at the Financial Services Commission. “But the financial debt to financial asset ratio is holding steady at 46 percent. The government has been making persistent efforts to reform the structure of mortgage loans.”  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

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— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) February 27, 2015

Members of South Korea’s first anti-Ebola medical team, who completed their mission in the western African nation of Sierra Leone in late January, hold a news conference in Incheon, west of Seoul, on Feb. 15, 2015. They returned to normal life after a three-week isolation period. (Yonhap)

Via a reader tip comes this story of a gunman in South Korea who killed three people before committing suicide:

 

A gunman shot and killed three people Friday before he was found dead at a home in a city near the capital Seoul in the second such incident in three days, police officials said.

Shooting incidents are rare in South Korea, which tightly controls gun possession, and the two deadly shootings this week will likely trigger a debate on whether the country should tighten its control on hunting weapons that can be legally owned.

A police official from Hwaseong City, who didn’t want to be named, citing office rules, said the victims included a policeman who was one of the first officers to arrive at the scene. The official said the suspect is believed to be the brother of one of the victims, whose wife was also dead.

The suspect was found dead with a gunshot wound in what the police believed to be a suicide. The daughter-in-law of the dead couple managed to escape by jumping from a second-floor window before alerting the police, and is currently being treated at a hospital for a minor back injury.

Police said the murder weapon was believed to be a hunting gun. The gunman had retrieved the gun from a nearby police station about an hour before the morning shooting, the police official said.

South Koreans can obtain licenses for shotguns and air rifles for the purpose of hunting animals, but they are required to keep the weapons at police stations and use them only during legal hunting periods. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the suspect owned the gun or had a proper license for it.  [Fox News]

You can read the rest at the link, but according to Yonhap the shooter was 75 years old and checked out the hunting rifle shortly before the shooting:

Police said Jeon often got drunk and demanded money from his brother, according to his neighbors.

He took out a hunting rifle from a police station an hour before the shooting and told the officers he would return after he finishes hunting the next day.

Police officers said they did not notice anything suspicious about the man despite his old age and frequent visits to the substation to take out guns.

The incident came two days after another gunman killed three people in the central city of Sejong before turning the gun on himself.

Civilians are rarely armed with guns in South Korea. Only those with genuine reasons are allowed to own one, and it must be stored at police substations. [Yonhap]

You can read the rest at the link, but the Korean police plan to limit the amount of substations now that can hold guns and require re-licensing for hunting weapons every three years now in response to this incident.

You have to hand it to the North Koreans for being creative here and showing how to take money from people and then claim it to be a Social Security program like we do here in the US:

North Korea has notified South Korea of its unilateral decision to raise the minimum wage for its workers at the Kaesong Industrial Complex by 5.18 percent, the unification ministry said Thursday.

In a fax message sent Tuesday, the North said it would increase the minimum wage from $70.35 to $74 starting on March 1, a ministry official told reporters.

In addition, the North announced that it would collect 15 percent of their basic wage plus overtime payments as “social security,” he said. Currently, the South’s firms pay 15 percent of the basic wage alone.

The North Korean workers’ average wage amounted to $141.4 per month in 2014, according to the ministry’s data.

Under Pyongyang’s plan, South Korean firms will have to pay $164 on average for a North Korean worker a month, up 5.53 percent from the current $155, said the official.

He stressed that the South’s government can’t accept the North’s move.

“The two sides are supposed to set wages for workers at the complex and other working conditions through mutual consultations,” he said. “The government will advise our firms to pay the current level of wages until the issue is settled through consultations between the related authorities of the two sides.”  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Does anyone else see the irony in the Chinese advocating for respecting the sovereignty of other nations?:

February is China’s month to hold the presidency of the United Nations Security Council, a post that rotates monthly among all 15 members (making it a semi-annual position, last held by China in November 2013). Yet China had some lofty goals for this particular stint as president. In particular, China used its position to host a larger debate about the future of the United Nations, and international relations more generally, in the 21st century.

Upon taking over the presidency, China presented a concept paper for a debate that would focus on reconfirming each state’s commitment to the U.N. Charter. The discussion was also intended as a way to kick off the commemoration of the U.N.’s 70th anniversary and “the victory won in the war against fascism.” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi chaired the debate, which took place Monday.

Wang’s statements at the debate emphasized China’s view for how the U.N. should function – an important point, as China is determined to revamp international institutions to be more reflective of the 21st century (which, in part, would involve more influence for China and other developing powers). In accordance with that vision, Wang called for adding “new dimensions” to the U.N. Charter to “bring to it new dynamism and vitality.”

Wang also used the floor to argue for China’s vision of international relations, which centers on respect for each country’s “sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity” as well as “their choice of development path and social system.” He warned against countries acting unilaterally or going outside the U.N. to impose their will on others. “We should make sure that justice, not hegemony, will prevail in the world,” Wang said.  [The Diplomat]

You can read more at the link, but I wonder what the nation’s in Southeast Asia as well as Japan think about the Chinese respecting sovereignty of other nation much less the Tibetans?

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— Liberty in NK (@LibertyinNK) February 25, 2015

Via the Korea Herald.

The anti-adultery law has been repealed by a South Korean court:

South Korea’s Constitutional Court threw out a decades-old anti-adultery law on Thursday, reflecting a growing importance of personal choice over marital order in a traditionally group-oriented society.

In a 7-2 decision, the nine-member bench ruled that Article 241 of the criminal code was unconstitutional.

“The article violates individuals’ freedom to choose their sexual partners and their right to privacy,” said an opinion presented by five of the justices. “Not only is the anti-adultery law gradually losing its place in the world, it no longer reflects our people’s way of thinking.”

Two other justices supported this view, saying family issues should not be criminal, or even if so, the weight of the penalty should vary according to the intricacy of the matter.

The remaining two justices voiced opposition, saying the law was necessary to protect sexual ethics and the institution of marriage.

Under the landmark ruling, some 5,400 people indicted or convicted of adultery after Oct. 30, 2008, when the law was last upheld, may ask for a suspension of indictment or a retrial.

South Korea had been one of the few remaining countries in Asia that prohibits infidelity, next to North Korea and Taiwan. Extramarital affairs here had been banned under the criminal law since 1953, and before that, only women were held accountable for some fooling around.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but this decision made me think of the good, old Sergeant Han case who was a Camp Red Cloud Non-Commissioned Officer who faced 10 months in prison for adultery and lying about an offer of marriage to his girlfriend.

Some people are thinking just that:

U.S. defense authorities are said to be concerned about the possibility of North Korean provocations during joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises beginning next month. Following the North’s anti-ship missile drills last week, Washington is not ruling out the possibility that Pyongyang could fire some of its new missiles to raise tension during the annual exercises in the South.
Our Bae Joo-yon has more.

Report: Diplomatic sources in Washington said Monday that U.S. defense authorities are concerned about possible localized provocations by North Korea during South Korean and U.S.’ military exercises next month.

Concerns emerged as North Korea test-fired a new high-precision anti-ship rocket in the East Sea in early February. And weeks later, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un staged a massive military exercise, firing again what it called new and cutting-edge anti-ship missiles.

During the highly publicized drill last week, the North Korean military simulated an attack and landing on South Korean islands in the Yellow Sea.

Experts like Thomas Karako of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) assessed earlier this month that the new battery indeed appears to be a more advanced weapon.  [KBS World]

You can read more at the link, but one of the theories the CSIS is throwing around is that the anti-ship missile could be tested during the exercise in the highly contested western maritime border area.