Month: February 2015

Korean Air and Airbus Are Reportedly Joining Forces to Compete for Fighter Jet Project

| February 10, 2015

It appears that Airbus is about to try and enter the Korean defense market:

South Korea’s top carrier airline Korean Air Lines Co. (Korean Air) is poised to participate in a bid for South Korea’s fighter jet development program in association with Europe’s Airbus. Under the development program, code-named KF-X, South Korea will develop and produce about 120 fighter jets to replace its old models.

An informed official told several Korean media outlets, including Segye Ilbo, that Korean Air and Airbus reached a verbal agreement earlier this week to jointly bid for the development project.

The official’s comment was given anonymously, but it immediately brought media attention as the news is expected to open a new chapter for the government’s development plan. So far, Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) has been considered the strongest candidate for winning this project.  [The Diplomat]

You can read more at the link.

World Food Program Claims Food Shortage Possible for North Korea

| February 9, 2015

Here we go again with yet another North Korea doesn’t have enough food story so lets give them free money:

nk flag

SEOUL — As North Korea heads toward the “barley hump” – the lean season before the rice and corn harvest in the summer – aid agencies are warning that an unusually dry winter is compounding chronic food shortages in the impoverished country.

And while North Korea may no longer be in a state of famine, malnutrition remains such a widespread problem that even slight changes in weather can have an outsized impact on ordinary people’s food supply.

“We’re concerned about seed scarcity and the low level rain and snowfall,” John Aylieff, deputy Asia director at the U.N.’s World Food Program, said from Pyongyang. “All of these things are raising concerns about the winter harvest this year.”

Winter crops – including wheat and barley – should be growing now, but after an exceptionally dry year in 2014, rainfall around the country has been markedly lower than usual so far this year, particularly in the “cereal bowl” provinces of Pyongan in the west and Hwanghae in the south.

Although the winter harvest makes up only 5 percent of North Korea’s domestic food supply, it is a critical time because the crops see the country through the lean season known locally as the barley hump – the period between May and August before rice and corn crops are harvested.  [Washington Post]

You can read more at the link, but for a country that supposedly can’t afford its own food they sure do find ways to pay to develop plenty of new missiles and submarines.  Why should the world be forced to subsidize these military programs by buying food for the Kim regime?

President Park Prioritizing Raising the Korean Birthrate

| February 9, 2015

So if South Korea does increase their birthrate then where are all these people going to go in such a small country?

rok flag

President Park Geun-hye called Friday for measures to address South Korea’s low birthrate and aging population, which experts say could undermine the vitality of Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

South Korea’s birthrate stood at 1.19 in 2013, the lowest among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of 34 mostly rich nations.

South Korea has tried in vain to boost a falling birthrate as the rising cost of raising a child and job shortages have discouraged women from having more children.

Park said the next five year is the golden time in handling the country’s population crisis marked by the low birthrate and rapidly aging population.

“We can transform a crisis into an opportunity and create a sustainable growth engine only when we properly cope with” the population crisis, Park said in a meeting meant to address both issues at the presidential office.

By 2018, South Korea is expected to become an “aged society,” in which 14 percent of the population is 65 or older.  [Yonhap]

You can read the rest at the link, but basically the problem becomes that there are less workers supporting a large number of aged people.  So it sounds like the government is admitting to a ponzi scheme that is unsupportable without more people signing up for it.

Japan May Expand Naval Operations Into the South China Sea

| February 9, 2015

It will be interesting to see what the South Korean reaction will be if the Japanese decide to expand their naval operations into the South China Sea:

Japan is interested in the South China Sea disputes gripping Southeast Asia for two main reasons. First, any tension in these waters could disrupt the free flow of traffic through critical sea lines, which are vital for resource-poor Japan’s economy and survival. Second, Japanese officials are closely monitoring how China handles these island disputes to try to discern how China might try to deal with Japan in their ongoing dispute over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.

The interconnectedness of these two issues is evident in the rife speculation that China might unilaterally declare an Air Defense Identification Zone in the South China Sea after it did so in the East China Sea in November 2013 (speculation which China has consistently denied). Such interconnectedness also leads to concerns that a negative outcome – a resolution of a dispute through the use or threat of the use of force – could set a precedent that affects other disputes. By supporting front-line states in the South China Sea, Japan sees itself as defending its own interests by upholding the norm of peaceful resolution, ironically, through military deterrence.

The U.S. would endorse a move in Japan’s security posture toward greater assertiveness and collaboration with Southeast Asian partners. Admiral Robert Thomas, commander of the Seventh Fleet, said in an interview to Reuters, “I think allies, partners and friends in the region will look to the Japanese more and more as a stabilizing function.”   [The Diplomat]

You can read more at the link, but the Japanese are seriously considering expanding air and naval operations into the South China Sea.  It seems to me this will just increase the chances of an incident between China and Japan happening.  The most likely incident would be the Chinese provoking Japanese patrols with their fishing boat fleet to create an incident.  I hope before the Japanese move forward with this that they really think through how they would respond to Chinese provocations against their forces.

Picture of the Day: Cream Beer In Seoul

| February 8, 2015

After our previous post, many of you asked where you can buy cream beer in South Korea. While there are a couple small pubs that serve this new classic drink, one bar you can visit is Chir Beer 369, which is located in Sangsu, Seoul. Chir Beer is also renowned for its fried chicken, so it’s a good idea to munch on some Cajun chicken wings to balance out the sweet cream beer.  [You can see more unusual beers in Seoul at KoreAm Journal]