Category: Korea-General Topics

What a quick turn for the worse his life had taken after reaching the heights of fame by winning an Oscar for his performance in Parasite:

Actor Lee Sun-kyun of the Oscar-winning film “Parasite” was found dead in an apparent suicide Wednesday amid an investigation into suspected drug use.

Police found a man in his 40s dead in a car near Waryong Park in central Seoul at 10:30 a.m. and later identified him as Lee. A charcoal briquette, which can cause fatal carbon monoxide poisoning, was found on the vehicle’s front passenger seat. 

Lee’s manager had earlier reported to the police that the actor left home after writing a memo akin to a suicide note and that his car was gone. The manager had visited Lee’s home in Cheongdam-dong in southern Seoul as he was out of contact.

Lee’s body was later taken to Seoul National University Hospital for his funeral.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but Lee was under investigation for using drugs at a Gangnam hostess bar. He claims he was being extorted by the hostess and tested negative for drugs when questioned by police. Regardless of the drug allegations, Lee is married with two kids so why is he hanging out at a hostess bar in the first place?

This is a horrible way to die, being electrocuted in a sauna:

Three elderly women died from electrocution at a public bathhouse in the central city of Sejong on Sunday, police said.

The three, all in their 70s, were in a hot tub at the bathhouse in Sejong’s Jochiwon district when the accident happened at 5:37 a.m. A witness told the police the three collapsed with a scream, and she called the 119 emergency number for help.

When rescue workers arrived, all three were in a state of cardiac arrest and were rushed to a hospital, but two of them died shortly thereafter, and the other was also pronounced dead hours later.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

This is horrible that this man had to jump from his apartment holding his child and died from the impact, but the child survived:

A father in his 30s died Monday after jumping from the fourth floor of a high-rise apartment building in Seoul carrying his young child, in a desperate attempt to flee from a fire on Christmas Day.

He was one of two fatalities from the fire, which broke out at the apartment building in Banghak-dong, in Seoul’s Dobong district. As of Monday afternoon, 30 suffered injuries.

According to local news reports, the 30-something-year-old victim, wife and two children aged 7 months and 2 years, were residents of a unit right above the third floor where the blaze started.

His wife also jumped with another child. She survived despite suffering life-threatening injuries. The two children were reported to be injured but in stable condition.

Another victim of the fire was a 38-year-old individual identified by the surname Lim, a resident of the 10th floor. Lim was discovered in full cardiac arrest on the stairs of the 11th floor. Fire authorities suspect that Lim succumbed to smoke inhalation while attempting to evacuate, according to news reports.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

The complaints about this training sound like a whole lot to do about nothing. If these athletes cannot do morning physical fitness training or row a rubber boat they probably should not be Olympic athletes to begin with:

Members of South Korean women’s national handball team perform a team-building exercise with rubber boats during a training at a boot camp for the Marine Corps in Pohang, South Korea, on March 30, 2016. South Korea’s Olympic chief has defended a decision to send hundreds of athletes to a military camp next week as part of preparations for the 2024 Games in Paris, citing a need to instill mental toughness in competitors. (Choe Dong-joon/Newsis via AP)

South Korea’s Olympic chief has defended a decision to send hundreds of athletes to a military camp next week as part of preparations for the 2024 Games in Paris, citing a need to instill mental toughness in competitors.

About 400 athletes, including women, will arrive at a marine boot camp in the southeastern port city of Pohang on Monday for a three-day training aimed at building resilience and teamwork, the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee said.

The program, pushed by the committee’s president, Lee Kee-Heung, has faced criticism from politicians and media who described the training camp as outdated and showing an unhealthy obsession with medals.

Officials at the committee have played down concerns about the potential for injuries, saying the athletes will not be forced into the harsher types of military training. Morning jogs, rubber-boat riding and events aimed at building camaraderie will be on the program. Sports officials are still finalizing details of the camp with the Korea Marine Corps., committee official Yun Kyoung-ho said Thursday.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Of course the DPK is going to lie and claim a soju party is what caused South Korea to lose the Expo vote, but this is not a good look for a President to be out with private business CEOs like this:

President Yoon Suk Yeol toasts with Dutch Queen Maxima during a state banquet at the Royal Palace Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Dec. 13 (local time). Joint Press Corps

President Yoon Suk Yeol is mired in controversy over his recent international trips, with reports alleging he had “a secret drinking session” with accompanying business tycoons in France, and the Korean ambassador to the Netherlands being summoned by the Dutch government over Yoon staffers’ excessive demands on presidential protocol.

The Hankyoreh newspaper reported on Friday that Yoon had a closed-door dinner and drinks at a Korean restaurant in Paris on Nov. 24. Attending was Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun and other business leaders who accompanied Yoon to assist Busan’s bid to host the World Expo 2030.

It was four days before the Expo’s governing body held a vote to select the host city of the 2030 event. Busan lost to Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh in a 29-119 count, despite efforts from the government, the public and major Korean businesses.

It was Yoon’s second visit to Paris this year as part of campaigning to promote the city’s bid. The presidential office described the trip as “a tireless journey that wasted not even a second,” while the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) raised suspicion that it could have been a junket.

“While spending taxpayer’s money for a foreign visit, Yoon had a soju bomb dinner with conglomerates. Since when did binge drinking become a tireless journey?” DPK spokesperson Rep. Kang Sun-woo said in a commentary.

“Is the reason for bringing business leaders on foreign trips to find someone to join in the drinking sessions? No wonder a shocking outcome of 29-119 has unfolded.”

Lee Un-ju, a former lawmaker of the ruling People Power Party, said in a radio interview with CBS that Yoon and his cohorts behavior gives a misconception to foreign investors that Korea is a corrupt country where the government and businesses collude.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but President Yoon definitely has a lot of unforced errors that feeds negative press coverage of him.

For my readers in South Korea, bundle up because it is cold out there:

An icy cold wave that spread frigid winds over the weekend is expected to continue throughout the week, meteorologists said Sunday, urging caution over slippery roads, freezing and bursting water meters and other damage.

The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) issued cold wave advisories and warnings for most parts of the country, saying the ongoing cold spell is caused by a southward inflow of cold air from Siberia. 

Midday highs remained at around minus 8 degrees Celsius across the country on Sunday. On Monday, morning lows in Seoul are forecast to be minus 11 degrees and midday highs minus 2 degrees. (…….)

Amid the cold weather, the Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) reported damage to a Mokpo Station-bound KTX carrying 788 passengers, saying that windows on the bullet train were cracked at around 10:10 p.m. on Saturday. 

KTX train windows are double-glazed, and this time the outer parts of the windows cracked, according to the company. The accident caused no injuries or disruptions to operation of other trains.

“While outside parts of the windows of the train have become weak due to the cold weather, some of them were cracked after they were hit by pebbles,” a KORAIL official said.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Here is the life most young South Korean couples have:

Korea’s newlywed couples were burdened with record-high amounts of debt last year while having the least number of babies in history. The number of married couples also decreased by 6.3 percent to 1.03 million in 2022 compared to the previous year, according to Statistics Korea on Monday. 
  
The statistics agency polled the country’s newlyweds whose marriage registration is less than five years old as of November last year.   
  
The median debt for respondents came to 164.2 million won ($124,600), up 7.3 percentage points from a year ago, with 89 percent of the surveyed couples in debt.

More newlyweds in Korea are falling into the category of DINK (Dual Income No Kid). The majority, or 57.2 percent, of the newlyweds have a dual income, up 2.3 percentage points on year. 
  
The proportion of dual-income households is on the decline with many females quitting their jobs to concentrate on child-rearing. 
  
The average income of dual-income couples stood at 84.3 million won compared to a single-income household with 49.9 million won. 
  
As for children, 46.4 percent of the surveyed couples had no child, marking the highest rate since the data was collected.  

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but racking up records amount of debt before having kids is a sure way to keep the birth rate low because kids will greatly add to expenses. If the Korean government can find ways to relieve the debt crisis they will likely solve the birth rate crisis at the same time.

The much publicized proposal to ban dog meat in South Korea appears to be in serious trouble:

Animal rights activists protest in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, Saturday, urging lawmakers to pass the anti-dog meat legislation by the end of the year as promised by the main parties. Courtesy of Coalition for End to Dog Meat Consumption

A legislative move to ban the consumption of dog meat is losing steam as rival parties have yet to reach a consensus over the issue amid fierce opposition from dog meat traders.

According to political circles and animal activists, Sunday, the anti-dog meat bill is still pending at the National Assembly, as the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is refusing to cooperate with the ruling People Power Party (PPP) over the legislation at the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee.

For the bill to pass in the 21st Assembly as promised by both parties, it needs to pass the standing committee and the Legislation and Judiciary Committee before finally winning a majority of votes by present lawmakers at the extra plenary sessions, slated for Dec. 20, 28 and Jan. 9 next year.

The ruling party stressed that the legislation must pass during the extra plenary sessions next week.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.