Category: Korea-General Topics

It looks like the violent protesters in South Korea will have young conscript riot police to assault again:

South Korea announced Wednesday that it sought to revive the recently abolished conscripted police system to strengthen the state’s crime prevention capabilities.

According to the announcement, which came amid the recent surge of crimes seemingly targeting random people, the government plans to add up to 8,000 conscripted police within nine months.

“In order to enhance (the police’s) capability to prevent the occurrence of crimes, the government will proactively move to reintroduce the conscripted police system,” Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said in an announcement at the Government Complex Seoul on Wednesday.

Han said that the measure is for “ensuring safety and protecting the lives of ordinary citizens from ‘senseless crimes.'”

The conscripted police system — in which draftees serve as an alternative to regular compulsory military service — was phased out under a policy direction announced in 2017 by former President Moon Jae-in, due to the shrinking population and the shortage of military-aged men.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

The Fukushima waste water issue is new anti-Japan issue the Korean left can demagogue for many more years bash Japan and Korean conservatives with because it is easy to demagogue. This is because most people don’t read up on what the radioactive waste water is which is harmless in the doses being discharged. Most people also don’t realize South Korea and other countries dump waste water from their nuclear plants into the ocean as well. If these leftists are so concerned about the environment how come they are not protesting outside South Korean nuclear plants?:

South Korea’s main opposition party warned it would take a series of actions condemning the Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s policies on Japan as Tokyo began a phased release of treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant on Thursday afternoon.

Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the head of the Democratic Party of Korea, said in an emergency meeting gathering all of the party’s lawmakers that Yoon, with his “leniency with Japan,” was “no less responsible for the destruction of our seas being undertaken by the Japanese government.”

“The Yoon administration practically acted as a spokesperson for Japan, even as it was going to pollute our waters with radioactive waste,” he said. “Our party will not stop fighting against Japan’s reckless acts of environmental destruction.”

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link, but t

If this crazy guy couldn’t buy brass knuckles to commit his crime he could have just as easily used a hammer. Are those going to be banned too?:

The suspect, second from right, charged with rape and murder at Sillim-dong, Seoul, leaves Seoul Gwanak Police station after an investigation, Saturday. Yonhap

Growing concerns over the possible criminal use of self-defense weapons are sparking calls for tougher regulations on the products. 

Fears come in the wake of a heinous crime involving a 30-year-old man who assaulted a woman, on a hiking trail in southern Seoul, with two brass knuckles, after which, he raped her, Thursday. The victim died, Saturday.

“It scared me because it is so easy to buy them online, and I also wonder if I can actually use brass knuckles in self-defense in an urgent situation,” said Lee So-heon, 26, a university student who also lives in southern Seoul.

The latest attack adds to a recent string of violent crimes that have alarmed the public. Ahead of the murder case, a knife-wielding rampage occurred near Sillim Station, July 21, followed by a similar incident at Seohyeon Station in Gyeonggi Province, Aug. 3, which sparked a surge in the sales of self-defense weapons.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Former President Moon must be pretty concerned that the investigation into the Scout Jamboree fiasco will find cronyism during was to blame for the poor location and extravagant spending by organizers chosen by his administration. This is likely what is causing him to come out and preemptively attack the Yoon administration to place blame on them:

The office of President Yoon Suk Yeol hit back at former President Moon Jae-in on Monday for accusing the government of mismanaging the 2023 World Scout Jamboree, citing a newspaper editorial that called Moon “shameless” for his remarks.

Moon wrote in a Facebook post Sunday that the country “lost many things” due to the Jamboree, including national dignity and pride, leaving people only to feel embarrassed.

The comments appeared to lay blame on the current government after a lack of preparation left many Jamboree participants struggling to cope with a scorching heat wave earlier this month.

“A leading newspaper of our country said in today’s editorial that it is like a thief turning on the master with a club and a thick face with no shame,” a presidential official told reporters when asked about Moon’s remarks. “We take note of that assessment.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Just like their buddies in North Korea, Iran has plenty of money for humanitarian purposes they just choose to use it to fund a burgeoning nuclear program, ballistic missiles, terrorism groups, etc. The real reason these funds were released was because Iran released five American hostages showing that kidnapping and terrorism do work:

State department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel is seen answering questions during a daily press briefing at the department in Washington on Aug. 14, 2023 in this captured image. (Yonhap)

The Iranian funds currently held in South Korea can only be used for humanitarian purposes while the United States will continue to hold Iran accountable for any destabilizing actions, a state department spokesperson said Monday.

Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the state department, also emphasized that the money had always been available to Iran for humanitarian use.

“Allowing Iran to use such funds for humanitarian purposes is consistent with long standing U.S. policy to ensure that our sanctions do not prevent humanitarian goods and services from flowing to ordinary people, no matter how objectionable or problematic their government is,” the department spokesperson told a daily press briefing.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This audit and investigation of the Scout Jamboree could get real interesting considering it is also going to include how North Jeolla province, a major area of support for the prior Moon administration was selected for the event. Was this really the best site for the event or a political favor? It looks like we will eventually find out along with where all the money went:

South Korea’s state audit agency could launch an inspection of what went wrong and who was responsible for the poor organization of the 2023 World Scout Jamboree as early as this week, officials said Sunday.

The Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) has begun preparations to inspect the organizing committee, the North Jeolla Province government, and the gender equality and interior ministries following the event’s conclusion on Saturday, according to the officials.

The jamboree, which ran from Aug. 1-12, opened at a campsite in Saemangeum, a reclaimed wetland on the southwestern coast, but faced severe criticism for lacking the facilities to host some 40,000 participants from around the world during a scorching heat wave earlier this month.

The participants were later relocated to various cities across the nation to escape a powerful approaching typhoon.

Officials said the BAI will announce the launch of the inspection as soon as the number of inspectors is finalized. It is expected to cover everything from how Saemangeum was chosen to host the event, how the necessary infrastructure was built, the operations of the organizing committee and details of where the massive 100 billion won (US$75 million) budget for the jamboree was spent.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is another example of how Koreans can rally in crisis to protect the country’s image. Can you imagine Taylor Swift or other American pop idols at the last minute coming together to do a short notice concert for Scouts in order to protect America’s image?:

About 40,000 participants of the 2023 World Scout Jamboree gathered in Seoul on Friday for a K-pop concert, wrapping up the world event plagued by a heat wave and a typhoon with a glitzy entertainment show.

The “K-pop super live” concert took place at Seoul World Cup Stadium in western Seoul following a closing ceremony to look back on highlights of their 12 turbulent days in South Korea and hand over the Scout flag to a representative from Poland, the host country for the 2027 jamboree.

Girl group NewJeans took the stage with “ETA” from its recently released album and the global hit “Hype Boy,” and 18 other K-pop artists performed at the show, including IVE, NCT Dream, ITZY, Mamamoo, The Boyz, Kang Daniel and fromis_9.

Also on the stage were Shownu X Hyungwon, Zerobaseone, Kwon Eun-bi, Jo Yuri, P1Harmony, KARD, The New Six and ATBO.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Just when you thought the Jamboree fiasco could not get any worse now Korean Scouts are claiming racism over their accommodations:

Korean Jamboree Scouts protest being treated like “asylum seekers” in own country: they were taken to church auditorium with no showers while foreign Scouts offered plush accommodations at corporate retreats with own rooms, showers and fitness center

370 of the Korean Scouts were assigned to an auditorium of a Christian church in Yongin, Geonggyi Province, for their post-Saemangeum accommodation. They are not happy with this Jimjilbang-style facility and their parents are protesting “reverse discrimination.”

Obviously, there are no beds at the auditorium so church administrators brought in mats to have them sleep en masse in one large area. The Korean Scouts charge the mats are too thin to sleep comfortably on and that there are no showers at the church. They claim to be using garden hoses attached to faucets to wash themselves.

Some told their parents that they would rather go back to Saemangeum than put up with the church-provided facility: “They told me that they are being treated like asylum-seekers in their own country. We can understand that we need to treat our foreign guests well. However, this is unacceptable.”

Donga Ilbo

You can read more at the link.