Category: Korea-General Topics

My opinion has always been that there has been plenty of Korean celebrities that have completed their mandatory military service. BTS should be expected to do the same thing:

South Korea may conduct a public survey to help determine whether to grant exemptions to mandatory military service to members of the K-pop boyband BTS, officials said Wednesday.

The issue of active military service for the band’s seven members has been a hot-button topic in South Korea because its oldest member, Jin, faces enlistment in December, when he turns 30.

Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup told lawmakers that he ordered officials to implement a survey quickly. He said his ministry will also look into various other factors such as BTS’s economic impact, the importance of military service and overall national interest.

After his comments created a stir, his ministry clarified in a statement that Lee ordered officials to examine whether such a survey is needed, rather than launch it immediately.

Associated Press

You can read more at the link.

For people in the southern part of the Korean peninsula a massive storm is heading their way. Hopefully everyone takes proper precautions:

A super strong typhoon is approaching the Korean Peninsula, and southern parts of the country, including Jeju Island, may come under its direct influence early next week, the state weather agency said Thursday.

Typhoon Hinnamnor is believed to have passed over the sea 550 kilometers southeast of Taipei, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said.

The 11th typhoon of this year is forecast to start moving northward Friday and reach the sea 430 km south-southwest of Seogwipo on Jeju Island on Monday afternoon. 

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Travelers to South Korea no longer need to present a negative COVID test to enter South Korea, but still have to take a test 24 hours after entry:

South Korea will lift its current pre-travel COVID-19 test requirement for inbound travelers later this week, an official said Wednesday, as the government believes the recent virus wave has passed its peak and the spread of omicron could slow down.

The new rule that will take effect Saturday came after a state infectious disease advisory committee recommended the government lift the mandatory pre-travel polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for inbound travelers. 

“All inbound travelers, whether our nationals or foreigners, arriving aboard a plane or ship will not need to hand in a negative PCR test starting midnight of Sept. 3,” Second Vice Health Minister Lee Ki-il said in a virus response meeting. (……)

Travelers, however, still need to take a PCR test within the first 24 hours of their arrival in South Korea, a “minimum measure” put in place to prevent the inflow and spread of any variant from overseas, the vice minister said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I would definitely like to view this documentary if it gets released on a streaming channel at some point:

“I wanted to make a film that logically refutes [the distorted historical record.]”These are the words of Lee Suk-jae, who directed the documentary film “Koko Sunyi” about victims of Japanese wartime military sexual slavery. In a recent interview, he pointed out that Japan’s distortion of history is ongoing, which is why he felt the need to make the film. 

Many movies, dramas, TV programs and books related to the so-called comfort women issue have been published so far, but among them, “Koko Sunyi” logically refutes the absurdity of some of the claims of Japan’s far right based on historical data.Much of the information shared in “Koko Sunyi” is based on the Japanese Prisoners of War Interrogation Reports No. 48 and 49 published by the US Office of War Information (OWI), which contains details about the “comfort women” at the time. 

Lee’s film is centered around the life of Grandmother Sun-yi, who was taken to a sexual slavery camp, also known as a “comfort station,” in Myanmar during the war. Lee, who works as an investigative reporter for KBS, found that, among the 20 “comfort women” in Myanmar recorded in the OWI report, a woman with the surname Koko and first name Sun-yi was actually a woman named Park Sun-yi who lived in Hamyang, South Gyeongsang Province.

Hankyoreh

You can read more at the link.

President Yoon is probably thinking ahead to when he exits office and I am sure he does not want a bunch of leftist protesters outside his retirement home:

Rallies around the home of former President Moon Jae-in will be banned starting Monday as the Presidential Security Service expanded the guard zone for the former president amid persistent noisy and menacing protests.

The decision to ban rallies within 300 meters from Moon’s home in Yangsan, about 310 kilometers southeast of Seoul, came after President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered the secret service to consider strengthening security for his predecessor following a suggestion from National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo.

Since Moon left office in May after a five-year term, his home has been plagued day and night by raucous loudspeaker demonstrations by right-wing protesters and YouTubers opposed to the way he ran the country. 

Last week, one protester was arrested after making threats with a box cutter in front of Moon’s home.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Why doesn’t this person just take their business to another bank instead of expecting the bank to completely upgrade their software to accommodate them:

A local bank’s refusal to open an account for a foreigner with a long name is discriminatory, South Korea’s human rights watchdog said Monday.

The move came 13 months after a foreigner filed a petition with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea for being rejected by the bank to open a bank account for a self-employed business on the grounds of a long name.

The bank said its computing system allows up to 20 characters for the names of a client and his or her shop to open a business account, regardless of the nationality of a client.

The bank said it is possible to improve its system to ensure a client’s name can exceed 20 characters, but it is considering upgrading the system when it builds a next-generation computing system due to costs.

The rights commission said it is difficult to say that the bank directly discriminated against the client for being a foreigner, but the bank’s refusal constitutes “indirect discrimination” if it caused a great disadvantage to a certain group of people and an individual.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the article says their were five other major South Korean banks with the software to handle the long name.