Category: Random Stuff

North Korean defector Yeonmi Park has been on a roll lately with her comments lately:

Park, however, said the Olympic-qualified athlete was “so privileged” and that she does not know what oppression under a dictatorship really looks like.

“In North Korea, people who are actually oppressed don’t even know they’re oppressed,” she said. “The fact that she’s complaining about oppression and systemic racism — she does not understand that she’s so privileged.”

“There are people dying to come to America at this very moment,” Park said. “I just hope they go to North Korea, China and see how humans are being oppressed, and they will truly understand how valuable the freedom that we have is.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Yeonmi Park has an interesting take on her time at Columbia University:

One of several hundred North Korean defectors settled in the United States, Park, 27, transferred to Columbia University from a South Korean university in 2016 and was deeply disturbed by what she found. 

“I expected that I was paying this fortune, all this time and energy, to learn how to think. But they are forcing you to think the way they want you to think,” Park said in an interview with Fox News. “I realized, wow, this is insane. I thought America was different but I saw so many similarities to what I saw in North Korea that I started worrying.”

Those similarities include anti-Western sentiment, collective guilt and suffocating political correctness.  

Yeonmi saw red flags immediately upon arriving at the school.

During orientation, she was scolded by a university staff member for admitting she enjoyed classic literature such as Jane Austen. 

“I said ‘I love those books.’ I thought it was a good thing,” recalled Park. 

“Then she said, ‘Did you know those writers had a colonial mindset? They were racists and bigots and are subconsciously brainwashing you.’”

It only got worse from there as Yeonmi realized that every one of her classes at the Ivy League school was infected with what she saw as anti-American propaganda, reminiscent to the sort she had grown up with. (…….)

“Even North Korea is not this nuts,” she admitted. “North Korea was pretty crazy, but not this crazy.”

Fox News via a reader tip

Here is how she wraps up the article:

“North Koreans, we don’t have Internet, we don’t have access to any of these great thinkers, we don’t know anything. But here, while having everything, people choose to be brainwashed. And they deny it.”

Having come to America with high hopes and expectations, Yeonmi expressed her disappointment. 

“You guys have lost common sense to degree that I as a North Korean cannot even comprehend,” she said. 

“Where are we going from here?” she wondered. “There’s no rule of law, no morality, nothing is good or bad anymore, it’s complete chaos.”

“I guess that’s what they want, to destroy every single thing and rebuild into a Communist paradise.”

A pretty interesting perspective on the direction of America from Yeonmi Park.

I am not a fan of Chicken McNuggets, but for those who are here is another meal option for you:

The “BTS meal” includes a 10-piece Chicken McNuggets, medium fries and Coke as well as two new dipping sauces — sweet chili and Cajun flavors — inspired by recipes from South Korea, where the boy band is from. 

The meal is the first celebrity collaboration to go on sale globally, McDonald said. 

The limited edition meal went on sale in South Korea, the U.S. and 10 additional countries, and it will be available in nearly 50 countries by next month, it said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is a horrible tragedy over in Namyangju:

A woman was mauled to death by a stray dog in a suburb near Seoul on Saturday afternoon. The 59-year-old died of excessive bleeding a few hours after the dog bit her neck. 

The dog’s attack was filmed by a closed circuit camera set up in the neighborhood, and police later captured the dog, which looked like a hybrid of Pungsan Dog and Samoyed.

This is not an isolated incident at a time when many pedigreed dogs end up on city streets and turn into strays, baring fangs and attacking people and livestock alike.

Last week, packs of strays raided a poultry farm in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, culling around 800 chickens. It was the second attack at the farm after strays struck a week earlier and killed about 250 chickens.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Here is some interesting data from a recent study on vaccine hesitancy in the military:

Service members’ decisions on whether or not to get vaccinated vary significantly between different demographic groupings, according to a new military study. In addition to race, ethnicity, and age, researchers found that initiation of the vaccine process varied by branch of service, occupational specialty, and level of education.

Between the four military branches, the Army had the lowest rate of vaccination. Marines were 52 percent more likely to get vaccinated than soldiers. Sailors and airmen were respectively 45 percent and 15 percent more likely.

Black service members were least likely to choose to receive the COVID-19 vaccination, as well as female service members and those with lower ranks and education levels. Research surveying the civilian population also suggests high rates of vaccine hesitancy among Black Americans.

Army Times

You can read more at the link.

Unlicensed e-scooter riders will face a 100,000 won fine if caught:

Unlicensed drivers of electric scooters and other personal mobility devices will face a fine of 100,000 won (US$89) starting Thursday amid growing concerns about their safety, police said.

The National Police Agency said Tuesday that under the amended Road Traffic Act, which takes effect Thursday, riders will be required to have at least a motorcycle license, for which the minimum age is 16.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.