Category: Wacky Stuff

At best this so called airplane looks more like hang-glider which the Koreans do not even have any physical or design evidence to support its existence:

Korea had built an airplane 300 years ahead of the Wright brothers, although none of the ancient plane or its design has been left, the head of an organization to restore the ancient plane, an activist claimed Thursday.

“Korea is the origin of the flying aircraft. We should perfectly restore the plane to get recognition of it worldwide,” Kim Dong-min, chairman of the Jinju Bicha Restoration Commitee, said at a seminar in Jinju, 434 kilometers southeast of Seoul.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

TV Asahi just had a story on a renegade sushi chef who loaded pieces meant for Koreans and Chinese with extra wasabi. Um, that'll show 'em?

— Erik Slavin (@eslavin_stripes) October 3, 2016

I have been to a lot of different retirement ceremonies involving personnel from all branches of the military.  I have never seen anything even close to what happened at this airmen’s retirement ceremony:

Retired SMSgt. Oscar Rodriguez is known for his moving and patriotic renditions of a specialized script during the folding of Old Glory at various ceremonies and tributes around the Travis Air Force Base community. He’s been performing the script for years at the invitation of honorees and friends.

But when he showed up to provide his famed rendition at the retirement tribute for MSgt. Chuck Roberson, things went terribly wrong. What should have been a dignified moment creating a lasting memory for Roberson, his family, and the Air Force teammates he was bidding farewell turned into a shameful spectacle. When Rodriguez arose to make his remarks, he was approached by uniformed NCOs who demanded that he shut up and sit down. When he refused, three of the men proceeded to lay hands on on Rodriguez and remove him from the ceremony — and indeed the building — through physical force.  [John Q. Public Blog]

You can read more and see the video of the altercation at the link.

Apparently the squadron commander did not want the retired NCO to take part in the flag ceremony because he uses the word “God” in his script.  When retiree stepped up to take part in the flag ceremony that is when the squadron commander sent personnel to physically remove him from the ceremony.  This whole thing is pretty odd because just about every retirement ceremony has the chaplain give an invocation that uses the word “God” so the ceremony already has religious connotations which the squadron was apparently trying to stamp out by denying the retiree from participating in the flag ceremony.

It seems this whole thing could have been better handled all around, but it does make me wonder if the retirement ceremony was taking place in a venue that the retiree paid for, if the commander can unilaterally make a decision on what guests they can kick out?

North Korea cites @reddit comments for the prowess of its nuclear weapons. pic.twitter.com/j5yqqCOqJT

— Alastair Gale (@AlastairGale) March 22, 2016

The below article actually doesn’t surprise me considering how I have accidentally dropped money before and had people return it to me on the street.  It is good to see how honest people can be even when it involves thousands of dollars of money:

Korean news sources have reported that a woman dumped W22 million cash (US$19, 030) in Seoul Square and not one single person stopped to pick any of it up.

According to reports, the stunt was largely ignored with no one stopping to collect any of the hundreds of bank notes that littered the area. Instead, many simply gave the scene a passing glance or stopped to take photos – but none of the free cash.  [10Mag]

You can read more at the link.

Here is a good safety tip for those who plan to conduct a exorcism any time soon, make sure the person you plan to exorcise has the ability to breathe:

A 41-year-old Korean woman was found dead in a guest room of a hotel in Frankfurt last week, the victim of a supposed exorcism performed by her own family members.

German prosecutors said on Thursday five Koreans, including the dead woman’s teenage son, were arrested at the scene for suspected murder.

Police found the woman’s body tied to a bed in a guest room at the Frankfurt Hotel InterContinental on Dec. 5.

She had been beaten repeatedly on her chest and stomach over a two-hour period and finally suffocated to death, according to prosecutors.

The accused were mostly relatives of the victim. They included her 15-year-old son, a 44-year-old relative and her 21-year-old son and 19-year-old daughter, and an unrelated boy aged 15.

The family members had allegedly been trying to drive a demon from the woman, believing her to be possessed.

Her mouth had been gagged with a towel to stifle screams and a cloth-covered coat hanger was pushed down her throat.

The woman died from suffocation as a result of massive chest compression, as well as trauma to her neck, according to prosecutors.   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read the rest at the link.

I own a Roomba and I love what it does maintaining the cleanliness of the floors.  However, don’t blame the robot vacuum cleaner when when you are stupid enough to do this:

Not the first time modern technology has clashed with age-old traditions, perhaps, but a South Korean woman was lucky to escape relatively unscathed after her household gadget tried to devour her mane.

Mrs. Ryu set her automatic robotic vacuum cleaner to diligently do its job last week, but was rudely awoken when the machine mistook her hair for some filth left laying around on the floor.

Ryu, 52, from Changwon City, southeast of Seoul, made the mistake of laying down for a nap on the floor – common practice in many parts of Asia – while simultaneously employing the help of her vacuu-bot.

Then the basketball-sized machine came across the ends of Ryu’s hair, it quickly started diligently sucking it up.  [CBS News]

You can read more at the link, but I don’t know what is sillier, the fact her hair got caught in the vacuum or she had to call emergency services to get her hair out of it.

I can’t believe it took Israel this long to find out about a Nazi themed bar in South Korea:

Israel’s envoy to South Korea expressed anger Monday over the reported existence of a Nazi-themed suburban Seoul bar.

“It’s really revolting,” Ambassador Yigal Caspi said of the drinking establishment reported Tuesday by the Korea Herald newspaper.

Along with its article about the bar, the English-language paper published a photo of a red Nazi swastika it said adorns the establishment’s entrance.

The paper, however, published neither the bar’s name nor the municipality where it is located, saying it did not want to “give them any publicity.”

It said only that the bar is in a “northern city of Seoul.” [AP]

I hope the Israeli embassy doesn’t think this is the only Nazi bar in Korea either. Their are Nazi bars across the country like this one in Pusan:

Even better take a look at the interior of this other Hitler Bar:

Heck the Hitler Bar in Shinchon was featured in TIME Magazine before:

A small photo of Adolf Hitler adorns the entrance to the Fifth Reich, an upscale watering hole in Seoul’s Shinchon university district. A larger picture of the Fuhrer hangs across from the bar, where waiters and waitresses with swastika arm badges mix drinks that have names like “Adolf Hitler”and “Dead.” Young people chat at booths surrounded by statues of golden eagles, romanesque columns and large glass display cases of SS insignia. Nazi pins and Iron Crosses are on sale beside the cash register. It almost looks like a quiet shrine to the man who sent 6 million Jews to their deaths in the Holocaust. But this isn’t a neo-Nazi hangout. Some of the patrons aren’t even quite sure who Adolf Hitler and the Nazis were. Others, like regular patron Chung Jae Kyung, 22, are aware of the evil the Nazis did but not especially moved by it. “I don’t hate them, I don’t like them,” says Chung, a neatly dressed English-lit student with an easy smile. “But at least they dressed well.”

You always hear about how great the Israeli intelligence agencies are, so how the heck does the Israeli embassy not know about Nazi bars in Korea especially when they are featured in TIME magazine? These bars are literally all over Korea.

While were on the topic of anti-semitism in South Korea, I wish the AP would have asked the Israeli envoy what he thought about this.  I’m sure these pictures would raise some eyebrows at the Israeli embassy as well.

Even if it means scaling high ladders to do so:

At least he didn’t urinate on the side of the building as I have seen many people do before.

Via: Exkorling

UPDATE: The Marmot has even more about these banners.

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These photos on EFL Geek just goes to show how bad xenophobia in Korea can be:

Apparently these racist banners have to do with farmers being pushed off their land due to a massive development happening on Yong-yu and Moo-eui islands. Yong-yu and Moo-eui islands are now connected to the new Incheon International Airport by a land bridge and are being quickly developed with hotels and businesses that cater to the airport. This development in question is being spearheaded by a German company called Kempinski.

I have to assume that “Jewish white bastard” in question Jack Rosen is probably the Kempinski man in charge of the development. The “May Anh” on the third banner is actually Mayor Ahn of Incheon who is one of the “traitors working for rich white bastards”. What I find interesting about this is that when the Korean government made farmers relocate to expand Camp Humphreys, massive protests and violent confrontations instigated by NGOs ensued. Big business comes and forcibly relocates farmers off of two whole islands and the NGOs could care less. Just imagine if it was a USFK base being put on these islands what the reaction would be? Where’s the priest when you need him?

Anyway if you are going to the airport any time soon and you are a “white bastard” especially a “Jewish white bastard” you might want to avoid the Yong-yu and Moo-eui areas.

HT: Gangwon Notes