Tag: Korea

A mountain road on Jeju Island is closed due to snow on Dec. 2, 2014. A heavy snow alert has been issued for the southern resort island. (Yonhap)

I am sure the Korean government will get this worked out because I see no way that they will not host the 2018 Games.  It seems to me this is a national effort and a small province like Gangwon should not be expected to provide so much funding for this international event:

The 2018 PyeongChang Olympics may be in limbo, with the government and Gangwon Province locking horns over who will cover the 11.1-trillion-won cost for the quadrennial event, especially the cost of building the Olympic stadium.

The Gangwon Provincial Council recently threatened that if the government does not provide sufficient financial support for the Olympics, it will “readily give up the right to host the event.”

When asked about its stance over this threat, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said last week it “will not speculate on hypothetical situations,” adding that it believes Korea and PyeongChang will show their commitment by solving the problem.

“Since the candidature phase, a number of options have been looked at for the ceremony’s stadiums and the IOC remains very flexible in discussing any proposals from the PyeongChang 2018 Organizing Committee,” Rachel Rominger, an IOC representative, said in an e-mail reply to The Korea Times.

On Monday, Council members of Gangwon Province and other cities and counties where the various Olympic sporting events will be held visited the National Assembly and urged the government to increase its financial support in order to avoid controversy.

“The event is an international one and will be held on our soil for the first time, but the government focuses only on the economic aspects and refrains from giving due support,” an official at the Gangwon Provincial Assembly said.

Their harsh remarks came shortly after the government’s recent decision regarding the construction of the new Olympic stadium at Hoenggye-ri in PyeongChang County. The government decided to cover only 50 percent of the cost, while Gangwon Province and the PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG) would shoulder the other 50 percent.

However, the province wants the government to cover 75 percent of the costs.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but if the South Koreans cannot get this work out I know someone who is willing to help.

Officials of the Visit Korea Committee hold a campaign to promote the beginning of the “2015 Korea Grand Sale” at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on Dec. 1, 2014. The nation’s biggest shopping and tourism festival will continue through Feb. 22, 2015. (Yonhap)

When it comes to these exams the Koreans have definitely set the standard for cheating on them.  This seems to happen every year:

Some students in two Asian countries likely cheated on the SAT exams administered in October and November of this year, the Educational Testing Service has confirmed.

In October, scores were withheld from residents of South Korea and China as ETS, which administers the test worldwide, investigated possible cheating on the exam administered that month. Following a review, the firm determined that “a small number of test-takers had an unfair advantage on the test,” ETS spokesman Thomas Ewing told The Huffington Post on Monday. “ETS is contacting directly these test-takers to inform them that valid scores cannot be provided.”

Citing confidentiality concerns, Ewing declined to say how many scores were invalidated but noted that “the majority of scores” are valid.  [Huffington Post via reader tip]

You can read more at the link, but ROK Heads may remember that the SAT had to be cancelled last year in Korea because of widespread cheating.

This has the makings of being another possible mass casualty event for South Korea:

Rescuers searched Monday for more than 50 people missing after a South Korean fishing ship they were working on sank amid high waves in the freezing waters of the Bering Sea, officials said. At least one person died.

Authorities rescued seven crew members and recovered one body, but weather and water conditions were complicating the search for the others, an official from the South Korean fisheries and oceans ministry said on condition of anonymity because of office rules.

The crew included 35 Indonesians, 13 Filipinos, 11 South Koreans and one Russian inspector, the official said. Russian authorities said there were 62 people aboard the ship, which sank in the western part of the Bering Sea, near Russia.

The South Korean ministry official said it’s believed that the ship, which was catching pollock, began to list after stormy weather caused seawater to flood its storage areas. The official said the 2,100-ton ship was 35 years old.  [Yahoo via reader tip]

You can read more at the link, but hopefully Russian search and rescue can pull these guys out of the water

Unsurprisingly the Korean bar owners are unhappy with USFK’s decision to bar troops from buying drinks inside of bars for juicy girls:

A month-old U.S. Forces Korea policy banning servicemembers from buying drinks for “juicy bar” workers in exchange for companionship has angered some bar owners, who say it unfairly labels them as “pimps” and is hurting other establishments that cater to troops.

“It’s nonsensical to treat us as if we are whorehouses,” said Yi Hun-hui, owner of the Cadillac Club near Camp Humphreys. Now, he said, some local bar owners are talking about going into a different line of work because they’re angry at the military. “These were people who liked USFK. They were people who supported USFK, and now they’re embarrassed.”  (………..)

The organization’s Pyeongtaek branch already has asked for support from the city mayor and National Assembly members. It is collecting signatures on a petition from businesses, local citizens and civic groups throughout the city, he said. That petition will be sent to U.S. military officials on the peninsula later this month.

Yi, who employs seven Filipina women, said he ordered his female workers to wear jeans and T-shirts instead of skirts and low-cut tops after the Oct. 15 policy letter was issued.

“I did this so USFK would stop its narrow-minded view that our female employees are hookers,” he said.

It was unclear how or whether the new policy was affecting business for other bar owners. Five claimed the policy change was driving down sales for others, though all of those interviewed denied that their own bars had been hurt by the ban.

Lee Deok Bum, said business hasn’t dropped in recent weeks at Sportsman, his 15-year-old bar in Dongducheon, which employees five Filipina women, but he said he and other bar owners in the city are angry about the new USFK rule. He accused the U.S. military of judging South Korean bars by American cultural standards, not by what is acceptable in Korea.

Some bar owners have complained the new policy is unclear and appears to ban servicemembers from buying drinks for anyone, even friends. The policy letter, however, bans only buying drinks and other items for an “employee’s company or companionship, inside or outside a bar or establishment.”

An official at the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said the ministry has received no complaints about the new policy from bar owners. The ministry began inspecting businesses that hire foreign entertainers, including some outside U.S. military bases, earlier this year in an effort to reduce human trafficking.

Seo In Ho, owner of Xanadu bar outside Osan Air Base, said most bar owners have interpreted the new policy to mean their USFK clientele can’t buy drinks — even water — for anyone else. One of his friends, a male servicemember, now tells Seo that he can’t even buy the bar owner a drink, and Seo said the ban on buying drinks for companionship is discouraging troops from going to bars at all.

He said all bar owners are being treated as if they are running brothels, and some women who work at bars are quitting because they feel like they’re being treated as prostitutes.

“Our self-respect has been hurt,” he said. [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, for the bar owner complaining about USFK using American cultural standards to judge the bars, he is absolutely right.  However, USFK has to worry about what is going on back in the US and what Koreans find acceptable is irrelevant when the US military is being routinely criticized by special interest groups.  That is what likely drove the change in policy for USFK since the special interests were gearing up to go after them over the juicy girl issue.

Also I find it hard to feel sorry for these shady juicy bar owners who have been ripping off GIs for years with the juicy girl business model and over priced drinks. With that said I still think USFK should have at least given these bar owners a carrot by making the new policy stipulate that bars that employ third country nationals would be put off limits due to human trafficking concerns.  This would leave the bar owners with the option of employing Korean women which would be much more difficult for USFK to be accused of supporting human trafficking with.  I am surprised though that these bar owners have not come up with workarounds to this policy yet instead of complaining to the Stars & Stripes.

I wonder who screwed up and sent out this automated message or did a student conduct a hoax?

SEOUL, South Korea – An installation-wide lockdown at Osan Air Base was lifted around 12:45 p.m. Monday following a security forces sweep of Osan schools after a teacher received a phone call indicating there might be a shooter on base, according to the 51st Fighter Wing.
An earlier post on the wing’s Facebook page said no unusual activity had been reported, and the search for a possible shooter appeared to be largely over.
At 11:58 a.m., a post attributed to Osan American High School Principal Morgan Nugent said a teacher received a call “that sounded automated” claiming an active shooter drill was taking place, and immediately reported the call:
“There was no scheduled school shooter drill on base so we decided to (err) on the side of safety and went into a full school lockdown. Security Forces have responded to the school and are doing a sweep of the whole school and its perimeter. Once we are given an all clear we will go ahead and continue the school day as is and with a chance for a debrief to our kids at the end of the school day. Ultimately though your children are safe and we will continue to keep them safe. Once we are given an all clear we will go ahead and continue the school day as is with a chance for a debrief to our kids at the end of the school day.”

Nugent was not immediately available for comment.
Several security forces personnel and vehicles were spotted around 11:15 a.m. at the base’s middle school and high school. The base was otherwise deserted as the season’s first snow flurries fell, with a loudspeaker repeating the same message every few minutes in both English and Korean: “Lockdown, lockdown, lockdown. Seek safety and shelter.” (Stars and Stripes)

You can read more at the link.

I have always found this amazing how this Japanese journalist is tried for reporting in the Japanese media what the Korean media was reporting themselves about President Park:

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A trial has begun for a Japanese journalist charged with defaming South Korea’s president by reporting rumors that she was absent for seven hours during a ferry disaster in April because she was with a man.

A spokesman from the Seoul Central District Court said Thursday that Tatsuya Kato of Japan’s Sankei Shimbun was present in court as his lawyers and prosecutors introduced evidence.

The indictment has raised questions about South Korea’s press freedom. Critics accuse South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s conservative government of clamping down on journalists in an attempt to control her image.

Prosecutors indicted Kato in October over his Aug. 3 article about Park’s whereabouts on the day the Sewol ferry sank and killed more than 300 passengers, mostly teenagers on a school trip.

The article repeated rumors in South Korean media and the financial industry about a relationship between Park and a former aide who was said to be married at the time. (Associated Press)

You can read more at the link.

The Chinese continue to push this issues knowing full well that if they do not want THAAD in Korea then get the North Korea to quit making threats against the ROK:

China’s top diplomat to Seoul said Wednesday he is opposed to the possible U.S. deployment of an advanced missile-defense (MD) system in South Korea as it would hurt Sino-Korean ties, a lawmaker said.

The United States has said it is considering deploying a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery, an integral part of its MD system, to South Korea, citing evolving threats from North Korea. It is designed to shoot down short, medium and intermediate ballistic missiles at a higher altitude in their terminal phase using a hit-to-kill method.

The possibility has been a focus of media attention as it is seen as part of a broader U.S. attempt to get the Asian ally to join its air defense system and could spark tensions with China and Russia, who see it as a threat to their security interests.

“The THAAD would have a range of around 2,000 kilometers, which goes beyond the goal of countering missiles from North Korea,” Chinese ambassador to South Korea Qiu Guohong was quoted as saying by Rep. Won Hye-young of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD).  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but it is interesting that the Chinese do not care that the ROK has the Super Green Pine as well as the SPY-1 radars on their Aegis ships that can also have the range to look into China.

It makes it much harder for the United States to criticize China for violating UN sanctions in support of North Korea when the ROK is so easily able to set up projects like this with North Korea that makes the Kim regime money:

As the two Koreas and Russia speed up a groundbreaking joint logistics project, a government official here said Friday that a key question is whether it can be operated with stability.

Inter-Korean economic cooperation has often been hamstrung by military tensions on the peninsula, noted the unification ministry official.

He confirmed the government’s view that the Rajin-Khasan project is not in breach of bilateral and U.N. sanctions on the North.

Under the envisioned program, South Korea’s top steelmaker POSCO will bring in Russian coal via the North Korean port of Rajin. Two other South Korean firms — Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. and Korail Corp. — are joining the project.

“Since it is a normal international commercial trade, it’s my understanding that there is no problem with the U.N. sanctions,” the official told reporters on background.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.