Tag: Korea

This just goes to show that in Korea there are limits to free speech that people need to be aware of:

Suwon District Court sentenced four months in prison to two “Ilbe” members who were convicted of criminal insult. The insult unfolded in this manner: one defendant, last named Kim, purchased the school uniform for Danwon High School–the high school whose entire second year class nearly wiped out in the Sewol tragedy–for the purpose of Internet trolling. Kim discussed with the other defendant, last named Cho, about the best way to troll, and Cho suggested Kim take a picture of himself wearing the uniform and holding up a stick of fish cake. The caption for the picture would read: “I made a new friend”–that is to say, the drowned Danwon student is now friends with fish.  [Marmot’s Hole]

You can read the rest at the link, but this seems like a pretty harsh punishment for Internet trolling.  Korean men who rape USFK soldiers get less less jail time than this.

South Korea had another successful test of their newest ballistic missile:

President Park Geun-hye watched South Korea’s first test-fire of a ballistic missile capable of reaching nearly all parts of North Korea, Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday, in an apparent show of force against the communist archrival.

The test-firing took place at a firing range run by the state-run Agency for Defense Development in Taean, South Chungcheong Province, presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook said.

It is the first time in three decades that a president visited the firing range on the west coast.

The move came amid tensions on the Korean Peninsula over North Korea’s provocative actions in recent weeks, including a launch of a ballistic missile from a submarine.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but South Korea was allowed to start developing these missiles by the United States back in 2012. Considering the technological advantage South Korea has over the North I am sure they can rapidly develop some great ballistic missile systems.

Something to keep in mind is that if these missiles can target all areas of North Korea they will also have the range to target large Chinese cities like Shanghai and Beijing.  I wonder if the ROK continues to develop ballistic missiles to counter the North that this will get the Chinese government to try and reel in the North Koreans?  This seems like the best reason for the ROK to continue the development of ballistic missiles.

The Stars and Stripes has an article published now that discusses how a ROK Air Force servicemember has been hospitalized for MERS. Of further interest to those at Osan AB is that schools will remain open for now despite the MERS outbreak:

DODEA Pacific spokesman Charly Hoff said there are no plans to close military schools in South Korea.

“However, the health and well-being of our students and employees remain top priorities, and we are closely monitoring the situation in conjunction with military leaders and health experts,” he said. “Should an operational change become necessary, the principal at the local school will promptly notify students, parents and employees directly.”  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read the rest at the link, but of further interest is that the ROK Air Force servicemember said he caught MERS while being treated for a fracture at a hospital.  It seems that many of these infections are caused by people visiting the hospital where other MERS patients are.  Hopefully the Korean hospitals take extra precautions to stop the spread of the virus within hospitals.

A camel is kept in quarantine at a zoo in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, on June 2, 2015, as the zoo decided to have its camels tested to see whether they are infected with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). South Korea reported its first two deaths from the virus, with the total number of confirmed local MERS patients increased to 25 as of that day. (Yonhap)

For everyone stationed on Osan Airbase here is something to definitely be aware of:

An Air Force officer was isolated at a military hospital on Wednesday under suspicions he may be infected with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), military officials said.

If confirmed, it would be the first case of the infection of the deadly respiratory virus in the South Korean military.

The chief master sergeant at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, whose identity was withheld, tested positive for MERS, the officials said.

They said the military instantly isolated him and some 100 soldiers stationed at the same air base at a military hospital and their homes to prevent further infection on the base.

“We isolated a number of soldiers suspected to have contracted the disease to prevent its spread by minimizing others’ contacts with those we suspect are infected,” one of the officials said requesting not to be named. “The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will determine whether he has been infected or not on Thursday or later,” the official said.

The officer previously had been hospitalized for a fracture at a civilian facility in Gyeonggi Province that treated MERS patients, based on which the military conducted epidemiological research.

He, however, is not showing symptoms of the disease such as a fever or cough, the officials said.

South Korea has placed more than 1,300 people in quarantine with 30 testing positive for the respiratory virus since the first case of the disease was reported on May 21. On Tuesday, two of the 30 MERS patients died, sparking panic among some locals and forcing over 500 schools to close.  [Yonhap]

Hopefully base leadership is emphasizing taking appropriate precautions to prevent the spread of the disease on Osan.  Tight barracks space with shared facilities is a perfect place for a disease like this to spread. This whole spread of MERS has shown how minor the whole anthrax incident USFK recently had really was.

For those that did not know desecrating the Korean flag can lead to criminal charges:

Seoul Metropolitan Police filed on May 31 for an arrest warrant against a 24-year old Korean man, identified only by his surname Kim, for flag desecration.  According to the Hankyoreh,  Kim “burned a piece of paper showing an image of the South Korean flag while facing off with police who had erected a vehicle barricade at a memorial demonstration for the first anniversary of the Sewol ferry sinking.”  [Marmot’s Hole]

You can read a lot more about the criminal charges at the link, but ultimately the Seoul District Court decided to reject the arrest warrant for the protester because the man was emotionally not himself at the time. It is still interesting though that the Korean authorities do have the option to pursue such charges and this may be why I have never seen any Koreans before burning the Taeguki.

It is pretty amazing that the level of construction of the Camp Humphreys expansion is the largest US military construction project since the construction of the Panama Canal:

Dump trucks are rolling, and more than 10,000 workers are hammering and pouring concrete for 630 new buildings at this sprawling Army post in the South Korean port city of Pyeongtaek.

This is the peak construction year for the $10.7 billion project, which will see Camp Humphreys triple in size to accommodate tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians moving south as the U.S. vacates much of Yongsan Garrison in Seoul and two dozen other facilities used since the Korean War.

“It is, essentially, building a compound the size of (downtown) Washington, D.C.,” Maj. Gen. James T. Walton, U.S. Forces Korea’s director for Transformation and Restationing, said recently.

Construction will continue at a reduced rate next year, when the bulk of U.S. forces are due to move south. By the end of 2017, most of the moves will be complete, he said.

Construction began in November 2006 on the largest U.S. military project since the Panama Canal. The base will house 36,000, including servicemembers, dependents, civilian employees, contractors and Korean augmentees to the U.S. Army (KATUSAs), Walton said.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but the Camp Humphreys expansion has been one filled with delays caused by anti-American protesters, and Korean government delay games.

The outbreak of MERS in South Korea has now turned deadly:

South Korea on Tuesday reported the first two deaths from an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) that has affected 25 people in two weeks.

A 58-year-old woman who had had contact with South Korea’s first patient died of acute respiratory failure on Monday, the Health Ministry said. A 71-year-old man who had been on respiratory support with a history of kidney ailments also died.

The ministry reported new confirmed cases on Tuesday, bringing the total to 25. South Korea now has the third highest number of cases after Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.  [Reuters]

You can read more at the link.

This seems like a common sense thing to do to stop the spread of MERS:

The South Korean government is moving to place a temporary ban on people exposed to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) from leaving the country, officials said Monday, as part of efforts to prevent the disease from spreading.

The move comes as a South Korean man, despite having come in close contact with a MERS patient and developing possible symptoms of the potentially deadly disease, left for China last week.

The 44-year-old man has since been diagnosed with the disease and is in isolation at a Chinese hospital.

The move also came as the country reported three more confirmed cases of MERS earlier Monday, bringing the total number of people infected with the disease to 18.

The latest infected people had been in the same hospital where the country’s first MERS case was reported. Two of them were patients in the hospital, while the other person is a son of another patient who had visited the hospital to care for his parent, the Health Ministry said.  [Korea Times]

I wonder if there will be any Koreans upset they are being quarantined like we had with the nurse in the US during the ebola scare?

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— The Korea Herald 코리아헤럴드 (@TheKoreaHerald) May 28, 2015