Tag: Philippines

Fatherless Kopino Children Are A Growing Problem in the Philippines

| December 12, 2017

Over at Korea Expose they have an article posted about the growing problem of South Korean men fathering children in the Philippines and leaving the mothers by going back to Korea:

Kristi, 23, met a South Korean man in the city of Makati, Philippines, through a blind date. “It was love at first sight. We were dating for a few months. Soon enough, I found out he was already married with kids. It broke my world so I decided to end it there.”

But things didn’t work out for Kristi: Shortly after their break-up, she realized she was pregnant. “He told me ‘Don’t worry I’m here for you, I won’t leave you,’ but one month before giving birth, he just disappeared.”

It’s a recurring theme: South Korean men go to the Philippines, have relationships of varying degrees of commitment with local women, father children, and then at one point or another flee back to South Korea severing all ties and leaving the mothers alone with the children.

Kristi is one of many thousands of Filipino women who are left to rear their children alone because of absent South Korean fathers. A number often floated around by organizations and media is 30,000, but there has yet to be a clear count or study on the issue.

Kopino — a portmanteau of Korean and Filipino — is a term said to have first been createdin 2004 to refer to a child born to a Filipino mother and a South Korean father — who has often run away.

Kopino children face a number of difficulties in terms of child support, acquisition of nationality and visa issuance. In many cases, the mother — often from a poor background — has no contact with the father, and no knowledge of her former partner’s private details, be it a South Korean phone number, an address, let alone a Korean name. This leaves her to pay all child rearing expenses, even though the South Korean father has a legal obligation to provide support according to South Korea laws.  [Korea Expose]

You can read the rest at the link, but I would not be surprised if this is more than just a Korean problem in the Philippines considering its reputation for sex tourism.

Man on Guam Who Was Born White Says He Is a “Transracial” Filipino

| November 16, 2017

If you didn’t guess it already from the picture below the man featured in this article says he is transexual as well:

Ja Du, born a white male named Adam, now considers himself a Filipino.

He even drives what he calls a Tuk Tuk, an Asian-derived vehicle used for public transit in the Philippines.

Ja Du is part of a small but growing number of people who call themselves transracial. The term once referred only to someone (or a couple) of a one race adopting a child of another, but now it’s becoming associated with someone born of one race who identifies with another.

Ja Du says he grew up enjoying Filipino food, events and the overall culture.

“Whenever I’m around the music, around the food, I feel like I’m in my own skin,” he said.

“I’d watch the History Channel, sometimes for hours … nothing else intrigued me more but things about Filipino culture.”  [Guam PDN]

You can read more at the link, but how many ROK Drop readers are ready to declare themselves transracial Koreans because it appears it is okay to declare whatever ethnicity you want to be now.

President Duterte Says Kim Jong-un is a “Son of a Bitch” who is “Playing with Dangerous Toys.”

| August 3, 2017

It seems like President Duterte has nothing good to say about every world leader to include Kim Jong-un:

Rodrigo Duterte

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s latest controversial remarks target the North Korean regime, and they come just a few days ahead of his hosting a meeting of foreign diplomats at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum.

In his typical colorful rhetoric, Duterte professed his hatred for war and described North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un as a “fool” and a “son of a bitch” who is “playing with dangerous toys.”

“This Kim Jong Un, a fool…. He is playing with dangerous toys, that fool,” Duterte said in a speech live-streamed on Facebook to tax officials on Wednesday. Then, he commented on Kim Jong Un’s appearance.  [Newsweek]

You can read more at the link.

Korean Man Who Killed Three People in the Philippines Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison

| June 4, 2017

The three Koreans killed in this murder were actually part of a scheme that defrauded South Koreans of hundreds of thousands of dollars:

Individuals identified as South Korean nationals were found dead on Tuesday in the Philippines, according to South Korean media. (UPI Photo/Jennifer S. Kimball/NVNS)
Location where the three dead South Koreans were discovered in the Philippines.

A Seoul court on Friday sentenced a South Korean man who shot three compatriots to death in the Philippines last year to 30 years in prison.

The Seoul Central District Court convicted the man, identified only by his last name Kim, of murdering three Koreans — two men and one woman — who were found in a sugar cane field in Bacolor, some 70 kilometers northwest of Manila, on Oct. 11. All three had gunshot wounds to their heads.

He killed the victims following a proposal from another South Korean, surnamed Park, in return for money.

Kim was also convicted of abandoning the bodies and siphoning off 2.4 million won ($2,100) from the victims.

Prosecutors accused Kim of stealing another 720 million won from their account, but the court acquitted him of the charges, citing a lack of evidence.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

President Duterte Vows to Kill Korean Gang Members Operating in the Philippines

| February 9, 2017

According to the Filipino President Korean gangs are responsible for much of the prostitution and drugs on the island of Cebu and he vows to kill them:

President Duterte

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to kill Korean criminal gangs who are involved in the illegal drug trade in his country, according to local media Monday.

Duterte told reporters recently that Korean gangs will not receive special treatment for their crimes just because they are foreign.

“For those into the racket (business) of prostitution, drugs and everything, kidnapping, you will be treated just like ordinary criminals,” Duterte, who has repeatedly encouraged citizens and police to kill those involved in illegal drug trafficking, said in a stern warning.

The statement came after Philippine National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa claimed that a Korean gang may be behind the murder of Jee Ick-joo, a Korean businessman found dead in October inside the national police headquarters.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

Philippines President Wants To Send Heads of Policemen Who Killed South Korean Man to Seoul

| January 30, 2017

If President Duterte has his way the policemen who kidnapped, ransomed and killed a South Korean man in the Philippines will be executed:

Filipino police officers and other law enforcement officials take their oath during a Senate investigation of a kidnapped South Korean businessman that was allegedly killed by policemen at the police headquarters in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines Jan 26, 2017. Pic: AP

On Thursday, President Rodrigo Duterte apologised to South Korea for Jee’s death, saying he wanted to hang the rogue police allegedly responsible and send their heads to Seoul, Reuters reported.

He called again for the death penalty to be reinstated so that he could hang 20 criminals a day.

Duterte also promised the toughest punishment for those behind the kidnapping and killing of the businessman inside the national police headquarters in October.

The death of the South Korean comes as the Philippine police face growing criticism from rights groups and some lawmakers, who say cover-ups and abuses of police power are rampant.  [Asian Correspondent]

You can read more at the link.

Philippines Police Chief Apologizes for Murder of Korean National By His Men

| January 22, 2017

Here is evidence that the President Duterte’s drug crackdown is being used as cover for illegal activity:

The Philippine national police chief apologized to South Korea on Thursday over the death of a Korean man who was arrested illegally and then slain by members of an anti-drug task force at the main police camp in Manila.

Police Director-General Ronald Dela Rosa said the policemen detained Jee Ickjoo with a fake arrest warrant last October with the intent of holding him for ransom, but killed him the same day. He said they then extracted a ransom payment from Jee’s family without telling them Jee was dead.  [Washington Post]

You can read more at the link.

What If the Hideyoshi Invasion of Korea Had Never Happened and the Japanese Invaded the Philippines Instead?

| November 8, 2016

Via a reader tip to the archive for the US Naval War College Review, I ended up reading an interesting article about how the failed Toyotomi Hideyoshi invasion of Korea from 1592-1598 may have stopped his plans of conquering the Philippines.  According to the article the Spanish rulers of the Philippines had problems with Japanese pirates known as “wako” and soon stories of the wealth in the Philippines from these pirates got back to Hideyoshi who had recently unified Japan under his rule:

The Japanese landing on Busan
The Japanese landing on Busan

The earliest written mention of fears of a Japanese invasion in the broadest sense of the word appears in a Memorial to the Council of 1586, in which there is specu- lation within Manila that the Japanese wakō might have greater ambitions beyond mere plunder: they “make a descent almost every year, and, it is said, with the intent of colonizing Luçon [Luzon].”3 That never happened, but in 1591 the first proper invasion scare began when the Philippines entered the consciousness of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536–98). By means of a series of brilliant military cam- paigns, Hideyoshi had reunified Japan after the chaos of a century of civil war, and he now set his mind on overseas expeditions. The addition of the Philippines to his megalomaniac aims was credited to a certain “Farandaquiemon [Faranda Quiemon]—a Japanese of low extraction,” who induced Hideyoshi “to write in a barbarous and arrogant manner to the governor, demanding submission and tribute, and threatening to come with a fleet and troops to lay waste the country.”  [US Naval War College Review]

According to the article the Japanese soldiers were not interested in attacking Korea because it was a poor country compared to the wealth they believed the Philippines had:

There was also a possible motive, because “[i]n Japon there is universal talk of the abundance of gold in this land. On this account, the soldiers are anxious to come here; and are coming, as they do not care to go to Core [Korea], which is a poor country.”

The Spanish sent an ambassador to Japan that met with Hideyoshi and explained to them the might of the Spanish Empire around the world.  Hideyoshi was apparently not very impressed, but instead of focusing on invading the Philippines he attacked Korea first:

The Philippines remained on high alert for four years after Harada’s visit, and during that time the Spanish authorities closely monitored Hideyoshi’s military expedition against Korea. It was launched during the summer of 1592 and rapidly changed from being a blitzkrieg success to a long and painful retreat. The Korean campaign revealed a major Japanese weakness in naval warfare and support, and one of the main reasons for Japan’s eventual defeat was that the Korean navy severed Japan’s lines of communication between Busan and the Japanese island of Tsushima.21 The encouraging lesson was not wasted on Manila. If Hideyoshi could not control the Tsushima Strait, how could he ever contemplate sending an invasion fleet as far as Luzon?

As his Korean incursion dragged on, Hideyoshi grew increasingly suspicious concerning the activities of Portuguese and Spanish missionaries in Japan. An active persecution of Christianity followed, and Japan’s first martyrs died in February 1597. One of them, Fray Martin of the Ascension, wrote a letter to the governor of the Philippines as he was on his way to his execution. It includes what he had heard about Hideyoshi’s intentions toward the Philippines. “It is said that next year he will go to Luzon, and that he does not go this year because of being busy with the Coreans.”22 Martin also commented on the invasion route, whereby “he intends to take the islands of Lequios and Hermosa [Ryukyus and Taiwan], throw forces from them into Cagayan, and thence to fall upon Manila, if God does not first put a stop to his advance.”

The rest of the article goes on to describe other failed schemes by the Japanese to invade the Philippines during the years of the Tokugawa dynasty.   However the article concludes that Hideyoshi likely had the best opportunity to conquer the Philippines had he not focused on Korea:

Of the three schemes for invading the Philippines between 1593 and 1637, the vast armies at Hideyoshi’s disposal in his 1593 plan could well have succeeded against the meagre garrison of Manila had he not been humiliated already in Korea by a woeful lack of naval support. Two seaborne attempts against Taiwan in 1609 and 1616 were also failures, and an annexation of the Ryukyus in 1609 was to be contemporary Japan’s only overseas gain.

So how different would East Asia have looked if the Japanese were successful in capturing the Philippines instead of invading Korea?

It seems to me it would have caused a major war with Spain because I doubt they would have sat back and let the Japanese hold onto to the Philippines.  Considering Spain’s naval might they would have been able to deny the Japanese resupply by sea and eventually recaptured the Philippines.  I think Spain then would have brought the war to Japan and devastated any remaining naval capability they had and likely loot various port cities until they were satisfied they had gotten enough revenge against the Japanese.

I think the aftermath of such a war with Spain would have caused the invasion of Korea to never happen. Would Korea’s course of history have been significantly changed by this course of events?

Sung Kim Sworn In as US Ambassador to the Philippines

| November 6, 2016

Via a reader tip comes news that Korean-American diplomat Sung Kim has been sworn in as the US Ambassador to the Philippines:

Secretary of State John Kerry administers the oath of office to Sung Kim, joined by his wife Jae, center, as U.S. Ambassador to Philippines, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016, during a ceremony at the State Department in Washington. AP/Carolyn Kaster
Secretary of State John Kerry administers the oath of office to Sung Kim, joined by his wife Jae, center, as U.S. Ambassador to Philippines, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016, during a ceremony at the State Department in Washington. AP/Carolyn Kaster

Secretary of State John Kerry expressed confidence Thursday that the U.S. relationship with the Philippines can survive recent turbulence as he swore in a new U.S. ambassador to the Southeast Asian nation.

Kerry administered the oath of office to Sung Kim, formerly the chief U.S. envoy for North Korea policy, in a ceremony at the State Department.

Kim, a career diplomat, takes up his new position in turbulent times. Outspoken Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who took office in June after winning a presidential election, has been antagonistic to Washington over human rights criticisms.

Duterte has forged closer ties with China — a blow to the Obama administration effort to forge deeper ties with Asia. He has declared his desire to scale back military engagements with the U.S. and has told President Barack Obama to “go to hell.”  [PhilStar.com]

You can read more at the link, but good luck to Ambassador Kim.  His posting in the Philippines should be a memorable one considering he will be dealing with President Duterte quite a bit.