Tag: South Korea

According to the article as Koreans travel more and more people travel to Korea it is causing more opportunities for international couples to meet:

More than 10 percent of marriages in Korea last year were between Koreans and foreign nationals, rising to the highest level in 13 years, according to Statistics Korea, Tuesday.

In its annual report on marriage and divorce, the statistics agency said the number of international marriages totaled 19,700 in 2023, up 18.3 percent from a year earlier.

International marriages accounted for 10.2 percent of 193,700 marriages reported nationwide in 2023 — the highest ratio since 2010 when the figure stood at 10.5 percent.

“The 2023 ratio of international couples among all newlyweds is noteworthy,” a Statistics Korea official said, noting that the ratio had been above 10 percent mostly in the 2000s but remained in the single digit level from 2011 to 2022.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

A tragedy has just happened off the coast of Japan involving a South Korean tanker ship. Interestingly the article does say what chemicals were being transported in this ship. Hopefully this doesn’t lead to an ecological disaster as well:

 A South Korean chemical tanker capsized off Japan’s west coast Wednesday, claiming eight lives with two still missing, Japan’s coast guard officials said.

The Keoyoung Sun vessel, carrying 11 crew members, made a distress call to the Japanese Coast Guard at around 7 a.m., reporting that it was tilting in waters near an island of the Shimonoseki city in the Yamaguchi Prefecture.

Of the 11 crew members on board — two South Koreans, eight Indonesians and one Chinese — nine have been rescued and two others were unaccounted for.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I fail to see how opening a Japanese restaurant in South Korea makes someone a traitor:

Korean archer An San, who won three gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics in Japan in 2021, caused a stir with an online post that described a Japanese-themed restaurant as a “traitor to the nation.” The restaurant owner accused the Olympian’s remark of wrongly branding his business as being a pro-Japanese collaborator.

The 23-year-old shared a photo of a signboard saying “international departures” bound to Japan on Instagram Saturday, with a comment that read “How come there are so many traitors to the nation in Korea.”

The photo is no longer available, as it was an Instagram Story that disappeared 24 hours after upload.

The sign in An’s post was part of the entrance to a Japan-themed restaurant at a shopping mall’s food complex in the southwestern city of Gwangju, where a Japanese hot pot pub brand created and operated by Koreans is in business.

An’s post triggered online users to harass the business owner, who ended up uploading a letter of plea to end the controversy.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but if someone opens a Chinese restaurant are they traitors too? Or how about a Korean operating a McDonald’s? Are they also traitors?

I can’t feel sympathy from anyone from the western aligned world who gets arrested while visiting or living in Russia. It is well known the risks of becoming detained whenever Russia needs a hostage:

The detention of a South Korean national by Russian authorities on espionage allegations has emerged as a significant diplomatic challenge for Seoul, particularly against the backdrop of strained relations between the two nations.

Observers suggest that the detainee could be caught up in Russia’s hostage diplomacy tactics, and anticipate that the situation could drag on for months, if not years. Moreover, this incident could signal a shift in Russia’s stance toward North Korean defectors, particularly considering the detainee’s purported involvement in assisting North Korean workers in the far eastern region of Russia.

Earlier this week, the Russian state-owned media outlet TASS agency reported that a South Korean man named Baek Kwang-soon, aged 53, was apprehended in January on charges of espionage in Vladivostok. He was subsequently transferred to Moscow’s Lefortovo detention facility in February, typically reserved for high-profile political detainees. The Lefortovsky Court has extended his detention until June 15.

This marks the first known case of a South Korean national being arrested on espionage charges in Russia, where such offenses carry penalties of up to 20 years in prison.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

I don’t understand how this guy even thought his joke was funny in anyway?:

Former Democratic Party lawmaker Chung Bong-ju declares his candidacy for the April elections at the National Assembly on Jan. 8, 2024. (Yonhap)

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) on Friday canceled the nomination of an ex-DP lawmaker over his past remarks ridiculing South Korean soldiers who lost their legs in a 2015 bloody land mine explosion are stirring up criticism weeks before the April parliamentary elections. 

Chung Bong-ju was selected as DP candidate for Seoul’s Gangbuk-B constituency but he has been criticized for the comments he made on a YouTube channel in 2017 about the highly publicized incident for which a South Korean probe later concluded North Korea was responsible. (….)

The panel on the YouTube channel was talking about ways that the two Koreas could use the ski resorts in the North ahead of the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games that the South was hosting. 

Appearing as a guest, Chung said: “We have great stuff in the DMZ, don’t we? Ankle mines. We could all go into the DMZ and give out prizes. Give a set of crutches to each of those who step on the mines.” 

Chung’s remarks have come into the spotlight since he won the party primary. 

In a Facebook post Wednesday, Chung issued an apology over the comments and said he also apologized to the victims over the phone and deleted the YouTube clip. 

But the soldiers told some local media that Chung has never contacted them, much less given an apology.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Considering all the bunkers and tunnels in North Korea trying to quickly eliminate Kim Jong-un and his inner circle would likely be extremely difficult:

This photo, provided by the defense ministry on March 7, 2024, shows Defense Minister Shin Won-sik (2nd from R) making an on-site inspection of a command bunker in Seoul.

Defense Minister Shin Won-sik called on special operations troops Wednesday to equip themselves with capabilities to “swiftly eliminate” the North Korean leadership if it starts a war against the South.

Shin made the call at the Army Special Warfare Command in Icheon, 56 kilometers southeast of Seoul, as South Korea has been conducting the Freedom Shield joint military exercise with the United States since last week to boost deterrence against the North’s threats.

“If Kim Jong-un starts a war, as a key unit of Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation (KMPR), you must become the world’s strongest special operations unit to swiftly eliminate the enemy leadership,” Shin said, according to his office.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This demonstrates how incredibly selfish Korean doctors are to protect their fiefdoms. These medical professors are willing to go on strike to pressure the government to not increase medical school students which is being done to try and address the nation’s doctor shortage:

Professors from medical schools nationwide have begun to contemplate whether to submit resignations in collective action pressuring the government to seek a breakthrough in the protracted walkout by trainee doctors, a medical professors’ group said Wednesday.

On Tuesday night, medical professors from 19 universities met online, decided to form a joint emergency response committee and resolved to decide at their respective schools by Friday whether to collectively submit resignations. 

The 19 schools include Seoul National University, Yonsei University, University of Ulsan, the Catholic University of Korea and Pusan National University.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I wonder if Governor Sanders is visiting South Korea in an effort to get Korean car manufacturers to locate in Arkansas?:

President Yoon Suk Yeol met with the governor of Arkansas, the United States, on Monday to discuss ways to strengthen the South Korea-U.S. alliance.

The meeting with Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, former White House press secretary during the Donald Trump administration, took place at the presidential office. Sanders is visiting Seoul as part of a two-nation trade mission to South Korea and Japan. 

“Just like the 70-year-old South Korea-U.S. alliance that is evolving into a comprehensive global partnership, I hope cooperation between South Korea and Arkansas could deepen in many ways,” Yoon said during the meeting. 

Yoon also pointed to the special tie that South Korea has with Arkansas, the home of Gen. Douglas MacArthur whose leadership in the Korean War battle of Incheon resulted in a decisive victory.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.