Tag: South Korea

This just shows how little people in the west know about South Korea to confuse its flag and athletes with North Korea:

The South Korean sports ministry said Saturday it is seeking a meeting with International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach over a gaffe during the opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics in which South Korea was incorrectly introduced as North Korea during the parade of athletes.

In a statement, the ministry said Jang Mi-ran, the second vice minister of sports who attended the ceremony in the French capital Friday, has asked the IOC to arrange a meeting with Bach over the incident, and asked the country’s chef de mission, or the top delegate, Jeong Gang-sun, to demand a quick response from the IOC and the local organizing committee.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

South Korea best be careful on what foreigners it embraces. It needs foreigners that learn to speak Korean and understands Korean culture and history. If not the country could become less Korean and look more like this and this:

President Yoon Suk Yeol said Thursday that local governments’ cooperation with the state was crucial in encouraging foreign residents to settle here to address the population crisis in South Korea.

At a meeting held in Hongseong-gun, South Chungcheong Province, Yoon, who presided over a meeting with heads of the autonomous governments, said the central and local governments should take preemptive actions to support foreign nationals to settle and work in Korean society, as the country faces a growing shortage in its working-age population.

“We must take preemptive action on the labor shortage in the wake of the fast aging of the population coupled with the low birth rate,” Yoon said before some 100 participants. “The low birth rate issue and the foreign worker issue must be seriously addressed through the collaboration of central and local governments.”

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

It is expected that if Kamala Harris wins the U.S. presidency she will continue to emphasize a strong U.S.-ROK alliance and push for the fairy tale of a denuclearized North Korea:

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, right, stands at a military observation post as she visits the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjeom in South Korea on Sept. 29, 2022. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Kamala Harris, endorsed by Biden on Sunday as his successor as the Democratic presidential candidate, is anticipated to continue the Biden administration’s emphasis on alliances if the U.S. vice president wins the upcoming presidential election against Trump, according to analysts. She could become the first Black woman and first Asian American to lead the ticket of a major U.S. political party. 
  
As a senator during Trump’s presidency, Harris criticized Trump’s conciliatory approach toward North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, arguing that Trump was not responding strongly enough to North Korea’s nuclear threats. 
  
“Let me start by saying this: I guarantee you I won’t be exchanging love letters with Kim Jong-un,” Harris said in August 2019 in response to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)’s question to Democratic presidential candidates whether they would agree to partial sanctions relief in exchange for the partial dismantling of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. “President Trump has handed Kim one PR victory after the next, all without securing any real concessions, so the next president will have serious work to do. 
  
“Ultimately, we can’t accept North Korea as a nuclear weapons state,” she added. “But it’s clear that simply demanding complete denuclearization is a recipe for failure; we must work closely with our allies to contain and reverse the short-term threats posed by Pyongyang as we work toward that long-term goal.” 
  
This contrasts with Trump, who boasted of his friendship with Kim, saying the North Korean leader “misses” him and “would like to see [him] back” in a speech to the Republican National Convention on July 18. 
  
During an appearance on CBS in September last year, Harris said, “We are all absolutely clear and unequivocal about our goal of the complete denuclearization of North Korea.”

Though not directly involved with Korean affairs and having limited exposure to the Korean public, Harris visited South Korea in September 2022, where she stressed the “ironclad” nature of the U.S. commitment to the defense of the Republic of Korea.  

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but according to the article Harris has approximately 8 hours of experience visiting South Korea back in 2022.

The greedy doctors in Korea are now vowing to not train medical students in order to stop the government’s plan of increasing the number of doctors in South Korea:

Some medical professors vowed Saturday to boycott training programs for junior doctors in protest of the government’s push for accepting the resignations of striking trainees and the medical school admission quota hikes.

Professors of the radiology department at Catholic University of Korea said in a statement that they will not take part in education and training programs for trainee doctors set to join the course in the second half of this year as long as the government goes ahead with “wrongful policy measures.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the government is trying to address the doctor shortage, especially in rural areas with an increase in medical students. The doctors however do not want the increase because it means increased competition for their services which ultimately impacts their wallets.

Here is some good news for South Korea nuclear industry:

A view of the new Dukovany nuclear power plant site in the Czech Republic. [YONHAP]

The Czech Republic picked Korean companies as the preferred bidder to build two nuclear reactors in Dukovany, an estimated 24 trillion won ($17 billion) project that could serve as a catalyst for the country’s renewed drive to export nuclear power facilities.

The decision marks the first overseas nuclear power deal for local firms in some 15 years since securing a contract to build nuclear power reactors in Barakah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2009.  

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Here is the Korean left’s latest attempt to silence the activists that fly anti-regime balloons into North Korea:

Materials believed to be anti-Pyongyang leaflets from South Korea are set on fire after being discovered in North Korea, in this photo released by the North’s Korean Central News Agency on July 14, 2024.

The unification ministry on Wednesday struck a cautious note about opposition lawmakers’ legislative attempt to ban Seoul activists’ sending of anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border, citing the right of freedom of expression.

In September, the Constitutional Court ruled that a clause banning leaflet launches in the law on the development of inter-Korean relations is unconstitutional, saying it excessively restricts the right to freedom of expression.

The decision paved the way for North Korean defectors and activists to resume their leaflet campaigns toward North Korea. In retaliation, the North has sent more than 2,000 trash-filled balloons into the South since late May.

Several lawmakers from the main opposition Democratic Party have proposed revisions to the law to restrict such leaflet launches while taking into account the intent of the court’s ruling.

“When it comes to a revision to the law, there is a need for a cautious approach, given that the court’s ruling underscores freedom of expression as a constitutional value that is the basis of democracy,” the ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs said in a report to the National Assembly.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Since the political opposition controls the National Assembly the Yoon administration is going to have to continue to deal with these types of shennanigans:

The presidential office said Monday it will not respond to an opposition-led parliamentary hearing addressing an online petition for President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment.

The parliamentary legislation and judiciary committee voted last week to hold two hearings — on Friday and on July 26 — to deal with the petition, posted online on June 20, that calls for the National Assembly to propose an impeachment motion against Yoon over various allegations, including first lady Kim Keon Hee’s acceptance of a luxury handbag in 2022.

“We cannot respond to an unconstitutional and unlawful impeachment hearing,” a senior presidential official told Yonhap News Agency.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this is the Korean lefts ultimate goal which is to impeach President Yoon.

South Korea has definitely has had its share of political violence to include recently the stabbing of the Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung:

DP spokesperson Han Min-soo also sent best wishes Trump’s way and echoed the PPP’s sentiment that political terrorism must never be justified.

“The Democratic Party suffered an act of terrorism against former leader Lee Jae-myung, and we’ve been battling to fend off the ghosts of such terrible politics based on hatred,” Han said. “We strongly condemn political terrorism that destroys democracy, and we will be on the front lines of the battle against the politics of hatred.”

Yonhap

The conservative People Power Party however condemned the attack and mentioned the recent politcally inspired attacks on both Lee Jae-myung and PPP member Bae Hyun-jin;

Ho Jun-seok, spokesperson for the ruling People Power Party (PPP), wished Trump a speedy recovery, after the Republican presidential candidate had a bullet pierce the upper part of his right ear during a Saturday rally (U.S. time) in Pennsylvania.

“Political terrorism is a threat to democracy and cannot be tolerated for any reason,” Ho said in a statement. “Political terrorism is a product of extremism and politics of hate. Politicians have the duty to unite society through understanding and harmony.”

Ho said South Korean people have also been affected by political terrorism, citing attacks on former presidential candidate and ex-Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung and PPP lawmaker Bae Hyun-jin.

You can read more at the link, but back in 2006 there was also the slashing of then conservative parliamentary member Park Geun-hye who would go on to become President and in 2015 U.S. Ambassador to Korea Mark Lippert was slashed across the face as well. You can go even further back when Korean President Park Chung-hee was assassinated in 1979 as well.