It is hard to believe that it has already been 10 years since the Sewol ferry sinking. It just doesn’t seem like it has been that long probably because the tragedy has remained in the headlines for so long:
A commemoration ceremony is in progress at Incheon Family Park in Incheon, west of Seoul, on April 16, 2024, marking the 10th anniversary of the deadly sinking of the ferry Sewol. (Yonhap)
Bereaved families and government officials commemorated the victims of the deadly sinking of the ferry Sewol on Tuesday, marking the 10th anniversary of one of the country’s worst maritime disasters.
Interior Minister Lee Sang-min and Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok were among the about 200 people who attended the commemoration ceremony in Incheon Family Park in Incheon, west of Seoul, where the ashes of 44 victims killed in the maritime accident are enshrined.
Including them, a total of 304 people, mostly high school students on a school field trip, were killed as the 6,800-ton ship sank off the southwestern coast on April 16, 2014.
National Museum of Korea is the 6th most visited museum in the world, and the only one in the top ten outside of Europe/North America. pic.twitter.com/1Y71NgOyuc
It is interesting that with all the talk of global warming from the Korean Democratic Party, it is President Yoon from the Korean conservative party who has actually done more to cut carbon emissions. I have always said that any global warming person who doesn’t advocate for the use of nuclear power is not serious in their beliefs and this just proves it:
As the Yoon Suk Yeol government significantly increased the proportion of nuclear power generation, its dependence on fossil fuels fell significantly. Dependence on fossil fuels has become lower than during the Moon Jae In government, which implemented a policy of de-nuclearization to reduce carbon emissions. Attention is focusing on how strongly the Democratic Party of Korea, which won a landslide victory in the general election, will push for the restoration of its policy on denuclearization, which it had promised.
According to the Korea Electric Power Corporation on the 15th, nuclear power accounted for 30.2% of the total power generation in the two years since the inauguration of the Yoon Suk Yeol government until last year. This is an increase of 3.7 percentage points from the previous Moon Jae In administration, which was only 26.5 percent. The share of renewable power generation also rose 2.8 percentage points from 7.6% during the Moon administration to 10.4% during the Yoon administration.
This is definitely something frustrating about Korea, how some people will just leave trash for others to pick up. You even see this while hiking where people will have a picnic and leave trash lying around. With that said, overall the leaving of trash lying around has gotten better over the 20+ years in Korea:
Mounds of trash revisited this year’s cherry blossom festivals nationwide as the streets were strewn with trash, such as disposable cups, delivery food containers and drink cans.
Near Gongji Stream in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, the situation was particularly dire. As the stream became a famous tourist attraction for enjoying cherry blossoms, garbage was haphazardly disposed of at the recycling center. Cigarette butts also littered the park as if smokers had a vendetta against the lawn.
Similarly, Yeouido Hangang Park in western Seoul faces a deluge of trash every year around festival time.
Despite having over six dumpsters set up, the volume of trash overwhelms the capacity. Overflowing trash cans are a common sight, with waste often found stacked up near trash cans.
Here is a documentary I will need to check out once it is available on Netflix:
Korean American Kim Yong-man and his video rental store, Kim’s Video and Music, served as a cultural cornerstone in New York City’s East Village during the 1980s and ’90s.
It was an iconic destination for cinephiles due to its extensive collection of rare and eclectic movies, and it became a favored spot for renowned directors such as Martin Scorsese, Ang Lee, Todd Phillips, and the Coen Brothers.
Kim’s store, which began as a small section of his laundry in 1985, expanded into a chain of 11 stores with 300 employees and 250,000 members at its peak.
Following its premiere in Korea last September, the documentary “Kim’s Video,” released Friday in New York and Los Angeles, delves into the story of the legendary “video king” and the peculiar destiny of his collection of 55,000 video tapes. It is also scheduled to debut in China on April 19 and in Japan on May 1.
The real question is why is there any South Koreans left in Haiti when you have a gang called the Cannibal Army running around killing people?:
South Korea has evacuated 11 citizens from Haiti via helicopter due to deteriorating security, the foreign ministry said Monday.
The ministry said they were airlifted to the neighboring Dominican Republic, adding that further details would be withheld to ensure the safety of other South Koreans in Haiti.
Last month, the government evacuated two citizens from the Caribbean country, as gang violence has gripped the island nation.
Haiti has seen a rise in violence and poverty since the assassination of then President Jovenel Moise in 2021.
Around 60 South Koreans are currently believed to be in Haiti.
Here is some good news for those hoping for better air in South Korea:
South Korea’s greenhouse gas emissions are believed to have fallen for the second consecutive year in 2023, government estimates showed Sunday.
According to the estimates by the Presidential Commission on Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth, South Korea’s emissions in the energy transition sector last year were estimated at 203.7 million tons, a 4.8 percent fall from 219.3 million tons in 2022.
Emissions in the industrial sector are also believed to amount to 244.7 million tons last year, a 0.4 percent decline from 245.8 million tons in 2022, according to the estimates.
It looks like this news anchor went on a bender a little to early in the day:
JIBS, a private broadcaster on the southern island of Jeju, has started disciplinary proceedings against one of its news anchors after a live news segment led to public outrage, with accusations that the anchor was under the influence of alcohol while on-air.
The controversy unfolded during the “8 News” live broadcast on March 30, when anchor Cho Chang-beom exhibited difficulty when pronouncing words and displayed unnatural behavior, raising suspicions among viewers.
During the broadcast, the anchor struggled with pronunciation, notably stumbling over a sentence about the start of election campaign material distribution. He fumbled words like “candidate promises” and “voting precautions” multiple times. There were moments when the screen remained without any commentary from the anchor for roughly 7 seconds.
It would be great if the Korean government told him no on acquiring citizenship since he waited until he was old enough to avoid mandatory military service:
Shin Yoo-yeol, front row second from left, head of Lotte Corp.’s future growth office, listens to Lotte Innovate officials during CES 2024 in Las Vegas in this Jan. 10 file photo. Courtesy of Lotte Innovate
Speculation is growing that Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin’s oldest son, Shin Yoo-yeol, also known by his Japanese name, Satoshi Shigemitsu, may give up his Japanese citizenship this year to be naturalized as a Korean citizen, as he turned 38 years old on Saturday, according to industry officials, Sunday. At this age, one can acquire Korean citizenship regardless of the completion of military service.
The heir apparent, who currently assumes executive positions at Lotte’s holding company and its health care subsidiary, was born in London in 1986 and grew up in Tokyo. After joining Lotte in 2020, he has worked for his father’s company in Korea and Japan.
Due to his frequent attendance at the conglomerate’s important events recently, he has been expected to follow in the footsteps of his father, who gave up his Japanese citizenship at the age of 41 in 1996 to acquire Korean citizenship that year without completing military service. At that time, men younger than 40 were not allowed to be exempt from military service.
It appears the strike by Korean doctors to stop President Yoon from expanding medical school students is beginning to work. The Korean public may want to have more doctors, but the current strike denying them care now is impacting the ruling party in election polls:
President Yoon Suk Yeol reaffirmed his determination to expand the admissions quota for medical schools, Monday, urging the public to support the scheme, which he believes is crucial for safeguarding public safety.
However, at the same time, he left room for dialogue, saying doctors should come up with a unified alternative proposal if they want to reduce the number of new slots. This appears to be an effort to address the ruling People Power Party’s (PPP) demand for the president to display greater flexibility on the issue, which is impacting support for the ruling bloc ahead of the April 10 general elections.
In a televised 51-minute address to the nation, Yoon outlined his rationale for adding 2,000 new slots and criticized doctors for walking off their jobs for nearly 50 days to protest the government plan.
You can read more at the link, but if the doctors want to cut a deal with President Yoon they better do it before the election. Whether Yoon’s ruling party wins or not; after the election he will have no incentive to strike a deal to end the strike.
