Halal food street to be created This photo, provided by the Yongsan Ward office in Seoul on April 28, 2020, shows a rendering of a halal food culture street (pink line) to be created near the Islam Korea Seoul Central Masjid. (Yonhap)
China’s decision to put an estimated 1 million Muslims in internment camps is this year’s biggest religion story, in my opinion. https://t.co/30ZfUD9aG1
These deportations and arrest will likely give critics support for not admitting anymore refugees into South Korea:
Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, right, chairs the anti-terror committee’s meeting at the Seoul Government Complex in Gwanghwamun District on Monday. Yonhap
Six migrant workers have been deported this year over allegations they supported international terrorist groups.
This followed a joint operation by South Korea’s top law enforcers.
Police, prosecutors, the national intelligence service and the justice ministry discovered evidence that the suspects endorsed the terrorist groups “beyond curiosity” and shared information about them with others.
The information came to light in a report revealed during the national anti-terror committee’s regular meeting at the Seoul Government Complex on Monday. Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon presided over it.
Another report said a Syrian migrant worker was arrested in Incheon for inciting co-workers to join extreme Islamic terrorist group ISIS. The Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency’s international criminal investigation bureau arrested the man, 33, for showing ISIS promotional video clips to the workers and encouraging them to join it. The authority sent his case to prosecutors early this month. [Korea Times]
You can read the rest at the link, but a flood of Muslim refugees into Jeju Island from mostly Yemen has caused terrorism fears to grow in South Korea in recent months.
Some how I doubt the radical Islamists will try and exploit this Koran burning by a wacko Korean feminist group compared to when a wacko US preacher throated to burn the Koran and it landed him as number two on Al Qaida’s hit list:
WOMAD, a radical feminist group, has claimed one of its members burned a copy of the Quran, the central religious text of Islam.
The person who posted a picture of the burning Quran Wednesday said, “Muslim cockroaches and Korean men should be eliminated.”
It is unclear whether she actually burned the text and, if so, how she obtained it.
This came just a day after another member posted a photo of a Catholic sacramental wafer scribbled with foul language in red ink.
Following the news, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea (CBCK) denounced the posting as a serious insult to the Catholic Church and vowed to take action in response.
“In accordance with Catholic regulations, the CBCK is preparing the process to notify the Vatican through the Vatican ambassador in Seoul,” said priest Ahn Bong-hwan, spokesman of the CBCK.
Under the motto, “We hate all men,” WOMAD has gained notoriety for bashing religions and men since its 2016 inception. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but the wacko US preacher who threatened to burn Korans, worked as a Uber driver. Clearly his 15 minutes of fame is over.
It has been 10 years since the Taliban took a group of South Korean missionaries hostage. They killed two of them and sexually assaulted some of the women before releasing them in return for millions of dollars in ransom money and the withdrawal of ROK troops from Afghanistan. The hostage taking was of course used by anti-US leftists in South Korea to further push anti-US sentiment. In recognition of the 10 year anniversary of the hostage taking, Al Jazeera thought it would be a good time to interview Muslims in South Korea and see what their thoughts are about Islam in the ROK:
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan, which was a turning point in the history of Islam in Korea. Today, South Korean Muslims make up a tiny minority, 0.2 percent, of the predominantly Christian and Confucian society.
As South Korea is opening its doors to Muslim tourists, trying to fill the vacuum left by the declining number of Chinese tourists following the debacle launched with the deployment of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, various generations of native Korean Muslims reflect on their double identity as Koreans and Muslims in South Korea.
The number of Muslim tourists coming to the country saw a 33 percent increase last year from 2015 and is expected to reach 1,2 million people by the end of 2017, as revealed by the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO).
Tapping into this economic potential, the country has increased the number of Halal certificates for its restaurants and prayer rooms, and the Seoul Tourism Organization is promoting a series of videos showcasing Muslim-friendly restaurants around the capital.
Islam and the Korean Peninsula share a history of mutual fascination and curiosity. From the era of the Silk Road in the 9th century to today’s modern interconnected world, the bonds that were once forged through maritime travel have now been passed on to a new generation of young Muslim Koreans, who try to find a balance between their Korean culture and newfound religion.
Retracing the history of Islam in Korea and its reintroduction to the country by Turkish troops during the 1950-1953 Korean War, Al Jazeera spoke with several generations of South Korean Muslims, who expressed the difficulties they face in the Confucian Korean society dominated by class, age hierarchy, a strong drinking culture, and a distrust of Islam. [Al Jazeera]
You can read the interviews at the link, but it is more of the religion of peace talking points which is a bit ironic considering the interviews are in recognition of the 10 year anniversary of the kidnapping, murder, and sexual assaults caused by Islamic extremists on South Korean missionaries.
Via a reader tip comes this story of a Korean drama supposedly promoting Islamaphobia:
New Korean comedy-drama Man who Dies to Live has caused an uproar among netizens who have accused it of misusing Islamic values and portraying a false image of Muslims in its scenes.
According to yonhapnews.co.kr, the drama, which has been broadcasted on MBC TV since July 19, tells the story of Jang Dal-goo who travels to a fictional country in the Middle East, gets rich, receives a “count” title and then becomes a citizen under the name of Saeed Fahd Ali.
He later returns to Korea to reunite with his long-lost daughter and her husband.
The actor who plays the main character of Jang Dal-goo, Choi Min-soo, appears as a stereotypical Arab man by wearing thawb, headscarf and black robe. (……..)
“That drama is sharing the wrong image of Islam and Muslims in general. It’s a total piece of garbage,” wrote Twitter user @mayssemgh, who also created a series of tweets on why MBC should not air the drama. [Asia One]
Here is my favorite quote in the article:
“It’s literally just ruining Islam’s image and making fun of Muslims.”
I would say mass terrorism, ISIS, Al Qaeda, suicide bombings, oppression of women, slave markets, beheadings, etc. have done a fine job of ruining Islam’s image well before this stupid drama ever aired.
