Author: GIKorea

Some people have pigs as pets, so should pork be banned too?:

South Korea is planning to introduce a ban on dog meat consumption by the end of this year, Seoul authorities said Friday.

Eating dog meat is neither explicitly prohibited nor legalized in South Korea, and successive governments have failed to make progress on pledges to stop the practice.

Public and political momentum to outlaw dog meat has been growing in the country as the centuries-old practice has fallen out of favor with most young Koreans. It has also attracted international criticism from international rights activists.

The ruling People Power Party on Friday laid out a timetable for action.

“We are planning to enact a Special Act to ban dog meat within this year to address this issue as soon as possible,” said ruling party lawmaker Yu Eui-dong, after a meeting at parliament attended by the Agriculture Ministry officials and animal rights groups.

The special act will allow a three-year period to phase out the industry. If the bill passes the legislature before the year-end, the dog meat ban would come into full effect in 2027.

Washington Post

You can read more at the link, my biggest problem with dog farming in South Korea is that some of these farmers are very inhumane with dogs raised in small cages and then beaten to death to better tenderize the meat.

China is now even taking aggressive actions in Japanese EEZ waters. At some point someone is going to get fed up with this and take aggressive actions back at these ships and that is what everyone is going to fear will lead to an international incident:

Australia on Saturday accused the Chinese navy of likely causing minor injuries to Australian naval divers by operating its sonar while they were trying to clear fishing nets from their ship’s propellers.

The Australian government has expressed its serious concerns to the Chinese government over what it called the unsafe and unprofessional conduct earlier this week, Defense Minister Richard Marles said in a statement on his official website.

There was no immediate comment from the Chinese side. The U.S., Canadian and Australian militaries have complained multiple times about what they say have been dangerous actions by the Chinese navy and air force in the western Pacific. Analysts fear a collision or other accident could spark an international incident and escalate into conflict.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

I guess we will see if the third time is the charm for the North Koreans to get rocket to work, this time with Russian assistance:

 North Korea may launch its military spy satellite as early as “within a week or so,” South Korea’s defense minister said Sunday, citing intelligence of the North’s preparations.

Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said the launch could take place before South Korea launches its first indigenous reconnaissance satellite on Falcon 9, U.S. aerospace company SpaceX’s two-stage rocket, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Nov. 30.

“South Korea and the United States are monitoring North Korea’s movements. North Korea’s preparations are under way for a launch to take place within a week or so,” Shin said in an interview aired on public broadcaster KBS earlier in the day.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Korean youth are criticizing the Democratic Party for campaign posters that make them look dumb and selfish. With that said the majority of young Koreans will probably keep voting for the Democratic Party so the slogans are probably true:

Ruling party lawmakers on Sunday blasted the main opposition party for releasing new political banners that contain phrases it called “demeaning to the youth.”

On Friday, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea’s election campaign committee revealed new political banner designs aimed at young voters in their 20s and 30s ahead of the upcoming general elections in April. The new banners included controversial phrases such as, “The party for me,” “I don’t know about politics, I just want to live a good life” and “I have no idea how the economy works but I want a lot of money!”

Through an official statement, the Democratic Party stated that the new political campaign centers on respecting the individuality and diversity of young voters in their 20s to 30s and hopes that it can transform its image into being a party that can be helpful to individuals and their needs.

The party said that the newly released teaser banner designs will be followed by final designs to be revealed through an official party event on Thursday. Until then, the teaser banners will be displayed across major cities and provincial areas for a week.

The phrases included in the political banners have been criticized by some members of the party. Padong, a youth opinion group for the party, criticized the phrases used on the banners, saying that the level of word choice is, “shocking.”

“What on earth does the Democratic Party think of the young generation?” said Padong in an official statement on Saturday. “Are young people an ‘ignorant’ generation that thinks only about having a lot of money, or are they a ‘dumb’ generation that doesn’t know anything about politics?”

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Increased economic integration between Japan and South Korea makes so much sense:

 South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed Friday to work together to cut costs and establish international rules in the hydrogen sector.

During a discussion at Stanford University, the two leaders talked about ways their countries can cooperate in the hydrogen sector, given South Korea’s wide use of hydrogen cars and Japan’s large number of hydrogen-related patents.

Both Yoon and Kishida attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco this week.

The discussion came a day after they held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the APEC summit, their seventh bilateral summit this year, as Seoul and Tokyo push to mend and develop their relationship after years of tensions over historical disputes.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but hydrogen cars are great if you have nuclear or hydro energy to power the process to create hydrogen. If coal or gas plants are used the emissions savings is actually negligible for hydrogen cars.

Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section.