Author: GIKorea

You would think that people on Chun Doo-hwan’s side of this debate would just keep quiet because no apology will ever be accepted by the opposing side:

The apology by the widow of Chun Doo-hwan for past wrongdoings inflicted by the former dictator has only refueled the anger of victims of the bloody suppression of the 1980 Gwangju pro-democracy movement, as Chun’s side made it clear that the massacre was not subject to the apology.

Former first lady Lee Soon-ja made the apology during Chun’s funeral in Seoul, Saturday, four days after he died of a type of blood cancer. The former Army general, who seized power through a military coup in 1979 and served as president from September 1980 to February 1988, was responsible for the brutal suppression of Gwangju citizens but went to his grave without ever making an admission of guilt or an apology.

In a speech as a family representative, Lee said, “On behalf of my husband, I would like to deeply apologize, especially to those who suffered pains and scars during his time in office.”

Lee’s apology was initially assumed to be for the victims killed in the May 1980 uprising. But civic groups related to the movement, including those of bereaved families, criticized it for being vague and incomplete, saying they couldn’t accept the apology.

Then Chun’s former secretary Min Jeong-ki told local reporters that Lee was not talking about Gwangju.

“Lee clearly said ‘during his time in office,'” Min told reporters hours after Lee’s remark, at Seoul Memorial Park where the cremation took place. He explained that the Gwangju incident took place before his presidency, which officially began on Sept. 1, 1980.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest on the relocation of the MCAS Futenma on Okinawa that features so many similarities to the expansion of Camp Humphreys in South Korea. They only difference so far is that the Futenma relocation hasn’t had in Braveheart style battles yet:

Tamaki, not surprisingly, denied the application filed in April 2020. He wrote the Japanese government to say the seafloor at the site may be unstable and requires further investigation, along with other environmental concerns.

The seabed in Oura Bay in Henoko, where land is being reclaimed for the runway, is softer than builders anticipated. The prefecture has also raised concerns over endangered species of coral nearby.

“There are many people of Okinawa and of Japan who are anxious, furious and sad to see the government using iron fists and forcing the reclamation work without providing a sufficient explanation,” Tamaki said at a press conference Thursday. “We have repeatedly expressed to the government that relocation (of MCAS Futenma) to Henoko would not lead to an immediate removal of danger.”

This is Tamaki’s latest bid to halt a project that he campaigned on stopping. His efforts have largely been overruled by the Japanese courts and Cabinet-level authorities. (……)

The fight to relocate Marine air operations from a central urban area on Okinawa to the rural northern coast at Camp Schwab began over 25 years ago. Work finally began in 2017 but has been beset by legal and administrative challenges by successive governors. Cost overruns and delays have pushed the completion date past 2014 to 2030 and the cost from $2.2 billion to at least $8.7 billion.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

The trickle of ethnic Koreans from Russia’s Sakhalin island continue to trickle back to South Korea:

Twenty-one ethnic Koreans who were taken to Russia’s far eastern island of Sakhalin for forced labor during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule returned to their home country Saturday, the foreign ministry said.

A total of 91 people, including the former forced laborers and their family members, arrived at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, under a government support project that will help them get permanent residency here or get dual citizenship if they apply. They all have Russian citizenship.

The average age of the ethnic Koreans who were relocated to Sakhalin during World War II was 88, with the oldest one at age 90.

After a 10-day quarantine, the returnees and their family members will reside in rental homes in Ansan, 42 kilometers south of Seoul, and Incheon, 40 km west of the capital.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section. I hope for all my American readers that they are having a great Thanksgiving weekend.

Russia has slowly been reducing the personnel in their embassy in South Korea to where now they are down to only two diplomats:

 Russia has withdrawn most of its embassy staff in North Korea, a Seoul official said Thursday, as pandemic-driven shortages of everyday commodities and anti-virus restrictions have driven many foreign diplomats out of the impoverished country.

NK News, a media outlet on the North, reported earlier dozens of Russia’s embassy personnel left Pyongyang on Wednesday via train, leaving behind only two diplomats, including Ambassador Alexander Matsegora, and other technicians.

“Russia used to have a large embassy that could originally station around 100 people, but the government understands that most of them have left,” the official at the unification ministry told reporters on the customary condition of anonymity.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I wonder if they had to use a hand pushed trolley to leave North Korea like the prior diplomats.

It is going to be interesting to see if the Moon administration will continue its living with COVID strategy with the various record highs in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths:

South Korea’s new coronavirus cases fell below 4,000 on Thursday, a day after hitting an all time-high of 4,115. But critical cases and deaths climbed to fresh highs, fueling worries about the virus spread ahead of another pandemic winter.

The country reported 3,938 new COVID-19 cases, including 3,917 local infections, raising the total caseload to 429,002, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

Critically ill patients hit an all-time high of 612, up 26 from the previous record set a day earlier. The same figure averaged 498 for the seven days ending Sunday.

The country added 39 more deaths from COVID-19, the highest number since the start of the fourth wave of the pandemic in July, bringing the death toll to 3,401, with the fatality rate standing at 0.79 percent.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I think the numbers will eventually go down because my theory is that the lockdowns mitigated people who conduct high risk activity in places like bars and Noraebangs from getting sick. With the restrictions lifted I think these people conducting high risk activities are getting sick. Eventually the growth in case numbers from this high risk population will be reduced due to prior infection and thus an overall reduction in case numbers. South Korea is getting bad press right now but give it a few weeks and I think eventually the cases will go down.