Here is another case of a USFK service member ruining his career by drunk driving. I have little sympathy for these drunk drivers in Korea with the abundant mass transit available:
An American airman stationed in South Korea is under suspicion of driving under the influence after crashing into a parked car and attempting to flee the scene, local police said.
A 42-year-old technical sergeant assigned to Osan Air Base is under investigation from the Gangnam Police Station in Seoul, a senior police officer told Stars and Stripes by phone Tuesday. The officer declined to provide the service member’s name due to the country’s identity protection laws.
Police said the airman is suspected of hitting a parked car in a backstreet of a neighborhood shopping area frequented by foreigners and young adults at around 8:55 p.m. Friday. The owner of the parked car, an unnamed Korean man, drove after the service member while calling the police.
“I am chasing a hit-and-run foreigner,” the caller said, according to the senior police officer.
Authorities apprehended the airman roughly 10 minutes after the crash, the police officer said, adding that the service member was compliant but had “much alcohol on his breath.”
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link.
This is one of these cases where the is guy is guilty of something for causing the death of his girlfriend while driving drunk, it is just a matter of determining what he is guilty of:
The prosecution has asked a local court to hand down a sentence for a 15-year jail term to a man who “intentionally” caused a car crash on Jeju Island which led to the death of his girlfriend in the passenger seat.
Korea Times
Lawyers representing the man, however, claimed the prosecution lacks sufficient evidence for him to be found guilty of murder.
During a hearing at the Jeju District Court, Monday, the prosecution sought the jail term for the man, 34, alleging willful negligence on his part.
On Sept. 10, 2019, the man was driving a convertible car with the victim, 28, as a passenger, during their trip to the resort island. The man was found to be driving under the influence with a blood alcohol level of 0.118 percent, far above the level that warrants cancellation of a driver’s license. The car hopped a curb and rammed into a farming vehicle parked on the side of the road. The woman, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was thrown from the car as the roof of the convertible was open.
She suffered severe head wounds and underwent surgery three times after the accident but remained unconscious until she died on Aug. 23, 2020.
The bereaved family and the prosecution claimed the man caused the accident deliberately because she had refused his demands to end the relationship multiple times. The couple were quarreling over the issue moments before the accident, with their conversation recorded on the victim’s phone.
You can read more at the link.
Chun Doo-hwan’s authoritarian grip on power continues to reverberate today and it setback Korean democracy by a decade:
Former President Chun Doo-hwan, who seized power in a coup and governed the nation with a firm hand from 1980 to 1988, died, Tuesday. He was 90.
Korea Times
According to Min Jeong-ki, a former presidential secretary, Chun, who had multiple myeloma ― a cancer formed in white blood cells ― died at his home in western Seoul at 8:45 a.m. After he collapsed in a bathroom, emergency services were called at 8:55 a.m. and paramedics who arrived at 9:12 a.m. then confirmed his death. His body was transferred to the Severance Hospital where a memorial altar was set up. Until recently, Chun had been receiving treatment at the medical center due to his worsening health.
“Chun’s last wish was for his remains be buried on high ground at the border overlooking North Korean territory,” Min said, adding the former president’s body will be cremated before being buried at a site to be determined later.
Chun’s death came almost a month after his successor and coup co-conspirator Roh Tae-woo died, Oct. 26.
Cheong Wa Dae expressed regret that Chun died without offering an apology, but offered its prayers for the deceased and condolences to the bereaved family.
You can read more at the link, but I think Chun Doo-hwan is going to missed by few outside of his family.
Australia has now begun the slow reopening of its borders:
Australia will allow foreign visa holders to enter the country from the start of December, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday, the latest step to restart international travel and support its economy.
Korea Times
Australia shut its international border in May 2020 and allowed only restricted numbers of citizens and permanent residents to enter in a bid to curtail the spread of COVID-19.
The rules were relaxed in recent weeks to allow foreign family members of citizens to enter, and Morrison said this will be scaled up from Dec. 1 to allow vaccinated students, business visa holders and refugees to arrive.
“The return of skilled workers and students to Australia is a major milestone in our pathway back,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra. Australia will also allow in vaccinated tourists from South Korea and Japan from Dec 1, he said.
You can read more at the link.
Having watched both Squid Game and Hellhound I found them both to be very violent though I would say Squid Game is more violent. Squid Game I found to be filmed and paced better while Hellbound is a bit slow at times, but gets better as the series builds. The CGI of the monsters in Hellbound are not very good when compared to blockbusters such as the Marvel movies. Both are decent shows, but would not make my own personal Top 10 list of best Korean series though the majority of Netflix viewers seem to disagree with me:
Writer-director Yeon Sang-ho’s fantasy drama, “Hellbound,” has topped the top 10 Netflix shows list only 24 hours after its official release last Friday.
Korea Times
The Korean drama was quick to rise to global stardom, generating quite a buzz in the Korean entertainment industry, with some hastily predicting that the fantasy drama could become another “Squid Game,” which has become the most-watched Netflix series ever.
Despite sharing some parallels, the two Netflix original series are different in terms of their paths to success and audience reactions.
“Hellbound” was quicker to top the global charts than “Squid Game.” It took only a day to rise to the No. 1 spot on Netflix’s top 10 most watched shows, while “Squid Game” won the same title eight days after its official release.
The global streaming chart, uploaded by FlixPatrol, a website that updates daily VOD charts for 175 streaming platforms in 76 countries worldwide, shows that “Squid Game” has enjoyed more lasting popularity than “Hellbound.”
“Squid Game” has continued to top the Netflix show chart for weeks, whereas “Hellbound” was overtaken by the animated series, “Arcane,” just a day after the former topped the chart.
You can read more at the link.
