Author: GIKorea

One the ring leaders of the sex video blackmail case has received a lengthy prison sentence:

 A court on Thursday sentenced a key member of an online sexual blackmail ring to 34 years in prison for coercing dozens of women and girls into sharing sexually explicit videos of themselves. 

A district court in the southeastern city of Andong convicted Moon Hyung-wook, 24, of operating the sexual exploitation chatrooms on Telegram and producing and distributing thousands of obscene videos of female victims.

“The defendant caused irreparable damage to the victims and his antisocial crime that violates human dignity deserves a severe punishment,” the court said in the ruling.

The court also ordered him to wear an electronic bracelet for 30 years.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I doubt he will remain in jail for 34 years. He will probably receive parol early thus the electronic bracelet requirement for 30 years.

It wasn’t all that long ago when the ruling Democratic Party were smug and seemed unbeatable. That is no longer the case:

 After his Democratic Party (DP) suffered an election rout, President Moon Jae-in stated Thursday that he takes it as a “reprimand” from the public.

He said he will carry out his duties with a “humble demeanor and heavy sense of responsibility,” according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok.

Moon was quoted as adding that he will concentrate efforts on meeting the people’s “desperate demands,” including overcoming the COVID-19 crisis, revitalizing the economy, stabilizing the people’s livelihoods and the real estate market, and rooting out corruption.

The liberal DP was overwhelmingly defeated by the conservative main opposition People Power Party in the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections the previous day.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

A correspondent for the Joong Ang Ilbo Park Hyun-young is concerned he is going to be targeted in the U.S. for being Asian. He titled his piece “A Jungle of Violence”:

I liked to talk on the phone or listen to podcasts while walking. But I don’t put my earphones on when walking in downtown Washington so that I can be aware of my surroundings. If I use earphones, it is hard to know whether there’s someone behind me or if person is talking to me or walking faster suddenly.

It is a new habit I’ve developed as crimes against Asian Americans are on the rise in the United States. If I run into a stranger in a secluded place, I look around to see if there’s any surveillance cameras.It is more often that I don’t find them. (…….) Before America gets the disgrace of being labeled a “jungle” dominated by the physically strong, the Biden administration needs to address the issue seriously without political calculation.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read the rest at the link, but one could argue that Mr. Park’s title for his article is racist in itself by trying to compare the U.S. to a jungle. Just ask President Biden. Anyway something else that Mr. Park needs to realize is that even white people in certain areas of D.C. have to be careful where the walk and what they doing. The mentally ill and criminal elements often behind these assault don’t limit their illegal activities to just Asian people.

Here is the latest on the vaccine efforts in South Korea:

The government is temporarily suspending AstraZeneca vaccines for people under 60 after a third blood clot developed in a patient after an AstraZeneca shot.  
   
Korea’s Covid-19 vaccination Task Force team said Wednesday that a medical worker in her 20s was diagnosed with blood clots in her legs and lungs twelve days after she got her first AstraZeneca jab on March 17.    
   
She developed shortness of breath on March 29.   
   
This was the third case of blood clot problems following AstraZeneca inoculations. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

This is not a good sign for the ruling party and President Moon who’s policies have become increasingly unpopular in South Korea:

Oh Se-hoon of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) is expected to win the Seoul mayoral seat by a solid margin in Wednesday’s by-elections, seen as a major bellwether for next year’s presidential election, an exit poll showed.

Oh defeated his rival from the ruling Democratic Party (DP) Park Young-sun 59 percent to 37.7 percent in the exit poll, jointly released by three broadcasters: KBS, MBC and SBS.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I have a theory that many of these racist messages being hurled at Asian-American celebrities is actually from Chinese and Russian bot accounts looking to increase racial strife in the US. It would be fascinating if someone was able to analyze the racist messages Chloe Kim received and track down if they are real people or not:

Like many public figures, Chloe Kim gets a lot of bizarre direct messages on her social media accounts, but far too many of them are filled with hurtful, racist words, the Olympian revealed this week.

In an Instagram story that has since expired, the accomplished snowboarder opened up about her personal experiences with racism and admitted that she feels “really helpless and afraid at times.”

As reported by ESPN, Kim shared a screenshot Wednesday of a message she had received that read “You dumb Asian b—-. Kiss my ass.” In her post, Kim went on to explain that it’s not unusual for her to receive such hurtful comments.

Today Show

You can read more at the link, but there is assuredly racist jerks on the Internet. However, it would totally be in the Chinese and Russian interest to continue to promote racial strife in America, especially the Chinese. They want to mitigate criticism of their own controversial policies by calling their critics racist. This basically is a staple of American domestic politics as well.

The bottom line is that if you don’t like being trolled then you should not be on social media. I have been called all kinds of things on this blog over the years by what I suspect are 50 Cent Army trolls, but I understand that this is the risk you take posting on the Internet.