Category: Korea-General Topics

The opposition to the allegedly corrupt ROK Justice Minister continues to mobilize some impressively large protest crowds:

South Koreans opposed to scandal-ridden Justice Minister Cho Kuk held a massive rally in central Seoul on Wednesday to call for his ouster and the resignation of President Moon Jae-in.

Participants, many holding Korean national flags and some holding American flags as well, crowded the 10-lane boulevard running from the Gwanghwamun gate all the way to the Sungnyemun, or Namdaemun, gate near Seoul Station.

They later marched in front of the presidential office, chanting slogans like “Arrest Cho Kuk” and “Moon Jae-in out.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The South Korean left has responded to the massive rally against the allegedly corrupt ROK Justice Minister with a rally of their own:

Activists and citizens held a rally in southern Seoul on Saturday in support of Justice Minister Cho Kuk and his drive to reform the prosecution amid a probe into corruption allegations surrounding his family.

The candlelight vigil started at around 6 p.m. at an intersection near Seocho Station, where the prosecution’s office is located, for the third such weekly rally.

Participants chanted slogans — “Reform the Prosecution” and “Protect Cho Kuk” — as they condemned the prosecution’s widening probe into Cho’s family as an attempt to deter the minister from reforming the elite investigation agency.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the Korean left is claiming 3 million people showed up which judging by this picture is widely inaccurate.

This rally was so big that even the left leaning Korean media could not ignore it:

Hundreds of thousands of mostly elderly citizens gathered in Gwanghwamun Square and streets near City Hall and Seoul Station, Thursday, to vent their discontent at the Moon Jae-in administration, calling on Justice Minister Cho Kuk to resign over corruption allegations leveled against him and his family.

Conservative civic groups and political parties ― including the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) and minor ultra-rightist Our Republican Party ― set up side-by-side rallies along Sejong Street. The protesters waving Korean and American flags marched from Seoul Station to Gwanghwamun Square blocking traffic at certain locations.

The huge turnout ― on a national holiday ― was sparked partly by a rally in southern Seoul last Saturday, where more than 1 million people, according to the organizers, condemned the prosecution for its “politically charged” investigation of Cho’s family. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Condolences to the friends and families of everyone tragically killed by this strong typhoon:

Ten people were killed and four others went missing as Typhoon Mitag lashed the southern and eastern regions of South Korea with heavy rain and strong winds, authorities said Thursday.

A 65-year-old female owner of a small restaurant was found dead at around 4 p.m., about seven hours after being buried in a landslide in the southeastern port city of Busan.

Fire officials in Busan said a son of an old couple was also found dead after he was buried in the landslide along with his parents at their home.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Does anyone think these measures are actually going to work to reduce fine dust in Seoul?:

A newly established presidential committee on fine dust relayed Monday plans to reduce Korea’s fine dust level by at least 20 percent this winter compared to last year by banning old diesel cars on the streets, raising their acquisition taxes and halting more coal power plants.

The National Council on Climate and Air Quality (NCCA), which launched in April at the helm of former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, said during a press conference at the Korea Press Center in central Seoul that it submitted its proposals to the Blue House after passing them in an internal meeting last Friday. 

In the following weeks, the government is expected to change relevant policies to put those ideas into action starting this November, the council said.

On ways to deal with emissions coming from China, the NCCA said it would share fine dust forecasts and warning alerts with the neighboring country and form a so-called Korea-China Blue Sky Partnership with Beijing to work closely together on the environmental hazard. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but I will be surprised if Beijing does anything to help reduce fine dust levels over Korea.

Another effect of the current poor economic conditions in South Korea:

Korea’s suicide rate and number of people committing suicide, which had fallen since 2013, rose by nearly 10 percent last year amid a prolonged business downturn, data showed Tuesday.

According to Statistics Korea, the suicide rate has risen by 9.5 percent, amid tougher economic circumstances.

The suicide rate is calculated as the number of deaths by suicide per 100,000 people.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest on the gender wars in South Korea:

On the same street corner in Seoul where 10,000 South Korean women rallied last October to demand an end to spy cameras and sexual violence, the leader of a new activist group addressed a small group of angry young men.

“We are a group for legal justice, anti-hate, and true gender equality,” Moon Sung-ho boomed into a microphone to a crowd of a few dozen men waving placards.

As feminist issues come to the fore in deeply patriarchal South Korea, there’s a growing discontent among young men that they’re being left behind. Moon, who leads Dang Dang We, a group “fighting for justice for men,” is one of them.

He started his group last year after a 39-year-old business owner was sentenced to six months in prison for grabbing a woman’s buttocks in a Korean soup restaurant. The case provoked outrage that a man could be convicted on no evidence beyond the victim’s claims.

CNN

You can read more at the link.

President Moon is heading to the U.S. for what is believed to be a summit with President Trump that will lead to revived talks with North Korea:

President Moon Jae-in flew to New York, Sunday, to attend this year’s United Nations General Assembly amid renewed hopes for a restart of dialogue aimed at ending Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.

Cheong Wa Dae said the President planned to use his visit to the U.N. to highlight South Korea’s efforts to bring lasting peace to the Korean Peninsula. More importantly, Moon is widely expected to suggest to the international community that a step-by-step approach be taken toward denuclearizing the North. Moon arrived at JFK International Airport, Monday morning (KST). 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but whenever you hear the term, “step-by-step approach” this means “pretend denuclearization“.