Category: Korea-General Topics

If you find yourself in trouble in Hongdae there may be a foreigner on patrol with the police to assist you:

Amid a rising number of foreign residents, tourists and multiracial families here, Mapo-gu Office in western Seoul has launched a patrol unit comprised of foreigners, to offer help to foreign residents and tourists in the areas around Hongik University Station.

The district office said, Monday, that it held a welcome ceremony for the unit, Friday, consisting of 20 volunteers including foreign residents from Nigeria and China. 

The move follows an influx of more and more foreigners in the district. 

According to the population and housing census in 2017, the number of multiracial family members living in Mapo-gu was 5,585. Also, the Hongdae area is one of the most popular tourist destinations visited by many foreigners and local residents, together with Yeonnam-dong next door which has gained popularity recently. 

The unit members will patrol twice a week for four hours. The patrol course will include Yeonnam-dong and the area near the university, known colloquially as Hongdae. Their main jobs are to provide translation to tourists and listen to their complaints as well as solve conflicts among foreign residents.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

The war on tobacco in South Korea continues:

South Korea unveiled its “tobacco endgame” plan that calls for adopting uniform, plain packaging for all cigarettes and more graphic warning labels to push people to quit smoking, the government said Tuesday.
The comprehensive endeavor, reached by the public health policy review committee, aims to lower the smoking rate for men significantly from 38.1 percent in 2017, the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
The percentage of male smokers in the country has been falling steadily since 2008 with the government wanting the figure to fall to lower than 29 percent by 2022.
The ministry said indoor smoking areas will be banned, with all products containing nicotine to be classified as tobacco goods and subject to tougher restrictions.
The ministry added that for the time being, an increase of the price of tobacco products is not being considered. The government increased taxes on cigarettes by 2,000 won (US$1.70) per pack on Jan. 1, 2015, raising the price to 4,500 won per pack.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but there is no doubt that smoking is bad for you, but how come these measures aren’t taken against other industries that are bad for people’s health like drinking too much soda?

President Moon has found time to attend an anniversary event for the Gwangju uprising, I wonder if he will find time to attend a memorial event next month for the 13 ROK Sailors killed in the 2002 West Sea Naval Battle by North Korea?:

President Moon Jae-in called for an end to wasteful political strife over the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in Gwangju, Saturday, saying the country still owes a huge debt to the residents of the city. 

Attending the 39th anniversary of the movement against the then military junta led by Chun Doo-hwan, he offered an apology, as the country’s sitting president, for the many deaths that resulted in the brutal crackdown that followed. 

He lamented continued reckless remarks by some politicians and scholars to distort or play down the truth behind the historic event, officially named the Gwangju Democratization Movement.

“As a Korean, I feel tremendous shame when facing the reality of preposterous remarks denying and insulting the May 18 Democratization Movement still being uttered out loud without any hesitation,” he said in a speech at the ceremony held in the city, 268 kilometers south of Seoul.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but I wonder if President Moon will say he feels “tremendous shame” about the “preposterous remarks” by those that deny that North Korea sunk the ROK naval ship the Cheonan killing 46 sailors back in 2010. The memorial service was in March and President Moon did not attend.

As far as the Gwangju Uprising, I always recommend people read Linda Lewis’, Laying Claim to the Memory of May: A Look Back at the 1980 Kwangju Uprising for a good analysis of what happened back in 1980.

Considering that former Presidents George Bush and Roh Moo-hyun’s last meeting ended in a testy exchange about North Korea, Poongsan Corp. must be providing him a pretty nice travel package to attend this memorial service:

Former U.S. President George W. Bush plans to visit South Korea next week to attend a memorial service to mark the 10th anniversary of former President Roh Moo-hyun’s death, an official said Monday.

Bush is expected to participate in the memorial event to be held on May 23 at Bongha Village in Gimhae, some 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul, hometown of the late president, according to a foundation set up in honor of Roh.

Bush was Roh’s U.S. counterpart during the South Korean president’s presidency from 2003 to 2008.

“His attendance of the memorial service has been confirmed. We will reveal details later this week,” an official at the Roh Moo-hyun foundation said.

In May 2009, Roh jumped to his death off a cliff behind his retirement home amid a widening probe by prosecutors over allegations that members of his family accepted illicit funds.

Bush’s planned visit is believed to be arranged by local arms manufacturer Poongsan Corp., which has long ties with the Bush family.

He reportedly will visit Seoul for affairs related to the company. Bush’s side is believed to have expressed his intent to participate in the memorial service through the company. 

Korea Times

At my first Korean baseball game and please can I stay here forever thanks bye pic.twitter.com/ZjfEQ6doNh

— William Gallo (@GalloVOA) May 12, 2019

I had thought that maybe the Korean woman rescued by French commandoes was a missionary, but it appears she was simply an around the world traveler. I just don’t understand why people would put themselves and more importantly others sent to rescue them in danger needlessly like this:

The South Korean woman who was rescued from a hostage situation in western Africa had traveled to Mali, a country that the Seoul government has advised nationals to either not go to or to leave, before she was kidnapped, a foreign ministry official said Monday. 
The Korean woman in her 40s was freed in an operation led by the French military in Burkina Faso last week after near monthlong captivity by an apparent Islamic militant group. She was safely transported to Paris on Saturday (Paris time) and arrangements are being made for her return to South Korea at an early date. 
A foreign ministry official said the victim had been traveling to conflict-prone nations in the African region as part of a round-the-world trip that began about 18 months ago. 
She had visited Morocco, Senegal and Mali before arriving in Burkina Faso. She was said to be on her way to Benin when she was taken hostage, the official said. 
“Objectively speaking, it is true that the victim passed through fairly dangerous areas,” the ministry official said. 
Under South Korea’s four-level travel warning system, Mali and northern Burkina Faso have been designated “red alert,” meaning South Koreans are advised not to go or to leave such places, largely due to political unrest.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is what a survey of 2,500 foreigners living in Seoul has said about Koreans:

Koreans in Seoul discriminate against foreign residents mainly based on their country of origin, a survey by the Seoul Metropolitan Government showed Tuesday.

Many foreign residents said their image of Seoul had improved, but some still face discrimination and disdain.

The city government announced the results of the survey conducted on 2,500 foreign residents in the capital last September, to reflect the findings in its policies.

According to the survey, 57.3 percent of respondents said Koreans discriminate against foreign nationals based on their nationality. When multiple replies were allowed, 41.5 percent also said discriminative responses took place according to their fluency in Korean, 23.9 percent their financial status, 16.6 percent their jobs, 15.6 percent their appearance including skin color, and 1.1 percent their religion.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but none of this seems terribly surprising. I have always told people that if you want to improve your experience living in Korea, try to learn some Korean. For example, being able to exchange pleasantries and order food in Korean will likely greatly enhance the service you receive at a restaurant.

Here is a good article about the history of L.A.’s Koreatown:

The 2.7 square miles known as Koreatown is a happy mix of flashing neon lights, nondescript office buildings that house innovative restaurants and dark nightclubs, and eclectic shops in old Art Deco buildings papered with signs written in hangul. The densely packed neighborhood is home to more than 120,000 residents, around 20 percent of Korean heritage. And even though the majority of its population is Latino, Koreatown—the first and most famous Koreatown in the U.S.—retains a distinctly Korean air. As Helen Lee, daughter of Koreatown’s late founder Hi Duk Lee, says: “It’s the best Koreatown outside of Korea.”

The story of Koreans in America starts in the late 19th century. A slow trickle of exiled social reformers had arrived in San Francisco in the 1880s. According to Los Angeles’s Koreatown, in 1902, philosopher, activist and political dissident Chang Ho Ahn and his wife, Hye Ryeon (Helen), became the first married Korean couple to come to America. In January 1903, the SS Gaelic arrived in Hawaii, bringing around 100 Korean immigrants fleeing famine and political turmoil. After the Japanese formally annexed Korea in 1910, more Koreans, including students, picture brides, and political refugees, immigrated to America, settling in San Francisco, before migrating down to Southern California to work in farming communities such as Riverside and Claremont.
Chang Ho Ahn, now the leader of the Korean independence movement and founder of the Korean National Association, eventually settled with his young family in a large, rambling Victorian house at 106 North Figueroa Avenue on Bunker Hill in Downtown LA. According to Katherine Yungmee Kim, historian and author of Los Angeles’s Koreatown and senior communication editor at the Koreatown Youth and Community Center, a small Korean enclave of around 300 people grew up around the house. 
“The first community was in Bunker Hill,” Kim says. “That’s where the Methodist Mission was, and that’s where Chang Ho Ahn’s family house was. That family house was hugely important. It was sort of a rooming house, a consulate, job training—everything all in one place for the community.”

Curbed

You can read more at the link.

I guess you can add this to the something I did not know about Korea category:

Going to the restroom is a basic need. But for some, it is a daunting task even though they have access to restrooms nearby. At department stores and duty free shops, sales people are banned from using the same restrooms as customers.

They are told to use one of the limited number of “workers-only” restrooms, leading to long lines and added discomfort.

Members of cosmetics companies’ labor unions and the Korean Federation of Service Workers’ Unions (KFSWU) rallied in front of the National Human Rights Commission building in downtown Seoul on April 22 to call for the right to use restrooms that the department stores and duty free shops designated as “customers only.”

The unionists mainly belong to luxury brands such as Shiseido Korea, Bluebell Korea, ELCA Korea and LVMH. 

“The department store prohibited sales workers from using restrooms on every floor of the building, saying those are only for customers,” Kim Yeon-woo, head of the Shiseido Korea union, said during a press conference in front of the commission.

“Many workers have a hard time using the designated staff toilets because they’re not located close enough to the sales counters and there are not enough of them.”

According to the laws on public toilets, there is no mention of “customer-only” restrooms. Washroom facilities at large commercial buildings over 2,000 square meters, such as department stores and duty free shops, are considered to be public toilets, meaning they are available for use by the public as well as store employees, according to Kim.

“However, department stores go as far as to give regular education to the workers not to use customers’ restrooms, because consumers may feel uncomfortable when they encounter sales workers there,” Kim said. “I can’t believe we have to demand such basic rights in the 21st century.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

I would not be surprised if the person receiving the bribe was actually organizing the protests in order to get a bribe to stop them:

Major Korean builder Hyundai Engineering & Construction has admitted bribing an Indonesian politician for a coal-fired power plant construction project in West Java.

Following repeated Korea Times inquiries, a spokesman at Hyundai’s headquarters in Seoul said it gave a large sum of money to Cirebon Regent Sunjaya Purwadisastra through a broker to calm protesting residents in the area over the construction.

“The regent approached us through the broker and offered to resolve the issue,” the official said. “For us, it is critical to finish the construction on time; otherwise, we could face a heavy fine. So we gave him money.” 

According to local media, Sunjaya demanded bribes from Hyundai, which gave him 6.5 billion rupiah ($460,000) out of a requested 9.5 billion rupiah.

“For a project as big as that, I thought that the district chief should have a share (of the pie),” Sunjaya was quoted in Indonesian as saying.

“Rudiyanto’s (a subcontractor) trucks could not enter the area because they were blocked by people who were staging protests. Thanks to our intervention, they were allowed access and he paid us.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.