Category: Korea-General Topics

Considering Korea’s defamation laws I am surprised these women are not getting sued and forced to pay the deadbeat dad:

Kim Jun-hee, 42, divorced her husband 16 years ago due to domestic violence. Her ex-husband paid her his court-ordered child support three times, then asked to see his children. When they met, he demanded that the children take a DNA test, saying that he could not trust whether they were actually his children. Since that meeting, he has not given any money to Kim or their children.

In early June, Kim joined Park Ji-young (alias) as she staged a protest against her ex-husband in front of his residence in central Seoul. Park posted a request to the members of the online community “For Childcare: Child Support Solution Association,” asking for support – five members joined, including Kim. According to Park, her ex-husband has never paid his mandatory child support or met with his children since their divorce 11 years ago.

“I have tried literally everything that I can, but there’s nothing I can do but stand outside his house like this,” said Park. “This whole building is his, but the court can’t force him to pay me because he turned over the legal possession to his parents. So legally, he’s broke, even though he flies off every weekend for golf trips.”

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but a Korean man who built a website to shame deadbeat dads was sued for defamation and forced to pay the deadbeats:

While the managers of the site stay anonymous, Koo Bon-chang, 56, is the public face of Bad Fathers. He helps parents list the names of their uncooperative former spouses and assists with protests. As a result, Koo had been reported by 15 people listed on the website for defamation and was charged with a 5 million won ($4,330) fine in May. The Korea Communications Commission did not shut down the site, however, stating that “its benefit to the public is bigger than the damage inflicted onto each individual.”

You can read more at the link.

Worse than that is SK President @moonriver365 using children to pose with the man who ordered that #JamalKhashoggi be murdered. The @TheBlueHouseENG should be ashame & apologize. @KarenAttiah pic.twitter.com/7O7VxUgKVn

— Greg DeRego (@gregderego) June 26, 2019

I find it interesting that the Moon administration allows journalists that print facts to be arrested and languish in jail, but union allies that break the law they allow to go free:

Kim Myeong-hwan, the leader of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, a militant labor umbrella group, was released on bail Thursday, a week after being arrested on charges of masterminding assaults on police during outdoor rallies.

The Seoul Southern District Court approved Kim’s release on a bail of 100 million won ($86,360) but attached a condition under which he should only stay in his residence.

Kim was also ordered to obtain court approval before moving out of his residence or going on an overseas trip and to comply with a summons from the court.

The same court issued an arrest warrant last Friday for Kim, who was accused of overseeing violent illegal acts during KCTU members’ four protest rallies in front of the National Assembly compound on May 21 last year, as well as March 27 and April 2 and 3 this year.

During the protest rallies, labor activists knocked down parts of the fence surrounding the National Assembly in Seoul’s Yeouido, assaulted police officers, destroyed police equipment and attempted to force their way into the compound illegally to block the passage of labor bills, including those calling for extending statutory flextime from three to six months to minimize side effects of the government’s mandatory 52-hour workweek policy.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link, but the KCTU who is well known for their violence, pro-Kim regime stance, and anti-Americanism vowed to launch massive protests against the Moon administration if Kim was not released. Sure enough Kim is released while journalists languish in jail.

You would think with such a discrepancy the international media would be all over this, but very few are reporting on this.

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon hired these light blue-vested thugs tossing people to the ground. Dozens were injured. https://t.co/VUxfUGLgHv

— Tara O (@DrTaraO) June 26, 2019

You can read more at my prior posting about this violence in Seoul.

The Saudi Crown Prince received a very warm welcome in South Korea despite the controversy around his alleged ordering of the killing of a journalist:

President Moon Jae-in held a summit Wednesday with Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia and de facto ruler of the oil-rich kingdom, and agreed to diversify and expand bilateral cooperation. 

The governments and companies from the two countries signed economic agreements worth over $8 billion.

The summit took place at the Blue House in the afternoon as a part of the crown prince’s two-day trip to Korea. During the summit, the two leaders discussed moving beyond traditional cooperation in energy and infrastructure industries, according to a joint press release. 

Moon expressed support for Saudi’s Vision 2030, an economic and social reform initiative pushed by the crown prince. The two leaders agreed to strengthen a bilateral strategic partnership to promote the program, according to the statement. 

Saudi Vision 2030, announced in April 2016 by the crown prince, is supposed to reduce the country’s dependence on oil while diversifying its economy. Korea is one of Saudi Arabia’s eight strategic partners in the project, along with the United States, Japan and China. 

Saudi Arabia is Korea’s largest supplier of crude oil. It is also Korea’s most important economic partner in the Middle East. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Effective today, the legal blood alcohol content limit in South Korea is .03 percent. The new law states drunk drivers can be imprisoned for 2-5 years and fined 10 million won ($8,950) to 20 million won if caught more than twice.

— U.S. Forces Korea (@USForcesKorea) June 24, 2019

Here is another crazy guy that slammed his car into the gate of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul:

 A South Korean man was arrested Tuesday for crashing his sedan into the front gate of the U.S. Embassy in central Seoul, police said. No one was hurt in the incident.

Officials at the Jongno Police Station said the 40-year-old man, identified only by his surname, Park, suddenly turned his car toward the embassy gate and rammed into it. Some 20 cans of butane gas were found in the car.

Investigators are trying to find out about his motive for the crash. They plan to seek a warrant on Wednesday to formally detain him.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but last year another crazy guy slammed his car into the U.S. Embassy gate as well. At least we know it is a well constructed gate.

I am not a fan of occupying Gwanghamun Square with tents, but would the government remove tents of their political allies if they set them up in Gwanghamun Square?:

The Seoul Metropolitan Government removed tents, Tuesday, which had been put up illegally by a far-right minor opposition party in Gwanghwamun Square protesting the imprisonment of former President Park Geun-hye.

However, the Our Republican Party, put up new tent on the same spot just five hours later, indicating a possible clash between it and the city government in the near future.

According to the city government, 500 municipal officials and 400 hired workers raided the spot at 5:20 a.m. to remove two tents and a canopy installed by the party.

The party, which changed its name the previous day from the Korean Patriots Party, set up the tents May 10 for sit-in protests calling for an investigation into the deaths of five pro-Park supporters who died during a 2017 rally against the impeachment of the former president. Seoul City has been sending letters of notification to the party to remove the tents set up without its permission. 

The officials and workers clashed with 400 party members and supporters, who tried to protect the tents after a city official read out a notice on the execution of an administrative order.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

The Moon administration must be really upset about the criticism they are facing from the KCTU, a major leftwing ally to arrest their leader like this:

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) has pledged an all-out struggle against the government, following the arrest of its Chairman Kim Myeong-hwan, last Friday.

The arrest and the militant umbrella union’s response signal yet another low point in the already strained ties between labor and the Moon Jae-in administration. The latter had hoped for talks with the labor sector to settle various labor issues such as the ratification of key conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and a decision on next year’s minimum wage. 

Kim, former leader of the Korean Railway Workers’ Union, was charged with overseeing “illegal” KCTU protests in front of the National Assembly in Seoul in May last year and earlier this year. During the rallies, labor activists clashed with police officers, tearing down fences and plastic shields to get inside the assembly compound to stop anti-labor bills. 

Three others in the hardline union were arrested on similar charges recently. The clampdown and arrests of union leaders are hardly novel but they reveal how quickly ties can unravel between the labor sector and President Moon, who promised liberal and worker-friendly reforms when he came to power in May 2017.

The KCTU immediately lashed out at the arrest, saying Kim could not be held responsible for incidents of violence between protesters and police.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but the KCTU is upset that President Moon has not kept his promise to further increase the minimum wage. The steep increases in the minimum wage have already increased unemployment which the KCTU apparently is not concerned about.

Has anyone tried this yet?:

Young Koreans are going crazy for KFC’s new fried chicken skins as the so-called bizarre food trend sweeps the country.

At 9: 40 a.m. on Wednesday, the KFC in Gangnam Station, southern Seoul, was full of people waiting to get their hands on the snack. When the store started serving food 20 minutes later, people rushed to line up at the self-service kiosk stands. 

They were rushing to get their hands on the limited-edition fried chicken skin, which are sold for 2,800 won ($2.40) for 12 pieces. 

The salty and greasy fried skins were first offered at KFC restaurants in Indonesia. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.