Category: Korea-General Topics

I don’t think these protesters are going to find too many objections from men in regards to their demands towards Facebook:

A group of female protesters went topless in a rally against Facebook, Saturday, protesting its “discrimination,” based on a policy that bans posts showing women’s breasts but allows men’s naked torsos. Ten women wearing masks and sunglasses carried signs that read, “Why do you delete posts in which I willingly showed my breasts?” and “Set me free from what is virtually a modern corset,” near company headquarters in Gangnam, Seoul.

Soon after photographers and police arrived, the protesters lined up and took off their T-shirts to show a Korean character drawn on their chests to deliver the message “My body is not pornographic material.”

Police forcibly covered the women with blankets despite fierce protests, with some women shouting, “Why are police officers covering us? Why do they keep suppressing us?”

The highly “liberal” move came about a week after Facebook unilaterally deleted an account that posted a message with a photo of a topless woman, slapping the account holder with a one-month suspension. Facebook said the post violated company policy on uploading photos containing naked body parts and sexual acts. “Facebook is used by all age groups, which is why we need to create an environment where a majority of people feel safe,” the company was quoted as saying. “We understand the women’s group and where they are coming from. We must delete the topless photos for now.”  [Korea Times]

You can read and see more pictures at the link, but this is actually not the first time there has been a topless protest in Seoul.

"Democracy dies in darkness"https://t.co/9qHjbtRTag
This time, it's Im Jong-seok, President Moon's Chief of Staff with the well-documented history of pro-North Korean activism, suing a conservative journalist & commentator for calling him "jusapa," a North Korean sympathizer.

— Joshua Stanton (@freekorea_us) May 31, 2018

After losing two major employers the city of Gunsan is facing a population flight as workers look for jobs elsewhere in the country:

The closure of GM Korea’s plant in Gunsan on Thursday is emptying the southwestern industrial town of its population in a process familiar from GM headquarters’ home of Detroit.

The Gunsan plant employed around 2,000 workers, but only 15 to 20 remain to look after the sprawling 1.2 million sq.m complex.

Song Yong-sun (55) came to work on Wednesday. “I’ve worked here for the last 23 years since the plant was built back in 1995,” he said. “I thought I’d retire at this factory, but now I’m at a loss.”

It is not the only closure turning the city in North Jeolla Province into a ghost town. Last July, a Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard shut its doors after failing to win new orders.  [Chosun Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but could you imagine what would happen to Gunsan if the US airbase outside the city ever closed as well?

Another example of how the defamation laws in South Korea are used to silence political opposition:

A conservative commentator has been arrested on libel charges regarding his claim that media reports that led to the ouster of former President Park Geun-hye were manipulated.

The Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant for Byun Hee-jae, citing a risk of the suspect destroying evidence.

Byun is accused of spreading false information through his book “The Curse of Sohn Suk-hee” and his online articles, arguing that local cable channel JTBC manipulated the content of a tablet PC and made it look like it was used by Choi Soon-sil, a long-time confidante of the former president.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office filed for the warrant last Friday, accusing Byun of slandering JTBC, its president Sohn Suk-hee and its reporters without reasonable grounds.

The tablet PC was used as critical evidence proving that Choi had interfered in state affairs, leading to Park’s impeachment last year.  [KBS World News]

For those that don’t remember the tablet was mysteriously found in an office once rented by Park Geun-hye’s friend Choi Soon-shil who was at the center of the scandal.  The finding of the tablet PC was the key news that created the momentum to impeach former President Park Geun-hye.

JTBC only admitted where it found the tablet after changing its story multiple times about the origin of the tablet.  If it was in fact found in the old office I always found it interesting how it was conveniently left with such sensitive information on it and no password protection.  Additionally the Korean courts did not consider the tablet as evidence during the trial against President Park because it was tampered with.

Just another example of something I can point to the next time someone tries to tell me that South Korea is a conservative Confucian country:

South Korea held its first ever drag parade this weekend, a small but significant step for rights activists in a country that remains deeply conservative when it comes to gender and sexuality.

Dozens of drag queens and kings marched through Itaewon on Saturday, a suburb of Seoul best known for its nightlife and a nascent but vibrant gay scene.

Carrying rainbow flags, they cheered and strutted their best outfits, receiving shouts of support and the odd baffled look from those they passed.

While homosexuality is not illegal in South Korea, same-sex marriage is not recognised and people cannot legally change their birth gender.

The country is home to a large evangelical Christian community and LGBT people feel pervasive pressure to stay closeted.

“When it comes to South Korea, human rights guarantees for sexual minorities are insufficient,” Yang Heezy, a drag queen and the organiser of Seoul Drag Parade, said.

“Today’s drag parade and more queer culture festivals should take place to bring attention to sexual minorities and help those who are not from those minorities learn more,” he added, sporting a flame red wig and floral dress.  [South China Morning Post]

You can read more at the link.

Largest ever women's rally protests spy-cam pornography https://t.co/mDFuVnyj2I

— KingSejong (@KingSejong) May 20, 2018

Does this issue in South Korea sound familiar to Americans?:

Doctors staged a massive rally in Seoul on Sunday in protest against what they call the government’s “unilateral” medical care policy.

Around 7,000 members from the Korean Medical Association gathered in central Seoul to voice their anger at so-called Moon Jae-in Care, which the government says is focused on providing comprehensive medical services to the general public at reasonable prices.

The participants shouted out slogans such as “Let’s banish Moon Jae-in Care” and “The government has come up with a delusional policy.”

Many in the medical profession have been opposed to the plan costing 30.6 trillion won ($27.9 billion) that will be implemented in stages up to 2022. The government is aiming to greatly expand National Health Insurance coverage for most medical treatment, which includes various medical procedures and tests.

“We have set up a committee with the government to discuss the issue but we will immediately halt all talks and put up a strong fight, as discussions are void of truth with the government taking steps to unilaterally push forward the plan,” said Choi Dae-jib, the president of the association.

Doctors have consistently complained that policymakers are railroading the plan without proper consultation with those in the medical field and without regard for how the program will be funded in the long term.  [Yonhap]

I do find it interesting that the Moon administration is willing to send police to chase down these human rights activists, but they won’t send police to keep the road to the THAAD site in Seongju open:

A local civic group led by a North Korean defector attempted to send leaflets criticizing the Kim Jong-un regime across the border last weekend but was blocked by police, after both Koreas agreed at their latest summit not to disseminate propaganda material into each other’s country.

But Park Sang-hak, leader of Fighters for Free North Korea, claimed he already flew 150,000 leaflets into the North last Thursday from an undisclosed venue in Gimpo, Gyeonggi, accusing Pyongyang’s recent olive branch to Seoul of being a “disguised peace offensive.”

Park’s attempt to send more leaflets on Saturday noon from Paju, Gyeonggi, just south of the inter-Korean border, fell on the last day of the so-called North Korea Freedom Week, the last week of every April during which nongovernmental organizations promoting human rights in North Korea shed light on the regime’s atrocities.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

For those that don’t know Mr. Park Sang-hak the leader of Fighters for a Free North Korea, he is the person that the South Korean leftists have sent thugs to assault and the Kim regime has sent assassins to kill.  Despite all of this Mr. Park continues to fearlessly launch balloons into North Korea.   I think it is only a matter of time before the leftist thugs are sent after Park again.

For Suzanne Scholte pictured above I don’t know what visa she is on, but the Moon administration could try and silence her by claiming she is violating her visa by conducting political activity.  It is pretty clear that for the next few years operations for these North Korean human rights organizations is going to be very difficult.

Not only has Heather Cho been vilified, sent to jail, and lost her job because of the “nut rage” incident now she is getting divorced and may lose custody of her kids:

Cho Hyun-ah, former executive of Korean Air, who made global headlines with the infamous nut rage scandal, faces a divorce lawsuit from her husband of eight years.

According to legal sources on Monday, Cho’s husband filed a divorce suit to Seoul Family Court on April 2, and requested custody of their children.

Cho hasn’t yet appointed an attorney and the trial date hasn’t been set, Yonhap reported.

Cho and her husband, the head of a famous cosmetic surgery practice in Gangnam, married in 2010 and had twins.  [UPI]

You can read more at the link.

Here are how police in Daegu are hoping to help prevent crime by foreign workers in Daegu:

Daegu Seobu Police have been cooperating with foreigners to jointly patrol areas where crimes by foreigners often occur.

On Wednesday, 16 members of Seo-gu Bisan 7-dong voluntary crime prevention group joined police patrols.

The area around Bukbu Bus Terminal where many foreigners hang out was their target area.

The crew included seven foreigners ― one Sri Lankan, one Chinese, three Pakistanis and two Bangladeshis.

“Bisan 7-dong around Bukbu Bus Terminal is one of the areas with a high density of foreigners. Crimes involving foreigners take place frequently,” inspector Kim Dong-sik said.   [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.