Category: Korea-General Topics

Keep this study in mind the next time you see the anti-US groups out protesting; they don’t speak for the silent majority of South Koreans:

Today, a global median of 49% hold a favorable view of the U.S. This is a considerable drop from the median of 64% recorded across the same countries in the final years of the Obama administration.

In just four of 10 EU countries surveyed is the public positively inclined toward the U.S. The most widespread support is found in Poland (73%), Hungary (63%) and Italy (61%). In spite of the “special relationship” between America and the United Kingdom, only 50% of the British see the U.S. favorably. The most negative views of the U.S. are in Germany (62% unfavorable), Spain (60%) and the Netherlands (59%). And in the past year the share of the Spanish public that expresses a very unfavorable opinion has roughly tripled from 7% to 23%.

Only about four-in-ten Canadians (43%) and Russians (41%) express a favorable view of America.

There is strong support for the U.S. in Vietnam (84%), the Philippines (78%) and South Korea (75%). A majority of Japanese (57%) agree. But Australians are evenly split (48% favorable, 48% unfavorable). And roughly half of Indians (49%) have a positive view, although 42% express no opinion.  [Pew Research Center via Reddit]

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see if the anti-US leftists try to bring back the US beef issue as a way to further drive a wedge between the US and the ROK:

The government said Thursday it has strengthened inspections on U.S. beef imports following the detection of mad cow disease in the United States.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs held a quarantine committee meeting to share information on the outbreak of mad cow disease in the U.S. and gather expert opinion. The ministry has boosted quarantine measures, increasing the ratio of the U.S. beef going through inspections to 30 percent from the current 3 percent.

The step follows the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announcing that an 11-year-old cow in Alabama was found to have an “atypical” variety of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease.

The USDA said that it is not the classic variety that is linked to Creutzfeldt Jakob disease in people. Cattle are known to be infected with “typical” BSE through feed contaminated with infectious prion agents, such as meat-and-bone meal containing protein derived from rendered infected cattle.

Atypical BSE, meanwhile, generally occurs in older cattle, usually over eight years old, and is known to arise rarely and spontaneously in all cattle populations.

The USDA emphasized that atypical BSE cases do not impact official BSE risk status recognition.

“Therefore, this finding of an atypical case will not change the negligible risk status of the United States, and should not lead to any trade issues,” it noted, making clear that it has no plan to stop beef exports.  [Korea Times]

Should not lead to any trade issues?  Tell that to an anti-American leftist:

Lawyers for a Democratic Society, an NGO, claimed that the government should stop U.S. beef imports “to protect the people’s health.” Korea can suspend imports under U.S. beef “import requirements” which the two countries agreed upon if it is necessary for public health and safety.

Lawyers for a Democratic Society are known in Korean as Minbyun. Minbyun has worked with other anti-US groups to go after USFK as well as try to get defectors returned to North Korea.

It is going to be interesting to see how useful these robots will be for travelers in such a busy airport:

I guess in Brazil they haven’t gotten the memo that you are not supposed to make slit eye jokes about Asians:

Fans of a rookie K-pop band have criticized a Brazilian TV show host for disrespecting them on his program by making a “joke” derogatory to Asians.

Raul Gil, host of musical and variety TV show “Turma Do Vovo Raul” broadcast on SBT, angered fans after four-member band KARD were guests on the show on July 15.

The joke was sparked after Gil asked the DSP Media band that debuted this month if there was a romantic relationship among the band of two men and two women. They all said no, which drew shouts from the excited audience.

The host then jokingly asked the crowd whether they would marry the Koreans, adding, “Your eyes will become smaller if you date these Koreans,” making slit eyes with his both hands.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

Here is an image that has supposedly gone viral on the Internet from the Korea Queer Culture Festival:

An ironic image ended up embodying this year’s Korea Queer Culture Festival (KQCF). Standing in front of a line of Christian protesters bearing a banner reading “Homosexuality is sin! Return to Jesus!” is a bearded white male in robes, clearly dressed as “Jesus,” holding a rainbow-colored sign reading “I’m cool with it.” The image went viral, making the front page of Reddit Tuesday morning.

“It’s been a wild ride these last few days. I thoroughly enjoy reading the comments everywhere though,” said Robert Evans, 27, the American seen in the picture.

He recalls the picture was taken right before the pride parade departed Seoul Square. The festivalgoers were corralled by riot police, protecting them from Christian protesters. The protesters were gathered in front of the Hwangudan gate right next to the gate leading to the street where the parade would start.

“There were thousands and thousands of people just outside the frame of this photo but I guess nobody wanted to get too close to the protesters,” Evans said. “I took the opportunity to fill that space and present my message. I was aware of the banner behind me but I did not craft my sign with the specific intent of standing in front of that banner.”  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

More on baby drop boxes in ROK. https://t.co/tl8akuvL16

— Jodi (@jodi_katherine) July 20, 2017

Korean man mistreated for ‘foreigner-like’ looks https://t.co/epwsdXY4rK

— KingSejong (@KingSejong) July 19, 2017

For those interested, the Boryeong Mud Festival is coming up:

An annual international mud festival will open in the South Korean city of Boryeong later this week under the slogan of “Let’s Go to Boryeong and Play with Mud!,” an official on the event’s organizing committee said Wednesday.

“The 2017 Boryeong Mud Festival will open for a 10-day run at Daecheon Beach in the namesake city, 190km south of Seoul, on Friday,” the official said.

Launched in 1998, the festival has developed into a top international summer event with its mud flats attracting many tourists from around the world. Rich in minerals, the mud is used in manufacturing cosmetics.

This year, the unique festival will present a total of 57 programs, ranging from bathing in a massive mud tub to mud massages, a mud photo contest, a marathon on the mud flats, a mud sliding competition, street parades and K-pop concerts, the official said.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

I guess we will see if the Moon administration will eventually change this Park Geun-hye era policy, but for now North Korea apologist Christine Ahn can no longer enter South Korea:

An American who organized a controversial march of 30 female peace activists spanning the two Koreas in 2015 has been denied entry to South Korea.

Christine Ahn, a South Korean-born American citizen, learned about being “persona non grata” after Asiana Airlines stopped her from boarding a flight at San Francisco Airport on Thursday, according to the New York Times (NYT).

She reportedly planned to transit through South Korea’s Incheon International Airport on her way to China. After being told she was not allowed to, she bought a new ticket to fly directly to Shanghai, it reported.

A justice ministry official was quoted as saying in the report that Ahn had been denied entry because there were sufficient grounds to fear she might “hurt the national interest and public safety.”  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

As far as I know the US embassy in Seoul wasn’t conscripting people to take unpaid internship positions.  If these students wanted to get paid they should have applied for another job:

A student in her 20s, who requested to be identified by the alias Kim Hye-jin, recalled the distress she felt as an intern for the U.S. Embassy in Seoul in 2015, during which she received neither a salary nor even a stipend for transportation and lunch.

“I had to take an additional part-time job after finishing work at the embassy at 5:30 p.m. I barely had any time for myself,” Kim told The Korea Times.

“Since I was working for its public affairs department, I was always required to take part in the department’s events in the evening. Whenever I returned home late at night, I felt so depressed for losing personal time in addition to not receiving money.”

Sometimes, Kim even spent her own money for transportation during business trips and for lunch with organization partners and she had to wait two to three months to be reimbursed.

As an intern, Kim assumed a variety of roles, from translator and photographer to event organizer. Sometimes, she also answered the phones and does basic office tasks. “I applied for the post, aware that it was unpaid. However, it made me think the system was unjust, since my job was more vital than I initially thought,” she said.

Another worker, who also requested to be identified as Han Cheol-soo, worked for the U.S. Embassy last year and underwent similar hardships. “Since my parents couldn’t afford to give me a stipend, I couldn’t help but quit the internship earlier than I had hoped,” he said. “I think such an unpaid internship policy is a stumbling block for students from poor families to get equal opportunity.”  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.