It looks like the state sponsored textbooks is another casualty of the President Park political scandal:
Protesters against state sponsored textbooks.
The parliament’s education committee on Friday passed a bill to ban state-authored textbooks amid the boycott from conservative parties.
The National Assembly Education, Culture, Sports & Tourism Committee approved the bill that bans the use of textbooks whose copyrights are held by the government. The bill has been handed over to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.
The bill targets the Park Geun-hye government’s plan to provide middle and high school students with state-authored history textbooks, which critics say is intended to imbue students with rightist views of the nation’s modern history. Â [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but the significance of this is that these textbooks are hold overs from the Sunshine Policy years where leftist teachers were able to get pro-North Korean textbooks into the schools.  Today the Sunshine Policy and its leftist supporters have been greatly discredited, but the books still remain in the schools which is what the Park administration however incompetently was trying to address.
Eggs from US chicken farmers have now arrived in South Korea to stop the rise in prices caused by the ongoing bird flu epidemic. Â Fortunately there was no one out protesting about Mad Egg Disease or any other nonsense to stop this US import like we have seen in the past:
Eggs imported from the United States began to hit shelves Saturday, industry sources said, as the government seeks to contain rising egg prices amid the outbreak of bird flu.
About 96 tons of eggs from the U.S. passed the state food regulator’s quarantine review earlier in the day, the sources said, a week after they arrived in South Korea to serve as a cheaper alternative to the expensive eggs from local farms.
Local egg prices jumped in recent weeks as South Korea is struggling to control the spread of bird flu that has led to more than 30 million chickens and ducks being culled since the outbreak in mid-November.
Right after the eggs cleared procedures for safety checks, distributors transported some of them to discount supermarket chains in Seoul and adjacent areas, according to the sources.
They said that distribution of the imported eggs began Saturday, and most consumers will be able to purchase them at supermarket chains starting early next week.
A carton of 30 U.S. eggs was being sold at 8,950 won (US$7.61) at a mart in southwest Seoul, almost 1,000 won less than the cheapest bundle of local eggs being sold, according to an official. Â [Yonhap]
Yonhap has an interesting article published about the different incentives being offered in South Korea for families to have 3 or more children in order to improve the nation’s birthrate:
Kang Mi-ok holds her fourth baby as she talks with her husband at a cafe in Cheongyang, 160 kilometers south of Seoul, on Jan. 7, 2017. (Yonhap)
The government spent more than 101.6 trillion won from 2006 to 2016 to encourage people to have more babies, though it was not enough to boost the low birthrate. The government said it has set aside more than 22.4 trillion won this year to help raise the country’s birthrate.
“It’s fair to say financial incentives are part of South Korea’s efforts to raise the low birthrate,” said Kye Bong-oh, professor of sociology at Kookmin University and a member of the Population Association of Korea.
Still, he said it remains to be seen how effective South Korea’s birth promotion policy will be.
Kang said she feels relieved that her county offers 10 million won in incentives to promote birth.
Kang’s view was echoed by Lee Su-min who is entitled to receive 47 million won from the southeastern county of Changnyeong and the central government over the next five years for her fourth baby.
“Financial incentives are of help to my family, as my husband is the sole breadwinner,” Lee said by phone from Changnyeong.
The southern South Korean island of Wando also offers 5 million won as a lump sum and another 15 million won in installments over three years for those who have a fifth baby. So far, there is only one recipient, but he declined to give an interview, citing privacy. Â [Yonhap]
This bankruptcy of the light rail in Uijongbu is completely unsurprising because of how unnecessary it was. Â It is very easy to get around Uijongbu via the bus system that made the light rail a redundant form of transportation that would never meet the expected daily usage rate that was projected. Â According to the article the U-Line needs 118,000 people a day to ride it to break even and last year they only had 35,000 a day:
A light rail train runs on the Uijeongbu Line, Gyeonggi. The Uijeongbu Light Rail Transit Company filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday. [UIJEONGBU LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT COMPANY]The Uijeongbu Light Rail Transit Company filed bankruptcy to the Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday after just four and a half years, as the light rail failed to draw enough commuters and was insolvent for years.
The board members of the light rail company unanimously agreed on Wednesday to file for bankruptcy after its debt rose beyond 240 billion won ($200 million) at the end of last year.
The light rail trains, smaller in size and shorter than subway trains, run on the Uijeongbu Line, or U Line, in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi. The railway stretches 11.1 kilometers (6.9 miles) from Balgok Station to Tapseok Station. The light rail opened on July 1, 2012, and was expected to draw nearly 80,000 commuters a day in its first year, according to figures obtained by the company from a consulting agency.
Only a daily average of about 10,000 used the light rail on its first year, and by the end of last year, the daily reached some 35,000. To break even, the business needed about 118,000 people daily.
“The company needs to make 45 billion won a year to operate the railway, but it’s scraping in only 15 billion won a year on average,” said an employee of the company.
Five financial institutes, including KB Kookmin Bank, lent some 352 billion won as operating funds to the Uijeongbu Light Rail Transit Company. The group sent an official letter to the company on Jan. 2, requesting that it shut down the business. Â [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but the Uijongbu city government is vowing to keep the light rail running which means the public will be picking up the annual operating losses.
If President Park was pressuring Lee Jae-yong to have Samsung donate millions of dollars to Choi Soon-sil’s organizations in return for political favors this would justify the impeachment:
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong leaves the special counsel team’s office in southern Seoul on Jan. 13, 2017, after being questioned for 22 hours in connection with a corruption scandal. (Yonhap)
Lee Jae-yong, Samsung Group’s de facto leader, has claimed that President Park Geun-hye forced his company to provide billions of won to various organizations linked to her confidante at the center of a corruption scandal, an official said Friday.
Lee, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co., made the claim to a special probe team investigating the widening scandal involving Park and her friend Choi Soon-sil, the official close to the team said. His latest statement does not match what he said at a parliamentary hearing held last month. At the time, Lee said the president only talked about matters related to the conglomerate and its investment plans during a private meeting in 2015. Â [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but Lee’s story differs from what he said last month that he was not pressured to give money to Choi. Â However, according to this KBS report Lee said that he was pressured by Park to give money, but he did not request any political favors in return:
The decision on whether or not to request an arrest warrant for Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong for his links to the Choi Soon-sil scandal may come as early as Saturday.
The independent counsel team’s spokesman Lee Kyu-chul told reporters on Friday that a decision regarding Lee, who faces bribery and perjury charges, will come on Saturday or Sunday.
The team is said to be leaning toward requesting the warrant as it believes Lee was deeply involved in giving Choi and her family hefty sums of money in return for government support for Samsung C&T’s merger with Cheil Industries in 2015.
The team led by Park Young-soo will also take into account conflicting statements he made from his testimony during a hearing last month at the National Assembly.
Lee returned home at around 8 a.m. Friday after undergoing 22 hours of investigation by the independent counsel team.
The Samsung heir is said to have told investigators that though it’s true that Samsung Group extended huge amounts of money to Choi and her family due to pressure from President Park Geun-hye’s, the funds were not given in return for favors.  [KBS World Radio]
I guess we will see how this plays out in the coming days.
I would not be surprised if the extradition procedures against Chung Yoo-ra does drag on considering how little evidence of a crime is at least publicly being offered by Korean prosecutors against her:
The extradition of Chung Yoo-ra, the daughter of Choi Soon-sil, the central figure in a massive scandal which has led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, is expected to take some time.
Chung, 20, was arrested in Denmark’s northern city of Aalborg, Sunday, for staying there illegally. A local Danish court approved a four-week extension of her confinement the following day. Chung appealed, but the higher court denied her appeal.
Chung is reported to have accepted the higher court’s ruling, but is unwilling to return to Korea under any circumstances, according to a Yonhap report, Friday.
Earlier, Chung, who has a 19-month-old son with her, proposed to Korean authorities that she would be willing to go to Korea if she could remain with her son, whether at a welfare center or hospital. The authorities denied her request.
She reportedly changed her stance after seeing with her son at the detention center, Thursday.
Chung is arguing that her son is the main reason for her not to be extradited, as she will be detained when she arrives in Korea and won’t be able to take care of him.
By Jan. 30, Danish authorities will review whether the charges Chung faces justify her extradition to Korea. [Korea Times]
Here is a good read about how the JTBC journalist track down Chung Yoo-ra in Denmark. Â As it turns out it really wasn’t that hard to find her:
This is the inside story of how Chung Yoo-ra was captured in Aalborg, Denmark. An enterprising TV reporter from South Korea drove all night and tracked Chung down in a rented house in northern Denmark. Â Inside, he found Chung, her 19-month old baby, 2 horse caretakers, a nanny, 3 dogs and 9 cats. Â It was quite an entourage. What’s sad about this story is that Chung and her adult enablers became fugitives because this is the only way they knew how to behave. It may seem improbable and ludicrous for a single mom to be on the run with her toddler, adult hangers-on and 12 furry animals. Â However, this is completely rational from the viewpoint of Chung, who never had to face consequences and always got her way while being raised in South Korea. Â [All News Korea]
You can read the rest at the link, but not only did she have a large entourage, but she was hiding out in a large rented estate that she was known to keep horses at. Â You would think with all the money Choi Soon-sil had that she would have hired someone competent to help her daughter hide out.
 A South Korean monk was pronounced dead on Monday, two days after he set himself on fire during a mass rally in central Seoul against the country’s impeached president, hospital officials said.
The monk identified by his surname Seo had been in serious condition since he poured inflammables on his body and burned himself at around 10:30 p.m. on Saturday during the weekly candlelight vigil joined by tens of thousands of people, according to the officials.
He, who sustained serious burns all over his body, was pronounced dead at around 7:40 p.m. Multiple organ dysfunction was cited as the main cause of death.
The police suspect the 64-year-old monk tried to commit suicide since he left what is seen as a suicide note in which he called for President Park Geun-hye to immediately step down. Â [Yonhap]
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Via a reader tip comes news that Korean monk has set himself on fire in protest of the comfort women deal struck back in 2015 between Korea and Japan. Â I would love to know what this guy’s mental state was at the time because I would have to think you would have to be a little but nuts to set yourself on fire:
A South Korean Buddhist monk is in critical condition after setting himself on fire to protest the country’s settlement with Japan on compensation for wartime sex slaves, officials said Sunday.
The 64-year-old monk suffered third-degree burns across his body and serious damage to vital organs. He’s unconscious and unable to breathe on his own, said an official from the Seoul National University Hospital, who didn’t want to be named citing office rules.
The man set himself ablaze late Saturday during a large rally in Seoul calling for the ouster of impeached President Park Geun-hye, police said. In his notebook, the man called Park a “traitor” over her government’s 2015 agreement with Japan that sought to settle a long-standing row over South Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery by Japan’s World War II military, police said. Â [Associated Press]
You can read the rest at the link, but I think Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe makes a fair point that this agreement should be implemented regardless of leadership changes as a matter of “creditability”.
