Category: Korea-General Topics

The horrible wildfires in South Korea continue to burn and have become even more deadly:

This photo shows fires in parts of a village in Uiseong County, some 180 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on March 25, 2025. (Yonhap)

The death toll from a wave of wildfires that tore through southeastern region has risen to 18, with one person missing, forest service officials said Wednesday, as firefighters still battled to contain the rapidly spreading blazes.

The fires that began in Sancheong County in South Gyeongsang Province last Friday have spread to nearby Uiseong, and were advancing to neighboring Andong, Cheongsong, Yeongyang and Yeongdeok, fueled by strong and dry winds.

Of the victims, two were found in Andong, three were in Cheongsong, six were in Yeongyang and seven in Yeongdeok, officials said. The remaining one person was missing in Cheongsong.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It is not often South Korea is hit with deadly wildfires like they are currently experiencing:

At least four people were killed, six people were injured and some 1,500 people were evacuated as wildfires fueled by strong winds have scorched areas of the nation’s southeastern region, disaster authorities said Sunday.

The fire began in Sancheong County, about 250 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Friday and spread to other parts. 

Of the six people who were injured, five were seriously harmed. All victims were found in Sancheong, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

You have to figure her husband was being arrested she would of course been highly upset:

First lady Kim Keon Hee purportedly berated the Presidential Security Service (PSS) for failing to stop investigators from detaining President Yoon Suk Yeol in January, according to sources Wednesday.

Kim’s alleged remark was described in arrest warrants police sought for two senior PSS officials — acting chief Kim Seong-hoon and bodyguard division chief Lee Kwang-woo — on Monday on charges of obstructing investigators’ first attempt to detain Yoon on January 3., according to the police and prosecution sources.

The warrants reportedly described the first lady as berating a PSS officer after investigators succeeded at their second detention attempt Jan. 15, saying, “What’s the point of carrying a gun? You’re supposed to stop something like that.”

She also allegedly expressed her despair by claiming to want to “shoot Chairman Lee Jae-myung and then die myself,” referring to the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

You have to be mentally unwell to kill yourself in this fashion:

This file photo provided by a reader shows police investigating the site where a presumed Yoon supporter set himself on fire in Seoul on March 7, 2025. (Yonhap)

A man in his 70s who was presumed to be a supporter of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol died Wednesday after setting himself on fire earlier this month, according to police. 

The 79-year-old man, whose name was withheld, staged a self-immolation action after scattering printouts illustrating support for Yoon on the rooftop of a building near Seoul City Hall on March 7.

According to police, the man died while being treated at a hospital specializing in burn injuries in Seoul at around 1 p.m. 

It marked the second case of a supporter of Yoon dying from self-immolation.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

As long as this cable car boom is focused on high traffic mountains and not every mountain in South Korea I really don’t have a problem with it. Anyone who has rode the cable car at Seoraksan for example knows they need another cable car up that mountain with its incredibly long lines:

South Korea is experiencing a cable car boom.

Of the 41 cable cars currently operating nationwide, 17 have been built in the past five years, according to the Korea Transportation Safety Authority.

Yeosu, a coastal city in South Jeolla Province, serves as a model demonstrating the benefits of a successful cable car installation.

The city opened the Yeosu Maritime Cable Car in 2014, which was the first marine cable car in South Korea and links the mainland with Dolsando just across the water.

Drawing visitors to the spectacular views of the coastline and surrounding islands from the cable car, the city has attracted more than 13 million visitors annually, which led to a revitalization of the tourism industry, city officials said.

Wonju, Gangwon Province, is also hoping to duplicate Yeosu’s success with its newly launched Sogeumsan Cable Car. This area already has the nation’s longest pedestrian bridge, which stretches 200 meters across a canyon.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link, but of course the environmentalists are upset about the cable cars impacts on wildlife and forests.

Accordingto the article this person was terminated from their position, I would prefer that this person be sitting in a jail cell instead:

 A U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) contractor employee was terminated after attempting to board a flight to South Korea with export-controlled information on nuclear reactor design software, a report showed Monday.

Idaho National Laboratory (INL), one of the DOE’s national laboratories, terminated the person during the reporting period from Oct. 1, 2023 through March 31 last year, the DOE report to Congress said, as questions persist over why South Korea was placed on the DOE’s “Sensitive and Other Designated Countries List (SCL)” in early January.

The information in question is proprietary nuclear reactor design software owned by INL. The DOE’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) conducted a search of the employee’s government email and chat history showing the employee’s knowledge of export control restrictions and communications with a foreign government. 

“This is an ongoing joint investigation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations,” the report said.

Hours earlier, Seoul’s foreign ministry said that South Korea’s placement on the SCL was because of a security issue related to a DOE-affiliated research institution rather than a foreign policy matter.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

If the Korean government changes this regulation will this lead to the Korean leftists to start another mad cow crisis like what happened in 2008?:

The U.S. nationwide cattlemen’s group asked the Trump administration Tuesday to help lift South Korea’s import ban on American beef from cattle aged 30 months or older, noting that similar curbs have been lifted in China, Japan and Taiwan.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) sent its comments to U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer as the USTR has requested those comments to “assist in reviewing and identifying unfair trade practices, and initiating all necessary actions to investigate harm from non-reciprocal arrangements.”

The age restriction on U.S. beef was put in place in 2008 amid fears over mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the violent mad cow riots in 2008 has to rank up there as one of the most ridiculous anti-US protests ever in Korea. The 2000 Yongsan Water Dumping Incident protests are probably the only ones more ridiculous than the mad cow riots.