Category: Korea-General Topics

I just can’t believe they actually had to do research to figure this out.  Maybe I should start my own “ROK Drop Institute of Common Sense” and get in on some these research dollars?:

A state-run research agency says the more affluent and intimate married couples are, the more likely it is for them to have a second child.

The Korea Institute of Child Care and Education under the Prime Minister’s Office released the conclusion in a report after analyzing the 2012 Panel Study on Korean Children conducted on around 400 couples with a single child.

According to the analysis, the higher the income of the couple, the more likely they planned to have a second baby.

Other factors raising the likelihood of having a second child were a high level of marital satisfaction on the part of the wife and a good relationship between the spouses. [KBS Global]

You can read more at the link.

According to the below article an increasing amount of young Koreans are trying to leave the country.  It was interesting to learn that many of these young Koreans were very concerned about how European countries namely Germany accepting Syrian refugees would impact their own immigration plans.  My advice to anyone thinking of leaving Korea is to understand that the grass is not always greener on the other side:

There are young people all over the country who have already made their “South Korean escape,” at least in spirit, though they may not be ready to leave just yet. There are quite a few groups of people raising funds to immigrate or learning how immigration works. On a website called Hell Korea (hellkorea.com), various individuals have posted tips about getting out of the country on the site’s “Escape Korea” message board. Some typical posts are “The Pros of American Citizenship” and “How to Immigrate to Canada as a Skilled Worker.” One netizen who succeeded at immigrating to Canada as a skilled worker shared [his] experience. “I was working at a web agency, which is regarded as the absolute worst place to be in the IT industry. You wouldn’t believe the exhaustion I was dealing with because of my long working hours. I decided to get a work visa as a welder in Canada, because of the educational and medical benefits there, and I spent about six years being trained and gaining experience,” [he] wrote.  [Hankyoreh]

You can read the rest at the link.

Horse-meat lovers nationwide will soon be able to enjoy Jeju 'malgogi'#Jeju #Horse #Meat https://t.co/0DU631A098

— The Jeju Weekly (@JejuWeekly) December 30, 2015

Something to think about the next time you decide to buy seafood:

Radioactive material was discovered at detectable levels in domestic and Russian seafood products, a recent study confirms.The news comes amid growing concerns about radiation contamination in seafood products entering the country since the 2011 disaster at Japan’s Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. In response, environmental groups are calling for more intensive inspections of seafood for radioactivity.The findings were announced on Dec. 23 after a study by three groups: the Institute for Environment & Community Development Studies (IECDS), the Korea Radiation Watch Center, and the Gwangju chapter of the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement.

Analysis of 150 samples of mackerel, pollock, cod, kelp, and sea mustard taken from discount stores and markets in Seoul, Busan, and Gwangju between March and November showed the presence of radioactive cesium-137 in eight of them, or 5.3%.Cesium-137 is considered one of the chief examples of a radioactive isotope detected in the process of artificial nuclear fission, with an acceptable standard of 100 becquerels per kilogram.The isotope was found in samples of pollock and cod from Russia and domestic mackerel and kelp at levels of 0.37 to 1.09 becquerels per kilogram.The highest rate of detection was for Russian cod at 13%, followed by Russian pollock at 11.5%, Korean kelp at 7.7%, and Korean mackerel at 3.3%.  [Hankyoreh]

You can read the rest at the link.

This just goes to show there are many more refugees out there that are not from Syria that need help:

When Kh Too landed on domestic soil Wednesday at Incheon International Airport, one of his first messages to local media was as modest as wishing to “be ordinary.”

For a man who fled Myanmar in 1993 and had spent the past two decades living in a refugee camp, it was perhaps the best he could possibly hope for.

The 43-year-old arrived in Korea in the morning with his wife, five children and a niece as part of the first group of refugees to be resettled here through an initiative led by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

“I feel alive. I deeply thank Korea for inviting us, and for embracing us,” said Kh Too, who only goes by one name, as he took his first step as an F-2 visa holder.

For the next six to 12 months, he and his family will be under care of the Korea Immigration Service and receive job training and Korean-language courses.

Korea on Wednesday became the 29th country in the world and second in Asia after Japan to accept refugees through the Refugee Act, which stipulates that the government accept refugees recommended through the program led by the UNHCR.

The Justice Ministry said in April that it would accommodate 30 refugees annually in the next three years as part of a pilot program.   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read the rest at the link.

More Koreans Spend Christmas Alone – https://t.co/hB6hCkklKm

— Korea Noodles (@Korea_Noodles) December 24, 2015

Here is another example of South Korea’s laws that can be used to restrict free speech:

Lee Ha gets two year suspended sentence over poster that satirized former President Chun Doo-hwan

The Supreme Court said on Dec. 11 that it was upholding a court ruling issuing a suspended 100,000-won (US$85) fine to an artist accused of violating the Minor Offenses Act by putting up wall posters satirizing former President Chun Doo-hwan.

The sentence suspension system allows those accused of minor infractions to avoid punishment if two years pass without a sentence.Political pop artist Lee Ha (real name Lee Byeong-ha), 47, was indicted for putting up 55 of the posters in the area around Chun’s residence in the Yeonhui neighborhood of Seoul early on the morning of May 17, 2012, the eve of the anniversary of the 1980 Gwangju Democratization Movement. The images showed Chun dressed in prison clothes and handcuffs and carrying a check for 290,000 won (US$250), which was all the money he said he had at time, despite his corruption while president from 1980-88.  [Hankyoreh]

You can read the rest at the link.

Haenyeo School: "The unexpected moments came to be the course's very essence."#Jeju #Divin…https://t.co/0cLYjTeQzq pic.twitter.com/jDKhPkwGaJ

— The Jeju Weekly (@JejuWeekly) December 10, 2015

It appears the generational divide in South Korea is getting worse as young people are now describing themselves as the “give up” generation.  Imagine if Koreans after the Japanese colonization and the Korean War decided to “give up” where would Korea be today?  Instead they worked extremely hard and built the country we see today that the younger generation is complaining about:

The younger generation have had to give up so many things that they are now calling themselves the “n-Po” generation. University student Chan-mok Lim, 25, said, “Myself and a lot of my friends are working part-time jobs to pay for tuition. If when we graduate there wouldn’t be a problem finding a job, we could smile through the difficulties we have now. But the reality is that when we graduate, finding a job will be a real problem. Even for those friends who have found a job, they worry about getting married. The ones who got married, they worry about how to buy a home. We are calling ourselves the ‘n-Po‘ generation because we are giving up all the things that are of value in life.”

The barriers young people are facing are reflected in their self-depreciating language. Internet communities made up of young people are creating new slang at a fast pace. Words alluding to current slang such as “dirt spoon” in comparison to “golden spoon” (someone who was born in a wealthy household). “Dirt spoon” refers to young people who grew up in a poor home, and have little financial support.  [Korea Observer]

I think this line from the article sums up quite well what is happening:

Kim Su-han, professor of Sociology at Korea University, “Looking at the situation here the ‘whining strategy’ becomes rampant. Young people who cannot enjoy any benefits in life are feeling angry or disenfranchised and have taken to mockery and self-depreciation. The older generation is recognized for their hard work, but the younger generation is more known for inheritance than hard work when it comes to achieving success. This way of thinking reflects the difficulties young people face today.”

You can read the rest at the link.

if you can believe it only 38% of the population in Hawaii is Asian with the numbers of Koreans making up that portion of the population dropping.  I bet the high cost of living in Hawaii is causing more Koreans to seek the American dream on the mainland instead:

Although the overall Korean population in the United States rose by 11.3 percent from 2009 to 2014, it fell slightly in Hawaii, according to American Community Survey data taken from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The state’s Korean population numbered 22,125 as of last year, down 337 from 2013. Koreans make up 1.6 percent of Hawaii’s 1.42 million population.

Koreans are centered in Oahu, numbering 19,973 there. Big Island (1,049), Maui (651), Kauai (429) and Lanai (15) follow, according to data.

Asians make up 38 percent of the state’s population.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.