Category: Korea-General Topics

This number has got to be deflated because it seems pretty low to me:

Six out of every 10 women in their 20s living in Seoul drink alcohol and 10 percent of them are heavy drinkers, according to a recent survey.

The survey, conducted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and released Tuesday, showed 64.8 percent of women said they drank alcohol more than once a month in the past year, up from 57.7 percent in 2008.

Among them, 9.7 percent said they drank more than five glasses of soju, which contains between 17 and 20 percent alcohol, more than twice a week.

Drinking is not just a habit for young women, however. A total of 45.1 percent of all female respondents said they drink, up from 40.8 percent in 2008; the drinking rate for men in the city increased by 1.8 percentage points during the same period.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

This group does make a good point in regards to heterosexual relationships allowed to have kissing in the Korean dramas, but this drama is being investigated for allowing homosexual kissing:

Rainbow Action against Sexual Minority Discrimination, a group that works to raise awareness about sexual minorities and their rights, held a press conference Tuesday to request the KCSC end discussions for disciplinary measures against JTBC drama “Seonam Girls High School Investigators.”

The drama, which tells the story of five students who, as members of a private investigator club, go up against private education, abortion, bullying and suicide, aired kiss scenes between two schoolgirls on Feb. 25 and March 4.

When a complaint was filed with the KCSC, the communications regulator convened a meeting March 18 to deliberate the matter. The drama is rated for viewing by those 15 and older.

“‘Seonam Girls’ is a rare drama that accurately depicts the lives of sexual minorities in a society that pretends people with such preferences don’t exist,” members of Rainbow Action said. “Deliberators at a meeting on Feb. 25 said the drama may encourage homosexuality and went as far as to make inappropriate comments, claiming they believe sexual minorities suffer from a mental disability.”

It continued, “The people who need to be deliberated are the deliberators. Other dramas that have dealt with teens and their sexual relationships were aired with no problems, so to discipline Seonam Girls is discrimination against sexual minorities.”  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

New film Diving Bell which explores the sinking of the Sewol ferry boat is set to premier.

Along with the recent purchase of 40 F-35’s from Lockheed the Koreans are also partnering with them to develop their own domestic fighter:

South Korea on Monday selected Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and partner Lockheed Martin for a multi-billion-dollar contract to develop 120 “indigenous” fighter jets to replace Seoul’s ageing fleet.

The bid from KAI and the US aerospace giant, which is subject to a screening process before being officially approved, was always seen as the favourite for the 8.6 trillion won ($7.8 billion) deal over a rival bid by civilian carrier Korean Air (KAL) teamed with Airbus.

The Defence Ministry also approved a separate $1.28 billion deal to buy Patriot PAC-3 missiles and upgrade its air defence system aimed at intercepting North Korean ballistic missiles.

The KF-X fighter project is designed to develop and produce 120 fighter jets of a new, indigenous type to replace South Korea’s ageing fleet of F-4s and F-5s.  [AFP]

You can read more at the link.

S. Korea successfully deploys new science satellite http://t.co/bLPyH6JzeG #KARI #KOMSAT pic.twitter.com/lLfaLsUzNL

— The Korea Times (@koreatimes) March 26, 2015

Swedish royalty is is town giving Welfare advice to President Park:

The heir to the Swedish throne kicked off her official visit to Korea with a meeting with President Park Geun-hye Tuesday, with a focus on sharing knowledge about her country’s welfare policies.

The heir apparent discussed the low birth rate and aging Korean society with the President.

“Sweden set a good example in policies in childcare and balancing between work and family,” Park said.

President Park also paid tribute to Sweden’s participation in the 1950-1953 Korean War.

“The Korean public remembers Sweden played an important role as an ally when security in Korea was at risk,” she said, citing Sweden having been a member of Neutral Nations Supervisory Nations for the past 60 years after the Korean War.  [Korea Times]

You can read the rest at the link, but I wonder if the Princess mentioned anything in regards to it being impossible to have a Welfare state and lax immigration policies which is currently straining Sweden’s social harmony.

Here is another preventable deadly safety related accident in South Korea:

Five people, including three children, died and two others were injured in a tent fire at a camping site in Incheon, a port city west of Seoul, early Sunday, police and fire officials said.

The fire broke out around 1:20 a.m. inside a 16 square-meter tent set up at a camping ground close to a beach on Ganghwa Island of Incheon, according to the officials. Those killed included a 37-year-old father, identified only by his last name Lee, and two of his sons, aged 11 and six, they said. Lee’s middle school friend, surnamed Cheon, and his seven-year-old son were also killed inside the same tent.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

I’m not sure what this teacher’s group is complaining about?  Do they want bribery and corruption in the teaching profession?:

The country’s largest right-leaning education organization on Thursday denounced an order issued this week by the Seoul education authority that strictly prohibits teachers from accepting bribes from parents, otherwise known here as chonji.

On Sunday, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education issued a press release announcing that bribery would not be tolerated in any form and that any person who reported a teacher accepting gifts or cash would be given a reward ten times the amount of the kickback, up to 100 billion won ($89.4 million).

The Korea Federation of Teachers’ Associations (KFTA) subsequently requested that Seoul Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon apologize for publicly regarding all educators as “potential perpetrators,” arguing that teachers already attempt to foster a morally sound atmosphere.

“Given that teachers are required to have a relatively higher level of morality, we’ve been making efforts to create a more transparent culture by establishing an ethics charter in 2005,” KFTA Chairman Ahn Yang-ok said at a rally Thursday morning in front of the capital city’s education office. “The overall majority of teachers are not accepting chonji at all.”

“But the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education has issued provocative press releases saying they would discipline even those who accept 10,000 won and have disgraced all teachers,” he continued. “Cho must apologize and come up with countermeasures.”

The Seoul’s education office explained that when it announced the new regulation, it merely intended to reassure parents so that they wouldn’t agonize over bringing in a gift for their child’s teachers.

The new regulation also demands that schools not disclose the home addresses of its teachers and send text messages to parents explaining that bribery will not be allowed. Educators are only allowed to accept gifts that do not exceed 30,000 won and only at public events like Teachers’ Day or graduation ceremonies.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

This looks like a good idea since the kindergartens are focusing on teaching mixed race children the Korean language and culture:

The Ministry of Education said Tuesday that it will run 30 kindergartens nationwide specifically for children from multiracial families.

The ministry will select six kindergartens each from Gyeonggi, South Chungcheong, South Jeolla, South Gyeongsang Provinces and Seoul – which will receive 7 million won ($6,200) this year for making programs dedicated to multiracial children.

The selected kindergartens won’t be required to teach multiracial children only, but they have to develop and run additional programs that can help them develop their Korean language skills and social identity.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see how this turns out:

A kiss between two schoolgirls that hit airwaves in the South Korean drama “Sunam Girls High School Detectives” is under investigation by the Korea Communications Standards Commission, Yonhap reported.

The commission opened a sub-committee Wednesday to discuss the JTBC series, which follows five high school students who solve mysteries around their school.

The drama showed two female students sharing an unprecedented onscreen kiss on its February 25 broadcast, and saw the students hugging on March 4.

The subcommittee said it received a civil complaint stating that the “explicit kiss scene between two female homosexuals” was unhealthy for young viewers for a program rated 15 years or older.  [Korea Times]