Category: Korea-General Topics

The Asahi Shimbun has an interesting article today about the sharp rise of suicides in Korea:

In South Korea, where the East Asian financial crisis of 1997 caused a collapse in the lifelong employment system, a breakdown in traditional family bonds and a subsequent divergence between rich and poor, suicide has been rising inexorably.

Now another factor is contributing to the malaise: The all-pervasive reach of the Internet has given people ready access to information about how to kill themselves, and made it easy to find like-minded people to share in the experience.

Though the government and citizens groups have made a concerted effort to address the problem, they appear to be fighting a losing battle. […]

According to the Korea National Statistical Office, the number of suicide victims climbed to about 12,000 in 2005–2.5 times more than 10 years before. The figure equates to 24.7 suicide victims per 100,000 persons.

In Japan, there were 25.5 suicide victims per 100,000 people. However, an official of the South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare said, “Given the sharp rise (in suicides) in recent years, there is a possibility that the suicide rate per 100,000 persons has already surpassed that of Japan.” [Takeshi Kamiya, Asahi Shimbun]

Something else I found interesting in the article that in Seoul if you can believe this has only seven suicide counselors. Yes seven, for a city with a population of nearly 12 million and a sharply rising suicide rate.

The Korean missionaries taken hostage by the Taliban have broken their silence and explained some of the ordeal they went through:

"We were beaten by them many times, being forced to convert to Islam," Je Chang-hee told a news conference with 20 other fellow ex-hostages at a hospital south of Seoul, where the Christian volunteers have been receiving medical treatment since they returned home 10 days ago.

"They kicked us and beat us with guns and tree branches. Sometimes, they aimed their bayonet-topped rifles at our necks," Je said, adding that he had been held in a mountain cave with three other hostages. Je said he and the others pretended to recite Islamic conversion prayers by muttering some Korean words.  […]

"My group was kept in a closed place like a shed (at a Taliban home) but we were not allowed to go out … it was like suffocating," said Cha Hae-jin, a female hostage.

She said the food was not suitable and that the captives vomited and suffered diarrhea, with some showing symptoms of dehydration. "Four of us once had to share two potatoes for one day," Cha said.

Je said his group of captives were forced to work.

"We lived like slaves. We had to level the ground for motorbikes, and get water (from a well) and make a fire," Je said, showing the worn-out, dirty short-sleeve shirt and trousers he wore throughout the captivity. [CNN]

No word yet if some of the hostages were in fact sexually assaulted but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were.  I’m a am surprised that they admitted to converting to Islam considering they are Christian missionaries. 

You have been kidnapped by a religious death cult, two of your friends have been murdered by the death cult, your nation has just paid millions of dollars in ransom money, and the military and fellow citizens have withdrawn in disgrace due to threats from the death cult which has brought the entire nation under international criticism for its actions.  After your release what is the first thing you would do? 

Well for the Korean hostages recently released in Afghanistan the answer is to go shopping:

The hostages were transported by plane from Afghanistan to Dubai and during their lay over in Dubai they found time to do some Duty Free shopping.  This apparently has caused much anger among Korean netizens who are wondering who paid the bills for the shopping spree. 

You would think that if they had enough time to go shopping they at least could have found some time to shave. 

The Korean government has chosen who is going to be the first Korean to launch into space:

South Korea announced Wednesday that a 30-year-old expert in artificial intelligence will be the country’s first person in space when he flies on a Russian Soyuz capsule to the International Space Station early next year.

The Ministry of Science and Technology selected Ko San, who works at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, Vice Science Minister Chung Yoon said.

Ko, who has a master’s degree in artificial intelligence from the elite Seoul National University, beat out Yi Soo-yeon, a 29-year-old female mechanical engineer, following performance and other tests during their training in Russia. [CNN]

The Russian government is charging $30 million to put people into space, thus the question I pose is Ko really Korea’s first astronaut or it’s first space tourist?  I’m leaning more towards space tourist myself.

This is a pretty cool story:

People raised their eyebrows when Choi Chang-hyun unveiled his plan to travel 1,500 kilometers from the southeastern city of Daegu to Imjingak pavilion near the inter-Korean border in 1999.

The 42-year-old, who suffers from cerebral palsy, however, did more than that.

After completing his first electric wheelchair journey, he crossed the American continent over 112 days in 2001 and the Japanese islands in 2003 to demonstrate his hope for the success of the summer Universiade in Daegu that year.

The native of Daegu said he was recently informed that he will be listed next year in the Guinness Book of World Records for his latest and longest wheelchair journey of 26,000 kilometers through 31 European countries and Morocco. He travelled at an average speed of 13 kilometers per hour. [Korea.net]

Read the whole thing, but it is pretty impressive what Choi has accomplished and what he hopes to do next. 

The next time you hear a Korean complain about USFK personnel not paying their parking tickets show them this article:

The South Korean diplomatic corps owes the United States nearly 23 times what U.S. diplomats owe officials in Seoul for unpaid parking and traffic fines.

South Korea’s Consulate General owes New York City about $17,000 in parking tickets, including $10,137 for 87 tickets issued before November 2002 and $7,120 for 47 parking tickets since, a spokesman with the city’s Department of Finance stated in an e-mail.

The Washington D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles says the Embassy of South Korea owes $225 for unpaid parking tickets in 2007.

A spokesman with South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade declined to comment on the issue.

The city of Seoul issued 165 tickets, worth 6,600,000 won, or about $7,197, for U.S. embassy vehicles in the last five years.

The U.S. embassy had paid all but 17 of those tickets, worth approximately $742, city officials said.

“The embassy requires its employees to pay any traffic tickets and obey all traffic and other regulations in Korea,” U.S. Embassy spokesman Max Kwak said when questioned about the outstanding tickets.

The Korea Times reported last month that 91 foreign embassies in Seoul had outstanding fines of 526 million won, or roughly $574,000. Ninety-six percent of the fines, issued between January 2002 and 2007, had not been paid. Forty-nine countries had not paid anything, and only the Vatican City State had paid all its tickets, the paper reported.

The U.S., Australian and Norwegian embassies had the lowest rates of non-payment, according to the story. [Stars & Stripes]

Seems a bit ironic the Korean government is willing to pay off Taliban killers, but aren’t willing to pay parking tickets to the city of New York. 

The Taliban can definitely smell weakness:

Afghanistan’s rebel group Taliban on Sunday threatened to attack South Korean facilities, accusing Seoul of not pulling out all its citizens as promised in exchange for the release of South Korean hostages last week.

Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a purported spokesman for the Taliban, said the Islamic fundamentalist group has obtained information that some South Koreans were still in Afghanistan.

“If South Korea has broken its promise, then we will attack the South Korean embassy in Kabul and education facilities supported by Seoul,” he said. [Yonhap]

An extremely wealthy nation, with a global economy, and one of the largest militaries in the world is left running with its tail between its legs and is now being taunted by a bunch of medieval third world mafiosos. Give it time and the Korean government will find some way to blame all this on America.

The Korean National Intelligence Services (NIS) director Kim Man-bok was spotted at a hotel in Kabul and would not out right deny that a ransom payment had been made:

South Korea’s spy chief on Sunday reacted ambiguously to foreign news reports alleging that Seoul had paid a hefty ransom to the Taliban in exchange for the release of Korean hostages in Afghanistan.

"I can say that foreign media speculation about a ransom trade (involving the Taliban) is wrong," Kim Man-bok, chief of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), said, instead of giving an outright denial. [Yonhap]

The NIS would later issue a press release hailing Kim for helping release the hostages.  Does anyone else find it strange that the head of Korean intelligence is negotiating with a foreign terrorist group?  Can anyone imagine let’s say George Tenet holding direct negotiation with one of the terrorist groups that have kidnapped Americans before in Iraq?  Kim’s appearance in Kabul did not go unnoticed by Korean politicians either:

Kim’s gestures raised scathing comments from politicians yesterday.
“It just does not make sense that the nation’s head of intelligence would publicize to the world that he had negotiated with a terrorist group,” said Kim Jung-hoon, a Grand National Party member.
“There are stories now that he wanted the spotlight so that he could run for a parliament seat next year,” he said. “He made a fool of himself and his agency.”
The spy agency’s press release said Kim flew to Afghanistan over the objection of agency officials because “it was his obligation to protect and save the lives of the Korean people.” [Joong Ang Ilbo]

Sorry to break this to Kim Jung-hoon, but many nations in the world already think Korea’s stance on terrorism is a joke and the fact the NIS director was negotiating with them only further confirms this.   This is what Chung Dong-young had to say about Kim:

Chung Dong-young, a former member of the National Security Council, also said Kim’s behavior was inappropriate. “There are things that he should do and shouldn’t do,” Chung said. [Joong Ang Ilbo]

Chung is just jealous that he didn’t get the chance to parade for the cameras in Kabul like Kim did.  Kim Man-bok likely conducted this trip for two reasons; the first reason is to have fewer people in the beauracracy know about the ransom payment by directly negotiating with the Taliban himself.  This would make it easier for him to cover up the ransom payment with fewer people knowing about it.  The second reason is that he wants to parade for the cameras and try to make himself out as some kind of "hero" that saved the Korean hostages to further his own political ambitions. 

You have to remember that Kim Man-bok is a political partisan for Korean President Roh Moo-hyun who appointed him to cover up the Ilshimhoe Spy Scandal that had links into the liberal political parties including Roh Moo-hyun’s own party in Korea.  Kim’s appointed drew anger from across the political aisal because his appointment was clearly to cover up the spy scandal which he successfully did.  When the conservative opposition likely wins this year’s presidential election Kim is gone and he is using the hostage crisis to build his image and name recognition for a future run for a political office.

While Kim is parading around on TV a report has come out that confirms that a ransom payment was paid by South Korea for the release of the hostages:

The source, who did not want to be identified due to the sensitivities involved, said although he did not know about the exact ransom amount, the Taliban had demanded $10 million in the initial stage.

He said after the Afghan government’s refusal to entertain the Taliban demand regarding the prisoners’ swap, the two sides (Koreans and Taliban) engaged in ransom talks and the delay in release of the captives was caused because the Taliban wanted guarantees and the Korean side wanted scaling down of the demanded amount.

“Being among the mediators, I can tell you that the ransom amount given to the Taliban is round about $2 million," he said. The mediator rejected claims by a Taliban commander that they had received $20 million. He said he believed the amount is too much.

“They have been freed for only $2 million," he opined.

However, the Taliban commander, who wished to remain anonymous, told this correspondent over the telephone that they had received $20 million from the Korean delegation. He said the amount was paid after guarantees from a third country.

The commander said the third country was involved on the request of the Taliban so that the Korean side honor their commitment. He said the amount was paid to a party nominated by the Taliban. [Korea Times]

Hmmm, "guarantees from a third country"?  Could that country be Saudi Arabia?  If you look at all the Korean governmental claims that no ransom was paid they always clearly say no ransom was paid to the Taliban, which is technically correct.  Now when is someone in the Korean media going to ask them if a ransom was paid to Saudi Arabia?

The Korean hostages are now safely back in Korea but the controversy around their release continues to boil.  Via Nomad, comes this news of the amount of the suspected ransom Korea paid to secure their release:

South Korea paid Afghanistan’s Taliban more than $20 million to release 19 missionaries they were holding hostage, a senior insurgent leader said on Saturday, vowing to use the funds to buy arms and mount suicide attacks.

The freed hostages flew out of Afghanistan on Friday to Dubai en route for South Korea. Seoul denies paying a ransom, but critics say negotiating with the Taliban sets a dangerous precedent that could spur more kidnappings–which the Taliban have vowed to carry out. [Epoch Times]

The Taliban have been so pleased with their success with the Koreans they have vowed to do it again:

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi vowed to abduct more foreigners, reinforcing fears that South Korea‘s decision to negotiate directly with the militants would embolden them.

"We will do the same thing with the other allies in Afghanistan, because we found this way to be successful," he told The Associated Press via cell phone from an undisclosed location. [Amir Shah, AP]

More on the ransom and what to do with South Korea’s material support of terrorism over at One Free Korea.

Something that has been left un-said in the media but on most people minds was if the Taliban sexually assaulted the women or not.  The hostages are not talking yet but reports are filtering out of Afghanistan that at least four of the hostages were sexually assaulted by Pakistani Taliban which set off a fight between two Taliban groups.  The sexual assault of the Korean women would be highly damaging to the Taliban’s effort to cultivate an image of being mujahadeen fighting for a Muslim cause in Afghanistan when they are going around kidnapping and raping women.  I’m sure we will find out sooner or later if the report is true or not, but I would not be surprised at all if some of the women were sexually assaulted by these Taliban criminals. 

Amazingly despite the deaths and possible rape of Korean missionaries, the Korea World Missions Association has vowed to continue their missionary work in Afghanistan.  Let’s hope next time they don’t take a bus with no security between Kabul and Kandahar. 

With the Korean hostage crisis concluded, more reports are coming out about the under the table payment given to the Taliban which as I have posted was probably laundered by the Saudis. This negotiating with terrorists I have often seen rationalized by people in Korea by claiming the US did the same thing in the Jill Carroll case in Iraq:

At a demonstration on August 15, a South Korean holiday for Liberation Day, a spokesman for a students’ group denounced the US policy of not negotiating with terrorists. He argued that the US is hypocritical and only last year exchanged prisoners for a kidnapped American journalist. He was referring to Jill Carroll, who was freed from abduction in Iraq after five female Iraqi prisoners were released from US custody.

So why not the same for Koreans? The student spokesman insisted that the US bore responsibility for the kidnapping as a result of its “war on terror” and its occupation of Afghanistan.

Of course this claim is made by people who have no clue about what happened with the Jill Carroll case. Prisoners were not released in exchange for Jill Carroll. Her captors demanded the release of all female prisoners in Iraq which they did not receive. At the time US and Iraqi authorities had nine women in jail and five of them were released after they were found not guilty during their trials and were thus released. During this same time frame even more female prisoners were even taken prisoner:

The US military confirmed last week it was holding nine Iraqi women. On Thursday, however, the military said it had detained two more women and three men for alleged insurgent activities in the northern city of Mosul. Detainees are regularly freed in Iraq following reviews of their cases, a process that can take months. US officials say that Thursday’s release of five women and 414 men was part of the routine procedure and not linked to Carroll’s case. [Christian Science Monitor]

Additionally these prisoners were released two months before Carroll was eventually released. The routine release of these female prisoners was linked to the release of Carroll by the kidnappers because of the propaganda value involved. These women were going to be released anyway but these kidnappers could take credit for their release with the kidnapping of Carroll. Because of this propaganda value the US military actually was at odds with the Iraqi government over the scheduled release of the women but the Iraqi government decided to release them anyway.

It is important to remember that there are three types of kidnappers in Iraq, Al-Qaida jihadis, common criminal gangs, and Sunni political insurgents. If Carroll was kidnapped by Al-Qaida she would have received the Margaret Hassan treatment, criminal gangs would have held her until some kind of payment was made, but fortunately for her she was kidnapped by Sunni insurgents who intended to use her for maximum propaganda value. However, these insurgents kidnapped her when she had just left the office of a prominent Sunni sheik, Adnan al-Dulaimi. The sheik was highly offended by this and for those not familiar with Iraqi culture this is a loss of face for the sheik especially since it was a woman that was kidnapped just 300 meters from his office.

The political pressure from prominent Sunnis as well as the Iraqi media strongly condemning her kidnapping thus shifting public opinion against the kidnappers is what facilitated the release of Jill Carroll. The US never held direct negotiations, released prisoners, or made any payment to the kidnappers. In fact since then the kidnappers of Jill Carroll have been arrested. Does anyone think the Korean government will do anything to arrest those that killed two of their citizens? The handling of the Jill Carroll hostage crisis is far different from what happened with the Korean hostages in Afghanistan despite the anti-US hate groups attempts to equate them.