Category: Korea-General Topics

Here is a horrible bridge collapse accident in Anseong:

 A bridge collapsed at an expressway construction site in Anseong on Tuesday, killing four workers and injuring six others, authorities said.

The accident occurred at around 9:50 a.m. in the city some 65 kilometers south of Seoul during construction on a section of the Seoul-Sejong expressway.

Several slabs placed on a pier fell to the ground, knocking off or burying 10 people working at the site. Of them, four died, five were seriously injured, and one sustained minor injuries, according to the fire authorities.

One of the four killed was pulled out from under the rubble at around 2:20 p.m., after which the authorities ended their rescue work.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Some how I doubt the writers of the 14th Admendment envisioned foreigners from other countries rushing to the U.S. to have a kid in order to avoid military service in their home country. People without legal status in the U.S. should not have their kid given citizenship because this is just another example of how it is abused:

A Seoul court has supported the rejection of an application for dual US-South Korean citizenship because their parent’s residence in the US was for the purpose of their child gaining US citizenship.

The Seoul Administrative Court said Monday that it had ruled in favor of the Seoul Southern Immigration Office, which rejected the plaintiff’s February 2024 application to retain the citizenships of both countries.

South Korea’s Nationality Act states that a child of a citizen obtains citizenship at birth, and the Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution grants citizenship to anyone born inside its territories. This means that someone born in the US to parents who are Korean citizens — as in case of the plaintiff — is granted dual citizenships at birth.

Dual citizens at birth are usually allowed to retain the nationality of South Korea and another country by pledging to the government not to exercise the rights of foreign citizenship before the age of 22, or within two years of completing their mandatary military service in the case of men. This is to prevent dual citizens from dodging duties mandated for South Koreans, such military service.

But the immigration office refused to allow dual citizenship to the plaintiff, saying that the plaintiff’s mother is thought to have lived in the US only for the explicit purpose of obtaining US citizenship for her child — sometimes referred to as “birth tourism.” The Nationality Act states that in cases where the parent is “deemed to have resided in a foreign country for the purpose of having the person acquire the nationality of the foreign country,” the child can retain his or her South Korean citizenship only after renouncing the other nationality.

The plaintiff’s mother went to the US in 2003 just before giving birth to the plaintiff, staying in the country for a month and a half.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Trilateral ties may be unshakeable, but good luck trying to get North Korea to denuclearize because that is pretty much a fantasy as this point:

The top diplomats of South Korea, the United States and Japan held their first meeting since the launch of the new Trump administration, reaffirming their “unshakable trilateral partnership.”

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and his American and Japanese counterparts Marco Rubio and Takeshi Iwaya held talks on Saturday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

According to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry, the top diplomats discussed ways to enhance trilateral cooperation, responses to North Korea issues including its nuclear weapons, regional situations, and ways to expand economic cooperation.

In a joint statement, the three sides reaffirmed their resolute commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea.

KBS World

You can read more at the link.

A pretty badge tragedy at this hotel construction site in Busan:

Six workers died and seven others were injured in a fire at a hotel construction site in the southeastern port city of Busan on Friday, authorities said.

The fire started at the Banyan Tree hotel under construction at approximately 10:50 a.m., presumably from insulating material loaded near a swimming pool on the building’s first floor, according to the Busan firefighting headquarters.

Firefighters rescued those trapped inside using helicopters, but six were later pronounced dead. Fourteen others were safely rescued from the roof, while more than a hundred workers evacuated.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see if these tariffs lead to an invigoration of steel manufacturing in the U.S.:

Acting President Choi Sang-mok said Tuesday the government will respond to the new U.S. tariffs on steel imports based to its pre-prepared measures and pursue further negotiations with Washington to reflect South Korea’s interests.

On Monday (U.S. time), U.S. President Donald Trump signed proclamations imposing a 25 percent tariff on all imported steel and aluminum products, effective March 12, with “no exceptions or exemptions.” The tariffs will apply to millions of tons of steel and aluminum imports, including those from South Korea.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The left is turning to their usual playbook of “racial profiling” to try and stop ICE from deporting illegal immigrants:

A photo of a Korean man who was arrested, Jan. 28, in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s crackdown on illegal immigration on charges of possessing sexually exploitative materials involving minors. The original image was shared uncensored. Captured from White House’s X

U.S. President Donald Trump’s massive immigration crackdown across the country is sparking fear, disruption and frustration in both expected and unexpected ways in Korean communities.

Some 110,000 undocumented Koreans, as estimated by the Pew Research Center, are scattered throughout the United States, but in reality, experts say there are many more, and Trump’s sweeping clampdown promises to weed them out.

On. Jan. 31, the White House said a Korean national was arrested for the first time in the latest operation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Living undocumented in Atlanta, the Korean man was found guilty of possessing sexually explicit material depicting minors, according to U.S. authorities.

He is one of nearly 1,000 migrants arrested daily in the immigration crackdown, which the Trump administration claims targets illegal residents with criminal records, such as assault, robbery and driving under the influence.

However, local media reports say many of the arrested migrants have not committed any criminal offenses — a concern that’s putting some people on edge.

“It’s not just criminal illegal immigrants. It’s not even just illegal immigrants. It’s people of color who are being randomly targeted,” said Sam Kim, 39, a U.S. citizen living in Los Angeles, who is trying to mobilize efforts to advocate against what he considers “racial profiling.”

“Criminals need to get punished. I’m not arguing against that,” Kim noted. “But legal, hardworking Koreans in the U.S. should not be mistreated just because of the way we look and speak.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but if you are in the country legally you shouldn’t have any worries about being deported by ICE.

If traveling in South Korea for the Lunar New Year holiday please be careful because the conditions look pretty challenging out there right now:

Heavy snow blanketed South Korea for the second consecutive day Tuesday, disrupting transportation services and causing traffic congestion for people heading to their hometowns for the Lunar New Year holiday.

As of 4 p.m., 130 centimeters had piled up on Mount Halla on the southern resort island of Jeju since Monday, while some counties in the eastern province of Gangwon had 40 cm of snow over the same period. Cities of Anseong and Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province, about 60 kilometers south of Seoul, had received about 25 cm of snow. In Seoul, the southwestern ward of Gwanak had 13.7 cm of snow.

For Wednesday, the Korea Meteorological Administration forecast an additional 5 to 15 cm of snow in the mountainous areas of Jeju and about 5 to 10 cm of snow in the Chungcheong and Jeolla provinces.

Yonhap

You can read much more about the transportation delays and road conditions at the link.

It looks like South Korea has found another potential defense export market:

Acting Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho and Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur discussed ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the defense sector and the arms industry Monday, according to the defense ministry.

In the talks held in Seoul, Kim noted that the two countries’ cooperation in the cybersecurity sector has been advancing and suggested expanding such ties to other areas, according to the defense ministry.

Kim also briefed Pevkur on South Korean weapons systems, including the K9 self-propelled howitzer that Estonia has acquired.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but at this point the Korean defense industry should send Putin a gift basket because all of this aggression towards his neighbors has been a boon for weapons sales.