Over at Korea Expose they have an article posted about the growing problem of South Korean men fathering children in the Philippines and leaving the mothers by going back to Korea:
Kristi, 23, met a South Korean man in the city of Makati, Philippines, through a blind date. “It was love at first sight. We were dating for a few months. Soon enough, I found out he was already married with kids. It broke my world so I decided to end it there.”
But things didn’t work out for Kristi: Shortly after their break-up, she realized she was pregnant. “He told me ‘Don’t worry I’m here for you, I won’t leave you,’ but one month before giving birth, he just disappeared.”
It’s a recurring theme: South Korean men go to the Philippines, have relationships of varying degrees of commitment with local women, father children, and then at one point or another flee back to South Korea severing all ties and leaving the mothers alone with the children.
Kristi is one of many thousands of Filipino women who are left to rear their children alone because of absent South Korean fathers. A number often floated around by organizations and media is 30,000, but there has yet to be a clear count or study on the issue.
Kopino — a portmanteau of Korean and Filipino — is a term said to have first been createdin 2004 to refer to a child born to a Filipino mother and a South Korean father — who has often run away.
Kopino children face a number of difficulties in terms of child support, acquisition of nationality and visa issuance. In many cases, the mother — often from a poor background — has no contact with the father, and no knowledge of her former partner’s private details, be it a South Korean phone number, an address, let alone a Korean name. This leaves her to pay all child rearing expenses, even though the South Korean father has a legal obligation to provide support according to South Korea laws. [Korea Expose]
You can read the rest at the link, but I would not be surprised if this is more than just a Korean problem in the Philippines considering its reputation for sex tourism.
It seems like President Duterte has nothing good to say about every world leader to include Kim Jong-un:
Rodrigo Duterte
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s latest controversial remarks target the North Korean regime, and they come just a few days ahead of his hosting a meeting of foreign diplomats at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum.
In his typical colorful rhetoric, Duterte professed his hatred for war and described North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un as a “fool” and a “son of a bitch” who is “playing with dangerous toys.”
“This Kim Jong Un, a fool…. He is playing with dangerous toys, that fool,” Duterte said in a speech live-streamed on Facebook to tax officials on Wednesday. Then, he commented on Kim Jong Un’s appearance. [Newsweek]
According to the Filipino President Korean gangs are responsible for much of the prostitution and drugs on the island of Cebu and he vows to kill them:
President Duterte
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to kill Korean criminal gangs who are involved in the illegal drug trade in his country, according to local media Monday.
Duterte told reporters recently that Korean gangs will not receive special treatment for their crimes just because they are foreign.
“For those into the racket (business) of prostitution, drugs and everything, kidnapping, you will be treated just like ordinary criminals,” Duterte, who has repeatedly encouraged citizens and police to kill those involved in illegal drug trafficking, said in a stern warning.
The statement came after Philippine National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa claimed that a Korean gang may be behind the murder of Jee Ick-joo, a Korean businessman found dead in October inside the national police headquarters. [Korea Times]
Here is evidence that the President Duterte’s drug crackdown is being used as cover for illegal activity:
The Philippine national police chief apologized to South Korea on Thursday over the death of a Korean man who was arrested illegally and then slain by members of an anti-drug task force at the main police camp in Manila.
Police Director-General Ronald Dela Rosa said the policemen detained Jee Ickjoo with a fake arrest warrant last October with the intent of holding him for ransom, but killed him the same day. He said they then extracted a ransom payment from Jee’s family without telling them Jee was dead. [Washington Post]
Via a reader tip comes news that Korean-American diplomat Sung Kim has been sworn in as the US Ambassador to the Philippines:
Secretary of State John Kerry administers the oath of office to Sung Kim, joined by his wife Jae, center, as U.S. Ambassador to Philippines, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016, during a ceremony at the State Department in Washington. AP/Carolyn Kaster
Secretary of State John Kerry expressed confidence Thursday that the U.S. relationship with the Philippines can survive recent turbulence as he swore in a new U.S. ambassador to the Southeast Asian nation.
Kerry administered the oath of office to Sung Kim, formerly the chief U.S. envoy for North Korea policy, in a ceremony at the State Department.
Kim, a career diplomat, takes up his new position in turbulent times. Outspoken Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who took office in June after winning a presidential election, has been antagonistic to Washington over human rights criticisms.
Duterte has forged closer ties with China — a blow to the Obama administration effort to forge deeper ties with Asia. He has declared his desire to scale back military engagements with the U.S. and has told President Barack Obama to “go to hell.” [PhilStar.com]
You can read more at the link, but good luck to Ambassador Kim. His posting in the Philippines should be a memorable one considering he will be dealing with President Duterte quite a bit.
“I want, maybe in the next two years, my country free of presence of foreign military troops. I want them out.” — Duterte in Tokyo. pic.twitter.com/aD6nh1b5iK
Horrible news for the family of this South Korean ship captain who was kidnapped by the ISIS linked Abu Sayyaf group in the Philippines:
Suspected Abu Sayyaf militants have abducted a South Korean skipper and a Filipino crewman from a South Korean cargo ship in the latest such attacks that have sparked a security alarm in the busy regional sealanes, military officials said Friday.
About 10 gunmen boarded the MV Dongbang Giant using ropes from a speedboat and abducted skipper Chul Hong and Filipino crewman Glenn Alindajao on Thursday off Bongao town in Tawi Tawi province. The ship was on its way to South Korea from Australia, regional military spokesman Maj. Filemon Tan said.
Other crewmen were not seized and one managed to call his family, which reported the assault to authorities, according to Tan. [Associated Press]
A left wing rally in the Philippines outside the US embassy has turned violent:
A Philippine police van rammed into protesters, leaving several bloodied, as an anti-U.S. rally turned violent Wednesday at the American embassy in Manila.
At least three student activists had to be taken to a hospital after they were run over by the van driven by a police officer, protest leader Renato Reyes said.
AP Television footage showed the van repeatedly ramming the protesters as it drove wildly back and forth after protesters had surrounded and started hitting the van with wooden batons they had seized from the police.
Police later arrested 23 protesters, who broke into a line of riot police and hurled red paint at the policemen and a U.S. government seal at the seaside embassy.
“There was absolutely no justification for it,” Reyes said of the violent police dispersal of about 1,000 protesters. “Even as the president vowed an independent foreign policy, Philippine police forces still act as running dogs of the U.S.”
The violence happened as the protesters gathered to demand an end to the presence of U.S. troops in the country and to support a call by President Rodrigo Duterte for a foreign policy not dependent on the U.S., the country’s longtime treaty ally.
Duterte was on a state visit to China, where he is seeking to repair relations strained under his predecessor over territorial conflicts in the South China Sea. Duterte is also seeking to expand two-way trade and investments and seek financing for badly needed infrastructure projects. [Associated Press]
According to ABC News this who the protesters were:
The protesters, consisting of students, workers and tribespeople, were demanding an end to the presence of visiting U.S. troops in the Philippines and to support a call by President Rodrigo Duterte for a foreign policy not dependent on the U.S., the country’s longtime treaty ally.
The activists came from the largest left-wing umbrella group called Bayan (Nation), which has organized regular anti-U.S. protests in front of the embassy for decades, most of which are peaceful. [ABC News]
The left wing protesters also claim that they don’t want to be dictated to by China:
Amid an uneasy relationship with the U.S., Duterte has tried to reach out to China and Russia, bringing uncertainty to his country’s long alliance with America.
But the protesters also opposed the president’s effort to lean toward China. “The Philippines will not be dictated on, whether by the U.S. or China,” they said in a statement.
These people obviously live in a fantasy world. What has the US supposedly “dictated” to them? The nearly $200 million in aid dollars or the immediate disaster response relief the US has given the Philippines in the past?
Who is currently dictating to them is the Chinese who are forcibly seizing actual territory from the Philippines. I find it interesting that this group of left wing protesters could not find the time to go and violently protest the seizing of Filipino territory in front of the Chinese embassy.
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