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In today’s Korea Times there was an article about the amount of foreigners entering Korea, but this paragraph in the article gave me a laugh:

In the past, children pointed at foreigners and said, “Look, mom, there’s a foreigner!’’ These days, it is not remarkable to encounter foreigners on the street. A growing number of foreigners are coming to Korea, and the percentage of those who come to study the Korean language is increasing as well.

Sorry to burst the Korea Times bubble but a lot of children in Korea still do yell, “Look, mom, there’s a foreigner!”. Not that I get horribly offended or anything, but that is just the reality here that the article seems to convey doesn’t happen anymore when in fact it does, regularly.

I can’t believe it but I find myself agreeing on something with Hillary Clinton. I have even posted her picture on my blog. Anyway, during the confirmation hearing for the new USFK commander she actually had some good things to say about the current situation here on the Korean peninsula:

Clinton, a Democratic senator for New York, made the comment on Tuesday during a Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing for new appointees, including Gen. Burwell B. Bell, who is nominated to take over as commander of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK).

“I think there is a lack of understanding and a sense of historical amnesia,’’ Clinton told the hearing. She said both countries should seek to understand each other and recognize the importance of their alliance.

The problems between South Korea and the US are actually more complicated then the way she describes it but never the less she is correct about the “historical amnesia” in regards to the MacArthur controversy and other historical points of contention between the two countries.

General Bell as well has some interesting things to say:

Bell said his role as commander would be to ensure close cooperation between South Korea and the U.S. so they are ready to respond to North Korean aggression. “The ROK-U.S. alliance must be `ready to fight tonight’ due to the proximity and lethality of the threat,’’ the four-star general said.

“U.S. forces in the Asia-Pacific region should be stationed to provide sufficient flexibility to deploy forces to meet global contingency requirements,’’ he said. “If confirmed, I will ensure that I fully understand the situation on the Korean Peninsula and of those regional actors so that I can provide my input.’’

So in other words the USFK is to become a regional contingency force instead of a force to assist in the defense of Korea. I willing to bet the ROK government is not going to react to enthusiasticly once they hear about that.

7,000 people from Korean conservative groups showed up in force at City Hall to voice their opinions against the leftist hate groups in Korea that are slowly eroding the US-ROK alliance:

Around 7,000 members of Korean conservative groups gathered yesterday in front of Seoul’s City Hall to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the United Nations. But the tone of the rally was more domestic than international. The Retired Colonels Association and Kumnan Methodist Church, among others, complained that anti-American, pro-North Korean activists are threatening South Korea’s freedom.“Leftists are disturbing the international alliance of freedom and threatening the security of the Korean peninsula by insisting on the withdrawal of U.S. troops in Korea,” one civic group said in a statement. The organizers awarded plaques of appreciation to the embassies of the 21 countries that sent troops to fight with South Korean forces in the 1950-53 war or provided other forms of assistance.

Notice these 7,000 people easily out numbered the 4,000 leftists that showed at Inchon last month to try and tear down the General MacArthur statue. This is a good sign because it shows that the conservatives can rally more people to their cause than the leftists can.

However, they are not getting the amount of headlines that the leftists got for both the Inchon and Camp Humphrey’s protest even though they did draw more people. I guess they should of brought bamboo poles and beat the riot police and then set City Hall on fire. Maybe they would have got more headlines that way.

From Yonhap:

A South Korean civic organization
said Wednesday it has delivered 34 head of cattle as humanitarian aid to North Korea.

A ship carrying 30 dairy cows and four oxen left Incheon port Wednesday for the North Korean port of Nampo Wednesday morning, Good Neighbors Inc. said.

I have decided to add a new twist to Korea Finder, instead of a Google Earth picture this week I have decided to use an actual picture. Let’s see if Mark who excels at answering the Korea Finders, can answer this one. Where is this statue located?

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was at Yongsan Garrison Friday afternoon taking questions from the crowd when one NCO took him to task about the Uniformed Services Former Spouse Protection Act:

But it took a sergeant first class to bring down the house at Collier Field House. He asked the secretary why the military continues to allow service members?Eretirement pay to be calculated into alimony payments.

“I did my homework, sir,?Ethe sergeant said.

However, the answer Rumsfeld gave pretty much signaled IMHO that he planned to do nothing:

The secretary said he had asked for a study of the issue, but he also said that Congress was uninterested in addressing it now. He said he’s trying to find a way to make some changes tenable to members of congress.

I have not forgotten it,?ERumsfeld said of the issue. I don’t have an answer, and it may take some time. But I think the transcript of this discussion we just had would be anecdotally an example that could be used, and I thank you for raising it.

The USFSPA when taken at face value appears to be a good law. A diligent and faithful spouse that has been with their military spouse through thick and thin do deserve some compensation after their former spouse retires. However, there are many cases of abuse of this law. You got spouses that are separated not wanting a divorce and shacked up with their lover waiting for their spouse to hit the 10 year mark so they can get divorced and he/she can grab 50% of the retirement. You also got spouses that got remarried grabbing the money even though they don’t need it, or spouses that are making more money than the service member that is retiring and still grabbing their 50%. The list goes on and on about abuse of this law.

Skippy-san is the resident expert on this issue and he of course has plenty to say about it on his site since he is a living example of abuse of this law. Plus it is not just the guys criticizing this law, there are plenty of women also concerned about the abuse of this law as well.

However, what I think is going on is that the Pentagon does not want to pick a fight at this time with the feminist Nazis out there that are sure to go crazy if the DOD tries to change this law. They will bring out all their hired sob story people to back their version of why this law is needed while completing ignoring the abuse that is currently be perpetuated under this law. The media of course will side with the feminists and use this issue to smear President Bush and the Republicans as being anti-female. Any changing of this law would be a big deal and a media spectacle.

The law doesn’t necessarily need to be scrapped though; it just needs to be modified to weed out the people that are abusing it because there are diligent military spouses out there that do deserve the retirement benefit. Maybe a judge should have a hearing and approve the validness of the ex-spouse’s claim for alimony from a soldier’s retirement instead of just automatically giving it up? I’m sure their are minds smarter than me on this issue that can brain storm a better solution then what we have going on today. However, none of it will matter unless the Pentagon decides to do something about it and take on the feminist Nazis. Unfortunately, I don’t see that day coming any time soon.

As much as Koreans like to see polls and rankings this however is one ranking they probably won’t publicize to much. Transparency International has released their annual world corruption index. South Korea was ranked 40th in the world for corruption out of 158, tied with Hungary and Italy. The top 20 least corrupt nations in world is listed below. Notice many of the top countries are smaller countries where it is easier to monitor state corruption:

1 Iceland
2 Finland & New Zealand
4 Denmark
5 Singapore
6 Sweden
7 Switzerland
8 Norway
9 Australia
10 Austria
11 Netherlands & United Kingdom
13 Luxembourg
14 Canada
15 Hong Kong
16 Germany
17 USA
18 France
19 Belgium & Ireland
21 Chile & Japan

I don’t feel so bad that the US is 17th when it’s probably got more land area and population than the countries ranked ahead of it combined. So good job USA. Looking at the list you can really draw a correlation between countries with good government and little corruption unlike further down the list you can obviously see countries with poor governments that are hindered by corruption.

What I find a little surprising is that countries that don’t have the economic affluence of Korea are ranked ahead of it such as Botswana and Jordan. Looking at the rest of the list; countries with economic affluence seem to be the least corrupt.

Korea can take some solace in the fact that they did beat out China. China was ranked all the way down at number 78. However, Korea’s main rival Japan soundly beat them by being ranked number 21. Hopefully as democracy improves here, Korea will continue to improve their ranking. I guess we will see next year.

Hat Tip: Asiapundit

If you are looking for a great place to view the beautiful autumn colors and not have to wade through the thick crowds that flood the parks this time of year; look no further than Woraksan National Park. Woraksan is located to the East of the city of Chunju in the Chungcheongbuk-do province in central Korea. The park is one of the least visited in Korea due to it’s geographic location that is far from any major Korean cities.

The parks rural location has actually made it one of two areas in Korea where goral antelopes were released into the wild. The second area was Soraksan National Park. ten of these antelope still are alive and well inside the park and are monitored with radio transmitters. So keep your eyes open if you intend to hit the trails here for these shy animals.

The best place to begin a hike on Woraksan is to drive or take a bus up the Songgye Valley and stop at the small city of Deokju. At Deokju you can enter the park. Head up the path following a stream running off the mountain. Along the path you can see the remains of an ancient stone fortress and the recreated fortress gate. This fortress dates all the way back to the 13th century and was used as a defensive perimeter against the invading Mongols. The fortress was later used again in 1592 during the first Japanese invasion of the peninsula. Though the fortress is mostly destroyed today the parts that remain are still interesting to look at and appreciate how old the construction is and the amount of history these walls have seen.

After you pass the fortress walls you will see Deokjusa Temple off to your left. Check it out if you like, but really nothing new to be seen at this recently constructed temple. Across from the temple on the right side of the path you will see the trail head that is the official start point to climb Woraksan mountain. Along the trail follow the Yeongbong peak signs that will take you to the 1097 meter summit of Woraksan mountain. The trail initially is very well maintained and includes many well built bridges and stairs to assist the novice hikers who want to only hike up to see the stone Buddha carving which is located about 30 minutes up the trail. The Buddha is also very old just like the fortress walls. However no one knows for sure how old. Some suspect the carving is from the Goryeo dynasty which ruled Korea from 935-1392AD while other believe the carving was constructed by the Shilla dynasty that ruled before 935AD. Either way the carving is extremely old and an impressive sight to see since it stands as high as a four story building and is elaborately carved. Definitely worth taking a rest stop at to view while climbing the mountain.

Past the Buddha carving the trail becomes much steeper and rockier. There are plenty of stairs and rock climbing to be done once you are past the Buddha carving which causes me to recommend a moderate level of personal fitness before attempting the hike.

After the first steep ascent after the carving and about 1.0 – 1.5 hours into your climb, you will reach a 960 meter peak that you may initially think is the summit of the mountain after the steep climb up more stairs. It is not. As you look to the south you will see the long trail and the mammoth rock formation that awaits you at the real 1097 meter summit of Woraksan.

The trail along the ridge line is actually pretty nice as you walk among a thick forest that eventually opens up at a ROK Army helipad where you get a great view of the Yeongbong peak where the summit of Woraksan is located. As you continue up the trail it becomes a little disheartening as you begin losing altitude and going down the mountain, plus you have to take a circular route to reach the trail that takes you to the summit of the mountain. When you finally reach the trail, it is basically just an endless stair climb to the top of the mountain. Expect your calf muscles to get quite a work out on this mountain.

However, when you reach the summit, the stair climbing pays off, as you are rewarded with a great view of the surrounding Chungcheongbuk-do country side. There is not one highrise building in site; just tress, hills, farm land, and the beautiful Chungju-ho lake. Better yet is the fact there is no huge crowd on the summit unlike other popular Korean mountains where you feel more like you are at a rock concert than on a mountain with the amount of people swarmed around you. Not on Woraksan, it was just me and a handful of other climbers just enjoying the spectacular view.

If you want to enjoy the view too, all you have to do is take a bus to the city of Chunju and from the Chunju bus station take one of the buses that regularly run to Woraksan National Park and get off at the Deokjusa stop. If you are driving from Chunju, take Highway 36 that skirts the south side of the Chunjuho Lake and take a right once you hit the insection with local road 597 that runs through the Songgye Valley to the Deokjusa trailhead. Bring plenty of water and warm jacket because it can get cold on the summit of the mountain. Expect to complete the hike up and back down the mountain in about 5-7 hours depending on your level of fitness. So get out of the city this weekend, get some fresh air, exercise, and maybe even see an antelope. You see a lot of strange things in the ville but an antelope is not one of them. You will need to go to Woraksan for that.

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Over at Joel’s site, he has provided an interesting link to an Australian who went to North Korea to attend the Arirang Mass Games. He has got some interesting pictures of both Pyongyang and the games themselves worth checking out. The show featured the usual anti-American imperialists crap that maybe the DNC could use at their next convention, plus more propanganda about uniting Korea under North Korean rule and the glory of Kim Il Sung. However, the below picture, I don’t know how it relates to imperialists, unification, or Kim Il Sung. Anybody got any ideas?

Do they even have chickens and eggs to eat in North Korea?

US Army MAJ Jeffrey Brown was found guilty of rape:

A U.S. Army major found guilty of raping one young enlisted service member and maintaining a sexual relationship with another was sentenced late Tuesday to four years in prison.

Brown also was found guilty of violating a lawful general order for breaking the military curfew in June. He is to forfeit all pay and allowances and be dismissed from the Army as part of the sentence.

This guy is found guilty of rape and other offenses and receives only 4 years in prison? Now compare this with the 1-43 ADA private who raped a fellow soldier in the Suwon barracks that received a six year sentence. Can a lawyer please tell me how this works out? It seems to me that an officer would receive greater punishment for the same offense than a private. This case comes on the heels of the lenient punishment given to 1LT Davis last month. USFK says their against sexual assault and rape yet lightly sentence those who commit it. This major just like the Suwon private are both dirt bags that should be doing at least the same amount of hard time for their crimes. I’m sick of these scum bags smearing the rest of us that are over here doing the right things and staying out of trouble.