Category: Uncategorized

The One Free Korea site has a great posting about the current status of the 6 way talks and the refusal of South Korea to back the US’s stance on the North Korean human rights issue. Here is the money quote from the posting:

How has Korea as a nation come to the point that something which has killed up to 3.5 million of its people is not “essential,” even as an ongoing process within a broader set of talks? Can we contrast this jaw-dropping moral laissez-faire with South Korea’s intransigence in its SOFA negotiations with the United States, following two completely accidental deaths? Why should North Koreans who have lost children, parents, husbands, wives, and siblings ever forgive those who consider their loss an acceptable sacrifice to realpolitik? Isn’t this just a degree less heartless than the North Korean regime itself, which deprived them of food and starved them in the first place?

At least Korea and the US agree on one thing, the ineffectiveness of the Kyoto protocol:

It will be impossible for emerging industrial powers such as China and South Korea ever to comply with the Kyoto Protocol on curbing greenhouse gas emissions, South Korea’s Environment Minister says.

“No matter what the cut required would be, it is impossible to follow the protocol measures that are based on the 1990 levels even if those countries wanted to,” Kwak said, listing South Korea, China, India and Brazil.

“We must look for greenhouse gas reduction measures all countries can take part in,” Kwak said.

I’m actually a little surprised that Korea is the 9th largest emissions producer because the country is so small. So think about that the next time you take a deep breath of air in Seoul. That is not fog you are breathing in.

Boeing signs $6 billion deal with China:

China plans to sign a deal next month to buy 50 Boeing 787 Dreamliner jetliners in a deal worth $6 billion (€4.5 billion), the official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.

The first planes would be delivered in June 2008 before the Summer Olympics in Beijing, Xinhua said, citing the State Development and Reform Commission, an agency of the Chinese Cabinet.

The Justice Ministry is asking USFK to hand over jurisdiction over the accident in June that killed an elderly Korean woman in Dongducheon:

The Justice Ministry said Friday it asked the U.S. Forces in Korea to waive their jurisdiction in the matter of an American serviceman whose truck fatally hit a woman in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province on June 10. The USFK, which has primary jurisdiction in criminal cases against its own personnel, must respond to the request within six weeks, otherwise Korea will exercise jurisdiction, the ministry said.

Now why is the Justice Ministry pushing this? The family of the deceased has already forgiven the driver and doesn’t want to push legal action on him. The Justice Ministry knows that USFK will not hand over jurisdiction so they are making the request just like the local police department did just to cover themselves from the anti-American protesters. So if anyone criticizes them for not doing anything they can come back and say, we tried to do something but that SOFA agreement stopped us from doing anything. This really isn’t surprising.

Tourism to the DMZ is growing in popularity:

Recently, the DMZ has taken on an added cachet as “gateway to the North,” reflecting a recent thaw in relations between the two sides.

South of the border, nearby rural villages and islands are eager to be included on DMZ tour itineraries.

Kudos to anyone who knows where this village is located. I have driven past quite a few times and it is amazing how much the village has expanded.

The development of tourism along the DMZ is very evident. During my recent visit to Imjimgak which is located near the DMZ, there is a carnival and a festival going on. Just go to the USO at Camp Casey and you can see all the new DMZ tour options available. Plus the name DMZ is becoming almost like a brand name. All kinds of shops selling souvenirs and clothing are sporting the DMZ logo now.

I have mixed feeling about this because the commercialization of the DMZ is causing people to not appreciate the seriousness of the threat facing South Korea. A carnival is not going to teach people about the 1 million North Korean soldiers deployed along the DMZ or the thousands of artillery pieces pointed at Seoul.

I even see it in American soldiers now, that they don’t appreciate the seriousness of the threat literally just down the road. I guess the North Korean threat is not as great a concern as human trafficking, prostitution, and traffic accidents.

(Hat Tip: Budaechigae II)

Oh My News has a a good article about 3D (dirty, dangerous, difficult) workers treatment in Korea and a reverend Kim Hae Sung who has opened a migrant workers hospital that treats all patients free of charge:

“Because of the jobs they do, the migrants are injured frequently and are open to danger,” said nurse Kim. “There are an estimated 400,000 immigrant workers, but more than half of them are here illegally, which means they cannot go to big hospitals as they are not covered by medical insurance and even if they are, the medical fees are so expensive that they can’t afford it.”

But after a year the hospital could not be any more successful. Although small in capacity, it has all the equipment as any other hospital and is busy all year round, with more than 5,000 patients being treated this year alone. The hospital offers every kind of treatment, from dentistry to gynecology, emergency operations and herbal medicine treatments.

The dispute the Camp Humphrey’s commander and the Anjong-ri club owners has finally come to an end:

Club owners outside Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek will fire bar workers who engage in prostitution as well as any of the “entertainment” agencies that provide female bar employees who might later take part in the sex traffic, the head of a local merchants group said Friday.

The merchants also will fire any worker selling alcohol to underage U.S. servicemembers, said Kim Ki-ho, merchants association president in Anjung-ri, the Pyeongtaek City district in which Camp Humphreys is located.

This dispute ended pretty much how they always do, the club owners vow to change their ways then wait a while and go back to the old ways after some time passes and there has been a personnel change over. They continue their old ways until someone calls them on it again. The bar owners face no legal consequences for human trafficking, prostitution, and selling alcohol to minors from the Korean law enforcement, so they will always continue to play this Off Limits game with the Army. The Army needs to police itself instead of relying on the clubs to do the policing for them.

The 9th Infantry Regiment’s Liscum Bowl is returning to Korea:

The 2nd Infantry Division’s greatest trophy, the Liscum Bowl, will return to South Korea after more than two years’ absence while it was restored in the United States.

Maj. Karl Ivey, 2nd ID spokesman, said last week that the silver punch bowl, which has been in America since 2003, would be back at the 2nd ID Museum at Camp Red Cloud by April.

The Liscum Bowl may quite possibly be the world’s most expensive punch bowl because it is valued at $2.5 million dollars. I hoped they are not sending it by US mail back here because it will assuredly get lost in the 2ID post office just like the DVD’s and magazines I order and never get.

The bowl does have some interesting history:

Lt. Col. Ryan Kuhn, the 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment commander, said the bowl was named in honor of former 9th Infantry Regiment commander Col. Emerson H. Liscum, killed in action in Tientsin, China, on July 13, 1900.

According to the 9th Infantry Regiment’s Web site, the bowl is made from silver presented to the regiment by the Chinese prince Li Hung Chang in 1900 in appreciation for the unit’s actions at Tientsin to quell the Boxer Rebellion.

The 9th Infantry Regiment the Manchus has had long and interesting history. The regiment was first formed in 1799 and fought in the Civil War, battled Indians all along the Great Plains including fights against Gerinomo and Crazy Horse. The battalion also fought in the Spanish-American War including fighting for San Juan Hill and Santiago. The regiment then was moved to the Phillipines and then deployed in 1900 to China to quell the Boxer Rebellion and earning the Liscum Bowl and the name the Manchus. The regiment then joined the 2nd Infantry Division in France in 1917 to fight in World War I. The regiment also fought in Europe during World War II by landing on Omaha Beach during the D-Day landing operation and marching on through Germany.

In 1950 the regiment was once again put into action fighting the communist agressors during the Korean War. Then in 1966 the battalion was deployed to Vietnam where they remained for four and half years before going back state side. As part of the 7th Infantry Division the 9th Infantry Regiment than took part in Operation Just Cause in Panaman before rejoining the 2nd Infantry Division in Korea where it remains today.

Sounds like the Hollywood Bar in Itaewon isn’t so bad if you can get in that is:

And if you are coming to Korea next week and are wondering where to meet Korean women amenable to westerners “charms”…well that takes us full circle. Yes, Itaewon is the place to go. And for the English teachers that live in Seoul, Itaewon means only one place…Hollywoods.

Unlike the majority of other bars in the area, Hollywoods features a female clientele that aren’t working, in the strictest sense anyway. And this is the main reason that Hollywoods attracts as many women as it does men. Yes, every weekend hordes of goggle eyed expats stand around Hollywoods’ dance floor ogling the nymph-like Korean waifs that dance on seductively. The number of ageing western men that have beautiful young Koreans draped all over them is staggering, and a real indicator of why so many English teachers stay in Korea for years at a time. If you can’t get a girl in your local town, don’t worry! Come to Korea and find a beautiful Korean girl who will be with you simply because you are western, loaded, or both. While this might seem like an overly cynical attitude, one trip to Hollywoods on a Saturday night will turn you into a believer. There is a stigma about Asian girls in the west that has them penned as pliant, cooing submissives, frigid until marriage and even that is dependent on father’s blessing. Well, Hollywoods and Itaewon in general puts that myth to bed.

Anybody willing to confirm this?

(Hat Tip: Japundit)

What genius figured this out?

The most dangerous time for sexual assaults is from midnight to 4 a.m., with guest houses and public baths the most common locations. That conclusion is suggested by police data on sexual assault from 2001-2005 released to Grand National Party lawmaker Yoo Jeong-bok.

Even more shocking is that young women were the ones most targeted for sexual assaults.