Here is an odd story about a Buddhist statue believed to have been plundered from Korea by Japan, that thieves stole from a Japanese temple in 2012 and returned it to Korea:
This photo, taken on Jan. 26, 2017, shows the landscape of Buseok Temple in Seosan on South Korea’s western coast. The Daejeon District Court in Daejeon, ordered an ancient Buddhist statue, stolen from a Japanese temple in 2012, to be handed over to the temple.
A local court on Thursday ordered an ancient Buddhist statue, stolen from a Japanese temple in 2012, to be handed over to a temple in Seosan on South Korea’s west coast that has claimed ownership.
The Daejeon District Court ruled in favor of Buseok Temple, which filed a lawsuit against the Seoul government in April to take back the statue of the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, which was stolen by Korean thieves from Kannon Temple in Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, in October 2012.
“Based on (Buseok Temple’s) statements during court hearings and onsite inspections, it is assumed that its ownership of the statue is sufficiently acknowledged,” the court said in its ruling. “Considering its historical, religious values, (the government) has the responsibility to return it to the plaintiff.”
The Japanese temple has demanded the return of the statue. But a South Korean court granted an injunction in February 2013 to suspend its return to Japan following a request by Buseok Temple. Temple officials claim the statue was illegally plundered by Japan. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but I wonder if this will become a new trend with Korean nationalists, trying to steal cultural items from Japan and bring them back to Korea?
This aerial photo, taken on Jan. 26, 2017, shows heavy traffic clogging one side of a highway linking Seoul to the southwestern port city of Mokpo in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, on Jan. 26, 2017, as the annual exodus for the Lunar New Year holiday begins. Known as “Seol,” the Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan. 27-30 this year, is one of the two major traditional Korean holidays. The state-run Korea Transport Institute forecasts that as many as 31.15 million people will travel to their home towns or tourist sites nationwide during the Jan. 26-30 period. (Yonhap)
I have not read this book in question, but I have read The Comfort Women: Sexual Violence and Postcolonial Memory in Korea and Japan, by Sarah Soh and based on facts undoubtedly there were women that voluntarily became prostitutes for the Japanese military. Arguably most were forced into prostitution by Korean brokers who acquired girls sold off by their families or misled women into thinking they were doing other work. This same system was in place even after the Japanese military left and the US military entered South Korea:
Professor Park Yu-ha (C) at Seoul-based Sejong University leaves the Seoul Eastern District Court on Jan. 25, 2017, after the court acquitted her of defaming women who were sexually enslaved by Tokyo during World War II. (Yonhap)
A local court on Wednesday acquitted a South Korean scholar of defaming women who were sexually enslaved by Japan during World War II through her controversial book.
The Seoul Eastern District Court found Park Yu-ha, a professor at Seoul’s Sejong University, not guilty of the charges, saying academic freedom is a basic right guaranteed by the Constitution.
Park was indicted in November 2015 over her book, “Comfort Women of the Empire,” which has been accused by victims and some civic groups of disputing the coerciveness of the “comfort women” system.
Prosecutors said Park defamed victims by describing some of them as “voluntary prostitutes” or “comrades” of Japanese soldiers.
“The opinion rolled out in the defendant’s book can raise criticism, objection and could also be abused by those who deny the coerciveness of the comfort women system. But it is, in any case, a matter of value judgment that goes over the authority or ability that can be executed by the court under the procedures of criminal cases,” the court said. [Yonhap]
I am surprised it took this long for the popular Pokemon Go game to come to Korea:
Popular augmented reality (AR) game “Pokemon Go” was officially released in South Korea on Tuesday, six months after becoming a global hit with millions of downloads.
Users can download the Pokemon Go official application from Google Play store and Apple’s App store, and it is available in Korean.
Pokemon Go didn’t work in most parts of South Korea as the AR game uses data from Google’s mapping service, which is restricted by the Seoul government due to security concerns.
However, tens of thousands of local users have downloaded the mobile game since its launch in the United States in July 2016.
Game developer Niantic Inc. said that it will hold a press conference later on Tuesday. [Yonhap]
This is pretty significant that the US, ROK and Japanese Navies continue to do this interoperability missile defense exercises. Hopefully a new administration in the ROK does not stop ROK participation in the future:
The United States, South Korea and Japan kicked off naval missile-defense drills Friday, joining forces to counter the growing threat from North Korea.
The three-day exercise began amid fears that the North may test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile or stage another provocation in connection with Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony on Friday.
The Yokosuka, Japan-based guided-missile destroyer USS Stethem, Japan’s JDS Kirishima and South Korea’s Sejong the Great participated in missile detection and tracking drills in the waters off the divided peninsula and Japan. [Stars & Stripes]
South Korean actress Lee Young-ae, who stars in the new drama “Saimdang, Memoir of Colors,” poses during a publicity event in Seoul on Jan. 24, 2017. The first episode of the drama will be aired by the SBS TV network on Jan. 26. (Yonhap)
It looks like the impeachment ruling by the ROK Constitutional Court will be issued by March 13th. If the impeachment is confirmed a new election will happen up to 60 days later which means early May could see the next Presidential election happen:
Park Han-chul, Constitutional Court chief justice
Constitutional Court President Park Han-chul said Wednesday that the court should make a ruling on President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment by March 13.
The call for a speedier decision reflects concerns that the impeachment trial might not be completed as two out of nine justices are soon to retire. [Korea Times]
President Park’s association with Choi Soon-sil has long been known and I think a lot of people outside her administration suspected Choi was up to no good. However, I don’t think this scandal would have blown up the way it has if it wasn’t for the tablet computer found in Choi’s old office by JTBC News. In my opinion that tablet computer that confirmed what a lot people already believed is really what caused this scandal, not some gigantic left wing conspiracy:
President Park Geun-hye called the massive corruption scandal involving her and her confidant Choi Soon-sil a “huge mountain heaped up with lies” in an interview Wednesday.
It was her first interview with the media since she was impeached over the influence-peddling scandal Dec. 9. To defend herself, the President opted for a podcast program, “Jeong Kyu-jae TV” operated by the chief editor of the Korea Economic Daily, a conservative website, instead of major newspapers or broadcasters.
In the one-hour interview, Park said she felt that the scandal had been plotted for a long time. “It seems the ongoing things are not accidental,” she said. But when asked whether she thought specific figures might have plotted it, she declined to comment.
She also denied all allegations and rumors surrounding her, such as she shared an economic interest with Choi, that she frequently used propofol, and that she had an affair with her former aide Chung Yoon-hoi, Choi’s ex-husband.
“The series of nonsense show how misunderstanding, fiction and lies are piled up,” she said. “Such huge lies show how weak the grounds for my impeachment were.”
Park said Choi was a longtime friend who helped her, but she came to know many new things about her as the scandal emerged, implying she did not know _ and was not involved in _ Choi’s alleged corruption. [Korea Times via a reader tip]
prostitutes for the Japanese military. Arguably most were forced into prostitution by Korean brokers who acquired girls sold off by their families or misled women into thinking they were doing other work. This same system was in place even after the Japanese military left and 
