Japan considering 'comfort women' fund after decades-long dispute with South Korea https://t.co/aE3YDtPvDU pic.twitter.com/RLUgU2OEAW
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) December 26, 2015
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C) talks with a senior official of the North Korean People’s Army during his inspection of actual maneuvers between the Army’s large combined units 526 and 671 in this photo released by the North’s state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper on Dec. 24, 2015. Kim was also quoted as saying, “Practical drills should be conducted so often to cope with the hardest and severest war.” The paper, published by the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, did not report when the photo was taken. (Yonhap)
For some people, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe could apologize and commit seppuku on top of Mt. Namsan and they still would not be happy. It seems to me the outline of this deal to resolve the comfort women issues seems pretty fair:
The landmark agreement between South Korea and Japan to end their dispute over Japan’s wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women has already prompted questions about whether it really is the end.
The two countries’ top diplomats announced the terms of the deal in a press conference Monday, wrapping up 12 rounds of bilateral working-level talks that began in April 2014.
Key features of the agreement included a personal apology from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for his country’s wartime crime, the Japanese government’s admission of responsibility for it and a 1 billion yen contribution to a support fund for victims to be set up by the South Korean government.
While the deal satisfied some of Seoul’s key demands, critics and some victims immediately protested the lack of “legal responsibility” on the part of Japan.
Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said the Japanese government “feels acutely responsible” for the damage it caused to the honor and dignity of many women, with the involvement of the Japanese military during World War II. He did not state whether it is “moral” or “legal” responsibility. [Korea Herald]
You can read the rest at the link.
Instead of complaining about how much money the ROK government spent in 2014 to upgrade its defense capabilities maybe the Hankyoreh should instead complain about how the North Koreans are the ones necessitating defense upgrades in the first place:
Last year, South Korea was the world’s largest importer of weapons, a US government report shows, which is an inevitable result of South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s emphasis on providing a military deterrent to North Korea. This prompts the criticism that, ultimately, the only winners of this policy are the world’s arms manufacturers.
On Dec. 26, the New York Times reported that South Korea had signed arms contracts worth US$7.8 billion in 2014 – more than any other country – citing a report by the US Congressional Research Service (CRS).Around US$7 billion of the weapons purchased by South Korea, which include unmanned surveillance aircraft and transport helicopters, are of American manufacture, the newspaper reported.After South Korea, Iraq purchased US$7.3 billion worth of weapons to strengthen its military after the withdrawal of US forces. Brazil was ranked 3rd on the list, purchasing US$6.5 billion of weaponry, including aircraft made in Sweden. [Hankyoreh]
You can read the rest at the link.
This just goes to show there are many more refugees out there that are not from Syria that need help:
When Kh Too landed on domestic soil Wednesday at Incheon International Airport, one of his first messages to local media was as modest as wishing to “be ordinary.”
For a man who fled Myanmar in 1993 and had spent the past two decades living in a refugee camp, it was perhaps the best he could possibly hope for.
The 43-year-old arrived in Korea in the morning with his wife, five children and a niece as part of the first group of refugees to be resettled here through an initiative led by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
“I feel alive. I deeply thank Korea for inviting us, and for embracing us,” said Kh Too, who only goes by one name, as he took his first step as an F-2 visa holder.
For the next six to 12 months, he and his family will be under care of the Korea Immigration Service and receive job training and Korean-language courses.
Korea on Wednesday became the 29th country in the world and second in Asia after Japan to accept refugees through the Refugee Act, which stipulates that the government accept refugees recommended through the program led by the UNHCR.
The Justice Ministry said in April that it would accommodate 30 refugees annually in the next three years as part of a pilot program. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read the rest at the link.
Ex-Chinese leaders from Jiang Zemin to Hu Jintao are prohibited from travelling abroad. @isaacstonefish explains. https://t.co/1GQ2hrsxuP
— Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) December 26, 2015
President Park Geun-hye (front), wearing a military uniform, visits an observatory at a front-line Army unit in Yeoncheon, just south of the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, on Dec. 24, 2015, to check up on the military’s preparedness against North Korea’s possible provocations. (Yonhap)
That is at least what a Seoul court ruled earlier this week in a bribery case involving two teachers in Seoul:
A Seoul court on Wednesday ruled in favor of two private school teachers who accepted money and gifts from the parents of their students.
The teachers, who work at Gyeseong Elementary School, were both charged with taking bribes but later acquitted by the Seoul Central District Court.
The ruling prompted an angry response from those in the education circle, with Kim Hyung-nam, the inspector of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, calling the decision “embarrassing.”
One of the teachers, surnamed Shin, 48, stood accused of taking cash, gift certificates and gifts worth a total of 4.6 million won ($3,930) from two parents over multiple occasions when he taught fourth-grade last year.
The other, surnamed Kim, 45, was accused of accepting 4 million won as well as valuables from one parent.
The court ruled Wednesday that while Shin had accepted the money and gifts, those actions did not amount to bribe-taking.
He was asked to do general favors for the students, the court said, but did not carry out unlawful favors in return for compensation. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read the rest at the link.
All the more reason why I have no urge to ever holiday in the Philippines:
Investigators returned from the Philippines on Friday after looking into the recent shooting death of a South Korean man, adding they have found key evidence to narrow down the suspects.
A 57-year-old South Korean, identified only by his surname Cho, was shot to death by four unidentified, armed assailants on Sunday at his house in Batangas, some 100km south of Manila.
The incident raised the number of South Koreans killed in the Southeast Asian country to 11 this year. [Yonhap]
You can read the rest at the link.
Liam Neeson Donates Symbolic Sum for Korean Reunification – https://t.co/WaUuMP1j9e
— Korea Noodles (@Korea_Noodles) December 25, 2015
