Here is a good safety tip for those who plan to conduct a exorcism any time soon, make sure the person you plan to exorcise has the ability to breathe:
Picture of the hotel where the victim was found via the BBC.
A 41-year-old Korean woman was found dead in a guest room of a hotel in Frankfurt last week, the victim of a supposed exorcism performed by her own family members.
German prosecutors said on Thursday five Koreans, including the dead woman’s teenage son, were arrested at the scene for suspected murder.
Police found the woman’s body tied to a bed in a guest room at the Frankfurt Hotel InterContinental on Dec. 5.
She had been beaten repeatedly on her chest and stomach over a two-hour period and finally suffocated to death, according to prosecutors.
The accused were mostly relatives of the victim. They included her 15-year-old son, a 44-year-old relative and her 21-year-old son and 19-year-old daughter, and an unrelated boy aged 15.
The family members had allegedly been trying to drive a demon from the woman, believing her to be possessed.
Her mouth had been gagged with a towel to stifle screams and a cloth-covered coat hanger was pushed down her throat.
The woman died from suffocation as a result of massive chest compression, as well as trauma to her neck, according to prosecutors. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
It seems to me this diplomatic complaint is only going to feed the perception of this guy being a martyr for bombing the Yasukuni Shrine which will only encourage other people looking for attention to do the same thing:
The Foreign Ministry said Thursday it has lodged a strong complaint with Japan over Japanese media outlets’ reports that made public the identity of a South Korean man allegedly involved in a small explosion at a restroom at a war shrine in Tokyo.
“Through a diplomatic channel, the government filed a complaint with Tokyo earlier in the day over Japanese media’s coverage of the incident, as they revealed his identity, photo and name,” ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck told reporters.
Japanese media reported that police arrested the 27-year-old man, identified only by his surname Chon, on Wednesday in connection with the explosion in a public restroom at the Yasukuni Shrine last month that caused no major damage.
He was arrested shortly after voluntarily returning to Tokyo by plane on Wednesday. [Yonhap]
If this guy did cause the explosion at the Yasukuni Shrine, maybe he voluntarily went back to Japan to be arrested to become some sort of martyr in the eyes of the Korean public?:
In this Monday, Nov. 23, 2015 file photo, a police officer stands guard Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo following an explosion in its public restroom. Police in Tokyo have arrested a South Korean man suspected of causing an explosion last month at the controversial shrine in Tokyo that honors Japanese war dead. The 27-year-old Jeon Chang-han was arrested Wednesday, Dec. 9 after he returned to Tokyo from South Korea for voluntary questioning, police officials said. KOJI SASAHARA/AP PHOTO, FILE
Police in Tokyo have arrested a South Korean man suspected of causing an explosion last month in a public restroom at a controversial shrine in Tokyo that honors Japanese war dead.
The 27-year-old Jeon Chang-han was arrested Wednesday after he returned to Tokyo from South Korea for voluntary questioning, police officials said.
No one was injured in the Nov. 23 explosion at the Yasukuni shrine. Police earlier said the suspect was identified from close-circuit TV and had left Japan after the blast. [Stars & Stripes]
Han Sang-gyun (L), chief of an umbrella union, walks out with Ven. Dobeop from a building at Jogye Temple in Seoul on Dec, 10, 2015, to turn himself in to the police. Han has been taking shelter at the temple since Nov. 16 after police sought to arrest him on suspicion of organizing a mass rally on Nov. 14 that turned violent. The police were about to force their way into the temple to arrest Han, but after talks with Jogye officials, Han decided to end his refuge. (Yonhap)
It looks like the North Koreans are again exaggerating their capabilities. His comments though are probably more for domestic consumption than something that people internationally are supposed to take seriously:
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appeared on Thursday to claim his country has developed a hydrogen bomb, a step up from the less powerful atomic bomb, but outside experts were skeptical.
Kim made the comments as he toured the Phyongchon Revolutionary Site, which marks the feats of his father who died in 2011 and his grandfather, state founder and eternal president, Kim Il Sung, the official KCNA news agency said.
The work of Kim Il Sung “turned the DPRK into a powerful nuclear weapons state ready to detonate a self-reliant A-bomb and H-bomb to reliably defend its sovereignty and the dignity of the nation,” KCNA quoted Kim Jong Un as saying.
DPRK are the initials of the isolated North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. A hydrogen bomb, also known as a thermonuclear bomb, uses more advanced technology to produce a significantly more powerful blast than an atomic bomb.
North Korea conducted underground tests to set off nuclear devices in 2006, 2009 and 2013, for which it has been subject to U.N. Security Council sanctions banning trade and financing activities that aid its weapons program.
An official at South Korea’s intelligence agency told Yonhap news agency there was no evidence that the North had hydrogen bomb capacity, and believed Kim was speaking rhetorically. [Reuters]
Instead of going to the Army to solve their concussion problem, the easiest thing the NFL could do is get rid of helmets. If players were not wearing helmets they would not lead with their head as much and use it as a weapon against opposing players. It would be interesting research to see what the concussion rate is between NFL players and professional rugby players who do not wear helmets:
The NFL’s quest to become safer has extended to an Army lab at Aberdeen Proving Ground, where rubbery, fluid-filled straps tether a crash test dummy’s football helmet to its body. While they allow turning of the head, the straps tighten automatically under jarring blows to minimize violent head whips.
Designed by Army Research Laboratory scientists, the “smart” strap system was one of three recent winners of an open competition for funding to develop new approaches to reduce brain injuries to players.
Concussions are a billion-dollar problem for the league as a new feature film spotlights the issue and raises questions about how the NFL is trying to tackle a matter that could threaten the sport’s future. [The Baltimore Sun]
When the Lee Jung-hee Scandal broke I thought it seemed strange and sure enough it was all as expected a hoax. This just shows how these campaigns passed around on social media I have little faith in because they are mostly not true and this scandal is just another example:
As we know now, this was all a hoax. The monstrous former husband, who was supposedly blocking the police investigation because he was so well-connected with powerful people, was no more than an old pizza delivery man living in a crappy studio apartment. Lee led to the journalists to a rural village, claiming that her perpetrators lived there–not just one or two of the perpetrators, but according to Lee, the whole village was a sex colony that raped her and her sons. (But why would these allegedly rich and powerful men who assaulted her and her sons live in a crappy rural village?) The police did investigate the former husband when Lee initially claimed sexual assault to the police. After four months of investigation, the police did not find any nefarious orgy picture or video, nor did they find any sign of drug use from the former husband.
The real story was simpler and made much more sense. Lee and the former husband were indeed married, and were in the process of divorce. The former husband did beat Lee and the children, which resulted in a favorable divorce for Lee. It was when the husband appealed the decision by the divorce court that Lee began claiming sexual assault. Her story fell apart as soon as the more serious Korean media began their investigation. Earlier this month, Lee was arrested on the charges of malicious litigation and child abuse; Lee’s children were separated from their mother and were placed in protective services. [Ask A Korean]
You can read more of Ask A Korean’s take on this issue at the link which I agree with.
An eagle flies in the air over the western part of the Demilitarized Zone, which separates the two Koreas, bordering Yeoncheon, north of Seoul, on Dec. 4, 2015. The migratory bird, designated as Natural Treasure No. 243 in South Korea, spends the winter at the DMZ every year. (Yonhap)
