#ROK stages Nation Wide civil defense drillhttp://t.co/9nQcK9tF6h

— Nathan J Hunt (@ISNJH) August 19, 2015

Soldiers of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission give a salute during a memorial at the Joint Security Area in the truce village of Panmunjom on Aug. 18, 2015, to pay homage to the two U.S. military officers, who were axed to death by North Korean soldiers at the village in 1976. (Yonhap)

Here is another one of those reports that a lot of resources is spent on to confirm the obvious:

When Lee Tae-ho, a social worker at the National Child Protection Agency, last year visited a 7-year-old at his home upon request from his school teacher, nothing seemed too out of place at first.

“My mother drinks a lot of water when she’s eating,” the child told him about his single mother.

It didn’t take long for Lee to realize that the “water” was in fact the colorless Korean alcoholic beverage soju.

Unemployed and depressed since her bitter divorce, the mother would drink about 20 bottles of soju a week, and would fail to provide basic care for her young children. The boy and his sister, 6, would skip dinner most days. A number of times, the suicidal mother asked them if it “would be better if they all killed themselves together.”

As a social worker working for a state-run agency, Lee said he has personally witnessed many domestic violence abusers with drinking problems.

Lee’s observation was demonstrated in a recent study, which found a significant connection between alcohol abuse and domestic and sexual violence in South Korea.

The scholarly article from Dongguk University, which surveyed 4,851 arrested individuals for violent crimes last year, showed that 73.1 percent of the domestic violence abusers and 67.9 percent of sex offenders committed their offenses while under the influence of alcohol.  [Korea Herald]

You can read more at the link, but one thing of interest in the report is that the researchers recommend that the system of giving more lenient punishment for crimes in Korea for being drunk needs to end.  The researchers believe that people with a history of drinking problems should instead get heavier punishments.

Anonymous Joe writing over at the Marmot’s Hole thinks so:

My immediate, one word reaction to Park’s statement is dismay.

Park followed the formula of her previous year’s address and that of her predecessor by ignoring America’s contributions, only crediting the “selfless struggle” of  “the Korean people” who “at last achieved the liberation of their fatherland.”  She offered not even a hint that America and 8 million American soldiers actually did the liberating in the Korean people’s  selfless struggle for liberation.

(Here’s Park’s sole reference to America, Americans, or the United States:  “As the recent normalization of ties between the United States and Cuba and the Iranian nuclear deal attest, the international community is in the midst of a sweeping tide of change and cooperation.  But North Korea is treading the opposite path.”)

Park’s speech with it’s overarching emphasis on the economy rather than liberation, freedom, and democracy had the nuts and bolts of a state of the union address.  Rather than sing to the lofty aspirations of a maturing democratic republic, Park got weighed down by graven consumer goods and electronic gadgets:  “Today, we have become a country producing some of the world’s finest electronic goods, automobiles, steel, ships and petrochemical products, and we stand tall as an economic powerhouse with export figures that are the sixth largest in the world.”

Given that Park had omitted America’s role in Korea’s liberation, she  obviously could not articulate the role that America played in the miracle on the Han.  Apparently, no thanks is necessary.  [Marmot’s Hole]

You can read the whole posting at the link, but yes she should have at least mentioned something about the sacrifice of US servicemembers to defeat Imperial Japan.  With all the complaining about revisionist history taught in Japan it is little things like this that cause Koreans to have little credibility when they do the same thing.  With that all said I am not in the least surprised by Park’s speech.  Like many recent ROK leaders she does not want to appear to be an American lapdog as the North Koreans and the leftists in Korea like to paint conservative ROK politicians.  Likewise I believe many South Koreans do not like to be reminded that their liberation from the Japanese was the result of foreigners and not by themselves.

What does everyone else think, should President Park have included the US’s role in Korea’s liberation in her speech?

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— The Diplomat (@Diplomat_APAC) August 17, 2015

A woman dubbed the ‘McDonald’s Goddess’ for her striking looks has been the cause of a surge of sales at a Taiwan branch of the fast food restaurant.

Wei Han Xu has become an Internet icon after pictures of her, including the one above, were shared online by blogger RainDog.

Photos showed her serving customers and buttoning up her shirt while she stood behind the counter.

Rather than wearing an unflattering work outfit, Xu is seen wearing a short skirt and fierce high-heel shoes as she cleans the counter and serves up Big Macs.

Smitten fans became obsessed with finding out where their McDonald’s goddess worked and they poured into the restaurant once they found out.

Doll-like Xu – who is also known as WeiWei – is fine with the fame, having already appeared on Taiwanese game shows. [Tumblr]

Could you imagine the feminist reaction in the US if a McDonald’s tried to have their workers dress in a maid outfit?

All you keyboard warriors in Korea have fun the next two weeks:

The U.S. and South Korea quietly kicked off their annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise Monday, despite protests and warnings from North Korea.

The annual computer simulation drill is scheduled to run through Aug. 28, with about 50,000 South Korean and 30,000 U.S. troops taking part, according to South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense.

Combined Forces Command described UFG as “a routine and defense-oriented exercise designed to enhance CFC readiness, protect the region and maintain stability on the Korean peninsula.” The exercise is planned months in advance and is not connected to real-world events, it said.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.

https://twitter.com/AskAKorean/status/632645316945141760

A US Army soldier helps to pave a road on October 27, 1952 during the Korean War. [Defense Media]

For all you basketball fans out there, Shaq will be in Korea this week promoting Reebok:

Retired NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal will arrive in Korea on Aug. 19 to promote sportswear giant Reebok and star in a local TV show.

O’Neal, who is a long-term pitchman for Reebok, will appear at a hand-printing event at the brand’s Apgujeong store on Aug. 20 and travel to Busan a day later to celebrate the opening of a new Reebok store.

In Busan, he will be hosted by Seo Jang-hoon, a former basketball star-turned-TV personality, in a talk show and also join Shin Soo-ji, a rhythmic gymnast-turned-professional bowler, to participate in a “fitness challenge” event.

He will also appear in a local TV show, titled “Off to School.” [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.