The next leg of Kim Jong Il’s secretive China trip appears to be Beijing:
Kim reportedly boarded his special armored train and left Shenzen, Guangzhou’s sister city in Guangdong Province, at around 10 p.m. on Sunday. His exact trajectory was unknown, but Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing Takungpao and Wenweipo dailies reported he was heading toward Beijing. The fastest train route from Guangzhou to Beijing is by way of the Jing-Guang railway, which takes around 22 hours to cover a distance of 2,324 km. Add another two hours from Shenzen to Guangzhou, and the reclusive leader’s train should arrive in Beijing around 10 p.m. on Monday.
But some observers say the trip is unlikely to be that swift even if Kim heads straight for Beijing all engines blazing, since his train is armored with steel plates and thus only makes around 80 km/h. Meanwhile, rumors that the North Korean leader is on his way to Shanghai now look improbable since it takes 12 hours from Shenzen to Shanghai by train but there were no signs of Kim as of late Monday afternoon.
Korean police have busted a gang of organ brokers led by none other than a minister:
One of the arrested brokers, a minister identified by his family name Koh, ran an internet site for arranging organ transplant tours to China by which he collected several million won per person from patients desperate for the transplants, the police said. Five others who collaborated with Koh were booked without detention.
It was uncovered that Koh and his collaborators earned W120 million (US$120,000) from 28 liver cancer patients. These patients paid between W39 and W53 million for the operations along with W10 million for “purchasing†livers that were harvested from Chinese people, the police said.
Among those patients who received transplant operations in China, six died during or after the operations, a policeman said. These terminally ill patients with liver cancer have chosen to go to China for organ transplants due to the scarcity of viable liver donors in Korea, but the problem is that they end up suffering from complications caused by the ill-equipped medical facilities in China, he added.
It is sickening to me that someone in a position of trust such as a minister would use their position to manipulate others in order to make money for themselves. Hopefully this guy spends a long time in jail.
Just when you thought things couldn’t get stranger in the Dr. Hwang case, now fellow cloning hoaxers and the alien loving Raelian cult has offered Dr. Hwang a job:
The U.S. biotech firm Clonaid has sprung to the rescue of the embattled cloning scientist Hwang Woo-sook with an offer to join a research partnership at its secret research facility. Clonaid was founded by the Raelian Movement, a cult-like religious group that maintains humans were created by aliens and claims to have cloned a human being. The company is represented by French scientist Dr. Brigitte Boisselier.
A press release from the company on Monday said Boisselier has written to Hwang to outline the proposal. Boisselier said she believed Hwang’s discoveries to be original and that groups opposing stem cell research such as the Catholic Church conspired to undermine Hwang by making it appear as though the scientist concocted his data. She said he had become a victim of a conservative anti-scientific faction, according to the press release.
Ah yes, blame the Catholics. That is about as original as blaming the Americans for someone elses trangressions. Why can’t the kooks just admit Hwang lied and move on?
How come I have a hard time believing that this will be a reality by 2010?:
By the 2010s, Korea is expecting to see robots assisting police and the military, patrolling the neighborhoods and going on recon missions on the battlefield.
The Center for Intelligent Robots on Monday said the state-backed agency plans to check the feasibility of security robots by convening a 40-member planning committee late this week.
“If the robots prove to be viable technically and commercially, we will be able to begin developing them late next year,” said Lee Ho-gil, head of the center.
When completed, the outdoor security robots will be able to make their night watch rounds and even chase criminals, according to Lee.
The government also seeks to build combat robots. They will take the shape of a dog or a horse, with six or eight legs or wheels.
I wonder if they will just roll around all day with their lights flashing like the current police force?
Not that this matters much in 2ID where you can’t own a car, but for all of you living the good life south of Area 1; things have gotten even better for you with AAFES gas prices making a steep decline:
Motorists in South Korea and Guam this month are paying 16 cents less per gallon at the pumps than they did in December because of lower December retail prices in the States. Regular unleaded costs $2.236 a gallon in South Korea; on Guam, it’s $2.269. In November, AAFES charged $2.665 a gallon in South Korea for regular unleaded and $2.699 in Guam.
The Camp Red Cloud sergeant convicted for a false marriage proposal in exchange for sex has now filed an appeal to his 10 month jail sentence:
A married U.S. soldier sentenced last week to 10 months in South Korean prison in connection with an adulterous relationship appealed the sentence Friday, his lawyer and U.S. military officials confirmed.
(…)
“He is under the watchful eye and supervision of his command,†said Maj. Karl Ivey. Ivey confirmed that Han had submitted an appeal.
Officials at Uijeongbu District Court said the appeals process could take up to two months.
Apparently the sergeant is going to claim that he didn’t know the false marriage proposal law existed in South Korea:
During the sentencing, the judge acknowledged that the crime of sexual intercourse under the pretense of marriage exists in South Korea but not America.
Still, the judge considered that Han grew up in South Korea, lied to his girlfriend about his marriage and his rank, and even hired a person to portray his father when he met his girlfriend’s parents.
Han, a U.S. citizen, moved to the States during high school and joined the U.S. Army in 2000.
I don’t think it matters if he knew about the law or not, he still broke the law and was held accountable for it in a Korean court per the SOFA agreement. The only way I see this guy not doing jail time is if he makes a compensation payment to the victim, which from all that I have seen, he has not done.
Anyone that has spent lots of time in 2ID should be able to verify the fact of the amazing development and construction currently happening in northern Kyongi province near the DMZ:
Ten kilometers from the heavily mined and guarded zone that divides North Korea from South Korea, workers at LG.Philips LCD are finishing a $5 billion plant that will produce liquid crystal display screens.
Nearby, apartment buildings are on the rise. And in the shadow of an old hilltop machine-gun nest, a cheery blue and red billboard announces that English Village, a new language teaching theme park, will open in March.
For two generations, the about 50 kilometers, or 30 miles, between the demilitarized zone and Seoul were intentionally kept sparsely developed, a kind of buffer zone against a North Korean attack. But the political détente between the two countries is bearing economic fruit as South Korea’s economic expansion washes away psychological barriers and now laps at the southern edge of the long-feared DMZ.
The development in the 2ID area is really amazing for those who have spent enough time in the area to appreciate it. The area had long been a back water of the country, but is now quickly becoming more and more developed. If you don’t believe it, check out the affluent Ilsan area north of Seoul. The new apartments, shopping malls, and parks near the DMZ are really amazing.
The construction in Uijongbu and Dongducheon are almost as equally impressive. Heck there is even an amusement park near the DMZ now. I wouldn’t be surprised if a Starbucks opened at the JSA next.
Nomad provides a great link to a 60 Minutes report that airs on January 15th that includes such gems as this North Korean general telling Dan Rather that they will nuke the US if the Americans invade North Korea:
“Tell the American people that you met the general. If the United States invades our country and starts a war, the People’s Army will fight to the death and defend ourselves, taking appropriate revenge,†says Gen. Bok. Does the general think that the United States might attack North Korea? “We firmly believe that the United States will carry out its policies on our country, even if they have to use military means,†Gen. Bok tells Rather. “What we can say to you definitely right now is that we currently have nuclear weapons,†he threatens.
Strangely enough, an American has been post-humanously honored with a North Korean medal:
North Korea has awarded a medal for the first time to an American — the late leader of a U.S.-based aid group — for his efforts to help the communist state fight hunger and poverty, a news report said.
The North has posthumously awarded its friendship medal to Ellsworth Culver, co-founder of the international aid organization Mercy Corps, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported Sunday, citing Minjok Tongshin, a Los Angeles-based Korean community newspaper.
Culver is the first U.S. citizen to receive a medal from North Korea, Yonhap said. The two countries, which fought in the 1950-53 Korean War, have been in a standoff since 2002 over Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions.
North Korean U.N. diplomat Han Song-ryol delivered the medal to Culver’s widow at a ceremony Tuesday in Portland, Ore., where the aid group is headquartered, Yonhap said.
“The deceased is one of pioneers who made efforts achieve a new development of North Korea-U.S. relations during his life,” Han was quoted as saying.
Culver, who died in August at age 78, led the charity’s efforts to provide the North with food and medical supplies. Through more than 20 visits to the communist state, he helped foster the agency’s “extraordinary rapport with North Korean officialdom,” the agency’s Web site said.
I’m sure the North Korean Army appreciates all of the free food and medical supplies.
Here is another Dokto related story for all you Dokto watchers out there, you know who you are. These two isolated and desolate rocks in the middle of the East Sea (Sea of Japan) has caused so much debate, hatred, and comedy between Japan and Korea that I just feel obligated to record this silliness for future generations to marvel at.
The latest silliness to come out of the Dokto issue I saw on Occidentalism’s site is the release of official “I Love Dokto” underwear:
This underwear should sell like hotcakes to all the people that bought these T-shirts:
If you haven’t had enough Dokto you can now even buy a Japanese language calendar featuring Dokto:
