The massive protests by Korean teachers has less to do with the recent teacher suicides and more to do with wanting to get the child abuse law changed. None of the teacher suicides has been linked to the child abuse law, but the activists are creating the impression the law caused the suicide to get it changed:

On Saturday, around 200,000 teachers from around the country gathered in Seoul’s Yeouido near the National Assembly to commemorate the recent deaths of teachers and to call for the better protection of their rights.

It is very rare for teachers to stage such a large rally on their own without the involvement of labor unions.

The Education Ministry maintains that any teacher taking a leave of absence to join the collective action will be dealt with sternly in accordance with the law and principles. 

Education Minister Lee Ju-ho on Sunday asked for teachers to refrain from taking a leave of absence to attend the planned mass rally while pledging to take measures to enhance their rights and authority in the classroom.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but what is going on is that a change in the child abuse law caused any teacher accused of abuse to be suspended. This allowed parents that maybe do not like a teacher to claim abuse of their child to get the teacher suspended until cleared of the abuse allegations. Some of these suspension have lasted an entire year. This has caused teachers to not inflict discipline in classrooms because of fears of being accused of child abuse.

I hope the Russians bring along a tugboat to help the North Korean ships keep up:

Kim Kyou-hyun (C, back), chief of the National Intelligence Service, attends a plenary session of the intelligence committee at the National Assembly in Seoul on Sept. 4, 2023. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

Russia proposed conducting three-way naval exercises with North Korea and China when Moscow’s defense minister held a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in late July, South Korea’s intelligence agency was quoted as saying Monday.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made the proposal when he held a one-on-one meeting with the North’s leader, National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Kim Kyou-hyun said during a close-door briefing to the parliamentary intelligence committee, according to Rep. Yoo Sang-bum of the ruling People Power Party.

Shoigu visited the North from July 25-27.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This year will be a longer than normal Chuseok season for Koreans:

President Yoon Suk Yeol (3rd from L) speaks during a regular meeting on the economy and public livelihood issues at the presidential office in Seoul on Aug. 31, 2023. (Yonhap)

President Yoon Suk Yeol said Thursday the government will designate Oct. 2 a temporary holiday to create a six-day extended break from Chuseok and help boost domestic tourism and the economy.

Yoon made the remark while presiding over a regular meeting on the economy and public livelihood issues, saying the government will also distribute 600,000 hotel discount coupons and waive expressway tolls during the holiday period.

This year’s Chuseok fall harvest holiday will run from Sept. 28 to Oct. 1, which means the temporary holiday will be a bridge to Oct. 3 National Foundation Day, another public holiday.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section.

It will be interesting to see how hard the Democratic Party of Korea fights this move:

The Korea Military Academy said Thursday it will remove the bust of revered independence fighter Hong Beom-do from its grounds following a heated debate over the defense ministry’s push for the relocation.

The decision came as the ministry has recently been considering relocating the busts of Hong from the academy and its headquarters, both in Seoul, citing his past record of collaborating with Soviet communist forces.

“By considering the academy’s identity and honoring (Hong) as an independence fighter, the bust of General Hong Beom-do will be relocated to an appropriate location outside the academy, where his independence movement achievements can be well displayed,” the academy said in a statement.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is a horrible murder over in Gimhae:

A man was arrested on Tuesday after a failed attempt to take his own life after killing his two children.

Gimhae Jungbu Police Station announced Tuesday that a man in his 50s is being investigated on charges of murdering his two children on a hill in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province.

According to the police, the man is suspected of murdering his two children — his 17-year-old daughter and 16-year-old son — in his vehicle.

The daughter’s teacher reported the teenager’s absence from school, and the police found the man at the crime scene at 12:20 p.m. the previous day by tracking the location of his mobile phone. They arrested him at 3:07 p.m.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

It seems eating dog meat is close to being eradicated in South Korea as it is. In the past twenty years it has become hard to even find restaurants that serve it:

First lady Kim Keon Hee said she would work with animal activists until the dog meat industry was eradicated in Korea, continuing her campaign to promote awareness of animal rights.

“We all know how we came forward today with a heart filled with sadness and urgency. Here, all of you are giving everything to save these small lives, but there are animals out there dying so cruelly and unbearably that it’s truly hard to watch,” she said as she appeared at a press conference held by local animal rights activists on Wednesday.

“I will become friends with these individuals and work tirelessly until the consumption of dog meat is banned. I promise,” she said.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Just another example of how COVID has become normalized:

As South Korea reclassifies COVID-19 to the same category as the seasonal flu starting Thursday, coronavirus tests will still be available, but will no longer be free of charge to everyone, health authorities said Wednesday.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency has announced that COVID-19 will go down from class 2 to class 4, the lowest infectious disease category, bringing changes to state policies that have provided COVID-19 testing for free and discounted medical benefits for more than three years.

Prior to the planned reclassification, the government covered the complete expense of the rapid antigen test for individuals with symptoms at local clinics. People only paid a medical examination fee for doctors ranging from 4,000 won to 6,000 won ($3-4.5). However, after COVID-19’s reclassification to class 4, most people — with the exception of high-risk individuals — must pay for the entire cost of the RAT, ranging from 20,000 won to 50,000 won per test from Thursday.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.