A viral story right now on social media is of an Asian Uber driver at LAX who had a racist insult told to him by a passenger and a Korean-American woman came to his aid:
As part of Uber’s safety health measure amid the COVID-19 pandemic, all riders must sit in the back seat of an Uber ride and open the windows for ventilation. Meanwhile, the maximum occupancy of UberX has also been reduced from four to three. “My brother told him that due to COVID, he couldn’t sit in the front seat. The guy got out, slammed the door and yelled at my brother,” the driver’s sister wrote.“My brother informed him that he will just cancel the trip, so the guy wouldn’t get charged. He started yelling more and said, ‘You Asian Sh*t. You probably don’t have papers to be here!’” While some social media accounts claim to have identified the man, they remain unconfirmed at this time. Hwang was only observing the situation after hearing the passenger, who was with two boys, slam the driver’s door. However, she immediately came to the driver’s aid when she heard the man hurl xenophobic remarks.
Yahoo News
You can read more at the link, but but ultimately this is much to do about nothing other than this passenger is a real a-hole.
If you thought the traffic in central Seoul was bad enough, well it has recently gotten even worse:
Seoul City has started construction to widen Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul by turning part of an adjacent thoroughfare into a pedestrian-only space.
Korea Times
The capital’s most ambitious renovation project began on March 6, aiming to expand the square, which has been criticized for being pedestrian-unfriendly by sitting in the middle of the busy Sejong-daero thoroughfare.
You can read more at the link, but this all the more reason to use the subway in Seoul.
Increasingly more foreigners are choosing to not travel to China for fear of being detained:
The dramatic detention of a handful of foreigners in recent years has instilled a deep fear in some people, especially those with politically adjacent occupations. As President Xi breeds a culture of nationalism and forges increasingly hostile relations with Western governments, some fear that if a diplomatic spat between their government and Beijing occurred while they were in China they could become a target.
CNN
You can read more at the link, but depending on ones occupation or viewpoints people should legitimately be concerned about being detained.
This is essentially the deal the ROK always wanted to sign with the US, but the Trump administration would not agree to:
South Korea will increase the amount if pays to support U.S. troops on the peninsula by 13.9%, the country’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday following agreement on a six-year cost-sharing deal.
South Korea will pay $1.03 billion this year, up from $910 million in 2019, to support 28,500 U.S. service members there, according to a ministry statement.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link, but I always said this would be an easy win for the Biden administration especially when it is a deal the ROK always wanted.
