This plan would be disastrous to the various parks and green space around Seoul if approved:
In this photo, taken on July 15, 2020, Land Minister Kim Hyun-mee speaks at a meeting with lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party in charge of transportation policies at a National Assembly building in western Seoul.
South Korea is considering opening up greenbelt zones in the Seoul metropolitan area to make more land available for housing as part of efforts to help resolve the country’s housing supply shortage in the densely populated area, the transport ministry said Wednesday.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said it has formed a task force with the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Seoul city, Gyeonggi and Incheon regional governments to discuss ways to supply more homes in the capital city and adjacent areas.
In less than a week, the government has changed its stance toward easing the construction ban in the development restriction areas designated by the country to resolve housing shortage problems.
A portrait of the late Paik Sun-yup, a famous Korean War hero and South Korea’s first four-star general, is placed on a memorial altar set up at the Asan Medical Center in Seoul, Saturday. Paik passed away at the age 99 the previous day. Yonhap
The death of Paik Sun-yup, a Korean War hero and South Korea’s first four-star general, has brought an ideological controversy to the political and civic arenas over where he should be buried due to his record of service in the Japanese Army during Japan’s colonial rule of Korea (1910-45).
While he has been highly recognized as a war hero by the South Korean and U.S. militaries, and his contributions during the war entitled him to be buried in a national cemetery, opponents claim he doesn’t deserve the honor due to his alleged pro-Japanese activities.
After Paik passed away, Friday, at the age of 99, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs and the South Korean Army said the next day that they decided to have his body buried at a graveyard for former generals at Daejeon National Cemetery, at the request of the bereaved family.
According to the relevant law, the nation’s first four-star general is fully entitled to be buried in the cemetery.
But some liberal politicians and civic groups are claiming he should not be buried there, calling him a pro-Japanese collaborator.
In 1941 during Japan’s colonial rule of Korea, he became an officer of the Manchukuo Imperial Army. Manchukuo was a puppet state set up by Japan in Manchuria. According to the Center for Historical Truth and Justice, the army fought against Korean independence fighters. In 2009, he was included on a list of pro-Japanese collaborators issued by a presidential truth-finding committee.
You can read more at the link, but General Paik has denied ever hunting down Korean guerrillas during his service in the Manchukuo Imperial Army. Additionally this truth-finding committee was operated by the Korean left to go after conservatives and the U.S. military during the Roh Moo-hyun years. ROK Heads may remember this was the same group who attacked the U.S. military for the fraudulent massacre at No Gun Ri that they could find no physical evidence to support. Any findings from this group are bias and should be suspect.
I continue to maintain that if the Korean left prevents General Paik from being buried in the National Cemetery then an offer should be made for him to be interred in the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Busan. There I believe he would be properly recognized for his contributions during the Korean War and to the nation of South Korea.
Paying tribute to Korean War hero Citizens wait in line to pay tribute at the memorial altar for the country’s most renowned Korean War hero, Paik Sun-yup, at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul on July 14, 2020, one day ahead of his funeral. Paik, South Korea’s first four-star general, died on July 10 at age 99. (Yonhap)
At least there was no tragic ending to this missing servicemember case:
This handout from the U.S. Air Force shows Staff Sgt. Tristin Blake Jarvis, an Osan Air Base airman who went missing July 9, 2020.
A U.S. airman who went missing last week returned safely to Osan Air Base on Tuesday nearly a week after he was reported absent from his unit, the military said.
The Air Force launched a search for Staff Sgt. Tristin Blake Jarvis, 26, of the 51st Force Support Squadron on July 9, saying he was last seen in the vicinity of the Osan Fitness Center the day before, according to the 51st Fighter Wing.
It looks like South Korea may end up fining TikTok, not for leaking user information to the Chinese government, but instead not getting permission from the parents of minor to use the app:
Korea is moving to join the ongoing boycott of Chinese video app TikTok, which has received criticism from countries including India and the United States over alleged mishandling of users’ personal information, according to a government official Monday.
An official of the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) said the country’s top telecom regulator recently completed an investigation into TikTok over suspicions that the internationally popular social media platform has sent user data to the Chinese government.
The KCC also alleged that TikTok has not obtained the consent of legal representatives of users in Korea under 14 years old.
“We will hold a meeting about whether to impose a fine on TikTok on Wednesday (June 15), and the results will be announced the same day,” an official in the KCC’s personal data infringement department told The Korea Times.
You can read more at the link, but people just need to understand that if they use TikTok they are allowing their personal information from their phone and user history to be compiled by the Chinese government.
It doesn’t take an expert to know that the cancellation of the US-ROK military exercise will not motivate North Korea to want to discuss denuclearization when they have no intention to denuclearize:
U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Robert Abrams, second from right, inspects an artillery drill at Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in Paju, Gyeonggi Province in this Oct. 23, 2019 photo. / Korea Times file
Amid growing speculation that joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States are likely to be called off in a bid to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and appease North Korea, diplomatic experts believe a cancellation as an olive branch to Pyongyang is not a good idea, saying there will be no “reciprocity” from the isolated country.
Currently, the government is in a quandary over whether to cancel the annual drills as the COVID-19 pandemic shows no sign of abating. The exercises will bring hundreds of American troops here, raising concerns over possible new infections.
In addition, further deepening Seoul’s calculations is the possibility of military retaliation from the Kim Jong-un regime, as the totalitarian state describes the exercises as hostile action by the U.S. against the North.
The government also wants the exercises to be focused on assessing the Korean military’s relevant capabilities on its way to regaining wartime operational control (OPCON) from the U.S. by 2022. Either a delay or a cancellation of the drills could disrupt the timetable for that.
“If the military exercises are canceled or postponed, it is possible North Korea will relent and agree to an eventual working level meeting, in response to recent U.S.-South Korea requests to resume negotiations. I doubt, however, that the cancellation or postponement of the exercises will motivate the North to resume working-level negotiations, given that it has refused to meet with the U.S. or ROK since late 2019,” Joseph DeTrani, a former U.S. special envoy to the six-party talks, told The Korea Times, referring to South Korea by its formal name, the Republic of Korea.
A road in Sancheong, South Gyeongsang Province, is closed to traffic on July 13, 2020, after being hit by a landslide caused by heavy rain, in this photo provided by the provincial government.(Yonhap)
It seems the ruling Democratic Party in Korea is just hoping that the sexual misconduct allegations against Mayor Park Won-soon will just go away with his death:
The United Future Party’s interim leader Kim Chong-in (C) speaks during a party meeting on July 13, 2020. (Yonhap)
On the funeral day of late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon on Monday, the main opposition party launched what is likely to become an all-out campaign to press for a probe into allegations that the deceased sexually harassed his former secretary.
The pressure by the United Future Party (UFP) highlights deepening political division over the death of the late Seoul mayor.
Park was found dead at a mountain in Seoul after apparently taking his own life on Thursday. He was facing a criminal complaint on sexual harassment, filed by his former secretary.
With Park’s death, the police were to close the case against him in his absence, but opposition lawmakers are increasing calls to get to the bottom of the allegations raised against the three-term mayor who was a lawyer defending human rights and women’s rights. (……)
“I believe the DP, having been more proactive than anyone in the past ‘#MeToo’ wave, would doubtlessly join the efforts to find the truth,” he said, calling for a probe into the case.
You can read more at the link, but I wonder if this is the end of the #metoo movement in South Korea? The movement pretty much ended in the U.S. once the #metoo people went after Joe Biden. Could the same thing happen in South Korea?
