Tag: Busan

I had a cab driver do this to me before and I got out and thanked him for the free ride after recording his driver information:

A taxi driver has been fined for overcharging British passengers. 

According to police, the driver picked them up at the International Passenger Terminal in Busan Port on Wednesday morning, drove about two kilometers with the meter off and charged 20,000 won ($18), nearly four times the proper fare. 

When the passengers told their Korean guide about the incident, the guide reported the driver to the tourist police, a special unit committed to handling complaints from foreign visitors. 

Police confirmed the offense after looking at the vehicle’s dash cam and CCTV footage. The driver admitted he had overcharged the passengers.

Korea Times

I wonder how much the fine was? I doubt it was enough to discourage taxi drivers from continuing this activity.

These drug smugglers must have forgot to pay someone off in the Mexican government to have this tip called in against them:

The Korea Customs Service announced Monday it confiscated a record amount of cocaine shipped into the Port of Busan. 

According to customs officials, 63.88 kilograms (140.8 pounds) of cocaine was smuggled into the port, the largest amount of drugs found since the opening of Busan Harbor. Authorities estimated that market value was about 190 billion won ($168 million). 

Customs authorities said the cargo left Mexico 20 days ago, arrived in Busan on Dec. 14 and was head to Tianjin, China.  

Customs was tipped off about the smuggling by Mexican customs officials. The Korea Customs Service was told the drugs were concealed in 22 tons of recyclable copper scraps, packed in small plastic bags that were stuffed into two large black bags. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

It is pretty strange that Korean War veterans are intentionally excluded from a Korean War memorial event:

I felt a little foolish this year when reporters and others present at the Turn Toward Busan ceremony at the UN Cemetery on Nov. 11 congratulated me for being prominently mentioned in the program. Some thought I was actually present, among the various dignitaries.

I wasn’t there. Nor were any veterans invited from the various nations that sent soldiers to fight in Korea during the war years.

The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs excluded the aging veterans from participating this year. Instead, they gave more than 100 places usually reserved for veterans to family members of those who fell in the war.

While no veteran will object to giving up his place to a bonafide grieving family member of a comrade, it was a major error of the MPVA to exclude veterans.

Ironically, the ceremony gave the impression that veterans from the many nations were actually present. The huge video screens set up on each side of the altar displayed a sign in English that read, “Thanks, Veterans.” But they were not there.

Bereaved family members are much younger than the veterans. In most cases they will be on this Earth much longer. Presumably, they will continue to be invited to Korea long after the veterans revisit programs end in 2020.

In several cases the family members invited were very distant relatives of the fallen soldiers. They were not born until many years after the Korean War ended, and never met or actually grieved for the fallen soldiers.

While their presence does perpetuate the memory of those who fell, it also excluded participation by those who served alongside those soldiers ― those who fought in the war and were spared.  [Korea Times]

I don’t understand what the problem is with adding more chairs to accommodate family members and veterans?  Why exclude veterans especially when they have been invited in prior years.

Here is what Dr. Tara O thinks is going on:

Min of Patriots & Veterans Affairs didn't invite Korean War vets from UN Sending States this year, unlike in the past. Many are in 80s. The Minister is Pi Woo-jin, who strongly supports Moon, whose priority is Kim Jong-un. How does Kim feel re UN vets?https://t.co/rekH21tM2e

— Tara O (@DrTaraO) November 29, 2018

This photo shows Haeundae Beach in Busan on July 10, 2018. (Yonhap)

This photo, taken June 28, 2018, shows a rain-swollen stream in Busan as torrential rains pounded the southeastern port overnight in the wake of the annual rain front, in this photo provided by local police. (Yonhap)

I think everyone should be highly skeptical of the claims made by these two men:

On June 1, 2018, Professor Kim Ilsun and Mr. Jeong Choong-je were featured in a live video broadcast about Operation Golden Lily on the TePyung TV YouTube channel. During that broadcast, Mr. Jeong, a nonfiction writer, talked about how there were hundreds of tons of gold ingots buried in the Moonhyun-dong neighborhood of Busan, South Korea. This gold, which was hidden there in 1945 by the Japanese empire, was found on March 2, 2002 by Mr. Jeong. However, Mr. Jeong was then robbed and falsely accused and imprisoned by a group of people who colluded with former South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun and current occupier of the Blue House Moon Jae-in.  [Tepyung.com]

You can read more at the link, but Professor Kim and Mr. Jeong is claiming that threats are being made against them in response to his book to try and silence him.  The below Youtube video from their lawyer Eugene Kim lays out their claims:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsP8_wAJ4E4

I am highly skeptical of what these two men and their lawyer is claiming without evidence.  For example where in the Moonhyun-dong neighborhood is this tunnel?  Why haven’t third party experts been allowed to examine it?  Did anyone take pictures of the so called gold when it was found?  In 2002 smartphones had not been invented yet, but you would think people would have taken pictures of the gold.  Finally what evidence do they have that Moon Jae-in was even involved if the heist did happen?

When people like this make such sensational claims without hard evidence this actually helps the Korean left make the Korean right look like a bunch crazies and that is what this group looks like right now.

A hydrogen fuel cell concept vehicle is displayed at the Busan Exhibition & Convention Center (BEXCO) at the Busan International Motor Show in the southeastern port city of Busan on June 7, 2018. (Yonhap)

A protester is taken away from a statue symbolizing Korea’s forced laborers on a sidewalk near the Japanese Consulate in the southeastern port city of Busan on May 31, 2018, as officials from the city’s Dong Ward office load the statue onto a truck, as police disperse protesters from civic groups who attempt to prevent it from being removed. The statue, which represents laborers who were forcibly mobilized by Japan during its 1910-45 colonial domination over the Korean Peninsula, was transported to the state-run National Memorial Museum of Forced Mobilization under Japanese Occupation also in the city. Civic groups want to set it up in front of the Japanese Consulate, but the government says it should be placed elsewhere. (Yonhap)

An annual sand sculpture festival is under way on Haeundae beach in the southeastern port city of Busan on May 19, 2018. This 14th edition runs until May 22 under the theme of “Meet the Heros through Sand.” Eleven sand sculptors from six nations, including America, Japan and Taiwan, are to exhibit their works at the festival. (Yonhap)