Tag: Canada

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha (L) shakes hands with Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland as they meet in Vancouver on Jan. 15, 2018, on the sidelines of a two-day gathering of top diplomats from 16 countries. The gathering is for discussing issues related to security and stability on the Korean Peninsula. (Yonhap)

It looks like there is an English teacher job opening at Sahmyook University after one of their professors was fired due to his link to the murder of four people back in Canada:

A former professor at a Seoul-based university is a suspect in a mysterious missing-person case in Canada, according to South Korean broadcaster JTBC.

Canadian Paul Laan taught English at Sahmyook University in Nowon, northern Seoul, from 2014. The university stripped him of his professorship early this month after learning of the accusations in Canada and then terminated his contract.

According to the report, Laan came to Korea in 2006 and earned a living by teaching English at private or public institutes.

According to JTBC and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), he was a suspect in a high-profile missing-person case in Ontario in 1998. A woman in her 70s, known as the “Cat Lady,” was a tenant in his house and disappeared outside Huntsville. Police later found that three other tenants were missing.

Police investigating the case saw Laan as a suspect but they found no evidence, and it became a cold case.

CBC put the case back in the spotlight on its investigative program “The Fifth Estate,” aired in September.

The program said the residents’ disappearance was not reported and that pension checks were stolen from them by the Paul family. The youngest of the family was living in South Korea as a professor, according to the program.

“Paul now teaches English at a university in South Korea and travels with his wife extensively, professing their love for God on their family blog,” CBC reported.  [Korea Times]

You can read the whole CBC report on these murders at this link.  The Paul family are all part of a crime family in the Huntsville area of Canada that have a long criminal history culminating in the murder of four people.

Amid the latest crisis with North Korea the Canadians were able to send in a special envoy and get a Canadian pastor released this week:

North Korea said Wednesday that it has released an imprisoned Canadian pastor for humanitarian reasons amid escalating tensions on the Korean peninsular stemming from the North’s continued provocations.

The Korea Central News Agency, the communist state’s official media outlet, reported that Lim Hyeon-su, a Canadian civilian, was released on sick bail in line with the decision of the Central Court of the North.

Lim, a Korean-Canadian pastor, has been held in captivity in the North since he entered the country via China on a humanitarian mission in January 2015.

In December, the North’s highest court sentenced Lim to life in prison with hard labor, citing his “subversive plots” against the North’s regime.

His release came one day after a special envoy of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived in the North.

Daniel Jean, national security advisor to the prime minister of Canada, and his party arrived in Pyongyang, the KCNA reported on Tuesday.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

This 5,100-ton Canadian naval ship Ottawa is moored at South Korea’s Incheon port on June 27, 2017. The ship made an Asia-Pacific port call in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the North American country’s founding. (Yonhap)

Here is another example of strategic messaging against North Korea that the Canadians are ready to stand with the ROK if needed:

South Korea said Monday it will hold a combined live-fire naval exercise with the United States and Canada this week in its southern waters.

Hosted by South Korea’s Maritime Task Flotilla Seven (MTF7), the three-day training exercise will be staged in waters near Jeju Island from Friday, according to the Navy.

It will involve five South Korean warships, including the Aegis cruiser DDG-992 Yulgok Yii, P-3C Orion maritime surveillance aircraft and Lynx multi-role planes as well as the USS Dewey (DDG-105), an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer from the U.S. Navy, and MH-60R helicopters.

Two major Canadian frigates — Winnipeg and Ottawa — and SH-3 choppers will also take part in the practice.

The three sides plan to hold various drills on interdiction, air defense, anti-submarine operations and ballistic missile detection, along with live-fire training, said the Navy.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

He must have been bragging about his dope smoking to have gotten caught like this growing marijuana in his apartment:

A 47-year-old Canadian was caught growing cannabis in his residence and habitually smoking it, South Korean police said Monday.

According to the police, the Canadian national, who had previously been a lecturer at a university in Daegu, smuggled marijuana into Korea from Thailand in August 2010. He then grew it at the balcony in his apartment building, the police said.

The man allegedly set up facilities like a ventilator, electronic heater and reflecting plate on the balcony to grow the weed for years.

He reportedly lost his job as a university lecturer as allegations about him smoking cannabis surfaced at his workplace.   [Korea Herald]

I am just trying to understand why the Canadians would have this program in the first place where they give free schooling to the kids of foreign students?:

A crammer in Seoul’s affluent Gangnam area that specializes in preparing students for schools overseas recently held a well-attended seminar devoted to Canadian universities. But the smartly dressed audience had not come to find out how their kids can gain admission but how to apply themselves.

The draw is Canada’s study permit program, which guarantees free schooling for the children of foreign students at public universities.

Word first spread among Gangnam’s ambitious mothers three or four years ago, and now the weakening Canadian dollar has made the program even more attractive.

Mothers are rediscovering their thirst for knowledge because college tuition there is cheaper than the cost of their kids to school overseas. They can save W10-20 million (US$1=W1,133) a year per child.

According to Canadian government figures, a foreign university student spends on average 22,753 Canadian dollars a year.

One woman with three children explained the math. “If I sent the kids to a Canadian public school it would cost me W13-17 million per child, so I save anywhere between W20 million and W30 million if I enroll in a public university myself.”
[Chosun Ilbo]

You can read the rest at the link, but the Canadian government is now trying to take measures to crackdown on abuse of this program.

A newly-wed couple clad in traditional Korean wedding attire distribute Korean rice cake during a Korea festival event at the Canadian Embassy in Seoul on July 18, 2015, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the embassy’s opening, in this photo provided by the Culture, Sports and Tourism Ministry on July 20. (Yonhap)

Of course this a brand ripoff which is nothing new in South Korea:

With its red, cursive font, the sign on the outside of the café looks eerily familiar.

While there is no Tim Hortons franchise in South Korea, that hasn’t stopped people from wondering about the story behind “Tim House,” a soon-to-open coffee house in Daerim, a neighbourhood in Seoul.

Earlier this week, a photo of Tim House attracted international attention. The picture was taken by A.J. Specht, a Canadian English teacher who was biking by and noticed the familiar-looking sign.

She posted a snapshot on Facebook, and it began to attract attention from Canadians in South Korea and at home.

But the Tim House logo is where the resemblance ends, at least for now. Tim House has yet to open, and its owner isn’t talking.  [CBC News]

You can read more at the link, but there is much bigger brand ripoffs than this coffee shop in a little known district of Seoul.

I feel bad for the families effected by this, but once again these people only have themselves to blame for being detained and governments should not feel compelled to get them released when their own stupidity by traveling to North Korea in first place is the cause for what happened:

Canada’s government has confirmed that a Canadian pastor has been detained in North Korea, the man’s family said Thursday.

Canadian officials told the family that North Korea’s government confirmed the detention of Reverend Hyeon Soo Lim, said Lisa Pak, a spokeswoman for the family and the Light Korean Presbyterian Church in Toronto. Pak said Lim is facing charges but could not say what they are.

Pak said Lim was supposed to return from a humanitarian trip to North Korea more than a month ago. He has not been heard from since he travelled to North Korea on Jan. 31 as part of a regular humanitarian mission where he supports a nursing home, a nursery and an orphanage, she said.  [Associated Press]

You can read more at the link.