Tag: Seoul

This is a neat idea:

Mini-gardens have become synonymous with urban regeneration projects in Seoul. Some, like the new solar garden at Jonggak Station on Seoul Metro Line 1, are popping up underground.

The solar garden ― small but claimed to be the world’s first solar-powered subterranean park ― opened in an underground passageway at Jonggak Station last Friday, placed right in front of the Jongno Book Store and a row of booths selling handcrafted goods made by young artists. 

Mandarin trees and verdant bushes grow under natural sunlight, emitted from eight ceiling apertures connected to light-collecting dishes installed directly above at Jongno Tower Square on the ground. The ceiling is dotted with backup LED lights used at night or on cloudy days. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Another huge building is coming to the ROK:

The Seoul city government said on Tuesday that it has approved the long-delayed construction of Hyundai Motor Group’s new headquarters in the affluent district of Gangnam, which is set to be South Korea’s tallest skyscraper when completed in 2026. 

The 569-meter building will break ground in the first half of 2020, Seoul city said in a statement. 

The approval came more than four years after Hyundai Motor Group, South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate, offered to purchase the site with $10 billion in 2014, more than triple its market price, outbidding Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and sparking a stock sell-off.

The construction, originally scheduled to commence in 2016, was delayed partly due to security concerns raised by South Korea’s air force, which said the building would interfere with radar and military operations, a Seoul city official said.

Reuters

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see how this turns out:

The nation’s human rights watchdog has recommended a nightclub to stop denying entrance to foreigners based on their race or skin color. The owners of the facility, however, refused to accept the recommendation, saying they have had numerous “problems” involving foreign customers.

According to the National Human Rights Commission Korea (NHRCK), Wednesday, an Indian American filed a petition last year after he was barred from entering the nightclub due to being a foreigner while his Korean American friend was not.

The NHRCK said it concluded that the club’s rejection of his entry was clear discrimination based on the petitioner’s race and skin color, as the staff of the club did not check ID cards showing nationalities and allowed the entry of the Korean American.

In July, the commission recommended the club stop deciding customers’ entry based on their race and skin color.

However, the club said it would not follow the recommendation.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This is just the trial balloon for what I expect to be a Moon administration strategy to aid North Korea if a denuclearization deal isn’t struck with the U.S. The ROK will just call all aid “humanitarian aid” in order to avoid sanctions:

The Seoul city government has become the first local government in South Korea to win the right to independently carry out humanitarian aid projects for North Korea, a unification ministry official said Tuesday.

Last month, the government revised related regulations to allow local governments to act as independent aid providers to the North. Previously, they had to join hands with private entities to engage in humanitarian activities for the North.

Yonhap via a reader tip

You can read more at the link.

There was more than seven people involved in this crime and why didn’t the police immediately hold them in jail after the crime instead of letting them go?:

 Prosecutors said Sunday they have requested a Seoul court to issue arrest warrants for seven progressive college students on charges of breaking into the U.S. ambassador’s residence.

Seventeen members of a progressive college student group used ladders to climb over the wall of the Habib House in Seoul on Friday afternoon.

The residence was vacant at that time, as Ambassador Harry Harris and his wife were away for a Cheong Wa Dae reception hosted by President Moon Jae-in.

The activists displayed banners reading “Harris leave this land,” with two others having attempted to break into the compound. They were protesting Washington’s call for Seoul to sharply increase its financial contribution to the presence of American troops in South Korea.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I doubt any real consequences will come from this.

The South Korean left has responded to the massive rally against the allegedly corrupt ROK Justice Minister with a rally of their own:

Activists and citizens held a rally in southern Seoul on Saturday in support of Justice Minister Cho Kuk and his drive to reform the prosecution amid a probe into corruption allegations surrounding his family.

The candlelight vigil started at around 6 p.m. at an intersection near Seocho Station, where the prosecution’s office is located, for the third such weekly rally.

Participants chanted slogans — “Reform the Prosecution” and “Protect Cho Kuk” — as they condemned the prosecution’s widening probe into Cho’s family as an attempt to deter the minister from reforming the elite investigation agency.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the Korean left is claiming 3 million people showed up which judging by this picture is widely inaccurate.

This rally was so big that even the left leaning Korean media could not ignore it:

Hundreds of thousands of mostly elderly citizens gathered in Gwanghwamun Square and streets near City Hall and Seoul Station, Thursday, to vent their discontent at the Moon Jae-in administration, calling on Justice Minister Cho Kuk to resign over corruption allegations leveled against him and his family.

Conservative civic groups and political parties ― including the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) and minor ultra-rightist Our Republican Party ― set up side-by-side rallies along Sejong Street. The protesters waving Korean and American flags marched from Seoul Station to Gwanghwamun Square blocking traffic at certain locations.

The huge turnout ― on a national holiday ― was sparked partly by a rally in southern Seoul last Saturday, where more than 1 million people, according to the organizers, condemned the prosecution for its “politically charged” investigation of Cho’s family. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.