Tag: Seoul

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.

Here is some information to keep in mind when traveling on public transit in Seoul:

Seoul’s subway Line 2 is the most sexual crime-prone public area with 2,069 cases over the past five years. Among stations, Express Bus Terminal on Line 3 topped the list with 56 cases in the January-July period.

Rep. Han Sun-gyo of the main opposition Liberty Party of Korea revealed the figures on Sunday, citing National Police Agency data. 

Subway Line 9 was the second most prone with 1,479 cases since 2015, followed by Line 1 (848 cases), Line 4 (756 cases), Line 3 (407 cases), Line 5 (288 cases), Line 6 (163 cases) and Line 8 (41 cases). 

Noryangjin Station was the second most sexual crime-prone subway station (24 cases since July) after the Express Bus Terminal. Third was Yeouido (23 cases), followed by Sadang (21 cases), Seoul Station (20 cases), Gangnam (19 cases), Dongjak (18 cases) and Sindorim (17 cases).

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

I think the most blame should be put on the mother who did not ask anyone for help though I would not be surprised if she was suffering from depression that contributed to her death:

Han Sung-ok, 42, seemed determined to pick through nearly every lettuce on the market stand. She turned each one over and examined it while her six-year-old son clambered on the fence nearby. 

The vegetable seller in the southern Seoul suburb looked on, annoyed. This was one picky customer and she didn’t even buy a lot of vegetables – only one or two items for as little as she could pay. On this occasion it was a lettuce for 500 won (about $0.40; £0.33). 

Uttering only a few words, Han handed over her money and left with her son.

Just a few weeks later, both were dead. 

Having fled food shortages in her native North Korea and dreaming of a new life, Han and her son are believed to have starved to death in one of the wealthiest cities in Asia. Their bodies lay undiscovered for two months until someone came to read the water meter and noticed a bad smell.

Mother and son were found apart on the floor. The only food in their tiny rented apartment was a bag of red pepper chilli flakes.

BBC

You can read the whole thing at the link, but she definitely had a hard life and trouble adapting to South Korean culture. People in the government probably should have done more to check on her welfare, but ultimately if she would have reached out to defector organizations or even a local church she could have gotten help instead of starving to death.

As far protests go, only getting a supposed 20,000 people to show up in the middle of Seoul is pretty weak. Maybe the supposed anti-Japan sentiment in South Korea is not as great as the media and politicians lead people to believe:

The weekly protest rally demanding Japan’s apology to victims of its wartime sex slavery marked its 1,400th edition Wednesday amid an escalating diplomatic and trade row between Seoul and Tokyo.

Nearly 20,000 activists, students and other citizens assembled to participate in the 27-year-old protest in front of the former compound of the Japanese Embassy in central Seoul at noon.

Politicians, including Rep. Sim Sang-jung, head of the progressive Justice Party, and Rep. Nam In-soon for the ruling Democratic Party also attended the historic event.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I am still waiting for an anti-China protest in regards to their destruction of the Korean peninsula during the Korean War which was more recent than Japan’s World War II offenses against Korea.

Following Yonhap News, my job title is again "begpacker buster" on JTBC. Whatever, hope authorities will clampdown on the stream of shameless #begpackers entering Korea. pic.twitter.com/OZ9RVGdmA7

— Raphael Rashid (@koryodynasty) July 16, 2019

Good luck with this:

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon announced on Sunday his vision to turn Seoul into a bicycle-friendly city, including installing elevated bike roads above bus lanes in Seoul, during his visit to Bogota, Colombia.  

“My intention is to turn Seoul into one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world,” Park told Korean reporters in Colombia’s capital on Sunday, during his trip to several South American cities to bridge inter-city cooperation on urban regeneration. 

“And there are a few options to go about this plan. One is to take some of the car lanes and turn them into bike highways while making sure that they are completely separated from car roads.”

“Another option,” he continued, “is to build elevated bike roads above bus lanes, or to build enclosed bike lanes on either side of bridges across the Han River.”

Park is traveling through South American cities, including Mexico City, and Medellin and Bogota, both Colombia, from July 8 to 17 to explore inter-city cooperation on urban regeneration.

He made the announcement during a day of ciclovia, which is a local practice in some South American cities such as Bogota and Medellin that involves blocking certain roads from traffic and opening it up to pedestrians and cyclists on Sundays or other designated days.

“In all the options that the city government is considering, it is trying to build a so-called Cycle Rapid Transportation highway, an unprecedented attempt,” the Seoul city government said in a statement on Sunday. “The bike highway would be completely separate from roads used by cars and by pedestrians.”

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it will inject 300 million won ($254,400) within this year to conduct feasibility studies on the plan. 

Jeong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.