Here is yet another example of someone in Korea doing something wacky to show their displeasure with something:
A 79-year-old man, identified only by his last name Lee, lies down on the floor after stabbing himself in the abdomen with a weapon in front of Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon (L) at the city hall on Feb. 24, 2017. (Yonhap)
An elderly man unsatisfied with the capital city’s development policy stabbed himself while Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon was delivering a congratulatory speech at an opening of an exhibition at the city hall Friday, municipal officials and witnesses said.
The 79-year old man, identified only by his last name Lee, approached Mayor Park with a weapon at around 10 a.m. and stabbed himself in the abdomen, after shouting “Can you say you are a mayor?” and “I need to die,” according to the witnesses. He was drunk when the incident took place.
Lee was rushed to a nearby hospital and is in stable condition.
He reportedly had conflicts with a district office after the city government decided not to carry out a development project. The amount of compensation suggested by the district office fell short of what was asked by a development committee headed by Lee. [Yonhap]
According to the article the Cheongnyangni 588 red light district got started during the Korean War since it was the location of a station that transported soldiers north to the front lines. After the war the location remained a major red light district for Seoul. Now it will soon become an apartment development as the brothels are all being evicted:
The brothel area has long been called just “588,” although it is unclear where this name came from. Some historians say it was derived from one of the back alley’s address, while others say the area used to have a bus service with that number.
Now the district is counting down its final days.
A redevelopment project will begin later this year — tall luxury buildings will occupy the 41,586 square meters of land — and developers are evicting the women.
The demolition and eviction of the remaining 588 zone will begin next month. [Korea Times]
The Joong Ang Ilbo has a pretty interesting story about a Korean-American who was deported from the US after a number of gang and drug related arrests. He turned his life around in Korea by opening a Mexican restaurant where he cooks food that his grandmother from his third foster family taught him how to cook:
Kim and his wife, Kendra Jeong, co-run El Pino 323 in Mapo District, western Seoul, a Mexican restaurant. El Pino is the name of a pine tree near his grandmother’s house; 323 is the area code of East L.A. [PARK SANG-MOON]June 18, 2002 was a momentous day for Korea. In a World Cup match held in Daejeon, the national football team defeated Italy 2 to 1, propelling it into the quarterfinals for the first time ever.
It was a momentous day for Kim Dong-hwa too – the worst in a life of continuous lows. Kim and his sister had been abandoned by their Korean mother in infancy. As small children, they were flown from Korea to the U.S. to live with a new mother and father. The adoption didn’t take. The pair bounced around, were physically and emotionally abused. Kim ended up running with a gang in East Los Angeles. In his 20s, he was convicted of gang related crimes.
Kim was expelled from the U.S. and sent to a native land he knew nothing about. He landed on the day of Korea’s victory over Italy.
Kim recalls his first glimpses of Seoul driving in from Incheon International Airport. “It was a sea of red,” he says. The national team’s uniforms were red and fans wore red to support them and celebrate.
“It was chaos here. I thought my mind was going to blow up.
I recommend reading the rest at the link because it is a great story to read about. Kim definitely did find a good nitch to open a restaurant for because Seoul has long been lacking in quality Mexican restaurants.
A team of police and fire officials conduct an investigation on Feb. 5, 2017, into a fire that broke out at a shopping small connected to a couple of residential skyscrappers in Dongtan, a new bed town near Seoul, a day earlier. The fire killed four people. (Yonhap)
The Gwanghwamun Plaza in central Seoul starts to fill with protesters on Feb. 4, 2017, who are calling for a swift decision by the Constitutional Court on whether to permanently unseat President Park Geun-hye, who was impeached by the National Assembly on Dec. 9, 2016. (Yonhap)
Flanked by two bodyguards, a wax figure of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is unveiled at the Grevin Museum in central Seoul on Jan. 20, 2017. The museum opened its “Air Force One” zone, a replica of the office area of the U.S. presidential plane, to the public to mark Trump’s inauguration. (Yonhap)
For anyone thinking of ringing in the New Year in downtown Seoul just be warned that there will be a huge crowd of protesters to contend with. If you are in the US military I highly recommend keeping away from these protest activities:
The last anti-Park Geun-hye rally of the year will be held today, overlapping with New Year’s Eve celebrations, according to rally organizers.
“We expect to break through the 10 million people mark in the accumulated number of protesters in the 10th weekly rally on Saturday,” said a spokesman for rally organizers, which are comprised of some 1,500 civic groups. “The rally will seek to not only send the old year out, but send Park out as well, and let the new year in.”
According to rally organizers, some 8.9 million have gathered throughout the country in the weekly rallies from Oct. 29, the first.
A New Year’s Eve concert for protesters is planned from 8 p.m., with singers including Jeon In-kwon and Shin Dae-chul. Shin is the son of popular Korean singer Shin Joong-hyun, called the godfather of Korean rock ‘n’ roll. Shin took issue with the fact that his father’s song “Beautiful Rivers and Mountains” was often sung by Park’s supporters in rallies.
“These Park supporters have no right to sing [my father’s] song,” Shin posted on Facebook this month. “The anti-Park rally organizers had better recruit me. I will sing it right for them all.”
President Park, impeached by the National Assembly earlier this month, faces the judgment of the Constitutional Court over a corruption and abuse of power scandal.
The candlelight vigils are held to urge Park to quit even before the verdict by the court. Protesters have said they will rally until Park is completely removed from office.
After the performances, protesters will march toward the Blue House, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Constitutional Court. Marching toward a point some 100 meters (328 feet) from the Blue House will be permitted from 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., according to the Seoul Administrative Court.
Marching to some 100 meters from the Prime Minister’s Office, and some 200 meters from the Constitutional Court will be allowed until 10:30 p.m.
Protesters will likely join the crowd in front of the Bosingak Belfry in Jongno District to celebrate the bell-ringing ceremony at midnight. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
