Tag: Seoul

Ultimately the authorities were able to catch the crazy man threatening passengers with a knife, but I am not sure what authorities in Seoul can do to prevent crazy people from doing crazy things:

Authorities on Tuesday apprehended a middle-aged man who was alleged to have brandished a 10-inch knife and threatened passengers onboard a subway train in Seoul during morning rush hour.

The suspect, determined later to be a 51-year-old homeless man, was caught more than an hour after the episode, in which he brandished a knife onboard a train on subway line No. 1 around 8:20 a.m., before exiting at Jonggak Station.

No injuries were reported, though the incident highlighted a barrage of loopholes present in subway security systems in the capital, with a population density almost twice that of New York City and where more than 7 million people on average use the trains daily.

Last year, police recorded 3,040 crimes at local subway stations, up 58 percent from the 1,922 cases in 2013.

The most apparent oversight, however, is the lack of security resources and personnel.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

Here is a long, but interesting article about what is going on in the Seoul real estate market in regards to the jeonse rent system that continues to see higher prices which is causing renters to instead become buyers.  This is in turn is making the jeonse rent go even higher and causing apartment shortages:

Up until last fall, 39-year-old office worker Kim Ji-seok was renting his apartment in Nowon District, northern Seoul under a jeonse agreement, a long-term deposit contract that is usually guaranteed for two years.

At the end of the summer, however, he bought a 59 square-meter apartment nearby for 320 million won ($267,468).

He decided to buy a house after his 220 million won jeonse rose nearly 30 percent to 280 million won in just two years. “I had to borrow 50 million won from the bank just to renew my jeonse contract,” Kim said. “I just decided to buy an apartment of my own as it seemed the jeonse price would again go up after two years.”

The housing market last year saw all-time record transactions as people like Kim, who were living on jeonse agreements, decided to finally buy an apartment. [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read the rest at the link.

Jack Black (2nd from R), the voice of Po the panda in the new movie “Kung Fu Panda 3,” makes a heart with his fingers as he poses for photos at a red carpet event for the film in Seoul on Jan. 20, 2016. To his left is the movie’s director Jennifer Yuh, who is of Korean descent, and to his right are members of South Korea’s girl group Lovelyz who performed at the event. (Yonhap)

Here is an opportunity for anyone looking for a free English tour of Seoul:

Student volunteer group Seoul Free Walking Tour will run guided walks around the city’s historic center of Jeong-dong and Bukchon, an area east of Gyeongbokgung Palace that is famous for its traditional houses.

The Jeong-dong tour starts at Gyeongbokgung Station and visits sites around Deoksugung Palace, many of which are related to early Western involvement in the country in the late Joseon era.

The Bukchon tour starts at Anguk Station, moves to the Bukchon Cultural Center and then to Gyedonggil for a glimpse of 1970s and ’80s Seoul. Other stops include a craft center and scenic spots in Bukchon Village.

A tour of Seolleung was planned, but development has been put on hiatus, organizers said.

For more information and to sign up for a tour, visit http://seoulfreewalkingtour.wix.com/seoul.  [Korea Herald]

A South Korean citizen offers a flower to the statue of a girl who symbolizes the hundreds of thousands of Korean women who were mobilized as sex slaves for Japan’s World War II soldiers, in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul on Jan. 9, 2016. (Yonhap)

Passengers sit with their feet aligned with heart-shaped stickers on the floor of a subway car on Seoul’s Line No. 3 on Dec. 24, 2015. Seoul Metro, the operator of the subway system, has introduced the stickers in a bid to rid its passengers of the habit of spreading or crossing their legs beyond the confines of their hips and taking up too much space. (Yonhap)

That is at least what a Seoul court ruled earlier this week in a bribery case involving two teachers in  Seoul:

A Seoul court on Wednesday ruled in favor of two private school teachers who accepted money and gifts from the parents of their students.

The teachers, who work at Gyeseong Elementary School, were both charged with taking bribes but later acquitted by the Seoul Central District Court.

The ruling prompted an angry response from those in the education circle, with Kim Hyung-nam, the inspector of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, calling the decision “embarrassing.”

One of the teachers, surnamed Shin, 48, stood accused of taking cash, gift certificates and gifts worth a total of 4.6 million won ($3,930) from two parents over multiple occasions when he taught fourth-grade last year.

The other, surnamed Kim, 45, was accused of accepting 4 million won as well as valuables from one parent.

The court ruled Wednesday that while Shin had accepted the money and gifts, those actions did not amount to bribe-taking.

He was asked to do general favors for the students, the court said, but did not carry out unlawful favors in return for compensation.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read the rest at the link.

A major overpass in central Seoul that connects Toegye-ro Street, east of Seoul Station, to the south was permanently shut down on Dec. 13, 2015, after 45 years of service due to safety reasons. The city of Seoul plans to create a public park on the overpass. (Yonhap)

It is good to see the anti-government protests this weekend did not turn violent like the last ones.  I do have to chuckle in regards to the opinion of how many people showed up.  The protesters say they had 50,000 while the police say there was 14,000.  At least the discrepancy isn’t as bad as all the million man marches in the US where there is only a few thousand people actually there:

Tens of thousands of protesters held a massive rally Saturday to protest the government’s move to adopt state history textbooks and push for labor reform and it ended without any clashes with police.

The rally, the second of its kind in three weeks, brought together about 14,000 participants who gathered at Seoul Plaza in central Seoul and marched peacefully, according to police. Organizers put the number at some 50,000.

The focal point of the rally was whether the rally would turn violent as some participants at the Nov. 14 one brandished metal pipes, clashing with police who fired water cannons at them.

A farmer still remains in critical condition after being knocked down by a police water cannon.

Organizers vowed to hold Saturday’s rally in a peaceful manner, while police also warned that they will take stern action if the rally turns violent.  [Yonhap]

You can read the rest at the link.

This is a pretty freak fire that has unfortunately taken the life of a Seoul firefighter:

The Seohae Grand Bridge, a major artery connecting southwestern cities and Seoul, was shut down after three of its cables were damaged in a fire Thursday evening.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on Friday that it will suspend use of the bridge through Dec. 24 to replace the cables.

Authorities said one firefighter was killed and two others wounded when they were hit by a snapped cable while battling the blaze.

An official of the ministry said lightning was the cause of the fire.

“Despite the inconvenience, our decision was made for the public’s safety,” the official said at a televised press conference.   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read the rest at the link.