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]
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]
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]
So does anyone agree with the Korean court that the KCTU can be trusted to hold a peaceful rally this weekend in Seoul?:
A court has ruled against a police move to ban a rally planned for Saturday in central Seoul by civic, labor and farmers groups that held a massive anti-government demonstration on Nov. 14.
The Seoul Administrative Court said Thursday that it had accepted the request from the groups to annul the police ban on their second rally.
The decision comes five days after police announced a prohibition of the Dec. 5 rally requested by the groups, including the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), citing a possible repeat of the violence between police and protesters at the previous demonstration.
“It is unreasonable to presume that the second rally will be violent only because the organizers are the same to the first one,” the court said. “The organizers have repeatedly said they will hold the second one peacefully.” [Korea Times]
This is one of these only in Korea stories where Buddhists are in conflict with leftist anti-government thugs who are hiding from authorities in their temple:
A monk at Jogye Temple in downtown Seoul tries to calm down a devotee, who is urging Korean Confederation of Trade Unions head Han Sang-gyun to stop seeking refuge there, in the temple’s grounds which are milling with Buddhists, civic activists and journalists, Tuesday. / Yonhap
Calls are mounting from citizens who attend the Jogye Temple for the head of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), Han Sang-gyun, who has taken refuge from police there, to stop “abusing” the place in pursuit of a political agenda and face investigation.
Such objections are rare, as the temple and other religious facilities have long been used in Korea as sanctuaries for social activists on the run from the authorities.
The head of the nation’s second-largest umbrella union is on the police’s wanted list for refusing to appear in court on charges of organizing illegal rallies. While evading police, he appeared at the massive anti-government rally in Seoul on Nov. 14 and then took refuge at the temple.
As he has remained there for over two weeks, frustration is running high among those who go to the temple because it has become the center of a political confrontation and is surrounded by more than 500 police officers and a large number of media crews.
During his stay, Han has continued to be active online, including posting a message calling for another massive rally on Dec. 5.
According to the temple, a group of Buddhists attempted to forcibly kick the labor activist out of the temple Monday afternoon, saying Han and the KCTU were disturbing their right to meditate in silence. But the effort failed, because Han vigorously resisted during a scuffle. Approximately 10 other KCTU leaders who had taken refuge in the temple with Han were all forced out. This was the first attempt by citizens who use the temple, not law enforcement authorities, to force the activists to leave. [Korea Times]
For ROK Heads living or visiting Seoul you might want to avoid the City Hall area on December 5th as it will likely be the seen of yet more violent protests:
An association that speaks for farmers vowed on Saturday to go ahead with a massive rally planned for next weekend, setting the stage for another clash with police.
The move came after police informed the association composed of farmers earlier in the day that they will ban the group from holding a rally in central Seoul on Dec. 5.
Earlier this week, the association notified police that it planned to hold a rally that could draw some 10,000 participants near City Hall next Saturday.
Police warned that those who organize a rally are subject to punishment if they go ahead with the event despite being banned from holding it. Participants of a rally could also face punishment if they defy police orders to disperse.
Still, the farmers’ association said its members will go ahead with a rally on Dec. 5 as scheduled. It also said it plans to seek a court injunction to overturn the ban imposed by police. [Yonhap]
