Tag: Seoul

The leading conservative daily in Korea, the Chosun Ilbo is not happy with the announced changes to the Yongsan Garrison relocation plan:

Korea and the U.S. have agreed to keep the Combined Forces Command in Seoul even after the U.S. Forces Korea headquarters moves to Pyeongtaek in 2016. The CFC compound accounts for between eight to nine percent of the total area of the U.S. garrison right in the middle of Seoul.

If the housing compound for American Embassy staff is included, the total area of the base that the U.S. will continue to use rises to 17 percent. A Defense Ministry official claimed relocating the CFC further south would make it “difficult” to establish a smooth command system in conjunction with South Korean top brass in an emergency.

The official claimed that it would cost an additional W400 billion (US$1=W1,058) to relocate the CFC to Pyeongtaek. These are all valid reasons.

But Korea and the U.S. are in the process of building a new military base in Pyeongtaek at a cost of almost W9 trillion. Supporters say the move would help the U.S. military’s capabilities. The CFC was to be among the facilities being relocated, and the budget had taken that into account. Now the military is saying that the CFC should stay in Seoul. That is an absurd reversal.

The government hopes to build a 2.64 million sq.m park at the Yongsan site that rivals New York’s Central Park. The relocation of the U.S. garrison is also a highly symbolic event that signifies the return of land back to the Korean people after being used by foreign armies for around a century.

When Seoul and Washington agreed in 2004 to relocate the Yongsan base to Pyeongtaek, then U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said it was absurd to have a foreign military base sitting in the middle of a nation’s capital. Seoul agreed to shoulder the entire cost of the relocation because the Korean public agreed with Rumsfeld’s view.

But now, the symbolic significance of the relocation is about to lose its luster although trillions of won in taxpayer’s money have been spent. (Chosun Ilbo)

You can read more at the link, but the Chosun thinks the land should be developed into a park with some land sold to make apartments to offset the cost.

Shown is a picture of the main street in front of the Gwanghwamun, the main gate of the royal Gyeongbok Palace, in Seoul taken in 1900. The picture is displayed at a photo exhibition at the Seoul Museum of History. (Yonhap)

Either someone is really stupid or something was lost in translation with this story:

An Irish school teacher was turned away from a position in South Korea due to the “alcoholism nature of [her] kind”.

Katie Mulrennan, from County Kerry, had applied for a job in the capital Seoul after seeing the role advertised on Craigslist.

However, the 26-year-old received a rejection email telling her that she would not be offered the work because, as the stereotype goes, Irish people are drunks.  [The Independent]

You can read more at the link, but she has since found another job.

A giant yellow rubber duck sitting on Seoul’s Seokchon Lake has captured the hearts and minds of thousands of South Koreans, while carrying the hopes of a local retail giant trying to dampen public fears over a controversial construction project in a posh Seoul neighborhood.

Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman’s rubber duck, weighing seven tons with a concrete anchor and pontoon that supports it, arrived at the Seoul lake last week in time for the opening of Lotte World Mall, a disputed high-rise developed by Lotte.

In addition to its familiarity as a bath time toy and the gigantic size that is hard not to notice, the art installation has garnered public attention for its Lotte affiliation.

Critics charge that the conglomerate invited the public art project to Seokchon Lake, which faces Lotte World Mall, to mitigate public unease over the new shopping complex.

While no clear link has been confirmed, the appearance of sink holes and a fall in the lake’s water level have spurred safety concerns over the development where construction of a 123-story skyscraper is still underway. The lower floors of the complex opened last week.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see how this turns out, but I expect eventually gay marriage will become a normal practice in Korea just like it is in the US:

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon has put himself at the center of controversy after he expressed his support for same-sex marriage during his recent trip to the United States.

Talking to the San Francisco Examiner, Park was quoted as saying, “I personally agree with the rights of homosexuals,” adding Korea would become the first Asian nation to legalize same-sex marriage.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) homepage was immediately inundated with comments, most of them complaints.

Park has successfully drawn public attention, but it remains to be seen whether this bold political gamble will help the potential presidential bid of Park, a liberal-minded former NGO leader.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but interesting both the religious groups and the gay activists groups are upset Mayor Park’s stance.  The gay activist groups do not think he is doing enough.

It was reported a few weeks ago that Seoul is planning to close the Seoul Station Overpass and turn it into a park, influenced by High Line Park in New York City (itself influenced by Promenade plantée in Paris). The Wall Street Journal Blog compares it to Lee Myung-bak’s Cheonggyecheon Restoration as a possible ‘pre-run-for-the-presidency project’ by Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon. [Popular Gusts]

This photo taken on Oct. 7, 2014, shows Deoksu Palace’s Seokjojeon Hall in downtown Seoul, a Western-style building used as an audience hall and sleeping quarters of King Gojong of the Joseon Dynasty, who later became an emperor of Daehan Empire, after its five-year restoration work. The building is to open to the public on Oct. 13 as the Daehan Empire History Museum. (Yonhap)

It appears that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are reaching deep into their playbook to put down the Hong Kong protests.  Instead of the world media seeing pictures of protesters being beaten by security forces the CCP has instead outsourced the beat down to organized crime syndicates:

Pro-democracy demonstrations in two of Hong Kong’s most crowded shopping districts came under attack on Friday from unidentified men who assaulted protesters and tore down their encampments, after a week of erratic and unsuccessful attempts by the Beijing-backed government to end the protests.

The protesters said the attackers were pro-government gangs, and several protest groups called off planned negotiations with the government in response.

Crowds of residents, fed up with the inconveniences of the protests, had cheered on the attacks on the camps.

On Saturday morning, a police spokesman said 19 men, including eight with links to organized crime syndicates, or triads, had been arrested in connection with the violence in one of the districts, Mong Kok, according to Radio Television Hong Kong.

The police also said that at least 18 people had been injured in the violence, including six police officers…….

They shoved and punched protesters, sometimes kicking them after they fell. Others grabbed the scaffolding of canopies and pulled them down until the tents collapsed . Residents said the police were outnumbered and slow to react, and hours passed before reinforcements arrived to protect the protesters from a hostile crowd.

Some threw cans and plastic bottles at the protesters; others spit at them. One protester was led away bleeding from his head as angry residents pressed forward, hurling insults and threats. Another was rushed out on a stretcher, an oxygen mask on his face. Several protesters said the attackers groped and sexually harassed female protesters, and Amnesty International alleged that police officers watched and did nothing.  [New York Times]

You can read more at the link, but long time ROK Drop readers may remember that the Chinese government used this same tactic in Korea when the Chinese Embassy organized and bussed in Chinese students in Korea to attack and beat Free Tibet activists who showed up to protest the 2008 Olympic Torch Relay in Seoul.  The Chinese government sponsored mob attacked Koreans and other foreigners at the protest:

Some of the Free Tibet activists tried to run into the Plaza Hotel in downtown Seoul to escape the mob and the Chinese thugs followed them and beat them in the middle of the hotel:

Could you imagine what the reaction in Korea would be if a bunch of GIs ran amok in Seoul beat down Koreans like this?  Well the reaction from the Korean government was to deport some of the Chinese thugs and tighten visa rules.  There was no demands for an official apology from the Chinese government or removal of the Chinese ambassador from Korea.

Since this strategy worked so well in Seoul the CCP probably thinks it will work in Hong Kong as well which they are probably right about.  I do not see the CCP backing down from their decision to remove democracy from Hong Kong and will use their hired thugs to wear down the protesters.

Via Korea Noodles comes this news:

Star Trek 3 will be filmed in Seoul, Mayor Park Won-soon said Monday.

“Today I met with Jeffrey Chernov, producer of Star Track 3, at the Paramount Pictures Studio and agreed to film a portion of the upcoming movie in Seoul,” Park said in his Facebook post.

Assuming they go forward with the plan to shoot in Seoul, this is significant as it will be the first Star Trek film to do any shooting outside of United States.

TrekMovie has already reported that the upcoming Star Trek film will not be Earth focused, so it appears that the Korean location will be standing in for some kind of alien location, or possibly a (non-Earth) Starfleet location. [Korea Noodles]

You can read more at the link.