Tag: South Korea

Here is the latest retaliation from the Chinese for the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system to South Korea:

China’s government ordered travel agencies to stop selling tour packages to Korea starting March 15 in the latest retaliation against the deployment of a U.S.-operated anti-missile system in Korea.

Under the ban, all travel agencies in China will be barred from selling travel packages to Korea, both group and individual, from March 15, a move certain to harm the local tourism industry.

It was reported that the China National Tourist Office summoned executives of travel agencies Thursday to a meeting at which the government instructed them to halt all tour packages to Korea to rebuff Seoul’s decision last July to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) anti-missile system.   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the Trump administration will at some point demand a renegotiation of the US-ROK FTA:

The U.S. Trade Representative said Wednesday the free trade agreement with South Korea resulted in a “dramatic increase in our trade deficit,” stressing it’s time for a major review of how the U.S. approaches trade deals.

“The largest trade deal implemented during the Obama administration — our free trade agreement with South Korea — has coincided with a dramatic increase in our trade deficit with that country,” USTR said in President Donald Trump’s 2017 Trade Policy Agenda.

Compared with before the deal went into effect in 2012, the total value of U.S. goods exported to South Korea fell by $1.2 billion, while U.S. imports of goods from South Korea grew by more than $13 billion, USTR said.

“As a result, our trade deficit in goods with South Korea more than doubled,” it said. “Needless to say, this is not the outcome the American people expected from that agreement. Plainly, the time has come for a major review of how we approach trade agreements.”  [Korea Times]

I think what would be interesting to see is a report on any artificial barriers making it difficult for US companies to compete in South Korea which may contribute to the trade deficit.

This unique home for a young pilot and his family in South Korea is one of the funnest homes we’ve ever seen. The Flying House was designed by IROJE KHM Architects, who drew inspiration from traditional Korean architecture to create a delicate balance between sky and land. [Inhabitat]

So I wonder what the smoke was to cause him to do an emergency landing?:

An Apache helicopter made an emergency landing in a rice paddy south of Seoul on Wednesday evening as a precaution, after the pilot detected smoke in the cockpit.

No injuries or damages were reported, a 2nd Infantry Division spokesman said.

The crew did a systems check after landing the AH-64 helicopter in the city of Asan, Chungcheongnam-do province. Maintenance staff from Camp Humphreys also traveled to the site to inspect the aircraft but found nothing wrong, Lt. Col. Chris Hyde said.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.

I guess I should not be surprised that a kids toy show is the most popular Youtube channel in South Korea:

The “president” has quit. And no one saw it coming. Thousands of followers, young and old, found themselves emotionally lost, not knowing how to deal with the sudden void inside that was once occupied by her.

No. The impeached South Korean President Park Geun-hye isn’t the person we are talking about. It is Kang Hye-jin, the so-called “Carrie eonni,” or Sister Carrie, who is also referred to as “Ca-tongryeong,” or President Carrie, among her many fans.

The 27-year-old star of the popular YouTube channel Carrie and Toys sent shock waves among young toddlers and parents after it was announced in mid-February that Kang was leaving the channel.

So, what exactly is Carrie and Toys? It’s a popular YouTube channel run by CarrieSoft Co., a South Korean media company that specializes in online video content for children, launched in August of 2015.

The YouTube station, which had humble beginnings, became a go-to place for many young children and parents from a rather simple idea: reviewing toys and showing kids how to play with them.

Kang, who plays host Carrie, and her show gained a sizable following, becoming the number one South Korean YouTube channel in terms of total video views and ad revenues in 2016.

According to the state-run Korea Radio Promotion Association, Carrie and Toys racked up some 660 million views and earned 792 million won (US$700,309) in YouTube ad revenue last year. The account has some 1.4 million subscribers.

The company has also secured up to 5 billion won in investment from several major entities, including NHN Entertainment.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but Kang Hye-jin is rumored to be forced off of the show because of poor foreign language skills as the company looks to expand its market.  Here is a clip from the show:

The hypocrisy is quite stunning from the Chinese government considering they are criticizing the ROK for the deployment of the THAAD system for being against Chinese security interests while completely ignoring ROK security interests.  If it wasn’t for the Chinese backing of their client state North Korea that has allowed them to pursue missiles and nuclear weapons to threaten the ROK with the THAAD deployment would not be necessary:

As Korea speeds along with the deployment of the U.S.-led Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) system by sealing a land deal with Lotte Group to acquire a golf course in Seongju County, North Gyeongsang, Beijing is threatening diplomatic, economic and possibly military retaliation.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said through a press briefing Tuesday that Beijing is “firmly opposed to and strongly dissatisfied with the fact that” Seoul is working with Washington to accelerate the deployment process of a Thaad battery and “ignoring China’s interests and concerns.”

He added Beijing will “resolutely take necessary actions to safeguard its own security interests,” without specifying what measures it will take.

The Korean Ministry of National Defense earlier that day signed a deal with Lotte International, the operator of the Lotte Skyhill Seongju Country Club, to swap the golf course with government land in Namyangju, Gyeonggi. Lotte’s board of directors agreed on the land swap deal on Monday, after much delay.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

Here is where the Chinese threaten the ROK militarily:

Chinese military expert Song Zhongping, a former officer of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Second Artillery Corps, told the state-affiliated Global Times Wednesday that once the Thaad system is deployed to Korea, “Seongju County will appear on the list of the PLA missile system’s strike targets.”

So is the Chinese threatening the ROK with a military strike in support of North Korea because that is what this system is in the ROK to defend against.

I saw this posted on Reddit.  Whoever did the English translation did not do it correctly because the Korean actually says to not let your pet pee here.

It appears the illegal immigration reform South Korea has implemented has had some success in reducing the number of illegal immigrants:

One out of 10 foreigners living in South Korea are illegal aliens, government data showed Tuesday.

According to the data released by the Ministry of Justice, 211,320, or 10.5 percent of the total number of foreigners living here as of end-January, are staying without a valid visa.

The number is up 1.1 percent from what was tallied the previous month, which stood at 208,971, it said.

The total shot up to 223,464 in 2007 and dropped to 177,955 in 2009. Since 2014, the number has hovered around 200,000.

The percentage of illegal aliens, meanwhile, has been declining from 12.3 percent in 2012 to 11.3 percent in 2015 and 10.2 percent in 2016 with the overall rise in the number of foreigners living here.  [Korea Times]

The South Korean government implemented a program where if illegal immigrants self deported, after six months they could apply for a work visa for the prior job they were working.  It seems a program like this could be something that could work in the United States as well.

The headline for the article states that 55% of Korean men link sexual assault with women’s behavior.  This is sure to get some people upset who believe nothing a woman does should cause them to be a victim of sexual assault:

More than half of South Korean men believe that sexual violence can diminish if women are more cautious about their conduct, a government survey showed Monday, revealing that society’s stigma towards sexual assault victims remains high.

In a sexual violence survey by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family on 7,200 adults aged 16 to 64 conducted from September to December last year, 55 percent of men answered “sexual violence can be reduced if women are careful.” The same response among women stood at 42 percent.

Among men, 54.5 percent thought “excessively revealing fashion” was a cause of sexual violence, while 56.9 percent believed that if a woman is raped while taking a ride offered by a stranger, they themselves are partly responsible as well.

Also, 42.5 percent of male respondents believed that if a woman goes to a man’s home after their first encounter, she is consenting to sex, while 8.7 percent even replied that some women “enjoy being raped.”

Meanwhile, 30.7 percent of women believed that “men cannot control themselves when they are sexually aroused,” while 22 percent of men agreed with the response.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

I saw this question posted on to Reddit and figure I would comment on it:

I’m wondering why the foreigners who re-sign year after year until they’re past the 5+ years in Korea mark and don’t learn Korean stay in Korea? If you, after more than five years in a country you are choosing to live in, can’t have a conversation in Korean, isn’t that racist/Eurocentric? What reason would you have for not bothering to learn your host country’s language? The Bangladeshi worked in the factory has learned it, why haven’t you?

I get the “I thought I’d just be here for a year but then I re-signed,” I really do, but after five, six, seven years you’re a long-termer.  [Reddit]

I don’t think it is racist to not become proficient in Korean.  From the US military perspective I knew servicemembers who had many years of service in Korea and could not speak Korean.  A lot of it has to do with working in an English work environment plus Korea is so English friendly as well especially around US military bases that knowing Korean is not mandatory.  Getting fluent in Korean takes a lot of time and work that most people don’t have.  However, many folks who have served many years in Korea do know enough Korean to get around and communicate simple things.