No matter where the THAAD radar is located it will be radiating over somebody so I don’t see what moving the site really gains the government other than a large construction bill and an extended deployment timeline:
A placard that reads “No THAAD in Gimcheon” is hung in Joma Township in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang Province, Friday. Residents there hung three such placards amid rumors that Geumsu Township in Seongju Country near Joma Township could be an alternative site for a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery. / Korea Times
The government is facing growing doubts over whether it will can allow the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile battery by next year after President Park Geun-hye raised the possibility of choosing an alternative location within Seongju County in North Gyeongsang Province.
Park said this during a meeting with ruling party lawmakers, Thursday, in an effort to calm the fears of Seongju residents over the safety of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. However, military officials say it will take considerable time to find a new site and build a base for an artillery unit, which means deploying the system by next year would be almost impossible.
On July 13, the Ministry of National Defense announced that the anti-missile battery will be set up in Seongsan-ri, which is currently home to the South Korean Air Force’s air defense artillery unit that operates a Hawk ground-to-air missile battery. The ministry said THAAD will be fully deployed by the end of next year as threats from North Korea’s nuclear and missile program are growing.
“The reason why the two countries can be sure that the deployment will be done by next year is that the artillery unit already exists in Seongsan-ri, meaning that the military does not need to build a site,” a military official said on condition of anonymity.
Finding a new suitable place and building another site from scratch would take at least four to five years and tens of billions of won as the military needs to remove the top of a mountain and purchase adjacent privately owned land. In this case, the deployment is impossible within Park’s tenure and will be handed over to the next government as she completes her term in office in February 2018. [Korea Times]
Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan (7th from L) and other guests cut tape to mark the construction of the country’s first electric vehicle (EV) super-charging station at World Cup Stadium in Seoul on Aug. 2, 2016. The government announced a plan to invest 200 billion won (US$180.3 million) this year to develop the nation’s EV industry. Under the plan, 150 on-street charging station will be built across the nation by November, plus 30,000 regular chargers to be set up at apartment complexes nationwide. (Yonhap)
I hope this one western trend that some Koreans will not think is cool to take up:
On June 26, a vending machine inside the Express Bus Terminal Station on subway line No. 3 was found defaced with graffiti. [SEOUL METRO]Graffiti has been spotted in at least 20 subway stations over the past two weeks. Unlike the elaborate work of graffiti artists – with a distinct aesthetic or message – the recent graffiti were mere scribbles done in less than a minute.
Stations with graffiti problems include Jamsil, Gangnam, Konkuk University, Hapjeong, and Sangsu.
There’s a history to Korea’s subway graffiti problem. In May 2016, a subway car idled in a garage in Incheon was found with two drawings spraypainted on it.
In May 2015, a Latvian graffiti artist and three others were arrested for defacing Seoul Metro subway cars. In February 2015, a group of four Australians fled Korea after covering subway cars in Wangsimni, Anam, and Sinnonhyeon stations in graffiti.
The Korea Railway Police feared that foreign graffiti artists were targeting its cars – and circulating information on how to penetrate certain stations with lax security.
Current law states that graffiti corresponds to property damage described in Article 336 of the criminal code. Guilty parties can be imprisoned for a maximum of three years or fined up to 7 million won ($6,290).
Additional punishment is possible if multiple people were involved, according to the Law on Punishment of Violent Acts.
However, it is not easy to track down graffiti aficionados, since they work stealthily.
“We have found through CCTV footage that there was one culprit involved, but it is difficult to detect the identity of the suspect,” said a police official in charge of a recent graffiti case at Jamsil Station on subway line No. 2. “The person in question committed the crime and fled within a minute. Obscure scribbles 30 cm (1 foot) wide and 50 cm (1.6 feet) tall were written in marker on the walls of a passageway.
“Foreign culprits are more difficult to arrest since many have left the nation when investigations have started,” said Kim Hyeon-mo, an investigator of the Korea Railway Police. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
What a horrible tragedy in Busan. If this guy has such a bad neurological disorder why was he even allowed to drive?:
A Peugeot crashes into cars at the intersection of Haeundae Cultural Center in Haeundae District, Busan, on Sunday. The accident, which involved seven cars in total, killed three and injured 14, including the driver. [BLACK BOX SCREEN CAPTURE]A Peugeot traveling at more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour ignored traffic lights at a crossroad in Haeundae District in Busan on Sunday and crashed into six other cars, killing three and injuring 14, including the driver.The driver, a 53-year-old man surnamed Kim, was traveling between 100 and 120 kilometers per hour and allegedly did not hit the brakes even when he neared the crosswalk at the intersection of Haeundae Cultural Center, according to police.
The Peugeot hit a Hyundai Accent waiting at a red light, skidded and hit four people crossing the street, including a woman in her 40s, her teenage son and a middle school student. The mother and her 18-year-old son were visiting Busan on a family vacation. All three died. The Peugeot hit five more cars that were passing the intersection before stopping. The accident occurred at 5:18 p.m. Sunday.
Police said Kim was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the accident. “I don’t remember why the accident happened,” Kim reportedly told police. “I woke up and I was at the hospital.”
Kim testified to police that he is suffering from a neurological disorder and did not take his medication on the day of the accident. Kim’s doctor in Ulsan told police that Kim was diagnosed with epilepsy last September, and that he was on medication from November. The doctor said patients suffering epilepsy can lose consciousness sporadically if they stop taking medication, even for a day. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but this wasn’t his first accident caused by his condition according to the article.
This will probably be one of a few areas that the Chinese will retaliate against the ROK for the decision to deploy THAAD:
Speculation is rife that China will target K-pop stars in retaliation against Seoul’s decision to install an American-made missile defense system on the Korean peninsula. K-pop stars could be the unlikely first casualties of Seoul’s decision to deploy a U.S.-made missile defense system on the Korean peninsula, despite vocal opposition from China.
Speculation is rife that China will retaliate by limiting South Korean media and stars from its huge entertainment market.
According to two sources cited by the South China Morning Post, China’s national media regulator informed TV stations in Guangdong Province that TV shows featuring South Korean pop stars would not be granted approval to air “in the near future.”
Meanwhile, shares in South Korean entertainment companies took a dive Tuesday as investors bet that the firms would be hit by impending restrictions from China. SM Entertainment Co., known for such K-pop super-groups as Girls’ Generation, closed down 5.3 percent, according to Bloomberg. YG Entertainment Corp., the company known for producing Psy, fell 8 percent. [Hollywood Reporter]
You can read more at the link, but the ROK has been through this before with China retaliating against them with trade restrictions such as during the Great Kimchi War of 2005.
The expansion of the anti-corruption law is clearly targeted at the unions and civic groups that are largely left leaning. With that said will these anti-corruption laws just make these groups instead focus on campaign contributions like what happens in the US to influence politicians?:
South Korea’s National Assembly in Seoul (Yonhap)
Lawmakers belonging to the ruling and opposition parties are generally in favor of expanding the anti-graft law to encompass the country’s labor unions and civic groups, a poll showed Sunday.
The survey carried out on lawmakers sitting on parliament’s National Policy Committee showed 10 supporting the expansion versus five who were opposed, with four saying they did not have a view on the matter.
The poll carried out by Yonhap News Agency shows awareness among lawmakers that the law can be revised down the line to make it more comprehensive and better reflect public calls to root out graft.
The Kim Young-ran anti-graft law, named after the former Anti-corruption and Civil Rights Commission chief, aims to tighten loopholes in existing anti-corruption rules under which public officials cannot be punished for accepting expensive gifts and services unless there is evidence of reciprocity.
The law passed by the National Assembly in March 2015 and set to go into effect on Sept. 28 subjects public officials, journalists and private school faculty to a maximum penalty of three years in prison or a fine of five times the amount they accept in money or valuables if they exceed 1 million won (US$896) in one lump sum or 3 million won in total annually, regardless of whether it is in exchange for favors or related to their work. The regulations make it illegal to accept meals exceeding 30,000 won, presents in excess of 50,000 won, and money for congratulations and condolences of over 100,000 won, and bars people in these occupations from from making improper solicitations.
“Although it may seem excessive by some because of the considerable influence civic groups and labor unions exert on society, it only makes sense that they are covered by the law,” a ruling Saenuri Party lawmaker said.
He pointed out that it makes no sense to include journalists and schoolteachers who are not public servants, while leaving out unionists and civic group members. [Yonhap]
It will be interesting to see what the reaction to this is going to be. It is difficult to lobby publicly against an anti-corruption law that is trying to end bribery.
The American monk believed that as a foreigner he was just a decoration for the Jogye order:
A well-known monk from the United States said Friday that he will cut ties with Korean Buddhism which he said is dominated by “bad monks” who pursue money and discriminate against foreign monks.
On his Facebook account, Monk Hyun Gak wrote, “I am deeply disappointed with Korean Buddhism. August will be my last visit to Korea.”
Hyun Gak currently serves as chief monk at Hyeongjeong Temple in Yeongju, North Gyeongsang Province. He is now staying in Germany.
Born in New Jersey, the monk became a member of the Jogye Order in 1992. He became a Korean citizen in 2008.
He was inspired by Seungsahn, the master of the Jogye Order and a founder of the International Kwan Um School of Zen. The two met at a lecture in the U.S. Seongsahn died in 2004, and Hyun Gak took over the Zen school as director.
The monk cited the authoritarian culture, hierarchical system, discrimination against nationality and gender, and the pursuit of money within the Jogye Order as reasons for his departure. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but to be fair the Jogye order isn’t much different than many other religious sects that seem to prioritize raising money over teaching their religious beliefs.
