Tag: South Korea

Considering the short time of flight of incoming enemy missiles, missile defense operators in South Korea do not have time to call the South Korean Defense Minister for approval to engage an incoming target.  It is also pretty ridiculous that there is even a debate on whether a missile from North Korea projected to impact within South Korea should be considered a wartime act or not:

A debate is escalating over command of THAAD, the U.S. anti-missile defense system, and whether the United States or South Korea is to have the final say on a response in the case of a North Korea attack.

South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo told parliamentarians Tuesday in a scenario of a North Korean ballistic missile attack, Seoul has four to eight minutes to respond, local newspaper Kyunghyang Shinmun reported.

“A very sophisticated operation management procedure has been developed,” Han said.

Han’s response, however, evaded a question from Justice Party spokesman Kim Jong-dae, who had asked Han which military would issue the command to intercept an incoming missile, Yonhap reported.

Han later added South Korea holds “operational control” during peacetime and U.S. Forces Korea plays a role in support of that strategy.

But Han did not say whether a fired missile coming from North Korea qualifies as an action of peacetime or wartime.  [UPI]

You can read more at the link.

Rare earthquake in South Korea, just offshore near the city of Ulsan. Magnitude 4.8. No immediate reports of damage. pic.twitter.com/wp9pOLf0RE

— Alastair Gale (@AlastairGale) July 5, 2016

Apparently this elderly couple had their son plus his wife and children visit on weekends which created a lot of noise which for whatever reason set this guy off.  Sadly the elderly woman was killed by the stabbing:

The 34-year-old man suspected of having stabbed a senior couple that lived upstairs from him in in Hanam, Gyeonggi, for ignoring his requests to quiet down was caught by the police at a sauna in Incheon, Hanam Police said on Monday.

The suspect is accused of having planned the crime in advance, as he allegedly had a knife with him, which was purchased one month ago, when he visited the elderly couple at about 5:50 p.m. on Saturday. The suspect had also allegedly installed a video camera in front of the victim’s home in order to find out the door passcode.

Although the husband, 68, and the wife, 67, were both stabbed, the wife died after being transferred to a hospital while the husband is in stable condition, police have announced.

“I remember having locked the door,” testified the husband. “I don’t know how he managed to open it.”

“I faced difficulties in my daily life because of the loud noise coming from upstairs,” the suspect later testified to police. “I personally went upstairs twice in March and told them to be quiet, but they kept making noise. I just got more and more stressed out as the days went by, and that’s why I did what I did.”  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

Soldiers from the 35th Infantry Division help old farmers harvest onions at fields in Imsil, 300 kilometers south of Seoul, on June 28, 2016. Many rural areas in the country are suffering from severe labor shortages as youths there leave their hometowns to find jobs in cities. Imsil County provided this photo. (Yonhap)

A stream cutting through the central city of Cheongju overflows its banks on July 4, 2016, as the city was hit by downpours with the onslaught of the annual rainy season. Weathermen have posted a heavy rain warning for the region. (Yonhap)

If restaurants are lowering prices as well as closing down due to the new anti-corruption law just how many public servants are being bought off each day with free meals in Seoul?:

The implementation of a controversial anti-corruption law is scaring the retail and restaurant industries, who fear that gifts and free meals will become illegal.

The so-called Kim Young-ran law, named for a former Supreme Court Justice and Chairwoman of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission who inspired it, was promulgated and signed by President Park Geun-hye in March 2015 and will be implemented from September 28. It forbids people in a range of professions from accepting meals that cost over 30,000 won ($26), gifts valued over 50,000 won and cash payments over 100,000 won.

Public officials fall under the law but also teachers, professors and even journalists. They are considered “public” professions by the lawmakers who passed the bill.

“A lunch menu at our Chinese restaurant is priced at 39,500 won,” said Oh Hee-jin, a manger at the Ritz-Carlton Seoul. “We are looking into lowering this to 30,000 won.”

Lotte Department Store is looking at reducing the size of gift sets to get their price tags below 50,000 won each.

But lowering prices is not a viable option for everyone.

“Hotels are supposed to take pride in providing the best services and food,” said a manager at the Shilla Hotel. “We can’t do that anymore if we start lowering prices on everything.”

Some restaurant owners are closing stores altogether. Some 30 vacant sites in Insa-dong, central Seoul, were once restaurants.

“Since April, restaurants have been closing one after another,” said a real estate agent near Insa-dong. “Restaurant owners used to rent space and pay a 200 million won premium. Now they won’t sign a deal even when I’ve lowered the premium to just 100 million won.”  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but it is interesting that a private sector employee like a journalist is able to fall under this bill and be considered a public profession.  I am surprised no one in the media has challenged this law yet.

What is it with South Korea and horrible slogans?:

The government on Monday officially adopted “Creative Korea” as South Korea’s new national slogan and promote it internationally to highlight the importance the country places on fostering creativity.

The country had used “Dynamic Korea,” as its official slogan ahead of the 2002 South Korea-Japan World Cup.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism chose the new slogan based on public polls that singled out “creativity,” “passion and “harmony” as the three main keywords that can best identify Korea, and listened to opinions from local and foreign experts.

The ministry said while “passion” was the driving force of building today’s Korea from the ashes of the 1950-53 Korean War, “creativity” is a value that the country should pursue to move itself forward to cope with changing demands of the time.

To promote the image, the government will launch a national brand campaign on foreign news media outlets such as CNN and BBC and its overseas missions and relevant organizations, including Korean cultural centers and the Korea Tourism Organization.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but at least this slogan is not as bad as Seoul’s new slogan.

Reed Hastings (L), CEO of Netflix, and the company’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos speak at a media event in Seoul on June 30, 2016. They said Netflix will provide more South Korean content, targeting the large following in China of K-dramas. The company has invested US$50 million in the new film “Okja” with South Korean director Bong Joon-ho, scheduled for release next year. (Yonhap)

It looks like the North Koreans could be up to no good again in the western islands:

South Korea’s military is on high alert for possible North Korean military provocations after the communist country increased the amount of weapons and troops on its western islands, government sources said Wednesday.

“North Korea has deployed weapons, surveillance assets and troops to its islands, Galdo and Arido, north of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the Yellow Sea,” one government source said, asking not to be named. “Our (South Korean) military is mindful of the possibility of sudden provocations by the North in the region.”

The NLL is a de facto maritime border between the Koreas.

Possible provocations could include shelling attacks on South Korean warships or seizing South Korean fishing boats in the tense border areas, other sources indicated.

In response, the South Korean military has placed its troops on alert and increased its sea border surveillance using unmanned aerial vehicles, including Israel-made Heron drones, the sources said.

They said the North has recently installed military bunkers on the previously uninhabited Galdo and deployed about 60 military forces and six 122-millimeter multiple-launch rocket systems there.

A squad of 20 soldiers has been deployed on Arido, also formerly uninhabited, along with surveillance radar and a camera, according to the sources.  [Yonhap]

Internship Available at Law Firm in Seoul, Korea: We are looking for a dedicated intern that will work either… https://t.co/gzflSxWw5k

— Sean Hayes (@SeanHayes_) June 29, 2016