I recently stumbled upon some high quality color photos of a leper village in South Korea during the Korean War:
According to the discussion in the Flickr comments section the leper village was in Daejon. Eventually the Korean government would round up and move all leprosy patients to Sorokdo Island. What a horrible disease to have, but fortunately today there is treatment for the disease and thus very rare.
If the author actually tried Paris Baguette, she'd know that their rep was stretching the truth more than Trump https://t.co/eCR1hV1S6k
— KingSejong (@KingSejong) May 5, 2016
A U.S. soldier places a flower on a memorial altar for 10 brave fallen soldiers in the South Korean border city of Paju, north of Seoul, on May 4, 2016. The government marked the 67th anniversary of their deaths the same day. On May 4, 1949, the 10 commandoes from the Army’s 1st Division rushed forward carrying bombs in their arms toward North Korean trenches in the area around Mount Songak in the city of Gaesong, destroying the trenches and themselves and playing a decisive role in the South retaking the area. (Yonhap)
This provided photo shows a fisherman posing for a photo with a giant sea eel, measuring 185 centimeters in length and 35 centimeters in width, at a port on Chuja Island near South Korea’s largest island of Jeju on May 4, 2016. The sea fish weighed 18.5 kilograms and was caught in waters off the island the same day. (Yonhap)
Shouldn’t a Chinatown have Chinese that live and work in it? This sounds more like a Chinese themed shopping district than a Chinatown:
South Korea will build a new Chinatown near Seoul to serve as an international shopping and tourism hub, the operator of a free economic zone said Wednesday.
The Chinatown, expected to be over 2.3 million square meters in size, will be built in Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers southeast of Seoul, according to the Yellow Sea Free Economic Zone (YSFEZ) authority. The YSFEZ is one the country’s several free economic zones (FEZs) located near the capital area. The project, proposed by a special purpose company (SPC) established with major investment from Chinese firm Legions Group, has been reviewed by the related bodies as of March and is waiting official approval from the authorities.
The company, capitalized at 50 billion won (US$43 million), is 50-percent owned by Legions, 20 percent by Chinese individuals and 20 percent by South Korean private investors. The plan is to build hotels, recreation and convention centers, as well as large-scale shopping facilities with duty-free shops in the newly envisioned town, named China Castle. The company said it will also establish medical centers, an international school and apartments in the area. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link.
Have you ever wondered what Koreans think of Donald Trump? Well someone found out:
Hat Tip: Reddit Korea
Via a reader tip comes this dramatic rescue story of US servicemembers saving a Nigerian family from a burning building outside of Osan AB:
The scenario, captured in mobile phone footage, is a mother’s nightmare. On the fourth story of a burning building in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, a woman dangles her baby out the window as smoke billows from two floors below. Onlookers scream and wave their hands as the 30-year-old mother holds out the terrified infant — the child’s legs kicking furiously — before dropping her to the crowd. Another child follows, then another, before the woman herself leaps from the window — the only escape route. Remarkably, all survived without injury Saturday, caught safely on blankets in a rescue effort orchestrated by passing U.S. service personnel stationed at nearby Osan Air Base.
U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Daniel Raimondo told CNN he was walking to dinner Saturday when he saw clouds of smoke and set off in that direction. On assessing the scene, he and a colleague discussed how to help and resolved to get some blankets from a nearby store. They corralled others to help hold the blankets, then tried to persuade the mother to drop her children to safety. First Sgt. Melanie Scott said the woman was understandably reluctant to let go of her children, ages 1, 3 and 4.
“You could tell she was scared. She didn’t want to.” Raimondo said that the “last baby was the most difficult in my eyes, she just wouldn’t let her go for some reason.” He said he repeatedly begged the mother: “Please just throw the baby down!” “I remember her screaming (at) the baby, ‘I love you, I love you. …’ Next thing you know she dropped the baby.” [CNN]
A bunch of 2nd Infantry Division soldiers have apparently made themselves eligible for Army downsizing after being punished for the brawl they were part of at the UN Club in Itaewon:
The Army has punished nine soldiers for a brawl in Seoul’s Itaewon entertainment district, a 2nd Infantry Division spokesman said Tuesday.
Video that has been circulating on social media since shortly after the January fight shows a group of foreigners brawling in the street in front of the UN Club, a nightspot popular with U.S. troops that’s a few minutes’ walk from Yongsan Garrison, headquarters of 8th Army and U.S. Forces Korea.
The brawl involved both men and women trading punches and wrestling on the ground, oblivious to the efforts of a lone, bespectacled South Korean police officer to bring the situation under control with a glowing-red traffic wand. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read the rest at the link, but here is the Youtube video of the brawl, what disgrace:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEtOGx1PDSc
When dealing with the Middle East actions speak louder than words and so far there has been no action on Iran’s part to support their recent rhetoric:
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani suggested Monday that his country is opposed to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, a move that underscores growing pressure on the communist country.
“We cheer for peace on the Korean Peninsula and we are, in principle, opposed to any nuclear development,” Rouhani said through a translator in a joint news conference with South Korean President Park Geun-hye after their summit in Tehran.
“Our basic position is that nuclear weapons should be removed from the Korean Peninsula and the Middle East.”
Rouhani’s comments are the latest act of international pressure being exerted on North Korea to give up its nuclear program and end its provocations. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link.
Image via KBS World Radio.
What strikes out at me in regards to President Park’s visit to Iran is that she is wearing a veil. What made this jump out at me was that I remembered that she did not wear a veil when she visited Saudi Arabia last year:
President Park Geun-hye (left) meets with Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the king of Saudi Arabia, during a bilateral summit. They discuss ways to strengthen bilateral relations across a range of sectors. [Korea.net]
She is not only wearing a veil, but one that is covering not only her hair, but her entire neck. According to this Korea Times article President Park was trying to show respect for Iranian customs and culture. How about the Iranian government show respect to her and understand she is a head of state of one of the world’s great country’s and should not be subjugated to Iranian customs. If Iranian President Hassan Rouhani ever visits South Korea does anyone think we will see them dressed up in a hanbok in respect to Korean culture?
