Tag: South Korea

I think there is some truth to the above Korean saying:

More and more young men and women of Korea find life in their motherland so painfully tough that they literally call it hell, some even plotting to pick up and leave for another country.

But what happens when you really take off?

The Korea Times talked to 10 men and women from different walks of life who’ve immigrated to the U.S. within the past decade and here’s what they had to say about the reality of departing “Hell Joseon, a viral term that embodies young people’s sense of hopelessness in Korea.

“I’ll be honest,” said Kim Ga-young, 38, who left Korea for Atlanta two years ago after leaving her job in the customer service industry. “I don’t have to put up with nonsense brought on by all kinds of snobby people. But I’m facing a whole new set of problems here, too.”

Language and cultural barriers are the biggest trouble for her.

“I had never been overseas past Japan. The U.S. and the Western world is completely new to me, so it’s definitely going to take some time to find my place here,” says Kim, who works part-time at a Korean-owned beauty supply store.

Park Jung-hyun, 55, who made the big move almost 10 years ago, is happy to say that most of the language and cultural barriers are a thing of the past now.

“The first three years was difficult and sad,” she says, “but once I understood the true American life, I realized that I don’t have to be ashamed about not speaking the language and knowing the culture. In a way, many of us are foreigners here.”

Park, who owns and runs a coin laundry shop in Los Angeles with her husband, finds her new life satisfying, both financially and emotionally.

“My husband and I both worked long hours back in Korea,” she said, “and we still work long hours now, but interestingly, there’s a much better work-life balance here.”

Many Koreans who live in the U.S. generally have access to more family time throughout the week and during the weekend, but for some, family time isn’t the only thing they want.

“There’s a saying that Korea is a fun hell and the U.S. is a boring heaven,” says Kim, 41, a hairdresser in Dallas, who didn’t want to be fully named. “I miss being able to just walk out late at night, meeting up with old friends and getting a drink without the hassle of driving on the freeway for 30 minutes to get somewhere.” [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se (R) talks with Daniel Russel, U.S. assistant secretary of state, during their meeting in Seoul on Feb. 26, 2016. The U.S. diplomat arrived earlier in the day as the U.N. Security Council is getting closer to adopting a resolution that will slap tough sanctions on North Korea for its recent nuclear test and rocket launch. Russel heads to China on Feb. 27, whose cooperation is critical to making the sanctions effective. (Yonhap)

China's ambassador to South Korea says THAAD could destroy their ties "in an instant." What is THAAD? https://t.co/s6vjvDSwla

— The Diplomat (@Diplomat_APAC) February 26, 2016

An angler poses for a photo with a giant fat bass measuring 175 centimeters in length on Yeoseo Island off South Korea’s southwestern coast, in this undated photo released by the Wan Island municipality on Feb. 24, 2016. The legendary deep sea fish weighing 120 kilograms was caught in waters off the island two days ago. (Yonhap)

The deployment of the THAAD missile defense system to South Korea is taking another step closer to becoming reality:

The United States and South Korea are expected “within a week” to hold the first meeting of a joint working group aimed at discussing the proposed deployment of the THAAD missile defense system, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea said Wednesday.

Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti told the House Armed Services Committee that it will take some time to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system to the South as the working group has determine the right location and other details.

“We’re forming a joint working group that I think will have its first meeting within a week,” he said. “THAAD is a complex system. It’s going to take some time for us to find the right location because where you locate it makes a difference on how effective it is. So we got to find the right location and do that work, which we will do in accordance with our SOFA.”  [Yonhap]

The Chinese are still complaining about the deployment and I really like what the PACOM commander Admiral Harris had to say in response:

U.S. Pacific Commander Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr. criticized China’s opposition to THAAD, saying it is “preposterous that China would try to wedge itself between South Korea and the United States for a missile system designed to defend Americans and Koreans.”

It is good to see someone calling out the Chinese on how preposterous their criticisms of the THAAD deployment are.

It looks like South Korean students will no longer be dressed in clothes made by quasi-slave labor:

Tens of thousands of secondary school students may not be able to wear school uniforms for the upcoming semester, as suppliers based in the Gaeseong Industrial Complex (GIC) are unable to deliver the goods in time after the complex was shut down due to strained inter-Korean relations.

Those students may have to wait for up to two more months to buy new uniforms, while the new semester begins on March 2.

A day after South Korea announced the shutdown of the inter-Korean industrial park on Feb. 10, North Korea expelled all South Korean workers from the complex.

According to Mansun, a uniform subcontractor to Hyungji Elite, the largest school uniform manufacturer here, more than 80,000 sets of uniforms were left behind in its factory in Gaeseong.

“When we were forced out, we were not allowed to take our products with us,” an official from Mansun said. “Not only us but three other subcontractors for school uniform manufacturers were prevented from bringing the products, causing the uniform supply shortage.” [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

The fast response unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency trains against riots at a command inspection in Seoul on Feb. 23, 2016, testing their preparedness against violent protests, road occupation and other scenarios. (Yonhap)

Two elderly men erect a post on which rice, barley, sorghum and other grains are attached at the folk village in the city of Yongin, south of Seoul, on Feb. 22, 2016, which is “Jeongwol Daeboreum,” the first full moon of the Lunar New Year. The rite is typical of customs observed by Korean farmers on Jeongwol Daeboreum to wish for a bumper crop in the new year. (Yonhap)

He must have been bragging about his dope smoking to have gotten caught like this growing marijuana in his apartment:

A 47-year-old Canadian was caught growing cannabis in his residence and habitually smoking it, South Korean police said Monday.

According to the police, the Canadian national, who had previously been a lecturer at a university in Daegu, smuggled marijuana into Korea from Thailand in August 2010. He then grew it at the balcony in his apartment building, the police said.

The man allegedly set up facilities like a ventilator, electronic heater and reflecting plate on the balcony to grow the weed for years.

He reportedly lost his job as a university lecturer as allegations about him smoking cannabis surfaced at his workplace.   [Korea Herald]

The yearly Takeshima Day nonsense has concluded with nothing much of interest occurring.  I miss the good old days of the Great Dokdo War.  I can still remember the hard days when those of us in Korea had to stock up on food and supplies to survive the initial declaration of war from President Roh.  We made it through multiple cease fires, close calls, and even the failure of the Daemado campaign.  Times had been so desperate that even talk about recruiting North Korea to fight off the evil Japanese Imperialists was announced.  Though the casualties on the Korean side have been heavy at times, through it all the brave defenders of Dokdo have continued thwart the massive Japanese armada descending on Dokdo.  We were also treated back then to such Korean patriots like Flag Eater Man, Chung Dong-young, the Finger Chopping Lady, the Knife in the Gut Man, Weed Killer Man, the Dokdo Riders, and most importantly that great general of all things Dokdo, Bee-Man.  Now all we have is this:

South Korea condemned Japan’s dispatch of a senior government official Monday to a local event aimed at publicizing its claim to Dokdo, a pair of outcroppings in the East Sea.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry stressed that Dokdo is South Korea’s territory historically, geographically, and under international law.

It called on Japan to immediately stop such a territorial provocation and “humbly face up to its history” of aggression and imperialism.

The ministry called in Hideo Suzuki, a minister at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, to deliver a message of protest. Lee Sang-deok, director-general handling Northeast Asian affairs at the ministry, had a closed-door meeting with Suzuki.

Earlier in the day, the Shinzo Abe administration sent Yasuyuki Sakai, parliamentary vice minister of the Cabinet Office, to the controversial yearly event hosted by the Shimane Prefecture.

In 2005, the western prefecture, which claims administrative sovereignty over the islets, designated Feb. 22 as “Takeshima Day.” Takeshima is the Japanese name for Dokdo.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.