Tag: South Korea

According to the below article an increasing amount of young Koreans are trying to leave the country.  It was interesting to learn that many of these young Koreans were very concerned about how European countries namely Germany accepting Syrian refugees would impact their own immigration plans.  My advice to anyone thinking of leaving Korea is to understand that the grass is not always greener on the other side:

There are young people all over the country who have already made their “South Korean escape,” at least in spirit, though they may not be ready to leave just yet. There are quite a few groups of people raising funds to immigrate or learning how immigration works. On a website called Hell Korea (hellkorea.com), various individuals have posted tips about getting out of the country on the site’s “Escape Korea” message board. Some typical posts are “The Pros of American Citizenship” and “How to Immigrate to Canada as a Skilled Worker.” One netizen who succeeded at immigrating to Canada as a skilled worker shared [his] experience. “I was working at a web agency, which is regarded as the absolute worst place to be in the IT industry. You wouldn’t believe the exhaustion I was dealing with because of my long working hours. I decided to get a work visa as a welder in Canada, because of the educational and medical benefits there, and I spent about six years being trained and gaining experience,” [he] wrote.  [Hankyoreh]

You can read the rest at the link.

https://twitter.com/pearswick/status/683131731579293696

Horse-meat lovers nationwide will soon be able to enjoy Jeju 'malgogi'#Jeju #Horse #Meat https://t.co/0DU631A098

— The Jeju Weekly (@JejuWeekly) December 30, 2015

Structures set up for display for the Namdaecheon Ice Festival in Muju, North Jeolla Province, are frozen on Dec. 28, 2015, as the mercury dipped to minus 10.6 degrees C. Weather forecasters said the nation’s temperature on the day was the lowest so far this winter. The ice festival opens on Jan. 8. (Yonhap)

A statue of a young girl, symbolizing the victims of Japan’s sexual enslavement, is seen in this photo taken on Dec. 28, 2015. The statue, set up in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul, has become an issue in the agreement announced on the day by South Korea and Japan to end their confrontation over “comfort women.” Japan is pressing for it to be relocated elsewhere, and South Korea said it will take into account Japan’s concerns and try to solve the situation in an appropriate manner. (Yonhap)

Another ordinance round landing outside the limits of Rodriguez Range is the last thing USFK needed to happen at the increasingly controversial firing range.  It will be interesting to see if the investigation results will be released because it would helpful to know if this was human error or a problem with the TOW missile?  Regardless activists will undoubtedly jump on this in their effort to get paid:

The U.S. military has suspended training at the Rodriguez Live Fire Range in South Korea after a stray missile struck a nearby building.

No one was injured in the Wednesday incident, which is under investigation, 8th Army spokesman Col. David Patterson Jr. said Thursday.

The tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided (TOW) anti-tank missile was fired by Marines training at the range, 2nd Infantry Division spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hyde said. It landed 200 meters outside the range boundary in an abandoned building within the Pocheon city limits.

“All operations have been ceased at the range,” Patterson said.

Rodriguez Live Fire Range is a 3,390-acre complex used year-round by both U.S. and South Korean forces. While most of the surrounding area is rural, residents have long voiced complaints over noise, fires and other incidents.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read the rest at the link.

This should be considered unsurprising that the US back the ROK-Japan comfort women deal, but I have yet to see what China’s official response is yet.  It would think it would not be in their interest to reach a deal with Japan because of the domestic propaganda it provides:

Civil society support for the Korea-Japan agreement on resolving the issue of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery will be crucial to the deal’s success, the State Department said Tuesday.

“Everyone will make their own judgments about this agreement. But I do hope, we do hope, as the United States, that others, including here in the U.S., will support this agreement and its full implementation as we do,” State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said at a regular briefing.

“We believe it’s an important gesture that will promote healing and reconciliation and the support of civil society for this settlement will be crucial to its success in the end,” he said.

On Monday, South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, reached the agreement that centers on Japan’s admission of responsibility for the wartime crime and plans to pay reparations to the victims. [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Dr. Victor Cha (@vcgiants) outlines the key takeaways of this week's ROK-Japan Comfort Women agreement: https://t.co/sWKgmRojdl

— Andrew NK (@northkoreafront) December 28, 2015

Something to think about the next time you decide to buy seafood:

Radioactive material was discovered at detectable levels in domestic and Russian seafood products, a recent study confirms.The news comes amid growing concerns about radiation contamination in seafood products entering the country since the 2011 disaster at Japan’s Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. In response, environmental groups are calling for more intensive inspections of seafood for radioactivity.The findings were announced on Dec. 23 after a study by three groups: the Institute for Environment & Community Development Studies (IECDS), the Korea Radiation Watch Center, and the Gwangju chapter of the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement.

Analysis of 150 samples of mackerel, pollock, cod, kelp, and sea mustard taken from discount stores and markets in Seoul, Busan, and Gwangju between March and November showed the presence of radioactive cesium-137 in eight of them, or 5.3%.Cesium-137 is considered one of the chief examples of a radioactive isotope detected in the process of artificial nuclear fission, with an acceptable standard of 100 becquerels per kilogram.The isotope was found in samples of pollock and cod from Russia and domestic mackerel and kelp at levels of 0.37 to 1.09 becquerels per kilogram.The highest rate of detection was for Russian cod at 13%, followed by Russian pollock at 11.5%, Korean kelp at 7.7%, and Korean mackerel at 3.3%.  [Hankyoreh]

You can read the rest at the link.

For some people, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe could apologize and commit seppuku on top of Mt. Namsan and they still would not be happy.  It seems to me the outline of this deal to resolve the comfort women issues seems pretty fair:

The landmark agreement between South Korea and Japan to end their dispute over Japan’s wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women has already prompted questions about whether it really is the end.

The two countries’ top diplomats announced the terms of the deal in a press conference Monday, wrapping up 12 rounds of bilateral working-level talks that began in April 2014.

Key features of the agreement included a personal apology from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for his country’s wartime crime, the Japanese government’s admission of responsibility for it and a 1 billion yen contribution to a support fund for victims to be set up by the South Korean government.

While the deal satisfied some of Seoul’s key demands, critics and some victims immediately protested the lack of “legal responsibility” on the part of Japan.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said the Japanese government “feels acutely responsible” for the damage it caused to the honor and dignity of many women, with the involvement of the Japanese military during World War II. He did not state whether it is “moral” or “legal” responsibility.  [Korea Herald]

You can read the rest at the link.