Tag: South Korea

The video of this guy destroying his leased Mercedes in front of the dealership in Gwangju has gone viral in Korea.  However, after reading the whole story it appears that this guy was partly to blame for what happened due to customizations he made to the leased car:

Mercedes-Benz Korea came under fire after a driver of one of its luxury vehicles, dissatisfied with the company’s after-sales service, posted a video online of himself giving the car a violent going-over with a golf club.

The video was uploaded to YouTube on Friday, the same day that the company opened a 25 billion won ($21 million) staff training center
developed to improve its customer
service.

According to Seobu Precinct Police in Gwangju on Tuesday, a leaser of a Benz S63 AMG, surnamed Yoo, was booked on Monday without detention on a charge of obstructing a business. The police said the 33-year-old driver of the 209 million won luxury sedan parked it near the entrance to a Benz dealership and smashed its windshield and doors a dozen times with a golf club.

Yoo then posted a video clip of the assault on YouTube.

The police said the business obstruction charge was applied because Yoo left the car near the dealership for 17 hours.

Yoo told police that he leased the car in March and customized the soundproofing and exhaust systems.

But the car’s engine suddenly stopped working on three separate occasions while driving, including on an overpass on Sept. 9 with his pregnant wife and 5-year-old son in the car.

Yoo found a clause in his contract that guarantees a car owner will get a refund or a replacement vehicle if the same problem is found three times with a part. But according to Yoo, the Benz dealership wouldn’t cooperate.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read the rest at the link.

It looks like there is another convert to what I have been saying for years that the Kim regime will never denuclearize or seek peaceful reunification with South Korea:

A former CIA agent said Tokyo, which is expected to pass a controversial security bill on Friday, should build up its military strength in order to play a key role in a North Korea collapse.

Michael Lee, the 81-year-old former director of the CIA’s North Korea section, made the statement in an interview with Sankei Shimbun, the conservative Japanese newspaper that was charged for publishing derogatory remarks about South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

“The strong samurai spirit of Japan is needed,” Lee said on the topic of dealing with North Korea, and added the government in Seoul is not up to the task of reunification.

South Korean outlet Newsis reported Lee, a Korean-American, said Seoul is wrong to seek a win-win strategy in negotiations with North Korea, and added that “now is the time” to take down the Pyongyang regime – citing Kim Jong Un‘s destabilizing politics of fear.

Lee also said South Korea’s “submissive attitude” to Pyongyang was a “complete failure,” and criticized the Park administration for its show of weakness. Lee also said Washington is believed to be changing its North Korea policy and considering a possibility of collapse after Pyongyang refused to give up its nuclear weapons program.

Lee said it is impossible to coexist with the current regime in North Korea and that the only way to liberate North Koreans from their suffering would be the elimination of the Kim regime.  [UPI]

You can read the rest at the link.

Mike Bassett raises questions about ongoing propaganda campaigns against North Korea http://t.co/XUbwWRW1pV pic.twitter.com/dbMZTPBT3F

— The Korea Observer (@koreaobserver) September 12, 2015

A model juxtaposes her painted body with a mural as she poses for a photo during a competition of craftsmanship at the KINTEX convention center outside of Seoul on Sept. 10, 2015. (Yonhap)

Calling Seoul. 3 wks after N-S accord, reunions on track – but the rest? Wider talks, exchanges? Any word yet? @AlastairGale @John_F_Power

— Aidan Foster-Carter (@fcaidan) September 14, 2015

Some people are just nuts and need to be locked away for good like this woman:

A woman who allegedly killed her five-year-old son in Gyeonngi Province was arrested Monday.

The woman, 38, identified only as “A,” allegedly drowned her son in a bathtub at her house on Sept. 10. Police said the boy was gagged and his hands tied.

The mother changed her son’s clothes after killing him and laid him in her room to cover up the crime.

“B”‘s older sister found the body and called police. Police said the mother first told them the boy had died suddenly in his sleep, but then claimed he had drowned while playing in the tub by himself.

After checking CCTV footage near her house, police found that the mother had forced her son into house. They also found duct tape, allegedly used in the killing, in the house.

Police said the mother told them she killed her son because he was fond of her husband, who did not get along with her. [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

Syrian refugees living in South Korea hold a press conference in front of the state-run human rights commission in central Seoul on Sept. 13, 2015, urging people to help refugees from Syria. (Yonhap)

I wonder  if anyone in the Philippines asked General Scaparrotti how well the ROKs protect classified military information?:

South Korea and the Philippines on Monday signed a pact to protect classified military information in a bid to exchange military intelligence, Seoul’s defense ministry said.

South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo and his Filipino counterpart Secretary Voltaire Gazmin signed the deal in Manila following their talks, according to the ministry.

Han arrived in the Philippines on Monday for a two-day visit following his trip to Australia for a so-called “two plus two” meeting among the two nations’ defense and foreign chiefs.

The ministry said that the pact calls for exchanging comprehensive military information between Seoul and Manila, which will help them deepen military cooperation.  [Korea Herald]

You can read more at the link.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye (R) and King Abdullah II of Jordan shake hands at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Sept. 11, 2015, ahead of their talks (Yonhap)

That is what the below report in the Hankyoreh is speculating could happen if North Korea launches a rocket in October:

The main variable in future diplomatic trends is the question of whether North Korea will launch a long-range rocket. There has been discussion of the possibility of North Korea testing a long-range rocket on the pretext of putting a satellite into orbit on Oct. 10, the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the Korean Workers’ Party.

Indeed, a video was posted on Uriminzokkiri, a website that North Korea uses to send propaganda to South Korea, in which the anchor said, “South Korea’s opposition parties, press, and experts urged the government not to cast a chill on inter-Korean relations, which are starting to thaw at last, simply because North Korea launches a satellite.”Experts suspect that North Korea’s suggestive comments are intended to provide justification for the upcoming rocket launch.   (………………)

This could also lead to renewed calls from the US and Japan to deploy THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) on the Korean Peninsula to defend against North Korean rockets. If South Korea is dragged into a discussion of THAAD, opposition from China could strain relations between the two countries.  [Hankyoreh]

You can read more at the link.