Tag: Vietnam

South Korea Has Its Own Comfort Women Problem with Vietnam

| September 19, 2017

Maybe Mike Honda can put a Vietnamese comfort women statue next to the Korean one that was put up in San Francisco:

But for a significant number of children fathered as a result of rape by South Korean soldiers, it was the start of a living hell.

Mr Nhat recalled: “Before April 1975, I had been treated well by the South Korean troops who lived on the base near my home in Phu Yen Province, central Vietnam. I was still too young to have any real sense of my identity and hadn’t yet questioned my mother about why I looked different to other Vietnamese children.

“But when the Communists declared victory, everything changed for me. Suddenly, I knew I was dangerously different.”

A period of painful bullying ensued in school. Mr Nhat said: “I was bullied repeatedly. The other children kept asking who my father was and called him a ‘dog’. I just kept suffering in silence.

“I was 18 when my mother finally sat me down and told me she had been raped by Korean soldiers – not once but three times. My two sisters are also mixed blood or Lai Dai Han as we are known in Vietnam.”  (…..)

South Korean troops were not alone in their exploitation of civilian women but their country has never acknowledged the allegations or taken steps to investigate.  (…..)

Mrs Ngai felt confused in the fog of war but now she is very clear about what she wants now. “I think the South Korean government should apologise for everything they did to women in Vietnam. [The Independent]

You can read more at the link.

Asiana Airlines Flight Attendants Arrested for Smuggling Gold into South Korea

| June 16, 2017

Here is another case of people being caught smuggling gold into South Korea in their underwear:

The gold bars and the underwear two Vietnamese flight attendants working for Asiana Airlines attempted to smuggle into the country. /Courtesy of the Korea Customs Service

Two Vietnamese flight attendants working for Asiana Airlines, Korea’s second largest carrier, have been detained after trying to smuggle 19 kilograms of gold into the country, the Korea Customs Service (KCS) said Thursday.

According to the KCS Incheon office, the attendants were concealing 1-kilogram-gold bars ― 10 on one and nine on the other ― in their underwear when they arrived at Incheon International Airport on June 5 from Vietnam.

The KCS said this was not their first smuggling attempt, saying it has confirmed that the two succeeded in smuggling 13 kilograms of gold into Korea on three occasions in April.

They will face charges of attempting to smuggle 32 kilograms of gold, worth about 1.5 billion won ($1.33 million), into the country.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but I wonder if the flight attendants were dressed like this?

https://www.rokdrop.net/2017/05/over-2000-kilograms-of-gold-caught-hidden-in-the-private-parts-of-51-koreans/

 

Kim Jong-nam Assassin Was Once A Contestant on Vietnamese Version of American Idol

| February 26, 2017

As if the murder of Kim Jong-nam could not get any more bizarre, now the VX nerve agent wielding assassin Doan Thi Huong has been identified as an aspiring singer who appeared recently on Vietnam’s version of American Idol:

A woman believed to be Huong appeared on the Vietnamese version of Pop Idol

Doan Thi Huong’s site features pouting party pictures including a snap of her wearing a shirt emblazoned ‘LOL’  similar to the one on the fleeing suspect caught on CCTV.

The photos were released amid claims she once starred on the Vietnamese version of Pop Idol.

The 28-year-old worked at a popular party venue, according to Malaysian police who have arrested her over the murder of Kim Jong Nam at a Malaysian airport .

On a rice farm in northern Vietnam, her family said they had hardly heard from her since she left home a decade ago aged just 18.

“At first we doubted it was her when we saw the picture with the ‘LOL’ shirt,” said stepmother Nguyen Thi Vy .

“But when someone bought a clearer picture here, we knew it was our Huong.

“If she committed the crime, she has to suffer, we can’t do anything… but I think she must have been set up by someone.”

Huong’s brother Doan Van Binh said he knew little about his sister’s life after she left the village.

“I encouraged her to study and earn money so that her future would be good,” he said.

“My family is very sad. We all thought she was in a good place.”

Huong posted to Facebook under the name Ruby Ruby, according to her 18-year-old niece, Dinh Thi Quyen.

The last post on a Facebook page – released by the respected AP news agency – is dated February 11 from Kampong Besut, Malaysia.

“I want to sleep more but by your side,” the post reads above a picture of her, eyes closed and wrapped up in bed.  [The UK Sun]

You can read much more about Huong at the link, but here is what Huong looks like when not covered in make up and wearing a LOL shirt:

A photo released by Malaysian police of Huong in custody

Democracy Award Causes Tension Between South Korea and Vietnam

| May 9, 2016

I don’t think there is much the ROK government could do about this if they wanted considering the award is from a private foundation:

Nguyen Dan Que

A prestigious human rights award that commemorates one of Korea’s defining democratic moments has angered an Asian government – because it honors one of its dissidents.

Late last month, Nguyen Dan Que, 74, a pro-democracy activist in Vietnam, was named this year’s recipient of the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights, along with Bersih, a coalition of nongovernmental organizations in Malaysia that fights for fair elections.

The committee responsible for naming the award winners declared on Thursday that the Vietnamese government has demanded a retraction and is pushing Korean authorities to “take all necessary actions” to ensure that the award be withdrawn. Hanoi threatened strained diplomatic relations if Seoul fails to follow through.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

US To Sell Military Equipment to Vietnam

| October 23, 2014

How times have changed:

SCS Image

It’s no secret that the United States has worried about the expansion of Chinese military power. The U.S., distracted by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has neglected Asia. The so-called “Asia Pivot” has been an attempt to correct that, broadening old alliances while forming new agreements with countries not traditionally American allies, but which share an interest in containing China.

Vietnam would probably like a full array of modern American weapons, but fiscal and geopolitical realities must temper expectations. American weapons are expensive — a single F-35 fighter bomber costs $100 million, and Vietnam’s entire defense budget is only $7 billion.

The United States will — at least for the foreseeable future — refuse requests to sell deadly weapons like bombs or missiles to Vietnam. If American weapons caused Chinese casualties, no matter who was at fault in the incident, the U.S. would be held responsible.

But Washington is providing Vietnam with non-lethal weapons that can document China’s territorial incursions, so they can be publicized and sent to international arbitration. The United States is in talks with Vietnam to provide refurbished surveillance aircraft. P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft were first introduced in the 1950s, and are currently being replaced in U.S. inventories by the newer P-8 Poseidon. The aircraft are equipped with sonar and radar, and are manned by a crew of 11. Although old, the aircraft are dependable aerial surveillance platforms capable of monitoring huge distances.  [The Week]

You can read more at the link, but the US and Vietnam definitely have shared interests now in the South China Sea.  The selling of non-lethal equipment I think is a smart move. If the Chinese continue to be aggressive in the SCS then the selling of lethal equipment to countries in the region can be used as a negotiation tactic to moderate Chinese behavior.

However, if I was the Vietnamese I would invest in a whole lot of anti-ship cruise missiles that are relatively cheap compared to buying expensive naval ships like the Chinese have.  Just the threat that the Chinese Navy would face severe losses from these cruise missiles if conflict was to occur may be enough to moderate Chinese behavior.  If the Vietnamese really want to send a message they could also invest in ballistic missiles that can threaten Chinese cities.