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South Korea

ramonmercado said:
Vid at link.

Where dogs wear pollution masks
South Korea has some of the worst air quality in the developed world, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

While people have long protected themselves by wearing masks, concern is now growing among dog owners for the health of their pets.
  • 09 Jun 2019
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-48561039/where-dogs-wear-pollution-masks
Click to expand...

It was dreadful this spring, easily the worst I have seen here, but I haven't seen a single dog in a mask.

(The BBC correspondents rarely get out of Seoul).
 
A rather grim story.

Two South Korean intelligence officials have been accused of raping a North Korean defector, with one said to have abused her dozens of times.

The alleged victim, who had been in the two men's custody, was forced to have two abortions, her lawyers say. The officials, a lieutenant colonel and a master sergeant, have been suspended and an investigation has begun. North Korean women who defect are more vulnerable to sexual assault than South Koreans, human rights activists say.

The defence ministry's intelligence command is tasked with investigating North Korean defectors and gathering intelligence. Early this year, the two suspects were assigned the woman's custody, law firm Good Lawyers told BBC Korean. According to the law firm, the first time the woman was raped she was unconscious as a result of drinking alcohol.

The master sergeant is accused of raping her dozens of times while the lieutenant colonel is accused of raping her once. The defence ministry said that its investigators had already looked into the allegations and had sent the case to armed forces prosecutors. South Korean defence ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo said the officials "would be appropriately handled depending on the investigation results".

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-50668279
 
Unlike.

There have been a number of abuses of power by--mainly--South Korean NCOs because the military is so independent and answerable, in most cases to itself.

Unfortunately, even a case like this might be the visible end of the iceberg.
 
Vid at link.

The South Korean protester living in the sky

For nearly a year, 61-year-old Kim Yong-hee, has being living on a 20-metre-high traffic tower in the centre in Seoul, South Korea. It’s the latest in a quarter-century of protests Mr Kim has made, fighting for workers’ rights at the multinational conglomerate Samsung.

Kim Yong-hee says he was fired by the global tech giant nearly 30 years ago, when he tried to form a trade union. He’s been protesting ever since and vows not to down till the company improves workers’ rights.

In a statement Samsung said, "the safety of Mr Kim is of our highest priority and we have engaged in negotiations. Contrary to certain allegations, Mr Kim was dismissed according to standing company regulations. Samsung regrets the current situation and is trying to resolve this issue.”
  • 1h ago
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-52792953/the-south-korean-protester-living-in-the-sky
 
Wake Up You 'Orrible Little Man!

South Korean troops failed to notice a North Korean man who crossed the heavily fortified border this month even though he appeared on TV cameras eight times and triggered alarms.

South Korea's army said it would take this moment to make necessary changes.

The man swam in from the sea in a wet suit, walked 5km and spent three hours undetected before troops finally took action on his ninth TV appearance. It is unclear why he made the crossing via such a dangerous route. At one point the man passed through a drainage tunnel in the demilitarised zone (DMZ) the South Korean military did not even know existed, the Yonhap news agency reported. This is despite the zone being one of the most heavily fortified and sensor-dominated in the world. ...

Sources told Yonhap the man had expressed a desire to defect and no evidence of links to espionage had so far been found. ...

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-56165762
 
An end to Hot Dogs?

Animal rights groups have welcomed the South Korean president’s offer to look into banning consumption of dog meat.

Dog meat is neither legal nor explicitly banned in South Korea.

Restaurants that serve it are a dwindling business as younger people find dog meat a less appetising dining option but some people oppose a ban as a surrender to Western pressure.

During a meeting with his prime minister on Monday, President Moon Jae-in asked “if it’s time to carefully consider” a ban, according to his office.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/world/arid-40708178.html
 
I've just learnt of the existence of this charming artefact:

FDCRHAkVUAwKHRk.jpeg.jpg


Juryeonggu (주령구) is a 14-sided Korean drinking game dice from the Unified Silla period, about 668 to 935 AD. The hanja, or Chinese characters with Korean pronunciation, for the name ju-ryeong-gu are 酒令具, meaning “liquor”, “command”, and “tool”. A die made of oak was found in a pond in Gyeongju, South Korea in 1975, but was accidentally destroyed while drying in a dehydrator. However, since there were photos taken of the die before it was lost, replicas could be made. Below are the Korean pronunciation, hanja characters and rule translations from the original die:

  • Sam-jan-il-geo (三盞一去) : Drinking three glasses of liquor at one time
  • Jung-in-ta-bi (衆人打鼻) : Having one’s nose struck by many companions
  • Ja-chang-ja-eum (自唱自飮) : Singing and drinking all on one’s own
  • Eum-jin-dae-so (飮盡大笑) : Finishing an entire cup and laughing loudly
  • Geum-seong-jak-mu (禁聲作舞) : Dancing alone, with no music
  • Yu-beom-gong-gwa (有犯空過) : Staying still without flinching, even when being charged at
  • Nong-myeon-gong-gwa (弄面孔過) : Staying still without flinching, even when one’s face is tickled
  • Gok-bi-jeuk-jin (曲臂則盡) : Finishing an entire cup while interlocking arms with a companion
  • Chu-mul-mak-bang (醜物莫放) : Drinking from a cup without removing something dirty from it (presumably placed there by a companion)
  • Weol-gyeong-il-gok (月鏡一曲) : Singing the song “Weolgyeong”
  • Gong-yeong-si-gwa(空詠詩過) : Reciting a poem
  • Im-eui-cheong-ga (任意請歌) : Asking a companion to sing a song of one’s choice
  • Ja-chang-Goe-rae-man (自唱怪來晩) : Singing the song “Goeraeman”
  • Yang-jan-jeuk-bang (兩盞則放) : When you receive two cups, drain them immediately.
Players presumably would take turns rolling the die and follow the command. The discovery of the die sheds light on the types of games people played to pass the time during Silla.

The die has Chinese characters on it because hangul, the Korean alphabet, wasn’t invented until the 15th century. Up until then, Koreans were using Chinese characters for their writing but had their own way of pronouncing them.

Source:
http://www.dellacivetta.org/goldandjade/2020/07/05/juryeonggu-14-sided-dice/
 
Yithian said:
I've just learnt of the existence of this charming artefact:

View attachment 47539

Juryeonggu (주령구) is a 14-sided Korean drinking game dice from the Unified Silla period, about 668 to 935 AD. The hanja, or Chinese characters with Korean pronunciation, for the name ju-ryeong-gu are 酒令具, meaning “liquor”, “command”, and “tool”. A die made of oak was found in a pond in Gyeongju, South Korea in 1975, but was accidentally destroyed while drying in a dehydrator. However, since there were photos taken of the die before it was lost, replicas could be made. Below are the Korean pronunciation, hanja characters and rule translations from the original die:

  • Sam-jan-il-geo (三盞一去) : Drinking three glasses of liquor at one time
  • Jung-in-ta-bi (衆人打鼻) : Having one’s nose struck by many companions
  • Ja-chang-ja-eum (自唱自飮) : Singing and drinking all on one’s own
  • Eum-jin-dae-so (飮盡大笑) : Finishing an entire cup and laughing loudly
  • Geum-seong-jak-mu (禁聲作舞) : Dancing alone, with no music
  • Yu-beom-gong-gwa (有犯空過) : Staying still without flinching, even when being charged at
  • Nong-myeon-gong-gwa (弄面孔過) : Staying still without flinching, even when one’s face is tickled
  • Gok-bi-jeuk-jin (曲臂則盡) : Finishing an entire cup while interlocking arms with a companion
  • Chu-mul-mak-bang (醜物莫放) : Drinking from a cup without removing something dirty from it (presumably placed there by a companion)
  • Weol-gyeong-il-gok (月鏡一曲) : Singing the song “Weolgyeong”
  • Gong-yeong-si-gwa(空詠詩過) : Reciting a poem
  • Im-eui-cheong-ga (任意請歌) : Asking a companion to sing a song of one’s choice
  • Ja-chang-Goe-rae-man (自唱怪來晩) : Singing the song “Goeraeman”
  • Yang-jan-jeuk-bang (兩盞則放) : When you receive two cups, drain them immediately.
Players presumably would take turns rolling the die and follow the command. The discovery of the die sheds light on the types of games people played to pass the time during Silla.

The die has Chinese characters on it because hangul, the Korean alphabet, wasn’t invented until the 15th century. Up until then, Koreans were using Chinese characters for their writing but had their own way of pronouncing them.

Source:
http://www.dellacivetta.org/goldandjade/2020/07/05/juryeonggu-14-sided-dice/
Click to expand...
Hangeul is a work of genius.
 
At least they weren't eaten.

A pair of dogs given to South Korea by Kim Jong Un four years ago have ended up at a zoo after a dispute over who should pay for their care.

The North Korean leader gave the two white Pungsan hunting dogs – an indigenous breed – to then-South Korean president Moon Jae-in following their summit talks in Pyongyang in 2018. But Mr Moon gave up the dogs last month, citing a lack of financial support for the animals from the current conservative government led by President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The dogs, named Gomi and Songgang, were moved to a zoo run by a local government in the southern city of Gwangju last Friday after a temporary stay at a veterinary hospital in the south-eastern city of Daeju, zoo officials said.

With Gwangju Mayor Kang Gijung in attendance, on Monday the zoo showed off the dogs with their nametags around their necks as journalists and other visitors took photos.

“Gomi and Songgang are a symbol of peace and South-North Korean reconciliation and co-operation. We will raise them well like we cultivate a seed for peace,” Mr Kang said, according to his office.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/world/arid-41026652.html
 
I'd set dogs on them.

Dozens of dog farmers in South Korea have staged a rally to criticise the country’s first lady over her reported comments supporting a possible ban on dog meat consumption.

Eating dog is a centuries-old Korean practice but there have been growing calls to allow it in South Korea as animal rights campaigns have influenced public attitudes and eating dog meat has fallen out of favour with most younger people.

In late 2021, a government-civilian committee was launched to reach a social consensus on ending dog meat consumption but no breakthrough has been reported yet.

Farmers demanded authorities present more concrete compensation steps or allow them to maintain their businesses for about 15-20 years until older people, who are the main source of demand for the meat, die.

https://www.breakingnews.ie/world/s...st-ladys-comments-on-eating-meat-1467147.html
 
Treatment for recluses.

In 2019, Yoo Seung-gyu stepped out of his studio apartment for the first time in five years.

The 30-year-old first cleaned up his "messy apartment" with his brother. And then he went out to sea for a fishing expedition, with fellow recluses he had met through a non-profit organisation.

"It was a weird feeling to be at sea but at the same time very refreshing after the reclusion. It felt unreal, but surely I was there. I was existing," Mr Yoo said.

A growing number of young South Koreans are choosing to isolate themselves, withdrawing fully from a society that exacts a high price for failing to conform to expectations. These recluses are known as hikikomori, a term first coined in Japan in the 1990s to describe severe social withdrawal amongst adolescents and young adults.

In South Korea, which is battling the world's lowest fertility rate and declining productivity, this has become a serious concern. So much so that authorities are offering young recluses who meet a certain income threshold a monthly stipend to coax them out of their homes.

Those between nine and 24 years of age from lower-income families can receive up to 650,000 won ($490; £390) as a monthly living allowance. They can also apply for subsidies for a raft of services, including health, education, counselling, legal services, cultural activities and even "correction of appearance and scars".

These incentives aim to "enable reclusive youth to recover their daily lives and reintegrate into society", South Korea's Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65554271
 
I hope Yithian wasn't on it;

Busy escalator in South Korea suddenly changes direction​


An escalator carrying dozens of people at a train station in South Korea suddenly changed its direction, resulting in three people going to hospital with serious injuries.
A number of other passengers at Sunae station in the Budang-gu, south of Seoul, suffered minor injuries in the incident, according to Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster department.

Video at link
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-asia-65841868
 
Floyd1 said:
I hope Yithian wasn't on it;

Busy escalator in South Korea suddenly changes direction​


An escalator carrying dozens of people at a train station in South Korea suddenly changed its direction, resulting in three people going to hospital with serious injuries.
A number of other passengers at Sunae station in the Budang-gu, south of Seoul, suffered minor injuries in the incident, according to Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster department.

Video at link
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-asia-65841868
Click to expand...

No, Bundang is a wealthy satellite of Seoul. I like it, but I haven't been there in five years or so.

Korean escalators: I might generalise that they are often shorter in length than those on the London Underground and on the whole newer, but I have no explanation for what went on here.
 
Who'd be a teacher in South Korea.......?

Teacher suicide exposes parent bullying in S Korea​

For the past six weeks, tens of thousands of teachers have rallied in Seoul, claiming they are now so scared of being called child abusers, they are unable to discipline their students or intervene as they attack each other.

They accuse parents of exploiting a child welfare law, passed in 2014, which dictates that teachers who are accused of child abuse are automatically suspended.

Teachers can be reported for child abuse for restraining a violent child, while a telling off is frequently labelled as emotional abuse. Such accusations can see teachers immediately removed from their jobs.

One teacher received a complaint after denying a parent's request to wake their child up with a phone call each morning. Another was reported for emotional abuse after taking reward stickers off a boy who had cut his classmate with scissors.

Up until four years ago you could send a disruptive student outside or to the back of the room, he said, but then parents started suing for child abuse.

Kwon recently moved to a school in a poorer community, and confirmed the behaviour of parents in affluent areas was far worse.

"Their mentality is 'only my child matters', and when all you can think about is sending your own child to a good college, you become very selfish," he said.

He has no doubt this pressure filters through to the children, affecting their behaviour too. "They don't know how to release this pressure, so they act out by hurting each other."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-66655572
 

South Korea: Students sue after teacher ends exam 90 seconds early​


More than half a million students took the gruelling Suneung exam this year


A group of South Korean students are suing the government because their college admission examination ended 90 seconds earlier than scheduled.

They are asking for 20 million won ($15,400; £12,000) each - the cost of a year's studying to retake the exam.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-67769253
 
A high profile stabbing victim.

South Korea's opposition leader Lee Jae-myung has been stabbed in the neck during a visit to the city of Busan.

Mr Lee, who narrowly lost the 2022 presidential election, sustained a 1cm laceration on the left side of his neck, reports said. He was airlifted to hospital. Doctors say the wound is not life-threatening. The 66-year-old man who attacked him said he had intended to kill Mr Lee, Yonhap news agency reported. The motive for the attack is unclear.

The brazen daytime attack shocked the nation and prompted condemnation from political parties and politicians, including current President Yoon Suk Yeol. Mr Lee, who leads the Democratic Party of Korea, was addressing reporters at a news conference during a visit to a construction site in the port of Busan on Tuesday morning when the attacker reportedly approached him to ask for an autograph. He then lunged forward to stab the politician with an 18cm (7in) knife which the attacker said he bought online, police said at a media briefing. The attacker was immediately overpowered and arrested.

Prosecutors plan to bring attempted murder charges against the man, Yonhap said.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-67860330
 
ramonmercado said:
A high profile stabbing victim.

South Korea's opposition leader Lee Jae-myung has been stabbed in the neck during a visit to the city of Busan.

Mr Lee, who narrowly lost the 2022 presidential election, sustained a 1cm laceration on the left side of his neck, reports said. He was airlifted to hospital. Doctors say the wound is not life-threatening. The 66-year-old man who attacked him said he had intended to kill Mr Lee, Yonhap news agency reported. The motive for the attack is unclear.

The brazen daytime attack shocked the nation and prompted condemnation from political parties and politicians, including current President Yoon Suk Yeol. Mr Lee, who leads the Democratic Party of Korea, was addressing reporters at a news conference during a visit to a construction site in the port of Busan on Tuesday morning when the attacker reportedly approached him to ask for an autograph. He then lunged forward to stab the politician with an 18cm (7in) knife which the attacker said he bought online, police said at a media briefing. The attacker was immediately overpowered and arrested.

Prosecutors plan to bring attempted murder charges against the man, Yonhap said.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-67860330
Click to expand...

I've been at work all day and haven't seen the commentary, but I'm going to wildly speculate that it'll turn out the attacker has a weirdly specific reason for this: it'll turn out that he blames Lee Jae-myung for the failure of his sign-painting business or the tax status of the church he attends, which he somehow believes contributed to the end of his marriage--and then he'll be found insane at the trial.

It always seems to run like this.
 
ramonmercado said:
A high profile stabbing victim.

South Korea's opposition leader Lee Jae-myung has been stabbed in the neck during a visit to the city of Busan.

Mr Lee, who narrowly lost the 2022 presidential election, sustained a 1cm laceration on the left side of his neck, reports said. He was airlifted to hospital. Doctors say the wound is not life-threatening. The 66-year-old man who attacked him said he had intended to kill Mr Lee, Yonhap news agency reported. The motive for the attack is unclear.

The brazen daytime attack shocked the nation and prompted condemnation from political parties and politicians, including current President Yoon Suk Yeol. Mr Lee, who leads the Democratic Party of Korea, was addressing reporters at a news conference during a visit to a construction site in the port of Busan on Tuesday morning when the attacker reportedly approached him to ask for an autograph. He then lunged forward to stab the politician with an 18cm (7in) knife which the attacker said he bought online, police said at a media briefing. The attacker was immediately overpowered and arrested.

Prosecutors plan to bring attempted murder charges against the man, Yonhap said.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-67860330
Click to expand...

Update.

A man suspected of stabbing South Korea's opposition leader on Tuesday has been formally arrested on charges of attempted murder.

The man in his 60s, surnamed Kim, was caught and taken into police custody immediately after the attack.

The politician Lee Jae-myung is out of intensive care, meanwhile. Lee was stabbed in the neck with a camping knife in the southern port city of Busan. The assailant allegedly posed as an autograph-seeker.

One of the doctors who operated on Lee told reporters that the victim was "smoothly recovering following surgery" that repaired a major vein in his neck. "He requires continued observation due to concerns over additional infection and post-surgery complications due to the injury he suffered," Professor Min Seung-kee said.

The motive for the attack is still not known, although Kim told reporters before attending a court hearing that he had submitted to police an eight-page note explaining his reasons. He also said to the police that he intended to kill Lee, according to the Yonhap news agency.

The police investigation showed that he had followed Lee since last June, Yonhap added. Kim reportedly has a history of extreme political views and bought the knife online. His formal arrest allows police to continue holding the suspect.

The stabbing shocked the nation and prompted questions about the safety of high-profile politicians. It was condemned by both Lee's party and the country's governing party.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-67881267
 
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