Park Won-suk, deputy secretary-general of the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, expressed different views regarding youth nationalism. Park said middle and high school students came out on the streets as they felt their health was under real threat. "They are wise enough not to be distracted by misleading information, and they make their own, right decisions,'' he said.Nah, it's not "associated with their welfare" at all:
If the story was about automobiles, which are not closely associated with their welfare, Park said he did not think the students would participate in the protests.
Accidental injury is the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 14 in Korea .Of course, what really must be done to improve children's welfare is to declare war on online porn. Again.
Motor vehicle crashes, which cause 46 percent of childhood injury deaths, are the leading cause of injury-related fatalities in Korea , followed by drowning, falls, suffocation and burns.
Every day, 37 Korean children under the age of 14 are killed or injured as pedestrians in road traffic accidents.
The plan is part of the government's projects to fight against lewd material on television, the internet and elsewhere in order to prevent children from accessing sexually explicit content that sometimes leads to sex crimes.It was only 13.5 months ago that the last war on online porn was announced. That war was in response to a numerous instances of gang rapes by middle and high school students against their peers, much as this latest crackdown is in response to the recent realization that elementary school students at a school in Daegu had been victims and perpetrators of rape for some time. The crackdown didn't work then, and won't work now; in fact, it has never worked, as Gord Sellar argues in a well-written comment here (do read the whole thing):
[A]n increase in censorship is not the way to go. As with the arguments over American beef, the real solution would be open, honest discussion and cultivation of dialog… “citizen deliberation,” as Lawrence Lessig describes it in terms of a free society. Instead of cultivating a free society where debate can occur, censorship and filtration strangles it at the roots. All of Korea’s modern governments deserve criticism in this regard, but Lee’s especially seems to be embracing censorship with a vigor unseen for years.This shouldn't be suprising to those who remember his term as Seoul mayor. Remember his response to the punk band TV pants-dropping incident three years ago?
Seoul Mayor, Lee Myung-bak, weighed in on the issue, saying each ward should supervise obscene performances and make a blacklist of the acts who do them.Given his past affinity for "strengthening control", I don't think Lee's embrace of censorship should surprise anyone.
"Given that the accused said that indecent performances happen every night at clubs in the Hongdae area, the performance, which is not generally accepted, has not been regulated by the authorities," Lee said in a meeting with executive members of the Seoul metropolitan government. [...]
Lee, a member of the conservative GNP, ordered officials of the Seoul City government Monday to draw up a “blacklist’’ of bands whose performances are “decadent and not socially acceptable.’’ Those bands will not be invited to events organized by Seoul City or affiliated institutions, Lee said. The mayor also demanded that each district office strengthen control over possible decadent public performances.
Dongdaemun Stadium, the nation's first modern sports facility, is fading from Korea's sports history ― the demolition of the football stadium began Wednesday following that of the baseball stadium last month.The former baseball stadium is on the right.
Built in 1926 during Japanese colonial rule, it was the symbol of Korea's modern sports, with various international matches and sports events held there until the Jamsil Sports Complex took over the role in the mid 1980s. [...] The aged football stadium was closed in March 2003 and used as a parking lot and folk market. Matches were held at the baseball stadium until recently, but very rarely.
Ahead of the destruction of the football stadium, a Goodbye, Dongdaemun Stadium'' ceremony was held. Watching video clips featuring the stadium's past, present and future, city officials and some 30 former national football team members bade farewell to the sports arena. The dignitaries kicked footballs, the last ones in the stadium ― and the ceremony ended with the removal of its huge clock.
Two top officials of an unauthorized migrants' union will be deported next week on illegal residence charges. The Ministry of Justice announced Wednesday it arrested Nepalese Torna Limbu, 42, head of the Migrants' Trade Union, and Bangladeshi vice president, 39, identified only by his surname ― Sabur, last Friday. The two, who have been illegally residing here for 16 and 9 years, respectively, were sent to the Cheongju Detention Center in North Chungcheong Province.A statement from the KCTU suggests it may have been more than a "regular search":
Members of the union claim the arrest was made to interrupt the establishment of the foreign labors' union that has acted against the government's labor policies. The government denies the allegation, saying it was a regular search.
Immigration officers had followed the president since the previous day when he participated in May Day activities. The vice president recognized a person who had sat nearby him at a fundraiser the week before among the officers who arrested him. That President Torna heard the officers in the van carrying him communicating consistently with those stationed near Vice President Sabur’s house and in other areas in Seoul also shows clearly that the arrests were coordinated with one another.When the previous leaders of the Migrants' Trade Union were arrested in November, their cells had the medicine they took waiting for them, suggesting that they had been watched for some time. But no, let's trust the government when they tell us it was just a "regular search". A Chosun Ilbo article tells us that
The ministry formed a task force on May 1 and launched the first crackdown on all migrant workers without visas since the inauguration of President Lee Myung-bak in late February. The ministry plans to continue its crackdown for the next three months, and says that it will prevent illegal foreign workers from making inroads into the domestic labor market.The Times continues:
Lee Jeong-won, an MTU official, said that they saw the crackdown coming after the new government began stating that there should be stricter enforcement of the law. The government wanted to remove the MTU leadership ahead of the crackdown on migrant workers, Lee, the MTU official, added.
"We prioritize the arrest of illegal employment agents and illegal residents who overstay their visas. The foreign nationals in question have lived here for a long time. Also, they have actively participated in and organized anti-government protests,'' Kim said. [...]Apparently, criticizing justice or labor ministry policies is "anti-government." Does that mean that the Seoul High Court is also anti-government?
The foreign labor rights group, which has failed to win legal status from the authorities, filed a suit against the government last year and the case is pending in the Supreme Court.
The Seoul High Court issued a judgement on 1 February 2007 calling for the cancellation of the rejection by the authorities of the Migrant Workers' Trade Union's Notice of Union Founding. This ruling, in effect, recognizes and thereby legalizes the MTU as a union representing the rights of all migrant workers, regardless of their status. The Ministry of Labour has appealed against this decision to the Supreme Court.And this is why the case is still pending in the Supreme Court.
The crackdown on illegal migrants is likely to continue during the next three months since the government launched a special team this month to contain the soaring number of illegal immigrants here.Here are the numbers of migrant workers in Korea over the last 20 years:
A few notes: Some of these numbers are from here. The numbers in brackets are percentages. All numbers are from December 31 of each year, unless otherwise noted. The industrial trainee system began in 1992 and ended at the end of 2006. Notice the dip in 1998 (due to the financial crisis of 1997), as well as the dip in the number of undocumented workers in 2003. In 2003 the employment permit system was put into place, which legalized around 180,000 workers (who could continue to work for a set number of years); another 27,000 left the country during an amnesty before the government began cracking down on those workers who could not get a permit (anyone who had lived in Korea more than 4 years).From next January to August, 118,519 people's visas will become invalid. If only half of them return to their home countries - as was the case this year - the number of alien laborers staying here illegally will exceed 270,000. If this estimation turns out to be true, Korea will become a lawless world for migrant workers, and governmental policies will cease to be binding.It's all a bit ridiculous, considering the number of undocumented workers had exceeded 300,000 in 2003, prior to the legalization of more than half of that number of workers, and governmental policies did not cease to be binding. Crackdowns certainly do net a large number of workers, as this February 2008 Joongang Ilbo article relates:
About 22,000 illegal migrants were caught and deported last year [2007], down from 23,000 in 2006, according to the service.Taking a look at the numbers in the chart above makes it pretty clear which tactic - crackdown or legalization - has decreased the greatest number of undocumented workers here.
The national prosecution and police say they are going to criminally prosecute people involved in spreading so-called “mad cow horror stories” (gwangubyeong goedam) on the Internet, in addition to prosecuting the organizers of candlelight protests against imports of American beef.I guess the inaccurate information about every other topic on the internet is of little concern of them. Much as information (such as videos) of people being beheaded in Iraq was of little concern until Kim Sun-il was beheaded and the government had internet providers cut access to foreign blogs because a few of them were hosting the video.
Top ranking officials at the Supreme Prosecutor General’s Office held an unscheduled meeting on May 6 to discuss ways to prosecute “horror stories (goedam) on the Internet.”
“The number of horror stories on the Internet is reaching serious proportions and we can’t just sit around and do nothing,” said one prosecutor. “We’re going to look at what’s going on and see if there are any issues.”
A high-ranking police official, said the police see it as a “serious problem” that there is “inaccurate information about American beef and criticism of government policy that is not factual overflowing” on the Internet.
Hey, you know that girl I told you about in my class, the one who was crying after she saw her test scores?That's what I heard on the bus today.
Yeah.
Well after school my friends saw her eat a burger at Burger King.
So?
Guess what happened?
What?
They found her in the parking lot of her apartment building that night. She was lying on the ground covered in blood, and people could see her brains. They looked like...
What??
A sponge.
Wow.
She totally died of mad cow disease.
The portal site for Kang Do-young’s cartoon “26 years” was jammed after the last episode was released Sept. 28. Kang, widely known by his pen name “Kangfull,” is a famous cartoon artist whose works have gained huge popularity online. His previous works like “Apartment” and “Babo” have been made into films.
“26 years,” Kangfull’s latest work, tells the story of the May 18th Gwangju Civil Uprising. [...] Kangfull’s cartoon creates a fictional account of what would have happened if the victims’ families took revenge on former president Chun. Five main characters appear in the cartoon; the CEO of a big company who feels guilt for his role in suppressing the revolt and four young people who lost their parents during the event.
The comic can be read online here (Kangfull's site is here). I've only glanced at it briefly, but I'd imagine it would make an interesting film (and perhaps more controversial than President's Last Bang). The comic itself is very cinematic in style, and it reveals the characters experiences during May 1980 in flashback.
Kangfull said he decided to tell the story after former president Chun said his vast fortune had been reduced to only 290,000 won. The statement reignited anger towards the former president, who many believe has not sufficiently atoned for the pain he caused during his eight-year rule. “I wanted to let people remember the tragic incident through my cartoon,” Kangfull said.
[...] Chungeorahm Film, the production company that created “The Host,” has obtained a copyright for the cartoon.
The Hwanghak-dong flea market originated in the early 1950s when secondhand goods dealers put various items on sale. In 1973, when the Cheonggye Stream was covered to make for an elevated expressway, Hwanghak-dong grew into a center for secondhand goods. Then when the stream was reclaimed in 2003, the flea market moved to the now-demolished Dongdaemun Baseball Stadium. With plans to turn the Dongdaemun area into a park, the market once again moved to Sinseol-dong, not far from Cheonggye Stream. To celebrate the new site, the market gave itself the name Seoul Flea Market. The market has some 894 shops in its two-story site.
The Seoul Folk Flea Market, which recently opened under a new roof near Sinseol-dong subway station (Lines No. 1 and 2), breathes the typical adventurer spirit. It has everything from craftwork, decorative stones and specialties from different regions to adult toys, electronics, food courts, clothing and ancient music records.
The new white two-storey building is the third downtown home for used-good traders, who originally hawked their wares on the streets of Cheonggyecheon for decades. Some 73,000 street vendors were forced to leave Cheonggyecheon in 2003 as the city government launched a project to restore the stream. Those from the "dokkaebi sijang" or "goblin's market" were relocated in Dongdaemun Stadium in early 2004, while others nestled in new buildings along the Cheonggye Stream.
Four years later, as the city now plans to tear down the stadium to build a design park there, nearly 900 stores have moved to an old school site in Sinseol-dong, two metro stations away from Dongdaemun. There were angry protests against the forced removal from the stadium, resulting in injuries during a scuffle with people hired by the city government. A handful of shopkeepers are still opposing the move but most have settled in. "The new facility is nice and clean but the location is bad," said Hong Il-moon, who has been selling Chinese antiques for 20 years. "There aren't many passersby and we have little parking space."
Whereas Dongdaemun Stadium was in the heart of the city's major shopping district, connected to four subway lines and dozens of buses, the new venue is in the middle of a residential block, a seven-minute walk down the alleys from Sinseol-dong station Exit No. 10.
"It's a rather closed space with limited access from the people as we no longer have the random spread of vendors like the old times," said Cha Sung-sook, who sells hair pins and other accessories.
Still, the city government is upbeat about making the market a major international tourist attraction. "We will make the Seoul Folk Flea Market the city's leading tourist spot," Mayor Oh Se-hoon said at the market's opening on April 26. "(The city) will provide the merchants with low-interest loans and encourage sales by placing marketing experts."It's nice to see that the city is supporting it (at least for now), even though it isn't in the best location. It seems they're being treated much better than when they were moved to Dongdaemun Stadium. Worth noting are those figures: 73,000 removed in 2003, and less than 900 are now in the flea market. I would imagine the city will support only a sanitized history of the merchants' movement. The Herald certainly does, with this comment: "There were angry protests against the forced removal from the stadium, resulting in injuries during a scuffle with people hired by the city government." Those "people hired by the government" are otherwise known as gangsters, or thugs. In the final photo of the Times article, a display with photos of the market's past is shown. I wonder if there are any photos of the events of November 30, 2003?
Seoul City spent over 8 billion won ($8 million) on the structure, which has canopies over a steel framework painted white. It threw auction events featuring celebrities for the opening and placed promotional banners and stickers on buses. A tourist information booth within the market is scheduled to open on May 15.
The Seoul Folk Flea Market is open between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. The market is a hundred meters from the Hwanghakgyo bridge across Cheonggyecheon.
The 70-year-old arsonist who set a fire to the national treasure of Namdaemun was sentenced to 10 years in prison, the Seoul Central District Court announced yesterday. Chae Jong-gi had pleaded guilty to setting the fire which gutted the 610-year-old gate on Feb. 10.To be sure, no one wants this to happen again and there's no surprise that a harsh sentence was imposed. For a somewhat similar case in the U.S. (which did not have such destructive results) see here; the indictment can be seen third on the list here, where his crime is described as "attempting to damage and damaging an archeological resource." Leaving a few dents on the Liberty Bell by hitting it with a 4 pound hammer got him 9 months in prison.
“It was necessary to hand him a severe punishment, considering that he caused indescribable damage to the nation,” read the court’s ruling. “Chae’s burning down the gate while he was still on probation for setting another fire at Changgyeong Palace is antisocial behavior that cannot be allowed in a law-abiding country.” Prosecutors had sought a 12 year sentence.
Kwangju, 1980
(May 20, 2006)
According to the Chosun Ilbo, the incident began when seven members of Gyeonggi provincial council visited the headquarters of the world's largest sports utilities maker Nike in Portland, USA, early March as part of their efforts to forge ties between Korea and the US. While there, two council members reportedly touched the breasts and private parts of a female statue. Witnesses said they even tried to put their hands in the statue's crotch while giggling. This left many of the workers there feeling horrified.[...]It wouldn't surprise me if it did indeed happen as the Nike people saw it, but the Koreans involved simply didn't perceive it in the same way at all. Hoping to restore their working relationship, the face saving gesture would naturally follow. Hopefully next time the Korean delegates will remember that in America, some people project their prudishness and fear of sex onto statues.
The two shunned members sent an abrupt apology email to Nike saying if any inappropriate demeanor had taken place, it was never on purpose but due to a difference in cultures. They later claimed that they may have "leaned toward the statue'', but nothing like what was mentioned in Nike's complaints. "We did take pictures but no such dramatic things happened. It was miscommunication stemming from a difference between cultures. We just made an apology because Nike seemed to want it, that's all,'' a council member said.
