Update on Christopher Paul Neil

After being arrested by police upon arrival in Vancouver, the outcome of Neil's hearing was reported on Wednesday:

A British Columbia man convicted in Thailand for sexually abusing children has been set free in Canada, but a judge has imposed strict public safety conditions on the pedophile once dubbed Swirl Face.

Christopher Neil must be watched for the next 18 months to prove he's not a danger, provincial court Judge Patrick Chen ruled Wednesday in Richmond, B.C.

Neil's lawyer told court the 37-year-old former English teacher would willingly follow the restrictions.[...]

Some of the conditions Neil is ordered to abide by include surrendering his passport, staying away from places where children under 16 would congregate and not having access to the Internet. He must also remain in B.C., frequently check in with a probation officer and attend a treatment centre.

 18 months seems a rather short time, though I wonder what the longest possible term could be. It also mentions Cambodian police may be interested in Neil, and the possibility of extradition exists.

New crime stats for teachers, both Korean and foreign

Yesterday Yonhap published the following report:

In 3 years 15 native speaking English teachers commit crimes...drugs most common

Among native speaking assistant English teachers placed in elementary, middle and high schools nationwide, 15 have committed crimes over the past 3 years.

According to material submitted by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to National Assembly Education, Science and Technology committee member  Rep. Lee Hak-jae (Saenuri party) during the parliamentary audit, from 2010 to June 2012 15 native speaking assistant English teachers were punished for various crimes, it was announced on October 4.

By year, 11 were caught in 2010, two in 2011, and two in the first half of this year.

Native speaking assistant English teacher crime involved drugs the most, with 5 caught for drug crimes; 2 were arrested and charged, while 3 were charged but not detained. One teacher was caught for assault, another for theft, and another for a sex crime, while 6 others [SIC] committed other crimes.

13 teachers had their contracts canceled by their schools, while two got warnings.

I would imagine that single sex crime to be the teacher who fled from Daegu in 2010 and was extradited back to Korea in April before being sentenced to 4 years in prison in September. This story was reported by three other outlets, with SBS adding this cute little photo:

The reason for these statistics coming out is because 'tis the season for parliamentary audits of government ministries. Here's another article from Yonhap, also published yesterday:

Rep. Kim Sang-hui: "65% of teachers with sex crimes on record continue to work"

It's come to light that more than 6 out of 10 teachers who have committed sex crimes are still in classrooms.

According to material submitted by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to National Assembly Education, Science and Technology committee member Rep. Kim Sang-hui (Democratic United Party), from 2008 to June 2012 135 teachers were punished for sex crimes, it was announced on October 4.

The number of crimes continuously increased from 21 in 2008 to 31 in in 2009, 33 in 2010, and 42 in 2011, and then decreased with only 8 crimes punished in the first half of this year.

Out of the 135 teachers punished for sex crimes, 41 were dismissed and removed from the classroom, while the remaining 81 (65%) faced demotions, suspensions, pay cuts, reprimands or cautions and are still working.

In particular, of 56 teachers who committed sex crimes against minors such as students, 20 faced disciplinary action such as suspensions, pay cuts or reprimands.

It was also found that among those who faced disciplinary action, 9 received pay cuts or reprimands when, in the case of those who commit sex crimes against minors, the lowest punishment is "suspension," in violation of regulations regarding displinary action against public education personnel.

Of 18 teachers caught for prostitution, they all received disciplinary action such as reprimands or pay cuts except for one who was sentenced to two years' imprisonment.

Rep. Kim insisted that, "In order to protect our children, we should strip soul-destroying, inhumane criminals who commit sexual violence against minors of their teaching qualifications, not wink at the problem with disciplinary measures."

That article is only talking about Korean teachers. The stats in the above article are a little different from those in a Chosun Ilbo article from October 2, in which Rep. Elisa Lee puts the number of sex crimes by teachers at 145 in total, with 22 in 2008, 31 in in 2009, and 33 in 2010, to 42 in 2011, and 17 crimes in the first half of this year.

It says that by region, Seoul had the most sex crimes committed by teachers (25), Gyeonggi-do and Incheon each had 15, Jeollabuk-do, 13, Jeollanam-do, 12, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Gyeongsangnam-do and Gangwon-do each had  9, Gwangju, 8, Chungcheongnam-do and Daegu each had 7, Daejeon and Busan each had 4, Chungcheongbuk-do and Ulsan each had 3, and Jeju had 2. While this is not a lot compared to other occupations, the article said that, considering their mandate to educate children, something needs to be done to deal with this growing trend of sex crimes.

By type of crime, there were many cases of sexual harassment of other teachers and parents as well as molestation and sexual assault of underage students. One teacher in Jeollabuk-do sexually assaulted an elementary school student with an intellectual disability. There were also teachers caught buying sex in illegal massage parlors. A high school teacher in Seoul was fired for raping his relative, and an elementary school teacher in Gwangju was caught red-handed secretly photographing women's private parts with his cell phone camera while on the subway. Even worse, there was also a high school teacher who indecently assaulted a female police officer but was only charged with unlawful interference with an officer on duty.

The punishment of teachers who committed sex crimes varied, however. An elementary school teacher in Gangwon-do who molested a student was fired, while a private middle school teacher in Gyeongsangnam-do who committed the same crime only had his pay cut for two months. Rep. Lee said that "It's a terrible thing that a teacher who committed a sex crime is teaching children." "There should be strong disciplinary action for teachers who commit sex crimes so that they cannot return to school."

I doubt few people would argue with that.

And yet in the fall of 2009 Rep. Choi Young hee (who authored a bill which was incorporated into the Hagwon law amendment last year) complained that teachers were being let off too easily for sex crimes, with nearly 60% getting only reprimands.

A total of 124 sexual crimes involving elementary and secondary school teachers were reported to the education authorities between 2006 and 2009. Among them, 47 involved prostitution, 43 were sexual harassment and five were rape cases. However, only eight teachers (6 percent) were given prison sentences, while 31 were not indicted and 28 received suspended sentences.

"It seems that teachers were exempt from punishment through out-of-court settlements with the parents of the victims," Rep Choi said. "Moreover, each city and provincial education offices, which were supposed to strictly punish those teachers, gave only verbal warnings. Only 21 teachers were fired for sexual violence."[...]


"We expect higher levels of ethics from teachers, but courts and education authorities are too merciful to problematic ones," Choi said.

Rep. Choi's comments in 2009 took place in the aftermath of the 'Nayoung incident,' which caused outrage at the lax sentence given to a man in his 50s  for brutally raping an 8 year old girl, so it's not like there wasn't a great deal of interest at the time (a time made more interesting by certain national assembly representatives who described foreign teachers as "especially potential child molesters"). And yet here we are, 3 years later, with still the same problem, with the majority of teachers who commit sex crimes still in classrooms. In fact, the statistics suggest it is a growing problem. A post about that problem in particular with have to wait for another day.

Foreign teachers become propaganda tools in exchange for trip to Dokdo

On September 21, Yonhap reported (in an article with "Dokdo is Korean land" in the title) that members of the TaLK program in Gangwon-do would be going on a trip to Ulleungdo and Dokdo, because "Letting foreigners who live in Korea and have an interest in Korea know about Dokdo is very important." TaLK stands for 'Teach and Learn in Korea' and allows foreign university students (who have not graduated) to come to Korea and teach English in rural schools for less money than NSETs make. The idea was to attract ethnic Koreans from abroad, though with all the talk of 'unqualified foreign teachers' that gets bandied about (such as Newsis reporting last week that "4 out of 10 native speaking English assistant teachers are unqualified"), allowing non-graduates to teach here is not particularly consistent.

These kinds of trips to Dokdo for foreign teachers are nothing new; Brian linked to an account of a late 2008 trip and wondered, what with all the propaganda they are both subject to and made to become the subjects of, why anyone would want to go. One answer, perhaps, might be the free trip to Ulleungdo. I posted photos of Ulleungdo to accompany this report about a 2011 trip for NSETs to Dokdo (made to promote a "correct understanding" of the islets). Such visits tend to require that the teachers write essays about their experience, however, and the use to which essays will be put is made clear in this article about a similar trip earlier this year:

Gyeongsangbuk-do Dokdo policy head Heo Chun-jeong said, "Directly introducing foreign teachers who understand Korean culture and history to Dokdo is meaningful and important." "I want these visits by native speakers to spread continuously in the future."

Gyeongsangbuk-do plans to have the foreign teachers who participated in this publish the story of their visit to Dokdo as essays, distribute them among related organizations and post them on the 'Cyber Dokdo' homepage for use as promotional material.

They can't really make it clearer than that, can they? There are other ways to encourage the production of such propaganda as well.

An article written after the most recent trip, titled "Confirming that Dokdo is ROK territory," reports that about 40 Teach and Learn in Korea (TaLK) teachers went on a historical and cultural visit to Ulleungdo and Dokdo from the 24th to 26th, "ahead of the nation/race's holiday, Chuseok." The trip was meant to give them a chance to "take in the special and beautiful landscape of Ulleungdo and experience its unique island culture." The article includes this photo:

 It gets worse, however:

In particular, they visited the Dokdo museum and saw materials and literature from Korea and abroad attesting to Dokdo being ROK territory, and they plan to remake "Gangnam Style," which has attracted attention worldwide, into "Dokdo Style," and upload the video to Youtube soon.

Yes, Satan help us all, they did actually shoot a "Dokdo Style" video, and unlike this one or this one or this one (which may or may not be related to VANK's new cyber campaign) or the one with Dangun, founder of the Korean race, it was actually shot on Dokdo. Here's the description of the teaser for it:

42 TaLK Scholars from Gangwon Province in South Korea traveled to Dokdo Island on September 25, 2012. After a difficult boat ride, these English teachers became a part of the 1% of Korean residents who have stepped foot on the island. To make the moment even more memorable, we danced to the now viral Gangnam Style as the first group ever to successfully do so on Dokdo Island.

Well, you have to admire how well-trained they are - they wave Korean flags and do the horse dance and everything!

 Not pictured: dignity

Maybe they should have dressed them in some of these fashions.

It's one thing to be a "white endorsement monkey" (a term coined by Gord Sellar a week or two ago) and parrot the 'correct' responses to questions about things like Dokdo in order to avoid having people beat their chests and scream "URI NARA! URI NARA!!" over and over, but quite another to dance and wave flags while making territorial claims for a country that isn't your own. I'm pretty sure there are enough English teaching clowns out there already.

I've made a comparison before between photos like this and this painting from the 1984 book "The People's Great Leader" (from here) titled "All the peoples of the world praising Kim Il Sung."

 If only they had DPRK flags to wave...

You could also find similarities between this and the Shinchonji cult, which uses the Mannam volunteer group to get photo ops with foreigners in order to promote the cult in Korea.

The article above has more about the trip, however:

Chuncheon Gwangpan Elementary School English [teacher] scholarship student Michelle Hwang (21, American) said, "I was happy to visit the Korean race's island, Dokdo." "I hope the entire world realizes the fact that Dokdo is Korean territory."

And I hope that quote was either invented or said at gunpoint.

Jang Seung-jin, the supervisor of international education for the provincial office of education, said, "Regarding the Dokdo issue, now is the time to broaden the range of promotion beyond Korea to target foreigners." "Because letting foreigners know about Dokdo is very important, we will continue to have [these] trips for native speakers."

One response to that last sentence might be "What native speakers?" It was reported a week or so ago that Gangwon-do plans to cut its NSETs by 60% by 2015 because they're not very effective in comparison to their cost. On the bright side, they do seem to be considered effective as propaganda tools. So that's something. And Dokdo is, at the very least, a great place for an NSET field trip, what with the lack of women to defile and children to molest.

Moving along, these minstrels play something thematically related to this to soothe your jangled nerves.

Christopher Paul Neil freed... sort of

Christopher Paul Neil, AKA Mr. Swirl, was released from a Thai prison for sex crimes against children and returned to Vancouver on Friday. He likely didn't get the welcome he was hoping for at the airport, however:

He was greeted on his return to Canada by members of the RCMP's Integrated Child Exploitation Unit as he stepped off a plane Friday night. [...]

He said police obtained a warrant for Neil's arrest prior to his arrival at the airport because of fear for the public's safety, even though there's no evidence of any offence being committed in Canada.

"We felt that based on the severity and the nature of the crime that Mr. Neil has committed abroad it was important that we, at the very least, bring the intention forward to our courts and see what they have to say about that," he said.

"Crown counsel has reviewed the evidence and the information that was brought forward about the activities of Mr. Neil abroad, and I suppose they felt, as we did, confident enough that some form of monitoring would be a good idea in this case so they issued an arrest warrant." [...]

Neil had a bail hearing on Saturday morning and will appear before a judge on Monday, when a judge will assess his release or impose any conditions, said Cpl. Mat Van Laer.

CBC reported on the results of that hearing today:

A little known subsection of the Criminal Code is in the spotlight this week, as a B.C. court prepares for a hearing on what, if any, conditions should be imposed on a British Columbia man who returned to Canada after serving a prison sentence for sexually abusing a boy in Thailand.

Christopher Neil, 37, is due back in a B.C. courtroom Wednesday, where a provincial court judge will consider the Crown’s request for conditions on his freedom based on Section 810.1 of the Criminal Code.

Under that provision -- used to apprehend Neil when he landed at Vancouver International Airport late Friday night -- police can take someone into custody based on their reasonable fear he or she may commit a sexual offence against someone under the age of 16.

Mounties said they invoked the little-used law because Neil had already served time for his overseas offence, but still represents a concern to the community.

Neil's lawyers are expected to apply for a publication ban on his hearing Wednesday, but CTV legal analyst Steven Skurka says the court could impose a broad range of conditions.

"He's served his sentence, he has no parole or probation restrictions on him, and yet, he could be subject to electronic monitoring, curfew, not being able to leave the province, the city or the country," Skurka told CTV's Canada AM Tuesday.

He could also be barred from having any contact with children, his access to the Internet could be restricted, and his name may be added to the National Sex Offender Registry.

Neil was arrested in 2007 after an international manhunt to find the person who appeared in photos molesting children and hiding his face behind a 'swirl,' a tale told in this BBC documentary (Part 1, 2, 3):



He had been teaching English in Korea at the time and fled to Thailand when it became clear he'd been found out. As the CBC story notes, in 2008, "he was sentenced to three years and three months in prison after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting two Thai boys, aged 13 and nine-years-old." Perhaps one reason for fleeing to Thailand was the lax prison sentences?

At any rate, in the immediate aftermath of his arrest, newspapers in Korea used his case to urge the government to "hurry and formulate measures," and it proved to be the tipping point during an already existing moral panic over foreign teachers which lead to new E-2 visa regulations, the drug testing aspect of which has now been extended to half a million foreign workers in Korea.

Oddly enough, seeing as, at the time of his arrest, he was not on an E-2 visa, had no criminal record, and was not known to do drugs or have HIV, the new measures would not have affected him. One wonders if they would even now, since he was not (as of yet) found guilty of any crime in Canada, and so would likely have a clean criminal record check.

They arrived just before you did...

[Update: I think I spoke too soon... ]

Perhaps this isn't quite the 'pinnacle of human achievement' that one comment describes it as, but it's still the best Gangnam Style parody I've seen yet.



(Via Liminality via Big Hominid.)

This one is kind of fun too...

And in a more serious vein, Mark Russell's article in Foreign Policy about Psy and the export of Korean pop culture is well worth reading (via his blog and the Marmot's Hole).

A Bad Trend

The shipwrecked Baileys and their rescue by Koreans in 1973

The rescue of the Baileys by Wolmi 306
Wolmi 306 Captain Suh's account of the rescue of the Baileys part 1
Wolmi 306 Captain Suh's account of the rescue of the Baileys part2
The Baileys arrive in Honolulu
The Baileys visit Korea

A Bad Trend

As I said in the last post, the rescue of the Baileys and their visit to Korea led to a couple of letters being published in the Korean press.

On July 26, 1973, the following letter appeared in the Korea Times a few days prior to the Baileys' visit to Korea:

There are many kind sentiments in this letter by Mrs. Huntley, who I know of mostly because she was present in Gwangju during the uprising in May 1980 (she was also a frequent contributor to the 'Thoughts of the Times' column). Another letter, however, was not so positive.

This letter appeared in the Kyunghyang Sinmun on August 10, 1973, the day after the Baileys left Korea:

Bad Trend
Kim Bo-gyeong, Seodaemun-gu, Nokbeon-dong

The piece of news that a Korean ship had rescued foreigners adrift on the Pacific Ocean hit like a sudden shower during this particularly hot summer. The captain gave his first-hand account and was proud, and the memories of the castaways were also good. They said they would come to the country of their saviours, Korea, but I was rather disappointed when I saw articles about them coming to Korea at a newspaper's invitation. The castaways, who didn't have much fuss made over them in their homeland, were thankful and said they would come to Korea on their own; did we have to invite them and give them money and free board and free tours? There was so much coming their way as to make them tired of it, and various news outlets had arguments to get exclusive media coverage.

One country's newspaper which listened to the facts of their being cast adrift undertook to confirm if they really were adrift for around 100 days. Courteous Korea has the politeness to entertain guests, but I worry that we are displaying a very submissive attitude towards foreigners.

At universities which hire young unqualified foreign instructors who are given high salaries, they are surrounded by students who pay without knowing what a waste it is, a confused group who offer to date foreigners.

Because this leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, I would like you to please consider this trend of preference, of giving unconditional hospitality to foreigners.

Well now - you didn't see that coming, did you? What an incredible segue into 'unqualified foreign instructors' - in 1973! One would imagine that there couldn't have been more than a few dozen foreign instructors in Korean universities at that time (especially outside of US military who taught English and Peace Corps volunteers, none of whom should have been teaching in universities). (Just for fun, an account of teaching at Korean universities from 1965 can be read here.) Not only are Koreans too generous to them, but what they teach is "a waste" and the (one presumes female) students who surround them are a "confused group who offer to date foreigners," something which "leaves a bitter taste in [his] mouth." Or as it was put in 1984,

"It's not just foreigners' prostitutes, now it's female university students or teenagers from good families who chase after foreigners and spend money on them, and when I see it I think it's pathetic," said Hong Gwan-pyo, who has sold souvenirs in [Itaewon] for 8 years, with a sour look on his face.

As for the "Koreans are too submissive in giving unconditional hospitality to foreigners" meme, it would resurface in 1984 during the French foreign language teacher scandal, in 1988 during the Olympics (when the Donga Ilbo asked, "Hasn't our overindulgence in humbleness brought about a self-degradation?"), and during the English Spectrum incident in 2005, just to name a few examples.

That said, it's not like I don't see Mr. Kim's point - it's just  that, at that time, Korea was still an aid recipient, and I remember coming across an article from the early or mid-1970s about the Canadian government helping to electrify villages in Gyeongsang-do. The point being, maybe it was a little early to be feeling bitter about being too hospitable to foreigners, especially when foreigners were contributing to the development of the country. On the other hand, anger at white barbarians who date Korean women, and especially towards the women who date them, has never really gone out of fashion.

Oh, and the castaways most certainly did "have much fuss made over them in their homeland" - they received a lot of money for the rights to their diary. So that's a bit overwrought on Mr. Kim's part. And returning to the topic of their rescue, on October 10, 1973, the Kyunghyang Sinmun reported that the captain and navigator of the Wolmi 306 had been arrested for smuggling around eight million won worth of contraband into Korea from Samoa. This was not the same captain, Mr. Suh, however - he had switched off with the captain Kim wanted for smuggling for that voyage.

At any rate, I was asked how I came upon the story of the Baileys; I doubt anyone suspected it was via the earliest news reference I could find to "unqualified foreign instructor."

The Baileys visit Korea

The shipwrecked Baileys and their rescue by Koreans in 1973

The rescue of the Baileys by Wolmi 306
Wolmi 306 Captain Suh's account of the rescue of the Baileys part 1
Wolmi 306 Captain Suh's account of the rescue of the Baileys part2
The Baileys arrive in Honolulu
The Baileys visit Korea

A Bad Trend

When we last saw the Baileys, they remained in Honolulu as the Wolmi 306 departed without them. As this Donga Ilbo article points out, the Donga Ilbo played its part in the media frenzy by offering to pay for a Korean Air flight to Seoul. On the Afternoon of August 1, 1973, they arrived at Kimpo Airport, as this front page Korea Times article from the next day relates:

 Unsurprisingly, the Donga Ilbo gave a great deal of coverage to their visit, publishing the photo below and reporting that they drove into Seoul via the Han River and Han River bridge, and got a view of Namsan before going to the Sejong Hotel:


On August 2 they were interviewed by the Donga Ilbo at their hotel, and said they would come to Korea when they sailed again. They thanked the Korean people and said they wanted to meet captain Suh in Busan, visit the old palaces, and go to Panmunjeom:


They were given a key to the city and honorary Seoul citizenship by Mayor Yang Taek-sik on the morning of the 3rd before flying to Busan that afternoon:


The Korea Times had a little more on the ceremony:

The following Korea Times article from August 4 says that they arrived in Busan and that they plan to attend Captain Suh's wedding. I can find no other reference to this wedding, however (not even in the Korean language press).

On the morning of August 4 the Wolmi 306 arrived in port and they were reunited with captain Suh:


This Korea Times article from the next day described their meeting:

On the 5th they went to Ulsan to see a shipyard and to Bulguksa and Seokguram in Gyeongju (the latter they termed 'a miracle'), and then returned to Seoul. This article says they also went to Haeundae that day,which would make for a busy day, if true.

On the 6th they went on a USFK-led tour of Panmunjeom and then had lunch with the British ambassador before going to see Gloucester Valley, the location of the 1951 Battle of the Imjin River.

Also on the 6th, MBC aired the story of their rescue which was broadcast over three nights.

Oddly enough, coverage of their visit dropped off completely in the Korea Times. This is the final, tiny article about them, from August 7:



On August 7 they toured Changdeokgung and Biwon, and on August 8 they went to Korea University and then later that day attended a ceremony where Captain Suh and three other crew members of the Wolmi 306 received commendations from the Korea Marine Industry Development Corporation.

On August 9 they boarded a plane at Gimpo Airport for Los Angeles, from where they would go on to London. There, holding gifts, they said goodbye to Captain Suh:

(From the Kyunghyang Sinmun)

Then they boarded the plane and off they went.

(From the Donga Ilbo)

Wikipedia has some more information about them, as does this obituary for Maralyn (who died in 2002 - I'm not certain if Maurice, who'd be in his early 80s, is still alive or not). This article discusses Maralyn's resilience, while their book about their ordeal, 117 Days Adrift, can be searched through at Amazon. A book titled Second Chance, published in 1977, reveals that they had a new boat built and sailed around South America, apparently, according to this review, cursing the "boatbuilder who sent them to sea in a sieve."

And so ends the tale of the Baileys. Well, almost. Their visit led to some letters about their rescue and visit being published in Korean newspapers. I'll take a look at those next time.

RAS lecture tonight on 'Revelations from the Russian Archives' regarding the Korean War

Tonight Dr. Kathryn Weathersby will be giving a lecture for the Royal Asiatic Society titled "The Decision on War in Korea: Revelations from the Russian Archives." Anyone familiar with the Cold War International History Project, especially in regard to the Korean War, has most likely come across her Dr. Weathersby's work before, such as this paper. Here is a summary of tonight's lecture:

The decision to launch a full-scale assault on the Republic of Korea in June 1950 brought incalculable suffering to Korea and its allies and continues to shape the life of the peninsula. Yet it was not until the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 that records of this fateful decision became available to scholars. Dr. Weathersby, the first Western historian to examine Soviet documents on Korea, will discuss what Russian archives reveal about when and why Kim Il Sung, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Zedong decided to use military force to bring all of Korea under communist control. She will conclude with thoughts about how knowledge of this history can inform our approach to inter-Korean relations today.

More details can be found here. The lecture will be held at 7:30 pm Tuesday in the Residents' Lounge on the 2nd floor of the Somerset Palace in Seoul, which is north of Jogyesa Temple, and is 5,000 won for non-members and free for members.

The Baileys arrive in Honolulu

The shipwrecked Baileys and their rescue by Koreans in 1973

The rescue of the Baileys by Wolmi 306
Wolmi 306 Captain Suh's account of the rescue of the Baileys part 1
Wolmi 306 Captain Suh's account of the rescue of the Baileys part2
The Baileys arrive in Honolulu
The Baileys visit Korea

A Bad Trend

On the afternoon of July 13, 1973, the ship arrived in Honolulu. Maralyn Bailey described her time on the ship:

Our time on the ship had amongst these fun-loving people had been a time of suspension – a limbo between our life of solitude and the maelstrom of civilization which awaited us in Honolulu and beyond. It was a happy time, a time to renew human relationships, a time of recovery, of hope, of planning.

The Baileys on the Wolmi 306 in Honolulu (from here).

Their arrival was reported in newspapers worldwide (see for example American news reports here, here, and here).

On July 15 the Korea Times published this article at the top of its front page:

Here they are getting off the ship (as they met the Korean consul) (from here):

Being presented with leis by girls representing the Korean community (from here):

As Maurice Bailey described it, they

docked in Honolulu amidst a tumultuous reception with a typical Hawaiian welcome of lies and kisses. Newspapermen and television reporters crowded around us with their many questions unanswered due to the crush. Once more Captain Suh came to our rescue and we were ushered away and taken into the city by the Koreans who bought more clothes for us.

One wonders if this photo was taken during the 'crush':


On July 17 the KT published this article, which stated that the Wolmi 306 would leave Honolulu July 19:

On the 19th it was reported that the Baileys would stay for a week in Korea.

However the next day it was reported that they were not on board when the ship left Honolulu on July 18.

So would they make it to Korea after all? Stay tuned to find out...

Every other day

The Korea Times published this sobering report today:

A total of 875 people jumped off one of the river's 24 major bridges in Seoul in suicide attempts from 2008 to August this year, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said in a report submitted to Rep. Kang Ki-youn of the ruling Saenuri Party.

Of them, 408 people died, it noted.

Mapo Bridge, which connects the financial district of Yeouido to Mapo, central Seoul, turned out to be the most favored place for suicide attempts, with 85 people, or 9.7 percent, jumping from the bridge.

On average, that works out to someone jumping off a bridge in Seoul every other day.

Over at the Wall Street Journal's Korea Realtime, Evan Ramstad looks at the reconstruction of Namdaemun, which was partly destroyed by fire in 2008. It's hard to believe four and a half years have gone by since.

With the structural restoration mostly done, most of the people who have been working inside Namdaemun the past few months have been painters. They are overseen by Hong Chang-won, a historian and expert in Korean traditional ornamental painting, or dancheong.[...]

“It’s difficult to know what patterns were originally used” on Namdaemun, he said. “There are few examples left of early Chosun dancheong.”

He found some in a temple called Muwisa, in Gangjin, South Jeolla. The most noticeable difference is the paintings then were green and blue. Red and yellow did not become common until later in the Chosun period.

 Some photos of Muwisa Temple can be found here and here. One good thing about what happened to Namdaemun was that it allowed archeologists to dig around Namdaemun's foundations and turn up interesting things.

Wolmi 306 Captain Suh's account of the rescue of the Baileys part 2

The shipwrecked Baileys and their rescue by Koreans in 1973

The rescue of the Baileys by Wolmi 306
Wolmi 306 Captain Suh's account of the rescue of the Baileys part 1
Wolmi 306 Captain Suh's account of the rescue of the Baileys part2
The Baileys arrive in Honolulu
The Baileys visit Korea

A Bad Trend

So far I've published two posts about the June 30, 1973 rescue of Maurice and Maralyn Bailey by the Korean fishing vessel Wolmi 306 after the British couple had been adrift at sea in a life raft for 118 days.

Here are parts 7-13 of an account of the rescue by the ship's captain, Suh Chong-il, which was published in the Hanguk Ilbo and Korea Times.

On July 25, the Korea Times published the part 7 of the captain's account (unfortunately, little can be discerned from the photos):

Captain Suh's account ends with their arrival in Honolulu; below is a photo of the Bailey's on board the Wolmi 306 as they docked at Honolulu (from here).



In the next post I'll look at their arrival in Hawaii.