The Marmot's Hole

Maybe this will finally prompt me to translate the articles from September’s issue is of Mal Magazine. It really is now or never. My mission: to translate several articles from the famous progressive/liberal Korean monthly about progressive perspectives on North Korean refugees and their human rights. I don’t agree with everything they said, but it is important eneough that the text be made available in English. So, over the next few days, I will translate it piece by piece and upload it here for access by anyone.

In the meantime, this Wednesday night (13th October) on KBS 2 from 11pm to midnight, there will be a big story about defectors. Of course this will all be in Korean. The title of the story is “2004: North Korean Defectors settling in South Korea: what dreams do they have?” There is also a short preview film that you can watch to give you an idea of the stories to be covered. You will need to register (free!) to see this, though.

The sub-titles in the preview video say:

“Having risked their lives to escape their north, what are their dreams of South Korea?”
Eon Pil-suk (not her real name/defector) “Did we suffer like this to come to South Korea, only to be treated like this? Who can settle in with this kind of alienation and ostracism?”
” Defectors who have fallen into crime! Where does it all end?!”
[business card] Kidney Comprehensive Financial Consulting
Choi Myeong-ryong (not his real name/defector) “If you sell your kidney you can earn 40, 50 million won [US$33,333-41,666 ].”
Yoon Jeong-yeon (not her real name/defector) “I don’t understand why people ask us, who have nothing, to lend money to them. South Korean society is scary.”
“Exclusive story! A defector who chose prison!” [not sensationalist at all - Hamel]
Seo Jeong-woo (not his real name/defector) “I just wanted to go to jail, so I committed a crime and stood outside the police station and shouted ‘Come and get me!’, and didn’t run away.”
“Approaching 6000 defectors! Is the Republic of Korea the warm southern land that it’s cracked up to me?”
“2004: North Korean Defectors settling in South Korea: what dreams do they have? Wednesdaym 11pm.”

It’s an important issue, and one close to my heart, so I hope all those who can should watch it, even those of us (like yours truly here) whose Korean listening skills are not up to scratch. Let’s see some comments after the show.

You’re darn right he needs computer training!

Jenkins, having surrendered to the American Army at Camp Zama in Japan, now wears a military uniform again and has been assigned to ‘clerical duties’. As if that isn’t rich enough, for a man who has not lived in any normal country - let alone the United States - he and his family now live in base housing. (By the way, did anybody else notice that he surrended on September 11?)

That must be an absolute trip for the two daughters, who have been born and bred in North Korea, and - unlike their parents - have never even conceived of life outside the place. Let alone life inside an American military base! Just imagine - your whole life, you are told that the Yanks are the enemy, worse than dogs, and now they’re living inside a base and their dad can’t leave. I sure hope one of them writes about it one day, because I want to know how it must feel for them right now.

By the way - anyone know what language(s) the family spoke amongst themselves at home? We know from Jenkins’ recent letter that his English skills have somewhat deteriorated.

So he has been given some kind of clerical job and a new uniform and haircut, and a not bad pay advance - over $3000.

The big crime of course is desertion, which is hard to prove:

“It is very, very hard to prove desertion,” said Annette Eddie-Callagain, a former Air Force lawyer who now has a private practice on Okinawa, where many American troops in Japan are based. “You have to prove that the person intended to never, ever come back.”

Without such proof, the charge becomes the much lesser one of being absent without leave, or AWOL.

Eddie-Callagain added Jenkins may claim to have strayed into the North by accident, or to have been forcibly taken there. “If he was taken to the North against his will, he is entitled to a lot of back pay,” she said.

See here for the story on James Dresnok, another erstwhile American soldier who ended up in Pyongyang, as well as some information about that movie Dresnok and Jenkins made, willingly or unwillingly, for North Korean propaganda purposes. Dresnok still lives there, and some documentary makers are currently making a film about him.

It is looking likely that Sgt. Jenkins will plea-bargain for a dishonourable discharge. The trial date is November 3rd.

There are some people around who say “throw the book at him” and “let him rot", which from my experience is usually the people who have not been anywhere near a military base, except perhaps to eat. Those who I know that have been soldiers are generally willing to be more lenient. And let’s remember, if he went AWOL for a day no one would be baying for his blood. Going to North Korea, he could have regretted it from day 2 and it wouldn’t have made any difference because he was unable to leave. To prove desertion it is necessary to prove not that he never came back, but that he never intended to.

Nothing to do with Korea, just a bloody good yarn.

A teaser:

Perhaps the luckiest man in Australia is recovering in the Cairns Base Hospital after a 60-year-old woman wrestled a crocodile in far north Queensland to free him from its jaws.

The woman jumped on the back of the 4.2-metre reptile as it dragged the man from the tent in which he had been sleeping beside his wife and baby in the early hours of yesterday morning and was making for a river, about 50 metres away.

Go check it out.

Reuters tells us:

Mushy South Korean Soaps Lapped Up Across Asia

The only thing is, I wish stuff like this got exported instead. Jang’s 1997 album is, in fact, one of only two music CDs I own (the other being Ahn Chi-hwan’s 4th album).

It goes without saying that if you haven’t seen Simon’s latest Asia by Blog roundup, you should take the opportunity to do so now.

Korea’s Zaytun Unit, deployed in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil, got an unexpected visitor today:

During a visit to the Zaytun Unit on Sunday afternoon, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld enters the dining hall, guided by unit commander Maj. Gen. Hwang Eui-don/Joongang Ilbo

From the Korea Times:

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld made a surprise, morale-boosting visit to South Korean troops stationed in the northern Iraqi town of Irbil on Sunday.

Offering words of encouragement to some of the newest foreign troops assisting the U.S.-led rehabilitation, Rumsfeld said, “Your mission won’t be easy and smooth but it is crucial in the fight against global extremism.”

It was the U.S. defense chief’s first visit to non-U.S. foreign forces stationed in Iraq. The rare move came at an important juncture as Seoul is set to seek parliamentary approval to extend the contingent’s stay in Iraq to the end of next year.

Rumsfeld also made a phone call to his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Kwang-ung, in Seoul to express thanks for South Korea’s contribution to the U.S.-led efforts to rebuild war-torn Iraq.

Yoon in turn said he was grateful for Rumsfeld’s visit to the South Korean unit, named “Zaytun” (’olive’ in Arabic). The defense chiefs reaffirmed the importance of the two countries’ alliance, South Korean officials said.

South Korean troops greeted Rumsfeld with thunderous applause as he arrived at a huge tent to speak and dine with about 500 soldiers.

“You took time out of your hectic schedule to visit us. We sincerely welcome you,” said Maj. Gen. Hwang Eui-don, the commanding officer of the contingent.

What was significant (perhaps) was that of the 29 coalition partners with troops in Iraq, the Koreans were the first Rummy visited on this trip.

For what it’s worth, the Chosun Ilbo appreciated the gesture, and contributed this cartoon suggesting that Korea’s own Minister of Defense should consider getting his ass over there as well. The latter is probably unfair – granted, the defense minister hasn’t indicated he would go anytime soon, but then again, neither did Rummy. I gather given the security situation in Iraq, it’s probably not a good idea to announce to everyone and his brother that a high-ranking official is planning to visit. Besides, the Zaytun hasn’t even finished base construction yet.

OhMyNews columnist Go Tae-jin, on the other hand, offered another opinion that goes to show that with OhMy, the U.S. just can’t win. Not that he doesn’t make good points, of course. Go explained that Rummy’s visit to the unit – his first to any of the 29 coalition states – has now clearly associated the Zaytun Unit with the “invader,” heightening the risk factor for Koreans in Iraq. Probably true, although even Go admits that prior to the visit, Iraqi “resistance forces” considered Korean troops to be U.S. hired guns anyway. He goes on to say that while it would have been best not to send troops at all, now that they’re there, it was best for security to put space between Korea and the United States (probably absurd, given the circumstances). Rummy’s visit, however, and the welcome he got (as well as the broad media coverage it received in Korea) has essentially closed that space, and made Koreans even bigger targets than they were before. Go then said:

When one considers the reason for Rumsfeld’s visit, it’s doubtful whether it was worth welcoming. When you consider how U.S. President Bush was so insensitive that he left Korea out of his list of allies that sent troops to Iraq, Rumsfeld’s sudden visit must be seen as having the intention of mollifying Korea and putting pressure on the country to extend its deployment in Iraq.

From this perspective, rather than filling oneself with this submissive (Korean: sadae-juui-jeok) ethnic feeling of, “Ah, the United States hasn’t forgotten our sincerity,” we should understand that we are falling into an even more dangerous quagmire.

Let me get this straight – Bush leaves Korea out of his acceptance speech, and that’s insensitive, but when Rummy visits the Koreans before any of the other 29 countries in Iraq, that’s pressure and painting bull’s eyes on Koreans’ backs?

Sangpal Pools, seen from Guryong Cliff. ©2004 Kim Bia

Over at OhMyNews, someone translated into English an excellent travel piece on North Korea’s Geumgang Mountains with some truly breathtaking photos and great descriptions that more than make up for some of apparent political confusion suffered by the writer.

Be sure to check it out.

If sleazy tales of paid sex with high school girls or goofy photos of the USFK commander eating kimchi aren’t your cup of tea (and I shudder to image that there are some of you out there who might fit this profile) and you’d prefer something a little more somber – something along the lines of Big Nick Eberstadt’s latest work of art on North Korea in Policy Review, perhaps? – then might I direct you to Robin Burk’s post on Nick’s piece over at Winds of Change. I’m sure the guys over there would appreciate any insight you guys might wish to contribute as well.

Of course, if you’re more interested in the War of Prostitution than the War on Terror, just scroll down and enjoy.

Go to Budaechigae to find out why Gen. LaPorte will be consuming mass quantities of kimchi for the foreseeable future, even after 12,500 of his boys have moved on to other locales.

Most of the brothels in the Cheongnyang-ni area are shut down with their lights off on Sept. 23, the day the Special Prostitution Law went into effect./Yonhap News

You know, at first, I really hated this crackdown, but with all the interesting news (and great blogging material) it’s providing, now I’m not sure it was such a bad idea. Beats the hell out of blogging the latest news out of Iraq or the shit the Seoul mayor has managed to get himself into, that’s for sure.

Anyway, batting lead-off, we have this sordid tale of entrepreneurial high school girls and men with no conscience who apparently like to party, brought to you straight from Gwangju – the City of Light, City of Culture, and The Ben’s current place of abode (as well as the Marmot’s former habitat). Gwangju’s finest have booked 11 men, including a teacher, private academy instructor, president of a small/mid-sized company and general affairs chief of a construction company for engaging in paid sex with some runaway high school girls. The girls, including 17-year-old Miss Kim, went about their business by checking into hotels with Internet access in Buk-gu, Duam-dong and Seo-gu, Chipyeong-dong and opening chat rooms entitled, “Would you like to meet now?” When men connected, they would start one-on-one conversation and “seduce” them into coming over ("Seduce” was not my word, but that of Newsis, which ran this headline – “Runaway High School Girls Seduce Adult Men Through Internet, Group Sex“). Apparently, a lot of men did want to meet – judging from the girls’ testimony and contact numbers the girls were given, police figure they did about 50 guys between Sept. 19 and early this month.

Men paid between W100,000 and W200,000 in cash and other valuables a pop.

The thing that undoubtedly got the attention of the Korean Internet user (as it did mine!) was that police have detained five of the men on suspicion of having engaged in group sex (jipdan seong-gwangye – there’s your Korean word for the day) with two of the girls.

See, the Gwangju women’s groups were right – public morality in the city has gone straight in the shitter since they announced those plans to deploy PAC-3 batteries out at Gwangju AF.

On a more serious note, police made the bust after getting information that prostitution was being conducted via Internet chat rooms in order to avoid the Great Crackdown. This is something people said would start happening ever since plans for a crackdown were announced – this is the most wired country on the planet, and let’s face it, people just wanna get laid. Internet prostitution, of course, is much harder to control, and lacks the AIDS and VD tests that went along with employment in the established red light districts.

On a less serious note, this news should make that dumb American schmuck who got busted for bringing hos to his on-campus apartment in Daejeon feel a little better about himself.

Next, in my last post on this subject, I pointed out that the local tourism agency was taking a hit from decreases in Japanese (and Chinese, for that matter) tourism due to the prostitution crackdown. Well, there is a bright side to it all. Apparently, if you happened to work for a travel agency specializing in Korean tourism to Southeast Asia, your ship has come in. Since the crackdown, firms in the tourism industry say demand for Korean male package tours to Southeast Asia have been on the rise, and no, they’re not looking for the beaches. One guide with an agency specializing in tours to Bangkok said he was discussing price matters with local red light districts and bars in preparation for an increase in “sex tourism,” which had of late taken a back seat to package golf tours.

The piece also recounts the drop-off in Japanese and Chinese tourists coming to Korea, and ends with this warning from an official with the Korean Association of Travel Agents (KATA):

“In the long term, the enforcement of the Special Law Against Prostitution could greatly change the currents of domestic and foreign tourism. If foreign tourists start going to China and Southeast Asia instead of Korea, the domestic tourism agency could be hit hard if separate countermeasures aren’t prepared.”

Just so you know, while I disagree with the general crackdown for a number of reasons, I’d like to believe Korea’s tourism industry could survive without hordes of Japanese and Chinese men coming here to plug Korean hookers (not that there’s anything wrong with hordes of Japanese and Chinese men coming here to plug Korean hookers, of course). If the KATA is really that concerned, perhaps it needs to do a better job selling Korea as something other than a great place to get laid. It really is a beautiful country, you know (One day, I’d actually like to move into the tourism business, but that’s another story).

Last, but not least, if certain sectors of the tourism industry are having it tough with the prostitution crack down, at least they could commiserate with their buddies in the booze industry. Whiskey distillers are getting killed because of the a particularly nasty double whammy – first came the introduction of a “real name” system in reporting corporate entertainment expenses to the National Tax Agency from the second half of this year, which led to sudden 20~30 percent drops in whiskey sales. Ouch. Then came the Special Law Against Prostitution and the Great Crackdown of 9.27, which is putting yet another hurt on distillers. An official from Diagio Korea, makers of the Windsor and Dimple labels, said the domestic whiskey market relied on room salons and dallan-jujeom for 80 percent of whiskey sales, and major hits in sales were unavoidable due to the strengthened prostitution laws. Room salons and dallan-jujeom, of course, are not simply high-class karaoke establishments, but placed to arrange satisfaction of other pleasures depending on your expense account. Jinro Ballantine’s, makers of Imperial and Ballantine’s, and Lotte Chilsung, maker of Scotch Blue, are claiming over 20 percent hits in sales since the prostitution crackdown.

The industry is formulating countermeasures, believing that the government is quite serious this time about prostitution and hence the sales drop-offs might be prolonged. The industry does believe, however, that Korea’s drinking culture will gradually develop, and firms are planning to use the crackdown as an opportunity to shift their marketing strategies away from room salons and dallan-jujeom to the bars – a potential high-growth market – and home consumption.

It should also be noted beer brewers are looking at potential drop-offs in sales as well – much of the demand for beer came from room salons and dallan-jujeom, where the drink of choice was the infamous poktan-ju, which is basically a boiler maker.

You know, all this is confirming what I once said, only half-jokingly, that the real reason behind this crackdown on prostitution was to ensure that absolutely no sector of the economy thrived on Roh Moo-hyun’s watch.

UPDATE: Not directly related to prostitution, or Korea for that matter, but the Gyeongyang Sinmun is reporting that Tokyo is pushing an ordinance forbiding those middle school age and under from engaging in sexual activities. According to 2002 stats provided by the city, 12.3 percent of middle school 3rd year boys and 9.1 percent of middle school third year girls had experienced sexual relations, as had 37.3 percent of high school 3rd year boys and 45.6 percent of high school 3rd year girls. Some oppose an ordinance, however, citing privacy issues and a lack of enforcement plan. I’m not sure what the laws are like in Japan, you’d have to believe that there must be some sort of law on the books preventing older men from having sex with minors, but then again, I don’t know what the hell goes on over there, so perhaps someone might care to enlighten me.

UPDATE II: Speaking of Internet prostitution, the Chosun Ilbo’s English edition had this little beauty:

Ulsan Police issued arrest warrants on Friday for a 22-year-old man, Jang, a 43-year-old woman, Kim, and two others for allegedly soliciting prostitution on Internet chat rooms. Police also confiscated their client list.

The 34-page notebook contained a list of paid sex acts that took place in motels or apartments for W100,000 to W120,000 each from mid August. The list included detailed descriptions of male clients, their Internet chatting nickname and their cellular phone numbers. Men were described by their distinctive characteristics, such as having penis enlargements, having sex three times in two hours or lasting a long time. Some men were blacklisted for having no money or being “retarded.” Other notes included the number of times a john was serviced, the john’s manners, where the sex took place and when the money was to be paid. The agency had been managing its clients, with this list.

The police said that three women in their 40s had paid to have sex with men in their 20s to 40s and added that, according to the list, one woman had slept with as many as 15 men a day.

English.chosun.com – bringing you the news you need to know.

With the threat of kidnappings of Koreans on the rise even in Arbil, where Korean troops are based, the soldiers of the Zayitun Unit stand guard with tense expressions during a civil-military affairs operation in downtown Arbil on Friday afternoon (local time)./Yonhap

Pressian, the Chosun Ilbo and others are reporting that a bounty of 10kg of gold or US$8,000 has been placed by Iraqi (and foreign) insurgents on the heads of Korean troops and civilians in Iraq. An official from the Korean Zayitun Unit in Iraq said Friday (local time), “We’ve asked civilians to show caution as we’ve recieved intelligence that terrorist forces in Iraq were offering rewards to those who kidnap and bring them Koreans in Iraq.” The groups offering the bounty apparently include Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s Tawhid wal Jihad crew, who were responsible for the kidnapping and murder of Korean Kim Sun-il in June.

Similar rewards were placed on the heads of Koreans residing in Iraq while Korean engineering and medical units were deployed in the southern city of Nassiriya, and bounties have also been placed on other foreigners in Iraq, but following the Kim Sun-il incident, the rewards for Koreans increased relative to other foreign nationals, said an official residing in Arbil. Or, as the Chosun Ilbo quotes the Zayitun Unit official, “A bounty has been placed not just on Koreans, but civilians of all those nations that deployed troops to Iraq, but as I understand it, when the death of Kim Sun-il caused a huge stir, the bounty on Koreans went up relative to other foreigners in Iraq.”

66 Korean civilians reside in the Arbil area, mostly contractors for the Korean military. Since Oct. 2, when Korea was officially named to al-Qaeda’s hit list, they’ve been confined to base. Security measures have also been heightened.

What’s more, the Chosun Ilbo – citing a government source – reported Saturday that as Korean troops were making their way from Kuwait to Arbil last month, insurgents fired off two RPG-7s (which luckily missed) at their convoy in an incident north of Baghdad, an incident government and military authorities failed to announce out of fear of heightening feelings of insecurity at home. A Defense Ministry official indirectly confirmed the incident to Pressian, saying that he had heard that the attack was not aimed at the Korean troops, but at the U.S. troops escorting the convoy.

When the Defense Ministry announced on Sept. 22 that Korean troops had successfully completed their deployment to Arbil, it noted that on the way from Kuwait, two improvised explosive devices were discovered along the convoy’s route, but no mention was made of the RPG attack.

Not only is this news going to heighten concerns about troop safety – the antitank RPG-7 can penetrate 30cm of armor and has caused significant losses to U.S. tanks, armored vehicles and Humvees in Iraq, explained Pressian – but the Defense Ministry is likely to face criticism that it intentionally hid news of the incident in order to avoid voices critical of the Iraq deployment.

Note: Photo of Muslim Korean soldiers at morning prayer in Iraq via Yonhap. Another cool photo of the Korea’s Muslim troops at morning prayers here.

I like F-15s. I like sakura. I like volcanos, too. I’m not sure, however, if I like sakura and volcanos painted on F-15s:

More full sized pics of the offending F-15J here, courtesy Chosun Ilbo military affairs reporter Yu Yong-won’s Military World, which is a great site (if you read Korean) for military and security analysis and really cool photos of stuff that goes bang.

Also found at the site with this rendering of U.S. operational plans for dealing with pesky N. Korean artillery and gaining air superiority over North Korea in the first 2~3 days of a conflict, for those who prefer the graphic approach:

This does look rather dangerous, even if it does make for a nice photo that will undoubtedly help keep up morale on the home front.

(Hat tip to Oriental Redneck)

Near the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, yesterday, 2,800 prostitutes and brothel owners demanded an end to the government’s anti-prostitution campaign. [YONHAP] (via Joongang Ilbo)

After watching countless demonstrations by leftist and rightist nutjobs, it’s nice to finally see a protest over an issue worth protesting about. From the Korea Herald:

More than 2,500 sex workers from across the country rallied in front of the National Assembly yesterday, protesting new antiprostitution laws as a threat to their livelihoods.

The women accused the government of destroying their jobs by scaring away customers.

“Guarantee our livelihoods. Recognize our role as workers,” they shouted in unison.

Talking with a reporter, a sex worker from Busan in her twenties said, “A lot of these women including myself have families that depend on the money we take home. What is going to happen to our families?”

She added, “What are we supposed to do? This is a life and death situation for us. We have no other way to go.”

The protesters sat in rows, wearing modest clothes and covering their faces behind sunglasses and flu masks. Many wore baseball caps to further conceal their identity.

But it’s not just the girls and pimps having a tough time since the Great Prostitution Crackdown of Sept. 27 began. Certain sectors of the tourist sector and export businesses were being hard hit as well as the number of Japanese tourists and potential buyers dropped off. It would seem that many of the small and medium-sized hotels in Seoul as well as small and medium-sized travel agencies had relied heavily on Japanese tour groups who counted on tours of Seoul’s major red-light districts (Japanese sex tourism? Tell me it ain’t so!); since the crackdown, some of these places have been experiencing 20 percent drops in customers and occupancy. Ditto goes for Seoul’s duty-free shops, who are mysteriously seeing fewer Japanese customers. Also heavily dependent on the Japanese tourist trade were “entertainment” establishments in Gangwon Province and Jeju Island, which were booming before the crackdown owing to the popularity in Japan of Korean dramas set in those locales. BTW, it apparently wasn’t just male tourists involved, either – one travel agency official on Jeju Island said there used to be “host bars” catering to Japanese women apparently looking to satisfy their Bae Yong-jun fantasies, but since the crackdown, they’ve closed down, and Japanese tour groups were no longer inquiring with his company, despite October being a popular tourist month.

It gets better. Exporters in the Dongdaemun and Namdaemun markets were also fretting as it was common practice to take potential Japanese buyers to the red light districts of Mia-ri and Cheongnyang-ni to get them laid before cementing a deal. At W60,000 a pop, this wasn’t so bad, but with the crackdown in place, one exporter was complaining that he would have to use high-end karaoke clubs to entertain potential Japanese buyers, which could place a financial strain on his business. Merchants in the Dongdaemun Market also predict that since they figure about 80 to 90 percent of Japanese buyers visited the red light districts when they visited Korea, imports of yen might also take a considerable hit.

Employees doing business with Japanese buyers at large and medium sized firms were also troubled by the crackdown. Said one employee of a digital equipment importer, “Because we import electronic goods from Japan and sell them in Korea, we have to entertain people from the corporate headquarters in Japan once or twice a month, but now that Mia-ri and Cheongnyang-ni are shut down, I don’t know what to do.”

Life truly is a bitch.

But fear not, unemployed hos and pimps – while the sex trade may be suffering in Korea, the Korean sex trade seems to be flourishing in – that’s right – Canada! To be fair to our neighbors in the Great White North, it’s also flourishing in the United States (also mentioned in the piece), but the article I spotted deals primarily with the trade in Canada, and the city of Vancouver in particular. Apparently, police in that city have recently been busy busting Korean brothels one after the other. In August, police were tipped off that a particular house in the upscale West Vancouver district (1492 W 53 St.) was getting an awful lot of visitors every night. When they raided the place, they found seven young Korean women gainfully employed at the residence as massage girls. An investigation turned up that the girls – all in their 20s – had come to Canada on tourist visas after working as prostitutes in Korea. Interestingly enough, they were able to find their current place of employment through advertisements in Korean-language newspapers in Canada looking for masseuses. One of the girls was also a housewife who had brought her family with her from Korea. Anyway, Canada’s IRB has apparently ordered all of them deported.

The massage parlor in question – the “Seoul” – specialized in “perverted sex,” a police investigation of its clients revealed. It had apparently moved around a bit for years before finally coming to grief at the strong arm of Canadian law enforcement. The problem, however, is that the Vancouver constabulary believe there are about 200 such establishments set up all over the greater Vancouver area, and the number has been rising drastically as of recently. Canadian police believe 600 adult women enter the country to engage in the sex trade every year, after which they are sold like chattel from city to city. Police are also concerned about the drug and organized crime activity associated with the establishments, along with some of the side businesses these brothels engage in (like arranging “swapping"). Vancouver police were amazed by the boldness of the “Seoul,” however – the place had gone so far as to run Internet advertisements comparing the ages of the women who worked there.

UPDATE: It’s a couple of days old, but just in case you didn’t read it, GI Korea discusses ways to clean up the “ville” culture outside U.S. bases in Korea.

UPDATE 2: A 35-year-old American English teacher was fired from his job at a a university in Daejeon for calling a “massage girl” to his room in the on-campus foreign professors apartment. The teacher employed the services of of the massage girl (or girls) three times – on Sept. 14, 18, and 22 – and paid for said services with his credit card. This was were the problem came in, because Daejeon police found his name on the massage company’s books after the Great Crackdown began. The teacher, who was fired from his job on Oct. 5, said he felt lonely living alone and apologized to the school.

Three times in nine days – on campus – and you pay with your credit card. Gluttonous AND stupid is no way to go through life. That being said, at least he wasn’t banging his students, which anyone who has been in that profession knows happens often enough with both Korean and foreign staff.

Joel Burslem, who is not only another Wordpress user but smart enough to use one of Root’s templates as well, has got a project going in his capacity as publisher and editor-in-chief of the Ulsan Pear, an English-language monthly printed in, strangely enough, Ulsan. Anyway, here’s the deal:

Are you a writer currently living in Korea? Or a writer that has visited Korea? I need your help for the next issue of the Ulsan Pear!

We’re looking to publish travel stories from around the Korean peninsula for our November travel issue.

Guidelines:

Must be a destination within the Korean peninsula (or surrounding islands).
Should be an interesting, unique angle on an off-the-beaten track location (we’ve all been to Seoul…).
500 words maximum - so keep your writing tight!
Pictures are a must (high-resolution JPGs or TIFs please)

Deadline for submissions is October 24th.

Your reward:

Seeing your words in print in one of the fastest growing Korean ex-pat publications.
A small token of appreciation from one of our sponsors (TBA)

Email your manuscripts to info@ulsanpear.biz and visit our web site at www.ulsanpear.biz to see examples of our past issues.

Sounds interesting.

Oh, and speaking of Joels and Wordpress, if you haven’t checked out About Joel’s conversion to Wordpress, do so now – it’s lookin’ real good.

And while Lee over at Tokyo Times didn’t go Wordpress after bailing on Typepad, his new MT 3.11 blog is looking rather nice as well.

The 9th Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) has opened in the lovely port city of Busan – OhMy’s Todd Thacker, lucky bastard that he is, is on hand to cover it.

Saw an interesting interview in Yonhap with Korean-American Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment, who brought Americans the remake of the Japanese thriller “The Ring.” Anyway, Lee, who is in Busan for the film fest and to attend the Pusan Promotion Plan, is apparently doing a roaring trade in getting U.S. film studios to do remakes of Asian films. He’s gotten Dreamworks to sign on to doing a remake of Kwak Jae-young’s 2001 flick “My Sassy Girl” (Korean: Yeopgijeogin geunyeo), which starred actress Jun Ji-hyun, whom Korean Internet users voted as the entertainer with the finest ass in the R.O.K. The U.S. remake, scheduled to begin shooting eight months from now, will be directed by Gurinder Chadha of Pyongyang fan-favorite “Bend It Like Beckham” fame, with Jun’s role going to Scarlett Johansson, whom I seem to recall from “Lost in Translation” as having considerably less booty. We’ll see how that turns out.

Lee also said pre-production work is going on with remakes of Korean films “Shiworae” (Warner Bros.), “Oldboy” (Universal) and “Janghwa, Hongryeon” (Dreamworks). Shiworae also stared Jun, and according to Lee, Julia Roberts, Halle Berry (hmmm… Halle Berry) and Jennifer Connelly are showing interest in the ass queen’s part. Despite having no problems what so ever being forced to watch either Halle or Jennifer on screen for an hour or two, I’m more keen to see how the remake of Park Chan-wook’s “Oldboy” shakes down. The original was a pretty dope picture, although I’m not sure how some of the dark humor would translate over into the U.S. production. I’ve heard Brad Pitt’s name mentioned in the past with the project, which would make sense, as I could see him doing a picture of that sort.

As for the interest U.S. film studios are showing in remaking Korean films, Lee credits the good storylines and new styles of expression being utilized by Korean directors. He also said Korean films have improved greatly over the last five years to the point that the country has started making “movie-like movies” like Hollywood.

As for the original pictures making it big in the States, Lee said there are a number of films that could be successful in their own way through small-scale releases, like Kim Ki-duk’s “Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring” (Korean: Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom).

As for Korean actors or actresses who could possibly make it in the States, Lee selected – no surprise – Jun Ji-hyun. He said it’s not easy for Asian stars to land leading roles in Hollywood, but if she could learn English, she could become popular. Interestingly enough, after her last picture (which didn’t do as well at the Box Office as her people would have liked, despite being released simultaneously in Korea and Hong Kong), she took some time off to study English in San Francisco. Frankly, I’m not a huge Jun Ji-hyun fan – maybe I’m just not an ass man – and despite her popularity in other Asian markets (particularly China), I just can’t see her doing well in the States. Gong Li she ain’t. But then again, I’m biased – I just don’t dig her.

Actress Lee Young-ae hosted the opening ceremony of the Pusan International Film Festival, with Tony Leung Chiu Wai, the leading man in “2046,” the film that will open the festival. The two had a date on Friday afternoon/Chosun Ilbo

On to more news you probably didn’t really need to know. On the first day of the festival, opening ceremony host Lee Young-ae and Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu Wai got to hook up on a little “date” and kiss each others ass. Tony’s flick “2046” – which I really have to see – opened the festival. Lee is an actress I really want to like – aside from being a remarkably beautiful woman, she comes off as being rather sophisticated with a decent head on her on shoulders. That being said, she has rubbed me the wrong way in just about everything I’ve seen her in, including those goddamn LG Xi commercials. As for Tony, you gotta like a guy who comes up with this stuff:

When asked about love, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, who is loved by women around the world for his sensitive portrayals of contemporary men, he answered simply, “Love is Kimchi.”Kimchi tastes and smells awful when you first make it, but it gets its own unique taste as time goes by, he said, adding that love should have that seasoned quality, soliciting loud applause from those in attendance.

Asked if the two would like to work together, they responded:

When asked if the two actors would like to work in a film together, Lee answered that the language difference would be a problem, but after watching “2046″ she realized that movies could work beyond language. She added that it would be an honor if the two were to work together in a movie. Tony replied that he had seen many Korean films in the last few years and that if there were a good project, he would be happy to work with Lee.

According to the Sports Hanguk, however, Tony has his mind set on working with two other Korean actresses, Jeon Do-yeon (Why, Tony, why?!) and – you guessed it – Jun Ji-hyun. In the battle between sophistication and ass, ass wins out. There is no God.

Lastly, but certainly not least, we have afore mentioned director Kim Ki-duk. Apparently he made an impression on the Herald Gyeongje’s reporter covering the PIFF. Or at least his companion did. Hence, this headline:

Director Kim Ki-duk’s Accompaniment by Beautiful Foreign Woman Draws Attention

Ki-duk, you mack daddy. It’s gotta be the baseball cap. According to the Herald Gyeongje, the two spent the entire reception together, and despite the fact that he introduced her as an “old friend from Canada,” those around them watched the couple’s every move. Kim doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who would give a shit what people around him thought, however. Or perhaps it would be best to say that I can’t imagine a guy who makes the kinds of movies he does would give a shit about the people around him thought. Which, coincidently, is one of the things that makes him such a kick-ass director, even if it’s hard to sit through some of his pictures without feeling at times physically uncomfortable.

Oh, interesting Kim Ki-duk fun fact – he’s from Bonghwa County, North Gyeongsang Province. Not the most developed place in the Republic of Korea, I can tell you (good watermelons, though). Granted, he moved up to the Seoul area after finishing 3rd grade, but to come out of that place and end up at Venice has got to make the people there proud, although given its rather conservative nature, I have to wonder what they actually think of his movies.

DVD Note: The Korean blockbuster Taegukgi is now available for purchase. Picked up the box set, and damn, it was worth it. I did have a couple of problems with the film (although not as many as I thought I might before watching it), but it does do what it set out to do rather effectively. The special features disk is pretty good, too – if you can understand the Korean, the interviews with some of the old Korean War vets (including retired 1st ROK Army Commander Gen. Baek Seon-yeop) are really worth listening to – so if you find yourself able to purchase the box set, you’d be doing yourself a real disservice if you didn’t pick it up. English subtitles are available, as are Korean ones for those looking to brush up on their soldier talk.

UPDATE: The Jun Ji-hyun talk just won’t stop – Japanese actress Aoi Yu of “Hana and Alice,” who attended the PIFF, said she was frequently told that she looked like Jun. Even her own mother confused the two once! Well, look at the photos (like this one) and make your own call.

As security around major national facilities is strengthened due to the increased terrorist threat, police stand guard outside an armored vehicle at Incheon International Airport on Monday. It was the first time in the three years since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that an armored vehicle has been deployed at Incheon Airport./Yonhap News

Uri Party lawmaker Choe Seong (a very nice man who I actually did some work for in grad school) claimed Tuesday that Korea has been the target of terrorist attention 13 times since 1994. He made the claims, which were based on data from local intelligence agencies and overseas terrorism specialists, during a National Assembly Unification, Diplomacy and Trade Committee parliamentary inspection session on the Foreign Ministry. Citing claims by Neil Herman, who headed the task force that looked into the World Trade Center bombing of 1993, Choe said one of the 11 airliners flying from Asia to the U.S. that al-Qaeda operative Ramzi Yousef planned to detonate over the Pacific Ocean as part of Operation Bojinka was a San Francisco-bound flight out of Seoul. In 1995, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, al-Qaeda’s No. 3 man, boarded a flight from Manila to Seoul in order to check out airport security, and in 1999, a-Qaeda military chief Mohammed Atef ordered terrorist Nijar Nawar (name romanized from Korean) to infiltrate Korea.

Choe also said that in August and September of 2001, al-Qaeda operatives infiltrated Korea on intelligence gathering missions, and in October 2003, an al-Qaeda operative got on a ship from New Zealand that entered the port of Gunsan.

Choe said, “Even before the Kim Sun-il incident, Korea was a terrorist target, and there is great concern that a terrorist attack may be launched against Korea in the near future.”

As if the North Koreans weren’t enough to worry about…

Chinese Type 98 Main Battle Tank/GlobalSecurity.org

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Kim Jong-hwan testified before the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee on Tuesday that in the event of a war on the Korean Peninsula, China would send 400,000 men to support North Korea. Asked by Uri Party lawmaker Im “If It Ain’t Ansan, It Ain’t Shit” Jong-in (see previous post) how much support he expected North Korea to receive in accordance with Pyongyang’s defense pacts with China and Russia, Kim answered that in the case of China, it would dispatch a limited number of military personnel in accordance with Article 2 of its mutual defense pact with North Korea, which calls for the automatic insertion of men in the event of a conflict. Russia, however, which canceled its automatic participation clause with Pyongyang in February 2000, was expected to send limited support.

Yonhap went on to say South Korean military authorities estimated China would dispatch 18 divisions – roughly 400,000 men – 800 aircraft and 150 ships to the peninsula. More specifically, they predict China would deploy 60 percent of the fighting strength of the Shenyang Military District (448,000 men, 1000 aircraft), 50 percent of the fighting strength of the Jinan Military District (256,000 men, 650 aircraft), and 30 percent of the Chinese Northern Fleet (518 ships) to North Korea.

Kim also explained that under normal circumstance, the combined ROK-U.S. standing force of 720,000 men amounted to 61 percent of the the standing North Korean force of 1.17 million men. In a war, however, North Korea would bring up its 6.32 million man reserve, which is roughly the same quality as its standing force, and the size of allied forces would drop to 59 percent of the North Korean’s. He added that the size of U.S. reinforcements was included in an appendage to OPLAN 5027-04, and deployment details were being developed by the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.

[NOTE]: OPLAN 5027-00 called for 690,000 troops, 160 Navy ships and 1,600 aircraft to be deployed from the U.S. within 90 days of the start of a conflict. And Kim wasn’t bullshitting about the size of that N. Korean reserve force. According to GlobalSecurity.org:

North Korea has organized a grand total of seven million men and women into reserve units. Reserve Military Training Unit, Worker-Peasant Militia, and the Young Red Guards make up most of the number. The units are managed by the Party Civil Defense Department in peacetime, but are placed under the Ministry of Defense in contingencies. War mobilization measures usually assign Reserve Military Training Unit to the front or regional defense in war, while the other two units are assigned to maintain security in the rear, guard duty for important facilities, etc. About 30% of all North Koreans between the ages fifteen to sixty are mobilized for reserve units:

I couldn’t find information on just how many reservists South Korea could call up in an emergency, but given the fact that a) South Korea has twice the population of North Korea; b) the overwhelming majority of the adult male population has served in the military; and c) a wartime allied force would still amount to 59 percent of the N. Korean force even after Pyongyang had mobilized its 6 million-plus reserves, I’d have to believe it’s a lot.[END NOTE]

As to the afore mentioned artillery threat, Kim explained that of North Korea’s roughly 1,000 170mm self-propelled guns and 240mm MRLs, about 300 posed a threat to the Seoul metropolitan area. The self-propelled guns had a range of 54km, roughly the distance between Anyang and Seongnam, while the 240mm babies had ranges of 60km, roughly the distance between Incheon and Gunpo. The ammo used in the 240mm MRLs was for use primarily against personnel, so its ability to penetrate concrete was limited, Kim explained, but considering the shrapnel effect, he expected much damage to be done to apartments in the Seoul metropolitan area.

Other North Korean Peoples Army fun facts – Kim explained for lawmakers that the North Korean terms of military service was 10 years for men and 7 for women, and of its standing force of 1.17 million men, 180,000 (9 percent) were officers, while the remaining 990,000 (91 percent) were presumed to be of non-commissioned officer rank.

He added that North Korea’s T-54 and T-55 tanks, produced in the late 1960s and early 1970s, were probably in use, given their simple maintenance needs and North Korea’s continued production of parts. He also noted that North Korea’s ground-to-ground missile bases were well concealed in rugged mountain areas with mock bases set up in surrounding areas, and despite the fact that allied intelligence assets have North Korea under 24-hour surveillance, it’s tough to identify all of its missile bases.

Warning: Rant-esque material. Reader discretion is advised.

Over at Interested Participant, which is an excellent blog, BTW, if you haven’t already put on your links list, a commenter going by the handle of “Hunter” was apparently upset with my last post. He was kind enough to leave a rather lengthy comment, which I feel deserves the courtesy of a response (and frankly, it gives me the opportunity to vent). I don’t know where I should begin, so I guess I should just take it point by point:

Koehlers piece was notable only in the fact that he’s woefully uninformed concerning politics re South Korea. His main points being he doesn’t like the use of our flag as a base to the protest, nor the burning of the NK standards. For his information WE planted our flag on their soil 50 years ago, and they embraced its promise like few other emancipated American protectorates have.

Firstly, he’s right on the first point. I probably am woefully uninformed concerning South Korean politics. You’d think having lived as a political junkie in South Korea for eight years and majored in Northeast Asian politics at a South Korean grad school, not to mention the fact that I make my living translating for a major South Korean newspaper, I’d be more conversant than I am. But hey, I guess I just ain’t all that bright. For this, I sincerely apologize.

As for the flag business, well, I thought I made it clear in my post that I dislike the burning of any standard, although I did point out that if I had to burn a flag, it would probably be North Korea’s. I did object to having to having our flag used as a base to the protest, given that the protest’s theme was the protection of an anachronistic law that was frequently invoked to repress pro-democracy forces in the past and even now provides ample opportunity for the state to abuse its power.

As for “WE planted our flag on their soil 50 years ago” or the “emancipated American protectorate” bits, I don’t know quite what to say other than I’m generally horrified by the colonial implications, and paternalistic attitudes such as those do not make it any easier when USFK or the U.S. State Department tries to explain that South Korea is not, has not been, and never will be a U.S. colony. Frankly, you couldn’t write any better bulletin board material for Hanchongnyon.

- The vast majority of SK people out-conservative even the most ardent of Americans on the right. Perhaps Robert should try living 25 miles from a megalomaniac with his hand in the atomic soup for the last 10 or 15 years before he pontificates so judgmentally. Since I have lived in, married, speak the language, and been involved in all things Korean for over 45 years I consider myself somewhat of a minor expert in the topic….

Great, yet another expert. Is it just me, or does it seem like anyone who has lived in Korea fancies him or herself an expert? I mean, heck, a lot of Koreans have lived in the U.S. and can read the New York Times. Does that make them U.S. experts, minor, major, or otherwise? Just because I can read the Chosun Ilbo in the vernacular doesn’t make me an expert, now does it? Anyway, I’ll grant that my place of abode is not 25 miles from the magalomaniac in question. I do live right across the street from Yongsan Garrison, however, which I’d have to figure ranks right up there with the U.S. Air Force base at Osan as a prime target for a North Korean nuclear strike, being the site of the headquarters of 8th U.S. Army and all. I did live just outside of Uijeongbu for two years, too, just in case Seoul is a little too far removed from North Korean batteries for Hunter’s respect. I also lived in Gwangju before coming to Seoul, which might give one something of a different impression of that supposedly vast, ultra-conservative majority (which strangely enough voted in Roh Moo-hyon in 2002 and an Uri Party majority in the 2004 general election).

- I’m not defending flag burning, emulating the loathsome tactics of the Marxist left in this country, but I can certainly cut the SK citizens some slack if their zeal is a bit over the top at times, given the circumstances they live under every day of their lives.

One wonders if Hunter is willing to cut anti-American leftists the same kind of slack for U.S. involvement in Jeju 4.3, Suncheon-Yeosu, Gwangju 1980, or generous U.S. support for autocrats and military dictators between 1948 and 1987 (or 1992, depending on how you consider Roh Tae-woo). The circumstances in which S. Koreans have had to live have indeed been difficult at times, but that hasn’t always been because of the North Korean threat, per say. It wasn’t the North Koreans, after all, who slaughtered pro-democracy activist in Gwangju. Nor was it the North Koreans who rounded up, jailed, and even executed dissidents throughout much of the 60s, 70s, and 80s under a law that thousands of U.S.-flag waving demonstrators converged on Seoul City Hall to support on Monday. And yes, it pisses me off to see my flag used that way – the U.S. does not support the National Security Law, and waiving it around like that smacks just a little too much of the time when South Korea’s past military dictators (whom a number of Monday’s more prominent figures used to work for) used to invoke the U.S. to justify misdeeds the U.S. had nothing to do with.

Now, I’m sure a lot of the demonstrators were there not necessarily because they enjoy torturing dissidents, which thankfully enough doesn’t happen (as far as I know) nowadays, but it was a demonstration convened with the express purpose of opposing the abolition of the National Security Law, and a lot of the guys present – including the so-called national elders – were people who never said a word when the government was heavily involved in the torturing dissidents racket. I should also point out that a lot of the people clamoring against the abolition of the NSL – including a good portion of the opposition Grand National Party and, unfortunately, certain segments of the South Korean media establishment – are more concerned with protecting their own vested interests in a far-from-perfect system that would look decidedly less pleasant if it didn’t have the distinct advantage of having the North Koreans around to make it look good. The “vast majority” of South Koreans recognize this fact and want change. And you’re right, Hunter, in that the South Korean electorate is fairly conservative. Yet it did vote in a bunch of amateur, ideologically confused nitwits in 2002 and 2004 despite the fact that the conservative Grand National Party had the open support of S. Korea’s three largest newspapers and conglomerate-donated slush funds larger than North Korea’s gross domestic product. Heck, if the GNP hadn’t been blessed with a comfortable regional support base, it might have ceased to play a significant role in Korean politics, period. The biggest threat to the Korean right isn’t the North Koreans, South Korean student radicals, OhMyNews, Uri or Democratic Labor parties, or Japanese collaborator investigations. The biggest threat to the right is itself. Had the Korean electorate had an alternative in 2002 and 2004 that was both rational and not stuck in 1961, the political picture in South Korea today would be much different. The fact that the left has gained power in South Korea speaks not of the political skill or competence of either President Roh or the Uri Party; it speaks bushels of the disaster the Korean right has become, including many of the clowns wrapping themselves in the U.S. flag who staged Monday’s protest.

- Watching the thousands of kidnaping’s for ransom, killings, and political assassination attempts over the years by NK murder teams, what’s really surprising is that the SK citizenry show such reserve.

I in no way, shape, or form intend to justify either North Korea’s shenanigans or the pathetic handling of the abduction issue by either the current or previous South Korean administration, but do you think that reserve might have something to do with the fact that the very same citizenry has had to watch thousands of kidnappings, killings, and political assassinations by murder teams dispatched by their own government? Or the fact that previous South Korean administrations were not adverse to engineering “incidents” to further their own domestic political agendas?

- Its easy to see why people, not familiar with the extreme tenseness just beneath the surface, can be confused and misread the normalcy they see. That has more to do with the toughness and adaptability of the SK people more than the any political reality. Robert should either ask a lot more questions first or stick to things he knows about….I don’t generally take bloggers to task but felt compelled to counter this one….

I’ll be the last one to downplay either the toughness or adaptability of the South Korean people. Nor would I deny that there is extreme tension just beneath the surface of the serenity. And I probably do need to ask more questions, because the second option is simply not feasible if I’d like to continue blogging, as I really don’t know much about anything. That being said, if a know-nothing like myself might be so bold as to offer a suggestion to a Korean-literate expert like yourself, I’d encourage you to perhaps dig deeper into that tension – and there is a lot of it – in order to find its sources (this is not to suggest that I have found them, of course). The North-South, left-right conflicts aren’t the only games in town. The issues are complex – much more complex than the incoherent rant I have posted above would suggest – and while there is a tendency to view things in South Korea through the glasses of the intra-Korean and ideological divide (partly because certain groups constantly try to make it look so), the sources of tension are much more diverse. And while it might give one a warm, fuzzy feeling to see Old Glory being waived around at a mass demonstration (beats the hell out of seeing it burnt), a look at the figures and groups involved might make one think twice about whether seeing the symbols of the U.S. invoked at an occasion like Monday’s is such a great thing.

Well, this isn’t encouraging:

SEOUL, Oct. 4 (Yonhap) – Seoul would fall to North Korea within 15 days from the outbreak of a war with the communist state, if South Korea has to defend itself without U.S. troops, an opposition lawmaker claimed Monday.

“In the event the South Korea-U.S. alliance deteriorates to the extent that the South Korean military alone has to guard against an enemy attack, the defensive lines of the capital Seoul would collapse within 15 days,” said Park Jin of the opposition Grand National Party.

“That means the loss of the Seoul metropolitan area,” Park said during a parliamentary audit of the Defense Ministry.

Park attributed his claim to a report by the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, which examined various war scenarios on the Korean Peninsula in early 2003.

“According to the report, if all the enemy’s long-range artillery pieces are fired, 25,000 shells per hour would rain down and destroy one third of Seoul within one hour,” Park said.

The damage on the South Korean capital would be enormous in a case of the South Korean military having to independently fight North Korea as it lacks the capability to conduct precision attacks on the North’s artillery batteries.

Not all agree with Park’s decidedly gloomy assessment:

At the parliamentary audit session, a ruling party lawmaker disputed the claim by Park that Seoul is vulnerable to North Korean artillery attack.

Rep. Im Jong-in of the Uri (Our) Party said the range of most North Korea artillery pieces was not enough to strike into the heart of Seoul.

“Seoul is out of their artillery range. Even if they hit some parts of northern Seoul, there will not be massive damage because they lack precision,” Im said.

Gee, thanks, Rep. Im. I’m sure the people in Uijeongbu were relieved to hear that. Of course, why should he give a shit? He represents Sangnok-gu in Ansan.

Oh, and while we’re dealing with military/geopolitical scenarios, Budaechigae points out that S. Korea does have contingency plans to deal with a possible N. Korean collapse and/or civil war.

You don’t often hear foreign ministers dropping quotes like this beauty by Taiwanese Foreign Minister Chen Tan-sun:

“Even a country [Singapore] the size of a booger (bogey) brazenly criticized Taiwan and former president Lee Teng-hui in the United Nations. It was nothing but an effort to embrace China’s ‘balls’, forgive me using such a word.”

Singaporean Foreign Minister George Yeo responded by saying, “This recent outburst is a source of some pain and sadness to us that it should come to this.” Quite classy on Yeo’s part, I should say, because he could have just as easily come back with, “Yeah, we might be a country the size of a booger, but at least we are, technically, a country.”

(Hat tip to the Asia Pages)

Car after car with U.S. flags./Im Gi-hyeon

As anyone who works anywhere even remotely close to Seoul City Hall knows, there was a rather massive anti-government protest today in which about 100,000 participants from mostly conservative and Christian groups rallied to condemn plans to abolish the National Security Law. Now, last time a commented on something of this nature, I got slammed, so allow me to say a few things first:

1) I fully appreciate and am eternally grateful to the veterans of the Republic of Korea who put their lives on the line to protect from communist aggression a nation that would eventually become the world’s 11th largest economy, 12th largest global trader, and a vibrant democracy. I am also extremely grateful to those Korean vets who sacrificed their youth getting shot at in Vietnam to support a blood ally.

2) I generally dislike flag burning, as I think there are much more intelligent (and less offensive) ways to make a point. That being said, if I had to choose a flag to burn, the North Korean flag would be it. For that matter, burning the white and blue “unification flag” (which apparently got toasted, too) is fine with me, as I generally despise what it stands for (and frankly, I think its ugly. Don’t like the color scheme).

3) I am no fan of Hanchongnyeon, Prof. Song Du-yul, or leftists in general.

There, I said it.

Now, nothing gets me angrier than to see stuff like this (don’t need to read Korean – just scroll down and look at the photos). No, I don’t like OhMyNews’ snide little comments below the photos, either, but I’m pissed off at the use of my flag, nonetheless.

Look, I appreciate the fact that people are grateful to the United States for the assistance rendered South Korea during its time of need. I really do. But those protesters have no right to invoke my national banner in support of a law that runs counter to everything I’d like to believe the United States stands for. Again, I stress – I don’t like communists. My wife would be happy to regale you with tales of the wonders 70 years of communism can do for a body politic. For that matter, North Korean spies and agents should be nailed to the fuckin’ wall under the criminal code. Moreover, it drives me up the wall when high-ranking Uri Party members and the progressive press (like today’s Hani editorial) invoke intra-Korean reconciliation in arguing for the abolition of the National Security Law. North Korea certainly won’t open up its political system to “pro-South” elements in the name of intra-Korean reconciliation, and what’s more, it’s unnecessary and quite frankly dangerous to invite Pyongyang to become a party in South Korea’s domestic affairs.

Uniformed demostrators hold a sign that reads “Step down, President Roh” and protest to police when they block their march toward Cheong Wa Dae./OhMyNews G.U. Seong

The problem is, the right does the exact same thing in support of the National Security Law. They argue that since North Korea won’t allow pro-democracy forces operate in their territory, South Korea shouldn’t allow pro-communist forces to operate in its territory. This spooks me because North Korean behavior is the last thing on the planet I’d care to use as a yardstick by which to frame the laws by which I’m governed. Would guys like Rep. Kim Yong-gap (who was there today, unsurprisingly) and Rep. Kim Mun-su (who was also there, which was especially disappointing, since he was victimized by the law when he was younger) care to argue that since Pyongyang puts the ideological untrustworthy in political prison camps, Seoul should do the same to radical leftist groups like Hanchongnyeon and their friends? The debate over the National Security Law needs to be separated from North Korea and, ironically for the right, be framed in turns of the national identity, or jeongche-seong. As Grand National Party chairwoman Park Geun-hye has elaborated ad nauseum, the Republic of Korea’s jeongche-seong is liberal democracy (Korean: jayu minju-juui). Being that this is the case, wouldn’t it follow that a law that allows the state to put college kids in prison for uploading Marxist texts on to their Internet site runs counter to the Republic of Korea’s jeongche-seong? Wouldn’t it follow that a law that makes individuals criminally liable simply for praising a state or ideology, regardless of how despicable that state or ideology is, coincides in no way with the jeongche-seong of the Republic of Korea? It would seem to me that if said law coincided with any nation’s jeongche-seong, it would be that of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (i.e., North Korea), not the Republic of Korea.

This brings me to my flag. First off, the U.S. has no official position on the National Security Law debate, as well it shouldn’t, given that it’s a purely domestic matter. Waving the Stars and Stripes around like that makes no sense at all, because neither the U.S. Embassy, U.S. State Department, nor any other U.S. government institution supports your struggle. Washington is NOT a party to this dispute. Period. What’s worse, by waiving the U.S. flag like that with martial music going in the background, you give others the impression that somehow, someway, the U.S. is involved and supports your cause. Should we be surprised that the OhMyNews piece linked above was entitled, “Komerika in the midst of the Save the National Security Law Rally"? Should we be surprised when Koreans who think the NSL sucks start believing that the U.S. is opposed to democratic reform in South Korea? Should we be surprised when progressives label conservatives U.S. toadies? If you guys want to do your ally a favor, you could start by leaving your U.S. flags at home, because all you’re doing now is giving your ally a black eye and confusing the public at large as to the role the U.S. plays in South Korea.

More pics and improper use of the U.S. flag here, via OhMyNews.

Members of an NGO participate in a demonstration protesting the abolition of the National Security Law, on Monday, burning pickets and holding a strike./Chosun Ilbo

Note to Norbert Vollertsen: Congrats – you made CBS for being involved in a side protest in which the North Korean AND Korean re-unification flags were burnt (before the cops put them out). Apparently, the protesters also called for the overthrow of Roh Mu-hyeon, Roh’s resignation, and the death of Kim Jong-il. Not that you’d need or want my advice, but let me ask – assuming for the moment that the report was correct, do you think you might be hurting your own efforts to inform the South Korean public of the brutality of the North Korean regime by cavorting with individuals calling for the overthrow of South Korea’s elected head of state?

Note to a certain conservative S. Korean daily I hesitate to name on this blog: Was it truly necessary to set up stalls around the protest site selling editions of our monthly magazine like it was the bible of Korean ultra-conservatism? We should be better than that.

UPDATE: The Oranckay gives us graphical evidence why the National Security Law sucks. This helps, too:

Of warrants received to tap people for alleged NSL violations, over 90 percent of those cases were for violations of NSL Article 7, which covers “praising or sympathizing” with anti-state groups. In other words, the suspects weren’t being watched for “forming anti-state groups” (Article 3), “committing anti-state acts (Article 4), “willful help or provision of money and materials” (Article 5), “infiltration and escape” (Article 6), “Meeting, Corresponding and etc,. with anti-state groups” (Article 8 ), “aiding anti-state groups” (Article 9), “failure to inform on anti-state grousp” (Article 10), or for that matter anything else.

By year, warrants for NSL cases were 348 in 2001, 192 in 2002, 235 in 2003, and 136 in 2004 up through June.

Well, if the rumor over at the Oranckay’s is correct, it would constitute very distressing news indeed.

Foreign workers hold a press conference in front of the Sejong Center for Performing Arts on Aug. 17, protesting forced deportation and calling for the legalization of all illegal foreign workers in Korea./Chosun Ilbo

The Chosun Ilbo reported that illegal foreign residents in Korea would be subject to criminal prosecution – possible under the National Security Law – for engaging in “anti-Korean activities.” The paper had two pieces on it – one translated into English, the other not. Frankly, the one that wasn’t was more interesting (as one of the Chosun’s translators, I apologize). Anyway, in materials submitted to Rep. Kim Jae-gyeong of the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee, the Justice Ministry revealed that anti-Korean activities on the part of illegal foreign residents in Korea were on the rise, and there were concerns that some of these malcontents might try to link their activities up with al-Qaeda. According to one high-ranking government official, “Among the Muslim illegal residents here in Korea, there are individuals worthy of keeping an eye on.”

Given Korea’s recent inclusion on al-Qaeda’s Christmas card list and the heightened state of alert resulting from said inclusion (see previous post), the possibility of a linkage between resident foreigners (many of whom have serious gripes) and overseas terrorist organizations is something that is of obvious concern.

The Chosun said the authorities first became aware of these anti-Korean activities during a demonstration by illegal residents held at Myeongdong Cathedral early this year. During the demonstration, protestors shouted slogans like “We totally refuse to leave Korea on our own,” “Overthrow the government,” and “We oppose the Iraq deployment.” According to the government, this was the first time the protests took on a political nature; previous protests by illegal aliens had been small affairs focused on crackdowns on illegal aliens. The government judged that behind the now political protests were certain “radical forces,” and began preparing countermeasures.

Even before those protests, there were instances where individuals believed to be illegal aliens or recently deported illegal aliens had threatened terrorist attacks against Korean targets. On Jan. 16, the Thai anti-Korean group “Akia” issued a threat against Korean airliners, while on Jan. 27, the “Korean-based Yeonbyeon-bang Black Dragon (Amur River) Society,” probably composed of ethnic Koreans from China, sent a letter to the prime minister’s office in which they threatened to blow up the gas lines in Seoul’s Yeoui-do district (where the National Assembly is located).

Despite the countermeasures, the government hasn’t an idea how many individuals are engaged in anti-Korean activities are who they are. According to Justice Ministry statistics, however, there were 437,954 foreigners residing in Korea last year (including me!); of these, 67,068 came from 29 Muslim countries. In particular, 1,755 were from five nations on the U.S. State Department’s list of nations that support terrorism – Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Sudan. Another 7,177 were from Pakistan and Afghanistan, nations suspected of providing substantive support to al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups.

The Justice Ministry explained, however, that there was yet no proof that anti-Korean activists were acting in concert with foreign or local groups, and the ministry was now concentrating on getting a read on those who might be engaged in anti-Korean activity. The ministry was also placing emphasis on blocking possible linkages between foreign terrorist groups and groups in Korea, particularly illegal aliens.

Some might find the Justice Ministry’s definition of “anti-Korean activities” a little broad, however (with a little help from Yonhap):

The justice ministry shall regard the following as anti-Korean activities: denying the Korean system (i.e. government) or policies, or stressing the negative aspects of Korea (with feelings of enmity toward Koreans); terrorism conspiracies or threats; leading or inciting (or actively participating in) demonstrations against national policies; and criticizing (or misreporting) government measures while making political claims, and propagating those claims; individuals about whom there are concerns he or she may engage in activities that greatly harm other national interests.

Outside the scope of anti-Korean activities are protests over simple rights issues like unpaid wages and improvements of human rights at the workplace.

An armored police vehicle secures the U.S. Embassy in Jongno, Seoul. Police heightened surveillance of embassies and foreign institutions, on the heels of foreign news reports saying that Al-Qaeda could target South Korea./Chosun Ilbo

Korea has gone on high alert following al-Qaeda’s warning that Korea would be subject to terrorist attacks. Courtesy the Korea Times:

Seoul went on high alert for possible terrorist attacks over the weekend after a close associate of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden purportedly called for attacks on the United States and its allies, including South Korea.

The Justice Ministry on Sunday directed airport authorities to tighten immigration procedures to prevent the entry of around 4,000 people blacklisted by the Seoul government as suspected terrorists.

No one on the list has attempted to enter South Korea, a ministry official said.

The ministry said it also decided to increase checks on illegal foreign workers in South Korea due to concerns that they might collaborate with global terrorist networks.

Every ministry involved in national defense beefed up precautionary measures following an emergency meeting of the National Security Council convened on Saturday to enhance security at foreign embassies in Seoul and certain key facilities, including government offices, airports and seaports.

The Defense Ministry ordered the whole army, including the 2,800 troops dispatched to Iraq, to step up anti-terrorism readiness. South Korean soldiers stationed in the northern Iraqi town of Irbil are keeping a low-key posture so as not to provoke Islamic rebels, a ministry official said.

As part of the strengthened defense posture, the Republic of Korea’s Army Special Warfare Command’s 707th Special Missions Battalion has been put on standby for immediate deployment. The 707th are, to be blunt, a bunch of tough mofos:

Prospective candidates for the battalion are only drawn from the ranks of qualified special forces personnel. Special Forces operator training and selection lasts for a full year, and includes six months of basic infantry combat training, with an additional six months of special warfare training and parachute training. During the special warfare portion of their training are provided instruction in basic parachute techniques, rappelling and mountain warfare, martial arts, fire arms instruction, and demolitions.

Korean special forces personnel are well known for their toughness, and 707th SMB personnel are reportedly even tougher. Throughout their training physical fitness is stressed and students are driven hard by their instructors. Various reports have stated that members frequently perform daily calisthenics in the snow and subzero temperatures, and swim in freezing lakes without any thermal protection.

Those special forces personnel wishing to volunteer for service in the unit must first pass an extensive background check and endure a ten day selection process that eliminates approximately 90% of the applicants. Counter-terrorist training for the 707th is intensive, and once an operator is accepted into the unit he will receive additional instruction in combat shooting, breaching, assault tactics, SCUBA diving, and various other skills.

The Lost Nomad also shows respect for ROK special forces.

Meanwhile, Muslim baddies aren’t the only ones causing trouble – courtesy AP (via Lost Nomad):

Meanwhile, Korean police detained a man who threatened to bomb South Korea’s presidential office and who was found in possession of 21 sticks of dynamite.

The man, identified only by his family name, Yoo, was apprehended by police on a road near the presidential Blue House, said an officer at Seoul’s Jongno Police Station, which is responsible for security around the presidential compound.

The man, who deals in construction materials, was carrying 21 sticks of dynamite in his car, said the officer.

Before heading for the tightly guarded presidential compound, the man called police, saying he had complaints to discuss with President Roh Moo-hyun and that if he was not granted a meeting with the president, he would bomb Roh’s office, the officer said.

And to top the situation off, conservative groups are planning a major protest tomorrow afternoon in which the demonstrators, who should total 200,000 souls, plan to march from City Hall to Cheong Wa Dae, the presidential residence. To break through police opposition, some of the civic groups involved have apparently formed an “attack unit” composed of some pretty rough hombres:

One civic group official said up till now, the government had surrounded anti-government demonstrations with dozens of police cars and ignored the voice of the people. This time, however, a group of about 300 composed of former special ops personnel who served in North Korea, ex-marines, and youth group members would break through police opposition, he said.

The former special ops guys are very bitter veterans of the Headquarters Intelligence Detachment (HID), about which Aidan Foster-Carter (a very nice man whom I was lucky enough to meet Friday night, and now feel thoroughly bad about writing rather nasty things about in an earlier post) wrote about in November 2001. Between 1951 and 1972, as many of 10,000 South Koreans signed up (or were signed up) to perform missions in North Korea; 7,726 never made it back. These are the same folk who staged violent protests in 2002 in which they used improvised flame throwers made from propane tanks against Seoul’s finest. This time around, however, the boys in blue will have their Israeli-made water cannon vehicles on hand just in case things get ugly.

Should be a fun day at work tomorrow.

UPDATE: GI Korea offers his thoughts on Korea’s addition to al-Qaeda’s hit list:

If I was a terrorist looking to kill anyone for political benefits the easiest target would be a busy subway station during rush hour. The Taegu subway fire two years ago is unfortunately a blue print I can see these terrorists using. That fire killed 130 people which is slightly more then what was killed in the Madrid train bombings.

If the terrorists could get those same casualty results by an attack here in Korea you will see a anti-American back lash against the US from the leftists here in Korea. This would serve the terrorists’ interests of driving a wedge between the US-ROK alliance to get the Koreans troops pulled from Iraq. However, I don’t think the Korean government would withdraw their soldiers. I really think Koreans have a lot more backbone then people give them credit for [emphasis mine]. If Al Qaida causes a successful attack in Korea I could see Korea possibly deploying combat forces to Afghanistan in response to such an incident. Deploying combat forces to Afghanistan would serve a dual role of hunting Al Qaida terrorists but also would provide invaluable combat experience for ROK Army troops in a highly mountainous environment which any conflict here on the Korean peninsula would involve.

President Bush might not have saw it fit to mention Korea as a U.S. ally in Iraq, but not everyone has forgotten Seoul’s contribution to rebuilding the war-torn country:

An audio tape calling for a worldwide resistance against ‘’crusader America'’ and its allies, including Britain and Korea, presumed to have been recorded by Al-Qaida’s number two Ayman al-Zawahri, was broadcast by al-Jazeera television Friday.

Though al-Jazeera television identified the speaker as Zawahri, it’s not yet confirmed whether the claim is true.

‘’We should not wait until U.S., British, French, Jewish, South Korean, Australian or Polish forces enter Egypt, the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen and Algeria before we resist,'’ said the tape, attributed to Zawahri. The tape called for indiscriminate attacks against the U.S. and its allies, saying “Let us start resisting now. The interests of America, Britain, Australia, France, Poland, Norway, South Korea and Japan are spread everywhere”

‘’They all took part in the invasion of Afghanistan, Iraq or Chechnya or enabled Israel to survive. We can’t wait or we [Muslim nations] will be eaten up country by country ….'’ the tape said.

More evidence why Bush’s acceptance speech ommission of Korea was completely inexcusable. Korea may have been left off Bush’s list, but it sure as hell wasn’t left off al-Qaeda’s.

Kimbob was kind enough to link to this Asia Times piece by Jim Lobe that suggest that while differences exist, the world views held by Americans and South Koreans are more alike than CNN highlight footage might suggest. Just a little snippet:

Despite recent changes in the bilateral security relationship, South Koreans remain generally remarkably positive about Washington’s role on the peninsula. One of the most surprising findings of the South Korean poll was that, while 31% of Koreans believe relations have gotten worse since Roh Moo-hyun became president in 2002, a majority of 54% believe there has been no change, and 15% say ties have improved.

South Koreans see the US as having an extraordinary level of influence on South Korean policy, rating Washington ahead of President Roh, their National Assembly, and the general public itself.

Moreover, the survey found that the South Koreans do not appear to want a change in the relationship. Asked to describe the most desirable bilateral policy on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 meaning total independence and 5 the status quo, the mean response was 5. Moreover, a majority of 59% said they wanted to retain or strengthen the alliance with the US after reunification of the peninsula.

Nearly four out of five South Koreans view the US as either “significantly” or “a bit” beneficial to South Korea’s security, compared to 12% who see Washington as either “a bit” or “significantly” threatening.

Read the rest on your own. I haven’t really had time to digest the findings fully, and I didn’t see mentioned either the survey sample or how the survey was administered (and it also doesn’t help that the piece was printed in the Asia Times, which is in no way a knock on Mr. Lobe). That being said, the results would suggest that the Korea-U.S. relationship rests on firm ground of shared interest perception, even if perceptions diverge in spots. One might also imagine that as South Korea’s role in the world increases and its defense posture grows increasingly independent of the United States, the world views of the two nations might converge to an even greater extent.

On Thursday, Uri Party Chairman Lee Bu-young expressed “grave concern” at the passing of the NK Human Rights Act. Courtesy the Korea Times:

“I am looking at the issue with grave concern because it could negatively affect inter-Korean relations and the six-way talks,” Lee told reporters. “It’s a foregone conclusion that the situation surrounding the Korean peninsula will be aggravated further.”

The Uri Party is continuing the legacy of former President Kim Dae-jung’s “sunshine” policy of engaging North Korea through dialogue.

“As a politician who must pay attention to all aspects of cross-border relations, I can’t but wonder why the Senate passed it at this juncture,” Lee said.

While I happened to agree with Lee for the most part, as I explained in my earlier post on this subject, with the Foreign and Unification ministers blaming civic groups helping defectors for causing problems and Seoul sitting out U.N. votes on N. Korea’s human rights situation, he shouldn’t wonder too hard why the bill was passed at this particular juncture.

To prevent the act from becoming law, Rep. Chung Bong-ju of the governing party suggested the government should employ every possible means to press the U.S. president to use its veto.

Chung, formerly a pro-democracy activist [emphasis mine] before winning a seat in the April elections, delivered a statement signed by 26 fellow lawmakers to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul in September to ask the Senate to consider dropping the bill.

Uri Party floor leader Cheon Jeong-bae, who is currently visiting the United States, said:

As human rights issues are a universal value, there could be no disagreement between the U.S. and S. Korea, and we evaluate [highly] the interest taken by the American people in N. Korean human rights. It’s only that we have to solve issues related to N. Korea within a larger framework.

Ah, as a conservative, it gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling to hear politicians with such a profound appreciation for realpolitik. My only question is whether Cheon and his Uri Party buddies held the same understanding of the “big picture” when U.S. politicians were claiming that S. Korean human rights issues had to be resolved within the greater framework of the Cold War. Probably not.

It should come as no surprise that in a report to the National Assembly’s judiciary committee, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) has called into question the “purity” of the NK Human Rights Act. The committee said that when one considers the bill’s content and background behind the pushing of the act, controversy would surround the intention of the bill. The committee pointed out that the Hudson Institute, which played an active role in enacting the NK Human Rights Act, said that through human rights, the U.S. had to make N. Korea collapse like the former Soviet Union.

Of course, this is the very same organization that sent its head before the National Assembly in April 2003, where he refused to say whether human rights abuses were worse in N. Korea than they were in S. Korea, citing a lack of hard data. This was immediately after it had issued a statement of concern on human rights abuses by U.S. troops following the invasion of Iraq, which it apparently had plenty of hard data on, fortunately enough.

On the other hand, the opposition Grand National Party has been welcoming the passing of the bill, as could be expected.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Labor Party (DLP) handed a letter to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul on Thursday that strongly criticized the NK Human Rights Act, calling it a “law to make N. Korea collapse” and “building a justification to invade N. Korea.” Several DLP members and friends held a small protest in front of the embassy (a photo of which I affixed to the top of this post), calling for the bill to be withdrawn. Aside from the usual talk of how the law was a threat to peace in the region and a barrier to intra-Korean reconciliation, the DLP claimed that the bill represented “intervention in South Korea’s internal affairs” by curbing defectors’ possession of ROK citizenship so that they could apply for asylum or refugee status in the United States.” Tony at Oriental Redneck explained why this was a silly argument in his post to which I linked in my post immediately prior to this one. Let me just add that if anyone is blocking N. Koreans from enjoying their rights as citizens of the Republic of Korea, it’s not the U.S. Congress, but Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon and Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, both of whom seem more intent on preventing defectors from claiming ROK citizenship than with helping them claim the rights than come with said citizenship. Heck, even Uri Party spokesman Im Jong-seok worried today that the bill would increase the number of defection from N. Korea. It’s hard to bitch to the U.S. that defectors are ROK citizens when you spend the rest of your time hoping that the defectors themselves remain unaware of this fact.

Yonhap (Korean) is reporting that U.S. Democratic Party presidential hopeful John Kerry has refused to rule out launching preemptive strikes on North Korea. In an interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Thursday morning, Kerry apparently said that in the event diplomacy failed to solve the North Korean nuclear issue, he would not exclude plans to launch preemptive strikes on the North Korea. Asked by Ms. Sawyer whether hew would rule out preemptive strikes should diplomacy prove ineffective or send the military into North Korea, Kerry said he wouldn’t rule anything out. Asked if he would consider invading North Korea, Kerry answered he would do whatever it took to protect the United States.

Asked if he agreed with Sen. Edward Kennedy’s assertion that because of the Iraq War, the chances that someone might launch a Sept. 11-like terrorist attack on the U.S. using nuclear weapons had grown, Kerry answered that while Bush was engrossed in Iraq, North Korea had developed nuclear weapons.

Not that I have a lot of confidence in threats coming from Sen. Kerry, but I really hope Kim Jong-il isn’t banking on a Kerry White House giving him a free ride. I don’t blame Kim for putting off negotiations until after the U.S. presidential election – given that the nuclear issue has continued this long, if you’re North Korea, you might as well wait the extra two months so you’d know who you’ll be dealing with for the next four years. Having said that, he shouldn’t expect too much if “his man” wins in November. After all, the closest Kim came to buying the farm was under the “soft-line” Clinton administration.

BTW, if anyone gets a hold of the original English text of the Kerry interview, please post a link or something in my comments section. Thanks.

Tony at Oriental Redneck had a little fun at the Hankyoreh Shinmun’s expense – go ahead and read it.

(Note: due to Tony’s rather peculiar permalink setup, you have to scroll up to read his post)

Firstly, if you’re going to break into a foreign legation, make absolutely certain that it really is a foreign legation that could offer you asylum:

On Monday, September 27, eight North Korean women and children went inside the Elementary school of the Shanghai American School and were subsequently handed over to the Chinese Police.
…
After being contained by our security guards within the reception area of the Elementary School, the local police were called. In the meantime, the group was informed through a translator that SAS does not have status that would allow us to grant political asylum and that according to local and consulate regulations, we are required to inform the local authorities. We informed them, however, that as an educational institution, we would not prevent them from leaving the campus before the police arrived.

Be sure to read the letter that accompanied the post.

Meanwhile, Myrick advices N. Korean defectors to avoid the Canuckistani Embassy if they can:

It is nearly universally accepted among long-term Canadian expats and travelers that Canada has some of the worst consular services available from a Western country. They are typically unable to deal efficiently and politely with requests from the country’s own citizens and they are generally bad at processing refugees.

The Koreans would have been better off storming the UK or US embassies. Though I’m sure the lax security of the Canadian facility made it an easier option.

Storming the UK or US embassies would be fine, just as long as you’re not storming the American School, in which case you’d be shit out of luck.

UPDATE: In a rather unprecedented move, China has requested that the Canadian Embassy turn the defectors over to Chinese authorities. This is no doubt linked to Chinese concern that the passage of the NK Human Rights Act by the U.S. Senate may encourage increased numbers of mass defections. Myrick has more on this, as well as some interesting observations about Canada’s “soft power.”

The Korean Environmental Foundation ‘Green Festival’ is holding an exhibition of wonderful photographs by Japanese-American photographer Michael Yamashita, right outside of Seoul City Hall. It’s open 24 hours a day until the end of October, and the photos are lit up at night - a truly wonderful time to see them.

The photos depict the journey Yamashita made in following Marco Polo’s footsteps across Asia from Italy to China and back. I couldn’t have put it better than the Visit Seoul website:

The pictures are displayed with detailed political, economical, geographical, and environmental information of the pictures. In addition, visitors are able to feel as if they are actually traveling along the Silk Road as the pictures are displayed in the order of Marco Polo’s journey. A DVD booth on the exhibition site screens a documentary of Michael Yamashita’s travels as he traces the route of Marco Polo’s journey. The exhibition is divided into three sections – from Venice to China, Marco Polo in China, and The Return Journey. Yamashita is visiting Seoul during the exhibition period and meet with his fans.

Many, if not all, of the photographs can be seen at the Green Festival homepage, but they look much better on 2.4m by 1.8m reprints. There are also books and postcards of the photos for sale (which is just as well, because the roaming staff forbid the taking of any photos of the photos), and they are very reasonably priced, compared to my experience of similar exhibitions in my own country.

UPDATE: a very nice flash presentation about the journey can be viewed here. Yamishita has a rich, deep voice that makes for easy listening.
Furthermore, he has his own website with a slideshow presentation.

Once more we step back into Ancient History with a trip to the southern Korean kingdom of Kaya.

A letter in today’s Korea Times by perennial contributor Prabhat K. Mukherjee caught my attention. In it he writes of meeting a Korean man on a subway one day who told him that he had family ties to India.

I’ll just give you a little taste of what follows, because it’s certainly worth your while reading:

He then went on to say that his ancestors belonged to the Kaya dynasty, an ancient kingdom that was located in Korea’s southeast, in the southern reaches of Naktong river, now known as Kimhae. He said that the queen of Kaya’s King Kim Suro was actually a princess in the court of the Ayutha King of India.

In this Korean text here where the above pictures are sourced from, it gives more details about the 16 year-old princess who came to Korea to marry a King there. Did she bring tea with her from India? The suggestions is made there, and also here, in an article from the Hindru Vivek Kendra webiste, billed as “a resource centre for the promotion of Hindutva". It gives much more detail about the legend of the founding of Kaya/Gaya, and how Queen Hwang-ok came to be married to Kim So-ru. Here is a very nifty little sound-bite:

The Kaya kingdom’s influence is still felt in modern-day South Korea. Kimhae Kims and Kimhae Huhs trace their origins to this ancient kingdom and Korea’s current President Kim Dae Jung and Prime Minister Jong Pil Kim are Kimhae Kims. Therein lies the Indian Queen’s importance in Korea eyes - she is revered as the progenitor of two powerful clans which have survived to this day.

Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-pil possibly partly of Indian heritage? What a concept.

Those wanting to learn more about Kaya may find the Institute of Kaya Culture here

Update: a couple more links:
one with a map that is from a Hindu site, and one from old Jack Choe, who used to be at the Korea Herald, (or was it the times), asking the contraversial question

Was Kaya Japan’s Colony?

Here is a little plug for perhaps the only true winery in Korea (Majuang and Medoc wines are all rebottled French and/or Spanish wines, as I understand it). It’s a pretty good deal. I’ve met the owner, who speaks great English and is a real character, and seen photographs of the place, which is a winery originally set up by French monks long ago to make communion wine.

Sounds like a fun day. The website is still under construction.
(I wish to disclose that I have no commercial relationship with the winery or its owner, and receive no benefits from posting this poster. I submit it for information purposes only, as a favour to a friend.)

As you may not know, judging from the lack of coverage in the West, the NK Human Rights Act was passed unanimously by the U.S. Senate on Tuesday – see the Oranckay and NKzone for the details.

Responses from Seoul have been mixed. One Uri Party official said it was “fortunate” that the linkage between human rights and aid to North Korea was passed as a congressional opinion rather than legally binding legislation, and called the watered-down bill the result of efforts by Seoul and Washington to come up with a more “rational” bill. Uri Party lawmaker Jeong Bong-ju, who led a party of 25 other lawmakers in delivering a signed letter to the U.S. Embassy earlier this month for U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar criticizing the NK Human Rights Act, said the bill could “decisively block peace on the Korean Peninsula.” He also expressed concern that the passing of the bill “at a time when reports were coming out concerning N. Korea’s military aggressiveness like moves to launch a missile” could “continue the situation in which North Korea is being pressured in a non-military way.” He also said that until the bill is repassed by the House, both Korea’s “indifferent diplomacy” and the “attitude of the U.S. Embassy” would have to be criticized.

The Democratic Labor Party’s spokesperson condemned the bill’s passage, saying, “As a bill intended to allow the United States, standing on human rights, to unreasonably pressure North Korea, all it will do is heighten the crisis on the Korean Peninsula… We are concerned about the diplomatic incompetence and lethargy of the Roh administration.”

The opposition Grand National Party, of course, welcomed the move. The party’s spokesperson said, “Since the law contains interest in improving North Korea’s human rights and defectors as well as plans for humanitarian assistance, it’s very appropriate and welcomed… We have to find shameful the fact that a foreign country stands ahead of our own in [improving] the human rights situation for people of the same [Korean] race.”

No word from the government from what I’ve seen, and expect President Roh to say a whole lot of nothing about the issue.

The Marmot’s Verdict: Everyone’s full of shit here. The Uri and Democratic Labor party guys are the ones who slam the U.S. for its silence when S. Korea was ruled by military dictators. Now, all of sudden, they understand the utility of “constructive engagement.” These lawmakers might be embarrassed to know that the diplomatic approach they have undertaken really came into its own during the Reagan administration (and specifically, to deal with issues in Southern Africa), and has traditionally been looked upon as the diplomatic tool of choice of U.S. paleo-cons who were more concerned about geopolitical effectiveness than about the human rights records of those whom they were pumping money to engaging.

As for the Grand National Party, well, maybe some of the young guys get a pass, but it seems a bit odd that some of the older lawmakers (like Kim Yong-gap) should take such a keen interest in North Korean human rights when they never really gave two shits about human rights in South Korea. Being anti-communist and being pro-human rights are simply not the same things. Don’t get me wrong – I applaud both their enthusiasm for improving human rights in North Korea and concern for N. Korean defectors. It’s a marked improvement over the silence of the self-styled progressives. But come on, it’s a party with a lot of lawmakers with less than exemplary human rights records, and one that supports keeping the National Security Law around in the South. In fact, if there were any party that I would expect to understand engaging N. Korea while keeping mum about Pyongyang’s human rights record, it’s the GNP.

GNP lawmaker Won Hui-ryong does get bonus points, however, for asking, “Can’t the people who insist on ’saying what we have to say to the United States’ say what they have to say to North Korea?”

As for the law itself, well, I was chatting with the Oranckay just before, and he asked my why I had posted about condoms and hanboks, but not about the NK Human Rights Act. I replied that condoms, hanboks, or Han Chae-yeong’s ample bosom were just as likely to improve human rights in North Korea as this bill. I mean, the intention might be all well and good, and the Dems voted for it, too, so it’s not like this is just an evil Bush/neocon thing. But let’s face it – the only way the outside world could bring about change in N. Korea would be to invade the place, and that just isn’t going to happen. Frankly, some of the guys in the ruling party have a point – this bill isn’t going to help negotiations with N. Korea, and regardless of whether it was “the right thing to do,” given that its actual impact on the human rights situation in N. Korea is likely to be nil (if not negative, given how Pyongyang is likely to react), one has to wonder if the diplomatic headaches – which were already considerable – were really worth the moral satisfaction earned by passing it.

Call me a big, nasty paleo-con if you will, but I simply doubt the wisdom of passing a bill of that nature at this particular juncture.

The defector issue needed to be addressed, of course, and given how Seoul’s dropped the ball on that one, I’m glad to see the U.S. pick it up and run with it. Today, 44 defectors broke into the Canadian Embassy in Beijing, highlighting the urgency of the situation. That being said, the country that really needed to be talked with about this was not North Korea, but China, and that could have been handled in a much quieter fashion (and no, I don’t mean S. Korean-style “quiet diplomacy,” which basically means sitting on your ass and hoping the Chinese can catch and repatriate defectors before they become an “embarrassment"). If you’re going to raise the defector issue in negotiations with regional powers, then do it, but you really don’t need to back it up with such a public display like this, which is more likely to irritate than to actually get results.

A couple of press reactions. The Chosun Ilbo, needless to say, welcomed the passing of the NK Human Rights Act while taking the government to task for its lack of interest in North Korean humans rights:

The logic within the Uri Party that considers a law helping defectors who have risked their lives to escape from a living hell as “interference in North Korea’s internal affairs” would be a mystery to no matter who looked at it. Our placing importance on improving the intra-Korean relationship in ultimately to allow our Northern brothers to live in an improved environment where their human rights are respected. If the government and ruling party agree with this opinion shared by the majority of citizens, rather than expressing opposition and differences of opinion with the North Korean Human Rights Act, it should present a stronger and more direct alternative to improve the human rights of our Northern brothers before the international community does.

My feelings? Basically, see what I said about the GNP above.

The Joongang Ilbo expressed a similar opinion:

Our government must also reassess its position on the matter. We cannot just close our eyes to human rights conditions because we fear we are “inciting” the North. While maintaining dialogue and negotiations with the North, we must speak our minds about the universal value of human rights. Otherwise we will be prone to criticism from the international community.

We must remember that the passage of this bill also means that the United States will not be conscious of the South Korean government’s position toward the North when dealing with human rights.

Then, there is the Hani. Abject horror. How the paper’s editors’ heads don’t explode is simply beyond my admittedly limited ken. Basically, read what was written by the Oranckay, a U.S. liberal who was obviously a victim of the U.S. military-industrial complex’s demonization campaign directed at the DPRK. Poor soul.

A couple of Chuseok photos from the news I found particularly impressive:

The Zayitun squad in the northern Iraqi region of Arbil took part in a traditional ceremony to celebrate Chuseok on Tuesday. Soldiers played traditional games such as shuttlecocks and flying kites, and ate rice cakes with sesame and bean, steamed on a layer of pine needles. They also distributed gifts of biscuits and rice cakes to homes in the region. /photograph by Ministry of Defence (via the Chosun Ilbo)

Happy Chuseok, guys. Good luck, and thanks. The Korea Times has a piece on the Zayitun’s Chuseok celebrations here.

Next, we have this:

Marking Chuseok, soldiers from the U.S. and South Korean air forces jointly hold a “charae,” a traditional Korean ritual to pay homage to ancestors, at Gwangju Air Base, Tuesday./Yonhap (via the Chosun Ilbo)

I guess it’s kind of nice to see USFK making the effort to be culturally sensitive (and nice to see Yonhap and the Chosun appreciate that effort), and it’s refreshing to see another white dude in a hanbok. At the same time, it’s a ceremony that’s supposed to pay homage to dead ancestors, which I have no problem with whatsoever, but I wonder if it would be entirely appropriate to have USFK personnel participating in that kind of ceremony for public relations’ sake.

Lastly, but certainly not least, we have this:

Actress Rachel Han, wearing hanbok designed by Park Sul-nyeo, wishes everyone a happy Chuseok./Korea Herald

Well, happy Chuseok to you, too, Rachel. Rachel, of course, is better known by her Korean name of Chae-yeong, and is a favorite here at the Marmot’s Hole, as well as at Oriental Redneck. In fact, she really should be a favorite of just about any heterosexual male on the planet. Anyway, what’s impressive about this picture is that we can see how splendidly the traditional Korean dress, the hanbok, performs its function. The hanbok is supposed to hide a woman’s figure, or as this guy at the U of Hawaii rather indelicately explains:

Very short top and long skirt that flows down from the chest covers the bad figures of Korean women. Usually Asian women have shorter lower parts of the body than American women. Korean women is no exception and Hanbok brings out the most beautiful side of Korean women by covering bad body figure.

And cover up the figure it does, which in Ms. Han’s case, is simply not that easy a thing to do (links are WORK SAFE, but should be avoided by those with heart trouble. Photos ripped off from here).

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) wrapped up its visit to Korea Sunday, but not before visiting an area not far from the Marmot’s old neck of the woods:

The IAEA team visited the Koesan region in North Chungchong Province, about 160 kilometers south of Seoul, where South Korea’s past government had once tried to develop a uranium mine.

A ministry official, however, bristled at the suggestion that the uranium was part of a larger government nuclear program. “Uranium reserves of 120 million tons were discovered in the Koesan area in the 1970s, but the government decided not to develop it because of low economic viability,” a ministry official said.

As you no doubt know, the lovely county of Goesan is just across the mountains from equally lovely Mun-gyeong, the “Gateway to the Yeongnam region” where I spent my first three years in Korea. Goesan is a pleasant enough area of forested mountains, river valleys (and accordingly, more than its fair share of Joseon-era Korean pavilions, or jeongja) and one of the more pleasant temples you’ll never visit (Gakyeon-sa). Now, I’m was caught completely off guard by the uranium news, but what I do know is that if you were to buy a box of Korean-made condoms, they were almost guaranteed to be manufactured in Goesan. Apparently, there is (or at least was) a huge latex factory in the town, which given the amount of condoms they were producing, I would have been willing to bet dollars to donuts was the largest employer in the county. I’m not sure what the situation is now, but next time you get a pack of rubbers, be sure to note the site of manufacture.

And if they glow in the dark, be sure to notify the IAEA.