Chuyên mục: South Korea

South Korea: Choi Soon-sil handed three-year jail term

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AL JAREEZA

Seoul court finds longtime friend of ousted President Park guilty of bribing daughter’s professors.

Choi is also being tried alongside Park for allegedly taking bribes from electronics giant Samsung [Lee Jin-man/AP]
Choi is also being tried alongside Park for allegedly taking bribes from electronics giant Samsung [Lee Jin-man/AP]

A South Korean court sentenced Choi Soon-sil, a longtime friend of ousted President Park Guen-hye, to three years in prison for bribery in the first of a string of criminal cases against her.

Seoul Central District Court on Friday found Choi guilty of obstruction of duty by using her presidential ties to get her daughter admitted to Seoul’s prestigious Ewha Womans University and receive good grades. Tiếp tục đọc “South Korea: Choi Soon-sil handed three-year jail term” →

Four things to know about North and South Korea

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Channelnewsasia

An expert sheds light on the history, culture and politics of the two Koreas.

 
A North Korean soldier looks at the South side at the truce village of Panmunjom in the de-militarised zone dividing the two Koreas on Jul 27, 2013. (Photo: AFP/Jung Yeon-je)

The US is ramping up joint military exercises with South Korea, and President Donald Trump has stated the threats may lead to a “major, major conflict”. South Koreans have elected a new president who may be open to talks with North Korea.

An expert Professor Lee Ji Young answers four questions to help us understand the Korean Peninsula. Here are four things to know:

1. WHY IS THERE A NORTH AND SOUTH KOREA?

Before there was a South and North Korea, the peninsula was ruled as a dynasty known as Chosŏn, which existed for more than five centuries, until 1910. This period, during which an independent Korea had diplomatic relations with China and Japan, ended with imperial Japan’s annexation of the peninsula. Japan’s colonial rule lasted 35 years. Tiếp tục đọc “Four things to know about North and South Korea” →

Who is Moon Jae-in, South Korea’s new president?

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Guardian

Veteran politician, 64, positioned himself as candidate qualified to reunite the country after divisions of Park Geun-hye’s era

Moon Jae-in, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, and his wife Kim Jung-sook outside a polling station in Seoul, South Korea.
Moon Jae-in, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, and his wife Kim Jung-sook outside a polling station in Seoul, South Korea. Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

Tuesday 9 May 2017 10.00 EDT First published on Tuesday 9 May 2017 00.58 EDT

Having lost to Park Geun-hye in South Korea’s 2012 presidential election, Moon Jae-in has become the chief beneficiary of the abuse-of-power scandal that engulfed his erstwhile opponent. Tiếp tục đọc “Who is Moon Jae-in, South Korea’s new president?” →

Two Koreas: History at a glance

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Al Jazeera

A brief history of how North and South Korea got to where they are today.

27 Apr 2017 13:00 GMT | North Korea, South Korea, Asia Pacific, Infographic

The Korean Peninsula, located between the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea, has seen heightened tensions in recent months as US President Donald Trump has threatened to act against North Korea’s continued missile tests.

After the defeat of the Japanese empire in World War II, Korea was split into two spheres. The Soviet Union controlled the territory in the north and the US controlled the south. Tiếp tục đọc “Two Koreas: History at a glance” →

Tam Thanh – the fishing village of murals

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Last update 10:26 | 05/04/2017

VietNamNet Bridge – Artists from South Korea have given Tam Thanh fishing village in central Quang Nam Province a new look with colourful murals.

In early June 2016, Tam Thanh Village in Tam Thanh Commune was chosen for an art project as part of the Korea Foundation Community Art Exchange Programme held by the Korea Foundation and the UN-Habitat Vietnam to improve living conditions and introduce more art to the public.

Five artists from the South Korea, 12 volunteers and many Vietnamese students have given the walls of about 100 houses a new face. Tiếp tục đọc “Tam Thanh – the fishing village of murals” →

Free funerals and food: A small comfort to South Korea’s elderly who live alone, die alone

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ChannelNewsAsia

Community teams are trying to ease the loneliness of the elderly poor, both in life and in death, in a country with the world’s highest elderly suicide rate.

The Angel Food Kitchen serves free meals in Seoul.

SOUTH KOREA: At a crematorium on the outskirts of Seoul, a group of mourners are preparing to collect the body of 54-year-old Seol Min Bok.

They will hold a wake for him, prepare his funeral rites, and then send him on his final journey with a dignified ceremony. Tiếp tục đọc “Free funerals and food: A small comfort to South Korea’s elderly who live alone, die alone” →

Poor and on their own, South Korea’s elderly who will ‘work until they die’

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 ChannelNewsAsia

“I will take care of myself as long as I can… then I’ll go to the hospital and die,” says an 81-year-old in a country where nearly half the elderly population is poor. Part 2 of a regional series on elderly poverty.

86-year-old Madam Kim takes a break. She works from morning to sunset, collecting more than 100 kg of trash a day. (Photo: Lam Shushan)

Additional reporting by Catherine Lee

SEOUL: As the snow falls heavy on the city streets, Madam Kim trudges on through the sub-zero weather that has most others huddled indoors, going through her daily routine of gleaning alleyways for waste paper and other recyclable trash.

Severely hunched over, the 81-year-old does this for a living. On a typical day, she circles the city a few times on foot, gathering more than 100 kilogrammes of trash which she takes to a junk depot that buys it for 100 won per kilogramme.

That’s barely 10,000 won, or roughly S$12, for a day’s heavy haul. Tiếp tục đọc “Poor and on their own, South Korea’s elderly who will ‘work until they die’” →

US deploys attack drones to South Korea amid tension with North

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ChannelNewsAsia

  • Posted 13 Mar 2017 17:25

The Wider Image: Learning English in Korea’s Freedom Village

SEOUL: The United States has started to deploy attack drones to South Korea, a U.S. military spokesman said on Monday, days after it began to deploy an advanced anti-missile system to counter “continued provocative actions” by isolated North Korea.

The drones, Gray Eagle Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) coming to South Korea are part of a broader plan to deploy a company of the attack drones with every division in the U.S. Army, the spokesman said. Tiếp tục đọc “US deploys attack drones to South Korea amid tension with North” →

South Korean court confirms impeachment of President Park

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ChannelNewsAsia

  • Posted 10 Mar 2017 10:22  Updated 11 Mar 2017 00:09

SEOUL: South Korean President Park Geun-hye was fired on Friday (Mar 10) as a court upheld her impeachment over a corruption scandal that has paralysed the nation at a time of mounting tensions in East Asia.

The unanimous decision brought to a climax months of political turmoil that saw millions of people take to the streets in weekly protests, and triggers a new presidential election to be held within 60 days.

That will offer South Korea a chance to draw a line under the scandal, which has occupied its attention for months, even as the North has unleashed new missile launches and threats that have raised international alarm. Tiếp tục đọc “South Korean court confirms impeachment of President Park” →

South Korea closes biggest dog meat market in run-up to Olympics

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The Guardian

Animals at market in Seongnam were kept in inhumane conditions and killed using electrocution, hanging and beating

Dogs are kept in a cage before they are slaughtered in Seongnam in South Korea.
Dogs are kept in a cage before they are slaughtered in Seongnam in South Korea. Photograph: Yun Suk-Bong/Reuters

in Tokyo

Tuesday 28 February 2017 04.01 EST Last modified on Tuesday 28 February 2017 04.10 EST

The shutters have started coming down at South Korea’s biggest dog meat market as the country seeks to head off international criticism over its practice of killing dogs for human consumption before it hosts the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Moran market in Seongnam sells more than 80,000 dogs, dead or alive, every year and accounts for about a third of South Korea’s dog meat consumption, according to local media. Tiếp tục đọc “South Korea closes biggest dog meat market in run-up to Olympics” →

After night in cell, Samsung scion taken for questioning

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ChannelNewsAsia

  • Posted 18 Feb 2017 14:25

Samsung Group chief, Jay Y. Lee arrives at the office of the independent counsel team in Seoul, South Korea, February 18, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

SEOUL: Handcuffed and tied with white rope, the scion of one of the world’s biggest conglomerates, Samsung Group, was taken on Saturday for questioning by South Korean authorities after spending a night in a small detention cell.

Samsung Group chief Jay Y. Lee was arrested on Friday for his alleged role in a corruption scandal that has led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.

The 48-year-old Lee, who has a net worth of US$6.2 billion, heads the technology giant that is the world’s biggest manufacturer of smartphones, flat-screen televisions and memory chips. Tiếp tục đọc “After night in cell, Samsung scion taken for questioning” →

US, Japan, S Korea request UN Security Council meeting on N Korea

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ChannelNewsAsia

  • Posted 13 Feb 2017 08:38
  • Updated 13 Feb 2017 08:40

Passengers watch a TV screen broadcasting a news report on North Korea firing a ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, February 12, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

WASHINGTON: The United States, Japan and South Korea on Sunday (Feb 12) requested an urgent UN Security Council meeting to discuss North Korea’s latest missile test.

“The United States, along with Japan and the Republic of Korea, have requested urgent consultations on the DPRK’s launch of a ballistic missile on February 12,” said a US mission spokesperson.

The test was seen as a challenge to Donald Trump’s young presidency.

The request comes after North Korea’s state media quoted officials as saying the ballistic missile test was a “success”.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un “guided” the test, the KCNA report said, adding it was carried out in a way that took the “security of the neighbouring countries into consideration”. Tiếp tục đọc “US, Japan, S Korea request UN Security Council meeting on N Korea” →

China expels 32 South Korean missionaries amid tension over THAAD missile defense system

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Japan  Times

Reuters Feb 11, 2017

SEOUL – China has expelled 32 South Korean Christian missionaries, a South Korean government official said on Saturday, amid diplomatic tension between the two countries over the planned deployment of a U.S. missile defense system in the South.

The 32 were based in China’s northeastern Yanji region near the border with North Korea, many of whom had worked there more than a decade, South Korean media have reported.

South Korea’s foreign ministry said on Friday it briefed Christian groups on the case of the missionaries, adding that they were expelled in January.

The ministry advised the groups on the importance of complying with the laws and customs of the areas where they work, it said. Tiếp tục đọc “China expels 32 South Korean missionaries amid tension over THAAD missile defense system” →

Trump Tells South Korea That Alliance With U.S. Is ‘Ironclad’

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By CHOE SANG-HUN JAN. 30, 2017

Hwang Kyo-ahn, the acting leader of South Korea, spoke by phone with President Trump from Seoul on Monday. The call followed North Korea’s warning that it could test an intercontinental ballistic missile “anytime.” Yonhap/European Pressphoto Agency

SEOUL, South Korea — President Trump assured South Korea’s acting president on Monday of the United States’ “ironclad” commitment to defend the country, agreeing with Seoul to strengthen joint defense capabilities against North Korea.

Mr. Trump’s assurances came amid anxiety in South Korea over the future of the alliance with the United States. During his campaign, Mr. Trump cast some doubt on the United States’ defense and trade commitments, saying that South Korea was not paying enough to help keep 28,500 American troops in the country.

But speaking by phone to Hwang Kyo-ahn, the acting president of South Korea, Mr. Trump said that the coming visit to South Korea by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis reflected the close friendship of the two countries and the importance of their alliance. Mr. Mattis is scheduled to visit South Korea on Thursday on his first official trip abroad, which also includes a stop in Japan.

“President Trump reiterated our ironclad commitment to defend the R.O.K., including through the provision of extended deterrence, using the full range of military capabilities,” the White House said in a statement after Mr. Trump’s phone conversation with Mr. Hwang, using the initials for South Korea’s official name, the Republic of Korea.

Granny prostitutes reflect South Korea’s problem of elderly poverty

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“In order to survive, I just close my eyes and get it over with,” a 78-year-old sex worker tells the investigative programme Get Rea!

An elderly ‘Bacchus lady’ approached by the programme Get Rea! on the streets of Seoul.

SOUTH KOREA – It’s 10.30am and Madam Park (not her real name) is out prowling the streets of central Jongo district, Seoul, waiting to make a quick sale.

This 78-year-old targets grey-haired men, in practising the world’s oldest profession.

At Seoul’s heart, next to the busy business district, is a street where sex is for sale by women old enough to be grandmothers. These so-called ‘Bacchus ladies’ – named after a popular energy drink – are the subject of an investigation by Channel NewsAsia’s Get Rea! documentary on South Korea’s elderly poor, which premieres on Jan 31.

At her age, Mdm Park should be at home, surrounded by her children and grandchildren. Instead, she stands on the streets for at least 6 hours a day, waiting for customers.

“In order to survive, I just close my eyes and get it over with,” she said in Korean. “In one day, if there is good luck, we meet three to four men and receive about 100,000 won (S$120).”

She does this so that she can afford the US$250 (S$350) worth of arthritis medicine a month. Her arthritis is so severe that she can barely walk.

When Channel NewsAsia approached her on the street, she said: “You came to play? To meet someone? The room fee is US$10. The fee for the woman is US$30.” Tiếp tục đọc “Granny prostitutes reflect South Korea’s problem of elderly poverty” →