Friday, April 23
Ryongchon Disaster
The news just seems to be getting worse from Ryongchon, the site of the train disaster in North Korea.
Early reports from the Red Cross put the number of dead at 54. This will skyrocket as destroyed buildings are combed for bodies.
At least 1850 homes were destroyed in the blast and over 6000 were damaged. Also near the station and presumed destroyed were a school, government and military offices, and about 500 people at the station waiting for trains.
Amazingly, a Chinese offer of medical treatment in the nearby Chinese city of Dandong was rejected by the Northern government, with a request for the Chinese medical teams to visit.! Even in the face of overwhelming disaster the wardens don't want their prisoners to get out of the jail that is North Korea!
The North were quick to cut phone and power lines in the region to stop any unapproved reports getting out- and no doubt the lack of power is assisting hospitals in the region treat the injured.
The North has been quick to request aid however- the EU has been invited to send an official to Ryongchon tomorrow to assess the aid needs of the city.
No word on any international search and rescue teams having been invited.
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Early reports from the Red Cross put the number of dead at 54. This will skyrocket as destroyed buildings are combed for bodies.
At least 1850 homes were destroyed in the blast and over 6000 were damaged. Also near the station and presumed destroyed were a school, government and military offices, and about 500 people at the station waiting for trains.
Amazingly, a Chinese offer of medical treatment in the nearby Chinese city of Dandong was rejected by the Northern government, with a request for the Chinese medical teams to visit.! Even in the face of overwhelming disaster the wardens don't want their prisoners to get out of the jail that is North Korea!
The North were quick to cut phone and power lines in the region to stop any unapproved reports getting out- and no doubt the lack of power is assisting hospitals in the region treat the injured.
The North has been quick to request aid however- the EU has been invited to send an official to Ryongchon tomorrow to assess the aid needs of the city.
No word on any international search and rescue teams having been invited.
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Interesting blogs.
There doesn't seem to much focus on Africa- unless there is a famine or some genocide, so I thought that AfricaPundit would be interesting to check out.
I was right. Take a look.
Bundaechigae is quite a good place to look also. It is run by a Korean-American GI. He covers a lot of different topics- from Korean history to politics.
Of course, for a detailed opinion about Australia, the war in Iraq and a host of other topics head over to Chrenkoff. This blog is great.
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I was right. Take a look.
Bundaechigae is quite a good place to look also. It is run by a Korean-American GI. He covers a lot of different topics- from Korean history to politics.
Of course, for a detailed opinion about Australia, the war in Iraq and a host of other topics head over to Chrenkoff. This blog is great.
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Bad TV and cinema are universal
I know this posting is a little off track from the kind of thing I write about, but, I've really been thinking about this lately.
There are about 70 TV channels available in my apartment, thanks to cable and satellite TV. Over half of them are entirely in Korean, so I rarely watch them.
That leaves about 25-30 channels that broadcast mostly or occasional English language progammes. With that level of choice, one would think that there would be a lot to watch. Think again!
Here is a selection of English shows that have been shown this week-
The Block (Australian home renovation show)
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy
Jerry Springer
The O.C.(New US show- like the old Beverly Hills 90210, but at the beach)
The next Joe Millionaire
Survivor -All Stars
Sabrina the Teenage Witch
Sex and the City- seasons 2 and 5
Days of Our Lives
The Young and the Restless
The Nanny
Coming back soon are West Wing, Sex and the City.
As you can see, there is a lot of bad entertainment. This tragedy crosses to the cinema screen too. However, part of the blame there can be put on the Korean government for continuing a screen quota system, which requires cinemas to reserve at least 40% of their screens for Korean movies.
I've never seen a cinema in Ulsan stick to the 40% though. Most seem to run a 60-70% self-imposed quota.
My local megaplex, Lotte, has nine screens. There are usually only about 2-3 non-Korean movies. Most foreign movies last about 1 week- except the biggest blockbusters such as LOTR, lasting about 3-4 weeks. As you could guess this leads to huge lines, and long waits to get tickets to the english language movies that are actually worth watching- an even for those that aren't!
Light fluff usually seems to make the cut for foreign films- the last two weeks saw Jersey Girl and 50 First Dates, along with the more serious Passion, though I had to give it a miss- being that I'm not strong in Latin or Aramaic, and the Korean subtitles were a bit of a problem.
So, even though I am thousands of miles from home, bad TV seems to have followed me!
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There are about 70 TV channels available in my apartment, thanks to cable and satellite TV. Over half of them are entirely in Korean, so I rarely watch them.
That leaves about 25-30 channels that broadcast mostly or occasional English language progammes. With that level of choice, one would think that there would be a lot to watch. Think again!
Here is a selection of English shows that have been shown this week-
The Block (Australian home renovation show)
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy
Jerry Springer
The O.C.(New US show- like the old Beverly Hills 90210, but at the beach)
The next Joe Millionaire
Survivor -All Stars
Sabrina the Teenage Witch
Sex and the City- seasons 2 and 5
Days of Our Lives
The Young and the Restless
The Nanny
Coming back soon are West Wing, Sex and the City.
As you can see, there is a lot of bad entertainment. This tragedy crosses to the cinema screen too. However, part of the blame there can be put on the Korean government for continuing a screen quota system, which requires cinemas to reserve at least 40% of their screens for Korean movies.
I've never seen a cinema in Ulsan stick to the 40% though. Most seem to run a 60-70% self-imposed quota.
My local megaplex, Lotte, has nine screens. There are usually only about 2-3 non-Korean movies. Most foreign movies last about 1 week- except the biggest blockbusters such as LOTR, lasting about 3-4 weeks. As you could guess this leads to huge lines, and long waits to get tickets to the english language movies that are actually worth watching- an even for those that aren't!
Light fluff usually seems to make the cut for foreign films- the last two weeks saw Jersey Girl and 50 First Dates, along with the more serious Passion, though I had to give it a miss- being that I'm not strong in Latin or Aramaic, and the Korean subtitles were a bit of a problem.
So, even though I am thousands of miles from home, bad TV seems to have followed me!
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Thursday, April 22
Prosecution to start another fundraising probe
The Supreme Public Prosecutors’ Office is looking to expand the current probe into illegal fundraising from the chaebols diring the 2002 Presidential election.
The plan is investigate the financial records of the chiefs of 270 regional chapters of the GNP and the MDP- the former party of President Roh.
It seems that the amounts of money being discussed are huge, with the GNP standing accused of sending about 58,000,000,000 won (AU$65.3 million) to the regional offices, and the MDP about a tenth of that.
This amount is nothing compared to what the GNP is said that accepted illegally form business groups across Korea- an astounding 82,300,000,000,000 won- that's right- 82.3 TRILLION WON or over AU$9,000,000,000. I really hope that is a typo on the behalf of the Korean media!
What is amazing is in the court case against former GNP finance director, Lee Jae-hyun, the court ruled that illegally raised funds are not able to confiscated by the government! This means that the money doesn't have to returned! Lee was given a suspended jail sentence for collecting 66,000,000,000 won in illegal monies!
If the Korean government really wants to clean up corruption in politics, then the laws against it should have some teeth, at least losing the money they took.
There could be trouble for some politicians with up to 61 members elected last week possibly losing their seats due to involvement in illegal campaigning.
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The plan is investigate the financial records of the chiefs of 270 regional chapters of the GNP and the MDP- the former party of President Roh.
It seems that the amounts of money being discussed are huge, with the GNP standing accused of sending about 58,000,000,000 won (AU$65.3 million) to the regional offices, and the MDP about a tenth of that.
This amount is nothing compared to what the GNP is said that accepted illegally form business groups across Korea- an astounding 82,300,000,000,000 won- that's right- 82.3 TRILLION WON or over AU$9,000,000,000. I really hope that is a typo on the behalf of the Korean media!
What is amazing is in the court case against former GNP finance director, Lee Jae-hyun, the court ruled that illegally raised funds are not able to confiscated by the government! This means that the money doesn't have to returned! Lee was given a suspended jail sentence for collecting 66,000,000,000 won in illegal monies!
If the Korean government really wants to clean up corruption in politics, then the laws against it should have some teeth, at least losing the money they took.
There could be trouble for some politicians with up to 61 members elected last week possibly losing their seats due to involvement in illegal campaigning.
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Wednesday, April 21
Transgender star in tampon ad
Harisu, a Korean pop star/actress/model/author/TV celebrity, who is also the first transgender star in this country has been signed by a Taiwanese firm to promote their tampons and such in Korea!
The fact that she was a man until a couple of years ago didn't seem to worry the executives at UFT.
While most Korean women agree that Harisu is attractive, will they take advice on tampons from someone who was a guy?
What next?
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The fact that she was a man until a couple of years ago didn't seem to worry the executives at UFT.
While most Korean women agree that Harisu is attractive, will they take advice on tampons from someone who was a guy?
What next?
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Tuesday, April 20
Uri wants US forces out of Korea
The Hankooki Newspaper (only in Korean) in Seoul reports that in a survey of the 207 new members if the parliament elected on April 15, 62% of those in the Uri Party, which President Roh wants to join, want a gradual withdrawal of US forces from Korea.
In contrast, 61% of those either in the opposition GNP or closely aligned to it, want to keep the US forces here.
There are two things that worry me about this story-
The first is that in a parliament of 299 seats, 207 members are first time members! The average age of the parliament dropped by about 20 years due to this election. Where is the experience in this assembly???
The second is that the majority party in the parliament, which the President wants to join, want the US out of the country!
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In contrast, 61% of those either in the opposition GNP or closely aligned to it, want to keep the US forces here.
There are two things that worry me about this story-
The first is that in a parliament of 299 seats, 207 members are first time members! The average age of the parliament dropped by about 20 years due to this election. Where is the experience in this assembly???
The second is that the majority party in the parliament, which the President wants to join, want the US out of the country!
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Monday, April 19
Kim visit to China
It seems that the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il is in Beijing- though nobody has yet seen the reclusive leader.
On the agenda was the first face to face meeting with the Chinese leader, Hu Jintao. At the meeting the two leaders talked about Pyongyang's nuclear program as well as Chinese aid.
Once again the 'Dear Leader' as he is known to millions in the North, traveled via luxury train. This train is known as the Orient Express by some, and for good reason.
Kim is known to have four hour banquets with lobster, French conagc and the finest food, in the company of beautiful young 'conductors'. This while his people eat grass, and would rather risk getting shot than stay in the country.
Perhaps instead of trying to get the EU to impose sanctions against Israel, the left could try and get some action against a real danger- North Korea.
I have a feeling that this is unlikely any time soon.
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On the agenda was the first face to face meeting with the Chinese leader, Hu Jintao. At the meeting the two leaders talked about Pyongyang's nuclear program as well as Chinese aid.
Once again the 'Dear Leader' as he is known to millions in the North, traveled via luxury train. This train is known as the Orient Express by some, and for good reason.
Kim is known to have four hour banquets with lobster, French conagc and the finest food, in the company of beautiful young 'conductors'. This while his people eat grass, and would rather risk getting shot than stay in the country.
Perhaps instead of trying to get the EU to impose sanctions against Israel, the left could try and get some action against a real danger- North Korea.
I have a feeling that this is unlikely any time soon.
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Sunday, April 18
Government to protect bully victim
The Victorian education Department is going to pay for a bodyguard to protect a handicapped boy from what it says are unsubstantiated claims of bullying.
The department will spend $8000 to provide a 'teacher's aide' to watch over Beau Parsons in the playground. His mother claims that he has been beaten and taunted at schools for the past seven years- both at government and Catholic schools.
If these claims are unsubstantiated, why is government paying to protect the boy? One must ask why the offenders haven't been dealt with by their parent's and the school. It is a sad indictment on the way children have been raised that in addition to maths and English, schools are now providing bodyguards to students who are afraid that they will be killed by classmates in the playground.
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The department will spend $8000 to provide a 'teacher's aide' to watch over Beau Parsons in the playground. His mother claims that he has been beaten and taunted at schools for the past seven years- both at government and Catholic schools.
If these claims are unsubstantiated, why is government paying to protect the boy? One must ask why the offenders haven't been dealt with by their parent's and the school. It is a sad indictment on the way children have been raised that in addition to maths and English, schools are now providing bodyguards to students who are afraid that they will be killed by classmates in the playground.
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