SOUTH KOREA EVENTS 2007

1970s View of Osan AB (USAF Photo)

SOUTH KOREA DOMESTIC EVENTS

January 2007

Prosecutors said five Yeongdeungpo police officers went to a game room in Anyang, Gyeonggi province. They were responding to reports that four customers who went there to exchange gift certificates for money were being held by the owner and employees of the game room because they believed the certificates were fake, police said. The owner and six employees, using wooden sticks, struggled with the officers, who wielded the bats and cue sticks, for about 10 minutes, police said. During the clash, three employees fled. Four officers and the other four employees were injured. A 31-year-old police officer suffered a broken rib. After being arrested, the owner released a video clip captured by a security camera. He asserted that the police officers used excessive force and filed criminal complaints against the five police officers. “The employees used to be gang members and professional wrestlers. Do the prosecutors want us to sit by helplessly as they hit them?” said a police officer who did not want to be named. (Source: Joongang Ilbo.)

To curb the growth of the illegal gambling business, law enforcement officials have been tightening the clampdown on adults-only video game arcades and game machine companies. With most arcades unlawfully providing cash payouts to customers, the country's slot machine empire has grown beyond recognition in recent years and gambling has increasingly become a social problem.

Now gambling operators are fighting back. According to the Constitutional Court, 480 arcade owners filed a petition to the court claiming that the law on games, music and video content announced last October infringes on their property rights and their freedom to conduct business. The law gives authorities more control over the manufacturing and distribution of game machines. Under the new rules, the Game Rating Board of Korea, a state regulator for video and computer games that was established last December, is allowed to refuse to rate a game that contains a high degree of gambling content. If a rating is not issued, a game cannot be released. The rating board was also given the power to review gambling games that were previously authorized for adults-only use, virtually blocking the game machines from being legally distributed to arcades. ``The Game Rating Board has the authority to refuse to rate a game and to decide whether a game is speculative. We believe that this infringes on freedom of expression since the administrative body is given additional power to pre-classify game content,'' the arcade owners said in a statement. ``The new law does not provide a firm definition of game content that could be ruled speculative and gives the Minister of Culture and Tourism full authority to make this decision. We believe this violates the principal of legality,'' he said. The businessmen complained about the provisions that restrict arcades from using more than 40 percent of their space.

Since last August, prosecutors have been strengthening their clampdown on arcades using game machines that allow larger-than-permitted voucher payouts or permit people to trade vouchers for cash. They are investigating whether businessmen seeking licenses to issue gift vouchers or to distribute slot machines bribed officials in the Culture Ministry and its sub-organizations. (SITE NOTE: See Songtan Events for details of gambling clampdown from Jul-Dec 2006. Many of the newly opened arcades swiftly went bankrupt after the police clampdown and are now locked and empty. However, a negative side effect is that on-line gambling with "go-stop" and slots have increased with the same results of the addicted losing all their incomes.)

The recent gambling scandal first erupted last year when prosecutors indicted the chief executives of the two companies that manufactured and distributed ``Pada Iyagi'' (Sea Story) video slot machines. Most of the machines were illegally reprogrammed to allow voucher payouts that were higher than the legal limit of 20,000 won. ``Pada Iyagi'' was the country's most popular slot machine game by far; more than 45,000 units have been sold. Adults-only game arcades now outnumber 24-hour convenience stores 20,000 to 9,500. Prosecutors have arrested several public officials and businessmen, including Baek Eeek, the director of the ministry's cultural media bureau, and they have imposed overseas travel bans on more than 100 people. (Source: Korea Times.)

"The resistance is the big issue," said He, a research associate in the Food Science and Technology Department. "Some pathogens can resist any antibiotics. It’s hard to develop a resistance to this." New antibiotic discoveries are important in a time when overuse is creating stronger bacteria. Their work on paenibacillin was published this week in the American Society of Microbiology journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

John Reeve, chairman of the OSU Microbiology Department, said the find could be important because paenibacillin apparently is effective against harmful organisms in the food chain. Recent E. coli outbreaks, for example, bring this point home. "It’s really one of those tremendous things: Someone who sees a problem works toward a solution and the world sees it," Reeve said.

Early on, when they thought they had a food preservative, Yousef and He approached food industry officials in an effort to get more research funding. Then they knew they had something bigger. "Usually if an antibiotic is that strong, the food industry is reluctant to use it because the medical industry might use it," Yousef said. So they kept working with the money they had, rebuilding old machines rather than buy new ones and stretching every dollar.

When it was time to go public, He and Yousef went to the university’s Office for Technology Licensing. "We protected it for three years, which is hard for a public university," Yousef said. In early December, Yousef and He met with officials from food and pharmaceutical companies. Erin Bender, an associate with the Office for Technology Licensing, said several companies are interested in paenibacillin for both human and food use. If the antibiotic is used in food, she said, it could be available within a year or so. Human clinical trials, however, could mean five to seven years before it’s available on the market. Because Yousef and He have never done human trials, the Office for Technology Licensing will help them connect with medical researchers. "We can’t do it on our own," Yousef said.

---

February 2007

SEE Executed for Treason in 1975, Activists Posthumously Acquitted (Jan 2007) for on-going battle to reverse Park Chung-hee era court decisions on sentencing dissidents.

---

Mass protests cost ROK 7 Trillion won in 2006 (Feb 2007) Demonstrations involving more than 1,000 people caused about 7 trillion won (US$7 billion) in social and economic costs for the country in 2006.

A study has found that 362 large-scale protests or demonstrations involving more than 1,000 people were held in 2005, adding up to W12.3 trillion (US$1=W941) in social economic costs. The research was conducted by the Korea Development Institute (KDI) at the request of the Policy Coordination Office in the Prime Minister's Office. The KDI said that the cost of illegal protests was equivalent to 1.53% of GDP that year, which was W806.62 trillion. (SITE NOTE: The Yonhap News issued conflicting stats when it said "the cost was equivalent to 0.86 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP)." (Source: Yonhap News.)






FTA Protests (5 Dec 2006)

According to the report, simple protests cost on average W240 million per case while marches, sit-ins and road or walkway occupations led to W36 billion in costs each. A demonstration that occupied eight lanes around Gwanghwamun and Seoul City Hall cost a whopping W77.6 billion. The KDI calculated the costs by adding together lost wages from workers participating in protests, law enforcement costs from police control, traffic congestion costs, operating losses in neighborhood business, and public stress. Interest groups accounted for the greatest number of protests at 42.6 percent, followed by labor unions at 30.2 percent and civic groups at 17.2 percent. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.)

Major Protests Cost Dearly (Feb 2007) Protests related to five major state development projects have cost the nation some 134 billion won ($138 million) in taxpayers' money, according to a report released on 8 Feb. The Dankook Center for Dispute Resolution estimated the social costs incurred by civic unrest against the expansion of the U.S. military base in Pyeongtaek, construction of a nuclear storage site in Buan, a land reclamation project in Saemangeum, and two tunnel projects through Mounts Bukhan and Cheonseong. The research, led by Dankook University professors Lee Sung-woo and Seo Moon-suk, calculated labor losses from protests, police expenditure for the maintenance of social order, and wasted time due to traffic disruption.

Protests against the government plan to expand a U.S. Army base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, was estimated to have cost a total of 53.7 billion won including 10 billion won in lost labor. Disruptions to traffic and police expenses cost over 43 billion won, it said. The protests began in 2004 and continued until September last year with some 74,210 protesters and 187,800 riot police involved.

The study also found demonstrations to protest the government's push to build a nuclear waste facility in Buan, North Jeolla Province, cost the nation 53.2 billion won with over 31.9 billion won in labor loss costs. Traffic disruption and police expenses reached over 21 billion. A total of 229,158 people rallied against the construction plan over a period of seven months from July 2003 and 49,900 policemen were dispatched to prevent disturbances.

"A lot of money was lost due to traffic problems and social turmoil in the anti-Pyeongtaek base protests because they were mostly held in central city areas," the DCDR said. "On the other hand, labor losses accounted for the largest portion of the Buan protest expenses because a large number of Buan residents stayed away from work to participate in the demonstrations."

Rallies against the controversial Saemanguem dike project cost 15.9 billion won with 7 billion won in labor losses and 8.9 billion related to traffic and police costs. The anti-Saemangeum protests continued for six years from 2000 until the court decided in favor of continuing the controversial project. Since 1991, over 1.9 trillion won has been spent on this project to reclaim land in North Jeolla Province.

The protests against building tunnels through Mount Bukhan in Seoul and Mount Cheonseong in South Gyeongsang Province cost 5.7 billion and 5.5 billion won, respectively. Because the anti-tunnel construction campaigns were usually held in provincial areas with participants mostly being environmental activists, the costs were relatively small, the report said.

The researchers came up with the cost by adding production losses caused by absent workers, traffic disturbance expenses and costs to the authorities for maintaining social order. However, the DCDR did not include expenses arising from the delay of government projects. The production losses were calculated by multiplying the number of protesters to the urban worker households' average income of 139,505 won. Social order maintenance expenses were reckoned by adding the cost per police officer involved. In 2005, the National Police Agency had estimated that it cost about 71,700 won per officer to prevent violence and maintain order at a demonstration. The traffic disruption expenses were based on the Korea Transportation Studies Institute's estimate in 2000 that about 230 million won was lost due to traffic problems per rally. "Because a lot of the research on the social expense of protests were either exaggerated or understated, we felt that a more objective estimate was needed," the research center said. "But because we excluded the expense coming from the delay of projects, actual costs could be more." (Source: Korea Herald.)


Anti-American Protests over Nuclear Agreement (1 Mar 2007)


Anti-Japanese Protests over Colonialization and Comfort Women (1 Mar 2007)


Pro-US Anti-wartime control return (1 Mar 2007)


Pro-US Anti-wartime control return (1 Mar 2007)

Police demanding compensation from anti-FTA protesters,,,FINALLY (May 2007) Police have taken legal action against protesters of the landmark Korea-U.S. free trade agreement, seeking up to 600 million won ($650,000) in damage compensation. Regional police agencies and provincial offices of Gangwon, North and South Chungcheong and South Jeolla Provinces have sued the Korean Alliance against the Korea-U.S. FTA, a coalition of activists, for damage during massive anti-FTA protests in November last year.

The rallies left Gangwon Province with 250 million won in losses due to arson and property damage, followed by 230 million won in South Jeolla and 170 million won in South Chungcheong, the NPA added. In November, over 73,000 farmers, workers and activists collided with riot police in 13 cities in one of the most violent protests in recent years. The protests left a total of 63 people injured, including 35 police officers and 21 protesters, and caused over 670 million won in property damage nationwide, according to police statistics. (Source: Korea Herald.) (SITE NOTE: Our opinion is it is about time. The Roh administration bent over backwards to allow the protestors free rein. Now that the Uri Party is on the brink of being dissolved and Roh is a lame duck President, the Police are finally acting. It is much too late though -- and the courts are filled with liberal judges so most likely, the awards will be much less.)

Government Money Goes to Violent Protesters (Jun 2007) It was revealed that Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs (MOGAHA) granted money to a civic group, Solidarity for Implementation of South-North Joint Declaration (SISND), to support its projects, and categorized these projects as non-profit activities for the public good. However, it is drawing criticism now because the MOGAHA didn’t consider the fact that the head of the SISND’s local branch was taken into custody last year and charged with the beating of a policeman during a protest rally.

Last month, the MOGAHA decided to grant 30 million won to the SISND to support its project called “The Movement for the Construction of a Peaceful System in the Korean Peninsula.” In fact, this is a portion of the 100 million won that SISND is receiving from MOGAHA over three years to support this movement.

Meanwhile, the MOGAHA stated that it will not support illegal, violent groups in an official document that revealed a list of civic group projects that will be supported by the ministry as non-profit public activities. However, this incident proved that the ministry’s statement is not based on sufficient examination of applicants and that the ministry did not check with the heads of its branch offices first.

According to the document, Lee Sang-bae, lawmaker of the opposition Grand National Party and a member of Government Administration and Home Affairs Committee; Ahn, 48, SISND co-head of the Daejeon-Chungnam branch; and other four members were taken into custody on charges of initiating violence during a protest against the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement which was held on November 22, 2006 in front of a Chungcheong provincial office in which about 7,200 people participated. At that time, they beat policemen with cudgels, broke the provincial office wall and burnt 190 trees.

Ahn is currently serving as co-head of the Daejeon-Chungnam branch of the National Movement against the Korea-U.S. FTA. A source from the MOGAHA said that, “Since the document we got from the police explained that Ahn was just the co-head of the Daejeon-Chungnam branch of the National Movement against the Korea-U.S. FTA, we didn’t know that he was a branch head of SISND,” adding, “If it is confirmed that Ahn is serving in the SISND, we will consider sanctions against the SISND.”

The SISND received seven million won last year from the MOGAHA and published two books: ‘Measures for Peaceful Unification on the Korean Peninsula’ and ‘Six-party talks and Peaceful Settlement of the Korean Peninsula Issue.” These books have pro-North Korean tendencies and contain content against the U.S., and have produced 1,000 copies each. Specifically, these books argue that, “The U.S. should disband the United Nations Command, withdraw the United States Forces Korea, stop military training against North Korea and end hostile policies against North Korea, such as economic sanctions and penalties related to North Korea’s human rights issue,” and additionally argues that, “The South Korean government should abolish the National Security Law.”

Regarding the unification issue, the books assert that, “The combination system that is advocated by South Korea as a proper way for unification lacks consistency and logicality,” adding, “The federal system that is suggested by North Korea is a reliable method in that it takes into account the differences between the two Koreas, and has many feasible elements.”

On the other hand, Lee Sang-bae, lawmaker of the opposition Grand National Party, argued that, “It doesn’t fit into the initial intention of supporting non-profit civic groups to give money to organizations that have strong political dispositions,” adding, “We should enact a law that prohibits organizations that have relationships with groups which led illegal violent protests such as the National Movement against the Korea-U.S. FTA from receiving money from the government and taking money back from the SISND, which is known to have supported illegal protests.” (Source: Chosun Ilbo.) (SITE NOTE: The conservative newspapers have been decrying this from the days of Kim Dae-jung. This is an old story. The truth is that the governments -- whether conservative or liberal -- have supported NGO groups that support their views. Blatantly a misuse of public monies in the western societies, it is an accepted custom in Korean politics. When the GNP comes to power in 2008, there will be a shift to conservative NGO groups and changes in politics. This is Korean politics -- but will the abuse of the NGO support go away. No...it will be here in a different form.)

---

See Japan Collaborators Face Land Seizure (Feb-May 2007) for Roh Administration move to confiscate lands of "collaborators" that were inherited by descendents.

---

See Suicides Growing Problem in Korea for article on more Koreans dying from suicides than car accidents.

---

153 indicted in Gaming Scandal (Feb 2007) (See PC Bang Gambling Newest Craze (Jun-Sep 2006) for background between Jun-Sep 2006 of the gambling scandal.) Prosecutors said on 22 Feb they had arrested 45 people and indicted 108 without detention in connection with an illegal arcade gaming scandal that erupted last year. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office yesterday announced the results of its six-month probe into the "Sea Story" scandal, involving lawmakers, high-ranking government officials, gang members, arcade businesspeople and gift certificate issuers.

A popular video slot game, "The Sea Story" was outlawed last year because arcades were found to be rigging the machines to raise betting stakes above the legal limit. Prosecutors then launched extraordinary investigations after realizing many other gaming machines were also operated illegally across the nation.

Rep. Kim Jae-hong of the governing Uri Party was recently indicted without detention on charges of receiving 30 million won ($31,000) between last May and June from an arcade businessman in favor of influencing legislation to benefit the game industry. Prosecutors have questioned 2,200 people, brought charges against a total of 153 people for the scandal, and sought to retrieve 137.7 billion won in revenues that were earned through illegal activities.

However, prosecutors have cleared Rep. Cho Sung-rai of the Uri Party, former Culture Minister Chung Dong-chea, and Rep. Park Hyeong-joon of the main opposition Grand National Party, of any wrong doing. Park was accused of receiving kickbacks from the same businessman who lobbied Kim, but prosecutors said it was hard to prove that the kickbacks were in return for favors.

Prosecutors said in a statement that despite Chung's mismanagement of his subordinates and his role in letting illegal gaming machines spread nationwide, he should not be charged with dereliction of his duty. Chung formerly led the Culture Ministry between July 2004 and March 2006. Prosecutors also judged that Cho had personally invested in gift certificate issuing companies, which distributed vouchers that were illegally used as winning chips to nationwide arcades. In 2005, the government selected 19 companies and allowed them exclusive rights to distribute the gift certificates in gaming rooms across the nation, and officials of 17 companies have received criminal charges.

According to the National Intelligence Service, the illegal gambling market amounts to about 8.8 trillion won a year, with 5 trillion won from about 20,000 adult-only arcades, 3.6 trillion won from about 10,000 PC game parlors and 2 trillion won from about 500 illegal casino bars. Also through gift certificates illegally exchanged for cash, the adult-only arcades make 4.5 trillion won a year, along with 4.3 trillion in PC game parlors. It is illegal to exchange gift certificates for cash at the arcades, but the practice is widely carried out as arcade owners receive up to 10 percent of the exchanged amount for a commission.

The prosecution declared it would continue to crack down the illegal gaming industry and investigate some politicians and government officials who are suspected of receiving illegal kickbacks. (Source: Korea Herald.)

---

Environmental Concerns (Feb-Mar 2007) A recent spate of news concerning environmental issues on the peninsula has emerged. A March 1 release from the environmental institute showed high levels of sulfur dioxide in the air when precipitation combines with air currents coming from China. The study was conducted between June and August last year and attributed the sulfur to Chinese heavy industry. Sulfur is widely attributed as one of the main causes of acid rain. Meanwhile, a survey of elementary school students released last month showed 2.42 parts per billion of mercury in their blood, compared to 0.34 ppb in the United States, according to the survey. The survey did not indicate reasons for the higher levels. Mercury can affect neurological development in fetuses and young children, according to the EPA. High levels of mercury can be found in tuna and other types of larger, migratory fish. Almost all people have trace amounts of mercury in their bodies, according to the EPA. In March, high uranium levels found in village water supply near Icheon, 25 miles northeast of Osan AB. Laboratory tests on man's hair find levels 302 times the safe quantity for contaminant. (Source: Stars and Stripes.)

High Copper Content in Four Major Rivers (Mar 2007) South Korea’s four major rivers were found to have been seriously contaminated with copper, a survey showed. According to the report by the Ministry of Environment, the nation’s four major rivers contained an average of 12 parts per billion (ppb) of copper, more than two times higher than the level of 5 ppb deemed to pose a threat to living creatures in fresh water. In Nakdong River, the copper levels reached 28.7 ppb, the highest among those surveyed, followed by Yeongsan River with 10.3 ppb and Han River with 5.0 ppb.

The ministry said that salmonoid fish are susceptible to the 5 ppb level of copper and a level between 5-15 ppb of copper represents a fatal dose to half of young fish, algae, and daphnia species. Considering the hazardous impact of copper in fresh water, the Environmental Protection Agency of the U.S. lowered permissible levels there to 1.3 ppb. "Copper contamination in the nation’s major water sources has reached dangerous levels in terms of health for aquatic life," said Hong Jun-seok, a ministry official. The ministry plans to set forth guidelines for limiting copper contents in rivers and other areas.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization announced it is preparing a new set of guidelines for water quality standards, which will include information on the hazardous impact of copper on human bodies. The WHO said that copper exceeding a certain level can cause not only chronic liver and kidney problems in humans, but is also linked to the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. (Source: Hankyoreh News.)

S. Korean Children have Higher Mercury Levels in Blood and Urine (Feb-Apr 2007) Elementary school students in South Korea have much higher levels of mercury in their blood and urine than those in other countries, a government survey showed on 25 Feb. According to the survey by the Ministry of Environment last year, South Korean children aged 8-13 have a mercury level of around 2.42 parts per billion (ppb) in their blood. Comparable figures in other countries are 1.0 ppb in Germany, 0.34 ppb in the United States, 17.6 ppb in China and 6.6 ppb in Japan, the survey showed. The survey was based on blood and urine samples taken from a total of 2,000 children from 26 elementary schools last year.

Mercury is a major toxic heavy metal that could cause damage to nervous systems if it is excessively accumulated in human bodies. As for the mercury level in urine, South Korean children have 2.53 microgram per gram, higher than their counterparts in Japan with 1.06 and in Germany with 0.7, according to the survey. The survey did not analyze the reasons behind the higher mercury levels among South Korean children. (Source: Korea Times.) (SITE NOTE: Our question is this amount serious to the point of being dangerous to the health of the children? This report doesn't say its dangerous -- but neither does it say that it isn't. We attempted to research on University of Minnesota: Mercury and under the EPA site, but they use stats in micrograms or parts per million (not billion) or percentages so we cannot seem to compare.

"The legal limit of safe mercury exposure for industrial workers is 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air for 8 hours per day and 50 weeks per year. Exposure at this level will produce urine mercury levels of about 135 micrograms per liter. These levels are much higher than those in the general public but produce no symptoms and are considered safe." URINE TESTING: "Because mercury is ubiquitous, the body reaches a steady state in which tiny amounts are absorbed and excreted. Thus, it is common to find mercury in people's urine. Mercury can also be found in the blood, because this is the major medium for transporting materials around the body. Large-scale population studies have shown that the general population has urine-mercury levels below 10 micrograms/liter. Industrial workers, and dentists, who have regular exposure to mercury vapor also have low values. Because urine-mercury levels represent the chronic, steady state, exposure to the body of mercury, they are fairly reliable indicators of past exposure, since they tend to even out the peaks and valleys of transient rises and falls in the blood level. Urine measurements should be performed on the first urine specimen of the day, which would be the most concentrated, or (preferably) on a 24-hour urine specimen." BLOOD TESTING: "Mercury is excreted by the kidneys, which filter the blood. The mercury levels of blood are lower than those of urine and therefore more difficult to detect. For this reason, blood testing for mercury is not commonly done. Even at high levels of mercury exposure, industrial workers show blood concentrations in the parts-per-billion range, typically less than 5 parts per billion. These are close to the limits of detection. In this range, the amounts are too small to identify the type of mercury or its source. Urine mercury testing gives a more meaningful picture of exposure and is also more accurate because the mercury is more concentrated." (Source: Quackwatch)

Korea is inevitably affected by pollution in China, the world's biggest mercury polluter. But until recently, Korea had no idea how serious the problem was. Lee Seung-mook, a professor at Seoul National University’s School of Public Health said about half the mercury pollution in the air in Seoul comes from China. The worst offenders are industrial centers like Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Guangzhou. Lee and his team said the mercury pollution is blown in at all times, not just during the annual sandstorms.

The scientists analyzed about 30,000 air samples collected from Yeongeon-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul over 13 months starting February 2005. The average concentration of mercury was 3.21 nanogram (1 ng= 1 billionth of a gram) per cubic meter of air, about three times the concentration in natural conditions. The concentration soared to 38 ng, an increase of over 10 times, from late January to early February 2006. The team retraced the travel routes of the winds blowing from China for 72 hours, and tried to locate the sources of mercury pollution based on the discharges of mercury in China and their relations with other pollutants. They concluded, that 48 percent of the mercury pollution in Seoul’s air originates from China.

South Koreans are exposed to a much more dangerous level of mercury pollution than advanced countries. The result of a government survey of health and nutritive conditions of the people released early last year showed that mercury concentration in the blood of adults was five to eight times as high as those in the U.S. and Germany. But the government offered no adequate response to this, lacking until recently the equipment to measure mercury concentration in the air. It only recently purchased some equipment from abroad. That explains why the government until recently failed to offer a convincing explanation of the high mercury concentrations in people’s blood.

The Korean government has belatedly lumbered into action. "We have commissioned a research project to survey the amount of Chinese mercury pollution,” an Environment Ministry official said. “Research will be conducted over three years beginning this month. Please understand that the government has started reacting to Chinese mercury pollution." The ministry is also looking at joint research with the UN Environment Program (UNEP), the U.S., Japan, and China. Chung Suh-yong, a professor of Myongji University, said, "Chinese pollutants crossing borders will become an issue. We need to strengthen international cooperation, including intensifying research, from an environmental security viewpoint to guarantee public health and safety." (Source: Chosun Ilbo.)

High uranium levels found in South Korean village water supply (Mar 2007) Stars and Stripes on 5 Mar reported that uranium levels 54.6 times the U.S. standard were found in water supplies in a village near Icheon, about 25 miles northeast of Osan Air Base, according to a South Korean government environmental report. South Korea's Ministry of Environment said it was not ready last week to release its full uranium survey of 93 sites in South Korea, but it issued a news release on its findings. "None of the nationwide locations included where U.S. military installations are positioned," Yoon Jung-gi of the National Institute of Environment Research told Stripes.

Uranium levels measured 1,640 micrograms per liter in Janpyeong-ri village near Icheon. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Web site mandates that safe drinking water remain under 30 micrograms of uranium per liter. South Korea does not have its own standard. "Most drinking water sources have very low levels of radioactive contaminants ("radionuclides"), most of which are naturally occurring, although contamination of drinking water sources from human-made nuclear materials can also occur," the EPA says on its Web site.

Exposure to high levels of uranium can be toxic to the liver, according to the EPA. When a man from Janpyeong-ri had his hair tested by U.S.-based Trace Elements last year, the laboratory found uranium levels 302 times the safe level, according to South Korean media reports. However, blood and urine tests are necessary to accurately test those levels, the ministry release said. The National Institute for Environment Research will perform closer examinations on residents who have been drinking the local water for more than a decade, officials said. (Source: Stars and Stripes.)

Yellow Dust Hazard (Mar 2007) A study has found that yellow dust, the airborne movement of sand from deserts in China, reduces children’s respiratory functions and raises the likelihood of respiratory-related ailments. These findings were part of a doctoral dissertation by Dr. Hwang Seung-sik of the National Cancer Center on the effects of yellow dust on public health. He performed a study on 96 healthy children (48 females, 48 males) in 2004 and found a relationship between the yellow dust and trouble regarding the childrens’ respiratory functions.

According to the results of the study, yellow dust has decreased 29 percent of the surveyed children’s respiratory functions by more than 10 percent during 2004. During the yellow dust "storms" themselves, 36.6 percent of the children suffered from coughing attacks stronger than on ordinary days. Sniffling and sore throats were other symptoms increased by the occurrence of yellow dust in the atmosphere.

In addition, when yellow dust occurs, more children suffering from asthma or respiratory illnesses paid visits to the hospital. When the concentration of yellow dust in the air is heavier, respiratory cases increase by 22 percent and asthma cases by 32 percent, the study showed. (Source: Hankyoreh News.)

Norovirus in Water Supply NOT detected by present government tests (Mar 2007) After several major norovirus infections took place across the nation, the government is under fire for delayed efforts to ensure the safety of the public drinking water supply, as its current methods do not screen for such viruses. Noroviruses, neither bacteriological nor parasitic in nature, are a group of related, single-strand RNA viruses that cause acute gastroenteritis in humans.

The viruses can be spread through fecal contamination or other impurities in drinking water as well as improperly prepared seafood or shellfish, among other means. They are known to be highly contagious from person-to-person, and are not killed by residual chlorine nor heat of 60 degrees Celcius.

The viruses were first reported in South Korea in 1999, when the drinking water supply caused outbreaks of diarrhea. Last year, a norovirus hit around 2,000 students in and around the Seoul area, which, while caused by contaminated food, set off the alarm bell for the need to increase screening for the viruses in drinking water. Large-scale food poisoning incidents in Wanju and Jeju Island in the past several years were found to have resulted from norovirus infections.

Prime Minister Han Myung-sook ordered related government agencies to step up their efforts to improve the hygiene of drinking water across the nation. However, the government’s ongoing probe of drinking water sanitation does not include noroviruses on the list of contaminants it is investigating; rather, the government will test for noroviruses only after having detected the colon bacillus bacteria in the water. "In one case in Finland, even in water where colon bacillus was not found, a norovirus was detected," said Kim Sang-jong, a professor of Seoul National University, raising doubts about the government-led efforts.

Meanwhile, the National Institute of Environmental Research reported that 82 percent of the nation’s 96 drinking water sources have been found to be contaminated with viruses at least once since the institute has measured for such occurrences. However, the method of cell culture applied by the government does not detect noroviruses, an official with the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (Source: Hankyoreh News.)

---

NHRC at it Again: 20 public and 48 private schools Cited for Banning Political Activity The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRC) on March 6 advised 20 national and public universities to amend school rules that restrict students from taking part in certain activities - especially political ones. The commission said that the schools were committing human rights violations. (SITE NOTE: Though we rarely agree with the NHRC -- an agency that is a tool of the progressive Roh administration -- on this point we have to say that they are correct. The universities need to define specifically what is banned for students -- and why they are banned as to impacts to the universities operations.We stand with the NHRC on this. But we also see the schools side as well. Students in recent years have taken over buildings and demanded changes in school policy -- sometimes with violent actions. The problem stems from the outlawed Hanchongryeon, Federation of Student Councils, that provide the shock troops for the violent demonstrations in Korea, but hide within the walls of the campuses. Since the 1990s there has been an unwritten rule that the riot police do NOT enter campuses. Perhaps the schools fear that the new conservative drift for the country may mean that this unwritten rule will be rescinded. But the TIMING of this NHRC announcement is very suspicious, on the heels of GNP boycott over the Private School Law reform -- and this appears like a blatant POLITICAL move by the Roh administration.)

According to the NHRC, 48 private universities also have similar rules, but that the nation’s public schools were the target of their investigation. The NHRC urged the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development to recommend the private universities to amend their regulations. The results of the NHRC survey showed that a total of 68 universities, including Seoul National University, had regulations limiting student activities which are "against the basic functions and educational purposes of the school." This translates in many cases to political activities. (SITE NOTE: This we question as to why a human rights violation at public universities are NOT condemned if they exist at a private university. This makes this who ruling appear to be political as the government has control over the national and public universities, but would be challenged in the courts if it applied the same ruling to a private institution. For this we condemn the NHRC on their ruling.)

Kangnung National University and 16 private universities ban students from joining a political party, while Kangwon National University and 15 private schools have rules under which the schools can take heavy disciplinary measures against students who take part in political activities, including expelling them from school. Regarding such provisions limiting student activities, the NHRC said, "Most universities have amiguous, overarching regulations with regard to curbing student activities. They have to state in detail what is banned in terms of student activities, and regulations banning political activities should be amended or removed, as universities have no grounds to restrict basic rights."

Recently, Korea University’s College of Business Administration did not permit a lecture organized by student members of a national progressive campus group, sparking controversy that the school was suppressing students’ activities and rights. The national university students’ progressive group, "Dahamkke" (Together), and the student body of Korea University’s College of Business Administration received permission last month to hold a lecture on March 10 and 11, but the college’s authorities suddenly canceled their approval, citing that the lecture was organized by an outside group. (SITE NOTE: This is a typical ploy of activist NGO groups. One legitimate group will block the time in for a protest, but prearrange for another activist group that is prohibited to use the area to continue on in the area. Most recently were the Democratic Labor Party (DLP) staging a political demonstration, then turning the area over to the banned farmer groups protesting the FTA. The same could apply to schools.)

---

See Poll: Corruption in S.Korea Worse Than in China (Mar 2007) for details on polls.

---

S. Korean Doctors Rally to Protest Medical Law Revision (Mar 2007) More than 70,000 doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff gathered in front of the government complex in Kwachon, Kyonggi Province, on 21 Mar to protest against proposed changes to the country's Medical Service Law. The mass demonstration resulted in staff shortages in hospitals around the country, causing severe disruption for patients. The demonstration caused disruption among patients especially in regional areas outside metropolitan areas, with doctors closing their clinics early to join the protest in Kwachon. Most doctors in Seoul and nearby Kyonggi Province area provided medical services during the morning hours.

According to the draft version of the revised law being pushed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the prescription and medicating of drugs are omitted from the legal job definition of a doctor and is stated as an authority belonging only to pharmacists. The proposed law also grants nurses more freedom to diagnose simple medical symptoms, allows doctors to freelance between medical establishments and introduces a license for a new medical field that combines Western and Oriental medicine techniques.

Doctors have been balking at the suggested changes, saying that it infringes the traditional authority of doctors by reducing their role in prescribing drugs and patient treatment. The ministry has been downplaying the worries, saying that the new law will not bring fundamental changes to the current relationship between doctors and pharmacists. Since 2002, the government has been separating the roles of doctors and pharmacists in prescribing and dispensing medicine. (Source: Korea Times.)

Doctors are mostly unhappy about the fact that administering injections is not explicitly specified under their exclusive activities in the revision. The 2000 revision gave pharmacists the right to dispense medicine, while doctors retained the right to prescribe them and administer injections. They insist the new revision must explicitly recognize these exclusive rights. They oppose discounts on medical fees when intermediaries recommend patients to hospitals on grounds that it would boost the influence of brokers. The revision permits limited advertising by allowing clinics to publicize fees for services not covered by health insurance.

"The medical law revision bill is a disgrace, because it erases the specialization and autonomy of medical practice and commercializes public life and health," a statement issued by four medical organizations read. Chang Dong-ik, the head of the Korean Medical Association, said, "If the government does not withdraw the revision bill, we’ll wage an all-out struggle against the government mobilizing every means including the return of our licenses and closing hospitals.”

One foreign worker died because of the hospital closures, while many patients turned up at medical facilities in vain. A Thai worker in a textile factory in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, who choked during lunch, was rushed to a nearby clinic that was closed for the day. He was taken to another clinic 4-5 km away but was dead on arrival, colleagues said.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare estimates that 28,000-plus clinics or about 57 percent of the country's total of over 49,000 suspended practice on 21 Mar. The ministry decided to take tough action against protestors including ordering personnel to return to duty. A prolonged standoff looms. Medical organizations, the KMA among them, on 21 Mar filed a complaint with the Seoul Central Prosecutors Office against Health and Welfare Minister Rhyu Si-min that charges health authorities with failing to properly crack down on illegal medical practices. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.)

Police Raid Medical Association Offices (May 2007) In late Apr the Proscecutors' Office raided the Korean Medical Association office to seek evidence that they bribed lawmakers to influence the outcome of the medical legislation. Its president, Jhang Dong-ik, was accused of giving bribes regularly to lawmakers to enact legislation favorable to doctors. A transcript of a closed-door meeting of the doctors’ association, leaked to media recently, quoted Jhang as saying, “I paid 10 million won [$10,753] in cash to a lawmaker because he said he would draft legislation to create an annual tax refund that would benefit the association.” The tax refund system was revised last year requiring medical clinics to report their billing details to the National Tax Service on behalf of taxpayers. Doctors around the nation protested the additional reporting burden. The heads of all three lobbying groups met with Grand National lawmaker Chung Hyung-keun at a hotel in December of last year, and asked Chung to oppose the new tax refund system, according to people who attended the meeting. Chung’s aides said the lawmaker had received 10 million won in donations, but the money came from individual members of the three groups. Under the current law governing political donations, an association or a lobby group is forbidden from contributing in its own name.

Prosecutors raided the offices of the Association of Korean Oriental Medicine and the Korean Dental Association on 2 May in a widening investigation into allegations that lawmakers received bribes from the nation’s lobby groups for medical practitioners. (Source: Joongang Ilbo.)

GNP Lawmakers charged in medical bribe case (May 2007) On 23 May it was reported that two Grand National Party lawmakers were indicted yesterday on charges of accepting bribes from the Korean Medical Association in return for influencing legislation. Ko Kyung-hwa and Kim Byoung-ho, both members of the Heath and Welfare Committee, were accused of violating the political fund law.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office said Ko received 10 million won ($10,737) from Dr. Jhang Dong-ik, then-head of the Korean Medical Association, at the end of December in return for influencing the medical law revision bill. At the time, the legislature was considering changes to the medical law which the association, the largest doctors' group in the country, opposed. The prosecution said Kim also received 10 million won from Jhang regarding the same legislation. Both lawmakers have denied the bribery charges, claiming that the money was received as donations.

The two each accepted the money under the names of 10 different doctors, although the money actually came from the association, prosecutors said. They each filed receipts as if the money was given as a series of individual donations, the prosecution said, adding that such an act violates the law governing political funding. "Even if they were given as donations, Supreme Court precedents make it clear that they can be punished for receiving bribes when the money is related to their jobs," said Park Chol-joon, a senior prosecutor. "Some lawmakers on the health and welfare committee, who also received donations from Jhang, actually returned the money because they thought it was inappropriate."

The prosecution said it will also file an indictment against Jhang after investigating the lawmakers, but Jhang will not be jailed. The Seoul Central District Court rejected the prosecutors' request for a detention warrant , saying Jhang was not a flight risk. Jhang has also been accused of embezzling about 300 million won from the association's coffers. Prosecutors have been investigating the Korean Medical Association for the last month, along with the Association of Korean Oriental Medicine and the Korean Dental Association, over allegations that lawmakers received bribes from the groups in return for influencing laws.

A leaked transcript of Jhang's remarks at a closed-door meeting with association officials prompted the probe. Jhang was quoted as saying that he had given money to lawmakers to influence legislation. Later, Jhang said his remarks were an exaggeration, but he still resigned from his post with the association. The Ministry of Health and Welfare has finalized the bill and it is pending in the assembly. (Source: Joongang Daily.) (EPILOGUE: On 8 Jun, both GNP lawmakers Reps. Kim Byoung-ho and Ko Kyung-hwa, were suspended from the GNP pending the outcome of their trials.)

---

---

Almost Half of Rural Grooms Marry Foreign Brides (Mar 2007) The National Statistical Office (NSO) announced on 27 Mar that more than four out of 10 Korean grooms from rural areas married foreign brides last year. According to a survey of nationwide marriage data, of the 8,596 men from rural areas or fishing villages who married last year, some 3,525 or 41 percent chose women from overseas -- a rise of 5.1 percentage points from the year before. (SITE NOTE: In Apr 2007, the statistics changed to one in eight marriages in Korea were interracial. According to Supreme Court statistics based on the national family register, international marriages took 12 percent of the total number of marriages last year. Among the 337,000 couples that registered marriage, 39,000 were mixed-race. About 14,400 brides had come from China, followed by 9,800 from Vietnam, 1,400 from Japan, 1,100 from the Philippines, 550 from Mongolia and 380 from Cambodia. The number of divorces between international couples had also increased sharply, taking up 5 percent of the total number of divorces in Korea last year. (Source: Korea Herald.)

Of those marriages, some 2,394 or two thirds were to Vietnamese women, up from 1,535 in 2005. The number of Korean men nationwide who married Vietnamese women reached 10,131, which is a 74 percent increase from 2005. Park Kyung-ae of the NSO said that the number of Vietnamese brides in Korea under age 20 rose in 2006, with some 7,800 in their late teens, the most since 1990. Marriages in total were up last year due to the double spring year according to the Lunar calendar. There were 332,800 marriages last year, which is 5.2 percent more than the year before. The rate of increase is the highest in 10 years since 1996 when there was a 9.1 percent increase.

Some 77.2 percent of marriages last year were first marriages, which is 3.3 percent higher than the year before. But second marriages decreased 2.3 percent to 12.4 percent of all marriages, the lowest since 1970 when statistics were first kept. The average age of those marrying for the first time was 30.9 for men and 27.8 for women. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.)

---

S.Korea Resumes Aid Shipments to N.Korea (Mar 2007) South Korean aid shipments to North Korea resumed in full swing after video reunions of separated families began on 27 Mar. The government sent 60,000 blankets to North Korea on 28 Mar. The shipment of blankets, part of a flood relief campaign, was halted after Pyongyang conducted a nuclear test last October.

The shipment also included 11 other relief items including disinfectants for the prevention of foot-and-mouth disease. Some 15,000 tons of rice and 70,000 tons of cement will go north next month.

A ship carrying 6,500 tons of fertilizer left Yeosu port for North Korea, part of 300,000 tons of fertilizer due to be sent to the North by late June. The provision of fertilizer will cost W108 billion (US$1=W939) including freight fees. North Korea asked the South Korean Red Cross to offer fertilizer aid on March 7.

The government will provide North Korea with some W3.5 billion of materials and W400 million in cash for the construction of a family reunion center equipped with video facilities. Originally the South was supposed to provide LCD monitors for the center, but the U.S. has banned shipments of LCD monitors to North Korea, so the cash will go to buying LCD monitors from China.

The two sides will discuss when and how 400,000 tons of rice worth W200 billion will be sent across the border at a meeting of the Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation Committee which will open in Pyongyang on April 18. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.)

EPILOGUE: N.Korea May Have Diverted Cash Aid (Feb 2008) In March last year South Korea gave US$3.8 million worth of aid, including $400,000 in cash and building materials, to North Korea to build a center for inter-Korean video-link family reunions in Pyongyang. But North Korea has not even started construction on the site, it was known on 10 Feb.

The donation violated a ban on cash aid to North Korea, but South Korea's Ministry of Unification said at the time that there would be no room for suspicious dealings because the North agreed to inform the South where the money was spent and the South agreed to visit the construction site to find out whether the money and materials were used properly. It has been almost a year since the aid was delivered, but it is not clear what the North has done with the cash and building materials. The South Korean government has demanded that it be allowed to visit the construction site, but the North has brushed off the requests, saying it will show the site "next time" or after the center is dedicated.

Explaining the cash aid at the time, the South Korean government said the money was to be used to purchase LCD monitors and computers which are needed for the video reunion center but cannot be shipped to North Korea according to U.S. Export Administration Regulations.

But many experts believe that argument was just an excuse to give Pyongyang the cash. Seoul could have solved the problem by consulting with the U.S. as it did with the Kaesong Industrial Complex, or it could have bought the equipment for Pyongyang in China.

Song Dae-sung, a senior researcher at the Sejong Institute, a private non-profit think-tank in South Korea specializing in security, national unification, and foreign affairs, said, "The cash aid sent to the North may have been used for three purposes -- slush funds for North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, funding for the North Korean Army or funding for the North Korean Workers Party. It may also have been used to fund clandestine North Korean operations in South Korea or for military purposes."

On eight occasions from early April to late August last year, South Korea delivered to the North building materials such as cement, iron bars, electric cable, tiles, drills, adhesive glue, interior furnishings, elevators, and air-conditioning and heating equipment. It also sent 10 buses and six Rexton SUVs.

When sending the materials, Seoul demanded five times that the North allow South Korean officials to visit the construction site and provide details on where the materials were used. All such demands were rejected. However North Korea reportedly showed South Korean officials a vacant lot in November last year, indicating that construction still had not begun. An official with a construction firm said, "North Korea must have already used the cement, iron bars and cable for other purposes since they become useless five to six months after leaving the factories." (Source: Chosun Ilbo.)

(SITE NOTE: We are concerned that the people that "bought" the slaves are going to be allowed to go unpunished. Simply because they could not find people willing to work in their businesses is not an excuse. In the past, there have been instances uncovered where a mentally retarded man was used as a slave for over 30 years and none of the neighbors ever reported it. There is something morally wrong with Korea that abolished slavery in the 1890s -- but still tolerates it even when it is in front of their noses.

The TV program "PD" has revealed instances where mentally retarded people have been used as slaves for over thirty years with no one reporting it. It showed one mentally retarded man lived in a hovel fit only for animals. We are outraged that this form of slavery has been tolerated by the ROK populace for so long. It is unforgivable that neighbors could see this occurring but say nothing.)

“When the courts allowed the Saemangeum reclamation to continue, the only caveat that the judges gave was that good water quality must be maintained. This is clearly not happening, but is never mentioned by media. Some indicators of severe water quality and environmental degradation:

1) Red algal sludge, outer Dongjin, May 2007.
2) Although claimed to be environmentally-friendly, large-scale reclamation causes severe water pollution and mass die-offs in many species. Dongjin, May 2007.
3) With almost no tidal movement, many tidal creeks are now filled with foam and garbage. Mangyeung, late April 2007.
4) Throwaway society. While claiming that good water quality can be maintained, Okgu tidal-flats, which once supported tens of thousands of shorebirds, is now littered with garbage. April 2007.“

. . . “Incredible as it seems, no open or clear program was in place to monitor the impacts on wildlife of this massive project - despite South Korea being a signatory to the Ramsar Convention, despite Ramsar Resolution 9.15 in 2005, recommending “the government of the Republic of Korea advise the Secretary General of the current situation concerning the sea-wall construction and reclamation of the Saemangeum coastal wetlands, and the impact of the construction work undertaken to date on the internationally important migratory waterbird populations dependent upon these wetlands” (Ramsar Res. 9.15.27.10). Even more incredible, the major project proponents such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) and the Ministry of Construction and Transport have continued to insist that the reclamation is “environmentally friendly”.

(Source: Marmot's Hole, May 2007.)

---

May 2007

Vacationers say they'll skip Korea (May 2007) Korea places 10th out of 14 potential destinations in Asia for travelers from the U.S., China, Japan, and seven other countries planning vacations within the next two years, according to a study by Visa Card and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) performed from February 20 to March 2 of this year. Only 29 percent of the 5,050 survey participants said they would choose Korea.

Thailand, Hong Kong, and Japan were top destination choices, with 57 percent, 48 percent, and 47 percent of respondents saying they would like to visit those countries. Thailand was popular because of its "natural beauty," its "user friendly," and because the Thai people are thought to be friendly, too. "Korea does not have a lot of culture and tourism infrastructure, its 'tour products' are expensive, and the language makes communication difficult," said Jang Seong-bin of Visa. Most respondents were found to place a high degree of significance on a destination's environment and on the preservation of cultural assets. As many as 70 percent said they would be willing to pay more for tour products if the money goes to preserving the natural environment, cultural and historical sites, and in culture-related development funds. (Source: Hankyoreh News.) (SITE NOTE: We have stated in the past that the Korean National Tourism Organization (KNTO) has done a terrible job of promoting Korea. In addition, most people in the past thought of Korea as a bargain shopping spot, but it priced itself out of the market -- leaving what? There is not much to offer to foreign tourists except Kyongju -- a tourist spot developed back in the 1970s for the Japanese tourist trade. If one asked a European or American where Korea was the chances are they would not know the location. Also ask about Korea and people say it is a dangerous place because of North Korea. The bottomline is that Korea does NOT have any real foreign tourist attractions -- only for domestic consumption only -- and even its national parks are really only for the domestic trade. Korea deserves to be shunned as it has not done enough to develop world-class tourist spots -- palaces, historical sites, etc.)

High Cost Limits Korean Tourism (Jul 2007) Korea seems to be losing its charm as a tourist destination as the strong currency hits the inbound travel market hard. For the past five years, the won has gained by more than 40 percent -- one of the highest in the world. Riding high on the strong won, a record high 14 million Koreans are expected to go overseas this year but the 2007 target of attracting 7 million inbound travelers may not be realized.

Korea ranks eighth in the world in the number of outbound travelers after Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, China, France, Japan and Spain. Korean outbound travelers have spent $8.4 billion more than foreign inbound tourists last year. The gap is expected to widen this year, according to the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO). Korea is one of the most expensive cities for global trotters. The recent strong won has kept many foreign tourists away from Korea and is encouraging locals to go overseas, especially to Japan.

Seoul's prices for accommodations are one of the highest in the world. According to the 2007 Corporate Travel Index by Business Travel News, an American businessman needs to pay $396 to stay in Seoul for one day including hotel fees, food and other expenses such as taxi fares. The figure is the eighth highest among the world's 100 cities excluding American cities -- Moscow topped the ranking, followed by London and Paris. Seoul even surpassed Tokyo, which ranked 25th. Expenses may be lower for ordinary tourists, who neither need to stay at a five-star hotel nor eat at fancy restaurants for business entertaining. Nevertheless, the cost for food and shopping and other tourist activities are not particularly impressive. The high cost is mainly due to lodging, which makes up the largest portion of travel costs.

At Seoul's COEX InterContinental the average one-night rate was 336,797 won in 2005, according to the Federation of Korean Industries. The rates of similar quality hotels in Asia were 259,938 won for the Shangri-La in Hong Kong; 157,338 won for the InterContinental in Singapore; 146,592 won for the Shangri-La in China; and 304,559 won for the Akasaka Prince in Japan. The rate has become even higher since the government abolished a system of cutting value added tax on hotel rooms for foreigners in 2004. The abolishment resulted in about a 10 percent rise in hotel prices.

Due to high hotel-room rates, some travel agencies accommodate tourists at cheap, low-end motels outside of Seoul. However, efforts to reduce travel costs have drawn complaints from many inbound tourists for substandard services. ``I don't usually stay at hotels as I know they are pricey. Tourist inns, or motels are reasonable although not all inns are clean. Some blankets and pillows are not actually cleaned before new guests guest arrive,'' said a Filipino in Korea, who identified himself as Alfonso. To solve the problem, KTO has developed a medium- and low-priced hotel chain brand named Benikea, from ``Best Night in Korea.'' It was designed to provide economic rates and quality services and five hotels have joined. But it may take time for Benikea to get recognition among tourists.

Travel expenses in Korea have become even higher due to the won's rise against foreign currency, especially against the yen. The won-yen exchange rate has fallen to less than 750 won per 100 yen, the lowest in about 10 years since the 1997 financial crisis in Asia. As Japanese travelers make up about 40 percent of total visitors to Korea, the strong won has significantly influenced the Korean tourism market. Lotte Hotel in central Seoul, the most popular hotel among Japanese, has seen a reduction of guests by 0.8-15 percent over the past two and half years. Korean tourists to Japan are expected to approach 2.4 million this year from 1.7 million in 2005, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization. Koreans can shop at lower prices in Japan than in Seoul, and shops at major shopping areas such as Roppongi Hills have prepared Korean-language information leaflets.

Golfers who used to head to Southeast Asia are now heading to Japan. It costs about 300,000 won to play one round of golf in Korea, and a two-day golf trip to Jeju Island, including airfare and lodging, costs some 450,000 won. However, if you pay an additional 100,000 won, you can play golf in Japan -- a three-day golf trip to Kagoshima in Japan is priced at 549,000 won by Hana Tour. Korean travelers are engrossed in what is called ``Buy Japan'' shopping thanks to the cheaper yen. This is a reverse trend prevalent a few years ago.

The won's strength against the dollar and the yen has led to not only a reduction in the number of visitors but also to the amount of money tourists spend here. In 2000, a foreign traveler spent an average $1,279, but it dropped to $938 in 2005. On the other hand, the money a Korean traveler spent overseas increased from $1,120 in 2000 to $1,185 in 2005, according to the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute. ``Increasing the number of visitors is important, but inviting high-end visitors is more important,'' Cho Minho, a professor at Hanyang University's tourism division, said. ``It is impossible to forcibly cut hotel rates or other fees. Rather, Korea should develop a varied range of tourist programs, from low-cost ones for backpackers to luxurious ones for high-end customers,'' he said. (Source: Korea Times.)

---

U.S. Nursing Test Suspended in Korea (May 2007) A local school for Koreans studying for a U.S. nursing exam was caught giving lectures based on questions from previous exams, which is illegal. Test takers compiled the questions after the exam, which is required for those who want to become registered nurses in America.

The U.S.-based National Council of State Board of Nursing on April 16 suspended the nurse licensing exam in Korea. The exam had been given in Seoul since January 2005. If the American Nurses Association (ANA) decides to permanently ban Korea as an exam site, applicants would have to go to Japan or Hong Kong to take it. The U.S. National Council of State Boards of Nursing might remove South Korea from the list of countries where the test can be given outside the United States, South Korea's Health Ministry said on 2 May. The council, which administers the test, has not been accepting registrations for the test here since April 16, according to the ministry.

The U.S. council asked the Foreign Ministry to stop cram schools from using test questions illegally reproduced from people who took the test in March of this year and last year, according to the ministry. The ANA had asked that local cram schools be prevented from using the old exam questions, and in March declared that Korea would be banned as a test site if the situation didn't improve by April 15. The Korean government including the Ministry of Health & Welfare and the Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development asked the school to stop using the questions.

Even the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade got involved in the issue and discussed the matter with related organizations earlier this year. The National Police Agency has even considered charging the school with intellectual property rights violations. But it is not easy to crack down on them. "Test takers voluntarily memorize and reproduce the questions. We have not found any illegal activities done by the cram schools," said an official at the Education Ministry who refused to be named. (SITE NOTE: The bottomline is that the ROK will do nothing to stop the cram schools.)

Last year, 2,145 people took the U.S. test here, up from 1,342 in 2003. In 2005 some 1,234 Korean applicants passed the exam for a passing rate of 71.5 percent. That's far higher than the 40 to 50 percent passing rates in other countries such as Japan and Australia. Due to language problems, however, the actual number of Korean applicants who were employed in the U.S. was 215 in 2005 and 66 in 2006. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.)

On 4 May it was reported that three Koreans who passed a U.S. test to become a registered nurse there had their scores canceled for leaking questions from the test to cram schools, according to the Education Ministry. The three took the test here in March. They said they recently received a letter from the U.S. National Council of State Boards of Nursing canceling their scores because they violated test regulations. In the letter, the council said it had confirmed that the test-takers leaked questions to a cram school, which used them on its Web site. Test-takers are required to make a pledge that they won’t reveal the test questions.

“After the test, I met and talked with the president of the cram school at a coffee shop because I had gotten to know him very well while taking a course there,” said one test-taker who refused to be named. “But I never told him the test questions. It is not fair for the council to cancel the score without providing any evidence.” The three test-takers said they would send a letter to the council denying the charges and would file a legal suit if necessary. (Source: Joongang Ilbo.)

---

FINALLY "Senior" N. Korean defector wins lawsuit over passport (May 2007) On 3 May, Kim Dok-hong, a senior North Korean defector, won a lawsuit against the South Korean government, which would not issue a passport to him out of apparent fear the overseas activities of the vocal critic of the communist North might undermine inter-Korean relations. Kim Dok-hong filed the suit against the Foreign Ministry in 2005 after he was denied a passport several times starting in 2003. Overturning a lower court ruling, the Seoul High Court ordered the ministry to renounce its decision made in January of last year not to issue the passport. According to the Passport Act, the government can withhold the issuance of a passport to people who they believe might hurt national interests or the public’s security. (Source: Joongang Ilbo.)

(SITE NOTE: The real reason is that the ROK fears that Kim Dok-hong would divulge his intelligence information to the US if left to visit the US unrestricted. Hwang Jang-yop and Kim Dok-hong defected through China in Feb 1997. They arrived in Seoul on April 20 after staying in the ROK Consulate in Beijing for 34 days and in the Philippines for 33 days. (See 1997 News Brief: FAS for 1997 defection.)

Hwang was born on February 17, 1923 in Kang-dong, P'yngannam-do Province. He joined the Workers Party in 1946 and studied at Moscow University between 1949 and 1953. After returning home, he was President of Kimilsung University, Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly and President of the Juche Idealogy Research Institute. At the time of his defection in February 1997, he was secretary of the Workers Party in charge of international affairs and chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly -- the highest ranking defector. The motive for Hwang Jang-yop's defection was because he felt an aversion to Kim Jong-il, who was unconcerned about the severe food shortage and was preparing for war and oppressing the people, since attaining power -- though not assuming the mantle of power immediately -- following the death of Kim Il Sung on July 8, 1994. Hwang was convinced that the Kim Jong-il regime had to collapse as soon as possible. Like Kim Dok-hong, Hwang was refused a passport at first and then under pressure from the US government, he was allowed to visit the US to give talks at US universities (i.e., Georgetown University). However, during his visit, Hwang was never allowed to be alone with US government officials or scholars for fear of intelligence breaches -- and always monitored by a ROK NIS "aide" in the background.

Kim Dok-hong, on the other hand, is a "minor" fish compared to Hwang -- both economically and socially in DPRK circles. One can see that Kim was not in the same social and economic strata as Hwang by comparing where Kim's children went to school and the positions they attained. Kim Dok-hong was born on January 22, 1939 in iju, P'ynganbuk-do Province. After graduating from Kimilsung University in 1964, he worked in the university administration as an adviser until 1981 when he began to work at the Workers Party Juche Ideology Research Institute. In 1994, he became deputy chief of the Office of Documents and Research of the Central Committee of the Workers Party, director of the International Juche Foundation and president of the Yogwang General Trading Company. As for his family, he left a wife, Pak Pong Shik, and one son and three daughters living with his mother in P'yngyang. (See 1997 News Brief: FAS for Kim Dok-hong background material.)

As he has been in South Korea for a decade, the ROK may feel his intelligence value has decreased -- and are willing to let the US pump him for intel. Kim wants to visit the United States to speak about human rights conditions in the North. Expect an invitation from "think tanks" in the US to talk on DPRK affairs in the near future -- with emphasis on his first-hand experience as a ROK DPRK refugee and the assimilation process.)

---

See Japan Collaborators Face Land Seizure (Feb-May 2007) for Roh Administration move to confiscate lands of "collaborators" that were inherited by descendents.

---

Larger Denominations in 2009 (May 2007) South Korea will introduce the equivalent of $50 and $100 bills by 2009, Bank of Korea officials announced on 2 May. The person to appear on the bill has not been decided. South Korea’s largest denomination bill, 10,000 won (about $10), was issued in 1973, according to bank officials. The new 50,000 and 100,000 bills were rejected in recent years because officials feared inflation problems.

---

Incheon to Build World's Largest Tidal Power Plant (May 2007) The city of Incheon plans to construct the world's largest tidal power plant on Ganghwa Island. The city signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) at the Ramada Songdo Hotel with Korea Midland Power Co. and Daewoo Engineering & Construction to jointly build the Ganghwa tidal power plant.

The project will start with the construction of a 7.8-km-long dam connecting the four islands of Ganghwa, Gyodong, Seokmo and Seogeom at a cost of W1.78 trillion (US$1=W927). It should be finished by 2014. Following the installation of 32 tidal power generators, power will begin to flow in 2015. Incheon and the builders will next month sign an official agreement with more details including management information and a budget, based on a research report by Daewoo E&C. The project must first be approved by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy. Tidal power plants generate electricity by using tidal currents to spin turbines. Dams are built in places where the difference between the ebb and flow of the tide is high.

The dam includes a sluice that opens to allow the tide to flow into a basin. The sluice is then closed, and as the sea level drops, it lets the water fall to turn the turbine and generate electricity. Traditional hydro-power plants generate electricity from body of water that must be higher in elevation than the turbines. The Incheon island group has a high tidal difference, with a maximum of 7.64m and an average of 5.57m. At 812 megawatts (MW), the Ganghwa plant will have the largest output capacity of any tidal plant in the world, the city said. The current largest is the Rance tidal plant in France with a capacity of 240MW, while another plant under construction in Shihwa Lake will have a capacity of 254MW. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.)

---

Number of Births Grows for 1st Time in 6 Years (May 2007) For the first time in six years, in 2006 South Korea saw an increase in births over the previous year, an indication that a range of government incentives aimed at boosting birthrates are beginning to take effect. The National Statistical Office (NSO) reported that 452,000 babies were born in 2006, up 14,000 from a year earlier. It was the first annual increase since 2000 when the number of births rose to 637,000, up 21,000 from the previous year. The average number of babies born per women aged 15-49 also rose for the first time in three years to 1.13 last year, up from an all-time low of 1.08 in 2005.

But Korea still has a lower birth rate than the majority of member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to the statistical office. American women had an average of 2.05 infants last year, followed by 1.98 in France, 1.8 in Britain and 1.26 in Japan. The crude birthrate (CBR), which indicates the number of children born per 1,000 people, stood at 9.3 infants, up from 9 in 2005. (Source: Korea Times.) (SITE NOTE: However, this slight rise is considered temporary as there was a upsurge in marriages as 2007, the year of the golden pig, was considered an auspicious year. Tax incentives from the government may have helped. The birth rate is still considered below what would make the ROK a "viable society." In other words, the ROK must increase the numbers above 2.0.)

---

Here We Go Again: Gangster Press -- Fair Trade Commission Fines Three Major Dailies (Mar 2007) The Fair Trade Commission on 12 Mar fined the country's three largest newspapers a combined W552 million (US$1=W944) for offering excessive numbers of free copies for marketing purposes. It was the first time the FTC has fined the publishers for the distribution of free copies. Charging that the Chosun, Dong-a and JoongAng Ilbo in 2002 offered through their distributors free copies in excess of 20 percent of paid copies, the commission fined the Chosun Ilbo W240 million and the Dong-a and Joong-Ang W174 million each. (SITE NOTE: Roh Moo-hyun labeled the primary conservative newspapers the "Gangster Press" when he was the Minister of Fisheries for a short time under Kim Dae-jung. He has made it his personal vendetta ever since embroiling the National Tax Service, the Fair Trade Commission and the prosecutors office. The case has been to the Supreme Court with a partial win for the newspapers. See Korea Events: 2006 for details.)

The FTC inspected the three major dailies based on complaints filed by a pro-government group calling itself Citizens' Coalition for Democratic Media and other civic organizations. Experts questioned the move. Prof. Park Chun-il at Sookmyung Women's University said, "The commission has interpreted the concept of paid newspaper copies for expedience." Prof. Kim Woo-ryong at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies said, "It's unfair to regulate premium newspapers while leaving free newspapers untouched." Others questioned the motive of the FTC, which has its hands full dealing with violations by big corporations, decided to swoop on the newspaper market, which accounts for no more than 0.001 percent of GDP.

Kim Won-joon, the director of the FTC's Business Group Division said the core issue was whether paid newspapers constituted money collected from distributors or money received from the subscribers. "We've decided that the number of paid copies at the head office should be identical with that of the paid newspaper copies its distributors deliver and collect money for from subscribers," he said. During a briefing on unfair transactions by 54 newspaper distributors, however, Kim said newspaper distributors "are independent businesses." "Because a newspaper differs from a distributor, it's inappropriate to announce the amount of fines for distributors together with those of newspaper firms rather than individually," he said.

This contradicts an earlier FTC announcement that newspaper head offices are sanctioned based on the number of paid copies handled by their distributors, which seems to treat distributors as subordinate entities to the publisher. Prof. Park says it is hard to accept that the FTC sanctions dailies based on an interpretation made for the sake of convenience when there is no established standard for what constitutes the number of paid copies. "Sanctions based on data on the number of paid newspaper copies declared at the Korea Audit Bureau of Circulations result in disadvantages to newspaper firms affiliated with the ABC," Prof. Kim said.


The combined 2005 sales of the country's 10 largest newspapers stood at W1.51 trillion, a mere 0.001 percent of GDP. Yet the FTC's sanctions are concentrated on the newspaper market. Of the 128 issues presented to the FTC's Plenary Council last year, 36 or 28.1 percent involved the newspaper market, according to Rep. Kim Yang-soo of the Grand National Party. In other words, one-third of the Plenary Council's business was allotted to regulating that tiny industry. And of the 150 compensations (W283 million) paid out to those who reported violations of the Fair Trade Law since 2003, 135 or 90 percent of the total (W173 million) were related to newspaper firms.

The FTC claims it investigates newspaper firms based on information provided and declarations filed. But of the 748 investigations the commission conducted on newspaper companies from 2003 to September last year, the FTC launched 561 or 75 percent of its own initiative. The FTC director, Kwon Oh-seung, said late last year, "We will counter malicious reports on the press with malice." Rep. Kim Yang-soo comments, "The FTC, in collaboration with the administration, is attacking media outlets critical of the government through unfair trade investigations." (Source: Chosun Ilbo.)

Controversy over Huge Newspaper Bounties by FTC (May 2007) The FTC announced on 10 May that it decided to pay a total of 195,320,000 won (US$210,000) as a monetary reward to 99 people who reported violations of local newspapers such as handing out giveaways and free newspapers at a committee meeting responsible for providing rewards for reporting violations. This is the largest amount for a single kind of violation that the committee has paid since 2002 when the FTC introduced a bounty system to prevent violations in fair trade (The regulations for the newspaper industry were adopted in 2005).

Critics say that the large reward is out of proportion because the violation cases of the newspaper industry are smaller and less serious than those of other industries such as those of large conglomerates, and the disproportionate reward might be used to punish newspapers critical of the administration.

A total of 110 violations were reported and most of them were found when the FTC launched a major investigation into hundreds of newspapers in Seoul and the metropolitan area at the end of last year. Depending on the degree of violations, the rewards ranged from 300,000 won to 10 million won. The average amount of the monetary reward was 1,970,000 won, the largest amount since the bounty system was introduced.

The FTC has come up with various incentives to increase the reporting of violations since last May. It doubled the maximum amount of bounty from 5 million to 10 million won per report and increased its "multiple rewards" program in accordance with the amount of evidence provided. The multiple rewards refer to a reward system that pays as much as 20 times the price of any illegal giveaways, such as a department store gift certificate that a certain newspaper offered readers to generate subscriptions.

The FTC has paid more money in rewards this year than in the previous seven cases: a total of 173,710,000 won. Some branch offices of newspapers criticized that, "The government intends to turn small branch offices into felons by paying out billions of won in rewards." "Free newspapers are all over the subways and numerous Internet portal sites are openly handing out free gift certificates. The government's regulation of the selling practices of newspapers is nothing but muzzling the press," said a chief of a newspaper branch office in Gyeonggi Province.

(SITE NOTE: The free newspaper issue also has another side effect. It clogs the subways with unwanted trash. In the past old people used to collect the newspapers to sell, however, passengers complained. As it presently stands, the old people are banned from collecting the newspapers on the trains and now the litter has increased. The Railway Authority has no solution to the problem.)

---

Sports Figures, Children of Top Officials Avoid Military Service (May 2007) Since March, the prosecution has raided about 149 companies, largely in the high-tech sectors, suspected of employing young draftees who were unqualified for their positions. Under the current system, students and skilled workers meeting certain requirements may work in designated corporations in need of industrial technology experts for a certain period of time. They are exempt from active military duty in exchange for service at some 18,000 companies designated by the Seoul Military Manpower Administration. Others who are not up to the physical rigors of the army can serve in government agencies or local district offices as public servants. All able-bodied Korean men must fulfill a 24-month military service obligation.

Prosecutors said hundreds of unqualified students are suspected of bribing their way into many of the companies. Most of the suspects are sons of people in high public office, businessmen and renowned entertainers. Prosecutors found that 56 children of top officials are working at companies instead of doing compulsory military service and nearly 40 of them have no qualifications for their jobs. According to a report by the Military Manpower Administration sent to Rep. Kwon Young-se (GNP), some top officials are suspected of unfairly exempting their children from military service.

The report said officials in law circles have the largest number of children avoiding military service. Children of officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade formed the second biggest group. Under military law, men doing national service could alternatively work at companies designated by the administration. Prosecutors have investigated the companies and found that many young draftees who were unqualified for their positions are working there.

In 2004, Song Seung-heon, a popular actor, made headlines when it was discovered he had bought his way out of the service by submitting tainted urine samples that suggested he was suffering from certain illnesses and was thus unfit for the army. Song finished his service in November of last year, but has kept a low profile, trying to gauge public opinion on his return to the entertainment world. Athletes and gifted people in the arts can get a free pass by performing exceptionally well at international competitions, such as the Asian Games, the Olympics or the soccer World Cup. Artists such as pianists need to win a recognized international competition in order to be exempted.

The abuse of the exemption system by sports figures of military service age is also under investigation. It was found that sums of money were paid to the companies to procure the positions for the athletes. The athletes claimed that they practiced after work and fulfilled their job requirements. Prosecutors were building their cases against the companies. The investigation started in Apr 2007 and is still continuing as investigators expanded the scope outside of Seoul with other companies. (SITE NOTE: The administration wants this to go away, but this topic always surfaces near Presidential elections. President Roh should now best of all as he used false accusations against the GNP candidate of his wife's bribery and his sons evading military service for a contrived weight problem. These were later proved false, but the damage had been already done.)

Expanding Probe (May 2007) Investigators at the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ office are expanding their probe into conscription evasion after being tipped off about case involving a son of a celebrity. An insider of the prosecution said, “We were informed that the son of a celebrity who had worked at an IT-related firm with military exemption status effectively received the job through irregularities. Although the statute of limitations is over in relation to illegally obtaining the job, we are investigating whether there were bribes involved in the process of getting the job.” He also added, “We received another report and are now investigating another company that allegedly was bribed huge sums of money in exchange for hiring such employees.” (Source: Donga Ilbo.)

Investigation Expands: Student at Prestigious University Pays for Military Exemption and Singers under review (Jun 2007) The 6th Criminal Department of the Seoul Eastern Prosecutors` Office applied for advance warrants of arrest for Mr. Kwon (26, a senior at S University college of engineering) and Mr. Jeong (27, former president of company “I”). Kwon is being charged with bribing Jeong for employment in a special military service company. Kwon, who was due for active service, had taken leave from his university and worked as a math teacher in a private institution in Daegu. In March 2006, Kwon met Jeong at a job fair and asked him to put his name on his company’s employment list so that it would look as if he were working as an industrial technician agent. Kwon is suspected of having given Jeong a total of 39 million won in three installments. Kwon used the 100 million won he had received from the private institution to pay Jeong for this favor. Kwon did not work at all at company “I,” which Jeong was the president of, and continued to work as a math tutor. (SITE NOTE: 100 million won seems exorbitant as a figure for a math tutor -- even one from a prestigious university. Something is not right in this report.)

An official of the prosecutors’ office explained the reason for the warrant, saying, “Kwon was responsible for supporting his family because his father is fighting cancer, but many men under similar circumstances are serving the nation nonetheless.” (SITE NOTE: This is the typical excuse given by Koreans for a multitude of crimes. This appeals to the filial piety instincts in Koreans.)

The prosecution also decided to notify the Military Manpower Administration (MMA) of the nullification of the enlistment of three singers who are being accused of false enlistment. Singers K (27) and L (28) are former members of a popular boy-group, and singer K (28) is a solo artist. In addition, the prosecution is investigating the cases of singers L (30) and C (29), also former members of a boy-group, and hip-hop singer J (29), who was recently summoned for investigation.

On 29 May, prosecutors said they would summon popular singer Park Jae-sang, better known as Psy, over his alleged evasion of military conscription from 2003 to 2005. Park is suspected to have served alternative duty in an IT company despite his lack of technological expertise. He said his family is not in a position to exert influence on the firm, and that he had acquired a state certificate on data processing sufficient to do the work. He said he had "never been absent from work during three years," except on three occasions when he took leave for "unavoidable reasons." The prosecution announced that they had conducted a search on 30 May of the offices of an online education business Y operated by singer PSY’s uncle Mr. Park (52) and PSY’s agency, PSY Entertainment. PSY has been accused of charges of neglecting to perform service. An official of the prosecutors’ office said, “We are using the confiscated material and bank account tracking to see if there were financial transactions among companies Y and F (the software development company where PSY worked) and PSY Entertainment regarding PSY’s neglect of his duties. PSY has notified us that he will not be able to participate in the investigation this week due to a provincial tour, and will be summoned early next week.” (Source: < a href=http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2007060141838>Donga Ilbo.) Prosecutors said on 1 Jun they have issued a summons for pop singer Psy to appear for questioning 4 Jun over allegations that he made a shady deal to substitute his mandatory military service for easier office work. On 5 Jun, it was reported that Psy admitted that he had performed 52 concerts and shows during the period of favored military service and promised to report any additional performances if found during his service. ”Psy served favored military duty at a program developing firm. However, he admitted that he actually had not ability to develop software,” said Han Myeong-gwan, senior prosecutor. “I was not asked about my ability to develop software in entry interview and actually was in charge of planning and program test rather than developing programs,” Psy was quoted as saying. (Source: Korea Times.) (EPILOGUE: In Jun, the Psy case was under review whether Psy would be recalled to military service. However, if so, it was thought that Psy would simply appeal the decision until he was 31 and not eligible for mandatory service. On 3 July the Military Manpower Administration said Park Jae-sang, popularly known as Psy, was to begin his military service as early as August 2007 and undergo a five-week training program in a boot camp for recruits. "Taking all the circumstances into account, Park will have to serve in the military for 20 months," an MMA official said. On 17 Jul it was reported that Park Jae-sang, 30, was officially notified that his substitute military service was no substitute, and that he will have to serve with the troops. An official Military Manpower Administration notice to enlist was sent to Park. On 12 Dec it was reported the Seoul Administrative Court ruled against the entertainer after the pop singer filed a lawsuit against the MMA arguing that it was unfair to nullify his service in the exemption program. The MMA had ordered Psy to return to the army by 16 Dec, and the pop singer filed the suit to try to get the order rescinded. Wednesday's ruling means it is very likely Psy will have to don a uniform.)

Military to tighten conscription rules (Jun 2007) The military has announced that it will tighten rules on alternative services for military conscription amid widening corruption investigations. Beginning in 2008, only conscripts who have majored in relevant areas of study will be permitted to do alternative service at companies with information-technology specialties, the Military Manpower Administration said. Entertainers, sports stars and children of high-profile figures will be regularly monitored, the agency said. "The measures are aimed at prevent reoccurrence of such incidents," Chang Gap-soo, director of the manpower mobilization bureau at the MMA, told reporters. The MMA plans to gradually abolish the alternative military service system by 2012. (Source: Korea Herald.)

As of 2 June, five people had been charged in connection with the investigations, while eight people who had qualified earlier for alternative service have had that status revoked, and they will now have to serve in the military. They also summoned some 20 officials from six companies and 10 soccer players in the same case. Those companies are alleged to have violated the rules, and some allegedly hired company executives' relatives and acquaintances.

While draft dodging scandals occur regularly, the current probes are the first to focus on the abuses of the system of work substitution in private companies. Prosecutors are investigating some 1,800 companies to see if they have taken bribes to hire men seeking to escape the draft, and also to see if such employees even worked at the companies. Psy, for example, has been accused of skipping work altogether to give concert appearances during the time he was supposed to be serving his country.

In recent years the country also has seen conscientious objectors go public with their decisions to refuse to serve, a status not recognized under the law. In August 2004, the Constitutional Court ruled that the military draft law is constitutional and that punishing conscientious objectors is not against the Constitution. Last month, despite recommendations by the National Human Rights Commission, the Justice Ministry took no position on the issue of permitting military draftees to undertake alternative service if they have a moral or religious objection to serving.

The decision reflects the reality that social sentiment here is against draft dodgers and those who shirk their duty to defend the nation. Many analysts believe that presidential hopeful Lee Hoi-chang’s defeat by President Roh Moo-hyun in the last presidential election and by Kim Dae-jung in 1997 was partially due to accusations that his two sons had avoided military service by losing weight. Although the sons were legally cleared of the charges, there was always a question mark over the issue. (Source: Joongang Ilbo.)

College Professor Draft Dodging Case (Jun 2007) The Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office announced on June 14 that it is investigating whether a professor and a college are involved in a draft dodging scandal. Prosecutors found out that Mr. Yoon, a doctorate degree holder from a private S university, was working at a college lab run by his scholastic councilor, not at the H company designated by the Military Manpower Administration (MMA). The prosecution said that although he reported to the MMA that he would work for H company during the term of his military service from June 2004 to February this year, he has been working with his mentor to develop a molding machine at his professor’s college lab instead. Prosecutors plan to arrest Mr. Kim (51), the president of H, on charges of illegally dispatching Yoon, and Yoon will be punished with administrative measures of the MMA. The college lab in question said, “Yoon had to come and work here because specific machines to make a needed mold are only here in our university.” (Source: Donga Ilbo.)

Famous TV Magician and Lawyer Found to be Draft Dodgers (Jun 2007) The prosecution said on 20 Jun that it would request the Military Manpower Administration to cancel employment contracts of three people including the magician, Choi Hyun-woo. Those detected will have to be enlisted as draftees or have to extend their alternative military service at other firms. Since launching the investigation into the illegalities surrounding alternative military service on May 15, the prosecution arrested nine people and charged 23 others without physical detention, including company heads. Of the cases, a total of 63 people were detected to have improperly performed duties and the prosecution requested or will request the manpower administration to cancel contracts of 34 of them.

It is the second time for a celebrity to face such measure, following singer Psy. ``Choi, 29, started with a company June last year but has not shown up at work. Instead, he has held performances and practiced his magic skills in order to take part in a world championship of magic, neglecting his designated duties,'' Han Myeong-kwan, a senior prosecutor said. The company did not receive money from Choi in exchange for the favor, as it has supported the magician since before he started the alternative military service there, according to the prosecutor. Choi, who won the close-up magic award at the International Federation of Magic Societies Convention in 2002, has also appeared on numerous television programs.

The prosecution is also investigating an allegation that a 34-year-old man, who passed the state judicial exam and is currently receiving training at the Judicial Research and Training Institute, provided kickbacks to a firm and neglected his alternative military duties. The man, whose name was not disclosed, was assigned to an IT company between January 2003 and November 2005. But he did not work there and kept studying for the judicial exam by paying 40 million won to the company head. ``We confirmed the money transaction from a bank account of a family member to the company. But we'll decide whether to take legal action after further investigation, as he admits his negligence of duties but claims he did not know about the money transaction,'' Han said. He added it was disappointing that a person who is to become a judicial officer, who should have high moral values, is involved in dereliction of military service. (Source: Korea Times.)

Singers Ordered to Join Army start Legal Battle (Jul 2007) After the singer Psy filed an administrative lawsuit against the Military Manpower Agency (MMA), other pop singers, like Lee Jae-jin and Kang Hyun-soo, also prepared to take legal action. The three singers were ordered to join the army again as they were found to have neglected their duty by working instead at high-tech companies in Seoul where employees are exempt from the country's mandatory military service. The singers have claimed their innocence and pointed out that MMA is responsible for making the wrong decision.

The 30-year-old Park Jae-sang, better known as Psy, has been ordered to begin his military service from August, at the earliest. ``With my certificate which I legally acquired, I worked diligently during my working hours. I can never feel right about myself if I accept the MMA's order to rejoin the army without being able to say `no' to what is not right even though I have not committed a crime," wrote the dance singer Psy on his official Web site. ``I want to get myself cleared by proving my innocence despite difficulties, in order to become a respectable father to my twins who will be born soon.''

Psy not only filed an administrative lawsuit, but also requested the court stop the MMA's execution of his re-enlistment to the army. Spokesman for singer Lee Jae-jin, a member of the now disbanded boy band Sechskies, said that he did not neglect his duties during the employment period. Singer Kang Hyun-soo, 27, who was also ordered to rejoin the army in late August, blamed the MMA for its decision. (Source: Korea Times.)

29 more added to Draft Dodger status (Jul 2007) Although he didn’t release any names, Han Myung-gwan, head prosecutor of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office, said at a press conference on 26 Jul that a total of 127 men, including the newly discovered 29, have been booked for violating the law on substitute military service. Prosecutors began their investigation in April. Han said his team asked the Military Manpower Administration to revoke alternative service status for 98 of the men, Han said. Many of the men are suspected of using their wealth or privileged position to avoid serving in uniform.

Prosecutors also on 26 Jul sought arrest warrants for three heads of companies who, they said, hired unqualified students from their college to exempt them from military service. Eleven other owners were also booked on similar charges without detention. Since April 25, the prosecution has investigated about 300 of 1,800 such companies to see if they took bribes to hire such men and also to verify whether the employees actually worked there.

Among the 29 men who were newly booked, two are the sons of former vice minister-level government officials, the prosecution said. Both are graduates of U.S. colleges. One of them, identified only as a 27-year-old with the family name Kim, regularly skipped work, while the other, 26, surnamed Jang, worked at a wine-waiter training agency, instead of the designated company, Han said. The head of the company owns the training agency. (Source: Joongang Ilbo.)

---

Massive Corruption Scandal Rocks Korea's Art Community (May 2007) A police investigation has revealed that many winners of the Grand Art Exhibition of Korea, the country's largest art contest, were chosen through bribery and corruption. The investigation involves 36 officials with the Korea Fine Arts Association (KFA), the country's leading arts organization, 20 art professor judges, and other influential organizations and individuals. Police asked for arrest warrants for nine people including Mr. Ha, the former director general of the KFA. Ha is accused of awarding prizes at the 25th Grand Art in 2006 in return for bribes from applicants and acquaintances. Forty-nine others including judges, KFA officials, and artists were booked without detention.

Police said that Ha took W10 million (US$1=W924) from a person named Lee in April 28, 2006, and pressured judges to name Lee a winner. Similar irregularities were alleged for three others prizes. Of the 113 art works that received special prizes in the scholastic painting category last year, police said 27 won because of bribes. Police are expanding their investigation to look for corruption in other sections of the art show, including Korean and western painting, handicrafts, and calligraphy. (SITE NOTE: In Korea, if an artist does not have a reputation as a prize winner, there is little demand for his works. Most Korean artists go overseas to earn a reputation and then return to Korea because of this "problem.")

---

Officer Found Shot Dead at Zaytun Unit (May 2007) An Army officer of the Zaytun Unit on peace and reconstruction mission in Iraq has been found shot dead within the unit precinct. This is the first death in the troops since they were dispatched in 2004. "A 27-year-old first lieutenant with family name of Oh was found shot to death at a hospital barber's in the precinct of the Zaytun Unit at 1:45 p.m. in local time (6:45 p.m. KST) Saturday," the Joint Chiefs of Staff announced. 1st Lt. Oh lay dead on the chest with shots in the jaw, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, quoting a general affairs serviceman of the medical administrative affairs team on the scene. A K-2 rifle and an empty cartridge were also found on the scene, it added. 1st Lt. Oh has served as an officer of the medical administrative affairs team of the Zaytun Unit in the northern Iraqi town of Irbil since he was stationed on April 26 as the second batch of the sixth change of troops. "The unit itself is now investigating what caused the incident. There has been confirmed no sign of invasion from outside and fight so far," an official of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The Ministry of Defence and the Joint Chiefs of Staff have set up a task force headed by Lt. Gen. Kim Gun-tae, chief of the Operation, to handle the incident. The ministry has also decided to dispatch an investigation squad to Iraq. (Source: Korea Times.)

Army Officer Believed to Have Committed Suicide (Jun 2007) The Defense Ministry has concluded that an South Korean Army officer found shot dead at a base in Iraq last month had committed suicide due to stress from his duties. First Lt. Oh Jong-soo, 27, was found dead on May 19 with his chin wounded by a gunshot at a barber shop inside the camp of the Zaytun unit in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil. Oh is the first death of South Korean troops since they were deployed there in 2004. "We have found no evidence showing he was attacked and killed," Col. Oh Young-o told reporters after military investigators ended their probe. Oh’s rifle and an empty cartridge were found near Oh's body, he said, adding the Army concluded that he killed himself due to pressure from his work. Oh's body was flown to Seoul and an autopsy was performed to determine the cause of death. But Oh's family called for thorough investigation into the cause of death, refusing to hold a funeral.

"The K-2 rifle found at the scene belonged to 1st Lt. Oh and a bullet was fired from the rifle," the chief investigator of the incident said, adding that his fingerprints were also found on the rifle and the broken seal of the cartridge. He is believed to have pulled the trigger with the rifle pointed at his chin, he said. The chief investigator said the victim might have been under stress from serving as both company leader and officer in charge of medical administrative affairs. "He was at odds with some medical officers at his company," he added. (Source: Korea Times.)

---

First DPRK ship to enter Pusan since Korean War (May 2007) A North Korea-registered cargo ship arrived in South Korea's southeastern port city of Busan for the first time in more than half a century, the latest symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation efforts. The 1,853-ton freighter Kangsong, carrying a 27-member crew, docked at the port around 12:30 a.m. after departing from the North's western port of Nampho Friday, according to local maritime police.


North Korean Ship at Pusan (20 May 2007) (Yonhap News)

The cargo ship is to make three round trips between Busan and the North Korean northeastern port city of Rajin every month beginning 21 May. It was first time a North Korean cargo ship made a call at Busan since the 1950-53 Korean War. Kukbo Express Co., a South Korean company that runs the ship, said it launched the regular service on expectations of steady growth in trade volume between the two Koreas.

South and North Korea are still technically at war since the conflict did not end with a peace treaty, but inter-Korean contact has increased unprecedentedly since the two countries' historic summit in 2000. The cargo ship's visit to Busan is the latest in a series of inter-Korean reconciliation moves. (Source: Hankyoreh News: Yonhap.) (SITE NOTE: The ROK has been permitting the DPRK ships to transit through its waters. When the US attempted to tighten the noose on Korean shipping because of suspected shipments of WMD, the ROK stated that the ships transitting their waters would not be searched.)

---

Changing Perceptions of Japan and Korea (May 2007) A Chosun Ilbo article, “Friendliness Between Japan and Korea Withering,” says that a Gallup Korea survey found that 20 percent of Koreans have friendly feelings toward Japan while 36 percent of Japanese feel the same toward Korea. In 2002, the percentages were 35 percent and 69 percent, which means there have been dramatic drops, especially on the Japanese side. The Koreans blame the drop on their side mainly on the territorial dispute over Dokdo while the Japanese blame their drop on the anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.)

---

See Controversial Roh Press Measure for Government: Lawyers to file constitutional petition to protect the public's right to know (May 2007) for battle between Roh and Press on briefing rooms

---

Koreans Give "F" to Welfare Policies (May 2007) Seven out of every ten Koreans are discontent with the Roh Administration’s unemployment policies and poverty measures. Koreans are more sensitive and negative about the income gap between the rich and the poor than their counterparts in advanced countries, including Americans, French, and Japanese. This newspaper analyzed a report titled “The Vision and Strategy of a Sustainable Korean Welfare State” written by Seoul National University social welfare Professor Ahn Sang-hoon and his team.

At the request of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the team led by Professor Ahn wrote a report based on a survey of 1,200 Korean men and women at the end of last year and turned in the report to the ministry recently. The report showed that 77.2 percent of respondents replied negatively to the question of unemployment policies; 49.8 percent answered the government is doing “badly,” followed by 27.4 percent who said, “very badly.” Meanwhile, 5.4 percent said it is doing “well” and only 0.5 percent said “very well.”

To the poverty prevention and reduction policies, 69.5 percent answered negatively; 51.4 percent said the government is doing “badly,” and 18.1 percent said “very badly.” Moreover, 56.0 percent and 50.0 percent were negative to the current housing policies and education policies, respectively, showing the public’s dissatisfaction with overall welfare policies.

Professor Ahn and his team’s analysis of the awareness of social welfare policies showed Koreans are more negative toward the “income gap” issue than the people of eight other advanced countries: the U.S., Japan, the U.K., France, Germany, Sweden, and Norway. To the question whether the income gap is needed for the development and prosperity (of a society), Koreans scored the highest with 3.51 points next to the French (3.71 points) on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being strong agreement. However, Americans (3.19 points) and Germans (3.22 points) accepted the necessity of the gap more so than Koreans. On a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being strong agreement, Koreans scored the lowest with 1.51 points on the question of whether there is a huge income gap at present. The average score of the 8 advanced countries was 2.08. “The research showed that welfare policies are not satisfactory overall. To tackle the problem, the government should find ways to provide welfare benefits for the middle class that pay most of the nation’s taxes as well as those of the marginalized underclass in the long run,” said Professor Ahn. (Source: Donga Ilbo.)

---

Truth Commission Rules in Scholarship Case (Jun 2007) The presidential Truth and Reconciliation Commission, an independent fact-finding state agency to investigate human rights abuses from the 1910-1945 Japanese colonial rule to the present, concluded that the Park Chung-hee government, using the now-defunct Korean Central Intelligence Agency, was guilty of extortion when it forced a media tycoon to “donate” a scholarship fund to the administration. The Buil Scholarship Foundation was created by Kim Ji-tae, the late head of Samhwa Rubber, the newspaper Busan Ilbo and Busan Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation with an aim to give talented individuals a chance to continue their studies despite economic difficulties. Kim donated the scholarship foundation to the military government in 1962. Kim’s descendants have claimed that the late founder was forced to make the donation. (SITE NOTE: The timing of this decision is pointedly political as the GNP presidential candidate Park Geum-hee, Park Chung-hee's daughter, served as the chairman of the fund until 2005. Pointedly, the descendants have NOT taken this matter to the courts -- but instead turned to the "truth commission" which has had the sole purpose of discrediting Park Chung-hee's crackdown of "democracy fighters." )

In 1982, the scholarship foundation was renamed the Jeongsu Scholarship Foundation, taking syllables from both Park's and his wife Yuk Yeong-su's names (Chung-hee is also spelled Jeong-hui). The ex-Grand National party chairwoman Park Geun-hye, the president’s daughter, served as head of the foundation from 1994 until 2005. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission said in a general meeting Tuesday that officials of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) forced Kim Ji-tae to give the government some 330,000 sq.m of land, his entire stock in the Busan Ilbo and stock in broadcasting companies after he was arrested on charges of spiriting money out of the country in 1962, the year after Park seized power in a military coup.

The commission said this was a glaring example of the extortion of personal wealth by the state. It added that the government should return the scholarship foundation to Kim’s heirs, who it said can file a suit against the state if compensatory measures are not sufficient. Rep. Han Sun-kyu, a spokesman for the former GNP chairwoman, said the scholarship foundation was created for public interest from the start and demanding the return of the foundation now is a politically driven attack. Park is in the running for the GNP presidential nomination. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.)

President Roh Moo-hyun ordered the Cabinet to study measures to return a scholarship foundation to the original owner, Roh's aides said. However, Roh's actions were viewed by Park Geum-hee's supporters as purely political. `The Buil Foundation has already been donated to society, and former Chairwoman Park has nothing to do with it,'' Park's spokesman Lee Jeong-hyun said. ``President Roh virtually gave up his duties and missions and has apparently begun campaigning for the presidential election.'' (Source: Korea Times.)

---

South Korea Tears Down Fences (May 2007) Agence France-Presse reported on 30 May that the ROK will tear down hundreds of miles of barbed-wire fences erected at beaches and riverside areas originally designed to prevent infiltration from the DPRK. There are a total of 644km of such fences along coastlines and rivers but they are unsightly and a nuisance for both tourists and residents. Some 97km of fencing will be torn down this year, including those on 54 beaches in the eastern province of Gangweon. An additional 41km of barbed wire will be removed by the end of 2009 and the rest in phases after that. The fences will be replaced by modern surveillance equipment.

The government plans to begin removing more than 600 kilometers of barbed wire set up along coastal and river areas in the country as part of efforts to modernize the border system and resolve local residents' inconveniences caused by the wire fences. The plan was endorsed during a policy-coordination meeting presided over by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. The three-phase plan will affect a total of 644.3 kilometers of barbed wire fences across the nation. In the first-stage, the military will dismantle by the end of this year 97.2 kilometers of barbed wire in residential and tourist zones and an additional 40.6 kilometers of barbed wire will be removed by the end of 2009 in the second stage.

The rest will be replaced with high-tech surveillance systems. The Defense Ministry plans to introduce a robot surveillance system for the defense of the border and coastal areas by 2011. One option is to employ smart sensor technology as an around the clock sentry along the inter-Korean border to replace soldiers. The military plans to try out the unmanned detection and defense system in May at a military camp outside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). (Source: Korea Times.)

(SITE NOTE: This is not really news. In 1990, the ROK gave up its defense of the coastlines. It is impossible to guard its entire coastline from infiltration from the North. In fact, the North has been proven to infiltrate at will and were only caught when its submarines were snagged on fishing nets or grounded due to engine failure. In fact, the grounded submarine incident was discovered by a passing taxi driver -- not the military. The ROK government basically said that if the farmers or fisherman wish access to the beaches, they could tear the fences down. In other words, it was left up to the local governments. All of the fences at tourism spots or beach parks were removed by the local governments on the west coast. However, the Gangwon area beaches were left fenced because of the incidents of past infiltration there -- with manned stations monitoring the beaches. Unfortunately, the fences impacted on tourism to the areas. Finally the ROK has decided to tear them down -- though the responsibility will be left for the local government to handle, a task Gangwon considers important for tourism. The main reason for reduced emphasis on the sea infiltration is that the DPRK has found it is easier to simply let their spies pose as Japanese or Koreans (or other nationalities) with forged documents. The risks are almost minimal as the last DPRK spies captured admitted that they had entered the ROK multiple times in the past using forged documents.)

---

Russia Wants to Repay Debt with Defense Materials (May 2007) On 30 May the Donga Ilbo reported Korea's efforts to retrieve loans extended to Russia were expected to be challenged despite Russia's former commitment to cash debt repayment from June 1. A Russian diplomatic source from Moscow said on May 30, "Russia made an unofficial proposal in which it would repay $700-800 million in defense industry materials, among the outstanding loans of $1.33 billion that Russia owes Korea."

In September 2003, the Korean government reached an agreement with Russia to cancel $660 million in accrued interest and retrieve the outstanding debt by cash commencing June, 2007. However, the possibility of reclaiming this debt in cash is once more uncertain. With Russia's suggestion, criticism and concern have arisen once again over the Korean government's loan recovery policy and the potential reoccurrence of the failed loan repayment negotiations of four years ago. (SITE NOTE: Actually it was Korea's greed and stupidity that got it into trouble. We remember when Russia collapsed and the ROK saw an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of taking over the businesses in Russia. It did not work out that way and Russia defaulted on its loans. Later in the mid-1990s, the Russians attempted to pay off a portion of their loans with military hardware, but these have ended up as "bastard children" because of the lack of spare parts as US parts do not mate to the Russian models.)

In 2003, the Korean government proposed tax credits for Korean companies making inroads into Russia's special economic zone, Nakhodka, in return for partial debt cancellation, but Russia in effect called off the proposal. Russia insists on paying with materials- On the eve of the loan repayment date, Russia released a proposal based on the provision of the agreement between Korea and Russia from four years ago. The agreement contains the following provision: 'The principle of the loan, due in 2007, will be paid by cash, but if the two parties agree, materials can be used in place of cash.'

Russia appears to be using the debt repayment issue as a channel to sell Russian weapons. Moscow's military experts say, "Russia earns profits just as large as those earned from the exportation of complete goods, selling parts for Landing Craft Air Cushions and the T-86U - products that were given to Korea in place of cash repayments."

Possibility of a "big deal"- Russian participants at the Korea-Russia Economic Forum, held in Seoul on May 28 – just four days before the repayment deadline – allegedly strongly supported the establishment of a Korea-Russian logistics joint venture for modernizing North Korea's outdated railroads. Observers predict that Russia may push ahead with a so called, "big deal," in relation to North Korea's rail roads, while delaying total cash repayment. The potential scenario is that Russia cancels $8 billion that North Korea owes to Russia in return for transferring money for repayment to the North Korea rail roads project. In addressing the issue, a Korean embassy high-ranking official in Russia said, "Currently, the two parties are exchanging debt re a Korea embassy high-ranking official payment opinions informally and no concrete result has been reached." (Source: Donga Ilbo.)

---

It's Protest Season Again... (Jun 2007) Several mass rallies took place on 2-3 Jun in Seoul creating difficulties for citizens meeting in or traveling through the downtown area. On 2 Jun, a coalition of civic groups opposing the free trade agreement (FTA) struck between Korea and the U.S. staged a rally on Daehangno street to call for an annulment of the trade pact. About 4,000 members of the Korean Alliance Against the Korea-U.S. FTA had a memorial ceremony for the death of Huh Se-wook, a taxi driver who set himself ablaze during an anti-FTA demonstration in April. A small group visited the grave site. Despite the police's ban on the rally, the organizers went ahead with it and marched from Maronier Park on Daehangno -- to Seoul Plaza in front of the City Hall by blocking two car lanes. The alliance staged a candlelight vigil afterwards.


FTA Protest over Death of Taxi Driver (2 Jun 2007) (Tongil News)

Students' groups including the outlawed Confederation of Korean Students' Union, or better-known as ``Hanchongnyeon,'' marched in opposition to the government's plan to revise the Private School Law during a rally at Daehangno on 2 Jun. After the rally, they moved to Soongsil University in southern Seoul for a students' gathering. Some 8,000 members of groups opposing the government's plan to change national universities into corporations staged a demonstration in front of Seoul Station on 2 Jun. They marched from the station to Myeongdong Cathedral.

On 3 Jun, an anti-war parade organized by Hanchongnyeon took place. About 4,000 participants marched from Seoul Station to the Cheonggye Plaza. The police dispatched 240 officers during the weekend to major intersections downtown for traffic control.

Massive Rally Against NK Nukes (Jun 2007) On 6 Jun about 200 conservative civic groups led by the Korea Veterans Association held a massive rally denouncing North Korea’s nuclear ambitions in central Seoul on the occasion of the Memorial Day. Tens of thousands of protesters rallied in downtown Seoul against North Korea's nuclear program and the planned transition of wartime operational control between South Korea and the United States. According to the JoongAng Daily, 25,000 people rallied around the flags of the United States and South Korea in front of Seoul City Hall on the occasion of Korea’s Memorial Day. The Korean Veterans Association and an association of Protestant groups made up the majority of the participants. "We will show people's firm resolution against the dismantlement of the Combined Forces Command and transfer of wartime command control," it said. The participants issued a joint statement calling for the complete dismantlement of the North’s nuclear weapons program and halting South Korea’s ``sunshine policy’’ of engaging the Stalinist regime.

The protest was organized by the 6.6 National Convention, an alliance of veterans, religious groups and conservative civic associations, to mark the 52nd Memorial Day. The groups including the Korea Veterans Association and the New Puritan Spiritual Training Center issued a declaration denouncing the government for reconciling with North Korea and weakening the alliance with the United States.



Pro-US Anti-nuke Protest (6 Jun 2007) (Tongil News)



(top) Christian Group in blue T-shirts (bottom) Park Geum-hee and Korean War Veterans group (6 Jun 2007) (Tongil News)

The group said it will continue a signature campaign against the transition of wartime operational control and North Korea's nuclear program. The campaign launched in September last year, aims to gather the signatures of 10 million people. (SITE NOTE: It has gone too far and unfortunately it is unstoppable.)

Lou Dechert, president of the Korean War Veterans Association based in Washington, D.C., will deliver a speech on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and peace treaty. ``Nuclear weapons possessed by the worst autocratic country pose a threat to South Korea and the world, and can devastate the Korean Peninsula,’’ said the draft statement. ``If North Korea does not destroy its nuclear weapons, we will do our best to ensure that South Korea is not taken hostage by North Korean nuclear weapons.’’ (Source: Korea Times and Korea Herald.)

Protests over FTA Resume (Jun 2007) Eight thousand South Koreans gathered downtown on 20 Jun to protest the FTA with the United States, saying it would put the country’s farms out of business. “The agreement is a nuclear bomb to wipe out all the Korean farmers,” said Lee Sang-duk, a 48-year-old livestock farmer from a small town in the southeastern corner of the country, near Busan. Farmers from across the country traveled by tour bus to Seoul City Hall for the peaceful afternoon rally and march, some waving flags and wearing headbands condemning the agreement. South Korean riot police attended the rally, but no major clashes were reported as of the evening of the 20th. Other ROK media sources placed the numbers at 10,000 or more.



International Herald Tribune on 21 Jun reported that the ROK warned a key labor union not to go on strike against a free trade agreement with the US, as the two countries began talks aimed at amending the accord. The Korean Metal Workers' Union, the country's largest with 150,000 members, plans to walk off the job for five days from 26 Jun in protest against the free trade deal. "The general strike is a so-called a political strike and is obviously illegal as it has nothing to do with improving working conditions and aims to block the conclusion of the Korea-US FTA," Labor Minister Lee Sang-soo said in a statement. "The government will deal sternly with the general strike according to laws and principles," Lee said.

---

ROK Space Program to Blast off as Space Center Nears Completion (Jun 2007) Yonhap on 5 Jun reported that the ROK's ambitious space program is expected to receive a critical boost as the country's first space center nears completion, the center's chief said. The ROK plans to launch a rocket, called the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1), and an experimental satellite in December 2008, and become the 13th country in the world to launch a rocket into space on its own. (See ROK Military Events: Korean Space Center for details.)

---

Envoys Fail to Reach Economic Agreement (Mar-Jun 2007) During the 12th Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation Committee in June 2006, the South offered US$80 million worth of raw materials for the production of clothes, shoes and soap in the North. In return the North promised zinc, magnesium, natural resource development rights and the right to sell the products. The South said that the development project should be worked out after the railway trial, but the North demanded the raw materials first. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.) (SITE NOTE: The one-time train test was completed on 17 May 2007 -- but the anticipated surge for unification fervor that had been previously seen in 2006 when the test was cancelled by the North's military did not reappear. The denuclearization issue plus the South becoming more jaded with the North has dampened much of the Unification Ministry's efforts. For example, the rice aid promised with "no strings attached" was delayed until progress on the promised shutdown of the Yongbyon reactor based on a "verbal statement" of the South. At the same time, the North is playing a game of offering the Russians access to the Ranjin port and mining rights to uranium deposits and other mineral rights to gain political leverage.)

Koreas Fail to Agree on Cooperation in Light Industry Sector (Jun 2007) South and North Korea failed to agree on a proposal to swap light industrial raw materials from the South for the North's natural resources in their two-day talks that ended on 8 Jun. The meeting held at the North's border town of Kaesong followed an earlier agreement calling for Seoul to supply Pyongyang with $80 million worth of raw materials to make garments, footwear and soap in exchange for zinc and magnetic ore from the North. (Source: Yonhap News.)

Koreas Agree to Cooperate in Light Industry Sector (Jul 2007) Korea Herald reported on 8 Jul that the Koreas agreed on ways to cooperate in light industry and natural resource exploration. The two Koreas announced they would carry out the written agreement following talks held in the border city of Kaesong. In Friday's overnight talks, the DPRK agreed to accept the materials at the price the ROK suggested. The North will pay the costs for transportation, cargo working and demurrage, while the South is to bear all the costs for shipping, insurance and using ports.

---

Chill in North-South Relations? (Jun 2007) North Korea on 12 Jun accused South Korea of violating the western sea border, and said it would sternly deal with what it calls a military provocation. "The South's war-mongers are continuing a vicious military provocation by sending its warships deep into our territorial waters," the North's People's Army Navy Command said in a statement carried by the country's Korean Central News Agency. The North made the same accusations on May 10, May 21 and May 30.

The ROK government was also snubbed for invitations to the anniversary of the Inter-Korean summit in North Korea. Though civilians were invited, a list of officials from the government had not been accepted. In the end, South Korea finalized a list of delegates to planned joint civic events in Pyongyang to mark the seventh anniversary of the historic inter-Korean summit held in 2000, organizers said. "We gave a quota to groups, regions and sectors participating in the South Korean organizing committee for the event, and let them choose participants," a committee organizer said on condition of anonymity. The 293-member South Korean delegation, led by Paik Nak-chung, an emeritus professor at Seoul National University, arrived on 14 Jun in Pyeongyang, the venue of the anniversary event, on a direct charter flight over the West Sea. The delegation includes religious and civic group leaders, artists, athletes and politicians. However, the South Korean government did not send any of its officials because the North did not reply to the Seoul's request that government officials be invited. It was assumed that the ROK refusal to send rice aid to the North pending denuclearization steps caused the slight. (SITE NOTE: South Korea will likely send 10,500 tons of rice in emergency aid to North Korea soon to help the flood-stricken North, government sources said on 13 Jun. "We are considering whether to resume emergency rice aid to North Korea, and the decision will not likely sway to withholding it further," a government source said, asking to remain anonymous. (Source: Yonhap News) (EPILOGUE: On 15 Jun, all the events were cancelled at a joint celebration marking the seventh anniversary of the historic inter-Korean summit as the North side prevented a lawmaker of the main opposition Grand National Party from entering the VIP seat line. North Korean officials blocked two-term GNP lawmaker Park Kye-dong's entry into the VIP seats of the People's Palace of Culture where a "gathering of unity" with representatives from the two Koreas was planned. South Korea's chief delegate Paik Nak-chun made it clear that he could not accept the exclusion of Park from the VIP line, originally planned. "We are of the position that no South Korean delegate will take part in an event that blocks the GNP lawmaker to the VIP seat," said a spokesman. He added that because no compromise was reached all afternoon, events were cancelled.)

Likewise inter-ministerial meetings and military heads meetings in May and June 2007 have resulted in lack of agreements on issues. Skepticism is growing over South Korea's planned first shipment of light industry raw materials to North Korea, as the two sides have yet to settle remaining differences on the list and price of items, a senior Unification Ministry official said on 12 Jun. "It is a moot question whether we will be able to make the first shipment on June 27 because of the dispute over items, price and numbers," Kim Joong-tae, chief of the South-North Korea economic cooperation bureau, said in a seminar.

South and North Korea held talks on 12 Jun to discuss ways of facilitating and expanding the operation of their joint industrial complex, officials here said. The two Koreas are currently runninng the complex in the western North Korean border city of Kaesong, where South Korean businesses use cheap North Korean labor to produce goods. However, there appears to be problems in the offing with the US-ROK FTA attempts to skirt the issue of Kaesong by setting up a committee to review an OPZ "at a future date." There is Congressional dissent from some US senators dealing with labor issues and human rights.

---

Life of Korean spy to be made into film (Jun 2007) A famous South Korean director said Wednesday he will make a film of the life of a Korean-American who spent almost eight years in a U.S. prison for spying for Korea to explain his agony stemming from the power politics of the two allies. Robert Kim, a former U.S. Navy computer specialist also known by his Korean name Kim Chae-gon, was put behind bars from 1997 until July 2004 for passing classified U.S naval documents to a South Korean military attache in Washington. (SITE NOTE: Robert Kim sold out his adopted country for a promise of a job in Korea after his retirement. The information was stolen because the US refused to give the ROK intelligence on the North's maritime spy operations. Kim claimed he was doing it for his "fatherland." He visited Korea in Nov 2005 after being released from US prison.)

---

Korea Has Lowest Infant Mortality Rate BUT is 4th Lowest Birthrate in World (Jun 2007) South Korea has the lowest infant mortality rate in the world, Yonhap news agency reported on 27 Jun. South Korea's infant mortality rate was recorded at 3 per 1,000 births as of the end of 2006, the lowest along with Japan, Singapore, Norway and Sweden, Yonhap reported from the State of World Population 2007 report filed by the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA). The annual report contains demographic statistics including migratory movements and the life spans of populations worldwide. The figure reflects a significant improvement from 45 back in 1970, according to recent reports from the South Korean Welfare Ministry. Among the bottom of the standings were Sierra Leone, Niger and Afghanistan with rates of 160, 146 and 143, respectively. The figure for North Korea was 42, placing it 93rd in the table, according the UNFPA.

The average life span for South Korea's men was 74.4 years, approximately 10 years longer than the world average of 64.2. South Korean women live an average 81.8 years, compared to a global average of 68.6. South Korea's total population was recorded at 48.1 million, up 100,000 from the previous year, while that of North Korea stood at 22.7 million. The global population for 2007 stands at 6.615 billion, according to the report.

However, the State of the World Population 2007 report said that the average number of babies that a South Korean woman aged between 15 to 49 gives birth to during her life time, stood at 1.19 as of the end of 2006, which is much smaller than the average 2.56 for the U.N. member countries. The country's figure was the fourth-lowest on the list, ahead of Hong Kong, Ukraine and Slovakia whose figures were 0.95, 1.14 and 1.14, respectively. South Korea's low fertility rate, coupled with its transition into an aging society, is expected to drag the country's potential economic growth rate down to the 2-percent range in the 2020s if the trend continues, according to the state-run Korea Development Institute. Asia's third-largest economy grew 5 percent in 2006 from the previous year.

North Korea marked the 51st lowest with a figure of 1.94, slightly down from 1.95 in the previous year. While other advanced countries with low birth rates showed some progress, South Korea’s birth rate did not show any improvement, according to the report. Sultan Aziz, director of the Asia-Pacific Division at the UNFPA, advised that South Korean society should raise awareness on the importance of women in order to tackle the low birth rate problems. Noting that South Korea’s low fertility rate has been emerging as a social problem along with its increasingly aging population, the state-run Korea Development Institute said that it is expected to decrease the nation’s potential economic growth to about 2 percent in the 2020s.

---

In a rarity, malaria kills two people in Korea (Jun 2007) The Joongang Ilbo article stated, "A 57-year-old Korean patient and a 59-year-old Greek man who were in the same emergency room both died from malaria, the Center for Disease Control announced yesterday. The two were together in the same emergency room for nine hours on Dec. 30. The Greek man died that day and the Korean man died Jan. 24, the center said. The center said it appears the Korean man got the disease from the Greek man, because the Korean had not been overseas for more than 30 years. They said no one else in the hospital was affected. No one in Korea has ever been infected on the peninsula by malaria, although some travelers have returned here with the disease. Malaria occurs in tropical areas such as Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America." (Source: Joongang Ilbo.)

This was a big WHOOPS. Later the article was changed to read "infected on the peninsula by TROPICAL malaria..." (See ROK Malaria for details as malaria is quite common in the northern provinces of South Korea along the DMZ area -- and the ROK just shipped $1.5 million in anti-malaria drugs and nets to the North as humanitarian aid.)

---

July 2007

Accident Rate of Pedestrians Tops Among OECD Countries (Jul 2007) Korean pedestrians' accident rates were the highest among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries, a local research institute said on 2 Jul. According to the 2007 OECD International Road Traffic and Accident Database announced by Green City Research Institute, 5.28 per 100,000 Korean pedestrians died in traffic accidents in 2005, placing the country in first place amongst 28 countries. Korea also topped the category in 2004, with 6.0 pedestrians per 100,000. Major advanced countries had very low numbers, with 0.51 fatalities per 100,000 in the Netherlands, 0.55 in Sweden, 0.83 in Germany, and 1.9 in Japan.

As for the number of deaths in traffic accidents per 10,000 cars, Korea took second place with 3.45 people, following Hungary with 3.79. Considering that the OECD member countries' average number of pedestrians' death in traffic accidents marked 1.58 per 100,000 and the number of accidental deaths per 10,000 cars marked 1.68, South Korea has still a long way to go to become an advanced country in terms of traffic safety.

``These tragic accidents have highlighted the dangers pedestrians face on a daily basis and the need to be alert and always cross at signalized intersections. The government's more active and specific measures are required since pedestrians' traffic safety is vital regarding people's welfare,'' said Lim Sam-jin, a professor at Hanyang University and official at the Green City Research Institute.

``In Europe, pedestrians are guaranteed priority rights in streets near residential areas. Also, car speed limits in such areas should be lowered to 20 to 30 kilometers per hour. Our government should launch a project for traffic calming, which is aimed at lowering car speed limits and car circulation near residential areas.'' Indeed, the government showed the worst result in the sector of pedestrians' traffic accidents regarding its five-year plan to improve traffic safety from 2002 to 2006. The nation saw 2,457 deaths of pedestrians in 2005, about twice the government's original estimate of 1,274. As for the number of traffic deaths of those over 65 years of age per 100,000, South Korea topped OECD member countries with 38.8 in 2005. As for the corresponding number of children aged under 14, South Korea took fourth place with 3.1 in the same year. (Source: Korea Times.) (SITE NOTE: This is old news. The worst part of this scenario is that for years Korea has led the world in hit and run fatalities as well as fatalities of children as pedestrians. Back when Korea had the most dangerous roads IN THE WORLD about 1995, there was a lot of noise to improve the conditions, but nothing came of it. The hit-and-runs of children have remained too high to disregard -- but the police and ROK government have. In the past it had been blamed on old habits of older Koreans treating the roads as their private preserve. Jaywalking older Koreans were especially susceptible to being hit -- but this is the same for younger Koreans who are simply more agile and can cross the street faster. It is not isolated to old folks. In general, Koreans have a complete disregard for traffic rules -- simply believing that they don't apply to them.) 27 indicted for taking bribes in Korea's 'worst' fraud case (Jul 2007) Wrapping up its investigation into an influence-peddling scandal that may be the "worst fraud case in Korea's history," prosecutors said yesterday they had indicted 27 people including former and current lawmakers and government officials on charges of receiving billions of won in bribes from the JU Group, formerly the nation's biggest multilevel marketing company.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office completed a four-month probe into a 7.2 billion-won ($7.8 million) bribery scandal involving the group, saying the company bribed influential people, including media figures and government officials, in an effort to stop a tax investigation and a fair trade commission probe into its activities. Bribes were also given to gain access to an oil field development project in the Yellow Sea and to seek leniency for JU Chairman Joo Soo-do after he went on trial on fraud charges. He was convicted by the Seoul High Court in June and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Prosecutor-general Chung Sang-myoung said earlier this year it was the worst fraud case ever in Korea, and prosecutors have worked since March to substantiate the wide-ranging accusations.

Among those indicted yesterday was Representative Yum Dong-yun, a former advisor to President Roh Moo-hyun, who is charged with receiving a painting worth 5 million won in 2005 from Joo in return for using his influence to stop the National Tax Service from investigating the company. He is also suspected of receiving 7 million won in illegal donations from the JU Group that year. Yum was a political advisor to Roh in 2002 and was elected as an Uri Party legislator in 2004. He left the party in January and joined the new Moderate Unified Democratic Party. Included in the charges against Yum is an accusation that he received 30 million won in illegal donations before the 2004 legislative election, apart from the JU bribes.

Also among those charged was Jeon Jae-ho, president of the Financial News, a local economic newspaper. He was accused of blackmailing the JU Group, which recruited people to sell a wide variety of products in a pyramid marketing scheme that has been linked to numerous cases of consumer fraud and other charges. The firm shut down in March 2006. According to the prosecution, Jeon forced the group to buy the newspaper's stock at an overvalued price by threatening to write negative articles about the company. He earned nearly 1.6 billion won through blackmail, the prosecution said.

Soh Kyung-suk, a Protestant pastor and civic group leader, was indicted on charges of receiving a 510 million-won donation to a social welfare organization, Joy of Sharing, in return for lobbying on behalf of the JU Group when the National Tax Service ordered the firm to pay 132 billion won in back taxes in 2004. The amount was later reduced to 53.2 billion won.

Former Uri Chairman Lee Bu-young was also among those indicted. He is suspected of receiving 730 million won from August 2004 to December 2005 in return for using his influence to extend the JU Group's license for an oil field development project in the Yellow Sea.

To avoid Financial Supervisory Service and Fair Trade Commission probes, the JU Group also bribed a former commission official, a current Financial Supervisory Service official and a prosecutor. The three were among the 27 indicted.

Investigations into the JU Group and Joo began in 2002 when Seoul prosecutors indicted Joo on charges of embezzlement and violating a law governing door-to-door sales. The Supreme Court acquitted him in 2005. Prosecutors began a new investigation in March 2006 and arrested Joo in July 2006 on fraud charges. The appeals court upheld his February conviction last month. "Joo gave 7.2 billion won to 18 people," Kim, the lead prosecutor, said. "Of the sum, we were able to press charges for nearly 6 billion won for now." Kim said the prosecution will continue investigating to see if other officials received JU bribes. (Source: Joongang Ilbo.)

---

Buddhist Monks Busted in Tax Evasion Scheme (Jul 2007) After the discovery of monks “selling” fake donation receipts, the Finance Ministry said on 4 July that it would take steps to prevent such acts. The measures may include the introduction of a computer network to track donations to religious bodies, charitable organizations or schools, the ministry said. Since donations to non-profit groups, such as religious organizations and welfare or educational institutions, are tax-deductible, there are many cases of individuals or businesses bribing organizations into issuing fake receipts for donations, according to the ministry.

On 2 Jul, four Buddhist monks in Gwangju were arrested for receiving cash from 2,570 workers from Kia Motors Corp., Kumho Tires Co. and other large companies in exchange for fake donation receipts. The scheme aimed to help the workers evade a total of 2.1 billion won ($2.28 million) in income tax in the 2005-2006 period. According to the Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office, the four monks, each the head of a separate temple, received 20,000 won to 100,000 won per worker in exchange for fake donation receipts totaling 13.6 billion won. With the receipts, the workers avoided an average of 820,000 won each in taxes. Some monks even distributed pamphlets advertising the fake donation service, according to prosecutors. “Those temples were businesses selling fake receipts rather than religious organizations,” said prosecutor Jo Myeong-sun.

Under Korean income tax law, those who donate to nonprofit organizations only pay tax on their after-donation incomes. There is a deductible ceiling of 10 percent on the donors’ annual income in most cases. For donations to social welfare facilities such as orphanages, there is no ceiling on the tax deduction. But it is easy to make fake donation receipts, and punishment for purchasing fake receipts is relatively light, prosecutors said. The workers in the Gwangju case have only to pay the unpaid tax and a 10 percent penalty. The Finance Ministry plans to stiffen punishments in fake donation receipt cases, while introducing a system to tighten the management of donations. The ministry will unveil the plans at a public hearing this month. (Source: Joongang Ilbo.) (SITE NOTE: There has been renewed talk of taxing clerics income due to findings that many were involved in profitable land speculation. However, on 10 Jul the tax administration denied that such a plan was underway. Christian and Buddhist clerics have traditionally been exempt from taxes, though there are supposedly no clear guidelines.)

---

Korea second in fakes to Japan -- behind China (Jul 2007) After China, Korea is the second-biggest exporter of counterfeit goods to Japan, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency reported on 3 Jul. Almost 40 percent of the 380,000 counterfeit imports into Japan were manufactured in Korea, according to the report. Korea accounted for 8,700 attempts, or 44.5 percent of the total cases detected by the Japanese customs authorities, while 9,400 cases came from China.

Since 2002, the number of cases from Korea has increased from 5,334 to 8,720 last year. However, the number of items has been on a steady decline since 2005, the report showed. "Smugglers are importing in smaller quantities than before," said Nam Woo-suk, manager at the Asia and Oceania team at Kotra. "That is why the number of cases is increasing while the number of items is falling."

Park Jong-hoon, head of the Working Korea Students Association in Tokyo, sees the matter from a different perspective. "Since 2005, Koreans have been allowed to visit Japan without a visa. The number of Koreans visiting or staying in Japan, both legally and illegally, has skyrocketed. They are using parcel services to import counterfeit goods as a way of easily making money." Koreans are not required to hold a visa for visits under 90 days. Smugglers prefer to use postal parcel services for smaller quantities rather than using freight services, Park said. "Parcels are inspected under relatively loose procedures compared to general freight," he said.



Counterfeit goods to Japan are basically high-priced luxury items like bags, wallets and other accessories. Japan introduced stricter measures to protect intellectual property rights in 2002. The Kotra report, although it doesn't deny the number has been going up, claimed that the actual rate of increase isn't as great as the statistic because detection procedures were much more relaxed in the past, meaning more goods used to slip through.

---

S. Korea Seeks Formal End to Korean War (Jul 2007) State-funded think tanks on foreign, defense and North Korean affairs have proposed that South Korea take the initiative in ending the Korean War by proposing a peace treaty on the Korean Peninsula to replace the ceasefire, military sources said Monday. The institutions said the formal end to the armistice treaty signed at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War by the U.S.-led United Nations Command (UNC), North Korea and China should be declared before the Aug. 15 Liberation Day, they said. The three major think tanks on security affairs are the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA), the Institute of Foreign Affairs & National Security (IFAN) and the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU).

The proposal was made during a closed-door meeting in May, where officials from the presidential office for national security also attended, the sources said. During the meeting, the participants reached a compromise on a KIDA-proposed four-point process to put a peace regime on the peninsula in place, they said.

In the first ``preparation'' stage, South Korea should push for a formal end to the Korean War before Aug. 15, as well as the establishment of a multilateral forum on the peace regime issue and an inter-Korean consultative body on military affairs. (SITE NOTE: This appears as an end-run by the Roh administration to set up an excuse for having an inter-Korea summit by Aug -- or even as late as December. In May when the meeting was held, Roh was desperately seeking ways to arrange a summit in order to somehow cement his place in Korean history. However, Kim Jong-il's heart surgery in Jun (as it was later revealed) put a damper on the inquiries. The Roh administration is reviving it again. Yonhap News on 9 Jul reported that the ROK has begun preparations for an inter-Korean summit that will likely take place this year. "Unless there are any unexpected obstacles, it (the inter-Korean summit) will be possible this year," Lee Hae-chan, who served as Roh's prime minister, said in an interview with the daily Kyunghyang Shinmun. Lee Hae-chan is also running for a Presidential nomination and initiated the inter-Korean summit suggestion as a "representative of the Uri Party" -- though he was in the position of a special Presidential advisor directly under Roh.)

A second inter-Korean summit is also high on the agenda in the initial stage. ``South Korea should seize the initiative in the discussions of a peace mechanism on the peninsula, as the country directly concerned, by spearheading the declaration of an end to the Korean War,'' a KIDA researcher who participated in the May meeting said, asking not to be identified. Cheong Wa Dae was wary of speculations about the declaration. ``Nothing has been determined,'' presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-seon said. ``The KIDA's suggestions are merely the opinions of an individual research institute and thus could be studied in the decision-making process.''

North Korea has called for replacing the armistice with a peace treaty but tried to exclude South Korea from peace talks in the past on the grounds that the South did not sign the armistice treaty. In February, however, North Korea and five other participating nations at the six-party nuclear talks agreed to deal with the peace regime in a multilateral framework in parallel with discussions over ways to dismantle the North's nuclear weapons program. The United States is also positive about the peace talks, which it considers an incentive for Pyongyang to pick up the pace of denuclearization aimed at disabling and sealing the North's main nuclear reactor in return for economic assistance and political concessions including the normalization of ties.

In the second ``entry'' stage, a committee to deal with the termination of the war is to be set up. The committee will be tasked with supervising the Military Demarcation Line and the Demilitarized Zone between the two Koreas, according to KIDA. The UNC is to play a role as an international peacekeeping organization in the second stage, it said. The North wants the UNC to be dismantled with an end to the war. (SITE NOTE: The "fly in the ointment" is that the UNC is NOT a viable peace-keeping force in Korea. It is more of an administrative entity in monitoring the DMZ. If the UNC is released from administrative duties on the DMZ, it will be swiftly disbanded -- or as a minimum moved to Japan with an "in case" mission for a flare up of Korean hostilities.)

The third ``transitional'' stage is focused on completing the dismantlement of North Korean nuclear programs and putting a peace treaty in place. The roles and missions of the peace treaty committee are to be expanded and the UNC is to be replaced with a new international peacekeeping organization, according to the KIDA proposal. (SITE NOTE: There are serious faults in this "plan" as the UNC once removed from the ROK will NOT come back in with a peace-keeping force since a peace regime will be in place by then.)

In the last ``peace settlement'' stage, the two Koreas are to begin implementing arms reductions and eventually create a unified military command. (SITE NOTE: This phase could be tricky if the topic of peace reparations for damages inflicted in the Korean War arises -- with both sides justifying its claims for reparations with the other side starting it first.) (Source: Korea Times.)

Vershbow: US Prepared to Begin Talks with N.Korea for Peace Regime within Year (Jul 2007) Hankoryeh reported on 11 Jul that Alexander Vershbow said the United States was ready to begin negotiating with the DPRK before the end of 2007 to establish a permanent peace regime on the Korean Peninsula if the nation makes a strategic decision to completely give up its nuclear ambition.

North Korea: We Will Talk With U.S. But Not South Korea (Jul 2007) North Korea suggested a DPRK-U.S. military meeting to discuss issues related to establishing peace on the Korean peninsula and a security guarantee for the North on 13 Jul. The North excluded the South from this suggestion. (SITE NOTE: The North has ALWAYS wanted bilateral negotiations with Washington from the start. The ROK has ALWAYS been excluded.)

In a press conference with Lee Chan Bok, a lieutenant general who is in charge of the North Korean People’s Army at the Panmunjeom area, said, “We should meet and talk about peace and security guarantee issues at a venue and time the two parties (North Korea and the U.S.) agree on. It remains to be seen what the true intentions of the North are, as its suggestion came when the North’s compliance with the 2.13 agreement, including the dismantlement of its nuclear facilities in Yongbyon is near, and the six-party talks between senior negotiators are due to be held on July 18. Lee said in a press conference, “Our nuclear issue is intricately linked with that of the U.S. When our people are left with no option but to live under the constant U.S. nuclear threat, the U.S. mentioning the denuclearization and nuclear threat posed by us is ludicrous.”

He added, “If the U.S. continues to pressure us under the false pretense of the nuclear issue, and to beef up military power in the South, we have no choice but to respond to them thoroughly in order to defend ourselves. When that happens, the 2.13 agreement or future six-party talks will disappear into thin air.” (SITE NOTE: Notice the threat of abrogating the Feb 13 six-party agreement. The North is taking a stance that allows them to abrogate the agreement before even starting. It how realizes that the US -- as stated in Time Magazine on Jul 12 -- the US policy is now one of "Speak softly, and hope for the best." In other words, the US is not taken seriously ever since the DPRK won its point on the Banco Delta Asia funds transfer fiasco where the US had to use its own banking facilities to transfer funds it had identified as "illegal funds" initially.)

Lee Jae-jeong, the minister of Unification, said, “We need to find out why the North asked to hold the talks without us. Issues related to the easing of military tensions and establishing peace on the Korean peninsula need to be brought up through inter-Korean dialogues.” He also said, “We need to take a closer look at possible ties between discussing peace on the peninsula on the side of the six-party talks suggested by the North and inter-Korean military meetings.”

---

Former police chief indicted for alleged cover-up of revenge attack -- while the convicted CEO attacker is released suffering from depression??? (Jul 2007) On 14 Jul the prosecution indicted a former top police officer without physical detention on charges that he attempted to cover up a sensational revenge assault case involving a business tycoon. Choi Key-moon, a former chief of the National Police Agency (NPA) who now serves as an advisor to Hanwha Group, is suspected of asking senior police officers to obstruct an investigation into Chairman Kim Seung-youn of Hanwha, South Korea's 12th-largest conglomerate. (Source: Yonhap News.)

Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison in early July for kidnapping and beating up bar workers in revenge for his son, a Yale student who was beaten up by the karaoke bar employees. Unbelievably, he was released from custody and is being treated at a private hospital, a group official said on 12 Jul. Suffering from depression and a nervous breakdown, the 55-year-old Kim arrived at Ajou University Hospital, just south of Seoul, around 3:00 p.m. under approval from the Ministry of Justice, said a Hanwha official, asking not to be named. (Source: Yonhap News.) (SITE NOTE: In Sep 2007, Kim Seung-youn was given a suspended sentence and would have to do 200 hours of community service. How ludicrous this makes the Korean justice system look is obvious. If you have money, you don't have to spend time in jail. If you don't, you will rot in hell. When Hyundai-Kia Chairman Chung Mong-koo was on trial for embezzlement, he went into a private hospital for stress though he had enough energy to run the operations of his company from jail. Later he was given a suspended sentence as well by the courts -- which was appealed by the Prosecution. This is the problem with Roh Moo-hyun's egaltarian form of government -- it is NOT equal for all. It is equal on the books, but justice is still ruled by money politics.)

---

Impacts of US Imports on Beef, Chicken and Pork Prices (Jul 2007) The price of Korean and Australian beef dropped because of cheap U.S. beef. In Lotte Mart, chilled beef from Australia used for grilling sold at 1,550 won (per 100 grams) in January and 1,280 won in July. And the price of Korean beef sirloin went down by 13.3 percent from 7,900 won (per 100 grams) to 6,850 won during the same period.

Pork and chicken prices have not dropped because of special demands during the summer vacation and Boknal (the three hottest days in Korea by the lunar calendar when Koreans eats chicken soup). But it is highly likely that the prices will fall after summer. In the long run, the prices of chicken and pork are likely to go down. GSnJ, a civic research organization for agriculture, released a report on Korean pork price on July 23. The report predicts that the price of Korean pork will drop by 30 percent in 2017, 10 years after the Korea-U.S. FTA (KORUS FTA) takes effect and U.S. pork enters into the Korean market without any tariffs.

The report pointed out three reasons for the price drop: the resumption of U.S. beef imports puts pressure on pork price (15 percent), the tariff on pork will be abolished because of the KORUS FTA (12-13 percent), and the reduction of tariff on beef will put pressure on domestic pork price (two percent).

The price of Korean chicken is expected to fall by 8-10 percent when the import price drops by 17 percent as a result of the elimination of the tariff on U.S. chicken. (Source: Donga Ilbo.)

---

See Co-director of Gwangju Biennale found to have forged credentials (Jul 2007) for Shin Jeong-ah Scandal with government official resigning in romantic scandal.

---

Gov't panel announces findings on Gwangju pro-democracy uprising (Jul 2007) Army paratroopers shot protesters on sight, stabbed them with bayonets and brutally beat them with rifle butts in 1980, when citizens in Gwangju rose up against a military coup headed by Maj. Gen. Chun Doo-hwan, a government-commissioned fact-finding panel said on 24 Jul. The panel, which was established in 2005, announced the results of its investigation into a string of questionable incidents which took place ahead of the inauguration of the Chun government in August 1980, eight months after he staged a coup.

Based on confessions and interviews by veterans who participated in the crackdown on the Gwangju uprising, the panel said some soldiers were drunk or out of control when they were engaged in anti-protest operations. Former soldiers testified snipers deployed on the top of downtown buildings shot demonstrators on sight, while other troops "indiscriminately" hit protesters in the head with rifle butts or batons, stabbed them with bayonets or stripped people who were arrested to prevent them from escaping, the panel said. Official records show the ruthless crackdown resulted in about 200 people killed and more than 1,800 others injured or wounded. By unofficial accounts, however, the casualty toll is much higher.

Chun, who was subsequently elected president, ruled the country until he was replaced by his military colleague Roh Tae-woo in 1988. In the early 1990s, the two were convicted of sedition in connection with the Gwangju incident. "We found a memorandum which showed that Gen. Chun approved in general the military operations against civilians as an invocation of self-defense power," said Lee Hae-dong, a Christian minister who heads the fact-finding team, which is composed of seven civilians experts and five Defense Ministry officials. "However, we could not find out who exactly ordered that civilians be shot to death in the Gwangju uprising, as no related document was found and those involved refused to testify," Lee said. The military leaders had claimed the shooting in the city was based on self-defense.

Critics, meanwhile, said the panel's announcement lacked fresh findings and was not much different from a prosecution probe and media reports, believing some important details have yet to be revealed. "Although the documents discovered during the two-year investigation testified to what we have believed so far, the result falls far short of our expectations," Cho Jin-tae, an official at the May 18 Memorial Foundation, said, referring to the committee's failure to clarify who the gave the command to fire on the citizens. (Source: Yonhap News: Hankyoreh News.) (SITE NOTE: Was anyone expecting anything else from the Roh appointed "fact-finding" panel -- or "truth commission"???)

---

August 2007

Anti-American NGO Protest Up-close: Afghan Hostage Issue (Aug 2007) On 2 Aug was the first time I got to see how the anti-American NGO groups took action first-hand. When we went to the US Embassy, at the front door for US citizens stood the Rev. Han Sang-ryul, part of the Solidarity for Peace and Reunification of Korea and active participant in any anti-US protest. We've observed him over the years at Yongsan demonstrations and down at Pyeongtaek in the Daechuri protests, but this was the first time we have seen him in person. Having covered these demonstrations on my web pages for years, it was neat to observe how they had ran their operation up close. They've had ample practice since they have done this same routine -- with different anti-US topics at numerous locations over the years.


Rev. Han Sang-ryul at Embassy Door (2 Aug 2007) (Kalani O'Sullivan)

Later we found out that the NGO Solidarity for Peace and Reunification of Korea has held a one-man relay vigil near the U.S. Embassy since 31 Jul, calling the Bush administration the "main party" responsible for the abduction of 21 remaining Koreans by the Taliban. It was lunch time (11:30) so the door to the US Embassy was locked. However, there was the Rev. Han Sang-ryul, giving an interview two television cameramen while two women observed. This was how they get their views out in time for the evening news. They call a press conference in front of the US embassy -- in the midst of the ROK riot police to give it a sense of tension. In fact, there were four riot policemen stationed within ten feet of him. The location is important. The other side of the Embassy has long lines of Koreans wanting visas to leave Korea. If they were positioned there, the visual message would get confused.

No other protestor was there as Rev. Han held up his little sign and gave his spiel to the video cameras. The sign in the shape of a "U" carried the pictures of the 23 hostages on one side and the message in hangul that "Bush Must Repent." This was not a request for US help -- this was a demand that the US intervene as they percieve that the US was responsible because it had initiated its "war on terrorism." The message was not logical -- but it was not meant to be. It was meant to incite an emotional response in the Korean populace by manipulating the press to reinforce their message of anti-Americanism. They started this protest on 31 Jul after the shock of the second kidnap victim being shot. If a third victim is killed, Rev Han's group will then jump up and down and say, "I told you so. The Americans killed the hostage by their inaction." This same message is being sent out by the Uri Party politicians and left-leaning presidential hopefuls.


Protestor with Sign (2 Aug 2007) (AP) (NOTE: The sign has the pictures of 21 kidnappees -- not the original 23. This indicates the demonstration was planned AFTER 31 Jul when the second hostage, Shim Sung-min, was executed.)

Though a rotating one-man vigil posed no threat to American citizens queued in line waiting to enter the Embassy through a door only 5 feet away, the embassy should have asked that Rev Han's protest be held 50 feet away from the business entrance. The purported excuse would have been because it impeded business flow. This would have caused his protest to be held in front of a brick wall (on either side of the entrance) and greatly diminished his visual impact of his protest -- held as a dog-and-pony show for the Korean press. This would have limited the visual impact of his interviews. His protest appeared on the TV news on 2 Aug and on the web's Tongil News on 4 Aug.

We walked around to the small park on the side of the Embassy and the NGO group had set up a small tent with kitchen facilities -- set up strategically next to the public restrooms. The tent was open because of the heat -- and there appeared to have been some sort of feeding line set up previously. It appeared that the four or five women were cleaning up after lunch -- and I observed a little later two young men with signs (in hangul) on the back of their vests that said "STAFF." They must have gone out to lunch at one of the many restaurants in the area. Also noted some styro-foam sheets under the tables which are used to sit or sleep on. The impression I received was that the "one-man relay vigil" was supported by a full-time staff in the park.


Rev. Han Sang-ryul at Embassy Door (2 Aug 2007) (Tongil News) (NOTE: The sign in hangul reads "Bushi Must Repent" and faults the US for not intervening. This picture was posed for the Korean press. Because it was next to the American citizen entrance, there were none of the anti-American images of burning a US flag or images of US soldiers. However, away from the entrance there were such images.)

It is obvious that this group was trying to stir up anti-American sentiment. Some politicians and civic groups in Korea are starting to hold the U.S. responsible for the two-week-old hostage crisis in Afghanistan with remarks that seem designed to stir up simmering anti-American sentiment here. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.) Unfortunately, the protest doesn't make sense. The protestors view the US "war of terrorism" was the trap that ensnared the "innocent" Koreans who were CHRISTIAN "volunteers" in a fanatical Muslim country. Therefore, the US somehow bore responsibility for the hostages that were kidnapped on 19 July. Unfortunately, the US position is that to exchange Taliban prisoners for Korean hostages will encourage terrorists to use similar tactics worldwide. The Afghan government flat refused the exchange of prisoners for hostages because the last exchange released a leader who reorganized his forces after his release and retook an area close to the capital. The ROK is stuck -- but now they are trying to blame the US in its "inaction" in trying to free the hostages. The ROK government which allowed these "volunteers" to enter Afghanistan in the first place, now has told all other "volunteers" to leave the country.

BACKGROUND: On 19 July 2007, 23 hostages were taken by the Taliban to force the release of eight Taliban prisoners held by the Afghan government and US. The 23 South Koreans were kidnapped while riding a bus on 19 Jul on the Kabul-Kandahar highway. They are the largest group of foreign hostages taken in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion that drove the Taliban from power. The Taliban want eight militant prisoners, including some held by the United States at its Bagram base, to be released. The hostages were Christian "volunteers" who entered Afghanistan and the ROK government did NOT stop them -- in effect, blessing their travel. The point is that the ROK government did NOTHING to stop them. When the hostage situation came to light, there were RUMORS of the ROK cancelling their flight and taking other measures to stop the group. However, the fact came out that the ROK government did NOTHING -- and allowed the group to enter Afghanistan. There have been two deaths as of 4 Aug -- as deadline after deadline have been passed. The two executed hostages were the 42-year-old leader of the group, Bae Hyung-kyu, and the interpreter, Shim Sung-min, 29. Some Korean critics called for both NGOs and the government to develop stronger rules for dispatching volunteers into conflict zones, while others criticized the ROK government for attempting to expand its global role without having adequate means of protecting its citizens abroad.

The church with which the hostages are affiliated - a large Presbyterian congregation in the Seoul suburb of Bundang - is fully aware of the dangers of kidnappings in the Taliban-dominated areas of Afghanistan. Last year, several hundred South Korean missionaries came to Afghanistan and wanted to travel by road to various parts of the country. But the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) expelled all of them before they could fall into danger. This time, a relatively smaller group might have escaped the scrutiny of the NDS. From their perspective, the missionaries obviously wanted to spread the word of God, as well as aid. But they have ended up jeopardizing their lives (two already dead) and, crucially, in undermining the efforts the North Atlantic Treaty Organization coalition fighting the insurgency and reconstruction projects financed by the international community. For example, the Japanese government plans to remove all of its aid workers from Afghanistan. The Korean's actions endangered the foreign experts who work for reconstruction and development projects throughout the country -- making them potential targets for kidnapping as well. (Source: Asia Times.)

The problem is that the Afghan government will not trade prisoners for hostages. Kabul has vowed not to release Taliban prisoners in exchange for hostages after such a deal in March which was widely criticized by the US and western countries. It released five Taliban prisoners to win the freedom of an Italian hostage. It stated it was a one-time measure. The trade was a mistake as one of the Taliban prisoners, commander Mansor Dadullah, quickly reestablished himself through threats and death squads to reestablish a foot-hold in an area close to the Capital. He was thought to be the one leading the kidnapping and suicide bombings in Afghanistan. It was a mistake the Afghan government does not wish to repeat. However, on a positive note it was reported that the Taliban commander Mansor Dadullah was just killed by US forces.

As for the US government, its position is that the exchange of prisoners for hostages will only encourage the terrorists world-wide to repeat the tactic. The US refuses to enter into the melee and stated that it is an Afghan matter -- and one which it has no part. The US claims that liberating the prisoners is neither something the US is capable of doing nor that the US can force the Afghanistan government to do. The US, however, is also worried about possible anti-America sentiment in the ROK due to the deterioration of the hostage situation.

The bottomline is that the ROK tried their usual methods as they have done in Iraq. They first try to embroil the US or other countries to "assist" them. Then when that fails, they try to "bribe" the captors. Then if that fails, the ROK government then tries "private" negotiations with the leadership -- in hopes that private "bribes" can be made in negotiations. The Taliban has extended several previous deadlines by hours or days. However, the militia has killed two South Korean male captives several hours after two previous deadlines. When that fails and the public opinion starts turning against them, the ROK government then tries to blame others for their lack of action in coming to their aid. The ROK sent a parliamentary delegation to the United States to seek cooperation in resolving the crisis, and relatives of the hostages pleaded for help at Washington's embassy in the South Korean capital. Those on the left blamed the U.S. "war on terror" as the cause of the incident and calling on the ROK to withdraw its troops, while those on the right expressed concern that rising anti-Americanism could harm the alliance and perhaps affect the outcome of this year's presidential election.

The NGO groups blame that "war on terrorism" for the current problem and therefore the US is to blame for the hostage situation. The People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy stated that the ROK must clearly declare that there will be immediate withdrawal -- and also demand that the US participate in compromise. The ROK stated that the troops were coming home by the end of the year -- but not immediately.

Af first there was no reaction to the kidnappings in the US, but as soon as the anti-American reactions surfaced, the Associated Press started running stories on the ROK protests. However, soon other world or national events -- like the Minneapolis bridge collapse -- crowded the kidnapping off the US front pages.

As of 6 Aug, negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban have stalled, as Kabul refused to free the jailed Taliban fighters. Washington also has ruled out making a deal with the militants, who allegedly maintain links with the international terrorist group Al-Qaeda.

Rev. Han Sang-ryul at Embassy Door greeting politicians. Notice sign with "Bush Must Repent." (2 Aug 2007) (AP) (NOTE: Sign says in English: "Safe Return of Korean Hostages -- Withdraw Korean Troops Now! -- Stop Military Action -- US Must Take Responsibility -- Bush Must Repent -- Hunger Strike of Rev. -- Han Sang-Ryul Front of US Forces Korea. The other sign in Hangul states the same message.

The picture above appeared in the Tongil News on 2 Aug. The sign in English was to play to the foreign press -- as the story was picked up by the Associated Press. After a "FUCK USA" anti-American sign brought such negative views from the US, the NGO groups no longer use English on signs if foreign cameramen may be in the area. One can check the early Daechuri protest signs in 2004 with the later signs in 2006 as see the absence of English -- unless there were invited foreigners in the crowd. English is used on signs only when the foreign press is expected.
This picture also appears to be part of a publicity campaign to improve the image of Rev. Han Sang-ryul. At the top are the demands of the group to Withdraw the ROK troops (from Afghanistan) immediately -- and for the US to take "responsibility" in the hostage situation. However, the US cannot reasonably accept any responsibility for actions fostered by a ROK NGO group with the acquiesence of the ROK government. This is following the time-honored formula to stir up anti-Americanism by settling on a stance that the US cannot accept and then turn on this point to play on the ROK people emotionally. The group is just waiting for the next execution -- as sick as that might be -- to foster their own agenda by saying, "Look another execution and I told you so that the Americans were at fault."

But the real meat of the press conference was to (1) Highlight Rev. Han Sang-ryul's commitment to anti-Americanism with his hunger strikes (for anything that creates popular dissent) and (2) show him as the leader of the anti-American movement/Unification movement since the Rev. Moon's anti-War NGO group has become weakened due to his failing health and the Unification NGO groups are splintered. The fact that he is being joined publicly in photo ops with other left-leaning political parties -- including the Democratic Labor Party (DLP) stained from its North Korean spying involvement and Uri party presidential hopefuls -- indicates he is trying solidify his political backing.

The left is desperate to find a cause celebre to incite the nation in anti-Americanism as it did in 2002 just prior to the Presidential elections in Dec 2007. The left is about to lose their political power base after a decade in power and the conservatives are set to move into the seats of power again. In a survey conducted by the JoongAng Ilbo among 1,000 citizens 19 years and older, 76.9 percent agreed that Washington needed to get involved in the hostage crisis. On 31 Jul about 100 people protested outside the embassy to demand U.S. action, some carrying banners reading, "Bush: Don't kill, negotiate" and "Bush, you have responsibility." Hundreds of police in riot gear surrounded the demonstrators. However, the anti-American protests seem to have failed to raise the anti-Americanism hysteria to levels it has seen before.

On 1 Aug, the group threatened a "massive" candlelight rally unless the U.S. starts negotiations with the Taliban immediately. The group wanted to turn this into an anti-American candlelight vigil but the families of the hostages refused to participate in the protests for fear that the negotiations might be hurt. Though the families have requested that the US intervene, the families believe the crisis must not turn into an anti-American movement as that could strain the talks with the Taliban and worsen the situation for the hostages. Representatives for the family groups expressed concern about the calls of some left-leaning groups to abandon the Korea-U.S. alliance and leave Afghanistan immediately. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.)

A 400-person candlelight vigil was held in Seoul on 4 Aug led by Rev Han Sang-ryul. The anti-War NGO group with banners flying joined the vigil, but notable was the absence of Fr Moon Jeong-hyun who heads the group. This leads to speculation that the Rev Han is positioning himself to take over the leadership of the anti-war group as well -- perhaps by merging his group with Fr Moon's. (NOTE: The anti-war group's position amongst NGO activist groups was severely weakened by the setback when Daechuri was turned over to the USFK -- as well as by the return of wartime control to the ROK in 2012. When the reality of the cost to Korea caused by the US leaving set in, the importance of his group -- once at the lead of all NGO Pan-Korea protest groups in 2003 -- dwindled in the eyes of the Korean populace.)

On 6 Aug President Bush met with Afghan President Karzi in Washington and both agreed that there would be no exchange of hostages with the Taliban. Stymied the ROK government wanted face-to-face negotiations with the Taliban either with the Red Crescent or UN as a mediator. The Taliban wanted the UN to mediate and guarantee the safety of Taliban negotiators in direct talks. But the world body classifies the Taliban as a terrorist group und will unlikely accept, so Seoul is mulling assistance from an NGO instead. As it stands, the ROK stands alone -- but the protestors still want the US involvement.

At the same time on 6 Aug, the protestors held another demonstration in the park to the side of the US Embassy where they had set up their tent as their base of operations. They were dressed in the standard garb for the Unification group: light blue t-shirts, red scarfs with tan vests and floppy white hats. About only 150 demonstrators appeared as it was hard to get the populace aroused over this issue. In fact, the internet proved to be a drawback as many netizens turned on the church website and started to blame the action on the group themselves. As insensitive as the remarks were the point was made that there was not going to be a massive outpouring of support against the US -- though the Korean people did feel for the hostages.

The Unification activists -- mostly college age students -- prefer to present visual images and skits to treat the protest as an artistic performance. Students dressed in white head-wraps and sporting black face masks (symbols of death straight from the Harry Potter movies) sat before signs declaring "I don't want to die"; "We want to go home"; "US! Negotiate" and "No! Military Operation". They placed symbolic candles (for the hostages) before the paper cutout of the White House with the US flag on the ground. It should be noted that this type of skit with English signs are intended for the international press -- though they are picked up by the local media. This type of performance is standard for the more peaceful Unification factions -- as compared to the violent "storm trooper" actions of the Hanchongryeon, outlawed radical student activists, who would rather attack riot policemen than perform artistic skits. The Hanchongryeon student activists are affiliated with the anti-war faction and are best known for their attacks during the Daechuri protests in Pyeongtaek.


Unification group (6 Aug 2007) (Tongil News)


Unification group (6 Aug 2007) (Tongil News)

Left Focus on US Responsibility; Right Accuse Left of Anti-Americanism; Moderates Condemn Both Sides for Not Concentrating on Freeing Hostages -- While Pending Summit clouds issue (Aug 2007) The ROK Weekly Report on 10 Aug stated that commentators on the left continue to focus on US responsibility for the crisis, while those on the right accuse them of using the incident to stir up anti-Americanism. More moderate voices criticized both sides for distracting from the primary issue of how to free the hostages. Other commentators reflected on what the crisis says about the need for the ROK to develop greater awareness of developing countries, and the Islamic world in particular. (SITE NOTE: We agree with Doug Bandow when he said, "But the Korean government made a sovereign decision to send troops to Afghanistan and Iraq; the 23 Korean Christians made personal decisions to travel to Afghanistan. The Korean public should hold its politicians and fellow citizens, not the U.S. government, responsible for their actions.")

The Pressian on 6 Aug wrote that according to a survey of 700 adults all over the ROK, aggressive missionary work was voted as the main cause for the kidnapping, and 61.2% said the key to this problem was the US. It seems that if the situation worsens, anti-American voices will increase. In addition, there were more people (65.8%) who agree with the idea of a prisoner swap than those who don't (28.1%). Regarding the ROK government's attitude, 52.1% thought they were doing a good job, while 59.3% thought US's attitude of "no negotiations with terrorists" was irresponsible as an ally. 59.3% replied that they disagree with the US's "war against terrorism," and 48% opposed to dispatching ROK troops to Lebanon as UN Peacekeeping Forces.

A group of 78 NGOs on announced a "Yellow Ribbon" campaign for the hostages' safe return on 7 Aug. In a press release, they pleaded to the citizens to join the yellow ribbon campaign hoping for the hostages' safe return. The statement appealed to the Taliban for a prompt release, and pointed to the responsibility of the ROK in supporting the Afghanistan occupation and the vicious cycle of violence. It reflected on ROK society's ignorance of the death and pain the Afghanistan people are going through, and on the effort and support from the US, UN, and peace and human rights organizations to free the hostages. (SITE NOTE: To demonstrate this ignorance, a group of mothers of the hostages went to DUBAI in Aug to seek assistance for the release. Unfortunately, Dubai is one of the worldliest of the Arab emirates and has nothing to do with the Taliban -- nor do they care to invite any attention to themselves.)

Seoul Economic Daily on 3 Aug wrote that we cannot help taking precautions against some political parties and civil organizations' behaviors connecting this kidnapping situation with the anti-American campaign. It is deplorable that even candidates for the presidential election ally themselves with the anti-American sentiment to gain votes. By this behavior, to distort the essence of this situation gives families of the hostages more pain. It is hard to predict at this moment that if we incite the anti-American sentiment, the US will change its attitude toward this situation. It is desirable for us to wait to understand the position of the US and cooperate with the US.

Seoul Shinmun on 4 Aug wrote that it is neither right nor desirable for the political parties and civil organizations to blame the US, not to just ask it to play a role. The primary responsibility for the hostages is not the US but the Taliban. Especially the behaviors of some civil organizations should be criticized because they tried to distort this situation into the anti-American campaign, advocating cessation of the US occupation of Afghanistan and the abolition of the US-ROK alliance. Portraying the Afghan government as a dependant state of the US is neither courteous to our counterpart nor helpful for the negotiation. (SITE NOTE: There is growing frustration with the inability to release the hostages. Everyday there were "reports" in the media of impeding releases of the hostages, followed immediately by denials from the Taliban of such measures.)

Munhwa Ilbo on 3 Aug reported that all political parties are being influenced and utilizing the "Afghan anti-American card" at the same time. Some civil organizations showing the anti-Americanism on the left added that this Korean kidnapping is because of the war on terror that the US started and the long negotiation for the release of the hostages is also due to the US failure to persuade the Afghan government. This is another "anti-American card." Political parties show us that they are using this anti-American card for the upcoming presidential election. Even the Grand National Party plays the US card, just like the ruling party, which received help from the death of two schoolgirls in the 2002 presidential election.

Ohmynews on 8 Aug wrote that, before the US-Afghan summit meeting, although the US was rather worried about the anti-American sentiment in the ROK, the US expected that it was just unfounded fears for several reasons. The big thing is the tone of the press regarding the general opinion in the ROK. There is no criticism on the outcome of the summit meeting. Chosun Ilbo even condemned people for pointing out the responsibility of the US. Donga Ilbo also rebuked them as "those who on the left and speak in support of DPRK utilizing the two schoolgirls in the US tank incident for the candlelight vigil to incite anti-American sentiment." Furthermore, they claimed that to those on the extreme left "the death of the hostages is the secondary problem." However, it is sure that if there were no criticism of President George W. Bush's "feigned ignorance" and no voice asking for the withdrawal of the ROK army, the Bush government would keep its inattentive attitude.

Kyunghyang Shinmun on 5 Aug wrote that while the desperate voices asking that the US government should play a more active role for the early release of the hostages are getting loud, some groups consider these voices as inciting anti-American sentiment. We are worried that the terms of this dispute focuses not on the solution but on the ideological dispute "the US responsibility theory vs. no anti-Americanism." It is hard to understand the perspectives of some of the parties and the conservative media that they consider the US responsibility theory as unconditionally inciting anti-American sentiment. Although we need to urge the role of the US to some extent but temper the excessive demands, to block all the voices asking for the help of the US in the name of fighting "anti-Americanism" can spread disunity, weakening the negotiation power and causing ideological disputes.

Donga Ilbo on 8 Aug reported that, as expected, the US-Afghanistan summit reaffirmed the principle of no negotiations with terrorists, and we must be able to accept this as a fact. The government should find a practical solution to release the hostages, maintaining much more intimate relations with these nations without violating the principles. It must not only ask for humanitarian support from all the nations and organizations that could influence the Taliban, but also must hold direct negotiations with the Taliban. Meanwhile, movements demanding the hostages' prompt release both inside and outside the ROK are greatly inspiring.

Chosun Ilbo on 7 Aug wrote that the US-Afghanistan conference as expected reaffirmed the international norm of no compromise with terrorists. The ROK government must solve this problem while dealing with the US, Afghanistan, and the Taliban at the same time. There is barely any option for negotiations for the ROK. The withdrawal of 200 ROK troops focusing on medical support and rebuilding cannot have a major impact.

Yonhap News on 7 Aug reported that the US and Afghanistan governments should not just keep on announcing the principal that there shall be no negotiations with terrorists, but rather they must try their best to rescue innocent lives with all diplomatic methods and means, imagining what would they do if their own people were to be taken hostage.

Seoul Shinmun on 8 Aug wrote that it is sad to hear that the US-Afghanistan summit talk ended without achieving expectations. Especially, the US must find a creative solution that will in a large sense not deviate from the principle of not allowing prisoner-hostage exchanges, while being flexible in the actual negotiation process. Meanwhile, the ROK government should hold its own face-to-face negotiations with the Taliban while inducing support from institutions (national Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies) that have influence over the Islamic world.

Saegae Ilbo on 6 Aug wrote that although it seems to have avoided the worst condition for the hostage situation turning into a long-term crisis, the ROK government should strive to rescue the hostages without loosening the pressure. It should never be taken advantage of by the Taliban, and should clearly inform the Taliban of what is possible and what is not. The US traded five Iraq female prisoners for an American reporter abducted last February, violating the principle of not negotiating with terrorists. It is encouraging that there are parts of US government mentioning a "creative solution," which would likely be similar to the one in February.

Naeil Shinmun on 8 Aug writes that regarding the kidnapping, there are worries about the rapid spread of distorted views on the hostages and Christianity. On the other hand, as Protestant churches' careless decision and the Afghanistan policies of the US tangle with each other, it is serving as an opportunity for people to try to understand Islam. These results are interpreted to be caused from the sense of shame and helplessness that there is nothing the government or the people can do about the situation. It is an acceptable diagnosis, but it is time to overcome the sense of shame and helplessness and bring all there is to bear to free the hostages.

Hankuk Ilbo on 6 Aug writes that ever since the kidnapping, many disagreements in ROK society, such as the government's role and responsibility, the trust between the government and the people, and different views on the development and abuse of Christianity are all surfacing. In a way, it can be an opportunity to bring the issues to the table and address them. Moreover, from this situation, we have witnessed our "unbalanced diet" that leans toward powerful countries such as the US and Japan, but when it comes to anti-U.S. countries, our diplomatic skills are at a very low level. If we don't acquire a diplomatic skill equal to a 10th biggest economy, the ROK will always remain a "diplomatically undeveloped country." Ideological disputes also need to be reconsidered. Conservative powers trying to define progressive powers' ideas of "U.S.'s roles and responsibilities" as anti-American, and trying to use this in the presidential election while the hostages' lives are at risk, only makes ROK an international mockery.

Maeil Shinmun on 7 Aug writes that if you search and Japanese national policy institutes, you can easily notice how the ROK, even after dispatching troops, lacks information about Afghanistan. The ROK not only lacks information channels, but also is without any professionals who know Afghanistan's local languages. When Sunil Kim was kidnapped in Iraq, there were many calls to study Islamic countries and empower professionals in that area. However, nothing changed since then. If we develop professionals in Islamic countries such as Afghanistan, it will be very helpful in learning their tendencies, building human networks, and conducting negotiations in the future. In the negotiation this time, the ROK government was too helpless. Afghanistan-related information came from Japan. The author stresses the importance in establishing an institute focusing mainly on underdeveloped countries.

Korea Blocked Rescue Operations to Free Hostages (Aug 2007) South Korean officials have twice blocked rescue missions to free 21 of their countrymen held by Taliban rebels, reported the Times on August 13. According to the Times, on one occasion Afghan and U.S. troops identified the places where the hostages were being held and were mobilized and ready to storm the Taliban positions. Separately, Afghan secret police were ready to arrest the families of the Taliban commanders involved as a way of applying pressure. But Korean officials vetoed the plans over fears that they would cause more bloodshed.

Ustad Merajuddin Pathan, the governor of Ghazni Province, said, ""The reason we have not launched a military operation is Korea asked us not to. They are sure they will solve this by talking face to face." He also claimed that the hostages are being held at the village of Malang Khali in Qarabagh district of Ghazni. Abdul Rahim, head of the highway police in the Qarabagh district where the Koreans were abducted, said: "The governor wanted to launch a military operation but the Korean authorities refused." According to Rahim, the South Koreans were being held by three different commanders. He said: "The commanders all have different opinions – some want money and some want the prisoners released. It makes negotiations very difficult."

Afghan officials in Ghazni have little sympathy for the hostages. Many believe that they were in Afghanistan to preach Christianity. There was also incredulity that they were traveling from Kabul to Kandahar, one of the most dangerous roads in the country, without informing the police. Meanwhile, according to the Times, it has also emerged that the driver of the bus transporting the evangelical Christians is suspected of tipping off the Taliban about their route. The bus driver has been arrested. (Source: Donga Ilbo.)

Taliban Confirm Agreement to Free Korean Hostages (Aug 2007) On 29 Aug Presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-seon said the Taliban agreed to release all remaining Korean captives on condition that Korea withdraws its forces in Afghanistan within this year and bans missionary activities by Korean Christians in the Islamic country. the Taliban withdrew its demand for the release of Taliban prisoners in exchange for Korean hostages while Korea promised to pull its troops out of Afghanistan by late this year and compel Korean missionaries leave the central Asian country by late this month, according to Pajhwok Afghan News. However, there was speculation of other, under-the-table agreements. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.) (SITE NOTE: The consensus amongst foreign observers is that the ROK government has just put a bulls-eye target on the back of all Koreans working abroad. The second opinion is that the ROK government paid a ransom for the hostages, but it was not disclosed. News media have speculated that the South Korean government ransomed the hostages by paying the Taliban as much as 20 million British pounds. However, the spokesman for Cheong Wa Dae denied this. It was also reported that the Taliban stated that they would kidnap other foreigners to achieve their goals -- something feared by other countries when Korea negotiated with the Taliban. )

Comments from other governments about the ROK handling of the situation was not nice. Canada’s foreign minister, in a rare public blast at a close ally, has criticized South Korea for negotiating with Taliban militants to free a group of hostages. “The Canadian position on dealings with terrorists is well-known to all those with even a passing familiarity with the subject. We do not negotiate with terrorists, for any reason,” Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier said in a statement. “Such negotiations, even if unsuccessful, only lead to further acts of terrorism.” (Source: Yahoo.com.)

Germany's Opposition Green Party defense spokesman Winfried Nachtwei said he was pleased the hostages had been freed but at a political level it was nothing less than “a political triumph for the Taliban.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her government would not change its strategy in light of the release of the Korean hostages. “The situation concerning the South Korean hostages will not change in the way we are dealing with it,” she said.. (Source: DW World.)

Afghanistan said, “It is a very dangerous message when we give the impression that the international community and the Afghan government are able to be blackmailed,” said Aghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta. The day before, Afghan commerce minister Amin Farhang had also criticized the South Korean government for bypassing the Afghan government and dealing directly with the Taliban. “This release under these conditions will make our difficulties in Afghanistan even bigger,” Farhand said German radio station, Bayerischer Rundfunk. “We fear that this decision could become a precedent. The Taliban will continue trying to take hostages to attain their aims in Afghanistan.” (Source: DW World.)

The US simply issued a terse statement that though it was pleased that the hostages were freed, some hostages were killed. For this the Taliban would be held responsible. (SITE NOTE: This appeared to be a reminder to the ROK that the Taliban had executed people and extortion was not an acceptable trade for hostages.)

Confirmation of the release of the last 7 hostages was made on 30 Aug. It confirmed that the hostages were held in different areas in separate groups. (SITE NOTE: As for the activists protesting the US, they have moved on to other agendas. Some were photographed at Command Post Tango and Yongsan in protest of the Ulchi-Focus Lens. Protests against the UFL -- lacking popular support -- have been small and peaceful. Others were seen photographed (photo ops) loading rice bound for North Korea. There has not been any upsurge in anti-Americanism or in general support for the hostage situation. The populace was interested -- but not aroused in anti-Americanism. Most people were simply interested in their vacations and beating the August heat wave. The hostages that were executed were no longer sensational news -- and in fact, the ROK government claimed indemnity to reclaim passage money for the hostages from Afghanistan and costs incurred. The hostages were not to receive a hero's welcome.)

Reuters: ROK paid $20 Million for Hostage Release The Korean government paid more than US$20 million in ransom to Taliban kidnappers for the release of 19 Korean hostages in Afghanistan, Reuters and Japan's Kyodo News said 1 Sept quoting a senior Taliban figure. Both news agencies cited remarks by a member of the 10-man leadership council of the Taliban, which are headed by the elusive Mullah Omar. "With it we will purchase arms, get our communication network renewed and buy vehicles to carry out more suicide attacks," the senior militant figure told Reuters. "The money will also address to some extent the financial difficulties we have had." (SITE NOTE: President Roh and NIS head Kim Man-bok have denied payments -- though Kim stated he played a key role in the hostage release.)

Meanwhile, in an indirect phone conversation with Yonhap News on Sunday, a purported Taliban spokesman calling himself Qari Yousuf Ahmadi threatened to attack the Korean embassy or other Korean facilities in Afghanistan if the country does not keep its promise to withdraw all Korean Christian missionaries from the country by the end of August. Ahmadi said he had information that some Koreans remain in the war-torn country. (SITE NOTE: Later reports stated that the Taliban had said the ROK did not keep its promise to remove all NGO workers by the end of August.) (Source: Chosun Ilbo.)

EPILOGUE The story faded immediately. The ROK government continued to deny that it gave money to the Taliban, but no one believed them -- but neither did anyone want to resurrect the issue with the 2 Oct North Korean summit coming up. The hostages were condemned for creating the crisis by going to Afghanistan against better advice -- though it seems the ROK government could have prevented them by not granting their visas. The hostages church was condemned and the government attempted to regain the plane fare back to Korea from the church. There was no sympathy for the hostages when they returned nor any outpouring of grief for those slain. AFTER the release one of the alleged Taliban masterminds for the kidnap was killed by American forces.

As for Rev Han Sang-ryul, he dropped this protest like a hot potato. Instead, he was showing up at every other protest rally and left-leaning cause. The hostage situation was forgotten as the Korean people turned against the hostages for creating the mess themselves. Being a realist, he washed his hands of the cause. Instead, he showed up the humanitarian rice shipments to North Korea -- even though the North had not asked for any help at the time. He was also appearing at FTA and anti-US beef protests (though a dying cause) and many small unification rallies just for photo-ops.

Taliban Received $10 million from ROK (Oct 2007) On 15 Oct it was reported that Taliban fighters interviewed by The Sunday Telegraph said the money received as ransom from the ROK had been used to train recruits to carry out terrorist attacks in Britain and America. South Korea has repeatedly denied claims by Afghan officials that it paid cash to secure the release in August of 21 Christian volunteers who were held for nearly six weeks. But in a recent meeting, three Taliban fighters involved in the conflict with the British in Helmand province said that $10 million cash handed over in two instalments had been used to boost operations in Afghanistan and abroad. Asked to comment on the Taliban claims, the South Korean embassy in London described them as "lies" put out by the movement's propaganda wing.

The Taliban fighters said the money had been paid in August, shortly before the Taliban's fugitive spiritual leader, Mullah Omar, ordered Operation Nusrat (victory), an offensive against coalition troops which ran throughout the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which finished last week. "It was a God-sent opportunity," said Mullah Hezbollah, 30. "It has helped us to multiply our stockpile of weapons and explosives to wage battle for at least a year or so."

Hezbollah, however, gave what appeared to be precise details of the transactions. "They gave us $7 million as a first instalment the day we released 12 hostages, and the remaining money was paid soon after we released the remaining hostages on August 31," he said. He added that another main source of income was opium produced by poppy farmers in Helmand, thanks to a Taliban fatwa, or holy order. "Our scholars have given a religious decree saying that things which are usually abominable in Islam are permitted to wage jihad against the enemies of Islam," he said.

His comrade, Mullah Mohibullah, 32, disclosed that some of the ransom funds were being used to train volunteers from Britain and America to carry out attacks in their homelands. The group said that suicide bombers, either in vehicles or wearing explosive-laden vests, were also becoming the Taliban's main weapon against occupying forces in Afghanistan. (Source: Sunday Telegraph.)

ROK Government Charges Saemul Church for Hostage Release (Oct 2007) On 15 Oct, the Korean government charged the Saemmul Church 57 million KRW (about US$ 57,000) for the release of the missionaries in Afghanistan, back in August. The Saemmul Church has stated that it will pay the amount via donations from its members. (Source: Hankyung.com.)

ROK Troops Out of Afghanistan (Dec 2007) The ROK troops returned home from Afghanistan though President Bush asked the ROK not to do so. However, the ROK has a CIVILIAN support team in Afghanistan that they feel qualifies for "support" of the mission. Most bloggers thought they weren't doing much except some PR medical checkups anyway so it wasn't much of a loss to the UN mission anyway. Not much significance to their removal -- except that it makes a point of the ROK support of the Bush policies.

---

See Two Koreas to Hold Second Summit in Pyongyang (Aug 2007) for on-going details on Roh Moo-hyun-Kim Jong-Il meeting.

---

Japan Collaborators Face Land Seizure (Feb-Aug 2007) The government is seeking to confiscate 70 billion won ($74 million) worth of assets from Koreans who collaborated with Japanese authorities during colonial rule from 1910-45, the Ministry of Veterans and Patriots Affairs said on 14 Feb. The Investigative Commission on Pro-Japanese Collaborators' Property is in the process of seizing 9.4 million square meters of land from 41 descendants of the collaborators is the first in an asset forfeiture project against 106 "national traitors," the ministry said. "The government first plans to confiscate a total of some 9.4 million square meters of land owned by 41 descendants of pro-Japan collaborators," minister Park Yu-chul said. The land is valued officially at 70 billion won (US$74 million), but its market price is much higher. The seized assets will be used to provide welfare to the descendants of patriots who sacrificed their lives for Korea's liberation from colonial rule and other contributors to the nation, the ministry said.

The assets include the disputed estate of Song Byeong-jun, a well-known collaborator and associate of Lee Wan-yong, it said. The pair played key roles in facilitating Japan's annexation of Korea. Some descendants of collaborators, including Lee Wan-yong, who helped Japan's colonization in his capacity as a government minister at that time, have retained the rights to their properties despite a series of lawsuits against them. The move is intended to follow up on a special law enacted in December 2006 to seize the assets of collaborators who helped the Japanese occupation of the Korean Peninsula. The government set up a presidential body last year to trace properties of alleged collaborators, boosted by a majority of public opinion calling for the assets to be returned to state coffers.

In December 2006, the Presidential Committee for the Inspection of Collaboration for Japanese Imperialism released a list of 106 pro-Japanese collaborators to prevent their descendants from reclaiming the "improperly owned" property. The commission is still investigating the remaining collaborators, the ministry said.

However, critics have claimed the law may violate the constitutional ban on retroactive application of laws. The ministry's drive is expected to face a strong backlash from the descendants of the alleged collaborators, including lawsuits. Legal experts say it would be difficult to verify that those properties were acquired from pro-Japanese activities during the colonial era. (Source: Korea Herald.)

Park also said his ministry will formally ask China to preserve a site in its eastern city of Dalian where the remains of Ahn Joong-geun, a famous Korean independence fighter, are thought to be buried. Ahn was executed by the Japanese authorities at a Chinese prison in 1910, one year after he was arrested for assassinating Ito Hirobumi, the first Japanese resident general in Korea, at a railway station in Harbin. South Korea will continue efforts for a joint search with North Korea for Ahn's remains, the minister said. (Source: Hankyoreh News/Yonhap News.) (SEE Anti-Japanese Xenophobia Continues (Feb-Aug 2006): Feb 2006 for 2006 actions of the Presidential "Truth" Committee xenophobic witch hunts for Japanese collaborators -- while extolling Communists who sought to overthrow the South Korean government as "democracy freedom fighters.")

On 18 Aug 2006 the government started an investigation to confiscate assets of descendents who received financial benefits from 400 pro-Japanese activities in the early 20th century. The government stated that it marked the first time in 57 years that the government had taken action against Korean citizens who cooperated with Japan from 1910 to 1945. A similar move was foiled in 1949 due to strong protests from the collaborators. Similar moves were taken against those who signed or abetted in the transfer of power to Japan in 1905. The Committee for the Inspection of Property of Japan Collaborators investigation started on 18 Aug 2006 was a prelude to seizing the property obtained by collaborators during Japanese colonization. Its preliminary investigation started in April 2006. The committee consists of 104 public officials from various government bodies such as the Ministry of Justice, the National Police Agency, the Ministry of Finance and Economy, and the National Tax Service.

Seizure of Collaborator Lands (May 2007) The Investigative Commission on Pro-Japanese Collaborators' Property said on 2 May it would confiscate 254,906 square-meters of land from the descendants of nine collaborators. It was the first such decision made by the presidential body, which was created in July last year to identify properties of collaborators. The lands are estimated to have a market value of 6.3 billion won ($6.7 million), according to the commission.

Among the nine collaborators are Lee Wan-yong, the prime minister of the Joseon Dynasty's cabinet when the 1910 Annexation Treaty between Korea and Japan was signed, and his son, Lee Byeong-gil. The elder Lee amassed lands and assets as compensation given by the colonial government for his cooperation. Song Byeong-joon, the internal affairs minister in that cabinet who backed a petition demanding the country's colonization by Japan, was also on the list with his son, Song Jong-heon.

The confiscated lands were acquired by the nine people between Feb. 8, 1904, when the Russo-Japanese War began, and Independence Day on Aug. 15, 1945. They are currently held by descendants of the nine. By winning the war against Russia, Japan secured its hold on the Korean Peninsula. Lands sold by descendants BEFORE Dec. 29, 2005 when the special law on the confiscation of assets of collaborators went into effect, were excluded from the list.

The commission said it has been investigating the assets for the past nine months using a list of 452 collaborators, mostly officials in the cabinet or the Japanese colonial government, and their family trees. "It was not easy to probe the assets because in many cases official documents were not available," said Kim Chang-gook, chairman of the commission. "The confiscated assets will be registered as state properties and will be used to provide support to independence activists and their families," said an official at the commission, who refused to be named. (Source: Joongang Ilbo.)

(SITE NOTE: We have always viewed this attempt at "justice" as nothing more than an unveiled Roh promise of "vengence." It has everything to do with securing a retirement income for the families of "freedom fighters" -- even if they were communists dedicated to the overthrow of the ROK government. It has nothing to do with righting of past wrongs. The Roh administration filled with "democracy movement" fanatics -- or wanna-bes from later generations -- HAVE BYPASSED LEGAL MEANS AFTER THEY WERE BLOCKED IN THE COURTS OVER THE YEARS. Instead they legislated a law using the Uri Party majority in the National Assembly, then they formed "Truth Commissions" with the President's blessings, then they used their preconceived "findings" to justify the LEGAL action of confiscation without going to the courts to ensure legal condemnation. Pretty neat!!! We are certain the next step is back to the courts to block this confiscation by the owners of the land. The Roh administration has only a few months left in office and his radical ilk are rushing to put their ill-thought out promises into action before they are forced out onto the streets -- and then to start the long, long process of undoing all the damage they have done to the Korean economy, infrastructure, government, etc.

Michael Breen, author of "The Koreans," said it best in his op-ed in the Korea Times. He stated, "No, the real issue is not nationalistic purity but individual rights. The owners of the land to be seized will likely file suit. If you believe that democracy is based on the rights of the individual, you should get your headband on and support them. The rightness of their claim has nothing to do with Japan or traitors. If their acquisition of their land, which we may assume they have owned for decades, was legal, the vicars are on shaky ground. They might lose. If, on the other hand, you believe in blood guilt, that children are responsible for the sins of their fathers, then you should push the panel to clear up all of Korean history. Why stop at the Japanese occupation? What about the military coup of General Yi Seong-gye in 1392? A lot of people benefited from that. Didn't Seonggyunkwan, the Confucian University that still exists, get free land? How about confiscating it and using the money to support the truly pure and innocent people of Korea, those who will step forward and admit that they are the descendants of slaves (unless they became slaves because of the sins of their fathers in the previous dynasty)? My point here is not that collaborators should be allowed to benefit from their actions. My point is that the collaborators are dead. It's too late. In retrospect, Syngman Rhee should have taken clearer steps to remove anyone who benefited from collaboration. But what do we know of the circumstances for his decision? Korea at that time was suffering from lack of capable manpower. Literacy was under 20 percent. Few had administrative experience, let alone understanding of democracy and human rights. We may not like Mr. Rhee because he was not a democrat. But that is no justification for actions of a government 60 years later that betray the spirit of present democracy. Resolving the long gone past is no longer a matter for government. It is no longer a matter for the courts. It is a matter for historians. These scholars should decline positions on government bodies and, instead, research and write about the history of the colonial period in an intellectually free marketplace. It is truth that sets the record straight. When government tries to do it, there is always a risk of abuse.)

Korea to Seize Assets of Japan Collaborators (Aug 2007) More than one million square meters of land belonging to Koreans alleged to have collaborated with the Japanese colonial government will be taken over by the state. The Investigative Commission on Pro-Japanese Collaborators' Property announced on Monday it will seize W25.7 billion (US$1=W929) worth of land from the descendants of 10 alleged collaborators who worked for Japan during its 35-year colonial rule over the Korean peninsula. The people in question are said to have helped Japan colonize and rule the Korean peninsula in exchange for money or high-ranking positions.

This planned seizure is the second of its kind after confiscation of land owned by descendants of nine other alleged collaborators took place last May. The commission says this is part of Seoul's efforts to put closure on the country's painful past. Under a special law enacted in 2005, the commission has listed some 450 people who collaborated during the colonial period and says it will continue investigating and seizing their assets. The assets will be used to assist the people or their descendants who fought for independence during the colonial occupation as well as to fund projects commemorating the independence movement. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.) (SITE NOTE: There is almost a hysterical atmosphere at the end of the Roh Administration to complete up on his agenda before he leaves office -- almost as though they fear that his programs will all be reversed or stopped once the new conservative administration comes into power.)

---

South Korea's expatriate population tops 1 million (Aug 2007) It was reported on 24 Aug that South Korea's expatriate population, including foreigners staying here illegally and for short-term periods, reached 1,000,254 as of Friday, breaking the 1 million mark for the first time, the Justice Ministry said. The over-1 million expatriate population, which accounts for about 2 percent of South Korea's population of 49.13 million, represents the nation's rapid transformation into a multiracial and multicultural society, ministry officials said. Compared with a decade ago, today's over-1 million expatriates is a rise of 158 percent. But the number of illegal foreigners is estimated to have reached 220,000, raising the acute need for comprehensive government countermeasures, they said.

By nationality, Chinese people accounted for 44 percent, or 441,334, of the total, followed by Americans (117,938, or 12 percent), Vietnamese (64,464, or 6 percent), Filipinos (50,264, or 5 percent) and Thais (42,792, or 4 percent), according to ministry figures. The five most populous communities accounted for 70 percent of the total expatriate population. Expatriates with long-term stay permits numbered 724,967, including 404,051 industrial trainees, 104,749 marriage-based immigrants and 47,479 students. (Source: Yonhap News.)

---

See Controversial Roh Press Measure for Government: Lawyers to file constitutional petition to protect the public's right to know (May-Sep 2007) for details of dispute between Roh and Press over briefing rooms.

---

Hundreds may hold bogus degrees (Aug 2007) The widening scope of the investigation into bogus degrees has raised concerns about the credibility of academia in Korea. The prosecutors have asked the Korean Research Foundation, an organization that keeps track of doctorate degrees held by South Koreans, for information about hundreds of people they suspect hold degrees from unaccredited U.S. colleges. The Seoul Central District Public Prosecutors’ Office said it received reports that several people had received the bogus degrees and asked the foundation for the documents those people submitted. Prosecutors also asked for a database of people who had doctorates from dozens of U.S. diploma mills.

(SITE NOTE: The major problem is that there is no one in government or the professional associations responsible for verifying the validity of foreign degrees -- especially those issued by "diploma mills." The media attention on this topic is a result of the scandal of a former Art Professor who was found to have only a high school degree. (See Co-Director of Biannele.) A furor has risen about possible influence by Roh aides in this case. Later other celebrities were found to have lied about their degrees -- including a popular radio English language show host, a movie star, professors, and others.

See Fake Teachers not only Foreigners (Aug 2007) and Hundreds may hold bogus degrees (Aug 2007)for details on educational institutions with teachers with forged documents.

The latest was Kim Kyung-hee, 59, Konkuk University's board chief, has been found to have exaggerated her academic records. Kim had been known as a graduate of Hanyang University, but it was revealed that she didn't attend the school but only attended some lectures at the school as a guest. Konkuk University spokesman confirmed that she doesn't have a bachelor degree although she has a graduate certification from Hanyang University. However, he emphasized that many students attend classes offered by private universities as a guest and the system was authorized by the Education Ministry at that time. Also, the board chief had been known as a graduate of Mount St. Mary's College Los Angels in the United States, but she only got admitted to the school and didn't obtain degree. Regarding this, the school said, ``Although Kim was admitted to the school in 1982, she gave up studying at the school since she had to concentrate on raising her children and dealing with home affairs. In addition, City University Los Angels in the U.S., where Kim achieved a master's degree, is not credited by the government.

Fading star Jang Mi-hee was back in the spotlight due to suspicions about her school record.

Singer-songwriter Joo Young-hoon's radio and television gigs were canceled last week after his agent revealed that Joo had lied on air by claiming he was a graduate of George Mason University.

Lee Chang-ha, an architect and a lecturer at Kimcheon Science College, who claimed to have attended New Bridge University in Los Angeles as an undergraduate from 1992 to 1996, though that school only started its undergraduate program in 1995. He confessed to his lie in an e-mail to local media.

Theater actress Yoon Suk-hwa, known as South Korea's Meryl Streep, tearfully confessed at a news conference to lying for more than 30 years about having a diploma from New York University _ when she had only taken several courses at City University of New York.

Respected Buddhist priest Ji-gwang also told reporters that he never attended prestigious Seoul National University as he had claimed. Jigwang, 57, a senior cleric at one of Seoul's biggest Buddhist temples, confessed to local media he has been haunted all his life by making the false claim he attended celebrated Seoul National University. "I regret that I didn't get the nerve up to confess earlier," the monk told the national daily JoongAng Ilbo. (Source: Goldsea.com: AP.)

On 3 Sep Korean-American model and actor Daniel Henney has said that his academic background as currently reported on some web portals is wrong. Henney stars in the new film "My Father" to be released on Sept. 6. According to some websites, the 29-year-old actor has a diploma from the College of Business Administration at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Henney and his agency said in an interview with the Chosun Ilbo that he was never admitted to that school and that they don't know the source of the mistaken information.)

Earlier this month, prosecutors received documents from about 276 people who reported doctorates from 23 U.S. diploma mills since 2003. Prosecutors are also investigating dozens of professors from that group who are currently employed at local universities. “For the past weeks, two to three reports per day have been submitted to the office,” said an official who declined to be named. An official at the research foundation, who also asked for anonymity, said they have been responding to the prosecutors’ requests.

Meanwhile, at a meeting yesterday the foundation, prosecutors and the representatives from the ministries of education and justice, together with Dongguk, Sungkyunkwan and Dankook universities and the Korean Council for University Education, vowed to join efforts against bogus degrees. Participants at the meeting said universities need to verify degrees. And then the Education Ministry and legal authorities say they will crack down on people who forge degrees.

Diploma Review Expands to Government (Aug 2007) The government plans to screen personnel records of public officials including their diplomas and licenses in the wake of a series of diploma forgery. Under the plan, the Civil Service Commission, a state-run institute to control government human resources, has sent official requests to central government offices to verify diplomas and licenses of about 63,000 public officials.

In accordance with the probe, the government projects to transform paper-based personnel records to electronic ones. Through the system, it is expected to efficiently disclose fake diplomas and licenses. ``As fake diploma and license scandals have been rampant, central government officials should be good examples to build transparent society. This is why the government has decided to screen personnel records of all the public servants,’’ said Ahn Yang-ho, director-general of the Personnel Policy Bureau.

Fake Degrees of Army officers (Nov 2007) It was reported on 1 Nov that the fake degree cases that have afflicted parts of Korean society has now hit the military. The ROK Army has cancelled the commissions of 15 former and present OCS trained officers after discovering that their foreign university degrees were fake. Thus far it has been discovered that it only affected lieutenant-level officers. The tip off came when someone stated that the prospective officers stayed in the Philippines too short a time to have completed a degree. Investigators were dispatched to the PI to research the allegation and found it was true. It immediately cancelled the admissions of eight 3rd Military Academy candidates after discovering that their degrees from a Philippine university were also fakes.

The ministry ordered the Army, Navy and Air Forces to check the academic backgrounds of officers who received their bachelor’s degrees abroad in order to confirm if there are more officers commissioned with forged diplomas, besides the recently disgraced 23 officers (two retired (discharged) officers, 13 active officers, eight cadets). (Source: Nocut.news.)

---

September 2007

First Korean Astronaut Selected (Sep 2007) South Korea on 5 Sep chose a 30-year-old computer vision engineer to become its first astronaut who will make a trip to the International Space Station on a Russian spacecraft early next year. Ko san, a researcher at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), was selected over Yi So-yeon because he received higher marks in the extensive training program undertaken in South Korea and Russia since early this year, the Ministry of Science and Technology said. It said there was very little difference in the scores of the two candidates, which were tallied by a seven-person astronaut selection committee headed by KARI president Paik Hong-yul.

Ko will go into space with two Russian cosmonauts on the Soyuz spacecraft in April 2008 and spend seven to eight days on the space station orbiting the Earth, the ministry said. He is to conduct a total of 18 experiments as a payload specialist, checking the noise level of the space station, the effect of the weightless environment on the human body, and the impact of space on the growth of living organisms. (Source: Yonhap News.) (NOTE: Both the candidates were good-looking enough to be movie stars, but their academic credentials weren't bad either. Ko's publicity shots were definitely aimed at the female markets and his astronaut status will make him an instant Korean icon.)

---

Controversial Roh Press Measure for Government: Lawyers to file constitutional petition to protect the public's right to know (May-Dec 2007) Lawmakers and legal experts are moving to block new regulations that they claim would violate press freedom. The majority Grand National Party pledged to nullify the plan during the June parliamentary session. The government plans to consolidate the 37 existing press rooms in administrative offices by August. The party will also demand the abolishment of the Government Information Agency, which finalized the master plan on President Roh Moo-hyun's instructions.

"The party will do its best to invalidate the new measure within the June National Assembly session after examining its legal and institutional injustice," said GNP Chairman Kang Jae-sup during a meeting of senior party members. "The government will not succeed in its attempt to cover up its misgoverning by closing down press rooms."

Legal groups led by prominent human rights lawyers are preparing a constitutional petition for as early as next week. They claim it contravenes press freedom as stated in the Constitution. The general public, journalists and media groups will participate as co-claimants, they said. "It is unconstitutional for the government to alter the press system without public approval," said lawyer Lee Suk-yeon, a former Constitutional Court justice. He led a constitutional battle against Roh's plan to move the capital in 2004.

Freedom of the press is stated in Article 21 of the Constitution and Article 3 of the press law. The press law states that journalists must have free access to any information concerning the public interest. The law also states that such rights cannot be restricted by the administration or any other provisions of the law. Under the new press policy, the existing 37 press rooms in government administrative branches will be consolidated into "combined briefing rooms" in three government complexes in central Seoul, Gwacheon and Daejeon. The Cabinet passed the new rules on 22 May.

Four briefing rooms and a separate office for news transmission will be set up in Seoul and Gwacheon, and one briefing room in Daejeon by August. Journalists will be banned from being stationed in any government offices and will be offered temporary press cards to attend news briefings. A maximum of four seats will be permitted for each type of media outlet in the news transmission rooms. Currently, some 3,200 reporters are registered with government offices and about 480 reporters daily go to government agencies, which provided a combined average of 6.6 press briefings per week last year.

The current plan appears to be Roh's final push to revamp the press room system before leaving the office. In a war against the conservative major press - critical of Roh's radical policies - the president has been trying to give more power to the so-called "minor" media journalists, including leftist internet media outlets. But even the minority media outlets are opposed to the present radical decision, viewing the move as an attempt to gag news outlets critical of the administration ahead of the December presidential election.

According to Media Today, up to 85.7 percent of managing editors in 18 local media outlets are opposed to the new plan. About 43 percent believe that the previous press system will be restored as soon as the Roh government moves out after the December presidential election. The 18 media outlets included Yonhap News Agency, local broadcasters KBS and SBS, 10 daily newspapers and two internet media outlets. Up to 71.4 percent said that the new system would not benefit minor media and only strengthen the power of major media groups due to the limited number of seats in the future briefing rooms.

Civic groups also oppose the new measure, saying it infringes on the people's right to know. "The new measure will force the press to write only from what the government briefings say, abolishing a filtering process for the public," said the People's Coalition for Media Reform through a news release yesterday. The National Union of Media Workers also warned that the government's decision will make it harder for reporters to access information, eventually compromising the public's right to know. The Human Rights Solidarity for a New Society agreed. (Source: Korea Herald.)

Other news reports indicated that even those with the government were not supporting this measure though they remained anonymous. They called the measure "ridiculous" primarily because of the inconvenience that it would cause for them to travel to the briefing rooms.

Editors Condemn Roh Media Policy (Aug 2007) The on-going battle over Roh's attempt to muzzle the press condemnation of his policies and administration has been on-going since the start of his administration. Then in May 2007, Roh decided to centralize all the government briefing into one location -- and limit accessibility to ministries by the press -- supposedly for efficiency. In May, the Roh administration adopted a new media policy which it called "measures to upgrade the government's support for journalists." The policy included plans to kick journalists out of their designated rooms at ministries and public offices by consolidating 37 press rooms into three briefing centers, to keep track of the number of press conferences journalists attend and strictly limit their access to public officials for interviews. (SITE NOTE: Reporters in the Foreign Ministry refused to vacate their pressroom in order to force a confrontation in early Sep.)

Roh, who has been widely attacked by the media, has said he was taking on the last of the "privileged classes." The press rooms are largely dominated by the major media in Korea, keeping out smaller outlets, such as Internet media and foreign correspondents. Roh has criticized the accredited journalists for "sitting around in their rooms and colluding with each other to choose stories." (SITE NOTE: It has been pointed out repeatedly in the press that the Roh government subsidizes those media newspapers and internet media that are pro-Roh supporters.)

All of the press corps covering the various goverment agencies have also issued statements against the policy. They were joined by almost all media, except OhmyNews, an Internet news organization, and Arirang TV. (SITE NOTE: Both recieved large grants from the Roh administration to continue their operations.) The Roh administration did not comment. However, the Government Information Agency, which drafted the media policy and is implementing it, ordered journalists at the central government complex in downtown Seoul to permanently vacate their rooms by 4 p.m. 30 Aug.

Originally only the conservative GNP spoke out against this -- as it was pointedly aimed at conservative papers. However, soon it was apparent that it would affect ALL media and the liberal UNDP joined in the opposition of this in August -- even stating that it would stop the government funding for the remodeling of the news centers.

Then on 30 Aug the heated battle by the media elevated one step up. 38 chief and managing editors of the nation's newspapers and broadcasters adopted a resolution condemning the Roh Moo-hyun administration's new media policy. In the strongly worded statement, the Korea News Editors' Association, in an emergency meeting held for the first time in 48 years, called the media policy an "oppression of press freedom" and vowed to fight against it.

Representatives from 28 of the association's 55 members nationwide attended the meeting at the Korea Press Center in downtown Seoul. The last such meeting took place on April 30, 1959 to protest the forcible shutdown of the Kyunghyang Shinmun [newspaper] by the Syngman Rhee regime. Established in 1957, the association represents 1,500 senior members of the 55 media firms. It is the oldest media lobbying group in Korea. (Source: Korea Times.) (SITE NOTE: On 2 Sep it was reported that reporters refused to leave the Foreign Ministry's press room setting up a confrontation.)

Press Ousted from Foreign Ministry briefing room (Sep 2007) On 13 Sep the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade press Correspondents, who were driven out of the briefing room. The press corps, who urged the punishment of those responsible for the measure, made a strong protest, saying, "The one-sided demolition work is an act of violence against the media." According to the so-called "Advanced Media Support System," a new measure aiming to control the media, the government began the remodeling to change the existing briefing room on the second floor of the MOFAT building into a joint briefing room.

Government starts closing all press rooms (Oct 2007) On 12 Oct, the government started closing all press rooms -- leaving only the central press briefing rooms open. As promised, the government cut off Internet access to media rooms yesterday, saying it plans to seal them off a day later than scheduled. As part of a new government media policy, dozens of media rooms at individual agencies are being consolidated into three briefing centers. As part of the Roh administration's media reform policy, the Government Information Agency shut down about 40 rooms used by journalists, telling the media to use three new briefing centers.

Most of the Foreign Ministry reporters are boycotting government briefings in protest and hope to continue working out of the media rooms. The reporters at the National Tax Service stated that the move was to deny the public access to knowledge and they would refuse to report on briefings at the central press briefing room.

On 16 Oct a scuffles took place about 7:30 a.m. as several reporters entered their old pressroom at the Ministry of Construction and Transportation in the Gwacheon Government Complex south of Seoul. After confrontation with guards and riot police, the press left after a plea by the Construction Minster for the "greater good."

At the Central Government Complex in downtown Seoul, the Foreign Ministry press corps continued to work in the hallways. The reporters said they will jointly rent space outside the building if they are evicted from the hallway. The press corps of the Education Ministry said it will hold meetings every Monday and Wednesday to discuss their moves. The press corps also boycotted the ministry's briefing, which took place in the new media center yesterday. Seven officials came to brief the reporters, but only two journalists, both from The Hankyoreh newspaper, attended. The press corps of the Prime Minister's Office and the Unification Ministry also worked in the lobby and coffee shop inside the building.

Reporters in all-night fight to stay close to government offices (Dec 2007) The Ministry of Defense press room has been closed, but the reporters continue to occupy the space as a protest to Roh's move to limit press accessibility. The reporters no longer have free access and all press badges were revoked. Wearing parkas to combat the freezing cold and using candles to counter the darkness, a group of ten South Korean reporters on 24 Dec continued their sleepless fight for the third consecutive day against outgoing President Roh Moo-hyun's move to shut down the Defense Ministry's press room. The 50-square-meter space in the main building of the ministry's Seoul compound, now with all electricity cut off, is the last line of defense for many journalists critical of the lame duck president's strong push for media reform.

On a bright note, on 24 Dec a Lee Myeong-bak aide stated the President-elect will abolish the Government Information Agency, which led the shutdown of the government pressrooms, as he pledged during the presidential campaign. The move was part of a Lee plan to cut the current 18 ministries and agencies -- four to six ministries are expected to be merged.

---

Tightened Rules on Noise to Be Adopted (Sep 2007) Newly opening karaoke clubs or bars with singing facilities may have to be situated in basements as the government seeks to regulate noise pollution. According to the Ministry of Environment, there were 30,547 complaints reported concerning noise in residential areas in 2006. Most involved construction sites or noisy cars. However, others were annoyed at cats' meowing, dogs' barking, or simply piano playing or singing they found too loud.

In response the government decided to regulate noise in residential areas. Currently there are seven ministries governing noise according to venues, but the government will integrate the function into one, and special legal measures will be adopted. Revised regulations will concentrate on lessening the noise from karaoke bars, restaurants, piano lesson rooms, large air conditioning systems and commercial facilities. A ministry official said large roads and construction sites will be required to install noise-prevention equipment. Also noise-making facilities will only be allowed in more isolated areas.

The government is also looking at setting standards for the noise levels allowed. Facilities near temples or residential areas will be required to keep noise levels at less than 40 decibels at night, 45 in the morning and evening and 50 in the daytime. In commercial areas, levels up to 55 decibels will be allowed. (Source: Korea Times.) (SITE NOTE: This new move plays directly into the hands of the environmental groups who have been pushing the noise pollution issue -- especially around the airbases, both ROKAF and US. In 2006, suits were filed by the government against many bases for noise pollution. Has anyone measured the U-2 landings at Osan AB. It sounds like a commercial airliner is passing over head as the aircraft passes over the apartments in Songtan. The takeoffs are worse, but normally the noise is not too bad because the aircraft is climbing out over Yongin. And has anyone measured the noise of Osan AB jets flying over -- and circling -- Idong reservoir in Yongin? They are loud enough to be irritating after a while.)

---

Executed for Treason in 1975, Activists Posthumously Acquitted (Jan-Sep 2007) On 23 Jan, the Seoul Central District Court brought legal closure to one of the darker moments of Korea's modern history, acquitting eight men in a retrial of 1975 charges of treason, for which they were executed. In 1974, public opposition to a proposal by President Park to amend the Constitution to allow him a third term in office led him to declare a state of emergency, claiming that student radicals were attempting to overthrow the government. Dozens of activists were arrested, including the eight, who were accused of trying to re-establish the People's Revolutionary Party, a defunct communist party. The spy organ, then called the Korea Central Intelligence Agency, accused the eight of fomenting revolution; they were convicted of violating the emergency decrees and the National Security Law and of treason. The executions were carried out only 20 hours after the convictions in a military court were confirmed by Korea's Supreme Court on April 8, 1975. The hasty executions provoked a storm of international criticism, but President Park Chung Hee, Korea's strongman president of the time, remained in the Blue House until his assassination four years later.

The Seoul Central District Court on 23 Jan found the eight defendants not guilty of most charges, including forming an underground pro-communist group with the aim of overthrowing the authoritarian government of then-President Park Chung-hee. The court said it found no evidence to prove the prosecution's claim that the accused had engaged in organized activities to overthrow the government at that time and said the victims were tortured into making false confessions.

The legal proceedings in 1975 had already been widely discredited. In 2002, a fact-finding committee looking into deaths of Koreans while in custody, called the charges "fabricated." In 2005, Korea's intelligence agency also admitted that the case was trumped up, and in the same year the court agreed to re-try the case. At the first hearing last March, prosecutors announced symbolically that they would present no recommended punishment for the accused. Separately, the families of the victims have asked a court to award them 34 billion won ($36 million) in compensation.

In his ruling, Moon Yong-sun, the judge hearing the case, ruled most of the evidence submitted by prosecutors in the original trial inadmissible. He also ruled out most court records from the original case, including the victims' confessions, which he said had been obtained through coercion and torture. Defense lawyers said they would ask for new trials for other people convicted of the same charges and sentenced to prison terms. Ahn Chang-ho of the Seoul Central Public Prosecutors Office said his organization would study the verdict before deciding whether to appeal it, a comment that was almost certainly pro forma. In the end, the Prosecutors Office decided not to appeal the ruling because of public sentiment and the slim chance of overturning the ruling. (SITE NOTE: Under the Roh administration, various independent state commissions were set up to look at specific areas but their role was only to make recommendations and they had no legal standing. However, once the "recommendation" was made, it was used as justification to implement regulations or rulings. When commissions made recommendations dealing with "past history,'' Roh asked the Office of the Prime Minister to examine what measures should be taken according to the recommendations. Roh has asked the Justice Ministry to undertake legal investigations into how to properly implement those recommendations supposedly because they involve complicated issues such as lawsuits by the government. In some cases, the Uri Party using its majority passed legislation that effectively bypassed lengthy court processes to obtain a ruling -- i.e., Japanese collaborators.)

Truth and Reconciliation Committee: Judges Names Revealed (Jan 2007) On 29 Jan it was reported that the names of the judges who made rulings three decades ago about violations of emergency decrees under the Park Chung Hee military regime will be released. The Truth and Reconciliation Committee, designed to review controversial incidents in the modern history of Korea, made the announcement, roiling the legal community.

The commission has reviewed 1,412 rulings made by district and appeals courts regarding their convictions of 589 people for violating emergency decrees. About half of the convictions were handed to people who criticized the president or his administration in regular conversations.

The problem is that the judges ruled on the cases based on the law at the time. There are those who felt the truth commission would create an injustice in smearing the names of those who only applied the law to the cases. "The commission probably wants to highlight inappropriate rulings and say the judges were unconscientious," said a Supreme Court official who declined to be named. "But the rulings were based on the laws of the time. Making public the names may damage the rule of law and defame the judges." The Park administration enforced nine decrees from 1974 to 1979. They were intended to ban gatherings and protests to allow the military regime to oppress anti-government groups. (Source: Joongang Ilbo.)

(SITE NOTE: The "truth" commission again has gone after individuals, instead of addressing the real issues -- in this case, the laws passed by the National Assembly and all of the politicians of the time. In zeroing in on the judges, it has also excluded all the policemen that enforced the laws, all the government workers involved in applying the laws whether clerks or administrators, etc. How about condemning every Korean living at the time as "collaborators" with the Park Chung-hee regime for not uprising and giving their lives for the sake of democracy? This is of course ridiculous, but not any more so than the naming of the judges who applied the law.) (SEE "Truth Committee" Again (Jan 2006), Ho-hum ... Attacks on Park Chung-hee Again -- Kim Dae-jung Abduction (Feb 2006) for some of the shenanigans of the Truth Committee of the NIS in 2006. The larger picture includes the Presidential Truth Commissions and the witchhunts that continue to be done for the sake of historical revisionism.)

A controversy erupted over a revelation by a local newspaper of the names of hundreds of justices who ruled against offenders of the "emergency decrees" of former President Park Chung-hee. On 30 Jan, the daily Hankyoreh made public a list of 492 judges involved in court rulings against 1,412 suspects accused of violating the emergency decrees in the 1970s, citing a report soon to be announced by the government's independent Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

A presidential Truth and Reconciliation Committee decided to publish the names of 492 judges whose judgments invoked president Park Chung-hee's draconian emergency decrees in the 1970s. The list includes a dozen sitting senior judges, including three in the Supreme Court and three in the Constitutional Court. There were complaints from judicial circles that publishing the list compromised the judiciary's independence and could portray judges who merely applied the law, however draconian, as if their rulings were faulty. The Korean Bar Association in a statement protested against the list. "We need to find the truth but should refrain from dealing with past events in a way detrimental to national development by severing the present from the past or splitting public opinion," it said.

Judges were in uproar. One sitting judge on the list protested it was more than 30 years ago, when he was just an associate judge. He admitted to "a hazy memory" and denied there was any point raking up the past. A provincial High Court judge on the list said, "At the time, I just followed positive law, and I had no other choice. We were associate judges, so we were not in a position to decide." The Supreme Court had no comment, but some members slammed the decision as "populism by a third party." "I understand the list includes 18 or 19 incumbent judges," a Supreme Court official said. "Four or five of them are categorized as ruling on cases involving violation of emergency decrees even though they actually dismissed some cases after the emergency decrees were lifted."

A judge at the Seoul Central District Court recalled, "At the time, the Yushin Constitution stipulated that the emergency decrees were 'not subject to judicial review,' thus giving judges no discretion." Park proclaimed the emergency decrees to stifle any criticism of his prolonged hold on power. The judge warned the decision to compile and release such a list could set a bad precedent in influencing judges in their rulings. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.)

Supreme Court Picks 224 Cases for Retrial (Feb 2007) It was revealed on January 31 that the Supreme Court selected 224 cases out of all the national security cases between 1972 and 1987 as cases with grounds for retrial, such as unlawful imprisonment and torture. It was also disclosed that the selection includes major spy cases and scandals concerning national security, such as the Jindo family spy case in 1981, the kidnapped fisherman spy scandal in 1983, and the Song family spy scandal in 1982.

The Supreme Court intends to make rehabilitation possible even without a request for retrial by the persons concerned by admitting the errors contained in the 224 cases classified for retrial with an appropriate manner some time in the future. If the cases under retrial pass an appeal and final appeal procedures, and move on to the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court will alter its existing judgment and at the same time leave in the decision the intent to apologize to the Koreans for the erstwhile faults of the judicature. HOWEVER, there is some confusion in this area as cases where an appeal is NOT requested cannot be heard by the Supreme Court under current law.

The court, however, halted reviews of past rulings late last year after insiders suggested that the court could not solve the issues alone under the current law where the court is not allowed to change past rulings unless defendants appeal for a retrial.

Others in the Supreme Court reportedly proposed the review be delayed after 2008 in fear of being involved in political criticism by correcting past wrongs ahead of the presidential election at the end of this year.

"As retrials can be proceeded with individually in related courts only at the request of those involved in the cases, the court doesn't have the power to choose or judge the cases that will be retried," said court press secretary Byeon Hyeon-cheol on the court document, reflecting the opinion of some insiders.

Byeon added, "Under the current law, it is impossible for the court to restore the reputation of the defendants unless they appeal for retrial. So far, we have only reviewed the rulings in the cases." (Source: Donga Ilbo.)

"The Supreme Court planned to include in its decision the view of the judicature on the clearance of the past affairs if the case of the Committee for the Reestablishment of People's Revolutionary Party (in-min-hyeok-myeong-dang jae-geon-wi-won-hoi, in-hyeok-dang in short), recently judged innocent in the retrial, made it to the Supreme Court, but that plan became abortive since the prosecution gave up on an appeal," says a key person of the Supreme Court.

"But if the case of the family bereaved by the in-hyeok-dang claim or other retrial cases are moved on to the Supreme Court, it will work toward clearing the record of the past." That includes the cases (and even those that did not go through formal retrial steps) in which new evidence was found or is likely to be found that supports charges of unlawful arrest or torture during the investigation.

The remark was interpreted by some in the media as the Supreme Court's acknowledgement of its fault. This will open up a Pandora's box of troubles. The remarks were also interpreted to indicate that the big spy cases that brought about social distractions during the Yusin and the 5th republic regimes were in fact forfeited by Korea's intelligence and security agencies. Accordingly, it was highly likely that voices calling for somebody that should be held responsible will gain ground within the judicature and the parties of the case or human rights organizations will make a request for the punishment of responsible persons and claim damages one after another. (SITE NOTE: The reversal of the ruling on the 8 executed by the lower court has a direct bearing on the pending 34 billion won civil suit against the government filed by the families of the victims.)

Also the situation could develop into an ideological conflict, especially with the presidential election so near. Out of the 224 cases 114 spy cases take up the greatest portion, with the rest made up of 26 cases of violations of emergency measures, 13 cases of organization of anti-national bodies, 12 cases of democratization movement activity, and 32 other cases.

The spy cases can be divided into 52 cases related to Jochongnyeon (the pro-North Korean residents´ league in Japan), 33 cases of spies dispatched from North Korea, 18 cases of kidnapped fishermen, 16 cases of Korean residents in Japan, and 22 other cases. Also included among the retrials are the 26 cases between 1975 and 1978 for violations of emergency measures. The selection process of the 224 cases classified by the Supreme Court for retrial lasted over a year from September 2005, and was carried out based on an analysis of 3,400 decisions in cases of national security and on the assertions of the parties concerned. (Source: Donga Ilbo.)

Progressive Figures Dominate History Correction Councils (Jan 2007) The conservative NGO groups are fighting back. According to a recent analysis of the Citizens United for Better Society (CUBS), half of the committee members and employees of nine state-run councils of the Special Committees on Fact Finding on Past Incidents (SCFFPI) have either been involved in progressive organizations or published progressive papers. "In order for the committee members and staff of the SCFFPI to properly review the past wrongdoings, ideological fairness is absolutely necessary," said Kim Gwang-dong, a senior official of a monitoring group of the CUBS.

The SCFFPI Monitoring Group under the CUBS announced on 30 Jan that, according to their analysis on the 178 committee members of the nine government-run councils and the 149 workers, 88 committee members (49.4 percent) and 82 workers (55 percent) have been classified as progressives. Progressives by the CUBS definition "worked for progressive organizations, or conducted progressive research." The data was provided by the office of Rep. Lee Sang-bae of the Grand National Party.

Out of the 15 state-run councils of the SCFFPI, six councils, which have not caused ideological disputes including the Compensation Council of Samcheong Education Brigade Victims, were exempted from the analysis.

• 24 out of 46 committee members of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), and 54 out of its 84 employees were found to be progressives. TRC has recently fueled controversy with its decision to disclose the names of the judges who wrongfully sentenced guilty verdicts on protesters under the dictatorial rule of the Park Jung-hee government.
• The Democratic Uprising Compensation Council, 23 out of 43 committee members and eight employees were classified as progressives.
• Only three out of 10 committee members of the Truth Finding Council on the Wrongful Doings of Police and none of its seven employees were classified as progressives.
• 50 committee members (28.1 percent) and 51 (34.2 percent) of the Council for the Review of the Government's Past History were found to have been engaged.

Quite a few of committee members were involved in independent progressive research groups, such as the Institution for Korean Historical Studies, the Institute for Research in Collaborationist Activities, and the Institute of Historical Studies. Nine out of the examined committee members and 13 employees were from these institutes. For instance, Seo Jung-seok, the director of the Korean Historical Studies, Lee Yi-hwa of the former director of the Korean Historical Studies, and Lim Hyun-young, the director of the Institute for Research in Collaborationist Activities, are all committee members of the TRC. Four former members of the Korean Teachers and Educational Workers Union are also involved in the TRC as committee members.

In regard to the occupation of committee members, 54.7 percent of the SCFFPI have been found to be professors or scholars, 17.8 percent lawmakers, 11.9 percent NGO staff. Meanwhile, 36.9 percent of the employees of the SCFFPI have been found to be scholars or researchers and 27.5 percent NGO employees and 8.7 percent media or publishing industry related personnel. (Source: Donga Ilbo.)

Huge payoff to families of 8 executed gets approval (Sep 2007) On 12 Sep 2007, it was reported that the families of eight men unjustly executed for treason in 1975 by the military government will receive 24.5 billion won ($26.2 million) in compensation, plus interest, the Ministry of Justice said.

"On Aug. 21, the Seoul Central District Court ruled that the government must pay them the compensation, and the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office has informed us that it will not appeal the verdict," the Ministry of Justice said in a release. "We approved of the prosecution's decision."

The compensation is the largest amount ever awarded in a political dissent case in Korea. The interest payments could bring the total to 63.7 billion won or more.

In a rare retrial, the Seoul District Court in January posthumously acquitted the eight victims from one of the darkest moments in Korea's modern history. A military court under the Park Chung Hee regime found them guilty of treason for attempting to rebuild the communist People's Revolutionary Party. The Supreme Court confirmed the convictions, and the eight men were hanged just 20 hours later. After the acquittals, 46 family members sought compensation, and the same court ordered last month that the state pay the families restitution ranging from 2.7 billion won to 3.3 billion won for each victim. (Source: Joongang Ilbo.)

---

Co-director of Gwangju Biennale found to have forged credentials (Jul-Sep 2007) Shin Jeong-ah was an assistant art history professor of Dongguk University in Seoul and the youngest co-director of the Gwangju Biennale, South Korea's biggest art festival, at the age of 35. That is until the press revealed that she was only a high school graduate. Other professors stated that there was "inside influence" in her being hired -- and there were irregularities in her being hired. (Source: Munhwa.com.)

Though she stated she was had a bachelor and masters from Kansas State University, the university stated she had not graduated from there. As to her doctorate from Yale, it was reported that she had submitted a plagarized doctoral thesis of someone else -- and had her credentials confirmed by Dongguk University by fax. Yale University stated that she did not have a doctorate from there -- but refused to cooperate in the investigation over the fax. (Source: Donga Ilbo.)

Shin was in hiding, first reported in Paris, then in Korea and on 17 Jul she was reported in the U.S. to collect information to prove that she has a doctoral degree from Yale.

The Dongguk University was considering terminating her contract. The Gwangju Biennale Committee was threatening to sue Shin for all the bad press associated with the scandal. (Source: Korea Times.)

It was revealed in Aug 2007 that suing Shin would be counterproductive as she was basically bankrupt using credit to support a lavish lifestyle. She had defaulted on loans and was unable to pay her debts -- but continued to live lavishly. Shin filed for bankruptcy with the Seoul Central District Court in September 2005 after failing to pay more than 100 million won in debts, prosecutors have said. The court provided her with a debt restructuring plan, which she is still following. Starting in March 2006, she was ordered to pay 1.8 million won a month for three years and five months. However, on 13 Sep it was reported that although legally bankrupt, Shin Jeong-ah has stock investment portfolios worth hundreds of millions of won, prosecutors said. Shin opened four accounts with Samsung Securities last year in her name and invested hundreds of millions of won.

Shin Fired (Jul 2007) Han Jin-soo, vice president of the university and head of the school's investigation committee, said that Shin was recommended by Hong Ki-sam, who was then president of the university, over the hiring in 2005. The art department rejected hiring her because of her lack of academic background, but the president strongly requested her recruitment. However, Han said that it was Hong's passion to increase the school's profile that pressured the department, and that no money or kickbacks were received. The matter has been referred to the prosecution for further investigation.

The university was revealed to have neglected the Korea College Art Association's report that Shin's diploma was a fake. In April the association received a letter from Prof. Christine Mehring of Yale University saying that Shin was never one of her students and that she had never read any papers written under her name. The school, however, did not take any action on the report, which brought the allegation that heads of the foundation were attempting a cover-up. (Source: Korea Times.)

It appears that Shin's faked documents were made in Korea. Yale stated that her doctorate degree is on the wrong form and the professor's signature on the form is a fake. (SITE NOTE: In Dec 2007, it was the fax negating the doctorate Shin Jeong-ah claimed to have received from Yale University was authentic, sent by fax to Dongguk University from Pamela Schirmeister, Associate Dean of the Yale Graduate School. Dongguk University held a press conference on December 27 and said, “We received a note on December 17 stating that the fax that Yale University sent to Dongguk University regarding Shin on September 22, 2005, was signed by Schirmeister and is genuine." Yale had previously stated that the fax was not genuine...which in turn focused the media attention on Dongguk University as a coverup.

Dongguk University added that, “Yale University also apologized for revealing in July that the fax regarding authenticity of the certificates and dissertation papers was false.” (SITE NOTE: The fact that the Yale document verifying Shin's doctorate was real spreads the taint of a coverup to Yale. Dongguk University said planned to take legal action against Yale University because of mistakes that damaged the school’s reputation in the fallout of the academic degree forgery scandal involving former Professor Shin Jeong-ah. The Prosecution has requested US aid in investigating Yale University dealing with the fraud case.)

Dongguk University also said, “Yale University would not answer Dongguk University’s question regarding the relationship between Schirmeister and Shin.” Dongguk University requested Shin’s academic certificate to Yale University on September 5, 2005, and received Shin’s doctorate certificate and graduation certificate signed by Schirmeister via fax in the same month.

However, in July this year when Shin was hiding due to the doctorate degree forgery incident, Yale University stated that “The fax Dongguk University received is different in form from Yale’s documents, and the signature has been forged. It seems the certificate was forged on paper bought from Yale University’s stationery store.” Cho Ui-yeon, chief of Administrative Affairs Office at Dongguk University, said, “Yale University is accounting for this incident saying that they were ‘in the rush of business’ but it is probably not an administrative mistake. If a detailed investigation is inconclusive, we will take this matter up with an investigative institution in the United States.” Dongguk University is demanding a specific explanation regarding the faxes, and is considering legal measures against Yale University for libel. (Source: Donga Ilbo.)

---

EPILOGUE: Disgraced Ex-Prof. Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison Shin Jeong-ah was sentenced to 18 months in prison for embezzlement and forging her academic credentials. The Seoul Western District Court found former Dongguk University professor Shin Jeong-ah guilty of using a phony degree to become art director of the Gwangju Biennale. She was also found guilty of embezzling funds from an art gallery where she had worked as a curator. Separately, the court sentenced ex-presidential aide Byeon Yang-kyoon to one year in prison on charges of influence peddling. The former aide's sentence was suspended for two years, but he must perform 160 hours of community service. Byeon had used his influence to win favors for Shin, with whom he was romantically involved. (SITE NOTE: The travesty of the system is that Byeon is the one that set this whole thing up -- and arranged much much more. He gets a suspended sentence. Another offshoot was that Dongguk University was suing Yale over the fax that it sent that verified Shin's degree -- thus damaging Dongguk's reputation.)

Blue House aide resigns over romantic tie to Shin (Sep 2007) The fake degree scandals touched the Blue House on 10 Sep with the announcement that President Roh Moo-hyun accepted the resignation of his chief national policy secretary, Byeon Yang-kyoon, who was allegedly involved in protecting shamed art curator and professor Shin Jeong-ah.

"The president ordered that the resignation be accepted because it would be difficult to investigate Byeon if he keeps his position," said Jun. According to multiple sources at the Blue House, Roh was furious that Byeon had been lying about his relationship with Shin. "The Blue House secretariat questioned Byeon and confirmed that some of his explanations differed from the truth," said Jun.

"Byeon and Shin had known each other for several years and he mentioned her bogus degree scandal when he met the monk Jangyun on July 8," Jun said. "Byeon also admitted that he contacted the monk indirectly through a friend while he was accompanying Roh in Guatemala from July 2 to 5." Byeon admitted that the couple met frequently for several years as alumni of Yale University -- although Shin is not in fact a graduate of the prestigious American university

The prosecution said it discovered the relationship by analyzing a computer it confiscated from Shin's house on Sept. 4. Supposedly 100 emails between Byeon and Shin confirm a romantic relationship existed. These e-mails were mostly "love letters without envelopes." Another prosecutor said some of them carried "highly explicit" content, adding no details were reported to Cheong Wa Dae. Byeon, who is married and has two sons, had denied his relationship with Shin and claimed that he did not mention Shin when he met the buddhist monk Ven. Jangyun. However, Jangyun stated that Byeon had pressured him to drop the charges. The buddhist monk Jangyun had raised suspicions about Shin's bogus Yale doctorate when he was serving on the board of Dongguk University, where Shin was an art professor. Jangyun was dismissed from the board after raising the questions.

On Aug. 27, Byeon vowed to sue media outlets that printed allegations against him. The president also made comments that were read as accusing the press of making a mountain out of a molehill, saying on Aug. 31, "Unfounded suspicions are rampant in recent days." On Sept. 3, Roh said the suspicions are "rather unsubstantial. They sound like novels." (Source: Joongang Ilbo.)


Shin Jeong-ah (12 Oct 2007) Nude Photos of Shin Published (Sep 2007) Supposedly nude photos of Shin were published in the Munhwa Ilbo on 13 Sep -- and soon the two nude photos -- of front and back -- were spread over the internet. Under the headline: “Nude Photos of Shin Jeong-ah Discovered,” the Munhwa Ilbo reported on its front page that “The pictures that Munhwa Ilbo obtained reveals Shin posing stark naked. With alternately shy and blank expressions, Shin exposed her front, side, and back in a bathroom inside a room stocked with books.” On page three the censored pictures with frontal and backside nudity were shown.

The article reported that photography experts explained, “The picture has not been doctored. The setting of these pictures was a very private location, and they were taken with a common camera; judging from the natural composition and Shin’s facial expressions, they are not professional nude pictures.” In page three, the article also mentioned the possibility of Shin having bribed high ranking officials in the arts community with sex, asking, “Can sex bribery be punished?”

Shin supposedly had scars on her body because she supposedly survived the Sampong building collapse, but the photo shows a woman without scars. Experts state it was not a composite. There are also suggestions that the pictures may not be entirely real when compared to Shin’s older photos. One artist said, “We can’t be 100 percent sure it’s her when looking at the shape of her torso and feet. And it doesn’t really seem like Shin to take a picture in a background that isn’t posh.” (Source: Donga Ilbo.) (SITE NOTE: On 18 Oct, the Munhwa Ilbo made a public apology for publishing the photos and alleged she slept with high-ranking public officials to climb the social ladder. In Nov, Shin sued the Munhwa Ilbo for the publication of the photos -- which was vague in the stories as to whether she admitted they were of her or not -- and slandering her with statements that she had slept her way up the social ladder. At the same time, she attempted to delay her trial claiming she needed more time to assemble her defense.)

Exchange of Favors (Sep 2007) In the meantime, Byeon Yang-kyoon was summoned for questioning with suspicion that there might be a misuse of funds. Investigations were whether purchases of paintings from the gallery where she worked before getting the assistant professor's job for Cheong Wa Dae.

In other stories, it appears that Byeon did a favor for former Dongguk University President Hong Ki-sam and in reciprocity Byeon called to recommend his junior at Yale, Shin, for a job as an assistant professor. Byeon Yang-gyun, the former chief of the Presidential Policy Office, appointed a novelist who goes by Lee (44) as his policy aide in April 2005 when he was the minister of Planning and Budget, the prosecution said. (Source: Donga Ilbo.)

Byeon ordered funds to aid Dongguk monk (Sep 2007) Earlier this year, acting on a request from Byeon Yang-kyoon when he was presidential chief policy secretary, the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs pledged 1 billion won ($1.1 million) in government aid to Heungdeok Temple, whose owner is Venerable Yeongbae, the chairman of Dongguk University’s board of directors.

Home Affairs Ministry officials confirmed that Kim called the ministry in April and asked for special aid to be channeled through the Ulju County government in North Gyeongsang, where the temple is located. On May 23, the ministry decided to give 1 billion won to the Heungdeok Temple for the purpose of constructing a bridge nearby. As ordered by the presidential office, the Government Administration Ministry ordered Ulju county to apply for a W1.5 billion special subsidy in a typhoon relief aid. Ulju county said Heungdeok Temple was not damaged by typhoon and was not eligible for aid since it is not a traditional temple.

According to the officials, because the temple was a private facility, there was no legal basis for giving government funds for preservation of traditional temple structures and the request was originally refused, but later accepted for the purpose of building a bridge. But the ministry reportedly ordered Ulju county to apply for special subsidies to fix a bridge near the temple. On May 13, Ulju country applied for W1.5 billion in government subsidy and 10 days later, the ministry awarded W1 billion. The funds have not yet been disbursed. Prosecutors also said that Yeongbae had deposited 100 million won in Shin’s bank account. Prosecutors will now try to determine whether the money was a commission given to Shin in relation to the government aid -- especially with the revelation that despite her bankruptcy, she had purchased large amounts of stocks. (Source: Joongang Ilbo.)

Earlier in the month, Yeongbae was prevented from going to China as he was on a list of individuals being investigated. Ven Youngbae is the abbot of the Heungdeok temple and chairman of the board at Dongguk University. The temple opened in May of 2004 after moving into a refurbished restaurant and has about 40 followers. Youngbae had been a supporter of Shin Jeong-ah, the now-disgraced assistant professor at the university. At a university board meeting in late May, Youngbae personally vouched for Shin’s credibility and told Buddhist media he had confirmed that her degrees were genuine.

In addition, prosecutors now say Shin is suspected of embezzling money from the Sungkok Art Museum, where she once worked as a curator. Byeon allegedly used his power to support and protect Shin. Shin allegedly embezzled hundreds of millions of won from corporate patrons and used it for private purposes while working as a curator at the Sungkok art museum from 2004 to 2006. Prosecutors say they can prove that Shin Jeong-ah embezzled money from the museum where she once worked as a curator. “We confirmed that Shin had embezzled contributions made to the Sungkok Art Museum, and we are sorting out the data,” said Ku Bon-min, a senior prosecutor with the Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office on 20 Sep. Ku did not specify how much Shin allegedly embezzled. Prosecutors said conglomerates provided donations to the museum, and that Shin deposited some money in her own bank accounts, some in the museum's accounts and used some for personal purposes. The prosecution thinks 200 million won ($216,661) Shin used for stock investment came from the museum, sources said. Pak said he has evidence to prove her innocence. The Seoul Western Prosecutors’ Office raided Daewoo Engineering and Construction as part of its investigation into Shin’s alleged embezzlement of contributions by corporations. The construction company donated W290 million to the Sungkok Art Museum when Shin was chief curator there. A prosecutor said that he and his colleagues are checking whether the disgraced curator took kickbacks from the donations. (Source: Joongang Ilbo.)

In addition, Dongguk University is under investigation for possibly having benefitted from Shin's hiring through Byeon's intervention. Shin was hired as an assistant professor at Dongguk University in September 2005. The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development's financial support for Dongguk University suddenly rose from W3.5 billion in 2005 to W10 billion in 2006. In July last year, when Shin was hired as the curator of the International Contemporary Art Fair (ARCO) in Spain, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's financial support for that fair rose from W2 billion to W3 billion.

Second Temple under Investigation in Government Aid Scandal (Sep 2007) According to reports on government spending for the repair of traditional temples and cultural assets which the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Cultural Heritage Administration released to GNP lawmaker Park Chan-sook, the Woljeong Temple in 2007 received W2.55 billion (US$1=W923) in government subsidies from the Cultural Heritage Administration to build a nine-story stone pagoda and a replica of a seated Bodhisattva statue. The temple received W1.25 billion in 2006 and W900 million in 2005 for the restoration of a west annex, bringing the total to W4.7 billion.

Among Buddhist temples nationwide, the Woljeong Temple was the largest recipient of government subsidies for the repair of cultural assets from the Cultural Heritage Administration. It is unusual for a temple to receive government subsidies for three straight years. It also received separate government subsidies of W75 million and W40 million from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2005 and this year. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.) (SITE NOTE: After so much bad press from the Shin incident, the Buddhist order decided to go on the offensive claiming the media was biased against the Buddhist sect and making claims that the media had distorted events. The sect claimed the media had unfairly alleged that the Buddhist order was involved in violent activism. The move was obvious in that it put the media on the defensive and articles involving the Buddhist order in the scandal disappeared from the press.)

Prosecution investigating Shin's Overseas Accounts (Oct 2007) The prosecution announced that it was investigating Shin's overseas accounts. Shin refused to cooperate in giving overseas account numbers. Shin allegedly embezzled hundreds of millions of won from corporate patrons and used it for private purposes while working as a curator at the Sungkok art museum from 2004 to 2006. The investigation requires the assistance of foreign banks which usually cooperates in the investigation of criminal investigations by government agencies.

During questioning, Shin admitted falsifying her academic credentials but denied pocketing museum funds, claiming that the money from corporate donations and commissions was handed over to Sungkok director Park Moon-soon. Although Park, the wife of former Ssangyong Group Chairman Kim Suk-won, denied Shin’s claims, prosecutors found around 5 billion won in cash and checks during a search of her house and suspect some of the money to be part of the misappropriated funds. Investigators also recovered a jewel necklace, worth about 18 million won, that Shin received from Park and are looking into whether this could be related to the embezzlement of the funds. (Source: Korea Times.)

Side-shoot Investigation: Former Ssangyong Group Chairman Slush Fund (Oct 2007) The prosecution questioned Kim Suk-won, the former chairman of the Ssangyong Group, because 6.2 billion won ($6.7 million), along with about 50.5 million yen (400 million won), was found in the house of his wife, Park Moon-soon, the owner of Sungok Art Museum. Shin Ah-yeong worked there from 2004-2006 and was suspected of embezzling 240 million won in gallery funds. However, because of the existence of such a large sum of money, the prosecution opened up a side investigation into the possible creation of slush funds through illegal transactions in the Ssangyong Group. They say they already have evidence that Kim paid illegal financial support to bogus subsidiaries and diverted W100 billion to companies owned by his son and other associates to amass a slush fund of billions of won. They are trying to find out where Kim spent the money. Kim was given a four-year suspended sentence in 2006 for embezzling 31 billion won of the now defunct Ssangyong Group's funds. The indictment was part of an investigation by the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office of corruption in companies that had been injected with public funds to bail them out.

On 9 Nov Kim admitted the money was his and declared his intention to surrender it. Investigators had been baffled over who owned the stash. The money is expected to be used to cover overdue fines or back taxes owed to the government. “Since the mid 1990s, I have managed some stocks under the names of company employees and my relatives,” Kim was quoted as saying by prosecution sources. “I sold them in 2006 and 2007 to raise some cash.” Kim told prosecutors that he cashed out the stocks in order to pay for a gift tax imposed on him. He said that Ssangyong Cement had earlier purchased Kim’s shares in other Ssangyong affiliates at a premium above market value, and tax authorities levied a gift tax on the transaction. “Although the money belongs to me, I will give up my rights to the cash,” Kim was quoted as saying. An aide to Kim said yesterday that the prosecution has no grounds to confiscate the money because it was not tied to criminal activity. “Kim, however, decided to surrender the money voluntarily, taking into account the tax payment issue and fines imposed on him earlier because he managed former President Roh Tae-woo’s secret funds,” the aide said. After Kim completes a written pledge to give up the assets, the money will go to pay fines and taxes. Kim still owes 13.3 billion won in fines because of the Roh case.

Kim was also convicted in 2005 of embezzling 31 billion won from the Ssangyong Group before it was broken up in the aftermath of the 1997 foreign exchange crisis. He was granted a presidential pardon earlier this year. The former Ssangyong Group chairman Kim Suk-won told prosecutors he gave hundreds of millions of won to former presidential secretary Byeon Yang-kyoon. Prosecutors are trying to discover why the money was given to Byeon and whether the bribery greased the wheels for Kim to be included in a special presidential amnesty in February this year.

On Feb. 20, soon after her husband got out of jail, she gave Shin W20 million (US$1=W910). Prosecutors believe that Byeon took the money in return for including Kim in the special amnesty when he was senior presidential secretary for national policy, which meant he took charge of economic, social and business policies.

New Charges against Byeon Yang-kyun (Nov 2007) Byeon Yang-kyun took W300 million from ex-Ssangyong Group chairman Kim Suk-won in return for asking the court to release Kim in March 2005, when he stood trial for embezzlement and malfeasance, the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office claimed Monday (US$1=W919). Prosecutors say they have evidence that money from the former Ssangyong chairman was deposited in 10 bank accounts belonging to relatives of Byeon’s.

Prosecutors claimed to have testimony from Kim and Ssangyong Group staff that they bribed Byeon, who was Minister of Planning and Budget at the time. “Byeon continues to deny taking bribes, but we’ve obtained consistent testimony from the former chairman and Ssangyong Group employees,” a prosecutor said.

Fresh Shin-gate Evidence Implicates KDB Chief (Mar 2008) The head of Korea Development Bank systematically tried to help the disgraced curator Shin Jeong-ah, even using companies under the bank’s management, a source alleged Tuesday citing internal bank documents. Shin is at the center of an influence-peddling scandal involving the top former presidential aide Byeon Yang-kyoon.

KDB governor Kim Chang-rok denies the allegation, calling it a “scheme by an opponent” to oust him. The financial source handed the Chosun Ilbo internal bank documents on its review of sponsorship to the Sungkok Art Museum. According to the documents, KDB financed exhibitions the museum hosted until May 2006, while Shin worked as the chief curator, and purchased artworks from the museum to help Shin earn more fees from deals. The source said Kim handed out the documents to executives of companies under KDB’s management and pressured them to provide financial support to the museum.

The documents contradict the bank’s earlier statement that it never purchased art from Sungkok. They show that the bank decided to buy artworks through a sculpture institute affiliated with Sungkok to help Shin make more money in commissions. The bank apparently pushed for support to the museum, although it realized, as the documents show, that support to Sungkok could encourage other museums to ask for a similar level of sponsorship. Kim called the accusation “groundless libel” by people who want to remove him now a new government is in power. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.)

---

Builder in Bribery Scandal 'Set Up W3.3 Billion Slush Fund' (Sep 2007) Building firm CEO Kim Sang-jin is under investigation over his links to the former protocol secretary to the President Jeong Yun-jae. Kim set up a W3.3 billion slush fund, prosecutors allege (US$1=W938). Busan Bank approved a W68 billion loan to Kim, and he took out W46.5 billion, creating the slush fund by diverting some portions of the loan. A special team of Busan prosecutors believes Kim spent the fund on lobbying and bribing to heavyweights such as politicians in the region and is investigating where exactly he spent it. Prosecutors detained Kim without arrest warrant on charges of borrowing W2.75 billion from Busan Bank by presenting fake contracts for the construction of a skyscraper condominium. Kim is also suspected of offering W100 million in bribes to Lee Wi-joon, the chief of Yeonje district office.

Prosecutors plan to summon Jeong, who allegedly received W20 million from Kim in early 2003 as a campaign contribution, within this week and have slapped a travel ban on the ex-presidential secretary. Kim told prosecutors he gave the money to Jeong as a campaign donation in early 2003, when the former presidential secretary was preparing to run for a parliamentary seat in the Busan constituency of Sasang-gu. The money was used to pay the rent for Jeong’s campaign office. However, the former presidential secretary will be able to escape public investigation since he received the money after the statute of limitations on the old political funding law ran out. However, a senior prosecutor with the Busan District Prosecutors Office, Chung Dong-min, said his office “will clearly investigate all the allegations around the former secretary.” That indicates Jeong could face punishment. Prosecutors also plan to summon senior officials of Busan Bank, which has said there was no problem with Kim’s loan applications. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.)

The Donga Ilbo editorial said on 11 Sep, "The presidential office on national policy has a history of being incompetent. It found out the involvement of the president's former protocol secretary Jeong Yoon-jae in a bribery scandal between a construction company and the director of the Busan Regional National Tax Service, Jeong Sahng-gohn, only after he was arrested on August 9. The presidential office on national policy asked the prosecution whether it was okay to accept the resignation letter of Jeong, and it did so after prosecutors had said, "Jeong was there when bribes were handed to the director; however, he did not receive any money in the process." No internal investigation was launched in order to seek the truth of the case and to write a thorough report. Its only concern was to facilitate the resignation of Jeong as it wanted to mitigate the consequences of the issue."

Jeong Yoon-jae Arrested (Sep 2007) Prosecutors on 19 Sep requested an arrest warrant for Jeong Yoon-jae, former protocol secretary to President Roh Moo-hyun, on charges of corruption. Evidence indicates that while he was the presidential aide, Jeong received 20 million won ($21,000) or more, from businessman Kim Sang-jin, after helping Kim's company avoid a tax investigation, prosecutors said.

Investigators believe that Jeong's influence-peddling went beyond arranging a meeting with the Busan tax official. Jeong is also accused of exploiting his position to get Kim construction permits for large-scale projects and to secure bank loans. It has been rumored among construction firms in Busan that high-profile figures were supporting Hallim, a company run by Kim and his brother. It was about two months after the Roh administration started its term that the company is thought to have gained additional influence. (SITE NOTE: Jeong Yoon-jae appeared before the media with tears streaming down his face claiming the investigation just wasn't fair. But neither did he dispute that some money changed hands.) (Source: Korea Herald.)

In October, Jeong Yoon-jae was in physical detention much to the embarrassment of Cheong Wa Dae. Jeon has thus far denied allegation that he received money from Chung. But he triggered suspicion by asking the prosecution to refrain from exploring where Chung spent the 100 million won he received.

The prosecution planned to summon Jun Goon-pyo, commissioner of the National Tax Administration, for questioning over the allegation that he received a bribe from a subordinate. The former head of the Busan Regional Tax Office Chung Sang-gon has claimed he gave Jun 60 million won of the 100 million won he had received from a corrupt builder. Jun Gun-pyo's reaction in the media was that he was being persecuted and Chung Sang-gon was forgotten. However, he did not admit to the bribe. Chung even identified the person who had blown the whistle on Kim Sang-jin, who in turn paid the bribe so tax officials would end an investigation into his company. The former protocol secretary to the president Jeong Yun-jae introduced Kim Sang-jin and Chung Sang-gon. However, Jeong denied assisting in setting up a meeting between Chung and Kim. The prosecution was looking into the financial records of the individuals suspected of involvement.

Chung's testimony appears persuasive as he was specific about the money 50 million won in Korean won and 10 million won in U.S. dollars which was handed over to Jeon on several occasions. The NTS commissioner allegedly received W10 million on three different occasions from Chung, plus an additional W20 million and another $10,000 when he went on an overseas business trip. Chung told the prosecution he gave the money when Jeon was about to make overseas trips with the excuse of assisting his travel. The prosecution has yet to secure compelling evidence to prove Jeon's guilt besides Chung's testimony. (Source: Yonhap News.)

NTS Head to be Detained (Nov 2007) According to the Busan District Prosecutors’ Office, Jun Gun-po received bribes from Chung Sang-gon, formerly the head of the tax office in Busan, in exchange for a promotion. Prosecutors said five cash payouts totaling 50 million won ($55,066) and $10,000 in U.S. currency were made from August last year until January this year. Jun received the bribes in his office, the prosecution said. The prosecution said it needs to detain Jun because he may attempt to destroy evidence or alter testimonies. At Jun’s order, Lee Byeong-dae, the current head of the Busan tax office, had visited his predecessor, who is already in detention, and tried to persuade him not to testify against Jun. Lee met with Chung twice, on Aug. 20 and in early September, the prosecution said.

Jun has denied the allegations, but he hinted last night that he would step down from his post. As he left his office, Jun said, “I want to put down the heavy burden I carry as head of the National Tax Service as soon as possible.” Tax agency sources expect Jun to resign. “Jun still denies the allegations, but he has decided to step down because he does not want to harm the reputation of the tax service,” a senior tax official said. (Source: Joongang Ilbo.) (SITE NOTE: Later the NTS offered an apology to the nation for its tarnished image over the scandal -- a first for the institution.)

Busan developer receives six years in jail for bribery (Feb 2008) A Busan-based real estate developer was sentenced to six years in prison yesterday for bribing top officials, including the head of the National Tax Service. Kim Sang-jin was also convicted of fraud, embezzlement and tax evasion. The Busan District Court yesterday convicted Kim on charges of giving 100 million won ($105,800) to Chung Sang-gon, then head of the Busan Tax Service, in 2006 in return for backing off a tax probe into his company.

Kim was also convicted of giving 20 million won to then-Blue House aide Jung Yun-jae so Jung would introduce him to Chung. Both Jung and Chung resigned after the scandal broke out. Bribery also cost Jun Gun-pyo his job as head of the National Tax Service. In an offshoot of their investigation, prosecutors accused Jun of receiving bribes from Jung, who was seeking a promotion. "Instead of running his business in legitimate ways, Kim used all possible irregular methods to increase his wealth and bribe public servants with dirty money," Judge Go Jong-gu said in his ruling. The former public servants who were indicted for receiving bribes in the scandal are scheduled to be tried next week.

EPILOGUE: (Feb 2008) Jun Gun-pyo, a former head of the National Tax Service, was sentenced on 27 Feb to three and a half years in prison for receiving a bribe from a subordinate seeking a promotion. The Busan District Court convicted Jun on a charge of receiving 70 million won ($74,389) and $10,000 in cash from Chung Sang-gon, a former chief of the Busan Regional Tax Office, in 2006 and 2007. The former commissioner accepted a total of about 80 million won in five installments from July 18, 2006 through January of last year as a kickback for a promotion Chung received, according to the district court. Jun, 54, was arrested on charges of taking a bribe from Chung in November. Chung told officials about the bribery.

"Jun has continued to insist he is innocent," Koh Jong-chu, a district court judge, said in his ruling. "But Chung's testimony was very detailed and credible. I believe as the highest tax official, Jun is worried his reputation will be tarnished if he tells the truth to the public." The district court also found Chung guilty of bribing the top official and receiving cash from a developer. Chung was sentenced to four years in prison. He was detained in August of last year for accepting 100 million won ($106,270) from a Busan-based real estate developer, Kim Sang-jin, who was trying to duck a tax audit. "He regrets what he did before and has reflected about his conduct, so his prison term was shorter than could have been expected,: Koh said. "Usually, people convicted of receiving more than 100 million won are sentenced to at least 10 years in prison." (Source: Joongang Ilbo.)

---

Defense Budget Cut Eyed to support N. Korea Aid (Sep 2007) The insanity of the Roh administration continues. On 21 Sep 2007, it was reported that the government was considering using part of its defense budget to finance increasing inter-Korean economic cooperation. According to an internal memo produced by the Ministry of Planning and Budget, the government is also planning to create new taxes or issue lotteries to raise funds for implementing a range of inter-Korean economic projects and providing aid to the North. (SITE NOTE: 50.4 percent of the increased costs for DPRK aid, that is, 30.2 trillion won, will be procured by national taxation and by issuing "South-North economic cooperation bonds" (16.5 trillion won) and increasing taxes (13.7 trillion won), which will possibly face harsh resistance from taxpayers. Besides, the report noted that 66.7 percent of the total resources, about 40 trillion won, will come from means of requiring social consensus, including the budget conversion of military costs (5.8 trillion won), establishing "funds to support the South-North economic cooperation" (2.8 trillion won), and issuing "peace lotteries" (500 billion won). The remaining 19.948 trillion won will have to be procured by attracting private or foreign capital. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy Kwon O-kyu said at a regular briefing on August 9, "Once the agenda for the South-North summit talks are confirmed, various channels to procure financial resources will be reviewed." (Source: Donga Ilbo.))

In a memo, the ministry detailed several possible ways to raise funds, saying that the government may need to come up with more financial resources if the summit brings about a number of large-scale economic cooperation projects between the two Koreas. It first suggested that the government borrow funds from state-run banks and companies. Or, it could spend part of 895 billion won earmarked for its official development assistance (ODA) next year.

It also said the government may consider diverting part of the defense budget to finance inter-Korean projects. About 26.7 trillion won was allocated for the defense budget next year, up 9 percent from this year, despite eased geopolitical risks associated with North Korea. The Defense Ministry said a significant increase in its budget is necessary as the country needs to modernize its forces to prepare for uncertain security conditions in Northeast Asia. (SITE NOTE: In 2006, the DPRK explodes a nuclear device and the risks are reduced????)

However, the Planning and Budget Ministry downplayed the significance of the memo, saying that the contents were just various options that could be contemplated for the long-term. ``It's true that there was a memo. But it's just an internal one for long-term review,'' a ministry spokesman said. ``We are just at the initial stage of collecting opinions from various fields.''

Also, the memo indicated that the government may contemplate creating new taxes, which could be dubbed as either a ``peace tax'' or ``unification tax,'' as well as issuing lotteries and bonds to raise funds for inter-Korean economic cooperation. The funds for facilitating economic and humanitarian exchange with North Korea increased by 50 percent to 750 billion won next year from this year's 500 billion won. (Source: Korea Times.) (SITE NOTE: In Oct 2008, the Unification Ministry requested an increase of W380 billion of "free" money due to the impacts of the Oct summit commitments. It appears the Unification Ministry had made some commitments that it was not telling the public about at this time. Whether it passes the scrutiny of the GNP controlled National Assembly is another matter. The Blue House was scrambling in Oct 2007 to find ways to thwart the next president from unraveling the "peace" declaration from the 2 Oct summit.)

---

October 2007

Won Exchange Rate Hits W913 : $1 The won closed at its highest level in 10 years, rising for the third straight day on globally-weak dollar sentiment following the U.S. Federal Reserve's bigger-than-expected key rate reduction on Sept. 18, dealers said. A stronger won against the dollar makes Korean exports more expensive and could take the steam out of them. The government has long said that the won has appreciated too much against the dollar and economic fundamentals do not justify further gains in the local currency. The local currency closed at 913.70 won against the dollar Monday, rising 1.4 won. It is the strongest level for the local currency since Oct. 2, 1997 when it closed at 913.50.

Won at its strongest since '97 crisis (Oct 2007) The won rose to its highest in a decade against the dollar on 27 Oct, after the Bank of Korea on the previous day said the economy expanded 5.2 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, adding to speculation the central bank will raise interest rates from a six-year high of 5 percent. The won was at 909.9 at a close on 27 Oct in Seoul, from 916.6 won of the previous session and 915.8 a week ago. That’s the highest since September 1997. Korea’s currency climbed the most in two months as concerns of a U.S. slowdown continued to hurt the dollar, which reached a record low versus the euro.

---

Corruption: Waste of Taxpayers' Money Goes Mad (Oct 2007) Stunning revelations emerged from the annual National Assembly audit of the way taxpayers’ money is being wasted by public servants and state-run corporations. One executive at the Korea Labor Welfare Corporation paid W1.18 million (US$1=W918) on a golf game during a weekday in September using his corporate credit card. Another employee used his corporate card to pay for a W700,000 bill at a bar. Workers in one municipal government cashed out W5 million using their corporate card by faking a legitimate purchase and shared the money among themselves.

Corporate card spending by the central government last year amounted to W230 billion and that amount swells to W2 trillion if you include state-run companies and public institutions. It is beyond imagination how much public servants siphoned off. Since March last year, 106 employees of the Ministry of Construction and Transportation traveled abroad for training or backpacking. This cost taxpayers an average of W2.6 million per each, totaling W276 million. Most of those workers probably spent their time sightseeing, shopping and basically having fun. Last November, three executives at the Korea Independent Commission Against Corruption, which was established to monitor corruption among public servants, spent W16.09 million to go on a 10-day European trip on the pretext of visiting audit and inspection agencies there. When lawmakers looked at their travel report, they had spent only three days visiting such agencies and only half a day each at that.

Officials at state-run companies ranking above managing directors reportedly travel first class. A round-trip economy class ticket from Seoul to New York costs W1.81 million. A first class ticket is 5.4 times more expensive, costing W9.77 million. Public servants and executives at state-run companies receive so-called “travel preparation” expenses. That’s to let them buy luggage and clothes for the trip, a vestige of old regulations from 1950s when most Koreans were too poor to be ready for overseas trips. One president of a state-run company receives $2,000 or around W1.84 million in travel preparation fees every time he goes overseas. In the eyes of such people, taxpayers’ money must seem as expendable as water.

Since the start of the Roh Moo-hyun administration, there has been a 37.1 percent rise in the number of ministers and vice ministers (from 101 to 133), a 27.2 percent increase in the number of level 1 to 3 public servants (from 1,127 to 1,433), a 7.2 percent rise in the number of administrative public servants (from 904,500 to 969,500), a 14.3 percent rise in the number of ministerial committees (from 364 to 416), a 330 percent rise in the budget allotted to committees serving the president or prime minister (from W100.7 billion to W432.9 billion), a 12.1 percent rise in the number of employees at public institutions (from 213,014 workers to 238,766), while the payroll expenditure for public servants has risen 42.7 percent (from W15.3 trillion to W21.8 trillion). (Source: Chosun Ilbo.)

More Waste Revealed (Oct 2007) The parliamentary Special Committee on Budget and Accounts has asked the government to take action in 760 cases of waste of state funds by public officials. The number of cases in the account settlement report for 2006 published on 18 Oct jumped 38 percent from the previous year. They include the mayor of one city purchasing golf balls and suitcases worth W850,000 (US$1=W918) with a corporate card in September last year, and a government-affiliated agency spending W55 million at golf courses and bars with corporate cards.

Public agencies’ spending on corporate cards is estimated at W2 trillion a year. Many executives in state-run corporations fly first class, yet among central government officials, only ministers and above travel first-class. Heads of state-run corporations received travel allowances of $600 a day plus $2,000 for “preparations.”

Grand National Party lawmaker Kim Young-sun said at the parliamentary audit of the Information and Communication Ministry on Monday that the ministry spent W23.9 billion on developing technology both for civilian and military use from 2000 to 2007 but earned a mere W42 million from transferring the technology -- a rate of return of less than 0.2 percent.

According to GNP lawmaker Chung Hee-soo, the National Institute for International Education Development under the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development spent W40 million originally allotted for the repair of boilers on a driving range. It also diverted W40 million to purchase gym equipment from budgets for the establishment of an e-paper backup system.

The chiefs of power plants under KEPCO received additional incentives amounting to 20 percent of their annual wages. As a result, they got W100 million a year in incentives, considering that they also received basic bonuses. United New Democratic Party lawmaker Oh Young-shik said KEPCO paid “extravagant” incentives to its staff although its business performance was lackluster. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.) (SITE NOTE: Though the press feigned surprise, we have documented this corruption all along from the start of the Roh administration five years ago. Coming in on an anti-corruption pledge, Roh's administration has been fraught with corruption down to the lowest levels. Previous administrations were not much better, but most of the corruption was limited to the upper strata -- much like the way the chaebols continue with their corrupt ways. Korea well deserves its reputation as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Now that these acts of abuse have surfaced, the next question is what are they going to do about it. Knowing the National Assembly, the answer will be NOTHING. (Or perhaps they will make some small fish repay their misuse of funds without pecuniary penalty.) That's how they do business in Korea.)

Scandal Hits Audit (Oct 2007) In the midst of all the revelations of waste during the annual audit by the National Assembly, the politicians were caught with their hand in the cookie jar. According to the Donga Ilbo, several GNP and one People First Party lawmakers were taken to a bar after dinner. The politicians were "treated" to dinner and taken to a bar with prostitutes. It is alleged that three politicians went to a hotel after the session with prostitutes. The treatment was claimed to be "traditional" though the annual audit has budgeted money for meals during the audit. To minimize the damage as both GNP and UNDP politicians were involved, the has been no called to investigate the claims of the prostitution aspect.

After the UNDP attacked the GNP for two of its lawmakers being involved in the incident, the GNP turned around and stated that seven UNDP lawmakers were involved and they should be investigated as well. The incident became political. Rim In-bae, chairman of the committee, was suspended from the GNP for six months. Kim Tae-hwan, an organizer of the GNP, who was also present at the drinking place, expressed his resolution to resign. Shin Sang-jin took his role as an organizer. Ryu Keun-chan of the People First Party was also there. Shim Jae-yeop, a GNP lawmaker, claimed that "Kim Tae-hong, the head of the committee and UNDP lawmaker, and other lawmakers of the UNDP were receiving treats at the bar. Also, the minister and vice minister of Health and Welfare were present." He insisted, "The UNDP should punish Kim like the GNP did."

Due to the aftermath of lawmakers enjoying a hearty dinner in Daejeon, lawmakers avoided treats of dinner or drinks, which used to be regularly provided by government agencies or related organizations that are targeted for audits. Some Standing Committee members changed restaurants to ones that are cheaper, and some organizations to be audited decided to switch auditing places from their organizations to the National Assembly building to save costs. However, they decided not to change the costs for lunch and dinner for lawmakers and their aides, which were set at 20,000 won per person. This was allotted in case lawmakers and aides have meals separate from the audited organizations, or pay for meals from the National Assembly's budget. Suddenly all the politicians were carrying box lunches or switching to cheaper restaurants. (SITE NOTE: This is typical of Korean politics where the politicians keep their heads down until the media attention is drawn away -- then it is back to business as usual. Though the prosecution stated they would investigate, it does not seem likely that it will be pursued with much vigor in hopes that this will die away -- as it usually does. It sex was involved, the prosecution would have grounds to file charges either under bribery if paid for by others -- or under the anti-prostitution laws.)

Seven organizations, including the Korea Culture & Content Agency (KOCCA), Korea Film Council, and Korea Movie Rating Board, which are subject to auditing by the National Assembly’s Culture and Tourism Committee, were criticized for wasting taxpayers’ money when it was allotting 42 million won for audit costs. But on October 29, they changed the venue for the audit from the Center for Culture and Content in the KOCCA building to the National Assembly building. By doing so, they can save costs on leasing the equipment needed for the audit, such as audio-visual equipment, microphones, faxes, limousines, buses, auditing tables, and chairs. The recently built Center for Culture and Content does not have equipment like audio-visual devices. Everyone is running for cover -- especially as the Presidential elections near and each party wants to get its damage control in place.

Jeong Gab-yun, a Grand National Party’s lawmaker from the Government Administration and Home Affairs Committee, said, “When auditing in local provinces, accommodation fees should be paid from the budgets of the National Assembly allotted for the related committee. We should learn a lesson from the scandal and correct irregularities that organizations to be audited pay for meals and drinks.’

The audit had been scheduled at the National Information Society Agency, but the venue was changed to the National Assembly. In response to the scandal, Byeon Jae-il of the UNDP said, “There have not been such irregularities at the Science, Technology, Information & Telecommunications Committee since the 17th National Assembly.”

---

NIS "Truth Commission" Reveals AGAIN that Kim Dae-jung Kidnapped by NIS (Oct 2007) An ad-hoc committee in South Korea disclosed the government's involvement in the kidnapping of Kim, then the leader of the opposition party. The panel concluded that Kim's kidnapping had the blessing of then-President Park Chung Hee and that the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, a predecessor of today's National Intelligence Service, was involved. (See Korea Events 2006: "Truth Committee" Again (Jan 2006) for background) The on-going story is that the NIS Truth Commission -- actually appointees by the Roh administration under the direction of the progressive NIS director -- revealed again that the NIS was responsible for the kidnapping -- and in the fine print stated that the US was responsible for his release. However, it once again stated that Park Chung-hee knew about the abduction -- if not giving the orders for it -- though they do NOT have any proof to substantiate their claim.

The act on fact-finding investigations on past events creating the "Truth Committee" was passed in 2005. In February 2005, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) Development Committee for Clarifying the Past, or "Truth Committee," led by Rev. Oh Choong-il, began to reinvestigate seven suspicious cases from past authoritarian regimes, including Inhyoktang. Roh defended it as a matter of utmost importance to redress the past wrongs that had been hidden in secrecy. The history law passed in May 2005 under the mantle of righting past wrongs will obviously play a key role in portraying privilege and former governments as enemies of the nation and the state. (See Roh to "Correct" History by looking into Past Wrongdoings of NIS for recent events.)

In Nov 2005, the "Truth Committee" issued its findings on the Inhyoktang and Mincheong Hangnyon organizations. The report condemned Park Chung-hee for his role in the executions of 8 protestors but it was a report based on "circumstantial evidence" and opinion -- not "proof." What stands out was that there were no confessions, no revelations, no proof -- despite the 20 "investigators" (activists hired to pursue their agenda). It was all circumstancial evidence and speculation.

The committee alleged that the Park Chung-hee regime had no evidence other than the forced confessions to prove that Inhyoktang was linked to North Korea. In addition, "its structure was not coherent enough to be called a party" and "it did not officially adopt a manifesto, pledging loyalty to Kim Il-sung, founding father of North Korea." The committee said the Inhyoktang was a small gathering-level organization rather than a party, and that there was no proof that the gathering had any intention to overthrow the government.

It also said that Mincheong Hangnyon was an organization of students fighting for a democratic government, and that there was no evidence of it having received any directions from North Korea. Investigators said the government should compensate the victims of the dictatorial regime and seek ways to redeem their honor. (Source: Korea Times, 7 Dec 2005 and Korea Herald, 8 Dec 2005.)

The agenda of the "Truth Committee" is very plain to see. Its purpose is to provide ammunition for the repeal of the National Security Law by focusing attention on the "evils" done by this law -- without addressing the security concerns the NSL covers. (NOTE: The majority of Koreans feel the NSL needs to be amended, but retained.) In addition, it seeks to elevate the status of the former activists who were in the Roh cabinet to the level of "freedom fighters" while painting as a demagogue Park Chung-hee and discrediting his daughter, Park Geun-hye of the GNP by extension. Lee Hae-chan, Prime Minister, is listed as being "Imprisoned for Involvement in Mincheong Hakryeon Case" in 1974-1975. (Source: Korea Net.) Chung Dong-young, former Unification Minister, is listed as being "Imprisoned for Involvement in Mincheong Hakryeon Case" in 1973. (Source: Korea Net.)

The "Truth Committee" was to look into the kidnapping of Kim Dae-jung in 2006 in hopes of discrediting Park Geum-hye, Park Chung-hee's daughter and then chairman of the GNP. When she became a Presidential candidate, attacks through news releases from the NIS Committee was again forthcoming.

In the waning days of the Roh administration, his "truth commissions" are trying to score the last of the political points it can to try to win the vote back to the faltering progressive parties. On 30 Oct South Korea was ready to offer its “regrets” for kidnapping Kim Dae-jung off Japanese soil in 1973, but Japan wanted a full “apology” and may not accept it. Yomiuri Shimbun on 28 Oct reported that ROK Ambassador to Japan Yu Myung-hwan planned to "express his country's regret" over the 1973 kidnapping in Tokyo of Kim Dae-jung to the Japanese government, but Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura refused to meet with him, citing scheduling difficulties. A Foreign Ministry official stated, "The ministry was unable to decide whether to accept the message as the following opinion was growing within the government: Despite the fact Japan's sovereignty was infringed as South Korea's public authority was exercised within Japan, is it acceptable for Japan to only accept a statement of regret on the matter by South Korea instead of a clear apology?" In the aftermath of the findings, Japanese officials have demanded an official apology from Seoul for infringing on Japan’s sovereignty. A diplomatic source familiar with the circumstances said that Tokyo was still debating whether to accept the visit by Yu, whose message of "regret" was not at the expected level of an apology. (Source: Joongang Ilbo.)

Yomiuri Shimbun on 27 Oct reported that members of the South Korean Development Committee for Clarifying the Past criticized Japan for its reaction to the probe into the 1973 Kim Dae-jung abduction. "If Japanese feel bad even after the release of this report, I think Japan is a tiny country," one committee member said. Cho Hee-yong, the Foreign Ministry’s spokesman, said that other than conveying Seoul’s message of regret, there will be no official announcement by the ministry. “Sending the ambassador is as official as it gets. I don’t know what more you can do,” said an official, speaking on condition of anonymity. (SITE NOTE: After the turmoils of the comfort women scandal, the answer is obvious. The Japanese expressed regrets over the comfort women, but the ROK demanded a full apology -- and much more. Now that the shoe is reversed, suddenly the ROK cannot understand the difference between a "statement of regret" and an "apology.")

Japan's prime minister said Tuesday he considered the case on the abduction of Kim Dae-Jung closed, after South Korea voiced regret for snatching the future president from a Tokyo hotel in 1973. Premier Yasuo Fukuda urged the countries to look to the future. Fukuda said Japan should no longer raise the issue after South Korea's envoy expressed regret. "I don't think we need to consider pursuing this matter further," he said."Instead, we should seriously consider how to tackle Japan-South Korea relations in what you may call a future-oriented manner."

Kim Dae-jung Speaks Out on Kidnap (Oct 2007) In a related development, Kim Dae-jung, who a week before criticized the Japanese government for not pursuing an investigation despite proof of Seoul’s involvement, embarked on a trip to Japan at the invitation of a Japanese college to participate in a seminar. Among the evidence, fingerprints of the first secretary of South Korea’s diplomatic mission were found in the hotel room where Kim was abducted. But Kim, 81, angrily denounced both governments, saying they had failed to protect him. Kim, who was on Tuesday visiting the ancient Japanese capital of Kyoto, said the South Korean panel report should have pinned the crime more firmly on former dictator Park, who was assassinated in 1979. He also said the probe should have stated more clearly that the kidnapping was intended to kill him. "I protest to the governments of Japan and South Korea for ignoring my rights," Kim told reporters in Kyoto. "For Japan, its sovereignty was violated, but it also infringed on my rights by neglecting in its duty to protect me," he said. Japan had protested that South Korea infringed on its sovereignty through the kidnapping. (Source: Yahoo News.)

However, the Japanese did not take kindly to his remarks. "If he really thinks so, why didn't he tell the Japanese government about it when he was serving as president," Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura told reporters on 31 Oct. Making such comments now "is strange," he added. Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said on 30 Oct that it was up to the police to decide whether or not to pursue the matter further. (Source: AOL.com.)

---

ROK Extends Troops in Iraq -- But at reduced manning (Oct 2007) Mouthing all the words of US-ROK unity and other nonsense, the Roh administration extended the Zaitun Troops in Iraq -- though with a reduced force. Was it done for the sake of US unity -- NO!!! The ROK -- and Roh administration -- had stated they would pull out of Iraq at the end of the year. As late as March, the pullout date was set as Dec 2007. What changed their mind was the request by the Iraqi government to remain -- and the promise of lucrative oil contracts -- as well as construction contracts from the Kurds. The Zaitun unit has not been in harm's way losing only one officer to a suicide -- while US casualties total in the thousands. The unit has been installing toilets and other amenities in schools and other construction projects...rather than the more substantive water or infrastructure projects left to contract workers. The extension is not political -- it is economic greed to qualify for lucrative contracts in Iraq.

Both presidential candidates supported the Troops remaining in Iraq -- Lee Myung-bak because it was the GNP stance all along and for Chung Dong-young it was because he needed to look like an international figure -- though initially Chung agreed that the troops in Afghanistan should be removed by the end of the year. But not everyone was happy with the decision. On 28 Oct Yonhap reported that Grand National Party's Song Young-sun claimed about US$32 million out of the budget for sending troops to Iraq were used for different purpose in 2005 and 2006. Song said "Spending the money which could be used for improving the treatment and benefits of the army in Iraq for another purpose shows us the present government's lack of concern about spending on troops." There were also claims that the ROK troops had trained Kurdish militia -- in direct violation of its mandate to train only Iraqi troops. The MND denied the allegations.

Korean troops stationed in Irbil, northern Iraq will be reduced by some 590 by year's end. Out of the total number of about 1,250 troops, some 250 will be pulled out by the end of November and 340 more by the end of December. An official with the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Tuesday said the Zaytun Unit will be reduced to about 650 by the end of the year according to a plan to drastically reduce the troops and extend their mandate. The Korean Air Force’s Daiman Unit in Kuwait will also be reduced from 165 troops to 135 by year's end -- by 10 by the end of November and 20 more by the end of December -- the official added. The Defense Ministry plans to allocate a budget of W44.6 billion (US$1=W907) for next year to cover the extension of the mission. If the National Assembly passes the bill, the unit will stay until the end of December 2008 and then withdraw. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.)

Iraq threatens Korea over oil exploration deal with Kurds (Dec 2007) For all the fancy talk of US solidarity and war on terrorism, the ROK stayed in Iraq because it smelled a profit in oil. Now it has returned to haunt them. On 26 Dec it was reported that concerns about high oil prices have met Middle Eastern politics as Iraq warned Korea that it will suspend crude oil exports next month if Korean companies continue an exploration project under an agreement with the Kurdish regional government in the fractious country. Iraq accounts for about 5 percent of Korea’s crude imports.

The state-run Korea National Oil Corporation, which is leading a consortium on the development project, confirmed on Monday that the Iraqi government recently gave the warning by phone to SK Energy, Korea’s biggest refiner. The consortium also includes SK Energy, GS Holdings and UI Energy.

Kim Man-sik, president of UI Energy, said in a statement yesterday, “We will never give up the production-sharing contract with the Kurdish regional government. And Korea National Oil has the same position.” A Korea National Oil representative, who refused to be identified, also said the contract will not be canceled. “The threat has resulted from the friction between Iraq’s central government and the Kurdish government over control of new mining areas. A related law is now pending in Iraq’s parliament,” Kim said. (SITE NOTE: The on-going fight between Turkey and Kurdish rebels using the Iraq border as a haven continues. In addition, Iran has made threatening moves as it too has a Kurdish minority within its borders and does not want to see the area become an autonomous government -- and also eyes the oil fields greedily as well.)

The Korean consortium signed an agreement in November to take a 38 percent stake in the Bazian oil field in northern Iraq, which is estimated to hold 500 million barrels of crude oil. “We will solve this problem through negotiations with the Iraqi government,” said an official of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy, who asked for anonymity.

He added that even if the Iraq government suspends oil shipments, it would not likely cause problems here because Korea can source imports from elsewhere, but oil prices could see more upward pressure in the domestic market. In the first 10 months of this year, Korea imported 37.1 million barrels, or 5.2 percent of its total crude oil imports, from Iraq.

The Bank of Korea forecast that global oil prices would accelerate Korea’s consumer inflation to 3.3 percent next year from 2.5 percent this year. Britain’s BP and Austria’s state-run energy developer OMV recently got a similar warning from the Iraqi government after they signed deals with Kurdish authorities, Korean news channel YTN said on Monday night, quoting unidentified sources. (Source: Joongang Ilbo.)

---

November 2007

Kim Koo, Shin Saimdang to Be Featured on New Bills (Nov 2007) The Bank of Korea (BOK) announced on 5 Oct that it had selected Kim Koo, the late president of the interim government in Shanghai during the Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945), and Shin Saimdang, a female artist during the Joseon Kingdom, as models for its new denomination banknotes. Kim will be featured on the 100,000-won bill ($110) while Shin will be on the 50,000-won banknote, the bank said. The new bills will debut in early 2009. Lee said it will take more than one year to complete the designs and introduce anti-forgery methods for the new banknotes, adding the country will be able to see them in early 2009.

Kim was assassinated in 1949, four years after Korea's liberation from Japanese rule, by then-military officer Ahn Doo-hui while leading a public movement for Korea's independence from foreign forces. He had led the BOK's public opinion polls for the models of the new banknotes since surveys began early this year.

Shin is the mother of the renowned Confucian scholar Yi I (1536-1584), who is portrayed on the 5,000-won banknote. On top of being an exemplary mother and wife, she is lauded as a talented female artist representing the Joseon Kingdom. She was good at paining, poetry and calligraphy and left many artworks. Some progressive women's rights groups opposed Shin as a banknote model, saying she was not an appropriate model for modern women. ``The BOK should have been more careful in selecting figures for the banknote models. Shin is not a good choice,'' said an official from the Korean National Council of Women. ``Shin Saimdang was a typical role model for women under the Confucian patriarchal system, not for modern women.''

The BOK has claimed the country needs 50,000-won and 100,000-won bills to meet growing demand for higher-denominated bills in line with the country's growing economy. Citing concerns about inflation and forgery, the government had opposed the idea, but gave up its objections late last year. Currently, 10,000 won is the highest denomination of the country's currency in circulation, followed by 5,000 won and 1,000 won notes. (Source: Korea Times.)

---

Police, protesters battle in streets and on highways (Nov 2007) Originally, 60,000 protestors were expected, but the amount that showed up was about 20,000. Bringing traffic to a grinding halt in Seoul, an estimated 20,000 protesters held an unapproved rally yesterday and fought with police who used water cannons to disperse them. The event, billed as the "Great National Rally," also jammed the highways leading into Seoul, as police tried to block the group of mostly union workers, farmers and student activists from attending.

About 15,000 protesters were barred from coming to Seoul by police. In Geochang, an estimated 100 farmers occupied the 88 Olympic Expressway interchange, paralyzing traffic more than an hour, police said. Police also banned trains from stopping at several subway stations in the center of Seoul. Pedestrians and drivers raged about the congestion. "I am sick of these protesters who force people to put up with all of these inconveniences," said Woo Wi-ja, 27, a store owner. "I think today's traffic was five to six times worse than usual," said Kim Jong-hoe, 56, a taxi driver.

At about 1 p.m. yesterday, the 16-lane road connecting Namdaemun to Seoul Plaza near City Hall was completely occupied by an estimated 20,000 protesters, according to a press release from the National Police Agency. Police blocked the grassy plaza with 300 buses and 23,000 riot policemen. They also closed the roads from City Hall to Gwanghwamun, one of the busiest spots in the country. Protesters attempting to enter into the plaza scuffled with riot police, causing dozens of injuries on both sides, according to the release. More than 110 protesters were arrested.


Helicoptors above Namdaemun-ro telling protestors via megaphones to disperse (11 Nov 2007) (Donga Ilbo)

Screaming slogans such as "Cancel the Kor-U.S. FTA" and wielding multicolored flags, the protesters called for the South Korea-United States free trade pact to be canceled, the removal of Korean troops from Iraq and the implementation of pro-labor policies. "Today's protest was blocked because President Roh Moo-hyun is afraid of me, a presidential candidate, standing in front of the people," said Kwon Young-ghil, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Labor Party, on a makeshift podium on a truck. Han Na-in, a manager at Dunkin' Donuts near Deoksu Palace, where police and protesters battled, said, "Today's sales were less than half of what they usually are."

Although police had declared the rally illegal, protesters began gathering in central Seoul around 3:30 p.m. After some 23,000 riot police blocked the roads surrounding Seoul Plaza to halt the rally, demonstrators then occupied roads between Namdaemun (South Gate) and City Hall. Later the protestors moved to Taepyoung-ro street and called for abolition of the Korea-U.S. FTA, fair treatment for non-regular workers and abolition of the National Security Law.

Some protestors climbed atop police buses and scuffled with police while others hurled chunks of pavement. Some protestors set fire to handbills in the road. Police responded with blasts from water cannons. Police blocked roads to Gwanghwamun and City Hall for three hours to prevent protesters from gathering, leading to traffic jams. Some drivers downtown before the rally started couldn't get out of the area until it ended around 8 p.m.


Protestors at Seoul Plaza area (11 Nov 2007) (Joongang Ilbo)


Protestors battling with Riot Police (11 Nov 2007) (Tongil News)


Protestors battling with Riot Police (11 Nov 2007) (Tongil News)

After the rally near City Hall, the protesters divided into several groups and marched through the streets in Seosomun-ro, Euljiro and Namdaemun. At about 5 p.m., they all gathered again near the Gwanghwamun intersection and tried to march to the U.S. Embassy building. Police stopped them by shooting water with water cannons. "We reported to the police that we will hold a peaceful rally at Seoul Plaza about a month ago," said Yoon Ji-hye, publicity official at the Korea Alliance for Progressive Movements, a co-organizer of the rally. "The police banned the rally and they blocked the roads, causing traffic congestion." Jhe Seong-ho, a professor of law at Chung-Ang University, said the protesters should be punished. "I think they need to pay compensation for interfering with traffic and business of stores," he said. (Source: Joongang Ilbo.) (SITE NOTE: The battlelines are being drawn for the FTA with the upcoming Presidential elections 30 days away. Lee supports the FTA while Chung and the progressives do not. With the cold weather approaching, this will probably be the last major protest until next spring. The FTA question has NOT surfaced in the National Assembly and the US Congress is still awaiting the outcomes of the USTR and beef industry efforts to open the beef market.)


Protestors battling with Riot Police (11 Nov 2007) (Joongang Ilbo)


US Flag Burning (11 Nov 2007) (Tongil News)


Candlelight Rally with Activist Leaders (11 Nov 2007) (Tongil News)



Police said they arrested some 100 protesters and that more than 10 riot police were hurt. Organizers said some 50 demonstrators were hurt, mostly suffering head injuries. Other rallies took place in South Gyeongsang Province, Daegu, North Gyeongsang Province and Chungcheong Province. Police said they arrested 40 other protesters.

Chosun Ilbo on 12 Nov reported that UNDP presidential candidate Chung Dong-young said it is unlikely the current regular session of the National Assembly will ratify the ROK-U.S. free trade agreement. GNP spokeswoman Na Kyung-won said it will be impossible for the ongoing regular session to deal with the FTA since various supplementary measures need to be devised and it will take time to persuade lawmakers who oppose the trade pact. This was the case even though GNP presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak "is strongly in favor of the trade treaty and is determined to ratify it."

---

Exiled Koreans Return after 60 years (Nov 2007) Associated Press on 10 Nov reported that the last group of Ethnic Koreans from Sakhalin Island returned to the ROK under a three-year repatriation program funded by the ROK and Japan . Only Koreans born before World War II ended in August 1945 are eligible for relocation and financial support.

---

Korean Students Ranked 3rd Best in Math and Science (Nov 2007) Korean middle school students rank third in the world in both math and science proficiency, according to a study released on 13 Oct. The study by the American Institutes for Research (AIR), a U.S. private research group, studied eighth graders around the world and classified their performance in several subjects as "basic," "proficient," or "advanced." Some 65 percent of Korean students were rated proficient in math and 45 percent were rated the same in science.

The purpose of the study was to compare math and science skills of eighth graders in the U.S. with their counterparts in 45 nations around the world. Singapore was at the top in both math and science, and Asian nations ? South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan -- swept the top five in both subjects. The U.S. achieved middle-of-the-pack rankings along with the Netherlands and Hungary, prompting criticism over its education system.

The study was based on data collected by the 2005 and 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress for the U.S. and by the 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study for other nations. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.)

---

U.N. committee passes N.K. human rights resolution, S. Korea abstains (Nov 2007) A U.N. committee passed a resolution Tuesday pressing North Korea to improve its human rights situation, with South Korea abstaining. The non-binding resolution, submitted by Japan and the European Union, passed with 97 ayes, 23 nays and 60 abstentions. South Korea, which voted for last year's resolution, said it decided to abstain "in consideration of special status of inter-Korean relations." Leading up to the vote, the United States repeatedly urged Seoul to again vote yes. (SITE NOTE: The ROK voted "yes" only as a power play to get Ban into a position to be recommended as head of the UN. There were also additional pressures as the DPRK was in the midst of the "Supernote" scandal that the ROK claimed didn't exist and the nuclear issues -- creating a fissure in ROK-US relations. The "yes" vote was a quasi-bandaid to help.)

North Korea's envoy charged the resolution is based on false information and cast a no vote. The U.N. Third Committee, which deals with social and humanitarian issues, adopted the resolution expressing concerns at "continuing reports of systematic, widespread and grave violations of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights" in North Korea. It also reiterates concerns at North Korea's abduction of foreigners, referring mostly to kidnapped Japanese citizens, and calls for their immediate return.

The United Nations welcomes the recent progress at the inter-Korean summit and six-nation denuclearization talks, it said. North Korea was also pressed to allow humanitarian agencies to confirm aid delivery to all parts of the country based on need, making sure the resources are not misallocated. The resolution goes to the U.N. plenary session in Dec, but its passage was guaranteed since all 192 member states participated in the 20 Nov vote. The North Korean human rights resolution has been submitted every year since 2003, but Seoul has consistently been absent or abstained from the vote until last year, when it cast the yes vote.

Seoul's decision, reached after much debate at home, is likely to remain controversial. Last year's vote coincided with the election of South Korea's foreign minister, Ban Ki-moon, as U.N. secretary general. The abstention could reflect negatively on Ban's worldwide call to improve human rights. South Korea's ambassador did not make remarks on his country's decision this year. (Source: Yonhap News.)

---

Food Prices in Korea on the Rise (Nov 2007) Surging international grain and oil prices and a stunted harvest caused by climate change have boosted food prices, including prices of vegetables and processed foods. The price of vegetables, including cabbage, has doubled or tripled recently. Domestic food and beverage makers are increasing prices of instant noodles, snacks and ice cream as well. Rising food prices are making it hard for common people to make ends meet.

The Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corporation investigated 25 discount stores and markets in eight major cities like Seoul and Busan on November 22. The corporation said cabbage prices have risen to 1,900-4,100 won. The same cabbages cost 700-1,900 won at this time last year. The average price of a head of cabbage was 3,134 won on November 21, 2.7 times higher than it was on the same day last year (1,149 won). Stunted vegetable growth because of continuous rain from summer to early fall has raised prices. In particular, prices of facility crops like cucumbers, tomatoes, green chillies, and pumpkins which are grown in greenhouses are expected to rise further in the aftermath of high oil prices. The price of light oil (duty-free oil), which is used by roughly 80 percent of domestic-facility crop growers, soared to 742 won per liter, from 595 won, on November 1, 2007; an increase of 24.7 percent year-on-year. The spot price of Dubai oil hit a new record high of $89.69 per barrel on November 21, $2.29 up from the previous day. The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) also surged to $99.29 on November 20.

The world’s grain price index released by the Korea Rural Economic Institute shows that the price of wheat futures traded on the Kansas City Board of Trade on November 14 rose 49 percent to $284 per ton compared to last year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicted the world’s stocks of rice, corn, wheat and barley will hit record lows and that rising prices will continue into next year. CJ, a Korean food manufacturer, raised the price of flour products 13-15% overall in September after raising them 7-10% in December of last year. The prices of Nongshim Shinramyeon, Samyang Ramyeon, and Ottogi Jinramyeon are rising and major ice cream makers have followed suit, raising ice cream prices 30-40% since September. (Source: Donga Ilbo.)

---

December 2007

Education, Transport Costs Squeeze Korea's Middle Class (Dec 2007) The proportion of Koreans who consider themselves middle-class has fallen by almost 10 percentage points compared to five years ago, according to a report by the Korea Consumer Protection Board on Wednesday.

In a survey of 2,000 Koreans over age 20 in September, 71 percent of respondents said they believe their consumption level is in the middle-class range. That's less than the 72.1 percent who said the same in 1999, just after the Asian financial crisis, and well below the 80.1 percent figure recorded in 2002 when the Korea-Japan World Cup games were held. Some 1.9 percent of respondents said they are upper-class and 27.1 percent said they are lower-class.

The living expense that most people consider their greatest burden is transportation expenses, followed by education expenses, food expenses, utility bills and loan interest. Notable is the fact that transportation expenses beat out education expenses, and loan interest made it on the list.

Some 66.4 percent of households are holding loans. Among them, 27.7 percent said their loans total between W10 million and W30 million (US$1=W923), 22 percent said between W30 million and W50 million, 16.1 percent said between W50 million and W100 million and 7.4 percent said more than W100 million. Buying or renting a house was the most common reason for taking out a loan, at 57.9 percent, followed by living expenses at 30.3 percent and education expenses at 21.7 percent.

The report said the average household spends W502,000 per month on private education expenses, with the average cost per child W313,200. Monthly private education expenses per household increased by 34.7 percent from W372,900 in 2002.

Some 54.3 percent of households said they send their children to private education institutions. According the report, 71.5 percent of preschoolers, 80.7 percent of elementary students, 68.7 percent of middle and high school students and 29.6 percent of college students take private classes. Monthly private education expenses per person averaged to W368,300 for college students, followed by W341,000 for secondary school students, W297,500 for primary school students and W258,700 for preschoolers. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.)

---

Poll: Corruption in S.Korea Worse Than in China (Mar 2007) Expatriates in 13 Asian countries feel that the level of corruption in South Korea is worse than it is in China. According to a survey done by the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy, South Korea was rated 6.30 on a scale of zero to ten in terms of the severity of its corruption. The higher the score, the more severe the corruption. South Korea's score this year is worse than its score last year of 5.44, and its ranking fell from the 5th cleanest Asian country to 8th of 13. China's score of 6.29 was enough to edge past South Korea and a significant improvement from last year's 7.58. Singapore received 1.20 and was once again named Asia's least corrupt nation. Hong Kong improved slightly, climbing one ranking to second place with a score of 1.87. Japan meanwhile fell from second place to third with a 2.10 rating in this year's survey. Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines ranked at the bottom, from 11th to 13th place. Indonesia and Thailand both received scores of 8.03 and the Philippines scored 9.40. The survey was conducted on 1,476 expatriates in Asia from January to February. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.) (SITE NOTE: The ROK keeps making noises of anti-corruption, but the biggest "crooks" are the politicians -- as seen by their conviction rates. However, nothing is ever done to fight the bribery and kickbacks that occur in government. Red tape in the bureaucracy is just another way to obtain "gifts" to speed up the process -- to grease the skids of required paperwork approval and grease the palms of officials as well. Businessmen view this as "traditional" and perpetuates the process. Every survey of businessmen/CEOs has listed corruption as a major negative in decisions towards doing business in Korea.)

Poll: 47% of Koreans Expect More Corruption (Dec 2007) Almost half the Korean population are pessimistic on the transparency of Korean society, according to a survey by Transparency International (TI), a global civil society organization against corruption. However, it is less than the world average standing at 54 percent. TI annually surveys the general public's perceptions of corruption and experience with bribery all over the world and announces ``the Global Corruption Barometer (GCB).'' This year, TI polled 63,199 people from 60 countries and there were about 1,000 Koreans among them. According to GCB 2007, 47 percent of Korean respondents said in the next three years corruption will increase. While 19 percent of them said they think the country's corruption would stay the same, 34 percent of them said corruption would decrease.

Regarding questions, ``To what extent do you perceive the following sectors in this country or territory to be affected by corruption?'' Koreans saw political parties as the most vulnerable sector to corruption, followed by parliament, judicature and the media. Meanwhile, TI also announced the ``Corruption Perceptions Index'' (CPI) score, which indicates the degree of public sector corruption as perceived by business people and country analysts, ranges between 10 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt). Korea ranked 43rd place with Malaysia and South Africa among 180 countries. (Source: Korea Times.)

Corruption: Corrupt Government Official Flees Korea (Dec 2007) Cho Gwang-han, a former presidential secretary (49), who is under police investigation on charges of receiving 20 million won from a pub owner, was found to have taken a flight abroad secretly on December 11. Forty-nine-year old Cho served as a vice spokesman and media secretary for President Roh Moo-hyun, before working as an auditor at the Korea Gas Corporation and then as CEO of a liquid crystal display maker. Cho made a name himself by organizing a friend-of-the-common-man image for then presidential candidate Roh Moo-hyun while running for his teammate at the presidential election campaign in 2002. He later joined Cheong Wa Dae where he served the President as a grade-one public official.

Police said they obtained information that Cho received 20 million won from a bar owner asking for the promotion of a policeman in June 2005 in Shinsa-dong, southern Seoul. The police said Cho admitted to receiving the money, but denied peddling influence to push the promotion through. Police, who summoned Cho on December 10 and seized statements confirming he had received the money for a promotion solicitation, imposed an exit ban on him on December 12, 31 hours after Cho left South Korea.

According to the police, Cho took Korean Air flight KE085 that left Incheon International Airport at 7:47 a.m., December 11 for New York. A venture company K run by Cho said, "The boss has flown over to the U.S. for business and will return in early January, but we are not aware of the exact date of his return." "During the investigation on December 10, Cho responded faithfully to questions, acknowledging charges and written statements, and said he would come back the day after," said a police official. "We didn't see any necessity for an exit ban because he had acknowledged most of the charges."

This is not the first time Cho has been implicated in irregularities. In November, the presidential office was accused of paying a salary to Cho despite him having left his position. He was confirmed to have received a salary up to March 2004 though he quit his job in December 2003. The office spokesman said Cho was unable to get a job immediately and the payment was a token of consideration from Cheong Wa Dae.

Cho was under a police investigation on the charge of receiving 20 million won more than three times from a pub owner, Kim, in Bukchang-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, around June 2005 when he was an auditor to the Korea Gas Corporation, in exchange for promoting police lieutenant Oh (then a sergeant) of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. (Source: Donga Ilbo and Korea Times.)

---

Environmental Disaster at Taean: Tanker Spill (Dec 2007) On 7 Dec a Hong Kong-registered oil tanker leaked 10,810 tons, or 66,000 barrels, of crude oil off South Korea's stormy west coast on Friday, in what was estimated to be the nation's largest maritime oil spill. A five-kilometer-long oil band was snaking slowly toward the coast, which is dotted with scenic beaches, wild life habitats and oyster and other fishing beds.

The spill occurred when a crane-carrying vessel crashed into the 147,000-ton tanker Hebei Spirit on Friday morning, about 5 nautical miles off the coast near Taean, 150 kilometers, or 90 miles, southwest of Seoul. The collision created three gashes in the tanker's hull. Photographs released by the ministry showed crude oil spurting from the holes. There were no human casualties. The tanker was carrying 1.8 million barrels of crude oil. (SITE NOTE: In the media, there has been an effort to blame the tanker captain for not moving the tanker after he was warned that the crane was drifting his way. Supposedly he stated he would move the tanker AFTER the crane had passed. It appears an effort by Samsung (the crane owner) to "share" the blame with the victim (the tanker).)


Taean Oil Cleanup (11 Dec 2007)

The government declared a state of emergency in the oil-contaminated western coastal zone, 9 Dec, making state subsidies and resources available for restoration work. This is the second time such a state has been announced, following the huge mountain fire that swept Yangyang, Gangwon Province, in 2005. The declaration came after spilled crude oil from a heavy tanker began spreading along the western coastal area of South Chungcheong Province, which is abundant in national parks and fish farms. Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Kang Moo-hyun said it would take at least two months to clean up the nation's largest oil spill in the waters off Taean.

Experts warned that the spill could result in a serious environmental disaster. After a 146,000-ton Hong Kong-registered Hebei Spirit collided with an 11,800-ton barge owned by Samsung, on 7 Dec, puncturing hull, which the oil leak, the ecologically pristine coastline has become a deathtrap for wildlife, with waves of crude oil washing ashore.

About 30 beaches in the Taean area were covered by the slick, according to maritime police. Natural Treasure No. 431, Shinduri Dune, was saturated and mallard ducks and other sea life are being found suffocated by the oil. More than half of the 544 oyster and abalone farms in the area have reportedly lost all their stock due to the breakdown of the marine eco system, police said. The insurance compensation is also drawing attention.


Taean Oil Soaked Sea bird (11 Dec 2007)

The accident could cause compensation payments of as much as 300 billion won ($330 million) from British Lloyds P&I, the insurance company for the barge, and from the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund, an intergovernmental organization that provides compensation for damage caused by oil spills from tankers, industry sources said.

About 6,650 soldiers and police with 90 vessels and six helicopters have been working to contain about 10,500 tons of oil, but could not prevent it from reaching coastal areas, police said. The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries initially said the leaked oil would quickly freeze in the cold winter temperatures, and since the accident took place about 10 kilometers from the shore, the environmental damage would not be as large as back in 1995, when the Sea Prince spilled 5,000 tons of crude and fuel oil on the seashore of Yeosu in South Jeolla Province. However, due to rather warm weather, an unforeseeable wind direction and high waves, the spill expanded and is more than 33 kilometers long, the police said.

A Korean Federation for Environment Movements spokesman warned that although the oil may appear to be cleared, it could affect the eco system for much longer than expected. ``There are still spots in waters off Yeosu, where the oil spilled 12 years ago that appear in summer time. Once the oil covers the sea, you can never recover the environment,'' he said. He said the oil may kill all marine creatures in the gulf as well as the sea shore. The government has been under fire for having limited measures to combat the leak in the first place, which has resulted in even greater damage. The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry and police admitted to having not provided sufficient amount of oil absorbent material to fishermen and residents as well as not having paid enough attention to the wind direction. (Source: NY Times and Korea Times.) (SITE NOTE: The US has offered help from experts on the oil cleanup -- and they arrived on 13 Dec. Also the US Coast Guard offered ships to help in the cleanup, though the offer was not immediately accepted. The oil slick was moving south and fears that it would foul other fish farms down the coast. It appears that the ROK did not prepare for a major spill as there is a request for old rags, winter clothes to sop up the oil. The fishermen are also complaining that they are not being reimbursed for the fuel that they are expending to go out to soak up the oil -- saying that they are losing money they can ill afford to lose.)


Oil Soaked Taean Beaches (18 Dec 2007)

Second-hand contamination hits West Sea amid debate over safety of oil dispersant Fear of second-hand contamination of the West Sea in the wake of the country's biggest oil spill in history appeared to be realized on 14 Dec as oil sludge -- oil hardened by the chemicals used to disperse the oil slick -- approached waters well south of the original spill. Despite all-out efforts by authorities to control the devastating spread of the oil, some 10 kilometers of sandy beaches on Anmyeon Island, a part of the national marine park in the Taean area, were affected by another form of contamination: oil balls.

Oil balls are solidified oil sludge that appear after the most volatile elements of spilled crude oil evaporate. Accumulating on the seabed, oil balls kill fish and seaweed, as well as contaminate plankton. The Coast Guard said its air patrol team found oil balls that had washed ashore on the island, which is famous for its scenic beaches and preserved natural environment. Oil masses were originally spotted in waters 27 kilometers west of the island, but reached shore in the form of balls after being dispersed by water cannons or chemicals used by cleanup workers, guard officials said. The static oil slick that had been floating some 10 kilometers off the island's coast has reportedly disappeared.

Although a strong-wind warning for the West Sea was lifted, the wind was still strong enough to spread the oil to other coastal areas under threat. In Taean and its neighboring counties and cities, about 25,000 military and police personnel, volunteers and local residents have worked to scoop up oil. They have been aided by some 253 ships and 13 airplanes. In the eight days of work since 7 Dec, when 10,500 tons of crude oil leaked after a barge carrying a crane crashed into a huge oil tanker, over 1,200 tons have been collected.

Cold air and strong winds have hampered the efforts of cleanup workers, some of whom are suffering from exhaustion, as well as from headaches and dizziness due to sulfur fumes from the oil. Because of the wind warning, the influx of volunteers and aid supplies, which has been steady so far, temporarily stopped. Some naval boats have had to sail to safe areas, and some small fishing ships were banned from sailing. Following the accident, Korea has received several pledges of international aid.

Four decontamination experts from the U.S. Coast Guard arrived in Seoul on 13 Dec to help South Korea's cleanup efforts. They visited the scene of the oil spill on 14 Dec to determine the scope of damage. Also on 13 Dec, Japan offered to provide 10 tons of oil absorbents and seven oil spill specialists, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said. China has sent two vessels to assist in the cleanup operation, the country's Ministry of Communication said on its Web site on the same day. The ships were carrying more than 65 tons of absorbent and heavy equipment, it added. Earlier, the Northwest Pacific Action Plan, an international organization, decided to provide 100 tons of absorbent. Singapore's decontamination agency, East Asia Response Limited, or EARL, was to send an airplane and other equipment for arrival on Saturday. It will be followed by the visit of an eight-member environmental survey team from the European Union to Seoul, the Foreign Ministry said.

Attention is now being paid to the spread of the oil balls. Experts said the creation of oil balls was expected under typical winter weather conditions on the west coast: a strong tide, a northwest or northeast wind and shallow water. Government authorities and environmentalists differ on the number of oil balls currently moving southward and the extent of the possible damage. Environmentalists claimed that the oil balls are highly likely to inflict enormous damage upon the ecological system in the entire west coast area, so the government should use a safer chemical instead of the oil dispersant. The Coast Guard disagreed with the claim, saying the use of the dispersant is essential to effectively remove the oil slick, and that damage to marine life will be minimal. "Oil balls are easier to collect than crude oil. We don't have to worry about the potential damage of the ecological system because there are only a small number of oil balls now," said Kim Yong-hwan, chief of a section dealing with waste at the Coast Guard. (Source: Yonhap News.) (SITE NOTE: On 18 Dec the hardened black toxic remnants of evaporated crude oil have been found on the shores of islands off Gunsan, as far as 130 kilometers southeast of the spill. According to the South Chungcheong Province, to which the Taean area belongs, an estimated 5,159 hectares of fisheries have been affected. About 8,571 further hectares of fisheries in other areas are also feared to be at risk. More damage is expected as tar balls were quickly approaching marine farms in islands in North Jeolla Province.)

Volunteers Key to Oil Slick Cleanup (Dec 2007) Volunteers played a vital part in efforts to contain the worst oil spill in Korea’s history along the west coast. Ten days after the spill, clean sand is again showing through the black oil slick, and waters are returning to their original blue. Some 100,000 volunteers from across the country are helping accomplish the task. It seems everyone from eight-year-old children to retired officials in their 70s rolled up their sleeves to give hope to the victims. Some 18,700 volunteers joined the cleanup efforts on 17 Dec alone. According to the Coast Guards, a total of 104,800 volunteers helped clean up the area in the 10 days since the accident, and 14,488 tons of adsorption waste was left. (SITE NOTE: The Ministry of Environment said it would clear up more than 3,500 tons of waste absorbents and contained oil in the Taean area, which due to poor management has been left at deserted locations without plastic or vinyl protection to prevent oil material from being absorbed by the ground.)

Coast guards said 70 percent of oil films that covered the coast of Taean in South Chungcheong Province have been removed, and the next step is to remove oil sticking to rocky shores. Meanwhile, lumps of tar drifted to neighboring North Jeolla Province on Sunday. Coast guards said they were discovered 120 km off Yeondo Island, near Gunsan in North Jeolla Province, drifting there due to tides and the northwesterly winds. The government decided 17 Dec to set aside a W30 billion (US$1=930) emergency budget to provide victims with financial support. The subsidies will be given to victims by late January. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.) (SITE NOTE: Due to the volunteerism, the television networks took their TV personalities and photographed them hauling oily sand and sopping up the oil. However, the most pathetic scenes were the old women associated with the fishing trade (selling fish, renting rooms, etc) who wailed on camera that they had expenses of 2 million won a month, but could not earn even 1,000 won a day since the disaster. The toll will be horrific once it settles in. On the outlying islands they still do not have the adsorption towels so they were using their old clothes.)

---

Korea is China's Least Favorite Neighbor (Dec 2007) Chinese people like South Korea the least of all of their neighbors, according to the results of a survey released Monday. It is unusual for South Korea to rank ahead of Japan as China's most unpopular neighbor. In the survey of 12,000 Chinese people over the past four months by the International Herald Leader, a newspaper published by China's official Xinhua News Agency, 40.1 percent of respondents said they dislike South Korea the most. Japan came in second place with 30.2 percent of the vote. The most-liked neighbor was Pakistan with 13.2 percent followed by Russia and Japan, the newspaper said. In September, market researcher Millward Brown surveyed 1,000 Korean adults on their favorite neighboring country. The majority -- 60.8 percent -- said the U.S. China ranked second with 44.0 percent followed by Russia with 41.4 percent and Japan with 35.6 percent. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.)

---

Leader of student activist group arrested for anti-U.S., pro-communist activities (Jan 2008) Perhaps as a harbinger of things to come with a new Conservative government, the leader of South Korea's largest student activist group was arrested on Wednesday for leading a violent anti-U.S. rally in 2004 and violating the anti-communist National Security Law, police said. Yoo Sun-min, chief of Hanchongryon, or the Federation of Korean University Student Councils, is accused of taking part in an illegal rally in July 2004 against the deployment of two Patriot anti-missile batteries here and distributing pro-communist printed materials. (Source: Yonhap News.) (SITE NOTE: Gee, it only took the police three years to figure this out? The Patriot batteries have pulled out of Kwangju in 2007 and now are at Camp Carroll in Taegu. As to the pro-communist materials, the next question is how about the materials of the KTEU (teachers union) that posted the same materials on the internet?)

---

---

INTER-KOREAN SUMMIT LAST CHANCE FOR ROH

Lee Hae-chan Heads North (Mar 2007) The Joongang Ilbo reported on 6 Mar that sources are already saying Lee Hae-chan's four-day trip to the DPRK starting on 7 Mar may be a prelude to an inter-Korean summit meeting, even though the Blue House denies it. Mr. Lee, a special adviser to the president for political affairs, will meet with Kim Yong-nam, the president of the Supreme People's Assembly and the nominal head of the DPRK, said Uri Party spokesman Choi Jae-seong. However, Chong Wa Dae stated that he is going as a representative of the Uri Party and not as a representative of Roh Moo-hyun. Lee was to meet with the president of North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly in his capacity as the Uri Party's Northeast Asia Peace Committee chair. He is accompanied by lawmakers Chung Eui-yong and Lee Hwa-young, and former minister for policy coordination Jo Yeong-taek. It is unclear, however, if Mr. Lee will be able to meet Kim Jong-il.

(SITE NOTE: Then Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan would get into hot water for playing golf in Pusan with individuals of convicted of bribery and corruption -- with allegations of being lobbied to prevent a $38 million fine -- instead of attending to business of the rail strike or attending national Independence Day ceremonies. The golfing wasn't the problem, it was who he was golfing with -- a convicted stock price manipulator who was to be fined the next day by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) which just happened to be under the Prime Minister's office. On 15 Mar 2006, Lee Hae-chan resigned.(See Political Events 2006: Lee Hae-chan.) On 27 Oct 2006, President Roh appointed Lee Hae-chan as one of four special presidential advisers on policy affairs after his Defense Minister, Unification Minister and National Intelligence Service ministers resigned in short order. With the appointment of his cronies, Roh came under much criticism for his nepotism. To believe that Lee was only going to the North to represent the Uri Party is like believing in the tooth fairy!!! This looked suspiciously like a ploy to increase Lee's international status if he were to run for the presidency -- something he was being groomed for initially.)

On his way home, Mr. Lee will visit Beijing and meet Chinese leaders. Lee was scheduled to meet with Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan on his way home. The Grand Nationals called the visit an attempt to boost the Uri Party's plunging popularity and try to stop the Grand National Party from winning the presidential election. The spokesman said the Grand National Party welcomes normal relations between the two Koreas, but many people oppose having an inter-Korean summit before the presidential election.

(SITE NOTE: There are many under-the-table agreements afoot after the hasty inter-ministerial meeting that stated rice and fertilizer shipments would be made in bulk. The reasoning was that if this is done, the people would benefit because the military and hierarchy was taking the first cut of such aid -- leaving one shaking one's head. Then the ROK announced that it would resume the fertilizer shipments in Mar or Apr 2007 -- even before the North had completed any steps to denuclearization. The Roh government is attempting to cement this as an international agreement with the North before the GNP can take power -- or muster support to stop this aid. It was noted that Mr. Lee visited Kaesong in North Korea on Feb. 13, but the trip was not made public until a media report surfaced several days later -- adding to the picture that possible secret negotiations are going on between Cheong Wa Dae and the DPRK.

We also see the parallels of Kim Dae-jung's end of term when he was faced with a failed "Sunshine Policy", rejection by the US, embroiled in the aftermath of the IMF Crisis, and crippled as a lame duck President. Suddenly the meeting with Kim Jong-il (though later revealed that it was bought through $500 million of illegally transferred monies to the North), earned Kim Dae-jung the Nobel Peace Prize, international adulation and earned him a place in Korean history books. With his 7.6 percent approval ratings, Roh Moo-hyun would like the same fate -- instead of being remembered as the most forgettable President in history.)

Seoul to Give N.Korea W400 Million ($500,000) in Cash (Mar 2007) On 12 Mar it was reported that South Korea for the first time in history officially decided to give cash to North Korea, in the amount of W400 million (US$1=W945) or about $500,000. Some people simply put two-and-two together about Lee's trip which they said beforehand was to set up a meeting between Roh and Kim Jong-il. In 2000, the South Korean government secretly remitted about $500 million to Pyongyang prior to the first inter-Korean summit, but this will be the first time for Seoul to give Pyongyang money under an agreement reached in broad daylight. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.)

(SITE NOTE: Strangely, $500,000 is a rather small amount of money. In truth the amount of money involved ($300 million) is not significant. Much larger amounts of "humanitarian" aid could have been arranged in the form of developmental programs or infrastructure aid. The speculation is that other larger "grants" will be made out of the coffers of the Unification Ministry in the near future -- if the mechanics of a summit can be arranged.

The Unification Ministry has already agreed to a massive $300,000 million in "humanitarian" rice/fertilizer aid -- not counting its offering to give the North the immediate 50,000 barrels of crude oil from its coffers under the six-party agreement.

This W400 million contribution comes at a time when the UN announced it was going to cut off the funds for the UNDP and the DPRK started to make strange remarks of having their funds in China released as a PREREQUISITE to denuclearization. This was NOT in the Feb 13 six-party agreement. Appearances are the the DPRK is now experiencing some difficult times -- perhaps with internal conflicts. In Mar the DPRK made the announcement that only one child per diplomat may remain abroad and that all others must return to Korea -- which some viewed as a measure to ensure there were no mass desertions from the diplomatic corps. The North appears to feeling the fiscal pinch -- and this W400,000 "grant" is an appetizer to cement deals with the ROK government for a summit.)

"We've decided to supply North Korea with building materials worth about W3.5 billion for the construction of a family reunion center equipped with video facilities. Among the expenses, we agreed to give Pyongyang about W400 million in cash," a South Korean government official said Sunday. The reason, he said, is that some materials including LCD monitors needed for the video facilities are banned for export to North Korea under the U.S. Export Administration Regulations, which prohibit exports of goods containing more than 10 percent of American components or technology to states sponsoring terrorism.

(SITE NOTE: This Reunion Center has been an endless money pit since its inception. First it was the lost materials for the roads that had to be replaced. Then it was the supposed botched runway where the materials again had to be replaced and they added even more materials for the road. Then it was more money blackmailed to the past reunions. In our opinion, the Korean people are being openly swindled by the Unification Ministry -- all in the name of national reunification. This ploy of extorting money over the emotional family reunion theme -- that the North censors and controls like a staged act to gain the most emotional mileage from it.

In Jan 2007 the Ministry handed over to the Korean Red Cross responsibility for arranging the meetings of separated families, providing financial support for the exchange of separated families, humanitarian supplies such as fertilizer, flood relief and the return to the DPRK bodies which have drifted south in floods. The agreement provoked criticism from pundits who claimed that the government was trying to open the way to help Pyongyang despite the North's nuclear test and expanding aid projects at the expense of government funds.

During the reunions of families separated by the border between the two countries, which were held via video from March 27-29, a total of 865 members of 120 families were reunited. The event - the 5th of its kind - was supposed to take place in July last year, but it was suspended due to the North's missile tests in July, and later by its nuclear test in October. Both Koreas decided to restart the reunions at ministerial talks earlier this month.

Now with the Feb 13 six-party agreement, the Roh administration doesn't even try to put on the pretense of being limited by the nuclear tests. It is simply going to give the aid to the North despite any criticism or world opinion. On March 28, Seoul sent further humanitarian aid to the North, including blankets and medication for those still suffering from the aftermath of catastrophic flooding last summer, as well as those [affected by recent epidemic outbreaks in the North, including measles and tuberculosis. More aid is slated for delivery in April and May, including 15,000 tons of rice and 70,000 tons of cement.

Officials of both countries will hold a meeting next month in Pyongyang to discuss when and how to provide 400,000 tons of rice for the North. The Unification Ministry is also considering offering 50,000 tons of corn through the U.N. World Food Program. Besides food aid, South and North Korea will step up cooperation in the field of energy development and light industries. Next month, they will launch a body designed to spearhead the joint projects." All preparations for the launch have been completed," Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung reported in a press conference on March 26. "We will start a committee to monitor [further] tourism projects at Mt. Geumgang, just like the committee we currently have in place for the [joint Korean] Gaesong Industrial Complex.")

Not all government officials are happy that Seoul decided to give cash to Pyongyang although there are ways to ask Washington to lift the ban on some items. Another South Korean government official said, "In a similar case, we used to discuss it with the U.S. when we sent strategic goods" to the inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex in the North.

A Unification Ministry said, "We attach importance to the humanitarian aspect. We also agreed with the North that we can check how it purchases and uses those materials, so there'll be no suspicion about the possibility of those materials being diverted for other purposes." The official hinted Seoul decided to send cash to expedite family reunions via video link. "In case of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, there was no problem because the end users of the goods are South Korean enterprises. But this case is somewhat different. If we had negotiated with the U.S., it would have taken considerable time or we would have had difficulty reaching an agreement" with Washington.

(SITE NOTE: The Unification Ministry's statement that "we can check how it purchases and uses those materials" is the most ludicrous statement around. If it has never checked its aid -- and even actively sought NOT to check "humanitarian aid" before -- what makes one think they will do it now.)

Meanwhile, the Red Cross organizations of the two Koreas agreed to resume building the family reunion center at Mt.Kumgang, suspended last July, on March 21. The responsibility was transferred to the Red Cross in Jan 2007, but the Unification Ministry will fund the project. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.)

Uri Excited About Prospects for Inter-Korean Summit (Mar 2007) The Uri Party appears to be staking all on promoting a second inter-Korean summit after the return of former prime minister Lee Hae-chan from a visit to North Korea on 12 Mar -- and the immediate announcement of the $300 million in "humanitarian aid" to North Korea,

Uri Party lawmaker Lee Hwa-young, who accompanied Lee on his trip, said North Korea "agreed on the need" for a second inter-Korean summit when the South Korean delegation proposed that the two Koreas discuss a summit if follow-up talks to the Feb. 13 six-nation nuclear agreement go smoothly. "Since there will be something for the heads of the two Koreas to decide on if the working-group talks yield progress, an inter-Korean summit would be natural in this context," he said.

But Lee Hae-chan seemed more cautious. "I told North Korea that the two Koreas can consider an inter-Korean summit after April if the North sincerely takes initial actions to shut down its nuclear facilities in accordance with the February 13 accord," Lee said. "But I clearly said it was my own opinion and the North did not make any reply." (SITE NOTE: Translated, these words of Lee were personal opinions and not considered worth listening to on a ministerial level. Lee did NOT warn the North in any official capacity -- and besides, he was NOT representing the ROK President so his statements were worthless.)

However, the former premier hinted that he had a message from Pyongyang to President Roh Moo-hyun, saying there was a need for him to call at Cheong Wa Dae. According to him, the North promised to give "positive consideration" to resolving the issue of South Korean POWs or abduction victims in the North. However, a senior Cheong Wa Dae official again denied that Lee, now an advisor to Roh, was the president's de facto special envoy to Pyongyang. "Lee was not a presidential envoy, and there was no message he delivered to North Korea on the president's behalf," the official said. "There is therefore no need for the president to be briefed by the former prime minister on the results of the North Korea visit." (SITE NOTE: This protects Roh of saying he asked for an inter-Korea summit because he already said he would not seek one. So much for the horse-manure. Lee was sent to make a proposal for an inter-Korean summit. The North replied only if you make a "contribution" -- which Lee agreed to willingly.)

"I also have something to say to the U.S. Ambassador to Korea and the Unification Ministry," Lee added, without elaborating on the details.

His caution did not deter the party. A lawmaker familiar with the issue said, "The party concluded that conditions for a second inter-Korean summit are right. A specific schedule has not been set, but a date between June 15 and Aug. 15 would be the most likely to mark the seventh anniversary of the first inter-Korean summit." A senior party official said Lee "concluded many big, important agreements" with the North. A party official said the inter-Korean summit was being discussed with the North via a separate channel as well.

Senior government officials including Unification Minister Lee Jae-jeong say nothing has been prepared but still insist an inter-Korean summit is needed. In effect, all that remains to be done is for North Korea to choose a date -- June 15 or Aug. 15 -- for a summit. (SITE NOTE: The "important agreements" will lock the ROK into any commitment between the two countries -- no matter how disastrous fiscally they may be. This means the next President can NOT undo the agreement -- unless he uses the tried and true Korean technique of simply reopening negotiations on any agreement one doesn't like.)

President Roh Sent a Confidant for Secret meeting with DPRK Councillor in Oct 2006 (Mar 2007) Cheong Wa Dae on on 29 Mar admitted that President Roh Moo-hyun's confidant Ahn Hee-jung secretly met North Korean Councillor Lee Ho-nam in Beijing in October last year on the president's instructions. Ahn's contact with North Korea ignored procedure and has attracted a welter of suspicions. (SITE NOTE: Mr. Ahn joined Mr. Roh's legislative election camp in 1988 and served as an administrative and political advisor. In 2004, he was convicted of receiving illegal campaign donations on behalf of Mr. Roh's camp and served one year in prison.)

President Roh has repeatedly emphasized the need for transparency in dealings with North Korea after the 2000 cash-for-summit scandal came to light. In an attempt to promote its North Korea policy transparently, the government in 2005 legislated a law on development of the inter-Korean relations that specifies procedures for appointing delegates to inter-Korean talks and special envoys. Ahn holds no official government post but met the North Korean official in Beijing at presidential orders, according to Lee Ho-chul, presidential secretary for information and policy monitoring. The Unification Ministry and the National Intelligence Service, the official windows for dealing with North Korea, were kept out of the loop. (SITE NOTE: However, the Unification Minister admitted to giving Ahn advice on the meeting -- but claimed it was as a private citizen, not as a minister.)

The contact was arranged through Kwon O-hong, a former Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency official and businessman dealing with North Korea. A reporter of a weekly, an acquaintance of Kwon, told the presidential office in the wake of the North's Oct. 9 nuclear test that the North was willing to return to six-party talks and wants to see a special envoy from the South. Roh was briefed on this and asked Ahn to find out the truth. Kwon Oh-hung, the businessman who arranged the secret parlay in Beijing at the request of North Korea, said in a press conference on 30 Mar that the secret channel was shut down by the administration in December 2006.

The fact that Ahn met the North Korean official without clearance with the Unification Ministry is a clear breach of the South-North Exchange and Cooperation Law. The law requires advance notification in general, or at least a briefing within seven days after a contact in unavoidable circumstances. By directing Ahn to visit Beijing, Cheong Wa Dae effectively abetted the illegality. In addition, Kwon O-hong was reported to the prosecution over a 2001 visit to the North without government permission and consequently had his license to do inter-Korean business cancelled.

When Ahn in the Oct. 20 Beijing meeting proposed sending former prime minister Lee Hae-chan to Pyongyang as a special envoy, the North Koreans demanded $500,000 in advance, according to Kwon, who claims he recorded the meeting. The demand was allegedly settled by offering the North to set up a 10,000-head pig farm when Uri Party lawmaker Lee Hwa-young visited Beijing and met North Korean officials on Nov. 26. Lee maintains he came up with the pig farm independently. But the link is sufficient to raise suspicion that something may have been offered to the North prior to Lee's Pyongyang visit in March. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.) (SITE NOTE: Insiders are stating that the meeting was a result of internal struggles within Cheong Wa Dae by the "386 generation" who were attempting to engage the DPRK and restart the stalled six-party talks, while most felt that unless there was some positive gains, engagement should not be tried. Past ministers and officials are distancing themselves from this scandal saying they knew nothing of it. (Source: Donga Ilbo. The GNP claimed that those behind the alleged summit plans were "election campaign experts" adding that the Roh administration and the Uri Party were trying to use a summit to shore up political support.)

Roh Says Secret N.Korea Contacts 'Within His Rights' (Apr 2007) President Roh Moo-hyun said he was within his rights to authorize an aide's clandestine contact with North Koreans, saying they were part of "the president's inherent authority." On Roh's instruction, Ahn Hee-jung, a close associate of the president's, met with a North Korean official in secrecy last October without reporting this to the Unification Ministry before or after the meeting. Presiding over a Cabinet meeting on 10 Apr, Roh said he considered the opening of an unofficial dialogue channel "inappropriate and therefore discontinued it, in the process of confirming its possibility and feasibility. Such a contact poses no problems politically or legally." He added if anyone should find fault with this issue from the legal standpoint, "a civilian's contact with North Koreans in a third country might pose a problem... But the contact occurred on my instruction. So, it was not a matter that should have been reported to authorities in advance," nor would it have required an ex post facto report.

Roh was apparently trying to silence criticism that Ahn violated relevant regulations. Instead, his remarks added fuel to the political controversy because Ahn violated the inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Law. The law stipulates that South Koreans must report to authorities in advance when they make contacts with North Koreans, or in case such contacts are inevitable report within seven days after their contacts.

In a statement, opposition Grand National Party spokesman Yoo Ki-june said, "It is the public that should judge whether this falls under the presidential privilege of exemption from liability or not. The president himself can't declare his own privilege of exemption from liability. The GNP will seek to clear up public suspicions through a parliamentary audit." He said the president "admitted for the first time to the existence of secret contacts with North Korea, which he has so vehemently denied. He added that the public is suspicious whether there has been any under-the-table promise of aid." (Source: Chosun Ilbo.) (SITE NOTE: Roh later admitted that he sent Ahn Hee-jong to set up contacts with the North. The bottomline is that Roh desperately wants to end his presidency with a summit and is sending all kinds of people to the North. The North on the other hand is playing a tricky balancing act of wanting all the free-goodies (oil, rice, fertilizer, medicines, cement, etc. etc.) that Roh is throwing at the North -- without shelling out anything. Roh has finished the inter-Korean ministerial meeting where rail tests were scheduled for May (but the DPRK military who has blocked all tests in the past still has not agreed) -- while the North refused to link the rice aid promised to any moves on denuclearization. In effect, it was a giveaway with no guarantees that the DPRK would do anything. It could be viewed as a bribe for a summit. Roh has sent Uri party leaders to Kaesong to talk with North Korean officials. Yonhap reported on 26 Apr that ROK lawmakers from both the liberal and conservative parties were to visit the DPRK on 27 Apr to help promote mutual understanding. They were invited by the DPRK Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation along with 130 members from the council's ROK counterpart.)

Roh's office says venue of inter-Korean summit flexible (May 2007) Cheong Wa Dae said on 7 May that it will push for an inter-Korean summit "on the basis of mutual trust" and that "the summit venue won't matter much." Roh is determined to improve inter-Korean relations through summit diplomacy -- but also attempt to cement his place in the history books. The next inter-Korean summit may be held in the North Korean border city of Kaesong or China -- with speculation for this summer. Cheong Wa Dae has said that Roh's meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il won't take place unless there is more progress in the settlement of the North Korean nuclear problem.

Roh Could Meet Kim Jong-il in July or August (May 2007) Cheong Wa Dae is considering a second inter-Korean summit in the second half of the year, just as long as North Korea implements its initial obligations under a Feb. 13 denuclearization agreement. A government official on Tuesday said the office was "considering an idea where the inter-Korean relationship in general, including a summit, goes one step ahead of six-party talks or talks about a peace framework" for the Korean Peninsula. That would mean a reversal of the earlier position that inter-Korean rapprochement would follow the outcome of the multilateral talks.

American ambassador Vershbow on May 4 suggested that inter-Korean relations and the six party process need to move forward at the same pace, "like on a rail track." He also said that "to continue with all aspects of engagement regardless of progress on denuclearization would be to pretend to be promoting peaceful reconciliation when a primary cause of those tensions- North Korea's destabilizing nuclear weapons program- was undermining peace on the Peninsula and in the region," (SITE NOTE: The criticism by Ambassador Vershbow calls into question this summit. The US view is that the accelerated aid to the North undermines the efforts toward denuclearization as the ROK undercuts any sanctions or threats of withholding benefits for compliance. However, Roh is hell bent on attempting to establish his "footnote" in Korean history the same as Kim Dae-jung did.)

In response, South Korean Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung said on 7 May that the "question of the Korean peninsula" is "ultimately something for North an/d South ( Korea) and not others to figure out." "Whatever situational changes there are on the peninsula and elsewhere, we need to be consistent in the way we manage inter-Korean relations and maintain a developmental framework for it," he said. "In that sense, normalizing inter-Korean rel