tagged w/ South Korea
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eva2
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"BEIJING — In the best of times, Chinese foreign-affairs scholars here say, Beijing grits its teeth while playing best friend to Kim Jong-il, North Korea’s ailing and erratic 68-year-old leader. South Korea’s charge last week that North Korea sank one of its warships, killing 46 crewmen, makes that role exponentially harder.
With Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and about 200 other American officials here for high-level security and economic talks, Chinese leaders face two unpalatable options. One is to mollify North Korea, and risk undermining its efforts to persuade Washington, South Korea and Japan that China is a stabilizing force in east Asia.
The other is to join those nations and the United Nations Security Council in condemning North Korea for the attack, which North Korea denies, and risk a wholly unpredictable response from a volatile neighbor.
So far, China has sought to straddle the two, saying only that both Koreas should show restraint in the midst of a brewing crisis. But Mrs. Clinton, who has publicly cited “overwhelming” evidence that North Korea torpedoed the South Korean corvette, the Cheonan, is pressing Chinese officials to take an unequivocal stance. South Korea, which China has assiduously courted as a major trading partner and diplomatic friend, is making the same case.
The incident has reignited much the same debate that took place last year, after North Korea test-fired a long-range missile in April and conducted an underground nuclear test less than two months later. After balking at first, China eventually agreed to a unanimous Security Council resolution condemning the nuclear test and tightening existing sanctions.
The United States, Japan and South Korea are uniting behind a similarly strong response this time. South Korea is expected to ask the United Nations Security Council on Monday to condemn the sinking of the 1,200-ton warship, which it says caused one of the largest losses of military personnel since the end of the Korean war. Mrs. Clinton is pushing Beijing to back it.
“The North Koreans will be more easily dissuaded from further attacks like this if they don’t get cover from China, “ said Michael J. Green, an Asia specialist with the Center for International Studies in Washington. “So it absolutely critical to Korea and the United States that China send that signal.”
But in discussions that began Sunday, China was resisting, and it has been skeptical of the claim that the North was responsible for sinking the ship. Scholars say such misgivings are typical when China is asked to side against North Korea.
“There’s not much more that can be done to sanction North Korea,” said Shen Jiru, a strategic studies expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. “China basically feels that sanctions or other tough measures only serve to escalate conflict with North Korea, and others tend to agree.”
Still, a small but influential group of Chinese scholars insist that accommodating North Korea has not worked, and China needs to take a new and tougher tack."
Read the full article in the link below:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/24/world/asia/24china.html?partner=rss&emc=rss"BEIJING — In the best of times, Chinese foreign-affairs scholars here say,... more
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"(Reuters) - The United Nations Command (UNC) has launched an investigation into whether North Korea violated the Korean War armistice by sinking one of the South's naval ships, the U.N. body said on Saturday.North Korea denounced the probe as a "bogus mechanism."
On Thursday, the South announced the results of an investigation which concluded a North Korean submarine had in March fired a torpedo that sank the Cheonan corvette, killing 46 sailors.
The UNC said in a statement it had convened a special team to review the findings of the investigation and to "determine the scope of the armistice violation" that occurred with the sinking of the Cheonan.
The team, which includes 11 countries -- Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States, Sweden and Switzerland -- would report their findings to the United Nations, it added.
North Korea has denied the sinking accusation and said it is ready to tear up all agreements with the South, with which it remains technically at war under a truce that ended fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War."
North Korea has also made threats towards the Southern part of the Peninsula. Threatening war should any sanctions be put into place against the DPRK (North Korea)
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64L1AG20100522"(Reuters) - The United Nations Command (UNC) has launched an investigation into... more
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North Korea has threatened “all out war” if there is any retalation from Seoul for the torpedo attack which sank the South Korean warship Cheonan in March.
Pyongyang made the threat as it dismissed as ‘fabrication’ a report by an international team of investigators which concludes that a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine was responsible for the explosion that ripped the 1,200 tonne corvette in two, killing 46 sailors in one of South Korea’s worst naval tragedies.
In an escalating war of words, President Lee Myung-Bak, the South Korean president vowed to take “resolute counter-measures” against North Korea for the torpedo attack on the Cheonan, which happened near the disputed border between the two countries.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article7131533.eceNorth Korea has threatened “all out war” if there is any retalation from... more
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Journalist Laura Ling provides harrowing details of how she and producer Euna Lee were apprehended and held in North Korea while on assignment covering human trafficking in Asia. Personal accounts, letters and never-before-seen footage from Ling, Lee and producer Mitch Koss reveal the team's experiences at the center of a widely publicized international standoff.
"Vanguard," airing weekly on Current TV Wednesdays at 10/9c, is a no-limits documentary series whose award-winning correspondents put themselves in extraordinary situations to immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show's correspondents, Adam Yamaguchi, Kaj Larsen, Christof Putzel and Mariana van Zeller, serve as trusted guides who take viewers on in-depth real life adventures in pursuit of some of the world's most important stories.
For more Vanguard, visit http://current.com/vanguard.Journalist Laura Ling provides harrowing details of how she and producer Euna Lee were... more
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An investigation, conducted by US, Australian, British, Swedish and South Korean experts, concluded that the South Korean Naval warship, the Cheonan, was sunk by a North Korean torpedo, shot from a submarine.
Forty-six sailors were killed when the Cheonan sunk on March 26.An investigation, conducted by US, Australian, British, Swedish and South Korean... more
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(RSS%3A+World)
(CNN) -- The South Korean Navy fired warning shots Saturday night after two North Korean patrol boats crossed into South Korean waters, state media said.
The two North Korean patrol boats separately crossed a maritime border in the Yellow Sea. One retreated after receiving a warning communication from the South Korean Navy, and the other retreated after two rounds of warning shots were fired, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff told the state-run Yonhap news agency.
Tensions between the two nations have run high since the mysterious sinking of a South Korean warship in the border area on March 26. Fifty-eight men escaped the sinking ship, but 46 of the 104 crew members died.
A team of South Korean military and civilian investigators tentatively concluded in April that an explosion at close range, and not a direct hit, sank the 1,200-ton ship. A U.S. military official also said he believes a North Korean torpedo attack was the most likely cause for the sinking.
The South Korean government has declined to explicitly name North Korea as the culprit in the attack. North Korean state media have also denied that the country has any involvement.
Saturday was the first time since the sinking of the ship that North Korean vessels have crossed the border, Yonhap reported.
Both boats crossed the Northern Limit Line, the maritime border between the two countries, and ventured about 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) into South Korean waters before turning back, Yonhap said.
North Korea has claimed the line, which covers rich crab fishing grounds, should be drawn farther south.
The border was the scene of fatal naval skirmishes in 1999 and 2002. The two Koreas also exchanged naval gunfire in 2004 and 2009.(RSS%3A+World)
(CNN) -- The South Korean Navy fired warning shots Saturday night... more
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The South Korean Navy fired warning shots Saturday night after two North Korean patrol boats crossed into South Korean waters, state media said.
The two North Korean patrol boats separately crossed a maritime border in the Yellow Sea. One retreated after receiving a warning communication from the South Korean Navy, and the other retreated after two rounds of warning shots were fired, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff told the state-run Yonhap news agency.
Tensions between the two nations have run high since the mysterious sinking of a South Korean warship in the border area on March 26. Fifty-eight men escaped the sinking ship, but 46 of the 104 crew members died.
A team of South Korean military and civilian investigators tentatively concluded in April that an explosion at close range, and not a direct hit, sank the 1,200-ton ship. A U.S. military official also said he believes a North Korean torpedo attack was the most likely cause for the sinking.
The South Korean government has declined to explicitly name North Korea as the culprit in the attack. North Korean state media have also denied that the country has any involvement.
Saturday was the first time since the sinking of the ship that North Korean vessels have crossed the border, Yonhap reported.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/05/16/south.korea.warning.shots/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnnThe South Korean Navy fired warning shots Saturday night after two North Korean patrol... more
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"Nine people in South Korea have committed suicide in three separate incidents within two days. The latest was a 72-year-old man who hanged himself at a construction site in Hoengseong, Kangwon Province, Thursday, police said.
Four women and one man -- in their 20s and 30s -- were found dead Wednesday in Hwaseong, just south of Seoul, after sealing a passenger car with plastics sheets and inhaling toxic fumes from burned coal briquettes.
They left suicide notes saying, "I have no more hope and no more dreams" and "please find my identification card in my back pocket."
Police were investigating their motive but assumed that the man recruited the four women on the Internet to participate in a group suicide.
Earlier in another city east of Seoul, Chuncheon, three men in their 20s were also found dead at a private room-for-rent lodge using the same method and sealing the door and windows with dark masking tape from inside the room they were sharing.
Police assumed that they, too, were driven by group suicide pacts cultivated online.
Such news is common here where the suicide rate is the highest among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development group of developed countries.
An average of 35.1 people killed themselves everyday in 2008, according to the health ministry. That's 24.3 for every 100,000 South Koreans, followed by 21 in Hungary, 19.4 in Japan, 16.7 in Finland and 15.8 in Belgium.
The National Statistics Office reported that the suicides are related to the economic downturn, as well as rapid social change within the family and the community.
Korean society in recent years has been plagued by continuous cases of suicide among celebrities, high-profile politicians and businessmen, teenagers and the elderly. Analysts say the most common cause is depression stemming from social and academic pressures or family troubles.
"There's a huge gap in this country because the speed of materialism spreading is much faster than the speed of cultural maturity that must grow together. It all comes from stress of rapid modernization," said Jeung Taek-Hee, an expert and consultant at Lifeline Korea."
Read more in the full article below:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/south-korea-struck-online-suicide-pacts/story?id=10636608&page=2"Nine people in South Korea have committed suicide in three separate incidents... more
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South Korea's defence minister has said those responsible for the deaths of 46 sailors on board a warship that sank after an explosion must "pay a price".
Kim Tae-young promised "punitive action" against "the perpetrators who killed our soldiers."
He did not specify what form this could take. South Korea has not directly blamed North Korea - and Pyongyang has denied any role...
http://www.ukwirednews.com/articles.php/56408-South-Korea-vows-to-retaliate-over-warship-sinkingSouth Korea's defence minister has said those responsible for the deaths of 46... more
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"The North Korean military has recently altered its wartime contingency plans against South Korea to concentrate on attacking the Seoul metropolitan region, a military source said yesterday. South Korean commanders will meet next month to discuss the change and their response to it."
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2919725"The North Korean military has recently altered its wartime contingency plans... more
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"The Yonhap news report appears to be the clearest sign yet that Seoul blames Pyongyang for what would be one of the deadliest incidents between the rivals since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. It puts more political pressure on President Lee Myung-bak, but analysts do not see it triggering a war.
The military's intelligence arm sent the report of "certain" North Korean involvement to the presidential Blue House soon after the incident, Yonhap quoted a high-ranking military source as saying.
Lee's government has come under criticism for what many see as its overly cautious handling of possible links to North Korea. It has called for a thorough investigation of the sinking, thought to have killed 46 sailors.
Market players have been calmed by the South's measured response, seeing Seoul as unlikely to take aggressive moves that would escalate into armed conflict and harm the export-driven economies of North Asia, responsible for about one-sixth of the global economy.
South Korea's defense ministry had no comment on the report.
"North Korean submarines are all armed with heavy torpedoes with 200 kg (441 lb) warheads," the military source was quoted as saying by Yonhap. "It is the military intelligence's assessment that the North attacked with a heavy torpedo.
"The military intelligence has made the report to the Blue House and to the Defense Ministry immediately after the sinking of the Cheonan that it is clearly the work of North Korea's military," the source was quoted as saying.
South Korea plans to soon raise the front half of the 1,200-tonne Cheonan, which went down near a disputed sea border with North Korea, and will issue its verdict on the cause of the explosion that sank the warship after that.
Analysts said there is little South Korea can do even if Pyongyang is found to be the culprit, because a military response was likely to hurt its own quickly recovering economy and bolster North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's standing at home."
Read more in the full article (linked below):
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63L08W20100422"The Yonhap news report appears to be the clearest sign yet that Seoul blames... more
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Columnist Jonathan Manthorpe reports sources say the 1,200-ton vessel was sunk by a North Korean submarine. Forty-six sailors are dead or missing from the March attack which cut the ship in two.Columnist Jonathan Manthorpe reports sources say the 1,200-ton vessel was sunk by a... more
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Military intelligence officers warned earlier this year that North Korea was preparing a suicide submarine attack on a South Korean vessel in retaliation for an earlier defeat in a sea battle, a newspaper said Thursday.
There has been growing speculation that North Korea was behind the March 26 explosion that split the 1,200-ton Cheonan in two and sank it, killing at least 39 people and leaving seven missing.
Seoul has not directly blamed Pyongyang for the blast, and the North has denied involvement, but suspicion remains given the country's history of provocation and attacks on the South.
On Thursday, the mass-circulation Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported the Korea Defense Intelligence Command alerted the navy weeks ahead of the ship sinking that North Korea was preparing underwater suicide teams in mini-submarines to attack the South.
These "human torpedo" squads were said to involve small submarines navigated so close to the target that their torpedoes or explosives blow up both target and the attackers, or are timed to explode while the attackers escape from the vehicle, the report said.
The attack preparations were aimed at retaliating against the South over its defeat in a naval skirmish in November, the paper said. The site of the sinking is near where the rival Koreas fought three times since 1999, most recently a November clash that left one North Korean soldier dead and three others wounded.
South Korea is investigating the wreck of the Cheonan and investigators say preliminary indications are the blast was external, not on board the ship. Some experts say the investigation could take several years.
READ MORE AT LINKMilitary intelligence officers warned earlier this year that North Korea was preparing... more
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Part of a South Korean naval vessel surfaced from the water on Monday, April 12 after about three weeks since the ship sank amid high waves and strong wind hampering the salvaging process. Main armaments, rapid fire-guns and missile launching ramp were shown on the surface of the water as the rare salvaged part of the ship was lifted by a crane ship.
South Korea's military said they would complete the salvaging process this week.
The Cheonan sank off the west coast of the peninsula near the disputed Yellow Sea border with North Korea last month, March 26.The South Korean Defence Ministry said 58 of the 104 people on board the vessel were rescued before the ship snapped in half and sank.Part of a South Korean naval vessel surfaced from the water on Monday, April 12 after... more
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(Update1) - Bloomberg.com
April 16 (Bloomberg) -- South Korea said an external explosion likely sank one of its warships close to the disputed border with North Korea last month, killing at least 38 sailors.
“There is a high possibility of an external explosion, rather than an internal one,” Yoon Duk Yong, the lead investigator into the March 26 sinking, said at a briefing in Seoul today. His team is still exploring all possibilities before drawing a conclusion, he said.
The sinking of the 1,200-ton patrol ship Cheonan created a “grave national security situation,” Defense Minister Kim Tae Young said at the same briefing. “We will respond in a very clear and firm manner” once South Korea determines what caused the explosion, he said.
More-
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aUNJcd.Np4o8(Update1) - Bloomberg.com
April 16 (Bloomberg) -- South Korea said an external... more
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"SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea sentenced a Boston man to eight years of hard labor and ordered him to pay a $700,000 fine for crossing into the communist country illegally earlier this year, state media reported Wednesday.
Aijalon Mahli Gomes, 30, was the fourth American detained by North Korea for illegal entry in less than a year. Journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were held for five months before their release last August, and activist Robert Park was expelled some 40 days after crossing into the country last Christmas.
Gomes, who had been teaching English in South Korea before his arrest, acknowledged his wrongdoing at Pyongyang's Central Court on Tuesday, North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said in a brief dispatch.
Gomes was sentenced to eight years of "hard labor" and fined 70 million North Korean won, said the report monitored in Seoul. North Korea's official exchange rate is 100 won to the U.S. dollar.
"An examination was made of the hostile act committed against the (North) Korean nation and the trespassing on the border of (North Korea), against which an indictment was brought in and his guilt was confirmed," the report said.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Joanne Moore said the government had seen the reports but she could not immediately comment. Washington and Pyongyang do not have diplomatic relations.
A spokeswoman for Gomes' family said they were "disturbed" by the verdict.
"The family has no comment beyond that they are praying for him and hoping for his return home as soon as possible," Thaleia Schlesinger said in Boston. "Needless to say, they are disturbed (by the sentence) but they are hopeful that he would be returned home to them and they are praying for that."
It was unclear what might have compelled Gomes to risk going into communist North Korea illegally.
However, Gomes — described by friends as a devout Christian — attended rallies in Seoul in support of Park, a fellow Christian from the U.S. who deliberately went into the North in December to call attention to the nation's rights record."
Read more in the full article (link below):
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5go-hSba81wIKMbJVbeA5_30DujMAD9EUDJOO4"SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea sentenced a Boston man to eight years of... more
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My heart goes out to North Dakota, who no longer have any items of note in their state. The KVLY-TV mast, was the world's tallest structure, until today's opening of Burj Khalifa (formerly Burj Dubai.) At 2,717 feet, it's the tallest man-made structure EVER. That being said, I've got a gripe here:
Why is everyone so excited about the tallest building in the world. Shouldn't we be focused on more important things? Namely the COOLEST building in the world? These are some potential candidates:
Jogno, Seoul - This building is so awesome. It looks like a regular building that is being attacked by a space creature. This would be the perfect disguise, if space creatures actually attack Seoul.
30 St Mary Axe, London - This building is nicknamed The Gherkin. A gherkin is a type of pickle. Pickles are a cool condiment. Ergo this is a cool building.
Guggenheim, Bilbao - Great design, obviously. More different than anything you've ever seen (unless you've every other Gehry building.) Why is this cool? Because any cool person who just got back from Spain, will go on endlessly about how cool this building is. As I am a sucker for circular reasoning, I'm going to have to agree with them.
Selfridges, Birmingham - Inside it's a department store, outside it looks like a vacuum cleaner. And as your OCD friend says, nothing is cooler than a clean room.
Atomium, Brussels - Who doesn't remember the 1958 Brussels World Fair? This structure is so cool, because it looks like it was built in the future. Today, we live in the future, and our buildings don't even look this cool. Which makes this building cooler than the future it predicted.
Kingdom Centre, Riyadh - This the 45th tallest building in the world, but remains the only building that reminds me of opening beer bottles. I bet this would be a painful daily reminder, if you were an alcoholic living in Saudi Arabia, where beer is outlawed.
Seattle Central Library - Yes, I am impressed by the unorthodox Koolhaas design. Yes, I think this is a great use of public space. But this building is really cool, because once I was walking around Seattle and I had to poop. Their bathrooms are open to the public, and pretty clean.
Do you have any other suggestions for world's coolest buildings?My heart goes out to North Dakota, who no longer have any items of note in their... more
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Blogger David Cho found a ramen commercial starring Korean girl group So Nyeo Shi Dae, Girl's Generation.
He noticed that the tune the girls sang over, was very similar to this notable video game.
Bubble Bobble meets ramen, tasty.
I tried to add to the inquiry, by suggesting that theme to Bubble Bobble is based on the kid's song Down by the Bay.
Upon further listening, I've come to realize that these songs don't have very much in common.
So what is the moral of all of this? I think it's that a Korean commercial for ramen, reminded me about how much I like kid songs. Especially this one:
[youtube mK1sF6kv0l8]Blogger David Cho found a ramen commercial starring Korean girl group So Nyeo Shi Dae,... more
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