South Korea

[Ibrahim]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-paci ... 52717.html

S Korea inaugurates first female president
Park Geun-Hye takes office amid high tensions on the Korean peninsula in the wake of North Korea's third nuclear test.

Park Geun-Hye, the daughter of South Korea's late military ruler, has been sworn in as the country's first female president.

Monday's two-and-a-half hour inauguration ceremony included a 21-gun salute and a performance by Korean rapper Psy, whose song "Gangnam Style" was the global hit of 2012.

As leader of Asia's fourth-largest economy, Park, 61, faces significant challenges, including a nuclearised North Korea, a slowing economy and soaring welfare costs in one of the world's most rapidly ageing societies.

"North Korea's recent nuclear test is a challenge to the survival and future of the Korean people," Park said in her inauguration speech.

"I urge North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions without delay and embark on the path to peace and shared development."

Park had campaigned on a promise of greater, "trust-based" engagement with Pyongyang.

Observers say her hands have been tied by the international outcry over Pyongyang's recent nuclear test, which will have emboldened members of her ruling conservative party who oppose closer engagement.

John Delury, a professor of International Relations at Yonsei University in Seoul, told Al Jazeera North Korea "is notoriously a difficult country to engage with", but despite that "expectations are high" among the South Korean public.

"But, she has to start by reopening the channels of dialogue directly with North Korea and through that find the steps to improve relations," he said.

[Doc]

South Korean banks and media report computer network crash, causing speculation of North Korea cyberattack

Published March 20, 2013

Associated Press

SKoreaComputerAttack.JPG

Mar. 20, 2013: Two bank clerks, left, check an automated teller machines at a branch of Shinhan Bank after the bank's computer networks is fixed in Seoul, South Korea. (ap)
SouthKoreaUSDrills.JPG

March 9, 2013: The guided-missile destroyers USS Lassen (DDG 82), arrives to participate in the annual joint military exercises, dubbed Key Resolve, between the South Korean and United States. (AP)

Next Slide Previous Slide

SEOUL, South Korea – Computer networks at major South Korean banks and top TV broadcasters crashed simultaneously Wednesday, paralyzing bank machines across the country and prompting speculation of a cyberattack by North Korea.

Screens went blank at 2 p.m., the state-run Korea Information Security Agency said, and more than six hours later some systems were still down.

Police and South Korean officials couldn't immediately determine responsibility, but some experts suspected a cyberattack orchestrated by Pyongyang. The rivals have exchanged threats amid joint U.S.-South Korean military drills and in the wake of U.N. sanctions meant to punish North Korea over its nuclear test last month.

The latest network paralysis took place just days after North Korea accused South Korea and the U.S. of staging a cyberattack that shut down its websites for two days last week. Loxley Pacific, the Thailand-based Internet service provider, confirmed the North Korean outage but did not say what caused it.

The South Korean shutdown did not affect government agencies or potential targets such as power plants or transportation systems, and there were no immediate reports that bank customers' records were compromised, but the disruption froze part of the country's commerce.

Some customers were unable to use the debit or credit cards that many rely on more than cash. At one Starbucks in downtown Seoul, customers were asked to pay for their coffee in cash, and lines formed outside disabled bank machines.

Shinhan Bank, a major South Korean lender, reported a two-hour system shutdown Wednesday, including online banking and automated teller machines. It said networks later came back online and that banking was back to normal. Shinhan said no customer records or accounts were compromised.

Another big bank, Nonghyup, said its system eventually came back online. Officials didn't answer a call seeking details on the safety of customer records. Jeju Bank said some of its branches also reported network shutdowns.

Broadcasters KBS and MBC said their computers went down at 2 p.m., but officials said the shutdown did not affect daily TV broadcasts. Computers were still down more than five hours after the shutdown began, the news outlets said.

The YTN cable news channel also said the company's internal computer network was paralyzed. Footage showed workers staring at blank computer screens.

KBS employees said they watched helplessly as files stored on their computers began disappearing.

Last year, North Korea threatened to attack several news companies, including KBC and MBC.

"It's got to be a hacking attack," Lim Jong-in, dean of Korea University's Graduate School of Information Security. "Such simultaneous shutdowns cannot be caused by technical glitches."

The Korea Information Security Agency had reported that an image of skulls and a hacking claim had popped up on some of the computers that shut down, but later said those who reported the skulls did not work for the five companies whose computers suffered massive outages. KISA was investigating the skull images as well.

An official from the Korea Communications Commission, South Korea's telecom regulator, said in a televised news briefing that investigators speculate that malicious code was spread from company servers that send automatic updates of security software and virus patches.

LG Uplus Corp., which provides network services for the companies that suffered outages, saw no signs of a cyberattack on its networks, company spokesman Lee Jung-hwan said.

The South Korean military raised its cyberattack readiness level but saw no signs of cyberattacks on its networks, the Defense Ministry said.

No government computers were affected, officials said. President Park Geun-hye called for quick efforts to get systems back online, according to her spokeswoman, Kim Haing.

The shutdown raised worries about the overall vulnerability to attacks in South Korea, a world leader in broadband speed and mobile Internet access. Previous hacking attacks at private companies compromised millions of people's personal data. Past malware attacks also disabled access to government agency websites and destroyed files in personal computers.

Seoul believes North Korea runs an Internet warfare unit aimed at hacking U.S. and South Korean government and military networks to gather information and disrupt service.

Seoul blames North Korean hackers for several cyberattacks in recent years. Pyongyang has either denied or ignored those charges. Hackers operating from IP addresses in China have also been blamed.

In 2011, computer security software maker McAfee Inc. said North Korea or its sympathizers likely were responsible for a cyberattack against South Korean government and banking websites earlier that year. The analysis also said North Korea appeared to be linked to a 2009 massive computer-based attack that brought down U.S. government Internet sites. Pyongyang denied involvement.

The shutdown comes amid rising rhetoric and threats of attack from Pyongyang over the U.N. sanctions. Washington also expanded sanctions against North Korea this month in a bid to cripple the government's ability to develop its nuclear program.

North Korea has threatened revenge for the sanctions and for ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills, which the allies describe as routine but which Pyongyang says are rehearsals for invasion.

Last week, North Korea's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea warned South Korea's "reptile media" that the North was prepared to conduct a "sophisticated strike" on Seoul.

North Korea also has claimed cyberattacks by the U.S. and South Korea. The North's official Korean Central News Agency accused the countries of expanding an aggressive stance against Pyongyang into cyberspace with "intensive and persistent virus attacks."

South Korea denied the allegation and the U.S. military declined to comment.

Lim said he believes hackers in China were likely culprits in the outage in Pyongyang, but that North Korea was probably responsible for Wednesday's attack.

"Hackers attack media companies usually because of a political desire to cause confusion in society," he said. "Political attacks on South Korea come from North Koreans."

Orchestrating the mass shutdown of the networks of major companies would have taken at least one to six months of planning and coordination, said Kwon Seok-chul, chief executive officer of Seoul-based cyber security firm Cuvepia Inc.

Kwon, who analyzed personal computers at one of the three broadcasters shut down Wednesday, said he hasn't yet seen signs that the malware was distributed by North Korea.

"But hackers left indications in computer files that mean this could be the first of many attacks," he said.

Lim said tracking the source of the outage would take months

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/03/20 ... z2O5PQhd83

[Typhoon]

Looks like it was mainland China hackers.

[Typhoon]

Global Post | K-pop's dirty secret

You'd think it was a glamorous industry, with Koreans joining the ranks of Hollywood glitterati. But you'd be wrong.

q_gfD3nvh-8

The situation in Japan is similar, but not as extreme.

[Doc]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/kore ... 3-21298829

Home> U.S.
Korean War Pilot Who Landed Blind Dies at 83
LOS ANGELES December 21, 2013 (AP)
Associated Press

Kenneth Schechter, a Korean War pilot who landed his plane while blinded from a wound, has died. He was 83.

Schechter died on Dec. 11 in Fairfield, Calif., his son, Rob Schechter, told the Los Angeles Times ( http://lat.ms/194S71M ). He had prostate cancer.

Schechter was a 22-year-old Navy pilot when an enemy shell sent fragments into his eyes and blood running down his face during a March 22, 1952, bombing mission.

Schechter suddenly was semi-conscious, flying a smashed-up Skyraider at 200 mph over the Korean coast.

"Instinctively, I pulled back on the stick to gain altitude," he wrote in an account for the 2001 book, "Chicken Soup for the Veteran's Soul." ''When I came to, sometime later, I couldn't see a thing. . I felt for my upper lip. It was almost severed from the rest of my face."

"I'm blind! For God's sake, help me!" he cried into his radio. "I'm blind!"

His friend and fellow pilot, Lt. j.g. Howard Thayer, had already spotted the plane climbing and knew something was wrong.

Over the next 45 minutes, he helped talk down the plane. At one point, Thayer dumped his canteen over his head to wash away the blood. For a moment he saw the controls but then everything went dark.

"Get me down, Howie," he radioed. "Get me down."

Thayer guided the plane toward the coast, intending for Schechter to bail out and be picked up in the water but Schechter refused. He had seen another pilot drown in the same waters after a bailout.

"Jump out in that icy water blind? You'd have to be insane," Schechter said in a 1995 Times interview.

With the nearest air base 30 miles away, and the bleeding Schechter slumping in the pilot's seat, Thayer looked around for someplace to land — even a rice paddy. He finally remembered a rutted dirt Army landing strip dubbed the Jersey Bounce that had been used by reconnaissance planes.

As they approached, Thayer told Schechter to lower his wheels.

"The hell with that!" Schechter replied. He thought a belly landing would be safer on the uneven ground.

Thayer, flying a few feet from his friend, kept up a running commentary as the plane came down.

"We're heading straight," he said. "Hundred yards to runway. You're 50 feet off the ground. You're level. You're OK. You're over the runway. Twenty feet. Kill it a little. You're setting down. OK, OK, OK. Cut!"

Schechter was safe. It was his last flight before he left the Navy months later. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1995.

The landing was retold in the 1954 movie, "Men of the Fighting Lady" with Dewey Martin as Schechter and Van Johnson as Thayer. In the Hollywood version, though, the pilots flew jets and the landing was on an aircraft carrier.

Schechter, who permanently lost the use of his right eye, became an insurance agent in the Los Angeles area.

Thayer, who remained in the Navy, died in 1961 while guiding a pilot whose electrical system had failed. Both planes plunged into the Mediterranean. Thayer was posthumously awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross in 2009.

In addition to his son, Schechter is survived by his wife, Sue; another son, Jonathan, a daughter, Anne Buckley, and seven grandchildren.

[Doc]

This Photo Of A 94-Year-Old Widow Receiving Her Husband’s Remains Will Break Your Heart

Grab a tissue
By TIME Photo Dec. 21, 2013


US-KOREA-WWII

Clara Gantt, the 94-year-old widow of U.S. Army Sgt. Joseph Gantt, weeps in front of her her husband's casket after it was lowered from the plane before dawn on the tarmac at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California Dec. 20.

After six decades, 94-year-old Clara Gantt’s wait to be reunited with her husband is finally over.

Instead of welcoming him with open arms, however, Gantt was greeted Friday with a flag-draped coffin.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Gantt died as a prisoner of war in 1951 during the Korean War. He was presumed dead for more than 60 years until his remains were identified at the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and forensics labs in Honolulu, according to NBC Los Angeles.

Despite the immeasurable pain, Clara said she was grateful to finally be together again.

“I am so happy that I was living to accept him,” she said.

Gantt will be buried in Inglewood, California this month, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Read more: This Photo Of A 94-Year-Old Widow Receiving Her Husband’s Remains Will Break Your Heart | TIME.com http://nation.time.com/2013/12/21/94-ye ... r-63-years

[Endovelico]

I would like your opinion:

By watching Korean television (surprisingly on cable television here in Portugal) I noticed two features I don't usually associate with East Asians: a great sense of fun and a particular care with children. Koreans appear as people with a great sense of humour, loving to laugh and subtle at it as well. On the other hand children seem to be very much at the centre of their lives. I'm sure Chinese and Japanese are not without humour and they will certainly care about their children, but somehow I think Koreans go a lot further than their neighbours. Am I right? Are Koreans really as I see them? Are they significantly different from other East Asians?

[Simple Minded]

I would like your opinion:

By watching Korean television (surprisingly on cable television here in Portugal) I noticed two features I don't usually associate with East Asians: a great sense of fun and a particular care with children. Koreans appear as people with a great sense of humour, loving to laugh and subtle at it as well. On the other hand children seem to be very much at the centre of their lives. I'm sure Chinese and Japanese are not without humour and they will certainly care about their children, but somehow I think Koreans go a lot further than their neighbours. Am I right? Are Koreans really as I see them? Are they significantly different from other East Asians?

I think Koreans in general are much taller.

Is not drawing a distinction between Koreans, Chinese, and Japanese.... similar to drawing a distinction between Americans and Canadians? Or Mainers and Virginians? Or Portugese and Germans? North Hemispherians and South Hemispherians?

Each group may pride themselves on being different, but to the outside observer, it is a matter of which variable is focused upon.

The human desire for group classification is a fascinating phenomena.

[Endovelico]

I would like your opinion:

By watching Korean television (surprisingly on cable television here in Portugal) I noticed two features I don't usually associate with East Asians: a great sense of fun and a particular care with children. Koreans appear as people with a great sense of humour, loving to laugh and subtle at it as well. On the other hand children seem to be very much at the centre of their lives. I'm sure Chinese and Japanese are not without humour and they will certainly care about their children, but somehow I think Koreans go a lot further than their neighbours. Am I right? Are Koreans really as I see them? Are they significantly different from other East Asians?

I think Koreans in general are much taller.

Is not drawing a distinction between Koreans, Chinese, and Japanese.... similar to drawing a distinction between Americans and Canadians? Or Mainers and Virginians? Or Portugese and Germans? North Hemispherians and South Hemispherians?

Each group may pride themselves on being different, but to the outside observer, it is a matter of which variable is focused upon.

The human desire for group classification is a fascinating phenomena.

How do you explain the differences I noticed? Or aren't they real?

[Simple Minded]

How do you explain the differences I noticed? Or aren't they real?

Endo,

I salute you! You have stated the crux of the issue more accurately and concisely than I could have hoped to do myself.

Every time any "Fred" makes an observation about any individual(s), and than proceeds to apply a group identity label to those individual(s), the same two questions go thru my mind.

Perception... preference... prejudice... reality... standards of measure... the lines of demarcation are blurry and subjective!

we damn well better celebrate diversity..... cause the world is full of it!

[Zack Morris]

I would like your opinion:

By watching Korean television (surprisingly on cable television here in Portugal) I noticed two features I don't usually associate with East Asians: a great sense of fun and a particular care with children. Koreans appear as people with a great sense of humour, loving to laugh and subtle at it as well. On the other hand children seem to be very much at the centre of their lives. I'm sure Chinese and Japanese are not without humour and they will certainly care about their children, but somehow I think Koreans go a lot further than their neighbours. Am I right? Are Koreans really as I see them? Are they significantly different from other East Asians?

Can you be a bit more specific?

[Endovelico]

I would like your opinion:

By watching Korean television (surprisingly on cable television here in Portugal) I noticed two features I don't usually associate with East Asians: a great sense of fun and a particular care with children. Koreans appear as people with a great sense of humour, loving to laugh and subtle at it as well. On the other hand children seem to be very much at the centre of their lives. I'm sure Chinese and Japanese are not without humour and they will certainly care about their children, but somehow I think Koreans go a lot further than their neighbours. Am I right? Are Koreans really as I see them? Are they significantly different from other East Asians?

Can you be a bit more specific?

Difficult to do if you have never watched Korean television. But there are a number of live programmes on KBS where an audience interacts with several guests and hosts on stage, dealing with everyday human problems. The whole thing is very funny (in an almost Mediterranean way), with lots of gags and guests willingly joining in on what seems making fun of themselves. The audience roars. No nastiness whatsoever, all good fun. As to children, there is a programme called Superman in which well known Korean male figures appear with their young children. The extraordinary care and sensitiveness of those men in respect of their children - no women in sight - amazed me. No harshness, no disciplinary attitudes, only a lot of love and care, and an extraordinary warm reaction by the children themselves. You could say it is all staged, but somehow I doubt it. It all looks very real. I don't know whether the same things happen in China or Japan, but I have never seen it in the way Koreans show it. My question is: are Koreans that different from other East Asians? Is it all for real?

[Typhoon]

Corporal punishment in S Korean schools, frequently and vigorously applied, has been the norm until very recently.

A recent incident lead to a ban in parts of S Korea:

UOAAUS1A5pA

However, the ban has been strongly criticized by both teachers . . . and parents.

Corporal punishment: teacher - student and parent - offspring is not uncommon.

Both types of corporal punishment are standard fare of K-dramas and K-movies.

[Endovelico]

"Every school day, an average of 68 students are punched, slapped, kicked or otherwise physically punished by their teachers, although physical punishment is prohibited by law. A new report by the education ministry confirmed that 6,721 teachers were reported to have used corporal punishment on 14,208 students in the academic year that ended in March.

This number is far higher than what was reported in the ministry’s interim report in April, which found only 840 teachers used violence on 1,890 students from April 2012 to January 2013. The number leaped after local boards looked into the issue more carefully, partially because of an incident last year at Sakuranomiya High School in Osaka in which a male student committed suicide after being repeatedly hit by his basketball coach. (...)"

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/201 ... at-school/

In Japan, not Korea...

[Typhoon]

"Every school day, an average of 68 students are punched, slapped, kicked or otherwise physically punished by their teachers, although physical punishment is prohibited by law. A new report by the education ministry confirmed that 6,721 teachers were reported to have used corporal punishment on 14,208 students in the academic year that ended in March.

This number is far higher than what was reported in the ministry’s interim report in April, which found only 840 teachers used violence on 1,890 students from April 2012 to January 2013. The number leaped after local boards looked into the issue more carefully, partially because of an incident last year at Sakuranomiya High School in Osaka in which a male student committed suicide after being repeatedly hit by his basketball coach. (...)"

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/201 ... at-school/

In Japan, not Korea...

I don't recall claiming that such incidents do not occur in Japan, however,

as this is the SK thread, I was simply noting that your perceptions of S Korea based on some TV show are a fantasy.

[Endovelico]

"Every school day, an average of 68 students are punched, slapped, kicked or otherwise physically punished by their teachers, although physical punishment is prohibited by law. A new report by the education ministry confirmed that 6,721 teachers were reported to have used corporal punishment on 14,208 students in the academic year that ended in March.

This number is far higher than what was reported in the ministry’s interim report in April, which found only 840 teachers used violence on 1,890 students from April 2012 to January 2013. The number leaped after local boards looked into the issue more carefully, partially because of an incident last year at Sakuranomiya High School in Osaka in which a male student committed suicide after being repeatedly hit by his basketball coach. (...)"

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/201 ... at-school/

In Japan, not Korea...

I don't recall claiming that such incidents do not occur in Japan, however,

as this is the SK thread, I was simply noting that your perceptions of S Korea based on some TV show are a fantasy.

Yes, and I am simply noting that your attempt at denigrating South Korea has backfired. South Korea may not be better than Japan, but it isn't worse, either...

[Simple Minded]

Typhoon,

Did you see the movie "the Internship" ?

Is eyebrow plucking as self-punishment typical behavior for a young "Asian" male? If so, more dominant in Japan, Korea, China, or one of those other Asian countries?

The kid in the movie looked "Asian" but I could not tell what kind of Asian he was.

thanks in advance!

Oh yeah, other than using good grammar, and not posting opinions with typos, do you have an actual proof that you really are an "Asian" ?

thanks again!

[Typhoon]

Typhoon,

Did you see the movie "the Internship" ?

Is eyebrow plucking as self-punishment typical behavior for a young "Asian" male? If so, more dominant in Japan, Korea, China, or one of those other Asian countries?

The kid in the movie looked "Asian" but I could not tell what kind of Asian he was.

thanks in advance!

Never seen the movie, never heard of it.

http://alllooksame.com/exam_room.php

Oh yeah, other than using good grammar, and not posting opinions with typos, do you have an actual proof that you really are an "Asian" ?

thanks again!

So solly my Engrish does not meeting your expectations.

Having lived in the US Midwest for about seven years,
I'd like to think that I did learn a little bit of English,
and can do some credit to my teachers,
demanding taskmasters who were from the parts of the English-speaking world wherein the proper use of English is still an asset rather than a handicap.

[Typhoon]

"Every school day, an average of 68 students are punched, slapped, kicked or otherwise physically punished by their teachers, although physical punishment is prohibited by law. A new report by the education ministry confirmed that 6,721 teachers were reported to have used corporal punishment on 14,208 students in the academic year that ended in March.

This number is far higher than what was reported in the ministry’s interim report in April, which found only 840 teachers used violence on 1,890 students from April 2012 to January 2013. The number leaped after local boards looked into the issue more carefully, partially because of an incident last year at Sakuranomiya High School in Osaka in which a male student committed suicide after being repeatedly hit by his basketball coach. (...)"

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/201 ... at-school/

In Japan, not Korea...

I don't recall claiming that such incidents do not occur in Japan, however,

as this is the SK thread, I was simply noting that your perceptions of S Korea based on some TV show are a fantasy.

Yes, and I am simply noting that your attempt at denigrating South Korea has backfired. South Korea may not be better than Japan, but it isn't worse, either...

If that what you need to believe, that's okay. It does not matter to me.

[Simple Minded]

Never seen the movie, never heard of it.

Great movie! You will love it!

So solly my Engrish does not meeting your expectations.

Having lived in the US Midwest for about seven years,
I'd like to think that I did learn a little bit of English,
and can do some credit to my teachers,
demanding taskmasters who were from the parts of the English-speaking world wherein the proper use of English is still an asset rather than a handicap.

No apology necessary Big Guy! but this is the internet and all our creds are in question.

[Typhoon]

Never seen the movie, never heard of it.

Great movie! You will love it!

So solly my Engrish does not meeting your expectations.

Having lived in the US Midwest for about seven years,
I'd like to think that I did learn a little bit of English,
and can do some credit to my teachers,
demanding taskmasters who were from the parts of the English-speaking world wherein the proper use of English is still an asset rather than a handicap.

No apology necessary Big Guy! but this is the internet and all our creds are in question.

Certainly.

That's why I don't care or bother unless someone is going on spouting nonsense about a very specific topic that I'm well versed.

If someone says that they are an Iranian lesbian cowgirl*, home on the range in Hokkaido, why should I care?

5mUKwGqc7Ig

*Thanks for "noddy" for this one.

[Simple Minded]

Certainly.

That's why I don't care or bother unless someone is going on spouting nonsense about a very specific topic that I'm well versed.

Thanks for "noddy" for this one.

AGREED. That's why I usually don't bother correcting other's posts. The misinterpretations (deliberate or not) are probably more interesting & revealing than a well read and well considered response might have been.

Sigh, very true! Cyberspace would be a lesser place without noddy.....

lost this in my earlier post:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdnoqCViqUo

[Typhoon]

Nat Int | Why South Korea Is So Obsessed with Japan

[Endovelico]

Nat Int | Why South Korea Is So Obsessed with Japan

It sounds a bit like the irrational fixation some Japanese have in respect of Russia...

[Typhoon]

Nat Int | Why South Korea Is So Obsessed with Japan

It sounds a bit like the irrational fixation some Japanese have in respect of Russia...

A bit of a problem with your analogy:

Unlike Russia, Japan had not invaded and occupied any other country for over 85 years.

Today, any such foreign post-colonial action would be extremely unpopular with the general population.