English Edition : The Hankyoreh

Updated : Aug.13,2017 10:36 KST

Tragic death of a Nepali migrant worker

Tragic death of a Nepali migrant worker

Worker in his 20s who arrived in South Korea last year found hanged in his factory dormitory early on morning of Aug. 7

Early in the morning on Aug. 7, a letter was found in the factory dormitory of a parts manufacturer in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province. It was a suicide note written by Keshav Shrestha, a 27-year-old Nepali migrant worker who was found hanged on the dormitory’s roof that same morning. In crooked Nepali script across the pages of a spiral-bound notebook, Shrestha had written his farewell to the world.“Hello, everyone. I am saying goodbye to the world today.

Employed or not, 8 out of 10 young S. Koreans “exhausted”

South Koreans aged 19 to 34 rate their life satisfaction at a mere 50 or so points out of 100 regardless of their employment status, a survey shows.The findings showed 8 out of 10 reporting “exhaustion” due to stress and fears about the future, while 26.2% of employed young people and 51% of job-seekers reported having “no direction.”The Korea Employment Information Service and the Youth Hope Foundation released findings on Aug. 10 from a quality of life survey

Japanese military directly administered comfort stations, unearthed US documents show

New documents have surfaced showing the Japanese military was directly involved in the administration of “comfort women” and comfort houses in war zones.The National Institute of Korean History (NIKH) revealed four documents on Aug. 11 that had been found at the US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) as part of a project to collect and compile data on Japanese military comfort women and war crimes.

[Interview] A Korean’s 10-year attempt to block the source of yellow dust in Inner Mongolia

“I think I’ll have some tangible results to show next year,” said Park Sang-ho, 49, director of the China office of Ecopeace Asia, on Aug. 8. As Park looked at the dry bed of Baoshaodai Lake in Zhenglan Qi, in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, he let out a deep sigh. He has been working with the Hyundai Motor Group for 10 years on a project to prevent desertification at the lake, which measures 30 km2, but the bed of the lake was bone dry despite a spattering of rain that morning.

A day after “negotiations” remarks, Trump declares “military solutions fully in place” against NK

US President Donald Trump kept the pressure on Pyongyang on Aug. 11 by declaring the US was “locked and loaded” for a military response.Coming on the heels of Trump’s “fire and fury” comments and North Korea’s threat to strike near Guam in response, the remarks mean further escalation of the war of words unfolding between the two sides. At the same time, Trump’s mention of “negotiations” gave the impression of a “hot-and-cold” strategy against the North.

Is Moon staying mum on N. Korea because of “strategic patience” or because he is out of options?

As tensions increase on the Korean Peninsula because of North Korea and the US’s war of words, South Korean President Moon Jae-in remains tight-lipped. His silence is the result of the lack of viable options, analysts say, even though Moon has ordered officials to “look into all options” to relieve tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Some expect that Moon will use his address on Aug. 15, the day marking South Korea’s liberation from the Japanese colonial occupation,

US lawmakers: Trump remarks “boon to N. Korea”

US politicians and the Korean-American community continue to criticize US President Donald Trump over his “fire and fury” remarks on Aug. 8.Sixty-four Democratic members of the House of representatives – including John Conyers, the only member of Congress to have fought in the Korean War – sent a letter to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Aug. 10 expressing “profound concern over the statements made by President Trump that dramatically increased tensions with North Korea

Expert advice on the August crisis on the Korean Peninsula: Seoul should make its opposition to war even clearer to Washington

Tensions have been rising to an extreme degree around the Korean Peninsula as a result of North Korea and the US’s war of inflammatory invectives. While Pyongyang and Washington are still just waging a war of words, this could conceivably escalate into a fighting war because of an unplanned clash or a moment’s miscalculation, experts believe. The problem, experts say, is that if such a clash became a reality, the South Korean public would bear the brunt of the damage,

Is N. Korea raising peninsula tensions in bid for US negotiations?

North Korea turned up the heat on the US for a second straight day with references to an “enveloping strike” on Guam, which is home to Andersen Air Force Base and other major US military bases. Ramping up the threat from a statement the day before in the name of its People’s Army Strategic Force, a statement on Aug. 10 in the name of the force’s commander Gen. Kim Rak-gyom went as far as to describe the ballistic missile’s flight path, distance, and time and the point of impact.

THAAD environmental impact assessment postponed again after Seongju resident objections

A plan to measure electromagnetic waves and noise from the THAAD system radar deployed in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, was postponed once again on Aug. 10.The plan’s postponement was the second, after a previous one on July 21.“A site survey for a small-scale environmental impact assessment planned for today in connection with the US Forces Korea THAAD system deployment issue is to be rescheduled separately and reattempted after it was determined

A S. Korean court allows the publication of a sanitation inspection report on McDonalds hamburgers

With McDonalds in South Korea caught up in a scandal about a medical condition called “hamburger disease,” the company filed an injunction to prevent the Korea Consumer Agency from releasing the results of a sanitation inspection, but the court rejected the petition. On Aug. 10, Hon. Jung Chan-u, the judge presiding over the 2nd civil division at the Chungju Branch Court, under the Cheongju District Court, rejected a petition by McDonalds in South Korea to ban the release of the findings

“Enveloping strike” and “fire and fury”: Pyongyang and Washington’s “war of words” reaches fever pitch

With tensions rising around the Korean Peninsula because of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs, Pyongyang and Washington exchanged a volley of incendiary language on Aug. 9, suggesting that they could launch a military strike at each other. Amid rumors of a crisis on the Korean Peninsula in August, US President Donald Trump openly warned that North Korea “will be met with fire and fury,” while North Korea pledged to launch a missile attack on Guam.

The US claim that North Korea has 60 nukes is a “dangerous exaggeration,” a nuclear expert says

A US intelligence agency concluded last month that North Korea has succeeded in developing a miniaturized nuclear warhead that can be loaded on an ICBM, reports say. Officials in South Korea and the US reportedly also estimate that North Korea currently has an arsenal of 60 nuclear weapons. But some experts believe such estimates are exaggerated. On Aug. 8, the Washington Post reported that the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA),

Blue House: “Situation is serious, don’t agree it’s a crisis”

Seoul is finding itself in a deepening quandary as the US and North Korea, which conducted two test launches of its ICBM-level Hwasong-14 in July alone, ratchet up their war of words over upcoming South Korea-US joint military exercises.The South Korean government is now hustling to manage the situation and prevent the crisis from spinning out of control, while watching for possible of additional provocations from the North.The Blue House moved to quash rumors of an “August crisis”

Pres. Moon announces health care overhaul, expands health insurance benefit coverage

Health insurance is to go into effect for all non-covered categories apart from cosmetic and plastic surgery, President Moon Jae-in announced. The overhaul is poised to sharply reduce costs to patients as national health care service is introduced through 2022 for 3,800 non-covered treatment categories where patients have previously been responsible for all costs, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, robot surgery, and two-person hospital rooms.

The US will consider giving South Korea bigger warheads, the Pentagon says

The US Department of Defense says it is actively considering the idea of increasing the maximum weight of the warheads on South Korea’s ballistic missiles, as proposed by President Moon Jae-in for the purpose of strategic defense and deterring North Korea. When asked about increasing the size of the payloads during a meeting with reporters at the Pentagon in Washington on Aug. 7, Pentagon spokesperson Capt. Jeff Davis said this “is a topic under active consideration here.”

[News analysis] Manila ARF underscores nuclear and missile issues, N. Korea’s deepening isolation

The 24th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Manila came to a close on Aug. 8. Participating countries showed deeper concern than ever before over the North Korean nuclear and missile issues, while Pyongyang’s diplomatic isolation continues to deepen. For South Korea, the interest and support expressed by participating countries toward President Moon Jae-in’s “Berlin vision” counted as a diplomatic accomplishment.South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha held a press conference

In US-China trade war, South Korea losing out

In 2009, US market imports for Chinese oil well casing steel pipes totaled some US$2.75 billion. That same year, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) launched a surprise antidumping investigation on Chinese steel. In May 2010, it instituted antidumping duties. Soon after the regulations took effect, Chinese steel exports to the US fell to almost zero. They have not recovered since.Around the time China was being hit with an antidumping bomb, US imports of South Korean oil well casing steel pipe

[Reporter’s notebook] Why Lee Jae-yong’s tears don’t convince

Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong repeatedly professed his innocence on Aug. 7 during his final trial on bribery charges. With his final statement, he claimed never to have made any requests of President Park Geun-hye for personal gain. His main argument in denying the bribery charges was twofold: he had never given any thought to the management succession at Samsung, and he was not the top decision-maker at the group.The first argument was meant to counter the Special Prosecutors

Gwangju court partially sides with plaintiffs in damages lawsuit over forced labor during World War II

“It’s taken 73 years, but my husband’s grandmother can finally rest in peace,” said Lee Gyeong-ja, 74. Lee, who was standing in front of the Gwangju District Courthouse at 10:20 am on Aug. 8, made the remarks after the court partially found in favor of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit requesting compensation for Koreans who were forced to work for the Korean Women's Volunteer Labor Corps by the Japanese. Lee is the wife of the nephew of Choi Jeong-rye,

Pres. Moon and Trump discuss joint response to North Korea

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald-Trump discussed a joint response to Korean Peninsula security issues, including North Korea’s repeated intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test launches, in a 56-minute telephone conversation on the morning of Aug. 7.The conversation came in the wake of the UN Security Council adopting a North Korean sanctions resolution of unprecedented severity, and amid rhetoric in the US about “preventive war” and “preemptive strikes”

In foreign ministers meeting, S. Korea and Japan can’t reconcile over comfort women

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa met with new Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono for the first time, in Manila on Aug. 7. The two top diplomats reportedly ended the meeting without reconciling the two countries’ conflict over the agreement reached on Dec. 28, 2015, about the comfort women issue.Kang and Kono met at the Philippine International Convention Center, the site of the 24th ASEAN Regional Forum, at 7:45 pm. They began their meeting in a congenial mood,

In brief meeting, S. Korean foreign minister calls for ‘positive response’ from N. Korea

The South and North Korean Foreign Ministers had a chilly first meeting on the evening of Aug. 6 while in Manila for the 24th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha called for a favorable response from Pyongyang to President Moon Jae-in‘s follow-up measures for his “Berlin vision,” while her North Korean counterpart Ri Yong-ho questioned the sincerity of Moon’s “offers.”The meeting between Kang and Ri took place in the waiting room for a gala dinner

North Korea strongly denounces new UN sanctions in highest level statement

North Korea issued a statement on Aug. 7 sternly denouncing UN Security Council Resolution 2371 for sanctions against it, which was passed unanimously on Aug. 5.The statement was made in the name of the “government of the Republic,” the highest possible level in North Korea.In the statement, North Korea accused the US of “using our intercontinental ballistic rocket test launch as an excuse to manufacture this ‘sanctions resolution’ No. 2371,

China urges US to hold dialogue with North Korea

After voting in favor of the UN Security Council’s new sanctions resolution against North Korea, China urged the US to engage in dialogue with the North. The US mentioned that North Korea stopping its missile launches would be an important signal for moving toward dialogue.“China has made a great effort to deal appropriately with the issue of nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula with an attitude that is objective, fair and responsible,” said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi

Special Prosecutor seeks 12-year sentence for Samsung’s Lee Jae-yong

On Aug. 7, Special Prosecutor Park Young-soo asked a district court to sentence Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, a central figure in the Choi Soon-sil scandal and a key defendant in the Samsung bribery case, to 12 years in prison. “The chaebol’s owner and its chief executives have not shown any remorse for colluding with the government to pad their pockets, and they have even defied South Koreans’ wishes for the truth of the influence-peddling scandal to be brought to light,

Ethnic Korean from Uzbekistan makes impassioned plea to President Moon

“We’re not asking to be compensated for the blood that was shed by our ancestors like the heroes of the independence movement who are registered with the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. Nor are we asking for citizenship or permanent residency,” writes Alexandra Kim, 56, in a recent letter to South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Kim, who lives in Gwangju, is a Goryeo-in, one of the ethnic Koreans from Russia and the former Soviet states. Kim has been living in Gwangju for five years,

[News analysis] UN sanctions make it tougher to restore inter-Korean relations

The UN Security Council’s adoption of a sanctions resolution against North Korea on Aug. 5 is likely to bring a further chill to the Korean Peninsula. For the time being, at least, the situation has come to a state where swiftly restoring inter-Korean relations is inconceivable. While Liberation Day on Aug. 15 is usually a time when a major vision and proposals are announced for inter-Korean relations, this year it’s hard to decide what message ought to be conveyed.

North Korea sanctions ban coal exports, but don’t cut off crude oil supply

The most important aspects of Resolution No. 2371, which the UN Security Council adopted unanimously on Aug. 5, are that it completely bans North Korea’s coal exports and that it does not ban the North‘s supply of crude oil. This appears to be the compromise reached by the US and China after a lot of wrangling over whether to cut off the North’s petroleum supply.Leading up to the adoption of this resolution, the US strongly pushed China to toughen sanctions on North Korea.

UN sanctions unlikely to keep pace with North Korea’s missile development

Resolution 2371 on sanctions against North Korea, which was unanimously adopted by the UN Security Council on Aug. 5, includes intensive measures that could shut off a large portion of North Korea’s hard currency through external trade.But experts are saying the sanctions alone are unlikely to prevent North Korea from advancing its nuclear and missile capabilities in the short term.The latest resolution for sanctions includes bans on all North Korean coal and iron.

At meeting, top S. Korean and US diplomats discuss ways to implement N. Korea sanctions

During a meeting in Manila on Aug. 6, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson discussed ways of implementing Resolution No. 2371, the new sanctions resolution adopted by the UN Security Council early that morning, as well as ways for South Korea and the US to cooperate bilaterally and trilaterally with Japan on the issues of North Korea and its nuclear weapons and missile programs.

“It’s dismaying” - S. Korea and China fail to bridge differences over THAAD

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi voiced strong displeasure to his South Korean counterpart Kang Kyung-wha over the Moon Jae-in administration’s decision last month to speed up deployment on the THAAD missile defense system, saying “[The Moon Jae-in administration] has thrown cold water on bilateral relations that had been improving” and “It‘s dismaying.”Wang and Kang met on Aug. 6 in Manila, where they were attending the 24th ASEAN Regional Forum foreign ministers’ meeting.

[Editorial] A special envoy to N. Korea could reach a breakthrough in the Korean crisis

[Editorial] A special envoy to N. Korea could reach a breakthrough in the Korean crisis

[Editorial] North Korea should abandon its “enveloping strike” plan for Guam to avoid disaster

[Editorial] North Korea should abandon its “enveloping strike” plan for Guam to avoid disaster

[Photo] Ancient Silk Road artifacts to be exhibited in Iran

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