Tag Archives | South Korea

Elderly Suicide Epidemic Strikes South Korea

By on March 6, 2013 in News 4

In the new, hyper-modernized South Korea, many older people feel that they have been left abandoned, obsolete, and penniless. A dark omen of things to come in developed societies around the world with focuses on technology and individualism, and shredded social safety nets? The New York Times reports:

The number of people 65 and older committing suicide has nearly quadrupled in recent years, making the country’s rate of such deaths among the highest in the developed world. The epidemic is the counterpoint to the nation’s runaway economic success, which has worn away at the Confucian social contract that formed the bedrock of Korean culture for centuries.

That contract was built on the premise that parents would do almost anything to care for their children — in recent times, depleting their life savings to pay for a good education — and then would end their lives in their children’s care. No Social Security system was needed.

… Read the rest

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South Korea’s Toilet Culture Park

By on December 4, 2012 in News 2

Toilet in german theater munichWe all know people who never outgrew toilet humor, but in the South Korean town of Suwon there are apparently enough people obsessed with all things to do with bodily excretion that there is an entire park devoted to the topic, graphically. The Daily Mail has lots of photos in this report (video from IB Times):

…From the bronze statues of people sitting on the toilet dotted around outside, to the converted toilet-shaped house which contains an exhibition on toilets through the ages, everything here is themed after one thing.

There is even a room devoted to toilet-related art – fitting in a city which holds the annual Golden Poop art festival. It might not seem like the most attractive tourist destination, but Lee Youn-Souk, who works at the park, thinks differently.

She told the BBC: ‘We just focus on eating everyday, we sometimes overlook the importance of the toilet.

‘We already know upon waking up in the morning we should go to the toilet but people don’t want to talk about this. So we wanted to demonstrate to the public out ‘toilet culture’.

… Read the rest

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Shamanism Returning to South Korea

By on July 31, 2012 in News 10

Via Reuters:

Photo credit Vassil

While Buddhism and various forms of Christianity remain the most widely practiced forms of religion in Korea, Reuters reports that the ancient practice of shamanism is on the rise:

In leaping from poverty to rapid modernization, the county’s dictatorship in the 1970s tried to eliminate shamanism, claiming that shamans deluded the world, while some Christian missionaries demonized them and their followers.

But today, visiting a mudang – shaman priest or priestess – is so common that politicians consult them seeking answers to questions such as whether they should relocate their ancestors’ remains to ensure good luck in the next election. Shaman characters have also featured in popular television shows.

“Public perception towards shamanism has improved a lot, with popular TV dramas contributing to shifting these views,” said Park Heung-ju, an authority on mudang at the Kut Research Institute in Seoul.”You can find repose by meeting with mudang.”

Continue reading at Reuters.… Read the rest

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The First Major Electoral Victory For The Occupy Wall Street Movement?

By on December 9, 2011 in News 9

p10b…In South Korea, not the United States. The newly elected mayor of Seoul is Park Won Soon, a longtime activist and human rights lawyer who ran on an explicit “Occupy Wall Street platform” of challenging social inequality. Could this happen here as well? Via New Left Project:

Park Won Soon, the newly elected mayor of Seoul, is “perhaps the first politician to win with an Occupy Wall Street platform”.

Park Won Soon ran on a platform of social justice. The previous mayor of Seoul had resigned over the issue of school lunches, Park pushed for the universal provision of lunches to all Seoul school children. He also promised to direct social services to helping the poor and disadvantaged. Korea has become increasingly divided in terms of rich and poor, and Seoul has some of the richest and some of the poorest people in the country. Park pledged to be the mayor of all of Seoul and not just the wealthy.

… Read the rest

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South Korea Rolls Out Robotic Prison Wardens

By on November 29, 2011 in News 30

robotIncarceration just got a lot more adorable. Via the BBC:

A jail in the eastern city of Pohang plans to run a month-long trial with three of the automatons in March. The machines will monitor inmates for abnormal behaviour.

South Korea aims to be a world leaders in robotics. Business leaders believe the field has the potential to become a major export industry.

The three 5ft-high (1.5m) robots involved in the prison trial have been developed by the Asian Forum for Corrections, a South Korean group of researchers who specialise in criminality and prison policies. It said the robots move on four wheels and are equipped with cameras and other sensors that allow them to detect risky behaviour such as violence and suicide.

Prof Lee Baik-Chu, of Kyonggi University, who led the design process, said the robots would alert human guards if they discovered a problem.

… Read the rest

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South Korean Lawmaker Uses Tear Gas to Protest Free Trade with the U.S. (Video)

By on November 22, 2011 in News 15

Now, why would a member of parliament in South Korea object so strongly to a free trade deal with the United States? Haroon Siddique reports in the Guardian:

An opposition MP set off a teargas canister in the South Korean parliament in a failed attempt to prevent the ruling party passing a free trade deal with the US.

Proponents said the deal, the largest US trade pact since the 1994 North America Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), could increase commerce between the two countries by up to a quarter. But the opposition claims it will harm South Korean interests, putting jobs at risk …

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South Korean Scientists Clone Beagle That Glows Fluorescent Green

By on July 29, 2011 in News 11

Could Tegon, the glowing dog, be the key to finding cures for many human diseases? Via Reutuers:

South Korean scientists said on Wednesday they have created a glowing dog using a cloning technique that could help find cures for human diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, Yonhap news agency reported.

A research team from Seoul National University (SNU) said the genetically modified female beagle, named Tegon and born in 2009, has been found to glow fluorescent green under ultraviolet light if given a doxycycline antibiotic, the report said.

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What Happens When A City Tears Down Its Highway?

By on May 10, 2011 in News 7

2030625405_dd165e29fcFive years ago, Seoul, South Korea demolished the Cheonggyecheon Freeway, an elevated highway running through downtown, in a move critics called “crazy”. The results have been nothing short of beautiful. Is there a lesson for other cities? Via Grist:

What he and his colleagues accomplished — tearing down a busy, elevated freeway, re-daylighting the river that had been buried beneath it, and creating a spectacular downtown green space, all in under two and a half years — is nothing short of amazing, not because it actually worked (there was plenty of evidence from other cities to suggest that it could), but because they were able to get public support for it. It’s the stuff urban planners dream about — not to mention a timeline for a major freeway project that would make Seattle drool.

By the early 20th century, as Seoul was burgeoning into the megacity of 10 million it is today, the river was bordered by a slum and used as a dumping ground, resulting in an eyesore of polluted water.

… Read the rest

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South Korean Man Crucifies Himself on Easter

By on May 8, 2011 in News 25

CrucifixionVia UPI:

A South Korean man with a religious obsession crucified himself around Easter, police said.

The body of the 58-year-old taxi driver was discovered Sunday in an abandoned quarry in Mungyeong in North Gyeongsang province, The Korea Herald reported. He was nailed to a wooden cross.

Police said the man went to great lengths to simulate Jesus’ crucifixion. He was wearing only underpants and a headdress resembling a crown of thorrns, had a wound on his right side and had drilled holes in his palms.

Investigators said he had apparently been living in a tent near the quarry. They found plans for self-crucifixion and a whip there.

A pastor in Mugyeong said the man once came to him to talk about religion. He described him as having extreme views.

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