All posts filed under: Real Korea/ns

#MeToo in South Korean Politics: An Update.

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Cover photo by 불편한용기 via Sisa Journal In 2018, I talked to Arte’s “Tous les Internets (French) | Alle Internetze” (German) about the current state of affairs in South Korea: The spycam crimes, social hierarchy, Soranet, and much more. (You can read about that more in detail here). In 2018, Ahn Hee-Jung, then governor of South Chungcheong Province and presidential hopeful, was accused, eventually found guilty, and sentenced to 3 years and 6 months for rape and sexual harassment (BBC Korean). The similarities between Ahn and Park are uncanny: Both governors and presidential hopefuls endorsed by their “progressive” party. Both seen as supporters of women’s rights. Both ousted for their hypocrisy from their secretaries, who had been sexually harassed and/or raped while they put on their façade and championed women’s rights outside. Ahn, now a convicted rapist, made the news again this week when it surfaced that President Moon Jae-In sent flower to Ahn’s late mother’s funeral – the flowers bearing Moon’s title as President (The Hankyoreh). The accusations made by Kim Ji-Eun, his then …

Seoul City paves way for a South Korean Welfare Model

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The Seoul Metropolitan City (henceforth, “Seoul”) is paving its own path of social welfare beta-tests in a nation seldom recognised for social safety nets. South Koreans have been persistently demanding improvements in social welfare – notably the younger generations. The younger they are, the more they know that change is possible

[Documentary] North Korea’s Secret Slaves: Dollar Heroes

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The Why, A Danish public media agency, has released an investigative documentary into North Korean slavery labourers in the world – in Poland, Russia, Norway, and China. It is currently available for viewing on national outlets (on NPO in the Netherlands, for example) The film will be released worldwide on their project page (Why Slavery) on December 2nd, 2018. Here is a 5-minute version edit of the documentary The film has also been screened at the European Parliament (9 Oct 2018), and at the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office (18 Oct 2018). Updated: Here is the full-length film (59 minutes).   References Dollar Heroes – Valuta voor de dictator (Dutch language version) North Korea’s Secret Slaves: Dollar Heroes NPO, 7 Feb 2018 59 minutes https://www.npostart.nl/2doc/07-02-2018/VPWON_1252782 https://www.2doc.nl/documentaires/series/2doc/2018/februari/dollar-heroes.html Noord-Koreaanse dwangarbeiders bouwden mee aan Nederlandse schepen (en hun loon ging naar Kim Jong-un) North Korean Slave Lavourers build Dutch ships (And their salary goes to Kim Jong-Un De Correspondent, 6 Feb 2018 https://decorrespondent.nl/7907/noord-koreaanse-dwangarbeiders-bouwden-mee-aan-nederlandse-schepen-en-hun-loon-ging-naar-kim-jong-un/77495811184-12f86c2b

Parallel 38/Part III

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Parallel 38/Part III Remember I told you I was split two ways: My grandmother’s father was a Freedom Fighter in colonised Korea When we were Korea Not Korea, South/North Not Korea, Republic of/Democratic People’s Republic of Not South Korea/North Korea Like we see on the census slips and dropdown boxes Just Korea He and his country fought back against the Japanese The people who told us We could not use our own names We could not utter our own language We could not wear our own clothes But we must dress like the white man Because that’s who they learned their tricks from A sadomasochistic cycle of submission and domination On 15th August, 1945 We were made a free country On 17th July, 1948 We declared our Constitution On 15th August, 1948 We became a Republic And when my country became a Republic my great-grandfather became a criminal Because he was A Communist One of Them Granny said, then they came and took all our land and our money Overnight I went from going to …

Parallel 38/Part II

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  Parallel 38/Part II For three Christmases I had a German lover We spent Summers sitting on the balcony grilling Bratwurst Christmases eating deviled eggs and saying, Mahlzeit New Year’s Eve shooting firecrackers into the sky and screaming and kissing He told me Did you know It took twenty years For us West Germans and East Germans To marry amongst ourselves In the same numbers As we married foreigners We’ve been told our whole life, look at this country across the world Remnants of the Cold War, testaments to ideological warfare Your twin We know how it feels When people walk all over us with their dirty boots and say Thank us, beg us, revere us For pitting your people against your neighbours Because they’re wrong in the head And implant a seed of doubt for the coming three generations They tell us Look If the Germans can do it, you can You hardworking Koreans who rebuilt your country The only OECD foreign aid receiver turned donor, at the turn of the millennia But they …

Parallel 38/Part I

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This is part one of three in a series I wrote while watching the Inter-Korea Summit broadcast on JTBC. Parallel 38/Part I It is only natural for me to be split Two ways It started when foreigners split the country of my mother and my father Two ways Took a yardstick and swung it across Arbitrary lines of their own science And called it Peace Order Necessary Told us we were free To run around in our little divided up cage Asked us to play nice and to obey In return we would get Democracy Freedom Reparations For what they did to us, raping our souls and pitting us against one another Threw money and milk and honey our way Put their feet up Told us This is freedom You have newspapers You have shipyards the size of mountains You have free elections and banks and delegations in The Hague Leaving out the part where they Split up mother and daughter, brother and sister, grandfather and grandson Dug up trenches along the heart of our …

“My Body My Choice” – My Story of Reproductive Privilege

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Tomorrow I’m getting the second IUD (Intra-Uterine Device) of my life. Something going into my uterus is as personal as it gets, but as a researcher who should be starting a PhD on Sexual Health and the Internet in South Korea (one of the cases being the IUD) next year, it is, as we say: “The Personal Is Political”. With under 20mg of levonorgestrel, the Kyleena (and the Skyla/Jaydess) emits 1/10 the amount of hormones than do oral contraceptives. They’re cost-effective (130€ in NL and FR), and once they’re installed, they last five years – bringing their monthly cost to a mere 0.5€. For many, they come with fewer side-effects than does the Pill. It is particularly effective for those who are sexually active because of its low failure rate and because of the convenience it offers. IUDs are offered fully free of cost to those under 21 years of age in the Netherlands and France. *  *  * In France and in the Netherlands, I am free to choose a contraceptive method. I am …

Owner of Soranet, South Korea’s Biggest Porn Hub, Taken into Custody After Three Years on the Run

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The Prosecutor’s Office states: “The [site’s] administrators illegally earned profits totalling tens of billions of KRW (approx. millions of USD/EUR) over the past thirteen years” An owner of Soranet, a man identified as Mr. Hong, was taken into custody on June 18th, 2018. He is one of four owners, two couples identified as the Hong family and the Song family. The owners are accused of not only distributing pornography, but also engaging in its production. They have been on the run, living in New Zealand and Australia, since the South Korean police launched an official investigation back in 2015. They’ve also appealed and lost the Ministry of Foreign Affair’s decision to confiscate their passports and to stop them from re-applying for one. The remaining three owners will be served subpoenas for investigation. The illegal website, which ran from 2003 to 2016, is known for brokering underage prostitution and drug trafficking, violence against women including genital mutilation and conspiracy in gang rape, defamation, and extortion (Read more about my account of Soranet’s activities here). The site …

Yeonmi Park becomes the first North Korean refugee to speak on Comedy Central

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Follow this link to view the video at Comedy Central. Yeonmi Park is the first North Korean defector to speak on Comedy Central, on Jordan Klepper’s The Opposition (Link). No, she isn’t debuting her career as a stand-up comedian. The humour game is subtle and strongly lined with political messages. She discusses her disappointment at the Kim-Trump Singapore summit on June 12th, her life in North Korea being taught to “hate American bastards”, and feeling confused at the idea of people being able to love anyone else besides the Dear Leader when she saw the movie Titanic for the first time. When asked what pushed her to leave the country, she responds: “hunger”. She shows solidarity to displaced peoples by saying “Refugees are people too. No one should be punished for their birthplace”, and warns that “freedom is not free – we have to fight for our freedom”. Ms. Park has already expressed her disappointment at the June 12th summit on Foreign Policy: “He should have asked for some concessions from the North Korean side. If Trump …

2018 Oslo Freedom Forum

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I was hired to work as an interpreter to the North Korean delegation at the Oslo Freedom Forum for the second time (the first time being 2016). This year also marked the 10th anniversary of the Oslo Freedom Forum. In a nutshell, OFF is a a forum and a community of people dedicated to protecting and improving fundamental human rights around the world. It’s fun: There’s always an art performance, and since a few years an ethical fashion show (whose models are human rights activists and speakers from past years), booths by tech companies who offer services which can be used to protect civil rights activists in repressive regimes, and lots of opportunities for people to connect. Human rights activists have a platform to voice their hopes, obstacles, and plans. Philanthropists come to learn more about projects activists are currently running, to ask in-depth questions about what they need, what they plan to do, and what their current challenges are. Entrepreneurs can pitch their technologies to activists and the general public. This year, I was …