Terror in Korea

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I pray for those whose families have died in all terrorist events throughout modern history.
Anyways, to those Korean-learners who were wondering if Korea is a terrorist hotspot, here's some things about terrorism in Korea.

{North Korea}
Living is just terror. Rely on your families for happiness. (For the commoners)
---

Qantas Boeing 707, similar to the plane that was crashed
by North Koreans. The picture of that plane is really rare.
I just can't find it. (CC/Wikipedia Phillip Capper)

{South Korea}
The Republic of Korea had 30 or less terrorism events in their soil since the 1960's, if you count terrorist events that happened outside of South Korean territory that involved a Korean citizen as one of the casualties.
In the East Asian nation where even guns are rare to civilians except for shooting arenas, counter-terrorism acts are getting strict by the year. Why?

1982, when curfew abolishment
 was put into action (In Seoul).
(Instiz.net)

Simple answer: North Koreans.
Since the 50's, the North Korean government wanted to terrorize the South Koreans. They used their special forces to supply many terror attacks in South Korea, such as the Korean Air plane crash in the 80's, a secret deployment of spies and a battle that lasted for more than 40 days in the 90's, explosion of a Korean military vessel and invasion of a civilian-living island in the late 2000's. This was why "President" Park Jung Hee enforced the "야간통행금지" (통금 for short, Curfew at night) Rule, which prohibited movement from Midnight 'till 4 in the morning; to fill the streets with soldiers looking for North Korean spies. The curfew was lifted in every South Korean territory in the first day of 1988. More about the Korean curfew law in a future post.

Anyways... where was I? Even the night curfew was abolished and no terrorist events happened in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the Republic of Korea strengthened its counter-terrorism laws, in which was strengthened again in the 2000's, when 9/11 exploded in New York, and at the other side of the world, the Seoul Olympics were coming up. 

However, the risks and possibility that there might be a major terrorist attack in Seoul (By international or national religious terrorists) have increased. Seoul is the second largest city/metropolitan area in the world, in terms of population. Besides, the Korean National Intelligence Service (KNIS) has reported that Al-Qaeda members have entered the nation at least twice. To a nation with only 40,000 ethnic Korean muslims (And more than 10 times population of Middle East migrant workers), that is a shock. Actually, to a country that used to have a majority no-religion population until recently, and to their people whom see signs of random radical protestant churches and them destroying Buddhist architecture, that may not be surprising. (Click Here for more.)
But we are still reminded that the Korean military is one of the most technologically developed armies (Hint: Samsung+LG+Kia+Hyundai), and the 7th largest in the world... next to France. We've seen that fall. (Besides, 9/11?)

ROKCDC Logo. Know where this is
when you're visitng South Korea.  ⓒROKCDC Homepage

But many people haven't heard about "민방위", or the Republic of Korea Civil Defense Corps (ROKCDC). It's something all men are trained to do, and 6.86 million people are learned what to do in a case of emergency, for example, a North Korean invasion. (In which even schoolchildren are often trained). So basically, with many people knowing where to go and what to do, Korea basically is prepared for minimum casualties during an attack. 

Well, that's it about terrorism in Korea. Remember, wherever you are, be vigilant for a terrorist attack. Even in North Korea. 

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The DMZ and North Korean Defectors: A More Tragic Story than the Berlin Wall

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This is a perfect time to post about North Korean defectors; Search up "North Korean defectors" right now and you'll see why.

A four-kilometer wide border, that stretches from the West coast of the peninsula, to the East. This is the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone), that existed in this world for about 70 years. Full of land mines and tens of thousands of soldiers placed at both sides, the DMZ is almost impossible to cross, unlike the Berlin Wall and the East-West separation wall, where thousands escaped every year, some digging the ground, some using a subway, and some using air balloons- which would've all been impossible in Korea. Why there is a border, is a simple question.

After the Second World War, the U.S., G.B.R., France, and the U.S.S.R., agreed to this thing, where the U.S. would control the South part (Below 38 degrees N), and the U.S.S.R. would control the North part (Above 38 degrees N) for three years, as they said that they would control Germany, Italy, and Japan, as well as their former colonies for a few years, because they were "undeveloped", and "did not know how to manage a nation". So the Demilitarized Zone comes in and makes the border.

At the time, anyone could just pass over this border if they had an ID; similar to the Allies' occupation of Germany between 1945 and 1949. And many Koreans were frustrated about this.. in which most of them were South Koreans.

After listening to the Americans' propaganda, the people of the South wanted this 3-year Shintak Tongchi (Shintak Rule, 신탁통치) to be abolished. Listening to the Soviets' propaganda, many North Koreans wanted their nation under a Soviet development and a Communist state, with being under military occupation of the Soviets until 1948. Then you know the rest- the South and North civilians fought, they hated each other then, governments and nations were formed, one side electing Rhee Syngman, the other electing Kim Il Sung.

Then the war. After a few days, North Korea seized every Korean territory excluding Jeju Island and Busan. Then, South Korea seized every Korean territory except for a minimal amount bordering the People's Republic of China- If you saw the "People's" part, you know it's communist, and China, as well as the Soviets, invade, capturing Seoul again. Then the UN gets back Seoul, and from 1951 to 1953, the front line zigzags around. At 1953, a very unstable armistice is signed, and a straight Korean border is gone, however a wide "Demilitarized Zone" is made.

After the Korean War, this border is made. In Red is the military-only zone.
R. Tatiraju/ Wikipedia (CC)

To prevent population loss, North Korea made a huge fence around its border, with the heavy guard in the South, facing South Korea, the recently strong-growing guards (However there is barbed wire and fencing), and probably the same for Russia. Except that Russia and China's borders have some gates for the military and the high-class.

Many people still attempt to escape through the borders every day, and most of those people do not escape through the heavily-armed South Korean border, but rather the Chinese border. If a North Korean defector gets caught by Chinese police, they are sent back to North Korea, and many gets executed, tortured, or sent to labor camps, where, for three generations, the defectors' family must work without pay.

Those who do not get caught by Chinese police, especially women, gets caught by Chinese citizens involved in drug and sex trafficking, in which some pretend to be brokers who would say that they will send you to the South, then send you back to North Korea, or make you get involved in the human trafficking business.

Some people who are lucky in China goes straight to Mongolia, NOT by plane, as again, China sends every single North Korean defector "home". The poor North Koreans have to walk their way through the Gobi desert, until they reach Mongolia. Mongolia attempts to have good relations with both of the Koreas, however gives mercy to the defectors, with a pleasant meal and a plane ticket to South Korea.

And finally, some people amazingly travel by boat and attempt to land in South Korea. Some actually got to Japan, where some stayed and some people left for South Korea, and some people, before the 80's, were sent back to North Korea.

Only 23,000 people escaped from North Korea, compared to thousands escaping East Germany. 23,000 defectors in the past 60 years seems to be a little cruel. Let's all hope for the reunification of Korea, and some nationalism kick in.

By the way, did you know that 2 South Koreans left to North Korea? These 2 was a famous Korean movie director couple kidnapped by North Korean agents and had to make propaganda movies and copycats of "Godzilla", until they finally escaped during a Swiss film festival.

The DMZ is also the oldest untouched place in the world, making it sanctuary for endangered animals.

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Dictators of South Korea

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Dictators. I thought they were only existent in the evil, communist North! No, just like North Korea, South Korea had 3 dictators, in which 2 of them I've already mentioned in previous posts. But here are the names:

Syungman Rhee (이승만): 1st, 2nd, and 3rd President (1948-1960)
Chunghee Park (박정희): 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th "President" (1961-1979)
Doohwan Cheon (전두환): 11th, 12th "President" (1980-1988)

Rhee.    Wikipedia/ (CC)

Let's go with the first dude on the list. Rhee Syungman was the first president of the Republic of Korea (a.k.a. South Korea). He was the dude who shouted out for "At least there should be democracy somewhere, let's put it on the south part of Korea!". As he got elected the first president of Korea, the former leader of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea said in his election speech that he will lead the country with the words of the peoples. Yeah, and look how that turned out. He had two 6-year terms as being a really bad president, people called him a dictator, because he acted like one; he arrested all the senators that were against him in Busan, during the Korean War.  And at the 3rd presidential election in South Korea, he made a bunch of systems where some gangs threatened many to vote for Rhee, and somehow made the election system into a useless state, making sure that Rhee got EVERYONE's votes. And that's when the middle and high school students of Masan city rose up and protested. Yes, I did say MIDDLE school students. Other citizens joined as they saw their children protesting.
And sadly, the police, who were supposed to protect the people, killed many of their citizens. Many people even went missing, and their location in unknown even today.Then like a month later, the 11th day of April 1960, people found a body of a high school student who was killed by police then thrown into the ocean in order to hide it from media. The news spread and spread and people got mad and protested in the streets of Seoul. 100 citizens died that day, and more did in the coming days, however the protesters increased. In the 25th, 100,000 people came out to the streets, including professors, and that meant 1 in 250 people in the nation participated. The next day, Rhee resigned and got exiled to Hawaii, in which he lived there with his Austrian wife until he died 5 years later.

Park     Wikipedia/ (CC)

Onto the next dictator. When the Second Republic of Korea was established (but considered to be representing the past republic), with almost all powers going to the Prime Minister Chang Myun, and the new president Yoon Bosun was just a headless figure. Meaning= Yoon was the head of State and Chang was the head of Government. And they were full of pro-Japanese people that angered all the citizens. And soon there was a coup, as in May 16th, 1961, the military, led by Chunghee Park, took over all government buildings and arrested Chang Myun. 2 years later, this dude narrowly won presidency. His goal was to have low labor costs and... just go to the post about the "Miracle of the Han River", okay? Anyways, his two four-year terms ended, and right before the 7th presidential election in 1971, Park changed the constitution and let presidents have a 3-term presidency. Oh yes, the people were mad, as only the government was getting rich and many people were kept poor (Just like in some parts of the People's           Republic of China these days). Of course, he was reelected. A year later, Park added the Yusin Constitution, making him eternal leader of Korea (And the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th President) .Then to make sure he stayed in power, Park reelected himself again in 1978. He was assasinated a year later by Jaegyu Kim, the director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (Currently the NIS, National Intelligence Service). Then finally, the fourth Republic came in and elected Choi Gyu Hwa in the 10th presidential election, who was the Prime Minister at the time and also the acting president. People were so happy that they threw away the picture of Park in the police stations.

Cheon, when he was a young person in his 50s (CC)

However, the Fourth Republic lasted shorter than the Second Republic. Only eight months later, Chun doohwan, who was an army general under Park's rule, lead another coup. And people got very, very mad. But from stop making students organize protests, he arrested many of them and closed the gates of all universities in Korea. That didn't stop the protests, though. The people of Gwangju got  into taxis, buses, or walked to the South Jeonla Province provincial building, and ran to the military. The military killed hundreds of people that day, however the citizens finally got control of the provincial buildings in the 21st of May. However, Cheon blocked all the media and even destroyed some companies, then went onto the 11th presidential election where he got all of the votes. He did the same thing in 1984 when he got 90% of the votes of the 12th presidential election. People still protested every day, only to get hit by bombs thrown by police. However, after the death of two students, people held up signs like, "Do not kill my child twice!" And thousands marched up and down the streets every day. Then Cheon began to worry that he might get assasinated, too, and gave his power to Roh Taewoo, who eventually betrayed him and brought democracy to the nation.

This post was a bit late; sorry!

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A Second Capital in South Korea?

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Seoul was the third largest city in Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392), the capital of Joeson Dynasty (1392-1910), Japanese Korea (1910-1945), and is the capital of the Republic of Korea, with many historical monuments in and around it. However, many presidents (and dictators) considered moving the capital of Korea. Why were they? And why is Korea's newest city, Sejong Special Self-Governing City, (Named after the famous King Sejong), the first of its kind, the new parliamentary capital of Korea?

Map of Sejong.  TKostolany-Wikipedia/ (CC) 

First off, a little background information about Sejong City. Founded in July 1st, 2012, Sejong is made out of most of its former municipality, Yeongi Gun (Pronounced Goon, meaning county; not urban-centered), and took away Jang-gi District and a part of Lee-dang district (To make Janggun district) and a part of Banpo District (Not to be confused with the one in Korea) to add to Gum-nam District. And most of Buyong District of Cheongwon County (Now part of Chung-ju City, capital of North Choongchung Province) was added, too.

The two-capital thing is actually a part of a movement to move South Korea's capital southward, due to North Korean threats. In fact, it started in 1977, where the government of "President" Park Chung-hee did some research about Choongchung province and then decided that Jang-gi District of  Gongju would make a perfect capital. (Remember, Jang-gi is now part of Janggun District, in SEJONG!). But no progress was made since then, and finally it reappeared to the world when in the 2002 presidential election, former president Roh Mu-hyun talked about a new capital somewhere in Choongchung, from making it to the parliamentary capital and then moving other government bodies such as the Blue Roof House (Presidential home of Korea). And then through a 2006 poll/referendum, the name Sejong was decided.

The new capital movement was temporarily stopped by the Lee Myungbak government from 2007 to 2012, whom opposed the idea. Lee Wangoo, a key player in Korean politics right now, and was the governor for South Choongchung province at the time was mad about the idea, however had to resign his spot due to controversy. The new capital movement resumed after 2012, and now it is the parliamentary capital of Korea, solving Seoul's overpopulation problems.

Anyways, since Sejong is a de facto capital, it might be considered that South Korea has one capital. But since they moved the parliament to Sejong, so we'll count it as two.

Phew.
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Cause(s) of the Korean War

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The Korean War. Almost became the Third World War, and many Koreans didn't like it. Now, what had caused this war, a bloody war that killed, wounded, or misplaced around 4 million people?

After the Second World War ended and the Empire of Japan gave up most of its colonies, including the Korean Peninsula, many Koreans were happy that they could now govern themselves. The temporary Korean government organized in Shanghai finally came back to Korea and made the 조선건국준비위원회, or the Joeson (Korea) Foundation Preparing Council. two-thirds of the people there were communists, but that's not important. The important fact, is that Koreans were angered when they heard that the USSR, USA, GBR, and France had a secret meeting in Moscow about the future of Korea, and that the U.S. would control Korea below 48-degrees latitude for three years, while the Soviets, in which at the time temporarily controlled Manchuria (a former Japanese colony/puppet state right above Korea), occupied the North side of the 48-degrees latitude for three years. Many of those in the South rebelled against in what many Koreans know as "신탁 통치" (Shintack Tongchi,). The North didn't agree. Then a political leader, Kim Gu, who was a key in Korean independence, held a "Protest against Shintack Tongchi". And both sides agreeing and being against it showed up. And there was a bloody fight.

Syngman Lee. Flickr/(CC)

Eventually, 1948 showed up and the three-year period ended, whether Koreans hated or not. During the three-year period, many in the North started believing in Communism, and the South was the exact opposite. And someone in the crowd shouted,

"Let's just make a government in the South first! A capitalistic, democratic government!"

The name of the shouter was Syngman Lee, who was a fighter for Korean independence, relied on the U.S., and the first, second and third president of South Korea. (And he also tried to become dictator but eventually got executed to Hawaii) Eventually, the constitution was made in July 17th 1948, and the Republic of Korea was born exactly three years after Korean independence/End of WWII.

Kim Il Sung right after the Korean War started

Now the South Korean government was made, many North Koreans did not like that. and in less than four months, Kim Il Sung founded the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

And then you know the rest of the story- the communists wanted all of the Korean Peninsula to be like them so they invaded the South in a quite Sunday dawn, the dawn of June 25th, 1950.

So what caused the Korean War?
The correct answer is: the Americans and the Soviets.
Too bad South Koreans are TOO much trying to copy looking and living like Americans. And we will remember that the form of government isn't important at all; the only important thing is the happiness of the peoples.



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Miracle of the Han River

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"South Korea's GDP (PPP) growth from 1911 to 2008" by Cantus - Own work. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons - 

Now, remember that other post with Dictat- I mean former President Park and the population of Seoul? Anyways, as I said, under his rule, there was a miracle in the Korean economy. I'm not exaggerating here- but it had the fastest record of economic growth for decades! From 30 billion to more than a trillion in THIRTY YEARS- It's GDP (Gross Domestic Product, how much a country earns in a period) increased like 333 times in that 3 decades; that's way less than what General MacArthur (who commanded the Korean War and disobeyed former U.S. president Truman) said:
"It will take them (Korea) 100 years to recover from the devastation."

Anyways, why is my post called "The Miracle of the Han River?" Because that's what usually people call South Korea's huge economic growth in the late 20th Century. It was inspired by the "Miracle of the Rhine River", in which West Germany, after the Second World War, became Europe's largest economy after they experienced pain from the... you know what it is.

The Miracle of the Han River started in 1961, where Chung-hee Park was kind of like (in the 1961 election), "With cheap labor costs and sending the Koreans abroad, we will experience stress little now and have great wealth soon!" That statement came to life. Korean medics went everywhere, as well as one tragic event: sending Koreans the West German Rhine coal mine regions, where many had died. (Yes, the coal mines are dangerous.)

Within South Korea, young girls work in crowded factories and made clothes for 14-16 hours and only got 50 won a day; that was like buying a small cup of machine coffee! Many laborers crowded into Seoul and built buildings and factories, destroyed all the forests of Gangnam district of Seoul, which was all just huts and farmland at the time (And now the most economically thriving region of the nation, in fact this is where "Gangnam Style" by PSY is based on!).

What was the result of all of this? Yes, the high class getting rich and the lower class staying where they are. Even if the Korean economy was growing like wildfire.

But in the late 60's and 70's, something happened. A Korean laborer named Tae-il Jeon, who worked in the Seoul Peace Street Market, who used his bus fees from the day to get home to feed the young kids working with him, made the "Babo Group" in 1968, (바보회) or "The Stupid Group". He told the people with him, that they were "stupid" enough to not protest about the current situations of the laborers. Jeon then studied the laws of labor and went from government office to government office, complaining that the government is treating laborers like machines.

Tae-il Jeon got fired, then. Later, when he barely got rehired, he went on to complain to the media. And finally, on October 7th, 1970, the news about the laborers was finally written about. Everyone thought that things were going to change now, and the government said that they will keep on eye on the market owners, however did nothing at all. Finally, Jeon got mad, and protested a month later by burning himself in the middle of a crowded street, shouting,

"Obey the labor laws, stop treating us like machines, and do not make my death in vain!"

And that's when the huge protests began. The boycotts of the laborers affected the large companies, and in 1988, the Korean government finally made a minimum wage of 470 won. That is approximately 45 US CENTS, however was 30% of an average laborer's salary. These things are now rare in South Korea, as the minimum wage is going to be 6030 won in 2016, and is growing about 30-50 U.S. cents per year.The laborers' minimum wage is higher.

Back to the Korean economic growth story. In 1997, there was this thing called the Asian Crisis, better known in Korea as the IMF jeopardy (Or some across the globe call it the Korean IMF Crisis, just like Greece is in now.). Korea's GNI suddenly dropped below $10,000. Many became unemployed, This was all due to the past 2 decades, where Korea built factories, lent more money, and built more factories.. which turned out to be a dumb idea. If you're wondering why I'm not posting any photos right now, just go to this website 'cause I know all of those three Korean crisis..es?. : http://www.inthekimchijar.com/687

Anyways, that gave me an idea about future posts: Tragic events in Korea and why they happen.

Wait, this is not the end of the story! I forgot to say that Korea finally paid back all their debts in they year 2000 and now they have the 11th largest economy. Yay.

Sorry, I got off-topic.

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Why is Seoul's Metropolitan Area so Populated?

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Hello Internet,

Buildings with N Tower in North Seoul right behind them 

If you look at a list of the most populous metropolitan areas of the world, Seoul was 4th last year (2014) and now, they passed Delhi and became the third most populous metropolitan area of the world, at around 26.1 million! And that's MORE than half of South Korea's population of 51.4 million in August 2015. So why is Seoul's metropolitan area so populated?

Photo of Park in 1963

It all has to do with Korean urbanization since 1961, to be exact. See, there was a coup in 1961 led by Chung-hee Park, who later retired from the army and became "president" (He was a dictator for 18 years; being the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, AND 9th president!). Park, who was the father of current president (and the first to be a female), Geun-hye Park, was known for his huge violence and the killings of tens of thousands of Koreans, as well as aggressive anti-communist policies that still effects many Koreans today. However, without his really bad labor policies and the suffering of many laborers including young girls, South Korea couldn't have become the economic giant it is now today. Oops, off topic. (I'll explain this in another post.)

Anyways, former "president" Park made the Korean agriculture market smaller and made many farmers lose jobs and come up to Seoul, where there were plenty of minor jobs you barely could live with.

South Korea was (and is) a VERY capital-based nation; Seoul is the largest, most wealthiest, the most economically developed... almost anything you can say about. In fact, that might "go around in circles" and the "most developed" part might be the reason why more and more people are coming to live in Seoul. And as the young children in the start of the Republic of Korea (I meant the late 1940's) were getting older and older, they began to quit their city jobs and go back to their hometown for farming. And now, that's what almost everyone's doing: coming up to Seoul following their parents or when they go to college, living there until you're old enough to quit your job, and go back to the place you lived when you were young. No wonder Korean stereotypes show only old people in farming towns. However, things might change; a lot of parents in Seoul are starting to send their children to farming towns to study. Who knows what's going to happen next? You decide. In the future, that will be just another topic for me to write about.

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