Korea’s oldest surviving former sex slave to Japanese soldiers–known as “comfort women”–recently donated her savings to destitute young girls, touching many Koreans’ hearts.

Kim Bok-duek, one of the victims of Japanese sex slavery during World War II, has decided to donate about $17,000 to Tong-yeong Girls’ High School. The money will be given to students who are in financial difficulties including recipients of livelihood programs and children of families without parents.

Kim was born in Tong-Young, a southern city of the Gyeongsang Provinces of South Korea, in 1918. She was forced to move to China in 1937 during Japan’s colonial rule of Korea and began work as a sex slave at the age of 18. During her time in captivity, she was also taken to other places such as Taiwan and the Philippines by Japanese soldiers. Shortly before Korea’s independence from Japan in 1945, she returned to her hometown after eight years. Her full story is available here.

Even though Kim suffered from adversity, it was not without compensation. The Korean government provided Kim with around 1.1 million Won ($968) every month in supplementary living allowance, which she has been saving. That is the money being donated for destitute students to help them to realize their hopes and dreams for the future.

Lim Soo-ji, the 16-year-old student designated as the first beneficiary of Kim’s donation, has expressed her gratitude to Kim in an interview with Korea’s news agency NEWSis, “I know how much this money means to Kim. The only way I can repay is by studying hard and becoming a good person who can contribute to society.”

During Japan’s colonial rule of Korea, many Korean women were forced by the Japanese government into sexual slavery as “comfort women.” According to the Korean government, it is estimated that almost 200,000 women were taken at that time, most of whom died because of various diseases or from their living situations. Japan has never officially apologized for the transgression.

Since 1992, victims and their supporters have held weekly protests in front of Japan’s embassy in Seoul, requesting compensation and an apology from Japan. In December 2011, they held their 1,000th protest.

The issue of comfort women is becoming urgent because most of the surviving comfort women are well over 80 years old and may die before receiving compensation or an apology from Tokyo. In 2011, an estimated 16 former comfort women died. As of now, only 61 out of 234 women in South Korea’s government register of surviving victims of Japan’s sexual enslavement are alive.

Under the conservative social atmosphere of Korea that prevailed following the war, few comfort women wanted to be seen in public, making it hard to investigate the truth of the crimes against them. After being freed from Japan, most ran away from their families because of shame or tried to hide the fact that they worked as sex slaves. Investigations have later revealed that some of them got married, but could not have a baby or keep their marriages for a long time.

Kim’s case was not that different. However, she decided to fight back and went after the root of Japanese sex slavery by participating in several campaigns for human rights to let people worldwide know the truth about comfort women. She did so right after becoming a member of South Korea’s government register for surviving victims of Japan’s sexual enslavement in 1994.

Kim met with Amnesty International when the organization visited Korea to investigate in 2005. She also visited Japan several times to call for action from the Japanese government to deal with the comfort women issue.

Since her husband passed, Kim has been living by herself at a rented home in Tong-Young city. Her younger brother, who was her only family, died earlier this year. She has difficulty walking because of her knee joints, and her sight is also failing, making her unable to go out without help. This is why her donation to young students is seen as a hugely inspirational story to many South Koreans.

Image Courtesy of  bittermelon

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The “alcohol bomb” has become more popular among young Korean people, raising concerns about possible harmful effects on the body. In Korea, alcohol bombs have usually been made with the combination of whiskey and beer or soju and beer, but the new version — called a “caffeine bomb” — consists of strong alcohol, energy drinks, vitamin drinks and occasionally a sports drink.

Young Korean people make and drink caffeine bombs in order to stay wide awake all night without getting tired. The energy drink usually is known to have a high level of caffeine to awaken the body. By mixing alcohol and the energy drink, people can feel the effects of alcohol without getting tired. Some people even add vitamin drinks or sports drinks, because they believe it would minimize any harmful effects on the body.

The caffeine bomb first started to be made around Hongik University area in Seoul, one of the popular night areas for young people, but now it is spreading all over Seoul.

Hyun Ji-sook, a 24-year-old student, said, ‘I can be awake all night taking this drink. It gives me energy to have fun at the club. There are sometimes you want to drink and dance all night, especially on Friday night. When you feel like that, this drink will definitely help you.’

People aren’t just making their caffeine bombs, either.

‘The caffeine bomb accounts for about 40 percent of sales volume last month. I have seen a lot of customers from remote areas who visited my bar to get this drink,’ bar owner Jang Tae-ha said.

With the growing popularity of the caffeine bomb, some medical experts are expressing their concerns. An alcohol addiction treatment expert, Dr. Jeon Yong-jun, said in an interview with Korean newspaper Hankook Ilbo, ‘The alcohol is a problem in itself, but since caffeine raises the heart rate, if you consume too much, it can have harmful effects on your heart and blood vessels.’

However, it is expected that the number of people turning to the caffeine bomb will increase. Since there are not any laws that prohibit people from making caffeine bombs, it is easy for people to make and drink it. In addition, many alcohol producers are reluctant to let people know possible dangers of the caffeine bomb because they believe it might decrease sales volume of their products.

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President Obama complimented Ukraine on the complete removal of highly enriched uranium from its territory. At the recent Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, South Korea, Obama stated that Ukraine’s full removal of the highly enriched uranium indicated the country’s “continuing courageous leadership on nuclear security”, according to the White House Press Secretary.

The two leaders agreed that Ukraine made an important contribution for securing all vulnerable nuclear materials. On March 27 the United States announced the removal of remaining 128 kilograms (over 280 pounds) of highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Ukraine. The shipments were completed as part of a joint effort of the two countries.

At the 2010 Nuclear Security Summit the Presidents Obama and Yanukovych made commitments to remove all of HEU from Ukraine by the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit. Suffice it to say that back in 2010 both Chile and Mexico decided to follow Ukraine’s initiative to get rid of its stock of enriched nuclear materials.

In order to implement the Joint Statement by Presidents Obama and Yanukovych of April 2010 a total of six secure operations had to be conducted. The operations were made possible through cooperation between the U.S., Ukraine, Russia and the IAEA. The joint efforts resulted in the successful removal of a total of 234 kilograms over a two-year period.

Originally, there were three sites in Ukraine bearing different quantities and types of HEU. The first batch (56 kilograms of spent HEU fuel) was shipped from the Kyiv Institute of Nuclear Research in May 2010, according to the fact sheet released by the White House Press Secretary.

This was followed by three shipments in late December 2010: 16 kilograms of fresh HEU from the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology, 25 kilograms of fresh HEU from Sevastopol University, and 10 kilograms of fresh HEU from the Kyiv Institute of Nuclear Research. The HEU was transported to Russia, the country of its origin, where it will be converted into low enriched uranium, which cannot be used to make a nuclear weapon.

In December 1994 Ukraine joined the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and proclaimed its non-nuclear status. Ukraine reaffirmed its non-nuclear status in its Constitution and the declaration “On the State Sovereignty of Ukraine”.

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In March of this year, the South Korean capital will play host to the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit, the theme of which will be oriented towards the role of nuclear industry, enhancing nuclear security and safety.

The event was held for the first time in 2010 in Washington, US. Back then, representatives from 47 countries and three international organizations gathered in order to discuss the prevention of future nuclear terrorism. At the time, President Barack Obama declared that the next conference would be in the South Korea in two years’ time, without binding himself to details. Later on, it was announced that the next international meeting will be held in Seoul on March 26-27, 2012.

It is said that more than 53 heads of state and organizations will attend the events. During the previous conference in the United States, the American President alluded about the probable subject of this year’s event, but at the time nothing had been confirmed. According to the official website of the forthcoming meeting the three main issues to be discussed are:

• Cooperative measures to combat the threat of nuclear terrorism,
• Protection of nuclear materials and related facilities,
• Prevention of illicit trafficking of nuclear materials.

As a whole, the major objective of the event, which will be held at the Grand Hilton Seoul Hotel, is to tame nuclear proliferation, which has become excessively threatening after the tragic September 11 attacks in New York. During his 2009 Prague speech, the President expressed his dissatisfaction with nuclear terrorism as a serious menace to international peace. As he added, his idea is a “world free of nuclear weapons.”

Many ask themselves why this particular international event will be held in South Korea. The answer is simple. Through the years, the Asian country has proved that it has a stable economic system. Besides, it has showed leadership in maintaining the world’s political and security fields. This conference is an important step for the construction of its authority as a country.

In an interview, Duyeon Kim, Deputy Director of Non-Proliferation at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, said: “There are clear ways in which Seoul can capitalize on its strengths to flavor the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit with a ‘Korean twist,’ as it maintains depth on key substantive issues that ensure the security of nuclear materials, parts, and facilities.

The challenge lies in clearly demonstrating that the benefits outweigh the costs, and that states would have a national interest in further investing their political capital in nuclear security.” His words explain the significance of the international event in Seoul. Its purpose is not only to inform and awaken public opinion, but to find a solution to a global problem, threatening world peace.

Ultimately, South Korea has the responsibility to demonstrate its leadership on the international stage. It is the perfect chance for the government of the East Asian country to prove its idea that “the benefitst outweigh the costs,” mainly concentrating on the need for a nuclear security plan at a global level.

Image Courtesy of   http://www.flickr.com/photos/koreanet/

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North Korea has recently struck a deal with the United States to denuclearize their state in exchange for food. The deal was decided and agreed upon in Beijing last week but made public only yesterday.

Under its terms, North Korea will halt uranium enrichment and long-range missile tests and also let overseers screen the state’s main Yongbyon nuclear complex. Not all nuclear devices have been deactivated, however, as the short-range No Dong missiles that pose a threat and hazard to South Korea and Japan were not incorporated into the deal.

Also under this agreement, the US will give North Korea 240,000 tonnes of food to a drained population. Many analysts have speculated that this food is primarily to help ease the diplomatic relations between the two countries, and have said that the food is the least significant part of the deal. North Korea, however, has recently experienced the most frigid winter it has dealt with in 65 years which resulted in a depletion of much of the country’s food supply, and the food comes as a great relief to the nation.

The deal comes as a step towards reconciliation between North Korea and the US. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, however, understated the agreement’s power and meaning, calling it a “modest first step.” She went on to say that Washington still has apprehensions towards North Korea, especially when considering its past actions.

The agreement had been in the works for a while, before last year being put to a grinding halt by Kim Jong-Il’s death. And just two months into his successors reign, the deal has already been deemed acceptable by North Korea.

Some political analysts, like Narushige Michishita, an associate professor at Tokyo’s National Graduate Institute of Policy Studies who has been watching North Korea for some time now, think this deal will give Obama a strategic edge in the coming election. The uranium enrichment program would have created the fuel required for one to two nuclear warheads each year if not kept under a close eye. The breakthrough definitely gives Obama the upper hand when it comes to foreign policy, and may perhaps prove to be what clinches this next election.

North Korea’s plutonium program, originally supposed to be ended with the uranium program, was not included in North Korea’s announcement earlier. Though there is thought to be enough to make a handful of warheads, it is of less importance than the uranium program.

Many consider the deal a bigger step than the last one from 1999. As of this time, though, just where this deal will lead North Korea, and Obama, remains unclear.

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This year, the high profile South Korean boy band, Big Bang, will make their very first world tour titled ‘ALIVE TOUR 2012′ through Live Nation, performing in 25 cities throughout 16 countries including Asia, North America, South America, and Europe.

Big Bang was formed by YG Entertainment and debuted in 2006. The group consists of five members: G -Dragon, Taeyang, T.O.P, Daesung, and Seungri. Unlike many other bands, they do not have an eye-catching appearance, but they do have enough talent to be famous and have changed audiences’ attitudes. Each member has impressed audiences with their talents, can sing and rap well, compose music, dance, and act.

Representing Asia-Pacific, Big Bang emerged to the bigger world audience as a nominee for Best Worldwide Act winner of 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards (EMA) held in Belfast, Northern Ireland. There, apart from Queen, Big Bang was the only winner not from North America.

Live Nation has conducted world tours for Madonna and U2, and Big Bang is the first Asian group with whom they have teamed up. Live Nation is currently a promotional agent for K-pop singers in one to two regions in America and Europe.

Alan Ridgeway, Live Nation’s president, said that he is very happy to work with YG Entertainment and Big Bang to show their work to worldwide K-pop fans. He hoped this world tour would be a good starting point for the Korea branch they established last December, and they expect it to contribute to the K-pop fever expansion.

To prepare for the tour,  Laurieann Gibson, who is a well-known director, choreographer, actress, and creative director, will be taking the lead position as director for ‘Alive Tour 2012′. She is known for directing Lady Gaga’s ‘The Monster Ball Tour’, in addition to choreographing “Poker Face”, “Judas”, and “Telephone”. She has also worked with top stars like Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Beyonce, and Katy Perry.

Leroy Bennett will be the stage/lighting designer, and Ken Van Druten will be the sound director. Bennett has previously worked with Madonna, Paul McCartney, and the Eagles, while Druten has worked with Eminem, J-Jay, and Linkin Park.  The visual contents producing team, Possible Productions, will also prepare for Big Bang’s world tour.

YG Entertainment expressed in their press release, “We are in the process of preparing the world’s best concert with the best production team to equal the anticipation of the world fans who are waiting for the first concert they will get to meet Big Bang… With the newly released album and the starting of the world tour, you will be able to confirm Big Bang’s maturity and skill.”

Image Courtesy of    http://www.flickr.com/photos/koreanet/

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Friday the 13th turned out to be Blizzard Entertainment’s lucky day. After a series of lengthy delays, the South Korean Game Rating Board has finally issued a classification for Diablo III. The game has received an “M-18″ rating, which means that its sale is restricted to those over the age of 18.

Normally, the board issues a rating within 15 days of a game’s submission. But in the case of Diablo III, board members were concerned about the proposed Real Money Auction House (RMAH). The RMAH would allow players to sell their in-game loot for cold, hard cash. This provision seemed to run afoul of South Korea’s strict restrictions on gambling.

Even before Diablo III was submitted, the Game Rating Board had issued a report arguing that selling randomly-dropped items for money was too similar to gambling, and so games incorporating that feature should be denied classification under Article 1 of the Gaming Industry Promotion Law. Since games must have a classification in order to be sold in South Korea, refusing to classify a game is essentially the same as banning it.

Despite intense media speculation that Diablo III would be denied a rating because of the RMAH, Blizzard went ahead and submitted the full game, including the RMAH feature. In a press conference held during Blizzcon 2011, Blizzard’s Chief Operating Officer, Paul Sams, denied that there would be a problem.

“Legally, we decided that there’s no issue. Therefore we plan to apply for rating including the full auction house. Of course this may change in the future, but we always want gamers around the world to play the same version of our games,” he said.

However, Blizzard’s optimism proved to be misplaced, and the Game Rating Board repeatedly delayed a final decision on Diablo III. Blizzard tried to placate the board by resubmitting the game with the ‘cashing out’ feature removed. This would have prevented players from converting the proceeds of their sales into real-world money, but the board was still uncomfortable with the game.

It wasn’t until Blizzard removed the RMAH entirely that the board finally handed down an M rating. It is possible that Blizzard may try to implement the RMAH at a later date since a different government agency would then be responsible for the decision.

There is still no official release date for Diablo III, leading some fans to wonder if the problems in South Korea weren’t delaying the game’s worldwide release. Blizzard officials have tried to nix those rumors, but their vague denials haven’t done much to dampen the speculation.

Image Courtesy of   http://eu.battle.net

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The Ministry of Health and Welfare (Minister Rim Chemin) and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (President Ko Kyung-hwa) launched a project to improve the medical service system for foreign patients. They have designated 38 tasks, including seven major issues, to minimize inconveniences for foreign medical patients.

In particular, Korea’s seven major tasks for foreign patients are: adopting a compensation system for medical injuries; easing floor-area-ratio regulations for the building and remodeling of lodging facilities in medical institutions; allowing drug dispensing in hospitals; expanding training programs at the Medical Korea Academy and permissions granted to foreign medical professionals to participate in clinical studies; increasing the cultivation of professional medical workforces; assessing foreign patient accommodation in each medical institution; and improving the visa system.

Korea is considering establishing a credit union for hospitals that treat foreign patients and providing partial support for the funds with government subsidies.

Medical Korea is reviewing the plan to ease floor-area-ratio regulations when medical institutions build or remodel lodging facilities in hospitals for foreign medical tourists and provide them with financial support or loans through a tourism promotion fund.

In addition, Korea is seeking to offer one-stop medical services to foreign patients by allowing hospitals to dispense drugs to foreigners so that foreign patients do not have to suffer inconveniences resulting from the separation of drug prescription and dispensing. Korea is also planning to expand training programs for foreign doctors and actively cultivate professional medical workforces, such as medical interpreters.

An official with the Korea Health Industry Development Institute expects that improvements in medical policies for foreign patients will contribute to the establishment of Korean medical infrastructure with world-class services, and allow Medical Korea to lay the foundation for Korea to take a leap forward with global competitiveness in Asia.

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Live Nation Entertainment announced recently it has opened a concert promotion office in Seoul, South Korea.

This marks another important step in Live Nation’s international expansion into new markets. South Korea is the 13th largest economy in the world, and the 3rd largest in the Far East, with growth of 6% in 2010. It also ranks as the 12th largest music market in the world, which is largely attributable to K-Pop, whose popularity is now spreading rapidly to other markets outside of South Korea and the Far East.

“We see great opportunity for concerts around the world and our move into South Korea represents another step in the growth of this business,” stated Michael Rapino, President and Chief Executive Officer of Live Nation Entertainment. ”Our strategy is to continue our international expansion into under penetrated regions and identify new markets to deliver our unique live experience product.”

“With a growing interest from international artists to perform in South Korea, this is a natural step for us to be able to serve artists and fans better in Korea,” said Alan Ridgeway, President of Live Nation International and Emerging Markets. ”We also have plans to work with Korean artists both in Korea and internationally to meet the expanding demand around the world for the K-Pop phenomenon.”

“Live Nation Korea will further enhance the touring opportunity for both international and local artists in the Asia region,” says Mats Brandt, President of Live Nation Far East. “Live Nation Korea will, together with our existing offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and Beijing, expand Live Nation’s network and capabilities in the region.”

Live Nation Korea will be a fully owned subsidiary of Live Nation, and will be led by Steven Kim and Yongbae Cho, who, together, have more than 20 years’ experience within both the Korean and international live music and promotion industry.

Chuwit Srisomwong / Shutterstock.com

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While most of Southeast Asia is experiencing economic growth and Westernization, one place remains a relic of a past political era responsible for the deaths of millions. The long shadow of Stalin manifests within history’s first and only patriarchal monarchy to enact the Communist Manifesto. Concentration camps dot the bleak landscape.

Ambitious highways remain empty of vehicles. Whole families are arrested, and hundreds of thousands toil in work camps as no other form of industry exists. Meanwhile, the entire country slowly starves to death. The world remains either unaware of such crimes against humanity, or is afraid of rousing North Korea’s powerful neighbor to the North, China.

No other country in the world has the same cult of personality as North Korea. Their leader, Kim Jong-il, is revered as nothing less than an omnipresent god. The Korean or ‘Forgotten War,’ of the early 1950s claimed 3 million lives and has never officially ended. The North, backed by the Communist powers of China and the USSR, fought the South, led by the Allied forces of the USA and Great Britain.

This was a ‘proxy’ war of opposing ideologies, a battleground for the world’s new superpowers to posture and display military might. North Korea has the fourth-largest standing army, and is the most militarized country in the world. A tense ceasefire remains to this day, and fire-fights occasionally burst along the 38^th parallel.

In 2009, Kim Jong-il launched missiles over Japan’s North Island, claiming he was testing new technology to launch satellites. North Korea fired upon a disputed island in 2010, sending 1,200 civilians scrambling to seek safety in bomb shelters. These are only recent provocations; there have been over thirty such incidents since the ceasefire of July 1953.

Under the rule of founding leader, Kim il-Sung, the country experienced a period of relative prosperity in the 1960s and 70s. The disintegration of a key ally, the Soviet Union, and agrarian mismanagement in the 1990s killed a million people, causing devastation and famine throughout the country. Accounts by escapees describe resorting to eating grass and boiling roots to survive.

This neglect of agricultural and commercial necessities are eerily similar to policies enacted by Stalin in the Ukraine during their massive Holodomor Genocide of the early 1930s. Collective farming and the arrest and murder of landowners led to the death of 8 million peasants as a result of the Marx-Engels manifesto.

Former leader Kim il-Sung wrote his thesis known as Juche,  a communist policy divergent from the Soviet style that is marked by an isolationist approach to all outside governments and strong North Korean nationalism. This ethos prohibits all contact with the outside world, thus very rarely is the voice of a North Korean heard.

The state-run media has no free press, and citizens are subject to ten-year work camp sentences if they are found to have tuned in to any broadcast outside the one and only state station. The few that escape and make it to the West tell of the most deplorable conditions imaginable.

Shin Dong-hyuk was born in a prison camp, tortured, and forced to watch the execution of his mother and brother after a failed escape attempt. He is now a human-rights activist, fighting for the liberation of his people. Refugees risk their life fleeing over the mountains north into China, and escape to South Korea is impossible.

A 160 mile long, 2.5 mile-wide fortified barrier keeps these two ethnically similar, yet politically opposed, countries apart. The only option is escaping into China, and eventually Mongolia where citizens can find refugee status. Many women become indentured servants or prostitutes.

China does not recognize North Koreans accordingly, and promptly return the captured back to North Korean authorities to face torture, starvation or execution. China’s actions have not gone unrecognized by the UN, which has condemned their policy.

Normally a very private dictatorship, conditions have become so dire that the regime allowed photographs of their children to be seen by the world due to a harsh winter and flooding of 2011. Analysts think this may be a last-ditch effort to garner money from the UN and South Korea, who have stopped their efforts after it was revealed that Kim Jung-il misappropriated such funds.

This October, UN undersecretary-general Valerie Amos claimed that 6 million North Koreans, particularly children, mothers and pregnant women, are at serious risk, and that wealthier countries need to put politics aside to provide aide.  ”This is about helping the people who are most in need.

It’s not about saying that this country has made a choice about spending its resources in one way rather than another. We don’t make those judgments in other countries, on humanitarian grounds. There’s no reason to begin to do it in,” Amos said, according to the AP.

Maxim Tupikov / Shutterstock.com

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