Apr 09
By Iwazaru
According to developing reports, the man, Wu Yuanchun, 42, an ethnic Korean from China, was on his way home from a store when the 28-year-old woman bumped into him. He responded by threatening her life and forcing her back to his home where he intended to rape her. Reports say that when he entered the bathroom, the woman locked the door of the room she was in and called the police number, 112. Initially, according to the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency–and this article in the JoongAng Daily–the call only lasted a minute and 50 seconds during which the woman provided information about her location and, reportedly, allowed for GPS tracking. Yet the police did not locate the scene until 13 hours later at which time they found Wu cutting the woman’s body into pieces. One report cites the mortician:
“A forensic expert who conducted an autopsy on the woman described the condition of her body as ‘too horrific for words.’ The National Forensic Service received 14 plastic bags filled with altogether 280 body parts. ‘He butchered her,’ the official added.”
Apr 09
By Lee Scott
As many of you may know, a major election is coming up on Wednesday, April 11. Not only is it a day off for many of us, the election itself is something that the often-times frenetic campaigning makes us aware of even if we don’t care about the vote. How does Korean style election campaigning differ from the style you are accustomed to in your own home country? What do you think of the early-morning speaker trucks blaring music and campaign slogans in your neighborhoods, or the mobile stages parked at major intersections with rival candidates’ platforms being presented simultaneously, often accompanied by middle-aged (and sometimes older) ladies, decked out in their candidate’s colors and doing “that dance” that they all seem to know? How about those same women parading around the sidewalks in packs?
Apr 02
By 3WM Consultants
Type ‘Doing Business in South Korea’ into a search engine and you are hit with an avalanche of largely the same responses. There are pages upon pages of ‘Must do’ lists of ten to fifteen points, or private business consultancy firms willing to set you up in your chosen field on your behalf, offering a wealth of knowledge in exchange for a wealth of cash. The ‘Must do’s’ invariably and repeatedly revolve around informing the reader that Korea has long been a Confucian-based structure and that elements like age, respect and adhering to one’s superiors are the way forward. The consultancy firms will inform you that the market can be hard to penetrate, but sure enough they know and have the how-to.
Then there can be found entries into wide elaboration on social customs all about how to pour a drink and the kind of subjects to talk about.
Whilst you can find both books and websites that explain an ‘Understanding of a country’s business’, ‘information about business culture… to help you interact more effectively’, ‘Social Culture training courses’, and a ‘guide to… key aspects of undertaking business’, the advice, as previously mentioned appears to be largely the same thing on repeat.
Mar 12
Toon by Lee Scott, words by Iwazaru
Does justice ever come? The scores of expats scammed out of bundles of cash by crooked travel agent Kang Wan-koo have been asking this question for months and months, some longer, and with the beginning of his trial scheduled for 10:40 a.m. on Tuesday, March 13, the question is as relevant and weighted as ever.
What justice will be served by the Seoul Eastern District Court to the repeat and relentless criminal Kang who when put out of business last fall and prohibited from doing further deals, relocated, reloaded and continued to scam unsuspecting travelers out of their money? Even as he sits in jail his scam continued to play out as one traveler explained on March 7: “wow not sure how i missed all this with all the press this guy received – i showed up at the airport feb 29th was first in line for a flight i wasn’t booked for (bad news) ~ did however get a ticket from one of the agents on site and did get home (good news).”
Mar 12
By Marie Kulik
Walking the streets of Seoul, most people have had the experience of someone stepping in their path or stopping abruptly in front of them to fuck around with their iPod, or just plain walking straight into you for no reason other than the fact that the idiot in question isn’t looking where they’re off to.
Ever driven in Seoul? Not Korea. Seoul. Specifically, Gangnam.
For those outside of Seoul or Korea itself, Gangnam is the ritzy part of Seoul literally south (nam in Korean) of the Han river (gang). It is where the majority of the rich reside in the city and it is usually referred to in statistics relating to wealth and the affluent in Seoul. It is a good place to get a feeling for the superficial class system that exists on the roads of Korea.
Feb 20
By Lee Scott
When we arrived at the police station, the minivan’s owner had gone out to have dinner. They called him and asked him to come back as soon as he could. When he came in, I was a little disappointed that I didn’t recognize him. He was the owner of the vehicle but not the driver. The minivan was used for his business (Chinese imports). When I found out he could speak Mandarin, he and I were able to converse much more freely (I speak Mandarin much better than Korean). He was telling me a little about his business and kept apologizing over and over for the situation. I told him that of course he needn’t apologize since he hadn’t been driving, nor had he even known that his employees were mis-using his vehicle. One of the other police sergeants in the office scolded him about the siren and PA system. Apparently he had the appropriate permits for both, but the two young men who were the culprits had been mis-using them as well. “Make sure it doesn’t happen again,” the cop told the man.
Feb 20
By Achilles
“I don’t like teaching English!” said “Sally” to the class. “Matt” said the same. And then “Lisa.” And so it continued for an entire week.
Korean middle and high school English teachers from the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) might be the most miserable people on the peninsula.
The big news for expats recently is the forthcoming move to cut hundreds of native English teachers from secondary schools here in Seoul. SMOE officials have cited budgetary issues coupled with “research” “showing” that having a native English teacher does little to improve English language skills in secondary students, as reasons for the shift in policy.
Feb 13
By Mizaru
In the basement of the apartment building I lived in is the Police Bar. My room was above it out of earshot; a 5th floor walk up to a small room of cubist angles and a skylight. TV and cable were provided and a shared public bathroom cleaned for real every morning by a Chinese woman from Szechwan who for whatever reason didn’t mind fishing used condoms out of the toilet. At three-hundred bucks a month and an around the clock bowl of rice available how could it be better?
The first few nights and for some months to come Sinchon had a helter-skelter pace to run in and the neon dreamscape of a modern Kubla Kahn to be seen in.
I’m back in again and the only thing that seems new to the neighborhood now is a quirky comic bookstore off the main road that has transfigured itself into a “Purple hair redux” boutique. And contrary to a rumor, the Police Bar has not closed. The Japanese students that I used to cohabit the building with still drop down to it at around 12 a.m. and then the Police Bar has to stay open till the sun comes up. This is still part of that Sinchon de-rigor—as long as there are customers keep the place open, almost every place open, and let them revel on the streets in the smells of the crackling pork and bubbles of far-reaching perfume.
Feb 13
By Lee Scott
It was a little after midnight when we heard a loud police siren coming. A black minivan came tearing down the street, headed to where we were standing near the kebab truck. The driver was veering toward crowds of people in the pedestrian street and blasting the van’s police siren. We couldn’t understand why the van had a siren or what they were doing. The driver slammed on the brakes right in front of a crowd of young men and women who scattered in a panic. All the while the guy in the passenger seat of the minivan was laughing and shouting imprecations at the pedestrians over a P.A. built into the siren system.
Jan 16
By Iwazaru
If you’re planning on travelling this winter pay very close attention to whom that travel agent is claiming to be able to get you “Real Cheap Travel.” The clues will be rather obvious: he goes by the name Wystan Kang or Joseph Kim; he works for Zenith Travel or Expert Travel; he promises he has a great fare lined up for you to Palau, Hanoi, Bangkok, Fukuoka…anywhere; you need to wire the amount to his bank account before you can get the ticket; days start to pass and he’s not getting back to you; The ticket may have some trouble, he tells you (or maybe he doesn’t and you end up at the airport where you’re informed the ticket has been cancelled); he can’t return your money; he’s very sorry.
This is the story that dozens of expats have to tell stretching back many months. Yet there had been a hint of justice in Ocober of 2011 when Wan-koo Kang (aka Wystan, aka Joseph Kim) was arrested, had his business license suspended by the Seocho District Office and the doors of Zenith Travel were closed. The case then went from the Seoul Metro Police Agency’s International Crime Investigation Department to the East Branch of the Seoul District Prosecutors’ Office where it is ongoing now. Reportedly, Kang was taken before a court after his arrest where the judges determined that he would be released without detention while the case proceeded.
Jan 16
By Seon-Myung Yoo
At 10 p.m., when Jin-Pyo gets up to leave, his older sisters see him out to the door, bombarding him with advices on how to find his way back home. He vigorously explains to them that his smart phone has a navigation application and that there is no need to worry. The mass of harsh intonation of Kyeongsang dialect move out the door to where his car is parked. Then, after the car has driven away, the mass of the sound rolls back into the house as the sisters bring out the special board with blades embedded to cut the radishes in thin strips for the peppered spice to go into the cabbages.
Jan 12
By Iwazaru
With the reported arrest of “Wystan” Wan-koo Kang in October, many thought that justice had been served. Zenith Travel had its doors shut and Kang was to face prosecution for scamming dozens of foreigners out of more than an estimated 100 million won. So why is he still conducting deals and scamming more foreigners?
Within days of Kang’s arrest in the second week of October, those involved with the case reported that Kang was continuing to arrange travel plans for people. One by one people connected with the “Case against Wystan Kang” Facebook group reported that they’d been scammed. On October 17, one individual wrote:
“Thank you very much for organizing this group and I am sorry for your losses. I have used Kang for years and just recently sent him money for a ticket. I was unaware of all the recent negative press. Strangely, someone sent me a confirmation for my ticket on Friday. However, when I called the airline it of course had not been paid for. I am assuming my money and ticket are gone. Do you have any idea who would still be responding to emails? Should I fill in a report with a police station? Any info you have would be greatly appreciated.”
Recent Comments