The war that has never truly ended
Most people know about the Korean War of 1950-53, but a lot fewer of them are likely to know that the war is still technically ongoing, 65 years later. The reason for this is that the war did not end
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Park Joo-min is a former human rights lawyer who was known for representing the most disadvantaged in society. Most famous of these was his representation of the bereaved families of the victims of the horrific Sewol ferry disaster in April 2014, seeking to uncover the truth behind what led to the disaster, and what many saw as a botching of rescue efforts by the government. During this time, Park realized the limitations he faced in finding the truth, and so future president Moon Jae-in pursuaded him to enter the political world. Park ran in the 2016 general elections as a member of Moon’s Democratic Party and the rest is history. Park’s run for office made his position as one of the most beloved politicians in Korea extremely clear, as he received the most campaign donations of any other member of the National Assembly, an incredible 348 million won (~$322,500) from about 2960 people in only two days. He even released a video explaining precisely why he needed the money, where it was
A welfare center helping single mothers and their children to become economically and socially independent has recently become the center of a ‘donation battle’ by players of online game ‘Soul Worker’. Throughout the whole of last year, the center received 2.42 million won in donations, yet after just 4 months into 2018, donations have reached 58 million won (~$54,256). It all began when a ‘Soul Worker' fan sent a box of oranges to the offices of the game’s developer Smilegate as way of thanks. After they posted about it online, other fans also began to send gifts to the offices. Overwhelmed by the gifts, Smilegate announced they had donated them all to the aforementioned welfare center. Not to be beaten in generosity, players began donating directly to the welfare center, quickly reaching 700,000 won, before skyrocketing to 20 million won just three days later.
A recent ‘water rage’ incident involving the executive director (and daughter of the Chairman) of Korean Air,, Cho Hyun-min, mistreating an employee of an advertising agency by throwing a glass of water at them during a business meeting has brought ‘Gapjil’ back to the forefront of national conversation. Gapjil is a Korean word referring to the arrogant and authoritarian attitude of people holding positions of power over others. It is a combination of the words Gap (갑; 甲), originated from the word meaning Buyer or Employeer in a legal contract, and -jil (-질), a suffix referring negatively to particular actions. In Korea, where society and work culture in particular are very hierarchical, there has been a growing phenomenon of the elites benefiting from the country’s booming economy escaping punishment for poor behavior. Cho’s sister, Cho Hyun-ah, also made headlines back in 2014 after her own ‘nut rage’ incident directed at a flight attendant over the way they served her nuts.
During the next month, South Korean telecommunications giant KT will be holding a literary competition exclusively for AI (Artificial Intelligence). The competition is open to any individual or company developing an AI, and they will be given a specific algorithm which the AI will follow along with any collected data they may have to write write a novel. The first round of judging will evaluate the literary value of the novel itself, with the second consisting of interviews with AI specialists. The Grand Winner will receive 30 million won (~$28,200), with 20 million won each going to two runner-ups and another 5 million won each to six more. Once the competition is concluded, KT will be publishing the produced works online for a month for the public to check out themselves.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in recently visited Kyeongdong Elementary School in Seoul to spend a day talking to day-care teachers concerning new social care policies, as well as sharing tasty snacks with the small children. As far as many were concerned, the simple story ended there without incident, until a broadcast by The Blue House LIVE where administrative official Kim Sun-myeon shared a story the president had bragged about concerning his visit. According to Kim, the president shared a story about how one of the small elementary school girls sitting next to him began digging deep into her pockets. Turning to the president, she regrettably told him “This is all I have”, and promptly handed him a single 100 won coin, worth no more than 10 cents. Korean netizens quickly fell in love with the story, with many joking about whether or not the gift may fall under Anti-Graft Laws passed in 2015 to combat bribery of politicians and public officials.
For the past four years, a mystery donor has been leaving large amounts of money outside the Wonju Fire Station. The latest, a generous 4.59 million won (~$4,200) came in a box covered with kind comments like “Thank you firefighters, as always. Be careful not to catch a cold.” This comes on top of 2.9 million won (~$2,700) received in 2015, 4.2 million won (~$3,900) in 2016, and 3.4 million won (~$3,200) in 2017. Along with the money other gifts such as warm bread were also often included. Keen to find out who their mysterious benefactor was, the firefighters finally discovered their identity as a hard-working street vendor. Offered a commemorative plaque and tour around the fire department in way of thanks for her generosity, she respectfully declined, refusing even to have her name made public in connection to her good deeds. All she asked for is that the money be used to enrich the welfare of the firefighters and their families, which a spokesperson for the fire station promised the
