No lack of 'resolve' on the Korean Peninsula

After the deep chill of winter finally thaws, the sure sign that spring has sprung comes when Korea's famous cherry blossom starts to appear.  Trees bloom in a wave which rolls up the country from south to north, city by city, over a period of about 2 weeks. 

Cherry Blossom : winter finally over

This is not only a sure sign that March is upon us, but perhaps more ominously that the marching season has also returned. With tedious inevitability the North Korean govt is preparing another round of huge military parades to be staged in Pyongyang. April 15th marks the 105th birthday of Kim Il-Sung, founder of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), or perhaps more meaningfully, the start of the Kim dynasty's rise to power. Meanwhile April 25th marks the 85th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/north-korea-hints-massive-military-parade-mark-two-big-anniversaries-amid-nuclear-threats-1615074

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/16/north-korea-kim-jong-il-birthday

Pyongyang's parades feature vast formations of people, arguably surpassing any US presidential inaugurations - and with nobody daring to dispute the official figures given to the media.

If past events are anything to go by, this is when Kim Jong-Un, the salad-dodging sabre-rattler with delusions of deity, will show the world the size of his weapons. Meanwhile intelligence analysts will use the same opportunity to comb through every pixel to see if the missiles on display are The Real Thing or just convincing cardboard models. If they are real, then what could be their likely range and payload capacity ?

"My hands are clean !"

"My hands are clean !" - obviously Kim Jong-Un's answer to awkward questions about February's assassination of his half brother Kim Jong-Nam with nerve agent VX in Kuala Lumpur airport. This conveniently eliminated any rivalry to the title of Super Supreme Leader, a post held by Kim Jong-Un since late 2011. At the same time, this incident confirmed that as well as wielding absolute power at home, feisty young Kim has a long reach and will not let his guard down, or indeed his hair down, with respect to adversaries at home or abroad. 

Simmer down
The last year saw simmering North-South tensions rise close to boiling point on several occasions with each short-sighted judgment by one side being compounded by another by the other side. Contributing factors (in no specific order) include;

• South Korea's (newly indicted, former) president Park abruptly curtailing all regular dialogue with counterparts in the north. Euphemistically this technique was described as; '...taking a tough line with the leadership in Pyongyang...'

• North Korea's resumption of processing nuclear fuel
  http://m.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20160817001026&ntn=0
  
  
• NK openly broadcasting code decryption numbers to secret agents stationed in South Korea
  http://m.koreatimes.co.kr/phone/news/view.jsp?req_newsidx=215656

• NK hacking SK's cyber military command centre
  http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-38219009

• NK's 5th nuclear detonation in January 2016 - claimed to be its first hydrogen bomb

• NK's 6th nuclear detonation in September 2016 - claimed to be its first nuclear payload which can be delivered by ballistic missile.

• NK's mostly successful launches of short and medium range ballistic missiles in February, March and April 2017

• SK's annual joint military exercises with the US in March 2017 under the guise of the Combined Forces Command to test battle readiness.

War Games

The annual Foal Eagle exercises of the Combined Forces Command
Jeux sans frontiers - "Whistling tunes we hide in the dunes at the seaside "

North Korea's often-cited justification for its nuclear weapons program is the need to be able to stave off an invasion by 'US imperialist forces and their allies' (= South Korea, Japan). NK claims that the evidence for this malicious intent is clear from the south's annual Foal Eagle joint military exercises. These were last held in March 2017 and typically involve 300,000 South Korean combat soldiers coordinating with a further 17,000 US troops to rehearse tactics and manoeuvres to repel an invasion by North Korea.  So while the south annually holds one of the world's largest military rehearsals to show its 'resolve' to deter aggression, the north develops weapons of mass destruction to, er, show its 'resolve' to deter aggression.

Kung Fu Panda
2016 saw the waters muddied further with proposals to install a US-supplied high-altitude missile-interception system (THAAD) in South Korea to destroy missiles fired by North Korea .  

THAAD: officially 'Terminal High Altitude Area Defence
Promoted as a gentlemen's missile interception system

This proposal soon pricked up the ears of the mighty Chinese Panda, which traditionally prefers to snooze through the tiffs and spats of other nations. Rightly or wrongly China believes that the THAAD radar system can see deep into Chinese territory and monitor China's own military operations. This is strongly denied by the US but China seems very certain of its information, suggesting that China may know more details about THAAD than the US thinks China knows.

In any event, the THAAD debacle has spurred the mighty Chinese Panda to demonstrate a little 'resolve' of its own, with a quietly understated reminder to Seoul just how much the South Korean economy depends on Chinese good will. Seoul's decision to accept THAAD was met with an immediate boycott of Korean stores in mainland China, with South Korea's Lotte department stores being forced to close almost all branches due to lack of custom. Simultaneously Chinese tour groups canceled visits to South Korea en mass while Chinese cruise ships decided to either bypass Korean ports or else the Chinese tourists simply declined to disembark after dropping anchor.        

http://shanghaiist.com/2017/03/13/chinese_tourists_refuse_jeju.php

The Chinese cruise ship Costa Serena docked in South Korea's holiday hot spot Jeju Island.
3,400 Chinese passengers on board, not one of which disembarked.
Lesson to South Korean govt: - don't poke The Panda 

What the Korean peninsula requires right now is a finely crafted mix of diplomacy, intelligence, experience and foresight. 
What is coming is an armada.

Polite Society

Many years ago I was casually breezing through the cool airconditioned comfort of a shiny new shopping mall, taking shelter from the punishing midday heat outside. My aimless wandering came to a breathless halt by the front window of a Guess fashion store. This was filled with a towering photo in which Laetitia Casta sultrily modeled the latest range of barely-there swimwear in palpitating high definition. By any measure, it was a stunning photo. The partner on my arm was equally impressed, exclaiming enviously;
"I want THAT body", to which I absent-mindedly and evidently too-longingly replied;
"Oh yeah ... me too !".

I learned very quickly, that this was not only impolite, it was perhaps the Hiroshima of all faux-pas.

Guess who ?
Some mistakes you only make once in life. 

Seasoned globetrotters soon learn that politeness is as much about expectation as it is about good behavior. What passes for basic manners in one country may not be given a moment's thought in others.  Everyday examples such as holding the door for the person behind you, covering your mouth when sneezing or indeed closing your mouth while eating so your rapacious chomping cannot be heard on the next table are not universal standards which are observed in every country. 

An old incident on the Seoul subway illustrates how confusing this can become when additional factors such as seniority and foreign status are added to the mix. One day a dashing young playboy from Perth was offered a seat on the subway by a frail old Korean gent. The veteran was at least twice the age of the playboy but was eager to demonstrate Korean politeness to foreigners. The playboy politely declined the seat; after all how could he indispose the generous older gent ? The gent offered again, the playboy declined again. By this stage the rebuff of the senior's kindness in front of his countrymen was becoming more impolite than a youth taking the seat of an old man - a subtle point lost on the foreigner. With a lightning-fast martial arts manoeuvre, the wizened old man recovered the situation by grasping the Aussie's wrist and spinning him round into the seat, then bowing deeply, smiling serenely and thanking the Aussie for accepting the seat. Korean politeness was demonstrated and the veteran's honour was preserved for everyone to see.

Handshaking
Back in 2013 Bill Gates was rightly or wrongly lambasted in the Korean media for not knowing how to shake hands correctly with the President of Korea

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/bill-gates/10011847/Bill-Gates-disrespects-South-Korean-president-with-casual-handshake.html

President Guen-Hye Park meets Bill Gates
Handshaking in Korea is done with both hands and certainly NEVER with one hand in the pocket

Handshaking: how it should be done

Bowing
Naturally there are several degrees of bowing, depending on the circumstances.

Bowing Basics

Here is a light-hearted explanation on which to do and when:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJLrEzpzpYA



Apologising
Of course bowing reaches its apogee in The Apology, for example when 3 banks fail to prevent the theft of bank account numbers, addresses, phone numbers, passport numbers, and credit ratings of approximately 20 million customers (just under half the population), including public figures and celebrities, then nothing short of deep and protracted bowing is required.

January 2014:
CEOs of 3 national banks apologise and resign over thefts of credit card details

http://www.businesskorea.co.kr/english/news/money/3007-information-insecurity-public-apology-en-masse-resignations-korean-bank-ceos


So if there is such a thing as a standard for politeness then for those forms of politeness which are observed in Korea, then Koreans certainly achieve the gold standard. Don't despair if you hold the door open for the person behind you but they never hold it in turn for the person behind them. Quite simply this protocol is not recognised as good manners. 

However when somebody gives you something in Korea, they will always pass it to you with both hands, to show politeness, not one hand which is rude.  When your glass is empty, it will always be filled by the person next to you before you even ask.  You will never have to fill your glass yourself.  

PSY and Snoop Dogg in the video promo to 'Hangover'
PSY refills SD's glass for him, with left hand covering the chest in formal respect 

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkMNOlYcpHg

"The future is bright, the future is Orange"

Soaps and the Soon-Sil Choi scandal

Those who can peer back through the fog to 1977 may remember 007's first Lotus springing a leak underwater ?  If not then maybe the first re-appearance of flared trousers since the heady days of Woodstock ? Or perhaps the rash of ill-judged but mercifully short-lived moustaches which suddenly appeared on many of our famous film stars (the men mostly) ? And flipping the bird to the decade's insatiable appetite for dismal soaps came an irreverent US parody running for only 4 seasons. Called simply 'Soap', this took the almost obligatory premise of two feuding families (the Tates and the Campbells) and threw them headlong into the most infeasible weekly scenarios with not even a cursory reality check to rein in the nonsense. It's goal was to become the soap to end all soaps, with storylines which simply could not be surpassed, even by the most chemically enhanced writers.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyeNd2HS0RY

[Sisters Jessica and Mary thumbing through a photo album]

Jessica Gatling Tate: Look, Mary.

Mary Gatling Dallas Campbell: Randolph.

Jessica Gatling Tate: That's right. Our brother. Our brother who fathered an illegitimate child with a Swedish maid and then disappeared into the wilds of Ecuador. Don't you find that a little peculiar?

Mary Gatling Dallas Campbell: Jessie, Randolph was peculiar. Any man who would go to Ecuador to sell wall-to-wall carpet is not all there.

40 years later on the Far Side of the Pacific Ocean, South Korea has mashed the wildest plots of regular soaps with almost every other genre of fiction to create hybrid-fantasy-super-soaps. Well worn themes of mortal enemies becoming lovers, rags to riches, princes and paupers, cinderellas or cinderfellas, surprise siblings, conniving concubines, etc, etc have been augmented by inexplicable identity losses or amnesia, time travel, falling in love with aliens, transgender romances and even a few bromances. 

One would imagine that this heady cocktail of Extreme Soap would render the nation immune to anything that real life could actually have to offer. However in a little over 10 days, starting late this October, the entire nation has imploded in a total frenzy over allegations of a relatively down-to-earth, real life cronyism scandal centred on the incumbent President (Ms) Guen-Hye Park  and the alleged inappropriate influences claimed to be exerted over her by her life-long confidante Ms Soon-Sil Choi  and indeed the whole Choi family. 

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20161104000723

Nov 4th 2016: Penitence; President Guen-Hye Park's 2nd apology to the nation in 10 days. 

As a person with no official role in govt or politics, Ms Choi allegedly;

• controlled organisations in Korea and Germany into which conglomerates (all the usual household names) were coerced to donate millions of dollars
• reviewed govt speeches as they were drafted
• bypassed govt security, having unfettered access to govt buildings and staff
• had access to govt documents relating to national security and foreign affairs
• influenced the appointment of senior govt officials
• etc, etc

Further allegations sensationally claim that Ms Choi's daughter, Ms Yoo-Ra Chung ;

• was unfairly admitted to the country's most prestigious women's university
• university officials favourably graded Ms Choi's daughter despite poor attendance and submitting substandard assignments 

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2016/10/116_217190.html

Ms Chung undoubtedly gained few friends by issuing a poorly judged comment on social media as follows;
"If you are not rich, blame your parents.  Money is competency".

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/common/vpage-pt.asp?categorycode=116&newsidx=217391

A humiliating retraction may be in order if the parental 'competency' to which Ms Chung refers is shown to be graft and extortion.  Only time will tell.

Handfuls of officials caught up these allegations have been either arrested, are resigning in panic or simply giving themselves up to police on a daily basis to offer all they know and clean themselves of the stigma of the whole affair. 

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20161104000780

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20161106000002

The nation watched bewildered as even the Gangnam Style pop icon Psy was forced to deny ever having met anyone in the Choi family.

http://kpopherald.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=201611041518018361786_2

Psy: "Oppo Not me Bro"

Evidently no loss of perspective there then !

Media outlets continue to scramble over each other like kittens chasing a laser pointer, speculating on the motivation of witnesses, the validity of confiscated evidence, what govt secrets were on Choi's computer, who will run the country while the President submits to judicial investigation, etc, etc. Meanwhile citizens traveled to Seoul from all over the country to protest at the president's refusal to resign, only to concede to an judicial investigation.

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20161105000099

The truth is that the president's closeness to the Choi's family has been recognised for the best part of 40 years.  In keeping with the best Korean Extreme Soaps there are stories that Choi's father was a shaman cult leader who held a Rasputin-like influence over the president's "body and soul" since she was in her twenties.  There are suggestions of everything short of mind control of the president. In 2007 the US Embassy in Seoul warned the State Department in Washington of the potential risks of the Choi family influence should Park ever come to power.  It is after all the function of the intelligence gathering agencies to distinguish the puppets from the puppeteers in all levels of business, government and religion worldwide.  

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2016/10/28/2016102801342.html

Curiously almost nothing is discussed about the actual timing of these revelations. Countless people 'in the know' have been well aware about this situation for decades, so it is interesting that the truth is finally being revealed to the great unwashed at this particular moment. A keen mind would wonder which events are being quietly completed behind the scenes while the nation engorges itself on these revelations.  Or perhaps; which events are the revelations designed to derail ?  

In all probability, casting aside all the hybrid-fantasy-super-soap elements with which the Koreans like to embellish their daily lives, this scandal most likely boils down to yet another example of simple graft and corruption.  Most of Korea's previous presidents (and many of their family members) were brought down by similar charges in the final years of their presidential terms.  

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20161104000495

Korean prisons are fitted with revolving doors to accommodate the constant flow of conglomerate leaders, govt officials and judiciary who are first jailed for corruption on vast scales or decades-long tax evasion and then miraculously shown clemency, receiving presidential pardons after 'finding God' or expressing deep personal remorse. 

Clearly the Park/Choi allegations implicate the very top of government, but one would be naive to think that the highest echelon of power works any different from all the other levels below. It is well ingrained in the working places of normal people that the wife of a departmental manager can summon the wives of his team to come and pay tribute with gifts or luxury services on the occasion of her birthday or that of her children.  Any wife whose tribute does not find favour with the manager's wife can rapidly precipitate the downfall of the team member in that department.  Against this regular daily background, why should it be surprising that the nation's top conglomerates pay tribute to companies set up on paper by friends of top politicians ? And comparing these two extremes; which is really the greater crime and which should really command the loudest outrage ?  

http://www.koreaexpose.com/voices/choi-soon-sil-gate-sad-political-drama/