It will be interesting to see what Robert Park has to say in the coming days, but for someone just released from North Korea he sure looks quite grim:

n American missionary who strode illegally into North Korea on Christmas Day and was detained there for 43 days was welcomed back to the United States on Saturday evening in an emotional reunion with family members at the Los Angeles International Airport.

Robert Park was greeted by his parents and brother in a private location at the airport after arriving on a commercial flight from Beijing. Earlier Saturday, the 28-year-old Korean-American from Tucson, Arizona, flew to the Chinese capital from Pyongyang. The family stopped briefly for reporters as they left the airport in their car. A thin and pale Park said nothing and kept his eyes downcast while his brother, Paul Park, told reporters that his brother was in good condition.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

Here is an update on the North Korean arms shipment that was detained in Thailand:

Nearly two months after the seizure here of a charter plane carrying 35 tons of weapons shipped from North Korea, the mystery remains as to where the rockets and other armaments were headed.

Iran, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates were reportedly listed on the flight plan; the former Soviet republic of Georgia was cited as the charter company’s operations base; and the captain has said that Kiev, Ukraine, was the destination.

This week, Iran denied that it was the intended recipient, according to wire reports, arguing that it had no need for the weaponry because it has its own arms industry, which makes rockets, tanks, jet fighters, light submarines and missiles.

Predictably, North Korea is not talking.

The crew of the Russian-made aircraft, four citizens of Kazakhstan and one of Belarus, remains in detention on illegal arms possession charges awaiting a decision by Thailand’s attorney general on whether to seek a trial.

Meanwhile, some in the Thai government are getting antsy.

Not only is the case mysterious, it is getting costly, government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said Wednesday.

“The air force and the airport are telling us they’re going to bill us very soon,” he said.

“We told them, ‘Can you delay the billing?’ ”

Among the government’s costs are those for guarding and storing the weapons, as well as maintaining the impounded Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane.

There’s also the likely multimillion-dollar cost of disabling and disposing of the weapons in keeping with United Nations guidelines, he added.

“It gets quite expensive,” Panitan said.  [LA Times]

If it is so expensive than why not just sell the aircraft to help cover the costs?  That would teach these companies that play the arms smuggling game that they risk losing their aircraft if caught.

Anyway this is what I found interesting:

Although many in the government say it is important that Thailand follow these international rules, others have expressed concern that taking a hard line risks the wrath of North Korea, which has reacted aggressively when it felt slighted or threatened.

It is extremely unlikely North Korea is going to commit any act of terrorism inside of Thailand and it almost seems like Thailand is just trying to find some excuse to make this incident go away.

Marriage house for GI's in Korea, 1968

Via Neil Mishalov.

The hit Korean movie The Chaser was one that I haven’t seen yet and it was recommended by some readers after listing my Top 10 Korean Movies of the Decade list.  So I decided to go ahead and check the movie out.

The Chaser is directed by Na Hong-jin who I haven’t heard of before and when I looked him up he does have a small resume.  However, despite the light resume the movie was actually pretty good.

Na Hong-jin

The movie stars Kim Yun-seok as Jung-ho who is a down on his luck pimp who used to be a police detective.  When his prostitutes start going missing he launches his own investigation to find out what is going on.  The serial killer named Young-min acted by Ha Jung-woo actually makes his identity known very early in the movie.  So there is no mystery on who the serial killer is like the movie Memory of Murder; the theme of this movie is the chase to catch him before he kills again, thus the title of the movie The Chaser.

Kim Yun-seok

Along the way Jung-ho’s efforts to catch the killer continue to be hampered by the bumbling police.  Something else that may turn viewers off is the extreme level of violence, which doesn’t reach the level of Old Boy, but still pretty bad.  The movie of course ends with the final showdown between the pimp and the killer, but will the person chasing the killer catch him in time before he kills again?  You will have to watch the movie to find out.

Like I said before this was a pretty good movie, but after seeing it I would not add it to my list of the Top 10 Korean Movies of the Decade.  This movie was definitely influenced by Old Boy and other Park Chan-wook films, which really takes away from its originality.  Nevertheless still a good flick worth renting some weekend and checking out.  Just make sure no one squeamish is watching with you.

For those of you that teach English in Korea it appears that your ability to conduct private tutoring legally is at least being discussed:

An immigration officer indicated that the government may consider revising the current regulations to allow foreigners to tutor legally for money.

“We understand that the efficacy of the law banning private tutoring for foreigners is questionable as we don’t have sufficient manpower to root out the illegality.

“However, this doesn’t mean foreigners are allowed to breach the regulations,” Kim Jeong-do, an immigration officer told The Korea Times.

He added that foreigners are informed that they are only permitted to work at the workplaces designated by their visas, so not being aware of the illegality of private tutoring should not be an excuse.

“In Japan, they don’t restrict the workplaces of foreign nationals. If calls demanding that the restrictions should be lifted grow, we may consider it, but we don’t have any immediate plans to do so now,” he said.

The Korea Immigration Service has maintained that foreigners should not engage in any other activities beyond those their visa status permits.  [Korea Times]

Read the rest but according to the article the government is looking at legalizing private English tutoring and then taxing it.  Also according to the article people teaching these private English lessons can make 50,000 to 70,000 won an hour.  Do you guys really get paid that much for private tutoring?

This shouldn’t come as any huge shock to anyone:

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday said American ground forces may be unable to arrive in South Korea in time for an emergency in North Korea. Gates was speaking at the House Armed Services Committee when asked when U.S. ground forces could be fully ready for another battle in case of an emergency in North Korea following the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq and deployment of forces to Afghanistan.

Gates told the committee that under present circumstances, U.S. ground troops would not be able to arrive in South Korea on the timeline required by the Korea-U.S. contingency plan. “It’s just that they wouldn’t get there as quickly because of the commitments that we have in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Gates said. “That’s not to say they wouldn’t get there.” He added that the U.S. would instead be dependent on the Navy and Air Force before ground troops arrive.  [Chosun Ilbo]

This is actually a good thing because as I have been saying for years, the ROK Army is strong enough to defend the peninsula itself with the assistance of US Naval and Air Force assets.  Plus IMO the US shouldn’t be committing hundreds of thousands of soldiers to occupy North Korea for a variety of reasons I have listed before.

Here is some more news on the juicy girl front:

Base officials Friday slapped an off-limits ban on four off-base “juicy bars” they say allowed U.S. servicemembers to pay to take bar girls off the premises, an activity known as bar fining.

The same four clubs — Stardust, Sting, Golden Gate and UN — were among eight put off-limits by Osan in late 2008 and early 2009, also for bar fining. The four are in the Shinjang Mall commercial district — a tightly clustered warren of bars, restaurants and small shops — that lies just outside Osan’s main gate, in the Songtan section of Pyeongtaek.

Bar fining is typically associated with prostitution and human trafficking. When they are contracted to bars, however, the Filipinas are given juice sales quotas they must meet, and if they fail many are often forced to prostitute themselves to pay a bar fine to their employer to make up the difference.  [Stars & Stripes]

I just found this passage in the article humorous that

First Lt. Chris Hoyler, a spokesman for the 51st Fighter Wing at Osan, said that while the latest case is pending he could not disclose further specifics, including whether the bar fining had involved sexual activity.

He said one airman confessed to bar fining, and several other airmen told investigators the clubs in question “encouraged and profited” from the practice.

Juicy bar owners encouraging and profiting from prostitution???  I am shocked I tell you!

Here is more on the Korean juicy girl issue:

U.S. Army officials told Camp Casey-area bar owners Thursday that prostitution and human trafficking continue to be problems here, with two local establishments recently put off limits to servicemembers.

In addition, Area I representatives warned that serious gang-related issues could occur if bar owners don’t do a better job of controlling the size of the crowds and the music that is played in their clubs.

“There have been no serious incidents yet, but the potential is there,” said Watson Wallace Jr., Area I civilian misconduct action specialist. “It’s going to happen.”

About 25 members of the Korea Special Tourist Association attended Thursday’s quarterly meeting in Dongducheon with Area I military officials to discuss ongoing concerns. The association is made up primarily of owners of “juicy bars” in The Ville, an entertainment district near the front gate of Camp Casey.

Before the meeting started, the KSTA — through Army officials — directed that a Stars and Stripes reporter be barred from covering the event.

The association dropped its request at the suggestion of Area I officials after the reporter refused to leave, and Army officials said they were not going to escort him from the meeting hall.  [Stars & Stripes]

First of all, there is actually a full time job for a civilian misconduct action specialist???

Anyway I’m glad the S&S reporter was not forced to leave.  I can bet the juicy bar owners have no love for the S&S due to the many articles they have written lately focusing attention on the juicy girl issue.  All this attention has caused the Philippine government to enforce tougher visa conditions for women to work in the juicy bars, which ultimately effects the club owners bottom line.

What the Stars & Stripes reporter should ask USFK is that if the command is so concerned about human trafficking than how come bars that employ third country nationals are not put off limits?

Accusations of racial discrimination are being thrown around Down Under due to a politician having a Korean wife:

A RACE row has erupted at a Melbourne council with a former Greens candidate accused of telling a fellow councillor not to vote on “Asian matters” because he has a Korean wife.

Manningham Cr Ivan Reid accused Cr David Ellis of telling him to butt out of Asian issues that arise on the council.

The council’s first public meeting of the year was last week rocked by the allegation, which has been verified by Manningham Mayor Charles Pick, but angrily denied by Cr Ellis.

Cr Reid told the council meeting Cr Ellis had a “hidden cultural agenda” over the proposed expansion of an all-Chinese nursing home in Donvale.

“He stated that I should abstain from Asian issues because my wife is Asian,” Cr Reid told the meeting.  (…………..)

“He started saying that because my wife is a Korean I should declare a conflict of interest in any Asian matters and not get involved in any Asian matters,” he said. “I was shocked. I think there might be an ethnic angle he’s got and I think people can draw their own conclusions.”

Cr Pick said: “I can’t deny that it happened, but we’re committed to moving forward.  [Herald-Sun]

I guess people married to white women shouldn’t be involved with anything dealing with white people then to use this guys logic. What is also further interesting about this is that Councillor Reid who is married to the Korean wife is half Chinese himself.  Wouldn’t you think his family ties to the Chinese community had more to do with his promoting of a Chinese nursing home than being married to a Korean woman?

Talk about putting your foot into your mouth.

Rachel Lee, the ringleader behind a string of celebrity burglaries homes last year was snapped walking inside the Los Angeles Courthouse. She was arrested and accused of stealing clothes, jewelry and personal items from the homes of Audrina Patridge, Lindsay Lohan, and Paris Hilton. Lee is being charged with three counts of “residential burglary” and pleaded not guilty in court.

More pictures at AA-theory.  Hat tip to the Marmot.

You can read more about Rachel Lee’s exploits at my prior posting here.

Via a reader tip comes this news that the fraudster parading around like a military general that was highlighted last month on a variety of milblogs to include this one has now been arrested by the FBI:

He looks like a soldier. He says he’s a soldier. But he’s not a soldier. And now he is facing charges for lying about his resume. When we started asking questions, so did the FBI. The man, who the FBI says is nothing but a fraud, even showed up in a military uniform at Houston Mayor Annise Parker’s inauguration. The problem is that he didn’t earn any of the medals he was wearing.

Michael Patrick McManus was arrested Friday night after a federal judge signed a warrant for his arrest. The FBI says he was arrested without incident.  [ABC 13]

Click the link to view the whole news report from Houston on his arrest.

What continues to amaze me is the fact that this guy was such an obvious fraud and yet no one confronted him at the party?

UPDATE: This Ain’t Hell who did the bulk of the work to get this guy arrested has more on his arrest as well.