MAN SET SELF ON FIRE OUTSIDE JAPANESE EMBASSY IN SOUTH KOREA
SEOUL, South Korea –
A man set himself on fire Wednesday outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul
during a protest to demand Tokyo’s apology for forcing women into military
brothels during World War II.
Witnesses said other protestors and emergency responders
moved quickly to douse the flames and the man was taken from the scene 
by
stretcher. His precise condition was not known.
by
stretcher. His precise condition was not known.
Close to 1,000 protestors had gathered outside the embassy
ahead of this Saturday’s 70th anniversary of the end of Japan’s 1910-45
colonial rule over the Korean peninsula.
- South Korea says Japan has still not done enough to atone for the forced recruitment of South Korean women to work in Japanese military brothels as so-called “comfort women.”
- Japan insists the issue was settled in the 1965 bilateral agreement that restored diplomatic ties between the two nations, which saw Tokyo make a total payment of $800 million in grants or loans to its former colony.
The issue has strained relations between Seoul and Tokyo for
years with South Korean President Park Geun-Hye saying there can be no meeting
with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe until Japan makes full amends.
Source: AFP
S.KOREA TO OPEN CONTROVERSIAL NEW MINI CAPITAL
SEOUL - After a decade of wrangling, South Korea is set to inaugurate a new mini-capital seen by supporters as a developmental triumph and by critics as a classic pork-barrel project.Sejong City will by 2015 house 16 ministries or agencies and 20 central government offices currently located in or near Seoul. More than 10,000 civil servants will work there when construction is completed.
- The stated aim is to rebalance national development, in a country where Seoul and its satellite cities house almost half the population and account for almost half national output.
- The new city, 120 kilometres (75 miles) south of Soul, will formally open Sunday, with an inauguration ceremony Monday to be led by Prime Minister Kim Hwang-Sik.
- But some 10 state bodies including the president's office, the foreign ministry, the defence ministry and parliament will stay in Seoul.
Kim himself will commute from Seoul for a while even after his office relocates to Sejong City in September. Critics say the split government will lead to wasted travelling hours and inefficiency.The new city covers 465 square kilometres (186 square miles). A total of 22.5 trillion won (S$24.5 billion) - including 8.5 trillion won in state funds - is being spent on infrastructure, government buildings and homes for incoming residents.
VISITORS GEOFLAGS SINCE AUGUST 26, 2009
