South Korea

[RTH10260]

time to start this new thread

[RTH10260]

All South Koreans to become younger as traditional age system scrapped
June 2023 will mark the end of system that saw babies born aged one, with a year added every 1 January

Reuters
Fri 9 Dec 2022 01.35 GMT

South Korea has passed laws to scrap its traditional method of counting ages and adopt the international standard – a shift that will make its citizens either one or two years younger on official documents.

Koreans are deemed to be a year old when born and a year is added every 1 January. It’s this age most commonly cited by Koreans in everyday life.

A separate system also exists for conscription purposes or calculating the legal age to drink alcohol and smoke, in which a person’s age is calculated from zero at birth and a year is added on 1 January.

Since the early 1960s, however, South Korea has for medical and legal documents also used the international norm of calculating from zero at birth and adding a year on every birthday.

The confusing array of systems will disappear from June 2023 – at least on official documents – when the new laws that stipulate using only the international method of counting ages take effect.

“The revision is aimed at reducing unnecessary socio-economic costs because legal and social disputes as well as confusion persist due to the different ways of calculating age,” Yoo Sang-bum of the ruling People Power party told parliament.



https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... m-scrapped

[RTH10260]

North Korean drone reaches north of Seoul

Published26 December 2022
By Jean Mackenzie in Seoul & Robert Plummer in London BBC News

South Korean military officials say North Korea has flown five drones across their mutual border.

The "unmanned aerial vehicles" violated South Korean airspace in the border areas around Gyeonggi province, said the country's joint chiefs of staff.

One drone flew all the way to the northern edge of the capital, Seoul, before returning across the border.

Jets and attack helicopters were deployed, but 100 rounds fired from helicopters failed to shoot them down.

A South Korean military official said they had since lost track of all the drones, but that they were no longer in flight.

The incursion comes amid increased tensions on the Korean peninsula, with the North conducting a record number of missile tests this year.

The drones were spotted crossing the border at about 10:30 local time (01:30 GMT).

One of the South Korean warplanes involved in the operation, a KA-1 light attack aircraft, later crashed, but its two pilots escaped unhurt.

The plane fell to the ground in Hoengseong County, east of Seoul, soon after take-off from an air base in the nearby city of Wonju, according to the air force, quoted by Yonhap.

South Korea also suspended planes taking off and landing at its Incheon and Gimpo airports for about an hour.

A South Korean military official described the latest incursion as a clear act of provocation by Pyongyang.




https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64094143

[RTH10260]

South Koreans become a year or two younger as country changes system for counting ages
While some are expected to keep using the old system, 86% say they will adopt the international system in their everyday lives

Justin McCurry in Tokyo and agencies
Wed 28 Jun 2023 05.02 BST

All South Koreans have instantly become a year or two younger, as the country ditched its traditional – and increasingly unpopular – system for counting someone’s age and replaced it with the internationally accepted method.

Under the previous system, the country’s citizens are deemed to be a year old when they are born, and a year is added every 1 January. The unusual custom meant that a baby born on New Year’s Eve would become two years old as soon as the clock strikes midnight.

But under the revisions introduced on Wednesday, ages will be calculated in the same way as the rest of the world in most administrative and civil matters, including contracts and other official documents, the Korea Times said.

The national assembly, which approved the change in December, said it would “resolve the social confusion caused by the mixed use of age calculations and the resulting side effects”.

While the global standard has applied to medical and legal documents since the 1960s, other official forms have continued to use the traditional method.




https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... nting-ages

[sugar magnolia]

Vietnamese have very similar customs, and it's a royal pain in the ass. They are one the day they are born and their "birthday" is on Tet. My adopted Vietnamese brother never knew how old he actually was or even what day he was born. He came here and was basically assigned an arbitrary age, which was most likely several years older than he actually was. The older he got, the more apparent the wrong age became. At some point during all the legal stuff he was allowed to pick a birthday and he chose to use my dad's, and they adjusted his age to be closer to how old he should have been all along.

[RTH10260]

From the frying pan to the fire: green onions ignite voter anger in South Korea’s elections
A presidential visit to a supermarket amid a cost-of-living crisis was supposed to garner public support, but ended up feeding suspicions the leader is out of touch

Raphael Rashid in Seoul and Justin McCurry in Tokyo
Tue 9 Apr 2024 06.55 CEST

Yoon Suk Yeol is hardly the first elected politician to appear out of touch with ordinary voters during a cost-of-living crisis. But as South Korea prepares for key national assembly elections on Wednesday, its conservative president has been tripped up by a humble vegetable.

In recent weeks, green onions have gone from a simple staple of Korean cooking to a powerful symbol of voter anger over rising prices in Asia’s fourth-biggest economy.

Its ascent from the kitchen into politics came during Yoon’s recent visit to a supermarket in Seoul that was intended to portray him as someone who understands the financial pressures faced by ordinary families.

Yoon said he had been to many markets and described as “reasonable” the store’s 875 won (51p) price tag for a bundle of green onions.

Observers were quick to point out, however, that the items had been only temporarily discounted thanks to government subsidies, while the supermarket had made a further price cut. The actual retail price is three to four times higher, hovering at 3,000-4,000 won in recent weeks.



https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/ ... -of-living

[RTH10260]

Rubbish = poo / manure filled

Rubbish-filled North Korea balloons prompt closure of Seoul airport
Several balloons were spotted in and around the airport boundaries, as one balloon landed on the tarmac near passenger terminal two

Reuters
Wed 26 Jun 2024 06.31 CEST

Takeoffs and landings at South Korea’s Incheon international airport have been disrupted for about three hours because of balloons launched by North Korea filled with refuse, an airport spokesperson said.

One balloon landed on the tarmac near passenger terminal two and the three runways at Incheon were temporarily shut down on Wednesday, the spokesperson said.

North Korea has flown balloons carrying rubbish into South Korea since late May, with hundreds landing in South Korea.

Several balloons were spotted in and around the airport boundaries, the spokesperson said, adding that this was not the first time operations at the airport – which is about 40km from the North Korean border – had been disrupted by balloons nearby.

The disruption to domestic and international flights occurred between 1.46am and 4.44am on Wednesday, and the runways have reopened since then, Incheon International Airport Corporation said.

Flight volume at that time of day is usually low. FlightRadar24 showed eight arriving cargo and passenger flights were diverted to South Korea’s Cheongju or Jeju airports during that time, and one China Cargo freighter from Shanghai was diverted to Yantai, China.



https://www.theguardian.com/world/artic ... orth-korea

[RTH10260]

South Korean airport authorities crack down on Trader Joe’s bagel seasoning
Travellers say the popular seasoning mix by the US brand has been the subject of increased confiscation by authorities, because it contains poppy seeds

Janine Israel
Wed 17 Jul 2024 05.22 CEST

A popular US food seasoning mix created for “yummifying the tops of bagels” is the subject of an intensifying crackdown in South Korea, where poppy seeds – one of its key ingredients – are banned.

Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel seasoning blend – a crunchy mix of sesame seeds, salt, dried garlic, dried onion and poppy seeds – has been on South Korea’s list of restricted foods since 2022, but travellers say it has been the subject of increased confiscation in airports in recent weeks.

Signs at Incheon international airport in Seoul single out the savoury contraband.

A user on X shared a photo of an airport sign that featured a picture of the product. The sign, in Korean, read: “We would like to inform you that the following products containing poppy seeds are restricted from being brought into the country as ‘Papaver Somniferum L,’ an ingredient of the poppy family designated as narcotic substance under South Korea’s narcotic drugs control law has been detected.”



https://www.theguardian.com/food/articl ... oppy-seeds

[Ben-Prime]

South Korean airport authorities crack down on Trader Joe’s bagel seasoning
Travellers say the popular seasoning mix by the US brand has been the subject of increased confiscation by authorities, because it contains poppy seeds

Janine Israel
Wed 17 Jul 2024 05.22 CEST

A popular US food seasoning mix created for “yummifying the tops of bagels” is the subject of an intensifying crackdown in South Korea, where poppy seeds – one of its key ingredients – are banned.

Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel seasoning blend – a crunchy mix of sesame seeds, salt, dried garlic, dried onion and poppy seeds – has been on South Korea’s list of restricted foods since 2022, but travellers say it has been the subject of increased confiscation in airports in recent weeks.

Signs at Incheon international airport in Seoul single out the savoury contraband.

A user on X shared a photo of an airport sign that featured a picture of the product. The sign, in Korean, read: “We would like to inform you that the following products containing poppy seeds are restricted from being brought into the country as ‘Papaver Somniferum L,’ an ingredient of the poppy family designated as narcotic substance under South Korea’s narcotic drugs control law has been detected.”



https://www.theguardian.com/food/articl ... oppy-seeds

This stuff is practically currency for Foreign Service types overseas. This and their 'Everything but the Elote'. Crikey. It's the one thing people want when friends go on R&R trips back to the U.S. from posts where we can't get it. Everybody gotta have their damn seasoning.