- As feared (see "Miracle?!?"), the December 28 deal between Japan and Korea was just a compromise to end the diplomatic impasse, and didn't resolve the 'Comfort Women' issue. The last survivors won't see justice, Shinzo ABE goes away with his classic elusive smokescreen, like last August*, and PARK Geun-hye with yet another journey into damage control mode. Obviously, the grandson of the war criminal in charge of forced labor and the daughter of the dictator who organized mass prostitution around UN/US army bases to collect foreign currencies** decided to sweep the sexual slavery issue under the rug, along with a hatchet that won't require such heavy tools to unearth.
- The most hawkish clique of North Korea's "Juche Line" celebrated the mysterious death of "Sunshine Line" KIM Yang-gon with special fireworks: a new nuclear test that produced, according to KIM Jong-un himself, "the thrilling sound of a H-bomb explosion" - a bit far(t)-fetched, but even without adding to Beijing pollution, that underground blip was meant to infuriate the "Beijing Line".
- When you think South Korea's opposition has reached the bottom, they keep digging their fingernails out: as MOON Jae-in and AHN Cheol-soo replay their old Burton-Taylor routine, PARK Won-soon ignores vetoes to start his risky landmark Seoul Station 7017 project. But presidential-candidate-wise, ruling party Saenuri must also cope with KIM Moo-sung, a man who confirmed he could collect embarrassing trumpisms.
Thank you, Dear Readers, for sticking to this inedible bibim of mine, that mixes non-edited posts*** about topics I fancy, ranging from "urbanism" to "culture" or "politics", with a touch of "business / techno" (the innovation side landing more often on my 'mot-bile' blog).
I know I should pull the plug, and I must confess I regularly toy with the idea for all of my blogs (and already did for most of them). Even more so following the actual H-bomb announcement of this turn of the year: the end of Robert Koehler's The Marmot's Hole.
Now that's pure class: say stop when you're at the top of the game, and even close the entrance to the comfort zone to resist the temptation to return to it. Hats off to you Robert!
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| Now that the Marmot's gone, will Robert Koehler the photographer bring new colors to rjkoehler.com? |
And Happy New Year to all!
Seoul Village 2016
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* see "Decoding the Abe Statement: "why apologize for crimes Japan never committed?""
** see "Comfort Women': No Resolution Without Resoluteness. From Everyone, Please."
*** see "All posts"