30.06.2018

KBS News

BY Ee Jeonghun

Typhoon Pprappirun is heading northwards and appears to be going to land on Jeju island the day after tomorrow (the 2^nd of July). However, before that the large amount of rain it is gathering towards itself is expected to hit Seoul and the central and northern regions of the country tomorrow, early in the morning.

Reporter: Around evening time strong rains fell in Seoul and the beginnings of floodings appeared. Although Typhoon Pprappirun is still far off, a large amount of rainfall is expected. When its full front opens up, this high pressure front seasonal rainstorm will dump an extremely large amount of water. Strong, powerful rainfall is expected to hit the central and norther regions of the country tomorrow. From early morning more than 50mm of heavy rainfaill is expected in metropolitan Seoul and in the Yeongseo area of Gangwon province. Particularly narrow and strong clouds are expected to amass in this area.

Han Sangeun, a forecast analyst with the National Metereological Office, said: “tomorrow from breakast time, the central and northern regions of the country can expect strong and continuous rainfall, leading to landslides, flood damage and embankment collapses.”

The typhoon is currently moving more slowly than expected. Tomorrow the typhoon will move off the western side of Okinawa and will approach the vicinity of Okinawa. After that, there’s a large probability that it will move north along the Honam region’s west coast.

Rainfall of more than 400mm is expected above the southern coast of Korea and in the vicinity of Mount Jiri. Around 300mm is expected in the northern part of Gangwon province, and 100-250mm across the rest of the country.

KBS News

By Gim Yeongin

This morning the Seoul funeral home containing deceased former Prime Minister Gim Jongpil was crowded with mourners. Gim passed away at the age of 92 in hospital in Asan [in South Chungcheong Province, just south of the Seoul metropolitan area] at 0815 this morning amongst his family, and his departure has elicited messages of condolences from people of all walks of life. The mourning arrangements are set to be open to visitors for five days, until Wednesday next week.

Reporter: It’s now been around three hours since mourners began to file in to pay their respects to former Prime Minister Gim Jongpil. People from the worlds of politics and commerce have been arriving to express their condolences. The empty room [room where the people pay respects] has been prepared inside to the right side of the entrance. A photo of former Prime Minister Gim in his prime, dressed in a suit and smiling broadly, is mounted amongst a display of Rose-of-Sharon, Korea’s national flower. Legislator Mun Huisang from the People’s Democracy Party and Yu Seungmin from the Just Future Party, MP Bak Juseon, Korean Party member Jang Utaek and Jeong Mongjun from the Asan Foundation are among the public figures paying their respects. In a short while Chu Miae of the People’s Democracy Party and Gim Seongtae, acting President of the Korean Party, are expected to arrive. Korean President Mun Jaein, current Prime Minister Ee Nakyeon, former Defence Minister Jeong Segyun and others have called to express their regret at Mr Gim’s passing. Their messages passed on their condolences, saying that Mr Gim “had been a giant amongst Korean politics.”

The mourning arrangements are being conducted by former Prime Minister Ee Handong and former Speaker of the National Assembly Gang Changhee. The funeral is being held for 5 days, according to the deceased’s wishes. Once it is concluded the funeral procession will make its way to former Prime Minister Gim’s home.

In 2008 former Prime Minister Gim suffered a cerebral infarction. Since this month his condition had deteriorated due to old age, leading to his admission to hospital.

Analysis: this article illustrates the quite public nature of mourning in Korea – particularly when nationally-known figures pass on. People wishing to pay their condolences typically have quite a long window during which to do so; it’s an important part of the social process for a family to publically receive other mourners, and there’s also significant pressure on a grieving family to adhere to mourning conventions. The accompanying video also amply demonstrates that white is the colour of mourning in Korea. Gim Jongpil was a key figure in Bak Jeonghee’s dictatorship (1961-1979), having participated in the coup which brought Bak to power. Gim founded the notorious Korean Central Intelligence Agency, and continued playing a key role in Korean politics during the post-dictatorship phase, entering into coalition with Gim Daejung’s NCNP in the late 1990s with his United Liberal Democrats as a junior partner.

KBS News

By Ee Gyeongjin

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Gim Jeongeun are holding a summit meeting tomorrow (10^th of June), and it seems as if they might be arriving in Singapore simultaneously. The summit had been suddenly cancelled, but was re-scheduled, and it now just around the corner. North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme and continued testing of ICBM missiles will remain an issue. These issues will dominate the summit, the latest continuation in the rollercoaster ride in relations between the two countries over the last 20 years. Mike Chinoi, formerly CNN’s Asia correspondent, presented the following theory in his recent book, North Korea’s Nuclear Rollercoaster:

“As we descend towards the hair-rising spectre of open warfare and confrontation, there’s been a dramatic last-minute upward swing towards peace and reconciliation, making us release a sigh of relief.”

And so finally the very first US-North Korean summit is approaching. It’s obviously of primary importance that we see how the nuclear issue of the century unfolds between the two leaders. The question of whether or not to sit at the negotiating table with who on earth else, and with how many others, should be taken into consideration as part of the core agenda [for the summit] and any future measures. Will the talks between Trump and Gim be able to slow down the nuclear missile rollercoaster?

Analysis: a rather shallow and banal discussion of the significance of the Trump-Gim summit, this editorial makes somewhat clumsy repeated use of the phrase “rollercoaster”, which is a deeply inelegant construction in Korean.