20.10.2019

KBS News

By Gim Suyeon

“Goodness! Remember 80 years ago?”

Uniqlo has ceased publishing an advert which deals with the so-called “comfort women” issue [when young women from Korea and other Asian countries were forced into acting as prostitutes for the Japanese military]. The company issued a statement today (the 20^th) saying: “the advert has no political or religious intentions, but we have decided to discontinue it immediately as it has given many people heavy feelings of inconvenience and concern.”

A Uniqlo official said, “From the 18^th, the day when the controversy arose, we decided to immediately stop advertising on most platforms, including digital, and some broadcasters will be suspended from tomorrow (21st), due to these circumstances.”

Uniqlo had previously disputed that the ad had “condemned the ‘comfort women,’” and said [that statement] was “not true at all.” The video showed a teenager asking a woman in her 90s what she wore when she was a teenager, and the older woman saying, “I don’t remember that long ago.” However, the Korean subtitles of the English-language advert, shown alongside the actual English conversation translated the grandmother’s answer as “Remember 80 years ago?” This led some [Korean] viewers to express concerns that Uniqlo had been ridiculing the issue of “comfort women” in Korea – ie, that a 90-year-old grandmother would not be able to remember the Japanese colonial rule in Korea, which ended some 80 years ago.

Analysis: Uniqlo is a Japanese clothing company, one of the most popular and visible brands in Korea, occupying a fast-fashion niche somewhat equivalent to a mix between Gap and Primark. It’s impossible to say whether there was any intention in the advert to slyly dig at the ongoing issue of forced sexual labour during the Japanese colonial era; one would hope that Uniqlo simply failed to consider how the advert could be interpreted. The Korean public’s reaction might seem over-sensitive, but has to be seen in the context of a continuing refusal by the Japanese government and media to fully confront the horrifying abuse suffered by the “comfort women” from Korea and other countries. It’s also the latest example in the seemingly never-ending stream of incidents where companies operating in Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan or elsewhere fail to appreciate the extremely complex historical context of the region.

17.10.2019

KBS News

By Ee Seulgi

“Is the subway polluting the environment with fine dust?”

Be careful when passing by the large air vents which are often found near subway stations. This is because different types of fine dust are pumped from the lower levels to ground level through the air vents – without any filtering.

[For example] the subway vent between Pyeongchon Station and Beomgye Station on Line 4. There are children playing around the vents. What kind of air is being emitted here from the underground subway system? This reporter entered the ventilation opening, 15 metres underground, and precisely measured the fine dust concentration alongside the Environment Department.

As a result of 19 hours of continuous measurement, the average fine dust concentration exceeded 290 ㎍ per ㎥. Levels of 150 and higher are said to be very damaging to health. A Korea Environmental Protection Agency official said: “[We used] a process test method approved by the government. [Levels here] are about twice as high as levels [which would trigger] a fine dust alert.”

Especially as the train passed, the concentration soared up to 984 µg. As the tracks and train wheels wear out, they create pollutants such as metal. I opened the ventilation fan, installed in 1992. The hole in the wire mesh is hidden enough to cover the accumulated dust. Contaminated air from the train tracks travels along this vent. The exhausted air is discharged to the ground as it is [without being filtered]. There is virtually no reduction equipment such as filters. A vent is [simply] a chimney that spews harmful substances from these underground spaces to the ground.

Yu Dohee, a resident of Nowon-gu in Seoul, said: “I’m very uncomfortable when I pass [by a vent]. Hot air and dust just comes out [so I try to] avoid it.”

As a result, when the average concentration of fine dust in the outside air is 49 µg, the reading in the subway system underground is 81 and the reading on the underground tracks exceeds 178 µg. The air quality of the Jamsil and Sadang stations of Line 2 was found to be particularly poor.

Bak Jaeho, National Assembly Commissioner with the National Democratic Party, said: “No matter what measures are taken to reduce fine dust, people on the streets continue to consume fine dust from the subway vents.”

There are about 600 subway vents in the metropolitan area alone – managing pollutants so that citizens do not inadvertently inhale them while travelling is an urgent issue.

13.10.2019

Yeonhap News

Handon, the pig farmers’ association, once again called for a halt to bulk disposal of pigs in some areas, including Yeoncheon, due to African swine fever. The association announced that it will start a one-person demonstration in front of the presidential Blue House residence tomorrow, to emphasise their “disapproval of the burying of [non-infected] pigs in Yeoncheon in Gyeonggido and [the importance of] prioritising wild boar management.”

The association also said, “Immediately stop buying and killing any and all pigs, including in Yeoncheon, which had no cases of disease reported; stop the reckless [compulsory government] purchase and burial [of non-infected pigs] immediately and guarantee the right to live for the farmers who have already participated.” The demonstration will be held in front of the Blue House, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, and the Environment Department until the 18th.

In order to prevent the spread of swine fever in Africa, the government previously announced that it would buy and bury all pigs in Yeoncheon, following similar initiatives in Incheon, Ganghwa, Gyeonggi, Gimpo and Paju.

However, some farmers protested in Paju and Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province, and only 90 of the 148 farms targeted for the initiaitve have [so far] completed the process.