Hammersmith & Fulham will be celebrating our armed forces community with an afternoon of free family fun on Saturday 24 June. The Armed Forces Day event will mark the 70th anniversary of the Korean Armistice and is being held at St Paul’s Garden, Hammersmith W14, from 1pm to 5pm. Everyone is welcome. “The freedoms and … [Read More]
Category: Military
Former UK Home Secretary to unveil statue commemorating Vietnamese victims
In an article on Politics Home, former UK Home Secretary Jack Straw writes about South Korea’s need to investigate rape and other atrocities inflicted by South Korean soldiers upon women during the Vietnam War. Despite Korea’s history of Japanese military sexual slavery, successive South Korean governments have refused to investigate their own military’s crimes against … [Read More]
North Korea’s Nuclear Program – A New Perspective
SOAS’s Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament Society and North Korean Culture Society host a public meeting offering new perspectives on the North Korean nuclear issue Monday 28 January 2019, 7pm till 9pm (Ending time depends on discussion) Venue: Room G3 | SOAS main building | Thornhaugh Street | Russell Square | London WC1H 0XG Guest Speaker: … [Read More]
You come in, I come out: a gay man in the South Korean army
Jeram Yunghun Kang tells his personal and disturbing story of coming out as gay in the South Korean army, and discusses the institutional homophobia that still criminalises gay men in the military today. Jeram is a London based artist who earlier this year produced an art installation and book, ‘You Come In, I Come Out’ … [Read More]
RIP Bill Speakman VC
The funeral was held this week for Bill Speakman, the so-called Beer Bottle VC. The ceremony was held on 19 July in the Wren Chapel at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, where Speakman was a pensioner. He died peacefully at the Hospital on 20 June 2018, aged 90, surrounded by members of his family. Obituaries can be … [Read More]
UK military develops plans for rescuing Brits
Apparently the MoD have been doing some contingency planning, and sent some top brass over to check out the lie of the land: Based on the information [Senior British military officers] collected, they are devising an evacuation plan for some 8,000 British civilians in South Korea (Chosun Ilbo). I suppose it was the responsible thing … [Read More]
Korean War not quite forgotten in Canary Wharf art trail
As we approach Remembrance Sunday, the walkways and open spaces of Canary Wharf have been adorned with works by artist Mark Humphrey in what is described as the UK’s first Remembrance Art Trail, in association with the Royal British Legion and constructed with the help of the Corps of Royal Engineers, consists of seven art … [Read More]
Ambassador Hay talks to Korea Times
There’s a nice interview with Ambassador Hay in the Korea Times this week. In it, he gives us news about the UK participation in military exercises on the peninsula that had the North Koreans so riled (four Eurofighters will join in an aerial drill with Korean and US planes at Osan air base in Gyeonggi-do), … [Read More]
DPRK attacks UK’s participation in military exercises
I’m not sure that many people knew we were participating. But here’s what the official DPRK news agency has to say about it. Britain’s Decision to Dispatch Its Fighters to U.S.-S. Korea Joint Military Drill against DPRK Blasted Pyongyang, October 14 (KCNA) — A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of the DPRK gave the following … [Read More]
Looking back at 2015: Domestic news
Our final look back at 2015: mainly domestic news stories from South Korea. In the news After 62 years of adultery being a criminal offence in the ROK, the constitutional court decided to decriminalise it by a vote of 7 to 2. Four out of ten married Korean males heaved a sigh of relief and shares … [Read More]
Korea Post honours the Glosters
Lt Col James Power Carne of the Gloucestershire Regiment appears on a new Korean postage stamp, part of a set of ten issued to mark the 65th anniversary of the start of the war. The BBC regional website for Gloucestershire has the full story. [Read More]
2015 Travel Diary day 10: Namhansanseong and the Gangnam Tombs
Myeongdong, Seoul, Sunday 7 June The Mountain Fortress I am scheduled to meet a friend at 9:30 at Sanseong Station on Line 8. From there we take the bus (number 9) via a circuitous route through a residential area and up the steep hill to the main car park of one of Korea’s latest UNESCO … [Read More]
Beer-bottle VC donates medal to Korea
Two articles this week report how Bill Speakman VC, who was on a veterans’ trip to Korea, has decided to donate his Victoria Cross to South Korea. He also wants his ashes to be scattered in the DMZ when he dies. Sadly, the medal being donated is a replica: “he sold the original to a … [Read More]
Looking back at 2014: Domestic news
Our final look back at 2014: mainly domestic news stories from South Korea: The Sewol and safety culture The MV Sewol capsized on 16 April, causing the death of 304 passengers. A number of factors contributed to the disaster, including lax safety inspections, unsafe modifications, unsecured cargo, overloading, and an inexperienced crew hired on temporary … [Read More]
Looking back at 2013: Domestic news
Our final look back at 2013, including a random collection of news stories, mainly domestic, that caught our attention. In the news Asiana Airlines flight 214 from Incheon crashed on landing at San Francisco airport on 6 July. The Boeing 777 had approached the runway too low and too slow. An American local TV station … [Read More]
Korean Naval Firepower Part 2 – Koryo and Columbus
Choe Museon was not the inventor of heavy artillery, although he made many innovative variations of the concept. Why did other countries not simply take their cannons and heavy firearms with them on board their ships? The problem with a wooden ship is, if its displacement is sufficiently small, the recoil of a heavy weapon … [Read More]