North Korea: 60 executed publicly in 2010 - Amnesty International

May 12, 2011: About 60 North Koreans were executed publicly in 2010 for acts against its regime, up from seven a year before, Amnesty International said in its annual report.

“North Korea continues to carry out executions, some in public and others in secret. At least 60 people are believed to have been executed publicly,” Amnesty said.

It said an armaments factory worker was executed in late January in Hamheung for divulging ― via an illegal Chinese mobile phone ― rice prices and other information on living conditions to a friend who had defected to South Korea.

Source: Korean Times, May 12, 2011

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100 Years Of Aviation In Japan: The Pioneers

No aviation without brave pilots: There were people fascinated with flight even in the Edo period, such as Ukita Kokichi from Okayama, who made attempts at calculating what wingspan would be needed to let man soar like a bird, something he seems to have achieved in 1785:

Ukita studied how birds fly. He finally concluded, "Compute the ratio of the wing's area to the body's weight and use that ratio to create an artificial wing. Humans may use them to fly like a bird."

His skill of paperhanging was very useful for making wings. He made the wings' ribs of bamboo, covered them with paper and fabric and varnished the surface with lacquer from Japanese persimmons.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Fast forward to the late 19th century, and we have Chuhachi (Tyuuhaci) Ninomiya, who made paper planes that may have been able to carry a man. The first airplane flight in Japan was likely on 29 April 1891, when a propeller-driven unmanned plane took off and flew about 10 meters at a height of one meter and 36 meters at a height of six meters the following day. He even tried to interest the military, who thought he was crazy!

(Source: Russel Naughton website, quoting Japanese websites that unfortunately do not work, except the one that goes to the Hiko Shinto shrine that Ninomiya founded near Kyoto, to "pray for the repose of victims of airplane accidents around the world").

Around this time, in April, 1911, Yoshitoshi Tokugawa made the first flights at Yoyogi, Tokyo and Tokorozawa, Saitama, 100 years ago.

Top image by painter Shigeo Koike shows the then state-of-the-art French biplane designed by Henri Farman, used by Tokugawa in his pioneering flights.

There were several female aviators too that deserve to be remembered. Ninamiji Yone from Wakayama prefecture was the first Japanese female pilot, getting her licence at the Schiller Airplane School in the U.S. in 1912. I'm not sure about the name, could that be near the O'Hare Airport in Chicago?



Hyodo Tadashi from Ehime prefecture is more famous, having gotten her licence in Japan, the first woman to do so.

This book, Hyodo Tadashi: Sora wo Tobimasu! has all the details about her and her young collegues.

She was the inspiration for a NHK drama in 1976, called Kumo no Juutan, which made lead actress Asaji Yoko famous.

In the drama, a 1936 Boeing A75 was used, with the registration number J-3641. A fast biplane that was sturdy and still used in the 1940s for what the agricultural chemical industries call "crop dusting" i e spraying dangerous pesticides on huge farm fields...

Apparently, the real airplane is exhibited in a Nasu, Tochigi prefecture museum dedicated to Japan's WW1 veterans. Looks like a rather unusual place, could be worth a visit, except here at Kurashi, we are very sensitive, or should I say strongly adverse, to war.

The airplane Ms. Tadashi used in 1922 (when she was in her early 20s) was a slender Curtiss JN-4 Jenny, according to the book.

I haven't found any images from that 1976 NHK drama series, but the OTS song is nice!

雲のじゅうたん


I think it is only fair to include two Korean female pilots from the pioneering era. There has been some controversy over a 2005 film called Blue Swallow, that dramatizes and romanticizes the (short) life of Park Kwang-yong:

24 July 1901 - 7 August 1933. Birth place: Taegu City Kyongsang-Do in Korea.
She was 168cm, which was very tall for women at that time. On 1 February 1926, she entered Tokyo Nippon Airplane school in Tokyo. In 1927, she got a third-class pilot license. When a reporter asked her about boyfriends, she answered "My boyfriend is my airplane." In 1928, she got a second-class pilot license. In 1933, she tried to fly over the Korean Strait, but she crashed into Gengadake Mountain in Atami city and died.

(Source: Paperback Centrism blog)

Why controversial? Because it turns out that Ms. Park was (probably) not first at all. That honour goes to Pyongyang-born Kwon Ki-ok, who instead of going to Japan decided to study aviation in China, graduating from the Yunnan Airforce School, affiliated with Chang Kai-chek, in 1925. She became a captain of Central Airforce of the Kuomintang in China, and survived WW2. The Blue Swallow film had to change some of its descriptions about Ms. Park, as the Korean public are very sensitive about any claims involving Imperial Japan...

Anyway, if you enjoy early era aviation as much as I do, here is the Blue Swallow trailer, with a lot of computer graphics to brighten your weekend!

青ツバメ



More aviation history on Kurashi:
100 Years Of Aviation In Japan: Part 1
100 Years Of Aviation In Japan: The Music (updated)
100 Years Of Aviation In Japan: Leaving on a Jetplane

Eco News from Japan and Asia!

North Korea Will Not Retaliate Over South Provocation: N. Korea

By ETHAN Markoff

NORTH KOREA NEWS - In a surprising note, North Korea proclaims it will not respond harshly over South Korea's "reckless provocations" over life-fire drills by the South on the flashpoint island of Yeonpyeong.

Earlier North attacked the island and said to continue more drills if South Korea wouldn't stop the live-fire. However, the state media in a recent report stated it was not worth reacting this time.

UN Security Council approach ended without any result after China refused to be in unison with the statement, which was critical to its friend North Korea.

The South's government has been under domestic pressure to take tough measures against North after an artillery fire exchanged on Korean border when North Korea army fired artillery shells onto a populated island near disputed waters, prompting return fire from South Korea. It is reported of injuring civilians and soldiers due to sudden conflict.

Before the attack on Yeonpyeong, the South ordered residents and other islands to take cover in air-raid shelters early Monday. South Koreans feared of heavy retaliation from the North, but surprisingly North Korean state news agency KCNA reported that the military had not planned for any attack.

In a report it said that the North Korea army did not feel to answer any despicable military provocations by the South.

"The world should properly know who is the true champion of peace and who is the real provocateur of a war." State Media said.

South Korean military spokesman Lee Bung-woo confirmed that there were no provocative fire from the North's side.

China and Russia urged both sides to remain calm and show restraint.

The US on the other hand backed South Korea to exercised military drills against The North and assured to help the South in this matter.

South Korea Ship Sinks, Fearing 17 Fishermen Missing In Antarctic

By MALILA Harris

SOUTH KOREA NEWS - At least seventeen fishermen are feared missing in Antarctic, following a crash of a South Korea vessel in the Southern Ocean. It has been reported that at least five of the 42-man crew died and 20 were rescued after a ship sank about 2,000 km south of New Zealand.

The search team have scaled back as they believed it was impossible to survive for long in the ocean. The crew consisted people from various nations such as South Korea, China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Russia.

According to South Korea's foreign ministry, a 614-tonne ship, the Number One In Sung dipped at around 0430 South Korean time on Monday (1930 GMT on Sunday).

A rescue fishing boat rescued twenty sailors, the ministry spokesperson said.

There is still doubts about the carnage of boat, while New Zealand rescuers was unable to clarify why the ship was suddenly sank. It was reported that the environment was calm, and moreover, no SOS was sent.

In the ocean a person can survive10 minutes without life jacket or immersion suit, so rescuers scaled back the search.

"It (is) becoming increasingly unlikely further survivors (will) be found," rescue controller Dave Wilson told AFP news agency.

China Urges Emergency Talks Amid Tension Between Koreans

By ETHAN Markoff

CHINA NEWS - In response to international demand and the murkier situation between two Koreans countries, China has urged key nations to intervene in the current crisis over tension in Korea over the North's deadly shelling of a Southern island.

China proposed that the six nations who are involved in talks on North Korean nuclear disarmament, should discuss the Korean crisis and find a solution. The six nations are North Korea, South Korea, the US, China, Japan and Russia.

It is reported that tension between two countries remains high and South Korea in response announced joint military operation against North Korea along with the United States. China has condemned the action of North Korea but apprehensive about the joint exercise.

The six-party North Korea talks have been stalled since April 2009, and South Korea and the US urged North to first halt its nuclear program. According to some analysts, North Korean attack is an attempt to strengthen its position and force a resumption of the talks.

China, The Key To Tab Against North Korea Provocations: U.S Military

By ETHAN Markoff

CHINA NEWS - China can play a pivotal role to put restrain against provocative behavior of North Korea, the top U.S military official said Wednesday.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in an interview that in a recent crisis of war between North and South Korea, China could play the key role to stop the behavior of North Korea. He further emphasis on role of China to influence North Korea to stop provocative actions.

China, Mullen said, has much at stake in stopping North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il from taking more provocative actions.

The United States is hoping China would impose or strict its economic support and trade with North Korea to exercise influence to tame the provocative actions of North Korea.

It is reported that President Obama will call Chinese President Hu Jintao in the next few days to discuss the issue over North Korea.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Tuesday that China would play a key role in moving North Korea in a different direction. The economic and trade influence could restrain North Korea to a greater degree, U.S is now hoping China to influence North Korea to reduce tensions that have risen from North Korean provocations and then secondarily to put pressure on nation to stop nuclear enrichment possibilities.

China still to condemn its neighbor for sudden attack on Korean border, however, maintaining a diplomatic pressure by emphasis on talks with Pyongyang.

After North Korea attack on South Korea, China strongly urged both sides to maintain peace and restrain, and forces them to engage in talks as quickly as possible in order to prevent similar incidents in future.

In the meanwhile President Obama has declared a joint exercise with South Korea against North Korea.

Wartime Alert Level Raises On Korean Border

By ETHAN Markoff

SOUTH KOREA NEWS - Artillery fire exchanged on Korean border when North Korea army fired artillery shells onto a populated island near disputed waters, prompting return fire from South Korea. It is reported of injuring civilians and soldiers due to sudden conflict.

South Korea has issued its highest non-wartime alert in response.

In return South Korea has fired from F-16 fighter jets to the western sea. The conflict broke when dozens of the shells fired on a South Korean island, from which plumes of smoke were rising. At least four soldiers are said to have been hurt.

It is considered one of the serious conflicts between two neighboring nations since the Korean War in the year 1950s. According to reports, top South Korean leaders are planning in an underground bunker in Seoul.

South Korean officials reported that a North Korean artillery unit started an illegal firing at 1434 PM (0534 GMT) and in return South Korean troops scrambled F-16 fighter jets to the western sea and fired.

The conflict damaged dozens of houses, while a South Korean television showed plumes of smoke rising above the island.

Incidentally, the conflict comes days after North Korea revealed a modern nuclear power plant, potential threat to develop nuclear weapon.

On one side US keep emphasis on denuclearisation while Pyongyang continues to work on nuclear plant.

Obama’s Trade Strategy Runs Into Stiff Resistance
President Obama and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany talked, and disagreed, at the Group of 20 meeting on Thursday. Photograph: The New York Times
THE NEW YORK TIMES: SEOUL, South Korea — President Obama’s hopes of emerging from his Asia trip with the twin victories of a free trade agreement with South Korea and a unified approach to spurring economic growth around the world ran into resistance on all fronts on Thursday, putting Mr. Obama at odds with his key allies and largest trading partners.

The most concrete trophy expected to emerge from the trip eluded his grasp: a long-delayed free trade agreement with South Korea, first negotiated by the Bush administration and then reopened by Mr. Obama, to have greater protections for American workers.

And as officials frenetically tried to paper over differences among the Group of 20 members with a vaguely worded communiqué to be issued Friday, there was no way to avoid discussion of the fundamental differences of economic strategy. After five largely harmonious meetings in the past two years to deal with the most severe downturn since the Depression, major disputes broke out between Washington and China, Britain, Germany and Brazil.

Each rejected core elements of Mr. Obama’s strategy of stimulating growth before focusing on deficit reduction. Several major nations continued to accuse the Federal Reserve of deliberately devaluing the dollar last week in an effort to put the costs of America’s competitive troubles on trading partners, rather than taking politically tough measures to rein in spending at home.

The result was that Mr. Obama repeatedly found himself on the defensive. He and the South Korean president, Lee Myung-bak, had vowed to complete the trade pact by the time they met here; while Mr. Obama insisted that it would be resolved “in a matter of weeks,” without the pressure of a summit meeting it was unclear how the hurdles on nontariff barriers to American cars and beef would be resolved. >>> Sewell Chan, Sheryl Gay Stolberg and David E. Sanger | Thursday, November 11, 2010

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Obama Ends G-20 Summit With Criticism of China >>> Sewell Chan | Friday, November 12, 2010

A Lesson from China in Where Power Lies
THE TELEGRAPH: China believes its economic success reflects its superior culture.

The leaders of the G20 group of rich and developing nations met in Seoul this week for what might reasonably be described as their first post-crisis summit. But it also had the feeling of the first post-Western summit. China, the world’s second richest nation and its rising power, believes that the financial crisis was actually a “North Atlantic crisis”. Now that the worst of it is over, Beijing sees little reason to swallow the medicine for someone else’s sickness. The summit therefore broke up – none too amicably – without really addressing the trade imbalances that were one of the root causes of the crisis, or America’s worry that Beijing is gaining an unfair advantage by artificially keeping its currency weak. Instead, China flexed its muscles and got what it wanted: a watered-down statement that will not force it to change course. If President Obama hoped that the G20 would burnish his image as a world statesman after the disaster of the midterm elections, those hopes were disappointed.

It is inescapable that we are witnessing a historic shift of economic power from West to East. David Cameron has certainly taken this on board, judging by the caution with which he and his Cabinet members treated China during their visit earlier this week. The Prime Minister approached the subject of human rights far more obliquely than he did as leader of the Opposition. Whether this was wise judgment or a failure of nerve is difficult to say. Although China treats dissidents with gross inhumanity, the more it is lectured on the subject, the more intransigent it becomes. In a sense, that is convenient for Mr Cameron: if protesting about repression makes the situation worse, then Britain can concentrate on trade with a fairly clear conscience. Read on and comment >>> Telegraph View | Friday, November 12, 2010

A Tryst With Family: North Korean Meets South Korean In A Grand Reunion

By Gautam Jha

SEOUL NEWS: Long separated Korean families are going to meet each other on Oct 30. 435 South Koreans will cross North Korean border for the reunion of families after six decades despite the exchange of fire last night. The reunions will take place at the Mount Kumgang resort on the North's south-eastern coast, near the border. The divided families will get the chance to meet one another for a brief period after six decades.

Amidst the heightening tensions following the exchange of fire between North Korean and South Korean army, the reunions will take place as scheduled promised the Unification Ministry. The South Koreans, from 97 families, will spend three days with 97 relatives in North Korea, from whom they have been separated by war six decades ago. Family members are thrilled in anticipation of meeting their kith and kin after such a long time. Lee Moon-Yeong, in his 70s is very nostalgic and enthusiastic to meet his long separated brother. Earlier, he had suspected that his brother might have been killed in war after joining the North Korean army during the Korean war. The situation has compelled him to think because Lee's second brother was died in 1952 while fighting as a South Korean soldier.

Following the Saturday-Monday reunions, another batch of 96 South Koreans will be reunited with 207 North Koreans from Wednesday to Friday at the same place. Korean people are exemplifying the notion that human relations are above all. Its a brave step of vulnerable emotion.

World Firefighters Games 2010: SCDF Officers Returned Home With 20 Medals

World Firefighters Games 2010, Daegu, South Korea

By ONE Liners Agency

SINGAPORE NEWS/ SOUTH KOREA NEWS - In the World Firefighters Games, Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) won 20 medals, including 8 golds. This is the second time the SCDF participated in WFG held in Daegu, South Korea. Only eight officers of SCDF took part and half of the gold medals are brought by the team leader Captain Ellena Quek in her outstanding performance in hurdles, triathlon, high jump and cycling.

The eight SCDF officers participated in total of twelve events, including badminton. In 2006, Singapore could only grab five medals.

Sixty countries, including Hong Kong, Brazil and New Zealand, fought hard in South Korea for medals with about 10,000 participants.

Captain Ellena Quek, returning back home, said: "It was a very good experience. What we won exceeded our expectations." She added further that meeting firefighters from different countries and swapping stories was something to take home for her.

Before the competition, the SCDF team practised for more than three months amidst their busy day-to-day schedule.

The next World Firefighters Games is to be held in 2012 in Sydney, Australia.

South Korea Imposes Sanctions On Iran’s Companies

By ETHAN Markoff

SOUTH KOREA NEWS – Despite Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad fiery warnings, South Korea has enforced economic sanctions on 126 Iranian companies Wednesday. Earlier Iranian firebrand president warned that the sanctions would smash up the budding trade between two countries.

South Korea’s action has considerably hamstrung Bank Mellat’s Seoul office, which at presently looks after 70 percent export business to Iran. The office is the Iran second largest bank and only office in Asia. Earlier United States pointed a finger at the bank, blaming for the facilitation of millions of dollars in transaction for Iranian nuclear and defense programs.

After these sanctions, the bank needs permission from the Bank of Korea, the central bank for all financial deals. Moreover, South Korea is contemplating to shelve bank’s operation for indefinite period. The third country transaction to Iran through the bank will be suspended.

“The Seoul branch cannot operate normally any more,” said a senior Foreign Ministry official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.

According to the sources, South Korea has been under a constant pressure from US to impose sanctions on Iran. On the other hand Seoul has the largest export market in Iran and it would be a tough decision for both countries.

The 10 percent of crude oil comes from Iran to South Korea and Iran warned that it will shun South Korean cars and electronics if South Korea aims Sanctions on Iranian companies.

In an official statement, Seoul declared that the ban on Iran echoes its own desire to stop North Korea growing nuclear obsession. Last month Washington imposed similar kinds of ban on North Korea and asked South Korea to join economic sanctions against Iran.

South Korea cleared that it will not stop oil import from Iran but shun all new investments both financial and technical. In addition, Iran will also devoid of all building contracts by South Korea.

The trade between two countries had grown to to $9.6 billion last year, up from $2.9 billion in 2001.