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Oh, yeah, I forgot to ask. Did any of you watch the wedding on Friday? With an estimated viewing audience of two billion, I’m sure a few of you must have. I watched it for, let’s see, about 5 hours. Yeah, I watched the whole thing, including pre- and post-wedding coverage. I switched channels between CNN and BBC. The BBC channel here had a much crisper picture, so I spent most of the time watching it there.
I really enjoy the pomp and pageantry of these types of events, and the British monarchy does them better than any other institution in the world. I love the music, the clothing (how about those fascinator hats?), the tradition, the horse guards, and the celebratory atmosphere. The world doesn’t seem to have too many fairy tale stories these days, so this was, in my opinion, a feel-good event. Bravo, Great Britain. Fascinating. Hats off to ya. I just hope I live long enough to see a coronation.
Because of the nuclear power plant crisis in Japan, I decided to find some information about the nuclear reactors in South Korea, and, especially, where the nearest one to Yeosu is located.
According to this Wikipedia article, more than 31% of Korea’s electricity production is supplied by nuclear power. That’s more than any other country outside of Europe, including Japan’s almost 29%. By contrast, France’s reactors provide a whopping 75% of its electricity needs, while the U.S. gets 20% of its electricity via nuclear facilities.
According to another Wiki article, there are four power plants in South Korea, with the nearest one to Yeosu located in Yeonggwang, which is about 80 miles from us as the crow flies, according to my Lonely Planet map of Korea–not all that far away. According to the same article, there are 21 reactors at the four plants, with 11 more due to come online by 2021.
Of course, with the dire news from Japan, Korea’s government is conducting a safety check of all the plants to determine their vulnerability to tsunamis. The Yeonggwang plant is located in the southwest part of the country, but the other three are in the southeast. From the article in the preceding link from the Korea Herald:
Of South Korea’s four nuclear power plants, three–Uljin, Wolsong and Gori–are located on the southeastern coast facing Japan. If a major earthquake occured on the western coast of Japan, it could send tsunami waves across the East Sea that could hit these facilities.
Let’s hope that never happens.
I just finished jogging and turned on the television to CNN and found out about the HUGE 8.9 earthquake in Japan. A live helicopter feed from northern Japan is showing rising water from a tsunami going up river and flooding some farmland, and fires that have broken out in the background. Quite a scary sight. Wow, they just started showing, live, another tsunami heading for the coast–really impressive shots.
I was jogging at the time the ‘quake hit, but I didn’t feel anything. We’re quite far from where it happened, so we haven’t seen any effects in our area. The tsunamis are forecast for east, north and south of Japan. The bulk of the islands are between us and the tsunami area, so we probably won’t have any high waves, either. Good luck to everyone in the disaster zone. More later.
A few days ago I received a warning from the U.S. Embassy in Seoul as part of their emergency warning system to U.S. citizens who are enrolled in the program. The email’s subject line is “Announcement of One-Day Military Firing Exercise in Northwest Islands Off the Coast of Korea Between Dec. 18-21, 2010.”
Yes, it seems that South Korea is going to conduct live-fire exercises on the same island that was attacked by the North a few weeks ago. The email goes on to say:
This warden message is being issued in response to the announcement on December 16, 2010, by the Government of the Republic of Korea that it will “hold a one-day live-fire drill on Yeonpyeong Island between Dec. 18 and 21.” The Embassy does not assess that there has been an increase in the threat environment in South Korea.
Given the increased tensions since the North Korean shelling of Yeonpyeong Island on November 23, 2010, it is understandable that U.S. citizens would be concerned regarding the security situation on the Korean Peninsula. However, the Embassy reminds U.S. citizens in the Republic of Korea that military training exercises are routinely conducted throughout South Korea throughout the year, to include civil defense drills normally held eight (8) times a year. U.S. citizens should stay informed through local media about upcoming military exercises and civil defense drills that sometimes occur at short notice and for which the Embassy will not routinely provide advance notification. The Embassy continues to closely monitor the current situation. Should the security situation change, the Embassy will update this warden message.
Now, South Korea, which claims the island as part of its territory, has every right to conduct the drill, but I thought at the time that it would be a very provocative action. Sure enough, there are many reports, including this one from the Wall Street Journal, that quote North Korean officials as saying that it will “attack South Korea more violently than it did last month if Seoul proceeds with plans to test-fire artillery from the island Pyongyang shelled.” Most South Korean and American officials are downplaying the likelihood of that happening, but who knows about the crazies up north.
Since today is the 18th, we’ve got about 4 days to see how this plays out. Stay tuned for more.
Not much to report from Yeosu, but CNN earlier quoted the South Korean Yonhap News Agency as saying that the North had fired off a couple of surface-to-air missiles today. It might be an erroneous report because I haven’t heard anything more of it. Not sure what they might have fired at–the war “games” won’t start for a couple of hours yet and they are pretty far from the area of the attacks of a few days ago. Hopefully, all of this will pass peacefully, with no escalation into something more calamitous. More later.
Update at 12:52 p.m. local time: Reuters Canada is reporting that Yonhap stated the North has placed surface-to-surface missiles on launch pads and has deployed surface-to-air missiles in the area of the previous attacks. No mention of any SAMs being fired, but other sources report that artillery fire was heard on Yeonpyeong Island and residents were ordered into shelters. There’s been no report of any shells hitting the island, though. (A more recent report says that people were in the shelters for 40 minutes and left them when it was decided that there was no danger.)
Hopefully, this isn’t my last post for a while. War games involving South Korea and the United States will begin tomorrow in the Yellow Sea (West Sea to South Koreans) near the line demarcating the North and South, and Crazy Uncle Kim in the North says that this will bring the peninsula to the brink of war. The U.S. has deployed an aircraft carrier to be part of the exercise, so if the nut jobs want to start something, I’m sure they’ll have their hands full.
Hopefully, nothing will happen. Hopefully, North Korea will get an earful from its only ally, China. China has a big stake in all of this. Many analyses that I’ve read state that it can’t afford to let the North Korean regime get involved in a full-scale war for a couple of reasons. It would likely mean the collapse of the N. Korean government, which would mean that hundreds of thousands of refugees would cross the northern border into China. More dire for the Chinese is the possibility of a new pro-American government coming into power, something they certainly don’t want to see.
However, many South Koreans are calling for blood, and CNN is reporting that protests by members of the military are spreading in Seoul. The protestors are demanding that a strong response to the recent shelling is necessary.
Hopefully, the situation won’t escalate any further, and, hopefully, I’ll be posting tomorrow. After all, it’ll be my ??th birthday. 
Although this typhoon is nowhere near us, it’s still of great interest to me, being the extreme weather guy that I am. At the moment, it’s heading toward the northern Philippines, packing winds of 165 miles per hour and gusting to 200, according to Weather Underground .The name is contributed by Korea and it means catfish in the Korean language. But, wow, what a powerful storm! Most typhoons lose steam after they travel over land, and Megi is no different. It’s predicted to fall from a Category 5 typhoon to a Cat. 2, but it’s then supposed to increase to a Cat. 3 after it passes through the country. Yeah, this is a real killer of a storm; I hope everyone in the Philippines stays safe and is well prepared for the huge hit they’re probably going to take.
P.S. I just saw on CNN that the U.S. military in the area is reporting that SUSTAINED winds are at 180 mph. If true, this has to be one of the most powerful typhoons in recorded history.
What a feel-good story. I just watched the last of the rescue workers return to the surface to complete a remarkable operation. Congratulations to everyone involved in getting the 33 trapped miners back to the top. I watched as much of CNN’s round-the-clock coverage as I could, as I’m sure many around the world did, and it was so emotional to see each of the miners reunited with their loved ones. With so many negative headlines, this was one of the great stories of recent times. Now, everyone go out and celebrate with a bottle of Chilean wine (if that’s your preference) or some juicy Chilean grapes. Chi!Chi!Chi!–Le!Le!Le!
Here’s an article about the dangers of Korean culture for young Thailand imitators.
In the mascaraed eyes of Thai teenyboppers, South Korea is ground zero of hip.
So the writer of this article begins his story. Korean boy and girl bands, movies and soap operas are all the rage in the Land of Smiles and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Thai authorities, however, warn that the mascara, big eyelashes, and skin pigmentation used by Thai teenyboppers are dangerous to their health. They’re even blaming an outbreak of dengue fever on black hosiery, another Korean import, worn by women between the ages of 10-24, because “the mosquitoes are drawn to the leggings’ dark hues.” Weird response by Thai authorities, unless, of course, they’re more worried about the cultural inroads being made than by the unreal possibilities of physical harm. In the article, the writer touches on this likely reason for the warnings by the Thai administration. An interesting read. Check it out. (Disclaimer: No, I don’t wear dark hosiery nor wear big eyelashes. I am, however, quite envious of the dark, luxurious, thick hair of Korean kids. Is a toupee in my future?)
My Lao friend Nai, whose mother was born in Thailand and who dearly loves the country, comments on the latest turmoil there by saying “some Thai people crazy too much.” Indeed. The Land of Smiles (what a misnomer these days) seems to be on the verge of all-out civil war, at least in Bangkok, though the strife could easily spread to some of the other provinces. I watch the updates on CNN and see lots of videos and photos of places that I’m familiar with in the Big Mango. I dearly love the country and the people, but it appears that there are few options remaining that will keep total chaos and anarchy from descending.
Two possibilities that might end the current fighting, at least temporarily, are kind of like good news-bad news or good cop-bad cop scenarios. The positive situation would be that Thailand’s revered king, Bhumibol Adulyadej, would give some advice about what should be done. He’s considered to be almost like a deity to most Thai people, but his word is not law. Instead, it is above the law, so to speak. He intervenes very rarely in these types of situations, but when he does, everyone listens and takes heed. All he would have to say, in so many words, is “cool it,” and things would probably settle down.
The other possibility, a more likely scenario, perhaps, is a military coup, nothing unusual for Thailand. The last one, a precursor to current events, was in 2006. Including that one, there have been eighteen of them since 1932, when the country became a constitutional monarchy. I don’t think that’s desirable, but maybe it’s what is needed, for now, since cooler heads seem to be in short supply.
Nai and I have several good Thai friends who live in the area where the violence is occurring, so I just pray that they are safe and sound. (Hmmm, knowing those guys, they could be right in the middle of things.) My former supervisor in Morocco, John, is also in Bangkok, working at the U.S. Embassy, which is currently shut down. He told me that he and his wife are scheduled to depart the country on June 1st for a new assignment, which, as of yet, hasn’t been determined. He said that the reassignment couldn’t come too soon. The area of the city in which they live seems to be far enough away from the trouble spots, but if all hell breaks loose . . . ? I’m sure they’re out of harm’s way, but since I haven’t emailed him in a few weeks, I’m going to drop him a line to see how he’s doing.
I have an airplane ticket to Bangkok in the middle of June, and I’m not canceling unless things go completely south. The airport and large parts of the city aren’t caught up in the craziness so far, and my original plans were to just spend one night there and then take the train to Nong Khai in northern Thailand, across the Mekong from Laos; hopefully, I’ll be able to stick to that plan. Until then, I’ll be saying some prayers, burning incense to Buddha and keeping my fingers crossed that the people of Thailand can get out of this crisis without further bloodshed. More later.
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