Just some news on Korea. Yesterday we had our first nationwide taxi strike. Sources quote that over 200,000 taxi drivers were on strike. Definitely an interesting experience to witness. Check out this article from the Korea Herald to read more on the strike.

Taxi drivers strike, demanding lower fuel prices, higher fares

• 2012-06-20 19:46
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• Korea to export TA-50 jets to Philippines
• Cracks emerge between Ahn Cheol-soo, DUP
• Jeju residents meet to clean beach
• World Refugee Day marked in Seoul
• Shantytown cleanup by expat volunteers
• Marathon effort for education
• Musicians in tune for CLASH charity event
• OB seeks to cement No. 1 status with new CEO
• Taxi drivers strike, demanding lower fuel prices, higher fares
• New Nonghyup Financial chief faces union opposition

About 200,000 taxi drivers staged their first one-day nationwide strike on Wednesday, demanding that the government cut taxi fuel prices and hike fares, officials said.

The Transportation Ministry said the government extended public transportation schedules in the day to minimize the impact from the strike.

News reports said the strike of taxi drivers ended up causing little confusion to daily commuters in Korea, the world’s third most densely populated country.

Striking taxi drivers demand lower fuel prices and higher fares during a protest at Seoul Plaza on Wednesday. (Yonhap News)

In Seoul, tens of thousands of drivers gathered for a protest rally at Seoul City plaza to press the government to accept their demands. 

The protesters called for the government to diversify fuel for taxis and cut the fuel price, which takes up over 30 percent of the total expense. Currently taxis are restricted to run on LPG only.

LPG has been used as an alternative fuel for most taxis in Korea. Retail prices of LPG jumped more than 50 percent over the past three years, the union of drivers said.

Unless the government meets its demands, the union said it would hold a large-scale protest in October and another nationwide strike in December.

The government extended the bus and subway schedules for Wednesday by one hour, with an extra 998 bus and 255 subway shifts in Seoul. In Busan, the bus system increased runs by 204 and the subway by 128 to minimize commuters’ inconvenience, said officials at the Transportation Ministry.

By Chung Joo-won (joowonc@heraldm.com)

Why People in N.Korea's 'Rice Bowl' Are Starving

This article is taken from the Chosun Ilbo, one of the main English newspapers here in Korea. You can read the story online here.

 

Why People in N.Korea's 'Rice Bowl' Are Starving

Thousands of people are starving to death in North Korea's South Hwanghae Province even though it is the country's rice bowl, according to a defector.

"Villages in remote mountains can resort to slash-and-burn farming to survive, but in lowland areas where there are only cooperative farms, 30 to 40 people in each village starve to death every year," said Choi Myong-chol (not his real name), who used to handle crop harvests in Haeju, South Hwanghae Province. "The reason is that their entire harvest is confiscated," he told the activist website NK Reform.

The Tokyo Shimbun reported in April that 20,000 North Koreans starved to death in South Hwanghae Province after Kim Jong-il's death. "The reality there is that farmers have no choice but to hide rice during the harvest to survive," Choi said. This has happened every year. "This year, authorities appear to have taken extra measures to seek out rice the farmers had hidden," he added.

Choi said the reason for the starvation is the unrealistic crop output goals set by the regime every spring. Cooperative farms in South Hwanghae Province are ordered to produce six tons of rice per 10,000 sq. m, of which the farmers are promised two tons. But the actual amount that is harvested is only two to four tons, which leaves nothing for the farmers.

Harvested rice is distributed first to elite security and intelligence forces and then to ordinary soldiers. Farmers steal rice even under close watch because they would starve otherwise. They apparently steal between 1.5 to 2 tons per 10,000 sq. m of farmland, or about half of the crop. The regime is aware of the practice and sniffs out and confiscates around 30 percent of the stolen rice, leaving some 5,000-7,000 people to starve to death every year in the region.

englishnews@chosun.com / Jun. 19, 2012 11:24 KST

North Korea waives visa requirements

Here is an article posted by the Korea Herald which addresses a recent decision by NK to waive the visa requirement at the new economic zone.

06-07-2012 22:02     NK waives visa requirement at new economic zone

By Kim Young-jin North Korea will provide foreigners visa-free access to a new economic zone on its border with China, Pyongyang’s state media announced Thursday. The two countries broke ground on the zone, located on two islands in the estuary of the Amnok (Yalu) River, last year. Foreigners with their vehicles are allowed to enter the zone along a designated route without a visa after presenting their passport or equivalent document," the official Korean Central News Agency said. Pyongyang in recent years has been seeking to attract foreign investment, including though economic zones to bout its struggling economy. The sides opened the Hwanggumphyong-Wihwado Economic Zone after a trip to China by late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. Special considerations on tariffs and taxes will be given to foreign investors under a special investment law and there will be no customs duties on materials brought into the zone, KCNA said. Recent visitors to the North is rapidly developing infrastructure around its special economic zone at Rason in the northeast, which China and Russia are expected to utilize to ship materials through. The opening of the new zone was seen as part of Beijing’s efforts to urge the North to follow its path of reform. One of the steps it has taken — though it remains to be seen how effectively these will be implemented — has been to amend a series of investment laws and laws regarding special economic zones. New leader Kim Jong-un, who was handed power after the death of Kim Jong-il, his father, is working to improve and economy struggling to feed its population of 24 million, despite the introduction of a fledgling market system. Profit sources exist with hybrid enterprises run by party or military figures with monopolies on trade and natural resources, but traditional state enterprises have long been stuck in the mud. Some observers say Pyongyang may be wary of opening its economy too quickly as the increased information flow could pose a threat to its reclusive system.

leeth@koreatimes.co.kr