Korean Airlines jet forced to land after bomb threat

UPDATE:
The passengers were forced to stay overnight on Vancouver Island while the plane was swept for anything threatening. No bombs were found on board except Happy Feet Two and The Tower Heist on the video-on-demand system. The plane took off and is headed for South Korea as we speak.

ORIGINAL POST:
I hate flying. I understand the technical aspects of how an object that weighs hundreds of tons can fly through the air even though I, at a mere 68 kilograms, cannot.

Last January, when the Los Angeles to Honolulu flight I was on took on obvious detour up the coast of California instead of heading straight out to sea, I was more than a little nervous that someone had quietly taken over the cockpit and was aiming us at, I don't know, the Golden Gate Bridge or possibly some redwoods. (Going toward the Bay Area from LAX is about 90° off from the direction we should have been heading.)

But I can only imagine the horror of being on this Korean Airlines flight from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Incheon International Airport near Seoul:

A Korean Airlines Boeing 777 en route from Vancouver to Seoul was diverted to a nearby Canadian Forces base after the airline’s U.S. call center received a bomb threat.

Korean Airlines said in a news release that the call center received the threat today (Hawaii time) about 25 minutes after take-off from Vancouver International Airport. Airline officials said they decided to turn the aircraft around.

Maj. Holly Apostoliuk, a Canadian spokeswoman for The North American Aerospace Defense Command, said two U.S. F-15 fighter jets from Portand, Oregon escorted the plane to Canada’s Comox air base on Vancouver Island, which is 113 miles (182 kilometers) outside Vancouver.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Inspector Byron Massie said the plane was still being searched early Wednesday morning.

Massie said the same Korean Airlines flight out of Vancouver faced a similar threat on Monday and the all clear was given after a two hour search. He said Monday’s threat was called in somewhere besides the airline’s U.S. call center but he declined to say where.

Actually, I might be able to imagine their horror: Sometime in the 1990s I was on a Northwest flight from Kimpo to Tokyo that made an abrupt U-turn over the East Sea (Sea of Japan). They forced us to stay on the tarmac in a hot plane without air conditioning for about two hours before they had us deplane. We were told engine parts had fallen out an air duct.

Um, anyway. I wonder how many of these threats that KAL gets. I mean, two in three days. Sheesh.

... 

National Assembly election post mortem

Over at The Marmot's Hole, The Korean has put together a nice overview of Tuesday's vote for the National Assembly seats, a national poll in which the ruling party did surprisingly well, thanks to Park Geunhye.

The Korean credits Ms Park successfully incorporating bread-and-butter rice-and-kimchi issues that are normally the purview of the parties on the left. And despite President Lee Myungbak's abysmal ratings (you're not a lame-duck ROK president unless you're popularity is less than one in three), it turns out not to have been much a referendum on the Marilyn Manson impersonator.

One wonders how this bodes for the presidential election coming in December. Does this make a Park Geunhye candidacy more likely, and will her success in April be enough to carry her (back) to the Blue House, occupied for nearly two decades by her father.

...

The Real Kushibo Website

Just as soon as the semester ends, I'm going to head to Florida, goad some coons punks into attacking me, shoot them dead, and then publicly put out my PayPal account so that total strangers who are delighted I killed an urban youth can send me money, ostensibly for my legal defense fund.

It seems to be working for this guy. (The poor fella is upset over a similar "life-altering event" in which he killed a teenager; it was a real life-altering event for the dead kid and his family as well.)

Heck, why wait? I've already got the PayPal account, and I've got an oppressive amount of parking tickets.

...

Monster Island on Xbox Live on Windows Phone!

I knew I should have copyrighted the name Monster Island.

It seems Windows will be releasing a new game title for its phones. And while I probably won't get any royalties for the name, the hundreds or thousands of hits to this moderately popular blog, from people Googling "Monster Island Xbox Live Windows phone," should be consolation enough. [HT to M.A. of MS]

Here's a description of the app:

Monster Island is basically a monster-themed version of Fragger. Instead of a grenadier, you’re now a monster who must defeat invading monsters. Aim and throw five different kinds of monster grenades to destroy your stationary enemies. With four huge sets of levels, it offers plenty of bomb-throwing fun.

Change grenades to wittily pithy posts, and invading monsters to English teachers and/or other bloggers, and it's a perfect description of this site. The advantage here is that this site's free instead of charging you $2.99.

Note to visitors new to Monster Island (actually a peninsula). This is a great place to learn all about Korea, Korean politics, and all things Korea. Can't find what you're looking for? Ask Kushibo.

...

South Korean Marine found shot in head on Paengnyŏng-do Island

One can't help but wonder if this is the work of North Korean operatives, who can easily access a large island like Paengnyŏng-do (Baengnyeongdo) that is so close to the North Korean mainland.

From Bloomberg:

A South Korean marine died after being found on a front-line border island with a gunshot wound to his head, Yonhap News reported, citing unidentified military officials.

The 25 year-old staff-sergeant, whose name was withheld, died on his way to the hospital after being discovered outside a base on Baenyeong island, near the South Korea’s sea border with North Korea in the peninsula’s western waters, the report said. No suicide note was found, it said.

Sadly, suicide is always a possibility that must be considered in cases like these, but methinks that the ROK Marines wouldn't be so quick to allow this news story out if that's what they'd though had happened.

DPRK operatives are sent into the ROK with some regularity. It's perfectly plausible that one of them was spotted by the now dead Marine and this was the result. Even more ominously, it's possible that someone up in the North is deliberately trying to ratchet up tensions, perhaps ahead of the launch of the "satellite" attached to the missile.

...

"These buoys and bottles are new... and suspicious"

NBC News on Friday had an interesting story related to the Tohoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster that occurred over a year ago.

It seems that significant pieces of debris that were washed out to sea during the tsunami have made their way across the Pacific Ocean. The largest and most notable — and the most hazardous — has been the "ghost ship" that had been drifting toward the North American coastline. The US Coast Guard decided to torpedo it and let it sink in waters 6000 feet (1800 meters) deep.

The ghost ship is fascinating enough (and it's too bad they couldn't sink it in a more favorable location so that it could become an artificial reef and perhaps a diving site), but what got me interested enough to post this was their discussion of the everyday items from Japan that they've noticed coming ashore.

One biologist in Sitka who routinely helps with cleaning up the beaches around Sitka, in the Alaska Panhandle, says they've noticed more and more debris. Quoting NBC's Miguel Almaguer, "These buoys and bottles are new... and suspicious."

Not to make light of their obvious plight, but here's an example of the suspicious stuff from Japan:

Yup. That's a Korean bottle of Minute Maid Fresh juice (looks to be apple). To be fair, they said that Japanese debris washes up on their shore all the time (something about the geography makes it prone to collecting floating garbage) and they would need to verify if this is from last year's tsunami. Hint to NBC News: The Korean bottle probably isn't, but go ahead with the geiger counter anyway.

Sure, it's not entirely implausible that the Korean bottle came from northern Japan. A realistic scenario would be that someone from Japan visited Korea and brought this bottle back on the plane as a beverage or even a souvenir, but my guess is that it actually floated over from Korea.

I've done beach cleanup along northern Oahu long before the tsunami, and it's easy to see Japanese, Korean, and even Chinese goods washed upon the shore and partly buried in the sand. Lest you think it's only East Asians dumping things in the ocean, we see lots of stuff from the US (much of it local, but some of it from the Mainland).

And except for the local stuff, I'm not so sure that these are examples of people carelessly dumping things into the ocean. I remember The Lost Nomad used to put up atrocious pictures of garbage dumped along rivers or reservoirs where he'd fish.

I had assumed that 100% of that had been left by some careless person, like the people who toss their cigarette butts into subway vents, but after experiencing some minor flooding due to torrential rains that are frequent during Korea's changma (rainy season), I've concluded that a large portion, perhaps even the vast majority, comes from garbage and other debris that had been secured being blown away or washed away by heavy rain.

Of course, that doesn't make it any healthier to wildlife or the environment, but at least it restores some of my faith in humanity. That is, until I see a smoker toss a cigarette butt into a subway vent again.

...

Winter that is jealous of the flowers of spring

It's called 꽃샘추의 (gossaem ch'ui) in Korean. It refers to a cold snap that come after spring has already sprung.

Like the Sylvester Stallone movie Daylight, only not in a tunnel.

Apparently Seoul is experiencing a jealous winter's return unlike any in quite sometime. It's snowing a week into April and winds were so bad that it forced a train on Seoul subway's green line to shut down while crossing Chamshil Bridge in the southeastern part of the city.

The weather has been wild enough that the Wall Street Journal commented on it:

For many people waiting for flowers to bloom in South Korea, it is winter all over again on Tuesday, as snow and strong winds sweep the country.

In Seoul, it snowed in April for the first time since 1993. Since the country started its systematic weather forecast in 1907, it snowed in Seoul only 29 times in April.

The Korea Metrological Administration issued a heavy-snowfall warning in the eastern parts of the country, which are expected to have as much as 20 cms of snow today.

The agency said a low pressure zone has settled on central Korea, bringing freezing winds, rain, and even snow. As it is moving east, it will affect the country’s eastern coast until Wednesday afternoon.

The strong winds are leaving their mark.

In Jeju, where a warning against strong typhoon-force winds and wind shear, or a rapid change in winds, was issued, more than 40 flights were canceled and 16 flights delayed as of midday Tuesday. All ferries were grounded due to high waves.

In Youngam, a southwestern city, typhoon-strength winds toppled a 25-ton crane at a shipyard onto a parking lot, destroying ten cars and disrupting electricity supply in nearby plants. No injuries were reported.

Yikes. I guess I shouldn't complain about the boring weather we have here in the islands. To be honest, though, I was just remarking to someone a couple days ago that I miss Korean winters. I'd like to see snow at least once. We do have it in Hawaii, but it's way over on the Big Island, high up on Mauna Kea.

Anyway, I think I remember that April snowfall in 1993. It was April 10, and it did seem odd to have snow so far into spring. On the other end, the earliest snowfall I recall in Seoul was on October 31, but I can't remember what year. Sadly, the only time I remember a White Christmas was maybe 2005.

Anyway, folks. Stay warm! If you can, take advantage of some spring skiing.

...

Fifty years of slogging through Israel-Korea ties

Just when I get done showing how Koreans are the Italians of Asia, the Jerusalem Post comes along and shows that South Koreans are the Jews (or at least the Israelis) of Asia [HT to Wangkon].

Fair enough, but it was Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, that was once known as the "Jerusalem of the East."

On a more serious note, the article suggests that Jerusalem and Seoul improve ties. Since the Park Chunghee era, and particularly after the oil crisis of the early 1970s, Seoul has reached out more to Israel's Arab neighbors, looking to them for energy imports and then as a market for its export goods.

Even after its defense guarantor, the United States, saw relations go south with Iran and Libya, South Korea kept doing business with them (e.g., the Great Manmade River project). Close Korean ties with Middle Eastern countries is why one of the main thoroughfares in Seoul's tony Kangnam District is called Teheran-no Boulevard.

Of course, Arab and Iranian animus toward Israel meant that some of the richest countries of the Middle East strongly discouraged (if not outright forbade) South Korea from having robust trade and economic ties with Israel. For the bottom line, remaining engaged with rest of the Middle East was a more profitable option than just Israel.

It's not really clear how easily things can change. As Christianity (both Protestantism and Catholicism) continue to grow in stature in the ROK, more and more South Koreans may want closer ties with Israel, à la conservative Christians in the United States, whom they lately seem to be emulating a lot (and often not for the best).

This King of the Jews is Korean, which is about as close as
I'll get to having one picture that embodies the subjects
of this post. Oh, and Happy Easter!

...

American(s) in North Korea

In my pursuit of this week's Korea Finder at ROK Drop, I ran across an interesting blog put together by several Americans (or at least, I assume from the title they're American) who have ventured several times into North Korea.

It's not exactly Associated Press propaganda, but it presents a lot of everyday photos of everyday North Koreans doing everyday things. Go have a look-see.

...

The Koreanization of Canadian retail

Remember when Tesco Korea started setting up virtual shopping in subway stations, allowing commuters to become consumers by scanning goods they wanted with their cell phones and then waiting at home for them to be delivered sometime later?

Last Christmas season, a similar idea was tested by K-Mart and Sears, who used virtual stores in plazas around movie theaters to help parents do their holiday shopping (and to get Mom and Dad or Grandpa and Grandma to "buy me that gift right now!"*).

Well, Canada's The Globe & Mail is reporting that a retailer in Ontario is adopting the Korean model to bring commuters in Toronto a similar idea:

An online health and beauty retailer on Monday launched a pop-up store at a key commuter hub that features images of Pampers diapers and Tide detergent, rather than the products themselves. Using a smartphone app, shoppers place their orders by scanning quick response codes – QR codes, for short – on pictures of products, which are then shipped, often as quickly as the next day, to customers free of charge.

Ali Asaria, founder of Well.ca and a former software engineer at BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd., got the inspiration for his digital store from global grocery giant Tesco, which has tested the concept for rushed commuters in a Seoul, South Korea subway station.

If this had been around in the 1980s, there'd have been no Raising Arizona.

When this was first tried in the Seoul subway system, I thought it was particularly ideal for Korean commuters (and urban commuters in East Asia in general). These is a captive audience of people with free time while they're waiting for a train but with little time to shop for groceries, and who often have no car with which to easily pick up large items and take them home. Meanwhile, Korea has a pretty extensive delivery "culture" to rely on for delivering said goods.

While this concept could more easily transfer over to many European cities, I wondered how readily it could translate into a workable concept in North America. The toy-store-at-the-movies adaptation was brilliant, but we'll have to see how it plays out in Canada. At a commuter hub, there might be a clientele somewhat similar to Seoul's, but other than cities like Toronto or New York City with a large portion of carless commuters, how easily can it catch on?

In other words, will it play in Peoria?

* Children are little more than kinetic balls of narcissism™. 


... 

Outsourcing American elections to sunny Spain?

I'm going to sound like a paranoid hack, but ever since 2004, when electronic voting systems were discovered to be giving George W. Bush thousands more votes for president than there were actual residents of the jurisdiction in some parts of too-close-to-call Ohio, I've been very leery of "voting technology" that does not leave a paper trail or which can be hacked.

Actually, I had been worried about this even longer, but my fears became reality in the 2004 election. Though Ohio in 2004 was less infamous than Florida in 2000 (largely because Democratic candidate John Kerry conceded on election night instead of contesting the preliminary results like Al Gore had done in 2000), the election-deciding vote in the Buckeye State was a mess (see also here).

One notable incident among many was the aforementioned granting of 4,258 votes to Bush in a precinct with only 800 registered voters casting 638 ballots (Kerry received 260 votes). This "glitchy memory card" incident occurred in the town of Gahanna, a name that ought to be as familiar as "butterfly ballot."

Amazingly, though, this issue has all but disappeared from the public space, but perhaps we should be paying attention again. It seems that more and more jurisdictions have been using SOE software to run their elections. Last month, SOE was acquired by a company SCYTL, and that puts a substantial amount of control over our electoral process in the hands of a foreign company (SCYTL is based in Spain). This is not meant as a secret, as it's portrayed prominently on their website:

Scytl has acquired 100% of SOE Software. Scytl is a technology company specializing in the development of secure electronic voting and election modernization solutions. Based in Barcelona and with offices in Baltimore, Toronto, New Delhi, Athens, Kiev and Singapore, Scytl’s solutions have been used in public elections by governments from countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, France, Canada, Norway, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, South Africa, India and Australia. Scytl is a portfolio company of leading international VC funds Nauta Capital, Balderton Capital and Spinnaker. More information is available at www.scytl.com.

While it's a positive that they are transparent about who and where they are, that doesn't make the prospect that American elections can be controlled or even manipulated by or in foreign offices any less ominous.

And just why is this kind of thing happening? There are certain aspects of our lives where quality is of the utmost concern, not frugality. Elections are supposed to be accurate, not economical. If this is a move to make the elections process cheaper, forget it. If it's an effort make the elections process more efficient, then we have to ask what kind of efficiency we're looking for. If it's about counting votes fast, forget it.

If it's about counting votes quickly but in a way in which they can and will be independently verified through a hand count, then that's something we can work with.

What it comes down to, though, is that I don't even trust Republicans (e.g., Ken Blackwell) to manage our elections, much less some cabal in Spain over whom the United State has no jurisdiction.

And no, I am not a kook and I don't wear a tinfoil hat, though I occasionally rock a cotton fedora. Interestingly, I first heard about this at a conservative website (the kind where I occasionally leave comments informing them where their facts are completely out of whack and/or mocking them). It's nice to see they are taking up the issue (though it's largely because they think this is how Obama will steal the 2012 election — evidenced by him confidently telling the Russian leader what he'll do after he's re-elected), but I wonder why this never bothered them in 2004 when their candidate rode these machines into the White House.

...

AP = acquiescence to Pyongyang?

Joshua Stanton of One Free Korea has been beating the drum about the Associated Press's accommodating news coverage of the DPRK in exchange for the right to have the first (and thus far only) Western news bureau in the Hermit Kim-dom, which he likens to The Onion. His recent post (first link above) was prompted by a series of tweets by Chico Harlan, the WaPo's Man on Pyongyang (see here, here, here, and here).

Jean Lee of AP Pyongyang
bureau (Twitter feed)

Frankly, I share Mr Stanton's disdain for the Pyongyang regime, even in the post-Kim Jong-il era, as well as his concern that AP is being used as a propaganda tool.

Having worked quite some time in news media, I may perhaps be a little more grounded in pragmatism than idealism. That means that, unlike Joshua, I do see some potential value in a major Western news service constantly having boots on the ground in North Korea, when/if some serious sh¡t goes down up north.

Even with a generally compliant media partner like AP seems to have been so far, it would be harder for Pyongyang to contain news and information about, say, a North Korean version of an Arab Spring, were that to occur. (And I think it may be coming.)

There are two other potential positives here. One is that AP has a chance to show regular North Koreans (or as regular as you can find in the North Korean capital where one must be a party loyalist) being regular North Koreans. It's humanizing, in a way that's an antidote to the way an entire country gets demonized if they have a leader whose the subject of angry political speeches or late-night comedians.

Second, I dare say there may even by a sort of Hawthorne Effect at work here, whereby the authorities kinda sorta behave better knowing that there are observers in their midst.

Ultimately it comes down to this: North Korea allows no one into its house unless they agree to play by their rules, not some froufrou "international norms" that everyone else abides by, and AP knows it. Perhaps they thought they could effect more positive change by doing it this way. For now, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, but Jean Lee and her editors back in Washington should know we're watching them (meant in a watchdoggedly diligent way, not a creepy way).

Pyongyang's position leaves us with two choices: go along to get in the door, or stay locked outside. Although I wouldn't want Reuters, AFP, the NYT, WaPo, LAT, BBC, etc., etc. to all choose this path, methinks it might be good that at least one agency is inside the lion's den.

...

Equal time

In the Trayvon Martin killing, I've pretty much come out in support of those who believe George Zimmerman was out of line on several counts, and that his racial profiling and aggressive stance are the fundamental reasons why the killing occurred.

But I thought I should give equal time to the other side. This gentleman's well articulated argument seems to typify most of those I've read in forums supporting Mr Zimmerman or trying to destroy the reputation of Mr Martin, so I thought he'd be the best choice.




Okay, then. Here's something I'm certain is meant to be satire:

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

...