Konstantin Asmolov
What’s the problem regarding radioactive water discharge from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant? A delegation of South Korean scientists visits the NPP. Part 2
The disputable situation surrounding the safety of discharging water from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, which the author discussed in Part 1, prompted a team of 21 South Korean experts to visit Japan from May 21 to 26 to inspect the plant and the treatment of radioactively contaminated water that Japan plans to begin discharging into the ocean in the near future because the tanks are full. Many Koreans are concerned about this because they believe the waters are still contaminated and will have a negative impact on the environment and health of the population of the area, especially South Korea. A presidential administration official stated that Seoul feels a real inspection of the nuclear disaster by South Korean experts is required…
A Kaleidoscope of Stories about Korean Society
Review of the book The Koreas: The Birth of Two Nations Divided by Theodore Jun Yoo
In 2023, the book The Koreas: The Birth of Two Nations Divided by South Korean Professor Theodore Jun Yoo was published in Russian. It was praised in the West as “a rare multidisciplinary study of the two Koreas from the division of the peninsula in 1945 to the present time.” There are very few popular science books on Korea, and the application of content analysis to the book already suggests that the author considers the inhabitants of the DPRK and the ROK as belonging to different nations. This is, to put it mildly, a bold assertion, especially if one recalls the definition of a nation in both Soviet and Russian scholarship. Who is Theodore Jun Yoo? He is an associate professor in the Department of Korean Language and Literature at Yonsei University, and this is not his first book…
Is Lee Jae-myung ready for trial?
In a speech to the RoK Parliament on June 19, 2023, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, Lee Jae-myung, stated that he intended to renounce his parliamentary immunity in order to dispute the prosecutor’s allegations against him. Let us take a moment to reflect on what came before this really significant action. The former mayor of Seongnam, governor of Gyeonggi Province and main rival of Yoon Suk-yeol in the 2022 presidential election, Lee is a person of interest in several criminal cases: Corruption in the development of the Daejean-dong residential area, the main content of Seongnam Gate. Lee Jae-myung is suspected of causing 489.5 billion won ($375.4 million) in damage to the city by approving projects for the benefit of private developers who made 1000+% profit…
