South Korean and Japanese nationalism on display at East Asian Cup Finals

Japanese media outlests expressed their displeasure over a banner put up by South Korean supporters during the 2013 East Asian Cup Finals match between Japan and South Korea held in Jamsil Stadium on the 28th.

"South Korean fans raised a banner that read that there is no future for a nation that forgets history, using the Korean Hangul alphabet," stated Jiji Press. "Although the banner was removed at half-time, it was apparently criticizing Japan over the perception of its wartime history.

The global soccer governing body, FIFA, bans political slogans from being expressed during matches."

Mainichi Shimbun also commented on the banner stating, "The banner may have violated FIFA regulations which prohibit political statements of any kind during games." Regarding the hoisting of large black-and-white portrait of Korean independence activist An Jung-geun, who assassinated Japan's first prime minister Ito Hirobumi, "When a large portrait of An Jung-geun who is regarded as a national hero for assassinating Japan's first prime minister Ito Hirobumi was unfurled, South Korean fans roared. However, South Korean officials were quick to restrain the Japanese Rising Sun Flags from being waved."

These reports are in stark contrast to a Reuters report that states South Korean opposition party representative An Min-suk launched a broadside at the KFA for allowing Japanese fans to display the 'Rising Sun' flag, which South Koreans associate with Japan's militaristic past.

"It is outrageous that they (KFA) let them hoist the flag and only cracked down on the banners prepared by the Red Devils," An told Reuters by telephone.

 "The flag symbolizes all the heinous war crimes committed by the Japanese during the colonial times when they were trampling us. The Korea Football Association is walking on eggshells and trying to curry favour with its Japanese counterpart while doing a poor job in protecting the interest of our people."

The Red Devils, a South Korean soccer cheer squad, held banners that read "A nation which forgets its history has no future" and portraits of Korean independence activist An Jung-geun and general Yi-Seun Shin. When the banner and portraits were removed by the Korean Football Association, the supporters stopped cheering momentarily in the second half. The Japanese supporters also waved their the Rising Sun Flags but were quickly restrained by the officials.

Men's Rights Group Activist Sung Jae-gi still missing after four days, search called off

The search for the 46-year-old missing men's rights activist Sung Jae-gi was called off after four days. According to an official from Yeongdeungpo Fire Station, firefighters involved in the search for the head of Men of Korea have returned to their normal duties as of yesterday. However, the officials say rescue boats will continue to look for his body downstream near the Haengju Bridge. Since Sung Jae-gi jumped off a bridge into Han River on the 26th, some 60 firefighters had been looking for him with five ambulances and ten rescue boats. The rescue operation was hampered by the fast currents and murky state of the river. "The search is being called off because we can't continue to put off other duties," said an official invovled in the situation. "During the course of the rescue operation for Sung Jae-gi, we found three unidentified bodies."

The day before the stunt, Sung Jae-gi threatened to jump from a bridge into Han River urging the public to lend the group 100 million Won to relieve the group's financial difficulties. The Seoul Mapo Police is investigating four members of the civic group at the scene for possibly abetting suicide. However, the colleagues insist that this was not a suicide attempt but an elaborate stunt to raise funds and that his wife was aware of it as well.

Top Comments:

love****

He was bragging about how his wife bought him a Bentz on Daily Best. If he sold that car, he would have been able to pay back some of the debt. I find the Daily Best supporters who didn't make contributions to the Man of Korea quite sad actually, but Sung Jae-gi is even worse for staging this ridiculous stunt to get donations and being a nuisance even after his death.

qwas****

More bodies being discovered...

It just occurred to me that you can kill somebody and just toss the body in the Han River and get away with murder.

drai****

Whether he's dead or alive, he's probably regretting this decision.

Lotte's new super tall skyscraper will offer location-based services

With the help of Lotte Data Communication Company, Lotte World Tower (currently under construction) located in the Jamsil area of Seoul will be set to have location-based services.

They describe that enhancements will include pedestrian route guidance services, store information,  and parking information. The location-based services are not limited to these areas.

Once completed, the skyscraper will be the nation's highest and among the top five tallest in the world.