Original article. A shortened translation of this article was published by KBS World.

A survey has found that many North Korean refugees suffered human experimentation in North Korean concentration camps.

According to the Korea Development Institute (한국개발연구원) on the 5th, Marcus Noland of US-based Peterson Institute presented the results of the survey, "Reppression and Punishments Suffered by North Korean Refugees" at a KDA seminar.

The study is based on interviews of 1346 North Korean refugees conducted from August 2004 to September 2005 in 11 provinces in China, and of 300 refugees living in Korea in November 2008.

In the two surveys, 55% of refugees in China said "I suffered human experimentation in North Korean concentration camps" and 5% said "I experienced the murder of my infant child". 7% of the refugees in Korea said their infant children had been murdered.

52% of refugees in Korea said they had witnessed an execution, and 60% of refugees in China said they had seen a death by torture. The study found that most of the refugees in Korea and China had suffered food deprivation.

92.1% of the refugees asserted that "the poor state of the North Korean economy is due to the North Korean government."

87.3% said "while I was in North Korea I believed that there must be reunification with Korea".

On their reasons for escaping, 56.7% said "the economic circumstances", while 27% said for political freedom and 8% said fear.

30% of respondents in China and 33% of respondents in Korea said "a family member died during the famine."

43% of respondents in China and 56% of respondents in Korea said "I think a large number of North Korean refugees are unaware of the food aid program and only a small number of them received aid from North Korea."

67.4% said they believed the aid went to the military, while 28.7% said it goes to the government and the authorities, and 41.9% were pessimistic about the current situation in North Korea.

The countriesNorth Korean refugees wish to go to are mainly Korea (64%) and the United States (19%), while at least 80% of respondents hope for reunification with Korea and believe their colleagues in North Korea feel the same.

Two pictures here. That's a 100-won coin sitting on top of it, so at between 30 to 40 centimeters the Chosun Ilbo is calling it the largest dinosaur egg ever found in Korea.

Somehow I missed this when I posted a couple weeks ago about a play showing in Daehakro featuring nudity, but there is also another play (or something) currently showing in Daehakro also featuring nudity. Apparently this show, titled 논쟁, has been a big hit, selling out many performances. Other photos are in this gallery.

 

Work in a public school or two in Korea and you'll often see one of these guys.

A teacher in a high school in Gunsan has been fired for sexual misconduct with a female student.

According to the Gunsan Office of Education and the victim's parents on November 5, 54-year-old Mr. A, a homeroom teacher for second-year students at a Gunsan high school, was fired on November 2 after it was confirmed he had been sexually inappropriate with two female students.

The students told of the sexual misconduct during a parent-teacher meeting, and the parents said, "we have heard from our children that teacher A sexually molests them by touching certain parts of their bodies whenever he feels like it and has done so since the beginning of the semester."

Accordingly, the school surveyed its students and found that over 20 claimed that, "teacher A is too touchy-feely."

Mr. A denied the students' accusations of sexual misconduct.

Police investigated the victims and plan to subpoena Mr. A eventually.

Looks like someone took the good advice of just firing pervert teachers.

Former Doosan Group chairman Park Yong-oh died in Seoul National University Hospital on the morning of November 4. The English Joongang says he may have committed suicide.

Last night SBS News reported on the case of an American woman who came to Korea one month to work in a hagwon and was sexually assaulted last week. She is accusing police of not conducting the investigation properly.

(Anchor)

Less than one month after arriving in Korea an American woman suffered a sexual assault. But the woman appealed to the American Embassy for help in understanding what actions the Korean police were taking in her case.

Lee Ho-geon reports.

(Reporter)

A shopping center in Sanggye-dong, Seoul.

29-year old American hagwon instructor Ms. I suffered a terrible incident here on the 28th of October.

Moments after leaving the women's restroom on the second floor a man pulled her away and sexually assaulted her.

Ms. I was shocked and screamed, and the man was caught after citizens in the area came running in the direction of her screams.

[Ms. I/American crime victim: I was so frightened and felt my life was in danger. I'm unable to sleep at night if I think about it.]

The apprehended suspect is a 17-year-old named Lee who works as a delivery boy for a nearby restaurant.

Police inflicted a second injury on Ms. I by the way they investigated the incident.

Police guidelines for investigating sex crimes call for the attacker and victim to be interviewed separately, and two of Ms. I's co-workers requested that they be separated but police ignored both the guideline and the request.

[Mr. Lee/co-worker of victim: I arrived (at the station) and as soon as I opened the door he was sitting there. She was shocked and began crying and chaos broke out, so an officer came over and asked what the matter was and she just cried incoherently...]

Ms. I was told by police that because Lee is a minor he could be released with a warning.

Ms. I, in a depressed state of mind, informed the US Embassy of what had occurred and the Embassy made a phone call to police demanding a thorough investigation.

Ms. I is unable to express her full anger over the humiliation she suffered and the slothful handling of the incident by police, just one month after she entered the country.

[I thought Korea was a safe country but... it's scary. Scary.]