Highly Localized Earthquakes Plague Korean Buildings

Hundreds of people evacuated a high-rise shopping mall in Seoul today after it began shaking due to a highly localized earthquake, and definitely not poor construction. It is the latest in a series of highly localized earthquakes which have plagued high-profile Korean buildings and infrastructure in recent years. The tremor, which only affected the shopping mall's top floors, and no neighboring buildings, comes at a time when some ill-informed populists outside Korea's government and construction industry have suggested that the nation's buildings could be vulnerable in the event of more widespread seismic activity on the Korean Peninsula.

The Ministry of Land said that Korea generally does not suffer from earthquakes, unlike Japan, due to the stronger and superior nature of Korean soil. The Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources also initially said there was no need to worry about earthquakes because South Korea, which sits on the Eurasian tectonic plate, has no major fault lines running under it, apart from the undiscovered ones. However, the Institute later admitted that, having checked some historical data, in future tremors of 6.5 to 7 in magnitude cannot be ruled out.

Currently, nuclear power stations in Korea - which are perfectly safe - are required to withstand quakes up to 6.5 in magnitude, although in future the government says new plants will be built to withstand quakes up to a magnitude of 7, just to be "extra careful". In the event of a 6.5 or greater the government admit that - apart from the nuclear plants - a 'small amount' of buildings and infrastructure will be vulnerable to collapse, including schools, all houses, most military buildings, public buildings, dams, bridges, overpasses, subway tunnels, airports, and hospitals. However, this would probably only result in the complete destruction of around 27,000 buildings and partial destruction of 550,000 buildings, in Seoul.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said that while the risks of damage may be limited, it will urgently address any misplaced safety concerns, by making subway tunnels earthquake resistant by 2014, and public buildings by 2026. Outside Seoul, according to reports from Korea's second-class city Busan, only 5 of the city's 22 earthquake shelters have actually been built using an earthquake-resistant design. Officials in the city said they would reject a populist approach and deal with the question of whether to make the earthquake shelters earthquake proof quietly.

The relatively low number of damaged buildings projected in the event of a 6.5 earthquake comes despite the fact that 80% of Korean buildings were not constructed with quake-proof designs since under the current law, only buildings or structures taller than three stories with floor space of more than 1,000 square meters are required to follow "seismic designs to better withstand strong tremors".

The general safety of most buildings, whether they have been built to resist earthquakes or not, is said to be a testimony to the quality of the local construction industry, which has continued to produce perfectly safe buildings despite extensive corruption coupled with the 16-hour work-days and alcohol consumption of many of its employees. Some construction bosses have said though that this year's Japanese earthquake, which moved Korea 5 centimeters east, may have weakened some of their buildings, and compensation should be sought from Tokyo if buildings have been weakened because of it.

As a result of the initial earthquake survey in the capital, "Trauma House 5" in Seoul's Seocho-dong has been identified as the the capital's most earthquake-proof building. The apartment block, home to many of the nation's construction bosses, features a 200-person underground bunker capable of resisting tremors of 7 or higher on the Richter Scale.

While "Trauma House 5" may provide a model for all Koreans to follow, The National Emergency Management Agency cautioned people to be aware of the possibility of further highly localized tremors hitting individual buildings, as well as more extensive earthquakes, in the future.

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Do Koreans Look Good in Nazi Uniforms?

The Nazi fashion wave sweeping Korea is causing some controversy among foreign criminals and Korean liberals who say that the clothing, which is synonymous with war and repression and the death of millions of Jews in the Holocaust is inappropriate in a country that suffered terribly from war itself and a brutal occupation by Nazi Germany's largely unrepentant allies, the Japanese.

With China increasingly describing itself as 'the Nazi Germany of the 21st Century', some also say that far from being a dull historical European footnote that should not detract from the seductive authoritarian cut of the uniforms, wearing clothing from the Third Reich is pandering to an enemy that is working hard to build a Fourth.

But fashion experts agree that Koreans look good in Nazi uniforms. "It is often said that clothes make the man," said 49 year-old Professor Kim from Seoul International University, "but the man must also make the clothes. Successful fashion is the fusion of both, and one must be a reflection of the other." In a militarized nation with an overt sense of xenophobia and pure-blooded racial purity, coupled with male-only conscription, subjugation of women and repressed homosexuality, many say the critics should look beyond the bad things the Nazis did and consider the positive things the clothing stands for that reflect Korea today.

In 1988 South Korea finally shook off its authoritarian past after a long struggle for democracy, but this is now widely regarded as a mistake, with the attempt to impose a Western political system on a naturally authoritarian culture typical of the kind of jackbooted cultural imperialism which Korea has fallen victim to before. "We should celebrate Korea's unique pure-blooded culture and desire to crush those in society we consider inferior to us, and dress accordingly." says Professor Kim. In fact many academics argue that North Korea - far from being a totalitarian dictatorship - is merely Koreanism in its purest form, undiluted by foreign influences.

Even before uniforms and swastikas began flooding Seoul's most fashionable clothing stores this season, Nazi imagery had been used to advertise a variety of products including a Korean cosmetic range which evoked memories of Nazi attempts to manufacture soap from the fat of murdered Jews. But the company concerned said that no migrant workers, who many consider to be the Jews of Korea, had been harmed in the production of its cosmetics.

At Nazi-themed bars across Seoul, customers said the criticism of their 'Nazi-chic' fashion was typical of 'foreign criminals' and 'communist elements' who are trying to destabilize Korea and attack Koreans' pure-blooded racial purity.

When asked about why he was wearing an SS uniform and whether he identified with Nazi ideals, English Literature graduate 25 year-old Kim's response was typical "I don't hate them, I don't like them," he told us, "but at least they dressed well."

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Foreign Criminals to be Required to Register Fingerprints

Foreign criminals will be required to register their fingerprints with South Korean immigration authorities upon arrival if they're planning for a long term stay.

The requirement is in accordance with a revised immigration law, which passed the National Assembly in April last year.

Starting Friday, the revision makes it mandatory for foreign criminals to have their photos taken and provide their fingerprints upon their arrival if they want to stay in the nation for more than 91 days.

The Justice Ministry will require foreign criminals who have been already staying in South Korea on a long-term basis to register their fingerprints starting January next year.

It predicts that some 200,000 foreign criminals will register their fingerprints from next month to the end of this year.

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