"South Korean promoter kills self after 16 concertgoers die in accident" by Kim Tong-Hyung | Associated Press October 19, 2014
SEOUL — A South Korean man involved in planning an outdoor pop concert where 16 people were killed after falling through a ventilation grate was found dead Saturday in an apparent suicide, officials said, as the site of his death was not far from where 16 people watching a performance by 4Minute, a girl band that is popular across Asia, were killed when the ventilation grate they were standing on collapsed.
Also see: Sixteen killed in accident at South Korean concert
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A video recorded by someone at the concert that was shown on the YTN television network showed the band continuing to dance for a while in front of a crowd that appeared to be unaware of the accident.
The collapse came as South Korea is still struggling with the aftermath of a ferry disaster in April that left more than 300 people dead or missing.
For a time, the sinking jolted South Korea into thinking about safety issues that had been almost universally overlooked as the country rose from poverty and war to an Asian power.
The tragedy exposed regulatory failures that appear to have allowed the ferry Sewol to set off with far more cargo than it could safely carry. Family members say miscommunications and delays during rescue efforts doomed their loved ones.
Analysts say many safety problems in the country stem from little regulation, light punishment for violators, and wide ignorance about safety in general — and a tendency to value economic advancement over all else.
I wonder from where they got that value.
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"Koreas’ military talks end without agreement" by Hyung-Jin Kim | Associated Press October 16, 2014
SEOUL — The first military talks between North Korea and South Korea in more than three years ended with no agreement Wednesday, as the rivals failed to narrow their differences on how to ease animosity following two shooting incidents last week, South Korean officials said.
At least they are talking.
The two countries traded gunfire Friday after South Korean activists floated balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets across the border. Earlier last week, their navies exchanged warning shots along the nations’ disputed sea boundary. There were no reports of casualties from either incident, but they served as a reminder of how tensions are running high on the divided Korean Peninsula.
On Wednesday, following a proposal by North Korea, generals from the two countries met at a border village and held military talks for the first time since February 2011, South Korea’s Defense Ministry said.
During the closed-door meeting, North Korea repeated its demands that South Korea ban activists from dropping leaflets and media outlets from publishing articles critical of North Korea, ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said at a televised news conference. South Korean delegates responded that they cannot do so because South Korea is a liberal democracy, he said.
The sides were also at odds over the sea boundary, drawn unilaterally by the American-led United Nations command at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War without North Korea’s consent, Kim said. There have been several bloody naval skirmishes along the boundary in recent years.
‘‘The atmosphere of today’s talks was very serious because South and North Korea both have wills to improve ties, but they couldn’t narrow their differences,’’ Kim said. The two sides did not set a date for a next meeting, he added.
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I would rather they talk than this:
"Two Koreas exchange gunfire along border" Associated Press October 20, 2014
SEOUL — Troops from the rival Koreas exchanged gunfire Sunday along their heavily fortified border in the second such shooting in less than 10 days, South Korean officials said. There were no reports of injuries or property damage, but the 10 minutes of shooting highlighted rising tensions between the divided countries.
The Koreas’ first exchange of gunfire came after North Korea opened fire at balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets that were floating across the border from the South.
Sunday’s shootout began after North Korea sent soldiers close to the border line. The move was an attempt by the North to increase worries in the South about what might happen if leafleting continues, analysts say.
I'm viewing those leaflets as a provocation, and likely coming from U.S.-connected groups.
South Korean activist groups, mostly made up of North Korean defectors, have been staunch in their vows to continue sending the leaflets, which Pyongyang considers propaganda warfare; one group says it will float about 50,000 on Saturday. North Korea has warned it will take unspecified stronger measures if practice continues.
Generals from the sides met at a border village last week in their first military talks in more than three years to discuss how to ease the spike in tensions, but the meeting ended with no agreement and no prospects to meet again.
On Sunday, South Korean soldiers sent warnings and fired warning shots at about 10 North Korean soldiers who were approaching the military demarcation line inside the 2.5-mile-wide Demilitarized Zone, which bisects the Korean Peninsula, according to a statement from South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Two shots believed to have been fired by North Korean soldiers were found at a South Korean guard post. South Korean soldiers fired toward the North, the statement said.
South Korean defense officials said the North Korean soldiers turned back after the shooting.
North Korea opened fire on Oct. 10 after activists floated propaganda balloons across the border, following through on a previous threat to attack. There were no reports of casualties from that incident either.
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