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Irene Kahn, the secretary general of Amnesty International is in Seoul this week. Yesterday, she met with the families of the six protesters who died in January after a fired broke out when riot police raided an abandoned building in Yongsan. Khan promised the families that AI would keep an eye on how the Korean government handles the incident and expressed hopes for a more thorough investigation. Also on Khan’s agenda, are meetings with senior officials from the Justice Ministry and National Human Rights Commission.

Another Japanese tourist died from their injuries in last weekend’s fire at a shooting range in Busan. The total number of deaths is now 12 and the exact cause of the fire is still unknown. Last week, investigators announced that the point of ignition was in fact  an explosion, but the cause of the explosion is yet to be confirmed.

Tempers are likely to rise following yesterday’s ground breaking ceremonies for the four-rivers project at the Yeongsan and Geum River sites. Lee Myung-bak attended the Yeongsan ceremony in Gwangju and delivered a speech saying that the project must move forward and not be derailed by politics. He described the completed project as an engine for economic growth and contributing to the well-being and happiness of Koreans.

Both speech and ceremonies (including the ceremonies at the Han and Nakdong Rivers scheduled for Friday) are contentious given that Lee’s Grand National Party (GNP) and the opposition Democratic Party (DP) have been in a budgetary deadlock over the four rivers project, with the DP wanting to cut the budget for the four rivers project. In the assembly, none of the standing committees reviewing next year’s budget have completed their talks and according to the constitution the budget must be approved by December 2nd. Many DP reps from Gwangju and South Jeolla boycotted the ceremony calling the timing of the event politically motivated, along with Lee’s decision to speak in Gwangju, the DP’s traditional stronghold. The Hankyoreh weighs in on the ceremonies, calling them the launch of a propaganda war.

The project was advanced as part of  the  administration’s green growth strategy, and involves restoring Korea’s four major river systems: the Han, Nakdong, Yeongsan, and Geum. The project proposes a 2012 completion date and an estimated cost of 22.2 trillion won. The project was initially controversial given that Lee had  to scrap his Grand Canal proposal after getting elected. Critics maintaining that the four rivers project was actually the grand canal initiative dressed in “green”. Environmental critics opposed the grand canal citing the environmental damage it would cause, and there are similar concerns regarding the four-rivers project. Although, Lee described the project as eco-friendly in yesterday’s speech.

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13 year old, Kim Hyeon-su, is the first Korean middle school student to ace the internet-based TOEFL test. Kim never attended private academies to learn English, but instead enjoyed studying at home for fun. Kim’s mother, having studied Hebrew, Greek and English herself, says it was clear that her daughter had an ability to pick up the language easily, when, at only 25 months, Kim was reading middle school level English books. An ambitious 13 year old, she wants to study English literature, marine biology, and psychology, and be a movie director.

From English whiz to prankster. A Seoul court  finds in favor of Korean Airlines and fines a 14 year old boy 15 million won for calling in a bomb threat in February. The boy’s call delayed a scheduled flight for an hour and led Korean Air to file the suit citing service interruption and financial damages.

The chocolate bar, Jayushigan (“Free Time”), is being recalled by the Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA). The chocolate bar that’s produced by Haitai Confectionery & Foods Co. was found to have a higher bacteria content than permitted by KFDA standards. Tests found that the product contained more than twice the allowed bacteria content per gram.

Kim In-kyu, chairman of the Digital Media Industry Association, has been nominated for KBS president. Controversy has been building around the possible appointment of Kim, because he  served  as Lee Myung-bak’s media advisor in the 2007 election campaign. Fueled by the passing of the Grand National Party’s market-oriented media reform bill, critics claim Kim is just another puppet in Lee Myung-bak’s efforts to  expand his conservative government’s control over the media. Some KBS labour union members have been staging a hunger strike to protest Kim’s nomination and the possible reappointment of Lee Byung-soon, who got the job last year after Jung Yun-joo was let go. Jung was known to oppose the present administration’s media policies and also aired reports that criticized Lee Myung-bak’s decision to lift the ban on U.S. beef imports. Those who support the decision, say Kim’s nomination is in the best interests of KBS, since the company will require an experienced president to help them address increased television subscriptions and the transition to a digital broadcasting system. The nomination now goes to Lee Myung-bak to make the official appointment. If approved, Kim will start his three year term as KBS president on November 24th.

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The Chosun Ilbo will catch the attention of  patiently-waiting iPhone enthusiasts this morning. It reports that the Korean launch of the will be iPhone next week. There is no official statement from KT, the official supplier of the Apple product in Korea, but industry insiders are saying that November 28th is the date. They are also saying that KT will start online reservations for the iPhone tomorrow. 150,000 units will be sold at first, ranging between w250,000 and w300,000. The article also mentions that both the 3GS  and 3G iPhone models will be available here.

The police have not determined the source of the Saturday’s fatal fire at a shooting range in Busan. Police are looking into the possibility of an explosion caused by leftover gunpowder and cigarette butts after one of the injured Japanese tourists recalled hearing an explosion before the fire broke out. The police have sent gunpowder samples to a national testing facility to find evidence of an explosion. Meanwhile, autopsy reports indicate that smoke inhalation was the official cause of death for the seven Japanese tourists, and the police have told the shooting range owner and its manager “not to leave town” until the investigation clears them. Earlier this morning, one of the injured patients died, bringing the total number of deaths to 11.

The Mayor of Seoul has announced plans that will see passenger cruises running between Yeouido, Shanghai, Qingdao, Weihai, and other Chinese cities starting in 2012. In efforts to make Seoul a “maritime tourism hub” in Northeast Asia, the Han River will be used as the main waterway and the city will build a massive passenger terminal on Yeouido.  There are also plans for a 150-room floating hotel on the Han near Yongsan and expanded routes to Macau, Hong Kong, and Tokyo.

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