In this first public mass in Asia, Pope Francis spoke to 50,000 people and told them they need to strive to eliminate materialism from their lives.
The Pope also said to “reject inhumane economic models which create new forms of poverty and marginalize workers, and the culture of death which devalues the image of God, the God of life, and violates the dignity of every man, woman and child.”
Vatican Radio said the Pope’s message focused on the allure of materialism that is so worshipped and praised by the world. He said the spirit of unbridled competition that feeds materialism is the engine driving selfishness and strife.
The Pope took time to give special praise to the Korean church because they did not have a track record to build on and when they found Catholic books imported from China “were able to go it alone.”
He also offered blessings for 10,000 Koreans that had been martyred in the 18th and 19th centuries trying to bring Catholicism into the region. He said the martyrs gave a “noble tradition” and “legacy” that needs to be continued by taking care of “the poor, the needy and the vulnerable in our midst.”
A South Korean missionary arrested in North Korea on charges of spying and setting up a network of underground churches has been sentenced to life at hard labor.
Kim Jung-wook was sentenced after a trial where North Korean authorities claim he admitted to “committing anti-North Korean religious acts” and “malignantly hurting the dignity” of ruler Kim Jong-Un.
According to North Korean state media, Jung-wook had a defense attorney but there were no details about whether a defense was actually provided during the trial that international observers called a sham.
Kim Jung-wook had been arrested last October after he entered North Korea from China. When he lived in China, he had been instrumental in helping North Korean Christians escape to South Korea. He had crossed into North Korea to learn about food storages and was caught by authorities.
Prosecutors presented what they called evidence of his actions including religious books. The court could have sentenced the missionary to death but decided to issue the life sentence.
The deadly South Korean ferry disaster has been found to be the result of illegally loaded cargo shifting during the journey.
The death toll climbed to over 260 as divers continue to bring the bodies of the dead from inside the ferry. The official death toll does not include one diver who died after problems with his oxygen supply while on a recovery mission.
Investigators say that the ferry was loaded with double the amount of cargo allowed by maritime law. The cargo was also not tied down properly which broke free in the heavy surf and shifted left, toppling the ferry.
“The lashing devices that should have held cargo goods steady were loose, and some of the crew members did not even know” how to use them correctly, prosecutor Yang Joong-jin told reporters.
Police reportedly have arrested four employees of the ferry’s owner, Cheonghaejin Marine Company, and one of those in custody was a senior executive. Officials won’t say if the people arrested had a direct connection to the overloading of the ferry.
The ferry company reportedly had been overloading the ferry since March 2013 and earned almost three million dollars in additional profits with the illegal loads.
North Korea is preparing to execute 33 people for being Christians.
The official charge from the government is “attempting to overthrow the government.” In reality, the group was working with a South Korean Baptist missionary to set up underground churches.
Missionary Kim Jung-wook has been jailed and tortured for a year because of his attempts to start underground churches in North Korea. He was presented at a press conference last week where he apologized for his “anti-state crimes” and appealed for his release.
He was also forced to say that South Korea Intelligence services had provided him with information and equipment. The South Korean government said they had no involvement with Kim Jung-wook.
North Korean officials say the 33 people involved with Kim Jung-wook were planning to build a church on the site of a massive statue of North Korea’s founder after they overthrew the government.
Kim Jong-un has been on a murderous rampage including members of his government. His top deputy disappeared last week and some people have speculated that the North Korean leader has killed him.
The United Nations report on the atrocities committed by the North Korean government is slowly being completely released to the public and the latest information shows horrific drawings of torture.
A man who survived two years inside a prison camp gave the sketches to the UN. The drawings show a glimpse into the camp where cameras are forbidden by the North Korean government.
“This was the first thing that I saw: there it said that ‘if you run, you die,'” Kim Kwang-Il told the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights.
“We are supposed to think there’s an imaginary motorcycle and we are supposed to be in this position as if we are riding the motorcycle. And for this, we pose as if we are airplanes ourselves. We are flying. And if we stand like this there’s no way that you can hold that position for a long time. You are bound to fall forward. Everybody in the detention center goes through this kind of torture,” said Kwang-Il, who was able to escape to South Korea.
Kwang-Il was sentenced to 29 months in a labor camp for smuggling pine nuts into the country.
Witnesses say the prisoners are kept starving to the point they would eat rats or snakes that they would catch in their cells or outside their buildings.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is pressing for the International Criminal Court to put North Korean leaders on trial.
South Korea is developing cyber-weapons similar to those used by western governments in their battle against North Korea.
The country’s defense ministry said it is seeking weapons similar to the Stuxnet virus, which infiltrated and damaged Iranian nuclear plants. The South Korean military will carry out missions using the new software. The missions are believed to be focused entirely on North Korea but the information given to the BBC did not specify that.
The Defense Ministry reportedly told the government their plans to use cyberweapons this week.
The cyberweapons are believed to be a response by the South to North Korea’s continued testing of nuclear weapons and missiles. The overall plan by South Korea included using social media and networking for a propaganda campaign against the North.
Computer security experts said they’re concerned about the South Korean plan because it’s impossible to control a virus once it’s been released.
Cybersecurity firms say that hackers who knocked out tens of thousands of South Korean computers earlier this year are now coming after U.S. and South Korean military firms. Continue reading →
North Korea conducted a missile test over the weekend in another attempt to show defiance to the world’s sanctions.
A short-range guided missile was fired into the water off the eastern coast Sunday and three short-range missiles were fired in a test on Saturday. South Korea called the acts “provocations” but noted that no North Korea troops were moving toward the border. Continue reading →
In a joint news conference with South Korea’s leader, U.S. President Barack Obama said that North Korea’s days of receiving concessions from the world by making threats is over.
“The days when North Korea could create a crisis and elicit concessions, those days are over,” President Obama said. “President Park and myself very much share the view that we are going to maintain a strong deterrent, we’re not going to reward provocative behavior but we remain open to the prospect of North Korea taking a peaceful path.” Continue reading →
South Korean investigators have released a report showing that the massive cyber-attacks on television stations and banks was the work of North Korea.
Investigators said they discovered pieces of the code that were an identical match to code in malware previously connected to North Korean spies. In addition to the malware, 22 of the IP addresses were identified as being used by North Korea in previous attacks. Continue reading →
