Mad Men

Each morning and evening here in Seoul, my parents watch the news. As you might imagine, more than 50% of each broadcast is about the latest twists and turns in the drama between Kim Jong Un and Trump.

TV shots like this one are fairly typical.

Hearing the news from a South Korean perspective, one does note certain similarities between the two men.

My uncle laughs and calls Trump and Kim “brothers.”

Our Korean guide who led our visit to the DMZ commented that he wished the US would lean on the South Korean expertise gleaned from decades of relating to North Korea. (Yeah, don’t we all?).

My father is happy that the June 12 meeting is on (as of this writing) but wonders where China is in all this. A peace agreement between North and South would need the sanction of North Korea’s “big brother.”

In other Seoul news:

The ongoing prosecution of former Korean President Lee Myung-Bak for graft.

The case of the wife and daughters of the CEO of Korean Airlines, who are in trouble for throwing tantrums and abusing their staff, bringing some of that staff from the Philippines under false pretenses, importing goods under false pretenses to avoid paying taxes, and on and on. Korean Airlines employees are protesting, too, against poor working conditions. They wear masks to hide their identities.

The #MeToo movement is making waves here, too. Female college students, a YouTube star, and others are speaking up.

Meanwhile, local electioneering has officially begun.

The news this morning showed a shot of a local candidate promising that on election day (June 13), Korea will be transformed!

Politicians. The same everywhere.