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About The Asian reporter. (Portland, Or.) 1991-current | View Entire Issue (June 17, 2019)
Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER ASIA / PACIFIC June 17, 2019 S. Korean businesses growingly adopt unmanned services SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Robots are coming to South Korea’s vibrant coffee culture, where crowds of lunchtime customers queuing at cafés are a daily sight. Cafés are among many businesses that could be transformed by automated services in the tech-forward nation — a notion both exciting and worrisome as jobs become scarcer. The Dal.komm Coffee franchise has 45 outlets, in malls, cafeterias, schools, and an airport, where robot baristas take orders remotely through a mobile app or kiosk cashier and then brew and serve fresh coffee. Customers are sent a four-digit code and can retrieve their drinks from a pickup box. South Korean industries, including restaurants, convenience stores, supermarkets, banks, and manufacturers are relying increasingly on robots and other automation. But not without protest: many Koreans, especially the young, are struggling to find work. Fake “Made in Vietnam” labels used by Chinese companies HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam’s government says it is taking more steps to prevent Chinese companies from using illegal “Made in Vietnam” labels to avoid high tariffs that have been imposed by the United States on Chinese goods. The customs department says textiles, fisheries, farm products, tiles, honey, iron, steel, and plywood are among the Chinese products that are most often being relabelled and then exported to a third country. Vietnam’s government portal said the customs department has ordered its offices to be more aggressive in checking the certificates of origin of products. In one case, U.S. customs officials found a shipment of Chinese plywood relabelled to make it appear that it originated in Vietnam. Speaking at the national assembly, Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh warned of serious consequences if such subterfuges cannot be controlled. “It will sabotage Vietnamese brands and products and it will also affect consumers. We could even get tariff retribution from other countries, and if that happens, it will hurt our economy,” the government website quoted Minh as saying. The U.S. is Vietnam’s largest export market, while it imports the most from China. In a spiralling trade war, the U.S. is imposing 25% tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods. Beijing has counterpunched by targeting $110 billion worth of American products. Nepal Everest cleanup drive yields garbage, bodies KATHMANDU, Nepal — A Nepal government expedition to Mount Everest has removed 24,200 pounds of garbage and four dead bodies from the world’s highest mountain, officials said. Tourism Department official Danduraj Ghimire said the cleaners spent weeks collecting food wrappings, cans, bottles, and empty oxygen cylinders. Some of the garbage was flown to Kathmandu and handed over to recyclers in a ceremony officially concluding the cleanup cam- paign. Officials called it a successful mission but said more trash still needs to be collected. Some is covered by snow and only is exposed when temperatures rise. Officials have not been able to estimate exactly how much garbage is on the mountain. Most was at Camps 2 and 3, at which climbers can rest along the way from the base camp to the 29,035-foot summit. Ghimire said the four bodies were exposed by melting snow, carried to base camp, and flown to a hospital in Kathmandu for identification. Climbers struggling to make it down the moun- tain alive sometimes are unable to carry out the bodies of teammates who die. More than 300 climbers have died on Everest since it was first conquered in 1953. It is unclear how many bodies are still on the mountain, and officials said they have no records. Hundreds of climbers and their guides and porters spend weeks on Everest every spring, the best climbing season. A tent city rises at the base camp at 17,400 feet for three months between March and May. Four die in non-air-conditioned train car in India LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Four people returning from a Hindu pilgrimage died while travelling in a non-air-conditioned coach on an Indian train during a summer heat wave. Temperatures during the day soared to 118º Fahrenheit. Railway official Manoj Kumar said the four, who were between 69 and 81 years old, were part of a group returning to the southern state of Kerala after visiting the holy city of Varanasi in northern India. Kumar said the four fell sick in their coach and the doctors who attended to them at Jhansi station found them dead. They were sent for autopsies. Travelling in air-conditioned coaches is too expensive for many poorer Indians. Schools and colleges were closed due to the heat wave, and people were advised to stay indoors during daytime. LOST BABY. Marium, an estimated five-month-old female dugong baby separated from her mother, swims under a boat hull near Libong island in Trang province, southern Thailand. The baby dugong that has developed an attachment to humans after getting lost in the ocean off southern Thailand is being nurtured by marine experts in hopes that she can one day fend for herself. (Sirachai Arunrugstichai via AP) Thai vets nurture lost baby dugong with milk and sea grass By Jerry Harmer and Pitcha Dangprasith The Associated Press ANGKOK — A baby dugong, a large ocean mammal, that has developed an attachment to humans after being separated from its mother and getting lost off southern Thailand, is being nurtured by marine experts in hopes that it can one day fend for itself. The estimated five-month-old female dugong named Marium has become an internet hit in Thailand after images of marine biologists embracing and feeding her with milk and sea grass spread across social media. The dugong is a species of marine mammal similar to the American manatee and can grow to about 11 feet in length. Its conservation status is listed as vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Marium was spotted alone near a beach on Ko Poda island in Krabi province in April. Officials later tried to release her into a dugong habitat off the coast of another island but she swam away. Veterinarians and volunteers set out each day in canoes to locate Marium near the dugong habitat off Ko Libong island. She does not swim with the herd and usually comes straight to them, then follows them into shallower water, where she is fed milk and sea grass, similar to her natural diet, up to 15 times a day while also receiving health checks. Marium’s caretakers believe she has formed a bond with humans but is also drawn to the shape of the underside of canoes, perhaps seeing it as a mother substitute. “She’s attached and tries to swim and cling to the boat as if it was her mother and when we B China denies its vessel intentionally hit Filipino boat MANILA, The Philippines (AP) — China has acknowledged its fishing vessel hit a Filipino boat in the disputed South China Sea in an incident that prompted an outcry in the Philippines but denies the collision was intentional. The Philippines has filed a diplomatic Continued on page 8 CALL TODAY FOR YOUR FREE PERSONAL PLANNING GUIDE Sisi Zhang (971) 407-3244 (office) (415) 290-9812 (cell) Sisi.Zhang@DignityMemorial.com Fluent in Mandarin & Cantonese Human-rights group locates North Korean execution sites SEOUL, South Korea — A human-rights group says it has identified hundreds of spots where witnesses claim North Korea carried out public executions and extrajudicial state killings as part of an arbitrary and aggressive use of the death penalty that is meant to intimidate its citizens. The Seoul-based Transitional Justice Working Group said its research was based on interviews with 610 North Korean defectors who helped locate the sites with satellite imagery. The group didn’t reveal the exact locations of the 323 sites because it is worried North Korea will tamper with them, but said 267 of them were located in two northeastern provinces near the border with China, the area where most of the defectors who participated in the study came from. North Korea’s public executions tend to happen near rivers, in fields, and on hills, and also at marketplaces and school grounds — places where residents and family members of those sentenced are often forced to attend the killings, the report said. The group also said it documented 25 sites where the dead were allegedly disposed of by the state and also found official locations that may have documents or other evidence related to the killings. are swimming she would come and tuck under our arms. It’s almost like the way she would tuck under her mother,” said Nantarika Chansue, director of the Aquatic Animal Research Center of Chulalongkorn Univer- sity’s Faculty of Veterinarian Science, who advises Marium’s caretakers. “So I think it’s not only humans but anything that looks like another dugong that she would be attached to,” Nantarika said. Marium has attained fame on social media, and images of her bonding with her human guardians have been widely published by Thai media. She also attracts crowds on Libong island, where feeding is often watched by scores of people crowding the seashore. Veterinarians say they need to continue looking after Marium for at least another year until she can be weaned off of bottled milk, after which they hope she will be able to look after herself without their help. Nantarika said dugongs typically stop feeding on milk at around 18 months and usually spend about eight years under their mothers’ care. She said Marium would have to be trained later to detach herself from humans but, at this point, the emphasis should be on her survival. q Mention this ad for special savings Lincoln Memorial Park & Funeral Home 11801 S.E. Mt. Scott Blvd., Portland, OR 97086 www.LincolnMemorialPk.com FREE HOME REPAIRS FOR PORTLAND SENIOR & DISABLED HOMEOWNERS Plumbing l Electrical l Carpentry Call (503) 501-5719 or visit https://reachcdc.org Portland Housing Bureau Interpretation services available Asian Currency Exchange Rates Units per U.S. dollar as of 6/14 Bangladesh Taka· · Cambodian Riel · · China Renminbi · · Fijian Dollar · · · · Hong Kong Dollar · Indian Rupee · · · · Indonesian Rupiah · Iranian Rial · · · · Japanese Yen · · · Laos New Kip · · · Malaysian Ringgit · Nepal Rupee · · · · Pakistani Rupee · · Papua N.G. Kina · · Philippine Peso· · · Russian Ruble · · · Saudi Riyal· · · · · Singapore Dollar · · South Korean Won · Sri Lankan Rupee · Taiwan Dollar · · · Thai Baht · · · · · Vietnam Dong · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 84.42 4083.2 6.9247 2.129 7.8258 69.813 14310 42056 108.42 8715.4 4.165 112.2 155.0 3.373 52.06 64.351 3.7503 1.3706 1183.9 176.7 31.489 31.21 23483
