South Korea tries to tackle sports game-fixing

REPORTING FROM SEOUL -– As it prepares to host the 2018 Winter Olympics, South Korea is scrambling to stem a widening match-fixing scandal that has so far spread to five different professional sports, disgusting fans nationwide.

On Saturday, prosecutors in the city of Daegu arrested a 26-year-old betting broker they allege masterminded several game-fixing schemes in the Korea Baseball Organization, the nation's most popular sports league.

But baseball is just the tip of a deepening scandal that also involves soccer, basketball, volleyball and motorboat racing, authorities say.

In an attempt to bring consumer confidence back to the nation's lucrative sporting industry, officials from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recently announced several "no mercy" measures for brokers, players and coaches that include lengthy prison terms and lifetime bans from sports for violations.

The new laws seek to corral an elusive $3-billion Internet sports-betting world that involves an estimated 1,000 operators -– some based in nations such as China and Vietnam. Prosecutors are also offering up to $90,000 in rewards for whistle-blowers who report match-fixing attempts.

Authorities say harsh punishments are needed to avoid unnecessary international scrutiny as South Korea prepares to host the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.

"We sincerely apologize to the nation for failing to prevent such terrible scandals," a contrite Culture Minister Choi Kwang-sik said at a recent news conference.

The nation's most recent match-fixing scandal surfaced last year when authorities issued lifetime bans to 47 soccer players accused of taking bribes to manipulate match outcomes. Two players later committed suicide.

So far this year, authorities have investigated 15 professional women's volleyball players for game-fixing after two admitted that they had taken part in schemes dating back years. The women said they made deliberate mistakes to doctor final scores, with each receiving up to $4,500 per match in payment, prosecutors said.

The allegations have also spread to motorboat racing. One 46-year-old racer was reportedly paid for sending a broker cellphone text messages with the predicted order of racing finishes. Police say they suspect that numerous other racers are involved.

Many fans say they are dismayed that cheating has once again infiltrated baseball -- South Korea's most popular pastime, which last year attracted 6.8 million fans in a nation of 50 million residents.

Fans have in the past expressed displeasure over alleged match-fixing by boycotting games. In 2004, a similar scandal caused attendance at games to drop to 2.3 million before recovering.

For South Koreans, the allegations are tantamount to the 1919 "Black Sox scandal" in the U.S. when players from the Chicago White Sox admitted to rigging that year's World Series.

Media reports here blame the scandals on a complacent acceptance of a "culture of cheating" at every level of competition, from amateur to pro. They say the philosophy to get ahead by any means has also trickled into academia and scientific research, where test-stealing and fraud have become rampant.

A recent article in the Korea Times said that "endless stories about fixed matches and bribed officials suggest that Korean scholastic sports are just as corrupt and exploitative as their professional counterparts."

The newspaper said many scholastic programs are regarded as feeders to professional sports, making the stakes incredibly high.

"Basically, Korean school athletes have been told repeatedly that if you aren't cheating, you aren't trying," the newspaper said. "No wonder so many of them display a lack of respect for competitive integrity as pros, jumping at the first fixer offering them a chance to make some money on the side."

Prosecutors say the 26-year-old sports broker arrested Saturday paid off two active professional players to have them intentionally walk batters, influencing game outcomes. The pitchers were paid $2,660 per game, authorities said.

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Australian prime minister keeps job in internal party showdown

REPORTING FROM SEOUL -- Settling a political struggle many called the most vitriolic in the history of Australian politics, Prime Minister Julia Gillard kept her job by winning a Labor Party vote Monday against Kevin Rudd, the colleague she deposed in a 2010 party coup.

Gillard called her 71-31 victory among party lawmakers "overwhelming" after months of "ugly" infighting within party ranks.

"Today I want to say to Australians one and all: This issue, the leadership question, is now determined," she said. "I can assure you that this political drama is over."

Yet many maintain that the party remains deeply divided, and some embittered Rudd supporters threatened to press for Gillard's ouster. At least five members of Gillard's Cabinet backed her challenger in the vote.

In recent days, Rudd had warned that Gillard would lead the Labor Party to certain defeat at elections next year. But following his defeat Monday, he called on party members to unite behind Gillard.

"I bear no one any malice, and if I've done wrong to anyone with what I've said and what I've done, I apologize," he told reporters, saying it was time that "wounds were healed" within the party.

Various opinion polls showed that Rudd was more popular than Gillard among rank-and-file voters, but many lawmakers were dissatisfied with his performance as prime minister.

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Photo: Julia Gillard, Australia's prime minister, speaks during a news conference at Parliament House in Canberra. Credit: Mark Graham / Bloomberg

North Korea protests U.S.-South Korea war games

REPORTING FROM SEOUL -– With North Korea's often belligerent regime, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

For the second time in a matter of days, newly installed leader Kim Jong Un threatened Sunday to launch a powerful retaliatory strike against South Korea if provoked.

The most recent threat, carried by the North's state media, said Pyongyang's forces would deal harshly with any threat posed by Monday's scheduled kickoff of annual South Korean-U.S. military drills, which North Korea characterizes as a dress rehearsal to an invasion.

South Korean and U.S. officials insist that the 12-day drills, which they called computer-simulated war games, are defensive in nature.

North Korea's fiery response to the annual games has not changed from that of former leader Kim Jong Il, who died in December death from a heart attack. Analysts said his youngest son has continued his father's brash approach to the outside world as a way to rally support for the nation's military leaders.

But as foreign diplomats know, relations with North Korea are often a high-stakes game of one step forward, two steps back.

North Korea's most recent provocative claims came a day after a senior U.S. envoy said ties between the North Korea and South Korea must improve before Pyongyang and Washington can achieve real progress in their relationship.

According to the North's official Korean Central News Agency, the younger Kim, the supreme commander of the country's 1.2 million-member military, issued instructions to troops during a visit to front-line military units, including one that shelled a South Korean island in 2010.

"He ordered them to make a powerful retaliatory strike at the enemy, should the enemy intrude even 0.001 millimeter into the waters of the country where its sovereignty is exercised," the report said, not naming the date of Kim's visit to the troops.

North Korea has called the U.S.-South Korean drills part of a "new war of aggression," and the nation's National Defense Commission threatened Saturday to wage a "sacred war" over the exercises.

In November 2010, when Kim Jong Il was still alive, North Korea launched an artillery bombardment on the South that killed four South Koreans, raising fears of a bigger conflict on the Korean peninsula.

North Korea says the attack was triggered by South Korea's firing of artillery into its the North's waters; South Korea said the firing was only part of routine military exercises.

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Photo: Protesters in Seoul rally against the annual U.S.-South Korea military exercises. Credit: Lee Jin-man / Associated Press

South Koreans still angry over U.S. free-trade pact

REPORTING FROM SEOUL -- South Koreans continue to express their displeasure over the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, which is set to go into effect March 15.

On Saturday, hundreds of riot police stood guard as throngs gathered in downtown Seoul to protest the pact. The activism has hit the streets and the political realm as minority lawmakers claim that President Lee Myung-bak's administration blundered when it signed a deal that is bad for South Korea.

Tempers have flared at the mere mention of the agreement. Saturday's rally, the last of several against the pact, was staged after the South Korean Foreign Ministry last week confirmed the March 15 start date.

The free-trade pact has become a major battleground in the general and presidential elections set to be held this year in April and November, respectively. Last week during a news conference marking his fourth year in the office, President Lee stressed that the agreement is important for the nation's economic development, and he criticized opposition party politicians for changing their position on the issue.

"I believe that the agreement could create many jobs," Lee said at the news conference. "For some agriculture and stock farming industries that are threatened [by the pact], our government can take this chance to support those fragile industries and make it more competitive."

The agreement, which many estimate could boost annual trade between the two nations by 25%, was ratified in November in the South Korean National Assembly amid chaotic scenes as legislators scuffled in the halls of power, shouting and screaming. One ignited a tear gas canister.

The agreement is expected to boost the nation's trade surplus, but critics say it will hurt the rural economy.

On Saturday night, amid a biting February wind, protesters chanted, "Annul Korea-U.S. FTA!" and "Stop the effectuation!" As speakers and celebrities voiced their opposition, the crowd held up signs reading "FTA is pro-plutocrat, anti-democracy, anti-labor, anti-welfare. It will kill South Korean economy and the masses" and "Be mournful, Be angry! The U.S. colonization of South Korea has started!"

Lee Jung-hee, co-chairman of the United Progressive Party, said that amending the agreement must be the goal of opposition party members in the coming days. Minority-party politicians have asked voters to cast their ballots against any candidate who favors the agreement.

"The first thing the newly elected president should do will be signing a letter to abrogate the FTA and sending it to the U.S." Lee said.

Nearby, pro-pact factions held a much smaller rally. "Korea-U.S. FTA will be beneficial for the Korean citizens," said one speaker. "This will be South Korea's leap to become a truly advanced country."

The battle has also been waged on the Internet. "The way FTA was ratified was undemocratic to start," posted one blogger. "The citizens themselves have to have a chance to vote for or against the pact directly."

Another posted that the pact is a chance for "South Korea to rise as a world trade and economic leader. Asking for abrogation of the agreement that is already ratified will only impair South Korea’s national dignity."

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Photo: Protesters rally against the U.S.-South Korea free-trade agreement in Seoul. Credit: Lee Myung-ik / EPA

U.S., North Korea hold first talks since Kim Jong Il's death

REPORTING FROM SEOUL -– Negotiators from the U.S. and North Korea met Thursday in Beijing to begin talks about Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, the first such diplomatic face-off since North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's death in December.

The bilateral talks, led by Pyongyang's longtime nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye-gwan, and the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, Glyn Davies, could signal whether new North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is ready to dismantle his nation's nuclear arsenal.

North Korea, suffering through yet another harsh winter without enough staples to feed its population, stands to gain food aid and economic help in return for concessions on its nuclear program.

"Today is, as we say, 'game day.' We will have an opportunity to meet with First Vice Foreign Minister Kim and his team," Davies said before talks started at the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, according to the Associated Press.

Late last year, Washington had reportedly been close to a deal to provide food to North Korea in exchange for suspension of its uranium enrichment program. But the deal was sidelined by Kim Jong Il's death on Dec. 17.

The two sides last met in July.

Washington also hopes to restart the six-party disarmament negotiations that involve the two countries and China, Japan, Russia and South Korea. Pyongyang left those negotiations in 2009 and later set off its second nuclear device.

Davies praised North Korea for agreeing to reenter talks so soon after Kim Jong Il's death, amid a transfer of power to his youngest son and a group of advisors.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in Washington that the United States was "cautiously optimistic" about the talks.

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A Chinese policeman guards the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, where North Korea and the U.S. held nuclear talks Thursday morning. Credit: Yonhap / EPA

Hundreds protest China's return of defectors to North Korea

REPORTING FROM SEOUL -– China's decision to repatriate 31 North Korean defectors caught on its soil this month unleashed a chorus of protest Thursday in South Korea and the U.S.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak this week called on Beijing to handle the defectors in accordance with international humanitarian protocol, rather than returning them to North Korea, where they face severe punishment and even death.

"As long as the defectors are not criminals, it would be right for China to deal with them according to international norms," Lee said during a nationally televised speech that marked the fourth anniversary of his inauguration in 2008. "In that regard, Seoul will cooperate with Beijing."

Earlier this week, South Korean officials hinted that they might raise the issue of China's forced repatriations of North Koreans at a U.N. Human Rights Council conference next week in Geneva. Seoul says Beijing should abide by two treaties signed in 1951 and 1987 that ban repatriating refugees or others to nations where their safety is at risk, and, as one South Korean official said this week, "stop turning a deaf ear to humanitarian concerns."

China –- which has also signed an agreement with Pyongyang to repatriate North Korean defectors -– claims that the refugees crossed the border illegally "for economic reasons" and do not merit protection under international refugee guidelines.

Japanese Emperor Akihito to undergo heart surgery

REPORTING FROM SEOUL -- Japan is holding its collective breath as beloved Emperor Akihito is scheduled to undergo heart bypass surgery Saturday in Tokyo.

Officials from the so-called Imperial Household Agency said a medical team from the University of Tokyo Hospital decided to operate on the 78-year-old monarch after recent tests showed that Akihito's heart condition had grown worse over the last year.

The surgery will help ensure the emperor enjoys a relatively active life, officials said.

Akihito has suffered numerous health setbacks including surgery for prostate cancer in 2003 and stress-related health issues in late 2008. He is still seen at numerous events but has cut back on his ceremonial public duties, such as offering speeches and meeting foreign dignitaries.

Despite ancient dynastic roots, the monarchy has changed with the times, to a certain extent. No longer is the emperor regarded as a living god, as was the case for centuries. Still, Akihito is a much-revered figure.

Although Japan's modern-day tabloids sometimes strike a gossipy tone when talking about members of the current royal family -- aggressively dissecting Empress Michiko's stress-related ailments, or the failure of her daughter-in-law, Crown Princess Masako, to produce a male heir -- there is rarely, if ever, a disrespectful word uttered of Akihito.

Following last year’s deadly earthquake and tsunami, Akihito delivered an unprecedented imperial pep talks to his people in which he urged calm, perseverance and solidarity in "the difficult days that lie ahead."

Akihito assumed the throne in 1989 following the death of his father, Emperor Hirohito.

After the emperor spent nearly three weeks in the hospital in 2011, Prince Akishino, who is second in line to the throne, called for debate on a retirement age for the head of state.

Under Japan's 1947 Imperial House Law, the emperor is succeeded on his death by a male relative. Crown Prince Naruhito is first in line to the throne, followed by his younger brother.

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Photo: Japanese Emperor Akihito, right, is greeted by doctors on his arrival at University of Tokyo Hospital on Friday. Credit: Toshifumi Kitamura / Getty Images

Mystery surrounds alleged Bali bomber on trial in Indonesia

REPORTING FROM SEOUL -– He's known to investigators as the "Demolition Man," a mysterious figure who appeared in court in Indonesia this week to face prosecution in connection with a deadly Bali bombing that took place nearly a decade ago.

For many, the upcoming terrorism trial of Muslim militant Umar Patek brings back a whiff of the fear that pervaded the globe following the Sept. 11, 2001, U.S. terror attacks.

Barely a year after the attacks, officials said, Patek allegedly built a collection of bombs, some of which killed 202 people in a Bali nightclub and focused authorities' attention on an Al Qaeda-linked network that set its sights on causing mayhem in Southeast Asia.

Three other suspects in the attack have already been convicted and executed as Indonesian authorities try to quash the leadership of the regional terror group, known as Jemaah Islamiyah.

Patek was captured last year in Abbottabad, the same Pakistani town where Osama bin Laden was hiding, officials say. His arrest ended a nine-year flight from prosecution that authorities say took him to the Philippines and Pakistan as he sought to mastermind other attacks. He was captured with a $1-million bounty on his head.

Demonstrators protest China's arrests of North Korean defectors

REPORTING FROM SEOUL -– Angry demonstrators staged a rally Tuesday near the Chinese Embassy here to protest China's arrests of dozens of North Korean defectors who face torture, imprisonment and even death if returned to their homeland.

For years, human rights advocates have criticized China's refusal to recognize North Korean defectors and its policy of returning, or repatriating, all escapees from the North captured on its soil. Beijing's stance has taken on more urgency in recent weeks, after new North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to punish and even kill three generations of family members of anyone who tries to leave the impoverished North.

On Tuesday, ringed by police officers, more than 100 people gathered across the street from the Chinese Embassy, waving banners that read "The Chinese government should stop pushing North Korean defectors toward the guillotine" and "Forced repatriation is a death sentence."

South Korean newspapers have reported that separate arrests of North Korean defectors in China over the last week have brought the total of detainees to as many as 33, but activists could not confirm those numbers.

Video of North Korean accordion students covering a-ha goes viral

REPORTING FROM SEOUL -- It might be one of the strangest covers of a Western pop song from one of the unlikeliest places on the planet. And it's already a surprise Internet hit.

A recent posting on YouTube shows a group of five North Korean accordion players producing a rollicking rendition of the 1980s pop song "Take on Me" by the Norwegian group a–ha.

In isolated North Korea, where most citizens have never heard of Michael Jackson and where Western culture is seen as decadent filth, the 90-second video is innocent and even refreshing.

The five musicians, three men and two women, sit in a line facing the camera in a large wood-floored room, framed by a painting of a winter scene and a plastic four-foot-tall sunflower plant.

And when the students from Pyongyang’s Kum Song School of Music start to play, it even looks like they're having fun, swaying and grooving: rocking in the not-so-free world.

The performance was taped in December by visiting Norwegian artist Morten Traavik, who traveled to North Korea to look for musicians to play in an upcoming music festival.

According to one report, Traavik presented the students with a CD of the Euro-pop group. Two days later, the report said, the group surprised him with their improvised version of the song.

Traavik liked the song so much that he invited the troupe to play at the cultural festival in Norway. It's not clear whether the invitation was accepted.

Once home, Traavik posted the clip on YouTube on Feb. 1. Since then, it's received more than half a million hits and inspired more than 600 viewer comments. In the argumentative cyber world, where Internet users can argue about a parade, the general consensus was that the performance was pretty cool.

"Best wishes to these students. If they were my kids, I would be very proud of them," wrote one viewer. "Even [though] they are not my kids, I am still proud of them."

Added another: "Can anyone here just appreciate how epic this cover is without getting into a racial fight?"

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Video credit: YouTube