Craziness in Eastern Asia

I have been having many interesting discussions with my co-teacher and friends about the recent events occurring in Eastern Asia.  There is tension between South Korea and Japan over Dokdo Island (http://www.dokdo-takeshima.com/), there is tension between Japan and Russia regarding the island of Sakhalin (http://www.qsl.net/ah6hy/occupied.html), and there is tension between Japan and China over the Senkaku (or Diaoyu) Islands (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senkaku_Islands).  I see a little bit of a theme here...

Now the Japanese-Russian conflict seems to be much less of an issue right now.  The conflict over Dokdo Island (Korea-Japan) is not very explosive at this time, though I have seen several Koreans get very worked up discussing this one.  The one conflict that has me a little nervous right now is the one between China and Japan.  Not only do they have tension over this island business, but this week is also the 81st anniversary of Japan's invasion, and eventual occupation, of China.

This link you MUST CHECK OUT.  It shows many photos of the very intense Anti-Japanese Protests in China :  http://imgur.com/a/Y7oIp

Now what's so difficult for me right now is deciding what is credible information (other than photos like seen in the link above).  There are buried facts and stories, along with tremendous bias in regards to these relations.  I am lucky to have a well informed (and ideologically aligned) co-teacher, that discusses these current events, along with the historical backgrounds behind them all.  But I can be certain that I'd be hearing a slightly (or completely) different version of each story if I was in Japan or China right now.  I like being informed about these things, but I need to find the time to do some research of my own to have some perspective on the things I am learning.

I have read through a few articles now, and some time has passed (2 days since I wrote the above portion of this post).  I'm pretty sure things are cooling down, however there has been quite a bit of "saber rattling" as I've heard it called.  Both sides are shaking their fists at each other, but it is unlikely that a real conflict will come about.  Here is a brief article to help explain the relations as they are right now if you are interested in this topic:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/21/world/asia/japan-china-trade-ties-complicate-island-dispute.html?pagewanted=all

There is also a bit of tension between North and South Korea right now, but pretty minor stuff.  I guess there were a couple of recent presidents here in South Korea that had helped improve relations between the two nations.  The Korean people still identify as one people, and most would like to see the two joined again some day.  There are families that had been split apart, and some citizens living in North Korea are in 3rd world conditions and starving.  According to my co-teacher, when relations were improving a few things happened.  Families were allowed to visit each other, South Koreans (and other foreign nations) were beginning to invest in factories in North Korea, and the South Korean government gave the citizens up north food and monetary aid (this had been happening for long time actually).  The current president that is finishing his term has done a lot to ruin this improving relationship.  He cut off the aid, calling North Korea their enemy, and the factories were abandoned.  Some small mishaps between the two Koreas have caused a heightened tension, and foreign nations are afraid to invest in North Korea any more.  I don't think anything serious will happen between the two nations, but it is too bad that the "sunshine diplomacy" has come to an end.

There is quite a lot happening over here, but luckily I still feel safe in my little industrial city of Ulsan.  Another interesting (crazy) thing that happened over here is a couple of typhoons have come across the Koreas.  One came when I was back home in Ohio, and another came last week.  Typhoons are basically hurricanes, and can cause a lot of damage.  Last Monday the students stayed home, and many of my friends that are teachers either stayed home or went home early.  I still had to come in to school, but it was really windy and rainy.  I am happy to say there was not a lot of damage in Ulsan (other than a tree or two down), but it was a little intense considering Typhoon Sanba was my first typhoon experience!

As you can see, it started slowing down as it got over land.

Still considered a "super-typhoon" though!