person:ben mcgrath

Stranded at sea, British artist sees her surroundings with new eyes | Vancouver Sun
▻http://vancouversun.com/entertainment/local-arts/art-seen-stranded-at-sea-british-artist-sees-her-surroundings-with-new
▻http://wpmedia.vancouversun.com/2016/09/a-british-artist-taking-part-in-a-vancouver-art-gallerys-res.j

The Hanjin Geneva is now somewhere off the coast of Japan near Tokyo. It cannot dock because ports around the world have barred Hanjin ships over concerns that include the payment of port and service fees.

I composed several questions and sent them to Moss via Kimberly Phillips, the curator/director at Access Gallery. Phillips is in touch with Moss by email. Moss’s answers have been edited for context and style.

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Artist-in-residence stuck on bankrupt container ship that no port will accept / Boing Boing
▻http://boingboing.net/2016/09/07/artist-in-residence-stuck-on-b.html

http://media.boingboing.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Container_ship_Hanjin_Taipei.jpg

British artist Rebecca Moss went aboard the Hanjin Geneva container ship for a “23 Days at Sea Residency.” But the company that owns the ship went bankrupt on August 31, and ports all over the world have barred Hanjin’s ships because the shipping line is unable to pay the port and service fees.

#marrant #art #container #transport_maritime

Hanjin scrambles to prevent ship seizures as more vessels blocked | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/hanjin-shipping-debt-idUSL3N1BH033

South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping plans to take legal action in jurisdictions worldwide to prevent its vessels being seized, as more of its ships were blocked from docking at ports in the wake of its collapse.

As of Monday, 79 Hanjin ships including 61 container ships and 18 bulk carriers have been denied port access, according to South Korea’s maritime ministry. That figure includes one vessel seized in Singapore by a creditor, a company spokeswoman said. Hanjin has 141 ships, of which 128 are operating.

At least three U.S. firms have launched legal action against Hanjin to seize vessels and other assets over unpaid bills.
[…]
Hanjin vessels are currently carrying cargo worth 16 trillion won ($14.5 billion) belonging to some 8,300 cargo owners, the Korea International Trade Association said, adding that the carrier has unpaid bills of 610 billion won.

As part of its efforts to gain legal protection for its ships, Hanjin has filed a Chapter 15 petition in a U.S. bankruptcy court in New Jersey. It plans to pursue legal action in roughly 10 countries this week and later expand that to 43 jurisdictions, South Korea’s financial regulator said.

Many port authorities and service providers are demanding cash to work on Hanjin ships, the Hanjin spokeswoman said.

Its lead creditor, the state-run Korea Development Bank, met with officials of parent firm Hanjin Group to discuss its commitment to paying fees so stranded ships can enter ports, but did not reach a conclusion, a bank spokesman told Reuters.

China’s Xi meets head of Taiwan’s Kuomintang - World Socialist Web Site

▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/05/08/taiw-m08.html

China’s Xi meets head of Taiwan’s Kuomintang
By Ben McGrath
8 May 2015

The leaders of China’s and Taiwan’s ruling parties met in Beijing on May 4. Xi Jinping and Eric Chu held an approximately one-hour discussion, during which the two expressed support for continued economic cooperation as well as for the 1992 agreement that established the “One China” policy.

Chu was in the Chinese capital as part of a three-day trip, which included a cross-strait cooperation event in Shanghai and a meeting with other high-ranking officials in the Chinese government on the weekend. Chu became head of the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party, KMT) in January following disastrous results for his party in November’s local elections. Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou stepped down from the post. Chu is now viewed as a potential candidate in next year’s presidential election.

#chine #ta_iwan #frontières #territoires

North Korean leader’s public absence remains unexplained - World Socialist Web Site

▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/10/14/kore-o14.html

North Korean leader’s public absence remains unexplained
By Ben McGrath
14 October 2014

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made his first public appearance in more than five weeks, according to the state-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The article published today reported that Kim visited a newly-built residential district as well as a new scientific institute. It did not give the dates of the visits or provide any explanation for his lengthy disappearance from public view.

Kim’s previous reported appearance was at a concert on September 3. Media speculation about his absence was further fuelled when he failed to appear at a key commemorative event last Friday marking the 69th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean Workers’ Party. In the past, Kim has made an early morning trip on that date to the mausoleum where the bodies of his father, Kim Jong-il, and grandfather, Kim Il-song, are interred.

#corée_du_nord

South Korea protests against Japanese shrine visits - World Socialist Web Site

▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/05/03/kore-m03.html

South Korea protests against Japanese shrine visits

By Ben McGrath 3 May 2013

Visits by 168 Japanese lawmakers and three cabinet officials on April 20–21 to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine have exacerbated tensions, not only with China, but also South Korea. The shrine, dedicated to Japan’s war dead, including 14 “Class-A” war criminals, is seen as a glorification of Japan’s wartime imperialist expansion. Although Prime Minister Shinzo Abe did not personally attend the event, he made a symbolic offering as the head of the government.

#corée-du-sud #japon

Daughter of former South Korean dictator wins presidency - World Socialist Web Site

►http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2012/12/20/kore-d20.html
By Ben McGrath
20 December 2012

Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party emerged as the next South Korean president last night. She edged out her opponent Moon Jae-in of the Democratic United Party (DUP) by 51.6 percent to 48 percent. The voter turnout, at 75.8 percent, while higher than in previous recent elections, reflected widespread alienation, especially among young people, toward the entire political establishment, including the Democrats.

Park’s election represents a turn to authoritarian forms of rule by the South Korean corporate elite in preparation for confrontation with the working class. She is the eldest daughter of the late military dictator, Park Chung-hee, who ruled South Korea for most of the 1960s and 1970s. Her father ruthlessly suppressed democratic rights, and all strikes and protests by workers, laying the basis for the rapid growth of the country’s conglomerates, the chaebol.

South Korean “progressives” line-up behind the Democrats
►http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/dec2012/kore-d15.shtml

South Korean “progressives” line-up behind the Democrats
By Ben McGrath
15 December 2012

In the campaign for the December 19 South Korean presidential election, self-proclaimed progressives and “left” organisations have fallen in behind the main bourgeois opposition candidate—Moon Jae-in of the Democratic United Party (DUP). They are portraying him as the “lesser evil” compared to Park Geun-hye, the candidate from the right-wing Saenuri Party of outgoing President Lee Myung-bak.

The political line-up was on full display during the first presidential debate between Moon, Park and United Progressive Party (UPP) candidate Lee Jung-hee. Lee made it clear that her purpose in the campaign was to see Moon elected president.