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(Day 29 – July 25, 2011)

(Day 27 – July 23, 2011)

(Day 8 – July 4, 2011)

Contact: okhwanstory@gmail.com – 07907 233 861

First Named Hack to Expose Andy Coulson Found Dead

News of the World phone-hacking whistleblower found dead

July 18, 2011

Sean Hoare, the former News of the World showbiz reporter who was the first named journalist to allege Andy Coulson was aware of phone hacking by his staff, has been found dead, the Guardian has learned. Hoare, who worked on the Sun and the News of the World with Coulson before being dismissed for drink and drugs problems, is said to have been found dead at his Watford home. Hertfordshire police would not confirm his identity, but the force said in a statement: “At 10.40am today [Monday 18 July] police were called to Langley Road, Watford, following the concerns for the welfare of a man who lives at an address on the street. Upon police and ambulance arrival at a property, the body of a man was found. The man was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after.

“The death is currently being treated as unexplained, but not thought to be suspicious. Police investigations into this incident are ongoing.” Hoare first made his claims in a New York Times investigation into the phone-hacking allegations at the News of the World. He told the newspaper that not only did Coulson know of the phone hacking, but that he actively encouraged his staff to intercept the phone calls of celebrities in the pursuit of exclusives. In a subsequent interview with the BBC he alleged that he was personally asked by his then-editor, Coulson, to tap into phones. In an interview with the PM programme he said Coulson’s insistence that he didn’t know about the practice was “a lie, it is simply a lie”.

At the time a Downing Street spokeswoman said Coulson totally and utterly denied the allegations and said he had “never condoned the use of phone hacking and nor do I have any recollection of incidences where phone hacking took place”. Sean Hoare, a one-time close friend of Coulson’s, told the New York Times the two men first worked together at the Sun, where, Hoare said, he played tape recordings of hacked messages for Coulson. At the News of the World, Hoare said he continued to inform Coulson of his activities. Coulson “actively encouraged me to do it”, Hoare said. In September last year, he was interviewed under caution by police over his claims that the former Tory communications chief asked him to hack into phones when he was editor of the paper, but declined to make any comment.

Hoare returned to the spotlight last week, after he told the New York Times that reporters at the News of the World were able to use police technology to locate people using their mobile phone signals in exchange for payments to police officers. He said journalists were able to use a technique called “pinging” which measured the distance between mobile handsets and a number of phone masts to pinpoint its location.

Rupert and James Murdoch prepare for perilous performance before MPs

July 18, 2011

It seems fair to say that the stakes could not be higher for Rupert and James Murdoch when they appear in front of 11 members of parliament at 2.30pm on Tuesday. Their appearance, scheduled to last an hour, will not only be scrutinised by the world’s media but will also be pored over by criminal investigators and investors looking for signs of culpability from one of the world’s most powerful media owners and his heir apparent. Next up in front of the MPs will be Rebekah Brooks, former chief executive of News International, the newspaper business that owned the News of the World, who is to give evidence after her resignation on Friday and arrest two days later.

The scale of the crisis saw the two men locked in meetings with their advisers over the weekend and all day on Monday, preparing for a performance that could have devastating consequences for News Corp, which owns three national newspapers in the UK as well as the Fox film and television network and a 39% stake in the satellite business BSkyB. Not only has the scandal prompted the resignations of two of the most senior people in the company but it has also brought down two of the most senior police chiefs and led to 10 arrests.

So what can we expect? John Whittingdale, chairman of the media and culture select committee who summonsed the pair, said his team would be looking for answers in the phone-hacking scandal such as: how widespread was it? How long has it been going on? Who knew about it? These questions may seem straightforward but, as James Murdoch pointed out in his letter finally accepting the summons (he had earlier tried to delay the appearance), he could be constrained legally.

Now it is David Cameron’s turn to be transparent

July 18, 2011

Theresa May, the Home Secretary, appeared not to foresee any difficulties yesterday when she announced an inquiry into alleged police corruption and “nepotism”. Following the resignation of two of the country’s most senior officers, she has asked HM Inspector of Constabulary to consider the propriety of the media’s relationship with the police. This follows the appointment of Neil Wallis, a former News of the World deputy editor, as a PR adviser to the Metropolitan Police.

But if this was supposed to demonstrate a reassuring grasp of events, it failed. It had all the appearance of yet another cobbled-together proposal, intended to stem a crisis that threatens to engulf the Government. What began two weeks ago with the shocking revelation that News of the World journalists, or a private detective acting for them, hacked into the phone of the missing teenager Milly Dowler, who was later found murdered, has developed into an all‑consuming political calamity – and, with the death of Sean Hoare, the whistleblower, a human tragedy. David Cameron last week called it a firestorm and he was right. Firestorms are unpredictable in their trajectory and hard to put out. The flames are now licking at the door of No 10.

So far, the inferno has claimed the jobs of a number of significant players. Mr Cameron’s press spokesman Andy Coulson resigned in January when fresh allegations were made about the extent of the phone hacking carried out at the newspaper he once edited. In the past fortnight, Rebekah Brooks, the chief executive of News International (NI), and Les Hinton, the company’s former chairman, have both resigned. They have been followed by Sir Paul Stephenson, the Commissioner of the Met, and by his assistant, John Yates. All have protested their innocence; all say they did not fully appreciate what was taking place; yet all felt that they were left with no option but to go.

The NI executives’ continued presence risked damaging the reputation and financial interests of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. The police chiefs quit because the failure to investigate properly the hacking, combined with other allegations, has undermined the credibility of the Met. The next 12 months are crucial for the force as London prepares to host the Olympics, and preparations are made for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Which takes us back to Mrs May’s Commons statement: if there is to be an inquiry into police links with the media, why is the Government – and the Prime Minister in particular – apparently exempt from such forensic scrutiny? Mr Cameron has made much of the importance of “transparency” in this affair, a point he repeated on his now-truncated trip to South Africa yesterday. “The British Government has taken all of the appropriate action,” he said. “I have been out there in Parliament and in press conferences, fully answering the questions, fully transparent, very clear about what needs to be done.”

July 15, 2011 (Day 19) - Parliament Square, London, UK

July 4, 2011

The Super Cool Bike Shop (Florida)

Okhwan Yoon

Today we got a very interesting visit from Okhwan Yoon, a man cycling around the world. He was passing through town on his Trek road bike and happened upon one of our regulars, who brought him by the shop. A very nice soft spoken man, with a hell of a story. Here is a article written on him by a San Diego newspaper.

http://www.supercoolbikeshop.com/

No detour around danger for globe-gliding cyclist

October 17, 2008

Okhwan Yoon departed South Korea seven years ago with his bike, yearning to see the world and discover why it’s so violent. His education thus far: Yoon has been struck six times by cars, kidnapped in Sudan, held up in Portugal, attacked by knife twice and robbed of cameras five times. Despite the frightening experiences, he pedals on. “I am not scared of death,” said Yoon, 46, who arrived in San Diego on Saturday and planned to depart for Los Angeles yesterday. “But I am scared of stopping this odyssey.” To date, Yoon said he has visited 169 countries. He plans to travel three more years, hoping to reach 195 nations.

Staying in youth hostels, motels and sometimes sleeping outside (spending a night in downtown San Diego beneath a table), Yoon said he has paid for the trip himself. He said he owned a clothing trading company for three years in South Korea, saved for the trip, earned $3,000 during his journey giving speeches and has received assistance along the way. After graduating from college with a law degree and battling chronic illnesses, Yoon remembers sitting at home, watching TV. Traffic, kidnappings, murder, robbery and suicide filled the news. “Why is the world so noisy?” he asked himself.

So off he embarked in search of answers. At times he’s cycled 150 miles a day, Yoon said. Of his past illnesses, “all that has been lost since going through this journey.” Africa holds some of his fondest memories. He was moved to tears watching sunsets as soul music played in the background. The music didn’t emanate from anyone playing instruments. Instead, it was in Yoon’s mind, lodged there from listening to local music on the radio. About watching the sun dip into the horizon, Yoon said, “It was like the last moment of one’s life, like when a leaf falls.”

In African villages, he remembers people hauling heavy bowls of water for miles. “Water is precious,” Yoon said. “It helps them make food. Yet when I would ask for water, they would provide water without complaining. With smiles.” He calls Africa “the original soul of the world, friendly and hospitable.” But his experience in war-torn Sudan was not so warm. He said two rebel soldiers aimed rifles at him in a town, forcing him to walk to a compound in bush country. By about 2 a.m., sitting outside a tent, Yoon said the men assigned to guard him were drunk and had fallen asleep, enabling him to escape with his bike.

The knife attacks, he said, came in the Republic of Suriname, a small South American country bordering Brazil, and recently in Phoenix. In Phoenix, Yoon said he used his bike to block a young man’s lunging knife thrusts. The man eventually ran away with Yoon’s bike. Yoon said he ran the man down, kicked him in the back and saved his bike. “I hate fighting,” said Yoon, who is 6 feet tall and weighs 150 pounds. “(But) if somebody feels dangerous (to me), I show them taekwondo positions, and mostly they gave up on me.” Other Yoon impressions of places and people he visited: The United States: “The very same feeling when I was in England. They respect privacy and individualism.” That, though, he said casts a feeling of “a lack of humanity.”

Mexico: “Many people liked to talk to me.” Brazil: “The best fruits and vegetables. They treat me like a friend.” France: “A furnace of ethnicities. Whites, Hispanics, blacks, Christians. They live together harmoniously.” San Diego: “Peaceful, comfortable,” based in part because, like South Korea, the city is bordered by the Pacific. Yoon is working on his fifth bike, estimating they’ve cost$20,000. Not wanting to attract attention to himself, he usually takes a saw or a nail and defaces the bike frames, making them look old and battered. Despite intentionally damaging the bikes, Yoon said they have become his friends.

“Like my partner, like my soul mate,” he said. “Sometimes I feel like we talk to each other. In the jungle or desert, it gives me a lot of encouragement.” Media outlets in Micronesia, Pakistan, Canada, Samoa, Mexico and El Paso, Texas, have carried stories about Yoon. In San Diego, he asked if a reporter had contacts with a publishing company because he thinks his story is worthy of a book. Others, he said, told him it should be made into a movie. He said his travels have left him feeling like a modern-day explorer.

“Like Columbus, Magellan or Vasco da Gama,” he said. A deep thinker who said he speaks seven languages, Yoon also possesses a childlike wonder. For example, he hopes to meet Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. “In Korea, he’s the symbol of the Terminator,” Yoon said. “He’s a very strong character, like Spiderman or Batman. He can save the world.” As for world peace, Yoon is not optimistic. “I think that is not possible,” he said. “Every human being possesses instincts. The yin and the yang. The shadow and the light. We need to care for each other as family. “But mostly people think about my country, my society. People are too materialistic, too selfish.”

Anti-War Mass Assembly 10 Years On Occupy Trafalgar Square London Saturday 8 October Protest Bring the troops home Stop the bombing

Adhaf Soueif, John Pilger, Tariq Ali, Brian Eno, Jemima Khan, Tony Benn, George Galloway, Caroline Lucas MP, and many more, will be in Trafalgar Square on Saturday 8 October at the anti-war mass assembly on the tenth anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan.

The last ten years of war have been catastrophic. Tens of thousands killed in Afghanistan. A million killed in Iraq. Pakistan is on the brink of collapse. More than 550 British soldiers dead and now civilian casualities in Libya, the third western war on a Muslim country. The killing goes on. As politicians insist on deep cuts to essential public services, Britain is spending £5 billion a year on the war in Afghanistan, and will have spent £1 billion on Libya by the Autumn.

Armed forces veterans, school students, musicians, trade unionists, writers, artists, academics, politicians, campaigners, and military families, will occupy Trafalgar Square on Saturday 8 October to show our opposition to war, representing the vast majorty of people in Britain who have opposed Britain’s involvement in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. There will be music, film shows, performance events, art installations, and much more. We are also planning a series of rallies around the country and major cultural events in London in the run up to the mass assembly.

Join us in Trafalgar Square. Sign the pledge to be there: http://antiwarassembly.org  – Facebook Event Click Here

http://stopwar.org.uk

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Korean on Hunger Strike for Peace at Parliament Sq

July 12, 2011

Okwhan Yoon is from South Korea. He recently arived at Parliament Square and started his hunger strike on 26th June 2011. He has been on a ten year, global cycling tour, in order to inspire and  promote the message of peace. Okwhan is now on day16 of his strike, demanding  freedom for  North Korea and the opening of the border with South Korea bring with it democracy for the people!

60 years of isolation and oppression has now past and the time has come for the  people to make a peaceful stand for change. As you will appreciate, being a cyclist, his body weight is minimal, and so the hunger strike will take its toll on him quciker than a person with greater body mass. He is a gentleman, quiet and thoughtful. He is also determined with a strong mental focus. A press release has been sent out. Also the All party group for both North and South Korea have been notified that he is at the square. We encourage people to support him in his great struggle. He is sincere in his effort.

https://london.indymedia.org.uk/articles/9548

Video time frame: 04:50

My Dream

“I have a dream that one day there will be a united Korea and a united world. North and South Korea represent the last country that is divided by ideology. When Korea is finally reunited it will be a great step towards world peace. I’m convinced that the meaning of the world peace is to understand and respect each others: ideology, culture, religion, language, and identity. Understanding one another forms a deep connection from heart to heart, society to society, and boarder to boarder.

I wish to witness a united Korean peninsula in my lifetime with all my dear friends throughout the world. With strong support my dream of uniting Korea can come true. We have faced great challenges this generation but it is our duty to help raise our children in a more peaceful world. Face to face, hand to hand, shoulder to shoulder, side by side we can defeat this hatred and make our only world beautiful.”

http://okhwanstory.blogspot.com

June 11, 2010

AMMAN – Very few people would choose to become homeless and wander around the globe. But then again, very few people are like South Korean cyclist Okhwan Yoon. The 48-year-old told The Jordan Times that a passion for peace, patience, guts and discovery has taken him across six continents in a quest to spread his message in every country in the world on two wheels. “I suffered from chronic illnesses during my early life,” Yoon said noting that shortly after enrolling in the Chung-Ang University in Seoul, he reached the “peak” of his series of non-stop illnesses. Battling hepatitis B, asthma and allergies, he thought he was in “the final stage of life”.

But his outlook on life was changed forever when as a university student he “was jailed and tortured for participating in protests against the military regime”. “After I graduated, I wanted to enlighten my- self by learning different cultures to understand why the world is full of wars, murders and suicides,” said the peace activist, who arrived earlier this month in Jordan, the 186th country on his worldwide tour. He decided the best way to learn about the world was to experience it himself, and chose to make the journey by bike as it is “the cheapest way of travelling and the most physically demanding”. He set off in 2001, riding to China on a bicycle. As his quest gained steam, he picked up sponsorship from friends, business owners and universities around the world in order to pay for his expenses.

Yoon, who came to Amman from Syria, said he wants to open the world’s eyes to the importance of peace and tolerance by reminding each nation of the need to choose love and harmony over conflict, riots and war. Over the years of touring the US, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, it has not all been clear sailing for Yoon. He bears scars from attacks and kidnappings and has been struck by cars and involved in near-fatal accidents. The cyclist has also been robbed of his cameras and diaries several times. “I was kidnapped in South Sudan by rebel soldiers in 2004 and kidnapped four times in Africa,” Yoon highlighted. But the cyclist said he also has good memories from every nation he visited, adding that his length of stay in each country depends mostly on its size and variety.

“Each country has its own flavourة for example I loved the exotic fruits and vegetables in Brazil, relished the cultural diversity in France and am enjoying the company of good people in Jordan,” Yoon indicated, adding that he will stay in the Kingdom until he receives a visa to visit Saudi Arabia. He said he will remain on the road until he reaches his goal of 192 nations, after which he plans to return to South Korea, write a book on his adventures and become a politician. Travelling with little more than his bike and a backpack, the 48-year-old said he sometimes feel nostalgic for his homeland and yearns for stability.

“I sometimes cry alone, longing for my country and family… but I have sacrificed too much to end it now,” said Yoon, who confessed that he is still driven by the urge to travel. “I am addicted to travelling and meeting new people. This is bigger than a normal life,” he said. The final countries on his itinerary are Bhutan, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, the Maldives and several island nations, according to the peace activist.

The Cycle Diaries

September 25, 2008

In January, the British traveler Mark Boyle set off from his home in England to embark upon a hike across two continents all the way to India. He got as far as France. Northern France. Okhwan Yoon, from Seoul, South Korea has made it a little further. Setting off in 2001, he has cycled thousands of miles across Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. A few days ago he entered his 169th country – the United States, crossing the border at Juarez into El Paso.

I caught up with Yoon, 46, at the Bicycle Company on North Mesa this morning. A man of slender build, he speaks charmingly broken English and has been extended a warm greeting by the local Korean community in town. “I want to experience different cultures,” he tells me as he surveys the damage his exertions have wrought on his bike. But his interest in other cultures goes beyond casual interest. In May 2007, cycling through his 133rd country, he told Samoan reporters he travelled “to proclaim world peace.” Earlier this year he shared his slogan with TV crews in El Salvador: “one Korea, one World.” He elaborated this morning upon his hopes for world peace, his wish to work for an international organization and his plans to document his travels in an autobiography.

But these ambitions have come at a price for the lonely cyclist. He has slept rough, been robbed and has labored through war zones (including Afghanistan). Saudi Arabia and Libya refused him visas. Most amazingly he was kidnapped in the Sudan only to escape several days later. But Yoon is philosophical about his experiences. “Whether good or bad, everyday [I] try to cultivate my soul,” he explains with an eerie simplicity. Such an attitude is obviously prerequisite to his perseverance. So far Yoon has been in six car accidents. The last of these left him in hospital for two weeks. His response has always been to dust himself off (and get his stitches removed) before cycling onward.

Presently he plans to cycle to Los Angeles before flying to country number 170: the Bahamas. He intends (visas pending) to travel to a further 35 countries over the next three years before returning to Korea and settling down (and presumably investing in new legs). Before we finished I asked him about his hopes for the future. “No more car accidents please,” he replied with both a frown and a smile. As someone about to cycle across New Mexico, this seems rather idealistic.

Yahoo News

South Korean cyclist Okhwan Yoon, a contributor of the film, Life in a Day, arrives for its UK premiere at Westfield Shopping Centre, west London, Tuesday, June 14, 2011. The film is a user-generated feature-length documentary film, shot on a single day – July 24, 2010. It began as a historic global film experiment that enlisted the You Tube community to capture a moment of their lives on camera. Worldwide YouTube users responded with over 80,000 submissions from 192 countries, totaling over 4,500 hours of footage. Having cycled through 191 countries, Westfield Shopping Centre management, however, would not allow Yoon to cycle in the centre for a photo. (AP Photo/Joel Ryan)

International Cyclist, Okhwan Yoon visits The Bahamas

Mar 17, 2009

Grand Bahama Island – International cyclist, Okhwan Yoon of Seoul, South Korea visited The Bahamas via Grand Bahama Island as his 171st country on his world tour. Yoon set out in 2001 to find a place in the Guiness Book of World Records, but also more importantly, to make connections all around the world in an effort to encourage world peace. Upon arrival via a Discovery Cruise Line day trip, Yoon was presented with a welcome souvenir by the Ministry of Tourism & Aviation as a token of our appreciation for him having visited as well as our best wishes to him on his continued effort to make global connections.

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