File:Korean Air - HL8228 (8351584825).jpg

Some planespotting for the very first weekend of 2013 - in anticipation of seeing the new United 787 services to/from Tokyo. (And I was far from alone - plenty of hardcore planespotters, all of male middle-aged persuasion except for yours truly.)

Normally I would never photograph Korean Air, but this time I took an exception - if only because this aircraft was the reason why Asiana 202 had to hold on the tarmac for over half an hour after landing. I knew that Korean right-wingers hated lots of different demographics - and sure enough they do hate some of their fellow countrymen too.

And yes, Korean Air is typically associated with South Korea's right-wing government and past military dictatorships, while Asiana was founded in the late 1980s by a conglomerate more associated with the opposition. It is a strong parallel to Taiwan, where China Airlines was the flag-bearer of the Chiang Kai-shek martial rule, and EVA Air was later founded by a supporter of opposition Green Coalition. The main difference between the two countries: Taiwan has moved on past its McCarthyism, while South Korea embraces McCarthyism more than ever, and partly the status of their respective adversaries - mainland China and North Korea - has to take the credit/blame.

This A330 is operating Korean Air 2, which returns to Seoul Incheon via Tokyo Narita. This is Korean Air's oldest US route, originally operated with a 707, and Narita was one of the refueling stops that is still retained as a Fifth Freedom routing.