Today from around the Korean Blogosphere: Infidel on Cardinal Kim, Incestuous Amplifications taken on evil Norkbot Temptresses, the Gweilo (OK, he’s Hong Kong) and smart-ass Koreans and much, MUCH MORE!
- The Marmot welcomes the Infidel back into the blogosphere, and I really like this comment on Cardinal Steven Kim:
Never in my short pundit career would I have dreamed (or hoped), that a Catholic official would validate my opinions about the “Sunshine” policy and unification in general. But South Korean Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan talks about a “public consensus on reunification resting on principles of liberal democracy” and “trust”. I have consistently believed unification was a fascist policy, because it is foisted on a majority of uncommitted citizens by a powerful, vocal minority of policy-makers more concerned about short-term greed than the general welfare. I have also argued before, that the only way to proceed with unification is through a referendum conducted jointly in both Koreas, but only after the DPRK is granted sovereignty. Finally, all this must proceed under the auspices of some international or regional organization, like the United Nations or ASEAN. I know Cardinal Stephen is not saying this, but its so nice to see a public official buck the unification bandwagon. And, its nice to see a South Korean use the term, liberal democracy. Now, if only the politicians could say, and practice, that!
- Kathreb discusses Korea’s low birth rates and family allowances:
This little snippet I found on Child policy shows that Korea offers only 8 weeks UNPAID maternity leave!!! Stingy bastards! (Next worse was US with 12 weeks unpaid maternity leave.) And they wonder that birth rates are declining. Such “pop one out and get back to work!” policies are never going to be very effective.
- Kevin takes on the North Korean cheerleaders:
The fake smiles with the corners of the mouth turned up at exactly 42.3459 degrees..the goofy hand-clappers..the random coordinated screams of “We should reunify!” and “Don’t you wish you were a concubine of the great leader Kim Jong Il so you could serve your true master!”…I’m just waiting for wires to start popping out of their heads, like that Simpson’s episode at Itchy and Scratchy Land where all the cartoon character robots go wacko and start killing everyone in the amusement park. No doubt they’re hot, but there’s something eerily sinister about the entire scripted act.
Note to self - translate that Hankyoreh article on the Norkbots when you get a chance.
- The Big Hominid gives his take on the 6-party talks:
What’s the big indicator of NK untrustworthiness?
North Korean’s chief delegate, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Yong Il, made the proposals in a keynote speech Wednesday, the first day of the three-day talks, while denying the North has a program to enrich uranium for nuclear arms, the JoongAng Ilbo said in its Internet edition.
Denying the enrichment program is ballsy bullshit. If the North can lie with a smile on its face, what reason is there to listen to the rest of its spiel?
- Over at the Gweilo Diaries, Conrad touches on the very sensitive topic of average national IQ and wealth. What struck me, however, is that near the top of the list of average national IQs are South Korea (#2 at 106) and North Korea (sharing the #3 slot with Japan at 105). This, of course, begs the question, with all these smart people running around this place, why the hell are we led by such stupid schmucks? Who knows… maybe Korea just pushes its shit to the top.
- Oh, and over on my “Korea Blogs” list, you’ll notice that I’ve added Weblogs in Korean. For those who read Korean (or those who want to practice their Korean), it’s a good place to begin your dive into the Korean-language blogosphere.
4 Comments
Who knows… maybe Korea just pushes its shit to the top.
A girl named Liz in our biology class, sophomore year in high school, was ecstatic she’d won the election to be junior class president. “Mr. Dirner! Mr. Dirner!” she screeched, “I’m gonna be class president next year!”
Mr. Dirner, who loved cutting down his students with a smile, grinned widely and said, “Oh, yes… it’s the Law of the Septic Tank: the biggest pieces rise to the top.”
It’s the kind of the wisdom you wish would appear in the ???????짼쩍.
Kevin
You know, that Gweilo report reminded me of something I saw in Chonan Independence Hall, and has become something of Korean expat lore - there was a sign there displaying the average cranium sizes of various “races” (with Koreans coming out on top, of course), and written below it (in English!) was an explanation that their big noggins suggest high brain capacity. I’ve been told that they have since taken it down, but I was lucky enough to see it before they did.
I have to admit, though - Koreans do have some big heads. And some would suggest hard ones as well (which, to borrow from PJ O’Rourke, is something a half-Mick like myself can appreciate).
> Korea offers only 8 weeks UNPAID maternity leave!
Wrong. Maternity leave used to be 2 months, is now 3, and is paid for by the employer (hence the pressure they get to resign, and not apply for the leave). The employer gets a little something during this period, but basically if you want to replace the missing lady with a temp, it just doubles your costs…
I have had this happen to me twice in the last 6 years, so I do have a little knowledge about that…
Thanks for the correction. I didn’t check in-depth. I see alot of heavily pregnant women in the office who come back pretty soon after the birth so I figured it was pretty close. Still stingy.