By SHELTON BUMGARNER
Marmot’s Hole Guest Blogger
Yes, kids, it’s time for one of those articles. You know the kind. It’s a New York Times article where the author seems to roll his or her eyes at wacky Asian culture in between the lines. The story is about how — get this — Koreans are building more near the DMZ! That’s the most "dangerous place in the world," don’tcha know.
Isn’t that just a hoot?
Skeptics, often in faraway Washington, have lampooned South Koreans as latte-sipping Athenians who deny the reality of their northern cousins, unreconstructed Spartans.
I get the feeling that maybe the writer agrees with those in "faraway Washington."
I have to give him credit though, there are a lot of coffee shops in Seoul. Somebody pass me a latte!
Be sure to read the rest on your own.
23 Comments
This is an entertaining article to read (NY Times). “The next step is vacation homes along the southern edge of the DMZ.” . . . I have even seen one realtor in my neighborhood with pictures of places for sale in Paju but it does not look like people are buying places there. I wonder if people are crazy enough to try this — it is quite a bit premature.
Also, I can only wonder if the Marmot filed this entry in his blog under Shelton’s name and Shelton filed the one before (tasteless dumbasses in Thailand), using Robert’s tag. If not, I am ready to believe in the two-day transmigration of souls . . .
Also, I can only wonder if the Marmot filed this entry in his blog under Shelton’s name and Shelton filed the one before (tasteless dumbasses in Thailand), using Robert’s tag. If not, I am ready to believe in the two-day transmigration of souls .
As one of the first to engage in throat-extirpating criticism, I try also to be one to give credit where credit is due. This was a nice, concise lite-fisking of an article that may be of interest to many here. It was engaging without trying too hard to be cutesy.
Bravo, Shelton.
(No, I’m not being sarcastic.)
Brooke of the Times is a silly Locust Valley lockjaw lightweight; there’s nothing there to fisk. Shelton’s prickly self-identification with the presumed victims of Brooke’s condescension on the other hand deserves to be fisted.
Shelton’s prickly self-identification with the presumed victims of Brooke’s condescension on the other hand deserves to be fisted.
Marmot, let the record show that I did not start what will follow, did/will not participate, and even spoke with words of praise for Shelton’s post.
Shelton’s prickly self-identification with the presumed victims of Brooke’s condescension on the other hand deserves to be fisted.
Well, I for one don’t believe that he should have to suffer through the humiliation of that. Regardless of what one may think of Shelton’s writing skills, that’s taking things too far.
I, for one, agree with those in fareaway Washington.
BTW, I’m glad to see Shelton back at the Hole.
Why is that when Shelton writes something on his blog, absolutely no one comments on it, but if he posts something here, people do? One of life’s mysteries, I suppose.
I swear that the entire readership of the NYT is bloggers. I’ve never heard of anyone who doesn’t have a blog even mentioning the Times … and I live in New York.
I’m with Sperwer, nothing to fisk in that NYT report, which was observably accurate and nicely written. That was less a “light fisking” than more cheap, off-base Sheltonian sarcasm deployed against an undesrving target.
With all due respect, I see Shelton as one of those aspiring comedians on the Seinfeld Show that Jerry always tries to avoid in the club hallway as they try to plug cringe-inducing material.
Koreans are building the most “dangerous place in the world”! You’d better believe it.
This year will mark the sudden shift in China’s foreign policy. They will show their color.
KJI is in China right now. Many view this as a good sign. I disagree. He may be getting detailed direction on how to fight a limited war in Korean peninsula.
You can never predict the Chinese. Too many people with no clear values, other than punishing neighbors.
Mark my words. Things will change this year. I just hope Koreans are smart enough to see the right solution.
He may be getting detailed direction on how to fight a limited war in Korean peninsula.
Oh please. The Chinese are smarter than that. They know that the Bush Gang will not hesitate to use nuclear weapons on North Korea once war starts. The Chinese even sided with America on the counterfeiting issue, which shows that China is getting tougher on North Korea. China wants the 6-Party Talks to succeed, so that China will get credit for it, and North Korea will be less of a headache for China.
Mi-Hwa, oh please yourself. “…the Bush Gang will not hesitate to use nuclear weapons on North Korea…China wants the 6-Party Talks to succeed”!?
Pray, where do you get these gems of wisdom? The core policy goal of any US administration is to prevent the spread and use of nuclear weapons, period, and the Bush administration has been at the forefront of this effort, not China, and certainly not our country.
Didn’t really bother to read the whole article, but if is about development in a potential hotspot–it’s done all over the world, Korea was only a matter of time (and rising property value). Also, Heyri Art Valley has been in development for years, and the original intention was to put it close to the DMZ.
Mi-hwa was making reasonable comments lately, then reverted to cartoon Hanchongnyeon form here. She has to be someone doing a parody of a Korean leftist, no one can be that glib all the time.
Ah, Michael, I missed that one. There’s nothing worse than letting a good joke slip by unappreciated.
The sad thing is, this might not be a joke….
This is done all over the world, people will move anyplace for the chance to have cheap land. The US actually encourages the similar by providing disaster insurance and emergency relief to those who build their houses in flood zones and hurricane-prone areas. As a result those people do not bear the full cost of building in those areas.
S. Korea is about a third the size of Italy, most of it is mountainous, and there’s little room to build. Koreans seem to prefer real estate (actually, owning an apartment) as an income generator, so it seems inevitable that the DMZ area would be developed, nork threat or not.
Way back in the day when the tiger smoked the pipe.Kim Sung Dal covered a frozen-over lake and sold it as a plot of farm land. We Koreans have long cheered his ethics.
OK, that was a gratuitous self-insult. I’ll make my next insult more pointed. Here goes:
Seriously, I have to agree both with far-off Washington and Korea on this one. South Koreans are indeed “latte-sipping Athenians who deny the reality”. But the real danger comes not from our “northern cousins” but our southern selves in a society set on self-destruct.
Mi-Hwa may be a dude. I have known, from my days at the University of Washington, a lawyer named Mi-Hwa who is a male. His English is also very strong — strong enough, I’d bet, to come here and spar with us. His politics are unfortunately Hanchongnyun standard-issue complete with inexplicable hatred and contempt for US servicemembers stationed in Korea. Once I asked him why he had this view, and it basically boiled down to one of them had yelled at him in a traffic dispute.
My friend Mi-Hwa is a real gentleman but his leftist politics are strange to me. Our friend Mi-Hwa here is smart and rational with an odd undercurrent of student-radical lexicon. Could this be him?
Brendon, the name Mi Hwa should have tipped us off right away. It’s a joke and a damned good one. Take a look at this article about North Korea threatening to use nuclear weapons if the U.S. invades it.
One wonders where on the Korean peninsula they would explode such devices. But we can rest assured that given our commen genetic predisposition and expertise in metal chopsticks, our northern cousins have discovered a nuclear weapon that selectively kills only ??? while exempting ??? from harm.
http://english.chosun.com/w21d.....50006.html
paju real estate has been inflated for some time since the LG-Phillips construction began (slated to finish most phases in the next ten years?) and the new beltway plans were solidified. if you still have the urge to invest, it probably wouldn’t be bad saving you can wait ten years and the norks do go nutso.
Not that anyone here would care, but I can’t help but note this link:
http://www.gridskipper.com/tra.....148774.php
I know…I know…I should have just asked The Marmot what it was I ate, but what fun would that have been?
Shelton, I care, but in the spirit of “God helps those who clue themselves”, I won’t tell you what it is, but instead tell you that it is common enough an item to be sold at Home Plus, where its packaging has both English and Korean. Happy hunting!
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Hot property market near the DMZ
The New York Times reports that South Koreans view a future war with the North as less and less likely, reflected by a growing property boom in the region between Seoul and the demilitarized zone (DMZ).
PAJU, South Korea - Six miles from the heavily …