It’s interesting to observe the complex set of emotions at work in the comments section of Naver.com concerning the United States’ controversial 4-3 win over Japan
It seems Cheongnyangni’s infamous “588″ red-light district will disappear thanks to plans by Seoul City to expand a road in back of the Lotte Department Store. The 588 district had been hurting to begin with; the number of brothels found in the area now totals less than 40 percent the number that was found [...]
A number of Korean blogs have posted a list of the best driving courses in the Republic of Korea, with accompanying photos. Be sure to check it out, especially if you have a car and free time on the weekends.
No doubt part of Korea’s recent pledge to increase aid to the Third World, Kia Motors has announced it will open a plant in the U.S. state of Georgia by 2009:
Kia Motors Corp., South Korea’s No. 2 automaker, signed a deal Monday with the U.S. state of Georgia to open its first U.S. plant there [...]
Two New York cops were busted for taking bribes from a Korean-run brothel in Flushing in return for protection and shutting down competing brothels. From the New York Times:
It is one of the oldest forms of police corruption: taking money to look the other way.
And that is what two veteran police officers were doing [...]
The Chosun Ilbo reports that Chinese authorities might scrap the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture as the ethnic Korean population there drops to 33 percent. When the prefecture was first created in 1952, Koreans accounted for 62 percent of the population. But with ethnic Koreans in the region flocking to the big cities, where [...]
The Justice Ministry of the Republic of Korea would like you all to know that regardless of what the U.S. State Department says, there’s no racial discrimination in Korea:
The Ministry of Justice on Friday refuted the latest U.S. State Department’s human rights report citing racial discrimination in South Korea.
It said, Seoul, contrary to the report, [...]
Those with an interest in the history of Korea’s lost white dudes should check out Max Watson’s photos from Seoul Foreigners’ Cemetery Park.
Some 33 very agitated supporters of disgraced scientist Hwang Woo-suk were detained by police at Seoul National University when they tried to block a car carrying SNU president Jeong Un-chan. The protesters, led by a 48-year-old representative of a group promoting ova donations for stem-cell research, surrounded the SNU president’s car as it arrived [...]
As if it weren’t bad enough that Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan might lose his job over playing golf on the first day of the subway strike, now he might be rendered ineligible for the Golf Hall of Fame.
U.S. ambassador Alexander Vershbow, whom you’ll recall the North Koreans designated “the most bitchy and malignant ambassador in history,” might not be able use his preferred Korean spelling of his name, but who needs to Hangeulize “Vershbow” when you’ve got a perfectly good Korean name to call your own? The Korea-U.S. Alliance Friendship Society, [...]
The homepage of the Korean Federation of University Student Councils, or Hanchongnyeon, was attacked by netizens yet unknown on Friday, reports Money Today. Somebody apparently papered the main page of the website with obscene material (in this case, porn rather than the obscene material passing for political discourse that one can usually find on [...]
The Dong-A Ilbo (via the Nomad) reports that according to the U.S. State Department, Korea has finally achieved its goal of becoming an international hub.
In his latest podcast, Michael the Metropolitician talks about the Korean media with journalist Sei Chong, a former editor of the English edition of one of Korea’s major dailies. It’s a long interview, but definitely worth a listen.
Interesting historical tidbit
Over at Frog in a Well, K. M. Lawson describes U.S. air drops of food and supplies to POWs in the Korean Peninsula between the Japanese surrender of August 15, 1945 and the surrender of Japanese troops in southern Korea on Sept. 9.
The Hanyroreh reported Thursday that residents living around the USAF base in Pyeongtaek suffer from much higher rates of heart disease, nervous disorders and hearing loss due to noise from U.S. helicopters and combat aircraft. Moreover, it reported that children near the base suffer from depression, behavior disorders and autism at rates 1.5-2 times [...]
KT columnist Mike Weisbart discusses the Hwang investigation and the need for a serious debate on ethics regulating egg donations and clinical trials:
Indeed, it will be interesting to see if Korean prosecutors have the intestinal fortitude to jail Hwang for what he’s done. A lot of criminals in Korea do time for less serious offenses. [...]
The Korea Times introduces some of Seoul’s hidden historic properties, including Seoul’s old city walls, the Ryu Kwan-sun Well, Yo Un-hyung’s former home, Choong-ang High School and Kim Song-su’s old home and Song Chin-woo’s residence.
See them with someone you love.
Over at Japundit, Ampontan discusses why Japan should forget to mail its check to the UN until either a “realistic payment balance was achieved” or Japan got a Security Council seat.
And of more relevance to us on the other side of the East Sea, he notes–citing the Dong-A Ilbo–that Japan might not support Korean Foreign [...]
Everyday, some 500,000 to a million comments are made by netizens in Korean cyberspace. From the homepage of Cheong Wa Dae to Internet shopping malls, few places are free from the influence of online comments, which are becoming an increasingly powerful instrument of public opinion. But according to the JoongAng Ilbo, the “Super-Comment [...]
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