April 29, 2006 – 11:21 pm
(By guest blogger, Andy Jackson)
(UPDATE: As one would expect, this is getting more detailed coverage at the Korea Liberator.)
Two years after the North Korean Human Rights Act became law, the US has finally accepted its first North Korean refugee (Yonhap):
The Los Angeles Immigration Court has granted asylum to a North Korean defector after he awaited [...]
MUST READ!!!!
In case you haven’t read it yet, Time Asia’s coverboy this week is the Rev. Tim Peters, who does really amazing work for North Korean refugees trying to reach safety. Anyway, the piece on Rev. Peters and the Underground Railroad is a great one, and one that leaves nobody looking good. Here’s [...]
The Korean Internet Safety Commission handed down a warning to a porn site, Kimchi Girl, for a number of violations of Korean cyber ethics regulations. The site, which not only posted photos of nekkid women (not to mention used an unauthorized photo of Jun Ji-hyun on its front page), was accused of disparaging Korean [...]
Jodi over at the Asia Pages noted the big shitstorm the Chosun Ilbo seems to have caused in Vietnam by running a piece on Vietnamese women marrying Korean men that women’s groups in the Southeast Asian nation found terribly offensive. The Chosun seems to have removed the photos from the Korean version of the [...]
April 28, 2006 – 12:09 am
Almost one year ago to the day, Time Asia ran a piece extolling the accomplishments of Hyundai Motor chief Chung Mong Koo. Today, prosecutors put out an arrest warrant for Chung on charges of embezzlement and breach of trust.
Sphere: Related Content
April 27, 2006 – 11:36 pm
It’s sad that Korean troops are more likely to see more action in Pyeongtaek than they have in Arbil.
The base relocation is likely to be delayed at any rate.
BTW, I’d pay good money to see a protest led by unionized hookers.
Sphere: Related Content
April 27, 2006 – 11:26 pm
Hyundai’s concept CUV HED-2 Genus looks pretty cool. At least from the front.
April 27, 2006 – 11:13 pm
Over at the Nautilus Institute’s Policy Forum Online, Stephen E. Noerper argues that the United States should boost its support for developments in Mongolia. Read the whole thing on your own; here’s just a snipit:
Though a small country in terms of population and contemporary political importance, Mongolia deserves that enhanced US and international recognition, [...]
UPDATE 2: If you don’t like my translation, the KCNA has summarized the editorial in English.
UPDATE: I’ve done my best to translate the North Koreanese of the Rodong Shinmun editorial below for your reading enjoyment.
In case anyone was uncertain about how North Korea felt about multiracial Koreans and the gradual multiculturalization of South Korean society [...]
UPDATE: According to another piece in the Shin Dong-A…
21 percent of girls in the red-light districts took up their trade after the Special Law went into effect;
Only 0.9 percent of red-light district brothels have shut down since March 2005;
76 percent of johns said they would continue to seek the services of the willow world;
The average [...]
April 26, 2006 – 10:21 pm
The Shin Dong-A magazine ran two pages of photos of Korean Playboy model Lee Pani and her friend Jeon Ji-eun, who finished No. 2 in February’s Spice TV Playboy 2006 Korea Model Contest.
Enjoy.
Sphere: Related Content
April 26, 2006 – 12:42 pm
The Kyunghyang Shinmun ran today a piece on Mungyeong’s Bongam-sa Temple (temple’s official homepage here). Seriously, if you have the time to spare on Buddha-mas (May 5), this is the temple you want to visit. Designated a special Zen training center (the competition among monks to get into the place is something fierce), [...]
April 25, 2006 – 11:58 pm
The Japan Times ran a very interesting piece on Japanese Foreign Minister Aso Taro and his connections with wartime forced labor:
While Taro Aso’s public statements as foreign minister have done little to help ease tensions between Tokyo and the rest of Asia, a family connection to wartime forced labor has raised further questions over his [...]
MUST READ!!!!
UPDATE 5: Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, expressing regret that some in Japan seem to be taking President Roh’s address as some sort of internal political thing, said Korea would take necessary measures to inform both Koreans and other countries of the propriety of Korea’s claims on Dokdo and to strengthen Korean sovereignty over the [...]
Yonhap News has a list of some of the events and festivals happening around the country in early May, including Boseong’s Green Tea Festival, Jeonju’s Pungnam Festival, and yes, the Hi Seoul Festival.
Not mentioned is the Lotus Lantern Festival to be held in Seoul on Sunday, although some events will take place on Friday and [...]
April 24, 2006 – 11:03 pm
By SHELTON BUMGARNER
Marmot’s Hole Guest Blogger
Well, folks, this is your chance to actually be, like, productive and stuff. I am authorized to write the following: “A journalist author is looking for the best Chinese restaurants in the world, and is looking for candidates from Korea.”
Make of that what you will. The “journalist author” will probably [...]
I’m sure some of you will enjoy this:
Shon Park’s life was a sacrifice. Her feet swelled while she worked 12-hour days to send her siblings to college. Her heart ached when she left a man she loved because her family didn’t approve. Her soul withered after marrying a man she’d never met - to honor [...]
Or so reports USA Today:
The accommodations are, at best, just adequate. The food is mediocre. The service is indifferent. The hosts are controlling. And, at $500 or so a day, the trip isn’t cheap.
No matter. Tours of North Korea being offered late this summer are, as one tour operator puts it, “selling like hotcakes.”
North Korea, [...]
Apparently, South Korea has offered to repatriate North Korean agents caught in South Korea if North Korea agrees to begin discussions of repatriating South Korean POWs and abductees.
North Korea has reportedly asked for 500,000 tons of rice and 300,000 tons of fertilizer.
All of this is par for the course in negotiating with the North Koreans.
What [...]
April 24, 2006 – 12:53 pm
OhMyNews ran a cool piece on Jungpyeong Village in Supyeong-ni, Ganjeon-myeon, Gurye-gun, Jeollanam-do. Some nice photos, too.
