Quick, someone call OC Choppers!

by Robert Koehler on April 3, 2006

in South Korea

The SF Chronicle throws the Dokdo Riders a bone, and Jeff in Busan offers his own commentary.

{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Curzon April 3, 2006 at 3:28 pm: FUNNY!

“The key to solving this problem is not the two countries involved, but other countries,” Kang said.

Seoul has refused international arbitration.

That leaves them about $30,000 short of their $130,000 budget, so they’re relying on cheap accommodations, frugal meals and help from local Korean Americans, Kim said.

This is a 20+ nation tour. What happens when they leave America?

And the juicy quote:

“This problem can have an impact on world peace,”

Too true:

Among the extreme reactions were a mother and son slicing off their little fingers in front of the Japanese embassy and a man setting himself on fire.
2 Iceberg April 3, 2006 at 3:30 pm: Give them credit. You know that their trip will end up fully funded. It was a fine idea for a free vacation around the world.
3 eaglenovan April 3, 2006 at 4:45 pm: frankly scarlett, does anyone really care ?????
4 eaglenovan April 3, 2006 at 4:49 pm: koreans tend to be the biggest whiners around, and I really think the rest of the world is getting tired of listening to them. In one breath, they tell you there are the 11th biggest economy in the world, and then want other countries not to try to sell agricultural products to them.
I suspect, that they are in for a termendous shock when they try to get a real FTA agreement with someone who wants to sell THEM something, and not just be a dumping ground for korean products. They do not seem to understand, that there is a give/take to these business dealings. They want to sell you their crap, but they don’t want to buy your crap :=-)
5 baduk April 3, 2006 at 4:57 pm: I live in Los Angeles, California. According to the article, they passed thru my city on 2 March. The local Korean media, let alone the mainstream media, had no report on these “riders”. None.

“Funding comes from $20,000 they earned at part-time jobs, $50,000 from the GS Caltex energy corporation, $20,000 from KIUP Bank, and a $10,000 pledge from the Korean Government Information Agency, which also is supplying postcards and maps to distribute, Kim said.” – I guess these kids are well-connected.

Did they have liscence to ride a bike in all 50 states? They’d better be careful. Also, in some US cities, people don’t like to see five Koreans riding into the town on the motorcycle and do “samulnori” in the town square. A small town USA is not Europe; rednecks and members of KKK live there.
6 eaglenovan April 3, 2006 at 6:23 pm: do you suppose they have insurance ??? and I didn’t think that Korea & the US had licence reciprocity … hmmmmm … call da law !!!
7 Curzon April 3, 2006 at 8:27 pm: Regardless of their visas, they can ride on international licenses for six months after entry to the United States (at least that’s how it is in most US states).
8 Wedge April 3, 2006 at 8:44 pm: I’ll take $130K and travel the world for nine months, too. Where do I sign up?
9 The Goat April 3, 2006 at 9:25 pm: “Give them credit. You know that their trip will end up fully funded. It was a fine idea for a free vacation around the world.”

They are SKY, you know…only the best.
10 kimchipig April 3, 2006 at 11:40 pm: This is a 20 nation tour. What happens when they leave America?

Twenty nations? Get real. That claim is about as genuine as they guy who was “chaining himself to Yongsan Gate For Life” a few years back. It met with much fanfare and lasted a whole weekend.

Koreans thrive on attention to their nationalistic nonsense. When they don’t get any they quickly fold up. The Japanese know this more than anybody.
11 michael April 4, 2006 at 10:11 am: “And it could heighten “strategic uncertainties in the region” if it pushes South Korea closer to China and cements Japan more tightly to the United States, said Min Gyo Koo, an expert on the dispute and postdoctoral fellow at the Center for International Studies at the University of Southern California.” Who would be the loser in that outcome?

I will pay the Dodo Riders $1,000 for them to drive into Sturgis this summer and do their little samulnori act in the center of town.

http://www.sturgismotorcyclerally.com/
12 The Goat April 4, 2006 at 12:07 pm: oh and (keeping in line with the thread title) perhaps with a little more funding they could convince Jr. to make a 독도우리땅 태마오토바이
13 Corpy Carly April 4, 2006 at 1:37 pm: You’d think three “SKY”ers could figure out a more useful way to spend 130 g’s. I sure know I could. Of course, this really might be a clever ploy to travel the world free of charge, in which case I’d have to say, ah, whatever…I wouldn’t want to encourage any more crap Korean political statements like this.

BTW Curzon’s the man. I wish I’d thought of this one:

” “The key to solving this problem is not the two countries involved, but other countries,” Kang said.

Seoul has refused international arbitration.”
14 Jeff in Korea April 4, 2006 at 1:44 pm: Goat: That’s a good idea…. They will get a good bike, and Mike will finally be smarter and have more ambition that someone else on the show.
15 judge judy April 4, 2006 at 1:57 pm: the first thing they should spend the money on is stepping up from 250cc to 700cc minimum. poor kids will need kidney transplants by the time they hit dallas.

hope they got the free hare krishna dinner in people’s park.
16 michael April 4, 2006 at 2:01 pm: JJ, the Krishnas are still doing free meals in the park? I’m having an acid flashback