KBS TV took a look yesterday at the increasingly popular Korean naturalization test—some 20,000 aspiring Koreans applied to take the test last year, compared with 4,000 just four years ago.
Most of the test’s questions are of a Korean elementary school fourth-grade level, but this is reportedly too difficult for some takers.
Candidate filing started yesterday and we found out a few things about them.
For example Kang Kum-sil is in debt while her main opponent, Oh Se-hoon is sitting pretty:
There was a large difference in the amount of the candidate’s assets. While candidate Kang owed 418.12 million won, candidate Oh has 3.6 billion won in assets, candidate Park [...]
What the hell is this place? Las Vegas?
Three entertainers have been caught illegally operating a bar in southern Seoul in which they allegedly arranged sex between clients and other entertainers, in collaboration with an organized crime ring.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) said Tuesday the three operated the bar, in which scantily-clad waiters and [...]
Life has intervened on blogging for the last couple of days. Posting should resume with some degree of regularity from this afternoon/evening.
Apologies go out to my regular readers.
It is nice to see that some things are the same around the world.
For years, the sidewalks in my part of Ansan have been so broken up and uneven that most of the recycling grannies prefer to push their carts and strollers on the street.
Well, I was walking home today and what do I see: [...]
(by guest blogger, Andy Jackson)
This is nice (Yonhap):
The Korean community in the United States is pushing to establish a settlement area for North Koreans seeking asylum in the U.S., a community source said Friday.
On Sunday, the United States allowed six North Korean escapees to seek asylum on its soil, the first group to be accepted [...]
Koreans might be optimistic about their own team’s chances in Germany, but they’re even more certain that Japan’s going to fold:
The majority of South Koreans expect Asian rivals Japan to be knocked out of the World Cup in the first round, according to a survey released on Friday.
A poll conducted by the Japan Research Centre [...]
This string of posts is bound to give Japanophiles a case of heartburn:
Japan’s Morals Continue to Decay at the Expense of Women
email received…
Movie to Help Japanese Accept Their Past?
Japanese Ignorant of Their Sordid Past
UPDATE 2: Cheong Wa Dae says the Chosun Ilbo is a bunch of big fat liars. Or to be more precise, a spokesman from the presidential office explained that Roh did meet with security-related ministers prior to his departure to Mongolia, but the president made no mention of pursuing a North Korea policy independent [...]
Dr. Andrei Lankov writes on Stalin’s deportation of Koreans from the Russian Far East to the steppes of Central Asia:
In late 1937, cargo trains began arriving at railway stations in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan with unusual frequency. They delivered people, not cargo: women and men, young and old, exhausted and sick. Each train was guarded by [...]
The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) and the Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI) held yet another pointless forum yesterday about the “national image” and the search for a national symbol to represent the nation:
What comes to the mind of people around the world when it comes to Korea? Like the pyramids in Egypt, art in France, [...]
If you haven’t checked out Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s letter to President Bush, please do—it’s a riot.
This is obviously a form of communication Kim Jong-il should look into.
Pandemic Studios has given us a glimpse of Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, the sequel to the kick-ass game Mercenaries. The storyline, you might ask?
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames is an explosive open-world action game set in a massive, highly reactive, war-torn world. A power-hungry tyrant messes with Venezuela’s oil supply, sparking an invasion [...]
The Chosun Ilbo reports that a Seoul court is auctioning off Dobong-sa Temple in Dobong-dong. The temple is said to have been founded in the Goryeo era, and was reportedly the place where King Hyeonjong, the 8th king of the Goryeo period, looked after state affairs following the fall of the capital Kaesong to [...]
Korean-Americans are proud of their heritage, reports the Chosun Ilbo.
According to the International Institute for Management Development, Korea’s international competitiveness has nosedived, taking a backseat to every other Asian nation on the 61-nation list:
South Korea slid nine notches in the national competitiveness index this year, behind rival Asian countries _ including Japan, China and India _ marking the lowest ranking in seven years, according [...]
In the spring issue of the Korean Journal of Defense Analysis, Koo Bon-hak critically assesses the six party talks (.pdf file) and looks at the implications for South Korean policy toward Pyongyang.
You know you want to read it. And it’s just a click away.
(Hat tip to reader)
MUST SEE!!!!
This guy has posted on Flickr some 301 photographs taken during a tour of the Workers’ Paradise—check them out.
Police in Seoul’s Guro-gu busted a man for stealing his neighbor’s dog and eating it, reported the Chosun Ilbo. The episode began at 7:00 a.m. on May 3 when 57-year-old restaurant owner Ms. Kim noticed her dog, which was usually tied up outside her restaurant, was missing. She searched the neighborhood for the [...]
Korea News via Google