The always entertaining (and usually correct) Doug Bandow writes on Abe’s ascension as Japanese prime minister and why this should spur the United States to reevaluate Japan’s position in the world and pull its forces from East Asia. Read the whole thing—this is just a sample (albeit the key one):
The subject is highly sensitive [...]
Joshua over at the Korea Liberator just testified before Congress on all things Korea:
Well, I can’t thank Rep. Henry Hyde’s staff enough for believing that a fire-eater with high-speed internet access qualifies as an expert competent to testify before a committee of Congress. You have to know that all is not well in the alliance [...]
Some time in late 2004 or early 2005, I started predicting that the Uri party would break up* by the end of 2006 as different factions positioned themselves ahead of the 2007 presidential election.
Frankly, it looks like I will have to eat some humble pie since Uri seems to be hanging together for the moment.
But [...]
This is an interesting development (from the K Herald, read it quick before it goes to subscription hell):
The ruling Uri party plans to introduce an open primary for the presidential nomination to pave way for the injection of new blood to the party, officials said.
Under the planned primary rule, the party will select a presidential [...]
Some folk are unhappy about the Ministry of Culture’s romanization scheme, says the Korea Times.
Personally, I care only in that I have to use whatever romanization scheme the authorities tell me to use putting when together our magazine. Otherwise, one scheme is as crappy as the next.
If you have something to say about the current [...]
Firstly, the new sculpture to adorn Cheonggyecheon Plaza has been unveiled.
It certainly leaves one at a loss for words.
Said Yoo In-chon of the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture:
“We expect that the sculpture by the famous artist will enhance the international status of Chonggyechon stream and increase the number of foreign visitors to Seoul.”
The Eiffel [...]
Main courtyard of Songgwang-sa Temple (1,000px version)
Main courtyard of Seonam-sa Temple (1,162px version)
Toilet facility of Seonam-sa Temple. Built around 1920, it’s a crapper of some architectural significance. Designated a local cultural property (1,000px version)
Here are the photos as promised. Didn’t take that many at Songgwang-sa Temple, as I didn’t have a whole lot of time there. Took [...]
Prostitution seems to have made its ugly way not only into the main post but also the comment sections of Marmot’s Hole (is that a sexual innuendo?). I realize that this fine blog is of the highest moral standards so I will keep this post as clean as possible. In the spirit of history: Choson [...]
Again, I find myself in Honam, this time in Suncheon, Jeollanam-do. Hiked from Songgwang-sa Temple to Seonam-sa Temple yesterday. Spent this morning at Seonam-sa Temple, where I had some business to conclude.
Photos galore when I return to Seoul tonight. In the meantime, enjoy the running water along the path to Seonam-sa Temple*:
*Shitty [...]
Excerpts from an AP Report
The owner of a car dealership that planned to air a radio advertisement calling for “a jihad on the automotive market” has issued an apology and promised not to use the commercial.
Several stations had already rejected the spot from Dennis Mitsubishi, which boasted that sales representatives wearing “burqas” — head-to-toe [...]
With three weeks of games under our belts, including one set of divisional games, the situation in the IKKFL is starting to clarify. We only have two teams at 3-0 and only one at 0-3, so I feel pretty good that we have a well-balanced league that will have a good playoff race at the [...]
Well “Dram Man” enjoys his hamburgers very much but, as one can see, attempting to find a good one is depressing and probably bad for one as well, especially if Korea starts importing American madcow beef. Instead, I think it is a better idea to try to find the best of what might be indigenous [...]
You got to love this appology:
“I apologize for the illegal remittance issue, which was caused by mismatch between law and reality,”[said Lee Jong-suk regarding the illegal transfers made to North Korea via Woori Bank in the Kaesong Industrial Zone]
So to paraphrase Harry Truman…”The buck never stops in reality”
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Former State Department official Robert Carlin must have been surprised to see his essay—a hypothetical speech emulating DPRK First Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok Ju to a meeting of North Korean diplomats—translated and reported as an actual speech.
This made a lot of papers—including Yonhap, the Dong-A Ilbo and Chosun Ilbo—look really, really bad. The Dong-A [...]
Last week yielded a head scratcher about the KTX (Korea’s bullet train):
In December, rail passengers can look forward to viewing the latest movies while riding the country’s bullet trains, the KTX. The “cinema train” project entails turning the first car of the train into a theater….The railroad believes movies-on-the-go will be attractive to long-distance passengers [...]
You people from North America know when I say this, you know when you are visiting Canada or the US? Everything is eerily similar but the little things are a little off. It could be measurements. It could be the way people act. It could be how food is served. Its like somebody is messing [...]
Don’t usually post about non-Asian issues, but…
Found it interesting reading a man who virtually accused President Bush of leading America down the path to fascism expressing admiration for the closest thing American has ever had to a fascist.
He did built a mighty fine State Capitol Building, though.
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Its been a while since was at the Shilla. I am now working away in Daejeon. However I want to finish things up.
Unfortunatly I was unable to attend the afternoon session which was on the command handover issue. The star was to be former Undersectary of State Richard “Loose Lips” Amitage. I could not go, [...]
Also on the prostitution front, authorities in Jeollanam-do revealed that the biggest consumer of prostitution services are (probably) married men in their 30s and 40s, not unmarried men in their 20s as widely believed.
They noted that since the Special Law on Prostitution went into effect on Sep. 23, 2004, the number of sex shops and [...]
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