Julian Rydall of The Times (UK) talked with Kim Seong-Min, who was a captain in the North Korean army before defecting to the South. He now runs Freedom North Korea, a shortwave radio station broadcasting to the North. It’s an interesting read, so check it out.
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With North Korean refugees hopping foreign embassy walls in Beijing in desperate bids for freedom, a 51-year-old Korean man jumped the fence of the Japanese embassy today in search of a better life.
Unfortunately, the man was South Korean, the embassy was in Seoul, and the unfortunate figure was detained by police soon afterwards:
He insisted he [...]
The Segye Ilbo reports that more and more women are having trouble finding shoes that fit. The average foot size of Korean women between the ages of 18 and 24 has increased from 229mm in 1980 to 234 as of 2004. Hardly sasquatch-like, but shoe makers have yet to make the adjustment. [...]
In a telephone conversation with Yonhap, a government official revealed that the government is considering building a mall complex—complete with shops, restaurants and movie theaters—under what is now the U.S. garrison at Yongsan, which is supposed to be returned to Korea in late 2008.
Plans to turn the land above ground into a huge citizen park remain unchanged, [...]
The Royal Asiatic Society - Korea Branch will bold its semi-monthly lecture-meeting this Tuesday November 28th, at 7:30 pm, in the 2nd-floor Resident’s Lounge of the Somerset Palace Residence (near Anguk Station, downtown). Free and open to all the public, as always; more info: 763-9483 http://www.raskb.com/
This one could be interesting to some of us: “Possible [...]
Yep, it’s official—we have an outbreak of a highly virulent form of the bird flu in Iksan.
Luckily, we here in Korea have the miracle drug—kimchi, good against not only the bird flu, but also SARS, the Black Death and Captain Trips.
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I read a little bit in the Korean press about this, but having watched CNN’s Nancy Grace grill Melinda Duckett (thanks, Youtube) and, even worse, attack her even after she’d killed herself, I’m left speechless. EastCoast Bob is probably right (HT to reader).
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Security officials at the athletes’ village in Doha, Qatar are confiscating ramyeon, kimchi, seaweed and other Korean foods from the Korean team ahead of the start of the Doha Asian Games.
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The NY Times ran an article on the temple-stay that is run by the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. They now have up to 52,549 participants per year. Do enjoy the slide show as well.
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BusinessWeek has a piece on Westerners doing business in North Korea (HT to reader).
Yes, I’ve implemented yet another new template. Actually, it’s an old one that I’ve used before—Scott Wallick’s Sandbox—except this time, I’ve actually put some work into customizing it.
If something looks strange on your monitor, please let me know.
Likewise, constructive criticism is always welcome (i.e., not “For the love of Christ, Marmot, you’ve changed your [...]
The Insular Korean Kluster (fantasy) Football League just finished its last week of non-divisional games. One score stands out: Mungyeong Fighting Yangbans-68, Samcheong-dong Rabid Marmots-66.
Sorry for the late notice, but I got this in my email and it seems pretty interesting:
LiNK Seoul is holding a seminar with 2 NK defectors and a NKHR Activist this Friday.
When: 2006.Nov.24th, (Friday) 7-9pm
Where: Seoul National University (SNU), Room 101 - Graduate School of Public Administration (행정대학원) 서울대입구 (Seoul Uni’ Ipgu) Station (Green [...]
Man, I don’t know where the Chosun heard this (see last paragraph), but wouldn’t it be interesting if it were true?
(HT to Lost Nomad)
Look below the “Latest Comments” section and you’ll see the newly restored “Asides” section. Here you’ll find small, two-three sentence posts about random stuff I found interesting but didn’t want to waste main-column space on. Anyway, it’s there, and they function much like any other post—to comment, just click on the title and you’ll go [...]
The Chosun Ilbo looks at the government’s plans to restore the Gwanghwamun Gate and 11 others structures (work on which just got underway), including a drawing and a map of how the downtown Gwanghwamun area will change. Traffic congestion is expected to be a problem, however. The project should be complete by late [...]
Yonhap is reporting that the National Intelligence Service (NIS) is looking at ways to keep the entire local Internet under watch.
According to materials submitted by the NIS to GNP lawmaker Song Young-sun, Korea’s spy agency feels the need to maintain surveillance over the entire domestic Internet in order to track down spy transmissions. Unfortunately for [...]
Those of you living in South Korea will be relieved to know that the central committee of North Korea’s Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland has announced that Pyongyang would not use its nuclear weapons on South Korea. In a statement reported by the KCNA, the committee encouraged Koreans in the North, [...]
I was just in Kyobo Book Store leafing through the American pop best seller “America (the book)” by John Stewart. It has its funny moments, including a chapter on the rest of the world. I hope the VANK does not see the book because it has a picture similar to this representing Japan’s bullet train:
For [...]
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