Send in the sad clown

by Dram_man on June 14, 2007

Chairman of Samsung Lee Kun-hee is considered a hero in Korea, but for me he has always had a more “sad clown” type persona. Case in point is this article on a speech Lee made last week. He makes his donation to business Konglish with his “Sandwich” theory. Apparently though the theory is just a copy of a “Nutcracker” theory by a foreign consulting firm. To finish the “sad clown” patina, Lee made his comments a his awarding of the “Hoam Prize” that “honors distinguished Koreans and foreigners for their contribution to science, culture and the welfare of mankind.”, which sounds impressive until you read that the prize is awarded by Samsung and put two and two together.

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1 Sperwer June 14, 2007 at 11:17 am

“sandwich”, nutcracker”, blah, blah — all variations on hoary old “shrimp among whales” conceit.

BTW, the “nutcracker” notion originally applied to Japan, whose imperial ambitions in the late 19th and early 20th century were supposed to be constrained by the twin pincers of Russia and the US.

2 mins0306 June 14, 2007 at 11:32 am

Chairman Lee has been predicting disaster for Korea since the beginning of this year.

I guess he decided that disaster prediction is a better hobby than racing around in sports cars.

3 dogbertt June 14, 2007 at 11:35 am

Wasn’t that Michael Jackson lookalike supposed to have passed on from lung cancer by now?

4 SomeguyinKorea June 14, 2007 at 7:16 pm

Kind of like the TV stations here who throw award ceremonies where only their own shows, and not those of the competing broadcasters, are allowed to be entered.

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