Well, you don’t see mosques like this everyday. See more photos here and here.
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Monthly Archives: October 2007
When in Doubt, Blame the Translator
October 18, 2007 – 8:45 am
It seems that the United Nations has contradicted their report that contained a reference to Syria’s nuclear facility. Naturally, it was a translation error. This must be the reason why North Korea was amongst the first nations to protest the Israeli strike, seeing how they have suffered much from being mis-understood themselves. Even Dante, the [...]
Chung Dong Yong “MB Ruined My Junket”
October 17, 2007 – 1:43 pm
Chung Dong Yong has gotten into a spat with Lee Myung Bak and it’s not about economics or North Korea for that matter. So, what is it about? Chung is bitching that MB ruined his planned overseas junket.
I was planning a 4 nation foreign relations visit and would have gone straight to the U.S. after [...]
The Cook, The Talent, His Wife & Her Lover?
October 17, 2007 – 1:00 pm
And in the seriously trashy tabloid crap department, entertainer couple Park Cheol and Ok So-ri are splitting apart after over a decade of marriage, with Park reportedly filling a divorce suit against his wife on Oct 9.
The reason for the split? Well, nobody’s talked yet — Park said he would reveal the reason today, but [...]
Visit the House of Sharing
October 17, 2007 – 8:46 am
The House of Sharing will conduct English-language visits to the House of Sharing, the safe house for former “comfort women,” on Oct 21 and Nov 18. You can get more information on the visits at the House of Sharing’s blog. The key point here, however, is that you need to sign up EARLY, since space [...]
The irony of Korean Myanmar protests
October 17, 2007 – 7:53 am
My piece on the human rights for Myanmar protests in South Korea is finally out, almost two weeks after it was news. It took me a few days to write it and the Times another week to run it.
Here is the required blurb:
While Im [Jong-in] and his allies’ concern for the plight of the Burmese people is certainly [...]
Baekdu-daegan Expedition Buseok-sa Special Temple-Stay Event this Saturday
October 16, 2007 – 7:23 pm
This weekend, daytime Saturday through early Sunday morning, the 2007 Baekdu-daegan Expedition Hikers (now on the heights of Sobaek-san National Park) will descend to Buseok-sa (one of Korea’s greatest temples, an architectural masterpiece) to enjoy its special Temple-Stay program along with local officials, international supporters and Korean well-wishers. There will be some coverage by MBC-TV and other media, with the intention [...]
RAS Fall Tours, and Lecture on W Cartography of K
October 16, 2007 – 5:53 pm
The RAS tour I just led to Gyeongju was pleasantly successful and good fun; almost 20 guests saw all the best places while I told stories, and we had amazing good fortune with traffic for an October Sunday, arriving back in Seoul an hour ahead of schedule… The great autumn weather and leaves are [...]
Dragons, Nationalism and Chin Jung-kwon in the LA Times
October 16, 2007 – 2:08 pm
Culture critic Chin Jung-kwon might have gotten savaged by certain quarters of the netizen community for daring to say “D-War” sucked, but he did get an LA Times interview out of it.
The money shot?
“They are fanatics, and they are mobilized on the Internet,” Chin says. “It’s dangerous. This is a country where people put their [...]
More hostage money in Afghanistan
October 16, 2007 – 9:03 am
It seems that the Korean government is not the only one pumping money into Afghanistan’s underground economy. The Germans are at it also (Speigel Online):
The German engineer who was kidnapped in Afghanistan, Rudolf Blechschmidt, has been released, but at a high price: The crisis team was forced to pay ransom money to murderers and [...]
Wanted Pedophile Taught English in South Korea
October 16, 2007 – 9:00 am
Interpol is hot on the trail of a man suspected of molesting some 12 Southeast Asian boys and posting the photos on the Internet.
And what do you know — he’s an English teacher in Korea:
A week ago, the investigation into a man suspected of molesting at least 12 boys in Southeast Asia was nowhere. Desperate, [...]
Why Laws Are Not Enforced
October 16, 2007 – 6:56 am
As anyone who has lived in Korea for some time can easily observe, laws are not enforced in quite a few situations here, rather many infractions are simply ignored by the police, who are nice enough to explain, when asked about such, that in many instances they can do nothing until a complaint is lodged [...]
Sharing the anti-FTA love
October 15, 2007 – 5:51 pm
This somehow makes me fell better (Yonhap):
A group of anti-globalization activists staged a rally in central Seoul Monday to denounce the South Korean government for pursuing a free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union, as the fourth round of talks continues.
You see, the anti-gloablization folks aren’t on the streets just for the “Yankee go [...]
“New Party” to pick Presidential candidate today
October 15, 2007 – 1:15 pm
The Uri PartyUnited New Democratic Party will announce its candidate later today. Early indications are the Chung Dong-young is going to win.
Assuming that Chung does win, he will have his work cut out for him tying to get Rhee In-jae (yes, that Rhee In-jae) and Moon Kook-hyun to drop out and back his bid. The UNDP’s turnout [...]
Rack ‘Em Up!
October 15, 2007 – 12:48 pm
Who said racing girls are bimbo airheads? These girls got talent (see gallery here). And it’s a shame I missed it. (HT to reader)
The Other Hostage Crisis
October 15, 2007 – 11:41 am
While Korea’s attention was riveted on the Afghanistan hostage crisis, another hostage crisis involving Koreans have been brewing in the continent of Africa, and is just now receiving the attention of the Korean media.
On May 15th, 2007, two ocean going trawlers with a combined crew consisting of 4 Koreans and 24 non-Koreans were on their [...]
Okay, There Really Was Something There
October 14, 2007 – 8:10 am
According to the NY Times, it was a “partly constructed nuclear reactor” of North Korean design that was struck by Israeli warplanes. That explains the North Korean connection to this whole business.
Dolsan Bridge, Yeosu
October 13, 2007 – 10:43 pm
Just a night shot of the beautiful Dolsan Bridge (seen from Dolsan Park), which just so happened to be Korea’s largest cable-stayed bridge.
The color scheme, BTW, cycles between 50 different colors. Which is kinda cool.