R.Elgin, i’m certainly with you against the Saemangeum Project, but i’d suggest we look at a South Korean City being awarded the Expo hosting on a coastal-environmental theme the way we ended up looking at the horrible Chun Doo-hwan government being awarded the 1988 Summer Olympics — holding this thing just might push the relevant issues to the front burner, and shame the Powers That Be into better policies and better behavior… In the long run at least.

This smells like a white elephant. Even though I still believe that if anyone can pull it off, it’s the Koreans, I also believe that better accounting standards will one day catch up with their sleight of hand when it comes to public finances and big events like this one (see World Cup Stadium, Sogwipo Edition) (also wait for public retribution next year when the olympic bid committee gets audited)

All true, but frankly, if there’s any area of the country that could use several billion won sunk into infrastructural improvements, it’s Jeollanam-do.

As more public awareness is focused upon the need to preserve the place where they live instead of destroying it for the sake of some won, conditions will improve but this is a very optimistic thought that is not justified in the current policies of the government here. As it is, it is landmines that help preserve the wildlife in the DMZ and not politics, wisdom or good will. Perhaps Korea needs more landmines planted everywhere until the government starts to take the environment they live in more seriously and acknowledges more than just how much money is in the deal for them.

Yeosu is a interesting place and nice to visit but the motivation is far from innocent.

(That said, I’m not an accountant but every once and a while I read something about Korea switching to the new Basel standard. Can anyone shed light on that? Too lazy to read wiki…)

Nothing to do with accounting.

Korean banks are in the process of adopting Basel II now.

“Are standards in fact improving?” Yes. As some people point out time and again on this page, the corruption situation is clearly improving and the fact that accounting scandals come to light more today than before is significant. Is it perfect? No.

Perhaps I should be clearer, however. I’m making a distinction between pure business accounting/reporting and the “sleight of hand” accounting that people use in situations like when they don’t want others to know how much money they wasted for silly olympic bids.

Maybe it’s more appropriate to say that brighter lights are being shone in more places that were previously dark than to say that business are keeping their books better.

(That said, I’m not an accountant but every once and a while I read something about Korea switching to the new Basel standard. Can anyone shed light on that? Too lazy to read wiki…)

I also remember the mascot… it was a yellow Alien with a little moon going around him. Anyone remember its name?

Kumdori (and yeah, I had to look it up.)

Anyhow, Yeosu is a nice area… I lived in Gwangyang for awhile, and would always look across the bay and wonder why there was no bridge.

Anyways to answer bumfromjkorea (comment #1), the yellow alien’s name was 꿈돌이. He had this head shaped liked a mushroom (or so i always thought. ^^;)

I also believe that better accounting standards will one day catch up with their sleight of hand when it comes to public finances and big events like this one…

well, it’s now officially ten years since the Asian Financial Crisis, and we see that financial governance, most especially for pubic servants, still pervades. are accounting standards and transparency in fact improving?

Couldn’t agree less.

what is “ironic” about them putting on an event that focuses on the preserving the environment? Just because the government made a boneheaded decision years ago that made a mess of the coast line doesn’t mean that they forever have to wear an albatross. If anything, you could knock them for insincerity for capitalizing on the environmental theme to tug at the heartstrings. But then, you’d have to have a window into their soul to see if they’re really true believers or just assholes.

In a way, I’m glad for Yeosu. As Robert says, it’s a nice place and it deserves some attention. But I have two problems the Koreans’ success in this case:

1: Yet another example of showing up to the party with the most money, flaunting it around and taking home the prize. I think they outclassed their competition mercilessly. That hurts. New Dehli backed off when Incheon threw millions on the table for the Asian Games. Not exactly endearing behavior.

2. This smells like a white elephant. Even though I still believe that if anyone can pull it off, it’s the Koreans, I also believe that better accounting standards will one day catch up with their sleight of hand when it comes to public finances and big events like this one (see World Cup Stadium, Sogwipo Edition) (also wait for public retribution next year when the olympic bid committee gets audited)