Open Thread #80

by Sonagi on December 20, 2008

Why not start your weekend off with a few rounds of Sock and Awe?

{ 55 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Warren December 20, 2008 at 10:57 am: First!

What do I win?
2 bumfromkorea December 20, 2008 at 11:18 am: So, I think I’m a little late in the bandwagon, but I found this cute 5-part animation work with the message concerning interracial marriages in Korea (apparently, focusing on ones between Koreans and Japanese). I thought it was rather sweet.

How did I find this? I was doing my routine youtube searches for not-yet-famous/underground Korean bands, and one of the bands I was listening to contributed their music to one of the parts.
3 robert neff December 20, 2008 at 12:18 pm: I actually liked the game….I admit that 13 may not be that high of a score but in my own defense I was distracted by the issues in Iraq….
4 JW December 20, 2008 at 12:46 pm: What puzzles me a little is this insistence on the part of Korean lawmakers to start yelling in the face of junior opposition people. It doesn’t work, does it? But they keep doing it anyway. What a waste of energy.

http://www.dabdate.com/player.php?lang=0&idx=2994&pr=3
5 abcdefg December 20, 2008 at 1:56 pm: Quick question for Firefox users:

Is there any way that I can copy a url and open a new tab activating the website of the url that has been copied? I want only that function specifically, ie, copy a url, press a key, open up a new tab that opens with the url copied and only when that shortcut or key is pressed. — Thanks.

–

For other news, I just read this and will forward it here for your entertainment purposes:

“Daniel Petric killed mother, shot father because they took Halo 3 video game, prosecutors say”

http://www.cleveland.com/news/index.ssf/2008/12/boy_killed_mom_and_shot_dad_ov.html
6 Arghaeri December 20, 2008 at 3:50 pm: Hi Brendon a question if you please,

I am changing jobs soon so will be claiming my one month per year retirement payment from the company. However, can you point me to where the rules for exactly calculating same are, e.g is it whole years only or pro-rata etc. Just a pointer to where is fine whether in Korean or English.

Also have been told the payment will be subject to income tax and residents tax etc, which is the first time I’ve ever heard this.

Many thanks
7 michael December 20, 2008 at 7:35 pm: Arghaeri, until Mr. Carr arrives to answer you, check this out:

http://www.korea4expats.com/article-severance-pay-korea.html

If I remember right, the payment is taxed.
8 Ledtim December 20, 2008 at 9:20 pm: #5 abcdefg

Not quite what you asked for, but you can try HyperWords addon, which allows you to select text and then you get a little pop up menu that allows you to do things like going to that link or searching for it in search engines etc.

Another thing you can try is AutoHotkey, if you are the type that likes to tinker with scripts.
Here’s a simple AutoHotkey script that opens up a URL on your clipboard in your default browser if you push F9. If your default browser is set as firefox and you have Firefox set to open new links in a new tab, it should work as you asked for.
———–
;go to url in clipboard
F9::
Run, %Clipboard%
Return
———–

Here’s a little more complicated AutoHotkey script I found on the internet that should work if Firefox is not your default browser, but I never tried it:
http://forum.newsgator.com/Topic13163-14-1.aspx#bm13576
9 Arghaeri December 20, 2008 at 10:43 pm: Thanks Michael,

Looks like a useful site generally.

It makes calculating the monthly amount per year more clear, but still doesn’t tell me what happens to part years after the first year. i.e if I work 2 & 1/2 years can I get 2 & 1/2 months severance pay or only two years (I know that nothing is payable if worked less than one year)

Thanks again
10 gbevers December 21, 2008 at 1:14 am: Can anyone guess THIS SONG from just looking at the lyrics below?

일요일 아침에
텍사스 하늘이 밝아질 때

거기 있고 싶어요
거기 기다리는 마리랑

쓸쓸한 도시에
많이 갔는데도

내 애인 도시는
훨씬 더 예뻐요.

앰마렐로 이길인가요?
밤마다 벼게 껴안았어요
내 꿈에서 나타나요
도시, 거기 있는 마리가

앰마렐로 길을 보여줘요.
버들처럼 계속 울어요.
생각하면 꼭 울어요.
도시, 거기 있는 마리를

샤라라라라라라라
샤라라라라라라라
샤라라라라라라라
내 마리아 생각에도

성당 종이 우네요
그 행복한 노래 들어요.
작한 마리와
보러 가는 남자 위하여.

앞길 조금 넘어
평야 있는데
그 덕분 비, 바람
맞아도 가요.

앰마렐로 이 길인가요?
밤마다 벼게 꽉 껴안아요
내 꿈에서 나타나요
도시와 기다리는 마리가

앰마렐로 길을 보여줘요.
버들처럼 계속 울어요.
생각하면 꼭 울어요.
도시, 기다리는 마리를

샤라라라라라라라
샤라라라라라라라
샤라라라라라라라
기다리는 마리도

Sha la la la la la la la
Sha la la la la la la la
Sha la la la la la la la
And Marie who waits for me.

샤라라라라라라라
샤라라라라라라라
샤라라라라라라라
기다리는 마리도
11 thekorean December 21, 2008 at 1:53 am: Ok, another computer question — how do some ppl have it so that your handle is the hyperlink to a site? I see Wangkon do it, for example.
12 Sonagi December 21, 2008 at 2:01 am: @thekorean:

You’re a lawyer in Manhattan and you’re using cute text abbreviations like ppl? TMH isn’t Agora. Please consider your audience. As for linking to your website, I think that is done when you register your handle. Try going to your login and see if you can add your web address.
13 Seth Gecko December 21, 2008 at 2:31 am: Can someone remind me how to link directly to Korea Herald online articles? The address at the tops of any KH page is just the same as it’s homepage.

There was a way, but I forget…
14 KrZ December 21, 2008 at 8:22 am: I say we manually change Sonagi’s flag to this;
http://images.encyclopediadramatica.com/images/7/75/Grammar_Nazi_Logo.jpg
15 Brendon Carr (Korea Law Blog) December 21, 2008 at 8:52 am: It makes calculating the monthly amount per year more clear, but still doesn’t tell me what happens to part years after the first year. i.e if I work 2 & 1/2 years can I get 2 & 1/2 months severance pay or only two years (I know that nothing is payable if worked less than one year)

Partial years of service after the first full year of service are eligible for severance pay entitlement on a pro rata basis. If you work three months out of 12 after the first year, you’re entitled to approximately one-quarter of a year’s additional severance. (I say approximately because my recollection, however hazy, is that there’s a daily calculation used.)

Actually, it’s not technically correct that “nothing is payable if worked less than one year”. Employers who try to scam their way out of having to pay severance by terminating before a full calendar year is completed are also often required to pay severance — after complaint to the District Labor Office.
16 wjk, 검은 머리 외국인 December 21, 2008 at 9:19 am: I hate Sonagi for many reasons.

Children who get taught by her are NOT lucky.

1/ She’s a language/grammer Nazi. This is the internet. Grammer is for papers that are handed in.
2/ She’s a pseudo medical expert.
3/ She promotes academically un-substantiated health practices. Raw milk, raw dairy, grass fed beef, etc. I invite you to google how much grassfed beef costs to eat. ‘Organic’ food is much the same hoax, but it is cheaper than grass fed beef.
4/ She tangoed with Occidentalism for a while. Very offensive to anyone who refers to him/herself to be Korean.
5/ She is a liberal.
6/ Her family stems from UAW ties.

I’m so glad Elgin can’t edit this.
17 wjk, 검은 머리 외국인 December 21, 2008 at 9:21 am: 7/ Paleo diet.
18 Sonagi December 21, 2008 at 9:40 am: FYI:

Contributing bloggers have the capacity to edit any comments posted on their threads. Robert, however, has asked us not to delete or censor others’ posts.
19 gbevers December 21, 2008 at 10:04 am: I went to a Korean doctor a few weeks ago because of a throat infection. He prescribed some medicine and the infection went away, but it was replaced with a nagging cough I could not get rid of. Finally, I went back to the same doctor Friday morning to see what I could do about the cough. I did not really feel sick, but the cough was driving me crazy.

The waiting room was full of sick people who looked more miserable that I felt. However, just as before, I did not really have to wait that long because the doctor was seeing patients in about 1- to 2-minute intervals.

When it came my turn, I went into the examination room and explained my problem to the doctor. The doctor then picked up a tongue depressor and asked me to say “Aaaah.” It was a metal tongue depressor.

I felt a little uncomfortable because I did not see any other tongue depressors on or near the doctor’s desk. I thought to myself, “Surely, he is not using the same tongue depressor that he had used on all those sick people who had been in front of me?”

Anyway, he gave me a prescription, and I left his office. By the next afternoon, I felt like crap, and I still feel like crap today. I think I may now have the flu.

I do not know if it was because of that tongue depressor or if it was just something that had been buiding up, but I think I will go to another doctor next time.
20 R. Elgin December 21, 2008 at 10:16 am: I edit only to prevent a thread losing its raison d’être. If I run over a jackass on the way there then, “happy trails”.

Open threads are meandering streams, as it is.
21 CactusMcHarris December 21, 2008 at 10:22 am: Gerry,

My Korean has degenerated in the 20+ years I haven’t used it daily.

but no, I don’t know the song – I was thinking that it’s strange for a Korean song to mention the blue skies of Texas on a Sunday morning, when a Korean sky can be very blue, as you know, particularly in October, although a waiting Mary may not be there.

What is it?
22 R. Elgin December 21, 2008 at 10:28 am: It seems that a key figure in hiding Karl Rove e-mail and other technical dirty work (election rigging?) for the Bush Administration has conveniently died in a plane crash. There is also a call for a federal investigation into such.
23 Arghaeri December 21, 2008 at 11:35 am: Hi Brendon,

Thanks, that seems logical to me, but since this is Korea I needed to ask. Still can’t find it written down anywhere though.

Yes, on the one year I meant legitimate working less than one year i.e an 6 month contract. Not where the employer deliberately fiddles on a 11 month 3 week scam to avoid it.
24 John, back in Daejeon December 21, 2008 at 11:36 am: I saw “Milk.” The film was good, but nowhere near as good as the 1984 documentary, “The Times of Harvey Milk.” However, the film version allows the audience to connect on a more personal level, if they can’t with the man and his beliefs, with a struggle central to many of the world’s disenfranchised and oppressed. No one on this planet asked to be born into their situations (gender, nationality, economic state, physical state, mental state, religious indoctrinated state, etc.). This film helps bridge the gap of how easily we could have ended up in totally different circumstances.

We all dream of how our life could have been better if we won the lottery, but who dreams of what their life might have been like had they been born an outsider, in the slums of a third-world country, or had the native peoples of the New World never been exposed to the new ways of the old world (death, destruction, and a force fed religion). I am not fond of the lifestyle, but Mr. Milk still helps those who are struggling to survive high levels of substance abuse, suicide, societal abuses, and many being cast out of their own families, and he did all of this after he turned 40 and saw that his life hadn’t amounted to much other than his job title. I can only imagine the good that might happen in this world if more people did the same or at least lived by the oath ”to do no harm.”
25 Linkd December 21, 2008 at 12:28 pm: You’re a lawyer in Manhattan and you’re using cute text abbreviations like ppl? TMH isn’t Agora. Please consider your audience.

I think she likes you.
26 Linkd December 21, 2008 at 12:41 pm: Twofish, one of the wisest men on the web:

One other thing is that you have to look closely at language because the terms that people use have some deep and subtle assumptions about the way the world works. For example the notion of “government intervention” has the assumption that the action of the government is “unusual”, “unnatural”, and “abnormal.” I’ve never heard people talk about “market intervention in the government.” Take a piece of text that talks about “intervention” and replace it with “regulation” and vice versa.

The interesting thing about a lot of this language is that it is designed around assumptions about how the world should work and how the world does work that have totally fallen apart. There is this idea that there is this market that somehow acts “naturally” to distribute goods and services and that any state action to change how the market operates is bad unless proven otherwise.

Having assumptions is not a bad thing. Thought [becomes] impossible otherwise. But one does have to be very careful in times like this when no one has any clue what is going on that one shouldn’t be trapped by the assumptions.
27 Linkd December 21, 2008 at 12:45 pm: the link
28 dda December 21, 2008 at 2:28 pm: http://www.sungnyemun.org/kh/ lists all recent articles will “real” links.
29 kimchipig December 21, 2008 at 3:24 pm: wkj, the correct spelling is g-r-a-m-m-A-r. Such elementary mistake just make you an embarrassment. Don’t you have the Firefox spelling plug in?
30 abcdefg December 21, 2008 at 3:29 pm: @#8,

Thanks Ledtim.

I won’t be using the Hyperword add-on and will be using AutoHotkey.

But I run into another problem. When I execute the AutoHotkey script, my IE browser pops open. I have Firefox set up as my default browser, but each time I run an html in the run command, IE comes up. Regedit reveals that .html is associated with Firefox.

If anyone here knows how to correct this so that I can run an html in a new tab of Mozilla, let me know. I’ve already spent way more time than I’d like trying to figure this out myself and would appreciate any help.

Thanks again.
31 michael December 21, 2008 at 3:42 pm: OK ppl hereZ My qUeSTion ㅋㅋㅋㅋ(that’s for Sonagi): where in Seoul can I find acid-free glue? I want to do some artsy-crafty work with paper and regular glue will yellow the paper. I tried Alpha in Namdaemun and the art store in Shinchon with no luck.
32 Ledtim December 21, 2008 at 6:36 pm: #30 abcdefg

You can try putting the location of your firefox.exe before the file you are trying to run. For example, if you want firefox to open a URL you copied to your clipboard when you type F9:
—-
;go to url in clipboard
F9::
Run, C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe “%Clipboard%”
Return
——-
33 Pyotr December 21, 2008 at 7:11 pm: OK ppl hereZ My qUeSTion ㅋㅋㅋㅋ(that’s for Sonagi): where in Seoul can I find acid-free glue? I want to do some artsy-crafty work with paper and regular glue will yellow the paper. I tried Alpha in Namdaemun and the art store in Shinchon with no luck.

Try mixing some flour and water.
34 MrMao December 21, 2008 at 7:30 pm: “She’s a language/grammer Nazi. This is the internet. Grammer is for papers that are handed in.”

Not in Korea.
35 dda December 21, 2008 at 11:54 pm: Regarding 퇴직금, IANAL, but, last time I looked at Korea’s Labor Laws (I had a copy sitting on my desk), around 2004, it said you had to work for 12 months to be eligible.

I think I remember there were provisions regarding attendance: if you had been absent for some time, you needed at least XX% (90%?) to get the full amount, and YY% (80%?) to get a percentage of that amount. But these provisions could have been for the days off (연차/월차)…

I had to let go of 7 people in the early 2000s, so back then I was quite up to date on the question of what we had to give — as opposed to what the departing staff imagined they were entitled to. Good thing we had a Korean lawyer and a Korean accountant…
36 abcdefg December 22, 2008 at 6:35 am: Hey Ledtim,

That was one of the things I tried doing before — but I tried again and it works now, minus the quotation marks around the %clipboard%. I guess before I forgot to reload the script.

Anyway, thanks a lot. Works like a charm.

Mozilla does have an addon called “clipboard observer” but I don’t like the way it works and it’s not always consistent.

Thanks again!
37 wjk, 검은 머리 외국인 December 22, 2008 at 7:01 am: i understand that westerners like to show off Japanese swords encased inside their homes.

Most likely these are produced and have a market, like guns.

I want to ask, is there any production, market, or demand for Korean swords?

And, what is an authentic Korean sword?

Is it something to marvel about, or is it a piece of shit?

Thanks.
38 Darth Babaganoosh December 22, 2008 at 9:31 am: There are Korean swords that can be had through the few sword museums in and around Seoul (mostly in Insadong), but they are of low quality and are over-priced. There is really no discernible market for Korean swords.
39 wjk, 검은 머리 외국인 December 22, 2008 at 10:36 am: so, Korean swords are a piece of shit, and Japanese swords are still in production, have a market and a production line, and are revered by the world for quality.

the JuMong, Yungaesomoon crap is really fantasy then. They are using cheap ass props.

this revelation is quite unsettling.
I’m not surprised, however.
what am I supposed to tell those black kids in Harlem who still time to time ask me if I know Jet Li? (personally)

or the black adults who ask me if I know Karate?

these were real questions thrown my way, by the way.

I don’t ask you if your Aunt’s name is Jemima.

I was talking to my friend, we both came to the conclusion that neither of us knows the proper answer to “what is a good Korean drink(as in alcohol)”?

what is a good Korean drink?
what is a good Korean sword?

Up-da.
40 wjk, 검은 머리 외국인 December 22, 2008 at 10:52 am: soju is on the level of canned beer.

i’m not talking alcohol content.

i’ve never heard of people going to a Korean soju gongjang and claiming the soju there is yummy, as in beer.

soju is outclassed by European wine, hard liquor, Japanese sake, etc.

I think sake wasn’t that great a drink, but the Japanese branded it to become good enough to justify sake bars.

i suppose baeksaeju, bokboonja is an attempt to imitate this.

i was reading a description of bokboonja in a Kor-Chinese restaurant. You drink bokboonja, you are able to punch a hole in a jar with your urine. It is also good for skin, heart, lungs, brain, etc. Some exaggerations on my/their part. All the ‘traditionally’ Korean things seem to be medicinal and in fact they are a cure for all diseases.

man-byung-tong-chi-yak.

yak-jang-sa

Hey, bokboonja is better than French red wine !

Not.
41 CactusMcHarris December 22, 2008 at 12:17 pm: Someone’s been into Daddy’s whiskey
42 CactusMcHarris December 22, 2008 at 12:19 pm: And on an unrelated note, did everyone know that Russian studies of North Korean rings have been made?

http://www.koreanrings.com/

It’s on the sidebar as an ad – I found it much more ……interesting than the banner for dating gay Asian males.
43 Linkd December 22, 2008 at 12:20 pm: Korean gov’t announces it will cut nearly one-third of workers at Korea Tourism Organization.

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2898916
44 CactusMcHarris December 22, 2008 at 12:39 pm: #43,

Try as I might, I never see more than one ad in The Globe and Mail for traveling to Korea. Plenty for China, SE Asia and Japan, however.
45 Sperwer December 22, 2008 at 1:14 pm: Darth:

There is a very good exhibition of Korean swords now running at the Korea University Museum: http://museum.korea.ac.kr/event/view.html?idx=15&page=1&item=&keyword=. They also have some Japanese and Chinese exemplars for comparative purposes. There also are a very samll number of domestic makers of quality swords, the market for which pretty much is limited to advanced practitioners of Haidong Gumdo – for whom some of the same international suppliers of quality swords to serious students of Japanese martial arts also make Korea style swords. The biggest obvious difference between the (the most generally available contemporary versions of the)two is that Korean swords generally are much straighter compared to Japanse katana. which appear relatively more sabre-like.
46 michael December 22, 2008 at 2:40 pm: This place in Insadong has new swords:

http://www.knifegallery.co.kr/
47 Darth Babaganoosh December 22, 2008 at 5:15 pm: There also are a very samll number of domestic makers of quality swords, the market for which pretty much is limited to advanced practitioners of Haidong Gumdo – for whom some of the same international suppliers of quality swords to serious students of Japanese martial arts also make Korea style swords.

For my haidong gumdo classes, I insist on using the Japanese katana. The techniques are slightly different, as you say the Korean swords are more sabre-like; better made for thrusting attacks where the curve to the katana is better for slashing.
48 Sperwer December 22, 2008 at 6:00 pm: Darth:

Where do you study HDGD?
49 Sperwer December 22, 2008 at 6:12 pm: PS: I think that both Korean and Japanese swords are more effective as slashers than thrusters, although the relatively straighter profile of the Korean swords makes them the better choice between the two for thrusting moves. Some of the older Korean swords – especially pre-Imjin Wars, after which the Koreans copied Japanese styles – are just straight blades, like the standard chinese blades of the time, and are even better for thrusts.
50 Darth Babaganoosh December 22, 2008 at 10:12 pm: There’s a dojo not far from my apartment in Daejeon. Although to be honest, I’ve REALLY slacked off in the last 6 months (hangs head in shame).

If you haven’t seen it yet, check out Fight Science, a 2006 documentary breaking down the various martial arts scientifically and measuring their effectiveness empirically. Near the end of the docu, they compare the various types of swords used in Asia (China, Korea, Japan); strengths, weaknesses, stresses, etc. A really good watch.
51 thekorean December 23, 2008 at 9:34 am: @25,

I think so too, given that she hit me pretty hard when I first came along to this little playground.

Let’s see if this thing works now…
52 thekorean December 23, 2008 at 9:36 am: Success, it seems.
53 Linkd December 23, 2008 at 11:36 am: Won, Rupee, Biggest Losers, to Shine in 2009, Moody’s Unit Says

By Patricia Lui

Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) — South Korea’s won and India’s rupee, Asia’s biggest losers this year, will be the region’s biggest gainers from improved appetite for emerging-market assets and a recovery in global economic activity, said Moody’s Economy.com.

“They have the strongest potential to rebound,” Sherman Chan, an economist in Sydney with Moody’s Economy.com said in an interview. “Any recovery in risk appetite should see capital flowing back in. Investment growth is also expected to pick up when the global economy recovers late next year.”

Foreign investors have sold a net $37 billion worth of South Korean stocks this year and the benchmark Kospi stock index has plunged 39 percent as credit losses prompted investors to hoard dollars. The won is Asia’s biggest loser among the region’s 10 most active currencies, plunging 29 percent against the dollar, while the rupee dropped 18 percent.

South Korea’s currency will rise 6 percent to 1,242 per dollar by the middle of 2009 and 11 percent to 1,185 by end-2009, Chan said. It traded at 1,317 per dollar as of 9:40 a.m. in Seoul, according to data from the Seoul Money Brokerage Services Ltd.
54 colontos December 24, 2008 at 5:02 am: Anybody seen the great movie “Election” from a few years back?

Remember Reese Witherspoon’s character?

Sonagi.
55 gbevers December 25, 2008 at 11:43 am: The following is an excerpt from from a December 25 “Korea Herald” review of the Korean documentary, “Sorry Dokdo.”

Dokdo, a group of islets in the East Sea, is a deeply emotional issue for Koreans. Whenever Japan claims territorial rights to Dokdo, the Korean press, civic groups and individuals are quick to express their anger. But a territorial dispute cannot be resolved with emotions only, an idea that is painfully explored by “Sorry, Dokdo,” the first Korean film dedicated to Dokdo.

Directed by Choi Hyun-muk, the documentary shows how meticulously Japan has been taking steps to claim its sovereignty over what it calls Takeshima. Choi makes a claim that Japanese authorities and scholars have been producing a growing body of official documents and scholarly research while Korean counterparts neglect amassing academic evidence.

The problem is not that Korean authorities and scholars have been neglecting their duty to collect evidence; the problem is that there is no evidence for them to collect since Takeshima (Dokdo) was never part of Korean territory before it was forcefully occupied by Koreans in the early 1950s.

Except for returning Takeshima to Japan, the next best thing the Korean government can do is to be quiet about the issue, so as not to draw attention to the fact that the islets were stolen from Japan.