- Two days ago, I expressed skepticism about the investigation of former PM Han Myeong-sook. Well, the plot thickens.
- I’m not entirely into the government’s plan to open a special prison for foreign inmates. I see no reason why foreign inmates can’t enjoy the comforts of Korean jailhouse life with the general prison population.
- Speaking of prison, here’s a cool photograph of historic Seodaemun Prison.
- North Korean arms to Congolese insurgents? Lovely…
- Speaking of North Koreans, it looks like 12 North Korean loggers defected to South Korea in September.
- Looks like the TOEFL and TOEIC will be removed from the university admission process. Good move, IMHO.
- A Korean-American pastor — who apparently owned a Christian university in Fullerton — has been arrested by US immigration for, well, “helping foreigners fraudulently obtain student visas and handing out phony diplomas at a fake graduation ceremony on a campus where they never attended class.” (seen in the Chosun Ilbo)
- Well, the Cia-Cia seem to be enjoying their visit to Seoul.
- Never really thought of the Upo Wetlands as a winter destination, but hey, it seems to work.
- MUST READ: Korea.net talks with US-born Korean tanka artist Brian Barry.
- Here’s another interview of interest, this one with Prof. John Duncan, head of UCLA’s Center for Korean Studies.
- Actress Han Go-eun shows off a very unusual development of the hanbok.
Odds and Ends 24/12/09
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Now that is the way hanboks should be worn!
Isn’t this strange that accusations of bribery have emerged against former Prime-Minister and previous Seoul Mayoral candidate Han Myeong-sook and now on the current Democratic Party leader Rep. Chung Sye-kyun.
For this to come out in the open just on the testimony of one person without other proof reminds how the prosecutor’s office drip fed to the media accusations about Roh Moo-hyun. In the end didn’t that style of media release blow up in the prosecutor’s office face? The next Seoul Mayoral election isn’t until June next year….are there National Assembly by-elections coming up or did Han and Chung actually do it?
The article doesn’t answer the obvious question: is the recently introduced Korean-developed alternative to TOEIC/TOEFL, which was mandated to replace those evil foreign-developed (and foreign exchange draining) tests, also out of bounds? Or is this a trade protectionist move, not an educational one?
i completely agree with the Korean government decision of creating a separate jail for foreign inmates…something we should emulate here in Italy too (yeah right, like it’s really gonna happen), i’m too tired to elaborate, not that anybody cares anyway, gotta finish working on some market research on the Korean burs market for a big client while listening to Tae Yang and then pack the shit for my child.
Merry X-mas everybody !
calendar,
I ask you to reconsider due to the age demographic of those most likely to wear hanbok.
Sperwer,
My first thoughts as well. Too bad the Korean probably won’t be internationally recognized and will place an additional burden on those needing the others.
Merry Christmas and all that stuff.
Hahaha… there is a baseball team from Osaka comprised of mostly zanichi in the Kansai Independent League that calls itself the Korean Turtle Ships… hahaha… isn’t that a little in bad taste? Isn’t that a like a football team in Germany calling itself the Russian T-34s or a baseball team in America calling itself the Army of Northern Virginia?
http://yakyubaka.com/2009/12/05/kishu-rangers-and-the-korea-turtle-ships-hold-tryouts/
I can understand a little bit if it was the name of the team in Korea rather than ethnic Koreans in Japan! Luckily, the Osaka zanichi have decided to change the name from Turtle Ships to that of a mythical constipated turtle.
http://yakyubaka.com/2009/12/18/name-change-korea-turtle-ships-to-korea-haechi/
WangKon sport is a sublimation of war
Somewhere Cullen Thomas is shedding a tear…
Any ways, I’d be for it if this special prison were to provide more specialized care to foreign inmates. Per Cullen’s book, Korean prisons were rather Spartan by western standards. Another question is… if these foreigner prisions were nicer, per se, would non-Korean passport holding gyopos be included in the “foreigner” definition?
I’m thinking about investing some money in a South Korea ETF.
the won is the most undervalued currency in the world, i storngly believe it will do what the yen did in the 80′s…other than that valuations seem a bit rich NK, i’d rather buy after a 20% correction
I’ve passed by California Union “University” a number of times in the less, ah… affluent part of Fullerton and yeah, its storefont did look a little shabby.
I’d wager to guess that a good number of Hispanic, Taiwanese, Russian, etc. trade schools and religious schools probably have similar legality issues.
gangpehmoderniste,
The won is undervalued by about 20%. I’d say it will peak 2nd to 3rd quarter 2010.
WanKon
as an ex currency trader (just spot and forward flow trading shit, nothing fancy) i can say the fair value of a currency is one of the most esoteric concepts in this world, you basically see the won going back to its pre Lehman disaster level…well sure you’re more knowledgeable than me but i suspect the won could be at the beginning of a secular bull market, not unlike the yen of the mid ’80′s ….well remember where you read it for the first time, i wouldn’t be surprised to see it trading at 600 per $ in a few years.
Thanks for the link to the interview of Prof. Duncan, Robert.
Hey, Tyler Cowen thinks Korean is very good food precisely because it’s not mainstream. Eat your heart out, Wangkon.
http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2009/12/which-are-the-safest-cuisines.html
Following so closely after the manufactured social panic over Educational Testing Service’s tax status, an issue which will inevitably turn out in ETS’s favor after the dust settles and the appeals are done (just like Lone Star), the smart money says this is nothing other than a trade-protectionist move. Ranking students’ English ability remains a good proxy for family economic status, and thus an essential tool for keeping the masses in their place. Testing English for university admissions will go on, just without paying anyone who knows anything about English.
So long as schools persist in requiring sufficiently-high TOEIC scores for graduation, and so long as companies persist in also requiring these scores (both during the intital hiring process, and as part of an employee’s career advancement), there seems to be little that will change in how and to what degree people study English in Korea. For many, the goals they strive for – graduation from university; a job at a large corporation; career advancement – are still tied to TOEIC and similar tests. As long as Koreans continue to strive for those goals, and as long as those requirements persist, Koreans will continue to prepare for TOEIC and the like.
JW,
I’m an economist. Being mainstream equals more volume. More volume equals more money.
End of discussion…
Care??? WTF, I thought prison was about punishment.
Punishment AND rehabilitation.
Something is wrong w/the system when a criminal leaves jail with a better understanding and knowledge base of of how to be a better criminal…
A man in jail produces nothing and taxes resources. A man out of jail who goes out there, gets a job and pays taxes makes everything a little cheaper and a little easier for the rest of us.
I can see it now: special Korean language, culture, etiquette, and cuisine classes @ Dartmoor @ Gimpo. Oh wait, that’s the new “induction center” for English teachers.
I would think so.
Do something bad, you’re American, or whatever (see: Steve Yoo, 2PM’s Jaebeom)
Do something great, you’re Korean (see: Hines Ward, Michelle Wie)
If you’re in prison, you fall into the former category.
Well, I was thinking more like a prison where the main people speak English or French, a major international language. That would probably help communicate w/the non-Korean prisoners. Maybe beds, real toilets, etc. Stuff that is more typical with U.S. and European jails.
Sperwer, why do prisoners need to know anything about Korea?
Hey, you want the good ones in, bad ones out. It’s a natural instinct.
The english component of 수능시험 is pretty thorough in my opinion — the fairly high level of english tested there surprised the heck out of me actually… I wonder why they ever thought TOEIC or TOEFL scores would be necessary on top of that.
credentialism
“Rehabilitation” – I thought you were a fan. LOL
As independent study, not as a prerequisite. But if you are gonna make public declarations on the Internet, a little independent study could be helpful.
elective independent study isn’t “rehabilitation”; it’s “self-improvement”. I’m not sure which is worse.
Great to see that long article on Brian, who has well-deserved the honors given him tho he’s so humble about it all. Come to think of it, he’s one of my two oldest friends in Korea that are still here… But we rarely get together. Huh, i should…
have a great year everybody…girlfriend just called she’ll be here in an hour, id will go to sleep early then it will be time to take the soju out
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