Odds and Ends

by Robert Koehler on July 3, 2012

The Oh In-hye dress—still giving. That Gan Lulu person is easy on the eyes, too. Nice to see car shows are the same in China, too.

Those are some big cherries.

The Ministry of Knowledge Economy is putting together a team of so-called “white hackers” to boost Korean cyber security.

Gee, another North Korean agent posing as a defector. I guess when you find something that works…

Would I care for kimchi beer? The answer is no, I wouldn’t. I would, however, gladly recommend Magpie Brewing.

The Diplomat looks at Park Chu-young’s military mess.

{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Yu Bum Suk July 3, 2012 at 2:15 pm: Re: the last story, what a shame that he didn’t start his military service a year ago. At least he would have got a lot more action with Sangju Sangmu than with Arse.
2 jkitchstk July 3, 2012 at 2:42 pm: Like pizza I’m sure Korea is land of the original Kimchi beer, I smell lawsuit.
3 Year of the Dragon July 3, 2012 at 3:22 pm: She also lured a Korean-American, who is presumed to be an official of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, to come to China around 2003 by posing as the Korean-American’s relative from North Korea.

She is a smart lady!
4 Year of the Dragon July 3, 2012 at 3:27 pm: Kimchi (Korean) + Sriracha hot sauce (Thai) and made in Canada – I could just imagine how their breath smells.
5 fanwarrior July 3, 2012 at 4:25 pm: despite the FTA agreement, most produce and fruit prices haven’t changed at all. I think it’ll take walmart coming back. I”m sure the big companies are getting lower prices on these things and still charging the same price at the till.
6 jkitchstk July 3, 2012 at 5:01 pm: #5, “despite the FTA agreement, most produce and fruit prices haven’t changed at all.”
Report any foreign company you suspect of cheating the Korean people to the KFTC, they won’t shy away from punishing them foreigners in terms of price fixing/collusion etc$$$ .
7 hamel July 3, 2012 at 7:24 pm: I think u missed a good little story that I spied in the KTimes today, Robert.
8 hamel July 3, 2012 at 7:32 pm: I couldnt find KTimes version, so here is Kerald:
http://view.koreaherald.com/kh/view.php?ud=20120702000747&cpv=0
9 Sperwer July 3, 2012 at 7:58 pm: So Hangul really is Chinese? Or is this proof that ancient “China” was really “Korean”.
10 hamel July 3, 2012 at 8:45 pm: Let it go, Sperwer, let it go.
11 Q July 3, 2012 at 8:54 pm: You would not miss the scene Lee Suck-Gi (sounds like Isekki) be grabbed his collar by an irate Korean farmer at the protest against FTA with China.

http://news.nate.com/view/20120703n22965
12 Sperwer July 3, 2012 at 9:02 pm: Why did you bring it up, Captain, o my Captain, if not as troll bait?
13 hamel July 3, 2012 at 9:22 pm: Er, because I find it possible to look at the story as an interesting story (though I am unsure how much stock I’d put in the theory) without linking it to some as yet unmentioned irredentist claims.
14 Sperwer July 3, 2012 at 9:31 pm: What’s interesting about it ?
15 gbevers July 3, 2012 at 9:44 pm: #8,

Why do Korean newspapers publish articles on these kinds of kooky theories?

“Scholar says Korean alphabet more than 3,000 years old”

The Korean alphabet, Hangeul, was in use about 3,000 years ago, long before being invented by King Sejong of the Joseon Dynasty in the 15th century, a South Korean scholar claimed Monday.

Lee Chan-gu, who studies a Chinese classic book on divination, claimed in his new book titled “Money” that he found two Korean letters, including “don” meaning money in Korean, on stone inscriptions of a knife-shaped ancient Chinese metal money.

A copy of a 19th century book on ancient Chinese currencies shows what appears to be a Hangeul letter “don,” meaning money in Korean, in its illustration of knife-shaped ancient Chinese currency. (Yonhap News)

Known as a “pointed tip knife,” the money circulated in China in the middle or latter years of the Spring and Autumn Period (B.C. 770-476).

Lee said he found one of the stone inscriptions in a 19th century book of a Chinese scholar of ancient Chinese currencies and the other in two other ancient Chinese books.

The knife-shaped money appears to have been made by pre-ancestors of the Korean tribe said to be living in the Liaoxi area, northeastern China, about 3,600 years ago, Lee said.

“There is a passage in the preface of Hunminjeongeum that says Hangeul is an imitation of ancient Korean characters, an apparent confession by King Sejong that there had already existed Korean letters used by his forefathers,” Lee said, referring to a Chinese language document published in 1446 to give a brief explanation on the new Korean writing system.

Lee, however, said his work is not intended to discredit the king.

He said he wanted to prove that Hangeul was made through the restoration of ancient Korean letters and deny claims that Hangeul imitated Mongolian or other countries’ characters.

LINK to Korea Herald Article

Let me get this straight. The “pre-ancestors of THE Korean tribe” wrote “Money” on their money so that they would know that it was money? I wonder how much “1 money” was worth?

The ancient Chinese had a kind of money called 刀錢 (도전 – “knife money”), so some Koreans “theorize” that the pure Korean word for “money” (돈) came from the Korean pronunciation of the Chinese character for “knife” (도). However, I have not read how 도 became 돈 or why Koreans used a Chinese character to create a pure Korean word. Also, why didn’t “the pre-ancestors of Korean Tribe” use “칼” to mean “money” since it is the pure Korean word for knife?
16 SomeguyinKorea July 3, 2012 at 10:12 pm: #15,

Which is why I thought that it was a very cool coincidence when I saw the the picture linked to the article somewhere online many years ago.

It would be interesting to see the book itself because the picture looks enhanced, to put it lightly.
17 hamel July 4, 2012 at 2:56 pm: What’s interesting about it ?

I’ve always had an interest in ancient alphabets/languages, etc.
18 jdog2050 July 4, 2012 at 3:36 pm: @Robert:

Thanks for the shout out to Magpie dude!

I have to say, I’m glad the guy’s experiment basically turned out well, but I dunno if I’d call this “Kimchi Beer”. It’s more like “A red ale with some Kimchi in it”. The distinction comes more because he added Sriracha, which, while delicious, definitely ain’t korean, and isn’t a component of Kimchi.

I do plan on making a Kimchi beer, but it’s going to incorporate the ingredients of Kimchi instead of just tossing it in (maybe some Cabbage in the mash, peppers, garlic, and a touch of fish sauce in secondary).