I missed last week’s Open Thread, so if you’ve had something bottled up for the last two weeks, now’s the time to get it off your chest.
PS: Thanks to Philip for the very nice write-up at London Korea Links.
Sphere: Related Content
Just updated to Wordpress 2.5.1. Wordpress users who haven’t done so yet may wish to do so.
I’ve also added a “Related Posts” section to the end of each post. This is courtesy a plugin written by Robert Marsh of the Society of Jesus. And if you can’t trust a plugin written by a Jesuit, whose [...]
Then there are stories like this:
Regional council members’ angered an international sports goods maker through making sexually explicit gestures during their visit to its headquarters abroad. The politicians quickly tried to explain themselves, claiming “difference of culture” as an excuse, but businessmen in the United States called for an apology and prohibited the council members [...]
Seoul: The City of Haechi.
The fabled Haechi, a lion-like horned creature, has been chosen as the symbol representing Seoul, while the “Hi Seoul” slogan promoting the city from many years will be replaced by either “Soul Seoul” or “Soul of Seoul.” An official who participated in choosing new symbols for the capital said Thursday the [...]
French photographer Eric Lafforgue has posted a wonderful photoset taken in North Korea on Flickr.
Check it out!
Daegu police say some 19 students are connected to an absolutely horrifying ring of sexual abuse in which elementary school kids re-enacted stuff they’d seen in online porn films.
So far, some five male elementary students have admitted to sexual assault, while another admitted to only some of the charges. Police have also talked to eight [...]
The Foreign Ministry says it will tighten entry visa regulations for Chinese students entering Korea:
“We are going to talk with the related authorities over steps to toughen the issuance of entry visas for Chinese students and other Chinese people,” said Moon Tae-young, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The tough stance comes [...]
And for something completely different, we have this piece of culturally insensitive, NSFW fun. Note the expression on the face of the girl to the left.
(HT to reader)
Shockingly, Korean-Americans do not appear to be flocking to underpaid English-teaching positions in the Korean countryside. The problem? Well, you guys just don’t feel Korean enough:
Many ethnic Koreans in the United States reacted negatively to the Lee Myung-bak government’s plan to use a pool of young Korean Americans for the promotion of English education at [...]
The Hankyoreh talked with Chinese students about Sunday’s ugliness, and found that while most expressed regret about the violence, they also felt they were being unfairly singled out:
Concerning the violent situation that took place during the Olympic torch relay on April 27, Chinese students and other Chinese generally expressed “regret.” But they also protested that [...]
Oddly, the government has not been amused with gangs of punky young foreigners running riot in the heart of the national capital — the government has decided to deal with the rioters in stern fashion, including deportations.
In a Cabinet meeting today, Prime Minister Han Seung-soo said, “As the pride of our citizens has been hurt [...]
Civic groups are accusing the Chinese embassy of organizing the Chinese protesters that ran riot in Seoul on Sunday, reports YTN.
In particular, the embassy is accused of sending text messages, letters and making phone calls to Chinese students, asking them to participate.
Chinese students who participated, however, deny this, claiming they got involved through overseas student [...]
From One Free Korea:
Being a glass-half-full sort of guy, I look at things like this and tell myself that a billion people can’t ALL be assholes.
The Foreign Ministry gave the Chinese ambassador to Seoul as close to a dressing down as the Foreign Ministry is prepared to give the Chinese, expressing “strong regret” about Chinese youth running riot in Seoul yesterday.
The Chinese ambassador, for his part, expressed his regret and condolences over the reporter and cop that got hurt by [...]
Sorry, Joshua, I just couldn’t resist:
From Yonhap.
Oh, and if the hapless Americans/Canadians who got assaulted by the Chinese yesterday are reading this, your plight was reported in the very right-wing Korean online paper FreeZone, which, if you’re anything like the pro-Tibet people I knew in the States, is probably the last place you wanted your [...]
More stuff along the same lines of what Sonagi and Elgin posted — our Chinese friends got a bit rough yesterday, scaring and otherwise pissing off a good many Koreans.
First, there were the Chinese throwing water bottles, sticks and stones at activists from a North Korean refugee rights group at Olympic Park. One reporter working [...]
Police have busted six foreign English teachers employed at famous language hagwon for smoking pot.
Seoul Police announced yesterday that they’d detained a 40-year-old illegal alien from Ghana and booked (without detention) a 31-year-old Korean hagwon instructor by the name of Lee for drug law violations. They also booked six foreign teachers — including a 30-year-old [...]
Actor Choi Min-soo apologized today for punching an elderly (in his 70s) Itaewon restaurant owner in the face and then trying to flee with the victim still on the hood of his car.
At a press conference yesterday, Choi said that no matter what he said, it wouldn’t be an excuse.
The incident took place on April [...]
The disgruntled 70-year-old man who burnt down Seoul’s historic Sungnyemun Gate has been sentenced to 10 years in the pen.
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