The JoongAng sees support for the US troop presence increasing.
I, on the other hand, see 51% still support the eventual withdrawal of US troops:
Around 6 percent of the respondents said U.S. troops should completely withdraw from South Korea, while another 45 percent said they should leave gradually. The combined figure, 51 percent, rose steadily from [...]
But still hella silly — Rick Ruffin suggests Korea shut down its auto industry. To cut down on pollution.
Rick on why this won’t happen overnight:
One thing that would help to reduce congestion and pollution is pay parking. Here in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, parking at the potentially beautiful Gyeongpo Beach area is free. “Why?” I asked [...]
Conservative foreign minister Aso Taro — a colorful character — is set to become Japan’s next prime minister.
This could prove amusing.
PS: I never knew Aso was Catholic? I’m sure Joshua will find that interesting.
It was a beautiful day today, so the wife and I went to Seongbuk-dong to visit the Seongnagwon Garden, a late Joseon-era villa and probably the finest example of Korean traditional gardening in Seoul outside of the Biwon Garden of Changdeokgung Palace. On the way home, we stopped by Daehangno, where I used the opportunity [...]
Well, or at least in some quarters, anyway — see Fred Payne, the ex-husband of Elizabeth Payne, who reportedly had a steamy affair with Barack Obama’s former preacher Jeremiah Wright:
After discovering he had been cuckolded, Fred Payne, who had married Elizabeth in October 2006, headed straight for divorce court.
“I was downright mad about this bull- [...]
With HSBC giving up its bid to take Korea Exchange Bank off Lone Star’s hands, KB and Hana Bank now look like the most likely suitors.
Poor Lone Star — they just can’t seem to find a way out.
If you want to bitch about Gov. Palin, this would be the place to do it.
That’s how much Koreans spent domestically on prostitutes last year.
That’s about US$12.3 billion… or just over a quarter of North Korea’s estimated GNP.
Or 1.7% of South Korea’s 2006 GNP, for that matter.
Granted, this is down 10 trillion won from 2002, when the Special Law on Prostitution went into effect. Experts say, however, that the decrease [...]
North Korea announced today it would restart its Yongbyon nuclear reactor.
Well, maybe they’re just sick of high oil prices.
Oh, and they said the US could take their delisting of North Korea from the State Department terrorism blacklist and shove it:
“The DPRK (North Korea) neither wishes to be delisted as a ’state sponsor of terrorism’ nor [...]
Yes, it’s over a decade old, and yes, it has nothing to do with Korea, but it’s still fun to read educated men — in this case, John le Carré, Salman Rushdie and Christopher Hitchens — slag off each other.
Was out during lunch with the camera, so I took some quick shots of the Gwangtonggyo, near the Cheonggyecheon on Namdaemun-no. Like some of the old architecture in Daehang-no, the Gwangtonggyo was designed by the Takjibu (Finance Ministry) of the Daehan Empire. The original was completed in 1909, although it was rebuilt following a fire [...]
Hey, at least USFK personnel are getting booked for fewer offenses this year (sorry, can’t link to individual Korea Herald articles):
A total of 158 members - including soldiers, their families and civilian employees of U.S. nationality - were booked between January and August, the agency reported.
The figure represents a 23 percent decrease from the 205 [...]
What I learned today from the Korea Times. I have to say, though, as screwed up as her proportions seem to be on paper, she don’t look all that bad.
Well, I’ll begin by telling you were they AREN’T at — private elementary school in Seoul.
According to a report sent by city and provincial department of education on union membership sent to the GNP lawmaker Cho Jeon-hyeok on Wednesday, 17.3% of the nation’s teachers were members of the left-wing Korean Teachers and Educational Workers’ Union.
The [...]
The arrest of alleged North Korean spy Won Jong-hwa provides Japan’s Shukan Taishu magazine with the opportunity to examine the sexual training of North Korean agents:
“After Kim Jong Il assumed power he began a program of ’sex training’ for spies, using agents from China and the former Soviet Union as instructors,” Terence Lee, a risk [...]
Yale student Jerry Guo is back from summer trip to North Korea — and admonishes us in the WaPo for not knowing what the Workers Paradise is really like:
And just as no one inside North Korea appeared to know where the Dear Leader was or what life would be like if the Dear Leader departed, [...]
Chinese scholars seem to believe Western predictions of regime collapse in North Korea after Kim Jong-il dies reflect “wishful thinking”:
The view that North Korea is likely to collapse after the all-powerful Kim Jong-il dies is a reflection of wishful thinking by some countries, rather than a reflection of North Korean reality, Chinese scholars argue.
Although Kim [...]
Asia Gyeongje reports what we already knew — holiday programing sucks. Unless, of course, you enjoy the same old holiday crap.
If you spent the holiday watching OCN’s CSI marathon, however, this wasn’t a problem.
NOTE: We here at the Marmot’s Hole — OK, perhaps just me — would like to voice our full support for Megalyn [...]
Korea’s vice finance minister is putting a positive spin on Lehman Brothers going bankrupt:
“In the short term, there might be a risk that Lehman’s bankruptcy filing will have an impact on global stock and bond markets and cause higher volatility worldwide. But in the longer term, it could contribute to easing of the credit crunch [...]
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