Author Archives: Dram_man

Gyration

Fake art degrees? Government officials calling themselves national heroes to cash in? Chairman of the Independent Commission Against Corruption taking bribes from the sad clown? Just to show things can get sillier, check out the fake belly-dancer in Kwangju.

Lee Kun Hee Health Watch

I hate it when people are predictable. Anyone want to start up a betting pool on when Lee Kun Hee will be in the hospital for “stress” or whatever they call it to avoid jail/investigation? Those of you with longer memories will remember he went to the US for “health” reasons the last time the [...]

Asia Business Etiquette 101

I usually discard the “cultural differences” trope, especially in business. Most conflicts arise for specific reasons that would arise no matter what the culture. That all said, this guy really, really, really should not have joined the senior ranks of a Japanese company.

Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

The crack Samsung PR department strikes again. They give us another delicious juxtaposition, this time in the Chosun Ilbo, and it includes the obligatory comment from Samsung CEO Lee “Sandwich” Kun-hee:
Corporate Culture at Samsung Is Changing   
…The Samsung Group is leading the way in improving corporate culture because of a realization that the “creative management” stressed [...]

And I thought the Rodius was Fugly

From the Korea Herald:
Kia Motors…will hold a survey until Oct. 25 to select the name of its new sport utility vehicle (SUV)…Anyone can vote for one of the three candidate names: “Mohave,’’ “Windriver’’ and “Opelia,’’ on a popularity poll of the firm’s Internet homepage.
“Mohave”? as in “The Mo’work, the Mo’have”? By the way, that is [...]

Cry me a river

Taxi drivers in Korea have a certain… uh… reputation. While I am quite sure that it is only a few proverbial bad apples, we all know what the same proverb says. Accordingly, there is something delicious about this story. Even more so when you remember that it’s a two way street, and nobody is sticking [...]

The Fix is In

Most everyone knows I am a big fan of free-market economics. Normally I would reject anything looking like price controls out of hand. So I approach the discussed recent moves for the Korean Fair Trade commission to more rigorously control prices with trepidation.
So has the Federation of Korean Industries, whose criticism forms the basis of [...]

Hwang Woo Suk crosses into Dr. Moreau territory

The former “Supreme Scientist” of Korea, Hwang Woo Suk, has fled to Thailand. Why?
The South Korean government banned Hwang from research using human eggs after his claims that he created the first human stem cells through cloning were ruled to be bogus last year…
“Dr. Hwang and his team moved into Thailand to continue with their [...]

Unkind Cuts

A couple months ago Lotte Mart started to sell US beef again, and attracted some protests (who could forget the guy throwing dung at the Lotte Mart butcher in Gwangju?). One of the other protest was how Lotte was “cheating” consumers by selling “improperly labeled meat”. This whole controversy was noted here by another blogger. [...]

Touch This!

Was not going to comment on this observation, but I figured this Chosun Ilbo article made if fair game for ‘da hole. Apple Computer has released new iPods in time for the holidays. When I saw it on the homepage I literally drooled reading about the iPod Touch. The iPod Touch is basically an [...]

Chung Walks, Seoul Court Rub Salt in Wounds

Last week Seoul High Court finally made official. Chung Mong-koo will go free on a three year suspended sentence for stealing just shy of US$200 million from Hyundai Motor and causing about the same amount of damage to the company. This is hardly surprising. I am pretty bitter about this all, especially the ludicrous argument [...]

Political Correctness, or Konglish?

Apparently we will now have to make a “mandatory donation” to fly out of Korea. “Mandatory donation”?

Smoking Halo

Memo to the team at Microsoft: As you promote your new game Halo 3 in Korea, try not to have the “Master Chief” character be photographed buying cigarettes at a GS-25. It does not set a good example for the kiddies.

Editor Needed

I know I am the last guy on this website to point this out, but Dong-A Ilbo should find a round eye to prevent a line like “This is not doll“. On first glance I thought somebody stole my idea to get exclusive Korean rights to the Hotdoll.

Godaddy.co.kp

Seems North Korea will finally apply to use its allocated TDL this fall. Warning: article filled with hyperbole.

Space Cadet

Headline on the Herald website: “Foreign language proficiencybecomes increasingly essential“. Apparently even more essential than the space bar.

Stupid Executive Tricks

Meanwhile back in the Garden State, New Jersey, Samsung US exec John Y. Lee was indicted for embezzling about US$1 million through fake invoices. The punch-line is the name that fooled the brain trust in the Samsung Accounting department, Englehard Supple Inc.

Thug Life

Have not seen it noted, but our favorite thug CEO, Kim Seong-young of Hanwha Group, is out of jail again for health reasons. Apparently he is depressed. The heart just bleeds for the guy doesn’t it?

Spot the Idiots

Last week the Bank of Korea, Korea’s central bank, raised interest rates. Why, well for the usual innocuous reasons. As the Joongang notes
the Bank of Korea raised its benchmark interest rate for the second month in a row due to fears that rapid growth in money supply could be fueling both inflation and an asset [...]

Pyeong-ing away

You got to love the awkward way everyone is dealing with the recent government ban against nthe old “pyeong” unit of measurement. Witness todays Dong-A headline: “Average Apartment Price Exceeds Eight Million Won per 3.3 Square Meters”. So I guess the message from the government is we can USE pyeong, just not speak its name. [...]