The NYTimes has an timely article on China’s construction of a new museum dedicated to the official history of Tibet™. As per the article:
History is often interpreted to meet the political objectives of whichever government is doing the interpreting. The historical relationship between Tibet and China is replete with claims, disputes and caveats. But [...]
The special prosecutor has indicted Lee Kun-hee for tax evasion and breach of trust. The Bloomberg link is here.
Chris DeWolfe of MySpace was just in Korea (Yonsei U.) to announce the Korean version of MySpace.com and it is already looking better than Cyworld since U.S. Cyworld users can not send messages to Cyworld users in Korea or access their account through the Korean portal (infranet!?).
An exhibit of painted screens (ch’aek-kori) from Korea are on display as part of an exhibit entitled “Beauty and Learning: Korean Painted Screens“.
. . . Organized by Soyoung Lee, assistant curator of the department of Asian art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s tightly focused exhibition “Beauty and Learning: Korean Painted Screens” places four marvelous examples [...]
I did not think this would really be the case but it seems the Chinese guys in blue (see here) are actually Chinese Paramilitary and they will be coming to Seoul, with the Olympic torch, after all. Apparently even the chairman of the London 2012 Olympic games described these guys as “thugs”. Wonderful [...]
British Police and Chinese Guards surround the torch — Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
The Olympic Torch relay has moved through England and through much protest, lasting throughout the entire route through England. Due to concerns over the protests, at one point “the flame was rushed onto a double-decker bus decked out with the slogan “Light the [...]
Here is a thought to consider:
Gary Hall Jr., who is trying to reach his fourth Olympics in swimming, said the U.S.O.C. (United States Olympic Committee) would send subtle messages about avoiding controversial subjects during athlete media and cultural training for the Games (in China). “It’s discouraged, that’s clearly understood, . . . “The Olympic Games [...]
This wonderful little video is of a Korean song but the guitarist looks Japanese and the drummer is absolutely wild. A Wild Korean Band
Norimitsu Onishi has posted (NY Times) a nice article on Vietnamese women married to Koreans.
BBC Radio 4’s Crossing Continents has a report on Korean missionary work in Asia (March 31, 2030 GMT). As per the article on such, some of the more interesting quotes run as such:
. . . many church members in South Korea go a step further, signing up for visits to Korean missions abroad - [...]
How is it that Korean jurisprudence has a very poor record of awarding damages in civil lawsuits, yet Dong-guk University wants to sue Yale University for fifty-million dollars because they mistakenly sent a fax that verified Shin Jeong-ah’s bogus degree ?
The South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister, Yu Myung Hwan encouraged his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi on Friday to seek a peaceful solution to the deadly rioting in Tibet. Yu asked China to allow South Koreans traveling to the country for the Summer Games to enter the nation without visas.
Meanwhile the Chinese Government claims [...]
I really hope that Korean immigration do not start checking names that are on a list.
The food shortage in North Korea seems to be getting worse: “Some collective farm workers in those regions (rural areas) have not come to work citing the lack of food, and their absence is causing problems with farming preparations in the spring planting season”.
Some amusing quotes from the latest Korean astronaut, Lee So-yeon:
“I will try and make peace between North and South Korea”“I will make a big dinner for the foreigners. I hope they will enjoy the food”“I hope all the Russian guys and the American guys will like my singing.”“I think I will be okay in space [...]
Hong Kong actor Tony Leung with Jeon Do-Yeon as best actor and actress
Lee Chang-dong’s picture Secret Sunshine has won in the best picture category at the 2008 Asian Film Awards. Jeon Do-yeon has also won “best actress” for her role in the film. Congratulations to all.
As a follow up of events in Tibet, here is an interesting article from the NY Times and a report of blocking news sources from reporting on Tibet.
Update: Chinese police fired on protesters in Machu today. The Dalai Lama also said “he was opposed to using violence against Tibet’s Chinese rulers and said he [...]
Currently G.W. Bush’s use of executive privilege to prevent information from being revealed, is one way to hide things but here in Seoul, Roh seems to have used a recently passed law (2007, April) to place many records from the his administration in a Presidential Repository of Hidden Things, where only a high court warrant, [...]
The Tibetan people have had enough and are protesting Chinese occupation and, in response, the Chinese Army and security people are surrounding monasteries and chaos reigns. Here are some pictures and a first-hand account of the on-going protests against Chinese repression..
Update:
03.15.08 — The Chinese Government has begun expanding its efforts to suppress protest over Tibet [...]
My favorite Korean contributor to the New York Times, Choe Sang-Hun, has penned another article on LMB’s canal mania. It is sad to read such unrealistic comments like:
The canal will bring prosperity back to our town, It will put our town on the map. People will start moving in. They’ll no longer put [...]
