photo: Yonhap News Agency

The Olympic torch has come and gone through South Korea but not without surprises. The trip through Japan was marked with some outcry from groups that are critical of China’s policies in Tibet but Seoul was an entirely different matter since the most criticism against China’s human rights violations stems from its treatment of North Korean defectors that are caught in China and repatriated to North Korea despite the likelihood of prison if not execution, upon return to North Korea.

Seoul deployed close to 8,000 police to protect the torch relay through South Korea but it seems that China had mobilized up to 6,800 Chinese (estimated by police) who “shouted pro-Beijing slogans, with many of them running alongside the torch bearers”Yonhap. Clashes between those Koreans protesting the human rights record of China and the Chinese supporters were marked by thrown rocks and water bottles from the Chinese. NY Times. Other than one journalist struck in the head by a rock, no other injuries occurred.

One North Korean defector (Son Jong Hoon) who had tried to save his brother from execution in North Korea attempted to set himself on fire, in protest but was stopped by police.

Some Chinese did not understand why Korean activist groups were protesting during the relay:

The Olympics are not a political issue, I can’t understand why the Korean activist groups are protesting human rights or other diplomatic issues.
Sun Cheng, 22, a Chinese Korean language student in Seoul.

IMHO, Sun Cheng should go back to China since he does not seem to understand why others would be so concerned with human rights — and take about 6,000 of his fellows back with him where they will not be bothered with such extravagant concerns such as human rights or, for that much, legal due process.

UPDATE
Choe Sang-hun has filed a report with the NY Times and apparently groups of protesters were set upon by Chinese in Seoul:

When lone protesters demanded that China stop repatriating North Korean refugees, they were quickly surrounded by jeering Chinese. Near the park, Chinese students surrounded and beat a small group of protesters, news reports said.

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It seems that the Olympic Torch will be coming to South Korea on or around April 26 but the odd thing is that the only mention of this is by the JoongAng Ilbo article on “Athletes selected to carry the torch in North Korea“. Naturally the North Koreans will cheer for the torch (which would otherwise never have found its way through such a place) but it really seems the government in South Korea is concerned frightened enough of any protest, so much so that there is not even a *peep* on the official website of Korea (korea.net) and no one so far seems to know who will carry it through Seoul. It is very strange to see Olympic spirit in North Korea yet silence in the South but then good is bad and what was bad is now good.

I wonder if it will pass by, at night, while we are in our beds and least aware . . .

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Okay, so it was against a national team ranked 80+ places below them, but Korea put on a good show last night, especially in the second half, to get their 2010 South Africa World Cup qualifying campaign off to a good start.

Turkmenistan were never going to trouble Korea and it showed from the start as the Koreans applied constant pressure on the Turkmeni defence. But for some poor finishing, Korea would have been in front at the break more than their 1-0 lead, which came courtesy of defender Kwak Tae-hwi’s header a minute before the break.

The second-half finishing was much better, though, as two of their English Premier League “big three” combined to score all three second-half goals. Twelve minutes after the restart, Seol Ki-hyun, from just inside the box directly in front of the goal, gently lofted a ball past the Turkmeni goalkeeper after a nifty back pass from Park Ji-sung. Thirteen minutes later, goal number three was Park Ji-sung’s excellently-curled shot from the left corner of the box that rooted the keeper helpless and frozen. And the final goal, Seol’s second and about seven minutes from time, was again the result of a nice pass, this time, one sent long by Lee Kwan-woo to free Seol for the easiest of scores.

Lee Young-pyo, the final member of the EPL big three playing last night, helped veteran central defender Kim Nam-il keep steady a mostly inexperienced defence and goalkeeper against a squad that, to be fair, didn’t really trouble them. There were no more than a small handful of chances by the Turkmenistan team and they were all handled without too much nervousness.

All in all, it was a good start to the campaign for Korea. The first goal by Seol and the goal by Park were both examples of the continuing improvement by Korean footballers that the notion of blasting the ball at the goal is less important than an expertly-placed shot. True, there were more than a few instances last night where Korean shooters tried to bore a hole in the net with a powerful shot, but those usually ended up in the nearby Han River and they looked to be less frequent than normal. The influence of Koreans playing overseas and gaining more footballing experience against the best players in the world is perhaps beginning to bear fruit.

Continuing to disappoint, however, is Park Ju-young. When he burst onto Korea’s footballing scene several years ago, there were high hopes for him. Whereas he used to have a deft touch in front of the goal, he seems to be in constant regression now. Last night, he displayed none of the touch that seemed to signal his ascent into the pantheon of Korean sports fame. He’s still young, so there’s still hope, but he needs to take heed from those playing in the EPL (and, dear Shiva, let’s hope he doesn’t take ANY cues from that prima donna moron playing in the Dutch league, Lee Chun-soo, either on how to play the game, shoot the ball, or be a responsible, dependable teammate) on how to play consistently well.

Kudos to the Koreans for the easy win. Next up in their qualifying march is North Korea (who beat Jordan away last night, 0-1) the 26th of next month in  Pyoungyang. That should be fun.

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What happens when things get a little too physical at a Korean women’s basketball game?  If you said that someone gets, um… slapped, you are correct.

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The Korean National Bobsleigh Team has won the bronze medal during the 2008 American Cup competition held at Salt Lake City.   But like the Jamaican team at the 88 Winter Olympics, the Korean team had had its share of hardships.  First it had only three members including the coach, but because of “budgetary problems” only the coach and one other member could go to Salt Lake City.  The team had to recruit two other athletes to fill in spots for the four person part of the competition.  They also had to rent a bobsleigh for 470 thousand Won(about USD 500) which had “SALT LAKE CITY 2002″ emblazoned on the side(pic below).  The two person bobsleigh that the team used is reported to have “USA”  emblazoned on it. 

Kudos to the Korean team for winning the bronze despite the difficulties.  And shame on the Korean government for not providing the support that the team needed.

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Korean Lawmakers have been playing too much DOOM apparently. Dibs on the chainsaw (AP).

Video links: #1

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In the Guardian’s sports blog, Simon Burnton rips on the Korean national team. He writes, “It is a little over five years since an ecstatic nation cheered their team to the semi-finals of the World Cup at home, but nothing about Korean football is as good now as it was then. That golden generation (yes, other countries have them too) has been destroyed, if not by age then by poor decision-making and an absence of self-control.”

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