For all you folks debating mad cow with Korean friends, relatives, and colleagues, we may just have something for you.
Bomb English (a little project that mixes the Korean drive to learn English with the need to get a different POV out there) is on its 16th episode and is straight-talking about the politics of [...]
Here is a beauty from (soon to be former) UDP leader Sohn Hak-kyu (Chosun):
“Public perception is no less important than rational judgement.”
He is right, of course. It is a truism of politics that the perception is more important than reality.
On the other hand, it would be nice to see Sohn doing something to help [...]
In a great editorial in yesterday’s Chosun Ilbo, MBC and their PD Notebook was roundly criticized for basing their findings on false information for purely sensationalistic purposes.
Per the editorial:
The images broadcast by the program were fresh in the minds of people across the country who came out into the streets to take part in candlelight vigils. Now [...]
In an interesting little piece, the Joongang reports that the shift to the right in the national assembly is even more dramatic than the numbers would indicate because there has also been a shift to the right within the Grand National Party.
The piece attributes the shift mainly to economic issues, which makes sense considering the [...]
The National Assembly and Lee Administration has failed to pass a bill that would create a national teacher evaluation system. Considering the history of this bill and its background, one must wonder what is going on with the politics of this issue.
The FTA is doomed.
The man, the myth, the Marmot’s Hole favorite, Kang Ki-kab is on the case (Yonhap):
“The first, second and the third goals should all be enhancing the public livelihood by solving economic polarization and protecting the lives of the underprivileged,” Kang said. “It is critical to block the FTA for that very purpose, and [...]
I am now convinced that Joshua at One Free Korea has a file of pithy quotes saved on his computer ready to whip out for any occasion.
Today’s evidence, along with some background:
President Lee, it should be remembered, has made an issue of restoring the public order that Roh had allowed to erode. If he lets [...]
Today’s Washington Posts asks if the new LMB administration will really put its food aid where its mouth is and choose principle over hunger in the North.
Does President Lee withhold food aid that may prop up the government of the North or will he help avert a possible humanitarian crisis? Choices.. choices…
Whereas some may [...]
The Defense Security Command says that it is going to get tough on Nork spies who have been getting a free pass over the past ten years.
However, other intelligence officials say the thing lacking over the last ten years was not arrests of spies but announcements of the arrest of spies (Yonhap link above):
The officials at [...]
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 [...]
So not only was Kim DJ in the US during LMB’s visit but now it seems that “A former South Korean intelligence agent granted asylum in the United States said Monday he will disclose what he knows about the suspicions surrounding former President Kim Dae-jung’s Nobel Peace Prize at a news conference this weekend.” — [...]
If your eyes can take the pain, my latest KT piece is a quick review of the major (and some not so major) parties in Wednesday’s National Assembly elections. While I barely mentioned a couple of parties, I felt the need to write a few paragraphs on the “Pro-Park Geun-hye Alliance” (친박연대):
One problem the GNP has to deal [...]
The Donga has an interesting piece on a survey of local government officials. Among the findings, they noted that most local officials were not happy with the results of the previous administration’s ‘balanced regional developement’ policies:
More than half of local government heads flunked former President Roh Moo-hyun’s drive for so-called “balanced national development” policy. 53.7 [...]
I know. I know. All of the readers at the Marmot’s Hole have the same question on their minds: How does a party qualify for the 56 proportional representation (PR) seats in the upcoming National Assembly Election?
Well, stop wondering. Our friends at the National Election Commission have the answer:
Seats of the proportional representative National Assembly [...]
The Korea Federation for Environmental Movements (KFEM) is organizing another large demonstration against President Lee’s grand Canal project, and international residents in Korea are particularly invited to participate in this one. A group of us are going to march in it under the banner of the excellent Korean Mountaineering League, and any of you who wish [...]
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 great nomination purge that is taking place in the Grand National Party is also affecting folks in the United (for the moment) Democratic Party.
The biggest name to lose his spot was the man, the myth, Rhee In-jae.
Unlike many of the other legislators who lost their spots, he didn’t fall because of corruption. So [...]
The Bulldozer has already started bulldozing a path of destruction — through his own party — with the GNP leadership announcing that 25 incumbent lawmakers in Park Geun-hye Country (a.k.a. Gyeongsang-do) will be replaced in the April general election.
Those dropped include a three-term lawmaker and a five-termer.
To be fair, the 25 were split roughly in [...]
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 [...]
I kind of dread bring the US presidential election back on board, but that is the topic of my most recent KT piece, specifically:
So, what would Lee Myung-bak do about Michigan and Florida?
Read the rest to find out what I think he would do.
BTW, I ended up using most of the column just to explain [...]
