But it’s not global warming that’s doing the damage, it’s the low birth rate. Old news? Yes. But new news is that it appears to be affecting the classrooms at a level that’s quantifiable. Yikes!
According to the to the National Statistical Office (NSO), Tuesday, the number of young people aged 6-21 totaled 10.2 million nationwide this [...]
Update: Globalwatch.org has a fascinating read on the heroic story of Qinglong County and its wise and cautious officials who saved all 490,000 residents, except for one person who died of a heart attack, by heeding early warnings of the massive July 28, 1976 quake that killed 280,000 people in the Tangshan area. [...]
100 images added to Flickr courtesy of commenter Gillian. Thanks for the link!
Happy Buddha’s Birthday to all. Here is a link to a few pictures taken on the way to the little temple on top of Kwanak-san in Seoul.
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The whole story was a little weird in the first place. It just got weirder. There actually appears to be some history behind it and the story is a bit more complex then one would think off hand.
It turns out that Tak Kyung-hyun’s Japanese name is Fumihiro Mitsuyama and he’s the subject of [...]
Check out Mike Breen’s take on the students demonstrating against US beef. Quite funny, and ultimately asks some intriguing questions. Here’s a sample:
I must confess my first thought upon being confronted with protestors last Friday night and on reading the subsequent coverage was to link their rather ill thought-through cause to other historical moments of [...]
Today’s Working Daze cartoon.
(HT to Phrasskin)
We now have an outbreak of avian influenza at a bird farm in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul.
Authorities have confirmed it to be the H5NI strain that can be fatal to humans.
The lesson of this story? Chicken and beef can kill. Eat dog — it’s good for you. And stock up on your kimchi.
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A 41-year-old cattle farmer in Hampyeong killed himself after attempting to beat his Filipino wife and three children to death with a farm implement.
And leave it to the Hankyoreh to connect it with US beef imports.
(HT to Western Confucian)
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Okay, not really, but the picture is deserving of some kind of (attempt at a) witty remark. It’s not every day you get a image of the two greatest living oligopolists of their respective countries conspiring with each other.
Anyways, looks like Bill Gates came to Korea on Tuesday to meet with LMB, business leaders and [...]
The Korea Times today reports that foreign investment has all but evaporated in the wake of five years of Roh Moo Hyun’s government and its handling of foreign-investment bête noire Lone Star Funds. Well, duh.
Bad news for hub dreamers:
“I don’t think Korea can change in the near future to reverse the poor FDI trend,” [former [...]
John Kennedy of Globalvoicesonline.org has posted interesting look at a Chinese exchange troll, allegedly living here in Korea, who claims that Koreans are now persecuting Chinese students — the same ones who were only trying to protect the “sacred flame” (sure). While this poster’s grasp on reality is blatantly distorted, some of the Chinese [...]
Park Kyung-ni(ree), one of the most important Korean novelists has passed. Her masterwork entitled “The Land” (toji) is believed to be the summation of modern Korean literature. The first two sections have been translated into English and can be found here.
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In this editorial on the controversy over US beef imports and the recent related MBC program, the editorial staff at the Chosun put the danger of contracting vCJD into perspective:
미국 쇠고기 반대운동을 벌이는 세력들의 거짓과 논리적 모순과 위선(僞善)은 한두 가지가 아니다. 우리 국민 1000만 명 가까이가 매년 광우병이 위험하다는 미국과 유럽 일본 지역에 태연히 관광 [...]
This is being reported on CNN… Can’t find details, not even an exact location… Anybody know anything? Hand of the Lord…?
Anyway, RIP for the victims, tentatively said to be fishermen and their children…
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A 57-year-old civil servant in the city of Kinokawa in southern Japan was demoted and given a pay decrease after it was discovered that he had been surfing porn all day long, visiting websites more than 780,000 times over a nine-month period. July was his busiest month, clocking in more than 177,000 visits, which [...]
Then there are stories like this:
Regional council members’ angered an international sports goods maker through making sexually explicit gestures during their visit to its headquarters abroad. The politicians quickly tried to explain themselves, claiming “difference of culture” as an excuse, but businessmen in the United States called for an apology and prohibited the council members [...]
Seoul: The City of Haechi.
The fabled Haechi, a lion-like horned creature, has been chosen as the symbol representing Seoul, while the “Hi Seoul” slogan promoting the city from many years will be replaced by either “Soul Seoul” or “Soul of Seoul.” An official who participated in choosing new symbols for the capital said Thursday the [...]
As reported in two Chosun Ilbo articles, Koreans may be “going overboard” with mad cow disease. “PD Diary”, the famous MBC current affairs program, has claimed that 94 percent of Koreans have a “special” gene that makes them more susceptible to getting Mad Cow Disease vs. regular Americans or Britons (Canucks, Kiwis and Aussies were, [...]
Reversing its long time policy of refusing to sell Global Hawks to S. Korea, the U.S., according the the Chosun, has indicated that it may be willing to approve the sale of the aforementioned UAV(Unmanned Aerial Vehicle)s.
Now one will think that the ROK Defense Ministry will be jumping with joy at the news, since it [...]
