October 16, 2007 – 2:08 pm
Culture critic Chin Jung-kwon might have gotten savaged by certain quarters of the netizen community for daring to say “D-War” sucked, but he did get an LA Times interview out of it.
The money shot?
“They are fanatics, and they are mobilized on the Internet,” Chin says. “It’s dangerous. This is a country where people put their [...]
October 16, 2007 – 1:15 pm
And in local news, a 50-year-old civil servant at Gyeongsangnam-do Provincial Hall was arrested in Changwon on charges of fleeing the scene after he hit two parked cars while driving drunk.
The best part, though, is that after he was caught, he not only refused to take a Breathalyzer test, but he also allegedly assaulted — [...]
September 14, 2007 – 1:02 pm
Well, these are some very angry netizens. This Photoshop job, while cute, probably says a lot about the mentality of such folk. Some of the forum names are quite amusing, too — “Japs Never Change,” “Dirty Chinks We Must Watch Out For,” “Island Chinks, Taiwan,” “India, Kingdom of Fraud and Rape,” “Paki Beasts,” “African Trash [...]
August 20, 2007 – 11:12 pm
And in this installment of “What I Learned from Naver.com Today,” I learned that there was a 1988 version of the “Bourne Identity” staring Richard Chamberlain.
If you read Korean, the Hankyoreh’s “Esc Magazine” ran an interesting piece on how food bloggers can kill restaurants.
Our man at the NY Times, Choe Sang-Hun, has written a good article on why Google.com is not popular in Korea but, lo, he also describes something of the psychology of why Naver is popular instead of Google. Choe writes:
In this country, where more than 70 percent of a population of 48 million use the [...]
Over at the Guardian’s blogs, Roy Greenslade notes the Korea Online Newspaper Association’s war on the portal sites:
Here’s an extraordinary development. Korean newspapers have decided to impose a seven-day restriction on web portals that promote their news content. It means that, after a week, net users won’t be able to search for news through the [...]
Well, children, today is the day when the National Election Commission ban on writing messages in support or opposed to specific presidential contenders [Korea Herald] goes into effect:
A person who violates the election laws could face a prison term of up to two years and a fine of 4 million won, it said. “Not all [...]
Golf.com has picked the eight sexiest lady golfers, and rounding out the group at No. 8 is Korea’s “voluptuous” Grace Park.
And she didn’t even have to release a nude calendar like Sophie Sandolo (NWS) to do it!
Coincidentally, the website made the mistake of conducting an online readers’ poll with a Korean in it. When [...]
As some may know, “Bi” or “Rain” — the popular Korean singer — has had to postpone his American tour because another band — whose name is “Rain” — has taken him to court for trademark infringement. Well, fortunately “Rain” (the singer) does not use a logo that looks like like a Starbucks logo [...]
As most know, the US/South Korean FTA (free-trade agreement) has recently been concluded but there is some concern that the FTA — as it is now — will allegedly cause Korea to give up all fair-use material that currently is on the internet, in South Korea.
One should note, however, that the concerns expressed by the [...]
As a big Wikipedia fan, I looked more into the recent Chosun created brouhaha about the Tokdo dispute on Wiki. Interestingly enough, Wiki has a page it calls “Lamest Edit Wars“. Guess who makes the list? Both Tokdo and the Sea of Japan controversy. I do like the way the dispute is summarized:
A group of [...]
A crusade to built a positive online culture? Good luck.
Yonhap News (Korean) reports that Korea’s netizens are unsure as to how to take Stephen Colbert’s skit on Rain [Marmot's Hole]. Some felt the skit was racist and degrading to Korea, while many others thought it wasn’t a big deal and might actually boost Rain’s profile in the United States. For what it’s [...]
I may be abusing my pulpit here since I am posting rather than just adding a comment, so if this disappears I know the Marmot thinks so.
I find it amusing the recent “controversy” about the Han River bridge on the US TV series Lost. A while ago I got sucked into the series, and I [...]
Ye Olde Chosun (Korean) reports that Korean netizens are bewildered about the rather poor representation of the Hangang Bridge in episode 18 of season 3 of the ABC series “Lost.”
Hey, at least they spelt it right.
Nobody’s sure where the scene was shot, but netizens say it looks too much like Southeast Asia.
Netizens who saw the [...]
Well, this is an ugly scene [KBS, Korean]—a bereaved family fighting with hospital staff and police in a hospital lobby over the body of a 14-year-old girl who had died on the operating table.
The girl had gone in for surgery to treat a broken arm caused by a benign tumor, but died during the operation. [...]
Korean netizens and bloggers are having a grand old time comparing wildly popular “Prison Break” with life in the ROK Army [Sports Seoul, Korean]. And on another “Prison Break” note, veteran actress Kim Su-mi apparently digs Michael Scofield [Star News, Korean]… which kind of gives me the creeps.
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And in more news from the “most wired nation on the planet,” the Defense Security Command has asked the Minstry of Information and Communication (MIC) to block 32 pro-North Korean websites [Korea Times]. Of course, the MIC might be a bit busy with its current war against foreign porn sites [Korea Times] in the [...]
A Japanese netizen has caught the JoongAng Ilbo’s attention [JoongAng Ilbo, Korean] by uploading a Youtube video (actually produced by an American) describing Koreans as “savages who eat dogs.” 594 comments and counting!
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