It appears more than the Hallyu phenomenon is being culturally exchanged between China and Korea. Rampant cheating in Chinese classrooms has caused the government to implement harsh measures to crack down on this behavior:
UPDATE#1 The Chosun Ilbo is now running an article on it and also has an editorial discussing how everything may not be to rosey between the US and Korea:
The United States, however, has through the agreement virtually broken with the principle it had been most bombastic about. The Bush administration had been saying it could not reward illegal actions, calling it the ?fundamental of fundamentals? of a resolution to the nuclear issue. Washington had also claimed that North Korea, which had already misused its peaceful nuclear program, could not be allowed another light-water reactor. Through this agreement, however, both principles have been shaken. Accordingly, some say its possible that U.S. neoconservatives, who take a hard-line against North Korea, will unleash an attack on the architects of the agreement, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill.
Some point out that should there be criticism within the U.S. unsatisfied with South Korea?s mediation role, tensions and fissures may arise between Seoul and Washington.
Of course Unification Minister Chung Dong-young is taking the credit for the success of the talks:
The adoption of the principle document in the six-party talks on how to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula is the “accomplishment of South Korean diplomacy,?? which opened the way to end the Cold War confrontation, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said in Seoul on Monday.
His remarks are based on the idea that the joint principle statement laid the groundwork for the establishment of a permanent peace on the peninsula, even though the document apparently focused on the nuclear issue.
Here is another interesting quote from Song-Sin-moon the head South Korea negotiator:
“I got a feeling that we now open the way for making history by ourselves,?? Song Min-soon, South Korea?s top delegate to the six-party talks, told reporters after the official announcement of the principle document. “In the past, we were given a situation at others? will and we had to deal with it.??
Correct me if I’m wrong but was it not Koreans that started the Korean War? Yes outside countries initially divided the country but Koreans as well have had opportunities to chart their own history. When it is good history like today, South Korea is responsible, when it is bad history the foreigners are responsible. So when this deal falls apart which it probably will at some point it will not be the North Koreans fault but the United States.
So how can this deal fall apart? The US will agree to build this light water reactor only if the North Koreans verifiably dismantle their nuclear program. We all know the Norks won’t allow inspectors that type of access in their country, but in the mean time the Norks will use the free energy from South Korea until the next crisis arrives. Then there is the thousand pound gorrilla that no one wants to talk about either that has yet to be resolved and that is human rights in North Korea. This whole agreement appears to be all sides positioning themselves to place blame on each other when the agreement ultimately fails.
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Reports are coming out that North Korea has agreed in principle to end it’s nuclear program:
North Korea pledged to drop its nuclear weapons development and rejoin international arms treaties in a unanimous agreement Monday at six-party arms talks the first breakthrough in more than two years of negotiations.
The North “committed to abandoning all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs and returning at an early date” to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards, according to the agreement.
In exchange, the North would receive energy assistance and a pledge from the United States that it won’t attack. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the U.S. envoy to the talks, praised the agreement but urged the North Koreans to stop operations at their main nuclear facility at Yongbyon.
“It’s a good agreement for all of us,” Hill said. But he added: “We have to see what comes in the days and weeks ahead. We have to seize the momentum of this.”
This may sound like good news but I have been following North Korea issues long enough to know that what North Korea says and what they actually do are two different things. The Norks are talking nice now probably because the Chinese want to save face and show the world that the talks they are hosting are productive.
I really think the Chinese want to win some international prestige by reaching some kind of agreement on this nuclear crisis. It is also in their interest to have a stable North Korea before their hosting of the 2008 Olympic games. They don’t want a nuclear or refugee crisis overshadowing their moment of glory.
The North Koreans also want a deal that keeps their regime stable, but they also want enough flexibility in whatever agreement is reached to keep the capacity to make nuclear weapons. This is why the Norks want to be allowed to have a civilian nuclear power program after whatever agreement is reached.
Don’t get your hopes up with this “breakthrough”, however this is at least progress. It will be interesting to see how long this lasts.
American golfer Christina Kim is feeling the heat for being to American. Here is a translation provided by Joel:
In last year’s Pinx Cup tournament too, KLPGA criticism over Gim Chorong’s participation on the Korean representative team was strong, but after Gim Chorong’s teary-eyed appeal she was placed on the team.
Criticism from Korean fans rained down that Gim Chorong couldn’t possibly look more American than while during the recent Solheim Cup tournament she put the American flag on her golf shoes and arm bands and even went as far as to paint her face and did peculiar fist pumps and boisterous high fives.
People began to talk bad about her last year when right after being selected for the American representative team for the Solheim Cup, Gim Chorong said in an interview, “I am proud to be an American.â€
I agree with Joel that the easy solution to this is to not let Korean-American golfers participate in the tournament. If someone is considered to American for a tournament then the organizers should just invite native Koreans. That would solve the problem. However, that would mean Michelle Wie could not play in this tournament if she wanted to. I wonder what the organizers would do if she showed up with an American flag painted on her face?
A Buddhist temple on Jindo Island in southwestern Korea has a new unlikely convert, a dog:
Hama — Korean for hippopotamus — follows monks into the temple and bows in the same manner for prayer, a temple official said. Some local Buddhists, who believe in reincarnation, are wondering what Hama may have been in a past life.
“Since about a month ago, when the monks were performing a ceremony paying respect to Buddha, they were joined by this one-year-old dog,” the official said by telephone.
Hama is one of a traditional Korean breed called chindo, which originated on the island.
Hama’s exploits have made the national news in South Korea and attracted a lot of curious onlookers to the temple, where about 30 other stray dogs live.
“The dog bows just like a monk,” said college student Park Sang-jin, who visited the temple after hearing about Hama.
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun recently made some highly controversial comments during his keynote address to the United Nations:
According the Japundit North Korean cheerleaders are creating more sports fans and corrupting Korean youth at the same time:
According to the Japanese weekly magazine FLASH, this marked the third time that Pyongyang dispatched its bevy of beauties, and each time woman have become progressively younger and more beautiful. FLASH reports that this time around the oldest of the 124 members of the NORK cheering squad are second year university students. Reportedly, this is the first time that attendance at the Asian Athletics Championship hit 130,000, and organizers are admitting that it is the Pyongyang pretties that made the difference.
Event organizers and TV broadcasters are reportedly so eager to have the group attend that millions of dollars in cash and trade are promised to North Korea under the table in return.
But not everyone is happy with the women of the North and what they represent.
There are publications in South Korea who are warning that behind the women’s pleasant smiles are sinister plots to conquer the South. They worry that South Koreans, especially the younger generations, may become so enamored with NORK cheerleaders that they will take the side of North Korea should hostilities ever break out.
Maybe this explains the Inchon protesters. They have been brainwashed by North Korean cheerleaders.
Then:
Pusan 1902
Now:
Pusan Today
This is a lesson worth remembering:
Soldiers who last month stripped rank chevrons, ribbons and other items from the uniform of a soldier who’d just been sentenced in a rape case acted illegally and undermined military justice, a military judge said Friday.
He also knocked 60 days off the Aug. 4 sentence of the soldier, Pvt. Mikel A. Reynolds.
“The public stripping … served no valid military purpose … and amounted to unlawful punishment,†Army Col. Patrick J. Parrish said Friday at a post-trial hearing in the case.
Last month’s stripping occurred inside the courtroom at Camp Humphreys and in full view of the rape victim, who was seated just yards away.
Even convicted criminals have rights and this is a perfect example of this. Having been witness to a situation similar to this in the past, what should of happened is that the escorts should of took him out of the courtroom and transported him to the confinement facility at Camp Humphreys. There they take his Class A’s, awards, and other items and inventory them and store them until release.
The leaders involved in this incident claim they didn’t know the proper procedures which is probably true. The prosecuting lawyers have some culpability in this because they should have briefed the escorts on how to properly handle their duties once sentencing is complete. So the blame can be spread around, but what is important that everyone learns from the mistakes made here so they don’t get repeated in the future.
UPDATE: Oh My News has a good article on the hiring of Coach Advocaat:
Dick Advocaat is known as one of soccer’s disciplinarians, someone who is used to doing it his way, on and off the training field. It certainly wouldn’t be advisable for the KFA to give the two-time coach of the Netherlands a four-year-old tape of an opponent.
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By appointing the “Little General” and bringing back Pim Verbeek to South Korea, who was Guus Hiddink’s assistant from December 2000 to June 2002, the KFA has got what it wanted; a big-name coach with World Cup experience as well as knowledge of South Korea, the domestic scene and the players.
It doesn’t look like the KFA will be pushing this guy around like they did the prior coach Joe Bonfrere.
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Korea has finally hired their new soccer team headcoach:
Korea is betting on yet another Dutchman to take the national football team to glory in the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The Korean Football Association has decided to hire Dick Advocaat (58) despite potential wrangles over the coach’s contract with the UAE, it announced Tuesday. Advocaat is to take over where his fellow countryman Jo Bonfrere left off after the latter’s ignominious departure earlier this month.
I find it interesting that some people here in Korea are criticizing Apple for “cutting corners” with the new Apple iPod-nano:
Korean MP3 player makers are miffed by the release of a new product by world market leader Apple that they say is cutting corners by using Samsung Electronics flash memory chips.
Apple Computer unveiled its ultra-lightweight i-Pod nano flash memory player on Thursday (local time). The U.S. company holds 50 percent of the global market share with its iPod series.
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The domestic MP3 player industry is sulking, saying the iPod nano owes its exceptionally low price to Samsung Electronics. “Memory chips affect more than 50 percent of MP3 players’ prices. Apple presumably bought the flash memory chips at a 50 percent discount from Samsung.†But Samsung Electronics executive Joo Woo-sik defends the company. “I can’t tell you the discount rate, but it stands to reason that we expand the range of discount rates for a big buyer like Apple,†he said. “Samsung didn’t mean to do any harm to domestic MP3 manufacturers.â€
It sounds like to me that Apple is conducting good business in acquiring parts for their new product at the lowest price possible. Also, Samsung must be making a hefty profit on this massive bulk order of memory chips or they wouldn’t have given Apple a discount. If Korean MP3 manufacturers want they same discount then they should order the same amount of memory chips as Apple.
Obviously the Korean MP3 manufacturers must feel they can’t compete with Apple’s new product so they have to slime Apple and Samsung and stoke Korean pride about unfair trade practices. As long as Samsung is making money I don’t foresee the company raising its memory chip prices due to complaints from Korean MP3 manufacturers. Money speaks louder than words.
