Officials of the Visit Korea Committee hold a campaign to promote the beginning of the “2015 Korea Grand Sale” at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on Dec. 1, 2014. The nation’s biggest shopping and tourism festival will continue through Feb. 22, 2015. (Yonhap)

When it comes to these exams the Koreans have definitely set the standard for cheating on them.  This seems to happen every year:

Some students in two Asian countries likely cheated on the SAT exams administered in October and November of this year, the Educational Testing Service has confirmed.

In October, scores were withheld from residents of South Korea and China as ETS, which administers the test worldwide, investigated possible cheating on the exam administered that month. Following a review, the firm determined that “a small number of test-takers had an unfair advantage on the test,” ETS spokesman Thomas Ewing told The Huffington Post on Monday. “ETS is contacting directly these test-takers to inform them that valid scores cannot be provided.”

Citing confidentiality concerns, Ewing declined to say how many scores were invalidated but noted that “the majority of scores” are valid.  [Huffington Post via reader tip]

You can read more at the link, but ROK Heads may remember that the SAT had to be cancelled last year in Korea because of widespread cheating.

What could possibly be going on is that some in the Park administration may be resentful of Jung having influence over President Park and leaked this document in an attempt to sideline him:

President Park Geun-hye on Monday condemned the disclosure of documents regarding Chung Yoon-hoi, a former aide, calling for a thorough investigation.

“(I) do not know what the intention behind leaking the documents was, but it is an act that damages national order,” Park said at a meeting with senior presidential staff.

Saying that real and false information accumulated at the presidential office, the president said that the country will fall into “major chaos and social discord” if information gathered by her office is released to the public without verification.

Going on to say that simple fact-checking could have determine the claims, veracity, Park said similar “groundless incidents” should not recur.

“Who leaked the documents and for what purpose must quickly be made known. The prosecution should investigate and leave no suspicion unexamined.”

On Nov. 28, a local daily reported that Chung was manipulating state affairs as a core member of an unofficial group of advisers to the president citing documents compiled by Cheong Wa Dae’s office for public servants’ discipline.

The presidential office has filed a criminal complaint against a police superintendent identified as Park for allegedly removing concerned documents from Cheong Wa Dae when he was reassigned back to the National Police Agency in February.  [Korea Herald]

You can read more at the link, but Jung is also the person that Park was rumored to be having a private relationship with that is the source of another libel suit against a Japanese reporter.

It seems that North Korea would be the likely suspect for such an attack, but a skilled criminal group could have used the dispute between North Korea and Sony as good cover for their own hacking attack:

Could an upcoming Seth Rogen–James Franco satire about North Korea have triggered last week’s devastating computer attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment?

On Sunday, Sony internet technicians were still wrestling with the fallout from a paralyzing hacker attack the previous Monday that left the computer, email and phone systems at the TV and movie studio inoperable. A group calling itself Guardians of Peace claimed responsibility for the attack and threatened to release sensitive corporate data.

But Sony has not identified the source of the takedown, according to an individual with knowledge of the situation. Among the theories investigators are checking is that North Korea, or someone operating on its behalf, launched the cyber attack in retribution for “The Interview,” another knowledgeable individual told TheWrap. The upcoming Sony comedy film features Rogen and Franco as journalists who land an interview with reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, and are then asked by the CIA to assassinate him.  [Yahoo]

You can read more at the link, but if North Korea did do this they have only further given Sony free publicity for this movie that will only increase the number of viewers of it.

N. Korea slams U.S. over racial discrimination http://t.co/wZ4NkbPDkU via @GlobalPost

— NK NEWS (@nknewsorg) November 30, 2014

The first snow of the season falls in Gyeongbokgung Palace in downtown Seoul on Dec. 1, 2014. (Yonhap)

This has the makings of being another possible mass casualty event for South Korea:

Rescuers searched Monday for more than 50 people missing after a South Korean fishing ship they were working on sank amid high waves in the freezing waters of the Bering Sea, officials said. At least one person died.

Authorities rescued seven crew members and recovered one body, but weather and water conditions were complicating the search for the others, an official from the South Korean fisheries and oceans ministry said on condition of anonymity because of office rules.

The crew included 35 Indonesians, 13 Filipinos, 11 South Koreans and one Russian inspector, the official said. Russian authorities said there were 62 people aboard the ship, which sank in the western part of the Bering Sea, near Russia.

The South Korean ministry official said it’s believed that the ship, which was catching pollock, began to list after stormy weather caused seawater to flood its storage areas. The official said the 2,100-ton ship was 35 years old.  [Yahoo via reader tip]

You can read more at the link, but hopefully Russian search and rescue can pull these guys out of the water

Unsurprisingly the Korean bar owners are unhappy with USFK’s decision to bar troops from buying drinks inside of bars for juicy girls:

A month-old U.S. Forces Korea policy banning servicemembers from buying drinks for “juicy bar” workers in exchange for companionship has angered some bar owners, who say it unfairly labels them as “pimps” and is hurting other establishments that cater to troops.

“It’s nonsensical to treat us as if we are whorehouses,” said Yi Hun-hui, owner of the Cadillac Club near Camp Humphreys. Now, he said, some local bar owners are talking about going into a different line of work because they’re angry at the military. “These were people who liked USFK. They were people who supported USFK, and now they’re embarrassed.”  (………..)

The organization’s Pyeongtaek branch already has asked for support from the city mayor and National Assembly members. It is collecting signatures on a petition from businesses, local citizens and civic groups throughout the city, he said. That petition will be sent to U.S. military officials on the peninsula later this month.

Yi, who employs seven Filipina women, said he ordered his female workers to wear jeans and T-shirts instead of skirts and low-cut tops after the Oct. 15 policy letter was issued.

“I did this so USFK would stop its narrow-minded view that our female employees are hookers,” he said.

It was unclear how or whether the new policy was affecting business for other bar owners. Five claimed the policy change was driving down sales for others, though all of those interviewed denied that their own bars had been hurt by the ban.

Lee Deok Bum, said business hasn’t dropped in recent weeks at Sportsman, his 15-year-old bar in Dongducheon, which employees five Filipina women, but he said he and other bar owners in the city are angry about the new USFK rule. He accused the U.S. military of judging South Korean bars by American cultural standards, not by what is acceptable in Korea.

Some bar owners have complained the new policy is unclear and appears to ban servicemembers from buying drinks for anyone, even friends. The policy letter, however, bans only buying drinks and other items for an “employee’s company or companionship, inside or outside a bar or establishment.”

An official at the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said the ministry has received no complaints about the new policy from bar owners. The ministry began inspecting businesses that hire foreign entertainers, including some outside U.S. military bases, earlier this year in an effort to reduce human trafficking.

Seo In Ho, owner of Xanadu bar outside Osan Air Base, said most bar owners have interpreted the new policy to mean their USFK clientele can’t buy drinks — even water — for anyone else. One of his friends, a male servicemember, now tells Seo that he can’t even buy the bar owner a drink, and Seo said the ban on buying drinks for companionship is discouraging troops from going to bars at all.

He said all bar owners are being treated as if they are running brothels, and some women who work at bars are quitting because they feel like they’re being treated as prostitutes.

“Our self-respect has been hurt,” he said. [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, for the bar owner complaining about USFK using American cultural standards to judge the bars, he is absolutely right.  However, USFK has to worry about what is going on back in the US and what Koreans find acceptable is irrelevant when the US military is being routinely criticized by special interest groups.  That is what likely drove the change in policy for USFK since the special interests were gearing up to go after them over the juicy girl issue.

Also I find it hard to feel sorry for these shady juicy bar owners who have been ripping off GIs for years with the juicy girl business model and over priced drinks. With that said I still think USFK should have at least given these bar owners a carrot by making the new policy stipulate that bars that employ third country nationals would be put off limits due to human trafficking concerns.  This would leave the bar owners with the option of employing Korean women which would be much more difficult for USFK to be accused of supporting human trafficking with.  I am surprised though that these bar owners have not come up with workarounds to this policy yet instead of complaining to the Stars & Stripes.

I wonder who screwed up and sent out this automated message or did a student conduct a hoax?

SEOUL, South Korea – An installation-wide lockdown at Osan Air Base was lifted around 12:45 p.m. Monday following a security forces sweep of Osan schools after a teacher received a phone call indicating there might be a shooter on base, according to the 51st Fighter Wing.
An earlier post on the wing’s Facebook page said no unusual activity had been reported, and the search for a possible shooter appeared to be largely over.
At 11:58 a.m., a post attributed to Osan American High School Principal Morgan Nugent said a teacher received a call “that sounded automated” claiming an active shooter drill was taking place, and immediately reported the call:
“There was no scheduled school shooter drill on base so we decided to (err) on the side of safety and went into a full school lockdown. Security Forces have responded to the school and are doing a sweep of the whole school and its perimeter. Once we are given an all clear we will go ahead and continue the school day as is and with a chance for a debrief to our kids at the end of the school day. Ultimately though your children are safe and we will continue to keep them safe. Once we are given an all clear we will go ahead and continue the school day as is with a chance for a debrief to our kids at the end of the school day.”

Nugent was not immediately available for comment.
Several security forces personnel and vehicles were spotted around 11:15 a.m. at the base’s middle school and high school. The base was otherwise deserted as the season’s first snow flurries fell, with a loudspeaker repeating the same message every few minutes in both English and Korean: “Lockdown, lockdown, lockdown. Seek safety and shelter.” (Stars and Stripes)

You can read more at the link.

#KiHongLee named #4 on People’s #SexiestManAlive2014 list http://t.co/yHXLibn5vZ pic.twitter.com/5VwL2jt74o

— DramaFever (@dramafever) November 29, 2014