According to this quite detailed post over at the Marmot’s Hole the Incheon Asian Games has moved well passed just being a fiasco:

 1.Stadiums getting blackouts
2. Athlete’s lunch boxes found with salmonella
3. Volunteers asking for athletes signatures and making them late to their events – because they got 1 hour of training 1 week before the Games started.
4. 20% of interpreters quitting (because they had to pay for their own transport to and from the Games),
5. Athletes’ rooms not having fans or A/C,
6. Athletes’ rooms crammed with three beds and cramming athletes in them because they don’t have enough rooms
7. No mosquito screens for the rooms, subpar quality food for the athletes – partially caused by the fact that the majority of the cooks are college kids majoring in food science
8. Beach volleyball site doesn’t have changing rooms
9. Badminton stadium has A/C with strong wind that got the complaints of all athletes including Korean ones
10. Thailand baseball team had to practice in the dark because the lights weren’t on

You can read more about the issues the Asian Games are having at the link, but it appears the fiasco will continue all the way through the closing ceremony:

Organizers of the Incheon Asian Games face a daunting challenge ― bringing Asia’s biggest sporting event to a close in a way that makes people forget the opening ceremony many believe was the worst ever.

“We have noted the criticism we received after the opening ceremony and applied it to the direction of the closing ceremony,” Jang Jin, artistic director of the ceremony, said during a news conference at the Main Press Center in Incheon, Tuesday.

But he seems to have few options available due to his limited budget and other problems.

Jang said because of the athletic events at the Incheon Asiad Main Stadium that will run until the end of the Games, “We will not be able to push through with the final rehearsal that had been scheduled for Friday. We ask for your understanding.”

According to Jang and chief organizer Im Kwon-taek, the closing ceremony will include performances by the National Dance Company of Korea and the National Gugak Center, a countdown using filmed shots of athletes’ shirt numbers and AD cards, a taekwondo performance and a concert by boy band Big Bang.

But most people remain unconvinced that the closing ceremony will be an improvement from the opening ceremony, which was likened by the public and foreign media to a hallyu (Korean wave) concert or film festival, featuring more celebrities than sports stars.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but according to the article the opening ceremony had famed Korean actress Lee Young-ae light the cauldron which is really odd considering usually famous athletes usually light it.  Now for those who attend the closing ceremony they will be subject to a Big Bang concert.

The Incheon Asian Games cost only $2 billion to put on compared to $20 billion the Chinese paid in 2010 to host them in Guangzou.  So obviously the Koreans are getting what they paid for.  I would think for the upcoming Pyeongchang Winter Olympics that the Koreans will be reaching much deeper into their pockets to put on a better event since the whole world will be watching.

Analysis: #China underestimates #HongKong's resolve; A tone-deaf government in Beijing misses the point http://t.co/2Zto5V8Jbx #occupyhk

— Asian Correspondent (@AsCorrespondent) September 29, 2014

Soldiers perform martial arts at an event in the Gyeryongdae military headquarters in Gyeryong City, South Chungcheong Province, on Sept. 29, 2014, ahead of the 66th anniversary of the foundation of the country’s military, which falls on Oct. 1. (Yonhap)

Considering that last year the North Korean government spent a lot of money renovating a Korean War cemetery honoring North Korean veterans of the Korean War; I would not be surprised if the Chinese leadership were unhappy that their cemetery did not receive the same treatment:

North Korea has begun renovation work on a cemetery in the North’s capital for Chinese soldiers who were killed during the 1950-53 Korean War, China’s state media reported Tuesday.

China’s ambassador to North Korea, Liu Hongcai, attended a ceremony in Pyongyang to celebrate the start of renovation work, the Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece, the People’s Daily, reported on its website. [Yonhap]

This is probably the first time I have heard of Koreans unhappy with one of its national teams winning a gold medal:

The South Korean baseball team Sunday clinched the gold at the Incheon Asian Games, but a lot of people here seem to have more reasons to mock their achievement than celebrate or be proud of it.

They think players will enjoy greater benefits than they deserve — exemption from the country’s mandatory two years of military service. Ironically, their gold has also led to fierce discussion about abolishing such rewards to athletes.

“I wish they lost the game,” 29-year-old baseball fan Park Tae-yang said. “I do not understand why Korea, in the 21st century, still has to give military exemption for athletes on the grounds that they help promote the country.”

Such harsh feelings against the national team are also based on the fact that South Korea is the only country that sent professional baseball players, who appeared desperate for a military exemption, and let them compete against teams consisting mostly of amateur players.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but it does seem kind unfair to all the other males in Korea that they have to do their mandatory service obligation while these professional athletes now will get out of it because they blew out a bunch of Asian amateur baseball teams.

Hong Kong paralysed by protest http://t.co/RZQq2T9OqB (Pic: AFP/Getty) pic.twitter.com/uJlKxPmcwM

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) September 29, 2014

Shown is an ad of the Vietnamese carrier VietJet Air captured from the Vietnamese daily Tuoi Tre on Sept. 26, 2014. (Yonhap)

So does anyone expect anything to come of this?

North Korea says it is willing to cooperate with the U.N. and other international organizations on human rights, but is bristling at what it views as politicization of the issue by its arch enemy, the United States.

In February, a U.N. commission of inquiry concluded there was evidence of crimes against humanity by North Korea’s authoritarian government. Washington this week called on Pyongyang to shut its “evil system” of prison camps.

Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong did not directly address the findings of the commission, which Pyongyang has refused to cooperate with.

Ri accused the U.S. of “abusing” the human rights issue for political purposes.

He told the U.N. General Assembly on Saturday that North Korea is willing to cooperate on the issue with countries that aren’t hostile to it. (Associated Press)

Did anyone see a naked woman walking around Gangnam last week?:

A viral video of a naked woman on the streets of Gangnam, southern Seoul, uploaded to YouTube last week, is prompting a slew of false rumors.

When the video went viral on Thursday, netizens spread the rumors about how she ended up in her birthday suit. They also claimed that the woman had been questioned by police.

However, Gangnam police said the video had been uploaded four days before, and went viral due to the rumor mongering.

“It seems as if someone deliberately made up stories about an existing video to get attention,” said the police.

“Once we receive reports from the woman or another relevant party, we will find who first spread the video and consider punishment.”  [Korea Times]

So let me get this straight, if you take a video of someone walking naked in public in Korea and post it to the Internet, you are the one that gets in trouble?