Here is another Korean poll for you:

Bigwig’s mouths water for mudfish soup (Chueotang) while lower-ranking employees could do without the dish. A recent survey conducted by the office catering business Samsung Everland that studied 5,071 workers between their teens and 50s on their favorite dishes at the canteen proves that might just be true.

According to the poll, mudfish soup made the top ten list with a score of 74.5 out of 100 among deputy managing directors and managing directors, but only managed a score of 55.6 among lower-ranking employees. Grilled flatfish and ox-blood soup were also picked as favorite dishes among directors while they were far from popular among rank-and-file employees. By contrast, kimchi stew with tuna and grilled ham were tops among the staff while they were not enjoyed among company execs.

One question, who cares?

Since North Korea isn’t making as much money anymore from counterfeiting due to the recent US sanctions, so I guess they got to make ends meet some how:

Iran is reportedly stepping up development of long-range missiles. According to an intelligence report given to Reuters by a non-U.S. diplomat, Tehran is pursuing a program code-named Project 111, whose aim is to arm Iran’s Shahab-3 missiles, which experts believe have a maximum range of 2,000 kilometers, with nuclear warheads. The Shahab is based on North Korea’s Rodong missile technology. The report could not be independently confirmed, and an Iranian official who asked not to be named denied the charge.

Reuters also said a German diplomat, citing his country’s intelligence data, confirmed that Iran had purchased from North Korea 18 disassembled BM-25 mobile missiles with a range of 2,500 km, which would render them capable of reaching Israel and Turkey from Iran. Quoting Alireza Jafarzadeh, an Iranian exile in Washington, Reuters said Tehran sharply increased production of the Shahab-3 missiles from less than 20 to around 90 a year.

Have the field grades finally gotten to Mark?

What am I going to do without Mark’s posting about his simcenter wars?

North Korea says it will not return to nuclear talks:

North Korea reiterated its pledge not to return to nuclear disarmament talks after a meeting with U.S. officials about the communist regime’s alleged illicit financial activity, a top North Korean diplomat was quoted as saying Wednesday.

At Tuesday’s meeting in New York, the Americans emphasized that moves against a Macau bank where Pyongyang held accounts were part of regulatory moves “to protect the U.S. financial system from abuse, and not a sanction on North Korea,” according to a U.S. Treasury Department statement.

“Our position is consistent that (North Korea) cannot return to the talks in the midst of the continued pressure (from the United States),” Ri Gun, director-general of North Korean Foreign Ministry’s American affairs bureau, said after the talks Tuesday, the Yonhap news agency reported.

How come I find myself caring about this as much as I cared about my prior posting on Korean eating habits?

Add another story to the ville files. This story just goes to show that even officers are not immune to the charms of juicy girl:

An Air Force captain who didn’t tell officials two women asked him for classified information was sentenced Monday to 10 months in prison and dismissal from the service.

But under a pre-trial agreement, Capt. James L. Shank will serve just six months in prison. Shank, 43, married and a father, was a mission planner with the 5th Reconnaissance Squadron, which flies classified reconnaissance missions in northeast Asia.

His court-martial began Monday before Air Force Lt. Col. Eric Dillow, judge for the Pacific Circuit, of Yokota Air Base, Japan. Shank opted to be tried by judge, not jury.

Shank pleaded guilty to disobeying an order, making a false official statement, three counts of violating a lawful general regulation and two counts of conduct unbecoming an officer.

Events that brought to an end his more than 18-year Air Force career began in December 2003 when he met Larisa Sergeevna Whittington, a dancer at the off-base Golden Gate club.

Whittington, from the former Soviet Union, was married to an Army soldier who’d been stationed at Camp Humphreys and later at Fort Drum, N.Y. Shank admitted in court he knew the woman was married to an enlisted servicemember.

Basically the article goes on to explain that not only was the Russian a juicy girl married to a GI but she also had a part time job with the KGB. How can this idiot pass on classified information to someone claiming to be KGB and on top of that put 18 years in the Air Force at risk?

Is it just me or do Air Force officers at Osan get in more trouble compared to officers in other areas of Korea?

Where were the hate groups? Are they losing influence in Korea society because I expected a bigger fight?:

South Korean riot police and protesters clashed Monday over contested farmland outside the U.S. Army’s Camp Humphreys, according to South Korean officials.

About 1,100 Korean riot police were on hand early in the morning as about 60 officials served a mandatory eviction notice to people living on land purchased by the South Korean government. The government took control of about 2,000 acres of farmland outside Camp Humphreys in 2005 so the U.S. military eventually can transform the post into its main installation in South Korea. Under an agreement between the United States and South Korea, the camp will triple in size by 2008; its population is projected to grow from more than 11,000 to about 45,000.

About 250 residents gathered at the Daechu-ri elementary school, site of many protest rallies, on Monday morning to protest the planned eviction, according to the Ministry of National Defense. Police officers moved in to forcibly evict the residents after they were warned three times to disperse but refused.

Pyeongtaek police said they had removed about 20 people who were guarding the school’s gate. They also cut the chains off of seven or eight protesters who’d chained themselves together to act as a human shield.

Police officials, contacted late Monday, said the violence was ongoing and they were unable to comment on the number of arrests or injuries among protesters or police.

From the Chosun:

A 23-year-old man hopes to blaze a trail for gay rights by becoming Korea’s first serving conscript to refuse to remain in the armed forces because of his sexual orientation. Yoo Jung Min-Seok announced his decision to the press on Monday.

“My identity, the duty my country demands and my rights as a citizen are in conflict in a world where it is regarded as compulsory for men to be masculine,” Yoo Jung Min-seok told reporters in Jongno’s Zelkova Tree Cafe, in Anguk-dong, Seoul. “I reject the harm done by the macho barracks culture and an army that produces aggressive, belligerent men.”

I don’t know about the belligerent part, but I would hope the ROK army is producing aggressive soldiers. Also as I have seen a few times in the US Army, soldiers pretended to be gay in order to get chaptered out of the Army because they just don’t like it. Who knows with this guy, but a difference I see between the two militaries is that a homosexual in the US Army can still get discharged honorably while the soldier in this article claims that he is getting an dishonorable discharge. Just makes me wonder if there is more to this story then he is letting on.

I’m beginning to wonder if there are any other units stationed in Korea because the 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade is always in the newspaper and it usually isn’t for anything good. Except this time this article is about a program they started to keep their guys who are always in trouble, out of trouble:

The Army’s Patriot missile brigade in South Korea has moved to curb accidents and misconduct through a program that rewards incident-free units with a plaque and a day off for soldiers.

The 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, headquartered at Osan Air Base, maintains 14 batteries in South Korea, some of which fire Patriot missiles.

Under the brigade’s “Good Order, Discipline and Safety” program, batteries must go for 90 consecutive days without blemishes in any of three categories: accidents, alcohol/drugs and serious reportable incidents.

I guess these guys aren’t getting a day off any time soon.

A US Army Major on Camp Walker has unfortunately passed away after doing PT:

About 200 people gathered in the Camp Walker Chapel on Friday afternoon to bid farewell to a fallen comrade, according to a news release.

Maj. Timothy Patrick Auvil, a 42-year-old transportation officer with the 19th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), died Monday after attending a physical fitness event at Camp Carroll.

“We have all lost a comrade this week but I believe it is our soldiers who have suffered the greatest loss,” said Capt. Byron Kemp, company commander, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 20th Area Support Group. “For them, he was a friend, a mentor, a father figure and a refuge from the storm.”

This unfortunately is not a rare occurrence. Every year I read about soldiers dieing after PT. I don’t know the particulars of the Camp Walker case, but the cases I have read about happen generally when someone who has maybe been on leave or reserve soldiers getting called up and in both cases are older soldiers and they take a PT test. Or the soldier is put on too challenging of an exercise for their fitness level; the soldier pushes themselves to much and ends up having a heart attack or over heating.

That is why it is important during PT to have ability groups to let soldiers work they way up in fitness. At Camp Stanley I once saw an NCO almost die after he had been with the unit one week and was on leave for 30 days and he was put on a 6 mile run that week and completed it but over heated and nearly died afterwords. Daily PT is another dangerous aspect of being a soldier that risk management needs to be used before executing to ensure everyone is doing PT to their ability level.

Korea has beaten Japan in a dramatic win in the World Baseball Classic:

Lee Seung-yeop, South Korea’s leading slugger and a professional in the Japanese baseball league, didn’t miss an opportunity every Korean fan wanted but few expected. Lee, 30, belted a two-run home run in the eighth inning to lift Korea to a 3-2 win over the Asian powerhouse Japan in Group A competition at the World Baseball Classic in Tokyo, Sunday.

“I was just trying to stay focused,” said Lee. “Japan is a very strong team and hopefully we’ll be able beat them again in the United States.”

Major League pitcher Park Chan-ho sealed the come-from-behind victory, also South Korea’s top spot in Group A competition, by retiring the final three Japanese batters for his second save in the inaugural tournament. The San Diego Padres hurler finished the Japanese team by retiring Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle mariners with a pop-up to the shortstop.

South Korea and Japan will move to Anaheim, Calif., for the quarterfinals, which will start on Sunday. The Asian representatives will vie for the two berths to the semifinals with the qualifiers from Group B, where the United States, Mexico, Canada and South Africa compete.

Lee Seung-yeop is proving to be on clutch hitter. He was also clutch last year in the Japanese League where he helped his team the Chiba Lotte Marines win the Japanese championship. Park Chan-ho also appears to have found a new niche for him by being a reliever. I wonder if the Padres will consider using him as a reliever now as well? Both teams move on to the quarterfinals but I would love to see a Japan vs. Korea final.