In an anticipated move, South Korea has agreed to reduce it’s movie quota system for foreign films:

Finance Minister Han Duck-soo said during a weekly briefing South Korea would halve the quota requiring cinemas to show local films for 146 days of the year to 73 days.

“The government has decided to take measures needed for the goal of reducing the screen quota to 73 days starting on July 1, after considering such quotas in other countries,” Han said.

Can we put a quota system on Hollywood films in America? Hollywood movies is recent years for the most part have sucked. If the Korean film industry continues to produce high quality domestic movies I see no reason why they should fear Hollywood.

I still can’t get over the money I wasted watching the Fantastic Four and other crap Hollywood movies this past summer.

In an anticipated move, South Korea has agreed to reduce it’s movie quota system for foreign films:

Finance Minister Han Duck-soo said during a weekly briefing South Korea would halve the quota requiring cinemas to show local films for 146 days of the year to 73 days.

The United States, South Korea’s second-largest trading partner, has pressed Seoul to open the film market more, saying the quota system was a major impediment for negotiating a bilateral free trade agreement.

“The government has decided to take measures needed for the goal of reducing the screen quota to 73 days starting on July 1, after considering such quotas in other countries,” Han said.

Can we put a quota system on Hollywood films in America? Hollywood movies is recent years for the most part have sucked. If the Korean film industry continues to produce high quality domestic movies I see no reason why they should fear Hollywood.

I still can’t get over the money I wasted watching the Fantastic Four and other crap Hollywood movies this past summer.

Korean officials are currently meeting to decide the future of the US military’s Yongsan Garrison in Seoul:

The South Korean government held its first planning meeting this week to decide the future of the 600 acres in the capital city that is now Yongsan Garrison, according to a spokesman from the Korean prime minister’s office.

The Yongsan National and History Park Construction Promotion Committee met Monday to begin brainstorming ideas for the future of the land, which is about three-fourths the area of New York’s Central Park.

The land, which once housed Japanese military quarters and now is home to U.S. Forces Korea headquarters, could become a key part in linking the Han River with nearby Namsan Park for a large public space in this crowded city of more than 10 million people, the committee members said Monday.

How come I suspect that five years after the US military leaves Yongsan Garrison that the place will be filled with more high rise apartments than trees?

The New York Times had nice overview article about the whole stem cell controversy involving Dr. Hwang Woo-suk. A couple of things in the article did jump out at me. First of all how much did the Roh Administration know about the forgery before the MBC report?:

An indication of Dr. Hwang’s good connections to the government was the inclusion of Dr. Park Ky Young as a co-author of his 2004 report on human cloning. A botanist by training, Dr. Park may not have contributed much scientifically to the task of cloning of human cells. She is, however, the science adviser to Roh Moo Hyun, the president of South Korea.

Did Dr. Park know what was going on and maybe this is why the government was trying so vigorously to discredit the MBC report?

Here is the other thing I found interesting:

“Clearly the scientific credibility of Korean investigators has been compromised,” said Dr. John Gearhart, a stem cell expert at Johns Hopkins University and a member of Science’s board of reviewers. He referred to the fact that duplicate and misidentified photos had turned up in articles by other South Korean authors besides Dr. Hwang.

This just makes me curious about what other cases of scientific fraud has been published by Korean scientists. Is this a systematic problem in Korea or are Korean cases of scientific fraud similar to the amount of fraud cases in western countries?

Pittsburgh Steelers’ wide receiver Hines Ward is currently being lionized in the Korean press due to his team’s recent success and entry into the NFL’s Super Bowl XL:

It might be the most glorious day of the year for the Steelers, who have clinched a berth in the Super Bowl for first time since 1995, and for Ward, who began to play for the team in 1998. It is also a memorable one for Korean people who find a source of national pride in Korean sports stars’ performance overseas.

“Well, actually I don’t know him a lot. But it’s so nice to have a Korean playing in the Super Bowl,’’ said a 28-year-old Korean man, working for a small local company in Seoul.

Kim Ji-young, a Korean woman attending a college in Seoul, said, “I don’t know much about American football, except it is the most famous sport in the United States. Nonetheless, I would not be alone in being proud of him among Koreans. He did a good job.’’

(…)

With more Koreans now turning their eyes to the NFL than ever, Ward is expected to get another chance to bring his half-home, Korea, big joy with his Feb. 5 Super Bowl performance.

I think it is great that more Koreans are getting interested in American football but I think they may be getting interested for the wrong reasons. I would rather have Koreans interested in American football because of the team, toughness, and strategy aspects of the sport, not because of Korean nationalism.

Hines Ward in the article is referred to as a “Korean”. Hines Ward is not Korean, he is a Korean-American. This same Korean identifier has been tagged to other Korean-American athletes as well most notably Michelle Wie. Than when one Korean-American athlete expressed the fact that she was in fact American she was criticized by the Korean press for it. Than to call Korea Hines Ward’s half home is also ridiculous because he has not been back to Korea since the age of one. How does that make Korea his half home? I just think that these athletes and Korean-Americans in general should be recognized for who they are, Americans that are of Korean-American ethnicity not simply “Korean”.

One Korean-American blogger out there, Jodi from the Asia Pages shares her thoughts on this topic as well.

Here is a story in the Stars and Stripes that is another example of the good things that USFK soldiers do every day in Korea that they don’t get any credit for:

Three 718th Ordinance Company soldiers traveling to Seoul provided first aid to a South Korean man whose van overturned on Highway 1 last week.

“It seems like they’re really making a big deal about it,” Wells said Tuesday about the response from military officials. “We just stopped to give assistance. We just helped out. That’s what we were there for.”

Nomad shares his thoughts on this as well.

This is just plain weird:

The Supreme Court has declared zero tolerance for the pinching of a child’s penis in jest during class time by his elementary school teacher.

The court fined Lee a total of W5 million (US$5,000), reasoning that even if his actions stemmed from an intention to educate, the method was inappropriate.

$5000 dollars for sexually assaulting a student four times!? Could you imagine if a expat English teacher would have done this what the outcry would be? This guy should go to jail if the court wants to send a message that this type of activity will not be condoned.

UPDATE #2: This week I am reposting last week’s Korea Finder with an additional hint since no one could figure it out. The larger island to the left of the smaller island once housed a large POW camp during the Korean War. This hint should help name the small island located to the lower right of the picture.

UPDATE #1: Since this Korea Finder seems to have people stumped I am going to offer a key hint. The name of the island is inspired by a famous North Korean mountain.

Who can name the small island at the far right of the picture?

The Party Pooper has discovered the solution to violent protesters from Korea: Cane them Singapore style:

Singapore says they are ready to cane World Bank/IMF protestors who commit violent crimes during the annual meetings to be held there. (you can find a little more information here)

I don’t know about you, but I’d pay good money to see a real country with real laws lay down the spank on Korean protestors who think living in a democracy means having the right to attack police and destroy property every time something doesn’t go your way. It’s unbelievable what protestors here do to Korean riot police (mostly just kids in their early 20’s doing their mandatory military service, by the way) and it’s incomprehensible why the Korean government lets them get away with it time after time.

Parade magazine has a Top 10 List of the World’s Worst Dictators. I wonder if the Blue House is going to condemn Kim Jong Il’s ranking as the world’s 2nd worst dictator as being an impediment to the six way talks?:

2) Kim Jong-il, North Korea. Age 63. In power since 1994. Last year’s rank: 2

While the outside world focuses on Kim Jong-il’s nuclear weapons program, domestically he runs the world’s most tightly controlled society. North Korea continues to rank last in the index of press freedom compiled by Reporters Without Borders, and for the 34th straight year it earned the worst possible score on political rights and civil liberties from Freedom House. An estimated 250,000 people are confined in “reeducation camps.” Malnourishment is widespread: According to the United Nations World Food Program, the average 7-year-old boy in North Korea is almost 8 inches shorter than a South Korean boy the same age and more than 20 pounds lighter.

Here is a complete list of the World’s Worst Dictators:

1) Omar al-Bashir, Sudan. Age 62. In power since 1989. Last year’s rank: 1

10) Teodoro Obiang Nguema, Equatorial Guinea. Age 63. In power since 1979. Last year’s rank: 10

Interesting that Hu Jintao is number six on the list. Just goes to show that economic success doesn’t always lead to political and individual freedom.

Hat Tip: Asiapundit