The South Korean soccer team has drawn a very favorable World Cup grouping for next year’s tournament. The team is grouped with Togo, France, and Switzerland. If Korea can win this group and move on to the round of 16 they would play either Saudia Arabia, Spain, Ukraine, or Tunisia.

Looking at things right now the Red Devils should at least get to the round of 16 and then have a great shot at reaching the elite eight. I doubt the Red Devils will match 2002’s success since they are playing on the road but getting to the elite eight would still be a great accomplishment for the team.

This Iraqi man featured in the Stars and Stripes is truly an amazing story of the perseverance and courage many Iraqis are displaying to aid the US forces in Iraq:

Standing on the dusty outskirts of Qaim, Hasoon watched with mounting fear as a wall of American tanks and armored vehicles bore down on him. “I was so scared I could not translate for 10 minutes,” Hasoon said.

The interpreter watched nervously as a wiry officer with a shaved head stepped from one of the vehicles and strode toward him. The officer, Lt. Col. William T. Dolan, then commander of the 1st or “Tiger” Squadron of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, grabbed the interpreter’s hand and pumped it heartily.

“It was not a normal handshake,” Hasoon recalled. “It was a GREAT handshake. It made me feel good.”

From that moment on, Hasoon — or “Alf” as the Americans call him — became an unlikely figure in Tiger Squadron’s colorful history, and a loyal friend to the unit. Over the next three years, he would become the only translator to work for the squadron before and after an eight-month stint at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, and quite possibly the only detainee there to be given a going-away party by its guards.

Mr. Hasoon was wrongly imprisoned in Abu Graib and released, but despite his experiences he eagerly decided to work for the US Army again. His comments below reflect the opinion of many Iraqis I spoke with on my tour in Iraq:

Some soldiers were surprised that Hasoon would come back to work with them after all that he’d been through, but Hasoon said he never gave it a second thought.

“When I come out, I say I want to be with the Tigers,” Hasoon said.

“Everything else, I have forgotten. I have no Iraqi friends. Who put me in detention? It was Iraqis who said things about me. It wasn’t the Americans.”

While Hasoon said he worries about what will happen to him when Tiger Squadron returns to the U.S. in several months, Radliff and Reilly said they were trying to figure out a way to get Hasoon to the States, at least for a visit.

For his part, Hasoon is thrilled by the idea of visiting America. His dream, he says, is to meet with President Bush.

“I want to tell him this: Don’t leave us in the middle of the road like your father did in ’91. If you leave Iraq now, the rivers will be red. They will be red from blood,” he said. “This is the price for freedom. The Iraqis and the Americans are paying for it now, but one day we will be like brothers.”

The important thing to remember is that there are many Iraqis just like Mr. Hasoon out there working and fighting against the Islamo-facists for a better future for Iraq despite what the media or the Democratic Party wants you to believe. In Iraq I used to run convoy security missions for fuel trucks coming out of Turkey and this allowed me the opportunity to travel to many places in Iraq and meet a variety of people. Many people I met wanted us to stay and thanked us for coming. Our convoy of fuel trucks used to stop at restaurants along the routes to eat and we never had to buy a meal because either someone in the restaurant or the owner himself would provide the food for our platoon for free.

One man I met told me that he hoped that the US would annex Iraq and make Iraq a US territory like Puerto Rico because Iraq’s neighboring countries would never let them live in peace if they pursued democracy. This man was wrong about the US making a Iraq a territory, but he was right about Iraq’s neighbors not letting them live in peace. However, this time I don’t see the US leaving Iraq in the middle of the road.

I was reading this review of the Chronicles of Narnia in the Donga-Ilbo and I had to wonder about this comparison:

In the aspect of making a children’s fantasy novel into a movie, the “Narnia Chronicles” are often compared to the Harry Potter series, but in reality, it is closer to a mixture of “Lord of the Rings” and “Passion of Christ.” In addition, the normal ingredient in Disney films, “family love,” makes it a typical Disney-style movie. Although the thrills and scariness of the movie are dull for adults, for children, they are quite adequate.

How can the reviewer compare Narnia to the Passion of the Christ and then say the movie’s scares are dull. For those who haven’t seen Passion it is a grueling movie to watch because the whole movie depicts Christ’s suffering before his cruxifiction in great detail. Very graphic movie.

Some how I doubt Narnia shows graphic suffering comparable to Passion, yet the reviewer makes this comparison anyway. Why you may ask? IMHO it is just an attempt to marginalize the movie early on due to it’s Christian analogies that some people feel offended by for some reason, especially the media. Now it seems even the Korean media is picking up on the controversy.

However, the controversy just makes me want to go see the movie even more now.

Microsoft has announced that it intends to appeal the $32 million dollar anti-trust ruling brought against the company by the Korean FTC:

We intend to appeal this decision because it is inconsistent with Korean law, it said in a statement. Nevertheless, we will continue developing products for Korean consumers in a way that complies with all laws and is pro-competitive We remain committed to Korea.

Microsoft announced a $761m settlement with RealNetworks in October when the media player specialist agreed to withdraw complaints in the US, Europe, and South Korea, while a $30m settlement with Daum was reached in November.

I tend to agree with Microsoft on this one because their Windows allows competing players to play on it. I don’t see how you tell a company that they can’t package a product with an existing product. It makes me wonder if nationalism is more involved in this ruling then actual business.

Nomad points out the ROK Army’s latest transformation idea to become a more modern and ready force; by making Ranger training fun by crossing the “magic bridge”:

For most men who have been to the military service, ranger training is remembered as a tough memory of crawling like crazy. The grueling physical training under the mean glance of drill instructors wearing red hats, rope crossing and mud puddle jumping can only be described as strenuous.

In order to do so, it decided to adopt an artificial rock climbing wall, and to implement climbing a “magic bridge” and crossing a one-rope bridge, into its obstacle course.

Microsoft has lost the anti-trust suit brought against the company in Korea:

Microsoft (MS), the world’s largest software company, has been fined 33 billion won by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) for violating rules of fair trade.

MS will have to follow the ruling of the FTC within 180 days.

However, Microsoft has vowed to fight on:

Tom Burt, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel at MS replied, “FTC’s ruling is inflicting damage to many consumers to help just a couple competing companies. We will take legal actions.”

Even the US Justice Department has spoken out on this:

The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday took the unusual step of sharply criticizing a decision by Korea’s Fair Trade Commission to fine Microsoft W33 billion (US$33 million) in an antitrust case, which it said went “beyond what is necessary or appropriate.”

Today the 9th of December is the 38th anniversary of the 1968 death of a young Korean boy, Lee Seung-bok, who was murdered by North Korean commandos who had infiltrated into Gangwon province. On the night of December 9th the communists stormed into the small traditional home that the Lee family lived, in search of food and shelter. The family gave them what food they had and hoped that the commandos would soon leave.

However, things turned tragic when the communists asked the 7 year old Lee Seung-bok if he preferred North Korea or South Korea. The young boy said he liked South Korea. The commandos began to beat him, but he would not change his mind and before being killed he said the now famous line, “I hate Communists!” The North Korean commandos then proceeded to cut out the 10 year old boys mouth and then began to butcher the rest of the family after they tried to stop the killing of Lee Seung-bok.

In total the 7 year old Seung-bok, his 5 year old, brother Seung-su, his 2 year old sister Seung-ja, and his 31 year old mother Joo Dae-ha were killed by the communists and left to die outside. However, his older brother who was also stabbed and had his head smashed with a rock, did survive. Though seriously wounded he was able to stagger to the residence of his family’s closest neighbor once the commandos left and plead for help and warn others of the infiltrators. Also a family friend had arrived at the residence and was attacked by the North Koreans and stabbed in the leg but he was also able to escape and warn nearby ROK Army officials.

The now alerted neighbors immediately began to take up what crude weapons they had and began guard shifts to watch for the North Koreans until local authorities arrived. The ROK Army arrived and began to secure the area and search for the communist spies.  Unfortunately the murderers were never found and escaped, but the words of Lee Seung-bok served as a rallying cry in schools across Korea and continue to resonate to this day. However, these words resonate today not with an anti-communist message but as a myth created by the authoritarian government of then President Park Chung Hee.

So how did this change in perceptions occur? Of course by repeating a lie over and over again until people just assume it is true. This is propaganda 101 for every communist and that is exactly what they did in the Lee Seung-bok incident. Over the past 12 years so called “progressive groups” using names that actually sound legitimate, which in this case the pro-North Korean sympathizers called themselves the People’s Coalition for Media Reform, to disguise who they really are because they just can’t come out and say they are communists because then people would not take them seriously. This is the same tactic being used currently in the General MacArthur controversy raging in Inchon. Anyway this group accused the then Park Chung-hee government and the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reporters who covered the tragedy as fabricating the entire story and not even being at the scene.

This tactic of disinformation in the Lee Seung-bok case has been allowed to simmer in the Korean publics for over the last 12 years where now people take it to be the truth even though last year the Seoul District Court sentenced the leaders of the People’s Coalition for Media Reform to jail terms for fabrication and libel, but the damage has already been done in the publics’s perception of this incident.

It is amazing to me that such blatant disinformation about the incident would be allowed to simmer for this long even though there are numerous eyewitnesses including Lee Seung-bok’s own brother who survived the massacre who verify the accounts of what happened that night. The only reason I can see that this disinformation has been allowed to simmer in the public’s imagination for so long is because more liberal governments who have come to power in South Korea over the last 12 years have been eager to defame the former President Park Chung-hee who still holds a positive image with many South Koreans for turning the country from one of the world’s poorest countries and into an economic power house. There is also the dual reason of appeasing the North Koreans as well in the name of the “Sunshine Policy” even if it means destroying the image and sacrifice of this young boy.

If you want to see for yourself the story of Lee Seung-bok, I encourage you to check out the Lee Seung-bok memorial located near the Soksa interchange on Interstate 50. Just exit off of Interstate 50 on the interchange and head North for about 10 minutes on highway 31 until you see the memorial located to your right. The memorial is quite large and with a huge parking lot, so you can’t miss it.

The memorial is located near where the incident actually happened and includes an accurate replica of Lee Seung-bok’s home, his grave site, a military static display, a park, and a museum with a theater that depicts all the details of the Lee Seung-bok tragedy. The video they play in the theater can also be viewed online by clicking here. I checked the memorial out as part of a side trip while traveling to Odaesan National Park. The memorial is an interesting excursion if you are in the area and the ride up highway 31 features some really gorgeous Gangwon-do mountain scenery.

Here is an important message from the US Embassy that was put on through their e-mail notification system:

The Embassy has just been informed that the date of the
demonstration in Pyeongtaek City will be Sunday, December 11, 2005, not
December 10, 2005, as originally reported. Please note that the ending
time has changed to 8:00 p.m. from 6:00 p.m.

Additionally, on Saturday, December 11, 2005, from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00
p.m., approximately 10,000 demonstrators are expected to gather in
downtown Pyongtaek City to protest U.S. military base expansion.

Reading this, I wonder what event will draw more press coverage? Will it be 80,000 people protesting about North Korean human rights in front of city hall or 10,000 people protesting outside Camp Humphrey’s?

I doubt 10,000 will show up at the Camp Humphreys protest, but I’m sure they will draw the majority of the media attention because they will assault and seriously injure the policemen with those long bamboo poles and rocks. After the assault the protesters will then claim that the cops abused them instead.

The slow dismantlement of the USFK continues:

The Defense Ministry said yesterday that Seoul and Washington will begin talks next year on Korea’s wartime control of its military. Under existing arrangements, Korea’s military would fight a war under the U.S. general who heads the Combined Forces Command here.

The agreement came at defense consultations here this week; the talks will begin in February.
President Roh Moo-hyun, who has advocated more military independence from the United States, has complained publicly about those wartime command arrangements. The two nations have already agreed that the Korean military will take over several defense missions that are now U.S. responsibilities. Seoul is also planning a major shakeup of its forces, which would result in a much smaller Army but one equipped with more advanced firepower.

It is important to note that once the war time command is shifted to South Korea it is more than likely IMHO that you will see a large draw down of US forces involved in the Korean theater. The US government will never allow a Korean general to command the combined arms powers that the US possesses such as submarines, naval forces, stealth bombers, cruise missiles, etc. The ROK Army excels at infantry land warfare in their theater and that is why the ROK Army has always had the head land component commander, but never the overall command of the Combined Forces Command.

So this may actually be an opportunity for the US government to use this issue as a way of executing a good face saving withdrawal of forces from the Korean peninsula. Like they say, be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.

The city of Pusan has it’s sights set on making a huge complex for the Pusan International Film Festival:

The Pusan International Film Festival has selected Austria-based Coop Himmelb(l)au’s design as the winning entry for its 430,000 square-foot PIFF Cinema Complex and urban plaza in Pusan, South Korea. The firm, led by architects Helmut Swiczinsky and Wolf D. Prix, envisions a structure with a swooping, curvaceous roof that will act as a film screen on both surfaces. Images can be projected from below for visitors inside the complex to view, but also from above so that they appear on the roof for viewers to enjoy from the surrounding structures.

Prix explains, “the roof is not only a roof but also a flying building, so to say.” The building will include six cinemas, an exhibition hall, and an entry plaza that allows guests to arrive by boat. The project will also include a valley, a small canal park, and a red carpet zone and walk of fame.

Maybe it is just me but this monstrosity just looks weird and ugly. Plus what are they going to do with this thing for the rest of the year when the film festival isn’t going on?