Stories about South Korea from February, 2006
Computer Crash: Food Overload
Was your umbilical cord attached to a computer when you were born? It may sound like a strange statement, but the truth is that some of us think that. Especially if you happen to be in the middle of the Ecuadorian Andes and there is no telephone or Internet for...
Too Many Rights in The Prison?
Flying Yangban applauds the South Korean government's consideration to officially abolish the death penalty. However, he shudders at the thought of extending voting rights to prisoners.
How Many Parents Can Toby Have?
So far 10 South Korean have claimed to be either Toby Dawson's birth parents or relatives. Toby Dawson was born in South Korea, adopted by his American parents at age three, and recently won the bronze medal in the men's mogul ski event. The Lost Nomad cites two reportings on...
Racism in China and South Korea
Matthew Stinson observes the similarities and the differences between the Chinese and the Koreans regarding racism.
Gulag for Those Who Talk in North Korea
On The Korea Liberator, Joshua recalls the North Korean cheering squad whose presence at the 2002 Asian Games sparked a mood of reconciliation between the North and the South. A recent defector from North Korea, however, reported the women being sent to a concentration camp for having talked about their...
Kimchi-Based Anti-Bird-Flu Air-Conditioners
The Lost Nomad reports that South Korea's LG Electronics has begun selling air-conditioners equipped with enzyme to fight the bird flu. The enzyme is extracted from kimchi, Korea's staple pickled vegetable, which is reportedly capable of eliminating the H5N1 virus.
Korean Husbsters
The Lost Nomad and his readers discuss Korea's fascination with “hubs”. One reader comments that “a nation claiming to want to become the hub of this and the hub of that constantly acts in such a way to make itself merely the ‘hub cap’ of this and that”.
South Korea Embraces Super-Bowl MVP
The Lost Nomad highlights a Los Angeles Times article on Hines Ward becoming an instant national hero in South Korea. Hines, born to a Korean mother and an African American GI father, grew up in the US and suffered discrimination from the Korean community. He was recently elected the most...
Stealing Candies on Valentine's
The blogger at The Asia Pages gets a chuckle out of a report that in the South Korean army, new conscripts have to share chocolates from their girlfriends with their seniors on Valentine's day.
Korean Going for The Top
The South Korean government just announced that its foreign minister, Ban Ki-moon, would run for the UN Secretary General post. Fying Yangban discusses the importance of Ban securing backings from other Asian Countries, while Oranckay reminisces on the announcement's effect in boosting national pride.
Carl Icahn is Coming to Korea!
Mingi Hyun on The Asia/Korea Tide reports the fight for control over KT&G, the largest Korean cigarette maker. Concerns mounted in Korea as Carl Icahn, the famed corporate raider who is trying to break up Time Warner at the moment, raised his ownership in KT&G to 6.6% of the company.
The Koreans vs. Those From Overseas
The Asia Pages discusses how to tell a Gyopo (overseas Korean) from a Korean national at the dinner table and elsewhere in Korea. The writer opines that to deny the difference between the two is to deny one's true identity.
Collectively At Hyundai In China
Jamie on Two Koreas considers it significant that the All China Federation of Trade Unions is pressuring for a collective bargaining agreement at Hyundai's China operation , even though China restricts collective union actions.
South Korea: Blogs vs. “Gleebs”
Being Korean calls blogs “gleebs” and rants about how so few of them are meaningful: “there are far too few gleeb sites that are actually intelligently-written. there are far too few gleebs that are written without the author's taking him- or herself too seriously. there are far too few gleebs...
South Korea: The Screen Goes Dark
The passing of pioneering video artist Nam June Paik earlier this week drew comment from Korea bloggers here and here.
China, South Korea, Japan, Iran: Nuclear Concerns
Mingi Hyun explains why China's concerns over nuclear proliferation are different from the Western powers. The reason why it doesn't want Iran to have nukes is because it worries South Korea and Japan may one day want them too.
