· January, 2008

Stories about South Korea from January, 2008

Korea: Entertainers’ lives, media and internet

  31 January 2008

Na Hoon-a, a legendary singer in Korea famous for his charisma during his 40 year career and for numerous rumors about his personal life, surprised everyone at a press conference. He disappeared from public over a year ago, as rumors swelled that Na had his genitals cut off by a...

South Korea: Cry from a Nepalese Migrant Worker

  29 January 2008

Suwash Budathoki, a Nepalese citizen, was arrested in the S. Korean capital Seoul on July 7, 2007 and now struggling to overcome his ill-health in Hwaseong Immigration Detention Center. IBMK has interviewed the desperate migrant.

Korea, an English-speaking Country?

  26 January 2008

All Koreans will speak English soon. Will stress about whether you can speak English or not increase or decrease? The new government, Lee Myung Bak’s transition team, announced that all schools in Korea will teach subjects in English. Since one week passed after the announcement of their plan, portal sites...

Korea: Have you been pressed down by scissors?

  22 January 2008

Have you heard about ‘your body is pressed down by scissors?’ When I was kid, I heard adults sometimes tell each other they were pressed down by scissors the previous night and talked about horrible ghost stories. I didn’t understand what it was until I experienced it one time. I...

Japan: The Whistle of the Middle East

  22 January 2008

The sport of handball is receiving the kind of attention from the media and general public it never has before in Japan, as well as in Korea. The dispute came to light when Korea and Japan together appealed to the International Handball Federation for replay of the Olympics qualifiers of...

Korea: Taean, Blogger, and Truth

  18 January 2008

Since the Taean oil spill in Korea, two stories have been the focus of attention. One is the large number of volunteers – 1 milion Koreans have volunteered so far. A blogger brings up the other story, which is the truth of the oil spill. Doubting major media news, blogger...

Korea: Game Addiction and Solution

  10 January 2008

Last year, 14 year old boy killed his 10 year old brother with a pocket knife. The motive was simply curiosity about the feeling after murder. He was known to be excessively liking games that particularly are full of violence and bombing. He was analyzed as being confused between imagined...

Korea: Education proposals by the next President

  5 January 2008

Since Lee Myung Bak was elected as the next president of the Republic of Korea, an interesting wave seen on the internet is the rapid increase in netizens’ activities against Lee Myung Bak. They make anti-Lee Myung Bak campaigns based on policies he will focus on for the next government....

Korea: Top Ten News in 2007

1 January 2008

Korean bloggers are busy saying farewell to 2007. While most of them look back at what they gained and did for 2007, a netizen bizbatik summarized the top ten blog news in Korea. 1. 이명박 당선..10년만에 정권교체. 한나라당 이명박 후보가 12월 19일 역대 대선 사상 최대 표차로 17대 대통령에 당선됐다....