Stories about South Korea from October, 2007
Korea: Denuclearization
Jae Young Lee from Ohmynews reports on the North Korea path to de-nuclearization.
Korea: School Field Trips and Income Gap
School excursions are memorable experiences. Being in unfamiliar circumstances and spending several nights with friends give the chance to build stronger friendships and to better understand teachers and other friends. But recently school excursions have become a source of dispute, as wealthier students can afford trips to places that poorer...
South Korea: Street Vendor Suicide
CINA explains how the brutal policy of street vendors crackdown leaded to the death of Lee Geunjae, who had been a street vendor for 13 years in the City of Goyang.
South Korea: Worker's Public Suicide
CINA blogs on two workers’ demonstration on 27 October in Seoul, one organized by construction workers, one by irregular workers. In the former protest, a worker committed public suicide by burning himself.
South Korea: Presidential Poll
Andy Jackson from Marmot's Hole blogs the presidential poll result and the former Seoul major Lee Myung-bak is in the lead.
Korea: Can a Law Change Society and People's Perspectives?
Korean bloggers discuss a new bill that would prohibit discrimination against homosexuals in Korea. There are many opposing views, but some netizens welcome this new law and ask for a more understanding attitude toward homosexuals.
South Korea: Crime Against Women
Robert Koehler shows how gender, race and crime are mingled together in journalistic report.
Korea: Kissing in Public Places
Kissing in public places can turn into a major issue and generate arguments. An adult is being tried in court for beating teenagers who were kissing at a metro station. He had also beaten a teenager who smoked in public. After the news, a blogger writes how he/she feels about others’ opinions about this accident.
Korea: Eating Alone and Loneliness
In a major newspaper, there was a column about eating alone. “Eating alone, you should be strong.” Citing the script of a movie, Hope Floats, the columnist says how difficult eating alone is and especially in Korea. After the column, there is a compilation of how bloggers think about the...
Korea: Pressroom and Freedom of Media
On the 12th of October, the South Korean government announced that they would close the pressroom as they announced before. Journalists have been strongly against it and international media have conveyed this news as concern about the freedom of media in Korea. How have netizens reacted it? Not a few...
Korea: How much does beauty affect people’s personalities?
How much does beauty affect people’s personalities? What about the personalities of people who gain their beauty with the assistance of medical procedures? Here is a netizen’s story from today’s panel in a major Korean portal. 저 에게는 아주 예쁜 친구가 한명 있습니다. 여러 친구가 있지만 그 중에서도 제일 예쁜,...
Korea: High School Student and Religious Freedom
A teenager’s struggle for religious freedom over three years achieved victory this month. He was a student at a Christian high school and had to attend chapel regularly. He requested not to take the classes, but his request was turned down by the school. His fight against the school has...
When North and South Korean leaders meet
What is the meaning of the second North and South Korean leaders’ meeting to Korea? There are two major topics. One is the discord of opinions between internet netizens and public media. The other focuses on the meaning of this meeting in political and economic aspects. Not a few bloggers...
Korea and Japan: Comfort Women
Melissa Wabnitz from Ohmynews wrote an article about Korean comfort women and their history in struggling to get an apology from the Japan government.
Korea: Intra-Korean Summit Notes
“Peace declaration” has been agreed upon on the intra-Korean summit. North Korea will provide a complete list of its nuclear programs and disable its facilities by Dec. 31. Robert Koehler posts some notes on how the Korean government prepared for the summit. Walter Hendler from Ohmynews also wrote a pre-summit...
Korea: Moving on from Afghanistan
The senior pastor at the Saemmul church, which sent 23 Korean volunteers to Afghanistan where they were kidnapped, was re-appointed on the 30th of September. The event provided bloggers with another chance to look back at the incident.
