Monster Island (actually a peninsula)*

Pearls of witticism from 'Bo the Blogger: Kushibo's Korea blog... Kushibo-e Kibun... Now with Less kimchi, more nunchi. Random thoughts and commentary (and indiscernibly opaque humor) about selected social, political, economic, and health-related issues of the day affecting "foreans," Koreans, Korea and East Asia, along with the US, especially Hawaii, Orange County and the rest of California, plus anything else that is deemed worthy of discussion. Forza Corea!

Sunday, January 1, 2006

Run amok?

Nomad posted a couple stories about a group of USFK personnel in Uijongbu who robbed a taxi driver and then locked him in the trunk of his car. Last week they admitted what they had done, and we're waiting to see how the case will be handled.

A commenter named justpassingthru through claims that this same group of people has beaten down a bar owner and his wife, but they were still running around. Nomad himself is incredulous about the claim:

So you're saying that's correct? The same guys previously beat up a bar owner and his wife? I'm having a hard time believing they did that and were still walking around free.

If it is true (and I will retract some of this if it turns out it isn't), then I have something to say about this. [Before I begin, I want to make clear that I'm saying this from a personally held point-of-view that USFK is mostly well-behaved and that the chinbo "progressives" who want to push USFK off the peninsula to remove what they believe is the primary obstacle to peaceful unification seek to blow any incident out of proportion.]

It is this kind of thing that, when reported, feeds the common Korean public perception (well, mostly misperception as far as I'm aware) that too many USFK personnel have for too long run amok without fear of real punishment by a military organization that lets things slide when Korean nationals are victims of such crime by USFK personnel.*

This, plus the taxi jumpers and the alleged stabber in Shinchon who managed to make a spectacle on camera (GI Korea suggests the half-naked guy [seen above in what GI Korea describes as a staged photo] with the yakuza-esque tattoos who was willingly breaking regulations against being in an off-limits area "was probably a good kid just out having a good time with his friends"), are a composite image that, sadly, can eclipse the many good deeds of thousands of law-abiding, hard-working USFK personnel.

*A proper refutation of this perception would address how USFK personnel crime is taken seriously by USFK, not point out, correctly or not, that the Korean judicial system does not take seriously crimes committed by Korean nationals against USFK personnel.

2 comments:

DogwoodTree05Sunday, January 01, 2006 12:30:00 PM
Another teasing photo with the bits blanked out, Kushibo!
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kushiboSunday, January 01, 2006 12:33:00 PM
By gosh, you're right! I thought he was born pixelated (which would explain his anger at the world) and it would just be a social faux-pas to bring that up.
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Ask Kushibo.

My Google/Blogspot data shows that a lot of the 2 million people who have landed on my site (yes, that's the real number) are looking for cultural information on Korea (e.g., “When did Syngman Rhee die?” “What did the Indians bring to the first Chusŏk?’ etc., etc.), as well as practical or historical stuff.

That got me thinking that, hey, I have a master’s degree in Korean studies and a minor in Japanese studies, I’ve lived in Seoul far longer than most foreans my age (whether they're kyopo or non-kyopo), I teach introductory courses on Korea and its cultural trappings and history, so why not offer a free service where I attempt to answer people’s questions, point them in the direction of where they can get them answered, and/or offer my regulars (that’s you!) a chance to take a stab at some of this stuff, too.

So if there’s something you’d like to know from a “contrarian scourge,” click on ASK KUSHIBO and just ask a succinct question in the comments section below.

Oh, and play nice. Please don’t make me regret this.

九十五大怪獣란? 쿠시보의 몬스터 아일랜드란?

Pearls of witticism from 'Bo the Blogger: Kushibo's Korea blog... Kushibo-e Kibun...
Now with Less kimchi, more nunchi. Random thoughts and commentary (and indiscernibly opaque humor) about selected social, political, economic, and health-related issues of the day affecting "foreans" ("foreigners" in Korea be they kyopo or non-kyopo), Koreans, Korea and East Asia, along with the US, especially Hawaii, Orange County, and the rest of California, plus anything else that is deemed worthy of discussion. Forza Corea!

* Monster Island (actually a peninsula)

The name of this blog comes from a line in "Lisa on Ice," a beloved episode of The Simpsons, perhaps my all-time favorite television show (even though for several seasons there, it really did suck). Lisa is imagining being sworn in as president, but at the last minute, it is discovered that she failed P.E. (physical education) and she is thus "sentenced to a lifetime of horror" on Monster Island. "Don't worry," the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court confides in her, "It's just a name."

Fast forward to Lisa and other prisoners running in panic through a tropical jungle, chased by Godzilla-like creatures, including a monster turtle and a monster firefly.

"He said it was just a name!" Lisa screams to the man next to her. While he, too, runs for his life, the unidentified man calmly says, "What he meant is that Monster Island is actually a peninsula."

Anyway, I thought in some ways that punchline summed up modern-day Korea in a nutshell. For many people—foreigners and Koreans—the ups and downs and everyday travails of the Republic of Korea make it as precarious as a Monster Island would be (and with the DMZ being the only land border, it really is like an island). But it actually is a peninsula. Okay, it made sense in my head.

So as you can see, despite the hits I get from people looking for Japanese tentacle porn, it has nothing to do with anything salacious as that.