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!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Korea news links for October 17, 2009

"Money for nothing and the chickens for free." That could be the theme song of North Korea as they try to extract more aid from Seoul — but at least they're calling it humanitarian aid — in exchange for the family reunions the South so desperately wants. Holding a bunch of septuagenarians and octogenarians emotional hostage... stay classy, Kim Jong-il.

2.46 trillion won Incheon Bridge, Korea's longest at 21.38 kilometers, officially opens to connect downtown Inchon with Incheon International Airport (Korea Times, Korea Herald)
South Korean foreign exchange controls spook foreign investors (Reuters)
General Motors will pay state-run Korea Development Bank, GM Daewoo's largest creditor, 125.8 billion won ($109 million) as loans mature (Reuters, WSJ, Korea Herald)
Hannara Party representative says North Korea is holding 154,000 political prisoners in six concentration camps (Donga Ilbo, AFP)
Samsung to build $2.6 billion LCD plant in Suzhou, China, to meet growing Chinese demand (Reuters, Joongang Daily)
Inter-Korean talks fail to reach an agreement on more family reunions as Pyongyang asks for humanitarian aid in exchange for visits (AP via WaPo, UPI, BBC, Xinhua, Joongang Daily, Korea Herald)
Fifty-three-year-old man with cardiac disorder is nation's sixteenth H1N1 "swine flu" death (Korea Herald)
US to grant rare visa to DPRK official Ri Gun to meet with North Korea scholars and experts in New York; may also meet with US diplomat (BBC, NYT, Reuters via WaPo)
An EU car industry representative says Europe's small car makers stand the most to lose in ROK-EU FTA as Korean car prices would be cut by as much as 1500 euros (WSJ)
South Korea and Peru begin fourth round of free-trade talks in Lima (Xinhua)
Bank of Korea and Bank of Japan agree to extend $20 billion currency swap arrangement (Reuters)
Iraqi-Japanese co-production Kick Off and South Korean film I'm In Trouble win top honors at Pusan International Film Festival (San Francisco Chronicle)
In the latest escalation of the China-Korea culture war, Beijing registers urban gingko nut harvesters with UNESCO, calling their profession a centuries-old Chinese-Gaogouli tradition (BBC)

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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.

Monster Island (actually a peninsula)*

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Korea news links for October 17, 2009

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