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, November 21, 2009

Daily Kor for November 21, 2009: Bye Bye Barry

Wow. Obama arrives for two days and it's like they used up all the news. Seriously, if it weren't for Yonhap staying open, I'd have like two lines in today's edition.

Most of the stories are about North Korea, which seems to have gone into overdrive on Saturday. When reunification comes, we'll be able to put that work ethic to good use.

US President Barack Obama hints that American troops in South Korea could be deployed to Afghanistan (Korea Times)
North Korea slams UN human rights resolution as "nothing but a trite political plot" (Bloomberg)
Thirteen monks from Ch'ŏnt'ae Order head for DPRK city of Kaesŏng for joint ceremony with North Korean monks (AP via WaPo)
North Korea proposes talks with South Korea aimed at finding a way to resume suspended Kŭmgangsan tours (Yonhap, Korea Times)
South Korean exports rise 28.8% in first twenty days of November compared to a year earlier (Reuters via Forbes, Yonhap)
ROK Prime Minister Chung Unchan calls for crackdown on illegal private tutoring in order to reduce household burden of private education (Korea Times)
Group of American experts on Korean affairs heads for Pyongyang to meet with key officials in North Korea's nuclear program (Yonhap)
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offers "significant benefits" to North Korea in exchange for committing to verifiable, irreversible denuclearization (Yonhap)
Samsung Engineering wins $2.9 billion bid for electricity and waste management projects in UAE, its largest order ever (Korea Times)
ROK President Lee Myungbak visits P'yŏngch'ang to offer full government support in that county's bid to host 2018 Winter Olympiad (Korea Times)
South Korea falls four notches to #52 in FIFA world rankings (Yonhap)
Obama's latest faux-pas in Asia: GOP congressmen criticize President for teaching South Korean leader "extreme terrorist fist jab" (Fox News)

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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, November 21, 2009

Daily Kor for November 21, 2009: Bye Bye Barry

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