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!

Friday, November 27, 2009

Daily Kor for November 27, 2009

Normally you would find some snarky analysis here, but I'm off with some friends to Wailana Coffee House for some Thanksgiving grub, thank you very much.

From all of us at Monster Island (actually a peninsula, though currently headquartered on an island), here's wishing you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving. May you be so blessed with things to be thankful for, that your food gets cold just listing them all.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission officially finds that at least 4900 civilians were killed by South Korean military and police in opening months of Korean War (links here)
Promising marriage in order to obtain sex no longer illegal thanks to Constitutional Court decision (links here)
South Korea's two major umbrella labor groups threaten joint strike over efforts to weaken unions (AFP)
Railway workers strike disrupts freight service (Yonhap, Korea Herald, Joongang Daily)
Conservative group says it will release list of pro-North Korean activists early next year (Yonhap)
South and North Korea to send joint survey teams to China and Vietnam to find international model for Kaesŏng industrial park (Yonhap, Korea Times, Joongang Daily)
Seoul considering non-cash payments for tour programs in effort to raise transactional transparency (Yonhap)
Defense Ministry says Afghanistan troop deployment to be under 400 (Yonhap)
Baby girl in Kimhae tests positive for H1N1 flu twice (Yonhap, Korea Times)
Bank of Korea sets inflation targets of between 2.0 and 4.0 percent for 2010 to 2012 period (Reuters, Korea Herald)
South Korea's current account surplus stands at $4.94 billion in October, the ninth month of surplus in a row (WSJ, Yonhap)
Hyundai-Kia aims to sell 1 million units in China next year (Reuters via CNBC, CNBC Asia)
South Korea launches dispute at WTO over US measures to raise prices on imported steel (Reuters via NYT)
Morgan Stanley says Korean profits beat forecasts (Bloomberg)
New official biography of Kim Ilsung credits Dear Leader with inventing whack-a-mole (Reuters)

[above: After American industrial spies stole the idea, the k at the end of whack was removed to distance the game from its North Korean paradise roots.]

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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)*

Friday, November 27, 2009

Daily Kor for November 27, 2009

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