Korea news links for November 11, 2009: Code Red in the Yellow Sea (Or, Commotion in the Ocean)

What is it with South Korea's neighbors trying to take down its ships? First the Japanese Navy Water Surface-Floating Self-Defense Collection of Boats™ rams a South Korean freighter, and then yesterday a North Korean boat tried to take down a ROK Navy vessel after it provocatively crossed the NLL (insert your own joke about what a DPRK boat provocatively crossing the NLL would look like). Seoul has to be thinking, "Why are these guys gunning for me? I've got to think!"

It's all serious business, at a time when Washington and Seoul are both trying to make nice with Pyongyang. It's so serious, that Getty Images went to the trouble of getting a visual for this very news story. As is typical of much of the Western press, this basically boils down to showing someone reading a newspaper that contains the story.

Lazy journalism at its finest: not only is she reading an English-language newspaper that was probably handed to her as a prop, she is not even reading the correct page for the story. She's probably checking her horoscope, Dear Abby, or the latest volley in the war between yellow journalists and E2 English teachers.

1. South Korean navy clashes with North Korean ship that crosses Northern Limit Line into ROK territorial waters (links here)
2. Obama administration warns Pyongyang against escalation of hostilities following Yellow Sea confrontation (BBC, VOA, Yonhap); Seoul and Pyongyang blame each other (WSJ)
3. State Department announces that Stephen Bosworth, envoy for North Korea, will travel to Pyongyang "at an appropriate time not yet determined," but likely before the end of the year (links here)
4. Sixteen cities and counties to be merged into six administrative districts (Yonhap, Joongang Daily, Donga Ilbo)
5. Four more deaths, including a twenty-five-year-old woman not considered high risk, bring total H1N1 "swine flu" fatalities to fifty-two (Yonhap, Xinhua, Korea Times, Korea Herald)
6. Education Ministry says 100 Indians will be recruited as assistant English teachers by fall 2010 (Joongang Daily)
7. KRW rises to thirteen-month high as G20 nations agree to maintain economic stimulus measures (Bloomberg)
8. Korean Air swings back to profit in third quarter thanks to stronger won and lower fuel prices (WSJ, Reuters, Joongang Daily)
9. South Korean unemployment rises slowest among OECD countries (Yonhap)
10. Coach of national team says South Korea's prospects look very good for U-5 World Cup (Cheju News)