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, November 8, 2009

Korea news links for November 8, 2009: demos, downers, and Dear Leader

Well, thank you, Federation of Korean Trade Unions, for making this Sunday edition of KNL not a complete disaster (five stories in one edition is a record low). Is everybody home watching "Boys Before Flowers"... or whatever the hell is on in Korea nowadays? (Ah, maybe that's it... all the FKTU members protesting near the capitol meant they weren't committing crimes somewhere else. Just a theory.)

A lack of news stories partially explains why Kim Jong-il visiting a power plant (story #4) would even make the KNL. Yes, I realize that reporting that at all makes the list sounds all KCNA-ish, but in light of rumors that the Dear Leader is really a Dear Misleader, this is actually newsworthy, sort of.

The other noteworthy story is the banning of "downer" cows from slaughterhouses. A cow that is not able to walk on its own may in fact be suffering from BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, aka Mad Cow Disease) or some other ailment. It's really a wonder that this was not made illegal earlier (though the lack of homegrown BSE cases could explain it). It's also a bit of a wonder that protesters last year didn't speak up about it. Well, not that much of a wonder.

And now my news explanation is longer than the news, so I'll just get right into it.

Tens of thousands of FKTU unionists gather for massive rally near National Assembly on Yŏŭido to protest new laws seen as an attempt by the Blue House to weaken labor organizations (AP via WaPo, Yonhap)
South Korea bans "downer" cows from meat supply (Yonhap, Korea Times)
World's largest producer of copper raises 2010 prices for South Korea and Japan due to increasing demand from China (Bloomberg)
Kim Jong-il, accompanied by senior Workers' Party officials, visits newly constructed power plant and farm in southern DPRK (Yonhap, Korea Times)
Parker Brothers™ releases Seoul-inspired commemorative edition of popular board game Monopoly™ (USA Today)

2 comments:

A Deal Or No DealSunday, November 08, 2009 9:27:00 AM
Love #5.
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kushiboMonday, November 09, 2009 12:30:00 AM
If I were a tad cleverer, I could work out a whole series of these.
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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.

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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.