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!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Daily Kor for December 3, 2009: Grudge match

Well, if you had any hope that political tension would not be a part of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa in a couple months, you're going to be about as happy as a North Korean cadre with a mattress full of KPW. South Korea will be going head to head not just with one, not two, but three countries with whom past sporting events have turned a bit ugly. Not quite European hooligan ugly, but embarrassing-yourself-because-you-can't-grasp-that-it's-just-a-game ugly. South Korea is in Pot 2 with the US, Japan, and North Korea. Oh, joy.

At least one person is dead, two are critically wounded, and sixty injured in explosion during test of gun at a South Korea's Agency for Defense Development (ADD) in P'och'ŏn [Pocheon] (Reuters, BBC, Yonhap)
North Korea imposes curfew as currency swap gets underway (WSJ, Joongang Daily, Chosun Ilbo)
South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myunghwan says Seoul is unwilling to accept any peace treaty adopted between Washington and Pyongyang, calling the tactic a diversion from nuke issue (Xinhua, Korea Herald)

Rescued North Korean soldier returned to the DPRK via DMZ (AP via WaPo, Joongang Daily)
Group of activists and North Korean defectors to fly to Hague to petition International Criminal Court to investigate human rights abuses in North Korea and put Kim Jong-il on trial (CNBC)
Governor of South Ch'ungch'ŏng Province resigns to protest President Lee Myungbak's decision to change plans for Sejong City, located in the midland province (Yonhap)
ROK National Assembly calls for one-month extension of term after missing budget deadline (Reuters)
No end in sight for rail strike as business leaders ask railway workers to come back to their jobs (UPI)
South Korea lumped in Pot 2 at 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, against the US, Mexico, Honduras, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and North Korea (NYT, WaPo)
US Ambassador to South Korea Kathleen Stephens lays out Washington's goals ahead of envoy Stephen Bosworth's talks with Pyongyang (Yonhap)
Korea Telecom to discontinue landline service to businesses (Korea Times)
Incheon International Airport IPO to be offered in 2010, providing 15% stake in airport (Reuters)
OECD report: South Korean army "still gayest military in the world" (Chicago Tribune)

3 comments:

LastnameKimFriday, December 04, 2009 3:19:00 AM
Kushibo, I'm surprised you didn't use that NKorean soldiers picture to prove that NK has an even "gay-er" military than the ROK.
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LastnameKimFriday, December 04, 2009 3:20:00 AM
Wait a minute, I noticed you used a slightly different pic than the one on KT. They had one where the solder had his arm around the other one.
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kushiboFriday, December 04, 2009 4:01:00 AM
Kushibo, I'm surprised you didn't use that NKorean soldiers picture to prove that NK has an even "gay-er" military than the ROK.

Hmm... I saw the arm grab as kind of ominous. Like "you're coming with me" kinda thing. Seriously, I'm worried for the guy's future. He's been tainted, like the little kid in the movie The Ruins.

Anyway, the last story is generally chosen ahead of time, irrespective of what's in the paper that day.
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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.