Loose change for December 31, 2009

It's A Grind is nice enough to provide an hour of free wi-fi in exchange for buying a hot chocolate to fight the bitter cold of Nevada (which means "snowy" in Spanish; who knew?). So here is a truncated "Loose Change" list, with more to come.

 Economic news 

• Here's the BBC's take on the UAE nuclear deal.
• Korean manufacturers are feeling optimistic for 2010.

 North Korea news and stuff 

•  North Korea's new year's wish is to tear down the imaginary wall. I guess the real walls will remain.

 Other Korea-related stuff 

• Mike Hale of the NYT has a review of the 2008 movie The Chaser, while A.O. Scott has a write-up of Old Partner, also from 2008.
• Here are some more stories on Robert Park, the Christian missionary who marched into North Korea to declare that Kim Jong-il be nice: Los Angeles Times, New York Times, BBC, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Chosun Ilbo, Yonhap,

 Miscellany 

• The Kogi taco truck is one of the top-ten discoveries of the Orange County Register's food critic.
• The Wall Street Journal reports that Taiwan is having a similar beef issue the US as South Korea's.