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, February 25, 2010

Daily Kor for February 25, 2010: Golden girl (and boy)

Well, Lee Seunghoon's fifteen minutes of fame lasted just about fifteen minutes — the time between his rival's alchemic mistake that turned Lee's silver into gold and skating superstar Kim Yuna getting her own world record for best scored performance ever in figure skating's short program. Don't worry, Seunghoon, I'll remember you, if for no other reason than it seems South Koreans need to be named Lee in order to win Olympic gold medals in speed skating.

South Korean golden girl Kim Yuna takes commanding lead in women's figure skating event after record-breaking performance in short program (LAT, NYT, AP via WaPo, BBC, WSJ, Yonhap, Korea Times, Joongang Daily, Chosun Ilbo)

Broadcasts of Kim Yuna and Mao Asada cause markets to freeze in South Korea and Japan (Reuters)

Disqualification by Dutch skating star allows Lee Seunghoon to win gold medal in men's 10,000-meter speed skating (WaPo, Monster Island post here)
Hyundai Motors, in cautious move reflecting heightened sensitivity over Toyota's troubles, recalls 47,000 new Hyundai Sonatas over minor door latch issue (AP via WaPo, Reuters, Bloomberg, Yonhap, Korea Times, Joongang Daily)

Does Korea Inc have to copy everything Japan Inc does?!

Ailing Kim Jong-il said to be "increasingly reliant on inner circle" (Chosun Ilbo)
Kia Motors sets a target of 15% increase in US sales (WSJ, Korea Times, Joongang Daily)
South Korean consumer sentiment falls to seven-month low (Reuters via CNBC)
Chinese President Hu Jintao meets North Korean delegation (Bloomberg)
Michael Moore chides Kim Yuna for promoting gun violence, plans documentary about ladies' figureskating industrial complex (San Francisco Chronicle)

2 comments:

LastnameKimThursday, February 25, 2010 7:10:00 AM
At first when I saw your item #1 about the financial market activity freezing in Korea and Japan, I thought it was your usual last news item (the fake one!). But I pressed on your link and it was real! Crazy how an ice skating competition has so much impact. I was an intern in Seoul at a securities firm back in '94 and I remember they turned on the TV in all of the department floors (they had TVs hanging on the walls for important news in all departments) and EVERYBODY was glued to the TV set when Korea was playing Germany (I think) in the FIFA world cup. That was crazy...they were all cheering everytime Korea was close to scoring...nobody was even working and you were a loser if you were working it seemed.
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kushiboThursday, February 25, 2010 11:14:00 AM
The odd thing is that the financial markets freezing headline was funnier than the fake headline.

I don't think it's all that different from other major sporting events: see #7 of this 2006 post from the World Cup.
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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.