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!

Friday, June 3, 2011

Daily Kor for Friday, June 3, 2011

From story #5, I was going to make a joke about Korean Air's A380 jumbojet offering new work opportunities for older English teachers who scare kindergarten children, but I thought better of it.

Daily Kor is back! Permanently! Or at least as long as I can keep up my leisurely morning schedule that allows me the time to comprehensively scour the Interwebs for all the Korea news that fits. Have a great weekend! Unless you're in the US, where it's still Thursday and if you don't go to work tomorrow you may get fired.

North Korea ministers reportedly ask US Human Rights Envoy to North Korea Robert King to return to DPRK (AP WaPo, Yonhap)

King says food situation is dire, Pyongyang must account for 22K tons of food aid left over from 2009 (AP via WaPo)

Pyongyang announces law that strips Hyundai Asan of Kŭmgangsan tour monopoly (AP via WaPo, Korea Times)
ROK Prime Minister Kim Hwangsik tells National Assembly session North Korea's claims of Seoul bribing Pyongyang for summit are "untrue" (AP)

Unification Minister Hyun Intaek admits to secret meetings with North (CNN, Yonhap)

On-site inspection for evidence of Agent Orange dumping in 1970s begins at Camp Carroll (Korea Times)
Korean Air's first Airbus A380 superjumbo arrives in Inchon (AFP, Korea Times)
Seoul shares plummet 1.27 percent on concerns over US and Greek woes (Yonhap)
Kia Motors to spend US$100 million to boost output in US plants, raising capacity of Georgia plant from 300K units per year to 360K (Reuters)

Hyundai-Kia collectively grabs 10 percent of US auto market for first time in May (Korea Herald, Joongang Daily)

SK Telecom to cut rates by W28K per year (Reuters, Yonhap, Korea Times, Korea Herald)
ROK government officials targeted by Gmail hacking scheme believed to have originated from China (Joongang Daily)
Four people found dead in Sŏngju in apparent group suicide (AP via WaPo, Korea Herald)
South Korea ends streak of record high foreign exchange reserves (AP via WaPo, Korea Times)
Samsung sues Taiwan's AU Optronics, Acer, and Sanyo over LCD patent complaints (AP via WaPo, Bloomberg)
State-run KOGAS signs deal with Baghdad government to develop Akkas gas field in western Iraq (AP via WaPo)
At People's Army weigh-in, senior officers required to wear large metals to make Kim Jong-un feel less self-conscious, defectors report (Yonhap)

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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.

Oh, and play nice. Please don’t make me regret this.

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.

Monster Island (actually a peninsula)*

Friday, June 3, 2011

Daily Kor for Friday, June 3, 2011

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