Daily Kor for Wednesday, July 6, 2011

At a presentation in Durban, a bored Kim Yuna plays "screw marry kill" in her head.

Courtesy of the Washington Post, AP has a good overview of the three bids for the 2018 Winter Olympiad, along with pros and cons. I had planned to fisk it (just a little), but there's really nothing there I disagree with, except possibly the DMZ scare. I think the overwhelming support for the Olympics, both locally and nationally, will play in Pyongchang's favor, along with the potential to promote winter sports in an area where it's just now starting to gain popularity, plus the whole touchy-feely peace thing.

If Pyongchang narrowly loses a third time, though, we'll be faced with the tough decision of whether to try a fourth time or let Muju have a go at it. But let me tell you, if "Pyeongchang" wins, I'll be launching my "drop the E" campaign to bring back the superior variant of McCune-Reischauer Romanization that was in use during the last Olympics, before Retrograde Romanization took hold for the World Cup.

Oh, and "Boo!" to Frank Smith of PressTV for this highly skewed presentation of the tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

1. Supporting South Korea's bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics, "Queen Yuna" says Pyongchang is "perfectly ready" for winter games (AP via WaPo)
• Bidding selection boils down to choice between Asia and Europe (AP via WaPo)
• "Seoul" makes final push for Pyongchang games (WSJ)
• President Lee Myungbak calls for "unsparing efforts" in countdown to decision (Yonhap)
2. Hundreds evacuate Kuŭi-dong district's TechnoMart high-rise in eastern Seoul after building shakes due to unknown origin (Yonhap, Korea Times, Korea Herald, Joongang Daily)
3. Computer security software maker McAfee says cyber attack on South Korean government and banking websites linked to North Korea or its sympathizers and connected with massive attack in 2009 on US sites (AP via WaPo, Yonhap, Korea Herald, Joongang Daily)
4. Marine who perpetrated massacre of fellow marines on Kanghwa-do claims to have been ostracized and maltreated by superiors and juniors (Yonhap, Korea Times)
5. US House of Representatives Ways & Means Committee takes up free-trade agreement with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama, but not job training bill sought by Obama administration (AP via WaPo, Yonhap, Bloomberg)
6. Bipartisan group of lawmakers arrives on Tokto to give Coast Guard personnel there a morale boost (Yonhap)
7. Finance Ministry report says ROK national debt could reach 1 quadrillion won (US$938 billion) within ten years due in part to aging population (Yonhap)
8. With boost from Thailand and China, inbound and outbound tourists to/from South Korea reach all-time high in first half of 2011 (Yonhap)
9. Following abolition of corporal punishment, South Korean schools adopt controversial dunce-cap shaming strategy (AFP)