Ruminations in Korea

BREAKING NEWS!

According to this breaking story, the Korean Embassy in Iraq is investigating whether two korean business contractors were injured early today in Tikrit.  According to Embassy, there are approximately 30 Koreans currently in Iraq.  They are looking into whether two foreigners injured in an attack at a highway near Saddam’s hometown of Tikrit were Korean.

~~~~

Reuters has identified the two injured foreigners as possibly Korean Contractors:  One of the victims was slumped motionless inside the car and was receiving no medical attention. U.S. troops were trying to revive the second victim.  Locals said the men were believed to be Korean contractors, but this could not be confirmed. 

UPDATE

According to Yonhap: Two Koreans killed, two others wounded from insurgents’ attack in Iraq

UPDATE

Yonhap update:  Identity of wounded Koreans released.  Dead not yet named.  Apparently they worked for a Korean electric company.

UPDATE

Yohnap again updates: The victims are from Omu Electronics in Seoul’s Guro Industrial Complex.

LATEST

Yonhap reports that a midnight emergency meeting of the National Security Council was held to brief the president on the attack and to draw up counter-measures for dealing with the attacks.

Reuters carries the latest and posits that the attack will have major political ramifications for South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun.

TO Ski or Not to Ski

Here’s another reason why it may not be a good idea to hold the Winter Olympics here:

Odds and Ends

It’s a slow Sunday night in Pusan. Other Korea bloggers are gathering in Seoul.  I thought I would just drop a few lines on a few amuzing things.

Hey, Buddy, Want to Buy a Cheap Presidential Wristwatch?

The Korea Times talks about 2,000 wristwatches given by President Roh to visiting foreigners. The watches cost the government 32,000 won (about $27) each, more than those given by former presidents Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-sam which were valued at around 10,000 to 20,000 won. That’s nice.  Vist a foreign head of state and get a $27 watch.  Well…At least they didn’t get an $8 -$16 watch from past presidents.  What exactly does a $27 watch look like?  We will never know because the presidential office did not release details of the gifts fearing the circulation of imitations. Now, I really want to know what a knockoff of a $27 watch looksl like.

Latest on Troop Dispatch

According to the Korea Times, the government survey team supports sending combat troops to Iraq.  Rep. Song Young-gil of the Uri Party initially showed strong opposition to the dispatch of combat troops to Iraq.  However, he now says "I have come to the view that South Korea should actively participate in the Iraq rehabilitation project,” he said, adding that the Iraqi people’s welcoming stance towards the Koreans seems genuine." But…but…but… didn’t two anti-war and anti-dispatch people from the Citizens’ Action Against Troop Dispatch to

Iraq

and Corea Peace Solidarity say that over 86% of Iraqis were against the dispatch of troops based on their survey of 131 people in Iraq?  Oh dear…who can we believe in these dark times?  Who can we trust?

More on Lee Seung-yeop

In this Korea Times article, it seems that S.Y. Lee has made his bed and will have to lay in it.  The 27 year-old whining slug said "I will not go to the U.S. if they treat Korean baseball as equal to the level of their Class-AA league,” Lee told Yonhap News Agency. "I would rather stay at the Samsung Lions if I fail to make a move to the U.S.”   This little bit of nationalism was addressed by Kevin over at IA.  Again, Lee!  Listen up.  KOREAN BASEBALL IS NOT EQUAL TO THE MAJOR LEAGUE!!!  IT IS NOT EQUAL TO TRIPPLE-A BALL!!!  I would be shocked and utterly stunned if you asked any one of the Americans that play on Korean baseball teams whether they wanted to come to America to play Tripple-A ball or stay in Korea, and he said, "No thanks, man.  I’m Ok.  I’ll stay in Korea because it’s the same as AAA ball back home, if not equal to the Big League, but thanks for asking."  Looks like Lee will be staying in Korea.  You know, I wish there was some way to convince a team to let him start in the Majors just so I could watch Schill, Johnson, or some other pitcher just flame his ass repeatedly. As I have said before, he is not going to get what he wants, because he doesn’t deserve it.

Another fine example of fair and unbaised Korean journalism

Alleged "Reporter" and/or "Journalist" Seo Soo-Min offers up a flaming pile of Korean journalistic garbage that, in the

US

, would not find its way into the pages of a middle school newspaper prepared by a bunch of sixth-graders somewhere in the heart of illiterate sports fisherman land.  That is where I come from, so I know.

With that, the article:

"Iraqis Oppose ROK Troop Dispatch"

Nice.  While this headline is technically accurate, in that two or more Iraqis are opposed to ROK Troop Dispatch, it is nothing short of misleading, as are most headlines in

Korea

’s English-language media.  You constantly see headlines such as "Korean Government to do … ," but after reading the article, you realize that the headline should have actually said, "Korean Government briefly mentioned the possibility of maybe one day considering whether or not it might be useful to give some thought to looking further into the matter of deciding whether or not they should try to do …"

Whoever wrote the headline to this article should be ashamed of themselves. Clearly, the headline is misleading at best and an outright lie in an attempt to deceive at worst.

The majority of Iraqis living in the areas where South Korean troops are likely be deployed are opposed to the dispatch, even if most of the soldiers are non-combatants such as medics and engineers, according to a recent survey.

First of all, it is natural to assume that no one would want more military from another country to be deployed in your country. However, even if someone is opposed to the idea of a dispatch, that same person may understand the need for it and accept it on that level.  However, for the reasons stated over at Flying Yangban, we will never exactly who was questioned, what questions were asked, what conditions they would have put on their answers, etc.  But, we can imagine.

The Citizens’ Action Against Troop Dispatch to

Iraq

and Corea Peace Solidarity said on Friday it conducted the survey on 131 people in six regions including

Mosul

and

Kirkuk

from Nov. 4-15.

Here is the first clue that something is wrong: Who did this survey?  Zogby? No.  Anybody reputable? No.  It was done by two people from the Citizens’ Action Against Troop Dispatch to

Iraq

and Corea Peace Solidarity.  Errr. . . It is nice to know that the "survey" was done by an unbiased organization.  And, by the way, I am so sick of seeing Corea instead of

Korea

, but that is an entirely different issue. 

Here is the second clue that something is wrong: 131 people in 11 days in 6 areas.  That means averages of around 22 people per area were asked.  Over 11 days, that averages out to two people per day per area.  They asked 22 people in

Baghdad

what they thought about South Korean troops being dispatched to

Iraq

?  That’s a good and credible sample, especially if you note from the paragraphs following that, statistically speaking, less than two of those 22 would have been women, and we all know that women were not oppressed or subjugated in any way by Saddam or other Iraqi males.

Lim Kyong-ran and Bae Sang-hyun, two anti-war activists who conducted the poll, interviewed Iraqis whilst in the nation, claiming the results carry significant weight.

What weight does this carry??? None at all!  Two anti-war activists, belonging to an anti-war and anti-dispatch group go to

Iraq

and talk to a few men in half a dozen cities and towns and claim that their crap carries significant weight.

"The survey isn’t perfect as it was conducted on only 131 people, but we think we correctly represented the atmosphere by conducting direct one-on-one interviews," a representative from Corea Peace Solidarity said in a news conference.

Is not perfect?  Really?  You think so?  Yeah, it was conducted only 131 people, but what 131 people?  I am sure anti-war people from an anti-war group went around and talked to people from all walks of life and did not seek out any groups opposed to the presence of any troops.

According to the survey, 113 of the 131 Iraqis questioned, or 86.3 percent, said they didn’t want South Korean combat troops to be sent.

Of those against the dispatch, 81 people, or 62.5 percent of the total, said non-combat troops such as military engineers and medics would not be helpful to

Iraq

.

I can see where this could be possible.  Iraqis are not untrained, incapable people.  I can understand them saying that engineers and medics would not be particularly helpful.  That having been said, the answers could have been quite different had they people been asked, whether South Korean combat troops would be helpful to

Iraq

and whether they wanted engineers and medics to be sent.

However, the image that Iraqis have of

South Korea

is positive, according to the survey. Most of the respondents, 87.8 percent, said they have an awareness of

South Korea

and 82.4 percent said they like

Korea

.

What utterly meaningless, self-promoting, nationalistic, mental masturbation that paragraph is.  I am sure that 87.8 percent of Koreans asked would have an awareness of

Zambia

, but I doubt more than a handful could tell you a single thing about

Zambia

, other than it being in

Africa

.

I personally found it hilarious that almost 20 percent of Iraqis apparently do not like

South Korea

.  What did

Korea

ever to them?  What basis would 20% of Iraqis have for not liking

Korea

, especially since it is very likely that these pollsters are the only contact these people have ever had with Koreans of any sort.

Nearly half of the respondents, at 47.3 percent, said they are aware of

South Korea

’s decision to contribute additional troops to

Iraq

to help the

United States

‘ mission there.

Less than 50%. Wow. Those Iraqis sure do have an awareness of

South Korea

.

As for their views on

U.S.

troops, 85.5 percent said they are occupational forces, followed by 9.9 percent who answered they are liberation forces.

How many of those people view occupation forces as a negative, and how may of them feel a lot happier, freer, and safer than before?

The survey was conducted on 114 men and 17 women in

Baghdad

,

Mosul

,

Kirkuk

,

Basra

, Fallujah and Hadija.

17 women.  Great.  Speaks volumes.

A copy of the result was also relayed to Chong Wa Dae on Friday. Civic groups have launched fierce protests against the government’s unpopular plans to send additional troops to

Iraq

Unpopular?  How unpopular.  Perhaps these two guys could conduct a meaningful poll for us.

There is absolutely nothing redeeming in this article.  From start to finish, it is a poorly written, unbalanced, unresearched, rehashing of poorly conducted, biased, utterly flawed, worthless nonsense.  Perhaps this article should have been titled "Anti-war protesters look for support in

Iraq

."

From the Chosun Ilbo:  Foreign Workers Struggle to Make Sense of Deportations - Let me see if I can help…  Hey! Illegal Foreign worker. You are here ILLEGALLY!  You are breaking the law! Bye bye! 

From the Chosun Ilbo: Chough Snags the MDP’s Big Seat - Of all the stupid ways to Romanize a Korean name, this has got to take the cake. What is wrong with spelling it "Cho?" The name "Chough" makes me want to pronounce it like "Chuff" or "Cough" or "Choo" (like "through").

From the Korea Times: S. Korea in Golden Start at Short Track World Cup - Without the US team.  If you can’t beat them, threaten to kill them.

From the Korea times: Round Card Boys? - Men holding the round cards between rounds at female boxing matches?  The gender-switch is the brainchild of a public relations company in Seoul.  "It’ll be the first such case in the world,” MEGA public relations director Ryu Young-ju told The Korea Times.  Nice "brain child".  I wonder how long it took, how much of the company’s resources it took to develp the brain child, and how much the firm got paid.  I’m sure someone thought of it before, but abandoned it because it was a stupid idea.

From CNN: In rare step, Justice re-examines controversial 1995 prison death - GOOD!  It’s about damned time!  What a horrible case this is.

In an update to the piece posted by Kevin at IA,we have this:

In this article from the Daily Sports, Lee makes public his salary hopes for the first time.  He said that he needs at lease a two-year US$ 5,000,000 contract.  His agent said that if Lee does not get at least that good of an offer, Lee will cancel his plans to play in the Major Leagues.

Apparently, this figure breaks down to US$ 1.5 mil per year plus a US$ 2 mil signing bonus.  A TWO MILLION DOLLAR SIGNING BONUS????? Good grief.  What has he done in the US to warrant a two million dollar signing bonus???  Well how gracious of him to suggest that he would lower his signing bonus demands if the team raised his yearly salary to match the 2 year, US$ 5 mil requirements.

Apparently, the first round of negotiation with the Dodgers went badly with  the first offer of 3 mil over 3 years was rejected.  According to the article, the dodgers are reconsidering and expected to return with a higher offer.

The Dodgers have said that Lee’s salary demands are too high.  Gee.  Ya think?  It is reported that the Dodgers have agreed to all of the other contract terms suggested by Lee, which apparently include no minor leage ball in order to give him "many chances to do battle".

Lee, you best come down off that high horse of yours, take your hat in your hands, and beg someone to let you play on their team, no matter what the terms and salary.  Consider yourself extremely lucky that anyone would want you on their team, especially the Dodgers after they suffered from the Park pitching disaster. 

Contrary to what most Koreans think, Korean baseball players are not highly regarded in the Major Leagues. Park turned into a major gas can with the Dodgers and got the boot.  In Texas, he has not played long enough to know if he is still a gas can or not.  What…he played two innings last season, or something like that.  Hee Sup (or however the crap he Romanizes his name) got the boot to Florida, and Florida only made the trade to free up salary to get good players.  Good ol’ BK sucked so bad that he almost cost Arizona a World Series with spectacular flame outs, and he is now about be run from Boston.  Its ok to be a jackass and be Barry Bonds, but it is definitely not ok to be a jackass and suck as bad as BK does under any sort of pressure.

What do we have here, three sucky Korean players in the major leagues, one mullet-wearing hack that couldn¡¯t handle the pressure and went back home to greener pastures after about 10 minutes, and one minor leagure that likes to hurl balls at endangerd birds.  Why should the big league have any confidence in you at all Lee?

If the Dodgers offer you the bat boy job for a bag of popcorn, some roasted peanuts, a diet coke, and an autographed bat, shut up and take it.

In his comments about the following article, Marmot makes some valid and interesting points that I generally agree with.

In her Villiage Voice article, Cathy Hong discusses the Fine Young Communists, Uncle Sam Is Losing the War for Students in South

Dae Sik Yoo, the student body president of

Kyung

 

Hee

 

University

, is on the lam. Since police can arrest him anywhere but here—they’re not allowed on university grounds

This was not always the case.  Traditionally, demonstrations taking place in front of campuses would end at some predetermined time with a hefty barrage of tear gas and the riot police storming the campus and perhaps arresting a few students.  However, sometime around 1990 or 1991, there was a terrible incident where a demonstration spun horribly out of control.  A group of students took four riot police hostage.  After a lengthy standoff, the riot police decided to storm the building.  During the rescue attempt, the students poured gasoline on the cops and lit em up.  I cannot remember how many of them died.  My understanding is that largely because of this incident, and other smaller incidents, the student organization and the police came to an agreement that the police would not pursue students onto campuses and the students would drastically curtail the use of incendiary devices and weapons.

He could pass for a preppie American student. But when asked about the political opinions that got him into trouble, he sounds more like a North Korean Communist affiliate than a college student in a U.S.-allied country.

"Kim Jong Il is an outstanding leader," says Yoo. "No other country can stand up to the

U.S.

Only

North Korea

can."

It is no secret at all that

North Korea

actively supports the actions of Hanchongryun.  Part of the North Korean playbook recovered from agents specifically talks about promoting and encouraging student radicals and their anti-government / anti-US actions. That crap about no other country being able to stand up to the

US

but

North Korea

is pure NK propaganda.  It is the same kind of crap that can be read every day at this rather hilarious, crap-filled site.

South Korea

has become more conciliatory to its threatening neighbor,

Which is exactly something that I have been arguing against.

Yoo still meets with other fugitive Hanchongryun members, stealing away from the university in the predawn hours, usually in a taxi. He jokes that he feels a bit like 007. Every day, his parents ask when he’ll be arrested, and he himself concedes that capture is inevitable. Even so, Yoo remains adamant.

Yeah. He¡¯s a regular Scarlet Pimpernel.

"Kim is just another leader and not a despot or a dictator," he says. "If he really is a dictator, the North Koreans wouldn’t have tolerated that and overthrown him. They’re not that brainwashed. They must see something in the system that’s right."

When I see crap like this, I wonder whether these kids are paid to believe this, brainwashed by agents, or really believe this.  I have read reports and stories from former Russian KGB agents that say it was people, particularly students, who idealized communism, but had never seen what life in

Russia

was like because they did not know how poorly things were really functioning in the

Soviet Union

. 

If students say stupid-ass things like Yoo is saying, they should be put on a bus straight to

North Korea

.  Let them live in the North and see just how wonderful it is.  How long would those pieces of crap survive without their damned Starcraft, Pizza Hut, Levi¡¯s, daddy¡¯s car, cell phone, etc., etc., etc.

Over the past five years, young South Koreans have grown increasingly sympathetic toward

North Korea

, and their distrust of

America

has deepened.

I don¡¯t know about his.  I think it has always been sympathy for

North Korea

on the part of student radicals and other fringe students.  If it is true and there is more sympathy for the North and distrust of

America

, I place the blame squarely on the Korean media for its sensationalism and hyperbole in reporting of

America

and softball reporting on the North.

"South Koreans who were born in the ’70s and the ’80s didn’t experience the Communist threat. They are blinded by national pride and think of North Koreans as our brothers and sisters. The problem is that they mix up the regime with the people," says Jin Wook Choi, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Reunification.

EXACTLY!  South Korean youths have trouble wrapping their minds around the idea that the North are no longer their brothers. They are so far apart after 50 years of North Korean brainwashing and indoctrination.

Choi attributes the attitude among the younger generation to former South Korean president Kim Dae Jung’s Sunshine Policy. Eager to thaw Cold War tensions, Kim implemented a gradualist strategy for reconciling with

North Korea

, propping up and befriending the struggling nation with humanitarian aid and increased trade.

I really wish there was some way of getting it into the South¡¯s head, and apparently into the

US

¡¯s head, that you do not appease the whiners.  You do not comfort the enemy unless he gives you something.  Make him move first. He does not get anything until you get something.

His plan, though, also included covering up

North Korea

’s appalling human rights record and secretly funneling hundreds of millions in government money into Kim’s coffers.

Now the military can eat for that much longer.

Seoul

is a city where there’s a Starbucks on every block, where parents stress about getting the best English-language tutor for their children, and where students yearn to study abroad at an Ivy League university. It’s difficult to fathom that such antagonism exists between the youth and Uncle Sam. But the most moderate student will echo Hanchongryun’s views, that Kim Jong Il should be admired for his defiance against

America

. Even popular movies now echo the theme. One, Whistling Princess, depicts the Americans as nefarious villains blocking a star-crossed North-South couple.

Hell. Every popular movie with Americans depicts the Americans as the imperialist.  In every movie where an American adopts a Korean girl, the Korean gets sexually abused by the father. In every movie with a

US

soldier, the soldiers will rape a woman. Blah Blah Blah.  Actually things are improving in this regard.  It was not so long ago that all Americans were perceived as drug-crazed, pistol-packing, rapists with AIDS¡¦.not just in the movies.

"You would think KATUSA troops would be understanding of the

U.S.

, but after coming out of it, 90 percent of KATUSA felt negative about the U.S. Army," Woo says. "The sergeants had this ‘

America

is No. 1′ attitude.

Well, NO CRAP!!!!  What do you expect, KATUSA GUY??? It is the US Army!  What? They are going to have an

America

sucks attitude?  They are going to say,

America

is no. 2???  I am sure the Korean military never has a Korea No. 1 attitude. 

"Maybe it is dangerous for

North Korea

to have nuclear arms. I think, though, when reunification happens, their nukes will be our nukes and give us a higher international standing."

Will someone please inform this loser that

North Korea

wants unification too¡¦.on their terms, with the South joining them in the North Korean paradise.  The North has no intention of unifying on the South terms.  Why am I even mentioning this?  It is so obvious that it is stupid to even talk about it.

The younger generation largely supported President Roh last winter when he rode the anti-American tide, promising that he had "no intention of kowtowing to the

U.S.

"

Roh had no idea what he was talking about at the time.  After he took his place in the sun, he got a big, healthy dose of reality and saw that his position was utterly ridiculous.  What started out as a campaign platform of not needing the

US

has turned into a plea not to go anywhere.  Be careful, kids.  You may get what you ask for and you may not like it.  Just ask the

Philippines

.

North Korea

’s violent crackdowns at home counted for little here. "The

U.S.

has been giving false propaganda about the North," said one Catholic university student. "There is no proof that the North commits human rights violations. I think the

U.S.

is misbroadcasting information about

North Korea

killing its own people."

This is exactly why I absolutely hate talking politics here.  How the hell do you counter a statement as stupid and ignorant as that?  There is absolutely nothing you can say to change that attitude or to enlighten that shallow, darkened, little brain.

In April, the UN Commission on Human Rights passed a resolution calling on the

Pyongyang

government to give full access to international investigators so they could follow reports of torture in prison camps.

South Korea

failed to show up for the vote. South Korean officials also discourage the few thousand North Korean defectors from speaking about their harrowing experiences under the regime.

SHHHHH!!!!!! Do not talk about it and it will go away. Do not forget that this is the same country that would not let the Dali Lama in because

China

said no.

Activists who try to denounce Kim Jong Il for human rights violations complain that South Korean government officials have sabotaged their efforts. Human rights activist Norbert Vollertsen, a German, once spent 18 months in

Pyongyang

working for Doctors Without Borders and witnessed the devastating effects the famine and gulags have had on North Korean citizens. Now residing in

South Korea

, he complains that he is followed and harassed and says surveillance is so strict, he feels like he is in

Pyongyang

again.

For a good piece in support of the assertions made by other Korean bloggers that neither the North nor the South wants reunification, read this piece by Dr. Vollertson.  Poor guy.  He gets stomped by South Koreans and North Koreans within the space of a few days.

Over all, Ms. Hong¡¯s piece was, in my never to be humble opinion, a fluff piece full of such incredibly obvious positions and statements, that it did not even need to be published.  While she had some valid points, she seems not to recognize or understand that the protests took a shift away from the problems of democracy and valid anti-government toward anti-Americanism after the 1980 Kwangju Massacre and was solidified after the anti-Roh Tae Woo riots of the the late 1980s.  That began the shift from conceiving

America

as an ideal to

America

as an individual. Thus, what was once, I hate

America

because . . ., has now become I hate Americans because . . .

Demonstrations are nothing new here.  Some of the greatest demonstrations took place and in the mid and late 1800s.  It is not a matter of new or old, left or right, communist or democratic.  It is a cultural shift brought about by, ironically enough, more freedom, changing times, changing perceptions of history. Where the bad old days of pre 1980 Korea is fresh in the minds of people in their 40s and 50s, most of today¡¯s college students were not even born in 1980.  Elvis and Lennon were both dead long before the new student radical was even conceived.  What was it that Shakespeare said about History repeating itself?

I second Kevin at IA’s Bingo of the Korea Times article on Korea’s international standing in light of the US short track team not attending the World Cup round in Korea due to threats against Ohno.

So why comment on it now?  Because of a late article from the Joongang Daily.  In the Joongang Daily article we get a different view of the pullout from Brian Lee, about whom I know absolutely nothing.  He states at the close of the rather sterile article:

It is not uncommon for skaters to skip tournaments. The International Skating Union has 57 members in short track skating but only 18 nations are participating at the Jeonju World Cup. 

It is not uncommon for skaters to skip tournaments???  As I don’t know anything about Brian Lee, I will give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he is purely and simply stating a provable fact and is not offering a completely stupid and idiotic opinion on, justification for, or whitewashing of the circumstances surrounding Ohno and the US teams withdrawal from this round of the World Cup of short track competition. 

On this assumption, I will go easy on Brian and only say that even if it is only a statement of fact, it is a stupid and completely idiotic thing to say under the circumstances.  Yeah.  Maybe it is not uncommon for skaters to skip tournaments, but how uncommon is it for skaters to skip tournamets held in allegedly first world countries sponsoring world-class events because the FBI and local police could not guarantee that skater’s safety or even his survival due to the intense hatred of that skater and the hundreds, if not thousands, of death threats against him because of perceived bad sportsmanship by the skater nearly two years previously in a sports event that virtually no one cares about?  I would guess that the answer to that question is: so uncommon as to actually have never occurred before.

Now that Brian at Cathartidea has come to my rescue as apparently the only person on the web that seems to have saved the article from the Onion, I will re-address the topic brought up in my November 21, 2003 post.  It was also mentioned by Kevin at IA.

KIM JONG-IL - "Guardian of the Planet"

Yonhap reports that we have a new protector: The "guardian of our planet" is a title accorded to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who is revered as a demigod by North Koreans, the North’s official Korea Central Broadcasting Station reported Friday.

This seemed inevitable, given that he is fully equipped for the job.  From a January 2003 issue of The Onion:

PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA: Responding to mounting pressure and increasingly confrontational rhetoric from the outside world, North Korean president Kim Jong Il unfolded into a 70-foot-tall, 62-ton giant robot Monday.

Above: Kim Jong Il marches through the streets of Pyongyang.

"The DPRK’s nuclear program is very much its own business, as is its right to determine its own path of security," said Kim, his torso splitting along ventral seams as clusters of Taepo-Dong ICBMs rose from his shoulders. "Any attempt by Washington to decide our fate will surely result in a sea of fire being unleashed upon them."

As his arms and legs sheathed themselves in bulletproof Mecha-Muscle telescoping outward from his chest, Kim reiterated his refusal to bow to international demands.

"Constant criticism from outside indicates mistrust of our promise to refrain from missile tests," said Kim, speaking over the mechanical shriek of wingblades sprouting from his back. "Only trust from the U.S. that we will keep our word can prevent World War III."

"The imperialist West is holding my country to standards which it does not see fit to meet itself," continued Kim, his voice now a metallic, digitized boom emanating from somewhere within the titanium helmet sheathing his head. "This does not surprise me, as they are well-famed for their lies."

"Pyongyang Dynamo Power Punch!" added Kim, as he released his fist-modules skyward with twin robotic uppercuts.

While the Bush Administration remains publicly confident that a diplomatic solution can be reached, top officials admit that the situation has become more complicated.

	Above: A South Korean border soldier eyes Kim Jong Il in the Demilitarized Zone.

"If we add Kim Jong Il’s transformation into a giant robot to his already defiant isolationist stance and his country’s known nuclear capability, the diplomatic terrain definitely becomes more rocky," U.S. envoy James Kelly said. "Kim has made it clear that, if sufficiently threatened, he will not hesitate to use nuclear weapons or his arm-mounted HyperBazooka."

Added Kelly: "We are also forced to consider the possibility that Kim may attempt to robo-meld with other members of the Axis of Evil, forming a MegaMecha-Optima-Robosoldier. Kim would make a powerful right arm - or even a torso - or such a mechanism."

During a visit Monday to the Demilitarized Zone dividing the Korean peninsula, Kim stressed that his transformation was not an act of aggression, but rather an attempt to defend his nation’s autonomy.

"The DPRK must not be subject to the whims of an international coalition with no regard for the welfare of the Korean people," said Kim before stomping the ground with his foot, unleashing a devastating ring of energy that vaporized nearby reporters and military vehicles. "Catastrophic Valiant Kim-Chee Earthquake Stomp-Kick!"

Memo to Korean government: This is how you deal with a riot:

On Thursday, as trade ministers from 34 countries drafted a blueprint for free trade in the Western Hemisphere, demonstrators threw water bottles and other objects at officers, set fires in the street and used slingshots against police. Riot police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, batons, concussion grenades and stun guns.

Police Chief John Timoney said officers acted with restraint, giving protesters ample warnings before using force. "If we didn’t act when we did, it would have been worse," he said.

Oh no. More OHNO

Here are two music links that were provided to my by a reader.  They demonstrate how rediculously childish some people are about Ohno coming to Korea.  Grow up.

Warning.  Offensive language:

click on the top two red play icons in the list.

Buan Riots Out Of Control

Back in the day, Koreans knew how to demonstrate.  In the late 80s and early 90s, Korea was at the tail-end of a string of military dictator presidents.  Anti-government and pro-democracy demonstrations were weekly, if not daily events.

Travel by citizens was more restricted and regulated than it is now.  Even into the early 90s intra and inter city buses would be stopped routinely and boarded by armed soldieirs who would check the identification of persons on board the bus to check for spies, military draft dodgers, and wanted student activists.

Labor problems were much more serious than they are now.  The Hyundai car makers’ demonstrations of 1987 and 1988 are legendary in Korea.  A joint labor-student activist demonstration in 1990 was an amazing spectacle to see first hand.

In short, people back then had much more to be unhappy about.  They had much more to demonstrate about. And demonstrate they did.  Huge quantities of firebombswere thrown, sidewalks were broken up and thrown, pvc pipes were swung, concentrated tear gas was absolutely everywhere and thrown in small round canisters, long cylindrical canisters, shot out of modified rifles, and blasted out of large vans that could fire hundreds of canisters per minute.

Despite the ubiquitous demonstrations, there were relativey very few injuries.  Sure, there would be an occasional student with a cracked head or a riot policeman with a bloody face.  But generally, despite all of the fire, noise, smells, and action, demonstrations were quite safe.

Demonstrations were carried out like a very well rehearsed ballet.  Demonstrators would contact the local police and advise where and when the demonstration would be.  The demonstrators would make a big production out of the preparations by having songs, dances, skits, effigy burnings, etc.  The demonstrators would then walk to the demonstration site where the police were already waiting.  The two sides would stand and stare at each other in silence.  The chants would start and the leaders of Chondaehyop (the student activist group of the time) would move to the front, light their fire bombs and launch the first salvo.  The police would chase them back and fire a few tear gas rounds.  Students would regroup and drive the police back.  The demonstration would continue in the back and forth manner for the predetermined length of time.  The demonstrators and the police would then suddenly stop what they were doing, pack up, and leave.

Pictures from a 1991 Demonstration at Pusan National University

There were many unwritten rules of demonstrating that were developed to prevent physical and structural damage such as no riot cops on campuses, no throwing firebombs at buildings of vehicles, no headshots, etc.  The student demonstrators would demonstrate for a year or so and then, to avoid serious military service, many would sign up to be riot police.  After their service, they would go back to demonstrating.  The police were the students and the students were the police.  In essence, they were on the same team and just going through the required motions to get their views across and make their respective points.

The situation is different today.  I believe it is because real demonstrations have been absent from the scene for so long that both sides have forgotten how to act.  The art of the demonstration has been lost. 

When I first arrived in Korea in 1988, it was clear that, except for the most serious of demonstrations, the police were not the target of the demonstrations, they simply stood symbolically in the place of the government while the students or laborers made a show of protesting against the symbolic government.  no one really wanted to hurt anyone else. 

Now, however, it is clear that the policemen themselves are the targets of the demonstrators.  The symbolism is gone.  Now the police are the government, not merely a symbol of the government.  The laborers, farmers and students have forgotten that.  The younger demonstrators have no memory of or frame of reference for the old style demonstrations.

Similary the riot policemen who were once trained by old hands at handling demonstrations are now being taught by people who have not experienced anything like this.  The new experiences with demonstrations breed fear and anger in the young policemen, and fear and anger breed violence.  The final result is that the police no longer seem interested in diffusing the violence, but rather are inclined to meet violence with equal or greater violence.

Compare the photographs above of a pro-democracy demonstration in 1991, with a riot of a couple of days ago over a nuclear waste site from Kevin’s site at IA.  It is simply appaling what is happening now.

Perhaps I am oversimplifying the situation or being a bit naive, but back in 1991, only 10 years removed from the horrors of the Kwangju Massacre, when the country was still being run by a dictatorial military regime, demonstrations did not get out of hand like this.  People knew what the government was capable of if they were pushed too far.

Now, in the day when bribery and corruption is the order of the day, when basic laws are not being enforced, when the government refuses to stand up to anyone or anything, when the government continuously shows the utter lack of resolve to stop talking about solutions and actually do something about the problems, the people have lost all respect and fear of Government, Law, and the things that they represent.

From the pampering of snot-nosed, bratty little children, refusing to set any limits or boundaries on kids, and the failure to demand respect for elders and authority all the way to the big corporate and goverment scandals, Korea has created an entire society that believes that they are entitled to do whatever they want whenever they want to do it. 

This country and its citizens that fought so long and so hard for "democracy" have distorted and perverted democracy from a majority rule system to a system where some guy and a bunch of his friends with pipes and firebombs are the decision makers.  Those people are trying to do exactly what they and their parents hated about the old dictators did; rule according to their desires, and laws and broad public opinion be damned.

Although Kevin at IA gave a great commentary on the Buan riots, I also have a few things to say about the points raised in the Joongang Ilbo article.

Authorities sent 8,000 riot police yesterday to this southwestern city

There are only about 60,000 people in the entire area.  That is 1 bored, nervous, hair-trigger riot policekid for every 8 or so for every civilian.  I cannot think of a bigger powder Keg than this in recent Korean history.

I have said that before there are two ways to foil a riot.  One is for the copts not to show up.  Who would the people fight with then?  Simply don’t show up.  The other is to shoot the first person that throws a rock, firebomb or whatever and then ask who wants to throw the next one. You keep taking people out until they get the message.

While the first way would be interest to see in practice, the second one has been know to be very effective.  Just ask China.

Of course, the golden path lies somewhere in the middle and can be reached by rational discussion and proper democratic procedures.  However, both sides of the Buan riots seem to have progressed beyond that point and have dug in their heels.  People resist the government crackdown, so the police crack down harder, which causes the people to dig in their heels stronger.  And a rediculous cycle is created.  This is the same cycle we see in the supermarket where the mother is swatting her crying child and telling the child that she will keep spanking him hard until he stops crying.

Early yeaterday morning, a mob destroyed a community center, gutted government emergency vehicles and attacked ambulances carrying injured police from the scene of the violence. Police said yesterday they were bracing for more attacks.

Who the hell do these people think they are?  What purpose did destroying a community center serve, other than to make sure that you will have no community center.  Destroying emergency vehicles and attacking ambulances carrying injured police?  That is simply unspeakable.  Sometimes the English language can be so insufficient to describe something.  This is one of those times.  Evil, depraved, cruel, barbaric.  These words don’t begin to describe this behavior.

protesters threw hundreds of Molotov cocktails, wielded steel bars, scythes and iron chains. The demonstrators set fire to gas containers, which then exploded.

Scythes???  Steel bars, iron chains, firebombs??? Scythes?  SCYTHES???? Can you imagine what would happen in someone in the USA attacked a policeman with any one of those items?

"Hey, Copper, how do you like my scythe?  Want a piece of this?"

Swing. Swing. Slash. Slash. *BANG*!

This kind of garbage should not happen in an allegedly first-world country where the last president won the nobel peace prize. This is obscene.  To quote Charlton Heston in Planet of the Apes, "This is a mad house!  A MAD HOUSE!!!"

According to police, Park Yong-sik, a 21-year old police officer, was hit in the eye with a firebomb and may have been permanently blinded.

What can I say to that?  When is burning petroleum splashed in the eyes of an innocent young policeman ever acceptable.  For the love of God, stop this!  How do you look your kids in they eye and say, "Yup!  We had a big riot about a waste dump back in ‘03.  I threw a firebomb in a kids eye.  Hey! Don’t blame me.  It was the government’s fault.  The little bastard deserved it."

He was sent to a nearby hospital but administrators there turned him away, fearing a possible attack by residents, police said.

That hospital should be shut down.  The administrator should have his license revoked and should be jailed.  Utterly shameful.  Unfortunately, his fears appeard to be well-founded.

While Mr. Park was being sent to another hospital by ambulance, angry protesters stopped the vehicle, broke into it and repeatedly hit the four officers inside, including Mr. Park.

Is that what the people in Kwangju died for?  Is that what decades of pro-democracy struggle was for? So you cretins can stop emergency vehicles and repeatedly punch a 21 year-old blind kid with a badly burned face?

Over the last two months, there was a lull when government officials and residents agreed to hold a referendum on building the facility. On Monday they failed to reach an agreement on a timetable.

You rioted because you couldn’t agree on a damned timetable?  Well, at least is was something serious enough to warrant injuring 100 people.

The police yesterday announced that they would thoroughly punish the protesters who used violence.

Tell that to the blind, burned kid.  I’m sure he will appreciate it.

What was the government response to this murderous lawlessness?

President Roh Demands Buan Citizens Calm Down

WHAT?????  What the…???? What kind of response is THAT???

President Roh Moo-hyun repeated his warnings Friday to protesters who are against the construction of a nuclear waste dump in their county, saying they will have to calm down first before there is any dialogue, following a violent rally Wednesday.

News Flash:  President Roh, IT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE THEY WANT DIALOG!!!!

"The goal right now is to restore order, and then begin persuading the people," Roh said.

Well, what else can you do, Mr. President? You’ve already told them to calm down.

"We can’t hold a vote in an atmosphere as it is now," said Roh.

Who let the atmosphere get like this? This one is on you Mr. President.  If this was any other country, I would say that it looks like a government that is on the brink of collapse and lawlessness sweeps across the country.  I don’t know what will happen here but it doesn’t look good right now.

BREAKING NEWS - TOP STORY
ATTACK ON KOREAN DELEGATION HOTEL IN IRAQ!

From Yonhap News:

(URGENT) South Koreans-Iraq attack

A hotel in Iraq where South Korean fact-finding mission is staying is attacked.

IN OTHER NEWS…

KOREA CONDEMNS TERRORIST ATTACKS IN TURKEY

South Korea has officially condemned the terror attacks in Turkey:

"The Government of the Republic of Korea strongly condemns the recent terrorist attacks, a crime against humanity," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Shin Bong-kil in a statement.

Gee.  Thanks for condemning the attacks.  However, it appears that Korea is not yet willing to send any troops or assistance to the area to actually do anything about terror in the region. 

I wonder if Pres. Roh will issue a statement telling the terrorist to first calm down before Korea sends troops. After all, he is getting tough with the violent types.

Anti-US Crusader Suicides

Also from Yonhap news:

A 34-year-old man run over by a subway train died Thursday night, apparently after intentionally laying himself on the tracks near a station in Uijeongbu, north of Seoul, police said Friday.

The man, identified as Je Jong-chol, was a chief member of an activist group demanding justice for the accidental deaths of two teenage girls run over by a U.S. military vehicle last year.

KIM JONG-IL - "Guardian of the Planet"

Yonhap reports that we have a new protector: The "guardian of our planet" is a title accorded to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who is revered as a demigod by North Koreans, the North’s official Korea Central Broadcasting Station reported Friday.

This seemed inevitable, given that he is fully equipped for the job.  From January 2003 issue of The Onion not available online (unfortunately, the picture is no longer available):

PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA
Responding to mounting pressure and increasingly confrontational rhetoric from
the outside world, North Korean president Kim Jong Il unfolded into a 70-foot-
tall, 62-ton giant robot Monday.

‘If we add Kim Jong Il’s transformation into a giant robot to his already defiant isolationist stance and his country’s known nuclear capability, the diplomatic terrain definitely becomes more rocky,’ U.S. envoy James Kelly said. ‘Kim has made it clear that, if sufficiently threatened, he will not hesitate to use nuclear weapons or his arm-mounted HyperBazooka.’

‘We are also forced to consider the possibility that Kim may attempt to robo-meld with other members of the Axis of Evil, forming a MegaMecha-Optima-Robosoldier. Kim would make a powerful right arm — or even a torso — for such a mechanism.’

What ya gonna do when they come for you? Bad Boys…

Weight: 120 lbs ????  A 5 foot 11 inch, 45 year-old, 120 lb. male?  THAT is not good.

New stories posted in inverse order.  Newest articles are on top.  Oldest articles are on bottom. 

Developing…

Donkey Stunned by Events

CNN reports that rockets were fired from a laucher being carried on a donkey cart.  As for the condition of the donkey:

Shortly after the attacks, a multiple-rocket launcher, attached to a donkey cart, was found near the hotels with several unfired rockets spilled on the ground next to it. A shell-shocked and singed donkey shivered by the overturned cart. 

Will PETA now join in and take up arms against the Iraqi insurgents?

"They Were Not Targeting Us"- Ministry of Foreign Affairs Official

In this update, an official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that the Korean investigators were not the target of the attack.  The official opined that the the attack was target on the floors where US military and Western businessmen are staying.

Hotel Identified as the Palestine Hotel

Yonhap reports that the hotel was the Palestine Hotel and that the three rockets struck the 8th,15th and 16th floor.  The Korean delegation was on the 12th floor.  An American businessman on the 16th floor was injured in the attack.

Business as Ususal for Investigators

In this update, Yonhap reports that the Korean investigators in Iraq will continue with their work as planned.

Missiles Were Old RPG-7 Rockets

Yonhap now reports that 3 RPG-7 rockets (earlier report said 5) were fired.  The number of Koreans at the hotel was raised to 17.  There were 10 delegation members, 2 assistants, and 5 embassy employees.  The delegation is apparently moving to a more secure location.  No word on whether they will remain in Iraq.

Korean Delegation Evacuating

Latest from Yonhap reports that the Korean investigators sent to assess the security situation is evacuating.

5 Missiles Fired at Hotel

According to an update, a total of 5 missiles were fired at a hotel where the 10 Koreans were staying along with a large number of reporters.  All 10 members of the Korean investigation team are reported to be safe.

A week of working 13 hour days has greatly curtailed the free time that I have to address issues that are burning to be addressed.  There are so many things that I want to comment on.  However, due to the absence of time, I am going to have to take the shotgun approach today:

DEMONSTRATIONS

10 points for creativity goes to the farmers who were demonstrating in Seoul on Wednesday. 

During violent demonstrations Wednesday night … farmers resorted to throwing rotten starfish at riot policemen. "Starfish bombs" are made of rotten starfish … [W]hole phalanxes of riot policemen retreat[ed] when showered with the starfish bombs. Apparently the offensive odor lasts for at least three days. The stink of starfish bombs hasn¡¯t yet been washed away from the demonstration areas. Passersby have reportedly been holding their noses. 

Unfortuntely, I am forced to deduct 273 points for the idiocy of violently attacking a bunch of twenty-something year-old riot police on a street in Seoul to protest a free trade agreement.  For the millionth time, this is not the Wild West.  These are not the days of being under the oppressive thumb of a dictatorial military regime where you are fighting for basic democratic principles.  This is 2003.  There is no call for this sort of behavior any more.  The agreement was signed.  It is a done deal.  You may think it sucks now, but in a few years after the competitive advantage issues get worked out, you will see that it is for the best.  Korea will be better off for it.  Go home…and take your starfish with you!

This reminds me of a joke that I believe I read in one of the English Language papers here several years ago about the Korean penchant for protesting for any reason at all.  It may even have been a Michael Breen article.  The joke goes like this:

An Englishman comes home and finds his wife in bed with another man.  He apologizes for interrupting and quietly closes the door on his way out. 

An American comes home and finds his wife in bed with another man.  He pulls out a gun and shoots both his wife and the other man. 

A Korean comes home and finds his wife in bed with another man.  He goes and protests in front of the US Embassy.

IRAQ AND KOREA

Kevin at IA has posted a brilliant piece comparing the Iraqi situation with the situation in Korea.  The terribly sad thing about the comparison is that Kevin is making a comparison of Iraq, which has been dealing with this freedom concept for a couple of months, with Korea that has had nearly 60 years to deal with it.

In his article, Kevin talks about the cries for help being drowned out by the cries of "Yankee, go home!"  Back in 1991, when I was attending Pusan National University, my department, the Political Science Department would have anti-bush and anti-Roh (hmmm….THAT sounds familiar… spooky) demonstrations.  The student activists would be on the front line throwing firebombs, rocks, etc., the generic students would hang back and chant slogans while passing firebombs to the activists.  The third eschelon was the cheerleaders, a group of girls holding signs with slogans on them.  One sign sticks out in my mind.  On the front, it big letters, it said, "YANKEE GO HOME!" it thick, black paint, and on the back, written in ball point pen, was a small little note saying, "Take me with you."  I laughed myself silly for hours and cursed myself for not having my camera.

DDONG-CHIM

On the lighter side, the Korea Life Blog has a disturbingly funny story about "ddong-chim" guy.  After all…who doesn’t think that two hands jammed up your backside is funny.

OHNO

So many things to say, but what could I say that hasn’t been said dozens of times by normal, rational thinking people.  Of all the recent headlines on this subject, I think Andy at Flying Yangban says it best, this anti-ohno stuff makes Koreans look like jerks.  ‘Nuff said.

MICHAEL JACKSON

Michael Jackson a freaky pedophile (allegedly)???  NO WAAAAY! You’ve got to be kidding!!! I never would have seen that allegation coming. Not Michael Jackson!  My question is, what the hell is wrong with parents that they would ever, even for a second, let their child be anywhere near Michael Jackson under any circumstances.  This one is on the parents’ shoulders, I am afraid.

According to the Donga Daily, a UFO was spotted above Seokcho Port in Seokcho, South Korea at 6:50 pm local time on September 17, 2003.  the UFO consisted of 10 brightly lit objects.  According to employees at Seokcho City Hall, six lights appeared and then split into 10 separate lights above the port.  The lights reportedly stayed in the area for approximately 30 minutes. [photo: Yonhap News]

Marmot wrote about the linguistic battle raging over whether Sec. Rumsfeld said "Thank you. I’m young" or "Thank you. Annyoung" to President Roh.

In a comment to Marmot’s post, Joseph at Infidel called the post "Tabloid" and questioned why it was posted.  I disagree with Infidel on this one.  I do not think it is tabloid.  I think it represents a classic example of one aspect of the differences between the Korean and Western cultural mindsets that comes into play constantly at all levels of communication, whether between private persons,

Hollywood

stars, or government officials. 

As I discussed in one of my earliest posts, Koreans have a great deal of personal and nationalistic pride.  Although Koreans may not like a particular aspect of their society or culture, they will band together at the slightest hint of a negative comment or a perceived slight directed toward

Korea

or Koreans by foreigners, particularly Americans.

My own personal belief is that because

Korea

has been victimized time and again by foreign powers over the centuries, now that they are trying to throw off the centuries old victim mentality, a great many Koreans are instantly defensive about how their country is perceived.  The reactions tend to come at an instinctive gut level.  They react swiftly and go to often absurd extremes in their efforts to regain their perceived loss of face.

It seems that when foreigner’s statements are about

Korea

, the Koreans seem not to be interested in differentiating between humor, statements of fact, intended offense, narrative, etc.  A negative statement is a negative statement.  End of story.  I believe it comes from that absolutely untranslatable Korean word "han", which means, as close as I interpret, a deeply felt sense of injustice, or an inherent inevitable injustice.

Instead of showing that

Korea

has overcome the victim mentality to takes its place among world powers, the knee-jerk reactions and the continued escalation only confirms and deepens the victim mentality. I maintain that if you are looking for offense or expecting to be offended, then you will find something offensive and you will be offended.

A few cases illustrating this seeming need for Koreans to defend their honor regardless of how ridiculous the comment:

Hugh Grant was on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno when he commented that he went to a sauna in a five star hotel and got a scrub down and shampoo from the worker in the sauna.  Mr. Grant expressed comedic shock that the sauna worker used a bar of soap to wash Mr. Grant’s hair.  I don’t know the extent to which that is done now, but back then, shampoo was rare and most people in the country washed their hair with bar soap. But, Hugh was eventually forced to apologize to

Korea

and the Korean people for his insult.

Meg Ryan lost her Korean shampoo endorsement, was boycotted in

Korea

theaters and video stores, and forced to apologize to

Korea

and Koreans in a television spot for commenting that "Sexy Mild" was a funny name for a product because it was two apparently unrelated adjectives stuck together and did not make any sense.

Jay Leno was blasted in the Korean press, forced to apologize to Korea and Koreans, and became the subject of a class action lawsuit filed against him by more than 50,000 (yes Fifty Thousand) Koreans, for joking that Kim Dong-Sung, after losing the gold medal to Apolo Ohno in the short track incident, might have gone home and kicked his dog, then eaten it.

Leonardo Dicaprio was forced to apologize on Korean television for a comment that he never even made because the Korean rumor mill had worked itself into such a frenzy.

Quite often, communication here is not about what is actually said, but about what the Koreans think you said.  Whereas westerners are fairly direct when speaking, Koreans have refined the art of beating around the bush and reading between the lines. Thus, when conversing, inexperienced westerners tend to take what a Korean says at face value as the real state of affairs; he meant it because he said it.  This can lead to an amazing amount of miscommunication.  Similarly, inexperienced Koreans tend not to listen to exactly what the westerner is telling them and instead attempt to find out what the westerner really meant.

I have had countless experiences where I would say or ask something to a Korean in perfect Korean and I could almost see the wheels spinning as the listener when through the following process:

That foreigner said something to me. I understood it.  However, he is not Korean. As such, he cannot speak Korean well.  Therefore, he must not have meant what he said. He must have meant something else.  What could it have been?  The Korean will then respond with something that is completely irrelevant to what I was saying.

Where is all of this going?  In short, Koreans are already on the defensive about the Sec. Rumsfeld visit and the pressure being put on

Korea

to contribute to the effort in

Iraq

.  Thus, anything that can be seen, perceived, twisted, or blown out of proportion into an offense will be jumped on like a cobra by brain-crazed mongoose.

It is because of this that we have the ridiculous controversy about whether Sec. Rumsfeld was insulting

Korea

and Koreans or whether he was commenting on his age.

Also, once they figure out what he said, Koreans must then analyze what he really meant by what he said, because, as mentioned above, everything must be processed through the Korean cultural filters that do not allow words to be taken at face value.

This apparent confusion can be seen in the differing headlines dealing with the troop dispatch issue. Secretary Rumsfeld made a very clear statement that It is up to each country to decide what is most appropriate in providing assistance.¡± However, according to the Korea Herald headlines, the parties failed to agree.

Asked whether the

U.S.

government would accept

Korea

’s reported proposal to send 3,000 noncombatants, Rumsfeld avoided giving clear answers, saying, "It is up to each country to decide what is most appropriate in providing assistance."

It does not seem to me that he was avoiding the issue. The answer was perfectly clear that the

US

would accept whatever

Korea

ultimately decided. Whether or not we would be satisfied with it is a different issue altogether.

However, the Chosun Ilbo states that the parties agreed on the issue

In a press conference after the meeting, Rumsfeld said both governments would have to make their own decision on how to provide the best possible support for the troop dispatch. He said that the

United States

would honor the Korean government’s decision on the issue.

Meanwhile, Lee Bong-jo, the head of policy coordination bureau at

Korea

’s National Security Council (NCS), said that day that

Washington

has accepted

Korea

’s proposal to send about 3,000 soldiers to

Iraq

. He cited the U.S, delegation’s remarks that it would honor the Korean government’s decision on the troop dispatch.

The Korea Times however, says that

Seoul

is puzzled by the comments, which it probably is.

The outcome of South Korea-United States Security Consultation Meeting (SCM) on Monday regarding

South Korea’

s troop dispatch plan to

Iraq

was still being debated on Tuesday with even officials from the same ministry giving differing assessments.

Confusion centered on how to interpret U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s remarks in connection with the level of

U.S.

satisfaction with the South Korean troop dispatch plan, which was discussed during the meeting.

Rumsfeld said that his country appreciated

Seoul

’s decision to send additional troops to

Iraq

. But when asked in a post-SCM news conference for a reaction to

Seoul

’s plan to send a noncombat contingent of 3,000 soldiers, far less than the

U.S.

requested 5,000-strong combat force, Rumsfeld said that it was up to

Korea

and that his government would accept whatever decision it makes.

In response, Defense Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Nam Dae-youn, said, "On the whole, the Defense Ministry thinks the United States accepted South Korea"’ plan.’"

And:

However many at the Foreign Affairs-Trade and Defense ministries expressed the view that the allies at best communicated their differences on the issue at the SCM.

"It’s difficult for us to believe that the

U.S.

side accepted our proposal," said a ranking Defense Ministry official, who refused to be named.

And:

Headlines of major newspapers in

Korea

mirrored the confusion that followed the SCM.

The Chosun Ilbo, Korea Daily and Hankyoreh reported the

U.S.

more or less accepted

South Korea

’s troop dispatch plan. The Chosun Ilbo headline read "

U.S.

accepts

Korea

’s troop dispatch plan."

I have maintained for a very long time that

Korea

needs to settle down, stop taking offense at everything that even sounds like a negative comment, and start listening to what people say.  On the other hand, I have always said that the US and the rest of the West needs to learn a lot more about how Koreans communicate and the cultural constructs that underlie the communications.

My sincere thanks to everyone who has voiced concerns and offered prayers on behalf of my mom.  Over the past day, her hallucinations slowly went away.  Her vital signs remained stable and everything was functioning properly.  The doctors have basically given her the "all clear" signal.  In the space of three days, she went from being most likely to die to being ready to leave the hospital in another couple of days. 

I spoke to her on the telephone and she was back to her normal self, even to the point of joking about being at deaths door and seeing things.  Thanks again for all of your concern.  I’m exhausted. I’m going to sleep.

If any of you readers are the praying type, my mom could use a couple.  On Monday, she had a steel rod put in her lower back because of disc problems.  Surgery went well, but on Wednesday she suddenly took a turn for the worse.  Her red blood cell dropped of to the point she had to have a transfusion.  Her kidneys shut down.  Her lugs were not expelling carbon dioxide.  She appently slips in and out of consciousness and has a few moments of lucidity.  The doctors have managed to stabilize her in some ways.  Her kidneys are working again, her red cell count is ok. and the lungs are improving. However, last night they gave her something for the pain and it, for some unknown reason, causing her to have a massive, extremely scary and unpleasant hallucination.  At this point, the doctors cannot even guess at whether she will pull through or not.

Love you, Mom!

THINGS OF INTEREST….TO ME ANYWAY…

Due to Blog-city going out of its way to ensure that I didn’t have access to my blog all day, and due to a horrible family emergency that is ongoing at the moment, I just wanted to point out a few good blogs to people that may not know about them.

Flyingchair.net is a very interesting, witty, and insightful Hong Kong / China blog.  I note that a lot of the news and comments could apply equally to Korea. Perhaps we are all more alike than we think we are.

Brainy Smurf also has an enjoyable Hong Kong / China / Asia blog.

Another blog titled “And Then…” gives a decidedly liberal view of the world.  Other than his praise for my blog, I couldn’t find a single thing that I agreed with, but I really do like his way of saying what he has to say.  I respect him for that, and will definitely keep going back to see how THEY are thinking these days.

To balance the above, we have the GOP in Korea blog.

I found this Matrix-style ping-pong game to be quite amusing.  Thanks to Corsair.

Below are a few of the candidates for “The Truth Laid Bear” new webblog contest that I think are noteworty…my own included.  If you want to help me…er…them win, visit the site and link to it.  For example, if you wanted to link/vote for my post, then you would  cut and paste the following into one of your blog entries: <A href=”Ruminations’>http://jeffinkorea.blog-city.com”>Ruminations in Korea</A>: <A href=”A’>http://jeffinkorea.blog-city.com/read/333672.htm”>A Blessing
and a Curse</A> Just make sure the link is active through Sunday night US time. 

From The Truth Laid Bear’s New Webblog Showcase:

And Then…: Late Night With Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist

The Daily Ablution: David Lynch to Bring World Peace - ‘It Could Happen This Year’

Open eyes, open ears, open mind: Let’s See Some OUTRAGE!!!

No Gnus is Good Gnus - With Gary Gnu

D’OH!!!

In this Korea Times article, it seems that Korea may now actually send more than 3,000 troops.  This administration has more flip-flops than a brain-diseased mongoose.  I have a small idea… Decide what the official policy is and then go to the press.  The article notes:

Just one day after President Roh Moo-hyun appeared to draw the line at 3000 _ some say in a bid to quell further bureaucratic infighting at Chong Wa Dae _ Foreign Affairs-Trade Minister Yoon Young-kwan commented on Friday that the President’s guideline is not necessarily the last word on the matter.

Well…I guess that “bid to quell further bureaucratic infighting” didn’t work to well, did it?

 

HA HA HA!

In yet another amusing Korea Times article, we get a delicious bit of ironical hypocrisy.  From the always enjoyable of ”Do what I say, not what I do” school, we get a government official telling other to stop mudslinging.  Wonderful:

Minister of Information and Communication Chin Dae-je on Friday urged chief executives of the nation’s three mobile carriers to restrain their overheated slanderous advertisement battle against each other.

As they say back home, “you’ve got to control yourself before you can control your horse.”

 

AAAARRRRGGGHH!!!!

From the “JUST GO AWAY!” file, we get this Korea Herald story about Clinton spouting off about foreign policy again.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton suggested offering North Korea a nonaggression pact to settle the current standoff over Pyongyang’s nuclear programs. …  The former U.S. President added that he saw no reason why a nonagression pact could not be part of such an agreement.

No reason????  How about this reason: North Korea is still the enemy of the South Korea and the US?  How about this reason: North Korea is a proven terrorist nation that has done nothing identifiable to stop its terrorist policy.  How about this reason: North Korea is one of the world’s largest drug traffickers, with the money being applied to the military machine.  How about because the country still says garbage like things like this from the November 14, 2003, dispation of the Korean Central News Agency of DPRK: “It is the U.S. sinister intention to drive south Koreans as bullet shields and achieve its aim of aggression at the cost of their blood.“  How about because North Korea refuses to sign a peace treaty, non-aggression agreement, or any similar such thing.  I am frankly sick to death of the US always being the one to back down.  YOU back down for a change and realize that the US, if not the world, isn’t going to be pushed around and dominated by every lunatic dictator and terrorist in the world today.

HELLO?!?!?

Yonhap gets an award today for revealing the obvious by pointing out that foreigners generall see koreans as irrational and unethical:

SEOUL, Nov. 15 (Yonhap) — A majority of foreign residents in South Korea believe Koreans lack a sense of ethics and rationality, according to a survey Saturday.

The survey on 644 foreigners living here found that on a scale of 1-7, 7 indicating the most positive answer, the respondents gave an average of 2.8 on Korean society’s general level of rationality and awareness of public interests.

Gee….Wonder why foreigners would think like that…. hmmm..

WHAT THE…??????

HELP!  I have NO idea what this article from the Chosun Ilbo means.  It appears that a regulatory commission is going regulate the number of regulations.  You know your bureaucray is totally out of control when you start to regulate the number of regulations… wow…what was that about Korean’s be irrational?

A new system that would keep a lid on regulatory bloat is in the works.

The government’s Regulatory Regulation Committee said Thursday that the government next year would adopt a system to control the number of regulations. Under the new system, as many regulations that are added must be deleted.

ERRRR…

In an article from the Joongang Ilbo titled “Slingshots’ use enrages former police,” we read:

Former members of the riot police force are enraged by demonstrators’ use of slingshots with bolts and nuts to attack police during a violent labor rally on Sunday.

Well, how the crap do you think CURRENT police officers felt about the use of slingshots???

That is all for now…I can’t take anymore.

What is most beautiful in virile men is something feminine; what is most beautiful in feminine women is something masculine. - Susan Sontag

Park Moo-jong, Chief Editorial Writer, is the party responsible for the article titled “When Men Wear Makeup” that I referenced yesterday.  It was simply too difficult to pass up an article with that title. The article starts out by informing us of a nifty new word that I have never heard before:

An expression in vogue these days is “flower Adonis,” which describes boys in their late teens and early 20s who are “beautiful” as flowers, with some of them more feminine that some women, enough to make them jealous.

 

I would be hard-pressed to find a more stomach-churning phrase than “flower Adonis.”  If I were to make a list of things that I never want said to me or about me, flower Adonis would be very, very high on that list.  That item on the list would be followed immediately by the phrase “more feminine than some women”.  I must say that I am glad that a woman has never been jealous of my womanly looks or my makeup job.

 

He goes on to say:

 

The term may have originated with World Cup football star Ahn Jung-hwan now in his late 20s who is often compared to David Beckham of England.

WHOAH!!!!!! Easy there, Moo!  Take a deep breath.  This one sentence is SO wrong on SO many different levels.  I know absolutely nothing about soccer, other than it is a non-sport where 1-0 is considered a blowout and the team that can fake the most injuries in the most fascinating manner wins, but even I know that making such a comparison is utterly ridiculous.

 

I understand that Korea likes to make comparisons with other people and places, such as Cheju is the Hawaii of Korea, Pusan (with the new bridge) is the San Francisco of Korea, Muju is the Alps of Korea, etc.  But this may be taking things just a bit too far.

 

Ahn Jung-hwan is often compared to David Beckham???  Say what????  When???  By whom???  I challenge anyone to show me were someone other than Moo and perhaps a few idiots have EVER made that comparison.  Show me one example of someone outside of Korea every making that comparison.

 

In what way are they compared; certainly NOT their playing skills?  In analogies?  Superb is to complete mediocrity as David Beckham is to Ang Jung-hwan? 

Their looks?  Sorry Ahn, I don’t see you out rolling with Spice Girl chicks.

 

Many players are coming up with skincare products for men.

 

Is this referring to the disturbing bit of commercial where Ahn Jung-hwan and the other soccer dude are walking around with only towels around them, they bump into each other and slowly give each other a look that would get me slapped if I looked at a woman that way.

 

Many men remember with some humor their young days of curiosity when they sneaked into the room of their mother or sister to try out their cosmetics.

 

Uhhhhh..no. Maybe you, Moo, but not me.  I am afraid that I cannot share those memories with you.

What an odd thing to write an editorial on.  I am so glad that there was nothing more important going on in the world than men and makeup.

 

When men are pure, laws are useless; when men are corrupt, laws are broken. - Benjamin Disraeli

 

What a choice.  I really could not decide whether I wanted to comment on the Korea Times article “Korea is a Law-abiding Country“ or the other Korea Times article “When Men Wear Makeup.” It was too hard to choose until I saw how flusterpated Kevin at IA got about it.  Then, the choice was clear.  Law-abiding Country was the hands-down winner.

 

Of course, I am not going to say anything that has not been said a million times before.  However, it is cathartic to me to vent a bit, as writing involves less blood that smacking my head against a brick wall and is more cost-effective than breaking stuff.  With that in mind, let’s begin our pointless march into the realm of the Jedi Mind Trick:

 

A firebomb is a lethal weapon that should be used against enemies in war. Many people remember that our courageous young soldiers, who had no proper arms to deter the North Korean invaders’s tanks at the start of the 1950-1953 Korean War, used Molotov cocktails to stop them and died heroic deaths.

 

I know that this quote does not have anything to do with being a law-abiding country, but I liked it anyway.  On the one had, the firebomb is described as a lethal weapon, but by the end of the sentence, we learn that people who have used them as such died heroic deaths.  Lethal for whom?

 

On numerous occasions, the government had announced tough countermeasures against the use of firebombs at demonstrations but had failed to remove the lethal objects from society.

Huh????  Lethal objects removed from society?  What???  How exactly do you remove petrol, soju bottles, rags, and lighters from society???  You cannot remove firebombs from society because they are so easily made from common items. 

 

You can only hope that the people have enough concern and respect for the law that the idea of making an incendiary device and hurling it at some cops would never enter into their law-abiding heads.  Hey, I thought Koreans were law-abiding people.  Why then, do they have all these firebombs?  Why did the other 40,000 demonstrators who were not throwing firebombs stop the few who were?

 

In the wake of the firebombs on Sunday night, law enforcement authorities immediately vowed to crack down on those who use firebombs at any cost. The warning will most likely end with things as before.

But Korean is a law-abiding country.  Why would things stay the same as before even after the police crack down on the fire bombers, unless maybe they were not all that law-abiding.  Say! I may be onto something there.

 

You know?  I think Kevin at IA had a point.  This is useless and it is not even fun anymore.  It is utterly ridiculous to waste my time on this.  The article ends with a beautiful line;

This is a law-abiding, conformist society.

Whatever.  Saying this garbage over and over again does not make it so.  I call this phenomenon the Jedi Mind Trick.  The general idea is that the government and Koreans in general seem to have the view that if you tell a foreigner something over and over again for a long enough period of time, the foreigner will be Jedi Mind Tricked into believing you even though what you say is totally at odds with reality.  Nice try, Lamont Cranston, but you really, truly cannot cloud reality to the extent that you would like to think you can.

 

Unfortunately, I simply do not have the energy to get into the examples of all the bribing that goes on from the local pre-school up through the President’s office, the red light running, the daily reports of dumping tons of poisons into the rivers, the illegal fishing, the insurance fraud, the corporate corruption, the under-report of sales prices, the odd concept of “special enforcement times” of a week or two to enforce parking, jay walking, speeding, red-light running, and other laws, etc.

 

To say that there is no respect for the law here would be an unfair generalization.  However, I think it is accurate to say that there is very little respect for the law here in Korea.  Every facet of society operates in large part with a nod and a wink and the idea that it is only illegal if we get caught.

 

There can be no respect for law and no hope for people abiding by the laws if they are only enforced on one street for a couple of weeks once or twice a year.  If Korea truly wants to be a law-abiding country, then it must start enforcing existing laws strictly, consistently, constantly, without waffling, and without regard to the social status of the lawbreaker.  This is the only way to instill respect for the intangible entity “Law.” 

 

I’ve wasted enough time on this.  I feel dirty having even read the article.  I need a shower.  I should have written about men and makeup.