Loose change for February 9, 2009

 Economic news 

• The Wall Street Journal notes that the sins of the past (i.e., 1997 and 1998) have guided Asian banks to a safer place right now.
• The Washington Post has an op-ed saying it's time to get going on the FTAs with South Korea and elsewhere.
• Samsung and Sharp have reached a cross-licensing deal to end their LDC panel patent dispute.
• One in three South Korean workers surveyed say they're workaholics. The other two were too drunk to respond.
• The Education Ministry says teachers' bonuses will be connected to their school's overall performance.
• India has more trade restrictions on Korea products than does any other country.
• Postech will tighten the tenure process for professors.
• Ruling and opposition parties agree to lift limits on how many paid workers can be employed solely for union activities, which has ticked off business leaders. 

 North Korea news and stuff 

• North Koreans with e-books? Alert Steve Jobs!
• Sponsoring meetings with China and the US, it appears that North Korea has launched a charm offensive.

 Other Korea-related stuff 

• Seoul is seeking hundreds of documents Imperial Japanese authorities and individuals spirited away during the occupation of Korea. 
• Most South Koreans believe inter-Korean exchanges will reduce tensions.
• With dengue-carrying mosquitoes spotted in Cheju-do, some worry that a dengue fever outbreak could hit South Korea. The potential public health disaster is already causing problems: most Koreans can't pronounce it and most anglophones can't spell it.
• The National Human Rights Commission is saying that detention facilities need to be upgraded and improved to protect the children whose parents face legal troubles or deportation over immigration violations.
• The Korea Herald says that changing tourism slogans is just plain confusing.
• A realistic war simulation program by Lockheed-Martin was used in recent ROK-US exercises.
• Would you like to read the latest muddled piece from Korea Times reporter Kang Shin-who? This one's about whether or not illegal English tutoring will become legal when Immigration just throws up its hands in defeat. At least that's what I think it's about.
• The government is calling on South Korean diplomats abroad to have a business spirit. I guess that means over-leveraging and nepotistic hiring.  

 Miscellany 

• Anti-gun extremists want Starbucks to ban customers from openly carrying guns in their California stores.
• Former California Governor (and current Attorney General) Jerry Brown still hasn't declared his (expected) intentions to run again for the governorship.
• Long-running television program "Gunsmoke" is to be remade as a film starring Brad Pitt, or Ryan Reynolds, or someone else as Marshal Dillon.
• An unruly passenger has blamed his double dose of pot brownies for the erratic behavior that got him arrested after his flight was diverted. 
• Frances Reid, the last original member of the long-running soap "Days Of Our Lives" whose final appearance was in 2007, died last week at the age of ninety-five. When I was a kid, the babysitter made me watch that show while eating the leftover tuna casserole my mom had prepared for us.
• A defense of the Tim Tebow commercial for conservative Focus On The Family, a commercial that the National Organization for Women tried to force out of the Superbowl lineup.
• This is a really old CNN story, but some scientists worry that a collapse of an island in Canaries could trigger a megatsunami that could wipe out parts of the Atlantic coasts of North America, Europe, South America, and Africa.
• Chinese patents are surging, while the US's are waning (and South Korea's saw a slight uptick).