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, May 7, 2010

Daily Kor for May 7, 2010

Y'know, we all think the rhetoric about North Korea being some sort of paradise is just propaganda b.s., but when the leader of the DPRK himself hardly ever ventures outside the country, and when he does, he's always quick to turn around and go back home, it's just gotta be something special.

Kim Jong-il reportedly leaves Beijing (Reuters, Yonhap)
North Korean leader reportedly met PRC President Hu Jintao, may have met Premier Wen Jiabao (BBC, Donga Ilbo)

Beijing won't confirm visit (WaPo)
Maybe they're checking to make sure he's the real KJI
KJI may have visited Great Wall, got ideas for Yalu and Tuman Rivers (Reuters)
Dear Leader reportedly tells Beijing he will return to six-party nuclear talks (Joongang Daily)

Seoul says no nuclear talks until Chonan sinking is resolved (Bloomberg)

Explosives found in Chonan wreckage determined to be gun powder (Yonhap)
South Korea holds funeral for fishermen killed during Chonan rescue operations (Yonhap)
North Korea accuses South Korea of trying to drum up support for war (Yonhap)

KRW posts largest daily percentage drop in five months (Reuters, Bloomberg)

Seoul KOSPI drop 2 percent on European debt woes (Reuters, Korea Times)

Smartphone and coffee bean imports are up. Good times (Korea Times)
Major opposition Democratic Party picks former Prime Minister Han Myungsook as candidate for Seoul mayorship (Joongang Daily)
273 civil servants and teachers who joined leftist Democratic Labor Party indicted for violating law that bans those in such positions from collective political activities (Joongang Daily)
Major League pitcher Roman Colon signs $200K one-year contract with Kia Tigers (Yonhap)

Roman Colon, along with Florentine Liver, is one of only two Italian dishes I refuse to eat, and I can't be the only one to have ever made fun of that name

BP tells clean-up volunteers along Louisiana coast: "Hey, that oil ain't free, y'know!" (UPI)

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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, May 7, 2010

Daily Kor for May 7, 2010

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