Daily Kor for Wednesday, June 29, 2011: Thunderbolts and lightning, very, very frightening

"Oh, we are so nuking the Aleutians now."

Well, the biggest Korea-related news involved Americans and North Koreans, doing something in Germany. I managed to catch the tail end of the match, which did not occur in a Hawaii-friendly time zone. I suppose it was even worse in South Korea... not sure if people were out in the streets to watch the DPRK women's team play.

Anyway, the North Koreans put up a good fight, apparently. In the end — and I frak you not on this — the North Korean team blamed being struck by lightning for their loss. Oh, and Hope Solo... kind of a hottie (but about two inches too tall for me).

1. US defeats North Korea, 2-0, in FIFA Women's World Cup match in Germany (LAT, WaPo, Bloomberg, AP via NPR, NPR, BBC)
2. US Congress closer to approving ROK-US free-trade agreement after Democratic and Republican senators agree to extend program that gives financial assistance to workers who lose jobs because of trade-related issues (WSJ, AP via MSNBC, Yonhap)
3. Incoming USFK commander General James Thurman says US and South Korea should prepare for possibility of regime collapse in North Korea (Yonhap)
• General Thurman says ascent of Kim Jong-un increases odds of miscalculation (Bloomberg)
• Opposition leader Sohn Hakkyu says North Korea must be pushed to reform (Yonhap)
• Kushibo's note: If they didn't like General Sherman, the North Koreans aren't going to like General Thurman
• Three North Korean mines, apparently dislodged and swept away by torrential rains, discovered in Inch'ŏn and Kangwon (Joongang Daily)
4. Barclays economist predicts Korean won will strengthen by 5.4 percent within twelve months (Bloomberg)
5. Government to cover preschool expenses for all five-year-olds starting next year (Yonhap)
6. South Korea exports 150K tons of gasoline to Japan, up 36 percent over monthly average (Reuters)
1. Opposition leader Sohn Hakkyu discusses joint ROK-Japan securing of energy sources with Japanese counterpart (Korea Times)
7. AU Optronics Corp of Taiwan hits Samsung Electronics with countersuit for patent infringement in on-going dispute over flat panel technology (Reuters)
8. CJ Group picked as prime bidder for Korea Express, country's largest logistics company (Yonhap, Joongang Daily)
9. South Korea has more inbound and outbound visitors than Japan in first four months of year (Yonhap)
10. South Korean rightfielder for Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians Choo Shinsoo undergoes surgery on thumb that will have him sidelined for two months (AFP)
11. Dogs declare victory in centuries-old Canine-Testudine War (BBC)