Stories from Quick Reads and South Korea
South Korean Pres. Vows Pre-emptive Strikes on Social Media Rumors
Is South Korea government gearing up toward social media censorship? The latest official remark by President Park (full transcript [ko]) had Korean net users worried. Park, addressing “those rumors spreading via social media”, said “if the government let these things happen, it will bring chaos nationwide” and added “bear in mind that...
South Korea: Reason Behind Movie ‘The Attorney's Box Office Smash
South Korean movie ‘The Attorney’ which depicts the early life of ex-President Roh who started as a civil rights lawyer resisting against dictatorial regimes, has drawn over 4 million admissions in just ten days of screening. Movie critics even comment [ko] that its popularity in Korea is more explosive than that...
South Korean Election Scandal Brings Three Religions Together
Opposition against the current administration's election manipulation scandal grows stronger every day, even enough to inspire conservative Protestant Christian groups to join the protest movement [ko] following the trails of Catholic leaders and Buddhist monks. On Christmas, this rare scene took place: in front of a Christmas tree which stood in...
South Korean Military Bans ‘Arirang’, Country's Iconic and Beloved Song
South Korean Military is infamous for banning books, films and songs which they find ‘controversial’ or ‘subversive’ and their recent decision to ban the nation's most beloved and historically important songs, ‘Arirang’ (which even has the famed nickname of ‘unofficial national anthem of Korea‘) met with fierce backlash. The military explains it...
South Korea: Class-action Suit Against Key Players of Election Manipulation
Marking a year after the latest presidential election tainted with allegations of political tampering, attorney Han Woong, together with 610 plaintiffs, filed a civil lawsuit [ko] against those who are allegedly responsible for the election manipulation scandal. Han accused ex-President Lee Myung-bak, former head of the NIS (National Intelligence Service), ex-Commissioner of the Seoul...
South Korean Education Ministry Discourages Students’ Poster Movement
As South Korean university students’ ‘We Are Not Fine!’ poster movement spreads like wildfire across the country, even up to the point of motivating high, junior high and elementary students [ko] to write their own, the Ministry of Education has given notice to schools to control students’ poster-making in order...
Photos of Mass Candlelight Rallies in South Korea
By holding candlelight rallies across the country, frustrated South Koreans have voiced flooding concerns over current political developments and series of scandals, including the snowballing election manipulation allegations. @Emfla505 tweeted [ko] this stunning photo of protest in Seoul (below) and WikiTree.com site gathered more photos of rallies on December 19. 오늘 서울시청 광장입니다! 민노총의 깃발이 빠져 나가고...
South Korea: Students Voice Dissent Against Korea Railroad's Mass Layoff
South Korea's state-owned railway operator, Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL), has laid off an unprecedented number of more than 7,600 workers [ko] within a week as it decided to set up a subsidiary for new high-speed train operations, which critics call ‘a prelude to privatization of the nation's rail system’. Inspired by a student at...
Follow the Money, South Korean Politicians Got Money from Construction Companies
Newtapa [ko] (Korea Center for Investigative Journalism) published a web feature [ko] which displays list of politicians’ names who received political donations from construction companies involved in the statewide construction project ‘Four Major Rivers Project‘.
South Korea: Ordinary Citizen's Extraordinary Feat in Revealing Election Manipulation
Twitter user @zarodream has been receiving congratulatory messages from fellow South Korean Tweeters for providing crucial leads in unraveling the spy agency's election manipulation activities done via Twitter. According to interview [ko], @zarodream, a 40-year-old ordinary office worker with zero professional knowledge nor special interest in politics, has spent about a year following...
South Korea: Suffering of the Sacrificial ‘Wide Goose Fathers’
‘Wide Goose Father’ is a commonly-used term in South Korea referring to sacrificial fathers who send their wife and children abroad for better education, but themselves remain in South Korea to work and cover all the expenses. The number of wild goose fathers has been steadily increasing over the years...
South Koreans in US Hold Candlelight Vigil Over Spy Agency Scandal
South Koreans living in the United States held a candlelight vigil in Times Square, New York, denouncing the state spy agency's interference with the latest presidential election. @Metempirics posted photos and a video clip of the protest.
Kim Jong-Un Found in Hong Kong?
North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un has an impersonator in Hong Kong. Hong Wrong interviewed the Australian Hong Konger, ‘Howard’, who had performed Kim Jong-un for an Israeli burger chain. Howard likes to wander around in Lan Kwai Fong and takes picture with passer-by so don't be surprise to run...
South Koreans Furious Over Never-Ending Crappy Soap Opera
Although K-drama (South Korean soap opera) seems doing well internationally, South Koreans’ discontent and complaints on its repeated patterns and cliched scenarios and characters are bubbling under. Recently, as major network TV, KBS decided to extend a poorly-written soap opera ‘Princess Aurora’ which many call an ‘insult to viewers’ intelligence’,...
North Korean Tablet Debuts on eBay, But Under Suspicion of Pirating Angry Birds
North Korea’s recently-launched Android-based tablet, Samjiyon appeared on eBay, listed by a Canadian account with a shipping location of Yanji in China. North Korea Tech blog also reports that the worlds's one of the best-selling applications, Angry Birds, was included on the tablet without proper permissions from the game maker.
South Korea: An Interactive Timeline of the Spy Agency Election Manipulation Scandal
A special webpage ‘NIS 2012‘ [ko] was set up by savvy net users to host an interactive timeline explaining how the NIS (National Intelligence Service)’ election manipulation scandal has unfolded over the year. The site also features a diagram displaying relations and dynamics between concerned interest groups and political powerhouses and a...
South Korean Net Users’ Donation to Villagers Fighting Against Power Line
Clashes continue to intensify in small South Korean village Miryang as senior villagers resist the government's decision to impose electrical power lines across their land, saying they will fight to the death for their land and living rights. An environmental group started a grassroot campaign in Daum Agora site [ko] of gathering...
South Koreans in Europe Protest Spy Agency Scandal
Protests have continued against South Korea's spy agency who allegedly interfered with the latest presidential election and manipulated public opinion to tip the scales in favor of current president Park Geun-hye. Ahead of Park's official visit to Western Europe, Koreans living in France held candlelight vigils denoucing the allegations and more...
Women's Magazines in Korea Don't Show Korean Cover Girls
It took ten years for women's magazine Allure's Korean edition to finally have a Korean cover model. James Turnbull explains in the Grand Narrative blog that the reason lies in Korean readers taste who prefer foreign, Caucasian cover models.
South Korean Tear Gas Being Used in Bahrain?
Bahrain interior ministry allegedly ordered 1.6 million teargas canisters to use against protesters, and South Korean company DaeKwang is believed to be one of the major suppliers. R. Elgin wrote in Marmot's Hole blog about the ironic history of tear gas– a notorious symbol of Korean government's clampdowns back in...
USA: Elevating Young Asian Voices in Immigration Reform Debate
The Youth Leadership Council of the Korean American Resource & Cultural Center created an inspiring video to help young Asian voices heard in the immigration reform debate. Blogger Angry Asian Man briefly comments on this video featuring local youth's thought-provoking spoken word performances.
