Former President Kim Dae-jung (김대중) died today at age 83 (85 by Korean reckoning) of complications related to pneumonia. Kim was the Republic of Korea present from 1998 to 2003.
Although Kim had a long political career as an opposition leader – not an easy thing in Korea at the time – he [...]

Theorized about for a long time, now in the news:
“Currently there are eight companies in Seoul alone that provide services matching North Korean women with South Korean men. Two of them opened between 2005 and 2006 and the other six last year or this year. “It’s a niche market for South Korean men who [...]

Update, 19 August: Per Yonhap:
South Korea suspended Wednesday the launch of its first space rocket with just under eight minutes remaining in the countdown due to a technical glitch.
Original post: South Korea’s first space launch vehicle (KSLV-1) is set for a 19 August launch from the new Naro Space Center. This is causing some [...]

Via the NYT: “Former President Roh Moo-hyun of South Korea, who had been under criminal investigation for corruption, died on Saturday from a fall while hiking on a hill near his retirement home… it was unclear whether the fall was accidental or whether Mr. Roh had committed suicide … Roh left a will, indicating that [...]

The topic is titled, “South Korea’s Rollback of Democratic Rights,” but some more interesting points arose from that false start. From LMB to mad cow to the bogus protest groups operating in South Korea today, something for everyone as Burgeson and Katsiaficas go head to head.

Last November I posted a few bizarre post cards a colleague picked up in Insadong. This week I’ve been in Seoul, and tracked down at least one of the shops that sell them.
Below are the distinctive signs marking the shop, which is located along the main Insadong street and Insadong 4 Gil (there is [...]

Remember the mad protests about American beef in South Korea? The mass hysteria of biblical proportions (”cats and dogs living together!”) that gripped the country and led to its otherwise sensible president to apologize regarding the “hurried” negotiation over resumption of the importation of American beef?
Well, now, apparently, American beef is welcome in ROK again:
Now, [...]

The trouble with North Korea is that nobody wants it — except the current ruling elite of North Korea itself.
In a previous post, I rather immodestly predicted that, should the Kim regime collapse in North Korea, a military junta backed by China would emerge, resulting in a Burma-ization of North Korea. I further speculated that [...]

A coworker purchased these weird post cards at Insadong this summer. The URL on the other side is; blueninja.biz, which has a lot of other strange art available.
“Welcome to Seoul, the City of Beauties”

“Wonderful Korea”