August 2012
108 posts
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Korean, Chinese merchants worried territorial...
By HIROSHI MATSUBARA/ AJW Staff Writer
As diplomatic and nationalist tensions simmer over disputed territories, Korean and Chinese business owners in Japan are concerned that the fallout could devastate their livelihoods.
On a normal weekend, the alleys and streets of the bustling “Korean town” in the Shin-Okubo district of Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward are packed with visitors...
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Yale Grad Fights the Families Who Rule Samsung to...
South Korean lawmakers are threatening to weaken the control the nation’s wealthiest dynasties wield over business empires ranging from Samsung Group to Hyundai Motor (005380) Group.
Led by Nam Kyung Pil, a group of 24 ruling party members submitted a bill on Aug. 6 to deny voting rights on cross shareholdings, used by families for decades to control industrial groups known as chaebol with...
SEOUL
jacobinkorea:
Just discovered the following things about Seoul:
•The tap water is SAFE TO DRINK! •It has the fastest internet in the world. •It is home to over 100 museums! •It is the third largest urban area in the world. •It is sixth on Forbes’ most powerful cities list. •In Seoul, public transport rides you! It, is, the shit. • I need to be there.
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TODAYonline | World | 2nd typhoon hits South... →
2nd typhoon hits South Korea, moves toward North Korea
02:02 PM Aug 30, 2012
SEOUL (South Korea) - Strong winds and hard rain pounded southern South Korea today, as the second typhoon this week barrelled down on the Korean Peninsula only days after 20 people died or went missing in the South in the first storm. North Korea was also in Typhoon Tembin’s path, raising new worries about a...
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Apple's victory against Samsung means... →
SEOUL, South Korea — A U.S. jury’s $1 billion verdict against Samsung for what rival Apple claimed was the illegal copying of its iPhone and iPad designs signals a turning point for the South Korean electronics giant known for its prowess in adapting the innovations of others and nimbly executing production.
People walk past by banners advertising Samsung and Apple’s smart phones at a...
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Korean Conversation Class at PAGODA →
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South Korean photographer JeongMee Yoon pays...
Also could be titled consumerism culture begins before birth. We learn this kind of mindless, useless consumerism.
JeongMee is a young photographer, a recent M.F.A grad student from NY, a curious observer and a mother who wants to understand what makes children so clearly opt for gender cuts. Pink or Blue?
It is of interest to note that in 1914, The Sunday Sentinel, an American newspaper,...
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Subversive Message Within South Korea's Music...
Beneath the catchy dance beat and hilarious scenes of Seoul’s poshest neighborhood, there might be a subtle message about wealth, class, and value in South Korean society.
Reddit
Park Jaesang is an unlikely poster boy for South Korea’s youth-obsessed, highly lucrative, and famously vacuous pop music. Park, who performs as Psy (short for psycho), is a relatively ancient 34, has...
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Food prices feared to spike following typhoon
Food prices feared to spike following typhoon
SEOUL, Aug. 28 (Yonhap) — Prices of vegetables, fruits and other agricultural products are likely to surge as powerful Typhoon Bolaven reduces the harvest of farm produce, officials said Tuesday. Bolaven, the strongest typhoon in almost a decade, hit the western part of the country, bringing fierce winds and high waves earlier in the day,...
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WatchTyphoon Bolaven has struck South Korea, killing at least eight and leaving dozens homeless. The powerful storm severely disrupted communications and caused hundreds of flight cancellations.
The typhoon struck two fishing vessels at sea, killing five crewmembers. Rescue teams managed to save twelve of the crew, and six more fishermen managed to swim to safety. Ten crewmembers remain missing.
At...
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Typhoon pounds South Korea, smashes ships; 9 dead →
SEOUL, South Korea — A powerful typhoon pounded South Korea with strong winds and heavy rain today, killing nine and churning up rough seas that smashed two Chinese fishing ships into rocks and forced the coast guard to perform a daring rescue of survivors.
Rescuers saved 12 fishermen and searched for 10 still missing from the ships that hit rocks off South Korea’s southern Jeju island. Five...
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S.Korea won down on Fed easing doubts; bonds up
SEOUL: The South Korean won fell in domestic trade Friday, moving in line with local stocks after comments from a U.S. Federal Reserve official on Thursday undercut hopes for another round of monetary stimulus from the central bank. The won was quoted at 1,134.1 against the dollar at the end of onshore trade Friday, compared with 1,130.5 at the end of the Seoul session on Thursday. Though...
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South Korea and Japan: Old Rivalry, New...
By JOHN DUERDEN
Jon Super/Associated PressSouth Korea’s Park Jong-woo holds up a banner on Aug. 10 reading “Dokdo is our Territory,” referring to the largely uninhabited islets, midway between South Korea and Japan, after his team won their bronze medal men’s soccer match against Japan, at the 2012 London Games.
SEOUL, South Korea — The most recent soccer game between South Korea and Japan...
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South Korean court revokes online real-name law
Summary: Country’s constitutional court rules that the policy violates freedom of speech, and has been ineffective in serving its purpose in curbing defamatory comments and fake rumors, since being formed in 2007.
By Ellyne Phneah |August 24, 2012 — 10:16 GMT (03:16 PDT)
Korea’s Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday that the Information Communication Law which requires...
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South Korea Court Says Samsung, Apple Infringed...
EVAN RAMSTAD And MIN SUN LEE
A South Korea court on Friday delivered a split decision in its part of the global legal battle between Apple and Samsung over mobile patents. The WSJ’s Evan Ramstad talks about the legal battle in South Korea and the U.S.
SEOUL—A South Korea court on Friday delivered a split decision in its piece of the global legal battle...
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There are only two days in the year that nothing... →
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Korean coffee craze may be hit by curbs
SEOUL — These days, a stroll on the streets of southern Seoul is just as likely to bring the fragrance of fresh-brewed coffee as that of kimchi or more traditional Korean foods.
Nearly one in every two buildings boasts a coffee shop, from Starbucks to local brands such as Caffe Bene and Angel-in-us Coffee. Despite the existence of shops a mere 70 meters apart, it can still be hard to find a...
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Hunt for North Korea's 'hidden tunnels'
By Lucy WilliamsonBBC News, Seoul
Lee Chang-gun on why he and his colleagues keep an eye on the tunnels
Continue reading the main story
Related Stories
N Korea sends leaflets to South
South Korea rebrands ‘scariest place on Earth’
To become a tunnel-hunter in South Korea, you need a pump, a generator and a bit of imagination.
Lee Chang-gun and his band of investigators have all...
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North Korea leader Kim Jong-un married to Ri... →
A KRT news reader shows the first footage of Kim Jong-un and his new wife Ri Sol-ju since their marriage was revealed, on a visit to a pre-school
Continue reading the main story
Inside North Korea
Secretive ‘first family’
North Korea’s political elite
Why was army chief removed?
Kim’s state media makeover
North Korean state media have confirmed for the first...
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WatchKorean rapper Psy has become an internet sensation with his unique horse- riding dance. CNN’s Paula Hancocks reports.
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Paula Hancocks spoke with South Korea's first... →
Seoul, South Korea (CNN) — South Korea’s ruling Saenuri Party overwhelmingly selected Park Geun-hye as its presidential candidate during its political convention on Monday.
If elected, Park — the first woman ever nominated by the party, and the daughter of the country’s former dictator — would become the country’s first-ever female president.
Park won the...
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South Korean troops have been rehearsing a terror... →
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LED chandelier by Yoon Bahk is made from recycled...
LED chandelier by Yoon Bahk is made from recycled wine and champagne bottles
Drunk – by Yoon Bahk
This lighting fixture is an upcycled chandelier built up with recycled champagne and wine bottles. Each bottle was hand washed, polished with sandblasting, developing a smooth surface that mildly projects the light rays.
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US troops also took male circumcision to South...
Full Article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19072761
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Small retailers fight super-superstore
Retailers have their heads shaved as part of a protest against a proposed Home Plus superstore in Seoul’s Mapo district, August 19. (by Ryu Woo-jong, staff photographer)
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Solar power generation on a lake
The world’s first floating solar energy facilities in Habcheon Lake, South Gyeongsang province. The panels are about the size of a soccer field and can instantly produce 500 kilowatts of energy. (by Choi Sang-won, staff reporter)
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The aftermath of President Lee’s sudden visit to...
Experts foresee indefinite chill in relations between South Korea and Japan
By Kim Kyu-won and Son Won-je, staff reporters and Jeong Nam-ku, Tokyo correspondent
President Lee Myung-bak’s out-of-nowhere visit to Dokdo on August 10 is further complicating already tense relations with Japan. Experts are divided in their analysis on the reasons for the fly-by and how it might affect ties with...
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'Gangnam Style': How a Korean viral sensation beat...
Forget ‘Party Rockers’ and ‘Call Me Maybe’. Get ready for ‘Gangnam Style’.
Racking up nearly 48 million YouTube streams, beating Justin Bieber’s ‘As Long as You Love Me’ and Katy Perry’s ‘Wide Awake’ to number one on the US iTunes chart, and spawning internet cover versions and flash mobs, this surprise Korean crossover pop...
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Japan May Trim Financial Lifeline With South Korea...
—Japan Cabinet to hold meeting Tuesday to discuss response to territorial dispute with South Korea
—Possible steps include scaling back currency swap arrangement, suspension of plans to buy South Korean government debt
—Analysts doubt there will be any big practical impact on the economies of the two countries from such steps
By Takashi Nakamichi
TOKYO—Japan may...
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K-Pop Is The World's Hottest Music Trend, But Its...
Korean musicians must export or starve
PSY (pictured, also known as Park Jae-sang) is having the time of his life. On August 12th at a stadium in Seoul, the rap star’s concert felt like the only party in town. He entertained 30,000 fans for almost four hours. And this veteran of the South Korean charts has suddenly become popular in the West, since the video for his song “Gangnam...
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South Korea erects monument on Dokdo to mark... →
South Korea erects monument on Dokdo to mark presidential visit
Kyodo
SEOUL — South Korea on Sunday unveiled a monument on Dokdo to commemorate President Lee Myung Bak’s visit there last week, prompting a protest from Japan, which claims the rocky islets as Takeshima.
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Spit touched off South Korean subway rampage that...
Commuters are seen in a Seoul, South Korea subway station in this April 6, 2012 file photo. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
The Associated Press Published Sunday, Aug. 19, 2012 10:26AM EDT
SEOUL, South Korea — A man wielding a box-cutter stabbed or cut eight people at a subway station just outside of South Korea’s capital after a teenager confronted him for spitting at him, police...
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Insider Blog: Korea's Emerging Sharing Economy
Korea’s Emerging Sharing Economy
Lauren visited Seoul for three days to learn more about the emerging Korean Collaborative Consumption market and its inspiring entrepreneurs.
By Lauren Anderson on August 8, 2012
‘So do you like dog?’ I’m sure my face was frozen with uncertainty as I looked at my host Sun, who sat next to me in the taxi. ‘I’ve never actually, um, tried dog…’, I said...
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S. Korean Beach Becomes Focus in Debate Over...
South Korean vacationers swim on Haeundae beach in Busan, South Korea, August 8 , 2010.SEOUL — Police in South Korea’s second largest metropolitan area are blaming foreigners, mainly Asian migrant workers, for committing an increasing number of crimes on one of the country’s most popular beaches. The police station at Haeundae beach has sent a letter to 1,600 companies in the Busan...
