What the ... spoof?!?!?

Football Reality or Fantasy? It is hard to tell. A video has been posted on YouTube purported to be an Official North Korean news report about how they are poised to take on Portugal for the World Cup tomorrow. It could be a spoof someone made. However, considering  their reported excuse for the NK women's team losing years ago, it is also believable that the NK's actually reported this.

It is a country that constantly tries to rewrite reality to inflate their own sense of being and importance.

What me worry?

I read a post on ROK Drop this morning that made me think of my time in South Korea. It was about the fact that most South Koreans don't seem to be concerned that the North is going to do another nuclear test. According to the article cited the government, media, and some politicians are concerned but your average South Korean isn't.

The blogger finishes up by purporting;

"When Koreans have lived under threat of artillery and chemical weapons barrage for decades it is hard to get to excited about nuclear weapons. Especially when most Koreans know the nuclear weapons are being used by the North to extort the international community."

I believe it goes deeper than that. It is due in large part to the whole "pure blood" and "we are all brothers" theory. They use that in order to bury their head in the sand and ignore the antics of The NorKs. Or to divert it into anti-USA crap.

Inside Korea

Korean Adventure (November 1, 2002 Chautauqua)

I subscribe to an English-language newspaper called the Korea Herald. It gives mostly political and economic news, and a view of what some aspects of Korean life is like. There are profiles of Korean public figures, discussions of artistic endeavours, and bits of traditional lore/folkways.

In the political arena, one of the main points of interest for the past year has been the presidential election, due in December. There are two main parties, the Grand National Party, and the Millennium Democratic Party, which was created about six years ago by the sitting President, Kim Dae-jung.

President Kim received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 for his "Sunshine Policy" of reconciliation with North Korea. This process was stalled for a time after the election of George W. Bush, who included North Korea in his so-called "Axis of Evil." It is only recently that things have gotten back on track (pun intended). The two Koreas are building a rail link through the de-militarized zone, and working on a permanent re-unification village, where long-separated families can meet.

President Kim has had a very bad year. His administration is under investigation for corrupt practices, and two of his sons are now in jail for profiteering. The president is not eligible to run for re-election, but the voters are turning away from his party in droves. The present candidate has spent more time fighting off challenges from within his party than campaigning. Whether the party will survive to the election is still up in the air.

The candidate from the Grand National Party hasn't had an easy time, either. His son has been accused of draft-dodging, and there have been acrimonious exchanges when the law-makers meet in session. At one time, there were so many charges and counter-charges flying around, the Herald had a "Scandal Round-Up" section in the paper.

News from the north is scanty. There are tales of millions of people starving to death, which makes the need for reconciliation that much more acute. One story said that people were foraging in the hills for anything edible, and others were attempting to cultivate seaweed. The same day that story appeared, another one was printed that said the south's First Lady had sent up a shipment of soccer balls. The thought of starving people being given sporting equipment...

A recent article outlined South Korea's high costs and low quality of life. It is the eighth most expensive place to rent an apartment (three bedrooms): 1,580USD/month, as compared to: Taiwan 1,440USD; China 1,460USD; America 1,675USD; and Japan 2,160USD. Office space runs 523USD/year for one square meter (ninth highest), compared with 245USD in China, 452USD in America, and 486USD in Taiwan.

Korea ranks 22nd out of 131 countries in terms of living expenses, while Korean households earmark 4.9% of their budget for education of children, the highest ratio in the world, followed by the U.S., 2.4%; Japan, 2.1%; and Britain, 1.4%. Despite the high cost of living, the 2002 quality of life index for Korea stood at 5.64, ranking 32nd out of 49 countries and trailing Austria (9.77), the U.S. (8.92), and Japan (6.15). The hourly wage of Korea's manufacturing sector workers averaged 8.13USD as of 2000, ranking 21st of 29 countries and trailing Germany (22.29USD), Japan (22USD), and the U.S. (19.86USD).

A lot of Koreans drive their own cars, and they spend a lot of money customizing them to the particular owner's taste. They also have very good, and cheap, transit systems. I do not have a car, but I can get around the country very well for very little cost. It comes in handy when the freeways are jammed to zip past in comfort on the train.

Mostly everybody has a cell phone. It is not unusual to see a couple walking down the street, both of them talking away, but not to each other. The phones are cunning little items, and some of them have special headsets that make it look like wires are trailing out of someone's ears. A lot of people tap away at their hand sets, sending text messages. The rings are modern pop tunes/classical pieces that almost make up for it when they ring in the middle of a crowded movie theatre. Sometimes I think I'm the only person in Korea who doesn't own one. Even my kids have them!

I don't want this to be taken the wrong way, but sometimes Koreans remind me of big, happy children - easily mollified by bright, shiny objects - but with a capacity to work harder than we are used to in the west. They work hard, and they play even harder. They have the confidence that will surely be rewarded, and it will be more than deserved.
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I remember the GNP leader Lee Hoi-chang once being quoted that he was shocked, shocked, at the opposing parties' corrupt practices. The very next week he was under investigation, and he eventually retired from politics.
Despite it's very high standard of living, it was fairly economical to live in South Korea. Mostly because the school paying for your living expenses and health care.
I sometimes wish I was back there earning a living instead of begging for a job, any job back here in the world.
I didn't get a cell phone until my third year there. I probably should have gotten one earlier. I resisited as long as I could, but it just became too impractible not to have one.

Shit Koreans Say ... about their blood.

"Koreans share one blood. We are pure and that makes us better than others."

One of the stranger, and more racist, things most Koreans spout and believe. It makes them sound like Nazis at times. It also leads to a lot of racism in Korea. God help you if you are a mixed-race child in Korea. Just ask Hines Ward's mother.

The belief is so strong that the U.N., which is headed up by a South Korean, has told South Korea they have to tone down the pure blood bullshit.

"We are one blood. We are all brothers."

"We are one blood so they would never hurt us."

Often, when talking about North-South Korea relations, Koreans will spew little nuggets like those above. They blind themselves to all North Korea has done and try hard to believe they will never do anything bad to South Korea. It usually ends up with the US being blamed in some way for the poor relations.

Talk about some heavy duty blinders.

What the ... reasoning?!?!?

I was talking with some of my family today when the topic of North Korea came up. My brother asked "Why did they do it?" (It being things like the artillery attack, sinking ships, etc.)

My answer was "Because they can."

North Korea has been acting out like this for a LONG time. South Korea and the West (US) would scold them, tell them not to do it again or else, then give them food, money, or whatever. North Korea would quiet down until the next time they wanted something. Then they would act out again and the cycle would continue.

In a perverse way it IS the fault of South Korea and the US/West that North Korea shelled the island. They have caved in to North Korea's bad behaviour for so long no real reaction is expected. North Korea EXPECTS to act out and not get punished. Yes, they have to listen to the US chatter on about it, and South Korea (but not all South Koreans, some back the NorKs.), but that is about the extent of it.

I have said it before and odds are I will use the analogy again. North Korea is a child acting out. It hasn't been properly disciplined from the start. The parents kept letting it do things with verbal warnings and no real consequences. Now there is no expectation of real punishment so they keep acting out. Which makes it harder to actually start taking a stand because it will be a complete surprise to the child and who knows what they would do then.

What are they getting out their latest antics? Isn't the South Korean government taking a hard line against the North now? Well, the South Korean government is now talking about LIFTING the travel ban affecting South Korean businesses in Gaesong, North Korea. Nothing like sending potential hostages to the kidnappers home eh?

It seems like the same old same old.

After 9+ years of living with shit like this happening in one form or another every year, sometimes several times a year, you just stop taking it seriously. (Not to say people dieing isn't serious, I am talking about the actions and reactions.) I don't expect anything to really come of it. It would be nice to see the South and the US actually take a stand. (God knows how badly the North would freak out once they realized it was really happening.) I actually thought it might happen when George Jr was President, but it didn't. I expect lots of noise and nothing of consequence coming from the South/West.

What the delusion 2?!?!?

I thought Koreans had their head in the arses in my post on the sinking of the Cheonan. They just want to deny reality. They don't want to admit that North Korea is the enemy. North Korea has attacked them pretty much yearly in one way or another. They either excuse it away or pretend the bad behviour hasn't happened. I knew it was bad but I didn't know it was THIS bad.

I was reading an article on ROK Drop about the new outdoor exhibit at the War Museum in Seoul. It is a replica of the naval ship sunk by the North Koreans in 2002. Six sailors were murdered by the North in that attack. Eighteen others were wounded. Nice gesture of remembrance.

Then I followed a link to an article on how South Korea, especially the government, is FORGETTING the West Sea naval Battle of 2002.

This tragedy of the murdered sailors was bad enough for those left behind, but to make matters worse for the victims and their families, the South Korean government did everything possible to keep the grieving families quiet because they did not want to upset the Sunshine Policy with North Korea. So while politicians in the Korean government encouraged anti-Americanism in the aftermath of the US Army armored vehicle accident that killed two Korean school girls earlier in June 2002, the Korean government in turn did nothing to address the premeditated murder of six ROK sailors by the North Koreans.

The government even told the families to be quiet about the incident and sent no flag officers to attend a memorial ceremony or even offer any condolescences. USFK however did send representatives to the ceremony and USFK Commander General LaPorte offered the families his condolescences.

You need to read the full article. It left me pretty disgusted with how the survivors were treated, and the dead. Koreans need to get their heads out of their asses and see what reality is like. The one blood one people line is so much bull shit. North Korea has and will kill South Koreans. Putting on blinders makes wonder if the South deserves a rude awakening or not.

Would you return?

Today my mom asked me if I would go back to South Korea in light of what is going on with North Korea now. I had to say yes, I would if I wanted to.

Based on what has happened in the past I doubt there will be any serious fallout. South Korea doesn't have the stones to do anything military. Why would I say that? Past reactions to North Korean attacks.

1999: North Korean ships entered Southern waters. When SK ships headed for them they opened fire. No real retaliation.

2002: The last day of the World Cup saw North Korean ships cross into Southern waters and attack ,the SK Navy. No real retaliation.

Hell a South Korean tourist was murdered by a NK soldier at Keumgang Mountain and nothing came of that. Why should a serious military reaction be expected this time?

Double Hell, South Korea let's illegal Chinese fishermen run roughshod over their Coast Guard and does nothing. Coast Guardsmen have been murdered by the fishermen and SK refused to arm the Coast Guard so they can defend themselves. (Must not anger China after all.)

It would be nice to see them man up for a change but I don't expect to see it. (The NorK reaction would be interesting in this case ... after freaking out I wonder what they would do.)

Then you have the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper vow to put new sanctions in place against North Korea as a show of support for the South. That would be nice if Canada ACTUALLY TRADED WITH North Korea you fucking moron!

Lip service. Hollow threats. This is pretty much how South Korea and the US have traditionally responded to North Korean provocation. I doubt it will be any different this time. Odds are North Korea doesn't expect anything serious. And why should they?

Then you have China and to a degree Russia. Their protectors in the UN Security Council. What will they allow?

And while we are on the topic or Koreans dieing ... where the fuck are the Anti-North Korea protests and vigils? A US armoured vehicle accidently runs over 2 middle school girls and there are rallies everywhere. The mad cow scare had how many rallies and riots? NorKs DELIBERATELY torpedo a South Korean ship killing how many and there are no protests. What the kimchi?!?!?

Ok ... started rambling there. Yes, I would go back because I don't expect anything to come of it. As per usual.

What the .... racist dwarf?

A big tip of the hat to Korean Rum Diary and The Marmot's Hole for bringing Br. R. Meyers book The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans See Themselves and Why It Matters along to our attention. KRD first mentioned it and Marmot has brought us news of Christopher Hitchens review of it. Or as Hitchens says "A Nation of Racist Dwarves. Kim Jong Il's regime is even weirder and more despicable than you thought."

I gotta get a copy of the book. It sounds very interesting. The review was well worth the read. Made me want to read the book even more.