Tension Heightens In Okinawa After Rape Of Japanese Woman By Two U.S. Soldiers
In this Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012 photo, Okinawa citizens stage a demonstration denouncing a rape of a Japanese woman by two U.S. sailors and the U.S. military’s decision to deploy the Marines’ MV-22 Osprey hybrid aircrafts to a base in front of U.S. Marine Corps’ Camp Foster in Kitanakagusuku in Okinawa, southern Japan. Weary of […]
Kungfu Skills Demostrated In Opening Of International Shaolin Wushu Festival
Kungfu players perform during a welcoming ceremony of the 9th Zhengzhou International Shaolin Wushu Festival in Dengfeng City, central China’s Henan Province, Oct. 22, 2012. Students of kungfu school perform during a welcoming ceremony of the 9th Zhengzhou International Shaolin Wushu Festival in Dengfeng City, central China’s Henan Province, Oct. 22, 2012. Young students of […]
Kim Yu-na reunites with former coaches
Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yu-na has rehired two former coaches. Shin Hea-sook and Ryu Jong-hyun will take charge of helping the 22-year-old to return to the competitive skating starting with the 2013 World Figure Skating Championships in March. Ryu worked with Kim when she started skating at the age of seven until she was […]
SNS to play big role in election
Pop sensation Psy may not be the only Korean to massively benefit from social networking services (SNS) this year. The three presidential candidates are also betting that sites such as YouTube and Facebook will catapult them into Cheong Wa Dae come December. So says Lee Hag-man, a social media expert who was appointed Tuesday to […]
Anish Kapoor, beyond material concerns
Anish Kapoor, the sculptor of the 2012 London Olympics’ “Orbit,” came to Korea with his signature works and pigment series, “Auto-generation” and recent steel sculptures. This exhibition currently under way at Leeum museum is designed to review what Kapoor has done for some 30 years of his artistic career. “We chose works that can represent […]
‘Gangnam Style’ means business
Seoul conference to discuss potential of Korea’s pop culture exports Korea’s meteoric rise as an economic power has been driven by exports of televisions, mobile phones, cars and ships. It bears further watching as to whether soap operas, movies and music will prove to be the next big thing in the country’s expanding export lineup. […]
What is the context of S. Korea’s Africa policy?
In keeping with its tradition over the last six years, the just-ended Korea Africa Economic Cooperation Forum was yet another opportunity for Seoul to extend a compelling historical narrative that reconciles empathy with brotherhood as the context for establishing an agenda for dialogue with the powerful African delegation that convened here. I can imagine the […]
Benefits of Chaebol-bashing
If there is one thing that Korea’s three presidential candidates can agree on, it’s the need for “economic democratization.” That’s the trendy term for the reform of the country’s family-owned conglomerates, or chaebol. Chaebol-bashing has been around as a popular political issue since at least the early 1990s, but it has gained more traction among […]
The emperor of Japan
The boy who sat one row behind my desk in our elementary school was called Shimizu. He was born on Dec. 23, Showa 8 (1933), the same day the then Crown Prince Akihito, now the emperor, was born. It was his birthday, a cold December morning. The class teacher, dressed in a full black tailcoat, […]
‘Dokdo School’ to be launched in March
The Independence Hall of Korea said Wednesday it will begin an educational program called “Dokdo School” next year after Korea’s easternmost islets that are the subject of a territorial dispute with Japan. The memorial center, located in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, said the program will be launched on March 1, a national holiday to commemorate […]