AJA Brief - THE AsiaN

Dispute over rant by DUP’s Lim intensifies

The dispute involving the rant by Rep. Lim Su-kyung of the Democratic United Party (DUP) on North Korean defectors is escalating despite the lawmaker’s apology. Lim, a former pro-North Korean student activist, is drawing fire not only from the ruling Saenuri Party but also from conservative groups as a whole…

High TOEIC scorers not fluent in English

Park Jai-sang, a 27-year-old college graduate in Seoul, is nicknamed a “TOEIC genius” among his peers because every time he takes the English proficiency test, he scores higher than 900. Considering his score, his level of proficiency should be excellent. When he applied to work at a major trading company,…

Politics

Kim Doo-gwan to announce presidential bid in July

Kim Doo-gwan Gov. Kim Doo-gwan of South Gyeonsang Province said Monday he is considering running for the presidency and will make a formal announcement in July. “The opposition camp must prevent the conservatives from winning power in the upcoming presidential elections, after they promised to realize regime change,” said Kim…

East Asia

Major news in Japan on Jun 5

Top news in <Kyodo News>: Japan makes no comment on possible G-7 conference call news@theasian.asia

Society

Calls mount to tackle favoritism for athletes

Baseball players from Kyungki and Paichai high schools compete during a national tournament held in Seoul. The recent controversy over academic privileges enjoyed by award winning athletes is touching off a debate about reform of their admission, attendance and graduation from top universities. The nation’s figure skating heroine Kim Yu-na…

East Asia