Seoul Tells North to Stick Apology Demand Where Sun Don’t Shine

April 2, 2008 – 11:40 am

Need proof there’s a new sheriff in town? Seoul has responded to a North Korean demand that the South apologize for Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Kim Tae-young telling the National Assembly that the South would strike North Korean nuclear sites in an emergency by essentially telling Pyongyang to fuck off:

At 10am, military authorities sent the North a radio message in the name of Major Gen. Kwon Oh-sung, the head of the South Korean delegation for intra-Korean military talks, saying, “We think it’s inappropriate for you (the North) to arbitrarily interpret and make an issue out of remarks made by a figure on our (the South) side… We find this very regrettable.”

The South also told the North that its “willfull slander and tension-creating behavior” was not helpful to peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, and demanded Pyongyang cut it out.

UPDATE: This is why you’ve got to love the North Koreans. The Chosun Ilbo notes that in yesterday’s Rodong Shinmun tirade, the North managed to insert this:

“Like we did in the past, we can survive without South Korea. South Korea will see how it will live should it turn its back on us.”

This, the Chosun correctly points out, is a threat to raise military tensions on the peninsula in an effort to hurt the South Korean economy.

Coincidentally, just for fun, I took a peak at the original Rodong text at the KCNA website. It’s really quite nasty in tone, frequently referring to the Lee administration as the “Lee Myung-bak gang.” And in case you thought the North might be grateful for a decade of South Korean aid:

If Lee Myung-bak had even a basic sense of discernment, he’d know who has helped whom, and who owes whom.

South Korea, which was in a state of bankruptcy some 10 years ago thanks to the financial crisis that swept up Asia, was able to survive because of the dawn of the June 15 era.

Moreover, if it wasn’t for our Songun politics, could one believe that the US provocations for nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula could have been stopped, or that the South Korean economy could have survived in such a total war?

Seeing that Lee Myung-bak hasn’t any ability to understand this sensitive political reality on the Korean Peninsula, he’s talking senselessly without realizing who’s to thank for the South Korean economy.

Oh, and that visit by the New York Philharmonic really helped, too:

If we’re to speak of “openness,” we’ve never closed our doors to anyone, and the door of improved relations is open to even the United States, a hostile country. One example of this is the performance in Pyongyang of the New York Philharmonic.

If I had to guess, I’d say North Korea is going to try to push Lee as hard as it can until one side says “uncle,” which means I’d say we’re due for another “incident” in the West Sea sometime

WE WILL WAIT AND SEE........................................................................................................................

NOW FOR THIS BEAUTY ALSO...................................

Seoul to Train Foreign Teachers

Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education will begin sending foreign English teachers to a 2-month training program in Gapyeong, starting in May:

Seoul education authorities have started to train native English speaking teachers to improve on their English teaching ability. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Tuesday, a 2-month program at its English education center, located in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province will be provided from May.

It is the first time for the education office to introduce this kind of training program for foreign English teachers. So far, it has offered programs just to help foreigners adapt to Korean culture and life during orientation.

This is probably a good thing, although some of you might get a kick out of this:

University professors and supervisors in charge of English education, as well as other excellent Korean English teachers, will lead the teacher training programs. “Although some of the selected foreign teachers have English teaching certificates, they need to learn about the Korean education environment for better cooperation with teachers,” he added.

During the training programs, 15 foreign teachers at the center will learn the curriculum of English education at Korean schools and teaching methodology for Korean students.

Some might argue the “teaching methodology for Korean students” has been the problem facing foreign language education in Korea all along.

PLEASE DO NOT SIGN ME UP FOR THIS....................................................................