The final cut
well a few updates to pass on
still job hunting and still looking, when I know something I will pass it on.
Dallas stars lose 4-1. well isnt this special stars gone early in last 3 seasons. well I can't feel too bad detroit is gone also. Well better luck next year.
Dallas Mavericks win 4-0. Wow, what I have been able to see looks good, have only seen 1 game, nba games are not much for bit torrents, but i still try and look. nba games are not played here much on tv. I will watch and wait and see.
Nfl draft, Redskins did so so. man I hate trading these picks, please stop.
Joined a gym and will be working out alot today, lost about 2 pounds so far.
may 14th I turn 40. Wow still can not believe that one but its true.
oh well thats all for now, like I have always said, new changes I will update.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Friday, April 28, 2006
Now for what we have all waited to hear about Hines WARD......From North Korea...
Recently, in South Korea, a strange game pursuing the weakening of the fundamental character of our race and making society “multiethnic and multiracial” is unfolding.
Those responsible for this commotion are spreading confounding rumors like South Korea is a “multiracial area” mixed with the blood of Americans and several other races, how we must “overcome closed ethnic nationalism,” and we must embrace “the inclusiveness and openness of a multiethnic nation” like the United States.
The words themselves take a knife to the feeling of our people, but even more serious is that this anti-national theory of “multiethnic, multiracial society” has already gone beyond the stage of discussion. Already, they’ve decided that from 2009, content related to “multiracial, multiethnic culture” would be included in elementary, middle and high school textbooks that have until now stressed that Koreans are the “descendents of Dangun,” “of one blood line” and “one race,” and to change the terms “families of international marriage” and “families of foreign laborers” to “multicultural families.”
This is an outrage that makes it impossible to repress the rage of the people/race.
To start from the conclusion, the argument for “multiethnic, multiracial society” cried for by pro-American flunkeyists in South Korea is an unpardonable argument to obliterate the race by denying the homogeneity of the Korean race and to make an immigrant society out of South Korea, to make it a hodgepodge, to Americanize it.
The race (ethnic group) is a social unit of ethnic components formed historically and a community sharing the same fate, and said race exists because it has a character that distinguishes it from other races. Ethnic identity becomes an important weapon in personal and social development. Because of this, all races value their uniqueness and highlight their excellence, and by doing so give strength to awakening and unifying the components of the race. Today, with the wave of “globalization” inundating the world, nations have confronted it and insisted on their ethnic character and built walls to protect it; there is not one nation or race that has denied itself.
In a reality where domination and colonialism threatens the faces of weaker races, to deny the the uniqueness and excellence of our homogenous race is an act of treason preaching the spiritual disarmament of the race.
The pro-American traitors singing the arguments of “multiethnic, multiracial society” have not even a basic understanding of the race’s point of view or the historical development of society and are silly asses without even the slightest ethnic spirit.
Homogeneity, which no other race in the world has, is the pride of our race and becomes the source of the unity needed in the struggle for eternal development and prosperity. Because the homogeneity of the race is so precious, our people have sacrificed blood and lives to walk the long and difficult path of reunification, and now we are cultivating the June 15 era of reunification with all our patriotic fervor.
If we cannot save the homogeneity of the race, we cannot protect the fate of either the race of the individual before American schemes for domination, nor can we block the schemes of the Japanese reactionaries to reinvade based on claims of sovereignty over the Dokdo islets. The anti-national character of the arguments for “multiethnic, multiracial society” is that it denies the race itself and entrusts the nation and race to the imperialists.
When people are calling for the entire people to unite their strength and reunify the Fatherland and raise up the majesty of the homogenous race, it’s a serious problem that there arguments to deny the race and obliterate the race have appeared in South Korea. Now is the era of independent unification to end 60 years of division between North and South and to establish the structural homogeneity of the race, and the trend of this age is “to handle things within the race” (uri minjok-ggiri). The argument for a “multiethnic, multiracial society” is a poison that weakens the basic ideology of this era and is anti-reunification logic.
Anti-national arguments running counter to the direction of the people in South Korea is clearly the result of criminal schemes by pro-American groups, including the Grand National Party, and behind-the-scenes control by the United States to make the bloodlines of North and South different, block the June 15 era of reunification and make permanent the division of the Korean race.
The issue of mixed-race people being raised in South Korea is completely a product of U.S. military occupation of South Korea. How spiritless these fellows must be that not only do they not raise up the value of having the U.S. military withdraw to bring an end to this tragic reality, but instead are trying to make the problem part of society.
That arguments for a “multiethnic, multiracial society,” which make it impossible to repress ones racial shame and rage, are openly going around South Korea and there are moves to make them a reality shows how dangerous the criminal schemes of the United States to make the world unipolar are.
All sectors of the South Korean people must boldly reject the anti-national schemes of the flunkeyist traitors to toss aside our identity and racial character and even sully the bloodlines of our race and obliterate it. They must also raise up the values of putting the Korean race first and settling everything within our race and actively stand up in the patriotic struggle to protect the Korean race and bring about reunification.
http://www.rjkoehler.com/?p=2776
Recently, in South Korea, a strange game pursuing the weakening of the fundamental character of our race and making society “multiethnic and multiracial” is unfolding.
Those responsible for this commotion are spreading confounding rumors like South Korea is a “multiracial area” mixed with the blood of Americans and several other races, how we must “overcome closed ethnic nationalism,” and we must embrace “the inclusiveness and openness of a multiethnic nation” like the United States.
The words themselves take a knife to the feeling of our people, but even more serious is that this anti-national theory of “multiethnic, multiracial society” has already gone beyond the stage of discussion. Already, they’ve decided that from 2009, content related to “multiracial, multiethnic culture” would be included in elementary, middle and high school textbooks that have until now stressed that Koreans are the “descendents of Dangun,” “of one blood line” and “one race,” and to change the terms “families of international marriage” and “families of foreign laborers” to “multicultural families.”
This is an outrage that makes it impossible to repress the rage of the people/race.
To start from the conclusion, the argument for “multiethnic, multiracial society” cried for by pro-American flunkeyists in South Korea is an unpardonable argument to obliterate the race by denying the homogeneity of the Korean race and to make an immigrant society out of South Korea, to make it a hodgepodge, to Americanize it.
The race (ethnic group) is a social unit of ethnic components formed historically and a community sharing the same fate, and said race exists because it has a character that distinguishes it from other races. Ethnic identity becomes an important weapon in personal and social development. Because of this, all races value their uniqueness and highlight their excellence, and by doing so give strength to awakening and unifying the components of the race. Today, with the wave of “globalization” inundating the world, nations have confronted it and insisted on their ethnic character and built walls to protect it; there is not one nation or race that has denied itself.
In a reality where domination and colonialism threatens the faces of weaker races, to deny the the uniqueness and excellence of our homogenous race is an act of treason preaching the spiritual disarmament of the race.
The pro-American traitors singing the arguments of “multiethnic, multiracial society” have not even a basic understanding of the race’s point of view or the historical development of society and are silly asses without even the slightest ethnic spirit.
Homogeneity, which no other race in the world has, is the pride of our race and becomes the source of the unity needed in the struggle for eternal development and prosperity. Because the homogeneity of the race is so precious, our people have sacrificed blood and lives to walk the long and difficult path of reunification, and now we are cultivating the June 15 era of reunification with all our patriotic fervor.
If we cannot save the homogeneity of the race, we cannot protect the fate of either the race of the individual before American schemes for domination, nor can we block the schemes of the Japanese reactionaries to reinvade based on claims of sovereignty over the Dokdo islets. The anti-national character of the arguments for “multiethnic, multiracial society” is that it denies the race itself and entrusts the nation and race to the imperialists.
When people are calling for the entire people to unite their strength and reunify the Fatherland and raise up the majesty of the homogenous race, it’s a serious problem that there arguments to deny the race and obliterate the race have appeared in South Korea. Now is the era of independent unification to end 60 years of division between North and South and to establish the structural homogeneity of the race, and the trend of this age is “to handle things within the race” (uri minjok-ggiri). The argument for a “multiethnic, multiracial society” is a poison that weakens the basic ideology of this era and is anti-reunification logic.
Anti-national arguments running counter to the direction of the people in South Korea is clearly the result of criminal schemes by pro-American groups, including the Grand National Party, and behind-the-scenes control by the United States to make the bloodlines of North and South different, block the June 15 era of reunification and make permanent the division of the Korean race.
The issue of mixed-race people being raised in South Korea is completely a product of U.S. military occupation of South Korea. How spiritless these fellows must be that not only do they not raise up the value of having the U.S. military withdraw to bring an end to this tragic reality, but instead are trying to make the problem part of society.
That arguments for a “multiethnic, multiracial society,” which make it impossible to repress ones racial shame and rage, are openly going around South Korea and there are moves to make them a reality shows how dangerous the criminal schemes of the United States to make the world unipolar are.
All sectors of the South Korean people must boldly reject the anti-national schemes of the flunkeyist traitors to toss aside our identity and racial character and even sully the bloodlines of our race and obliterate it. They must also raise up the values of putting the Korean race first and settling everything within our race and actively stand up in the patriotic struggle to protect the Korean race and bring about reunification.
http://www.rjkoehler.com/?p=2776
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
The final cut
With the strongest language from President Roh, South Korea stated that Dokdo is there land and wiill protest any attempt by Japan to lay claim to the islets. To be honest I have no idea how this will play out, I have asked my students and they all think that Dokdo is Korea but when asked why, I still have not received a great answer yet. Should make for some intresting blogging.
S. Korea Leader Vows to Defend Islets
By BO-MI LIM, Associated Press WriterMon Apr 24, 11:05 PM ET
South Korea's president vowed Tuesday to defend a string of islets against Japanese claims in Seoul's strongest criticism yet of Tokyo in the long-running territorial dispute.
The islets — known as Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japanese — are under South Korean control. The dispute flared anew this month when Japan said it would conduct a maritime survey in waters surrounding the islets.
The waters lie halfway between the countries. The area, claimed by both countries, is a rich fishing ground and is also believed to have methane hydrate deposits, a potential source of natural gas.
After negotiations in Seoul, Japan agreed on Saturday to cancel the survey as long as South Korea delays its move to officially register the Korean names in the area.
President Roh Moo-hyun told the nation on television Tuesday it was South Korea's "given right" to register the Korean names.
Roh called Tokyo's territorial claim "an act that denies Korea's complete liberation and independence."
"We will never tolerate this," Roh said.
It was the strongest criticism of Japan yet from South Korea, which harbors deep bitterness toward Japan for its 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
"We will react strongly and sternly against any physical provocation," Roh said. "This is a problem that can never be given up or negotiated, no matter at what cost or sacrifice."
South Korea vehemently opposes Japan's survey plans and this month dispatched 20 gunboats to the area, warning of a possible physical confrontation if Japan proceeded.
Japan has maintained it has the right to conduct the survey under international law, but kept its two unarmed survey ships out of the waters.
Tokyo maintains the survey is needed to match South Korean efforts to map the sea floor and name underwater formations, including basins and ridges.
In addition to the islet feud, the two sides are at odds over Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to a Tokyo war shrine along with school textbooks that critics say gloss over the country's past abuses.
With the strongest language from President Roh, South Korea stated that Dokdo is there land and wiill protest any attempt by Japan to lay claim to the islets. To be honest I have no idea how this will play out, I have asked my students and they all think that Dokdo is Korea but when asked why, I still have not received a great answer yet. Should make for some intresting blogging.
S. Korea Leader Vows to Defend Islets
By BO-MI LIM, Associated Press WriterMon Apr 24, 11:05 PM ET
South Korea's president vowed Tuesday to defend a string of islets against Japanese claims in Seoul's strongest criticism yet of Tokyo in the long-running territorial dispute.
The islets — known as Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japanese — are under South Korean control. The dispute flared anew this month when Japan said it would conduct a maritime survey in waters surrounding the islets.
The waters lie halfway between the countries. The area, claimed by both countries, is a rich fishing ground and is also believed to have methane hydrate deposits, a potential source of natural gas.
After negotiations in Seoul, Japan agreed on Saturday to cancel the survey as long as South Korea delays its move to officially register the Korean names in the area.
President Roh Moo-hyun told the nation on television Tuesday it was South Korea's "given right" to register the Korean names.
Roh called Tokyo's territorial claim "an act that denies Korea's complete liberation and independence."
"We will never tolerate this," Roh said.
It was the strongest criticism of Japan yet from South Korea, which harbors deep bitterness toward Japan for its 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
"We will react strongly and sternly against any physical provocation," Roh said. "This is a problem that can never be given up or negotiated, no matter at what cost or sacrifice."
South Korea vehemently opposes Japan's survey plans and this month dispatched 20 gunboats to the area, warning of a possible physical confrontation if Japan proceeded.
Japan has maintained it has the right to conduct the survey under international law, but kept its two unarmed survey ships out of the waters.
Tokyo maintains the survey is needed to match South Korean efforts to map the sea floor and name underwater formations, including basins and ridges.
In addition to the islet feud, the two sides are at odds over Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to a Tokyo war shrine along with school textbooks that critics say gloss over the country's past abuses.
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
The final cut
2 new additions today. Oh my news last year, with an unified Korea.
Dokto is at the point of geting weird. When you see in a Korean movie chain (CGV)a comercial about a Korean robot that protects Dokto from Japan's invasion and it is sponsored by a chain of apartments. (I know this sounds crazy but it actually happened for months, I was thinking OMG, every sterotype of the people from Japan was showed, and the sea-gulls were cheering because they were Korean) Now South Korea may ask the North for help with this matter. Are they crazy and what about 2002 when North Korea attacked South Korea. A car accident with US topps that kills 2 little girls and Korea goes anti USA, while a raid kills South korean soldiers and the goverment does nothing. This should make for some very intresting watching.
Gi Korea
With the current interest in Korean reunification theories, I have decided to repost a reunification theory published last year by the Korean publication Oh My News that I found many reasons to dispute. These disputes are what initially sparked my interest in what would happen if China ever got involved in peacekeeping operations in North Korea.
United Korea
___________________________________________________________
Oh My News, has an article discussing how to properly reunify the Korean peninsula. This is how the article opens up:
By using Germany as a template on what to do and what not to do, we can minimize the problems of reunification by delaying it for several decades. A divided Korea will be needed to minimize the burden to South Korea's economy when the North does collapse. This is the general consensus among South Koreans -- even though they do genuinely care about the harsh conditions in the North -- but they are not willing to give up their luxury cars and vacations to help them. This may seem heartless and cold but it is also reasonable. (*)
I really don't consider keeping your luxury cars and vacations despite the suffering of the North Korean people as caring in general about the conditions in North Korea. I pretty much consider that as not caring at all about North Korea. Which is fine, but at least be honest about it.
The writer goes on to discuss how after reunification internal security should be handled in North Korea:
One of many important aspects needed to be considered by South Korea and the U.S. is internal security. The U.S. should play an integral role in the planning of internal security in the same way it has invaded and occupied Iraq, Japan and Afghanistan. Public relations should be on the minds of the U.S. when organizing internal security. Many anti-U.S. supporters may disagree with this statement, but you have to ask yourself this, "Which country has the expertise in this area?"
South Korea should handle all internal security because after reunification North and South Korea should technically be one country with the legimate government being the elected government in Seoul. A state of marshall law will probably have to be declared for a period of time to prevent looting and a mass refugee exodus to the south. The ROK Army has more than enough man power to handle this. During the period of marshall law the local North Korean police structure will have to be rebuilt to purge people guilty of atrocities and to train new policemen in the ways of modern law enforcement including such basics as, executing people is not standard police practice.
Here is something I can agree with the writer on:
The U.S. should not enter North Korea territory. The reason for this is because the North Korean government has used heavy anti-U.S. propaganda on their people for 50 years and the sight of a U.S. Marine could incite panic among North Koreans, especially in rural areas.
(...)
With the U.S. taking a prominent role in maintaining South Korea's side of the DMZ....
There is absolutely no reason American soldiers should enter North Korea. The amount of propaganda taught to the people in the North is sure to cause many problems if American soldiers enter North Korea. This will also cause the North Korean public to wonder if the South Korean government is really legitimate and not an American puppet.
It would also be foolish to have American soldiers secure the entire DMZ. First of all there are not enough US soldiers here to even do it, so more GI's would have to sent here creating a larger US footprint in Korea. Plus does anyone beside this reporter think it would be a good idea that the first person a North Korean refugee would meet when trying to enter South Korea would be an American GI? If that doesn't reinforce the image of an American puppet regime in the south then I don't know what will.
The best thing the US Army could do is just stay on post and speed up the current down sizing of forces on the peninsula. This would free up more needed soldiers for the War on Terror plus reduce the US footprint in Korea, and put China at ease that the US military isn't trying to move into North Korea.
All the shots including internal and border security issues in North Korea needs to be called by and executed by the South Korean government to build legitimacy in the eyes of the North Korean people.
The Oh My News reporter thinks otherwise:
United Nations peacekeepers will be needed to ensure stability in the region. All internal security matters should be handled by the UN behind the scenes for PR purposes, since the United Nations did fight against North Korea during the Korean War.
This is the last thing South Korea should send into North Korea. To the North Korean public it would just look like another foreign occupation army wanting to take over Korea. Plus how would foreigners from third world countries like; Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, etc. that make up the majority of UN peacekeeping force handle enforcing the peace in North Korea. They can't speak the language, don't know the history, or the cultural differences in North Korea. Worse yet what if they get caught raping girls like they did in the Congo? It would be a PR nightmare for the Korean government.
The UN is successful in executing operations like caring for refugees and providing food aid. However, there is no government body worse at handling peacekeeping than the UN. Does Rwanda, Bosnia, and Somalia ring a bell? All collosal UN peacekeeping failures, especially Rwanda. Check out this PBS Frontline report to see how effective UN peacekeeping is.
Then the reporter thinks that Chinese Army would be a great element to have join in on the peacekeeping operation:
If the UN is the head of this operation, China will be the face of the operation. North Koreans have been taught that the Chinese have helped (not saved) North Korea from the U.S. during the Korean War; China is considered a brother to North Korea.
The People's Liberation Army of China is not known for liberating anyone much less North Korea. Tibet ring a bell? If the Chinese are allowed into North Korea, mark my words, South Korea will have a hard time getting them out.
The reporter then goes on to think that by keeping the country divided, by having the UN govern North Korea, that more international aid will roll in. After the Asian Tsunami in Southeast Asia five billion dollars overall of international aid was pledged to the effected areas. How much of that money do you think those countries will actually see? Probably not much now that the media focus has moved on, plus the cost to reconstruct North Korea will run at approximately $350 billion dollars over 10 years from just South Korea. So Korea shouldn't count on international aid, this will be their financial burden.
Then the reporter continues to go on thinking that neighboring countries will help finance reconstruction in the name of free trade:
You may be asking yourself, why would North Korea's neighbors be willing to spend so much on another country? There are many uses for free trade. It is the view of this writer that trade prevents wars and ensures peace between nations. This view draws on the fact that everyone wants to be rich and people would not look favorably on their government if they took steps that threatened trade. In this instance, trade will be used as a tool to speed up normalization of relations.
Before you can have free trade you need to have something to trade. North Korea won't be in the missile exporting, counterfeit money, and drug trafficking business after reunification which leaves them with nothing to trade. It will take years to build up the economy to attract international investment.
Then the reporter concludes by thinking that money for investment in North Korea's economy can initially be provided by making cuts in the ROK military:
I have mentioned the domino effect. Since the threat from the North would be non-existent, South Korea could redirect billions spent on defense into North Korea.
It would be extremely foolish to cut the military in Korea especially with neighbors like Korea has in northeast Asia. Northeast Asia is a tough neighborhood that requires Korea to have a strong army to prevent past national humilations from occurring again. Plus the money saved cutting the ROK Army would only put a small dent in the overall amount of money needed to fix North Korea.
The bottom line is that Korea sooner or later is going to have to suck the egg and pay for the price of unification. The current policy is to pro-long the Kim Jong Il regime to put that day of reckoning off so that the citizens of Korea can enjoy their current prosperity. I don't agree with it but if that is what Korean government wants to do and they don't represent me, so that is their choice. But when the day of unification does come the South Korean government needs to immediately establish its authority over North Korea to build the legitimacy of the ROK government in the eyes of the North Korean people. Any intervention by foreigners like the US, UN, or China will not be received very well by the North Korean public and will harm the legitimacy of the South Korean government, which needs to be the number one authority over any peacekeeping operation in North Korea.
South Korea May Ask North Korea to Become Involved in the Dokto Crisis
Topic: Dokto Madness
The fate of the entire world continues to hang in the balance due to the latest Dokto crisis between South Korea and Japan. Don't worry though because the South Korean government in their infinite wisdom on this issue may ask Kim Jong Il for help defending the island from those dastardly Japanese oceanic research scientists:
The two Koreas may discuss the threatened incursion of a Japanese research vessel into Korea¿s exclusive economic zone during the inter-Korean ministerial talks starting in Pyongyang this Friday. Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday he would ¿talk to the unification minister¿ about the matter.
Ban was answering a question from Uri Party lawmaker Choi Sung in the National Assembly. Asked if Korea will seize the Japanese research vessel if it violates the EEZ in the course of what Japan claims is a hydrographic survey near Dokdo, Ban said, ¿Concrete steps will be determined depending on how the situation progresses.¿ The chief diplomat agreed with commentators that it is ¿highly likely that Japan is attempting to turn the sensitive Dokdo area into an area of territorial dispute by violating our sovereignty over the islets.¿
First of all, what does North Korea have to do with the Dokto controversy between South Korea and Japan. Secondly what could North Korea even do if they do get involved in it? Nuke the research vessel with a No Dong Nuclear tipped warhead? Probably more threatening would be to shut down some pachinko parlors in Osaka? That will really show those wicked Japanese who is boss.
Bringing in the North Koreans into this mess would only play into the Japanese government's hands because it would further demonstrate the ROK government as behaving irrationally over this issue. The more irrational the ROK government is, the more foreign governments will tend to side with the Japanese government on this issue.
Plus the absurdity of asking North Korea for assistance on this issue just cannot escape me. Remember the North Koreans are the same people who deliberately planned, ambushed, and cold bloodedly killed six South Korean sailors in the Yellow Sea in June of 2002 in order to draw attention away from the South Koreans hosting of that year's World Cup competition. No apologies, compensation, absolutely nothing from the North Koreans after that incident. In fact the South Korean government went to great lengths to cover up the attack and keep the grieving families quiet.
So now to go ask the murders of South Korean military personnel to come and help them over a small island territorial dispute with Japan just seems ridiculous to me.
Raid
2 new additions today. Oh my news last year, with an unified Korea.
Dokto is at the point of geting weird. When you see in a Korean movie chain (CGV)a comercial about a Korean robot that protects Dokto from Japan's invasion and it is sponsored by a chain of apartments. (I know this sounds crazy but it actually happened for months, I was thinking OMG, every sterotype of the people from Japan was showed, and the sea-gulls were cheering because they were Korean) Now South Korea may ask the North for help with this matter. Are they crazy and what about 2002 when North Korea attacked South Korea. A car accident with US topps that kills 2 little girls and Korea goes anti USA, while a raid kills South korean soldiers and the goverment does nothing. This should make for some very intresting watching.
Gi Korea
With the current interest in Korean reunification theories, I have decided to repost a reunification theory published last year by the Korean publication Oh My News that I found many reasons to dispute. These disputes are what initially sparked my interest in what would happen if China ever got involved in peacekeeping operations in North Korea.
United Korea
___________________________________________________________
Oh My News, has an article discussing how to properly reunify the Korean peninsula. This is how the article opens up:
By using Germany as a template on what to do and what not to do, we can minimize the problems of reunification by delaying it for several decades. A divided Korea will be needed to minimize the burden to South Korea's economy when the North does collapse. This is the general consensus among South Koreans -- even though they do genuinely care about the harsh conditions in the North -- but they are not willing to give up their luxury cars and vacations to help them. This may seem heartless and cold but it is also reasonable. (*)
I really don't consider keeping your luxury cars and vacations despite the suffering of the North Korean people as caring in general about the conditions in North Korea. I pretty much consider that as not caring at all about North Korea. Which is fine, but at least be honest about it.
The writer goes on to discuss how after reunification internal security should be handled in North Korea:
One of many important aspects needed to be considered by South Korea and the U.S. is internal security. The U.S. should play an integral role in the planning of internal security in the same way it has invaded and occupied Iraq, Japan and Afghanistan. Public relations should be on the minds of the U.S. when organizing internal security. Many anti-U.S. supporters may disagree with this statement, but you have to ask yourself this, "Which country has the expertise in this area?"
South Korea should handle all internal security because after reunification North and South Korea should technically be one country with the legimate government being the elected government in Seoul. A state of marshall law will probably have to be declared for a period of time to prevent looting and a mass refugee exodus to the south. The ROK Army has more than enough man power to handle this. During the period of marshall law the local North Korean police structure will have to be rebuilt to purge people guilty of atrocities and to train new policemen in the ways of modern law enforcement including such basics as, executing people is not standard police practice.
Here is something I can agree with the writer on:
The U.S. should not enter North Korea territory. The reason for this is because the North Korean government has used heavy anti-U.S. propaganda on their people for 50 years and the sight of a U.S. Marine could incite panic among North Koreans, especially in rural areas.
(...)
With the U.S. taking a prominent role in maintaining South Korea's side of the DMZ....
There is absolutely no reason American soldiers should enter North Korea. The amount of propaganda taught to the people in the North is sure to cause many problems if American soldiers enter North Korea. This will also cause the North Korean public to wonder if the South Korean government is really legitimate and not an American puppet.
It would also be foolish to have American soldiers secure the entire DMZ. First of all there are not enough US soldiers here to even do it, so more GI's would have to sent here creating a larger US footprint in Korea. Plus does anyone beside this reporter think it would be a good idea that the first person a North Korean refugee would meet when trying to enter South Korea would be an American GI? If that doesn't reinforce the image of an American puppet regime in the south then I don't know what will.
The best thing the US Army could do is just stay on post and speed up the current down sizing of forces on the peninsula. This would free up more needed soldiers for the War on Terror plus reduce the US footprint in Korea, and put China at ease that the US military isn't trying to move into North Korea.
All the shots including internal and border security issues in North Korea needs to be called by and executed by the South Korean government to build legitimacy in the eyes of the North Korean people.
The Oh My News reporter thinks otherwise:
United Nations peacekeepers will be needed to ensure stability in the region. All internal security matters should be handled by the UN behind the scenes for PR purposes, since the United Nations did fight against North Korea during the Korean War.
This is the last thing South Korea should send into North Korea. To the North Korean public it would just look like another foreign occupation army wanting to take over Korea. Plus how would foreigners from third world countries like; Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, etc. that make up the majority of UN peacekeeping force handle enforcing the peace in North Korea. They can't speak the language, don't know the history, or the cultural differences in North Korea. Worse yet what if they get caught raping girls like they did in the Congo? It would be a PR nightmare for the Korean government.
The UN is successful in executing operations like caring for refugees and providing food aid. However, there is no government body worse at handling peacekeeping than the UN. Does Rwanda, Bosnia, and Somalia ring a bell? All collosal UN peacekeeping failures, especially Rwanda. Check out this PBS Frontline report to see how effective UN peacekeeping is.
Then the reporter thinks that Chinese Army would be a great element to have join in on the peacekeeping operation:
If the UN is the head of this operation, China will be the face of the operation. North Koreans have been taught that the Chinese have helped (not saved) North Korea from the U.S. during the Korean War; China is considered a brother to North Korea.
The People's Liberation Army of China is not known for liberating anyone much less North Korea. Tibet ring a bell? If the Chinese are allowed into North Korea, mark my words, South Korea will have a hard time getting them out.
The reporter then goes on to think that by keeping the country divided, by having the UN govern North Korea, that more international aid will roll in. After the Asian Tsunami in Southeast Asia five billion dollars overall of international aid was pledged to the effected areas. How much of that money do you think those countries will actually see? Probably not much now that the media focus has moved on, plus the cost to reconstruct North Korea will run at approximately $350 billion dollars over 10 years from just South Korea. So Korea shouldn't count on international aid, this will be their financial burden.
Then the reporter continues to go on thinking that neighboring countries will help finance reconstruction in the name of free trade:
You may be asking yourself, why would North Korea's neighbors be willing to spend so much on another country? There are many uses for free trade. It is the view of this writer that trade prevents wars and ensures peace between nations. This view draws on the fact that everyone wants to be rich and people would not look favorably on their government if they took steps that threatened trade. In this instance, trade will be used as a tool to speed up normalization of relations.
Before you can have free trade you need to have something to trade. North Korea won't be in the missile exporting, counterfeit money, and drug trafficking business after reunification which leaves them with nothing to trade. It will take years to build up the economy to attract international investment.
Then the reporter concludes by thinking that money for investment in North Korea's economy can initially be provided by making cuts in the ROK military:
I have mentioned the domino effect. Since the threat from the North would be non-existent, South Korea could redirect billions spent on defense into North Korea.
It would be extremely foolish to cut the military in Korea especially with neighbors like Korea has in northeast Asia. Northeast Asia is a tough neighborhood that requires Korea to have a strong army to prevent past national humilations from occurring again. Plus the money saved cutting the ROK Army would only put a small dent in the overall amount of money needed to fix North Korea.
The bottom line is that Korea sooner or later is going to have to suck the egg and pay for the price of unification. The current policy is to pro-long the Kim Jong Il regime to put that day of reckoning off so that the citizens of Korea can enjoy their current prosperity. I don't agree with it but if that is what Korean government wants to do and they don't represent me, so that is their choice. But when the day of unification does come the South Korean government needs to immediately establish its authority over North Korea to build the legitimacy of the ROK government in the eyes of the North Korean people. Any intervention by foreigners like the US, UN, or China will not be received very well by the North Korean public and will harm the legitimacy of the South Korean government, which needs to be the number one authority over any peacekeeping operation in North Korea.
South Korea May Ask North Korea to Become Involved in the Dokto Crisis
Topic: Dokto Madness
The fate of the entire world continues to hang in the balance due to the latest Dokto crisis between South Korea and Japan. Don't worry though because the South Korean government in their infinite wisdom on this issue may ask Kim Jong Il for help defending the island from those dastardly Japanese oceanic research scientists:
The two Koreas may discuss the threatened incursion of a Japanese research vessel into Korea¿s exclusive economic zone during the inter-Korean ministerial talks starting in Pyongyang this Friday. Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday he would ¿talk to the unification minister¿ about the matter.
Ban was answering a question from Uri Party lawmaker Choi Sung in the National Assembly. Asked if Korea will seize the Japanese research vessel if it violates the EEZ in the course of what Japan claims is a hydrographic survey near Dokdo, Ban said, ¿Concrete steps will be determined depending on how the situation progresses.¿ The chief diplomat agreed with commentators that it is ¿highly likely that Japan is attempting to turn the sensitive Dokdo area into an area of territorial dispute by violating our sovereignty over the islets.¿
First of all, what does North Korea have to do with the Dokto controversy between South Korea and Japan. Secondly what could North Korea even do if they do get involved in it? Nuke the research vessel with a No Dong Nuclear tipped warhead? Probably more threatening would be to shut down some pachinko parlors in Osaka? That will really show those wicked Japanese who is boss.
Bringing in the North Koreans into this mess would only play into the Japanese government's hands because it would further demonstrate the ROK government as behaving irrationally over this issue. The more irrational the ROK government is, the more foreign governments will tend to side with the Japanese government on this issue.
Plus the absurdity of asking North Korea for assistance on this issue just cannot escape me. Remember the North Koreans are the same people who deliberately planned, ambushed, and cold bloodedly killed six South Korean sailors in the Yellow Sea in June of 2002 in order to draw attention away from the South Koreans hosting of that year's World Cup competition. No apologies, compensation, absolutely nothing from the North Koreans after that incident. In fact the South Korean government went to great lengths to cover up the attack and keep the grieving families quiet.
So now to go ask the murders of South Korean military personnel to come and help them over a small island territorial dispute with Japan just seems ridiculous to me.
Raid
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
The final cut
Will Korea Ever Reunite. 3 looks at the answer. (This is a long one)
Scenarios of Reunification
Topic: North Korea
There is some good discussion about possible reunification scenarios between North and South Korea, currently being debated on a couple of high profile blogs that are worth checking out. It began with Lirelou's post on Coming Anarchy and that post was picked up on by Robert over at the Marmot's Hole. I gave my opinion on the topic over at Coming Anarchy that drew some discussion, but I will go ahead and expand on my possible reunification scenario here.
Many people like Lirelou think reunification of the Korean peninsula is likely and will happen fairly soon. I tend to think that the possibility that Korea does not reunify is just as likely as reunification and yet no one plans for a non-reunification scenario despite the possibility. Let me outline my reasoning. First of all Kim Jong Il will not seek reunification despite the Sunshine Policy advocates claims because it is not in his interest to do so. Once the country is reunified the horrors of the NK regime would become public and KJI and the NK elites would lose their heads over it not to mention the loss of wealth and prestige from being the ruling class. So reunification with KJI is not going to happen.
Now when KJI dies from old age which could be 20 years from now and he has a hand over of power to a designated successor this is the time that maybe somebody in the military may make a move though I think unlikely to over throw the regime. I think a just as likely scenario is that NK becomes destabilized due to the financial pressure of the US and internal discontent over the next 10 years and KJI sees an internal collapse coming and instead of going down in flames turns to China to stabilize the country. Chinese peacekeepers come in and set up shop in NK. KJI cannot turn the country over to South Korea because he would lose his head to where if he turned the country over to China he would live to see another day. China would be eager to prevent a humanitarian crisis from spreading across their border and also China would seize the opportunity to dilute the potential regional power, though a long term possibility, of a unified Korea on the Chinese border. Keeping the Koreas separated prevents a possible long term regional rival from developing which a unified Korea once was in ancient Korean Kugoryo times.
China has already made moves to claim the ancient Korean Kugoryo kingdom's history as their own through different UN programs and their own history textbooks. The Kugoryo kingdom covered parts of Manchuria and all of NK. If the Chinese moved into NK they could justify their claim to the land due to the claimed history. It worked before, does Tibet ring a bell?
The South Koreans could do nothing to stop the Chinese because they do not have the military or global diplomatic might to kick them out. The way things are going now, Korea would have no allies to help them in this scenario. The US-ROK alliance could very well be over and definitely highly transformed by this time with a reduced troop presence if any in South Korea. The US would probably not be willing to go to war with China over Korea, especially if there is a bitter divorce between the US and SK which the way things look now is a possibility. The US attitude may very well be towards SK, that you wanted us out and be a regional balancer, well now you got it, deal with it. Another possible ally Japan will be even further estranged from Korea as well. No help from the US and Japan would mean China would have no problems moving into NK and setting up shop. If NK falls to China that would mean that SK would fall firmly into China's sphere of regional hegemony. That is why I see the current anti-Americanism in Korea runs contrary to Korea's long term goal of reunification. If the US-ROK alliance remains strong the Chinese would not entertain the idea of provoking a war with the US over NK thus ensuring reunification with SK some time in the future.
I find it interesting that IMHO the absorption of NK into China is just as likely as the absorption of Taiwan into greater China. Yet no one has done any contingency planning if the NK-China absorption scenario happens. I'm not saying it is a sure thing to happen, but it is at least worth considering the possibility; or is it that no one really cares?
http://jetiranger.tripod.com/BLOG/index.blog?from=20060418
My personal assessment about the chances of long term peace in East Asia are pessimistic. The “pax Americana” is coming to an end, but I do not see an Asian “age of aquarius” on the horizon. Rather, we are seeing a nationalist resurgence in China, Korea, and Japan—the legacy of state indoctrination programs in the two former, and recidivist nationalism in the latter.
The reunification of Korea is inevitable, but it will be a far more painful process than many Koreans expect. Once that pain is felt, who will they blame? The extreme left, which may be discredited when Nork gulags are revealed, will point the finger at the U.S. Right-wing nationalists will look to Japan, as Korea would never have been divided and developed into a modern nation much like Singapore and Taiwan were it not for Japan’s colonialism. That argument is likely to find support among the Korean populace, and will likely whet their appetite for revenge. Add to this the very real possibility that China’s continued economic rise has by that time cut into the Korean GDP (adding to real price of reunification), and you may have a social discontent factor that is presently absent in South Korea.
The North Koreans and Iranians, neither one of which may currently possess the bomb, have in essence pulled out the cork on the nuclear issue. In the early post-reunification phase, U.S. pressure will keep the Koreans from going nuclear. Once U.S. forces leave the Peninsula, which I believe will be within two to three years following reunification, the gloves will be off. Depending upon Japanese assessment of the “Korean threat” at that time, Japan will have to decide on whether to remain under the U.S. “nuclear umbrulla”, which will imply both a continued U.S. troop presence in Japan, and perhaps an increase in U.S. air power capabilities, or whether to begin developing its own nuclear and force projection options to counter those of Korea.
An external factor that must be considered will be the U.S. political scene in the post-reunification period. If the Iraq and Afgan wars are perceived to have been failures, the American public will be less supportive of a continued U.S. troop presence in Asia, particularly if that presence could draw us into a Korean-Japanese conflict. My own suspicion is that the sizeable Korean-American community will prove as formidable at applying political pressure as the Irish-Americans in the Northeast, the Jewish communities of the major cities, and the Cuban-Americans in South Florida, all of which have had their say in American domestic and foreign policy. They have not always obtained what they wanted, but their power is recognized and respected. Korean-Americans have the further advantage of potential ties to the religious right. Thus Japan’s assessment of Korean-American political influence (vis-a-vis Japanese-American political influence) may be another factor that could possibly spur its own nuclear program.
All in all, not a rosy picture for peace in East Asia in the wake of Korean reunification. Of course, I’ve been wrong before. And I hope I’m wrong this time. Unfortunately, I have also been right at times when all the analysts were saying something else. That’s the part that bothers me.
http://www.cominganarchy.com/archives/2006/04/17/in-the-wake-of-korean-reunification/
Allow me to add some comments of my own. Let me start off with the question of Korean reunification. I agree the reunification is pretty much inevitable, although I think most Koreans already believe the process will be extraordinarily painful.
My own guess is that when the realities of the gulag state are revealed in a way that can no longer be denied or ignored, the left will be too busy trying to take credit for “subverting” the North Korean state through Sunshine and fending off attacks from the right and the right too busy racking in political capital by blaming the left (especially if, as some suspect, the collapse of North Korea is accompanied by the revelation that more than a few South Korean figures were on Pyongyang’s payroll) for either group to focus primarily on blaming outside powers. And at any rate, the post-unification process is likely to be so painful that it might force Korea to be rather self-absorbed with its own problems for quite some time. The chances of post-unification Korean nationalism taking on a nasty streak, however, could increase dramatically depending on how the collapse of North Korea/reunification process goes down.
In particular, there could be a great deal of resentment if Chinese troops are included in any international peacekeeping force sent to stabilize North Korean territory in the wake of an implosion. As it stands now, it seems the question is not whether or not China will send troops to North Korea for security reasons and/or to gain leverage over the reunification process, but rather how many troops it will send. If the Chinese are perceived to be pursuing an agenda quite apart from Seoul’s, Koreans might start to look for their modern-day Kim Yu-sin.
Apart from the Koreans, Korean re-unification–or at least the process thereof–could lead to tensions between other key actors in the region. This really needs no explanation, and is one of the reasons why the collapse of North Korea must be handled with the utmost care.
As for the long-term prospects of peace in Northeast Asia, I’m a bit more optimistic than Lirelou. I don’t expect any of the major parties to like one another anytime soon, but at the same time, there is much more economic and social linkages and exchanges between Korea, China and Japan than there ever was between the West and the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. Granted, economic and social connectivity didn’t stop World War I, and there certainly are flash-points (Taiwan comes immediately to mind). One must also keep in mind the possibility of conflict as a rising hegemon (in this case, China) begins to challenge an existing one (in this case, the United States).
My own personal fear is that the wheels might come off the Chinese economic development wagon, forcing the Chinese Communist Party to play-up hyper-nationalist in order to redirect social discontent. There are tons of possible scenarios out there, some more likely than others. Ultimately, however, this is the nuclear age, and in the age of the atom, the big boys don’t fight one another. The costs simply outweigh the benefits of victory, especially when the status quo (with or without American troops) seems to be making so much money for everyone involved.
East Asia is inhabited by “big boys” that either have nuclear weapons, are protected by American nuclear weapons and/or can develop nuclear arsenals overnight. Doesn’t leave much room for players to muscle around without blowing up the entire neighborhood. I could conceive of regional powers coming to blows outside the region–for control of oil and gas resources in Central Asia, for example–but I find it difficult to imagine, just to take one example, China threatening Japan’s vital interests in a manner that could prompt Japan (or its American ally) to respond by turning Beijing into a sheet of glass.
I could be wrong, of course. And often am.
http://www.rjkoehler.com/?p=2734#comments
Will Korea Ever Reunite. 3 looks at the answer. (This is a long one)
Scenarios of Reunification
Topic: North Korea
There is some good discussion about possible reunification scenarios between North and South Korea, currently being debated on a couple of high profile blogs that are worth checking out. It began with Lirelou's post on Coming Anarchy and that post was picked up on by Robert over at the Marmot's Hole. I gave my opinion on the topic over at Coming Anarchy that drew some discussion, but I will go ahead and expand on my possible reunification scenario here.
Many people like Lirelou think reunification of the Korean peninsula is likely and will happen fairly soon. I tend to think that the possibility that Korea does not reunify is just as likely as reunification and yet no one plans for a non-reunification scenario despite the possibility. Let me outline my reasoning. First of all Kim Jong Il will not seek reunification despite the Sunshine Policy advocates claims because it is not in his interest to do so. Once the country is reunified the horrors of the NK regime would become public and KJI and the NK elites would lose their heads over it not to mention the loss of wealth and prestige from being the ruling class. So reunification with KJI is not going to happen.
Now when KJI dies from old age which could be 20 years from now and he has a hand over of power to a designated successor this is the time that maybe somebody in the military may make a move though I think unlikely to over throw the regime. I think a just as likely scenario is that NK becomes destabilized due to the financial pressure of the US and internal discontent over the next 10 years and KJI sees an internal collapse coming and instead of going down in flames turns to China to stabilize the country. Chinese peacekeepers come in and set up shop in NK. KJI cannot turn the country over to South Korea because he would lose his head to where if he turned the country over to China he would live to see another day. China would be eager to prevent a humanitarian crisis from spreading across their border and also China would seize the opportunity to dilute the potential regional power, though a long term possibility, of a unified Korea on the Chinese border. Keeping the Koreas separated prevents a possible long term regional rival from developing which a unified Korea once was in ancient Korean Kugoryo times.
China has already made moves to claim the ancient Korean Kugoryo kingdom's history as their own through different UN programs and their own history textbooks. The Kugoryo kingdom covered parts of Manchuria and all of NK. If the Chinese moved into NK they could justify their claim to the land due to the claimed history. It worked before, does Tibet ring a bell?
The South Koreans could do nothing to stop the Chinese because they do not have the military or global diplomatic might to kick them out. The way things are going now, Korea would have no allies to help them in this scenario. The US-ROK alliance could very well be over and definitely highly transformed by this time with a reduced troop presence if any in South Korea. The US would probably not be willing to go to war with China over Korea, especially if there is a bitter divorce between the US and SK which the way things look now is a possibility. The US attitude may very well be towards SK, that you wanted us out and be a regional balancer, well now you got it, deal with it. Another possible ally Japan will be even further estranged from Korea as well. No help from the US and Japan would mean China would have no problems moving into NK and setting up shop. If NK falls to China that would mean that SK would fall firmly into China's sphere of regional hegemony. That is why I see the current anti-Americanism in Korea runs contrary to Korea's long term goal of reunification. If the US-ROK alliance remains strong the Chinese would not entertain the idea of provoking a war with the US over NK thus ensuring reunification with SK some time in the future.
I find it interesting that IMHO the absorption of NK into China is just as likely as the absorption of Taiwan into greater China. Yet no one has done any contingency planning if the NK-China absorption scenario happens. I'm not saying it is a sure thing to happen, but it is at least worth considering the possibility; or is it that no one really cares?
http://jetiranger.tripod.com/BLOG/index.blog?from=20060418
My personal assessment about the chances of long term peace in East Asia are pessimistic. The “pax Americana” is coming to an end, but I do not see an Asian “age of aquarius” on the horizon. Rather, we are seeing a nationalist resurgence in China, Korea, and Japan—the legacy of state indoctrination programs in the two former, and recidivist nationalism in the latter.
The reunification of Korea is inevitable, but it will be a far more painful process than many Koreans expect. Once that pain is felt, who will they blame? The extreme left, which may be discredited when Nork gulags are revealed, will point the finger at the U.S. Right-wing nationalists will look to Japan, as Korea would never have been divided and developed into a modern nation much like Singapore and Taiwan were it not for Japan’s colonialism. That argument is likely to find support among the Korean populace, and will likely whet their appetite for revenge. Add to this the very real possibility that China’s continued economic rise has by that time cut into the Korean GDP (adding to real price of reunification), and you may have a social discontent factor that is presently absent in South Korea.
The North Koreans and Iranians, neither one of which may currently possess the bomb, have in essence pulled out the cork on the nuclear issue. In the early post-reunification phase, U.S. pressure will keep the Koreans from going nuclear. Once U.S. forces leave the Peninsula, which I believe will be within two to three years following reunification, the gloves will be off. Depending upon Japanese assessment of the “Korean threat” at that time, Japan will have to decide on whether to remain under the U.S. “nuclear umbrulla”, which will imply both a continued U.S. troop presence in Japan, and perhaps an increase in U.S. air power capabilities, or whether to begin developing its own nuclear and force projection options to counter those of Korea.
An external factor that must be considered will be the U.S. political scene in the post-reunification period. If the Iraq and Afgan wars are perceived to have been failures, the American public will be less supportive of a continued U.S. troop presence in Asia, particularly if that presence could draw us into a Korean-Japanese conflict. My own suspicion is that the sizeable Korean-American community will prove as formidable at applying political pressure as the Irish-Americans in the Northeast, the Jewish communities of the major cities, and the Cuban-Americans in South Florida, all of which have had their say in American domestic and foreign policy. They have not always obtained what they wanted, but their power is recognized and respected. Korean-Americans have the further advantage of potential ties to the religious right. Thus Japan’s assessment of Korean-American political influence (vis-a-vis Japanese-American political influence) may be another factor that could possibly spur its own nuclear program.
All in all, not a rosy picture for peace in East Asia in the wake of Korean reunification. Of course, I’ve been wrong before. And I hope I’m wrong this time. Unfortunately, I have also been right at times when all the analysts were saying something else. That’s the part that bothers me.
http://www.cominganarchy.com/archives/2006/04/17/in-the-wake-of-korean-reunification/
Allow me to add some comments of my own. Let me start off with the question of Korean reunification. I agree the reunification is pretty much inevitable, although I think most Koreans already believe the process will be extraordinarily painful.
My own guess is that when the realities of the gulag state are revealed in a way that can no longer be denied or ignored, the left will be too busy trying to take credit for “subverting” the North Korean state through Sunshine and fending off attacks from the right and the right too busy racking in political capital by blaming the left (especially if, as some suspect, the collapse of North Korea is accompanied by the revelation that more than a few South Korean figures were on Pyongyang’s payroll) for either group to focus primarily on blaming outside powers. And at any rate, the post-unification process is likely to be so painful that it might force Korea to be rather self-absorbed with its own problems for quite some time. The chances of post-unification Korean nationalism taking on a nasty streak, however, could increase dramatically depending on how the collapse of North Korea/reunification process goes down.
In particular, there could be a great deal of resentment if Chinese troops are included in any international peacekeeping force sent to stabilize North Korean territory in the wake of an implosion. As it stands now, it seems the question is not whether or not China will send troops to North Korea for security reasons and/or to gain leverage over the reunification process, but rather how many troops it will send. If the Chinese are perceived to be pursuing an agenda quite apart from Seoul’s, Koreans might start to look for their modern-day Kim Yu-sin.
Apart from the Koreans, Korean re-unification–or at least the process thereof–could lead to tensions between other key actors in the region. This really needs no explanation, and is one of the reasons why the collapse of North Korea must be handled with the utmost care.
As for the long-term prospects of peace in Northeast Asia, I’m a bit more optimistic than Lirelou. I don’t expect any of the major parties to like one another anytime soon, but at the same time, there is much more economic and social linkages and exchanges between Korea, China and Japan than there ever was between the West and the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. Granted, economic and social connectivity didn’t stop World War I, and there certainly are flash-points (Taiwan comes immediately to mind). One must also keep in mind the possibility of conflict as a rising hegemon (in this case, China) begins to challenge an existing one (in this case, the United States).
My own personal fear is that the wheels might come off the Chinese economic development wagon, forcing the Chinese Communist Party to play-up hyper-nationalist in order to redirect social discontent. There are tons of possible scenarios out there, some more likely than others. Ultimately, however, this is the nuclear age, and in the age of the atom, the big boys don’t fight one another. The costs simply outweigh the benefits of victory, especially when the status quo (with or without American troops) seems to be making so much money for everyone involved.
East Asia is inhabited by “big boys” that either have nuclear weapons, are protected by American nuclear weapons and/or can develop nuclear arsenals overnight. Doesn’t leave much room for players to muscle around without blowing up the entire neighborhood. I could conceive of regional powers coming to blows outside the region–for control of oil and gas resources in Central Asia, for example–but I find it difficult to imagine, just to take one example, China threatening Japan’s vital interests in a manner that could prompt Japan (or its American ally) to respond by turning Beijing into a sheet of glass.
I could be wrong, of course. And often am.
http://www.rjkoehler.com/?p=2734#comments
Friday, April 14, 2006
READ THIS CAREFULLY::::
10th grade
**********
As I sat there in English class, I stared at the girl next to me. She was my so called 'best friend'. I stared at her long, silky hair, and wished she was mine. But she didn't notice me like that, and I knew it. After class, she walked up to me and asked me for the notes she had missed the day before. handed them to her. She said 'thanks' and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I dont want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I dont know why.
**************
11th grade
**************
The phone rang. On the other end, it was her. She was in tears, mumbling on and on about how her love had broke her heart. She asked me to come over because she didn't want to be alone, so I did. As I sat next to her
on the sofa, I stared at her soft eyes, wishing she was mine. After 2 hours, one Drew Barrymore movie, and three bags of chips, she decided to go to sleep. She looked at me, said 'thanks' and gave me a kiss on the
cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy,
and I dont know why.
***************
Senior year
**************
The day before prom she walked to my locker. "My date is sick" she said, "hes not gonna go" well, I didn't have a date, and in 7th grade, we made a promise that if neither of us had dates, we would go together just as 'best friends'. So we did. Prom night, after everything was over, I was standing at her front door step. I stared at
her as she smiled at me and stared at me with her crystal eyes. I want her to be mine, but she doesn't think of me like that, and I know it. Then she said- "I had the best time, thanks!" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I dont want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why. A day passed, then a week, then a month. Before I Could blink, it was graduation day. I watched as her perfect body floated like an angle up on stage to get her diploma. I wanted her to be mine-but she didn't notice me like that, and I knew it. Before everyone went home, she came to me in her smock and hat, and cried as I hugged her. Then she lifted her head from my shoulder and said- 'you're my best friend, thanks' and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I dont want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why. Now I sit in the pews of the church. That girl is getting married That girl is getting married now. I watched her say 'I do' and drive off to her new life, married to another man. I wanted her to be mine, but she didn't see me like that, and I knew it. But before she drove away, she came to me and said 'you came!'. She said 'thanks' and kissed me on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I dont want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why. Years passed, I looked down at the coffin of a girl who used to be my 'best friend'.
At the service, they read a diary entry she had wrote in her high school years. This is what it read: "I stare at him wishing he was mine; but he doesn't notice me like that, and I know it. I want to tell him, I want him to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love him but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why. I wish he would tell me he loved me! 'I wish I did too...' I thought to my self, and I cried.
Do yourself a favour, tell her/him you love them. they won't be there forever.
10th grade
**********
As I sat there in English class, I stared at the girl next to me. She was my so called 'best friend'. I stared at her long, silky hair, and wished she was mine. But she didn't notice me like that, and I knew it. After class, she walked up to me and asked me for the notes she had missed the day before. handed them to her. She said 'thanks' and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I dont want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I dont know why.
**************
11th grade
**************
The phone rang. On the other end, it was her. She was in tears, mumbling on and on about how her love had broke her heart. She asked me to come over because she didn't want to be alone, so I did. As I sat next to her
on the sofa, I stared at her soft eyes, wishing she was mine. After 2 hours, one Drew Barrymore movie, and three bags of chips, she decided to go to sleep. She looked at me, said 'thanks' and gave me a kiss on the
cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy,
and I dont know why.
***************
Senior year
**************
The day before prom she walked to my locker. "My date is sick" she said, "hes not gonna go" well, I didn't have a date, and in 7th grade, we made a promise that if neither of us had dates, we would go together just as 'best friends'. So we did. Prom night, after everything was over, I was standing at her front door step. I stared at
her as she smiled at me and stared at me with her crystal eyes. I want her to be mine, but she doesn't think of me like that, and I know it. Then she said- "I had the best time, thanks!" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I dont want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why. A day passed, then a week, then a month. Before I Could blink, it was graduation day. I watched as her perfect body floated like an angle up on stage to get her diploma. I wanted her to be mine-but she didn't notice me like that, and I knew it. Before everyone went home, she came to me in her smock and hat, and cried as I hugged her. Then she lifted her head from my shoulder and said- 'you're my best friend, thanks' and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I dont want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why. Now I sit in the pews of the church. That girl is getting married That girl is getting married now. I watched her say 'I do' and drive off to her new life, married to another man. I wanted her to be mine, but she didn't see me like that, and I knew it. But before she drove away, she came to me and said 'you came!'. She said 'thanks' and kissed me on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I dont want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why. Years passed, I looked down at the coffin of a girl who used to be my 'best friend'.
At the service, they read a diary entry she had wrote in her high school years. This is what it read: "I stare at him wishing he was mine; but he doesn't notice me like that, and I know it. I want to tell him, I want him to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love him but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why. I wish he would tell me he loved me! 'I wish I did too...' I thought to my self, and I cried.
Do yourself a favour, tell her/him you love them. they won't be there forever.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Chasing a Phantom Called America by Kim Dae-joong
The sight of people struggling in the muddy rice fields of Pyeongtaek shouting anti-American slogans prompts a heavy sigh that we have been unable to extricate ourselves from America for so many decades. The charge, by a key former secretary of President Roh Moo-hyun, that the free trade agreement with the U.S. now under negotiation is a "betrayal" and a "blunder" makes me feel ashamed that we are still caught up in this dependency.
The half-century of South Korea’s history and its relations with the U.S. has light and darkness in it. Yet this anachronistic love and hatred of the U.S. obsesses us still in the 21st century, showing how far we still are from overcoming it and moving on.
wow, It was A good Read on what I have been saying all along about the USA and Korea.
The trends around us suggest the future survival of countries will be staked on quite different wars. One is a war over resources, with the U.S., EU, Russia, Japan and China engaged in struggles to secure energy and resources. The Cold War is over, and countries are regrouping around multiple cores for the sake of energy, where they recognize neither yesterday's enemies nor today's friends.
These energy wars are waged in parallel with religious clashes. In what could arguably be mankind's ultimate culture clash, the world is rushing toward a decisive encounter between the Christian and Islamic worlds. On innumerable occasions in world history we have seen how terrifying, merciless and destructive religious wars are. An epochal fight between two major religions, possibly the final religious and racial war, is now germinating in the Middle East. Our foremost task is to survive and prosper amid these clashes.
Our country has few resources. We rely 100 percent on foreign countries for our energy, and because we do, we should choose a side that has the resources. We cannot say we belong fully to the Christian world, but we definitely do not belong to Islam. That means we cannot afford to be on bad terms with the Christian world. Bluntly speaking, we have no oil but lots of Christians. Since we cannot hide under the wing of neutral "third” countries, we must show the wisdom, through a carefully calculated foreign policy, to avoid becoming embroiled in a whirlpool of war.
How we deal with America today depends on just such survival skills. Strategic anti-Americanism benefits us no more than sentimental or ideological anti-Americanism. Blind pro-Americanism as a hangover from the Cold War is just as useless. We must adopt a fundamental strategy of taking the real benefits where we need the U.S. even at the cost of concessions, and of coldly cutting it off where it is in our interest to do so.
Those who advocate the withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea insist that the American presence here keeps up the pressure and thus the risk of war. If that were the case, the Korean Peninsula would have been reduced to rubble in the days when the troops exercised much greater influence here. Already U.S. troops are in the process of pulling out of South Korea. What terrible unresolved grudges these people must entertain, to throw stones at the U.S. forces’ retreating backs.
For South Korea, the U.S. is no longer the be-all and end-all: it is a means to survival. It is useful. There is no point in getting worked up as though we would perish immediately without the U.S. It is equally nonsensical to curse the U.S. as if it was responsible for an imminent Armageddon. The U.S. is no longer a requirement but an option: we should choose wisely.
url: http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200604/200604100025.html
The sight of people struggling in the muddy rice fields of Pyeongtaek shouting anti-American slogans prompts a heavy sigh that we have been unable to extricate ourselves from America for so many decades. The charge, by a key former secretary of President Roh Moo-hyun, that the free trade agreement with the U.S. now under negotiation is a "betrayal" and a "blunder" makes me feel ashamed that we are still caught up in this dependency.
The half-century of South Korea’s history and its relations with the U.S. has light and darkness in it. Yet this anachronistic love and hatred of the U.S. obsesses us still in the 21st century, showing how far we still are from overcoming it and moving on.
wow, It was A good Read on what I have been saying all along about the USA and Korea.
The trends around us suggest the future survival of countries will be staked on quite different wars. One is a war over resources, with the U.S., EU, Russia, Japan and China engaged in struggles to secure energy and resources. The Cold War is over, and countries are regrouping around multiple cores for the sake of energy, where they recognize neither yesterday's enemies nor today's friends.
These energy wars are waged in parallel with religious clashes. In what could arguably be mankind's ultimate culture clash, the world is rushing toward a decisive encounter between the Christian and Islamic worlds. On innumerable occasions in world history we have seen how terrifying, merciless and destructive religious wars are. An epochal fight between two major religions, possibly the final religious and racial war, is now germinating in the Middle East. Our foremost task is to survive and prosper amid these clashes.
Our country has few resources. We rely 100 percent on foreign countries for our energy, and because we do, we should choose a side that has the resources. We cannot say we belong fully to the Christian world, but we definitely do not belong to Islam. That means we cannot afford to be on bad terms with the Christian world. Bluntly speaking, we have no oil but lots of Christians. Since we cannot hide under the wing of neutral "third” countries, we must show the wisdom, through a carefully calculated foreign policy, to avoid becoming embroiled in a whirlpool of war.
How we deal with America today depends on just such survival skills. Strategic anti-Americanism benefits us no more than sentimental or ideological anti-Americanism. Blind pro-Americanism as a hangover from the Cold War is just as useless. We must adopt a fundamental strategy of taking the real benefits where we need the U.S. even at the cost of concessions, and of coldly cutting it off where it is in our interest to do so.
Those who advocate the withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea insist that the American presence here keeps up the pressure and thus the risk of war. If that were the case, the Korean Peninsula would have been reduced to rubble in the days when the troops exercised much greater influence here. Already U.S. troops are in the process of pulling out of South Korea. What terrible unresolved grudges these people must entertain, to throw stones at the U.S. forces’ retreating backs.
For South Korea, the U.S. is no longer the be-all and end-all: it is a means to survival. It is useful. There is no point in getting worked up as though we would perish immediately without the U.S. It is equally nonsensical to curse the U.S. as if it was responsible for an imminent Armageddon. The U.S. is no longer a requirement but an option: we should choose wisely.
url: http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200604/200604100025.html
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
The final cut
The Metropolitician
Well it was bound to happen. The Hines Ward story sure got a very intresting postback on it.
I have heard of the Hitler bar here in Daejeon but I never could find it, now I know why. I have found a Rommel bar here in Daejeon, it has none of the Nazi logos that the Hitler bar did.
Please read the link. A very intresting look at Korea.
The Metropolitician
Well it was bound to happen. The Hines Ward story sure got a very intresting postback on it.
I have heard of the Hitler bar here in Daejeon but I never could find it, now I know why. I have found a Rommel bar here in Daejeon, it has none of the Nazi logos that the Hitler bar did.
Please read the link. A very intresting look at Korea.
Friday, April 07, 2006
I was woindering if the media was going to report on Hines Wards Mom and omg she held nothing back.
Football Star's Mother Looks Back in Anger
Wednesday afternoon was an emotional time for Kim Young-hee when she visited a foundation for mixed-race children in Seoul with her son, the American football star Hines Ward. Visiting the Pearl S. Buck International Foundation, which was established in Seoul in 1964 to help children of mixed parentage, Kim was overcome with emotion and unable to speak for 20 minutes.
Across from her sat two fellow mothers of mixed-race children, the mother of Arum, 30-year-old An Jin-hee, and the mother of Yujin, Bae Seon-ju (45). While Kim’s Super Bowl star son, who is half African American, was posing for pictures and hugging the children, Kim's lips remained tightly sealed.
An told Kim there was much she wanted to talk to her about. “If I had the opportunity to get out of Korea right now, I would do it without a moment's hesitation,” An said. Kim silently held her hand. Then she said, "Yes, that is what you should do. I always used to think that too."
When she had composed herself, Kim said she had spent 30 years “without looking at Koreans and without thinking about them. What do you think would have become of us if I had kept living here with Hines? He would probably never have been able to be anything but a beggar. Do you think I would even have been able to get work cleaning houses?”
An agreed that it is hard here for single mothers to get a job, and even more difficult if their child is of mixed parentage.
Kim said this was the way Koreans are. “Even in America, Korean's don't get along. Koreans who immigrated ignored us. Koreans of the same skin color are even more racist among themselves. It doesn't make sense. If everybody hates our children so much because their skin is a different color, then why do Koreans run around dying their hair blond and red?
Kim noted the contrast between her difficult early years in the U.S., when no one wanted to help, and the sudden interest sparked by Hines Ward’s success. “It's hard, but that's just the way it goes," she said. "But I have no regrets."
As Kim was leaving the foundation, Jang Ye-eun (19), a girl who said she hoped to become a basketball star, bowed to her and said goodbye. Kim impulsively opened her wallet, took out a bill and put it in Jang's pocket. It was US$100. "It's Hines’ mother giving you this, so it’s fine. You go and buy books for school. And you make up your mind right now that you absolutely must succeed. You can do it," she said, and left.
url: http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200604/200604060002.html
Football Star's Mother Looks Back in Anger
Wednesday afternoon was an emotional time for Kim Young-hee when she visited a foundation for mixed-race children in Seoul with her son, the American football star Hines Ward. Visiting the Pearl S. Buck International Foundation, which was established in Seoul in 1964 to help children of mixed parentage, Kim was overcome with emotion and unable to speak for 20 minutes.
Across from her sat two fellow mothers of mixed-race children, the mother of Arum, 30-year-old An Jin-hee, and the mother of Yujin, Bae Seon-ju (45). While Kim’s Super Bowl star son, who is half African American, was posing for pictures and hugging the children, Kim's lips remained tightly sealed.
An told Kim there was much she wanted to talk to her about. “If I had the opportunity to get out of Korea right now, I would do it without a moment's hesitation,” An said. Kim silently held her hand. Then she said, "Yes, that is what you should do. I always used to think that too."
When she had composed herself, Kim said she had spent 30 years “without looking at Koreans and without thinking about them. What do you think would have become of us if I had kept living here with Hines? He would probably never have been able to be anything but a beggar. Do you think I would even have been able to get work cleaning houses?”
An agreed that it is hard here for single mothers to get a job, and even more difficult if their child is of mixed parentage.
Kim said this was the way Koreans are. “Even in America, Korean's don't get along. Koreans who immigrated ignored us. Koreans of the same skin color are even more racist among themselves. It doesn't make sense. If everybody hates our children so much because their skin is a different color, then why do Koreans run around dying their hair blond and red?
Kim noted the contrast between her difficult early years in the U.S., when no one wanted to help, and the sudden interest sparked by Hines Ward’s success. “It's hard, but that's just the way it goes," she said. "But I have no regrets."
As Kim was leaving the foundation, Jang Ye-eun (19), a girl who said she hoped to become a basketball star, bowed to her and said goodbye. Kim impulsively opened her wallet, took out a bill and put it in Jang's pocket. It was US$100. "It's Hines’ mother giving you this, so it’s fine. You go and buy books for school. And you make up your mind right now that you absolutely must succeed. You can do it," she said, and left.
url: http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200604/200604060002.html
Monday, April 03, 2006
Well the Hines Ward mess has started and guess who got to get a picture with him. Mr President. (President Roh Moo-hyun)
April 03, 2006 ã…¡ Hines Ward of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the 2006 Super Bowl's most valuable player, arrives in Korea today with his mother, Kim Young-hee.This is his first visit to the country of his birth since he left at the age of two with his parents. His father was an American soldier stationed here when Mr. Ward was born. Korea has adopted the American football star as its own, inspired by his prowess even if most people are baffled by the game.
His rags-to-riches story and his mother's sacrifices to raise him have touched a chord in the national psyche.
The visitors will lunch with President Roh Moo-hyun and his wife, Kwon Yang-sook, tomorrow and throw the first ball at the opening game of the 2006 Korea Baseball Organization season on Saturday at Jamsil Stadium in southern Seoul.
Korean companies have jostled for position in an effort to associate themselves with Mr. Ward and his mother.
Some less ethical businessmen reportedly have registered copyrights related to Mr. Ward or have passed themselves off as his representative here.
Lim Sang-hyuk, a lawyer representing the gridiron hero in Korea, said, "If necessary, Mr. Ward will take legal action against the illegal use of his name, portrait and other things." In a recent interview, Mr. Ward said, "It is sad that biracial people in Korea are discriminated against. I hope that I can help to change those biases."
He and his mother will be here until April 12.
http://jetiranger.tripod.com/BLOG/ from gi korea.
For those that haven't seen it yet, Newsweek ran an article last week about Hines Ward. I was actually contacted by the reporter to provide some insight into the Hines Ward phenomenon. It is kind of interesting to see how the blogosphere can influence the reporting a mainstream media outlet. Anyway, the article was well balanced between explaining Hines Ward life, his admiration for his mother, and the bias towards mixed race children in Korea, but nothing really ground breaking that we haven't heard before.
I did find this passage interesting though:
Some Korean-American activists have also complained about the fact that Ward hasn’t contributed to the community yet. “If he’s going to be a role model, he should do something for the community,” gripes a representative of one Korean-American youth group.
I find it ironic that the same Korean-American groups that shunned him when he was younger are now making demands of him now. How about these groups do more for mixed race children themselves instead of making demands from Hines Ward.
This should be a very intrersting few weeks here.
April 03, 2006 ã…¡ Hines Ward of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the 2006 Super Bowl's most valuable player, arrives in Korea today with his mother, Kim Young-hee.This is his first visit to the country of his birth since he left at the age of two with his parents. His father was an American soldier stationed here when Mr. Ward was born. Korea has adopted the American football star as its own, inspired by his prowess even if most people are baffled by the game.
His rags-to-riches story and his mother's sacrifices to raise him have touched a chord in the national psyche.
The visitors will lunch with President Roh Moo-hyun and his wife, Kwon Yang-sook, tomorrow and throw the first ball at the opening game of the 2006 Korea Baseball Organization season on Saturday at Jamsil Stadium in southern Seoul.
Korean companies have jostled for position in an effort to associate themselves with Mr. Ward and his mother.
Some less ethical businessmen reportedly have registered copyrights related to Mr. Ward or have passed themselves off as his representative here.
Lim Sang-hyuk, a lawyer representing the gridiron hero in Korea, said, "If necessary, Mr. Ward will take legal action against the illegal use of his name, portrait and other things." In a recent interview, Mr. Ward said, "It is sad that biracial people in Korea are discriminated against. I hope that I can help to change those biases."
He and his mother will be here until April 12.
http://jetiranger.tripod.com/BLOG/ from gi korea.
For those that haven't seen it yet, Newsweek ran an article last week about Hines Ward. I was actually contacted by the reporter to provide some insight into the Hines Ward phenomenon. It is kind of interesting to see how the blogosphere can influence the reporting a mainstream media outlet. Anyway, the article was well balanced between explaining Hines Ward life, his admiration for his mother, and the bias towards mixed race children in Korea, but nothing really ground breaking that we haven't heard before.
I did find this passage interesting though:
Some Korean-American activists have also complained about the fact that Ward hasn’t contributed to the community yet. “If he’s going to be a role model, he should do something for the community,” gripes a representative of one Korean-American youth group.
I find it ironic that the same Korean-American groups that shunned him when he was younger are now making demands of him now. How about these groups do more for mixed race children themselves instead of making demands from Hines Ward.
This should be a very intrersting few weeks here.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Sunday was intresting, I went to the movies and while I was their, they had the South Korea vs Japan game at the theather, It was weird, they were all watching the game and they were very excited about it. I was thinking, the more we are different the more we are the same. Its march and NCAA Basketball is playing and I have seen a few of the games, via a sports bar here in Korea, sad to say Korea lost I would have liked to have seen them play Cuba for the title.
It was nice to see it, Koreans all cheering for their team. Baseball brought them all together.
Millions rally in South Korea - around baseballThe chance to beat rival Japan drew crowds into the street to watch the World Baseball Classic this weekend.
By Donald Kirk Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
SEOUL - Not since Korea and Japan co-hosted the World Cup 2002 soccer tournament had Koreans been so mesmerized by an athletic event.
In stadiums around the country, at large squares in major cities, and in coffee shops, restaurants, bars, and homes everywhere, millions gathered around TV sets to watch the nation's baseball team play the Japanese in the semi-finals of the World Baseball Classic in San Diego.
"Daehan Minguk," crowds shouted between innings, literally, "Republic of Korea."
The timing was perfect - the game began at 7 pm Saturday in the US, noon Sunday here, and a festive air of optimism imbued the crowds as they cheered in unison. For many Koreans, the game carried extra significance as a chance to beat rival Japan and, through sport, offer a little payback for 35 years of Japanese colonialism.
"For historical reasons, we always like to defeat Japan. It is a matter of vengeance," said Kim Sang Sun, a college student, during the final inning. He was gazing upward on a huge TV screen high beside an office building. Down the street, some 40,000 had massed before another screen on a stage beneath the words, "Fighting! Korea!" in the plaza in front of Seoul City Hall.
But despite the rallying of a nation, the victory wasn't to be. By the time the Japanese had finished thrashing three Korean pitchers in a disastrous seventh inning, the score was 6-0 in favor of a team that Korea had defeated by one-run margins twice in the series. The game ended 6-0, putting Korea out of the series despite a record of six wins, including a 7-3 thumping of the US team, against the single loss.
All weekend, though, the prospect of a climactic encounter with the Japanese team seemed to unite Koreans as nothing else could have done. Television stations repeatedly replayed heroic moments from previous games - run-scoring slides, balls soaring into the seats, diving catches, the stuff of dreams. And for several hours before the game, pop stars cavorted in stadiums, warming up crowds invited to watch free of charge on huge screens above the outfield.
"We have lost, but cheer up," said a performer after it was all over as spectators reluctantly trickled away from the grass and concrete of the city hall plaza. "We played well."
The crowds had disappeared, replaced by Sunday afternoon strollers and shoppers, when several thousand exuberant young people set off on a very different kind of demonstration - a mile-long march from Seoul Station past City Hall and the same screens where tens of thousands had been watching the baseball game.
Few people seemed to notice as demonstrators chanted slogans denouncing the war in Iraq and President Bush - and calling for Korea to pull out the 3,000 troops it has sent there.
"We have many demonstrations," said one Sunday stroller, preferring to ignore this one. "They are not the same as a game against Japan."
It was nice to see it, Koreans all cheering for their team. Baseball brought them all together.
Millions rally in South Korea - around baseballThe chance to beat rival Japan drew crowds into the street to watch the World Baseball Classic this weekend.
By Donald Kirk Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
SEOUL - Not since Korea and Japan co-hosted the World Cup 2002 soccer tournament had Koreans been so mesmerized by an athletic event.
In stadiums around the country, at large squares in major cities, and in coffee shops, restaurants, bars, and homes everywhere, millions gathered around TV sets to watch the nation's baseball team play the Japanese in the semi-finals of the World Baseball Classic in San Diego.
"Daehan Minguk," crowds shouted between innings, literally, "Republic of Korea."
The timing was perfect - the game began at 7 pm Saturday in the US, noon Sunday here, and a festive air of optimism imbued the crowds as they cheered in unison. For many Koreans, the game carried extra significance as a chance to beat rival Japan and, through sport, offer a little payback for 35 years of Japanese colonialism.
"For historical reasons, we always like to defeat Japan. It is a matter of vengeance," said Kim Sang Sun, a college student, during the final inning. He was gazing upward on a huge TV screen high beside an office building. Down the street, some 40,000 had massed before another screen on a stage beneath the words, "Fighting! Korea!" in the plaza in front of Seoul City Hall.
But despite the rallying of a nation, the victory wasn't to be. By the time the Japanese had finished thrashing three Korean pitchers in a disastrous seventh inning, the score was 6-0 in favor of a team that Korea had defeated by one-run margins twice in the series. The game ended 6-0, putting Korea out of the series despite a record of six wins, including a 7-3 thumping of the US team, against the single loss.
All weekend, though, the prospect of a climactic encounter with the Japanese team seemed to unite Koreans as nothing else could have done. Television stations repeatedly replayed heroic moments from previous games - run-scoring slides, balls soaring into the seats, diving catches, the stuff of dreams. And for several hours before the game, pop stars cavorted in stadiums, warming up crowds invited to watch free of charge on huge screens above the outfield.
"We have lost, but cheer up," said a performer after it was all over as spectators reluctantly trickled away from the grass and concrete of the city hall plaza. "We played well."
The crowds had disappeared, replaced by Sunday afternoon strollers and shoppers, when several thousand exuberant young people set off on a very different kind of demonstration - a mile-long march from Seoul Station past City Hall and the same screens where tens of thousands had been watching the baseball game.
Few people seemed to notice as demonstrators chanted slogans denouncing the war in Iraq and President Bush - and calling for Korea to pull out the 3,000 troops it has sent there.
"We have many demonstrations," said one Sunday stroller, preferring to ignore this one. "They are not the same as a game against Japan."
Thursday, March 16, 2006
A blog that I link to had this article tonight and I thought that It needed to be put unto my blog also.
http://jetiranger.tripod.com/BLOG/
Thursday, 16 March 2006
Sexual Assualts in KoreaTopic: An issue that has gained recent attention is the issue of sexual assaults in Korea.
There has been plenty of recent attention in Korea on sexual assaults against minors and other Korean women. Many of the recent high profile assaults against these women have been by repeat rapists who had received lenient jail time measured in months after their first sexual assault. These cases has caught the attention of the Korean media and hopefully this attention will lead to positive change in Korean society against sexual predators by not immediately condemning women who have been raped as prostitutes for example or giving these monsters who rape women light sentences which is right now an all to common practice in Korea. Despite the media coverage of the sexual assault problems in Korea, something that has continued to be ignored by the Korean media is sexual assaults against foreign women in Korea.
I have highlighted a number of assaults against female foreigners in Korea. Here are a few examples of past assaults on foreign women in Korea. A 19 year old female soldier newly arrived to Korea from Incheon airport was raped by a cab driver bringing her to Seoul. Then there is also the Jamie Penich murder in Itaewon that should be familiar to many expats out there. Then most recently the rape of an Army officer in Taegu that was almost totally buried by the Korean media.
If you don't believe me that these stories are buried go ask the nearest Korean if they have heard about the rape of the US Army officer. They will probably tell you they never heard about it. Now ask them if they heard about the drunk idiot GI in Uijongbu who hit a beer bottle over a Korean guy's head, they will probably tell you that they have heard of that, however.
I just find it sad that a ville incident such the beer bottle case would draw more publicity then a rape in Taegu, especially since the rapist wasn't caught and could be still out there in Korean society raping more people. It just seems to me a rape case should draw as much media attention as possible in order to identify the rapist to ensure they are caught and cannot rape more women. These cases are on top of the multiple cases of rape that have occurred on US military installations with soldier on soldier crime that I have consistently highlighted.
Despite a low crime rate in Korea, being a female here can be dangerous if you are not careful. Even those who are careful can still have bad things happen to them anyway, so it is important to understand what actions to take if something bad does in fact happen to you. In an effort to educate people more about sexual assaults in Korea, I was contacted by a young lady who was sexually assaulted and beaten while teaching English at a hagwon in Seoul.
For those familiar with prior assaults on foreign women in Korea you will see many similarities in this case with those prior cases in as far as how incompetent the Korean police are. The important thing is to learn from her story things that you can do to help yourself if you find yourself in a similar situation or maybe you are helping someone that unfortunately was assaulted because the Korean police are not there to help you. With that in mind here is a story of a sexual assault in Korea that no one has probably heard of, but should of:
I came across this blog in doing my own research about the incidents of foreign females in Korea being assaulted and saw the story from back in July when a female military officer was assaulted by a cab driver. I am so lucky that I have found this blog and can spread the word about the dangers of being a foreign female in Korea and how biased the Korean media, police, hospitals, etc. might be to you if something horrible were to happen.
I, too, was a victim and want anyone who wants to hear my story to listen up and spread the word. I came to Seoul in February of last year to teach English. This was not my first time in Korea, having visited Korea in high school with my Korean friend and having also studied Korean language at Yonsei University in 2000-2001.
I was living in Seoul in what is considered to be one of the safest (aka richest) areas: Chungdam. I am sure you know the 24 hour McDonalds, Hard Rock Cafe, etc---I lived across the street from those places. On July 31, 2005, I arrived to my one room when around 11:20pm, my window slides open and a man is in the window. In the second that I sat frozen in my computer chair in shock/surprise/disbelief, he hopped down from the window and lunged at me and began to hit me with his fist repeatedly, while choking me with his other hand.
After hitting me for a few minutes to where I was going unconscious, he ran over to my bag, grabbed my wallet, and in Korean, said the first word “Don, don, don”, which translated means “Money, money, money”. Being a Sunday night, I had just spent the last cash I had and I told him that in Korean. At this point, he began hitting me again. After only a few hits, however, he decided to begin choking me. He gave up choking me and began hitting me more until I again was drifting in and out of consciousness.
He then decided to rape me. He first tried covering my bloodied face with a shirt but I quickly bled through it so he told me in Korean, “Wash your face”. He went into my kitchen to get a knife and I knew it was my chance to get away. In that instant I found my cell phone and locked myself in the bathroom. Once locked inside, I called the police.
According to their police report was at 11::40pm. They did not arrive to my apartment until well after 12am despite a police station being only 5 minutes by walk from my house. I didn’t trust that the police believed me and understood to come so I also called my friends, but they too, were all far away. When the 2 policemen showed up, the man was gone. I told the police what happened and that I need to go to a hospital right away but their first words to me was to say “Where are your panties and give me your Alien Registration ID card”.
I managed to find my ID card and I gave it to him and then ran out my door to try to get someone else to get me an ambulance. The police came out and told me to sit in the back of their police car, which I did. Soon after, the ambulance came and they did not help into the ambulance on a stretcher.
They opened up their sliding side door and told me to walk in. I did and lay down on the stretcher, unattended by anyone The first place I was taken was called Samsung Medical Center. When we arrived there, again I was not taken in on a stretcher, but instead the two ambulance workers opened the door and told me to get out. As we were walking in, they did not assist me in walking and wouldn’t even open the hospital doors for me until I pulled up the back of my running pants which had slipped down to reveal the top of my panties.
I was laid on a stretcher and someone came to clean my face and photograph my injuries. Within a short amount of time a number of my friends and coworkers began arriving and immediately we worked together to recall what I could of the attack while the hospital workers were deciding where to send me.
I explained to them first of all what happened and asked them to please test my fingernails for his DNA because I probably scratched him. My friends (no police were to be found now) then got a pen and paper and were asking for his description and also began listing the places I could remember he touched: My window, my wallet, my bag, my refrigerator, my door lock, my sink faucet---all places that could be tested for fingerprints.
This first hospital also took pictures of my injuries which now are LOST. The hospital has told the US Embassy that they do not have a camera to even take pictures; while they told my friend who inquired about them that they just don’t have record of my name for that date. After I would guess about 40 minutes-1 hour, I was moved to a 2nd hospital---Hye-Min hospital in the northwest part of Seoul. I was put into the ambulance on a stretcher but again, was not tended to by any professionals.
My two friends rode with me and when I began feeling nauseous and throwing up from the bumpy ride and my head injury, my friends were helping me not any professional workers. I do not remember the emergency room of Hye-Min Hospital and what I will tell you comes from my friends who were dealing with admitting me.
This comes from 2 Korean friends, 1 American friend, and 1 Canadian friend. My friends were speaking with the man admitting me, he said that the hospital would not help me unless I paid him $1000.00 in cash because I was a ‘Russian prostitute who probably deserved what I got’. Finally after convincing him I was neither Russian, nor a prostitute and having my boss show up, they decided to admit me into Intensive Care. Despite my major injuries being associated with my head and eye, there was no eye doctor even available at this hospital. However, the first hospital claimed that the bigger hospitals’ ICUs were all full and they could not take me.
At this hospital, I basically laid for 1 day on an IV ---no medications were given and very little monitoring was done. My blood pressure was checked maybe 2 times per day and I was given no heart/oxygen or any other standard monitors. Besides being in pain from my head injuries, I was unable to sleep or lay without pain due to severe neck and back strains from being choked. The bed was flat in a very uncomfortable position and I was told if I needed to be moved I would have to pound on the side of my bed to get a nurses attention because they didn’t have call buttons.
Of course, when I did this, nurses would ignore me for 10-15 minutes or more. I was finally moved into the ICU of Yongdong Severance Hospital where I was given good treatment and finally tests were taken. I was given an immediate CT scan, along with X-rays and an eye doctor looked at my eyes. It was decided that I had a brain hemorrhage, fractured skull and other facial bones, ocular hemorrhaging.
On day 3 of my ordeal, I was visited by a deputy of the US embassy and a Korean detective, who through my best Korean friend, interpreted what happened and the suspect description. No sketch was taken, however. While in the hospital I was thinking about who this guy might be so I gathered a list of the places I walk a lot. Based on his skin tone and build, I figured he must work outside and suggested to the police to check 3 nearby construction sites near my house that I regularly walk by, 2 car shops or local taxis. Based on the glove marks around my neck, I figured he could be a taxi driver and a taxi driver lives in my building, yet the police never interviewed anyone in my building or the surrounding buildings.
My friends interviewed my neighbors on their own who said they did in fact hear screams, but were too afraid to help and saw nothing. The police interviewed no one, took no suspect sketch, no DNA, and despite claiming that they took fingerprints, there was no evidence of the traditional black soot fingerprinting would leave at my apartment.
There were no police reports sent out to the media and despite me and my friends calling every Korean and English news and television media outlet, no one would cover my story or even just release information regarding the suspect’s appearance. I also remembered that because I lived in the nicest area of Seoul, for “security” they have CCTV cameras up around the neighborhoods.
My Korean friend called the police with this information and all of my other suggestions about where to find the suspect and their response to us was “We do things our way, we are handling it, leave us alone”. I was never contacted by the police again. During my final day in the hospital, I finally got enough courage to look at the shirt I was wearing during the attack. The police did not collect it for evidence or DNA. Upon my examination, I found a short black hair to which I applied a piece of tape and called the police asking them to please come and pick it up----it could be the suspect’s hair! Again, they responded, “We do things our way; we don’t have time for that”.
Finally, after returning to America and complaining to the Embassy, the police agreed to look at the hair and we fed-exd the shirt to the police. It was returned “tested” with the hair still in tact. Nice, right?
I do not even want to get into my school. Of course we know how hagwons are. All I will say, is that they deemed me to be too problematic to the school because they feared I would reveal where I worked and make them to have a bad reputation. When I was released from the hospital, I had made flyers to distribute throughout my neighborhood with a suspect description and I was told by my school and the police that I could not do so because it would make all Koreans look crazy. So, despite being promised I would have a job when I was completely, recovered, I never got the offer back.
After returning back to the USA, I am not aware of anything going on in the investigation. About 3 weeks after my attack, a Korean girl was found naked and murdered, dying from the same injuries I sustained and she only lived about 5 minutes from my house by walk. So after 1 month, the police requested I get a sketch of the suspect and started sending me pictures of sex offenders about 2 months after my attack. But of course, the mind is a great thing and tries to forget something like that, so making a sketch now is difficult.
Due to the recent string of serial rapes in Korea, I have taken it on myself to try to find out anyone who is arrested in case I may recognize the guy. After seeing a picture the Taejon serial rapist who was captured in Seoul in February, he seemed familiar to me and so I contacted the Embassy. They said the police determined it was not the same man who attacked me based on a DNA mismatch.
Oh, now they do have my perpetrator’s DNA? Up until this point, I was told they didn’t have anything. Suspicious is the fact that they will not give the embassy pictures of the man for me to identify. That is my story.
My goal is not to shock, not to expound hate on Korea or Korean people. My goal is to make us foreigners living in a seemingly “safe” country aware that even though these things do not appear in the papers, they can and do happen. More importantly, I am looking for ways I can help to get started programs for foreigners to provide safety education and resources. If you would be attacked, do you know enough Korean to call the police, or do you even know the police number?
If you do suffer an attack, there are no rape crisis lines or centers for foreigners. Finding a psychologist who speaks English is also difficult. We need to get together and make a positive change. Acknowledging that there is a problem is the first step. Now, let’s make a difference.
I know this post is long but I think the information provided in it is very important because I know I learned plenty from the writer's tragic experience and hopefully others did as well.
http://jetiranger.tripod.com/BLOG/
Thursday, 16 March 2006
Sexual Assualts in KoreaTopic: An issue that has gained recent attention is the issue of sexual assaults in Korea.
There has been plenty of recent attention in Korea on sexual assaults against minors and other Korean women. Many of the recent high profile assaults against these women have been by repeat rapists who had received lenient jail time measured in months after their first sexual assault. These cases has caught the attention of the Korean media and hopefully this attention will lead to positive change in Korean society against sexual predators by not immediately condemning women who have been raped as prostitutes for example or giving these monsters who rape women light sentences which is right now an all to common practice in Korea. Despite the media coverage of the sexual assault problems in Korea, something that has continued to be ignored by the Korean media is sexual assaults against foreign women in Korea.
I have highlighted a number of assaults against female foreigners in Korea. Here are a few examples of past assaults on foreign women in Korea. A 19 year old female soldier newly arrived to Korea from Incheon airport was raped by a cab driver bringing her to Seoul. Then there is also the Jamie Penich murder in Itaewon that should be familiar to many expats out there. Then most recently the rape of an Army officer in Taegu that was almost totally buried by the Korean media.
If you don't believe me that these stories are buried go ask the nearest Korean if they have heard about the rape of the US Army officer. They will probably tell you they never heard about it. Now ask them if they heard about the drunk idiot GI in Uijongbu who hit a beer bottle over a Korean guy's head, they will probably tell you that they have heard of that, however.
I just find it sad that a ville incident such the beer bottle case would draw more publicity then a rape in Taegu, especially since the rapist wasn't caught and could be still out there in Korean society raping more people. It just seems to me a rape case should draw as much media attention as possible in order to identify the rapist to ensure they are caught and cannot rape more women. These cases are on top of the multiple cases of rape that have occurred on US military installations with soldier on soldier crime that I have consistently highlighted.
Despite a low crime rate in Korea, being a female here can be dangerous if you are not careful. Even those who are careful can still have bad things happen to them anyway, so it is important to understand what actions to take if something bad does in fact happen to you. In an effort to educate people more about sexual assaults in Korea, I was contacted by a young lady who was sexually assaulted and beaten while teaching English at a hagwon in Seoul.
For those familiar with prior assaults on foreign women in Korea you will see many similarities in this case with those prior cases in as far as how incompetent the Korean police are. The important thing is to learn from her story things that you can do to help yourself if you find yourself in a similar situation or maybe you are helping someone that unfortunately was assaulted because the Korean police are not there to help you. With that in mind here is a story of a sexual assault in Korea that no one has probably heard of, but should of:
I came across this blog in doing my own research about the incidents of foreign females in Korea being assaulted and saw the story from back in July when a female military officer was assaulted by a cab driver. I am so lucky that I have found this blog and can spread the word about the dangers of being a foreign female in Korea and how biased the Korean media, police, hospitals, etc. might be to you if something horrible were to happen.
I, too, was a victim and want anyone who wants to hear my story to listen up and spread the word. I came to Seoul in February of last year to teach English. This was not my first time in Korea, having visited Korea in high school with my Korean friend and having also studied Korean language at Yonsei University in 2000-2001.
I was living in Seoul in what is considered to be one of the safest (aka richest) areas: Chungdam. I am sure you know the 24 hour McDonalds, Hard Rock Cafe, etc---I lived across the street from those places. On July 31, 2005, I arrived to my one room when around 11:20pm, my window slides open and a man is in the window. In the second that I sat frozen in my computer chair in shock/surprise/disbelief, he hopped down from the window and lunged at me and began to hit me with his fist repeatedly, while choking me with his other hand.
After hitting me for a few minutes to where I was going unconscious, he ran over to my bag, grabbed my wallet, and in Korean, said the first word “Don, don, don”, which translated means “Money, money, money”. Being a Sunday night, I had just spent the last cash I had and I told him that in Korean. At this point, he began hitting me again. After only a few hits, however, he decided to begin choking me. He gave up choking me and began hitting me more until I again was drifting in and out of consciousness.
He then decided to rape me. He first tried covering my bloodied face with a shirt but I quickly bled through it so he told me in Korean, “Wash your face”. He went into my kitchen to get a knife and I knew it was my chance to get away. In that instant I found my cell phone and locked myself in the bathroom. Once locked inside, I called the police.
According to their police report was at 11::40pm. They did not arrive to my apartment until well after 12am despite a police station being only 5 minutes by walk from my house. I didn’t trust that the police believed me and understood to come so I also called my friends, but they too, were all far away. When the 2 policemen showed up, the man was gone. I told the police what happened and that I need to go to a hospital right away but their first words to me was to say “Where are your panties and give me your Alien Registration ID card”.
I managed to find my ID card and I gave it to him and then ran out my door to try to get someone else to get me an ambulance. The police came out and told me to sit in the back of their police car, which I did. Soon after, the ambulance came and they did not help into the ambulance on a stretcher.
They opened up their sliding side door and told me to walk in. I did and lay down on the stretcher, unattended by anyone The first place I was taken was called Samsung Medical Center. When we arrived there, again I was not taken in on a stretcher, but instead the two ambulance workers opened the door and told me to get out. As we were walking in, they did not assist me in walking and wouldn’t even open the hospital doors for me until I pulled up the back of my running pants which had slipped down to reveal the top of my panties.
I was laid on a stretcher and someone came to clean my face and photograph my injuries. Within a short amount of time a number of my friends and coworkers began arriving and immediately we worked together to recall what I could of the attack while the hospital workers were deciding where to send me.
I explained to them first of all what happened and asked them to please test my fingernails for his DNA because I probably scratched him. My friends (no police were to be found now) then got a pen and paper and were asking for his description and also began listing the places I could remember he touched: My window, my wallet, my bag, my refrigerator, my door lock, my sink faucet---all places that could be tested for fingerprints.
This first hospital also took pictures of my injuries which now are LOST. The hospital has told the US Embassy that they do not have a camera to even take pictures; while they told my friend who inquired about them that they just don’t have record of my name for that date. After I would guess about 40 minutes-1 hour, I was moved to a 2nd hospital---Hye-Min hospital in the northwest part of Seoul. I was put into the ambulance on a stretcher but again, was not tended to by any professionals.
My two friends rode with me and when I began feeling nauseous and throwing up from the bumpy ride and my head injury, my friends were helping me not any professional workers. I do not remember the emergency room of Hye-Min Hospital and what I will tell you comes from my friends who were dealing with admitting me.
This comes from 2 Korean friends, 1 American friend, and 1 Canadian friend. My friends were speaking with the man admitting me, he said that the hospital would not help me unless I paid him $1000.00 in cash because I was a ‘Russian prostitute who probably deserved what I got’. Finally after convincing him I was neither Russian, nor a prostitute and having my boss show up, they decided to admit me into Intensive Care. Despite my major injuries being associated with my head and eye, there was no eye doctor even available at this hospital. However, the first hospital claimed that the bigger hospitals’ ICUs were all full and they could not take me.
At this hospital, I basically laid for 1 day on an IV ---no medications were given and very little monitoring was done. My blood pressure was checked maybe 2 times per day and I was given no heart/oxygen or any other standard monitors. Besides being in pain from my head injuries, I was unable to sleep or lay without pain due to severe neck and back strains from being choked. The bed was flat in a very uncomfortable position and I was told if I needed to be moved I would have to pound on the side of my bed to get a nurses attention because they didn’t have call buttons.
Of course, when I did this, nurses would ignore me for 10-15 minutes or more. I was finally moved into the ICU of Yongdong Severance Hospital where I was given good treatment and finally tests were taken. I was given an immediate CT scan, along with X-rays and an eye doctor looked at my eyes. It was decided that I had a brain hemorrhage, fractured skull and other facial bones, ocular hemorrhaging.
On day 3 of my ordeal, I was visited by a deputy of the US embassy and a Korean detective, who through my best Korean friend, interpreted what happened and the suspect description. No sketch was taken, however. While in the hospital I was thinking about who this guy might be so I gathered a list of the places I walk a lot. Based on his skin tone and build, I figured he must work outside and suggested to the police to check 3 nearby construction sites near my house that I regularly walk by, 2 car shops or local taxis. Based on the glove marks around my neck, I figured he could be a taxi driver and a taxi driver lives in my building, yet the police never interviewed anyone in my building or the surrounding buildings.
My friends interviewed my neighbors on their own who said they did in fact hear screams, but were too afraid to help and saw nothing. The police interviewed no one, took no suspect sketch, no DNA, and despite claiming that they took fingerprints, there was no evidence of the traditional black soot fingerprinting would leave at my apartment.
There were no police reports sent out to the media and despite me and my friends calling every Korean and English news and television media outlet, no one would cover my story or even just release information regarding the suspect’s appearance. I also remembered that because I lived in the nicest area of Seoul, for “security” they have CCTV cameras up around the neighborhoods.
My Korean friend called the police with this information and all of my other suggestions about where to find the suspect and their response to us was “We do things our way, we are handling it, leave us alone”. I was never contacted by the police again. During my final day in the hospital, I finally got enough courage to look at the shirt I was wearing during the attack. The police did not collect it for evidence or DNA. Upon my examination, I found a short black hair to which I applied a piece of tape and called the police asking them to please come and pick it up----it could be the suspect’s hair! Again, they responded, “We do things our way; we don’t have time for that”.
Finally, after returning to America and complaining to the Embassy, the police agreed to look at the hair and we fed-exd the shirt to the police. It was returned “tested” with the hair still in tact. Nice, right?
I do not even want to get into my school. Of course we know how hagwons are. All I will say, is that they deemed me to be too problematic to the school because they feared I would reveal where I worked and make them to have a bad reputation. When I was released from the hospital, I had made flyers to distribute throughout my neighborhood with a suspect description and I was told by my school and the police that I could not do so because it would make all Koreans look crazy. So, despite being promised I would have a job when I was completely, recovered, I never got the offer back.
After returning back to the USA, I am not aware of anything going on in the investigation. About 3 weeks after my attack, a Korean girl was found naked and murdered, dying from the same injuries I sustained and she only lived about 5 minutes from my house by walk. So after 1 month, the police requested I get a sketch of the suspect and started sending me pictures of sex offenders about 2 months after my attack. But of course, the mind is a great thing and tries to forget something like that, so making a sketch now is difficult.
Due to the recent string of serial rapes in Korea, I have taken it on myself to try to find out anyone who is arrested in case I may recognize the guy. After seeing a picture the Taejon serial rapist who was captured in Seoul in February, he seemed familiar to me and so I contacted the Embassy. They said the police determined it was not the same man who attacked me based on a DNA mismatch.
Oh, now they do have my perpetrator’s DNA? Up until this point, I was told they didn’t have anything. Suspicious is the fact that they will not give the embassy pictures of the man for me to identify. That is my story.
My goal is not to shock, not to expound hate on Korea or Korean people. My goal is to make us foreigners living in a seemingly “safe” country aware that even though these things do not appear in the papers, they can and do happen. More importantly, I am looking for ways I can help to get started programs for foreigners to provide safety education and resources. If you would be attacked, do you know enough Korean to call the police, or do you even know the police number?
If you do suffer an attack, there are no rape crisis lines or centers for foreigners. Finding a psychologist who speaks English is also difficult. We need to get together and make a positive change. Acknowledging that there is a problem is the first step. Now, let’s make a difference.
I know this post is long but I think the information provided in it is very important because I know I learned plenty from the writer's tragic experience and hopefully others did as well.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Well this is a personal Update, I havent done one in a while.
The school is ok. We have added another Korean Teacher and he is a male. I am so glad to have another guy there besides me.
We had a welcome to Work party for him on thursday. The boss lady kept buying beer and I kept drinking it. we had dinner at a place called the "BERKLEY." I actually like it. The food is aways good and its very close to where I live so it was all good. Then we went dancing and oh man did I dance like a fool. I was so glad that I do not have to go to work until 1430 the next day. Then I had Nicholes Birthday party on Saturday. I was a hurting pup.
We have wend 3-15 off, so I am going to go to Seoul and see if I can get a ticket for the IMAX film "V for Vendeta." they are also soon going to be playing the NASCAR 3-D film. I so want to se it again and see it in Korea. I wonder is they have any idea about NASCAR.
Next month I start Job hunting for June 2006. I will keep everybody up to date.
My washington Redskins have signed a few players so far in free agency. We have added, Adam Archuleta, Brandon Lloyd, Antwaan Randle El and Christian Fauria. I hope for a nice draft but with no #1 nor a #3. Looks like on draft day I do nada.
Still no g.f, I know whats new. Tommorrow is white day here in Korea. Its a day when the boys give the girls candy, so I have alot of candy to give to all of my students tommorrow. Just no luck with the ladies. Sad but it happens.
I have thought about doing another blog to go with my socius film reviews. Nothing yet, I am just kicking an idea in my head.
So far this year I have been watching, "The Shield" "24" "Lost" Everybody Hates Chris" "How I Met Your Mother" and starting tommorrow, "Sopranios"
I must sat 24 and the shield have been outstanding this season. Sad to say I cheer for the bad guy in the shield and the good guy in 24.
Spring training is on and the World baseball classic has the us vs Korea tommorrow, should be an intresting day.
Well this is an update on me so far. will tell more later.
The school is ok. We have added another Korean Teacher and he is a male. I am so glad to have another guy there besides me.
We had a welcome to Work party for him on thursday. The boss lady kept buying beer and I kept drinking it. we had dinner at a place called the "BERKLEY." I actually like it. The food is aways good and its very close to where I live so it was all good. Then we went dancing and oh man did I dance like a fool. I was so glad that I do not have to go to work until 1430 the next day. Then I had Nicholes Birthday party on Saturday. I was a hurting pup.
We have wend 3-15 off, so I am going to go to Seoul and see if I can get a ticket for the IMAX film "V for Vendeta." they are also soon going to be playing the NASCAR 3-D film. I so want to se it again and see it in Korea. I wonder is they have any idea about NASCAR.
Next month I start Job hunting for June 2006. I will keep everybody up to date.
My washington Redskins have signed a few players so far in free agency. We have added, Adam Archuleta, Brandon Lloyd, Antwaan Randle El and Christian Fauria. I hope for a nice draft but with no #1 nor a #3. Looks like on draft day I do nada.
Still no g.f, I know whats new. Tommorrow is white day here in Korea. Its a day when the boys give the girls candy, so I have alot of candy to give to all of my students tommorrow. Just no luck with the ladies. Sad but it happens.
I have thought about doing another blog to go with my socius film reviews. Nothing yet, I am just kicking an idea in my head.
So far this year I have been watching, "The Shield" "24" "Lost" Everybody Hates Chris" "How I Met Your Mother" and starting tommorrow, "Sopranios"
I must sat 24 and the shield have been outstanding this season. Sad to say I cheer for the bad guy in the shield and the good guy in 24.
Spring training is on and the World baseball classic has the us vs Korea tommorrow, should be an intresting day.
Well this is an update on me so far. will tell more later.
Enjoy yourself its a celebration!
Well saturday we had a little party, The red soxs fan link on this website had her birthday. Her big idea was a Konglish shirt night. now for those who have no idea what that is just look above and you will read a shirt that in basic english makes no scense what so ever. Greer, the one on the left, is engaged to a nam named dan so when I saw the shirt I just dies laughing. Then A friend of Nicholes comes in and wears a blue version of the same shirt, I asked Dan, Is it hard out here for a pimp? We laughed about it. I always joke with Dan, will he ever play the lottery. He always states nope that he won the biggest lottery in his life when Greer fell in love with him.
You will see me wearing an ESPN logo shirt and Dans states bananas actual sizes from all over the world. It was given to him from Troy and Arwyn when they went to Siam. The shirt was a huge hit.
The first photo, is me, Nichole and her friend Mario. She has told me that I am Marios twin, we both love the Yankees and we are both GOP and we both hate the red soxs and both think that Nichole is awesome. So me and him hit it off very good. It was nice to meet a fellow Yankees and GOP person.
We had a nice party, we all got along and we had a great time.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Biracial couple goes prime time in South Korea GI, Korean wife hope TV segments combat negative stereotypes
By Franklin Fisher, Stars and StripesPacific edition, Monday, March 6, 2006
PYEONGTAEK, South Korea
One fall day a few years ago, Army Sgt. Christopher Largent discovered an art gallery on the eighth floor of a department store where he was shopping in Daegu, South Korea.
Having studied fine arts before enlisting in the Army, he went in for a look at a ceramics exhibit.
He soon found himself talking to two young women who also were looking things over. One spoke some English, the other almost none.
The conversation started because of a genuine interest in ceramics, said Largent, 28, a personnel clerk at Camp Carroll with the 307th Integrated Theater Signal Battalion.
It took about 30 seconds for a voice inside his head to tell him that the woman who spoke some English was very attractive, and after about 20 minutes Largent sensed the interest might be mutual.
Honestly, though, I would be too chicken to even approach her for a date had her friend not suggested it, he said.
Her name was Yu-sung, and she shared his interest in art, having majored in ceramics at Daegu Catholic University. The next day she drove from Daegu to Waegwan, and they had lunch in a local restaurant.
Eight or so months later, in June 2003, they were married.
Not an uncommon tale of love and marriage but theirs will be one a lot of people will soon become intimate with. From Monday through Thursday, South Korean TV station KBS2 will chronicle their married life in its regularly scheduled program In Gan Geuk Jang, starting at 8:50 p.m.
It began with a January phone call to Yu-sung from a woman at KBS2 in Seoul, who said a neighbor the Largents never have learned who had suggested the couple as a possible TV subject.
The woman asked Yu-sung to e-mail her the same day with her and her husbands photos and a summary of how they met. A day later, a Daegu-based video crew on contract to KBS2 all but moved in with the Largents and filmed their mealtimes and housework, their shopping trips, visits to her parents, time at work. They spent about 18 days, 16 of them in actual filming.
The crew was friendly and the couple got along well with them. But the project had its pressures.
I was so uncomfortable, said Yu-sung, 26, who said she was self-conscious throughout.
I couldn't do anything in front of camera, even just kiss my husband, and just like normal thing like wash the dishes or cleaning home because I was so nervous, she said. Three strange guys following everywhere.
Her discomfort eventually wore off. But by then, the crew was pretty much wrapped up.
They told the Largents a payment of 1 million South Korean won (about $1,000) was in their future.
They hope the broadcasts will help erode negative stereotypes of marriages between South Koreans and U.S. servicemembers.
The Largents have their own stories to tell about that, too.
Like the occasional cab driver who's told Yu-sung she's attractive enough to have drawn any number of Korean suitors, so why did she marry Largent?
Or the incident around Christmas 2002 when the couple tried to enter a Daegu restaurant. An employee stopped them at the entrance and pointed to a blue and white sign that read in English: Foreigners not allowed. (So when I see this and when I hear a fool named A.... tell us that this never happens, its just funny)
I think the biggest thing that everyone will take away from this, regardless of their cultural background, is that people are people no matter where you're from, said Largent, and if you're coming to someone's country, you have to have a certain degree of openness.
I'm sure, he said, "Everyone will take away the fact that there are good and bad people regardless of the culture that you come from."
Thsi show will be on KBS2. I Still have no idea if I will watch this. He is stationed in Camp Carroll, its where I was stationed at from May 1990-Aug 1991 in the US Army. But all of this for $1,000. Hope that it was worth it.
By Franklin Fisher, Stars and StripesPacific edition, Monday, March 6, 2006
PYEONGTAEK, South Korea
One fall day a few years ago, Army Sgt. Christopher Largent discovered an art gallery on the eighth floor of a department store where he was shopping in Daegu, South Korea.
Having studied fine arts before enlisting in the Army, he went in for a look at a ceramics exhibit.
He soon found himself talking to two young women who also were looking things over. One spoke some English, the other almost none.
The conversation started because of a genuine interest in ceramics, said Largent, 28, a personnel clerk at Camp Carroll with the 307th Integrated Theater Signal Battalion.
It took about 30 seconds for a voice inside his head to tell him that the woman who spoke some English was very attractive, and after about 20 minutes Largent sensed the interest might be mutual.
Honestly, though, I would be too chicken to even approach her for a date had her friend not suggested it, he said.
Her name was Yu-sung, and she shared his interest in art, having majored in ceramics at Daegu Catholic University. The next day she drove from Daegu to Waegwan, and they had lunch in a local restaurant.
Eight or so months later, in June 2003, they were married.
Not an uncommon tale of love and marriage but theirs will be one a lot of people will soon become intimate with. From Monday through Thursday, South Korean TV station KBS2 will chronicle their married life in its regularly scheduled program In Gan Geuk Jang, starting at 8:50 p.m.
It began with a January phone call to Yu-sung from a woman at KBS2 in Seoul, who said a neighbor the Largents never have learned who had suggested the couple as a possible TV subject.
The woman asked Yu-sung to e-mail her the same day with her and her husbands photos and a summary of how they met. A day later, a Daegu-based video crew on contract to KBS2 all but moved in with the Largents and filmed their mealtimes and housework, their shopping trips, visits to her parents, time at work. They spent about 18 days, 16 of them in actual filming.
The crew was friendly and the couple got along well with them. But the project had its pressures.
I was so uncomfortable, said Yu-sung, 26, who said she was self-conscious throughout.
I couldn't do anything in front of camera, even just kiss my husband, and just like normal thing like wash the dishes or cleaning home because I was so nervous, she said. Three strange guys following everywhere.
Her discomfort eventually wore off. But by then, the crew was pretty much wrapped up.
They told the Largents a payment of 1 million South Korean won (about $1,000) was in their future.
They hope the broadcasts will help erode negative stereotypes of marriages between South Koreans and U.S. servicemembers.
The Largents have their own stories to tell about that, too.
Like the occasional cab driver who's told Yu-sung she's attractive enough to have drawn any number of Korean suitors, so why did she marry Largent?
Or the incident around Christmas 2002 when the couple tried to enter a Daegu restaurant. An employee stopped them at the entrance and pointed to a blue and white sign that read in English: Foreigners not allowed. (So when I see this and when I hear a fool named A.... tell us that this never happens, its just funny)
I think the biggest thing that everyone will take away from this, regardless of their cultural background, is that people are people no matter where you're from, said Largent, and if you're coming to someone's country, you have to have a certain degree of openness.
I'm sure, he said, "Everyone will take away the fact that there are good and bad people regardless of the culture that you come from."
Thsi show will be on KBS2. I Still have no idea if I will watch this. He is stationed in Camp Carroll, its where I was stationed at from May 1990-Aug 1991 in the US Army. But all of this for $1,000. Hope that it was worth it.
Monday, March 06, 2006
Well, in an earlier post, I talked about Tuesday nights here in Korea. There is a club called the "Beer Hunter" A few of the local foreigners hang out. The beer is half price. There are 2 options, "A girl Beer" which is the small container for 1000 won and "Man Beer" which is a huge container and this cost is 2000 won.We gather, we talk, we laugh about what we have seen here in Korea.
From left to right... back row. Damien (Canada) Me. (USA) Dan and Greer (New Zeland) Nichole (USA)
Front Row..Left to right... Troy and Alwyn (Australia) Ben (USA) Kendra and James (Canada)
I must be honest, this gathering has helped me in my stay here in Korea. We are all here for different reasons and I am glad to be sharing the same time line with these insane fools from all over the world.
Friday, March 03, 2006
Railway strike disrupts transport
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Police and railway authorities threatened stern responses against striking transport workers yesterday as their walkout entered a second day, leaving millions of commuters and cargos stranded across the nation.
About half of the 25,510 member Korean Railway Workers' Union has joined in the action since Wednesday.
Disruption is expected to worsen as the nationwide truckers' union yesterday threatened to step up action from next Monday after negotiations over fees with cargo companies failed.
Adding to the tension, the nation's second largest umbrella labor organization continued its general strike against new labor reform bills.
Thousands of rail workers ended a joint rally in eastern Seoul yesterday morning after police threatened to break up their sit in by force, but continued with sporadic struggles in small groups.
The state run Korea Railroad Corp. even issued an ultimatum ordering workers to return to work by 3:00 p.m. or face punishment including dismissal. State prosecutors, who had earlier declared the walkout as illegal, issued an order to arrest 11 union leaders involved in the strike.
Cargos are left alone at a Busan train depot yesterday as a railway strike disrupted transportation. [The Korea Herald]
The government has invoked its authority for an emergency arbitration, under which any collective action is banned for a 15 day cooling off period.
Despite labor's firm stance, KORAIL said some 2,325 workers or 17 percent of demonstrators returned to work as of 3 p.m. and more are expected to follow suit.
However, most of the key workers such as drivers and engineers have still not returned to work, casting clouds on any hope for an early return to normalcy.
Subway service in Seoul dropped to 52 percent of normal operations, KORAIL said, as the walkout affected lines No. 1, 2 and 4, which are run in cooperation with KORAIL.
The running of KTX, the high speed train, and normal trains also fell to 34 percent and 16 percent, respectively, KORAIL said.
The railway strike also crippled cargo train services in cities across the nation, threatening to damage the export driven economy.
In Busan, the nation's second largest city, only 20 of 56 freight trains were in operation to carry out shipments yesterday.
Talks between the union and management failed again yesterday morning. The labor is demanding the reinstatement of dismissed laborers and an increase of personnel. KORAIL fired a combined 67 union workers who were involved in illegal strikes in the past. Management has said that the labor is demanding too much.
"We were not able to narrow the differences. Some issues were agreed on but the labor wants a package settlement," Yoo Jae young, a KORAIL official in charge of labor affairs, told reporters.
Despite the government's tough stance, labor leaders confirmed that they will continue to strike.
"The strike will likely extend for a longer period. We are aware that we will have to take responsibility for this illegal strike. Nevertheless, we are on a strike because the problems of KORAIL are too serious," KRWU's spokesperson, Jo Sang soo, told reporters.
The strike coincided with a general strike called by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the nation's second largest umbrella labor organization, against new labor reform bills.
The Ministry of Labor estimated that about 60,000 or 70,000 employees including those from Hyundai Motor and Kia Motor participated in the strike.
The general strike was triggered by a parliamentary committee's approval of bills on Monday which would allow companies to use temporary workers for up to two years after which they must be hired as permanent staff.
(hjjin@heraldm.com)
By Jin Hyun joo
Yesterday 2 March, I had the day off and I was going to take care of a minor problem is Seoul, sad to say I did not even need to go. I tried to take the train, no luck, so I took the BUS. It was an express bus from Daejeon to Seoul cost 12$, no thrills but it was a nice ride.
No service to Sontang nor Pyongtek, so think I wont be their for awhile. I will be in Seoul tommorrow so it looks like Bus once again. I ll leave early for a trtain bit if no such luck then the bus station is only 1 bus or taxi ride away.
This could get very intresting for the next few weeks.
Monday, February 20, 2006
Subject: Daddy LonglegsA father watched his daughter playing in the garden.
He smiled as he reflected on how sweet and innocent his little
girl was.
Suddenly she just stopped and stared at the ground.
He went over to her and noticed she was looking at two spiders
mating.
"Daddy, what are those two spiders doing?" she asked.
"They're mating," her father replied.
"What do you call the spider on top, Daddy?" she asked.
"That's a Daddy Longlegs." Her father answered.
"So, the other one is Mommy Longlegs?" the little girl asked.
"No," her father replied. "Both of them are Daddy Longlegs."
The little girl thought for a moment, then took her foot and
stomped them
flat.
"Well, that might be ok in California and Oregon, but we're not
having
any of that CRAP in Texas.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
This Crash has been a day that I wish had never had happened.
For those who do not know anything about one of my favorite spotrs NASCAR, I was a huge fan of "The Man in Black" Dale Earnhardt. My #3 hat and Shirts are worn in his honor. It still looks like a very simple crash but sad to say. This was his final ride.
Five years since ...By Jerry Bonkowski.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Coping with the death of someone who meant a great deal to you is never easy, but we eventually get past our grieving and tears and go on with our lives.
But if you're like me, the anniversary of that death is an event you don't look forward to. We can go along for 364 days every year with a forward, positive approach to life, but it's that 365th day that once again turns us somber and reflective.
That one 24-hour period each year virtually transports us to that fateful day when someone special was taken from us. Granted, it's simply the passage of time, but it's a sad passage nonetheless. Particularly hard are milestone years, be it one year later, five, 10, 20 or more. That's why this Saturday is a notable and sad milestone in the NASCAR and sports world.
For it will be five years since a simple man from Kannapolis, N.C., was tragically killed at Daytona.
Of course, this was not just any simple man. This was Dale Earnhardt.
And what happened on Feb. 18, 2001, was not just any simple crash. No, this was a 190-mph wreck on the final lap of the race that meant so much to him and yet also baffled him for nearly 20 years before he finally got the upper hand.
The biggest race in NASCAR. The Daytona 500.
The year before, three other drivers were killed in racing-related crashes: Kenny Irwin, Adam Petty and Tony Roper. While each of their tragic wrecks made headlines, life went on.
Earnhardt's death, on the other hand, shook the sport – and beyond – to its core, making front-page news from Charlotte to China. The death of the man they called The Intimidator was the NASCAR equivalent to Elvis Presley's death in 1977 or the assassination of Pres. John F. Kennedy in 1963.
His fatal crash was so monumental, particularly when NASCAR president Mike Helton announced to the world, "We've lost Dale Earnhardt," that it prompted the same type of question that has historically followed Presley and Kennedy's deaths: "Do you remember where you were and what you were doing when they died?"
His fatal wreck was so shocking, much like Kennedy's assassination more than 42 years ago, that it will always seem like it was just yesterday. Earnhardt's was the biggest and greatest name in NASCAR history. He was a man who meant so much to the sport and his fans, carving out a legacy much like Johnny Cash did in country music: they were both men in black, loved my millions yet cloaked in mystery for the intensely private lives they tried to lead outside of the spotlight.
They were the best in their respective businesses, icons that inspired and launched the careers of so many young and aspiring musicians and race car drivers. They were role models who set a standard for others to follow. When it came to racing, Earnhardt didn't just raise the bar, he put it out of reach. It's doubtful we'll ever see another driver even equal, let alone break, the seemingly insurmountable mark that Earnhardt and Richard Petty set in their careers: winning seven Cup championships.
Jeff Gordon is the closest challenger to that mark today, but he says if he's fortunate enough to win two more titles in his Cup career, he'll quit at six and leave the legacies of The King and The Intimidator in place. Even after winning his second Cup title last season, defending champ Tony Stewart doubts that he or anyone else will ever be able to come close to the Petty/Earnhardt milestone.
There's that word again: "milestone."
The five-year anniversary of Earnhardt's death is a milestone that hopefully will prompt us to reflect on his life, what he meant to NASCAR, how he changed the sport while alive and also how his death continued that change, particularly in the area of driver safety.
Sure, Earnhardt was a grizzled old cuss. He could tick you off with his gruff manner. And all too often, it was his way or no way, and NASCAR usually let him get away with it.
The reason was simple: because he could do it. He was the most powerful man in the sport and he cockily knew it. Bill France Jr. may have written the checks, but it was Earnhardt who laughed all the way to the bank.
Love him or hate him, fan or not, virtually everyone gave Earnhardt something that few people can command so universally: respect – and lots of it. He was the face of NASCAR, the man upon whose back the sport began its ride to unparalleled heights. It was Earnhardt who gave us so many memories, from the fabled "pass in the grass" to the tears that seeped from the corners of his eyes when he finally held the winner's trophy at Daytona in 1998.
It was on that day we learned that even as tough as he was on the race track, he could still be just as emotional. If Dale Earnhardt could shed a tear or two and not be embarrassed, we could, too. I often wonder what would have happened if Earnhardt had survived, or if the wreck never happened. Where would he be today?
Granted, he was in the twilight of his racing career at the time of his death, just a few months shy of his 50th birthday. It had been six years since his last Cup championship.
But as he was slowly edging toward retirement from driving, he was not retiring from racing. He was constructing an empire befitting of the name Earnhardt, building a future for his namesake, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I'm convinced that had he lived, the senior Earnhardt would have gone on to be one of the most successful owners in Cup competition. On a more personal note, perhaps the biggest loss wasn't the death of the racer, but the death of the man – the family man, that is. As he grew older, he had so many regrets over his youthful mistakes, including two failed marriages and not being involved in the raising of oldest son Kerry – yet he truly tried to right as many wrongs as he could.
And that's what makes the marking of the fifth anniversary of his death even sadder, as Earnhardt was robbed of so many opportunities, like growing old with wife Teresa, or eventually enjoying grandchildren.
As we all stop to pause and reflect back on the man's life, the way it was abruptly ended and what might have been if he lived on, at least we can be comforted by one thought.
Right or wrong, Earnhardt lived life his way. And he went out the way he probably would have wanted to, and the way we'll all remember him best: behind the wheel of his race car.
Now for the nam I cheer for now, the son Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Junior's growth By Jerry Bonkowski, Yahoo! Sports
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – As a 26-year-old, Dale Earnhardt Jr. should have spent 2001 discussing future plans with his father.
You can just imagine them sitting on the back porch, sharing a couple cold bottles of Bud, talking about the elder Earnhardt's vision for the company he founded (Dale Earnhardt Inc.) and would likely someday turn over to his son.
They could have talked about the path the younger Earnhardt should take to become a dominant Cup driver just like his old man. Heck, they could even have talked about Junior one day settling down.
But alas, five years ago next week, the only words Junior ultimately would say to his father were a tearful and twangy "goodbye, Daddy" at the senior Earnhardt's funeral.
NASCAR has dramatically changed since Earnhardt's death. So has Dale Jr. himself.
Now, as he slides toward his 32nd birthday later this year, Junior is approaching a crossroads in both his racing career and his life.
People in their thirties are expected to leave behind their wild side and make a final transition from rowdy to respectable. They are expected to finally act their age and do the "adult" thing.
That transformation began early for Junior.
Before his father's death, Junior had been described as a hip-hop kid, known almost as much for his partying as for what he did on the race track. He loved his beer and made no attempt to cover it up. As long as it was Budweiser, he and his primary sponsor were happy. It seemed that almost every day was a party and Junior was the guy buying.
He also loved his rock and country music, to the point where he hung out with some of the biggest stars in the business, from Fred Durst to Kenny Chesney to Sheryl Crow (pre-Lance, that is). He'd even sneak cigarettes behind his hauler (away from his fans) like a naughty little boy puffing away behind the barn, not wanting his family to catch him – especially his father, lest he get his bottom paddled.
He had a rep of devil-may-care, to the point where he almost seemed bulletproof.
All of those activities or habits have been greatly diminished – if not eliminated – as Junior has grown older and continued to attain new heights of maturity since his father's passing.
He's even talked fondly and frequently in the last couple of years about how much he's looking forward to getting married some day and having kids.
"I've just got to find the right girl," he says with his well-known mischievous smile.
You know this maturing thing is getting serious if NASCAR's most eligible bachelor – sorry, Kasey or Tony – starts talking like that.
But that's all part of Earnhardt's steady progression to becoming his own man.
Sure, Junior still loves to race go-karts with friends on the track he had specially made behind his house, and he's known to compete in Internet racing leagues. But those activities are innocent enough that you can't help but cut him a little slack.
While there's no questioning his talent, Earnhardt also has picked up his father's business acumen, yet another indicator that his youth has been filed away in a closet like his old baseball cards, never to be seen again.
Junior has spent the last few years building yet another Earnhardt dynasty, laying the groundwork with a team that has won the last two Busch Series championships. He's also taken a greater role in planning DEI's future. There's even talk about forming his own Cup team one day, much like his father did while still driving for Richard Childress Racing.
But perhaps the most significant sign of Earnhardt's elevated maturity in 2006 will be a new dedication to his craft. He knows he's coming off a miserable season in 2005, one in which everything that could go wrong pretty much did.
The most popular driver in the sport also is cognizant of the fact that he still has yet to win his first Cup championship. His father earned the first of seven Cup championships in 1980 at age 29.
On the flip side, Junior has more Cup wins (16) at the age of 31 than his father did at that same age (seven wins). Also, his father didn't earn his second Cup title until he was 35. Junior still has nearly four years to reach that level.
But it's obviously not just about numbers.
The road Junior has traveled to become a mature, responsible adult since 2001 has been admirable, as he has evolved into someone his father would be very proud of. It's not only a testament to Junior's bloodlines but also to the way he was raised.
Sure, Junior would have loved to have had a lot more talks about racing and life with his father over the last five years, but it's pretty evident he learned some very valuable lessons from the many talks the two did have before that fateful February afternoon five years ago.
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