The People's Rooney

This is a stunning story about the North Korean soccer team. We already know what is supposed to be the main point of this story: North Korea is totally unpredictable.

But here are a few things I didn't know:
1. Their best-known striker is nicknamed "The People's Rooney."
2. Rewards are high but punishments are worse. From the story:

'With that honor comes pressure. Moon Ki-nam, a former national-level North Korea coach who defected to South Korea in 2004, said players are handsomely rewarded with coveted apartments if they win internationally but are punished, some sent to coal mines, if they lose.

Even some of the feted players from the 1966 team were said to have been sent to one of North Korea’s infamous labor camps for squandering a promising 3-0 lead to lose to a Eusebio-led Portugal in the quarterfinals.'

Check out the story here. I now officially hope the North Koreans get third in the World Cup. Behind the eventual winners USA and second-place Germany.

Bamboo Shango Team Wins!!!

It was an incredible weekend and I already gave away the best part in the title. Saturday was the 2010 Seoul Latin Dance Festival and Competition.

My dance team, Shango Team of the Bamboo Dance Academy in Incheon, went to compete against 11 other teams. While we didn't win a top 3 prize, we walked away with a trophy for the "Most Popular" performance. It was my first competition after 6 months of salsa dance and I was part of a winning team!

We've been practicing for about 2 months, with people rotating in and out of our team due to injury and other commitments. We've been meeting Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday every week.

We met at our studio around 11 a.m. Saturday where the girls started preparing their makeup. We got to the concert hall in Seoul around 2 p.m., and started to prepare.

Each team got about 7 minutes for a rehearsal. That's not a lot of time, so we mostly worked on our spacing and a quick run-through. We all felt pretty good. Most of the teams had pretty technically advanced routines, but only one really caught my eye. The team's guys all died their hair blonde and spiked it up in a faux-hawk. They won first place overall.

We were the last team to go, so we had to wait for all the other teams. But when it was our time, we didn't disappoint. We really nailed our timing as a team, and the choreography of our routine sucked the crowd in. There was a certain part where the crowd started to rumble, then just exploded into cheers at various sections of the dance. When it was all over, they were on their feet going crazy. It was a really incredible feeling.

Then, during the parade, while all the teams stood on stage, we heard our team's name called for an award. So we got to walk out in front of everyone and take a bow. Noticing a foreigner, the host immediately came to talk to me and ask me where I was from. The crowd went nuts again. It was such a cool thing to do.

We went back and celebrated our incredible experience afterward.

Unfortunately, I'll miss the next available show that's taking place in August. I'll be back in America with Jeong Mi for my sister's wedding. That means I have to wait until February to compete again. Hopefully I'll get to perform between now and then though. It's such a rush to be up there with your partner and team and hear the crowd yelling and cheering. I'm so fortunate to have become a part of this team and met such wonderful people, and I hope it continues for a long time.

I'll post the video as soon as I can, but for now, check out all the great pictures!

North Korea Gets Jammed

North Korea tried tinkering with their roster a bit to bring an extra striker, but will be penalized as far as the player's position goes.

Confident with only two goalkeepers, the North Koreans registered one of their strikers in the third goalkeeper spot. FIFA caught on and said that now the striker will only be able to play as a goalkeeper.

That's pretty dumb, as far as rules go. For instance, if a team does bring three goalies, they'll only have two dressed for the game anyway. If both those goalies get hurt, then a field player steps into te goalkeeping position.

As far as I'm concerned, a team should be able to take as many players they want at any position they want. If they end up losing two goalies and not having a third, that's their problem to deal with. Too much meddling by FIFA here.

Lee Myung-bak's Party In Serious Trouble

I blogged earlier today that South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's sudden change in tenor of dealing with North Korea was a sign of his political weakness and the downfall of his career in office.


I was proven right today when some of the major election results were declared with Lee's Grand National Party winning only 6 of of the 16 key mayoral and gubernatorial races. Their main competition, the Democratic Party, took 7.

Lee's party is the more traditionally conservative one, while the Democratic Party is more liberal. What that means in Korea, however, is way beyond me.

What I do know is that Koreans unexpectedly did NOT vote conservative right after the sinking of the Cheonan in March. That is strange. One analyst said that while conservative feelings were stirred up, the conservative voters simply failed to turn out.

It's interesting that a country with so much nationalistic pride would be so lethargic on a voting day right after a North Korean attack. Of course, maybe that shows just how uninterested in the North most South Koreans are. Go figure.

Korea is Number 1 ... At Killing Themselves

It seems these stories are never out of the papers for too long. And this time, I can't think of a notable celebrity who killed themselves to prompt it.

According to the National Police Agency, Koreans were killing themselves at a rate of 40 per day in 2009.

From the story:

'By age group, those aged 60 and above comprised 4,614 or 32 percent of the total suicides ― indicating that more senior citizens are at risk ― followed by people in their 40s at 2,770 or 19 percent.

Though people in their 20s made up only 12 percent at 1,749, this represented a jump of 29 percent from 2008, and 35 percent over the last three years.

Around 28 percent of suicides took their own lives due to psychological problems, followed by 22 percent because of physical illness. Economic, domestic and love issues were next in the top five reasons.

"Statistics show suicides are rising sharply nationwide, though it's hard to pinpoint a single reason for the increase. Society as a whole should make greater efforts to stop people killing themselves," a police officer said.'

The story came out and said South Korea is ranked number one among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Usually, stories in Korean newspapers peg the country at 2 or 3 with a Scandinavian country up at the top. But this time, Korea takes the top spot.

Election Finished!

And thank goodness for that. I couldn't take much more of those speakers blaring.

An article in The Korea Times on voting sheds an interesting light on what Koreans are thinking. It seems that most Koreans are about as motivated as Americans to get out and vote. They're also just as confused.

Let's face it: Most politicians don't know what they're doing and it's their job. Should we expect more out of the general public?

The good news is we got a day off from school on Wednesday because of the elections. I took advantage of that and hit the SK Wyverns game on Tuesday night with Josh, Colton and Geoff. And of course, since I attended, they lost.

 Three of the six Franklin High School dudes currently in South Korea.

Seoul Has A Change Of Heart

It seems that officials in Seoul are starting to re-think the harsh tone they've been taking with North Korea. There's even a call for reunification midst one of the most tense periods between the two countries in a decade.

From The Korea Times article:

'"When we say national security, words such as confrontation or face-off tend to come to our minds. I think now is the time for us to chart a security strategy that can usher the nation into reunification," he said.

Lee put priority on reunification, not confrontation, at a time when tensions are mounting on the peninsula.'

That's interesting for sure and there are at least two issues at play here. One is that not one of the allies involved supports a war. And any counter-attack would most likely provoke one. The second is that Lee Myung-bak is at an incredibly low point in his political career.

He initially came into office with the "tough on the North" outlook. But after an attack, when I would imagine he could cement that issue, he turns the other way. Let's just say his time in the office is winding down, and a re-election is impossible.