Constitution Change For South Korea's Hat

The boys up North changed their constitution's wording in April, but just recently have the changes found their way to the South.

Some of the changes include a definite term for Dictator Kim Jong-il and a stronger emphasis on the political standing of the nation.

From the BBC article:

'For the first time, the constitution refers to him implicitly as "supreme leader". ... It also endorses the role of the National Defence Commission - which he chairs - in national and foreign affairs.

And it places more weight on Kim's personal doctrine of "military first".'

While it's clearly an example of North Korea showing everyone how big they are in the trousers, it's still interesting to see the slight changes to the constitution that make the government even scarier to the people living there.

Check out the story here.

BBC Reunion Video

There's a great video of the reunion between the families from the North and South on BBC.com. Though it's short, and hard to hear, the emotion can be felt by observing the people.

It's hard to make out what anyone is saying, but at the very end, one person says to another: "어디 아프세요?" (oh dee aw puh say yo) [edit - Thank you, Dougie!]. That is asking whether the person is sick or sore. It is a very polite way to do so.

The video is very touching.

Check it out here.

Korean Reunion

On Saturday, 97 South Koreans who escaped the North, were reunited with their family members.

From The Korea Times story:

'Tears that had been held back for almost 60 years streamed down the face of Kim Hye-kyong, 83, who met her daughter for the first time since they were separated during the Korean war, AFP said.

"I have been always feeling guilty since I left you when you were only three years old," Hye-kyong was quoted as telling her daughter.'

Unless your heart is made of stone, or possible non-existent, this is a really touching story.

Check it out here.

Lee Meets Ward

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak had the opportunity to meet Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward Friday as Lee was in town for the G20 conference.

It's no surprise that the local celebrity Lee was set up with is, in fact, part Korean. In the article, Ward is described as a "Korean-America football star." That's something he's most likely never been described as in America. To each their own, I suppose.

A big tip of the hat to the reporter of the story and the editors at The Korea Times who failed to put the "h" on the end of "Pittsburg" on two occasions in the story.

Dear Korea Times, I know you're a small English-language newspaper with no journalistic standards, but city names aren't that difficult, are they?

Take a look at the "Pittsburg" story here.

Pictures From Behind The Curtain

An Italian photographer is a frequent visitor into North Korea. Here are his pictures from August, on the BBC News website.

See the pictures here.

Possible Plagiarism Charges

This news article in The Korea Times is a welcome sign for anyone who lives in South Korea. I don't know the official law, but from pure observation, it would seem to me that no copyright or plagiarism laws exist within the country.

Maybe going outside the country to steal their music is where they made a mistake. G-Dragon, of Big Bang, the group Big Bang and the group 2NE1 are facing possible plagiarism charges from Sony ATV Music Publishing because their songs sound ALMOST EXACTLY like the versions they allegedly ripped off.

Those of us living in Korea don't need this story to confirm our beliefs. We can tell from personal observation that nearly all music, TV shows, movies and anything else are just stolen ideas with a small (sometimes not at all) difference.

Sony executives have music experts analyzing the songs. It doesn't take an expert to notice how similar they are. Possible justice? We'll see.

Check out the story here.

Blast From the Past -- Fan Death

In Korea, whenever there are detractors from typical Korean culture or thinking, there's always someone else on the other side ready to say, "If you don't like it, go home."

I think that's the wrong response. No matter what country you're in, I see no problem with criticizing things. When I make a critique, I'm not telling a country to change or ranking it in any way, I'm usually just venting. Sometimes speaking with other people about things helps me understand the situation better.

That being said, I have met NO westerners who disagree about fan death. Yes, fan death! It's the claim that sleeping in a room with windows and doors closed and a fan pointed directly at you will kill you. Many Koreans have claimed various scientific answers to why fans can kill. All of these reasons aren't really scientific and are, in fact, just ridiculous.

With that introduction, here is an article from 1997(!) about why fan death is ridiculous. Not much has changed in the last 12 years, huh? Check it out. Have a good laugh.

Fan Death - It's a real killer.