Search Results for: confederation

[Updated 15 Jan 06] I had meant to say something earlier about how South Korea’s culture of politics-by-thuggery has now touched even the U.S. Ambassador to Korea, Alexander Vershbow. The Flying Yangban’s observations have inspired me to add more, beyond the expression of my strong agreement with those observations. Finally, after years of watching U.S. ambassadors work the cocktail circuit while the propaganda war was lost in the streets below, a U.S. ambassador has the vision and guts to do...

The Chosun Ilbo reports today on an issue that I expect we’ll be hearing much more about–an upcoming strike by the Korean Teachers’ Union, a/k/a the Korean Teachers’ and Educational Workers’ Union, which is affiliated with one of the two major labor groups in Korea, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions. One glance at the KTU’s Web site shows that education is clearly the last thing on its mind. It’s reasonable to ask whether these people are really qualified to...

For new readers, here’s my original post on the violent 9/11 anti-American protests in Incheon, by North Korean sympathizers who want to tear down a statue of General Douglas MacArthur. Today saw the first major coverage by major U.S. media. This L.A. Times piece by Barbara Demick, though an incomplete picture, was much better than nothing. First, what the article does say: On Sunday, more than 4,000 anti-MacArthur demonstrators armed with bamboo sticks clashed with an almost equal number of...

UPDATED; scroll down. You haven’t heard the last of this. Call it a prediction. The U.S. media was watching, but (thus far) doesn’t much seem to care. The U.S. government is watching and does. Update on that later. For now, here’s what happened, beginning with pictures from OhMyNews: Much, much more here. Here’s part of : The demonstration started off peacefully with singing, dancing and a speech by Democratic Labor Party central committee member Lee Jeong-mi, but turned violent after...

August 15, 2005, a date on which more bullshit flowed than one snarky blogger could possibly step around, so I’ll let the stories pretty much speak for themselves. In case you’re new here, this is the anniversary of the date on which American soldiers–supported by Russian invaders further north–entered Seoul before passing the reigns of government to the Koreans themselves. Yes, things could have been faster and smoother, and Korea’s first rulers were certainly not Jeffersonian democrats, but what’s most...

Someone tell me he’s kidding: Mr. Roh also said that in regard to a future unification of the Koreas, Germany’s model is inappropriate because the economic gap between the North and South is too great. “In order to resolve the conflict and social division from such a disparity, great ability would be needed,” said the president, who suggested that a confederation-type of government similar to the European Union would be a more feasible first step for the two Koreas prior...

Someone tell me he’s kidding: Mr. Roh also said that in regard to a future unification of the Koreas, Germany’s model is inappropriate because the economic gap between the North and South is too great. “In order to resolve the conflict and social division from such a disparity, great ability would be needed,” said the president, who suggested that a confederation-type of government similar to the European Union would be a more feasible first step for the two Koreas prior...

“Pots for Peace”: not another cannabinoid conflict resolution initiative from Marin County, but another Kim Tae Kyung OhMyNews pipe dream, to be sure. TK, who loves everything from North Korea except defectors, has gone all erotic and stickied himself up over the North Korean-made cookware the ajummas are buying up at the high-end department stores in Seoul (there are reportedly still some export control complications with Kaesong’s plans for a penicillin factory, a pesticide plant, and a large aluminum tube...

“Pots for Peace”: not another cannabinoid conflict resolution initiative from Marin County, but another Kim Tae Kyung OhMyNews pipe dream, to be sure. TK, who loves everything from North Korea except defectors, has gone all erotic and stickied himself up over the North Korean-made cookware the ajummas are buying up at the high-end department stores in Seoul (there are reportedly still some export control complications with Kaesong’s plans for a penicillin factory, a pesticide plant, and a large aluminum tube...