Scribblings of the Metropolitician

A Voice of Rationality

CORRECTION: An astute reader pointed out an error in this post, which is pertinent to what I'm saying and should be noted:

"김 교수는 자신의 논문에서 밝힌 광우병의 위험성을 적극 알리지 않았다는 이유로 '분뇨 테러'까지 당한 것으로 전해졌다. 광우병 논란 사태가 불거진 후 몇몇 사람들이 집에 찾아와 욕설을 하며 동물 분뇨를 뿌렸다는 것이다. "

which describe that the shit terror occured prior to him making the statement revealing the truth, not after the fact. The actual reason for the shit attack was because he did not actively spread the word of danger to the public as 'described' in his research paper, not because he turned around to say 'no thats not what it says.'

Duly noted, although I still don't think it says much for the rationality of the protesters in attacking an innocent researcher, it is an important point. I just skimmed through the article and trusted the summarized translation of others, instead of fact- and error-checking myself. I stand corrected. Thanks, Greg.

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I love being right. I really do.

No, I'm not a scientist, as certain irrational people point out -- I love when people point out the obvious -- but I am a reasonable, educated person who has the ability to discern substance from, ahem, bullshit. (Yes, I am trying to be "punny.")

So -- as I've been saying from the beginning, when I have been taking people to task for 1) not really knowing what the actual source was for the "Korean genetic predisposition to mad cow disease" argument, and 2) for misinterpreting what even the apparent meaning of that statistic is -- the media and the general populace has been freaking out over nothing. Let me repeat:

It has not been established that American beef is any more unsafe than any other country's beef.

And so says the author of the scientific paper being (mis)used by PD 수첩, crazed netizens, petrified students, and anti-American FTA activists (who must be complimented for an amazing PR coup, since this was, admittedly, a master stroke of political theater and manipulation):

국내 광우병 사태를 촉발한 ‘한국인 광우병 취약’ 논문의 저자인 김용선 한림대 의대 교수는 자신의 논문이 일부 언론에 의해 과장 보도됐고 정치적으로 악용됐다고 주변 인사들에게 말한 것으로 확인됐다.

김 교수는 4일 한림대 의대 학장 자격으로 핀란드의 헬싱키 의대 등과의 업무 협의를 위해 윤대원 한림대 이사장 등과 함께 핀란드로 출국했다.

6일 헬싱키 시내 호텔에서 만난 윤 이사장은 기자에게 “김 교수의 논문은 일부 미디어에 의해 부풀려졌고 이를 다시 정치권이 마녀사냥 식으로 악용하고 있다”고 말했다.

I put it in Korean so it's clear to the several commenters who seem to take my critique of the poor critical thinking skills of the media and political groups as proof of my arrogance (guilty as charged, since I consider the rantings and ravings of stupid people, umm, stupid, and I don't consider myself stupid), or proof of me, once again, "hating" Korea. (You can read the English-language breakdown of the article quoted above at the Marmot's Hole.)

Well, it's not surprising, since the author of the study has had his house attacked by shit-throwing idiots. And I don't mean that in the rhetorical sense -- I mean that people have actually found his house and thrown shit at it. If even the author of the study in question gets shit on, is it surprising that anyone with lesser authority (ohhh -- I'm not a scientist!) would get the same treatment? Because we all need to be scientists or other specialists to make critical judgments of obviously faulty logic or specious claims, right?

We should be a clear expert or authority to make any claims? Kim Yong-seon has that authority! "He said Koreans are 94% more likely to...umm...I don't really understand it, but...anyway! He said it! See!"

But then that very authority turns around and says, "No. That's not what it says. You're wrong."

So people start throwing shit at his house, and he's afraid to even come back to Korea from his research trip. The man's nearly in hiding. And what did he do to deserve this? Umm, absolutely nothing. Lovely.

What is more obvious is that PD 수첩's research is shoddy and unprofessional -- I've said it before. And I'm right again: obviously, they never even contacted the professor to discuss the meaning of his paper. Otherwise, they wouldn't have made it the center of their claims, linking it with other specious claims.

The point is -- to those of you getting on my case for pointing out that the statistic looked fishy and taken completely out of context -- you need to ask yourself why it was so obvious to someone like ME that the "94% genetic predisposition" claim looked very suspicious, and NOT to someone like YOU. What separate us? Nationality? Genetics? What neighborhood in Seoul I lived in? Or perhaps my school names?

It's critical thinking skills, people. Link that with a little basic understanding of logical and statistical fallacies, a rudimentary understanding of the science we all should have learned in high school, as well as not being beholden to a slavish belief in "authority," or the petty maneuverings of a self-interested few of what is clearly a highly-politicized issue -- and you get the ability to not be driven into irrational hysteria over a minor trade dispute.

Does this make me arrogant? If so, I guess I'm arrogant, then.

Does pointing this out make me an asshole? If so, I guess I gotta be an asshole, then.

Does this make me anti-Korean? Again, I'm just pointing out what I consider to be the overreactions of the irrational. By some people's standards, that makes me "anti-Korean," I guess. Hmm.

But then again, by "some people's standards," this innocent professor who did nothing but write a paper on an issue that people not only didn't properly understand, but actively misused for political gain, and when he simply clarified the actual meaning of the research being misused by intellectual brownshirts (and I use the term "intellectual" hesitantly), a completely innocent academic who literally has been dragged into a political shitstorm now has cow dung being thrown at his house and fears for his physical safety.

I guess that makes me, him, and anyone else who raises a voice outside of the mass-mind of the angry crowd, "anti-Korean," right? But to the mob, what does the truth -- nay, even mere rationality -- matter? "You're either with us or against us." Or, as the great Captain Jean-Luc Picard once ominously warned while under the assimilative mind control of cybernetic alien nanoprobes, "You WILL become one with the Borg."

"대~한민국!"

Noooooo!

While my personal distaste for the Wonder Girls is well-known, this takes the ca -- err, ddeok.

Nooooooooo! The humanity! Oh, the humanity! (HT to Stephen!)

Hehe - I Called It!

Six months ago, baby! So, with all that Speed Racer prep and being denied a chance to come on Colbert last year because they wouldn't allow him to use a translator [didn't reader Cat drop the beans on that one?], it seems that Rain has been brushing up on his English.

Now, let the dance competition begin!

"Kickin' It in Keumchon!"

I am, apparently, late to the party. And the video almost makes me want to go to Keumchon. Almost.

That was stupid fly dope, not to mention funky fresh, guys! Keep kickin' it!

This Just Takes the Cake

OK -- I just about popped a gasket when I saw this. The important points (where they chopped together "negative" things she said) are where she jokingly said the facilities in Russia were old and the bathrooms smelled, but then she went on to say how not upgrading keeps things safe, how that's different from the accidents that happen at NASA, which always upgrades with fancy and expensive, new equipment, and how much she respects those who went up and died before her is a point she emphasizes in two videos, if memory serves. And it's also about two years ago and before she was chosen as the final candidate. Before even that, they take a snippet where she said that she'd buy her mom a house if she got rich and famous, but that was 2 summers ago, and she also happened to say she'd give to science programs and help fund one at KAIST as an example to other Koreans of how to use that power. But that's not what you get in the video. And that's just where they abused MY footage. They've got more.

[If you can't see the video, click here to the direct link.]

OK, I'm not sure how the Korean law applies here to attacking a person and what defines the Korean equivalent of "defamation", I can't be the one who would sue them for that, even if that's possible. But I could get them for copyright violations. As far as I understand copyright law, you can excerpt segments for educational purposes as well as for critique, but my understanding is that you still have to attribute. Hmm. I'm foggy on this, and any help would be appreciated.

As for the legitimate suggestion that I should just let things like this pass, I'd suggest you do a Naver search for 이소연 (Yi Soyeon) and look at what comes up in the video section. It's ridiculous. Or, you could check out the "Anti-Yi Soyeon Cafe" on Daum.

Link here.

It's amazing how much energy certain Koreans are putting into thinking about the monetary value of the space program all of a sudden, or are so eager to believe the ridiculous assertions that people are putting up. And now, they're even blaming Soyeon for the stupid questions SHE'S being asked by reporters, for example, how much she has swollen or gained 5cm in height. Those were stupid "issues" brought up by the idiotic Korean press corps, and now she's being attacked as if she was speaking out of vanity.

Here's the article that will be up on Ohmynews.com either today or tomorrow, as it's getting translated. I think it says what I need to say, although my English version is a bit rough. They edited my repeated points down a bit. Hence, the advantage of having an editor.

I'll link to the Ohmynews story here when it goes up. My goal here is to get the other angle on the Soyeon-attacks out there -- that it's totally misplaced, dishonest, and just vicious -- and look at the other issues that I think are mixed in here: how Soyeon's trip is actually stepping all over some very touchy Korean hotspots, as she violates certain rules of her gender, age, status, and even region, her being from Kwangju.

This, on top of the intense levels of intense jealousy that one often sees displayed whenever someone receives something more than the rest of the group (I think it's important that she won a spot in an open contest, rather than come out of the Air Force as a test pilot or something equally elitist). I think a lot of things are coming together in and around Soyeon that would make for some very interesting international press treatment.

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Wow. As the maker of the "UCC" interviews of Yi Soyeon that have been going around the Korean Internet, I am a bit shocked and disappointed to see some people twisting Soyeon's frank and honest words made in a Shinchon coffee shop in 2006, before the marketing term "UCC" was even invented in Korea. Made by a foreigner (me), for a foreign audience (such shows are called "podcasts" in the US), she was far, far from being an "우주인." She was just my friend who had done well in this interesting contest, since she had made it to the final 30 in Korea's Astronaut program.

Who could imagine where she would be 2 years later? At the time, I was interviewing interesting people in Seoul, and I had found her insider experience with this program interesting. If she made it to the final 2, it would be so great that it would be nearly unimaginable -- I just thought it was really cool to have made it as far as she had. And she herself said so. She was humble, and was so surprised and happy to have made it that far. She talked about her dreams, why she became interested in science, and how the process was affecting her life. And as she progressed through the process, of course we made another video, after she had made the final 10, and what was interesting to notice was how quickly she was maturing, how well she was growing into the role of great responsibility that was now becoming all the more real.

By the third video, shot after she had made it to the final two, she had become much more serious about her role, because now, it had now become her reality. She would go through the training, and it was just as likely as not that she would go into space. I never interviewed her after the final decision was made, since I never had the chance and now, this was SBS's territory; I just found it poignant and fascinating to watch an everyday person grow into a public figure before one's eyes.

But that's not how certain Korean netizens took it. Partially based on sloppy journalism as found in the in the Donga.com article called "우주인 이소연의 솔직한 지구인 이야기", her words were misquoted, twisted, and taken completely out of context to a point that even I had never even imagined. The DongA.com article merely misquoted her, emphasized certain aspects of what she had jokingly said in 2006 with the headline “돈 벌어 엄마한테 아파트 선물”, and did so did so without properly attributing the source of the video, which was readily available, so that people could judge for themselves. To just read the DongA.com article or the words of some Korean netizens after that, Soyeon had joined the space program to get rich. Or perhaps it was to promote this "UCC" -- a concept that did not even exist in Korea at that time (remember that the large media companies started pushing this marketing term around Auhust 2006) Or perhaps she was going to space just to promote my web site, which Soyeon also jokingly said she would support? But if you watch the interview from the beginning, you would know she didn't even know about which site that was.

Firstly, it's amazing to see how little respect major UCC media companies and Korean bloggers have for copyright and intellectual property. Instead of taking my video and cutting into chunks that totally eliminate the context of much of what Soyeon actually said and how she said it, people should have just left the intact video as it was, so people could at least see for themselves. And I think, "Why cut out parts, especially when the other parts make the point you're trying to prove silly?" My point is, anyone presenting an excerpt from this video is suspicious. Simply watching the video, knowing when it was shot and why, you can see that the assertions being made by certain netizens are patently ridiculous. I shouldn't need to convince you. Just watch the video from beginning to end.

Then, you would have seen that any comments about "what would you do if you make it?" were no more real to her than if I asked any of you "What would you do if you became President?" when you were a child, but then upon becoming an adult, it really happens. I'm sure if one does become president, one's choices and sense of responsibility would be far more serious than when you were just an everyday person. And this is just what Soyeon was when she sat down with me for a cup of coffee that day in Shinchon in 2006.

If people didn't cut the video up into little pieces, you would see that this was a conversation between a FORIEGNER and her; you should also notice that the entire video was subtitled -- it's made for FOREIGN audiences, made BY a FOREIGNER. No one was interested in "UCC" in Korea at the time. No one was interested in Soyeon, either. In fact, most Koreans weren't even really interested in their own space program. But a few foreigners like myself found it interesting, and I decided to record her experiences in it. So the stupid conversations about "how will this look overseas?" are simply just that -- stupid. That firrst video was up on YouTube for about a year-and-a-half, and making very positive impressions about Soyeon as well as Korea far, far before the Korean audience learned about it, or cared.

Perhaps this is telling: I put it on MNCast and Daum, and there was nearly no reaction. No one cared, and I didn't expect them to. Almost no one watched it.

And the reaction on YouTube? Overwhelmingly positive. People remarked about what a great sense of humor she has, how humble she is, how intelligent her answers are, and how mature she seemed -- even from the beginning, far before she was actually chosen. The fact that she was a woman was a sign to most foreigners that Korean society was becoming more liberal and fair towards women, and even after the other candidate was initially chosen to go to space, all the foreigners I knew were rooting for Soyeon. Especially Americans, we like the underdog. Before Soyeon had even arrived in Russia, I had learned from the blogging community and people linking to my site that the NASA astronauts and people from other space programs had already seen Soyeon through the videos even before they had met her.

What continues to both surprise and disappoint me is that Koreans are still so worried about "what foreigners will think" and still so steeped in 사대주의 that people wring their hands over a few words spoken in passing well before the fact, despite the fact that Soyeon has shown nothing but respect for the people who have come before her at Soyuz, whom she mentions as having died so she can go into space safely, who have developed technology that she has dedicated her life to helping develop back in her home country.

Yet, context doesn't matter when you can simply attack someone out of spite or jealousy, right?

It seems to me that Korea is still so caught up in the psychological scars of bitterness over 사대주의, the national humiliation of having loss its sovereignty, the destruction and horrors of the Pacific and Korean Wars, followed by loss of freedom under dictatorship, rapid development and urbanization, along with the social problems created cutthroat competition for scarce resources, which has manifested in the education system, women feeling the social pressure to define their self-worth primarily through their appearance, and the drive to be first, first, first no matter what the cost, as we saw in the cases of the Sampung Department Store, Seongsu Bridge, Taegu gas explosion, or finally in the case of Hwang Woo-seok.

But in the case of the typical "national hero", he was from the establishment, old, and a man. He "deserved" his fame, right? He fits the image of the national hero. It doesn't matter that he violated ethical protocols to do it. Who cares where the eggs come from, right? When it comes to the nation, it's still "하면 된다" right? And when he's a Seoul National University scientist, an older man with connections, and wearing a white coat, he is names "hero" before the ink even dries on the textbooks. And then "Korea" embarrasses itself.

[Source]

There's a huge unspoken message behind the attacks on Soyeon, and how my videos are being used (stupidly, I think, but they are, nevertheless). It bothers a lot of people that she got into space through a process that had been open to anyone, and that she won it fair and square. It bothers a lot of people that she's a woman. It bothers a lot of people that she's a YOUNG woman. And for certain people, the only place for a young woman is in high heels and behind a cake of makeup, shaking their shoulders and calling them "오빠!" These are the people who seem to be the most offended by Soyeon's mere existence.

For Soyeon, I'm glad she wasn't chosen initially, and it was Ko San's own mistakes that got him disqualified. If she had been the first choice, I think the netizens would have been even worse: "Woman are too powerful" or "She was just chosen for PR because she was a woman!" Ridiculous, in a society that treats men like veritable kings, and a woman I know with a Ph.D. in the sciences was told by her mother-in-law to not work because it "would make her husband look bad." For certain people in Korea, for whom it is still the Joseon Era, Soyeon's success is very, very offensive, indeed.

If people are really concerned, as some say they are, with Korea's national image, then they would stop behaving as they are, for the obvious reasons that they are. It is absolutely shocking to see how eagerly and viciously so many of her fellow Koreans try to tear her down.

When YouTube came to Korea and opened its site, you know what appeared for the first time on Soyeon's videos? Statements appeared for the FIRST time attacking this nanotechnology engineer going up into space for "being too fat" or "having a big head" or just for the apparent crime of being a woman. You know what was the real "나라 망신?" It wasn't Yi Soyeon, but the negative and vicious words of her fellow Koreans, made in front of beweildered foreigners on YouTube. And I sometimes can't keep up with the 악풀, since I delete them. I wonder what the foreigners think of that?

The problem isn't really anything Soyeon said -- it is really the fact that no matter what, so many of her fellow Koreans (especially men) are eager to attack her, eager to tear her down. The content isn't important; vicious netizens would have found something. I think Yi Soyeon represents some very sensitive points in Korean modern society, and is the point at which public notions about ability, fairness, and relative success converge with older notions of traditional related to age, gender, scholastic background, and yes, even regionalism. In short, Soyeon is young, female, outspoken, and obviously articulate about expressing herself frankly. Honestly speaking, how are such women generally regarded in Korean society?

Are Americans perfect? Nope. But I think we have a sense of fairness about the people who become figures of public ridicule. Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, or any popular entertainers who make their own scandals, Americans tend to criticize, too. But do we attack Condoleeza Rice because of the gap between her teeth? She has one, you know. It's very apparent.

[Source]

But is that important to her job, though?

When Sally Ride became America's first woman into space, I can't remember -- and I can't even imagine -- people talking about how she needs to be prettier, or "fix her face" or "she should get rid of her freckles" or something like that. Yet, the Korean media asks the dumbest questions possible on the short and expensive time communicating in space. When I heard about this question, "Which star would you most like to travel to space with?" I just shook my head in embarrassment. This is the level of the broadcast media? Korea should be thankful that Soyeon handled such an obviously stupid question politely when she replied that she would rather take someone qualified to perform experiments with.

[Source]

Korea and the Koreans who live here always seem so concerned with becoming "globalized" or "international" or the "hub" of something. But it takes more than just words and the simple desire to be something in order to make it so. It takes a real change in attitude, a fundamental change in the way of thinking -- not just installing more western-style toilets or sweating bullets worrying about speaking a few words of English to a foreign customer.

What is really embarrassing to the nation? What should Koreans really be thinking about? It's the fact that there is such a strong desire to cut a figure like Yi Soyeon down because she's a woman, or young, or doesn't look like she's had thousands of dollars of plastic surgery. Or insipid questions such as the one noted above, asked in her ISS interview. Is the problem really that Soyeon doesn't take her ROLE seriously, or that really, even the broadcast media sponsoring her doesn't take HER seriously?

[The note at the top of this actual resume reads, "Too old."]

So what is really ironic is watching Soyeon's fellow Koreans abusing her in public on YouTube, while foreigners scratch their heads. These comments call her ugly, fat, a "disgrace to the nation." Yet, our impressions of Soyeon are fine. They are great, actually! In fact, they've been great for nearly TWO YEARS. The only thing that is sad is watching Koreans tear each other down for nothing. This is the only country I know of where netizens drive their stars to suicide. Several times over, in fact.

What is driving this incident isn't anything Soyeon said, but the sheer, pathological desire of certain netizens who have already decided to hate her for no real good reason, other than petty jealousy and traditional prejudices. Really, only in a culture such as this can the old maxim hold true: "If a cousin buys some new land, my stomach hurts."

Now, this is being played out on a national scale, since this was an open competition, and technically, any Korean was eligible. Now, old social prejudices related to age, gender, and region have mixed with new ones related to the hyper-commercialization of nearly everything in Korean society, including the commodification and over-sexualization of female bodies that was embarrassingly pointed out having the South Korean president make his appearance at the space launch ceremony surrounded by young women in tiny skirts, who asked all the questions.

[source]

Is everything in South Korea made more palatable by extremely young women in miniskirts? From a new bakery opening in the neighborhood, the girl selling toothpaste in the grocery store, all the way into space, apparently, a lot of South Koreans seem to think so. Frankly, I think Korea's first astronaut would have gotten less flak if she simply was another plastic surgery toothpick with a magic perm, rather than a nanotech engineer from KAIST with a Ph.D.

[Source]

What is even sadder than a cynical statement like this is the fact that I actually believe it to be true, given a lot of the comments I've read about her, which reveals the deep-seated prejudices and bitter jealousies that many South Koreans seem so eager and willing to display whenever they get the chance. To me, many South Koreans need to think about whether they want to live in the past, along with all the scars and wounds that it has produced, or a future without such petty jealousies and horrible rancor against anyone who seems to be getting ahead of oneself in the hyper-competitive rat race of Korean life.

Until then, the horrible words many South Koreans aim in Soyeon's direction will continue to bewilder many foreigners who see nothing but a spectacular candidate and a great representative for the Korean nation. It's too bad that today's reality is, at least on the global level and Korea's international image, the worst enemies of Koreans are Koreans themselves.

A Sad Day Has Come

This is the last time I will post here. My time as the "Metropolitician" is up.

I've realized a lot of things over the last week or so, since falling for a certain young lady of a more conservative persuasion, who has quite literally rocked my world. I realize that a lot of the liberal ideas I had formerly and formally adhered to were largely misconstrued notions I had held, distortions of ideological ramifications that simply had no precedence in either established fact, dilapidated fiction, or even (and not either) the demonstrated dialectics of most people's dystopic desires.

In short, a new kind of love has made me into a harder, more turgid man.

No longer will I carry the torch for a a deluded liberalism, nor be the voice for lefty illiberality. What I truly hanker for is a haughty helping of a hunk of cheese that isn't defined in terms of a mere neo-Freudian kitsch, but the kind of cheese one can count on, like money in the bank; indeed, one needs sustenance so solid and reliable one can literally stick it in a pipe and smoke it.

So I can no longer continue to write here, after having fallen for someone like the one who has learned to call me "oppa." Such is an experience I never thought I could have had, either as a black man, or a Star Trek fan, and her highly-developed sense of what I have previously called here mere "fetishized femininity" has caused in me an emotional rise that is quite epic in its tense and torpedo-like tautology. Indeed, they didn't call Moby a "Dick" for nothing, as they say. Unlike the proverbial Ahab, my little lady has actually caught her whale.

When wondering why I have decided to forgo any further forays into formalism and endorse not Barack "Aladdin" Obama, but rather John McCain, the answer becomes perfectly obvious, does it not?

When you ask yourselves these questions, as you struggle for the answers, yet still can't bring yourself to face the truth, realize that Tom Cruise once said, quite poignantly, that the "truth could not be handled" and that in a similar situation, Al Pacino pointed a finger and said that the entire Supreme Court was indeed, very much "out of order."

In the same way, I was once out of love, and was so lost without her, but believe you me -- I now realize that it's hip to be square. Or did not Huey Lewis not give you that news?

So, it is with heavy hands that I make my last entry here, since the Metropolitician that was me has completely and totally ceased to be he.

For Pak Geun-hye's youngest daughter knows how to hit me where it counts, and to not just do that to me once, but likes to hit me, baby one more time, all the time, if you catch my meaning, number one Negaroni! See, I don't shrink away from saying, loudly and proudly, what needs to be said. And if you didn't get it from the passage above, you need a double dose of dis doubletalk. April mothafuckin' fool's, bitches!

Word to your mother, yo!

That Funky Robot Got Seoul!

Ha Sang Beg's F/W 2008 show was frickin' cool, of course, but the opening to the show was absolutely badass! So one could say the show was "mechanical," but that would wouldn't be a negative review in this case! What a badass way to kick off a show!

More details and pictures later. Right now, I'm off to the shows! You can see more of Ha Sang Beg here and you can keep up with our fashion week coverage over at www.FeetManSeoul.com.

Once Again, The Buffoon Speaks!

Ah, the self-described (and aptly named) "Seoul Buffoon" has graced the Korean blogosphere with yet another inane post (see the previous one), full of faulty punctuation, mispellings, and awkward turns of phrase – yet slams the English expat community as being unqualified to have an opinion on the seat switch because otherwise "they wouldn't be teaching first graders grammar."

Mmmm. Lovely. This coming from "a business journalist by profession."

Well, since he saw fit to delete my comment from his site, which was a terse-yet-not-rude response to his post, in which he calls me "one of" the people whom he thinks isn't qualified to do anything other than "teach first-graders grammar", I'll just paste my reposte onto my own humble blog. Since he "removes childish and immature reactions" to his posts and all.

First, I'll say that "teaching first graders grammar" isn't a job for losers, as this "journalist" apparently thinks, and I have great respect for my teachers from E.J. Brown Elementary School, who worked very hard to get the ABC's into my and my classmates' heads without ripping out their hair or developing a drinking problem. Being a first-grade grammar teacher isn't an easy job, and such people shouldn't be disrespected as losers, even if you want to express your obvious disdain for everyone in the teaching profession in Korea.

Yep -- I'm a teacher, but I don't teach English, actually. I teach US History and have lectured on American Culture as well as in Korean Studies; but I guess that doesn't matter, because what I REALLY need is a background in "space science" (what does that mean -- is that like going to "computer school?") should be proffering any opinions about the very Earth-based POLITICS of what's going on in relation to space, right?

Do I need a background in particle physics to discuss my opinion as to who might be more qualified for this mission? Or that secretly sending back sensitive materials to one's own country, in a blatant violation of clearly-defined protocols over there, might be something I deem reasonable grounds for being disqualified from going?

Does that qualify as a "conspiracy theory?" Oh – I should "leave it to the experts" to have an opinion as to who I think is more qualified to go after I personally interviewed one of the actual selected candidates about the specific tests and steps she went through in the selection process? Sure, I might be accused of having a personal bias because I know her, but why do I have to have a degree in the murkily-defined field of "space science" (would that be the theoretical end of string theory, or the more practical end of propulsion systems?) in order to think her to be highly qualified?

And the "experts" did decide – the guy violating the security protocols and who was deemed untrustworthy was demoted to the backup spot.

In the end, the Buffoon suffers from a continued inability to do his homework.

While not an "expert," I've certainly done a lot more thinking about this and expended more mental energy on this subject than he has, and he is certainly in no position to deem my opinion invalid -- his experience as a rhetorically-challenged "business journalist" who stoops to bragging about earning "four times the average salary of an english teacher" notwithstanding. Shall we just whip 'em out on the table and measure?

Someone's got a complex.

Seoul Buffoon -- stop tripping about being a vaunted "business journalist" or, as your profile says -- "Chief Editor of Biz Magazine" -- supposedly earning in the range of 8-12 million won per month, deal with your obvious rage and jealousy issues you have with anyone in the teaching profession, and police your own "childish and immature" diatribes.

And so, I hereby challenge you, Seoul Buffoon -- if you are so proud of who you are and what you do, then what's your name? Which publication(s) do you write for? Any links to anything you've written? You seem to say a lot for a man who won't sign either his name or sterling reputation to what you write.

I happen to know a lot of reporters in Seoul, some of them working in pretty big media outlets, and they'd probably love to hear about salaries in the range of 10 million won per month. Since you "make four times the average salary of an English teacher," right?

So, Seoul Buffoon, my name's Michael Hurt. I teach History and stuff. And I don't make much more than the "average English teacher."

I've called your bluff. Show us your cards. Prove me wrong.

That'd be pretty easy to do, right?

In the meantime, as we await an answer, please, please, please visit his site and let his voluminous and varied posts speak for themselves. I won't even offer any sharp words here -- I think his own writing speaks volumes.

"Conversation with an American Soldier"

Here's a Bomb English episode you all might be interested in, the first in our "Deep Conversation" series. In it, we talk to Mark, a major in the US Army, about his life and views on Korea. We think this to be a good conversation for many Korean listeners since most Koreans don't get the opportunity to hear directly from American soldiers,even though they are often very much talked about in the Korean media and over the proverbial water cooler.

Head on over to www.BombEnglish.com to take listen, download the file yourself, and get a transcript.

A Nice Piece of Buffoonery and My Thoughts On Korean Banks Being Caught In a Lie

I've discovered a blog truly worthy of its name – the "Seoul Buffoon." In response to an article that was pretty informative and an example of good journalism doing what it's supposed to do, which is to expose misdoings and inform the populace for the sake of the public good, the writer of the Seoul Buffoon, hereafter known as merely "the buffoon" writes:

All over the world, every bank is free to decide whom they give credit cards to based on their risk assessments. So naturally different banks will have different approaches to a request for a card from an expat. While one bank may feel an individual is a credit-risk, another may not. It happens everywhere. The reason why the bank officials would have mentioned some non-existing rule, is to get the expat off their backs.

Did he even read the article in question? The reason cited (and cited to me as well, when I myself tried to open a new account at KEB and they cited that non-existent law) was that the systems weren't able to track the transactions made on one's account in terms of the $10,000 limit per visit on withdrawals. My reaction? So hook up the system! Don't cheap out and simply deny me access to my hard-earned cash overseas, especially since withdrawing one's cash while overseas just MIGHT be more important who travel more often OVERSEAS.

It wasn't that foreigners were on anyone's "back", since the ability to withdraw money overseas from nearly any ATM was a strong point of the Korean banking system for YEARS, and it's perfectly reasonable to expect that if a major policy change is made (as in "you can't withdraw your money anymore) that you might get a notice beforehand.

KEB, for example, sends an email to each customer before any major holiday that involves curtailed online banking hours or access, as when I went to the US for a visit but wasn't able to access my money. After a call placed to KEB in Chicago, they informed me that there was system maintenance over the Korean national holiday, and upon a closer look at my email, I'd gotten a notice in the mail. Still, they apologized profusely, since any break in access to one's money overseas was taken seriously enough to warn every single one of their customers beforehand through email, and is a break in access that is very, very rare.

It's understood to be a given that one has access to one's funds overseas, and is a major reason you're given TWO types of cards when you open a bank account in Korea: one for domestic, one specifically designed for international use.

So suddenly having your international card not work, with no warning, and having utilized that service without any reason to expect an interruption for up to a decade, in my case, would be a serious inconvenience.

And I only found out about the law because I was opening a new account. Had I made an international trip at that time, it's very possible that I would have experienced the same shock that the interviewee in the story, who was suddenly cut off from her money while overseas had. Here's the response from "the buffoon":

Being a journalist she should have known better and inquired with the concerned bank before embarking an overseas trip. Different banks have different policies and one cannot say a country is “backward” based on this stupid experience. The lady may be backward for not doing enough due-diligence before subscribing to a card.

She should also have no issue with the $10,000 limit. She should have known better. Korea has the forex limit for reasons that are no secret. By the way, someone who wants to withdraw over $10,000 on an overseas trip should have taken the precaution and inquired first.

Yes, we all inquire before making basic transactions that one has been making for years, with no reason to expect that said access or services would be changed, right? I wonder if the "buffoon" calls all his banks and double-confirms everything before every trip overseas he makes. If he does, it might go something like this:

OPERATOR (cheerily): Visa customer service. How may I be of assistance today?

BUFFOON: Yes. I'd like to know if my Visa is still working overseas.

OPERATOR: Why, yes, sir. It most certainly should. The Visa card is recognized in major countries all across the world. It's everywhere you want to be, as we like to say. (chuckles cheerily)

BUFFOON: But can you specifically check if it will work in a major city such as Tokyo? I'm going there next week.

OPERATOR: It most certainly should, in any place that displays a "VISA" symbol, sir.

BUFFOON: But I want to make sure.

OPERATOR: Is there a specific point-of-sale location that you'd like me to check, sir?

BUFFOON: Umm, no. I just want to make sure it works in Japan.

OPERATOR (a bit confused): Umm...yes, sir. I'll check to make sure your card works...in all of Japan.

Rinse and repeat...3-5 times, for each card in most of our wallets. I guess the "Seoul Buffoon" has a lot of time on his hands than the rest of us, since I don't have time to go double-checking every service I've regularly used for years: I wonder if my phone will continue to work next month? Or my domestic ATM service? Or my electricity? Will I still be able to use my driver's license? And man, I sure hope my discount card at TGI Friday's is still valid.

Some people must have a lot of time on their hands.

The JoongAng article was good, and it gave me and others an important piece of information – the reason cited by the bank (this non-existent "new law") is not the reason for the change in policy. Basically, the banks are just too lazy to hook up their ATM transactions system to the tracking system for overseas transactions for foreigners. Which is something I suspected from the git-go, that someone was just being lazy somewhere. But I never thought that the "new law" line itself was a crock of shit.

And it's always a good sign when an organization wants to sue a newspaper for simply reporting the naked truth, and exposing that they were lying. Means somebody's doing their job.

If the "Seoul Buffoon" – one of the most apropos titles for a blog I've read in a loooong time, by the way – had actually read the article he criticizes, and understood the Korean banking system from direct experience, he'd understand just what kind of good article this was, instead of displaying just how poor his basic reading comprehension skills seem to be.

Oh, and by the way, "Buffoon," enjoy the brief burst in traffic you'll get from this; I'll let the poetry of your own prose speak for how much of a "Buffoon" you may or may not be. Here's another piece of link love to make sure.