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Minerva Investment Group. We’re always right, so we’re in jail.  Shouldn’t it be the other way around?

PANELIST
Panelists: Tony Hellman (Association for Teachers of English in Korea), Stafford Lumsden (The Chosun Bimbo)

MAIN TOPIC

Can foreign English teachers seriously organize and  counter the hagwon associations to balance the market?

Introduction to the Severance Payment Under Korean Labor Law

NEWS AND STUFF

As Economy Worsens, Gambling Soars in Korea

The Chosun Does It Again

Gruesome death porn

Suspect Arrested in Murder of Gunpo College Student

Will the Real Minerva Please Stand Up?

Prosecutors say Mr. Park used his home computer. But experts say that since he was not a person engaged in internet commerce and paying considerable sums for a static IP address he would have been using a dynamic IP. That is one reason for doubt that Mr. Park is the true Minerva and that his IP address could have been manipulated.

South Korea Loan-Deposit Ratio not 100 Percent

New 50,000-Won Notes

50,000-Won Banknote to Be Issued in May

THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO WHAA?

A time for family.

Interesting take on how Korean families try to find ways to avoid reunions

Under Valued? Fairly Valued?

What’s the biggest problem in Korea?  The branding, of course!

We’re way past regular bole and into hyperbole.

Disabled Koreans Using Internet to Find Sexual Comfort, Creepy Guys

Adult Friend Finder blocked in South Korea

Dropout Teens Imprison Friend, Force Her to Do Tricks

Biracial Children Accepted, Shunned by Classmates

Ask a Korean! News: Racism Starts Early

Korean top celebrity’s cell phone gets hacked

G.O.D.’s Friend Managed by the Devil

War Breaks Out Amongst Korean Pop Fans, Casualties Not Out of the Question

K-pop anti-fans and other hyphenated-words

‘Restricted Screening’ Ruled Unconstitutional, Korean Films to Get Racier

Lee Mi-yeong Secretly Married, Divorced American Professor

Donation angel Moon Geun-young strikes again

Hangeul books for Korean children? Another communist plot?

Korean Blogger’s Take on Korean TV Dramas

[Double Take] Goo Hye-sun is a hamburger

Notes for Korean TV Production: (Gord Sellar)

• Brown-skinned people are either poor children with hearts of gold or scary witch-doctor/fortune-teller types, which is natural since brown-skinned people are all poor and have inborn magical abilities.
• No other brown-skinned local people besides poor children and scary witch-doctor/fortune-teller types should be included in shots. If they absolutely must do so, have them appear for no more than one second at a time, and in the background.
• Have your Korean characters talk to the few local brown-skinned people who appear onscreen in English only when they apparently cannot speak English; have the same characters speak primrily in long, fast Korean phrases when they meet a browqn-skinned local who can speak English. Don’t worry, since brown-skinned people are magical they can (somehow) understand much of what is being said in Korean.
• Make sure to include some white chicks, and dress them in bikinis whenever possible, even if everyone else is fully dressed in long pants/skirts and long-sleeved flowery shirts.
• Include some Korean boys, and dress them in outfits that look like a cross between Korean girls’ clothing, disco and early 80s singers’ outfits, and the clothing of Joey Jeremiah circa 1990 (pic here, but your eyes will bleed). Make sure they look bored on holiday in [unspecified warm country full of brown-skinned people], just as Joey did in school.
• Include some Korean girls, and dress the most sympathetic character as a cross between Strawberry Shortcake and your average agashi (ie. single girl). (Contrary to popular expat belief, there are some differences between the two. Strawberry Shortcake never wore high heels, for example.)
• Include plenty of stock footage of random islands and stuff because tourism is what the young people like these days.

Poisonous Fish Testicles Send 7 Japanese Diners to Hospital

Japanese Diner’s Catastrophe Leads to Important Scientific Discovery About Squid Reproduction

NOTE: Don’t let an octopus come in your mouth.  Not until he buys you dinner first.

The Seoul Pub ‘tip jar’. Can anyone clear up this rumour?

EXPAT COMMUNITY

Interview with Korea Beat’s Nathan Schwartzman

Our First Photo Book!

Feetman Seoul is coming out with a book

Get Ready for The Seoul Fashion Report!

The Promoting Begins…

Mark Russell starts promoting his book, “Pop Goes Korea”

Doucheburns Goes Downtown

The lightning rod returns!

Classic sock commenter that was the subject of a story in a recently published book has resurfaced

TIME WASTERS OF THE WEEK

Superbowl Party!

3 Alley Pub

Seoul Artist Network Open Stage-Sunday Feb. 1 st @ Woodstock

Korean Holidays, or a lack thereof.

Gostiny Dvor: Russian Food in Seoul.

Bad Signs: Black Uncle Cheesecake

Coffee War Begins in Korea

McCafe trying to convince Koreans that “cheap can be good.”

In Videos: Personal Ramen Noodle Cup Vending Machine

Irony

FlavorWave Oven® Turbo – Thane USA

PLUGS
Buy Us a Beer

The Supplier
(those who have given us swag)

John Kim

Life of the Party
(those who have donated at least $20)
Aaron Shearin
Naomi Neckoway
Chae An

Drinking Buddies
(those who have bought us beers)
Naomi Neckoway
Chae An
Aaron Shearin
Mimi Snider
Elton Fry
Therese MacSeain

GoToMyPC
Ex-Pat Living (The Korea Herald)
ESL Planet Recruiting
Twitter
SEOUL Magazine
ZenKimchi.com
KOTESOL

NEXT WEEK
**LIVE SPECIAL**
Sunday, February 1st at 4 p.m.
Panelists: Stephanie White and more
Topic: The Dark Side of Korea–Expat Tragedies and Cover Ups

**LIVE**
Wednesday, February 4th at 10 p.m.
Panelists: Robert Koehler (The Marmot’s Hole), Bart Schaneman (The Korea Herald), “Skinny” Steve Ward (Seoul Steves)

MUSIC
Main Theme — Ben McPherson – “2wksnyc”
News — satya – “Silk Route Album Mix”
Things That Make You Go Whaa? — cjacks – “Candyland”
Job of the Week — Bit Rationale – “Orthodox Pleasure”
ExPat Community — Deyo – “Retro90210fun”
Time Wasters of the Week — EV Boyz – “Kickin’ It in Geumchon”
JayB Productions
Fractal Garden
Byron Scullin
Tripudio
Outside
Uma Floresta
Adam Schmitt
Everyday Jones
Shannon Richardson
WeakLazyLiar

The Golden Klog Awards, hosted by Hub of Sparkle, have settled on nominations and have opened the voting.

CLICK HERE.

Listener Kevin reminded me of something that a few have brought up.  They want to show their appreciation for the SeoulPodcast, but they either don’t trust, feel uncomfortable with or don’t have access to PayPal.

I’ve set up a very Korean solution for those of you who live in Korea.  You can send donations through direct deposit the next time you stop by your friendly neighborhood ATM.  Most all the businesses do it, so why not we?  Here’s the info you need:

Bank: Kookmin Bank
Name: MCPHERSON, JOE
Account #: 236901-04-055413

This past podcast I went on a rant about using web technologies to their fullest, particularly Twitter.  Twitter is one of those new things that everyone is jumping on board but hasn’t figured out how to make useful.  On the content side of things, I have been able to make it useful by hooking it up to feed headlines instantly to King Sejong’s followers.  Yet I hadn’t found it useful on the client side.  I found it inconvenient to go to the Twitter site and read all this stuff and try to figure out how to make it work.

So I looked for a client-side program.  Researched a bit and settled on Twhirl.  It’s a standalone program that you can have running in the background and works a lot like instant messaging software.  Unlike IM, though, you don’t have to worry about people pestering you (there always is that one person who always wants to talk while you work).

Like email notifications, when you get a tweet, it just pops up on the lower right hand of the screen and goes away.  You can configure whether or not you want it to make an alert sound.  I keep it in the background, and when I reach a break in working, I just pull it up and quickly scan what else is going on.  Depending on who you follow, it’s a great tool for information junkies like me.

It makes responding to folks a lot easier, too.  I know, I know.  The geeks just yelled at the screen.  “All you have to do is time @ plus the person’s user name.”

But I tend to misspell user names, and I’m L-A-Z-Y.

So, if you haven’t already, do the following:

• Open a free account at Twitter.com
• Click on the following links and then click the “Follow” button
  twitter.com/kingsejong
  twitter.com/zenkimchi
  twitter.com/chosunbimbo
  twitter.com/hubofsparkle
• Download Twhirl and link it to your Twitter account. 
  NOTE: It’ll likely install Adobe Air first, which is perfectly safe.
• Enjoy.

The Midnight Runner is back, and he’s sounding GREAT!  He was also kind enough to let us put a promo at the beginning of the show.  Take a listen!

I’m cross-posting this one.

We have some big shows coming up in the SeoulPodcast, and we want your participation.

Week of January 28th: Tony Hellman, Association for Teachers of English in Korea

This is a chance for skeptics and supporters to ask questions or give their opinions about ATEK.  If you have anything you want to say please leave a comment or email sejong_at_seoulpodcast.com.  We need to have all questions in by Wednesay, January 28th at 9 p.m.

Sunday, February 1st at 4 p.m.: LIVE Show about Controversial Expat Deaths

Stephanie White returns to give us updates on the investigation of her son’s mysterious death at a Korean spa, her efforts to sue the government and other controversial deaths you may not have heard about.  Is there a pattern?

Join us at SeoulPodcast.com and join in the conversation in the live chatroom.

Wednesday, February 4th at 10 p.m.: LIVE Show — The Marmot and More

Robert “The Marmot” Koehler joins us, along with Bart Schaneman of The Korea Herald and “Skinny” Steve Ward for what promises to be a great time.  Pour a drink and join us live.

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Queen.  The source for all anthems in Korea.

PANELIST
Panelists: Craig White (daegupockets.com, Galbi Jim), Stafford Lumsden (The Chosun Bimbo)

NEWS AND STUFF

Minerva not Minerva but seven Minervas?

Five Dead in Yongsan

Korea’s Lee Under Pressure as Fire Kills Protesters – NYTimes.com

Gusts Of Popular Feeling: Burning Yongsan

Good Comments on the Yongsan Tragedy

North Korea: We Have Weaponized Plutonium

High Levels of Carcinogen Found in Daegu Tap Water

THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO WHAA?

Seoul Police Use Text Messaging to Bust Unlicensed Drivers

Police Forced False Confession From Disabled Teen

Hankyoreh: Disabled Sexual Assault Victims “Cry Twice”

First Protests to be Held Against Cheongju Sexual Assault Case

Weekly Korean Feminist Reader: January 19 2009 « The Grand Narrative

First Korean Man Convicted of Spousal Rape Found Dead

Starbucks Korea Employees Required to Take STD Tests

…or is it?

More STD checks for employees in “health” and “sanitation” industries

Sunye involved in hit and run by 120 people

Slogan wrap up

My Favorite Thing on TV

PSAs shaming Koreans to stop being rude

Websites, “Special Mission” videos instruct foreign men how to find and annoy attractive Korean women.

Note the traditional costumes to represent each country

Hwasun’s Jungfrau Motel.

Quirky but cool

EXPAT COMMUNITY

Canadian Teacher Accused of Child Molestation | The Marmot’s Hole

Esquire Magazine Presents: Professor Jeffery Hodges, Fan-Death Expert

EV Boyz on KBS

USFK Sergeant Sentenced in Rape Case

Books | Teach English, Write Tell-all for 16.95

Itaewon Isn’t So Shitty After All: Book | The Marmot’s Hole

My Thai China, Sparkling!

‘The Footsteps of Wonhyo’

TIME WASTERS OF THE WEEK

2008 Retrospective: The Golden Klog Awards, 2008 » The Hub of Sparkle!

The War of the Worlds Comes to Ansan?

Passport Cover by Park Jin Ok

YouTube – Bad Case Of Diarrhea

In Videos: Trongs, the Latest in Finger Food

Wingbus

Menupan

Sites, in Korea, that are good sources for finding restaurants-if you can read Korean

PLUGS
Buy Us a Beer

Life of the Party
(those who have donated at least $20)
Aaron Shearin
Naomi Neckoway
Chae An

Drinking Buddies
(those who have bought us beers)
Naomi Neckoway
Chae An
Aaron Shearin
Mimi Snider
Elton Fry
Therese MacSeain

GoToMyPC
Ex-Pat Living (The Korea Herald)
ESL Planet Recruiting
Twitter
SEOUL Magazine
ZenKimchi.com
KOTESOL

SPECIAL *LIVE* SHOW SUNDAY, February 1st @ 4 p.m.
Topic: Update on the Michael White case and other expat tragedies you should know
Panelist: Stephanie White

NEXT WEEK
Topic: Can foreign English teachers really start a union?
Panelists: Tony Hellman (ATEK)

MUSIC
Main Theme — Ben McPherson – “2wksnyc”
News — satya – “Silk Route Album Mix”
Things That Make You Go Whaa? — cjacks – “Candyland”
ExPat Community — Deyo – “Retro90210fun”
Time Wasters of the Week — EV Boyz – “Kickin’ It in Geumchon”
daveski
hairclub fo men
Jacques Grant Rewired
midliFeCrisis
Robin Stine
Michael Slubczynski
Jeremiah Fleming
Little Red King
Han Madang
Kim Il-gu
Kim Mu-gil
Elena Rose
Tanya Witt
Uma Floresta
Pempi
Stian
Bit Rationale

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This is Seoul (Stafford Lumsden)

PANELISTS
Rachel Hui
Stafford Lumsden (The Chosun Bimbo)

MAIN TOPIC

Hong Kong vs. South Korea

NEWS AND STUFF

Breaking News: Minerva Arrested

Unemployed man arrested for ‘Minerva’ postings – INSIDE JoongAng Daily
Korean Blogger Arrested for… Being Right?
Foreigners Puzzled Over Minerva’s Arrest
Foreign Reaction to Minerva Arrest

CNN Reports North Korea to Hold Elections

Hyundai Genesis North American Car of the Year

THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO WHAA?

Kang Gi-gap Still Off His Rocker

Korean Students More Prejudiced Than Foreign Students

South Korean University Students Found to Hold Prejudice Against Foreigners

Handicapped Koreans Protest “Discriminatory Language”

“Plain stupid” Korean tourists rescued from outback.

Bank Manager Commits Suicide

Chosun Ilbo Worries Expectant Mothers Needlessly

Why do so Many Korean Children Wear Glasses? « The Grand Narrative

Korean Music Professors Caught Giving Illegal Private Lessons

EXPAT COMMUNITY

Memorial service held Friday for US Lt. Col. hit by bus.

GI Korea Changing Hosts

Some Stuff Happened

Chubbo’s married

Unqualified immigration officers allow American child molestor to work in Korean universities.

Convicted American Child Molestor Teaching as Professor in Daejeon: CBS
Daejeon professor in the center of all this speaks

Free the Hebei Spirit

Foreign Consumers VIPs at Department Stores

Getting “fired” with a few weeks left

Swindler of the Week

TIME WASTERS OF THE WEEK

Asians are Great Picture

Classic couple shirt

The Weasel: Gucci vs Chanel – the shopper’s test | Independent, The (London) | Find Articles at BNET

Thanks Ian! That mysterious Engrish t-shirt from show #36 was the instructions for an inflatable sex doll.

Flickr: The Far side Reenactments Pool

An Updated Marie Antoinette – Claudia Schiffer’s Breast-Shaped Bowl

In Videos: Stacking One Hundred Hamburgers on a Random Dude, Japanese Game Show Parody

I Watch Stuff – ‘Machine Girl’ Number Two

Machine gun out of the butt! Betcha won’t see that in Transformers 2.

Heavy Metal Band Names Flowchart

Good to see Canada keeping a specific art niche alive.

PLUGS

Buy Us a Beer

The Supplier
John Kim

Life of the Party
(those who have donated at least $20)
Aaron Shearin
Naomi Neckoway
Chae An

Drinking Buddies
(those who have bought us beers)
Naomi Neckoway
Chae An
Aaron Shearin
Mimi Snider
Elton Fry
Therese MacSeain

GoToMyPC
Ex-Pat Living (The Korea Herald)
ESL Planet Recruiting
Twitter
SEOUL Magazine
ZenKimchi.com
KOTESOL

NEXT WEEK
Topic: Korea’s Beat

Panelists: Craig White (daegupockets.com, Galbi Jim), Stafford Lumsden

MUSIC
Main Theme — Ben McPherson – “2wksnyc”
News — satya – “Silk Route Album Mix”
Things That Make You Go Whaa? — cjacks – “Candyland”
ExPat Community — Deyo – “Retro90210fun”
Time Wasters of the Week — EV Boyz – “Kickin’ It in Geumchon”
Michael Stephens
Darryl
Sharif
Digital Grey Orchestra
Tripudio
Namgyal Lhamo
DjWikidDjDUnity
Fractal Garden
cjacks
Jim Tetlow
mat rapid
The Eternal
Stian
Mike Burgess

 Standard Podcast [134:24m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (766)

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The Dokdo Holy Sights Seagull Greeting Committee

PANELIST
Rob Titley (Home Brew Korea)

MAIN TOPIC

Beer Survival Guide

NEWS AND STUFF

More Scuffles at the National Assembly

Rep. Gang Ki-gap: “If I Had a Hammer…”

Korean Girl Set on Fire in Moscow Attack

Xenophobia, Multiculturalism and Sexual Harassment at SNU

Seoul-Incheon Canal Construction to Start in March

Chosun Desk on Hebei Spirit Case and Indian Boycott Movement

THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO WHAA?

Dokdo Billboard Threatening Japan Appears in Dallas

Korea shoring up Dokdo’s defenses.
YouTube – Do you know Dokdo?

Yea, the song’s here! The comments are hilarious!

Taxi Driver Gets His Revenge

Now That’s Korean Ingenuity

Beatin’ the fingerprint scanners in Japan

Woman Commits Suicide Over Wrong Information

Sexual Assaulter of Daughter Gets 2-Year Jail Term

”However, the court reduced the sentence because, though a little late, he felt deep remorse, did not have any criminal record and his wife dropped the complaint.”

Kindergarten must pay compensation for burning students with hot soup.

Over Half of Korean Female Employees Sexually Harassed

Civil Servants Swindled by Threats Over Affairs

EXPAT COMMUNITY

ATEK Warns Against New Anti-foreigner Bill

New immigration problems on the way?

Korea Beat’s translation of Stephanie White’s story

Michael White’s mother sues.

South Korea, Ireland sign pension deal.

English Teacher Stabbed in Hongdae Club

Gay Korean Movie Star Rescues USFK Soldier Who Burned Down His Restaurant

The worst part about foreigner neighborhoods is the foreigners.

Read this again and replace the word “foreigner” with “black” and tell me if you still find it acceptable

The Hole Works for You

This year, the government is expected to spend some 180 billion won to employ about 4,500 – 5,000 foreign teachers at elementary and secondary schools nationwide. A native English speaker who has just started to teach English in Korea can receive a salary equivalent to that paid to a Korean teacher with five years of experience, an official said.

TIME WASTERS OF THE WEEK

In Videos: Robocop Fried Chicken Commercial from Korea (1980s)

My list of the ten most hated English phrases in Korea.

Commercial Fail – The Wonder Boner

Dcurrency :: Firefox Add-ons

Great for keeping track of the KRW

Korea’s version of haggis

The underwear… man, the underwear

Engrish Shirt via Brian

Check out the small writing in the middle

From the WTF files…

FULLOPAIN

3 Alley Pub Blog

Yes… they have a blog.

New Way to Watch Korean Dramas Online

PLUGS
Buy Us a Beer

Life of the Party
(those who have donated at least $20)
Aaron Shearin
Naomi Neckoway
Chae An

Drinking Buddies
(those who have bought us beers)
Naomi Neckoway
Chae An
Aaron Shearin
Mimi Snider
Elton Fry
Therese MacSeain

Ex-Pat Living (The Korea Herald)
ESL Planet Recruiting
Twitter
SEOUL Magazine
ZenKimchi.com
KOTESOL

NEXT WEEK
Panelists: Rachel Hui, Stafford Lumsden

MUSIC
Main Theme — Ben McPherson – “2wksnyc”
News — satya – “Silk Route Album Mix”
Things That Make You Go Whaa? — cjacks – “Candyland”
ExPat Community — Deyo – “Retro90210fun”
Time Wasters of the Week — EV Boyz – “Kickin’ It in Geumchon”
Robin Stine
Chi Young-hui
ChungChungMori
David Gielan
DJ R Qubed
Michael Martin
Mark Jungers
Fortune for Tune
Sleaze Patrol
curious hands
Chris Townsend
Joe Sibol

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The live show was a success, but we’re still deciding whether or not to incorporate it as a weekly feature.  The main kink is that I need to figure out how to get rid of the echo in my headset.  It’s difficult to speak normally with that going on.  This next show won’t be live, if you’re wondering.

Nonetheless, would you like to make live shows a regular feature?  Do you enjoy hanging out in a chat room with other listeners, interacting with the hosts and panelist on the show?  For those of you who were there for the New Year’s Eve show, did everything go smoothly?  What would you change?

Please vote and leave comments.