SeoulPodcast #24: The Robert Wicks Project -

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PANELIST
Robert Wicks

THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO WHAA?

No Banknote Would Be Complete Without Dokdo

How Not to Protest the Military (Korea Beat)

HAHAHAHA! Holy fuck! (B in J)

Social activist Kang We-suck was detained by police Wednesday for running naked into the 60th Armed Forces Day anniversary parade.

Study Suggests Fan Use Cuts SIDS Risk in Babies – WSJ.com

So much for fan death… or is it?

Well, I Can Sleep Better At Night Knowing Our Lawmakers Are Monitoring Paraguayan Textbooks (Marmot)

Asbestos and The Subway Again . . . (Marmot)

30 out of 33 stations on the orange line

“Sea Story” Makes Comeback on the Internet (Marmot)

The gambling scandal from 2006 of rigged machines that use a loophole payout system similar to Japan’s Pachinko is coming back.

80% Jump in School-Related Violence (Korea Beat)

This compares to 3980 such cases in 2006 – representing a 36.9% increase, while the number of victims rose by as much as 80% from 6267 in 2006. 63% (7021 students) of the victims of school-related violence were middle school pupils – constituting the bulk of the cases. 34.2% (3855 students) of them were high school students, while 3.5% (394 students) of them were elementary students. By sex, 64% (7217 students) were male, while 36% (4053 students) of them were female.

By punishment: 4283 (38%) of the offenders were given school duty, 1991 (17%) were given community service, 1478 (13.1%) wrote letters of apology, while 1129 (10%) were given special education. A further 716 (6.3%) were suspended from school, while 105 (0.9%) were expelled. By method of violence: 4134 (66%) of the cases were physical violence – as in 2006 the bulk of the cases, 915 (14.6%) were extortion/robberies, 627 (10%) were related to group exclusion and associated bullying, while 174 (2.8%) were related to threats and blackmail.

Almost Half the Korean Kids Who Go to the Ivies DROP OUT (Metropolitician)

Move over, PopSeoul! (Roboseyo)

Her name: 혜나 or “Hye-na” in Korean, is being written on the posters in a way that could cause some, uh, confusion, if she ever goes international.

Does anybody else here spot the problem?

New Phone, Correction Plus Jo Gwon; also, Expats and the DEAR LEADER HIMSELF! (Roboseyo)

(Proposed) Korean Foods in English from the Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries and Food

Most are good. Some are a bit wacky. Check out Budae Jjigae.

Sex Toy Shops Selling Fake Viagra From China (Korea Beat)

Just part of our public service to you

EXPAT COMMUNITY

Visa Rules Favor Gyopo Teachers Over Non-Koreans? (Marmot)

Regarding the complaints, the Korea Immigration Service said it was “reasonable discrimination under the Immigration Law.”

Kim Tae-soo, an immigration official said, “It’s our authority and policy to favor ethnic Koreans. We know there might be unqualified ethnic Koreans teaching English here, but you also need to understand there is no 100 percent perfect system. Other European countries also favor to their own people.”

**Maybe talk about health insurance for foreigners

Foreigner Crime Rate Steadily Increasing (Korea Beat)

Of the crimes committed by foreigners since 2003, 52,455 were committed by Chinese, the greatest number, followed by the 7,899 committed by Americans, 5,452 by Mongolians, 3,307 by Vietnamese, and 2,153 by Japanese.

Murder and assault accounted for 19,478 crimes, followed by traffic accidents (18,478), financial crimes (7,324), immigration offenses (3,374), and theft (2,901).

As recently as 2006 financial crimes came in last at 848, but in 2007 they increased to 2,622 and number 2,156 through August of this year. But this is mainly because of the large number of Chinese and Taiwanese being caught for voice phishing.

FeetManSeoul.com in the Japan Times!

US Embassy freeloading. (B in J)

Lawmaker Lee Mi-kyung of the 민주당 says the US Embassy in Seoul hasn’t paid rent on the government-owned since 1980, and thus owes some $200 million.

USFK Contractors Could Lose Jobs Over Visa Changes (ROK Drop/Stars and Stripes)

U.S. Forces Korea officials are denying status of forces agreement visa renewals to many civilian contractors who lived in South Korea under a different visa when they were hired.

TIME WASTERS OF THE WEEK

There’s a New Blog in Town

“The Hub of Sparkle” KoreaSparkle.com

RateMyHagwon

Crazy Korean Cooking

Found | Delta Airs Grainy Tourist Clip

Actually, I didn’t think it was so bad

McDelivery: Fast Food Gets Faster