영어선생 Hall of Shame Entry #9 Bonus
Sometimes, it is just your lucky day. the mK Business Daily, in one fell swoop, gets to be the subject of this article for its content, and it also richly deserves its entry into the 영어선생 Hall of Shame.

Generally Speaking, the mK Business Daily (매일경제) is Good
For the most part, the mk Business Daily is pretty good. For example, it has correctly pointed out that there are shortcomings in the Korean economy, that the Korean consumer is very stretched, and that manyl of the large construction projects in Korea are either financially non-viable, creating stress on the lenders. However, this article is poorly written, and editorializes to the point that it deserves an Entry into the 영어선생 Hall of Shame.

Apple v Samsung: The Giants’ Spat
It is not news at this point that Apple has sued Samsung and vice versa. It is a very delicate matter, since Apple relies on Samsung for many of the parts used in the iPhone and the iPad. Samsung’s Lee Kun-hee has publicly remarked on the matter, although it is the Seoul Gyopo Guide’s opinion that he should stay silent, and let the lawyers do the talking. The quality of the public dialogue will the topic of tomorrow’s post, which highlights out the great divide in communication styles between the Korea and the U.S.

Apparently, mK Business Daily Has Inside Information
Here are a couple of direct quotes from the mK Business Daily article:

The Korean tech giant plans to submit a similar claim to the US court as well. Before doing so, however, Samsung will first answer Apple’s accusations on design stealing by proving such allegations to be baseless and legally indefensible. The counterclaim will come in the next two to three months, after the Korean company successfully defends against Apple’s attacks.

This isn’t reporting; it is editorializing and presumes that Samsung will certainly win. First, Apple’s claims are “baseless” and Samsung will defend itself “successfully.” How does the newspaper know this after less than one week, with no evidence presented in any court, and with no legal expertise to make such conclusions?

A couple of paragraphs later, the same message continues:

Samsung had cited breaches against its telecommunications patents for the legal battle against Apple, most probably because the Korean company holds a comparative advantage in the field. Samsung is the largest foreign company in the US in terms of patent registrations, and takes a bulk of the nation’s mobile phone-related technological patents. Apple, on the other hand, has a relatively weak patent base for hardware technology.

Maybe this is true, maybe it isn’t. It is doubtful, at best, that the mK Business Daily is in any position to make these conclusions as if they were fact.

Poor Diction = Poor English
Maybe the mK Business Daily should more this article to the Editorials section. At the very least, using adverbs such as “successfully,” and describing Apple’s patent base as “weak” are very judgmental. Those words suggest that the outcome has already been reached, when nothing could be further from the truth. Does someone really believe that Steve Jobs is going to take these allegations without defending Apple vigorously? 웃긴 것 치지 마세요. The same can be said for Samsung, and rightfully so. This article makes, due to its poor English word choice, makes it seem that the result is a foregone conclusion. So while there is no doubt that reading newspapers written in English is, overall, an excellent way to learn English, this article isn’t a good example, for multiple reasons. For that reason, the mK Business Daily receives Entry #9 into the 영어선생 Hall of Shame.