I have wanted to go to Jirisan for awhile now. I had marked it as a trip tp do for awhile. My original plan was to stay a night out there and make it a weekend. That did not workout, but we managed to get to the mountain by just after 1pm. We has stopped in Uiryeong for lunch. there was an election going on. So there was canditates everywhere, people dancing and the cow. Later we saw the cow in the market, which is the opening of the video. The hiking was great. After leaving Jirisan we rode to Jinju. On the way I stupidly ran out of gas. We had to go back and get some gas. From Jinju we got back to Busan in an hour and a half. We really rode fast. It is about 120km. With a couple spot through some towns. We go lucky with some green lights and only hit one traffic jam, which lasted for about 5km. I also know a shortcut. There is a bridge that lets you cut around Masan. You are not actually supposed to go over by motorcycle. We had gone over it a few weeks ago and the toll lady stopped us and then let us go. This time the lady looked us as if her day had been ruined and just waved us through.

Enjoy the video!

So, Robert Kaplan is sleeping with the Commiesnow.

As before, he views the rise of the Chinese military as “wholly legitimate” — the product of growing commercial realities, not a drive for conquest. “If you governed China, with the responsibility of lifting hundreds of millions of Chinese into an energy-ravenous, middle-class lifestyle,” he writes, “you, too, would seek a credible navy in order to protect your merchant fleet across the Indian Ocean and western Pacific.”

But now, rather than stressing the need for deterrence, he argues, “Strong American-Chinese bilateral relations going forward is not only plausible, but might be the best-case scenario for the global system in the twenty-first century, allowing for true world governance to take shape” — the latter a phrase Kaplan would once have written with dripping disdain. Instead, he highlights opportunities to cooperate with China, for instance in fighting piracy and terrorism, or providing relief after natural disasters. And there’s even a potential “bright side” to piracy, in that “it offers up a common enemy — the very symbol of anarchy, in fact — which rival powers can then come into agreement to jointly oppose.”

Rather than an adversary to be contained, he sees a potential partner to be wooed: “Given America’s civilizational tensions with radical Islam, and its at times quarrelsome relationship with Europe, as well as with a bitter and truculent Russia, the United States must do all that it can to find commonality with China,” he concludes. “It cannot take on the whole world by itself.”

Whatever happened to Japan? Do we ditch an economy because of a bad stretch? Do we get bogged down on the continent? I’m not discounting the significance of China’s addition to the world economy, or its geo-economic challenge to Japan? It’s not been around the block yet, as Japan is experiencing. And, China is the landmass Japan is balancing. The US can’t just split the fulcrum and take sides. Unless, that is, the US has given up an pretense of being a hegemon.

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Filed under: East Asia, Globalization, Military, USA Tagged: asia, china, geostrategy, japan, prc, robert kaplan

Not everyone in North Korea likes Kim Jong-un. As a matter of fact, derision seems to permeate all levels of society, from official party publications (via OFK)…

According to the source, after seeing Kim Jeong-eun’s picture posted on Rodong Sinmun, a bulletin from the Workers’ Party displayed instances of open criticism. “Who is Kim Jeong-eun, the new general? And what great contribution has he made for the nation and people?” “This outrageous event is something that can only happen in a despotic nation like Chosun,”

…to satirical ditties.

The children’s song is a well-known one in South Korea called “Three Bears” (LF Note: Google video added – Korean lyrics).

The re-written lyrics of the song, NKIS claims, are as follows: “Three bears in a house, pocketing everything; grandpa bear, papa bear and baby bear. Grandpa Bear is fat, Papa Bear is fat, too, and Baby Bear is a doofus.”

Even though when singing the song the Kim family members are not named, a short glance reveals the song’s satirical nature, leading the authorities to reportedly treat it as a reactionary element and investigate its origin.

The real song, which is about a cute bear family with a chubby papa bear, a slim mommy bear and a cute baby bear in a house, has been popular since 2007, when a famous South Korean drama, “Full House,” in which main characters sing the song several times, reached North Korea.

Since then, it has been sung widely by children, including in kindergartens, since it does not contain any ideological element and has only simple, repetitious lyrics.

The NKIS report adds that people who sing the song now risk inadvertently getting punished.

According to NKIS, in one case students from Haebang Senior Middle School were caught and beaten overnight by National Security Agency agents because they sang the song to the tune of a guitar.

The NKIS source added, “The authorities are extremely sensitive because there have been several attempted arson cases and negative opinions directed at the Kim Jong Eun succession,” so, “For the time being, it is impossible to sing South Korean or other foreign songs.”

Kim, who escaped from North Korean in 2009, explained that people tend to sing songs to satirize their dire situation or thumb their noses at tough regulations by changing lyrics, a trend which is booming among teenagers. However, directly satirizing the Kim family is a much more recent phenomenon.

She introduced another example, “One of the representative Kim Jong Il idolization songs is ‘The rolling thunder at Jong Il Peak.’ One part says, ‘Jong Il Peak is rising,’ but children change it to ‘Jong Il Peak is collapsing,’ just for fun.”

She said even though parents try to stop children from singing like that, kids just enjoy it and cannot easily be stopped.

It seems North Koreans are as perplexed by the decision to elevate Kim Jong-un to putative successor as the rest of the world is. The twist on a South Korean song vindicates the subversive hopes of leadfetting proponents, but the sophistication of the satirical lyrics is still refreshing. How many kids in America could satirize Joe Biden? On the other hand, why can’t they just be kids, and not get battered by government agents?

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Filed under: Korea, Politics Tagged: dprk, full house, kim jong un, nkis, north korea, rok, South Korea

Title says it all.

My son is five years old, western age, and is suddenly excited about Hallowe'en.  I know there are a few plays - we will go to Eulsookdo for, I think the little pig, his 3 older brothers, and the big bad wolf- but are any department stores or culture centres doing anything explicitly for Hallowe'en?