To begin with:
Look at some interesting pictures of the U.S. military and Korean military chilling together -- The South Korean-US Key Resolve and Foal Eagle joint military exercises at Camp Carroll south of Seoul.
What's happening:
MOST recently (today) -- North Korea has interfered Global Positioning Systems and some phone reception via signal interruption by using revamped Russian equipment. Their main purpose is to "jam" guided missiles during US-S.K. combined training.
In the last couple of weeks: The Korea Herald sums it up here. This article describes the high-tension between North and South over the peace/missile/defense/military talks that were SUPPOSED to happen Feb 8-9. BUT according to this article, a supposed reason for N.K. calling it off was because they had issues with how much the world was being informed (through the media) on their pending "negotiation strategy". Perhaps the most unnerving threat was N.K. saying they would "turn Seoul into a sea of fire" IF they began training with the U.S. again.....
Well from the very first link as you can see WE HAVE BEGUN. No fire has been reported in Seoul... some say that N.K. wouldn't dare because they don't have enough support, but WHO KNOWS considering the Kim Jong-il is a stubborn and somewhat crazy old dictator!
IN OTHER NEWS:
South Korean internet and official Government websites under cyber terror attacks... Read full article here. Fingers point to N.K (of course) and possibly China. But no true culprit has been found. It seems like S.K. is very technologically advanced so many of the issues were caught before damage occurred.
KOREA FREEING UP TRADE!
Over the last few weeks since I started receiving google alerts, a good portion of what I have seen is ALL ABOUT Korea signing new free trade agreements with countries and more factors leading to better times! Most likely more trade will help South Korea have a stronger economy in the near future, but we will find out!
Here is a list:
Peru
$$$ Exports Rise
New Energy?
China stabilizing may = S. Korean economic growth?
U.S.'s Hawaii (also to benefit) with S. Korean trade!
And anyway... some more Korean CULTURE happenings:
Robot teachers??? An old argument is whether physically present human teachers may some day be replaced with robots who can do just the same -- or better.. but that is still to be decided, for now, some Korean students are enjoying a 3-foot tall penguin-like robot that speaks, and sings in english. It also dances! Check out the full article, a picture and even a VIDEO of the teacher robot!
Feeling like some nice spicy fermented cabbage? As emotionally attached Americans are to their peanut butter, AND Australians are to their vegemite -- according to this aussie article Korea is emotionally attached to their KIMCHI!!! Check it out here, plus +++ get a RECIPE for making your own spicy fermented cabbage ;) yum!
And you think the US's biggest cities are PARTY central? The statistic from this article shows that S.K. has a bit more fun than us! "For the years 2003-2005, the WHO found that South Koreans drank an average of 14.8 liters of alcohol, compared to 8.03 liters in Japan and 9.44 liters in the U.S."!!! I really want to see how that spreads across age level.. could I possibly guess that that is mostly college students? I would have to do more digging to find out ---
Hope you enjoyed your rather long update... let me know if you enjoyed any of the articles!!!
-Jessica
This was such a fun blog to read. I liked that you included so many different bits of information including serious news and also fun cultural information.
ReplyDeleteOn the serious news side, it’s scary to think what could happen with North and South Korea. Hopefully with North Korea is all talk.
And on the cultural side, a robot teacher?! That’s madness! Although it is an interesting idea, there is no way a machine could replace a person. Teachers respond to student's achievements and weaknesses in a way that technology could ever respond. For the children's sake I hope that robots don’t fully replace teachers, but instead add to the educational experience for South Korean students.
I can't believe no one has guessed the truth about me! tee hee
ReplyDeleteDr. J
This blog is excellently done. It's fun and very interesting to read. From this post in particular, I think that North Korea keeps on making these threats because of their own insecurities. North Korea has been suffocating itself for decades and it's only a matter of time before there's huge change. I also really like the pictures of US Troops and Korean Troops. I know some soldiers that did tours in Korea and they actually enjoyed themselves there. One of them in particular was involved in the guarding of the 38th parallel and he had some really interesting stores from his service there.
ReplyDeleteI was unaware that South Korea was so technologically advanced especially since its neighboring country is so secluded when it comes to media and technology. It was also interesting to see how petty and picky North Korea is with South Korea. I wonder if these to countries will ever be at peace. It was also educating because I did not know America was training with South Korea and that in result it was angering North Korea even more. Very unique and informative blog, especially this post which had lots of various and useful information!
ReplyDelete