December 31, 2013

The Korean daily media headlines and humor

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

  

Good morning, Excellency!
Here are The Korea Post news, African proverbs, humor from Korean-language economic dailies, and a roundup of important headlines from all major Korean-language dailies, TV and other news media this morning:
/s/
        
Lee Kyung-sik
Publisher-Chairman
Korea Post Media
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The Korea Post news

'One of Seven Wonders of Winter' for a 22-day run

Hwacheon Mountain Trout Ice Festival opens Jan. 4 

Ambassadors and families are invited to attend the Festival on

Thursday January 17, 2014. (Further details and photos are toward the end of this Headlines.)

A recent poster introducing some of the events at the Hwacheon Mountain Trout
Festival on January 4-26, 2014. Ambassadors and senior diplomats are invited with
Their spouses and families to attend the Festival on Thursday January 17, 2014.
Individual invitation has already been transmitted to the Ambassadors and the senior
Diplomats.
In the event of our transmission failure, please contact Ms. Kim Jeong-mi

At Tel 2298-1740/2, 010-3388-1682 or edt@koreapost.com. English-speaking callers
Please call David Chung at the same number and email address.
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This morning we have the wonderful Facebook share of His Excellency former Ambassador Mustafa Kamal of Bangladesh in Seoul:

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Dr. Sang-Ki Hahn's African wise-sayings:

There is no clearing that looks at itself.
- A Kenyan & Tanzanian proverb

The cow has no owner.
- A Kenyan & Tanzanian proverb

One does not break the calabash from which he drinks palm wine.
- A Ghanaian proverb

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Humor from Korean-language economic dailies this morning:

Seoul Kyungje

In Year 1981
1. Prince Charles got married
2. Liverpool crowned Champions of Europe
3. Pope Died
In Year 2005
1. Prince Charles got married (again)
2. Liverpool crowned Champions of Europe (again)
3. Pope Died (again)
Moral of the story - In future, if Prince Charles decides to re-marry, please warn the Pope.

Hankuk Kyungje
Old and Crooked
A 47-year-old lady gets a facelift. It turns out very well and she goes to the newsstand and asks the man, “How old do you think I am?”
The man replies, “You look something like 30.”
“Oh, no, I’m 47.”
The next day she goes to a snack house. As she orders her lunch she asks the young man at the counter, “How old do you think I’m?”
The man replies, “You’re 35, right?”
The lady says, “No, I’m 47.”
After lunch, she walks into the park and sits on a bench.
Soon a very old man comes and sits on the next bench.
She asks him how old she looks.
He replies, “Lady, I can tell how old any woman is by sticking my hand down her pants.”
After a moment of hesitation she lets him do so.
With his hand in her pants, the crooked old man says, “You’re 47!”
Astonished, she asks, “How did you know?”
“I was standing behind you at the snack house,” the man says.
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KBS (
http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/)

Park Denounces Acts of 'Digging up Past Wounds'
President Park Geun-hye says she hopes in the New Year there will be no acts to break down trust between nations or hurt peoples’ feelings by digging up past wounds. 

KORAIL Unionists to Return to Work Tuesday
State rail workers will end their strike that has lasted more than three weeks and return to work on Tuesday morning.

N. Korea Breaches Tax Agreement with Gaeseong Firms
North Korean tax authorities have demanded South Korean companies doing business at the Gaesong Industrial Complex pay part of this year's taxes.

Securities Firms Forecast Lower Growth for S. Korean Economy
Five major securities firms predict on average South Korea's economy will grow three-and-a-half percent next year.

Government Plans to Build 7 New Nuclear Reactors

Ruling and Opposition Camps Welcome End of Strike

Number of National Security Law Violators Tops 10-Year High
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Yonhap (
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr)

S. Korea's consumer prices grow 1.1 pct on-year in Dec.
South Korea's consumer price growth remained in the 1-percent range in December thanks to stabilized costs of farming goods and oil products, a government report showed Tuesday.

Ruling party vows to pass national budget
The ruling Saenuri Party vowed to pass the national budget for next year and a series of key bills through parliament Monday amid growing concern that a failure to do so would force the government to formulate a tentative, minimum-spending budget.

U.S. sticks to 'disappointment' over Abe's Yasukuni visit
The U.S. government said Monday it deliberately chose the word "disappointed" in responding to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine last week.

Ssangyong E&C files for court receivership
Ssangyong Engineering & Construction Co., which has been under a debt workout program, said Monday it has filed for court receivership after its creditors decided not to extend their financial support.
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The Korea Herald (
http://www.koreaherald.com)

Railroad negotiations rough ride ahead for 2014
Despite a dramatic end to the strike, a difficult set of tasks is ahead before differences are resolved over the state-r...

Tumultuous year beckons for Northeast Asia
Northeast Asia faces another tumultuous year, as geostrategic rivalries are expected to intensi...

For Koreans, English used as mark of power, competitiveness
For Koreans, English is much more than a lingua franca. It is a crucial measure of personal mar...

Exports likely to decide Korea's economic performance in 2014
Korea’s major economic indices are estimated to have bottomed out between 2012 and 2013, after...

Park begins second year with old problems
President Park Geun-hye enters her second year in office with a mass of tricky domestic issues unresolved...

N. Korea recalls deputy UNESCO envoy

Court upholds gov't order to amend histo...

Ssangyong E&C files for court receiversh...

Clara Jumi Kang, latest darling of clas...

Korea, Myanmar to build Yangon bombing m...

English fever needs cooling

Year of horse

Expensive imported padded jackets stir u...

Korea says N.K. continues purges on smal...

Seoul approves private humanitarian aid ...

Korean military expert to help remove Sy...

Park criticizes Abe’s Yasukuni visit

20,000 protest in Ukraine’s capital

El Salvador begins evacuations near volc...

Ten killed in new blast in Russian city
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The Korea Times (
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr)

Railway strike comes to dramatic end
The union of the Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) Monday agreed to end its prolonged strike, accepting a lawmakers’ compromise proposal. The compromise calls for the ruling Saenuri and main opposition Democratic parties to form...

16 killed in suicide bombing near Russia's Olympic site
A suicide bomber struck a busy railway station in southern Russia on Sunday, killing at least 15 people and wounding scores more, officials said, in a stark reminder of the threat Russia is facing as it prepares to host February...

Park calls Abe 'second-rated' 
President Park Geun-hye on Monday denounced Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s controversial visit to the... 

Middle-income class shrinking  
The nation’s middle-income class has been shrinking, with polarization between the rich and poor d...

 

Assembly key to reforming KORAIL 
The National Assembly will be key to improving the efficiency of the Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL)... 

Top 10 News Stories 
The execution of North Korea’s No. 2 man Jang Song-thaek and fumbled debut of the Affordable Care ...

 

Rationalization of state firms to accelerate 
The government is expected to gear up its reform drive against heavily-indebted and poorly-managed...

 

Ordinance seeks to limit students' rights  
The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) announced Monday a revision to the students’ rig...

 

Seoul Auction's Hong Kong branch posts first surplus 
The Hong Kong affiliate of Seoul Auction, the nation’s largest art auction house, said it expects ...

 

National Security Law violations jump in 2013  
The number of people indicted on charges of violating the nation’s anti-communist law under Presid...

 

Dissecting the Korean movie boom of 2013 
Despite the sluggish economy, Korea’s movie sector enjoyed record commercial success this year. Or... 

'Terminator'-like muscle developed  
American engineers have developed a new micro-muscle fiber similar in its function to that of a “t...

Parties near truce on NIS reform 
Rival parties made last-minute efforts to reach an agreement on the reform bill of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and the 2014 budget Monday to pass ...
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Dong A (
http://english.donga.com)

Railway strike ended to heal wounds, but scars are left behind
Unionized KORAIL workers agreed to end their prolonged strike Monday, a breakthrough that came 22 days after they took to the streets on December 9 in protest of a government plan to establish a KORAIL subsidiary to run... 

`All The K-Pop` has most views on YouTube this year
What is the most globally viewed Korean content on YouTube this year? It turned out that the 23rd episode of MBC Music’s “All The K-pop ? Entertainment Academy” topped the list by the number of views among Korean...

Chinese Ambassador blasts Abe for Yasukuni visit
Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cheng Yonghua strongly blasted Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for the latter’s visit to the Yasukuni Shrine through a newspaper op-ed piece. In his op-ed piece published in the Mainichi...

National Assembly does its work right against railway strike
Leading Saenuri Party Rep. Kim Moo-sung and main opposition Democratic Party Rep. Park Ki-choon played a decisive role in having unionized KORAIL workers end their prolonged strike. As members of the National Assembly’s...

Politicians agree on revocation of heavier realty transfer tax 

Layoffs will be inevitable in UN

Samsung starts the sale of $150,000 televisions

Ghost the Musical and financial fraud

Adieu, year 2013 with regret

'All The K-Pop' has most views on YouTube this year
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Chosun Ilbo (
http://english.chosun.com)

Top Domestic News Stories of 2013
The year 2013 started with a new government as President Park Geun-hye came into office after a controversial election. Scandals overshadowed the early part of her tenure, and Inter-Korean relations remained icy after her inauguration.

Top International News Stories for 2013
The year 2013 saw global tensions rise, especially in Asia-Pacific as U.S. efforts to stem the rising might of China coincided with a lurch to the far right in Japan. On the other side of the world, Edward Snowden exposed the scale of U.S. eavesdropping on people's private communications around the world.

Young Japanese Drift to the Right
Young people in Japan are being swept along on a wave of resurgent rightwing sentiment set in motion by the Abe administration. The Asahi Shimbun reported on Sunday that 33 percent of twenty-somethings in Japan believe the Pacific War was not a war of aggression

2 'Activists' Flee N.Korea
Two North Korean dissidents fled to China in November, an activist broadcaster here claimed Sunday.

Son Heung-min Hailed as Asia's Top Player by ESPN
Bayer Leverkusen's striker Son Heung-min in Germany's Bundesliga has been named the top Asian footballer of 2013 by ESPN. Son scored 12 goals for Hamburg last season and has...

Powerful Cyclone Threatens Western Australia

U.S. Offers Security Help for Sochi Olympics

Japanese Markets Finish Best Year in Four Decades

Second Blast in Russian City Kills Another 14

Schumacher Battles for Life After Ski Fall
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Hankyoreh (
http://english.hani.co.kr)

Rallies held nationwide to oppose railway privatization
Striking railway workers are getting support from students and regular people tired of the government’s uncommunicative style
“Do you hear the people sing? / Singing a song of angry men? / It is the music of a people / Who will not be slaves again! / When the beating of your heart / Echoes the beating of the drums / There is a life about to start / When tomorrow comes!”

The lessons of Japan’s railway privatization
While the government has repeatedly claimed that the plan to split off the Suseo KTX Line is not privatization, the Korean Railway Workers’ Union doesn’t believe it. This has resulted in the longest strike in the history of the union. There are also many members of the public who believe the plan constitutes privatization.

Losing independent supporters, Park’s approval rating tumbles
The drop in approval ratings for President Park Geun-hye’s performance owes to her losing the support of independents, including moderates and younger voters, poll results show.
The loss of moderates, who were one of the big segments behind her election victory last year, is a particularly troubling signal for the Park administration.

Abe’s Yasukuni visit provokes barrage of criticism
Critics in Japan and overseas have been blasting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s decision to pay respects at the Yasukuni Shrine. All around the world, more and more people are agreeing that the visit is a bad move from the Japanese government.
Perhaps the most attention-grabbing criticism came from former Liberal Democratic Party secretary general Makoto Koga, who served as head of the Japan War-Bereaved Association (Nippon Izokukai), one of the country’s top conservative groups.
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Joong Ang (conservative): (
http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/)

Unionists agree on terms for strike’s end
Police will still enforce arrest warrants
The labor union of Korea Railway Corporation (Korail) yesterday decided to end its prolonged strike after union leaders and lawmakers of the ruling and opposition parties agreed to form a subcommittee dedicated to dealing with pressing issues in the railway industry...

No end to strengthening of won against the yen
The rate at which the Japanese yen is falling has been fast enough to keep currency traders and exporters at the edge of their seats...

Top income tax rate to be applied to 90,000 more
The National Assembly’s Strategy and Finance Committee yesterday reached a tentative agreement to widen the income range for those who will be charged...

Court upholds order on textbooks
A local court yesterday rejected a request by a group of textbook authors for an injunction against a revision order by the Ministry of Education,...

Security law violations the highest in a decade
During the first term of the Park Geun-hye administration, the number of people indicted for violating the National Security Law (NSL) was the highest recorded in the past decade...

Bill created to revise student rights ordinance
The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education yesterday announced a plan to revise the city’s ordinance governing students’ rights, introducing more conservative regulations...

Kim regime continuing its purge, official states
North Korea has continued its purge of a group of close aides to Jang Song-thaek - the uncle of the reclusive state’s young leader Kim Jong-un - who was executed on Dec. 12...

Pyongyang provokes with nuke test, hacks, angry words
Tensions escalated on the Korean Peninsula early this year thanks to several hostile acts and remarks by North Korea, including its third-ever underground nuclear weapons test on Feb. 12...

3 die as Asiana flight crashes while landing in San Francisco
On July 6, the world’s attention focused on Asiana Airlines Flight 214, which departed from Incheon International Airport but crashed while landing at San Francisco International Airport...

Courts come down hard on chaebol-controlling families
In the aftermath of “economic democratization” pledges by major candidates in last year’s presidential election, owners of chaebol - once practically immune from going to jail..
.

Chun Doo Hwan pays off fine, hands over assets to the state
After 16 years of avoiding a massive criminal fine for misdeeds in office, former strongman Chun Doo Hwan and his family finally agreed in September to pay off the 167.2 billion won...

Jang’s execution shows split in North Korea ruling dynasty
Jang Song-thaek, the once-powerful uncle and protector of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was brutally executed for treason on Dec. 12, five days before the second anniversary...
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Edaily (
http://eng.edaily.co.kr/Stock/)

[Table] Today’s Stock Market Brief
This is a stock market brief of Today. [table] Total stock market id="" width="570...

[Closed] Domestic rate of return of final bid closed. 3-year government bond up 2bp.
This is the rate of return of final bid. Quoted by Korea Financial Investment Association, domestic rate of return of final bid of 3-year government bond recorded at 2.86%, up ( 2bp) from yesterday. ...

[Table]Exchange Rate Currency Crossrate
this is Currency Crossrate of major 12 countries. [table] FX Cross Currency ... .
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Maeil Kyungje (neutral-oriented conservative, economic/business): (
http://news.mk.co.kr/english/)

S. Korea rail union ends strike
The Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL)’s labor union, which held the public hostage, ended its 22-day strike amid a chilly response from the public, the government’s unyielding stance and negotiations with political parties.This comes after lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties at the National Assembly’s Land Infrastructure & Transport Committee (LITC) agreed to form a parliamentary subcommittee on rail industry development Monday....

‘China Valley’ to be created in Saemangeum
South Korea and China have agreed to cooperate in building an industrial park in Saemangeum, tentatively named “Saemangeum China Valley” by 2020, Seoul officials said Monday.

Ruling, opposition parties agree to raise threshold for highest income tax rate
The ruling and opposition parties in South Korea reached a final accord on imposing the highest 38 percent income tax rate on those making 150 million won ($142,129) or more, down from 300 million won or more.

LG G2 smartphone sales surpass 3 mn units
LG Electronics’ strategic smartphone ‘G2’ has sold over three million units so far, data showed.

Production in mining, manufacturing remains unchanged in Nov.
South Korea’s industrial output in November remained unchanged from a month ago as production in automobile and other transportation equipment contracted, a government report showed Monday.


'One of Seven Wonders of Winter' for a 22-day run

Hwacheon Mountain Trout Ice Festival opens Jan. 4

Named one of the 'even Wonders of Winter' by CNN and Lonely Planet, the Hwacheon Sancheoneo (Mountain Trout) Ice Festival is probably the most famous winter event in Korea. During the month of January every year, more than 1,000,000 people swarm Hwacheon in Gangwon province hoping to catch mountain trout bare-hand or ice fishing.
(Mayor Chung Gap-cheol invites the ambassadors and families to attend the Festival on Friday 17, 2014.)

1.4 million persons reportedly visited Hwacheon Mountain Trout Festival last year having their fill of the joys of the winter--ice-fishing mountain trouts and treating their eyes to the colorful lanterns of the angels at the Seondeung Candle Light Festival that takes place in the night.

Who said Hwacheon offers only ice-fishing? You can land mountain trouts also from the water standing on the river bank (top left). Koreans, expats, young and old, all enjoy various events of the Festival.

Left: Visitors pass through the colorfully lit ice tunnel. Right: You can also enjoy a 'sky ride' down the river.

Nestled between the town of Hwacheon and the mountains, the Hwacheon River is not only covered by a thick layer of ice, but also by thousands of festival participants.

The Hwacheon Mountain Trout Ice Festival will be taking place in Hwacheon County in Gangwon-do province on Jan. 4-26, 2014. This virtually untouched region is known as the first area in Korea that freezes over in winter, and the river is covered with a thick layer of ice.

Visitors can try out ice fishing, and those who are feeling brave can try to catch mountain trout with their bare hands. Along with fun activities and performances, there is also an exhibition of ice sculptures that usually take 20 weeks to prepare. Visitors can sample raw and grilled mountain trout, both of which are delicious.

A foreign visitor said: “Unlike some Korean festivals I have been to, there is a lot to do at this festival. You can ride an ATV or go kart on the ice, go sledding, ice skating, push a metal cart on the ice, or do some regular reel fishing.”

The events that are most popular are ice fishing and bare-handed fishing. For the ice fishing, you are provided with a hole in the ice and a bag for putting your catch for 10,000 won of which you get 10,000-won Love Gift, money you can spend around the festival grounds on food and souvenirs. “If you aren’t Korean, make sure to head to the foreigner only section. It is not only less crowded, but there is English-speaking help and you are given a free fishing pole,” said the foreign visitor.

When you get on the ice, pick a hole, let out enough line to get your lure to the bottom of the river. Then, quickly flick your wrist upwards and let it float back to the bottom. Some persistence is required, he stressed.

Hwacheon is considered a “clean region” where mountain trouts and otters live. Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival is opened in every January under the slogan of “Unfrozen Hearts, Unforgettable Memories” at Hwacheon that has geographical features of the fastest ice freezing in the country because of cold valley wind and clean water.

This is a unique theme experience festival full with good shows and 40 or about various experience programs, such as ice sledding, snow sledding, snow sculpture and ice soccer, Sancheoneo experience programs combined with the image of Hwacheon that has clean natural environment with the first grade clean water in Bukhangang (river) for catching Sancheoneo by hand, Sancheoneo fishing on the ice to catch the fish easily and enjoy the fishing by everybody, breaking the ice with 40cm thickness and above and looking at Sancheoneo in the deep water for your exciting play available for experiencing at Hwacheon only and heart-warm memory in winter.

Winter Sancheoneo! Sancheoneo Fishing! To mention about ice fishing, you need to catch at least one Sancheoneo. It is an elegant fish underneath ice out of comparison to the other fishes due to moderate size and beautiful shape.

Sancheoneo is hard to catch as it is rare but everyone can catch one or two Sancheoneo at Hwacheon with somewhat good luck and knack since 32 or 3 tons of fresh Sancheoneo are being put just under the fishing place every day for visitors for Sancheoneo festival. It is just the reason why a child or young girl without fishing experience is indulged in Sancheoneo ice fishing. K
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