Feb 29th

well there's not a lot of first's left for me here in Korea, but this is one, it's my first leap year. During the last one, in 2008, I was still working at Future Shop. I had finished university in December 2007 and was booked to head off to Chiang Mai, Thailand to do my TEFL during the month of May and then head to a job in Ulsan, Korea in August. Truthfully it seems like yesterday, but the leap year is a reminder that it was almost four years ago. From last leap year to this one I've spent 3 years in Korea and about a year split between Vancouver and southeast Asia.

Kim Jong-Un Photo of the Week 28/2/12

Here we see the Dear Successor and the top generals of the DPRK in total awe of this bathwater.

The general behind the Dear Successor seems especially enamored with the Dear Successor's backside, though an ass of that magnitude is apparently quite rare north of the border.

I don't think the Dear Successor will fit in that tub. 

well this certainly won't help Kpop in America

Jenny Hyun, a U.S born Korean (gyopo) and writer of many songs for Korean pop groups had this to say in response to a Floyd Mayweather comment that said that Jeremy Lin was doing what many other guys in the NBA do every night but he is getting so much extra attention because he is Asian. Now I have to admit I find basketball the one sport to make soccer seem interesting and so do not qualify as an expert by any means. However, this hype seems comparable to Kobe Bryant back in the 90's or Michael Jordan back in the 80's. I'm not sure if Lin is as good, and I do personally think the amount of support he gets from Chinese fans is a bit nuts, especially as it's just because of his race, or at least partially so (he's a US citizen born and raised after all).

However, the responses which run the gambit from a pro-slavery stance to pro-genocide to animal comparisons and a whole lotta fun in between has assured that whenever any Korean band who has had a song written by her performs or does an interview it will come up. This is especially sad for Girls Generation (SNSD) who recently played David Letterman and who have had several songs written by Jenny Hyun. While fans of Asian pop, Jeremy Lin and people who just find this sort of stuff scary have come out against it (I'm happy to see so many Koreans here genuinely shocked by it) it will take a while to fade away. Jenny Hyun's career is over, and while I don't think people who have had songs written by her will be associated with it, it certainly doesn't help the move of Kpop or Korean culture in America.

The yearly war "games" with South Korea and the U.S are set begin this week. Kim Jong-un denounces them between mouthfuls of kimchi.

The latest in U.S/ROK war "games" are set to begin tomorrow (March 1st) and last until the end of April. During the last war games in 2010 Kim II decided, as a retaliation to these "provocations" to attack an island off the west coast of Korea which killed four people. This time round, Kim III seems happy to just issue threats "if they step 0.001 mm in to our territory...." but do little else. In reality the last set of drills were suspended due to Chinese concerns, which both the U.S and south Korea take seriously. Not sure why the Chinese have had a change of heart, but maybe after the latest crackdown on Tibetan protesters and vetoing sanctions in Syria they don't want any more bad press. In any event, the drills will begin as scheduled with only north Korea making so much as a whimper.

My guess is that nothing will happen (cause nothing really ever does) with these excercises. But the reactions up north are seen as a bit of a test as to whether Kim III will be any different than Kim II. So far it seems to be more of the same.

The Japanese are at it again

Denying history and making many neighbours mad in the process. The issue of Japanese war crimes is one that you can not escape here. It draws anger and ire in Korea and China and has citizens of both countries, as well as many south east Asian nations, foaming at the mouth. This instance is the mayor of Nagoya telling visiting members of the Nanjing city council (the two cities are sister cities and have a bustling trading relationship) that the Nanjing massacre is overplayed and that it was a conventional battle and any casualities were as a result of that, and not of any massacre. The denial of the Nanjing massacre, much like the denial of Chinese and Korean comfort women (sex slaves), denial of torture and forced labour in their colonial empire, continually claiming land lost in their colonial empire as their own (Dokdo with Korea and Senkaku with Taiwan/China), continued denial of teh mistreatment of allied POW's and the continued honouring of generals who ordered these crimes has soured relations between Japan and its neighbours and allies since the war and has harmed Japan's reputation abroad.

Now to state my bias up front, I do not believe that a man is responsible for the crimes of his father or grandfather. The Japanese TODAY have nothing to apologize for as they have done nothing wrong. I would even argue that a private in the Japanese army of that time is a victim of his government as much as the people he is being ordered to kill. However, by denying this history and teaching your children that it did not happen you are taking responsibility for it, inflicting more hurt and even justifying it. Germans today owe no apology for Hitler because they have already apologized, taken responsibility and offered to make amends. They also make sure young people know what happened so that it won't happen again. I doubt that the European Union would be able to move forward if Germany made holocaust denial a state policy. The Japanese denial of their colonial crimes continues the cycle of hate and violence and passes that anger on to another generation. But these are just my opinions.

It makes even less sense to me when it seems like all the Japanese government would have to say is "yeah sorry, we f*cked up, won't happen again" and then not pretend like it never happened. It would transform regional relationships and remove lingering hatred from any current disputes. The Korea/Japan relationship really requires a blog (or six) of it's own, so I'll just say that it's not always pleasant, and this sort of denial on the part of Japan is a huge part of the reason why.

The Ryugyong is finally set to open

Well after 24 years the Ryungyong hotel in Pyongyang is finally ready to host visitors. You can read about it here. The hotel is a famous landmark in Pyongyang and a symbol to many of the failed state of north Korea (a fact that has not escaped the regime's attention). As the article notes, construction began in 1987 on what was supposed to be the tallest building in the world. Between the collapse of the Soviet Union (or "sugar daddy" as it was known by in north Korea), China's move to trade with south Korea and the norths general economic collapse construction ground to a halt until the building itself became a symbol of the failed northern state often commented on by news officials and government press secretaries as such. Well with Kim III in power I guess they had to shake that image and finish the thing and as of April 2012 visitors will be able to stay in the hotel. Once done it will chime in as the world's 40th tallest (and taller than anything in the south oddly enough). 10 floors are dedicated to hotel rooms and the rest are for businesses, restaurants and shopping. While there are many, MANY other symbols of the failure of north Korea, none are quite as, well symbolic as the Ryugyong and it will be a monkey off of Kim III's back.

I still wonder how many guests the Ryungyong will actually have and how much money it will actually generate. Chinese government officials and the few tour groups aside (who still may be forced to stay on the island in the Taegang for security reasons), who will stay there?

Kim Jong-Un Photo of the week

From kimjongillookingatthings comes a great photo of the new roly poly communist superman:

perhaps the general has just informed him that they are out of complimentary sausages?