The Dokdo Times

American Foods to Face Anti-American Tax

2013-05-19T20:09:00.000+09:00

American-fed vs Korean-fed Mouse American food makers may face taxes to cover the cost of domestic food makers losing business and causing stress to their owners. 36-year-old Independent Rep. Moon Dae-sung has submitted a bill to control sales of 'high-calorie and low-nutrient foods' which 'threaten the public health'. Moon is a taekwondo Olympic gold medalist, who recently came under fire for

Psy Admitted to Harvard

2013-05-12T22:08:00.000+09:00

Korean rapper Psy was admitted to Harvard last week after being specially invited to attend the prestigious American Ivy League school. However, in a nod to the growing effectiveness of the Korean edutainment system, Psy will not be required to study under foreign professors but will instead move straight into teaching younger Harvard students the secret to achieving power and success. Psy's

Troubling Snapshot of Average Korean Teenager

2013-05-10T19:36:00.000+09:00

A troubling snapshot has emerged of the average Korean teenager, and not just because of her skirt length and the angle at which the photo was taken. According to the findings of a survey released yesterday by Statistics Korea and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Women Must Get Married and Have a Family, two out of three teenagers barely get any exercise, half are glued to their smartphones

Anger at BBC Use of 'Human Shields' in North Korea

2013-04-14T21:20:00.001+09:00

The London School of Economics has demanded that the BBC withdraw a television program in which an investigative reporter for the broadcaster is shown traveling to North Korea with a group of LSE students acting as his cover. The British state broadcaster's 'Panorama' reporter John Sweeney posed as one of the LSE's PhD students on a university society trip in order to film undercover in the

'Dokdo' To Be Carved on Every Korean Schoolchild

2013-04-05T21:35:00.000+09:00

Dokdo City - Korean population 210,000 As the threat of war on the Korean Peninsula dominates media headlines around the world, the South Korean government believes it has found a way of keeping the international community's attention on the really important issue of the Dokdo islands, which are Korean territory, by carving the Korean name 'Dokdo' into children. It is hoped that in addition to

Should Nurseries Stop Beating Babies?

2013-04-02T20:38:00.000+09:00

The beating of an 18-month of infant in an Ulsan nursery has raised the question of what the minimum age should be to induct children into Korea's bullying culture. While it has long been accepted that children will be beaten by the parents, school teachers, and later their seniors at university, superiors in the military, elder colleagues in the workplace, and increasingly, their children when

Breaking News: North Korea Offers Unconditional Peace Talks, Unification

2013-04-01T21:41:00.000+09:00

In a statement released at 9.30pm Korea Standard Time the North Korean government through its Korean Central News Agency dramatically announced unconditional peace talks with South Korea "with the firm aim of creating a democratically unified nation under the existing structures of the South Korean state without preconditions." The unexpected statement credited the work of the South's Sunshine

Psy Drops Plans to Promote Porn Site with New Single

2013-04-01T20:21:00.000+09:00

People around the world will not be dancing to the catchy chorus "Eh, Sexy Arab" after Psy dropped a plan to title his new single in honor of a Middle Eastern gay porn site - 'Assarabia' - and changed some of the lyrics. A spokesman for Psy Co. Holdings said the name 'Assarabia' came from the Korean language word meaning "great joy" and the proper title should be 'assaraVia', an argument

Are South Korea's Apple Communists Guilty of Treason?

2013-03-31T20:34:00.000+09:00

Think What We Tell You To It may surprise people to learn that some Koreans' sense of 'minjok', or pure-bloodedness, is so weak these days in the corrosive multicultural world in which we live, that they willingly buy Apple products rather than the homemade Seongsan Galaxy phones which have swept the world in the last few years. But after the revelation that Kim Jong-un - the North Korean

Traditional Korean Slap in the Face Under Threat

2013-03-29T20:32:00.000+09:00

The traditional method of showing affection in the workplace involving slapping a junior colleague in the face may be under threat after the principal of an elementary school in South Chungchong Province found himself in the middle of a controversy over the friendly gesture. Problems arose when the principal hit a teacher in his 30s during a dinner organized to welcome him to the elementary

Infocon: "North Korean" Hacking Attack Hits Banks, TV Networks

2013-03-21T06:50:00.000+09:00

English link? The computer networks of three television companies, two banks and one Internet service provider were paralyzed yesterday by malicious codes from unknown hackers, probably certainly in North Korea according to unnamed officials. The attack began at around 1:35 p.m., typically a time of maximum confusion for many media workers as they try to reorient themselves after lunch. The

Demand for Hitmen in Korea Expected to Peak by 2030

2013-03-19T21:53:00.000+09:00

A survey conducted by Mirage Asset Management last week has revealed how Korean couples' preferences diverge about life after their retirement. As part of the survey, Mirage asked 400 couples in their 30s and 40s living in the Seoul metropolitan area about their ideal retirement home, leisure activities and the amount of time they wanted to spend together. The results from the couples – whose

'Womanification' of Korea Continues as Admiral Yi Portrayed as a Fragile Whore

2013-03-13T06:39:00.000+09:00

No upskirt! Just weeks after the election of the country's first openly female president South Korea's men are seeing their worst fears realized as the so-called 'womanification' of the previously male-centered nation continues abreast. And it seems there are no sacred cows in this insidious campaign of gender realignment surgery after the airing of a KBS drama called "You're the best, Lee

New Ministers Divided on Who Beats President

2013-03-12T23:43:00.001+09:00

The election of Park Geun-hye – Korea's first openly-female president – appears to already be running into trouble only two weeks after she took office, with male ministers said to be deeply divided on which one of them should be responsible for beating her when she makes a mistake. Logically some may believe the task would fall to the prospective Defense Minister, but privately many say that

Busan Foreigner Flash Mob Plan Creates Fears, Panic

2013-02-26T21:26:00.001+09:00

Aliens are coming for you Authorities have expressed concerns about a plan by Busan English FM – a local counterfeit of Seoul's TBS eFM in Korea's second-class city – to create four flash mobs tomorrow featuring non-Korean looking foreigners. Investigative journalists from The Dokdo Times have discovered the flash mobs will be targeted at strategically important sites around Busan – the Sasang

Man Has Plastic Surgery After Stealing 4.7 Billion

2013-02-25T18:44:00.000+09:00

A man in his 30s who stole 4.7 billion won ($4.3 million) from his employer is said to have ended up spending 4.7 billion won on plastic surgery to avoid arrest after miscalculating the soaring cost of cosmetic alteration treatments in South Korea. Police said the man, only identified by his surname Kim, worked in the finance department of a local semiconductor firm. He has been arrested for the

Over 30 Million Sign Up for Mobile Banking

2013-02-25T09:49:00.000+09:00

The number of Chinese people using Korean mobile banking services surpassed 30 million last year for the first time as the smartphone market grew explosively, according to a report released on Friday. The Bank of Korea said a total of 37.05 million Chinese people had signed up to access the accounts of Korean bank customers through their mobile phones, an increase of 13.3 million from the

A Gangnam Style-Harlem Shake Dance Off at the Presidential Inauguration?

2013-02-24T19:32:00.000+09:00

With Korean citizens celebrating the 'Burning of the Lee House' today after the President's residence was dramatically raided by prosecutors yesterday evening, preparations are underway for the inauguration of the Saenuri Party's 61-year-old Park Geun-hye tomorrow, which will include a performance by global superstar, 35-year-old Psy, of "Gangnam Style" fame. A spokesman for the organizers said

Breaking News: Prosecutors Seize Blue House Over Japanese Collaboration

2013-02-23T21:00:00.002+09:00

Tsukiyama Akihiro aka Lee Myung-bak In a dramatic development this evening prosecutors, backed by police, started an operation at 9.30pm to seize the Blue House – President Lee Myung-bak's residence – under an asset seizure law covering the descendants of people who worked for the Japanese during Korea's brutal occupation by the warmongering nation. Japan illegally occupied Korea from 1905

Japan to Build Floating Dokdo Island in Bizarre Territorial Threat

2013-02-19T20:50:00.002+09:00

Japanese bomber launches from floating island Korean defense officials have reacted with alarm today after reports in Japan's right-wing conservative Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper appeared to indicate the former and future colonial Asian aggressor is planning to build a 'mobile Dokdo Island' as part of a bizarre and ridiculous territorial stunt. Described in code as a "super-large floating

K-Pop Star Unable to Watch Own Raunchy Video

2013-02-18T20:50:00.002+09:00

The 17-year-old teen K-Pop sensation who is simply known under one-word stage-name 'Kim' has run into trouble after the raunchy video she was making for her new single received an R-rating, preventing her from watching it. Kim, who was discovered on the Korean reality series "Let's Coke Play! Battle Shinhwa!", said that "making the video was the most difficult thing I've done in my life because

Will South Korea Adopt Neo-Colonial Anti-Discrimination Law?

2013-02-17T20:38:00.000+09:00

South Korea's National Human Rights Council (NHRC) – headed by Justice Minister Kwon Jae-in – said it is actively thinking about considering the adoption of some parts of a comprehensive anti-discrimination law based on recommendations made by the U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC). The UNHRC says the imposition of the laws would improve the freedom and welfare of South Korean citizens, even though

Abe Won't Come to Park's Inauguration

2013-02-16T21:54:00.000+09:00

Abe denied chance to use ninja skills Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has decided not to attend president-elect Park Geun-hye's inauguration on February 25, Japanese media have reported. Kyodo News said Abe will not come to Korea because he has not been invited, but this hasn't stopped the Japanese coming to Korea uninvited before so the decision is being widely interpreted as a snub in

North Korean Nuclear Attack on South Fails Again

2013-02-14T21:35:00.001+09:00

Missed The attempted nuclear attack by North Korea on the South on Tuesday has been met with widespread indifference by the people of Seoul, who have the most to lose in the event of war. The device – which ultimately exploded in North Korea far away from its intended target – was estimated by experts as having a destructive yield of around 7 KT, meaning it could have caused up to seven times

Ahn 'Open to Becoming New First Lady'

2013-02-06T20:20:00.000+09:00

Constitutional vacuum The election of Park Geun-hye is continuing to cause confusion, fear and raise searching questions about the future of Korean society. Experts have said that the election of South Korea's first openly female president has created a constitutional vacuum, even though it is not clear if Park Geun-hye will actually be doing the cleaning in the Blue House. The vacuuming issue