After School made their way back to the K-pop scene after a year-long hiatus with a “polarizing” new routine that accompanied their title track of their new mini-album, First Love. The music video, which was released earlier this week with the single, features the girls pole dancing as they sing about their first love.

The members of After School, whose ages range from 18 to 29 years, join several other girl groups pushing the limit in their routines and performances to differentiate themselves from the competition. From HyunA’s sexy girl to 2NE1’s bad girl image, the experiments have resulted in a wide range of results, from being banned on TV to finding their niche. After School’s pole dancing, however, could arguably be the most physically arduous — but perhaps the most engaging for audiences.

The Wall Street Journal reports that After School spent seven months in intense rehearsals. Before the broadcast of their first live performance on Mnet, the girls showed the calluses on their hands which came as a result of their training. One of the members, Lizzy, ended up injuring her right leg during practice, forcing her to sit out the live performances. Continue Reading »

South Korea Says It Misidentified Source of Cyberattack
New York Times

The South Korean government said on Friday that it was mistaken when it identified an Internet address in China as the source of synchronized cyberattacks that paralyzed the computer networks of banks and broadcasters.

The Korea Communications Commission, a government agency, said the Internet address actually belonged to a computer at NongHyup, one of the three banks affected by the hacking on Wednesday. It was mistaken earlier, it said, because the address, used only for the bank’s internal network, was identical to a public Internet Protocol address in China.

Such an I.P. address is useful for tracing the location of an Internet-connected computer, though experts say that that computer could be controlled by hackers operating elsewhere.

Apply international law to cyber-warfare? Good luck
The Economist

FIRST North Korea complained about a cyber-attack from “hostile forces”. The main sign was that the state’s news agency went briefly offline last week. Some thought it might be a mere power cut. Then it was the South’s turn—on a bigger scale. On March 20th two big banks and three broadcasters were crippled. Screens went blank; on some, skulls popped up. ATM machines froze.

Both episodes highlight the ambiguity of cyber-warfare. Tensions are high on the Korean peninsula, so either side might well attack the other. But a purported attack could also be used to justify posturing—or retaliation. Attribution (detecting a cyber-attacker’s fingerprints) is hard and can be impossible. A defence-ministry spokesman in Seoul said it would be “premature” to blame the North. One attack seemed to be by a hacker group calling itself “Whois”. Investigations will take months.

North Korea’s threats: Five things to know
CNN.com

Video propaganda showing the White House and Congress being blown up. Talk of hitting U.S. bases in the Pacific. The reunciation of a 60-year-old armistice that has kept the tenuous peace on the Korean Peninsula.

It seems barely a day passes without another North Korean threat, and coming after the December launch of a long-range rocket and a third nuclear test in February, the florid declarations from Pyongyang have gotten the attention of the United States and its allies.

So why now, and how nervous should you be? Here are five things to consider.

South Korea defense chief pick quits in new humiliation for Park
Reuters

South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s nominee for defense chief withdrew his candidacy on Friday, the latest humiliation for her month-old administration as the country faces daily threats of nuclear annihilation from the North.

The blunders with appointments began with the withdrawal of her first choice as prime minister over charges of inappropriate real estate deals even before she took office on February 25.

Park, South Korea’s first woman leader, was also without a finance minister until Friday, when she finally filled the post and two other cabinet seats. Her choice for vice justice minister resigned on Thursday amid a sex scandal.

Long Island Holocaust Memorial to Honor ‘Comfort Women’
Chosun Ilbo

A permanent exhibition about women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army and the country’s atrocities during World War II is to open in the U.S.

The Korean American Public Affairs Committee on Wednesday said it has reached an agreement with the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center in Nassau County in Long Island to set up a special exhibition on the so-called “comfort women.”

The representation of the issue at the respected center will help bring it into clearer focus for many Americans.

New Findings on the 2012 Asian American Vote in NY: 86% Voted for Obama and 67% Support Immigration Reform
ParamusPost.com

86% of Asian Americans polled in New York voted for President Obama and two-thirds support immigration reform, according to the results of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) exit poll in New York, released today. AALDEF conducted a nonpartisan multilingual exit poll of 4,089 Asian American voters in New York in the November 2012 elections, the largest survey of its kind.

Meet Jeremy Scott’s Muse: K-Pop Star CL
ELLE.com

ELLE: What’s your relationship like with Jeremy Scott?
CL: He’s my best friend. He’s like my big brother. He looks out for me. We met each other when he saw the “Fire” video [2NE1’s first single] and flew all the way to Korea to see me. It was actually for a photo shoot for Adidas. He didn’t have to come but he did. You know when you meet someone and you can connect, that click, we had that.

ELLE: You have an empowering song called “Ugly,” about not feeling beautiful. Where did that stem from?
CL: It kinda came from me. I was talking to him in the studio. And no one here understands, but they do back in Korea. You know how Koreans are more strict and people from around the world think that being different is wrong. I don’t understand, you’re unique. I love being myself and love people that are themselves and just, you know, “I’m doing me” type of people. I have respect for those people and love for those people but some people don’t understand that. So for me, I’m seen in public so I’m attacked a lot. I was feeling down one day and talking to him. I was like, “You know, maybe I am ugly to those people.” So we talked on and on and he wrote that song.

TOKiMONSTA releasing new album, playing shows, remixed Justin Timberlake (dates & streams)
Brooklyn Vegan

TOKiMONSTA began picking up more speed as an artist on Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder label, and she’s now signed with big-time EDM label Ultra (Deadmau5, Kaskade, Bloody Beetroots), who will release her new album, Half Shadows, on April 2. From the sound of the album’s two singles, “Go With It” (featuring MNDR) and “The Force” (featuring Kool Keith), she’s not changing her sound to fit in with her labelmates (luckily). Instead, she shows us what the LA beat scene sounds like mixed with dream pop on the MNDR collab, and on the one with Kool Keith, she creates an updated vision of the futurism that Keith was doing with Dan the Automator in his Dr. Octagon days.

TOKiMONSTA is playing a few live dates too, including a record release show for Half Shadows with “very special guests” in NYC on April 9 at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets for that show go on sale today (3/21) at noon. All dates are listed below.

Kristen Kish Promoted to Chef de Cuisine at Menton
Zagat.com

Fresh off her Top Chef win, Kristen Kish has been promoted to chef de cuisine of Menton, Boston’s only Relais & Châteaux property.

The announcement, made today by Barbara Lynch Gruppo, said Kish will officially take the reins beginning June 3, 2013. Kish has been chef de cuisine at Stir.

“As the chef at Stir, Kristen demonstrated her creativity and talents each evening with a new menu,” said Barbara Lynch in a statement. “Watching her – along with the rest of the country – ultimately win Top Chef reinforced what I already knew: She is an exceptionally gifted chef with amazing heart, integrity, and an incredible understanding of what it takes to create beautiful and delicious dishes.”

Roy Choi’s Sunny Spot Brunch Returns Next Week
Zagat.com

It’s only appropriate to have brunch at Sunny Spot when it’s actually sunny, so now that the winter fog is lifting, Roy Choi is bringing back weekend brunch for that bright Caribbean-themed patio on March 30. The menu has a few new dishes, like diablo shrimp and grits, the hangover plate (eggs, beans, rice and plantains) and two-fisted burger, but the banana French toast, the amazing Cuban torta and Sunfire Salad all make a comeback, plus $10 endless Jerk Bloody Marys, mimosas and cava.

Ji Kang of Samar on What He Learned After Restaurant Ownership and Eating Live Octopus
Dallas Observer

The first thing you probably should know about chef Ji Kang is that once he ate squiggling octopus tentacles in Korea. That’s hard-core dedication to local cuisine, even though he swears he’ll never try it again.

Kang, who is the executive chef at Samar, began his culinary career before he even knew it. His grandmother owned a hostel in Korea where she cooked from scratch and was a gracious host to travelers from around the world. Kang was exposed to these traits early life and since has learned just how valuable they are to him now.

Tackling Asian stereotypes in film and TV
Southern California Public Radio

When you think of the most famous Asian characters in film and TV, what might jump to mind are characters like criminal mastermind Fu Manchu; the prostitute who says, “Me so horny,” in Full Metal Jacket; or perpetual foreigner Long Duk Dong in Sixteen Candles.

Not to mention archetypes like the brainiac, or the kung fu master, or the dragon lady.

But these stereotypes that don’t accurately reflect the 14.6 million Asian-Americans in this country.

This Saturday, these images are getting tossed out of the rickshaw they rode in on: the first summit on Asian-American stereotypes takes place at the Japanese American National Museum in LA.

American audiences: I want my international TV
USA Today

TV viewers’ appetites are going global as streaming technology broadens their options.

A host of start-up sites like DramaFever.com and Viki.com are tracking down licenses abroad to provide legal means of watching subtitled shows.

From India’s Bollywood and Korean dramas to Japanese anime and Nigerian movies, more obscure foreign titles are legally accessible — often for free with a few clicks. The start-ups that stream them began with the aim of reaching a niche audience — say, first-generation U.S. residents who miss their home-country TV offerings — but soon found that quality content organically finds its way to a broader swath of viewers.

For example, about 85% of viewers for DramaFever, which specializes in scripted serial prime-time dramas from South Korea, are non-Asians.

Younger car buyers shifting to South Korean, American car brands
Los Angeles Times

Detroit’s automakers are doing better selling to young buyers, but South Korean car companies are making the biggest inroads in that segment, primarily at the expense of the Japanese.

That’s the finding of a study of auto registrations by auto research firms R.L. Polk & Co. and Edmunds.com.

The U.S. automakers are doing better in the age 25-to-34 segment by offering “small, fuel-efficient and affordable cars that really appeal to a young set of buyers,” said Jessica Caldwell, an analyst with Edmunds.com.

But she noted that domestic automakers are “chiseling away at the Japanese grip” while Hyundai and Kia, the South Korean brands, “are taking big hacks.”

Shin-Soo Choo could return to lineup on Saturday
Cincinnati.com

Reds outfielder Shin-Soo Choo said he could be back in the Reds lineup as soon as Saturday. Choo, who hasn’t played in a week because of back spasms, underwent a full workout on Thursday without any problems and if he repeats that success on Friday, he expects to be back for Saturday’s exhibition with the Rangers.

“Yesterday I did the full schedule, batting practice, shagging, running, everything. I felt great, no problems,” Choo said Friday morning. “Today I’ll do it again and if I feel good, I think I’ll play tomorrow. I think.”

Choo was hitting .400/.444/.560 in 11 games before waking up on March 16 with back spasms, an injury he hadn’t experienced before. The Reds admittedly used extreme caution with the 30-year-old.

The Getty explores the mystery of Rubens’ Korean man
Southern California Public Radio

To most of us, there’s nothing mysterious about the Peter Paul Rubens drawing “Man in Korean Costume.” It looks like the title says it should look. A Korean-looking man wearing some sort of voluminous Oriental robe.

But if you know your history, you’d say, “Wait a minute! Korea was incredibly isolated in 1617, when Rubens sketched it. How did he know what a Korean man looked like!?”

This is the mystery explored in Looking East: Rubens’s Encounter with Asia, at the Getty Center through June 9th, the Getty’s first Korean-themed exhibit, and its first collaboration with LA’s Korean-American community.

Sexist Taunt From North Korea Raises Gender Issue for the South’s New Leader
New York Times

When North Korea blamed President Park Geun-hye’s “venomous swish of skirt” this week for tensions on the Korean Peninsula, it brought up an issue that had been mainly unremarked upon in South Korea: Would their leader’s gender color the latest confrontation between the Koreas?

The North Koreans, masters of outrageous propaganda, no doubt picked their phrase carefully for the South’s first female president. “Swish of skirt” was long an insult in Korean culture, directed at women deemed too aggressive, far from the traditional ideal of docile and coy.

Korea fires off short-range missiles: military sources
Yonhap News

North Korea fired off short-range missiles into the East Sea on Friday amid heightened tension following its February nuclear test, a military source in Seoul said.

“A North Korean military unit on drill test-fired two shots of short-range missiles, presumed to be KN-02 missiles, into the East Sea” the source said.

The source did not say the exact time of the launching.

“The launch was seen as testing its capability for short-range missiles. It seemed to be conducted on a military-unit level, not at a national level.”

Fast Fashion’s Challenge: Making Money With ‘Made In The USA’
NPR

Do Won Chang, founder and CEO of Forever 21, is 58, Korean-American and devoutly Christian. Every Forever 21 shopping bag is stamped with the Bible verse John 3:16.

Chang has also had his share of legal trouble. There have been waves of worker disputes over labor conditions that lasted years at a time and even boycotts. Chang has also been charged with design theft for stealing styles from other designers.

In an interview with CNN, Chang said he really had no interest in fashion; he just wanted to make money. And he has done a good job of that; relying heavily on manufacturing overseas, Chang projects $4 billion in sales this year.

Koreans’ Plastic-Surgery Obsession Baffles Tourists
Chosun Ilbo

Tourists cite the obsession with plastic surgery among Korean women as the most puzzling characteristic of the country’s contemporary culture.

Cosmojin Tour on Thursday said in a straw poll of 384 tourists, 48 percent named plastic surgery as the aspect of modern Korean culture they found hardest to understand.

“Many tourists who visited the Gangnam or Itaewon districts of Seoul tell their tour guides that Korean women are beautiful but ask why they look and dress the same,” said a Cosmojin Tour staffer. “For many foreigners, who value individuality and uniqueness, it seems surprising to see Koreans so obsessed with plastic surgery to boost their appearance.”

Banshee: Hoon Lee Talks Season Finale — Everything Gets Brought To A ‘Critical Mass!’
Access Hollywood

AccessHollywood.com: How does it feel to finally be here, at the end of Season 1, knowing you have a Season 2 as well?

Hoon Lee: It’s really invigorating. The response has been so gratifying, really… To see that hard work being received so well is incredibly satisfying and it just gives us a lot of fuel for Season 2. I think we’re kind of in perfect position because I think we are able to go into Season 2 with confidence – not second guessing ourselves — and still have the experience of Season 1 under our belts.

South Korean TV Star Lee Young-ae Opens New Shop
Wall Street Journal

Ten years ago, the success of a TV series about a cook in an ancient royal court turned actress Lee Young-ae into a superstar and a sought-after celebrity endorser for companies throughout Asia.

Now, Ms. Lee is entering business herself.

This weekend, she opens Lya Nature, a boutique selling organic, chemical-free children’s clothing and other items, just up the street from Seoul’s largest palace, in a neighborhood that’s popular with residents and tourists alike.

Hear 2NE1 and will.i.am’s Long-Awaited K-Pop Collision ‘Take on the World’
SPIN

It’s finally here.

A year ago at this time, both Girls’ Generation and 2NE1 looked poised to steamroll the American market and shush those that might suggest K-Pop’s increasingly global conquest would stop here. The former had a Snoop Dogg cosign (and Letterman appearance) in their handbags, and 2NE1, having already stormed Times Square in December of 2011, were rumored to be in the lab with known chart terrorist, will.i.am. It was only a matter of time. But then summer arrived and so did “I Love You,” to relatively little fanfare. Girls’ Generation went largely silent, and then came Psy. You know the rest.

But as of this afternoon, the wait is over:

Korean Enclave In Duluth Served By St. Andrew Kim
The Georgia Bulletin

A Korean Catholic mission in the heart of Gwinnett County’s vibrant Korean-American enclave of Duluth has more than doubled its membership in 18 months.

St. Andrew Kim Korean Catholic Church is located on a stretch of Duluth Highway known as church row, amidst several other Korean churches. Since August 2011, it has grown from 98 registered families to 228 families.

The community expects to continue to share in the fast growth in Gwinnett, where the Korean population overall is 22,001, according to the 2010 U.S. Census. That reflects a doubling since the year 2000. The Korean American Association of Greater Atlanta estimates that there are 100,000 Korean-Americans in Georgia.

Q&A with Phillip Y Kim, financial industry insider and author of Nothing Gained
Shanghaiist

Shanghaiist: You have worked in the finance industry for over twenty-five years, why did you decide to write a novel, and what in particular inspired you to write Nothing Gained?

Phillip Y Kim: I’ve always had creative urges, but was too busy over the years working as an investment banker to properly address them. However, I had accumulated many fascinating and intriguing experiences over the years, and the need to put them in writing finally became irresistible. I chose to write a novel because I felt that I could tell a better story by doing more than just presenting fact. Non-fiction would have also involved exposing too many people and embarrassing matters better left undercover!

How Samsung’s Galaxy S 4 Compares With iPhone 5
Wall Street Journal

Samsung finally pulled the curtains back on the Galaxy S 4, its next flagship Android smartphone, at an event in New York today.

In addition to bumping up the size of the screen from 4.8 inches to 5 inches, the guts of the device also received a significant boost — putting it ahead of the major competition in many technical aspects.

Granted, we haven’t seen the Apple’s next iPhone model for 2013, but for the time being the specifications of the Galaxy S 4 are a significant upgrade.

Kim, an American’s idol, wins short at world skating
Chicago Tribune

Because Kim, 22, had been away so long, she lacked the ranking points to skate in her accustomed position, one of the last in the competition order. That she was 14th starter of the 35 women, in a group with decided also-rans, worked in her favor.

“Because I was so used to competing (in the same group) with so many high-level skaters in the past, this time I was not as nervous,” Kim said. “I was just able to focus. If I did end up competing with top skaters right now, I think I would be more nervous.”

She opened with an impressive triple lutz-triple toe combination, which produced the highest score of anyone in the field for the required jump combination. From then on, Kim was in command, no matter that her time away from competition clearly affected her sharpness.

Kim Yu-na returns to big stage
ESPN.com

Reigning Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yu-na carved out a singular place for herself at the 2010 Winter Games, so it shouldn’t be surprising that her theatrical re-entry to top-level competition would be singular as well.

The South Korean icon glided onto the ice Thursday for her short program at the world championships in an unaccustomed place, not even midway through the field of 35 in a format where the highest-ranked skaters are deliberately shuffled toward the end of the deck. Three minutes later, it was clear she had retained her seamless blend of the ethereal and the athletic after taking the better part of two seasons away from the sport.

World’s 10 best drinking nations
CNN.com

7. South Korea
In South Korea, booze acts like a pressure valve, allowing people to vent frustrations. Booze also acts as a lubricant, oiling the wheels of business.

And, of course, booze acts like booze, getting people drunk.

South Korea’s strict social protocols seem to dissolve in alcohol, with the most hierarchical of relationships turning to brotherhoods by the end of the night, or early morning. A good session involves rapidly soaking up as many “bombs” (mixtures using “golden ratios” of whiskey and beer) as possible and then speaking (or slurring) what’s left of your mind, preferably to your boss.

On 3rd Try, South Korea Launches Satellite Into Orbit
New York Times

South Korea succeeded in thrusting a satellite into orbit for the first time on Wednesday, joining an elite club of space technology leaders seven weeks after the successful launching of a satellite by its rival, North Korea.

South Korea has attached an intense national pride to the 140-ton, 108-foot-tall Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1, or KSLV-1, which was built with the help of Russian technology. Feeling besieged by China and Japan, both of which have successful space programs, South Korea has sought a technological prowess of its own.

That task gained more urgency after North Korea successfully placed a rocket into orbit on Dec. 12. Only a handful of countries have succeeded in independently launching satellites into orbit, with Iran also recently joining the club. After studying the debris of the North Korean rocket, which splashed into South Korean waters, officials here determined that North Korea, despite its backward economy, had built key components of its rocket.

Oikos shooting suspect to be treated at Napa State Hospital
Napa Valley Register (Calif.)

A judge today ordered the man accused of murdering seven people in a shooting rampage at Oakland’s Oikos University last April to be treated at the Napa State Hospital in a bid to restore his mental competency to stand trial.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Carrie Panetta said that based on reports by two psychiatrists who have examined 44-year-old One Goh she “had no other choice but to find him mentally incompetent to stand trial” and suspended legal proceedings against him at a previous hearing three weeks ago.

Panetta said the goal of the treatment for Goh at the Napa State Hospital will be to “progress toward the recovery of his mental competence” so he eventually can stand trial.

Asian-Americans hopeful on immigration reform
WBEZ (Chicago)

From blueprints to bills, the ideas from Washington this week on changing the U.S. immigration system have Asian-Americans in Illinois hopeful. In particular, this time around, they feel that their particular concerns may finally be addressed in a debate that has often focused exclusively on undocumented Mexican immigrants.

“I think that (Asian immigrants) come to the United States in different ways than Mexican-Americans might,” said Tuyet Le, executive director of the Asian American Institute in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. “So even the notion of being undocumented… psychologically, they may have had visas and overstayed them,” she explained, “So even those terminologies are different.”

Asians are about 10 percent of the 11.5 million undocumented immigrants, according to a 2011 estimate from the U.S. Office of Immigration Statistics. They come primarily from China, the Philippines, India, Korea, and Vietnam. Mexicans, by contrast, account for nearly 60 percent of the total. It is not known how many Asian immigrants in Illinois are undocumented, but Asian-Americans are one of the state’s fastest-growing racial groups.

Bringing two worlds together at Resurrection-St. Paul
Baltimore Sun

Winter break is usually just that: a break from school for students across the world. But halfway across the world, the beginning of winter vacation for 10 students in South Korea was spent traveling to the United States, and the rest of the school break was spent, well, in a school.

For nearly a month the students, ages 7-10, attended Resurrection-St. Paul School in Ellicott City, bringing together opposite corners of the world in the classroom.

They’re all students of Kwang Lee and Chun Hee Shin, husband and wife educators from Daejeon, South Korea. The trip was the first manifestation of a newly-formed partnership between Resurrection-St. Paul and Shin’s Success For All school — part day care, part after-school program — modeled in part after the Success For All Foundation at Johns Hopkins University. There, Shin prepares her students for international educational trips to sister schools like Resurrection St. Paul.

Hyundai’s Chung Taps Lady Gaga in Shaking Up Korea Inc.
Bloomberg

[Hyundai Capital Services'] “Ted Chung is probably the most innovative CEO in Korea’s financial industry,” says Jun Yong Wook, dean of SolBridge International School of Business in Daejeon, Korea. “He showed that it’s possible to create new growth in the highly competitive credit card industry, something that hasn’t been done.”

Rob Kim Leaves Untitled Entertainment, Joins APA As VP
Deadline Hollywood

Former UTA agent Rob Kim is joining APA as a VP after a five-month stint at Untitled Entertainment. AtUntitled, Kim served as a literary and talent manager, and was to help set up and run the firm’s new dedicated television production arm. I hear he didn’t feel management was a good fit for him and wanted to return to agenting. Kim is expected to start at APA on Monday.

“We’re thrilled to have Rob join our ranks,” said APA EVP and partner Lee Dinstman. “His experience working with some of the top showrunners, producers and talent in the industry will be an enormous resource as APA continues to grow.”

K-Pop Sensation 2NE1 Dresses Up in Jeremy Scott, Givenchy, and Balmain for Complex
Complex Magazine

If you haven’t noticed, we love K-pop girl groups. They’re perfectly groomed by their labels’ respective training regimen, and know exactly how to tingle our hearts with sugary croons. Their cutesy antics and dazzling appearances also help a great deal. But often times, their actual talents as singers and performers come into question. High heels and coordinated mini skirts can dazzle a fan base only so far.

YG Entertainment’s girl quartet 2NE1 (a play on “to anyone”) breaks that mold. First appearing on the scene in 2009 with the label’s male counterpart Big Bang on a skull-drilling song “Lollipop,” the girls quickly rebounded on the disputed hype with a thumping club single “Fire.” Equipped with air horns, loud streetwear aesthetics, flamboyant rapping, and free-for-all choreography, the group stood out immediately in a market clustered with fembots. Thanks to the self-titled EP’s release, 2NE1 instantly became a hot commodity in the emerging K-pop market. With a successful follow-up, the official debut LP To Anyone, raking in 120,000 copies in sales, and each of the five singles selling an average of two million downloads, the clique of CL, Minzy, Dara, and Bom became international superstars. Psy who?

K-Town’s Jasmine Chang On When She Feels The Most American & Purse Spill
Schema Magazine

We asked her when she feels the most Korean, the least Korean, and the most blended. Here’s what she said!

“I feel the most Korean around my non-Asian friends. I could make up fake stories about the Korean culture and they will never know!

I feel the least Korean when i read the Korean newspaper. It’s so confusing “Como say HUH???!”

Actor wants play on Korean-Japanese friendship to bring hope in strained ties
Yonhap News

A top South Korean TV actor said Wednesday he hopes a Japanese theater play about friendship between Korean and Japanese people in the 1920s would help improve relations between the two neighbors today.

“Relations between the two countries are difficult at present and may get worse in the future,” said lead actor Cha Seung-won during a news conference in Seoul to promote the play. “I hope many Koreans come to wish for a bright future in the relations after watching this play though.

Park experiment nears end as Yun Suk-Young signs
ESPN Soccernet

Ji-Sung Park is free to go. The Asian backers now have a ready-made marketing replacement as South Korean left back Yun Suk-Young has been granted a work permit by the FA.

Now all he needs is a visa, and for an international player who played in London and won a bronze medal at last summer’s Olympic games, that should not be a problem.

It will be a relief that a genuine international class defender, who has age on his side, has arrived at Loftus Road because — let’s face it — the Park experiment has not worked thus far.

Former Investment Banker Enjoys Life More as Yoga Guru
Chosun Ilbo

Yoga instructor Leah Kim recently published “From Office Hell to Yoga Heaven” in the U.S. in both printed form and as an e-book. As the title suggests, Kim escaped her hellish office cubicle and found a mental and spiritual reawakening in the world of athletic stretching and breathing exercises.

Born in Chicago, Kim was raised in the U.S. and is currently living in the U.K., where she runs yoga classes and serves as a global yoga ambassador for Nike.

Kim majored in economics at the University of California at Los Angeles and became an analyst for an asset management company immediately upon graduating in 2003. However, it didn’t take long for her to realize she had not found her calling.

GALLERY: NORTH KOREAN WOMEN OF YESTERDAY AND TODAY
NK News

When Kim Il Sung ruled North Korea, the Flower Girl (the heroine of a popular North Korean theatrical piece) was the ideal of beauty: loyalty, purity and revolutionary ardor were her values. What remains of that today?

North Korea Threatens Violent Response to Propaganda Campaign
New York Times

North Korea threatened on Friday to attack the South if activists proceeded with a plan to send leaflets across the border criticizing the North Korean regime. South Korea’s military said it would immediately strike back if the North did so.

Ex-abductee opens up on years in North Korea
AsiaOne

Former abductee Kaoru Hasuike has written a book that reveals the despair he went through during his 24 years trapped in North Korea, and how his family inspired him to keep living.

Monday marked 10 years since Hasuike and four other abductees returned to Japan. The book, titled “Rachi to Ketsudan” (Abduction and Determination), was published by Shinchosha Co. Wednesday.

N. Korean leader’s nephew labels him a ‘dictator’
AFP via Google News

Kim Jong-Il’s teenage grandson has labeled his uncle, North Korea’s new leader Kim Jong-Un, a “dictator” in an interview that offers a rare glimpse into the world’s most secretive ruling dynasty.

During the interview, conducted at the school in Bosnia where he studies, Kim Han-Sol, 17, spoke of his desire to “make things better” for the Korean people.

S. Korean military to increase phone boxes for defection on border
Yonhap News

The defense ministry said Friday it will install more phone boxes and guidance signs along the heavily fortified border to help usher North Koreans wanting to defect to the South.

It was among a set of border security measures the ministry reported to the parliamentary defense committee amid a public outcry over the recent exposure of a gaping hole in border defense.

The military has been under fire, as it was completely in the dark that a North Korean soldier crossed the land border until he showed up and knocked on the doors at the barracks of a front-line unit on Oct. 2.

Freeholder Candidates Reach Out to Korean Community At Englewood Debate
Patch.com (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.)

Korean American Civic Empowerment (KACE) and the Korean American Civic Action Committee hosted a Bergen County Freeholder candidates’ debate Thursday at the FGS Korean Community Center in Englewood.

Noting that the Korean-American population in Bergen County is nearly 57,000, that 14.5 percent of the county’s population is Asian-American and that 6.3 percent is comprised of Korean-Americans, mostly concentrated in Fort Lee, Palisades Park, Paramus, Leonia, Cliffside Park, Tenafly and Englewood Cliffs, KACE staff attorney and debate moderator Chejin Park said the objective of the debate was twofold.

Owner of raided Central El Paso massage business appears in court
El Paso Times (Tex.)

The owner of a Central El Paso massage business faces an international sex-trafficking charge that might involve forcing women into prostitution.

Agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations arrested In Soon Kim, owner of the Kyoto Hot Stone Spa, 616 N. Virginia, during a raid Wednesday afternoon. Kim faces a federal charge of inducing or coercing an individual into interstate or foreign commerce for the purpose of engaging in prostitution.

Yahoo to Exit South Korea by Year’s End
PC Magazine

The faint outlines of Yahoo’s new global strategy, led by newly minted CEO Marissa Mayer, have been slowing coming into focus over the last few months. Yahoo’s latest move—a complete exit from the South Korean market—provides another glimpse of what Mayer has planned for the Internet giant.

In a relatively quiet announcement late yesterday, Yahoo said “we plan to close our Korean business at the end of this year. This decision is part of our efforts to streamline operations and focus our resources on building a stronger global business that’s set up for long-term growth and success.”

What scares ‘Walking Dead’ star Steven Yeun
CNN

No doubt about it, actor Steven Yeun is in a pretty great place in his career.

He’s on one of the most popular scripted series on cable, “The Walking Dead,” and he’s one of the most popular characters on that series.

On top of that, he is as close as one can get to being a romantic lead on a show about a zombie apocalypse. His character, Glenn, is involved with farmer’s daughter Maggie, and they have the most stable relationship of all of the survivors at this point.

Gangnam fever ‘just the beginning’ for new Korean wave
AFP via Mother Nature Network

The phenomenal success of “Gangnam Style” is just the start of a new surge of attention for Korean entertainment, according to the man responsible for some of South Korea’s biggest films.

“When you look at Korean music or Korean films they are very Hollywood-like in terms of production standards,” said producer Jonathan H. Kim, speaking on the sidelines of last week’s Busan International Film Festival.

“There’s also a degree of people from other countries looking at Korean movies and saying ‘Wow. Their values are similar to ours’.”

2NE1 Bringing K-Pop ‘Girl Power’ Stateside With will.i.am-Assisted Debut
MTV.com

As demonstrated by the undeniable success of overnight sensation Psy and his “Gangnam Style,” Korean pop music, otherwise known as K-pop, is certainly making its mark on American culture. And Psy isn’t the only one making a name for himself, as K-pop girl group 2NE1 (pronounced “twenty-one”) may be the next on the horizon for crossover success.

In just three short years, the group — CL, Dara, Minzy and Park Bom — has sold 27 million digital downloads, was voted MTV Iggy’s Best New Band in the World in 2011 and had their first American performance at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

[PHOTOS] An Exclusive Look Inside North Korea
BusanHaps.com

North Korea is set to complete a 14-year-long face-lift this year, in spite of its people still struggling to survive in the countryside. Niall Cavanagh reports back with the story and an extensive collection of photos from North Korea.

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