Don’t bet on North Korea change
Toronto Sun

Maybe it signifies a change — a breakthrough — in the thinking and actions of the “Hermit regime” of North Korea.

Then again, maybe not.

In any case, Associated Press being allowed to open the first bureau of foreign news service in Pyongyang, capital of North Korea, may be a first step of the country joining the rest of the world.

Just how free and “objective” AP reportage will be from North Korea, is anyone’s guess. AP’s North Korean bureau chief is Jean Lee, who will live outside the country and periodically visit to supervise reporter Pak Won Il and photographer Kim Kway Hyon — both North Korean subjects.

Pinkberry co-founder pleads not guilty to tire iron assault
Los Angeles Times

Pinkberry co-founder Young Lee pleaded not guilty Monday to felony assault for allegedly beating a homeless man with a tire iron over a sexually explicit tattoo.

Lee, who remains free on $60,000 bail, was granted a one-time dispensation by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Upinder Kalra allowing him to travel to South Korea.

In return, he consented to automatic extradition should he fail to return to court March 5, the date of his next scheduled hearing.

Lee has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon in connection with a June 2011 assault on a transient on a 101 Freeway off-ramp.

Second Korean-American up for brigadier’s rank in U.S. military
Korea Herald

Col. John M. Cho of the U.S. Army has been nominated for the rank of brigadier general.

If his nomination is approved by the Senate, Cho will become the second Korean-American to join the ranks of generals in the U.S. Armed Forces. Before Cho, the U.S. Marine’s Daniel Yoo, who was made a brigadier general in February 2011, was the only Korean-American to gain ranks above colonel.

Two North Jersey women indicted in large-scale fraud ring
Bergen County Record (N.J.)

A federal grand jury in Newark indicted two North Jersey women on charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud on Friday.

Rita Kim, 48, of Fort Lee and Hyon-Suk “Clara” Chung, 49, of North Bergen were named members of a large-scale identity and financial fraud ring.

Ringleader Sang-Hyun “Jimmy” Park confessed earlier this month to running an operation in Bergen County that fraudulently obtained and sold driver’s licenses, Social Security cards, credit cards and other identifications. The customers, primarily of Korean background, in turn peddled millions of dollars through fraudulent loans, according to the indictment.

New fire-expert analysis allowed in father’s 1990 arson conviction
Philadelphia Inquirer

A federal appeals court ruled Friday that a man who contends that he was wrongfully convicted of setting a 1989 fire that killed his daughter may have a prominent fire expert examine any remaining physical evidence to determine whether the fire was accidental.

The ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit came in the case of Han Tak Lee, 76, who is serving a life sentence. His lawyers argued that he was convicted by junk science and that research since his 1990 trial has debunked many of what were once considered ironclad indicators of arson.

5 Questions with Daniel Dae Kim
The Peninsula blog via Korea Economic Institute

What was it that made you change your career path from law to acting during your university days?

DDK: For me, when I was going through college, there was a lot of tension between what I felt I should do and what I really wanted to do. It was unfortunate that the thing I wanted to do didn’t fall in line with what was expected of me. As much as I do love politics and government, the thing that I felt that my heart led me to was acting, and so that’s why I changed course.

The Chef and the Critic
Wall Street Journal

David Chang and Peter Meehan prove that the chef and the restaurant critic can break bread together. With a bestselling cookbook and a cool new magazine, they’re revolutionizing the way we talk about food, one cranky comment at a time

Lloyd Suh asks: What was Jesus like as a teen?
San Francisco Chronicle

Three years ago, playwright Lloyd Suh galvanized Magic Theatre audiences with the world premiere of “American Hwangap,” a funny, affecting family reunion for a separated Korean American couple and their disaffected children. Now Suh, 36, is preparing for another premiere at the Magic, “Jesus in India,” described as a play about what happens when a teenage Jesus of Nazareth runs off with Abigail of Galilee to the land “of Maharajas, punk rock and really good weed.”

The concept isn’t as snarky as it may sound. Suh grew up in the suburbs of Indianapolis among a “fairly active Korean church population” that “would gather every Sunday for services and Bible study in Korean.” He now lives in Brooklyn with his wife and their infant daughter. We reached him during a work break from rehearsals, at the Lark Play Development Center in Manhattan.

Editorial: Racial dispute in Texas
Korea Herald

An ongoing racial dispute in Dallas, Texas, involving a Korean-American gas station owner and the local African-American community draws our concern for its possible impact on the life of the Korean immigrants in the area and elsewhere. Reasonable efforts should be made to prevent mistakes by individuals from causing unnecessary racial clashes.

A Park, who runs a gas station and a convenience store in the predominantly black South Dallas, seems to have somewhat antagonized poorer customers for his refusal to accept debit cards for transactions below $10 and relatively high gas prices. An argument occurred on Dec. 9 between Park and Jeffrey Muhammad, a minister at the local Nation of Islam mosque, when the latter wanted to use his debit card for a $5 purchase.

South Korean activists send socks to North Korea in balloons
USA Today

South Korean activists have floated giant balloons carrying boxes of socks into North Korea. The activists hoped Saturday that North Koreans could wear the socks or trade them for food during the harsh winter. Associated Press video showed five helium-filled balloons rising into the air at an observation post in the South Korean border city of Paju.

How Standardized Tests Stunt the Intellectual Growth of Asian American Students
8Asians

Standardized testing was pretty much invented by the Chinese. As an American of Taiwanese and Chinese heritage, this means that standardized testing is part of my ethnic and ancestral heritage. The fact that Asian Americans tend to score better than everyone else on standardized tests is not news to anyone. I mean, after 5,000 years of test prep culture (there’s even a god of testing), it’s not really a surprise right?

But what are the consequences of all this standardized testing? After a lifetime of school here in the United States spanning from pre-school to my Ph.D. in Education (20 years of school), as well as 14 years as a professional educator in both public school and private settings, I’ve given this a lot of thought. I’ve come to the conclusion that standardized tests, a vestige of ancient China, stunt the intellectual growth of not just Asian American students but of all students.

Korean golfers: The magic formula
The Economist

ON JANUARY 29th, Lydia Ko (pictured) became the youngest woman ever to win a professional golf tournament. At 14 years old, she’s not yet old enough to drive a car. But she can drive (and putt) a golf ball well enough to beat a pack of adult pros. This staggering achievement provokes a question: Why are Korean women so good at golf?

South Korea beef farmers struggle for aid, sympathy
Los Angeles Times

South Korean beef farmers, hurt by oversupply and low prices, press for more government aid, sometimes taking drastic action. Too drastic, some say.

In South Korea, quirky barber and his shop retain following
Los Angeles Times

Lee Nam-yul is a third-generation old-school barber with a preference for scissors over electric cutters. He and his ramshackle shop are a fixture in Seoul.

Park Scores Against Liverpool, But United Out of FA Cup
Chosun Ilbo

Park Ji-sung of Manchester United shone against the club’s biggest domestic rival on Saturday, but even a blistering performance from the Korean midfielder could not prevent his team from losing their fourth-round FA Cup against Liverpool on Saturday.

Huh’s sharp learning curve continues at Torrey Pines
Reuters via Chicago Tribune

John Huh carved out another memorable chapter in his whirlwind introduction to the PGA Tour when he surged into contention for the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines on Saturday.

Playing in only his second event on the U.S. circuit, tour rookie Huh, who calls himself a Korean-American after spending about half his life in each country, fired a four-under-par 68 in the third round to end a picture postcard day of dazzling sunshine on the southern Californian coastline in a tie for second place.

Kim Jong-un May Join Powerful Military Organization Next Year
Yonhap News Agency

The youngest son and heir apparent of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il could assume a powerful military post next year as the communist regime inches toward a third-generation hereditary succession, a South Korean report said Wednesday.

The Research Institute for National Security Affairs (RINSA) at the Korea National Defense University said Kim Jong-un could be named the first vice chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission next year. Kim Jong-il serves as the chairman of the organization.

The Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment 2011: Power 100 – #96
The Hollywood Reporter

Nelson doesn’t come across as terribly impressed with herself. Her last movie hit it big, she says, because “we got to explore these characters more deeply. Everyone working on the film — the cast, the crew — knows these characters so well. And everybody has such a great time doing it.”

That’s the case with a lot of movies and probably a lot of sequels. But not every movie sees the same scale of success as Kung Fu Panda 2: With worldwide box office of about $650 million, the animated 3D sequel to the 2008 original has become the highest-grossing film directed by a woman.

Derek Kirk Kim’s Same Difference: Slacker Korean-American Kids Come of Age in the Bay Area
Boingboing.net

Same Difference is the story of Korean-American 20-something slackers in San Francisco who wrestle with the stereotypes and ambitions that they feel guide their lives. It has the feel of vintage Douglas Coupland, a drifting ennui shot through with moments of human warmth and connection. And though it’s a quick read, it leaves a lasting emotional coal smouldering in its wake.

South Korea Sack Coach Cho
ESPN

And despite South Korea currently sitting top of their 2014 World Cup qualifying group, a shock 2-1 defeat to Lebanon in their last outing has left the 2002 World Cup semi-finalists precariously poised going into a crunch final game against Kuwait, who could qualify at their hosts’ expense if they win in Seoul.

KBS announced Cho’s departure on Tuesday and named Afshin Ghotbi, Choi Kang-Hee and Hong Myong-Bo as the Korean Football Association’s preferred replacements.

Seoul to let all Native English Speaking Teachers go by 2014
The Marmot’s Hole

A Seoul Metropolitan Council official said according to a poll, students and parents preferred Korean instructors fluent in English over native speakers, and that the council plans to slash Seoul Office of Education’s budget for personnel costs for native speakers.

In the next fiscal year, the city plans to reduce the 30 billion won budget for native speakers by 4.9 billion won; it appears 707 native speakers—57% of the 1,245 total—will leave their schools.

Oxford’s Kim at Home on the Court and in the Classroom
Rockdale Citizen (Conyers-Rockdale County, Ga.)

Kim also sports a 5.5 point-per-game average and scored a team-high 15 points in Oxford’s 89-63 victory on Sunday against the Greenville Titans. And while he’s one of the Eagles’ tallest players, he’s comfortable taking charge of the ball in transition.

“Sam’s a multi-purpose player,” Oxford coach Roderick Stubbs said. “He can play anywhere from point guard to center. And he’s an excellent passer and looks for people in the open court. And he’s our leading rebounder. He brings a lot to the table and helps us to function better.

“We put in a system where if you get the (defensive) rebound, then you’re the point. So he’ll go get it and can run the point and look for people in transition. He loves that.”

South Korea Steps up Enforcement of Cold War-era Law Banning Praise of North Korea
The Washington Post

Since a conservative government took power in 2008, indictments have shot up under a South Korean security law that makes it a crime to praise, sympathize or cooperate with North Korea. More than 150 were questioned and 60 charged in 2010, up from 39 questioned and 36 charged in 2007, officials say.

In another sign of stepped-up enforcement, a South Korean government agency launched a team on Wednesday that will examine Facebook and Twitter posts and smartphone applications to cope with what it says is a growing volume of illicit content, including violations of the security law.

South Korean Leaders Quit Party Posts in Vote Scandal
The Wall Street Journal

South Korea’s ruling political party fell into crisis as three of its seven leaders quit their posts and others tried to distance themselves from a scandal involving legislative aides who police say tampered with the government election agency’s computers during recent polling.

The Crazy Cutting Edge of Korean Hair
The Guardian (U.K.)

The Korea Hair Show in Seoul is a showcase for the most out-there developments in contemporary hairstyling. They’re unlikely to inspire many copycat styles – unless your name is Lady Gaga.

For more photos, check out the gallery.

Access to caregiving can have barriers for immigrants
Baltimore Sun

Banghwa Lee Casado, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work, conducted a study of 146 Korean American caregivers in Maryland and northern Virginia to examine access barriers to using home- and community-based programs, such as respite care, adult day care, home health and transportation services.

Casado’s research found a good majority of her subjects had never used these services. A lack of awareness was the most cited reason for not accessing these services. For instance, more than eight out of 10 reported having no knowledge of respite care and caregiving support group.

“We know anecdotally they have limited resources,” said Casado, who presented her findings at The Gerontological Society of America conference last month in Boston. “But without the data, we can’t show evidence there is unmeet need.”

EXCLUSIVE First Look: A TV Wedding, ‘Hawaii Five-0′ Style
AOL TV

Yep, the ‘Hawaii Five-0′ wedding is almost here, and we’ve got the exclusive first look at the big day. In ‘Alaheo Pau’ole’ (Mon., Dec. 12, 10PM ET on CBS) — which translates to “Gone Forever” — Chin and Malia are tying the knot, but not before the Five-0 are called to investigate a crime or two. It seems a man was left for dead in an abandoned WWII bunker, and that is somehow tied to a Jane Doe case the Capt. Fryer (Tom Sizemore) is working on.

The National Film Society interviews Joy Osmanski
YouTube

Affable actor Joy Osmanski joins the National Film Society to talk headshots, Hollywood and Jonah Hill.

The Set of Hawaii 5-0: Daniel Dae Kim, Grace Park, and Lauren German
Giant Robot

Our friends at Giant Robot take a behind-the-scenes look at Hawaii 5-0.

Television has such a fast moving pace that the director can’t scrutinize every moment of every word. There’s trust between the sound, multiple camera angles, and how the lines are delivered. Daniel answers, “the intonations can change per take.” He cites that it’s often his own discretion, and they’ll pick one of them. Even the hmmms, yeahs, and extra unscripted sounds that the actors make might get edited out, but are used to keep in rhythm of the scene. There are plenty of lines to memorize in a scene like this, and while some actors can memorize them after reading them once, the director cites Kiefer Sutherland as one who memorizes them instantly. Grace Park reveals that she works on them days early. Two days early is her technique for success. Then she goes over it again and again. Daniel Dae Kim who started off with a Law and Order Episode said that some of the old pros on that show read the lines right before the take for the first time, and fired them off perfectly.

Blake Shelton Records a Duet With Dia Frampton
Taste of Country

When asked whether or not she and her coach have been working on material together, Frampton answered with an enthusiastic “Yes!” before going into more detail.

“I wrote a song with some friends (who also knew Blake) in Nashville. The song is called ‘I Will,’ and when I sent it to Blake he said he’d love to sing on it,” she revealed. “He took time out of his busy schedule to come record his part, which meant a lot to me. He’s been so supportive through all of this. He’s working overtime as a coach.”

Dia graced the cover of KoreAm’s October 2011 issue.

South Korean orchestra, conductor strike discordant note
Los Angeles Times

There’s a musical mutiny playing out in this city’s hallowed concert hall, a discordant note not usually heard from the nation’s premier symphony orchestra.

Musicians in crucial chairs of the KBS Symphony Orchestra have either walked out or been dismissed, taking their instruments with them. Others are donning protest T-shirts and offering subpar work during practices and even some performances.

Such sourness stems not only from hard financial times and a trend toward declining salaries but the reappointment of an unpopular American-trained conductor. Many veteran musicians with the 55-year-old symphony orchestra are irate about controversial conductor Hahm Shinik, who many say can’t tell an oboe from a French horn.

“During rehearsals when the tune is off, the conductor doesn’t know,” one musician told the JoongAng Daily newspaper here. “Furthermore, he doesn’t recognize the distinction between different instruments.”

At rallies, the musicians have chanted: “We don’t want a circus. Make the unskilled conductor step down.”

The impact of Michelle Rhee’s ‘culture of urgency’
Washington Post

Here’s a vaguely negative opinion column about former D.C. public schools chancellor Michelle Rhee.

It is an almost universal tribute offered about Michelle Rhee’s 3 1/2 -year tenure of the Washington D.C. school district — that if she accomplished one thing, it was to instill a sense of urgency in the city about the need to fix broken schools that had failed children for decades.

Infant found outside church; ‘God let people hear the baby crying’
Chicago Sun-Times

The cries of a newborn girl abandoned in a grocery bag at a Schaumburg church led congregation members to discover her tucked under a teddy bear and a bath towel. But her rescuers think there was something more that helped them find the baby as the Gospel Presbyterian Church emptied after Sunday services.

“I definitely feel God was working in this situation,” said Bob Song, a church elder who helped find the 5-pound, 9-ounce girl. If no one had heard the newborn crying Sunday from inside the green, recyclable grocery sack, she might not have been discovered for two days because the church is typically closed and empty on Monday.

“That would have been too late,” Song said, worrying that the baby could have died by then. “I felt so good that God let people hear the baby crying.”

The article also noted that the baby was Asian.

Find Debbie Lee’s Restaurant, Win $100
LA Weekly

Be the first person to figure out where Debbie Lee is opening the brick-and-mortar location of Ahn Joo Snack Bar (already rolling around LA as a food truck since last year), and you could win a $100 gift certificate to the place. The Korean pub grub concept officially opens on November 10th. We keep hearing it’s in Hollywood, but what do we know?

The first person to correctly reveal the “secret” location of Ahn Joo Snack Bar by snapping a picture of it and tagging it @AhnJooLA on Twitter, will receive a $100 gift certificate, as well as an invitation to the restaurant’s opening celebration.

Kim Jong-il ‘Only Old-School Dictator Left’
Chosun Ilbo

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is the only “old-school” dictator in the world now that Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi is dead, wrote William Dobson, a former editor of Foreign Policy magazine and Newsweek, in the Washington Post on Sunday.

Dobson classified dictators into “20th-century old-school dictators” and “21st-century dictators.” “So-called 21st century dictators have realized the high cost of pure dictatorship so they repress their populations indirectly through legality, procedure and process instead of iron-fisted control,” he said.

North Korea Rents Out Its Resources to Stave Off Reform
New York Times

In September, under the flags of North Korea and China, North Korean workers began digging at Haesan, a hilly town near the Chinese border, kicking off one of several joint mining ventures. On Oct. 13, a Russian train chugged across the border to celebrate the restoration of a dilapidated Soviet-era rail link between the Russian city of Khasan and the North Korean town of Rajin.

At Haesan, China acquires copper, one of the many abundant mineral reserves lying next door waiting to be exploited. At Rajin, Russia wins access to an ice-free port to export Siberian coal and take in Asian goods it wants to transport to Europe. From both projects, the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, counts cash.

These and other similar deals North Korea is striking with its two Cold War-era allies, especially China, are creating a predicament for the South Korean government.

Trio of restaurants brings cultural diversity
Daily Trojan (Univ. of Southern California)

One of the earliest people to foresee the potential of the [downtown L.A.] Arts District was restaurateur Jason Ha, who restored a historic building into an Asian-fusion sushi restaurant in 2002.

Ha is a pioneer in revitalizing eastern Downtown’s dining scene. When he first came to the United States at 19 years old, he barely spoke a word of English. Walking around the college cafeteria with his lunch tray, he determinedly introduced himself to different tables each day with the only English sentence he knew: “Hello, I’m Jason. How are you?”

A couple of decades later, and Ha is now a Californian-ized Korean. He speaks perfect English with a California twang but retains dramatic Korean expressions. His skin is tanned from years of windsurfing with multi-ethnic friends, but he still attends a Korean church.

Most eco-friendly tours in Korea
CNNGo

Becoming a tourist hot spot may mean fame and money for the locale, but it can often bring destruction to the beauty that prompts people to go there in the first place.

While eco-friendly tourism has been gaining popularity around the world and organizations such as the International Eco-Tourism Society have been around since the early 1990s, environmentally friendly tourism in Korea is only a recent development.

According to Good Travel, an environmentally responsible travel agency in Seoul, eco-tourism has is becoming more and more popular within Korea.

Here are some the most ecologically interesting tours in Korea that are also focused on conservation.

The Great GQ Pants-Off
GQ.com

Check out Hawaii Five-O’s Daniel Dae Kim in this GQ photoshoot.

This March we announced the Best New Designers in America and asked each of the six winners to redesign a pair of Dockers khakis. Here, Daniel Dae Kim of Hawaii Five-0 wears the pants.

the zombie engagement photos… set to music!
angryasianman

By now, you’ve heard of Ben and Juliana, the badass couple facing off against a zombie in those awesome engagement photos that went viral last week. But if you can’t get enough of them, check out this cool video by our composer pal George Shaw, who actually wrote a score and set the photos to music:

Check out the iAmKoreAm.com story about the zombie engagement photos and interview with Juliana!

Asian Americans face new stereotype in ads
Washington Post

Here is an interesting piece on Asian Americans in TV commercials that points out that Asians are often cast as tech support-types with technological know-how.

‘Walking Dead’: Four New Clips Feast On Your Brains
MTV.com

At a scant 11 seconds each, the clips themselves don’t show, tell or even imply much new information about the season, but they do feature pretty much the most important of the show’s assets: Realistic-looking zombies and stark, abject terror. Featuring returning castmembers like Andrew Lincoln, Steven Yeun, Laurie Holden and others, the teasers show off the bleak, zombie-infested world established in the series’ first six-episode season.

Producer imbues Korean color to math animation
Korea Times

“Team Umizoomi” is a popular animated show for preschoolers airing on [Nick Jr.], solving everyday problems using math. Milly, her brother Geo and robot friend Bot work in a team, travelling in Umi Car to settle such daily problems as fixing a watering can.

The animation has a hint of Korean culture — the characters fly kites and the patterns on Milly and Geo’s clothes and of the buildings come from traditional Korean designs. Soo Kim, producer and design director of the show, has contributed to its unique atmosphere. “The characters have simple black eyes, just like Koreans,” Kim said in a telephone interview with The Korea Times.

Born in Korea, Kim immigrated to the United States when she was a child. She majored in pre-medical studies as most Korean-American children do.

Check out our April 2010 feature story on Kim and Umizoomi.

USC’s Dornsife College introduces new minor in Korean Studies
The Daily Trojan

Beginning this semester, USC is offering a new minor in Korean Studies. The 20-unit minor will cover the political, economic, social and cultural changes in Korea. It will be interdisciplinary in nature, with course subjects spanning departments such as cinema, history, international relations, language and critical studies with a particular emphasis on Korea. There is no language requirement, but students are welcome to take Korean language courses to fulfill minor requirements.

Chiu and Kim are making a quick trip to Burning Man
San Francisco Bay Guardian

Board of Supervisors President David Chiu will take a day off from his busy mayoral campaign next week to attend Burning Man, which he’ll fly into on a small private airplane along with Sup. Jane Kim and spend less than 24 hours on the ground.

Daniel Henney Says He’s a ‘Regular Korean Guy’
soompi.com

Daniel Henney is handsome.

Choi Sung Bong confesses that he tried to commit suicide
allkpop.com

The “Korean Susan Boyle” told CNN, “I felt like my life was meaningless so I attempted to commit suicide multiple times.” He added, “I felt calm when I listened to music, music was my only friend when I was lonely.”

In First, South Korea Votes on Social Policy
New York Times

Voters in Seoul went to the polls on Wednesday to do what South Koreans had never done before: cast ballots in a referendum on welfare policy — in this case, whether to provide all children with free lunches regardless of family income.

For weeks, placards supporting or opposing the proposal have greeted citizens throughout this metropolis of 10 million people. Although the referendum was confined to the capital, it assumed national proportions with all political parties joining the debate in a sign that, after decades of bickering over civil liberties, the economy and North Korea, they were now entering the largely untested field of social welfare.

‘House’ exec: ‘Charlyne Yi is perfect casting’
digitalspy

House creator David Shore has claimed that new cast addition Charlyne Yi is “perfect” for her role.

The Knocked Up actress will appear in the medical drama’s eighth season as a junior doctor who joins House’s diagnostic team.

Yi’s father is Korean and Caucasian, her mother is Filipino.

Q&A with Singer/Songwriter Clara Chung
theotherasians

OA: What does it mean to be Korean American to you? How strongly do you identify with your background?

CC: I’m very much Korean-American. As far as music goes, I haven’t felt any stigma, put downs, or obstacles for being Korean or Asian. I am part of a local community of LA singers and songwriters and I feel really accepted.

Seoul Warns of Latest North Korean Threat: An Army of Online Gaming Hackers
New York Times

The North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has found a novel way of raising badly needed cash, according to the South Korean authorities: unleashing young hackers on South Korea’s immensely popular online gaming sites to find ways to rack up points convertible to cash.

Despite its decrepit economy, North Korea is believed to train an army of computer programmers and hackers. The police in Seoul said Thursday that four South Koreans and a Korean-Chinese had been arrested on charges of drawing on that army to organize a hacking squad of 30 young video gaming experts.

Hyun-a’s Latest Music Video Too Racy for TV Censors
Chosun Ilbo

The sexy dance moves of 19-year-old Hyun-a, one of the members of girl band 4minute, has caused Korea’s TV watchdog to place a partial ban on screenings of the pop video for her latest song, “Bubble Pop.”

Top 5 Korean Diet Trends
CNNGo

Even though the largest sizes at most clothing stores in Seoul seem to run equivalent to a U.S. size zero, Seoulites are constantly on the lookout for the newest-fangled ways to shed kilos and get that perfect body.

Bridgewater [N.J.] crash victim dies; other driver facing careless driving, drug charges
mycentraljersey.com

A man involved in a serious car accident on July 29 died due to his injuries Thursday, when police also announced that the other driver in the incident is facing three drug charges and a charge of careless driving.

Byung S. Kim, 37, of South Korea succumbed to severe head trauma he suffered during the accident, according to police officer Allen Mele of the Bridgewater Police Department’s Traffic Safety Bureau. The other driver, 18-year-old Alexandra Gerraputa of Massapequa, N.Y., is facing charges of possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession of narcotics in a motor vehicle, possession of drug paraphernalia and careless driving, Mele said.

Students get to be Korean for a day
JoongAng Daily

Kim Bong-gon, 44, brought his best manners to Sungkyunkwan University last week, when he led a workshop on traditional Korean etiquette for a group of students from overseas who were in Korea to attend an international, student-organized forum.

Kim is a renowned etiquette instructor who has just made a new film that he hopes will help further his mission of introducing students, both Korean and foreign, to traditional Korean culture. The students at the forum were among the first to see the film, which Kim will also present overseas in the fall.

Unwanted Missiles for a Korean Island [OPINION]
New York Times

Gangjeong, a small fishing and farming village on Jeju Island 50 miles south of the Korean peninsula, is a pristine Unesco-designated ecological reserve where elderly Korean women sea divers, haenyo, still forage for seafood. It is also the site of a fierce resistance movement by villagers who oppose the construction of a South Korean naval base on the island that will become part of the U.S. missile defense system to contain China.

Daniel Dae Kim in ‘Arena’ Trailer
angryasianman

Marine not guilty in hazing of lance corporal who committed suicide http://t.co/Vdd4rNQ1

Top Chef Texas Recap: Week 14 -- This week’s episode is a straight up tearjerker and totally messes with our emotions. http://t.co/MNNLvmLH

Black-Korean Tensions Flare in Dallas http://t.co/DmhWDH2q

Thursday’s Links: Jeremy Lin, Steven Yeun, Alina Cho, Park Chu-young, Katherine Heigl's adopted daughter http://t.co/SoOIZoou

Koreatown Roars Against Gerrymander - LA Weekly http://t.co/m0TQ80ls