I Got Korean Love

Kim Jong-Il possibly suffered a stroke: US intelligence

johnnytalkback — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 12:54:50 +0000

A portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il displayed at an entrance of the foreign ministry in Pyongyang

WASHINGTON (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has apparently suffered a health setback, “possibly a stroke,” a US intelligence official said Tuesday, noting he had not appeared at a 60th anniversary parade.

“It does appear that Kim Jong-Il has had a health setback, possibly a stroke,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The official said Kim appears to have fallen ill in “the last couple of weeks.”

Kim failed to appear at a massive military parade in Pyongyang Tuesday, marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the secretive Stalinist state.

But there were no outward signs of a struggle to succeed him, the official said.

US intelligence was “pretty confident” of its assessment of a health setback, the official said, saying a stroke “possibly is what it looks like now.”

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack declined to comment about the reports on Kim’s health and absence from the parade.

“Obviously, this is a very opaque regime, so I’m not in a position to offer any comment to you,” McCormack said.

He said he could comment only on North Korea’s failure to press ahead with arrangements for verifying the internationally-agreed disablement of its nuclear weapons program.

“We don’t necessarily have a good picture into the decision-making processes of the North Korean regime, but we can see very clearly outputs or lack of outputs,” McCormack said.

“And thus far we have, over the past several weeks, we have not seen outputs in terms of their agreement to a verification regime,” he said.

“So that’s where our focus is on,” he said.

He again acknowledged that North Korea has also taken steps toward restarting the Yongbyon nuclear reactor by moving equipment that had been in storage back to former positions.

However, he said there is no sign the reactor is operational.

A US official dealing with North Korea could not comment on the health reports but noticed that the reclusive Stalinist state has become even more opaque than usual.

“It’s been tough getting answers out of Pyongyang in recent weeks,” the senior official told AFP, referring to answers to questions about the deadlock over North Korea’s nuclear program.

North Korea last week announced that it has stopped work on disabling Yongbyon, and would consider rebuilding the plants, because Washington has failed to drop it from a terrorism blacklist.

The Yongbyon reactor is at the heart of Pyongyang’s decades-old nuclear weapons drive and produced the plutonium for its October 2006 atomic test.

Last year North Korea sealed a landmark deal with the United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia to abandon all its nuclear weapons in exchange for badly needed energy and economic aid and security and diplomatic benefits.

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BoA is going to Debut her first US Track

johnnytalkback — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:43:19 +0000

BoA will do more than tell us about her US debut at her press conference this Wednesday - she’ll also sample her debut song.

Does this mean that her English album is already in the works or even better, already completed? If so, does that mean that BoA cross over to the states earlier than we anticipated?

Watch out for the details from her press conference this Wednesday!

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Consulate in LA will setup an Emergency Storhouse

johnnytalkback — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:42:50 +0000

South Korea’s Consulate General in Los Angeles will set up a warehouse for the storage of relief materials as part of efforts to counter natural disasters.

Consul General Kim Jae-soo said Tuesday that the office decided to set up the warehouse upon request by the Korean community in L.A. following a five-point-eight magnitude earthquake that shook Chino Hills near L.A.

Measuring 50 square meters, the underground warehouse will be the first of its kind for Koreans in L.A.’s Koreatown.

The storehouse will hold enough tents, blankets, water, food, emergency medicine and batteries for some three-thousand people. The Korean community plans to organize a fund-raising event to purchase the relief items.

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Kathleen Stephens is the New Amb. to Seoul

johnnytalkback — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:42:18 +0000

Kathleen Stephens was sworn in as the new U.S. ambassador to South Korea at the State Department in Washington on Tuesday.

Stephens is scheduled to arrive in Seoul later this month and succeed Ambassador Alexander Vershbow. She will be the first female U.S. envoy to Seoul.

Last week, Stephens met with experts on Korea and listened to suggestions on various issues, including North Korea’s nuclear and human rights issues and the South Korea-U.S. alliance.

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Do Kara make Better sluts then cute girls

johnnytalkback — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:41:43 +0000

AllKPop.com asked this question after seeing Lee Hyori perform with Kara on the SBS Inkigayo 500th episode. They performed Hyori’s hit single “U-Go-Girl”

Engaging in biased religious activities banned among Civil Servants

johnnytalkback — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:40:45 +0000

The government deliberated on a revised plan that seeks to prohibit civil employees from engaging in biased religious activities during a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office Tuesday morning.

Under the revised plan, a ban on biased religious activities is clearly stipulated in public service regulations. Also under the plan, public servants who are found to have engaged in discriminatory religious activities will face severe penalties.

The government drew up the plan upon orders from President Lee Myung-bak, who urged for the strengthening of related laws and regulations late last month.

An official at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said the government’s recent move comes amid demands by the Buddhist community to set up regulations that underline religious neutrality by civil servants.

The official said that with the move, the government hopes to improve its ties with the religious sector and believes the religious circle will appreciate the government’s efforts.

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Hyori Lee Pops Up Again

johnnytalkback — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:39:43 +0000

You know that Chae Yeon is out of the loop when she is sporting on-stage fashions from 2007. While Lee Hyori has moved on to spandex, and Suh In-young cleaned up (but still looks like a man), the 28 year old pop star holds on to the black knee high leather boots, and striped tank top.

Chae Yeon performed at the 2008 Dongdaemoon Fashion Festival on September 5^th 2008. The fashion festival runs until September 11th.

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Negotiations on the return of U.S. military base go nowhere

johnnytalkback — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:39:21 +0000

Negotiations on the return of U.S. military base sites to the Korean government have been practically halted since 2006.

The Ministry of Environment said a pollution check on the closed-down base in Busan, Camp Hialeah, was last conducted in May 2006.

The ministry had requested Camp Hialeah allow it to inspect the 540-thousand square meter compound. However, the U.S. side turned down the request and banned the inspectors’ entry. The ministry couldn’t continue with the inspection without the U.S. military’s approval.

Since then, no additional environmental inspections have been conducted on U.S. military base sites in the nation.

The pollution inspections are required in order to take back the sites from the United States.

Therefore, the delays at 42 other sites, including the Yongsan Garrison, are inevitable.

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Jung Sun Hee is not to blame for Ahn Jae Hwan death

johnnytalkback — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:38:49 +0000

There is at least one piece of good news that has come out of this tragedy.

According to the police, Jung Sun Hee and Ahn Jae Hwan did not file for a marriage license after their wedding, which means she doesn’t have the legal obligation to repay the debt Ahn Jae Hwan owed.

I’m sure nothing can replace her late husband or help relieve the pain of her loss, but at least she’s freed from all the financial worries that could easily have haunted her after Ahn Jae Hwan’s death.

FYI, it’s becoming a common practice not to file for marriage licenses in Korea these days.

Ahn Jae Hwan ended his own life in his car sometime between August 21st and September 7th, 2008. The police are currently investigating the case to determine the exact date of his death.

RIP Ahn Jae Hwan.

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MTV to Air Big Bang’s “Making of Video”

johnnytalkback — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:38:20 +0000

VIPers must be jumping for joy. MTV Asia will release Big Bang’s “Making of Video” for “Haru Haru” and “Oh My Friend”, covering behind the scenes and short interviews with the members. Big Bang’s “Making of Video” episode will be aired in all countries that fall under the MTV Asian umbrella.

The exact air date is dependent on each country’s schedule, but many are predicting that it’ll air before the month’s end.

Big Bang’s “Making of Video” will air sometime during the second week of September in Korea.

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