korea

However the rebellion in Libya began, it was both inevitable and entirely predictable that it would quickly become an opening for imperialist intervention and counterrevolution in the oil-rich North African country.

The fact that the “rebellion” received sympathetic, screaming headlines, ferociously hostile to the government of Moammar Gadhafi from the very beginning, should have been sufficient to put the entire anti-imperialist movement on guard. The boiler-plate propaganda about “massacres,” without the slightest evidence, was repeated as if it were the gospel truth. That should have been further evidence of the plans for “great power” intervention (“great” in their oppression, as Vladimir Lenin pointed out long ago).

As white Americans move into the minority, some are claiming they're the ones now subject to racial oppression. Do they have a case?

For a small, nerdy cluster of folk -- social science and cultural studies wonks, market researchers, armchair political pundits -- this month is the Super Bowl, Oscars and Olympics rolled into one. That's because the next few weeks will see the gradual, yet grand unveiling of data from the 2010 U.S. Census, an event literally 10 years in the making.

The joint military, exercises between South Korea, and the US have entered their third day. The drills have brought protesters from both DPRK and South Korean pacifists.

South Korea and the US are continuing their joint annual drills, despite repeated warnings from the DPRK.

The 11-day exercises are code-named Key Resolve and Foal Eagle and feature some 200-thousand South Korean and nearly 13-thousand US troops taking part.

But many South Koreans disagree with their government. A group of peace protesters held a rally in front of the defense ministry, calling for government to stop causing more tension and to resolve issues on the peninsula through dialogue.

Kim Hwan-YOUNG, Peace Protest Leader, said, "The DPRK is reacting very sensitively over the campaign and it's understandable. The campaign shouldn't be staged unless we're at war."

Meanwhile, the DPRK has repeated its condemnation of the exercises. State media issued commentaries, saying both the North and the South should create an atmosphere of dialogue to try to build trust. However, South Korea and the US insist on holding the exercises, openly challenging the DPRK.

Maclean's article sparked overdue rebellion against powerful voices claiming racial discrimination is not a problem

Maclean's magazine has struck a match. Now a firestorm of criticism is headed its way. Canada may never be the same.

On Nov. 25, Victoria city council unanimously adopted a motion, submitted by veteran councillor Charlayne Thornton-Joe, criticizing Maclean's for their article 'Too Asian' in their widely read special university rankings feature edition (Nov. 2010). The motion, unanimously adopted, described the title of the Maclean's article as "offensive and intolerant" and criticized its contents for "propagating a litany of racial stereotypes."

I agree and Thornton-George and the council deserve credit for speaking out against a media giant. Their action demonstrates how far we have come from the bad old days.

A Recap on the past news about "Too Asian" in Maclean's publication that triggered off public anger over it's racist content targeting Asian Canadians in higher education.

CCNC Statement on Dialogue with Maclean’s
Monday November 22, 2010

The Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC) and Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter (CCNCTO) held a media briefing today to report back on the dialogue with Maclean’s magazine on their article entitled “Too Asian”?

Toronto, ON – The Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC) and Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter (CCNCTO) held a media briefing today to report back on the dialogue with Maclean’s magazine on their article entitled “Too Asian”?

CCNC and CCNCTO and a number of community organizations met with Maclean’s on November 12th and again on November 17th for hour each time. Maclean’s had offered to publish a letter from CCNC in a future edition. CCNC and CCNCTO, after consulting with various community organizations responded with a 4 point proposal:

Just five gold medals were presented Saturday at the Asian Games in a rather rather slow-paced denouement for an event the Olympic Council of Asia president referred to as “one of the best ever.”

Zhou Chunxiu won the women’s marathon in the morning, giving China its 198th gold medal of the games, one shy of its eventual record total, and Myanmar took its first two—in the men’s and women’s doubles finals in sepaktakraw.

OCA chief Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah told a closing news conference that even a military conflict on the Korean peninsula during the games could not damage its image.

North and South Korean “athletes stood shoulder-to-shoulder to compete even though there had been some problems in their countries,” Al-Sabah said.

The closing ceremony on Saturday evening began with an impressive display of fireworks from the 600-meter (2,000-foot) Canton Tower and along the Pearl River, the focal point of China’s third-largest city of 10 million.

BEIJING - Chinese analysts have refuted criticism that China is not acting responsibly enough to address the recent increase in tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

It is evident that China is actively making diplomatic efforts to ease the tensions and pushing for contacts and talks among relevant parties, they said, adding that these facts should not be ignored.

John McCain, a senior U.S. senator said China "is not behaving as a responsible world power" in dealing with the Korean Peninsula situation.

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs and the House Armed Services Committee has called on China to suspend economic and energy assistance to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to show the DPRK consequences for its "aggression."

China does not control the DPRK, and China's actions are made out of a respect for other sovereign states and humanitarian considerations, said Zhu Feng, professor at Peking University's School of International Studies.

This post does not imply, excuse or justify the recent North Korean attack on Yeonpyeong but instead we hope to present a clearer understanding of the situation at hand and to put pressure on both Korea to find a peaceful resolution, with or (even better) without U.S intervention.

The primary concern that needs to be addressed here is ensuring the situation does not deteriorate and avoid an unnecessary escalation of war. Thinking back to Professor Chomsky lectures, it would be enough to give us reason to not support irrational "eye for an eye" resolution or even possibly a strategically orchestrated war.

We, as responsible moral human beings should set a better example and do what it takes to inform others well on how to avoid another Vietnam, Iraq,  Afghanistan and again Korean war.

Privy.net Highlights 360 Must-Visit Places to Eat, Drink, Stay, Play, Shop, and Relax in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES – (U.S. ASIAN WIRE) -- November 17, 2010 -- Private travelers’ network Privy.net has launched the “Privy 5 Los Angeles Guide” to help visitors and locals discover the best LA has to offer, particularly in the realm of authentic Asian cuisines such as the very top restaurants that serve Korean Barbeque, Shanghainese, Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup, Dim Sum, Japanese Sushi, Hotpot and Vietnamese Pho.

Introducing the ultimate world wide Asian food guide with reviews by Asian and Asian American celebrities.
Private travelers' network Privy.net has launched the "Privy 5 Los Angeles Guide" to help visitors and locals discover the best LA has to offer, particularly in the realm of authentic Asian cuisines such as the very top restaurants that serve Korean Barbeque,Shanghainese, Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup, Dim Sum, Japanese Sushi,Hotpot and Vietnamese Pho.

As technology advances and the world becomes smaller, we are becoming as a nation, increasingly sophisticated and diverse. In this
new global landscape, few understand this international perspective as much as Schema Magazine. As one of Canada’s premiere sources for “ethnic cool,” Schema has been making waves with its coverage of pop culture news, feature interviews, and perspectives that speak to the minds of the new multicultural generation of Canadians. With its popular in-depth feature series, “But Where Are You Really From?” Schema asked readers to describe their experiences defining their identities. Now, Schema seeks to probe further into the quest for cultural definition, by hosting Balikbayan, Schema’s first-ever travel writing contest!

In partnership with Dot Asia, Schema invites its Canadian readers to answer this thought-provoking question:

“As a second or third generation Canadian, how has international travel to your
country of cultural origin changed your worldview?”

On 13 August, Noam Chomsky delivered a speech at the Peking University in Beijing. Chomsky, one of the leading public intellectuals of our age, is famous for his political activism and contributions to linguistic and philosophy. The talk, titled Contours of World Order: Continuities and Changes, was mostly about two dominant threats facing humanity: nuclear wars and environmental degradation.

While Chomsky has re-emphasized his criticisms on the United States, he has also expressed his opinions on China. In Chomsky’s view, emerging countries like China and India still have a long way to go to challenge the America. Of particular concern is the environmental cost of China’s development model, and the many internal and social problems that China has to tackle. This week, the Southern Metropolitan Daily publishes an interview with Chomsky. An excerpt of the interview is translated below.

The most anticipated film of the summer had its big Hollywood premiere at Mann's Chinese Theatre on Tuesday, and fans carrying both English and Japanese-language signs stood patiently behind barricades, waiting (some since 6am) to catch a glimpse of their favorite actors. Photographers crowded each other for shots of Marion Cotillard and Ellen Page. Security guards positioned themselves on either side of Leonardo DiCaprio as he walked along the street to greet his fans and sign autographs. One of the earlier stars to arrive, Ken Watanabe gamely waved at the fans, inciting cheers as he walked down with his wife Kaho Minami.

China Daily - BEIJING, July 14 (Xinhaunet) -- Looking good trumps health concerns as cosmetic lenses attract the eyes of the trendy, Todd Balazovic and Wang Wen report

Korean singer Park Jae-beom, former leader of popular boy band 2PM, has signed with U.S. online media company Digital Media Wire (DMW) to manage his career.

DMW announced on its official website (www.dmwmedia.com) Friday (U.S. time) that its CEO and entertainment lawyer Ned Sherman will be "representing artist Jay Park with respect to his global entertainment career."

"We are thrilled to be working with Jay," said Mr. Sherman in the post. "He is incredibly talented and has the work ethic, talent, charisma and fan support to have a big career on a global level."

He went onto say that it is "rare that you come across an artist like Jay. He really loves and cares about his fans and it shows. We are working on a number of big projects which we will be announcing soon.”

By Blogger Orvillelloyddouglas

Yu-Na Kim of South Korea earned her gold medal. Her free skate was excellent, flawless, and wonderful. Kim is the Olympic champion, and the judges got that result right. However, some critics on the Internet are suggesting that the judges are racists and they did not want an Asian female sweep of the Olympic medals in figure skating. I agree with this cogent assessment. Since Joannie Rochette is a white Canadian woman, the judges made sure a white female slipped into third place to prevent an Asian sweep.

Korean actress Jun Ji-hyun is set to appear alongside Chinese movie star Zhang Ziyi in a new film by Wayne Wang, according to her agency Sidus HQ on Wednesday.

The film, titled "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan", will be based on the 2005 novel of the same title by Chinese-American writer Lisa See.

Set in 19th century China, the film chronicles the lives of two women -- Lily and Snow Flower -- and their intimate lifelong friendship. Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi is set to play the main character Snow Flower while Jun's role in the film has not been decided as of yet.

Wanye Wang, a Chinese-American filmmaker, has directed several notable movies such as "The Joy Luck Club" (1993), "Maid in Manhattan" (2002) and "Smoke (1995)", for which he won the Silver Bear award at Berlin International Film Festival.

Ever felt a little uncomfortable or weird when you see these types of pictures circulating in Hollywood? it seems rather too frequent that these western  celebrities have sudden decided to show off their new Asian babies.

Although we could never quite put the finger on it but if you were suspicious enough then perhaps your instincts could be enough to show that you care. The answer is YES it;s likely something is 'fishy' going on.

There is a possibility that these kids should not have been placed in their hands to begin with.

From a westerners perspective they are starting the "Happy Family with the odd Asian baby trend" or the stereotypical " I-Know-whats-good-for -Asian-people". While they parade around showing of their Asian babies these celebrities could just as well be quite ignorant. Sure at a glance some would say 'Oh they look so nice together' but in reality these kids were probably possessed through adoption exploits and scandals.

SFGATE - A group of community leaders and journalists did something seemingly unusual last week - they started a newspaper, the Nichi Bei Weekly.

But while its introduction comes as economic pressures are forcing publications to scale down or close, it also comes at a time when the audience for ethnic media is bigger than ever.

According to a study earlier this year by New America Media, a San Francisco group that represents 2,000 ethnic news organizations around the country, readership in this sector increased by 16 percent over the last four years.

Still, it won't be easy. Despite an increasing readership, the ethnic press hasn't escaped the same downturn in advertising that has hurt mainstream publications.

The fledgling Weekly, in fact, was born out of the demise of the Nichi Bei Times, Northern California's oldest Japanese American paper.

Xinhuanet - The Liberal Democrats, Japan's ruling party, conceded a crushing defeat on August 31 as voters overwhelmingly cast their ballots in favor of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). And Prime Minister Taro Aso, leader of the LDP, said he was to resign as Party leader after the election defeat.

This election outcome has given a full proof of Japan's prevailing mainstream public opinions. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has ruled Japan for more than half a century since it was formed in 1955, and so the Chinese government has been acquainted with its policies toward China. The Chinese side, nevertheless, is not so familiar with the China policies of the DPJ as well as their impact on Sino-Japanese relations.

Of course, the DPJ would surely treasure the political power it had longed for many years and eventually succeeded to win, implement its election promise in developing economy and improving the people's livelihood, so as to enhance and consolidate the basis of its power.

ChosunNews - It was a memorable day for a Korean New Zealander Melissa Lee. In the general election that day, Lee became the first Korean immigrant to get into parliament on the ruling National Party list.

"I had never been as happy as that day except when I gave birth to my baby," Lee, in Seoul to attend the 2009 Future Leaders Conference hosted by the Overseas Koreans Foundation, recalled Monday. "It was the day when my old dream came true. In elementary school in Korea, I always wrote down 'president' when we had to fill in surveys asking what our future dreams are."

She moved to Malaysia with her family when as a fifth grader, and to Australia when in her first year of high school for better prospects for university. After she graduated from university in 1988, she relocated to New Zealand with her family.

ROTTERDAM - South Korea's Ki-Chun Wang retained his -73kg title at the world judo championships on Thursday while Japan's Misato Nakamura clinched the women's -52kg crown.

Olympic Games silver medallist Wang was the favourite going into the tournament having won the Paris and Moscow Grand Slam titles this season and claimed his victory over North Korea's Kim Choi Su.

"Once you are fighting, the nationality of your rival is of no importance," said Wang of an opponent who has now won North Korea's third world medal after 10 years of failure.

Wang, just 20, had lost to Elnur Mammadli in the Olympic final last year, but the Azerbaijan judoka was missing from the tournament which cleared the way for the Korean star who had also been first in Tokyo and in the World University Games in 2009.

Wang, who two years ago became the second youngest-ever world champion, reached the semi-final by defeating Sezer Huysuz of Turkey.

Endthekoreanwar.org - July 27th is the 56th anniversary of when the United States signed a temporary armistice with North Korea to halt the fighting of the Korean War. Across the United States, five cities—Honolulu, Los Angeles, New York City, Oakland, and Washington, DC—held candlelight vigils to commemorate the signing of the armistice.

The armistice wasn't something to be celebrated because it only provided a stopgap measure to stop the fighting. The Korean War didn't end with a permanent resolution, without a peace treaty.

But it was significant at the time in 1953 because within three years, two million soldiers, including 37,000 U.S. troops, died. Three million Korean civilians were killed (1 in 10), and the entire Korean peninsula was decimated.

Koreanet - Thanks to the Korean wave, or "Hallyu" boom, movie lovers can see more Korean movie stars in Hollywood films these days.

Most recently on July 29, a group of Japanese fans flocked to Seoul to see Korean actor Lee Byung-hun at a press conference to mark the launch of his latest movie “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” with his co-stars Sienna Miller and Channing Tatum and the director Stephen Sommers (who made "The Mummy 3" (2008)).

Lee Byung-hun captured the hearts of Asian fans on the popular SBS drama "All In" (2003) co-starring Song Hye-gyo, and also his movies including "A Bittersweet Life" (2005) and "The Good, the Bad, the Weird" (2008). Lee's filmography has attracted the attention of other Hollywood film directors like Steven Spielberg and James Cameron.

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has issued a "special pardon" to two American journalists convicted of sneaking into the country illegally, and he ordered them released during a visit by former U.S. President Bill Clinton, North Korean media reported early Wednesday.
The release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee was a sign of North Korea's "humanitarian and peaceloving policy," the Korean Central News Agency reported.
Clinton, who arrived in North Korea Tuesday on an unannounced visit, met with the reclusive and ailing Kim — his first meeting with a prominent Western figure since his reported stroke nearly a year ago.
North Korea accused Ling, 32, and Lee, 36, of sneaking into the country illegally in March and engaging in "hostile acts," and the nation's top court sentenced them in June to 12 years of hard labor.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

CHICAGO – Most people are familiar with the popular catchphrase, “youth are the future.” Youth coined in this saying are dubbed to become the next generation of educated leaders in their communities and their country. Young people who graduate from high school and go onto college are likely to fit this wishful description.

Yet some 65,000 undocumented high school graduates nationwide are forced to opt out of attending college every year. Most cannot attend college, or if they do, receive no financial support from the U.S. government. These are students who have grown up in the U.S. their whole lives, brought here by their hard working immigrant parents so that they can receive a better education. However the reality of going to college if you are undocumented is limited. Many argue it’s due to a broken immigration system that continues to deny basic human rights to the estimated 12 million immigrants living and paying taxes in the U.S. today.

Joongang - A large portion of Koreans born in the United States, Canada and some other countries with sizable time differences with Korea have two different birth dates on their passports and social security numbers.

That’s because Korean law mandates that Koreans born abroad have their births registered in Korean time, not local time. For example, when a Korean couple gives birth to a baby in New York at 1 p.m. on July 10, it translates to 2 a.m. on July 11 here.

The baby will have July 10 as a birth date on his or her U.S. passport and Social Security card, while the baby’s residence registration certificate and Korean passport will have the later date. And in extreme cases, a person born on the last day of the year can have even the year of birth extended due to the time gap.

Double nationality holders complain they are at time mistaken for being illegal immigrants. Sometimes, they can even be black-listed by overseas immigration offices.

New Jersey - "We wanted to do something more," said Se Ri Pak, the tour's best-known Korean player and winner of five major championships. "We want to do something for the community, and for Americans."

The LPGA Tour long has been considered one of the most ethnically diverse professional sports organizations on the planet. Once dominated by Americans and Europeans, nearly a quarter of its exempt players are now from South Korea.

Last year, three of the women's four majors, including the U.S. Open, were won by Asian players (the fourth was won by Mexican Lorena Ochoa). And of the 24 top players on the Rolex World Ranking list of female pros, half are Korean -- and only five are American.

Starting Thursday, golfers from 21 countries, including the United States and Puerto Rico, teed it up for the first three rounds of the 64th U.S. Women's Open in Bethlehem, Pa. Eight of the top 16 players going into Sunday's final round were Korean.

One of the dumbest things you can do is pay to be insulted, yet many Asians and Asian Americans do it on a regular basis. Both Asians and Asian Americans indiscriminately pay to see movies. Movies that constantly depict them in stereotypical roles, martial arts masters, accented untrustworthy foreigners, sneaky dragon ladies, terrorists, or evil gangsters, exotic, submissive sex objects, asexual, or chauvinistic Asian men and Asian women who exclusively date White/Black men (as depicted in media), or who are oppressed.