Taking their own advice?

Today's Korea Times has a staff editorial about the struggles of Korean parents to pay for private tutoring for their children. The KT concludes:

"Solutions won’t be easy to find. Yet, in order to lay the groundwork for
the country’s sustainable development, our overspending problems in education should be rectified as soon as possible. In particular, it would be urgent to reduce demand for private education by upgrading public education. Now is the time for parents to change their mindset on getting a college degree."

1) I guess I was in the policy battles in Washington, DC, for too long. I now skip past the analysis, statistics, new hip phrases and get right to the conclusion/alleged solutions. The last paragraph finally mentions the lack of solutions. If they had one, they probably would have started the staff editorial with that.

2) So the Korea Times says public education needs to be upgraded.

Questions
* How long has the Korea Times been saying that?
* How likely is public education to be upgraded anytime soon?
* And if it isn't upgraded anytime soon, then what?
* Could it be in Korea's competitive education world that parents will never be truly satisfied with the public option, always seeking to get ahead? Meaning the comment that public education needs to be upgraded is a meaningless statement...

3) The Korea Times concludes: "Now is the time for parents to change their mindset on getting a college degree." I wonder how many of the reporters, educators and upper-management at the Korea Times lack college degrees? Are the children/grandchildren of Korea Times staff waiting for public education to be upgraded before enrolling their children in private institutes? It is easy to say what others should be doing with their own time, resources, and lives without taking your own advice.

* * *

Death isn't funny. Well, not usually. But it is hard not to laugh at this story: "Man killed while trying to create Bigfoot sighting."

KALISPELL, Mont. (AP) — A man dressed in a military-style "ghillie" suit and apparently trying to provoke reports of a Bigfoot sighting in northwest Montana was struck by two cars and killed, authorities said.

The man was standing in the right-hand lane of U.S. Highway 93 south of Kalispell on Sunday night when he was hit by the first car, according to the Montana Highway Patrol. A second car hit the man as he lay in the roadway, authorities said.

Flathead County officials identified the man as Randy Lee Tenley, 44, of Kalispell. Trooper Jim Schneider said motives were ascertained during interviews with friends, and alcohol may have been a factor but investigators were awaiting tests.

"He was trying to make people think he was Sasquatch so people would call in a Sasquatch sighting," Schneider told the Daily Inter Lake (http://bit.ly/PWJvA5) on Monday. "You can't make it up. I haven't seen or heard of anything like this before. Obviously, his suit made it difficult for people to see him."

Ghillie suits are a type of full-body clothing made to resemble heavy foliage and used to camouflage military snipers.

"He probably would not have been very easy to see at all," Schneider told KECI-TV (http://bit.ly/PkdWMO ).

Tenley was struck by vehicles driven by two girls, ages 15 and 17, who were unable to stop in time, authorities said.

1) I love these kinds of stories. When the cops are discussing the details, how do they stop themselves from bursting out laughing.

2) The trooper says alcohol "may" have been a factor. May have been? Either that or drugs, that's the test doctors should be waiting for.

3) Could you running over something that looks like a bigfoot? The guys were unable to stop in time--and in my case, I probably would have driving, not sure I would have believed what I had seen and not wanting to take a chance on the thing catching up to me.

Eunkoo Lee: TNKR's #1 Settler

If I could convince TNKR co-founder Eunkoo Lee that we needed to start executing volunteers, then she would quickly come up with a schedule with their names and execution times. She would do it fairly and orderly, accepting no exceptions or changes. If I suggested a change, then an argument would start about me being "Mr. Changeable" interrupting the schedule. That is how I have worked with Eunkoo Lee over the past seven years. She must be convinced, but once she believes in something, she charges ahead. What she is NOT interested in is public relations or dealing with media. I say this to people, but they don't believe me. But like the minister said after witnessing a baptism, "Not only do I believe in baptism, but I've seen it done!" * * * It has happened again! Someone noticed that my bio is much longer than Eunkoo's. I have heard a number of gripes from people over the years, ranging from Eunkoo should be featured more to I should step aside

Helping North Koreans 'strike the blow' (Korea Times)

H ave you ever engaged in action not because you were sure it would change the world, but to satisfy your own heart? That, I emailed to an American friend, is why I have joined the effort to help North Koreans who are trying to escape from their homeland. I can’t change the direction of policy in North Korea or China but I can row the boat I am sitting in rather than lamenting that I can’t steer the yachts somewhere else. So I have tried to do what I can: Attending protests in front of the Chinese embassy in Seoul (and I plan to do so when I visit America in April); donating money to the Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights ( www.nkhumanrights.or.kr ); educating myself, writing articles and emailing friends; and, as a member of the board of trustees, I recently submitted a resolution to the Frederick Douglass Memorial and Historical Association (FDMHA) in Washington, D.C., to try to call attention to the plight of North Koreans. Our organization’s missi

North Korean defector seeks justice (Korea Times)

It was international news when 12 North Korean waitresses and a male manager who worked at a restaurant operated by the North Korean regime in China arrived in South Korea in 2016. The waitresses have mostly maintained a low profile. There have been numerous accusations and assertions, with some saying the waitresses didn't want to escape, some accused the Park Geun-hye administration of playing politics by releasing details of the case, etc., etc., etc. My blog at the Korea Times today features an exclusive interview with one of the former North Korean waitresses who filed a criminal case against the former manager. You can read about it here on the Korea Times website. https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2023/02/728_345165.html Keep in mind that there are many more facts to the case and that it is much deeper than this brief excerpt of her comments. She also shared legal documents that I shared with the Korea Times well in advance to give them time to review the case. *

2020-05-21 Goodbye, Katty Chi

I had heard through the grapevine and now it has been verified: Human rights activist Katty Chi has passed away. She is one of the first people that I met when I got involved in this cause. The first time was in 2012, at an event at the South Korea's National Assembly. She was super cool, one of my favorites as I used to say even when she was alive. And that is the important time to say such things, when people are alive. Whenever we met, I would say to her, "You know what happens when you meet me?" She would say, "Yeah. Time to take a photo?" I'm glad we did. And from Hyun S. Song, a close colleague of hers: And from Liberty in North Korea, the definitive announcement, August 4, 2020

Breen's column that outraged Samsung

“What People Got for Christmas” Michael Breen The Korea Times December 25, 2009 At this time of year when Seoul’s bare winter trees are wrapped in beckoning lights ― blue and white are the in colors ― and Merry Xmas signs at hotels and department stores are really saying come-hither-gentle-reveler-and-empty-your-purse, and when expensive restaurants belch noisy year-end office party groups onto every street and the karaoke rooms are full, it is tempting to declare that Christmas has lost its soul. But that would be a mistake. Christmas is a time for giving, and, before they can be given, gifts have to be bought. Commerce is good. Here, as proof, is a round up of some of the gifts given and received today by people in the news. Samsung, the world’s largest conglomerate and the rock upon which the Korean economy rests, sent traditional year-end cards offering best wishes for 2010 to the country’s politicians, prosecutors and journalists, along with 50 million w

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