South Korea

Just in case North Korea wasn’t in the news enough for its recent capture of two American journalists and its new threat of a missile launch, the country has just sent its soccer team to Seoul to take on South Korea in a qualifying match for the 2010 World Cup. After nearly a half hour of play the score remains tied at 0-0. AFP reports: “The North, who last made the World Cup finals in 1966, have 10 points from…

Hamid Tehrani of Global Voices conducted an email interview with me about my forthcoming book, tentatively titled The Internet of Elsewhere. Cyrus Farivar is a USA-based blogger, journalist and writer. He is currently working on a book about the impact of the internet on society. Cyrus writes about internet impact on Iran, Senegal, South Korea and Senegal. He was recently in Iran and has taken several photos of Iranian carpets, food, buildings and nature too. Q: You visited Iran recently…

My current Craigslist listings: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/hsh/338239882.html http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/wet/338252040.html

I’d heard some people talk about train links between North and South Korea when I was there last month, and now, it’s finally happened. For the first time since the Korean War that a train has crossed the DMZ. Yes, it’s historic and emotional and all that, but really, as Reuters points out, this deal is all about the money: To entice the North to allow the historic rail crossing, Seoul has offered $80 million in aid for its light…

Well, my three weeks in South Korea has come to an end. I tried (seriously) to make it up to North Korea, but it was going to cost me too much money and there was a 50/50 shot that the paperwork wouldn’t come through anyway. Too bad. I did get to go to the DMZ and eat Pyongyang-style noodles, so that’ll have to be good enough. I can’t thank everyone enough, who’s made my time here such a success. In…

Aaron‘s wife, Soo Jin, first showed me this commercial in Busan last weekend. IHT, February 9 2006: SAN FRANCISCO – The Bush administration is drawing up plans to further tighten the noose around North Korea by barring financial firms investing in Pyongyang from conducting business in the United States. Washington is moving fast to capitalize on Pyongyang’s alleged counterfeit dealings, but so fast that it is omitting a major factor: Korea is reunifying. At Incheon International Airport in South Korea,…

I’m not really sure what to make of my trip to the Korean DMZ (De-militarized Zone), and actually standing a few feet inside of North Korea for a few minutes. The best analogy that I can come up with is being taken to a zoo, and watching the lion cage. You’re impressed at seeing these hulking fierce beasts that you’re led to believe are vicious killers who will stop at nothing to tear you limb from limb. They feed you…

Remember those octopus tentacles I mentioned earlier? I wasn’t kidding.