Beware of Korean Men, Japanese Ladies!

Rumor mills of the media are rolling, in effect, that fresh cultural developments in Japan are in progress. Drudge reports have it that matchmaking brokers are doing well who arrange international marriages between Japanese women and Korean men. It's been a weird turn of events that the number of Japanese ladies who venture to cross the East Sea to find their better halves is mounting. In nothing other than Korea, of all the global countries, where all assortments of cheating, humanly possible, are being done.


Asked why they've come to prefer Korean guys, Japanese ladies start enumerating magic charms of machismo Koreano: good looks, toughness and careful consideration. A Korean woman interviewee of the street, asked about the trans-Straits trend, gave a blunt response: Ha! What a nonsense.


As for me, I am inclined to appreciate their high regard for Korean men. But I am also inclined to warn them in advance:Arise from hallucinations. It's been a mirage, if any. Because of those unfounded illusions, the Japanese women might be drifting into dangerous waters. They might be taken advantage of, betrayed and deserted. I want to remind them of an eternal axiom that there's nothing new under the Sun.

Restore Normality , You Japanese Women!

Initially I was pleased with the news--the Yon Sa Ma craze. Then thankful for heartwarming hospitality that Yon Sa Ma's Japanese fans (mostly women) have been offering their admiring star. And then excited over the prospect of rich revenues he would garner.



As days of ceaseless amorous passion go by, threads of human doubts and skepticism erupt in me. Footages of those human rush to a handsome young man of foreign nationality struck me as bizarre, in this age of sovereign states.



Has the Japanese populace come down with a strange plague of the historical amnesia, that they had been terrorizers, from time to time, of a peaceful nation across the East Sea? That they had dominated the peninsula as a colonizer for no less than 35 years? What if members of the fearful Yakuza family went nuts over the"heart-rending" kiddish craze?



It's time you restored normality, you Japanese women, as a human being and as a nation. Stop and maintain human dignity there. Don't mob Yon Sa Ma (Korean movie star Bae Yong Joon) anymore. Don't cross over the "police line". Don't do anything ever to hurt the pride of your husbands, your boy friends and the Japanese men in general.

The Death of a Lonely Man

A sad news alleges that a lonely middle-aged man in his 40s took his dear life by hanging himself at the bough of a tree at his father's grave. His brother-in-law got to the site and discovered the tragic sight. The witness found a note on the spot, which must be designed to be conveyed to his wife and son.


The deceased is reported to have been "a migrant father," who has sent his wife and son to New Zealand. He himself has not migrated to the country, left behind in this country instead, giving a financial support to his family there.


I hit the road for a morning stroll, running into yellow ginko leaves. Fallen to the ground at this chilly winter weather, blown by the wind, scattered and deserted all around. What a pathetic lot.

Food for Thought:Yon Sa Ma Craze

What is all that hussle and bussle about? Why mob him anyway? Is that merely because of amorous feelings he arouse? Is he something of a gargantuan libido? Or caused by the hollowness (emptiness of life) of the women populace, of course, from countries across the national border?


Hilarious Intuition: What do you think of, say, an historic invasion? Isn't it likely? What if Korean military troops (North and South Korean troops combined, if possible,) make a surprise advance, armed and hostile, on the Japanese mainland, and declare annexation of the country into the greater Korea? Of course, with Yon Sa Ma as commander in chief at the front? (Editor's Note: Yon Sa Ma is a Korean movie star in his early thirties enjoying pan-Asian popularity)

Adulteration of Original Meaning

President George W. Bush of the United States is reported to have said to the South Korean counterpart at Santiago, Mr. Roh Moo Hyun, in effect, that Kim Jong Il of North Korea and all that he represents is "a vital issue." The vernacular media, audio and visual, of Korea (Republic of), altogether, have translated the cited phrase into sort of mediocre context: 중요한 문제 (an important matter)


Why adulterate the context? Has the misinterpretation been intentional or thoroughly caused by media ignorance? In the era of Internet age, where the knowledge of language is not only a tool of communication but also a critical weapon, the ignorance at issue has been a disgrace for the nation, which has been in conflict with a totalitarian Fascistic regime in the North.



Important? To have three meals a day is "important recipe". For a democratic citizen to go to a polling station to cast a vote for his (or her) favorite politician, representing him or her, is an "important behavior". But it is not enough for us to say that it's "an important issue" to know how to deal with an enemy state, armed with nuclear weapons and obsessed with the ill-notion to destroy us.


It's not still a matter of grave concern. It's a critical matter at which the fate of our nation is at stake. "To be or not to be" that is the question in this case. It's a mater of "life and death". Matter of fact is that knowledge of semantics is involved here. Therefore, the "semantic implications" of a "vital issue" Mr. Bush delivered to Mr. Roh from a small country should have rung in the latter's ear in the thunderous roar and he should have shuddered with chills running on his spine.

Reverting to Coal Age?

Are we reverting to coal age here in Korea (Republic of)? Sophisticated heating system is being disposed of and traditional heating by the charcoal burning and its transmission through ondol flooring is taking its place. The landscape of camaraderie is rarer, in which colleague guests and their company are vying for bills, and a new custom of Dutch pays is taking its place.