Ask a Korean! News: "Journalism" in North Korea (Part II)

[Series Index]

This is a continuation of Mr. Joo Seong-Ha's discussion about "journalism" in North Korea. Below is the translated article.

*                    *                     * 

The previous post explained the types of North Korean newspapers and the lives of North Korean reporters. This post will discuss how Rodong Shinmun is organized and edited.

Rodong Shinmun has six pages per issue, which is the only North Korean newspapers to do so. Other papers have four pages. Since newspapers are folded and opened, usually they increase or decrease by four pages. A regular South Korean newspaper nowadays usually have 32 pages, sometimes going to 28 pages or 36 pages depending on the amount of advertisements it has to carry. But the six pages of Rodong Shinmun is essentially three sheets of newspaper-sized paper. So the two sheets of paper are connected, but the last sheet of paper comes out as an insert. North Korean people also refer to the first four pages as "main paper," and the fifth and sixth pages as "insert."

Newspapers around the world carry the most important news of the day on the front page. But the front page of a North Korean newspaper carries stories about the current status or deification of Kim Jong-Il, making it the least readable page. North Koreans simply glance over the front page, and turn it over. Day after day, the contents of that page rarely change. In the 1990s when I was living in North Korea, the front page usually carried a story of Kim Jong-Il visiting a military base. Even a collection of years' worth of newspapers rarely sees any change in the pictures and the stories on the front page.

The front page usually carries a picture of an expressionless Kim Jong-Il, standing with soldiers stiff with tension. In the second page, there are pictures of Kim Jong-Il smiling while examining the different parts of the base guided by high ranking officers, pictures of soldiers putting on a performance before Kim Jong-Il, pictures of Kim Jong-Il visiting the mess hall, appearing to be satisfied while holding a cucumber or herbs. Of course, North Korean people are fully aware of the common knowledge that the vegetables at the mess hall are not available all the time -- they are collected at the battalion level to make Kim Jong-Il happy, and the officers take them back after Kim Jong-Il leaves.

North Koreans have been seeing this same picture for over a decade.

Kim Jong-Il's visit, reported on Rodong Shinmun

The stories on the front page usually discuss that on so-and-so day, Kim Jong-Il gave an on-site instruction for such-and-such base of the People's Army, accompanied by so-and-so, giving an address about such-and-such that inspired the troops, etc. -- and the stories are the same all the time. Even the course of Kim Jong-Il's visit is the same: first, pay respect at Kim Il-Sung's memorial, then climb up the fortress, then visit the mess hall and then watch an "impromptu" performance at the hospital beds, then concluded with gifts of binoculars and automatic guns and a group picture. I saw this every year for five years before I defected.

Therefore, North Korean people rarely care about the front and second pages. Even the third page covers the stories of the mercy and virtue from the party and the leader, and the loyal subjects who did certain things to repay the mercy, etc. -- all stories about which North Koreans do not care. The most popular pages for North Koreans are the fifth page covering South Korea, and the sixth page covering international affairs. On this topic, I will elaborate further in the next post.

The text on Rodong Shinmun is written horizontally, and Chinese characters or English alphabets are rarely used. The paper is 40.5 cm horizontally, 54.5 cm vertically. Compared to a South Korean paper, it is longer horizontally by 1 cm. It has eight columns, which make it appear a little cramped compared to South Korean newspapers which usually use seven columns. It uses eight point Myeongjo font, which is very small. But when it refers to either the names or quotes of Kim Il-Sung or Kim Jong-Il, a different font is used to make them more noticeable. This stylistic rule is common to all newspapers and magazines of North Korea.

North Korean newspapers, including Rodong Shinmun, have no section for advertisement in an attempt to repudiate commercialism. Because of that, all six pages are completely filled with news articles. Considering the smallness of the font and the fact that the entire page is filled with articles, Rodong Shinmun would be about the same as a 12-page South Korean newspaper in terms of the amount of stories. However, the local Pyongyang Shinmun occasionally carries a notice that a certain store is selling a certain product. Of course, if you asked a North Korean reporter, he would absolutely deny that the story is an advertisement, and insist that it is an informational service for the people.

It does not appear that a North Korean newspaper will carry an ad any time soon, as Kim Jong-Il himself severely dislikes advertisements. In a meeting with the heads of South Korean media held in August 2000, Kim Jong-Il said: "I really like KBS TV because it has no commercial. I only watch KBS [among South Korean TV stations.] I also like NHK [Japanese TV station] because it doesn't have any ads, it has good coverage on international affairs, and its programs are gentleman-like and conservative. But I am not even sure if the Chinese CCTV and Russian TV are officially run, because they are such a mess. There should be a TV station that presents the national voice, without the ads ... I respect NHK and BBC."

Because of Kim Jong-Il's preference, anyone who dared to put on an advertisement would immediately face a burial. And of course, no one would even try without wanting to wager his life. Considering that, Rodong Shinmun might be the most expensive paper in the world on which to advertise.

As an aside, in the same meeting with South Korean media chiefs, Kim Jong-Il drew attention by praising the North Korean media: "North Korean media may not be as quick as South Korean ones, but they do not fall behind South Korean ones when it comes to accuracy. We are far more accurate." I don't know if he truly believes that North Korean newspapers are accurate -- but it will be strange if he truly believes that. Kim Jong-Il also said he reads all North Korea-related news in South Korean newspapers, and even said that he is enjoying a serial novel being carried on Seoul Shinmun.

This post was heavy on Kim Jong-Il, but I had no choice -- North Korean media is so strictly based on Kim Jong-Il's orders that without referring to Kim Jong-Il, there is no way to explain North Korean media. Once we glean the media philosophy of Kim Jong-Il, we can easily resolve the curiosity about why North Korean media behaves a certain way. Then how would North Korean people receive the North Korean newspapers so thoroughly observant of Kim Jong-Il's preference? That is the story for the next post.

김정일이 재미있게 보는 남한신문은? [North Korea Real Talk]

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Today, TK Learned:

... that it is beginning to get awfully cold.

• Korea stands ready for a potential currency crisis. [Financial Times]
• Japan is doing a lot better than you think. [Naked Capitalism]
• But China might be doing worse than you think. [China Law Blog]
• Read this if you are even thinking about getting into law:  “I thought about being a lawyer. You know, Dad, I really love you. But basically you help big companies that did it get off the hook.” [Above the Law]
• You will be surprised to find which cities are the fastest growing cities in the world. [Foreign Policy]
• Here is late Prof. Derrick Bell's interest convergence theory in action: the OWS protesters are mostly white, formerly middle class folks who never really cared about inequality until they themselves began receiving the short end of it. The poorest 10% (which is overwhelmingly comprised of minorities) will benefit from whatever OWS gets, but only to the extent the 89% is satisfied. [New York Times]

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

50 Most Influential K-Pop Artists: 24. Lee Seung-Hwan

[Series Index]

24. Lee Seung-Hwan [이승환]

Years of Activity: 1989-present

Discography:
B.C. 603 (1989)
Always (1991)
My Story (1993)
Human (1995)
Cycle (1997)
The War in Life (1999)
Egg (2001)
Karma (2004)
Hwantastic (2006)
Dreamizer (2010)

Representative Song:  For a Thousand Days [천일동안], from Human

천일동안
For a Thousand Days

천일동안 난 우리의 사랑이 영원할거라 믿어왔었던거죠
For a thousand days, I believed that our love will be eternal
어리석게도 그런줄로만 알고 있었죠
Foolishly, that's how I thought
헤어지자는 말은 참을 수 있었지만
I could endure your goodbye, but
당신의 행복을 빌어줄 내 모습이
I, who will wish for your happiness,
낯설어 보이진 않을런지
Might appear strange to you

그 천일동안 알고 있었나요
For those thousand days, did you know
많이 웃고 또 많이 울던 당신을 항상
That you, who laughed a lot and cried a lot, were always
지켜주던 감사해하던 너무 사랑했던 나를
Protected, appreciated and loved too much by me
보고 싶겠죠
You will be missed
천일이 훨씬 지난 후에라도 역시 그럴테죠
And it will be that way long after a thousand days
난 괜찮아요
I will be fine
당신이 내 곁에 있어줬잖아요
Because you were by my side

그 천일동안 알고 있었나요
For those thousand days, did you know
많이 웃고 또 많이 울던 당신을 항상
That you, who laughed a lot and cried a lot, were always
지켜주던 감사해하던 너무 사랑했던 나를
Protected, appreciated and loved too much by me
보고 싶겠죠
You will be missed
천일이 훨씬 지난 후에라도 역시 그럴테죠
And it will be that way long after a thousand days
잊지마요 우리사랑 아름다운 이름들을
Please don't forget our love, those beautiful names

그 천일동안 힘들었었나요
For those thousand days, was it hard for you
혹시 내가 당신을 아프게 했었나요
Did I perchance cause you pain
용서해요 그랬다면 마지막 일거니까요
Forgive me, if I did that, that will be the last time
난 자유롭죠 그 날 이후로
I am free since that day
다만 그냥 당신이 궁금할 뿐이죠
I only am curious about you
다음 세상에서라도 우리 다시는 만나지마요
Even in the next world, may we never meet.

Translation note:  The Korean is having a hard time finding an elegant English equivalent for 헤어지다 and 이별. Any suggestion?

In 15 words or less:  One of the twin peaks of Korean ballads of the 1990s.

Maybe he should be ranked higher because...  In the 1990s, "ballad" was as big as boy/girl bands are today. Lee was at the top of that trend.

Maybe he should be ranked lower because...  The ballad era faded away, and Lee did not leave any lasting imprints.

Why is this artist important?
This series previously mentioned the prevalence of "ballad" -- sappy soft rocks with a clear rise-climax-denouement structure a la My Heart Will Go On -- in Korea of the late 1980s-early 1990s. However, for a K-pop fan who has not lived in Korea in that time period, the dominance of ballad was difficult to capture. You think it's bad now with boy/girl group blaring dance music that all sound the same? Replace that dance music with Celine Dion-esque soft rock, and that was Korean pop music scene of late 1980s-early 1990s. (The only thing that held ballad back from total annihilation of all other music is the burgeoning trend of generic dance music -- which would become the mainstream in the 2000s.)

It must be said that ballad was, for the most part, just as dumb as the dance numbers that dominated the next decade. The entire selling point was the saccharine, tear-jerking lyrics delivered in a predictably dramatic tune. If Korean drama could take a musical form, it would be ballad. (It is, therefore, not a surprise that ballad is heavily featured in the soundtracks of Korean dramas!) And much like the boy/girl band music of today, much of the ballad from the 1980s/90s is completely forgettable.

But not Lee Seung-Hwan. Along with another artist to be ranked on this later, Lee formed the two greatest peaks of ballad artists. As a gifted singer/songwriter, his lyrics are understated, but the songs are delivered with utmost sincerity. He was also renowned for his explosive live performances. Although he could not completely get away from the "ballad singer" label applied to him by virtue of his massive success in that genre, Lee continuously explored and experimented with new and different types of music. As a fitting representative for one of the most significant musical trend in Korean pop music, Lee Seung-Hwan deserves his spot here.

Interesting trivia:  Lee Seung-Hwan is one of the few Korean pop artists who have their own record label.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Today, TK Learned:

... that yawning could dislocate your jaw. Almost happened twice today.

• IBM Korea is making an effort to hire LGBT candidates. [The Economist]
• According to World Bank, Korea is 8th easiest place to do business in the world. [World Bank: Doing Business]
• African American sellers on eBay get 20% less for the same product. [Chris Blattman]
• Japanese is not an imprecise language at all, and other observations about translating Murakami. [The Atlantic]
• Camera maker Olympus is involved in some suspicious payments, and Japanese corporate governance is awful. [The Economist]
• People who speak languages without a future tense tend to save more. Would be interested to know if Korean is considered a language with or without a future tense. (It's kind of both.) [PRI's The World]
• Small business will not save the economy. Just ask Italy and Greece. [Think Progress]

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Today, TK Learned:

... that he loves learning about insider trading law.

• Michelle Rhee had ups and downs as a D.C. Chancellor of Education. [Washington Post]
• High housing cost leads to decline in fertility. Very applicable to Korea. [The Economist]
• Why do people still think Groupon is a multi-billion dollar business? How is it different from the junk mail that you throw out of your mailbox every day? [New York Times]
• You would think people would favor distributive justice during a recession, but the opposite is true. [Marginal Revolution]
• Illegal immigrants are leaving Alabama and Georgia, crops are rotting in the field, but unemployment is still high. But dey took our jerbs, right? [The Economist]
• Technical proficiency first, creativity second: "Once you learn the technique, then you can be a creative cook ... [y]ou have no choice as a professional chef:  you have to repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat until it becomes part of yourself:" [New York Times]
  
• Urban Dictionary has a definition of "oppa". [Urban Dictionary]

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Today, TK Learned:

... that he is well past the age when he could comfortably eat an entire Chipotle burrito.

• Libertarians have a startling tendency to apologize for autocracy. [Salon]
• What does moral absolutism look like? Make sure to read the underlying article by Prof. Jeremy Waldron. [Opinio Juris]
• Ivy League is Indian students' safety school. [New York Times]
• The Korean always knew that Korea's minimum wage was low, but it's pretty stark when represented as a graph comparing against other countries. [Financial Times]
• Although this author focuses more on looking for the outliers, the overall trend is clear:  excellent working memory and deliberate practice are usually required for greatness. [Scientific American]
• Did the union make flight attendants less attractive? One thing to consider -- Korea's airlines are also highly unionized, but their flight attendants far, far surpasses those of American flight attendants in term of attractiveness. [USA Today]

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Ask a Korean! News: "Journalism" in North Korea (Part I)

[Series Index]

The ever-awesome Mr. Joo Seong-Ha began running a series about "journalism" in North Korea, particularly with respect to the official newspaper, Rodong Shinmun. Below is the translation.

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In North Korea, journalists are usually depicted as the party's "trumpeteer," holding down the forefront of the ideological battle line -- because it is the media and the journalists who work for it that are directly in charge of the brainwashing education, such as deification of Kim Jong-Il's family line or popular propaganda, which forms a significant pillar for maintaining the North Korean system.

One can glean the importance that North Korea places on ideology from the definition of the "Strong and Prosperous Nation" [강성대국], which it had been working to achieve for the last decade. North Korea's definition of a "Strong and Prosperous Nation" is a nation that achieved ideological strength, military strength and economic strength. North Korea argues that it already achieved ideological strength and military strength. Therefore, it has achieved the status of a Strong and Prosperous Nation as soon as the economy revives enough to achieve the economic strength. 

The Strong and Prosperous Nation theory appeared in 1998, and there was a controversy at that time also. I was still living in North Korea at the time. The North Korean people quietly spoke among themselves: "It makes sense to talk about economic or military strength, but ideological strength is some kind of a wordplay." At any rate, the fact that ideological strength comes first in the definition of a Strong and Prosperous Nation is a great example of how much North Korea values ideology.

Fittingly, the organization of Rodong Shinmun is rather unique. Rodong Shinmun has 15 departments: editorial,  party history education, revolution education, party life [TK: not that kind of "party"], popular front, industry, agriculture, society/culture, science/education, South Korea, foreign cooperation, international, reporting, photo reporting, and foreign correspondents. Among them, four departments -- party history education, revolution education, party life and popular front -- serve the role of politics department in a typical South Korean newspaper. This shows how much North Korea values ideological propaganda.

In a South Korean newspaper, society department usually takes up the most number of journalists. Sports also have a large place, as there are separate sports newspapers and broadcast media has separate sports news programs. But in Rodong Shinmun, there are no separate departments for society, culture or sports. Among the 15 departments, society/culture department handles society, culture and sports. Other North Korean newspapers follow a similar pattern.

This organization is closely related to the way Rodong Shinmun publishes its papers. Rodong Shinmun prints six pages, organized as following: the front page carries latest news about Kim Jong-Il, deification education, foreign public opinion admiring Kim Jong-Il and editorial. The second page contains stories about the revolutionary heritage, material for educating the labor class and activities of the party workers. The third page also contains stories of Kim Jong-Il's deification and the loyal subjects who followed Kim. The fourth page finally contains short news about the national administration or economic workers, as well as human interest stories, cultural and sporting events. If the North Korean national team loses in an international match, the loss rarely makes the news. The fifth page is for South Korea and the sixth page is for international news.

The most important department of Rodong Shinmun is the editorial board. Only the journalists with the greatest ideological readiness and writing prowess are selected for the board. They usually carry the superlative titles like People's Reporter, Distinguished Reporter or Level 1 Reporter. Of course, it is also the case for a South Korean newspaper's editorial board to have excellent, veteran journalists. Rodong Shinmun's editorial board writes the standard arguments for the party's policies, op-ed and editorial, which are the stories on which Kim Jong-Il focuses the most.

The stories on the front page of Rodong Shinmun frequently come with a black box around it. The box signifies that Kim Jong-Il read the story and approved it before it went to print. People are required to study such stories.

The editorial board is popular because a journalist who writes a good story has a good chance to be promoted to a party officer, if he can grab Kim Jong-Il's attention. In North Korean newspapers, even the editorial carries the name of the writer. Unlike South Korean newspapers that usually print two or three editorials a day, there are many journalists on the editorial board of Rodong Shinmun that cannot even print one or two editorials bearing his name in a year. There are editorials where a choice of a single word took a month.

However, there are journalists who are considered even more important than the members of the editorial board -- the journalists who accompany Kim Jong-Il on his field inspections. A South Korean analogue would be a journalist in the politics department whose beat is the Blue House. In North Korea, such reporters are referred to as "The First Reporter."

Foreign correspondents are admired in South Korea, but even more so in North Korea where a travel abroad is itself a privilege. North Korea sends out foreign correspondents to countries with which it has amicable relations, such as China, Russia and other countries in the Middle East or Africa. But becoming a foreign correspondent in North Korea is not a meritocracy -- without extraordinary connections, a reporter is better off not even thinking about the possibility. Once abroad, the correspondent constantly focuses on the opportunities to earn dollars, because keeping the person who sent you out happy guarantees the longer stay abroad.

South Korean reporters have to propose newsworthy stories in their departments every morning. But in North  Korea, the Propaganda Bureau of the Labor Party gives an order to the newspapers and TV stations, and the department chiefs then order the reporters about what to write. For example, when June 25 -- anniversary for Korean War -- draws near, the party would order an "anti-America week." Then the officers of the newspaper make the reporters focus on writing stories that would stoke anti-American sentiments. Such campaign continues year-around, with themes like "honoring our leader" week or "socialist patriotism" week.

The North Korean media has more framed "teachings" and "remarks" hanging on the hallways and offices than almost any other place in North Korea. Here, "teachings" are quotes from Kim Il-Sung and "remarks" are quotes from Kim Jong-Il. Some of them are quite revealing, and not commonly seen in any other place: "Be the party's eternal helper, assistant and advisor," "Even if you want to take ten steps, take a single step if the party tells you to take a single step," "Reporters must not breathe on their own accord," etc. In other words, journalists are ordered to be the perfect puppet of the Labor Party.

In most countries of the world, the most important virtue for a journalist is the courage and conscience that do not bend to the power. But in North Korea, a journalist equals the Labor Party's propagandist worker.

北 노동신문 1면의 ‘검은테두리’에 숨겨진 비밀 [North Korea Real Talk]

(continued in Part 2)

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Today, TK Learned:

... that this shameless gimmick item is also losing steam.

• If you steal a penny in Texas, you might be a felon. [Volokh Conspiracy]
• Judge Denny Chin thinks a lot about sentencing criminals. [New York Times]
• Denmark's welfare state is the fairest in the world. But Australia is close to Denmark while spending less than the OECD average on welfare. [Inside Story]
• If you translated a biography of Thai king, it is a bad idea to travel to Thailand. [The Faculty Lounge]
• Why would you volunteer for a strip search in prison? To use the computer. [SCOTUSblog]

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Today, TK Learned:

... that as long as he avoided reading the obituaries, he could pretend that Steve Jobs was still alive.

• Koreans remember Steve Jobs. [Wall Street Journal]
• Former Gizmodo writer who was involved in the "Lost iPhone 4" story remembers Steve Jobs. [The Wirecutter]
• Americans "may look back on 2011 and see three events that undermine that story: the downgrade of America’s credit rating; the last flight of the space shuttle; and Mr. Jobs’s death." [The Economist]
• To the Korean, the more important death today was NYU law professor Derrick Bell, who pioneered critical race theory -- which forms the foundation of the Korean's race-consciousness. [New York Times]
• Asian economies have been "growing with equity", but in the last 30 years the income inequality has been growing. [East West Center]
• Is it wrong to think that North Korean spies' poison darts, made to look like a pen or a flashlight, look super cool? [Chosun Ilbo]
• Yahoo! Answers version of "Best of the Worst Questions" about Asians. Just a little taste of what the Korean goes through every day. [8Asians]
• If the Korean could ever write a letter like this in his legal career, he will die a happy man: "My client will not be bullied out of exercising his First Amendment right to make clear his belief that your client is a spoiled, brainless twit who is cheapening the political discourse in this country." [American Spectator]

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Today, TK Learned:

... that Drunken Tiger is your best pal when you are working late.

• Want to keep up with daily headlines from Korean newspapers in English? Try this out. [KEI]
• Why can't U.S. and China just be friends? [East Asia Forum]
• The damn dirty hippies protesting Wall Street could learn a thing or two from the Tea Party: "... while they were quietly seething, the tea-party movement was showing America what democracy actually looks like, pushing their candidates forward and holding them accountable." [The Economist]
• Speaking of damn dirty hippies, the Maoists in China are praising them as proof that capitalism does not work. So good job, hippies. [New Yorker]
• The Korean has a pretty low opinion of the-whitest-of-white-shoe law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, but even he would not have thought that S&C lawyers would simply abandon its client on death row. But S&C did hire a former Solicitor General to fix its errors. [New York Times]
• Here is a "Super Person" -- a homecoming queen, 4.0 student, student government treasurer, and the kicker for the varsity football team. Surely, she is dead inside. (One advice for our Super Person -- please don't attend University of Colorado to play football.) [New York Times]
• Outsourcing has come to this: outsourcing wombs to surrogate mothers in India. [New York Times]
• Should we capitalize "black" or "white" when referring to ethnicity? The Korean says no. [DCentric]
• Next person who says Americans can work just as hard as illegal immigrants will get a print version of this article thrown into his face. "‎"Six hours was enough ... for the first wave of local workers to quit. Some simply never came back and gave no reason. Twenty-five of them said specifically, according to farm records, that the work was too hard." [New York Times]
• ... so let's put inmates to work instead of illegal immigrants! The drecks of our society must surely work harder than an average American, right? #facepalm [Marginal Revolution]

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Today, TK Learned:

... that the sun is starting to set rather early.

• In 1970, 80 percent of the countries had conscription. In 2009, only 45 percent did, and many of the countries reduced the length of the service. [Volokh Conspiracy]
• Tasha / Yoon Mirae is selected as the 12th best new female emcee. [MTV Iggy]
• Texans generally are ok with giving in-state tuition to illegal immigrant students. [New York Times]
• Decent wines are now being produced in China, but there may be "wine racism". [Polish Wine Guide]
• What is in the proposed free trade agreement between Korea and U.S.? [Department of Commerce]
• Check out some great places near you. For Washington D.C., it's U Street. [American Planning Association]
• Deng Xiaoping is very important and very underrated. A must-read if you want to understand contemporary China. [The Nation]
• Why do they need a hungry muppet on Sesame Street when they already have Oscar who lives in a trashcan? [Reuters]
• Karaoke in Koreatown is looking for "fragile" and "EXTRA THIN" hostesses. [Jezebel]

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Today, TK Learned:

... that the case law from the Supreme Court of Korea regarding sexual violence is deeply depressing.

• If you live in America, please take 25 minutes out to watch this lecture. And don't talk to police. [Volokh Conspiracy]
• Kobe is a great man, demands revenue sharing in Italy so that his presence will not disrupt the basketball scene there. [ESPN: Land O'Lakers]
• High-speed Internet is like excellent public hygiene. [New York Times]
• Passive voice is not a demon that needs to be eradicated. [Lingua Franca: Chronicle of Higher Education]
• Amanda Knox is not guilty. [Associated Press]
• In the prehistoric Internet, U.S. Postal Service attempted to monopolize email and charge people for it, just like regular mail. [Cato Institute]

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.