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Fri, September 21, 2018 | 10:59

Opinion > Columnists > Park Moo-jong >

K-pop & Bangtan Boys

The yuletide talk of the town is Bangtan Sonyeondan (BTS), a K-pop boy band, which is translated as “Bulletproof Boy Scouts.” The Korean hip-hop boy band, composed of seven lads aged 20 to 25, ranked 10th in the Billboard's year-end rankings of the overall top artists of 2017, the first Korean singer or group to join the coveted list.

Park Moo-jong | 2017-12-14 15:22

No 'Group of Death' in Russia

In June 2002, the main streets of cities were painted red, not by the Communists’ red, but by the red shirts of the Red Devils, the very supporters of the Korean national football team which was writing down World Cup history to the astonishment of the world. Hundreds of thousands of people chanted “Daehan Minguk” (Republic of Korea) at stadiums, city plazas, bars, restaurants and elsewhere, watching their team’s games against Poland, the United States, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Germany and Turkey through the night during the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan staged May 31 to June 30. The Korean...

Park Moo-jong | 2017-12-07 16:25

They are going too far

They of this headline, "They are going too far," are prosecutors of the Republic of Korea today.

Park Moo-jong | 2017-11-30 17:12

Me too and me three!

U.S. President Ronald Reagan (1911-2004), U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013) and West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl (1930-2017) talked during a summit in London in the mid-1980s.

Park Moo-jong | 2017-11-23 17:11

'Turn, turn, turn'

What's going on of late not only in this country, but in the world, especially in the fields of sports, reminds of me of the 1959 song by American folk singer and social activist Peter Seeger (1919-2014): "Turn, Turn, Turn." The song, a kind of anti-war song, became an international hit in 1965 by American folk rock band The Byrds and so many singers, like Judy Collins, The Seekers, and Dolly Parton, among others, covered it.

Park Moo-jong | 2017-11-16 17:11

Going on a diet only tomorrow?

At the end of 2002, the entire 9,200 citizens of Wellington, a South Australian town, excluding children, launched an ambitious project to slash 3 tons or 3,000 kilograms from their total weight, 3 kilos per person at least, over the next three months. For the success of the so-called "Welling-tonne" Project, the city council installed a huge scale on the council building roof showing the progress of the joint odyssey. At that time, 26 percent of the citizens, or 2,386 of them, showed symptoms of obesity due to their traditional dietary habit of enjoying junk food, according to wire reports ...

Park Moo-jong | 2017-11-09 17:24

Decriminalizing abortion

Abortion has been a hot-button issue in South Korea along with the decriminalization of prostitution - both technically illegal albeit very common. Abortion is allowed only when the mother's health is in serious danger or in cases of rape, incest or hereditary disorders. But any abortion is absolutely illegal after the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. The punishment provided by the Criminal Act is severe. Pregnant women who have abortions face up to one-year of imprisonment or a fine of up to 2 million won ($1,780), while those who perform an abortion with the consent of pregnant woman face up t...

Park Moo-jong | 2017-11-02 17:29

A few days ago, I learned newly a coined Korean word from an article in a vernacular newspaper: “jarani” comprised of “ja” from “jajeongo” (bicycle) and “rani” from “gorani” (water deer). It means a cyclist who comes out in front of a car all of a sudden like the water deer. The term was created to explain road-kill, an animal that has been struck and killed by motor vehicle on highways.

Park Moo-jong | 2017-10-26 17:06

Why don't you dye?

When President Moon Jae-in nominated Kang Kyung-wha as his first foreign minister against all odds in May, what caught the attention of the people first of all was apparently the 62-year-old woman's silver hair perfectly in style. Asked why she does not dye her hair (to look younger), she said she didn't want to cover up her true form despite her mother's begging. Moon, 64, also has silver hair, partially, and his campaigners in the previous presidential election, continuously begged him to tint his hair black in order to "improve his image," to no avail. And he won.

Park Moo-jong | 2017-10-19 17:01

What football fans have to do first

It's the baseball season. This year's championship contests are in full swing in the United States Major League and the Korean Baseball Organization, among others. Not to mention the Major League's World Series (more accurately the U.S. Series), the Korean Series is also enjoying huge popularity amid roars from enthusiastic fans jam-packing the stadiums as usual. The crowded ballparks raise the question: Which is the national sport of South Korea (as a ball game), compared to the “empty” football stadiums?

Park Moo-jong | 2017-10-12 17:39

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Inter-Korean Summit in Pyongyang [PHOTOS]