From the Chosun Ilbo:
“Korean hostage negotiators have agreed to direct talks with Taliban kidnappers in Afghanistan, a purported spokesman for the Islamists militants told DPA Thursday. The news agency quoted Qari Yousuf Ahmadi as saying Korean Ambassador to Afghanistan Kang Sung-ju spoke directly by phone with his Taliban counterpart.”
I have to say I really hope this is not true, but given some of the statements from the country’s leadership over the past several days, I have a bad feeling.
Talk about completely legitimizing kidnapping as a political tool. So, the next time the Taliban wants something accomplished with a certain country (definitely Korea) they’ll just grab and threaten to kill a few unarmed civilians as a means of opening “negotiations.”
I haven’t commented before about the kidnappings because I didn’t (and don’t) think I have the background to add anything substantive to the discussion. But it gets to the point that you feel like you’re ignoring the elephant in the room by not talking about it.
I have been linking to stories on the link blog at the upper right. If you’re interested in what’s being said in South Korea, I recommend reading posts (and the comments) here, here and here for starters.
by Cat on December 14, 2006
I hope this works.
A university professor who uses UNIX and the open-source Internet browser Firefox is planning to file a class action early next year to force the government to make its web presence accessible to people who don’t use Microsoft software.
“In the U.S., Britain, and France, there is no inconvenience faced by Internet users that don’t employ Microsoft’s software,” Kim said. In the case of Denmark, the government requires by law that public Web sites, such as online tax payment or bank sites, to not discriminate by computer operating system and Internet browser, he said.
However, the South Korean government designs its Web sites based on only Microsoft’s software. One of the government’s Web sites even carries a warning: ‘This page is for use through Internet Explorer.’ Kim Yeong-hong, a senior official at a civic group, said, “Because Web sites are designed with a certain company’s monopolistic software in mind, Internet users who don’t use the software are banned from accessing the Web sites.”
I mean, really, it shouldn’t take a lawsuit, but I am amazed at the number of websites in this “wired” country that don’t run in Firefox or Safari. It’s not just government sites, but online banking services and shopping sites require the use of IE. Which, really, when you think about it, it’s like all of these companies are forcing Koreans to deal with pop-ads, spyware, and just a really crappy browser. And that’s just wrong.
Interested in the cause? Check out the group’s website at open.unfix.net.
Via: The Hankyoreh
by Cat on August 15, 2006
If you’re an expat here, you can now find information about immigration issues, labor relations and investment opportunities all on one government website.
The new G4F of Korea collects info you previously had to search for in various different different divisions of various different agencies (Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Labor, Seoul Help Center for Foreigners, KOTRA, etc.) all on one web portal. (G4F= government for foreigners. Cute, huh?)
Particularly useful, I think, is the section dealing with employment issues. Information about Korean labor regulations and the requirements for changing your employer, applying for permission to extend your stay, or applying for permission to work beyond the status of your current visa are all there and easy to find.
Contrast that with the hours I had to spend last month looking up different regulations on a variety of government websites or privately run expat forums, trying to balance conflicting interpretations, and searching through lots of Q&A sections looking for my answer.
Even then, I didn’t think it required a super-human effort. I am sure immigration regulations back in the States are equally, if not more, cumbersome. But, the new website makes finding such information much easier. And, at least in the five or 10 minutes I spent looking at it this morning, there don’t appear to be any glitches, bad links, or out of date information. It’s a pretty impressive effort.
