The Land of the Morning Calm

Only in South Korea can the *Christmas season kick off with cuteness and unbridled materialism.

*(Actually, Advent, which precedes Christmas, starts this Sunday, November 3oth, and ends at midnight, December 25th. The Christmas season does have roughly twelve days, with a couple week-ends tucked in, and ends on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6th or 7th.)

If this article is to be believed, it is possible to buy two Canadas for the price of one Korea. The value of land in Korea was 2.3 times higher than Canada's land value which increased only slightly from 0.9 times the GDP to 1.1 times the GDP in 2007. Some may think that is a deal. Others may be shuddering at the thought of poutine jjigae.

South Korean activists will continue sending leaflets to North Korea despite the current government's annoyance at such actions. Though I would hardly call it "propaganda", the activists are doing far more than the South Korean and American government in terms of reaching out to the media and food-starved masses. The "Sunshine Policy" and the removal of North Korea from a terrorist-sponsorship list have done very little. It remains to be seen what the upcoming US administration intends on doing about North Korea but I am not hopeful.