Business Week released their list of the World’s Best Companies, and South Korea’s Doosan Heavy Industries and Hyundai Heavy Industries made the top five at fourth and fifth place, respectively.

[Business Week]

Not really. But for those who are biracial in Korea, military service may be in their future. According to a new proposal by 23 lawmakers, biracial Koreans may become eligible for mandatory military service in the near future. Interesting to see a Constitutional argument being made in favor of equal protection for a minority that has not even asked for the right to serve. Governing self-interest or self-interested governance?

Article at the [Korea Times]

Former President Kim Dae-jung died at 1:42 p.m. Tuesday, Severance Hospital in Seoul said.

Kim, 85, has been under intensive care at the hospital since mid-July due to pneumonia.

He won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts at reconciliation with North Korea, including a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2000.

[Korea Times]

Well, this may mean we can’t post anymore pictures from the major Korean dailies. Then again, how long is the long arm of South Korea’s copyright laws when it comes to blogs hosted on servers in the U.S.? Seems like major online news sources are unaware of network effects, or how this might actually direct more traffic to their websites?

Article at the [Korea Times]

[AP]

So say the North Koreans. SNAP! Hillary started her new “sticks and stones diplomacy” seeing fit to meet the North Koreans halfway by calling them ‘unruly children.’ Stay tuned for more episodes of U.S. diplomacy in action. Hopefully this won’t escalate into a nuclear missle foodfight anytime in the near future.

Korea Beat gives us the scoop on the rise of hagwons located inside officetel buildings. According a report by the Chosun, these non-traditional locations are distinct for their small size (in terms of pyeong the law dictates hagwons have to be over 100-pyeong). Imagine a one classroom hagwon located inside an 18-pyeong one-room officetel apartment and you get the idea.

RokDrop features Colonel Young-Oak Kim, who is getting a school named after him. If you haven’t heard of his exploits during WWII and the Korean War,

Born in Los Angeles, Colonel Kim was a second-generation Korean-American widely remembered for his wartime heroics. He was awarded medals from France, Italy, Korea and the U.S. for courageous and exemplary achievements. Following his discharge from the Army, Kim devoted the rest of his life to charity work, helping war orphans and young people. Dying at the age of 86 in 2006, he is one of the most admired figures in the history of Korean immigration to the U.S. [Chosun]

Kim Jong-nam, the pudgy eldest son of dictator Kim Jong-il, has been in the news lately for being passed over for the role of next dear leader of North Korea.

A Japanese television reporter caught up with him strolling on the streets of China. They asked him about his “braza,” which, of course, refers to his brother Kim Jong-un, and Jong-nam replied in European-accented English, “[Dad] likes him.” (video of interview inside…)

That was President Obama talking tougher on North Korea over the weekend, firming up his stance against the totalitarian regime’s own provocative actions over the past two weeks. (more…)