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Tag: South Korea

  • North Korea Fires On South; South Korea Retaliates

    North and South Korea exchanged hundreds of artillery shells across their western sea border on Monday. Earlier on Monday, North Korea announced it would be conducting military exercises such as live-fire drills in seven areas north of the maritime boundary. They also hinted at conducting a nuclear test “aimed at strengthening our nuclear deterrence.”

    For more than three hours, North Korea fired 500 shells into the Yellow Sea, around a hundred of which strayed across the border into South Korea. The South Koreans responded by firing around 300 shells past the boundary into the sea and sending fighter jets along the Northern Limit Line.

    Kim Min-seok, a spokesman for the South Korean Ministry of Defense said that they did not exactly shoot at North Korea but instead fired into the sea. No shells from either nation were fired on land. Kim believes the artillery firing by the North is a provocation to test the South’s security posture.

    It was the first time North Korea informed the South of live-firing exercises above the maritime Northern Limit Line. South Korea’s Defense Ministry vice spokesman Wee Yong-Sub said that they consider the announcement as “a hostile threat” so they activated their crisis management operations to prepare themselves for a possible military provocation by the North.

    The unusual announcement was interpreted by analysts to be a political move. According to Korea analyst Victor Cha, North Korea may be waving at Washington for attention to bring the U.S. government back to discussing its nuclear program, or trying to “change the playing field and slant it in their direction” while the U.S. government is focused on other issues.

    The United States, one of South Korea’s most formidable allies, condemned the shelling and called on North Korea to cease activities that “threaten regional peace and security.”

    China, North Korea’s primary supporter, nonetheless expressed concern. According to spokesman Hong Lei of the Foreign Ministry, “The temperature is rising” on their neighboring region and is a cause of worry. They are hoping that “all sides can remain calm and exercise restraint.”

    Why Korea Split Into North and South Korea

    Image via YouTube

  • North Korea Fires 30 Missiles Into The Sea of Japan

    Last Saturday, North Korea test-fired 30 short-range missiles off their east coast and into the Sea of Japan, according to reports from South Korea’s Joint Chief of Staff. “The missiles are estimated to have flown about 60 kilometres (37 miles),” a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs said. These new tests come after pleas from Seoul and Washington to stop “provocative actions.” The tests are assumed to be a show of force intended to express anger at the South’s joint military exercises with the United States. At the 2009 G-20 London Summit, U.S. President Obama called South Korea “one of America’s closest allies and greatest friends.”

    “The North should stop actions that cause military tension and unnerve its neighbours,” Seoul spokesman Kim Min-Seok told reporters. “Provocative action made without any prior notifications. can pose significant danger to sea vessels and aircraft passing by the area,” he added. These latest test fires are North Korea’s sixth launch in just over a month. The missiles used are Soviet-era short range missiles, used in the 1960s. It’s been estimated that North Korea will likely test-fire all of their remaining Frog missiles in the near future.

    These missile tests came as South Korea and Japan announced on Friday that their leaders will hold a summit with President Obama next week – in what the Telegraph calls a breakthrough agreement after Washington urged South Korea and Japan to mend their strained ties. The summit will mark the first formal talks between the country’s leaders in over a year. It’s reported that at the summit, North Korea’s nuclear program and the issue of nuclear non-proliferation is on the agenda for discussion.

    Do you think South Korea and the United States should be concerned over these test-fires? Or is it more of the same intimidating actions of North Korea to appear threatening?

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Gamers Are Now Student Athletes at Top South Korean University

    Although we’re coming around to it, there’s no doubt that places like South Korea are a little more into eSports than we are. But if a South Korean mother did happen to get a bit concerned with the amount of time her son or daughter was sinking into gaming, or watching live public tournaments, here’s one bit of news to assuage those concerns.

    According to a report from PGR21 (Korean) via Ubergizmo, private South Korean university Chung-Ang will begin to treat eSports like more traditional sports like basketball or soccer. They’ll be able to be accepted on these merits and apply for the university’s Department of Sports Sciences. Yes, that means that being super awesome at gaming could earn you a spot at a very good university in South Korea.

    Chung-Ang university is one of the best schools in the country.

    The university has around 30,000 students enrolled, and sits on two separate campuses–one in Seoul and one in Anseong. It’s nearly 100 years old, having been established in 1918.

    The school is known for its innovative course offerings, so this new “gaming consideration” shouldn’t be that big of a surprise to people in the know. Chung-Ang University was the first in the country to offer courses in a variety of fields, for instance PharmacyMass Communication, Advertising & Public Relations, Photography, and Drama Studies.

    You don’t have to be able to hit a free throw or dribble a soccer ball to be considered a student athlete in South Korea. There’s something a bit heartwarming about this. There really is.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Adelina Sotnikova Wins Women’s Figure Skating Gold

    Russian figure skater Adelina Sotnikova won the gold medal in women’s figure skating in Sochi on Thursday.

    The win was a minor upset for South Korea, and a record setter for Russia.

    Sotnikova scored an overall 224.59 points, with 149.95 of those coming from Thursday’s free skate win. Sotnikova came in a close second to South Korea’s Kim Yu-na in the women’s short program on Wednesday.

    However, Kim finished well behind Sotnikova in the free skate on Thursday, earning 144.19 points for a total of 219.11. Kim, who won the gold at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, won the silver in Sochi.

    Although Kim skated a flawless routine, she landed only six triple jumps for Sotnikova’s seven, and trailed in her technical component score.

    Italy’s Carolina Kostner won the bronze, scoring a personal best of 142.61 in the free skate. It was a sweet victory for Kostner, who failed most of her jumps in the free skate in Vancouver in 2010.

    “After Vancouver I thought that was it,” she said recently. “I thought I would stop skating. I thought that was my end.”

    Sotnikova’s win makes her the first Russian to win an Olympic gold medal in women’s singles figure skating.

    “This is the happiest day in my life,” Sotnikova said. “I simply stepped on the ice today and realized how much I like what I’m doing and skated really good.”

    Even within her own country, few expected Sotnikova to take home the gold medal. Instead, all hopes were focused on Yulia Lipnitskaya. Lipnitskaya won first place in both the team women’s short and free skate, contributing to Russia’s gold medal in the inaugural team figure skating event.

    She was expected to challenge Kim for the gold in the individual competition.

    But Lipnitskaya came in a disappointing fifth place in the individual short skate on Wednesday, after falling on her triple flip.

    “I wanted to skate my best today, but it didn’t work,” she said. “I’ve lost control over my jumps — tiredness and emotions.”

    Lipnitskaya ended up in fifth place overall in the individual competition.

    American figure skating favorite Gracie Gold took fourth place.

    Although she didn’t end up on the podium, American Ashley Wagner defied her detractors by winning a respectable seventh place overall.

    America’s Polina Edmunds came in ninth.

    Sotnikova’s was the host country’s third figure skating gold medal, following first place wins in pairs and team skating. The victories have served as a comeback from the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, where Russia failed to win a single figure skating gold medal.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Li Jianrou Wins China’s First Gold at Sochi Olympic Games

    Li Jianrou won China its first gold medal of the Sochi Games on Thursday.

    Li was able to avoid a massive pile-up on the ice to take first place in the women’s short-track 500-meter speed skating event.

    The short-track 500-meter is known as a thrilling and unpredictable race and it lived up to that reputation in Sochi.

    British speed skater Elise Christie started the pile-up when she attempted to pass Italian Arianna Fontana on the second turn of the race. As Christie and Fontana fell to the ice, they managed to bring down Korea’s Park Seung-hi too.

    Li swerved around them and sped past to take the lead.

    “I feel very lucky,” she said.

    Christie crossed the finish line second, but the judges determined that the crash was her fault and disqualified her.

    “I thought I had more speed so I moved up while I could,” said Christie. “I knew it was going to be a 50-50 call. When I was in the race I thought I was in front, I thought it was more going to go my way than not, but obviously it didn’t and that’s that.”

    “I saw Elise come in and thought I’d stop her, but she kept going,” Fontana said. “This is short track, so that’s what happens. When I was falling I was so sad, then I saw the Korean girl fell and I thought I could still get something so I got up as quickly as I could. I got my silver medal, but for me it’s gold.”

    Fontana took the silver medal and Park the bronze.

    “It is such a great disappointment,” Park said of her third place finish. “But it is also part of my destiny. I have to accept it.”

    The 500-meter is the only short-track event South Korea has never won and Park was hoping to remedy that on Thursday.

    Li’s win was a thrilling victory for China – earning them their fourth straight Olympic gold medal in the event.

    It was a somewhat bittersweet victory – China’s defending champion Wang Meng, who won the gold at both Vancouver and Turin, broke her ankle last month, rendering her unable to compete in Sochi. Li stepped in with relatively little experience in the 500-meter event.

    “I cried because I was so excited,” Li said. “My coach told me this medal is for Wang Meng as well, so I felt very moved.”

    China now joins South Korea as the only two countries to win the same short-track event four Olympics in a row. South Korea won the 3000-meter relay in 1994, 1998, 2002, and 2006.

    Yang Yang won the short-track 500-meter gold for China in Salt Lake City in 2002.

    Image via YouTube

  • North Korea Threatens U.S., South Korea

    North Korea Threatens U.S., South Korea

    North Korea likes to threaten the United States and South Korea; this is common knowledge. It’s their baseball. Yet, every threat from the extremely isolated nations sets off alarms, which is the case currently.

    As annual “Foal Eagle” join exercises between the U.S. and South Korea approach, the North is again trying to flex its unimpressive muscles. In the past the country has threatened to destroy both Seoul and Washington D.C. if the drills were not cancelled. As anyone who doesn’t live in a cave knows, they have not made good on those threats.

    You may ask, what has them up in exaggerated arms this time? As Northern official Rodong Sinmun puts its, “It is the strategic goal of the US to invade the DPRK, bring its neighboring countries under its control with it as a stepping-stone and, furthermore, dominate the whole Asia-Pacific region.” Yeah. Sure.

    The reason the threats are being treated with such disregard is because both countries have heard it all before and no action was taken by the North. The drills in question take place every year and see no opposition from the DPRK. Despite all of the flexing and talking the exercises go off without a hitch and ruling party loses a little bit more credibility, something which seems to be in short supply what with all of the Dennis Rodman visits.

    Another major reason the countries cannot compromise about the exercises is the DPRK’s unwillingness to dismantle its nuclear program, which is the only real ace it has up its sleeve. Until such a time, it is unlikely that any real talks will take place between the three powers.

    [Image via YouTube]

  • North Korea Issues Threat over US-South Korea Drills

    North Korea is baring its teeth over upcoming U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises. On Wednesday, North Korea insisted that the two nations cancel their annual joint military drills, scheduled to begin in late February and continue into April, claiming that the drills would destroy inter-Korean relations. The two exercises, known as “Foal Eagle” and “Key Resolve,” are routine, but also are intended to deter threats from the north, as well as maintain combat readiness among the allied forces stationed along the demilitarized zone.

    A statement released by the North Korean Central News Agency reads in part that the drills “will fatally destroy the inter-Korean relations and trigger unimaginable calamities and disasters.” A North Korean government insider further claimed that moving forward with the exercises would amount to a declaration of “full-scale nuclear war.”

    A South Korean Ministry of Defense spokesperson, Kim Min Seok, answered the warning, claiming that “if North Korea commits military provocations by taking advantage of these routine exercises, [then] the military will retaliate severely and firmly.”

    While North Korea is prone to idle threats, the U.S.-South Korea bloc has been warier of leader Kim Jong Un in the wake of last year’s purging of Jang Song Thaek. Jang, Kim’s uncle and protector, as well as a lifetime DPRK political insider, was detained and swiftly executed on charges that he was attempting to overthrow the North Korean government. In a speech shortly after the execution, Kim derided his uncle as an “anti-Party, counterrevolutionary factionalist [who was removed] at an opportune time and with a correct decision.” Kim went on to praise the fact that Jang’s demise meant that the “party and revolutionary ranks were further consolidated and [their] single-hearted unity was solidified to the maximum.” The shake-up was considered a ruthless move by observers, suggesting a dangerous level of political instability in the bellicose, nuclear-capable nation.

    As yet, Kim Jong Un fanboy Dennis Rodman hasn’t weighed in on the joint military drills.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Joe Biden Visits China Amid Air Zone Tensions

    US Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Asia as tensions are escalating between China and Japan over a newly established Chinese air defense identification zone in the East China Sea.

    The tensions center around the tiny Senkaku Islands (known as the Diaoyu in China) which are within the new air defense zone. Although Japan has controlled the islands for many years, China and Taiwan both claim ownership of them.

    The islands lie near key shipping routes and are surrounded by waters that serve as rich fishing grounds. In addition they’re located close to potential oil and gas reserves.

    Add to that their strategic military position – the US routinely flies surveillance over the airspace that China is attempting to restrict – and the Senkaku Islands, though minuscule and uninhabited, are a significant source of contention.

    Not surprisingly, Beijing’s unilaterally-declared air defense identification zone didn’t go over well with the US, Japan, or South Korea.

    The air defense identification zone requires all planes entering the airspace to file flight plans with Beijing.

    Japan has made it clear that their planes will do no such thing. In what is seen as an act of protest, the US flew two B-52 bombers over the zone after the announcement without giving notice, but has urged its commercial airlines to notify China before flying over.

    Biden’s 6-day tour of Asia started in Tokyo, where he addressed the air defense identification zone and attempted to assure Japan that the US stands with them in protest of it.

    Biden said he was “deeply concerned about China’s attempt to unilaterally change the status quo in the East China Sea.”

    From Tokyo, Biden traveled to Beijing.

    Addressing a group of mostly young people who were waiting for visitor visas at the US Embassy, Biden praised the spirit of democracy, liberalism, and intellectualism: “Children in America are rewarded — not punished — for challenging the status quo. The only way you make something totally new is to break the mold of what was old.”

    He went on to say that “there is one thing that’s stamped in the DNA of every American, whether they are naturalized citizens or natural-born. It’s an inherent rejection of orthodoxy.”

    Not once in his public comments in China did Biden directly address the conflict over the air defense identification zone. Instead, he emphasized the need for candor, cooperation, and trust – clearly attempting to dial back the tension between China and Japan and prevent it from escalating further.

    Still, Chinese state media criticized the US stance on the conflict. An editorial in the English language China Daily accused the US of “turning a blind eye to Tokyo’s provocations.”

    From Beijing, Biden will travel on to Seoul, South Korea before returning to the US.

    Image via YouTube

  • Repatriated Koreans May Face Charges in S Korea

    Officials in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday reported on the six South Koreans who were repatriated south by North Korea. Six men and the corpse of a woman, who was married to one of the men, were returned by Pyongyang on Friday.

    In a rare turn of events, the men had been seeking better living conditions in the impoverished dictatorship to the north. All this as UN investigators heard testimony in London last week of human rights abuses suffered in North Korea from those who fled the regime. Instead, the men were detained for up to 45 months for entering the country illegally.

    AP reports that over 25,000 North Koreans have fled south since the Korean War ended in the 1950’s. According to the South Korean officials, who also report continued investigations into the incident, the men believed they would live improved lives in North Korea, having suffered family trouble, business failure and having participated in pro-North Korea activities.

    Seoul is looking to issue arrest warrants to the men; through the anti-North security law, South Korea can imprison defectors for up to 10 years. The men, ranging in age from 27 to 67, were questioned by North Korean authorities while detained separately for 14 to 45 months.

    The woman was apparently strangled by her 65-year-old husband, who did not kill himself, as part of a suicide pact, though South Korean authorities were unable to confirm that account.

    The men reported that they entered North Korea via the China border from 2009 to 2012. They were required to swim the river at the border or walk over it during the winter freeze.

    Returning the defectors is an interesting turn at the end of a tumultuous spring and summer with North Korea. In August, supreme leader Kim Jong-un, issued a call for defectors to return, promising they would not be punished or sent to prison camps. Spring brought threats of nuclear war and last month, the dictatorship unexpectedly cancelled a planned reunion for war-torn families.

    [Image via CIA World Factbook.]

  • Strategy Devised for North Korean Nuclear Weapons Threat

    On Wednesday, U.S. Defence Secretary, Chuck Hagel, said that the United States and South Korea had devised a strategy for dealing with North Korea’s nuclear and chemical weapons threat.

    Chuck Hagel met with South Korea’s minister of defence, Kim Kwan Jin, at the 45th annual defence meeting between the two nations in Seoul. At the meeting, both officials signed a pact that would provide a “tailored deterrence” to North Korea’s threat. Neither men gave details as to exactly what the “tailored deterrence” entails, but Kim Kwan Jin went on to express deep concerns about North Korea’s three recent nuclear tests.

    The US defense secretary was especially concerned with the underground nuclear test carried out in February by the North Koreans. The detonation was suspected to have advanced North Korea’s capabilities to strike the US with long-range missiles.

    “It has increased its capabilities, its missile capabilities, its three nuclear tests. So that is constantly forcing a review of our strategies.” said Hagel. Hagel also went on to say that the U.S. would, if necessary, use all its military capabilities including nuclear capabilities should North Korea take any aggressive actions against South Korea.

    The transfer of wartime control from U.S. to South Korean forces was another topic of discussion for Hagel and Kim. Eight years ago the U.S. committed to defending South Korea should they be attacked by the North Koreans. The target date for the transfer had been set for 2012 but was postponed till 2015 because the initial timing was not suitable.

    Hagel said the U.S. would continue to work with South Korea and assess its military conditions and that the U.S. will not make any decision that is not in the interests of both nations.

    Hagel concluded his visit to South Korea on Wednesday. His time was also spent commemorating the 60th anniversary of the signing of the mutual defense treaty between the U.S. and South Korea and presiding over the transfer of command of U.S. forces in South Korea.

     

    (photo via news.yahoo.com)

  • F-15 Silent Eagle Rejected by South Korea

    Reuters via the CS Monitor reported today that South Korea has voted down a bid from Boeing to sell the country 60 F-15 Silent Eagles in favor of starting the process again to get a better fighter.

    Although the F-15 was the only plane to fit the south Korean budget initially, the ruling party’s lawmakers and former military officials have all criticized the plane’s mediocre stealth effectiveness. Specifically, the AFP noted that the F-15 was unable to evade radar like an EADS Eurofighter Typhoon or a Lockheed Martin F-35A Joint Strike Fighter.

    South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok, speaking about the need for better jets, said “Our air force thinks that we need combat capabilities in response to the latest trend of aerospace technology development centered around the fifth generation fighter jets and to provocations from North Korea.”

    Lockheed Martin’s F-35A Joint Strike Fighter is the next jet South Korea is considering buying, although its advanced stealth capabilities were initially considered out of Seoul’s budget range. The F-35A JSF has been ordered by seven countries: Japan, Israel, Britain, Australia, Italy, Norway, and Turkey.

    South Korea may take up to a year to fashion a budget that would include room for new fighters, but South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration, or DAPA (the organization responsible for assessing the fighters), said that it “will swiftly pursue the program again in order to minimize the vacuum in combat capabilities.”

    In the meantime, Lockheed Martin plans to try and lower the costs of the F-35A in the wake of increased production. “We will continue to support the U.S. government in its offer of the F-35A to Korea,” a Lockheed Martin representative to South Korea said.

    Boeing seems to be the loser of the deal, as the company spent out-of-pocket to develop the Silent Eagle variant of the F-15. While it’s not yet known whether Boeing will file suit, a DAPA official commented that South Korea had followed the rules regarding the bidding process.

    [Image via a Boeing marketing video specifically created for the F-15 Silent Eagle on YouTube]

  • South Korea Greenlights “Invisible” Skyscraper Construction Project

    The U.S.-based architectural firm GDS Architects has been granted approval by the South Korean government to build the Infinity Tower, a glass-encased skyscraper that will be the third highest observation deck in the world and will include a sophisticated system of cameras and screens to trick the eye into thinking the tower disappears.

    Backed by the Korea Land & Housing Corporation, the tower will mainly serve as an attraction: a movie theater, a water park, a roller coaster, lots of food and beverage stores, and a series of beautiful viewing decks will be set up for visitors to enjoy.

    Infinity Tower will be built outside the capital of Seoul near the Incheon International Airport, and a target completion date has yet to be confirmed. When it is finished, the skyscraper is expected to be the sixth largest tower in the world.

    CNN described the technology behind the tower’s invisibility trick, which is quite impressive: cameras placed at three varying heights, and six different sides of the building, will feed real-time images of the surroundings to sections of the building that are covered in hundreds of rows of LED screens. Those screens project the images captured by the cameras, and through digital processing, the images will be folded together to create a seamless panorama, giving the illusion that the building is disappearing.

    Charles Wee, a design principal with GDS Architects, said of the design that “Instead of symbolizing prominence as another of the world’s tallest and best towers, our solution aims to provide the world’s first invisible tower, showcasing innovative Korean technology while encouraging a more global narrative in the process.”

    Some of the Twitter reactions to the tower’s announcement were quite strange, albeit humorous:

    [Image via this YouTube video about the skyscraper]

  • S. Korea Paper: North Has Meth, Hooker Problem

    S. Korea Paper: North Has Meth, Hooker Problem

    So if you thought the fake phone factory was bad enough, let alone the appeal to defectors, you may have to do a double-take. A journal entitled North Korea Review published a report that claimed rampant prostitution, human trafficking and drug abuse are happening throughout North Korea. The regime blames these conditions entirely on the influence of capitalism, if you can believe it.

    The Wall Street Journal refers to a study published in the review called “A New Face of North Korean Drug Use: Upsurge in Methamphetamine Abuse Across the Northern Areas of North Korea” that describes similar conditions as the U.S. finds itself experiencing regarding the methamphetamine scourge.

    North Korea released no confirmed numbers regarding the quantity of drug use going on, but the WSJ notes that this would not be the first time the cash-strapped regime had been busted with narcotics. For at least the last 20 years of Kim Jong-il’s regime, opium fields were common, but those were quickly replaced by meth labs.

    The study’s co-author, Kim Seok-hyang, has said that a vast quantity of people in North Korea have “experienced using ice [crystal meth] and not just once… I estimate that at least 40% to 50% are seriously addicted to the drug.” Indeed, some refugees who fled North Korea have claimed that the substance is completely nonaddictive.A former Unification Ministry official and lecturer at Ewha Womans University, Prof. Kim, explains why they say they can’t be addicted: all they need to do to quit is “is sleep all day long, for three or four days.”

    A second study published in the same journal also claimed that North Korean defectors are embracing a kind of self-medication involving self-diagnosis without the help of experts and abuse of prescription medications such as sleeping pills.

    With regard to the prostitution, The ChosunIlbo reported one source as saying that North Korean prostitutes of the past only hung out at military bases, but now women are turning to the street in record numbers. Even college-aged North Korean youth are turning tricks.

    The girls are spending their money in a variety of ways, from putting groceries on the table to buying smartphones and paying for expensive weddings, and North Korean officials aren’t afraid to frequent the streetwalkers. Open-air markets near the North Korean border in China are finding that condoms are their bestselling items, and a defector who used to be an official with the North Korean Worker’s Party spoke of the results following a physical exam for drafted 16 year-old girls that claimed 60 percent of the girls were ‘sexually experienced.’

  • 20 Injured, BB Guns Shot At LG G2 Promotion

    Last week, LG announced its new flagship Android smartphone, the G2. The device’s differentiating feature is that the buttons traditionally found on the edges of smartphones have been moved to the back of the G2, just under the camera. It’s an interesting design idea that may or may not catch on with consumers, but now the G2 may be associated with balloons and a shooting.

    LG on Friday held a promotional event in Seoul for the G2, the theme of which had something to do with cloud storage. The company filled 100 balloons with coupons for free G2 phones, and was planning on releasing them, letting the weather decide the recipients of the smartphones. Some determined LG fans had other plans, however, and showed up to the event with nets, spears, and even BB guns.

    LG has since stated that it could not control the crowd that gathered at the event. The Korea Times is reporting that around 20 people were injured at the event. LG has now cancelled similar events it had planned to hold in other cities across the world. The company has also stated that it will provide medical treatment for those injured at the event.

    The G2 is currently being rolled out across the world, and will be coming to North America and Europe sometime in the next eight weeks. South Korea was one of the first markets to get the G2.

    (via The Korea Times)

  • Average Global Internet Speeds Are Still Increasing

    Average Global Internet Speeds Are Still Increasing

    Most of us in the U.S. love to rag on our ISPs and blame them for what we perceive as painfully slow Internet speeds. Our ISPs certainly do deserve their fair share of criticism, but we should also celebrate when things are headed in a positive direction. The latest report from Akamai is cause for celebration as it shows things are looking up in the ol’ U.S. of A.

    Akamai released its quarterly State of the Internet report today. The report covers Q1 2013, or the three month period beginning in April and ending in June. The big takeaway from the report is that average global Internet speeds are increasing with the worldwide average now at 3.1Mbps, or a 17 percent increase over last year.

    Breaking the global Internet speeds down, we see that South Korea is still the global king of broadband with average connection speeds of 14.2Mbps. What’s interesting about this, however, is that South Korea’s average speed is down 10 percent from last year. It’s the only country in the top 10 to see a decline. In fact, it’s two closest Asian competitors – Japan and Hong Kong – came in second and third place respectively with average speeds of 11.7Mbps and 10.9Mbps. That’s a year-over-year increase of 6.8 and 16 percent respectively.

    So, where is the United States in all of this? We’re in ninth place with average speeds of 8.6Mbps, or a whopping 27 percent year-over-year increase. It’s also a 7.4 percent increase over last quarter’s average speeds of 7.4Mbps.

    Average speeds are important, but an increasingly important metric is the percentage of Internet users who have access to Internet speeds of 10Mbps or higher. The report found that South Korea is once again in first place with a whopping 50 percent of its population having access to speeds of 10Mbps or higher. The U.S. is showing positive signs in this area as well with 25 percent of its population having access to what Akamai calls “high broadband.” Amazingly, that’s a year-over-year increase of 69 percent.

    Next, Akamai’s report moves to the United States to look at which states have the highest average Internet speeds. Like always, New England has the fastest Internet with Vermont coming in first place with average speeds of 12.7Mbps, or a year-over-year increase of 40 percent. New Hampshire and Delaware come in second and third place with 12Mbps and 11.9Mbps respectively. The only state not on the East Coast/New England to make the top 10 is Utah coming in at fifth place with average speeds of 11Mbps.

    As for states with the most high broadband, the top 10 list is dominated by New England/East Coast states. New Hampshire comes in first with 48 percent of its population having access to Internet speeds equal to or higher than 10Mbps. That’s a year-over-year increase of 65 percent. New Jersey came in second with 45 percent, or an astounding 100 percent year-over-year increase.

    One could argue that the average Internet speeds in the U.S. are going up thanks to an increasing number of cities that are rolling out gigabit Internet services. Akamai points out that gigabit Internet is now available in or coming to 13 cities across the U.S., including Kansas City, Chattanooga, Lafayette, Bristol, Seattle, Cedar Falls and others. It’s unlikely that these cities had any real impact on this quarter’s numbers, but it’s a positive sign to see the number of gigabit cities increasing.

    It’s encouraging to see that the Internet is picking up pace around the world. There’s still much work to be done, however, as Akamai notes many countries are still underserved by slow national ISPs that prevent the people in these countries from taking advantage of the numerous innovations brought about faster broadband.

    If you want to see more from Akamai’s report, you can check out the executive summary here. If you want to read the full report, you’ll have to register here.

  • South Korea’s FTC Clears Google Of Unfairly Using Android For Search

    It looks like Google has won another antitrust battle, this time in South Korea. The country’s antitrust watchdog has reportedly decided to acquit Google on charges that it has used its Android operating system to gain an unfair advantage for its search business.

    Korean Internet operators NHN Corp. and Daum Communications Corp. had filed complaints with the country’s Fair Trade Commission in early 2011, suggesting that Google was forcing its search engine as the default on Android phones, and undermining antitrust law.

    The news was reported by Yonhap News Agency (via TheNextWeb). The publication reports:

    The FTC had reviewed the case and came to the conclusion to dismiss the charges, saying that Google’s preload requirement does not restrict market competition as argued by NHN and Daum Communications.

    “Before and after Google’s push to force the preload of the Android operating system, its domestic market share remains almost unchanged at around 10 percent, while Naver (the portal of NHN) still maintains more than 70 percent,” an FTC official said on condition of anonymity… This does not satisfy the competition-restricting condition, which is one of the major issues of this case.”

    The European Commission, which is still waiting on Google to revise proposals in an antitrust probe unrelated to Android, is also said to be looking into whether or not the operating system gives Google an unfair advantage in its search business as well.

    While Google has settled one antitrust probe in with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the FTC is said to be eyeing a separate probe into Google’s display advertising business.

  • Jumper Kills 5-Year-Old, Lands On Top Of Her After Suicide Attemp

    South Korea has a problem with rampant suicide in their country, with it being the leading cause of death among 15-24 demographic. While this is a sad fact in and of itself, one suicide became an even more heartbreaking tragedy.

    A 39 year-old man jumped to his death from a 11-story building, killing a 5 year old girl who was leaving the building with her parents. The suicide took place in in the port city of Busan, South Korea. The man died instantly, the girl had multiple broken bones, brain damage, and was immediately taken to the hospital after the impact, where she died. Her parents were unharmed in the incident.

    No reason has been discovered as to why the man jumped to his death, but he was being treated for depression. There hasn’t been a note discovered at this time. The incident adds to the epidemic of suicides which plagues South Korea every year. Giving it one of the highest suicide rates among industrialized nations.


    [H/T: Inquistr]

  • New N. Korea Threats Issued Following Celebration

    On Monday, the citizens of North Korea celebrated the 101st birthday of Kim Il-Sung, the first leader of the country and the grandfather of its current leader, Kim Jong-un. Today, North Korea has issued more threats, continuing the rhetoric that has been sparking tensions on the Korean peninsula for weeks.

    According to a report from Reuters, the new threats are related to South Korean protests that took place during the North’s celebration. Portraits of North Korean leaders were reportedly burned during the protests, and North Korea is now demanding an apology from South Korea. According to the report, North Korea has threatened “sledge-hammer blows” if it does not receive such an apology.

    North Korea has been releasing inflammatory statements for weeks, criticizing joint U.S/South Korean military exercises near the border between the Koreas. The rhetoric has included the statements that North Korea now considers itself in a state of war and that it has rejected the Korean Armistice Agreement that ended the Korean War in 1953. The country has also cut off all communication with South Korea, including hotlines meant to stave off war. The U.S. has responded by deploying a greater military presence to the region, including F-22 stealth fighter jets.

    In other North Korea news, former NBA star Dennis Rodman has stated that he will be returning to North Korea in August to “hang and have some fun.”

  • iPhone 5 Coming To 50 More Countries This Month (South Korea Release Date: 12/07)

    Apple announced today that the iPhone 5 will be released in South Korea on Friday, December 7, and that it will be released in 50 other countries this month.

    Last week, Apple revealed that the device would be available in China on Friday, December 14 (the new iPads will launch in the country this Friday).

    In addition to China, Apple announced today that the following countries will get the iPhone 5 on December 14: Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Ecuador, Grenada, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Kuwait, Macedonia, Malaysia, Moldova, Montenegro, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. iPhone 5 will also be available on Friday, December 21 in Barbados, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Egypt, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St.Vincent & the Grenadines, Tunisia, Uganda and Vietnam.

    The device is currently available in 47 other countries.

    Last week, Apple began selling unlocked versions of the iPhone 5 (GSM) in the U.S.

  • The Internet Is Still Slowly Gaining Speed Around The World

    The Internet Is Still Slowly Gaining Speed Around The World

    The Internet is constantly evolving around the world. The speed at which it’s evolving, however, is an entirely different story. It’s this evolution that has proven to be one of the more interesting things to watch as world moves towards faster Internet and new technologies like IPv6.

    Once again, we have a front row seat to the changes occurring to the Internet thanks to Akamai’s State of the Internet report that covers Q2. The previous Q1 report found that the Internet was slowly getting faster around the world. How is Q2 shaping up? Things are still slowly getting faster, but individual countries are seeing declines.

    In Q2 2012, the average internet speed around the world was 3 Mbps. That’s a quarter-over-quarter increase of 13 percent. Even better, it’s a year-over-year increase of 15 percent. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look that good for the top ten countries around the world. South Korea, bastion of fast Internet, actually saw a quarter-over-quarter decrease of 9.8 percent to 14.2 Mbps. The United States is in 9th place with an average of 6.6 Mbps which is a quarter-over-quarter decrease of 1.4 percent.

    In worrying news, global broadband speeds are down this quarter. Akamai defines high broadband as connections over 10 Mbps and this bracket saw a sizable decline. Globally, the percentage of Internet users with high broadband is at 10 percent which is a quarter-over-quarter decrease of 1.6 percent. Getting into individual countries, 49 percent of South Korea has high broadband which is a quarter-over-quarter decrease of 7.4 percent. The United States pulls in at 7th place with 16 percent of the population using high broadband which is a quarter-over-quarter increase of 5.5 percent.

    Things look a little better as we head into general broadband territory which is defined by speeds faster than 4 Mbps. The global average is at 39 percent which is a quarter-over-quarter decline of 2.8 percent. South Korea is once again at the top with 84 percent of its citizens at broadband speeds which is a quarter-over-quarter decrease of 2.2 percent. The United States is not even in the top 10 this time as it pulls in at 13th place with 57 percent of the population at broadband speeds. This is a quarter-over-quarter decline of 4.6 percent.

    Moving on to the United States, New England is still dominant force in the country when it comes to fast Internet speeds. The top 10 average Internet speeds mostly belong to Northeastern states with New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut belonging to the top 10. The fastest average Internet in the U.S., however, belongs to Delaware with average speeds of 12.1 Mbps which is a quarter-over-quarter increase of 18 percent.

    The breakdown is largely the same when it comes to the percentage of citizens who are on high broadband connections. Delaware is still number one with 39 percent of its citizens enjoying high broadband, which is a quarter-over-quarter increase of 19 percent. Unlike the average speeds, however, most of the states with the highest percentages of high broadband users belong on the east coast. Washington state is the only West Coast state that features a high percentage of citizens on high broadband.

    General broadband availability is still mostly present in the Northeastern states, but there’s one surprise here. Florida pulled in at 10th place with 69 percent of its citizens using regular broadband. That’s an quarter-over-quarter increase of 2.7 percent.

    Beyond Internet speeds, Akamai also took time out this quarter to look at the increasing adoption rates of IPv6. IPv6 was made available to everyone on June 6, and since then IPv6 growth has been at seven percent in 2012. Akamai points out that this is actually lower than the growth rates from the past three years. One possible reason is that most large organizations and networks had already switched to IPv6 in the years leading up to the official rollout.

    As for the rest of the report, you can request a copy here. It breaks down Internet penetration rates for other geographic regions including the explosive Internet regions in Asia that are just starting to make a presence on the Internet. You can also check out the latest cyber threats and where they’re coming from.

  • Google’s Eric Schmidt Dances Gangnam Style in Korea

    Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt recently took a trip to the Google offices in Korea and was greeted by none other than PSY, the man behind the viral sensation “Gangnam Style.”

    According to Google, Schmidt presented PSY with a framed Google Doodle and then asked to be taught how to dance Gangnam Style.

    Of course, Schmidt didn’t travel all the way to South Korea to learn to dance. He was there attending the Nexus 7 event – just a few days after launching the device in Japan. But Eric Schmidt and Gangnam Style? That’s compelling and must be investigated.

    Here, we have an (admittedly crappy) video of the scene at the Google offices in Korea. Nevertheless, you can still recognize Schmidt, surrounded by enthusiastic Koreans:

    And here’s a photo of the exchange, courtesy Google Korea:

    I guess Schmidt had to embrace the fad, considering Gangnam Style is now officially the most-liked video in the history of YouTube. For more Gangnam Style-related mashups and remixes, check here.

    [via The Next Web]