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Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Envoy urges China to play ‘active role’ in Syria crisis

BEIJING (AFP) ― U.N.-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said Wednesday he hoped China would play an active role in helping end the violence in Syria as he met Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi for talks in Beijing.

Greeting Yang at the foreign ministry in front of reporters, Brahimi said he hoped “China can play an active role in solving the events in Syria” without elaborating further.

China is generally suspicious of intervention in the internal affairs of other nations, with state media last month accusing Western powers of hampering efforts to end the conflict.

Both China and Russia have exercised their veto in the U.N. Security Council to block resolutions aimed at putting more pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Meeting Brahimi on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York last month, Yang reaffirmed this stance, saying that “political dialogue is the only correct way to tackle this issue.”

Any political transition must be led by the people of Syria and not imposed by outside forces, he said.

Brahimi, who succeeded former United Nations chief Kofi Annan after he quit over what he called a lack of international support, is due to present new proposals for resolving the conflict to the U.N. Security Council next month.

His two-day visit to China, which ends Wednesday, came after he met Russia’s foreign minister in Moscow and described the conflict, now in its 19th month after a failed four-day truce last week, as going from bad to worse.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Romney, Obama clash on Middle East in last debate

Republican Mitt Romney warned Monday that Islamic extremism was not on the run, faulting President Barack Obama's leadership on the Middle East in their final White House debate.

Two weeks before Obama asks voters for a second term in the November 6 election, the rivals clashed on foreign policy in a final showdown with the capacity to reshape their neck-and-neck race.

"We certainly can't kill our way out of the mess," Romney said, bemoaning Obama's leadership in the Middle East amid the "disturbing" evolution of the Arab Spring, and warning Islamic extremism was rampant in the region.


Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, left is greeted by President Barack Obama before the start of the third presidential debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP-Yonhap News)




The Republican called for a strategy to deflect Muslim nations from Islamic radicalism, which he warned "is certainly not on the run.

"It is certainly not in hiding," he added, in a clear swipe at the president's claim to have decimated al-Qaida.

Obama came out strong and hard against Romney, warning that his national security policy was "all over the map," accusing his foe of shifting positions and saying he had learned as commander-in-chief that clarity was paramount.

The president also seized on Romney's past comment that Russia was Washington's top geopolitical foe.

"The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because the Cold War's been over for 20 years," a mocking Obama said.

"Governor, when it comes to our foreign policy, you seem to want to import the foreign policies of the 1980s, just like the social policies of the 1950s, and the economic policies of the 1920s."

Republican Romney was seeking to erode the Democratic president's advantage on national security and to emerge as a plausible commander-in-chief as they also were expected to spar on Iran and China.

The rivals are neck-and-neck in national polls after Romney surged following his first debate win in early October and started chipping away at Obama's foundation in the swing states that will decide the election.

Foreign policy is unlikely to decide who wins on November 6, with the sluggish economy driving the election, but Romney is under pressure to show basic competence following a string of blunders.

It is unclear whether Romney's differences with Obama are more a matter of tone or substance, and whether the Republican, if elected, would follow up on tough campaign talk on China's economic "cheating" and Russia for example.

Obama's camp is making the case that Romney, who has little overseas experience, cannot be trusted to steer the United States through a treacherous world of belligerent emerging powers and national security threats.

"On foreign policy, Mitt Romney has nothing to offer except bluster, chest-thumping, and a commitment to endless war," Senator John Kerry, a possible secretary of state in Obama's second term said, ahead of the presidential clash.

"As tonight's debate will demonstrate, blunder and bluster are no substitute for strong leadership," said Kerry, who has been acting as Romney for Obama's debate preparations.

New polls released Monday had the race a cliffhanger with two weeks to go.

CBS News and ABC News had Obama up by two and one points in the national race, but a Politico/GWU/Battleground poll showed Romney leading by two points.

While national polls offer a snapshot of momentum in the race, the nine or so states that could swing to either side will define the outcome.

Obama retains several pathways to the 270 electoral votes needed to win on November 6, but Romney has chiseled away at his advantage with signs that Florida and North Carolina are slipping towards the Republican.

The president, currently polling around 70 percent among Hispanic voters, seems to be doing well in early voting in Nevada, with the result possibly hanging on a combination of close races in Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin and Virginia.

Romney won the first debate after a lethargic performance from Obama, but the president's feisty showing on Long Island, New York last week made the third debate as a tie-breaker of sorts.

The Republican was likely make a new attempt to trip Obama over his administration's shifting stories on the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya on September 11 that killed four Americans.

The Republican has squandered several chances to jump Obama on the issue, after a hasty statement early in the crisis and a stumble in the last debate over the president's characterization of events in Benghazi.

Republicans claim Obama was reluctant to admit the attack was an act of terrorism, fearing an Al-Qaeda comeback would knock him off his pedestal as the commander-in-chief who had put the militants on the run.

Top Obama aides at first said the attack was a spontaneous act that arose out of anger at an anti-Muslim video.

Later assessments blamed heavily armed militants, but officials say the incident still seems more opportunistic than pre-planned.

The Republican will seek to pressure Obama over Iran's nuclear program, arguing that presidential weakness has emboldened Tehran.

Complicating one of the main topics on the eve of the debate, The New York Times said US officials believed Iran was ready for one-on-one talks with Washington, though the White House denied the report. (AFP)

Thursday, October 18, 2012

US lawmaker reintroduces Korean Immigration Commemorative Coin Act


WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- A U.S. lawmaker has renewed a push to issue coins to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of Korean immigration here, Congress said Tuesday.

Rep. Rob Andrews, a Democrat from New Jersey, re-submitted a bill last week requiring the Treasury Department to mint coins in commemoration of the occasion.

Since the first voyage in 1903, approximately 1 million Koreans have immigrated to the United States, the first group arriving in Honolulu, Hawaii. Many worked at sugarcane or pineapple plants.

The size of the Korean community has grown to around 2 million, with a growing number of Korean Americans playing a major role in American society.

"This commemorative coin will serve as a symbol of our appreciation for the significant contributions made by Korean Americans to our great nation," he said.

Andrews first submitted a bill on such coins in 2003 and re-introduced it in 2005. Congressional sessions in both years ended without the passage of the bill.

If his bill is passed this time as is, the Treasury Department will issue up to 20,000 "gold coins," each worth $5, and the maximum of 10,000 "silver coins," each worth $1.

Auto-interpretation app to invigorate tourism industry


Minister of Knowledge Economy Hong Suk-woo, center, poses with Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) President Kim Heung-nam, left, and Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) President Lee Charm after signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the promotion of an auto-interpretation application at the Tourism Information Center in Seoul, Wednesday. / Yonhap

By Yun Suh-young

Foreign travelers to Korea will be able to communicate easily with Koreans from now on even if they don’t speak the language, due to help from a new application.

The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) said Wednesday that an automatic interpretation application for smart phones, GenieTalk, which operates in English and Korean, is now available at app stores.

The interpretation technology was developed as part of a fundamental technology development project of the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.

The application has been on a trial service until now in limited regions but has now expanded its service to the entire country.

The application which was developed late last Month has been servicing Jeju Island since January and was also on trial service at the Yeosu Expo from May to August.

The name GenieTalk comes from the word “genie”, associated with the mythical magic lamp, combined with “talk.” It means that the application is a smart machine that makes people’s wish to communicate come true, acting much like the “genie” from the magic lamp.

The application offers 270,000 Korean words and 65,000 English words. It is claimed that the application’s interpretation accuracy rate is 80 percent, much higher than that of Google Translate’s 65 percent.

The application is available for both Android and iOS users and can be downloaded at the Android market or on Apple’s app store after searching “GenieTalk.”

The ETRI plans to develop services in eight other languages, including Chinese, Japanese and Spanish. It plans to make them available by 2018 when the PyeongChang Winter Olympics will be held.

The ETRI and the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) signed a memorandum of understanding Wednesday to cooperate in promoting the application and invigorate the tourism industry.

“The application is a success example of IT technology infused into tourism. We hope the application will improve the quality of tour in Korea through its high-quality interpretation service,” said Lee Charm, CEO of KTO.

The tourism organization plans to actively promote the application to attract more foreign tourists into Korea.

Minister of Knowledge Economy Hong Suk-woo and ETRI President Kim Heung-nam were present at the signing ceremony. 

Special counsel raids home of Lee's eldest brother

A special counsel raided the home and office of President Lee Myung-bak's eldest brother on Wednesday on suspicions he played a role in alleged irregularities in a now-scrapped project to build Lee's retirement home, officials said.

The raid came as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations that Lee's son, Si-hyung, and the presidential security service violated real estate laws and used taxpayers' money to buy a plot of land for the retirement home, which was to be built in Naegok-dong on the southern edge of Seoul.

Lee's eldest brother, Sang-eun, reportedly loaned some 600 million won ($542,000) to his nephew for the purchase.

"(The raid) was aimed at securing the material we need to verify basic facts such as money flows and details of contracts," special prosecutor Lee Kwang-bum told a press briefing. Lee heads the counsel of 63 members, including two assistant counsels, police officers and special investigators.

The special investigation team raided the elder Lee's home in eastern Seoul and his office at the headquarters of automotive seat maker DAS, where he serves as chairman, in the southeastern city of Gyeongju, officials said.

The team also raided several other sites related to Lee Si-hyung and two real estate agencies that were involved in the land purchase last year.

Opposition parties and civic groups have claimed the security service and the son did not evenly share the cost of the plot, which included land on which to build auxiliary facilities for security personnel. The security service paid a high price for the site for security facilities, effectively allowing the son to profit from buying the site at a below-market price, they claimed.

The presidential office has flatly rejected suspicions it was an illicit scheme to help Lee's son profit. Lee later scrapped the project and decided to move into his existing private house in Nonhyun-dong in southern Seoul after leaving office next February.

As part of the investigation, the Justice Ministry on Tuesday banned about 10 people from leaving the country, including the 34-year-old son and his 79-year-old uncle.

The chairman, however, left for China a day earlier on what DAS officials said was a business trip. He is scheduled to return next Wednesday, they said.

Special prosecutor Lee said his team has issued a summons for three people, including a member of the presidential security service, to appear for questioning on Thursday.

Counsel officials said they are also trying to reach the land's 56-year-old former owner, identified only by his last name Yu, who is known to be in the United States after having left the country on May 12.

The special investigation comes after prosecutors wrapped up an inquiry into the scandal in June this year without filing charges against anyone involved, including the younger Lee, saying all suspicions in the case had been resolved.

The prosecutors said there was no evidence of malpractice in dividing the cost of the plot between the president's son and the presidential office. They also said there is no evidence that the president tried to buy land illegally in the name of his son.

That decision sparked a wave of public criticism and led the ruling and opposition parties to agree to a reinvestigation.(Yonhap)

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Psy mends rift; U.S. No. 1 proves elusive

Entertainers Kim Jang-hoon (left) and Psy publicly rekindle their friendship at the “Night of the Stars 2012” concert on Wednesday after a recent plagiarism dispute between the two. (Yonhap News)
It has been quite a week for the Korean rapping icon Psy. He and fellow entertainer Kim Jang-hoon appear to have solved their differences and Korea’s Ministry of Gender Equality and Family lifted the 19-and-older age restriction on one of Psy’s songs from 2010. However, not all of the news is good as it was also announced that U.S. band Maroon 5 has once again stopped Psy in his tracks in his quest for a U.S. No. 1.

For the third consecutive week Maroon 5 has kept Psy from topping the U.S. Billboard charts, and with “Gangnam Style” beginning to lose ground, it is beginning to look as though Psy will have to keep his shirt on.

Last week Maroon 5 bested Psy by less than 500 overall chart points. This week, however, the gap widened to a 700-point separation between Maroon 5’s “One More Night” and “Gangnam Style.” Although “One More Night” increased by less than one percent in overall points, “Gangnam Style” saw a decline of one percent. On the digital songs chart, “Gangnam Style” also fell 13 percent, slipping from the number two spot to number four.

Friendship reaffirmed
Meanwhile, as Psy was performing at the “Night of the Stars 2012” concert in Seoul, fellow entertainer Kim Jang-hoon made a surprise visit and publicly apologized on the stage for the recent conflict between the two performers.

Kim apologized to Psy for all the misunderstandings saying, “I felt bad that I was getting in the way of my loving brother’s prosperous path.” Psy also apologized for all the worry that he had caused. The two then took a “love shot” of soju and embraced one another in a demonstration of friendship.

The bad blood between the two singers started with accusations of Psy plagiarizing Kim’s stage production technique and performances. Kim had previously posted distressing messages on his me2day page that were later seen as being directed toward Psy, causing tension between the two.

MOGEF ban lifted
After recently updating its music censorship policies, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced that it lifted the restrictions on Psy’s 2010 hit song “Right Now.”

The song was originally deemed unfit for minors because of the lyrics which include the line “Life is a strong alcohol.” Under previous MOGEF regulations, all songs featuring words concerning drinking and smoking could not be sold to those under the age of 19 and could not be aired until after a certain hour.

The ministry lifted the restrictions on around 300 songs, including 2pm’s “Hands Up” and Jang Hye-jin’s “Drinking.”

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)

US deficit tops $1 trillion for fourth year


WASHINGTON -- The U.S. budget deficit has topped $1 trillion for a fourth straight year, but a modest improvement in economic growth helped narrow the gap by $207 billion compared with last year.

The Treasury Department said Friday the deficit for the 2012 budget year totaled $1.1 trillion. Tax revenue rose 6.4 percent from last year to more than $2.4 trillion, helping contain the deficit.

The government's revenue rose as more people got jobs and received income. Corporations also contributed more tax revenue than in 2011.

Government spending fell 1.7 percent to $3.5 trillion. The decline reflected, in part, less defense spending as U.S. military involvement in Iraq was winding down.

Barack Obama's presidency has now coincided with four straight $1 trillion-plus annual budget deficits _ the first in history and an issue in an election campaign that ends in Nov. 6.

Obama's Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, contends that Obama failed to achieve a pledge to halve the deficit he inherited by the end of his first term.

When Obama took office in January 2009, the Congressional Budget Office forecast that the deficit for that year would total $1.2 trillion. It ended up at a record $1.41 trillion.

The increase was due, in part, to higher government spending to fight the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s Tax cuts enacted under President George W. Bush and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan contributed to the deficits.

The budget gaps in 2010 and 2011 were slightly lower than the 2009 deficit as a gradually strengthening economy generated more tax revenue. But the deficits still exceeded $1 trillion.

Obama is campaigning for a second term with a pledge to cut deficits by $4 trillion over the next decade. He says he would do so by ending the Bush-era income tax cuts for higher-income Americans and by restraining the growth of spending.

Romney has said he would cut spending growth to help narrow the budget gap. He would cap spending at 20 percent of the economy by 2016. Spending in 2012 accounted for about 23 percent of the economy.

The government borrowed about 31 cents of every dollar it spent in 2012. The string of $1 trillion-plus deficits has driven the national debt above $16 trillion. The magnitude of that figure has intensified debate in Congress over spending and taxes but little movement toward compromise.

Many fear the budget deadlock will send the economy over a ``fiscal cliff'' next year, when tax increases and deep spending cuts will take effect unless a budget deal is reached.

Obama wants to eliminate the income tax cuts for families that make more than $250,000.

Republicans in Congress and Romney have resisted. They argue that with the economy still weak, the government should not be raising anyone's taxes.

Congress may address the budget crisis during a lame-duck session of Congress after the November elections.
(AP)



US deficit tops $1 trillion for fourth year
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. budget deficit has topped $1 trillion for a fourth straight year, but a modest improvement in economic growth helped narrow the gap by $207 billion compared with last year.

The Treasury Department said Friday the deficit for the 2012 budget year totaled $1.1 trillion. Tax revenue rose 6.4 percent from last year to more than $2.4 trillion, helping contain the deficit.

The government's revenue rose as more people got jobs and received income. Corporations also contributed more tax revenue than in 2011.

Government spending fell 1.7 percent to $3.5 trillion. The decline reflected, in part, less defense spending as U.S. military involvement in Iraq was winding down.

Barack Obama's presidency has now coincided with four straight $1 trillion-plus annual budget deficits _ the first in history and an issue in an election campaign that ends in Nov. 6.

Obama's Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, contends that Obama failed to achieve a pledge to halve the deficit he inherited by the end of his first term.

When Obama took office in January 2009, the Congressional Budget Office forecast that the deficit for that year would total $1.2 trillion. It ended up at a record $1.41 trillion.

The increase was due, in part, to higher government spending to fight the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s Tax cuts enacted under President George W. Bush and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan contributed to the deficits.

The budget gaps in 2010 and 2011 were slightly lower than the 2009 deficit as a gradually strengthening economy generated more tax revenue. But the deficits still exceeded $1 trillion.

Obama is campaigning for a second term with a pledge to cut deficits by $4 trillion over the next decade. He says he would do so by ending the Bush-era income tax cuts for higher-income Americans and by restraining the growth of spending.

Romney has said he would cut spending growth to help narrow the budget gap. He would cap spending at 20 percent of the economy by 2016. Spending in 2012 accounted for about 23 percent of the economy.

The government borrowed about 31 cents of every dollar it spent in 2012. The string of $1 trillion-plus deficits has driven the national debt above $16 trillion. The magnitude of that figure has intensified debate in Congress over spending and taxes but little movement toward compromise.

Many fear the budget deadlock will send the economy over a ``fiscal cliff'' next year, when tax increases and deep spending cuts will take effect unless a budget deal is reached.

Obama wants to eliminate the income tax cuts for families that make more than $250,000.

Republicans in Congress and Romney have resisted. They argue that with the economy still weak, the government should not be raising anyone's taxes.

Congress may address the budget crisis during a lame-duck session of Congress after the November elections.
(AP)

Monday, October 8, 2012

Chavez wins re-election, electoral council says

Accompanied by his daughter Rosa Virginia, left, Venezuela`s President Hugo Chavez gestures to supporters as he leaves the polling station after voting in the presidential election in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday. (AP-Yonhap News)


President Hugo Chavez won re-election Sunday, defeating challenger Henrique Capriles and gaining six more years to cement his legacy and press ahead with his crusade for socialism in Venezuela.

With about 90 percent of votes counted, Chavez had more than 54 percent of the vote, and Capriles had 45 percent, National Electoral Council president Tibisay Lucena said. She said 81 percent of the nearly 19 million registered voters cast ballots, one of the largest turnouts in years.

It was Chavez's third re-election victory in nearly 14 years in office, though by a smaller margin than in 2006, when he won 63 percent of the votes.

Fireworks exploded in downtown Caracas, and Chavez's supporters celebrated waving flags and jumping for joy outside the presidential palace.

Chavez won more than 7.4 million votes, beating Capriles by more than 1.2 million votes, Lucena said.

Capriles congratulated Chavez and told his supporters not to feel defeated.

“We have planted many seeds across Venezuela and I know that these seeds are going to produce many trees,” he told supporters in a speech late Sunday.

Chavez spent heavily in the months before the vote, building public housing and bankrolling expanded social programs providing benefits to poor families.

Capriles, a youthful state governor, became a strong challenger after winning a February primary and rallied an opposition that grew more united and better organized than in the past. But in the end, it was no match for Chavez's electoral prowess.

Just as polls closed on Sunday night, hundreds of young red-shirted Chavistas took to the streets on motorcycles and said they were ready to begin celebrating.

“Let them accept defeat,” Kleiver Gutierrez said of the opposition.

People holding posters of Chavez shouted to passing cars outside the Miraflores presidential palace.

One pro-Chavez voter, private bodyguard Carlos Julio Silva, said that whatever his faults, Chavez deserved to win for spreading the nation's oil wealth to the poor with free medical care, public housing and other government largess. The country has the world's largest proven oil reserves.

“There is corruption, there's plenty of bureaucracy, but the people have never had a leader who cared about this country,” Silva said after voting for Chavez at a school in the Caracas slum of Petare. “That's why the people are going to re-elect Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias.”

At many polling places, voters began lining up hours before polls opened at dawn, some snaking for blocks in the baking Caribbean sun. Some shaded themselves with umbrellas. Vendors grilled meat and some people drank beer.

Maria Leonis was selling CDs of Chavez's campaign theme music on a sidewalk next to a polling center. “Today I've sold about 100 CDs, just Chavez's song,” Leonis said, adding that she supported Chavez because “I want to keep seeing change.”

Chavez's critics say the president has inflamed divisions by labeling his opponents “fascists,” `'Yankees” and “neo-Nazis,” and it's likely hard for many of his opponents to stomach another six years of the loquacious and conflictive leader.

Some said before the vote that they'd consider leaving the country if Chavez won.

Gino Caso, an auto mechanic, said Chavez is power-hungry and out of touch with problems such as crime. He said his son had been robbed, as had neighboring shops.

“I don't know what planet he lives on,” Caso said, gesturing with hands blackened with grease. “He wants to be like Fidel Castro _ end up with everything, take control of the country.”

The 40-year-old Capriles, a wiry former governor affectionately called “Skinny” by supporters, infused the opposition with new optimism, and opinion polls pointed to him giving Chavez his closest election contest ever.

Chavez spoke little during the campaign about his fight with cancer, which since June 2011 has included surgery to remove tumors from his pelvic region as well as chemotherapy and radiation treatment. He has said his most recent tests showed no sign of illness. (AP)

Foxconn workers return to iPhone production after stoppage


Foxconn Technology Group workers returned to the assembly line in Zhengzhou, China, that makes Apple Inc.’s iPhone 5 after walking off their jobs Saturday, advocacy group China Labor Watch said.

A dispute occurred between the production and quality teams at the factory and that was resolved by Saturday afternoon, Simon Hsing, a spokesman for Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Foxconn’s flagship unit, said in a phone interview.

“Three to four thousand” production employees walked off the job at the plant Saturday, and they returned to work Sunday after the management said they’d be fired for a failure to turn up, Executive Director Li Qiang said.
Workers walk outside a Foxconn plant in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China. (Bloomberg)

The workers action happened after they were being made to work through a holiday week and being subject to “overly strict” product-quality demands without adequate training, the group said in a press release dated Oct. 5. The walkout was the result of demands placed by Apple on its manufacturer to improve the quality of the iPhone 5 after customers complained that the company’s latest handset had scratches, China Labor Watch said.

“What’s important is the implication,” said Daniel Chang, an analyst with Macquarie Securities Ltd. in Taipei. “At a time when China’s wage level is rising it’s creating big challenges for assembly plants like Foxconn.”

Louis Woo, a spokesman for Foxconn, denied there had been 4,000 workers involved in a strike or work stoppage, speaking in a phone interview.

The issue adds to the labor woes Taiwan-based Foxconn has faced in the past two years, after a fight among 2,000 workers at another plant in China resulted in a production stoppage last month.

Foxconn raised overly strict demands on product quality without providing worker training for the corresponding skills, China Labor Watch wrote. This led to products that did not meet standards and ultimately put a tremendous amount of pressure on workers, it said. (Bloomberg)

Psy tops Chinese online music chart


South Korean rapper-singer Psy has topped a Chinese online music chart, as the popularity of his global hit "Gangnam Style" spills over into the world's most populous country, a Web site showed Monday.

"Gangnam Style" ranked No. 1 on the music search service of China's largest search engine, Baidu.

The song has caught on with fans in China after Psy's popularity spread from the United States, where the single first went viral, to Europe and Latin America.

"Gangnam Style" became a global sensation just a few months after its debut, with the music video for it spawning numerous copycat videos and parodies on the Internet.

The video features the singer's trademark quirky style that amuses audiences of all ages, combined with a signature "horse-riding" dance.

Psy, whose given Korean name is Park Jae-sang, topped the iTunes Chart last month with his latest single, making him the first Korean artist to reach No. 1 on the U.S. online chart.

On the Billboard chart, Psy ranked second for the second consecutive week, according to Billboard.com. The song jumped to No. 1 on the British Official Singles Chart last week.

Although the song has few English-language lyrics, its music is familiar to Western listeners with its catchy pop melodies mixed with electronic dance beats.

Psy's combination of light music with his good-natured humor, easy-to-learn dance moves and the catchy chorus, "Oppan Gangnam Style," has created a worldwide phenomenon.

Renowned U.S. magazine New Yorker said the cultural impact Gangnam Style has made on the global audience drew envy from China.

"In China, the Gangnam phenomenon carries a special pique. It has left people asking, 'Why couldn't we come up with that?'" wrote Evan Osonos, Beijing-based writer for New Yorker, on the magazine's blog.

Chinese political leaders have been stressing China's need to boost its "soft power" in a bid to remake the country's international image, which is more inclined toward the "hard power"

of politics and economic size.

In 2007, Chinese President Hu Jintao defined "soft power"

development as a key national strategy.

Confucius Institutes, which promote Chinese language and culture across the world, were seen as one such initiative for advancing China's cultural influence internationally. (Yonhap News)

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Psy offers bridge across world


Psy does his iconic horse-riding dance during a free concert at Seoul Plaza, Thursday.
/ Korea Times

By Ana Nardelli

In Latin America, we all refer to Asia as the Very Far East, and for most, Korea is a remote place of which we only vaguely remember the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

That was of course, until a few months ago, when it became clearer than ever that the boundaries of style and cultural appreciation are becoming thinner and thinner. The guilty one is Psy with his “Gangnam Style”; the fact behind it is art is universal.

It’s evident that this too authentic, too light-spirited, and not-so-young Korean pop star has broken into the U.S. and European markets. But let’s not forget, he has also taken hold over the dance moves of people all over Latin America: YouTube has parodies in Spanish that have gone viral, wedding bands are giving out “Gangnam Style” paraphernalia, the song is the number one selling single in Mexico — Psy is everywhere!

Truth be told, we share more than family values and a taste for spicy food with the Koreans; we share the pride of a nation that yesterday took the form of one of the most significant cultural-musical trend events.

Psy’s performance in the heart of Seoul Thursday showed us the true colors of the city: an international metropolis, with the youngest and eldest moving together with a mix of flavors that spiced the souls of the hundreds of curious onlookers that ended up screaming and dancing.

It made me remember my hometown, Mexico City, also top in the list of the largest and most inhabited in the world, we have our own “plaza”, the Zocalo, to live and witness the most important events and to cheer along the most cherished international personalities and our best ambassadors to the world.

But let’s face it, it is easy to imagine thousands of Latinos cheering and dancing with the brightest mariachi music, holding a beer amidst the sunny weather. But none of us could have imagined thousands of the best-known as hard-working white-collar Koreans, as well as expats from all walks of life holding cups of tea or coffee and having the same easiness in the midst of the Korean capital.

Even though the song refers to the trendiest, jet-setter district in Seoul, the horse dance and the whole “Gangnam Style” phenomenon is just so authentic and easy going that it brings a breath of fresh air to anyone that lives it, and we all definitively need it in this stressful time: forget about hard news, style, conventions and pretentions.

Ironically, this is what has created a new style, a bridge between Korea and the world, a new trademark that without trying has become more iconic than Haechi Seoul.

I expected the event to run smoothly and in an orderly manner, as it did the whole way. But after watching everyone singing and dancing, laughing and cheering, it became evident that between East and West we also share a light and bright spirited side, something that brings us together to enjoy and take pride in ourselves, something that Psy has also been “guilty” of sharing with us.

Ana Nardelli is an international journalist and anthropologist currently based in Seoul.