Avoiding Prison in Korea

Poor Cullen Thomas, he could have used this page from the Oxford Picture Dictionary when he was going to court. Click on the image to enlarge it and learn the Hangul for getting yourself an attorney, understanding your rights, pleading guilty, being found guilty, going to jail, eating crappy prison kimchi, and finally being released seven years later (which is, coincidentally, the amount of time that Cullen Thomas was supposed to get). And remember, it doesn't matter how you plead in Korea, the conviction rate is close to 100%. Good luck, suckers.

I Pity Da Fool

All Korea-philes know the story of Cullen Thomas, the English teacher who got himself three and a half years in a ROK prison for shipping himself some hash. Well, Cullen wrote a book, Brother One Cell, and on 19 March 2007 was interviewed (audio, link is halfway down on the right) by Diane Rehm of NPR. Not the best interview in the world, but interesting nevertheless.

He talks mostly about getting arrested and why he did what he did. Personally, I would have liked to hear a little bit more about his time in prison. I know how to get in trouble, I just want to know why I shouldn't.