(chuckle) E-Sports

Perhaps you don't know how popular online gaming is in Korea. Perhaps you've been locked up in a third-world prison for the last ten years or have the sensory capabilities of Helen Keller.

From smoky, 24-hour Internet cafes to stadium-style competitions, almost one-quarter of Korea's population, and it's not just for kids anymore, participates in online gaming. There are many magazines, Websites, and other media dedicated to online gaming, and there is one full-time gaming channel, Ongamenet, that has amazing production value and is extremely popular. And they all play StarCraft.

I don't really want to debate the nature of the word "E-Sports" due to the fact that I'd end up throwing things and punching a Korean person, but I'll say this: Two of the most loathsome linguistic trends (sticking an "e" before other words and calling games "sports") have come together to create the semantic Hellspawn that is Korean entertainment.

Monocle (Oh, why must a subscription cost so much?!) produced a great video primer on this aspect of modern Korean culture. Watch the video. Then, cry for Korea.

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.