TESL Korea News

North Korea and South Korean governments have finally agreed to host much needed military talks. The Seoul government has taken up on the North’s offer only a day after the U.S. and China called on the North to end provocations. During the meeting the North has said it will speak out about its position on the sinking of the Chonan in ... Read More

Apparently the Will Smith movie, I-Robot, is becoming more of a reality in Korea. The latest is that robotics will soon be in most homes and offices. Already the presidential office in Seoul has taken a hold of this technology, and installed at Sarangchae, the presidential museum, a robot names Tiro, who has been greeting guests since September 2010. Part of ... Read More

The Somali Pirates have indeed struck again, this time on a South Korean cargo vessel carrying 21 crewmembers. The 11,500 ton Samho Jewelry freighter, carrying eight South Korean workers, was seized on January 15 in the Arabian Sea between Oman and India. It was en route to Sri Lanka from the United Arab Emirates. The Seoul government has been under ... Read More

Well not really on crack but geez, just when you thought taxis couldn’t get any worse, along comes the snow. To the operator of a taxi with a sane mind seeing snow would generally mean slow down, but low and behold, Korea is not full of sane-minded taxi drivers. In a case of sheer craziness, Korean taxi drivers seem to think ... Read More

This coming month of January sees the 4-yearly Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup begin as host nation Qatar prepares to hold a large scale football tournament to showcase just why a country with such a small population and land mass was given the opportunity to stage the World Cup in 2022. Football fever will rear its head again in South Korea ... Read More

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has said both the South and North should pursue economic cooperation based on mutual respect to pave the way for reunification, beginning with the North becoming “economically independent”. N.Korea’s attack on the Korean Peninsula at the end of 2010 had Lee holding out on hopes of reunification. "It is obvious that North Korea now remains one of ... Read More

Korean Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yu-na has been voted female athlete of the year by the United States Sports Academy (USSA). Currently the worlds number one figure skater, she won Korea its first gold medal in figure skating at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010. Named alongside as male athlete of the year was David Villa, a Spanish footballer who scored ... Read More

Hooray for all of you fed up with bussing it from Seoul to Incheon airport; Korea has finally made the trip faster and more accessible by rail. At a cost of 2.48 trillion won ($2.15 billion), the new 20.4 kilometer railway, and second phase of the double-track railway line, connects Seoul Station in the central part of the city, to Gimpo ... Read More

It’s Christmas Day and I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of one of my Korean colleagues. It was great delight, although it surprisingly felt like the wedding was over before it even started. David and I arrived to the chamber hall and were immediately directed to a reception counter where everyone was gathered stuffing money into envelopes. We gave ... Read More

“Gray Morning – Beautiful Day” is an old German proverb, and nothing else could have described better the Sunday afternoon I spent visiting the Annual Traditional German Christmas Market & Festival that took place at the Seongbuk Multicultural Village Center in Seoul from December 10-12. Upon leaving my home in Gimpo, it was a very dry, gray, and bitter cold morning. My ... Read More