Yu-na Eying LA Championships in March

By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
Korea Times

Kim Yu-na is to start training for the forthcoming World Figure Skating Championships, to be held from March 23 to 29 in Los Angeles, after grabbing her first gold medal from the non-European international competition for the Americas, Asia, Africa and Australia in Vancouver, Canada, Friday (Saturday KST).The 18-year-old Korean won gold in Vancouver, although a triple loop bothered her again in the free skating of the International Skating Union (ISU) Four Continents Championships.World No. 3 Kim finished with 116.83 points for the free skate and 189.07 overall, but she failed to reach the 200-point milestone record.Kim scored a world record 72.24 in the short program Wednesday to heighten expectations for her to reach 200 combined points.Canadian Joannie Rochette, a short program runner-up, maintained the post, holding off stiff challenges from the rest of the pack with 183.91 points, while reigning champion Mao Asada of Japan rebounded from one of the worst short program performances in her career, which left her in sixth place, to win the bronze on 176.52.Capturing the gold medal at the Pacific Coliseum, the venue for figure skating and short track speed skating for the 2010 Winter Olympics, Kim brightened prospects for a first figure skating medal for the Far East nation in the Winter Games.``I wanted to do a triple loop but I missed it,'' Kim said. ``The rest of the program was great. For me to have first in Vancouver is good.''Kim _ who watched Asada top last year's contest, which took place in South Korea, due to injury _ opened up with a triple flip-triple toe loop to Scheherazade by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. But she fell on the triple loop, which she has never managed to hit this season.Determined, she landed a triple lutz-double toeloop-double loop combination, but it was downgraded to 3.22.After her flying sit spin, a level four, she completed a double axel-triple toeloop combination and a triple lutz.Asada scaled down to a triple axel-double toeloop, but singled the planned triple axel.After landing her second triple axel, the defending Grand Prix and world champion turned a triple toeloop into a double. ``I still have problems to conquer so I will try harder at the worlds,'' Asada said.Kim might have some complaints over judges who appeared to be too strict on her after she set a new world record in the short program. The judges cut six points as they evaluated that her first and third jumps lacked in the number of spins. Compared to her contenders, who didn't lose points in that part, her jump looked to be enough to get full points.Kim, however, didn't make any comment on the judges. `` As I always have done, I tried to put in all my effort and do my best. Though I made a few mistakes, I tried my best not to lose my concentration until my performance was completed.''Meanwhile, fellow South Koreans Kim Hyeong-jung and Kim Na-young came in 14th and 16th, respectively, after gaining 121.64 and 120.28 points.Kim, a two-time world bronze medallist, will now concentrate on competing at the World Championships, scheduled from March 23 to 29 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

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For English Studies, Koreans Say Goodbye to Dad

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — On a sunny afternoon recently, half a dozen South Korean mothers came to pick up their children at the Remuera Primary School here, greeting one another warmly in a schoolyard filled with New Zealanders.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/world/asia/08geese.html?ex=1213675200&en=bc5859d06a170c78&ei=5070&emc=eta1

This article shows well how a lot of Koreans are obsessed with having good abilities in English. It
is talking about one of the booming trends; that is going to English speaking country to study in early ages. Sending young children to other country alone makes parents always anxious about them so this problem in the end lead to one of the parents ( most of cases, mothers go together with their children)follow their children and live separated. It is true that exposing a language in early age is much more efficient to absorb language naturally. However, to get a valued asset, many fathers who mostly support financially in reverse feel isolated, lonely. Moreover, by living apart, the relationship between the couple become estranged and even worse, it bring the result of divorce, family disorganization. In my opinion, the main charge of this tragedy is to lacking quality of English education in Korea. Even though, Korean learn English in their regular education more than ten years, unfortunately, it is really hart to find person who is fluent in English. If the people became fluent in English from only public education, many parents would not consider to send their children to the other country seriously. As new government declare English education in Korea needs to undergo innovative changes of the way of educating Korean students.

The relationship between presidents and press

There are three major daily newspapers in Korea. They have supported the conservative party, Grand National Party, from the beginning until now. For last four years, while the progressive party was ruling, they had spoken the worst of the ruling Uri party. At last the president, Mr. Roh, closed the pressroom in the Blue House, because he thought the reporters always had defended their owner’s benefits against the policy of the government. The press protested that government's plan seriously damaged the freedom of the press in Korea by restricting reporters' entry to government offices and preventing public servants from talking with journalists freely, thus also limiting the public's right to know.

The criticism of the president and the government in these newspapers has reached to the highest level right before the presidential election. Every day they poured the malicious remarks about the president, Mr. Roh and the failure of the government’s policies in their newspapers. So lots of people were taken in by the news. In addition, the papers are so friendly to the candidate of GNP, Mr. Lee, even though he had a big scandal of a financial fraud, they spared comments about it. Therefore they played a big role for Mr. Lee to be elected as a president.

First Assignment, Week One

Hi there!

Your first assignment is to write a short post describing the press in your country. You can write about the press in general, about a particular newspaper, radio station or TV station. You can also write about the tendancies in the press: i.e. government-run press, independent press, on-line bloggers, etc. If you write about a specific news organization, you should include a link.