Again, much like in...
Son Strokes
The South Korean newspapers have a way of making an Indian feel at home. Invariably, they carry stories, often splashed several columns across, talking of some corruption scandal or the other. And equally invariably, there is some politician or bureaucrat figuring in these unsavoury deals. The latest one to hit the headlines is the case of over a hundred officials who managed to get out-of-turn allotment of luxury flats that have come up in the historic city of Bandung, outside Seoul. By contrast, the North Koreans don’t get to read such bad news. Instead, they believe in ‘doing’ things rather than ‘talking’ about them. Thus, they recently woke up to find two cracks running 20 metres wide and 15 metres deep in the Mt Guemgong Dam. As far as one could tell, no heads rolled. If indeed it created any jitters, that was only in the south where half a dozen dams have been built downstream. The South Koreans have since been seized by fears of an onrush of waters washing down their dams once the Mt Guemgong gives way—especially as the rains arrive.
The South Korean newspapers have a way of making an Indian feel at home. Invariably, they carry stories, often splashed several columns across, talking of some corruption scandal or the other. And equally invariably, there is some politician or bureaucrat figuring in these unsavoury deals. The latest one to hit the headlines is the case of over a hundred officials who managed to get out-of-turn allotment of luxury flats that have come up in the historic city of Bandung, outside Seoul. By contrast, the North Koreans don’t get to read such bad news. Instead, they believe in ‘doing’ things rather than ‘talking’ about them. Thus, they recently woke up to find two cracks running 20 metres wide and 15 metres deep in the Mt Guemgong Dam. As far as one could tell, no heads rolled. If indeed it created any jitters, that was only in the south where half a dozen dams have been built downstream. The South Koreans have since been seized by fears of an onrush of waters washing down their dams once the Mt Guemgong gives way—especially as the rains arrive.
