Wishful Dreaming: “When the Gyeongin Canal is complete, the appearance of the western part of the capital region will have changed greatly, including Incheon’s Songdo International City, the Cheongna region and the Geomdan New City, and the canal will gain fame as a major global site for distribution and tourism,” said Kwon Jin-bong, director of the MLTM’s Office of Construction and Water Resources Policy. “Since it has been confirmed that the project has economic efficiency and that there are no problems for the environment, we will speed up the process of going ahead with it,” said Kwon.
Chinas
Witch Hunt: Beijing authorities begin “mostly polite” interrogations of Charter 08 activists.
Max Yield: Beijing plans to expand mining acquisitions from developing states to Canada and Australia.
Japan
Tools Up: Toyota will halt production for six days in February and five days in March.
Stick It Where We Like: Japan protested Beijing’s “regrettable” incursion into the disputed undersea Tianwaitian natural gas field last weekend.
Koreas
Democrats in Cross-Pacific Sync: Neither Democrats in the US or ROK want even to consider a free trade deal any time soon.
Park Chung-hee-ism in Pyongyang: Perhaps as a sign of a shift at the top, as the Chosun Daily thinks, or a legitimate stab at reform, Pyongyang replaced senior ministers in railways, forestry, agriculture, electronics and the metal industry with “veteran bureaucrats”.
The Philippines
Mindanao Two-Step: RP President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo wants peace talks and development projects for Mindanao in 2009.
Beware of Gorillas on Filipino Links: Of course, the Pangandamans will settle with the De la Pazes. They won! And, it was sport for all citizens!
Infidelworld 