Korean Job Discussion Forums

shawner88 · Joined: 01 Feb 2003

Just curious what you prefer. Neither of them are that great, but cast your vote for one or the other. I used to subscribe to the Korea Herald. At least twice a month I'd mysteriusly get the Korea Times instead...I always wondered if that was some kind of clever marketing strategy on the part of the Times. Anyway, I started to realize I liked the Times better, so now I buy the Times all the while and get my Daily Dilbert online.

shawner88 · Joined: 01 Feb 2003

Can this poll get any more exciting?

schwa · Joined: 18 Jan 2003 Location: Yap

Times has a better horoscope.

wylde · Joined: 14 Apr 2003

i forget.. the one with dear annie - instant free talking lessons for adults

diver · Joined: 16 Jun 2003

A recent poll revealed that nine out of ten parakeets had no preference as to which Korean English-languauge daily that they crapped on.

On the other hand · Joined: 19 Apr 2003 Location: I walk along the avenue

The HERALD seems more like a North American newspaper, while the TIMES seems like what I imagine a Korean newspaper to be like. The TIMES is hard to find in Gwangju right now, so I stick with the HERALD.

And the TIMES political cartoonist is utterly lame. I think he's Korean, and I'm somehow not hip to the humour. [/quote]

Korea Newfie · Joined: 27 Mar 2003 Location: Newfoundland and Labrador

I find the Herald more mindlessly anti-American, but of better overall quality than the Times.

I get the Herald.

just because · Joined: 01 Aug 2003 Location: Changwon - 4964

Both suck.

Get the International Herald Tribune

shawner88 · Joined: 01 Feb 2003

The tribune is great, if you want to read an encylopedia worth of news everyday.

JongnoGuru · Joined: 25 May 2004 Location: peeing on your doorstep

Once upon a time, the Korea Herald was very much seen as the "rah! rah! government/big business" newspaper. This was because it was majority- or substantially owned by the (then) quasi-state-sponsored Korea International Trade Association (KITA) and "Big Business" in the form of the Dainong Group (one of the first casualties of the IMF crisis, I recall). For the longest time, the chairman of the Dainong Group was the president of KITA, and the KH would religiously chronicle his amazingly frequent trips to various businessman confabs in Tokyo.

Back in the day, though, we'd always buy the Korea Times given the choice. The KH would appeal to sandbox political philosophers with editorials and headlines about "uprooting impure elements" (crushing political opposition), and would generally be a big booster of all things Korean. But you could rely on the KT to occasionally offer up a rare and relatively unguarded glimpse of the seamy underbelly of Korean society, with its "Uncle Rapes Toddler While Granny Looks On" sort of fare that the KH wouldn't dare touch.

Much has changed over the years, and both the KT and the KH today seem as erratic, conflicted, mercurial and unpredictable as Korean society itself with respect to its stance on America, US troops, Korean government, labour-management issues, etc.

For the record, I prefer and subscribe to neither KT or KH. I read them both online sometimes, but I subscribe to the IHT/JoongAng Daily and also the Chosun Ilbo.

The Guru

(Shawn, SJ isn't seriously interested in that honey. ..... is he?)

mindmetoo · Joined: 02 Feb 2004

I find the KH has better political, entertainment, and business reporting. I don't read sports so I can't say much about that. KT carries Doonesbury, so I feel that trumps KH. KH tries to compensate by carrying Dilbert but I feel Dilbert has lost its edge.

IHT does carry Doonesbury and Dilbert and you can get it for free at Starbucks. So I save 700 won a day these days by reading the IHT for free at Starbucks.

I used to try and buy the IHT from Starbucks but the people would always tell me it was free, although the stand had a price. I couldn't figure that out. Finally a Starbucks woman with good English explained it was free but they weren't allowed to say the paper was free. *wink and a nod*

That still didn't make a lot of sense to me. A couple weeks later, however, I read that the Korean government makes it illegal for daily papers to give their paper away. Why...I'm not so sure. They probably don't want to start a war of attrition that would see Seoul's 5 or 6 daily papers be reduced to 2. That would be bad for free speech.

Blind Willie · Joined: 05 May 2004

I would have appreciated a "none of the above" option