Gyeonggi Province is planning to build the Great Train Express or GTX to link Seoul and its satellite cities. I can forgive the name (for now), since the Chosun uses the word “superfast” in their headline for the story. Regardless, the rail link addresses the over 60% increase in traffic between Seoul and the province over the last four years and plans to drastically cut the current rail/metro commute time from a number of Gyeonggi enclaves. We’re talking Samseong to Ilsan, Goyang in 22 minutes – on a train that can travel up to 200km/hour. Great idea, but someone should really veto that name.

The Democratic Party gets dealt another blow (had to reference the epic brawl that made international headlines this summer) in their opposition to the controversial media reform bill. The Constitutional Court ruled yesterday that the National Assembly vote passing these media reforms was in fact valid. The DP asked the court to rule on the validity of the decision claiming that majority Grand National Party members cast multiple electronic votes and other violations of parliamentary procedure occurred.  The court’s ruling allows the bill to take effect this weekend as scheduled and will end 29 years of restrictions on the co-ownership of newspaper companies and broadcasting stations in Korea.

After the drug-related arrests in Gyeonggi-do earlier this week, the Times reports that the police in Seoul have arrested 12 people for consuming drugs…or booked 41 drug users. The article really doesn’t make it clear, but specifically mentions that it’s mostly information from yuppie club kids who went to parties in Itaewon and Sinchon that helped police with their investigation.

A 37-year old lecturer at a college in Gyeonggi-do was arrested on charges of  spying for North Korea. At it for 17 years, the South Korean man was recruited in 1992 while studying in India and become a communist party member on a later trip to Pyongyang.

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