The S.K government is continuing its crackdown on draft dodgers, this time going after citizens who are “undergoing surgery on fake injuries or using falsified medical records to dodge the two-year mandatory military service.” While the government is making it harder to dodge the draft there is a proposal to lower the age of consent to 19, making it easier to “to get married without their parents’ consent, buy land and property, and apply for student loans and credit cards”. On the other hand, it is also now easier to get fired with the Seoul Central District Court stating that you can legally fired by email. Sobering news in this economic climate. Else were in the the legal system, prosecutors are refusing to protect the intellectual property rights of pornographers while The National Police Agency’s Cyber Terror Response Center have arrested three men for uploading a pirated copy of “Haeundae.” As the law ebbs and flows so does the groundwater under agricultural areas that is thought to be contaminated by mass poultry graves holding the remnants of the cull that followed the Avian flu scare of 2003.

Korea will no longer be requiring transexuals to submit to group examinations to determine if they are exempt from military service, because the little game of Peek-A-Boo could be potentially embarrassing for those involved. In a completely unrelated story, Kang In of boy band Super Junior was arrested Wednesday in Gangnam. Apparently he was arrested for “violence” in a bar and not for recording “Sorry Sorry” as many had originally believed. On Sept. 22nd, cars will be prohibited from driving on two major Jongno streets to reduce air pollution, while subways and buses on those routes will be free of charge. The city will be increasing the number of buses and subway trains to accommodate. In other environmental news, Seoul City announced that 15 electric buses will begin operating on Mt. Nam in April. Plans are already in the works to expand use of the buses to other parts of Seoul.

Foreigners can now buy chips with a credit card rather than just cash. The move is aimed at boosting foreign investment by making it easier for gamblers to lose their shirts. This comes as a crack down on P2P porn sites in Korea that were  violating copyright laws to make it easier for men to see women with their shirts off. Despite fears at home about H1N1 Japanese tourist are flocking back to Korea. Tourists should be aware of the fact that Chinese knock-offs of Korean products, including beer, are getting harder to detect, but only when you have had a few.

Gwangjin police are investigating the possiblity that an elephant was the culprit in a rock-throwing incident at Children’s Grand Park Zoo that sent one woman to the hospital. Word is the elephant became the prime suspect when several peanut shells were found in the area. President Lee Myung-bak will be participating in the G20 summit Sept. 20th-26th to discuss globalization and green growth, in Pittsburgh of all places. Apparently no venues were available in Chernobyl on those dates. In economic news, Korea’s own Park Ji-sung has extended his contract with Manchester United through 2012, guaranteeing that all the Nike outlets on the peninsula will still be half-filled with ManU jerseys. And in case you couldn’t find anywhere to shop in Seoul, a new indoor/outdoor mall is opening in Yeongdeungpo today.  Odds-makers are giving an early betting line of 3-1 that it’s a Family Mart by this time next year.

A veteran Canadian immigration official in South Korea has blown the whistle on abuses by foreign students of a work-study program.  Korean students are increasingly flocking to the Philippines to learn English on the cheap despite the low standards of the programs. For those of you flocking to the platform in Seoul be aware that the subway system is introducing “walk right” policy starting in October.  While commuters in Seoul save on gas by taking the subway the S.K government has been planning to test a smart-grid that lets users measure energy usage on Jeju.

Mum’s the word from the S.K government on a report that N.K has a third nuclear test in the works.  S.K has plans to train 3000 “cyber sheriffs” to protect against cyber terrorism suspected to be coming from N.K. There are also plans to deploy supersonic ship-to-ground missiles to keep ground and naval targets in check.  S.K has reported its fifth H1N1 victim, but suicidologist Gary McConahay says “Many, many more people are dying from suicide than the H1N1.” And, in more bad news, Canada hammered S.K in the World Cup baseball opener.

Olympic phenom Usain Bolt has decided to pull out of a scheduled competition in Daegu. For sports enthusiasts disappointed by this news, don’t fret, because 5,000 Koreans still plan to break Korea’s own world record (which no other country wants) by eating 700kg of samgyeopsal on September 19th. If that’s still not enough to satisfy your competitive side, Jeju is hosting the Delphic Games, also known as the Culture Olympics, this week. In other sporting news, Korea’s Olympic hero Park Tae-hwan is going to get a new dirty foreign coach, according to the Korea Swimming Federation.

The Seoul Subway system is pretty good but has some problems. The Pusan Film Festival has more films than last year and even more than the one before that. North Korea did intentionally discharge the water that led to a flood killing six South Korean campers but “it wasn’t an intentional attack.” and finally racism is contorvercial. Oh and one last thing, cigarettes are bad for you.