Korea

LG Optimus G Pro hits 1 million unit sales in Korea

LG's Optimus G Pro has reached 1 million unit sales a few months before its predecessor, the company announced on Tuesday.

LG posted the news to its Web site (Translate), saying that it has sold 1 million units in Korea. The device hit the Korean market in February, meaning it took about four months for the Optimus G Pro to reach that point. The LG Optimus LTE, which came before the G Pro, reached 1 million units sold in seven months.

Interestingly, LG didn't mention Optimus G Pro sales elsewhere around the world, and it's not known … Read more

The 404 1,268: Where we buy beats behind bars (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- The future of television lies in the greasy, gaming hands of the "lost boy generation."

- "Pinterest stress" is a real problem for moms who worry they're not crafty or creative enough.

- The source of Pinterest stress is probably sites like Lunchbox Awesome, a year-long project from an overachieving mom.

- The digital music business in America's prisons.

- NSA's secret Google tricks revealed in declassified guidebook.… Read more

Korea's backhander to Bill Gates for one-handed handshake

Etiquette, politeness, and decorum are not words that normally bother the tech world.

When your life's work consists of disrupting existing systems, you can hardly spend a moment considering whether the fork goes on the left or the right side of your burger wrapper.

Today, though, there is much consternation concerning Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and the hand that stayed in his pocket when he met Korean President Park Geun-hye on a visit to her country.

There are many moms reading this who would be appalled if their male offspring greeted any adult with their right hand extended and … Read more

Anonymous again hacks into North Korean Web sites

Anonymous is once again trying to raise the hackles of North Korea by hacking into one of the country's official news sites.

For the second time this month, the North Korean news and information site Uriminzokkiri.com has been taken down. Trying to access the site today delivers an eventual timeout error. In the official Twitter account for Uriminzokkiri, which Anonymous took over earlier this month, the group tweeted that "more of North Korean websites are in our hand. They will be brought down."

North Korean Web sites minjok.com, jajusasang.com, and paekdu-hanna.com had also … Read more

Chinese daily fooled by spoof that Win 8 glitch forced missile test delay

Over the years, Windows users have shared plenty of war stories about their computers suddenly freezing up, forcing them to shut down and then reboot their machines at the worst possible times. But declaring war on Microsoft? Even in the wildest realms of hyperbole, that's cuckoo talk.

But not so crazy if we're talking about 21st Century Business, the Guangdong, China-based publication which fell hook, line, and sinker for a spoof column authored by New Yorker humorist Andy Borowitz. The Thursday edition of the Borowitz Report reported that North Korea's military had scrapped a planned missile test … Read more

North Korea behind March cyberattack, says South Korea

South Korea has accused North Korea of launching a recent cyberattack that hit tens of thousands of PCs.

A spokesman for South Korea's Internet agency said today that six computers in North Korea were identified as the source of the attack, according to The Guardian. Those computers used more than 1,000 IP addresses from across the world to infect 48,000 PCs and servers at South Korean banks and broadcasting stations.

The spokesman told the Associated Press that the attack mimicked past hacking attempts by North Korea and pointed the finger at an espionage agency run by the military. … Read more

Yokohama misfires tweet about North Korea missile launch

The city of Yokohama in Japan has had to offer up some quick apologies to its nearly 42,000 followers for erroneously tweeting that North Korea had launched a missile at its homeland.

Earlier today, the Crisis Management Office Affairs Bureau for Yokohama tweeted that North Korea had launched a missile at Japan. The tweet stayed up for 20 minutes before being taken down and replaced with an apology from the city, saying that its tweet was sent out in error.

Yokohama acknowledged the error on its Web site (Google Translate), saying it created the tweet in advance to inform … Read more

NFL star tweets North Korea should bomb New England

North Korea appears currently to be banging the (conun)drum for world instability.

Its apparent enmity to all things American has recently been pierced by such luminaries as Google's Eric Schmidt and the slightly noodly Dennis Rodman.

You might be tickled or troubled by the fact that today, North Korea's Twitter and Flickr accounts were mercilessly invaded by Anonymous.

My emotions, on the other hand, have been moved by the fact that an NFL star is encouraging Kim Jong-un's missiles to be targeted at New England.

There is no known additional antipathy on behalf of North Korea'… Read more

Has North Korea Photoshopped its military might?

Some things are hard to believe.

Is it possible that "Dancing With The Stars" is still on television? Is it possible that Victoria's Secret is creating lingerie for tweens? And how likely is it that Dennis Rodman really is a better friend to Kim Jong-un than is Eric Schmidt?

Actually, talking of North Korea, how likely is it that the country has a myriad of hovercraft, hovering in readiness to invade, say, North Carolina?

I wonder only because the country's Central News Agency released a photograph this week that showed many hovercraft in action.

Yet now … Read more