Kim Tae-hee in hot water over politics

A Japanese cosmetics company has cancelled its public events featuring top Korean actress Kim Tae-hee, as Japanese netizens criticized her for advocating Korea’s sovereignty over Dokdo.

Dokdo is a group of rocky islets in the East Sea that Japan has claimed as part of its territory and calls Takeshima.

Kim, who shot to stardom via hit Korean dramas like Stairway to Heaven, Love Story in Harvard, Iris and My Princess served as a Dokdo advocate in 2005 with her younger brother, actor Lee Wan.

The duo visited Switzerland that year and handed out T-shirts that said “Dokdo is Our Land” and Dokdo sovereignty-themed music CDs.

Rohto Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., who selected Kim to model for its new skincare brand Yukigokochi, said they canceled the event due to safety concerns, as the company received negative comments regarding the actress via their website.

The cosmetics and pharmaceutical company called off the event Monday, two days before Japan’s official Takeshima Day.

Source: The Korea Herald/ANN

China's Assumed Future Leader Xi Jinping Visits US

The big news in American politics this week may have little to do with American politicians. Xi Jinping, the likely future leader of China, is visiting the United States, and his time in America may signal how the world's fastest-growing economic and military power may conduct itself in the coming decades. The 58-year-old Xi comes from a family steeped in China's volatile history; his father both served as one of Mao's trusted advisors but later was persecuted and even jailed by the Communist leader. Xi senior also helped engineer some of the country's economic reforms, contributing to China becoming a power that rivals the United States more every day. He also reportedly advocated for negotiating with Tibetans during an uprising, rather than using China's military brute force against them. Like father like son? Xi junior, who is poised to become the Communist Party's general secretary, could also be reform-minded. It's something we won't know for some years, but American leaders are looking for clues.

Video Rating: 4 / 5