A recently leaked diplomatic cable reveals that starting in 2009, entertainment entities teamed up with government agencies and at least considered the possibility of purposefully leaking media in hopes of infiltrating topsites. It’s unclear whether or not this actually happened, but the leaked cable discusses the option in detail.

The 2009 cable outlines a meeting involving the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), a representative from the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE), and representatives from the South Korean government. While the cable makes no mention of any specific plans or instances of topsite infiltration, there is language which strongly implies that ICE is familiar with the process as a result of campaigns taking place here in the states.

Internet addiction clinics aren’t exactly a new thing, but South Korea has found the problem of Internet addiction to be so pervasive that they have set up a clinic not to deal with addiction, but to prevent it. StarCraft is a huge deal in South Korea to the extent that it is a professional sport, and it seems that this national obsession, in conjunction with the Internet at large, is having a negative affect on the nation’s youth.

The children at the camp who show warning signs of becoming raging internetaholics spend their time playing reality-based games, taking hikes, reading books and going to counseling sessions, all without the aid of internetahol. Because large-scale Internet connectivity and personal computers are relatively new to South Korea, many parents are simply at a loss to help their children find a healthy balance.

The class of ship pictured above is the current record holder for largest in operation, but not for long. Danish ship builder Moller-Maersk has announced that it will deliver 10 container ships capable of carrying 18,000 20-foot long shipping units between 2013 and 2015. The ships, called the Triple-E class, will be built in South Korea for the heft price of $1.9 billion. Once completed, these ships will be the largest on the ocean.

Once completed, the ships will not only be the largest afloat but surprisingly environmentally friendly. The AFP wire service quotes a statement from ship builder Moller-Maersk, saying:

The new container vessels, at 400 metres long, 59 metres wide and 73 metres tall, will be “the largest vessel of any type known to be in operation,” but emit half as much carbon dioxide as the industry average for Asia/Europe trade, the statement added.

Though impressive in its own right, these new ships will still be dwarfed by the now-defunct Batillus-class supertankers and the also-defunct 458m behemouth The Seawise Giant — which has the distinction of being the largest mobile man-made object.

That aside, Moller-Maersk should have no trouble holding on to the title of largest ships on the sea. The next largest class of tanker is also Moller-Maersk made. For those of you playing along at home, the 400m Triple-E boats are just 43m shorter than the Empire State Building is tall.

(via io9, image via Wikipedia)

Due to growing concerns of Internet “addiction,” the South Korean government is seriously considering instating an Internet curfew for their youth under the age of 16 from midnight to 6 a.m. A bill will be submitted to parliament that will actually require online gaming companies to stop service after midnight for users who registered their accounts as under the age of 16.

We’ve had our jokes about North Korea in the past, but this is no laughing matter: CNN reports that North Korea has mortared the South Korean island of  Yeonpyeong, killing two South Korean marines and wounding 15 South Korean soldiers and civilians.

South Korea’s military responded with more than 80 rounds of artillery and deployed fighter jets to counter the fire, defense officials said.

Firing between the two sides lasted for about an hour in the Yellow Sea, a longstanding flashpoint between the two Koreas. In March, a South Korean warship, the Cheonan, was sunk in the area with the loss of 46 lives in a suspected North Korean torpedo attack.

>>>Video report at Mediaite.

Kotaku reports that South Korean authorities have been cracking down over the weekend on unrated games, and this may mean considerable bad things for Korean Steam users.

Korean law states that all games available to the public must be rated by the Game Rating Board. That’s all well and nice, except that game makers must pay to get their game rated, and many cannot afford the price. When South Korea says all games, they mean all games. Tiny indie games, flash-based or mobile whatsits, big blockbusters, and everything in between.

Team Liquid, a StarCraft community site, reports that Steam games may even be in the sights of Korean authorities.

Doggy Poo Story is a 2003 claymation movie (well, we hope it’s clay) based on a Children’s Literature Award-winning book by Korean author Jung-Saeng Kwon. The photo above, spotted in Seoul’s Maebang Station, advertises a musical based on the series, with the tagline “Nothing God made is useless.”

While the title might seem to promise — well, be — one massive poop joke, it’s actually a rather existential story about one piece of dog excrement’s quest to find its higher purpose.

This spring, Google got in hot water in Europe and in the US over the tendency of its Street View vehicles to scoop up and store private data from people’s unsecured domestic Wi-Fi networks. Google has apologized for the data breach and said it will “continuing to work with the relevant authorities to respond to their questions and concerns.” But that didn’t stop South Korean authorities from raiding the offices of Google Korea yesterday:

In an onslaught of adorableness, these perky little penguins have donned their national colors to support South Korea in the World Cup this year. If I played soccer for South Korea and saw these little guys, that would be all the motivation I’d need to win it all. While the trainer interviewed in the video explains the reasons why he put on the little publicity stunt, he doesn’t appear to have trained the penguins very well. The goalie is way out of the goal zone and the penguins seem content to just stand there most of the time. Also, there appears to only be one team, so South Korea wins either way.

Then again, this soccer game probably ended as only a soccer game can: In an epic, nail-biting 0-0 tie.

In South Korea, StarCraft is serious business: Professional players make as much as $300,000 a year from tournaments and endorsements, and StarCraft tourneys pack stadiums with players and fans. (See: this picture.)

But now, the integrity of the game is being seriously called into question: In a scandal that’s drawing comparisons to the Black Sox scandals of 1919, which brought down ballplayers like Shoeless Joe Jackson, it’s been discovered that top South Korean players have been colluding with StarCraft gambling rings, fixing matches and leaking gameplay footage for insider betting.