Elections - Korean Style

Yesterday brought the blessed end to regional elections throughout Korea. For those who have not had the pleasure of experiencing Korean-style elections (these are my second), allow me to explain their most charming feature: the use of the megaphones and flatbed trucks. Basically, someone got the marvelous idea that candidates should record songs, monologues and jingles on tape, set up a megaphone system on a truck, and then drive around the city blasting their individual messages.

This happens everywhere and at all hours.

Some candidates even go so far as to ride around on these trucks, themselves, disseminating asinine rhetoric with catch phrases like "Dong Tae Kim Works Hard!" or "Tae Kyeong Kim has Experience!" On top of all of this, it seems that the Conservative party has swept the elections. Now, don't get me wrong, I agree with some American conservative tenets--but not so in Korea.

In other words: kill me now.