"Hosting of G20 to ______ Korea's _________ ________."

Before you look at the Korea Times today, see if you can fill in the headline. I'll bet you can. Here's a bit of the article, talking about Korea hosting the G20 summit next year:

The country's hosting of a Group of 20 economic summit will become a "historic" opportunity for Korea to join the ranks of advanced economies, President Lee Myung-bak said Monday.

"The summit will be the biggest diplomatic event in Korean history," Lee said during a luncheon meeting with the leaders of the legislature, judiciary and government at Cheong Wa Dae. "From now on, we need to activate communication with the public and all sectors of our society to make it successful.

Did you guess it? Maybe this next excerpt will help you out:

"The administration will make all possible efforts to raise the country's international status."

Give up? The headline reads, "'Hosting of G20 to Upgrade Korea’s Global Status'" but I also would have accepted "Upgrade Korea's International Brand." The article continues:

At the third G20 summit in Pittsburg, Friday, South Korea was chosen as the host country of the fifth summit in November next year. Canada will host the fourth in June.

Jesus Fucking Christ, it's PittsburgH, there's an H at the end of the city. This isn't 1903. It's worth noting, though, it hasn't been officially decided where in Korea the summit will be held. Though Gwangju is the Hub City of Asian Culure and indeed the Hightlight of Korea, so far only Seoul, Incheon, and Jeju have been rumored. Canada will host a summit in June, 2010, while Korea's will be in November.

Aside from the abysmal Steelers play, the G20 was of course the biggest news in the city when I was back home last month. The city was basically shut down for two days to accomodate dignitaries and protesters: the former weren't there to sightsee or spend money, and the latter decided the best way to voice their displeasure with life was to trash one of the most livable cities in the country. Indeed, though Pittsburgh hoped to, well, to raise its international profile through the summit, what sort of display was it to present a city empty of all but protesters and riot police?

Since Korea will invariably attract protestors and hooligans next year, I wonder how that will be dealt with. The last thing Korea needs is a lot of foreigners . . . wait, I lost my place. Ah, here, the last thing Korea needs is a lot of foreigners walking around causing trouble, annoying the locals, and vandalizing public property.

If you're interested in reading about the G20 in Pittsburgh, I'm sure Google will be your friend. Also, you might be interested in the blog entries for the Pittsburgh City-Paper done by Matt Stroud, a classmate of mine on our high school paper.