As a bit of seasonal fun, here’s a little quiz to test your knowledge of the events of the past year.
Question 1: Corporate crooks and corruption
An easy one to warm up with. Match the alleged quote with the appropriate chaebol
- The conglomorate had run a vast network that bribed government officials, prosecutors, tax collectors, journalists and scholars
- I don’t want to take a gamble on causing a crisis in the country’s economy
- The sentence of one year and six months is a bit too heavy
A. Hanwha
B. Hyundai
C. Samsung
Question 2: Why was an octopus in the news this year?
- For causing the death of a vegetarian film critic, shocked by watching a scene from Oldboy
- For finding some Koryo dynasty pottery on the seabed
- For assaulting a Cheju Island diver (haenyo)
Question 3: What would you be doing if you were “toying with a duck’s legs”?
- Executing a particularly difficult b-boy dance manoeuvre
- Playing baduk – and about to be beaten by a particularly sophisticated strategy
- Engaging in some Joseon dynasty rumpy-pumpy
Question 4: Who is reported to have said: “I admit that even if I left the writing of my thesis to someone else, and that person plagiarized, the mistake is with me”?
- Shin Jeong-ah, apparently not only too idle to do her own work, but also careless enough to hire someone too idle to do the job properly
- Hyundai Motor chairman Chung Mong-koo, talking hypothetically in one of his lectures on corporate governance
- Junko Sagawa, the Japanese student propositioned by her professor
Question 5: Who has been named among the 50 most influential women in the entertainment industry?
- Jeon Do Yeon, following her performance in “Secret Sunshine”
- Kim Yun-jin, for her popular following in “Lost”
- BoA, for her continued chart success in Japan
Question 6: Who said: “Sexiness is my weapon” – and what war was she fighting?
- Ivy, in the battle of the K-pop charts
- Hyolee, in the battle to conquer Japan
- Shin Jeong-ah, in the battle for influence in the art world
Answers next week.