Are you one of those people who needs a free but reliable Korean to English (and vice versa) dictionary to guide you on your quest to master the Korean Language? If you haven’t bought those cool iRiver or Franklin English to Korean Electronic dictionary gadgets yet to help you on your Korean Language studies, here’s an alternative to help you learn and understand those difficult Korean words and phrases – translated of course in English.

Created by Naver, Korea’s answer to global search engine giant Google – the Naver Korean English Dictionary is an online Korean to English dictionary that offers real-time translations of Korean words and phrases (and vice versa) to its English counterparts. Being primarily an online dictionary, the Naver Korean English Dictionary also provides definitions, phonetics, etymologies, and pronunciations to the translated words and phrases which are displayed either in Korean or in English depending on the original language of the words or phrases being translated.

The Naver Korean English Dictionary can be accessed online for free on the Naver homepage. Or if you have an Apple or Android mobile devices, this awesome Korean English online dictionary and translation tool is also free to download on the iTunes Store and the Google Android Market.

A collection of photos recently surfaced online which angered fans of Korean superstar actor Won Bin. The much talked about set of pictures was uploaded by an anonymous poster on some Korean message board, depicting Won Bin in a series of vandalized images, which appears to either be altered in Adobe Photoshop or some MS Paint type program.

Due to the Japanese characters on the lower left part of the images, Korean netizens have commented that these photos were screen-captured during a Japanese TV show broadcast and were later mischievously desecrated by someone who either has a lot of time on his hands or a hater that becomes obsessed with using Won Bin’s face as his canvas playground of choice.

Although it cannot yet be proven, some netizens and fans of Won Bin are also speculating that the culprit may also be from Japan based again on the evidence of the Japanese characters on the images.

Not all who saw these reworked online pictures of Won Bin reacted negatively to it. Some fans of the Korean star found it entertaining and laugh out loud funny. They even commented how beautiful Won Bin would have been if he was born a woman based on one of the shopped picture showing the Korean matinee idol as, for what it’s worth, ‘a really attractive lady’.

Besides appearing as a ‘pretty woman’, Won Bin’s mysterious collection of doodled photos also featured him as a ‘bearded man’, Naruto, ‘a one-eyed bandit’, ‘an old man’, and even a ‘small-faced weirdo’.

Here’s an update on the  POEA Test Venue in the Philippines for the 8th South Korea Employment Permit System EPS KLT TOPIK Exam I wrote a last week.

Examination Date: Sunday, March 18, 2012

Examination Duration: 10:30 A.M. to 11:40 A.M.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) released to the public the final test venue assignments of all registered and qualified examinees of the 8th Korea Employment Permit System EPS KLT TOPIK Exam. If you’re one of the test applicants, simply check the application number on your test permit given to you during the registration period, and look it up on the list provided below,  to determine your test venue (or the place you will take the EPS TOPIK Exam). Make sure to also check the region (also listed below) where you registered for the 8th EPS TOPIK Exam and match it with your test permit application number.

 A few friendly reminders and notes to the examinees from POEA related to the 8th EPS KLT TOPIK Exam are enumerated below.

1. Test room assignment will be posted at the bulletin board of the test venue on the test date.

2. Examinee can take the test only at the designated test venue.

3. Mobile phones and all other electronics devices are prohibited at the test venues. If caught, he/she is automatically disqualified to take the test.

4. All examinees must be in his/her designated seat before the Examinees Orientation at 9:30a.m. for him/her to qualify to take the test.

5. Identity of examinee’s face shall be conducted by proctors through presentation of ID card/passport.

6. During the test, examinee is not allowed to leave the room or use the comfort room.

7. One set of test paper and one answer sheet will be distributed to each examinee. Name of examinee and registration number are printed on the answer sheet. Examinee shall confirm his/her name and registration number which are printed on the answer sheet. Examinee shall also confirm the designated type of test paper and answer sheet before the test starts.

8. Only one answer sheet shall be distributed to each applicant. Replacement and modification of answer sheet is not allowed. Correction of answer with correction fluid or tapes will be regarded as wrong answer.

9. Use only black pen in marking the answer sheet.

10. If caught in the act of cheating during the test, test will be void and the examinee will not be eligible to take the EPS-TOPIK for two (2) years.

Representatives from both governments of Republic of Korea and the Philippines will be signing a new memorandum of agreement (MOA) today to improve the system and procedure for a smooth assimilation of Filipinas married to Koreans nationals in the Korean culture and way of life.

Minister Kim Kum Lae, from the Korean Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, together with Imelda Nicolas, the Chairwoman of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) will be signing a memorandum of agreement between the Philippines and South Korea at the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family’s Seoul headquarters at 11:30 a.m. today. This new agreement aims to expand the education of Filipina brides who have tied the knot to Koreans (or plans to wed Korean citizens) by setting up more information and Korean language centers in the Philippines – in the hopes that these newly wedded brides from the country will adjust better to the Korean culture, family life, and the society – as soon as they begin to live their future lives with their Korean husbands in Korea.

Currently there is only one Korean information and language center established by the South Korean government in the Philippines. This establishment caters information about Korea and free Korean language study to the thousands of Filipinas who are married to Korean nationals each year.

Statistics shows that in 2010, 1,906 Filipinas married to Koreans have entered Korea, compared to 980 in 2005. In total, there are 12,000 foreign wives who are married to Koreans that came from the Philippines; roughly 5.7 percent of the overall foreign wives population in Korea at the end of last year.

The agreement between Korea and the Philippines also vows to eliminate once and for all, the so-called illegal ‘match-making services’ that are rampantly operating in the two nations. These unscrupulous international marriage fixers bypasses the law on marriage between a Filipina brides and Korean grooms by speeding the marriage process circumventing the need for mandatory certificates (such as the CFO certificate) and requirements in the Philippines that protects the rights and upholds the welfare of Filipino citizens planning to migrate abroad.