U.S. short-track skater Apolo Anton Ohno, who won a gold medal when his South Korean rival was disqualified, was voted by Korean college students as the "most unwelcome" at the World Cup, a Seoul magazine said on Wednesday.

The Vox magazine poll of 442 college students on the most unwelcome figure gave Ohno 174 votes, against just 68 for Osama bin Laden, suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks on the U.S.

Filling out the ranks of undesirables at the May 31-June 30 World Cup soccer finals was U.S. comedian Jay Leno and Brigitte Bardot, the former French actress and strident animal rights campaigner.

Ohno received e-mailed death threats from South Koreans after he was awarded the 1,500-meter short track gold in Salt Lake City when Korean Kim Dong-sung finished first but was disqualified for impeding the U.S. skater.

Days later, Leno touched South Korean nerves when he joked on U.S. television that Kim "was so mad he went home and kicked the dog, and then ate him." Ridicule of the Korean practice of eating dog meat has long been a national sore point with citizens and politicians of the Asian nation.

Bardot, a critic of eating dogs, received hundreds of vicious or vulgar e-mails from Koreans earlier this year after she vowed to circulate during the World Cup photos of dogs being tortured.

Hundreds of netizens took to the streets yesterday, urging citizens to boycott U.S. goods and instead buy domestic products.

In front of Chongmyo Park in downtown Seoul, some 100 members of the Korean Netizen Association (KNA) handed out leaflets to passers-by, asking them to show love for their country by refusing to buy U.S. products.

Anti-U.S sentiment has been running high among some sectors of the public since the controversial ruling at the Winter Olympics that stripped Korean short-track skater Kim Dong-sung of the 1,500-meter gold medal. It led some irate citizens to launch boycott campaigns against popular U.S. brands.

The apparent selection of Boeing's F-15 as the Air Force's new fighter also contributed to the sentiment, analysts said.

``Arbor Day is a day for planting patriotism,'' read the leaflets they handed out to the citizens.

Holding the Korean national flag, the participants criticized the U.S. for the ``unethical actions it committed on behalf of its political and economic interests.''

``Although the U.S. says it is our eternal ally, it has continued to give us scars that run deep,'' the campaigners claimed. ``Let's fill our hearts with love of our country, our national identity and our flag,'' they said, urging people to join their boycott of U.S. goods.

Citizens who joined their campaign by signing a petition were given mugunghwa seeds by the organizers. The mugunghwa is South Korea's national flower.

Similar campaigns were also held by KNA members in six other cities across the nation, such as Taejon, Taegu and Pusan.

First formed to deal with the controversial Japanese history textbook issue, the KNA(www.coreanetizen.net) has some 3,600 members, who are mostly elementary, middle and high school students.

``We came out today to expand our boycott campaign to the general public,'' said Cho Jun-yong, 35, who works at a computer hardware company and served as organizer of the Seoul event.

He said they will continue to conduct anti-U.S. cyber rallies and send protest letters to those who they feel dishonored the Korean people, such as Jay Leno, a famous American talk show host.

Leno infuriated South Koreans when he joked about dog meat consumption by Koreans and Olympic skater Kim Dong-sung on his late-night television show program.

A Philadelphia-based law firm, the MCIC Group, recently said it is preparing to file a libel suit against Leno and NBC for his remarks, and more than 27,000 Koreans have expressed an intention to join the class action suit.

("Netizens" are defined as "People that consider themselves as active members of their community through their use of the Internet." (We had to look it up). Just in case you wondered.......ITD)

Mongolia is currently conducting a study on producing dog meat for health improvement. Mongolian "Nuots" company and South Korean "Mon Hang Trade" have agreed to cooperate in this area. Additionally, health organizations and veterinary supervisors will be involved. It is expected that Dog Meat Enterprise will cost much money because it involves many levels including selecting, rehabilitating, and slaughtering dogs.


(The first two of these items could almost be considered comical were it not for the complete disdain for life that these people hold. The last item makes this very clear. The South Korean Govt has continually told us that the practice of dog eating is declining in S Korea, yet here is clear evidence that they are trying to import their dog farms into Mongolia. This is a booming business, not one in decline!

We trust that you will forgive us if we cannot accept anything they say at face value.....ITD)