Did Cha Sa-soon really take her driver's license test in South Korea 960 times before passing it over a five year period? No, she didn't take it 960 times. The New York Times got punked and read below to see why:

UPDATE:

I found the smoking gun. The Korean police in cahoots with the Korean media set this story up for two years running so far, google it, it's all there, clear as day, and the Korean police refuse to release the official records of her, er, um, alleged 960 tests.... NOT TRUE. END OF STORY.
READERS OF THE NEW YORK TIMES GOT PUNKED BY SLOPPY EDITING.

Maybe it's the Times editors fault to make the story too 'feel-good.' They were trying to explain why South Koreans in general were so fascinated by her story?

Dear Friends in the Blogosphere

remember that NYTimes story a few weeks back in South
Korea, headlined "Trying and trying again (960 times) for a Driver's
License" about a 69 year old Korean lady who allegedly claims to have
tried to pass the test for her drivers license in the past 5 years for
959 times and finally PASSED IT on her 960th try. It made the news all
over the world, front pages and feature
sections and the entire blogosphere lit up.

THING IS: what it true? Gumshoe media analysts want to know. Read on

a recent article, from South Korea, about the Korean
woman who tried to get her driver's license at age 69 and and tried
960 times, according to the TIMES story, and of course the TIMES
always tries to tell the truth,......some pundits feel that the .story
was not FAKED, but EMBELLISHED, stretching the truth to get a better
story, sort of a PR story which hyped the Hyundai car company
which figures fairly big in the story. So question is:

did the woman acutally really truly take the drivers license test 960
times? Does it matter? YES IT DOES. Why?
BEcause if the NYTIMES was stretching the truth to tell a good story
and the editors back in NYC bureau did not vet or
fact check the article, that is a black mark on the NYTIMES......which
i love, i always have loved the NYTIMES.

but this 960 figure sounds FISH TO ME

maybe she took the test dozens of times, maybe 150....but 960? WHO
AMONG US BELIEVES THIS?

this story made Intl front pages and huge headlines and
blogsophere, but it might not be all completely TRUE i feel...

The woman did take the test many times, but not 960 times,....... how does
anyone know that, nobody took notes.....i feel that
reporter got punked and foolded by the Korean police and the Korea media who pushed this story for national pride inside Korea, but he wrote this story to make it better.....and it did not
have to say 960 times, it could have had the same
impact by saying she took the test many times over a five year period
and never gave up....that;s cool...but the 960 times...and notice
96 is opposite of her age 69......and i wonder if the Times editors in
NYC at the foreign desk
vetted and factchecked this story. It sort of has the hands of the
Hyunda car company PR dept on it. read
the original story and report back to me here:

agree disagree? i plan to pursue this in the blogopshere until i
arrive at the truth. I am
looking into this....but not to cast aspersions on anyone, but merely ask TIMES editors
if THEY vetted
and factchecked the story before publishing it. Was there a bit of
Mark Twain involved here?
A bit of Korean PR and Korea police tall tale involved here? Time will tell, Meanwhile, if i am
wrong, and i often am, i will admit it.
Sure. But somehow i smell something fishy here...

I intend to get
to the botoom of this YARASE reporting...

960 times? show me
the receipts...... show me the proof....it WAS a cute story but was is TRUE...


Now if I suspect the story was a bit EMBELLISHED, then I should of
course start first with the Times and ask them. I am sure, and in fact, I
know, there is no reason
to think they would have a reason to embellish or exaggerate such a
story -- which was of course, just a light feature that had no bearing
on anything or anyone.

But it did have the BRAND imprimature of the New York Times. that's
important here.

Okay, now on what do I base my gumshoe suspicions? Just because it
seems incredulous?. Well, it's true, I , of all people, should know
that real life is often stranger than fiction. I do know this.

SMILE.

Okay, anoybody else out there smell something fishy in the TImes
drivers licnse Korea story 960 times figure? Other than that,
it was A GREAT STORY, and I LOVED READING about this NEVER GIVE UP
WOMAN. but 960 times?