UPDATE 3: He’s erased the comments again, although he was nice enough to leave those friendly to him. He has also updated his blog so that only registered users of Joins.com can leave comments. Which, of course, you need to a Korean citizen number to do (or jump through the hoops to get membership without). This guy is a piece of work. BTW, just to make this clear, my issue is not with the JoongAng Ilbo (which I actually enjoy), but one article written by one journalist.
UPDATE 2: It seems Lee is erasing comments at his blog, including the link back to this post. I must say, that’s quite pathetic. He writes a mean-spirited assault on us in one of Korea’s three largest newspapers, the portal site version of which got something like 250 comments and provided fodder for the Munhwa Ilbo, and he can’t take a couple of comments on his own blog. I’m at a loss for words, although in his defense, I can’t say I expected much.
UPDATE 1: You could always leave your comments at Lee Jang-jik’s blog entry!
ORIGINAL POST: Rarely have I ever been so angry. JoongAng Ilbo music “journalist” Lee Jang-jik has accused the Korea Arts Council, Korean Music Festival and Seoul Selection (my place of work) of “disgracing” Korea with the first of our free Korean traditional music tours on Saturday. Now, as organizers, we’ll be the first to admit that things could have gone better, and we bear much of the responsibility for the schedule changes and inconveniences that there were. But Lee’s article was an unwarranted, unbalanced and mean-spirited assault launched for reasons only he knows. Here’s the translation:
Foreigners Furious at ‘Korean Time Experience’
Art Council Korea’s Korean Music Festival disgraces nation
“We’ve heard one song, so let’s stop there. It would be pointless to continue.”This was 12:20 p.m. Saturday inside a ferry boat on Chungju Lake. After listening to a daegeum performance, the roughly 60 foreigners residing in Korea demanded that the concert be suspended. “Because of the engine noise, we can’t hear the music. Playing music right in front of the bathroom is not the proper etiquette for a musician. To sit there and listen was almost embarrassing.”
Initially, the program—including the gayageum sanjo—was supposed to be 50 minutes. For a “stage,” just two chairs were placed in the passageway between the passenger seats. There was no room even to place a gayageum. “We are canceling the onboard concert,” it was announced. At that moment, the free event that had so boisterously promoted as the “first Korean traditional music performance on a boat” went up in smoke.
This was the first trip of the “Korean music performance trips for foreigners”; upcoming trips are to Jeonju on Sep. 16-17, Damyang on Sep. 30 and Songgwang-sa/Seonam-sa on Oct. 14-15. The host was the Korea Arts Council, and the organizers the Korean Music Festival (president: Hahn Myong-hee) and Seoul Selection (president: Hank Kim). The sponsors were the Office of the Prime Minister’s Lottery Commission (who provided financial support) and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The 65 foreigners included opinion leader-level figures like Brother Anthony of Sogang University, ChungAng University English literature professor Irving Gussow, Samsung global strategist Cordula Oertel and Daeil Foreign Language High school instructor Paulette Hawkins.
The original schedule included an onboard concert and tourist stops at Tangeumdae, Jungwon Mireuksa-ji, Mungyeong Saejae and the Cheongpung Cultural Complex. Yet the onboard music concert, which was scheduled to start at 11:30, was canceled because they missed the 464-man boat that was reserved. The boat left at 11:00 with 300 Korean tourists. The tourist buses carrying the foreigners arrived one hour later. The organizers tried to hold a concert on a 123-man boat that had been hastily prepared, but it was to no avail.
The waits and cancellations continued throughout the trip. The scheduled time of departure was 8:00 a.m. The foreigners were told to arrive at 7:20 a.m., but the performers and staff, who were told the bus would leave at 8:00, didn’t arrive until 8:20, so the bus left a half hour late. Achates Korea director Kent Davy, who arrived at 7:30 with his wife and two daughters, cynically remarked about the insincerity of the organizers, “Waiting for an hour in the bus to depart, we experienced ‘Korean Time.’” With misfortune never striking singularly, the highway was jam packed with weekend travelers heading to the country to prepare their family tombs for Chuseok, and the bus took a wrong turn on one of the country roads. Ultimately, the foreigners were only able to experience a Korean traditional music performance on the Hanbyeongnu Pavilion of the Cheongpung Cultural Properties Complex. Since it was a free tour, there were no outward expressions of discontent, but the faces [of the foreigners] were not bright throughout the trip.
Silvia Tartarini, who is staying at the Korea Foundation Guest House, said, “I’m thankful that they provided a chance to experience Korea’s traditional culture in beautiful natural surroundings.” She added, however, “I was really looking forward to a novel performance since they said it would be on a boat, so it was a pity.” The buses arrived back in Seoul at 9:30, so it amounted to a 13-hour round-trip to see a 50-minute performance. There is criticism that national funds were used to show Korean culture to foreigners but instead only disgraced the nation.
Now, let me make this perfectly clear. As one of the organizers of the trip, we [Seoul Selection] bear much of the responsibility for the delays and cancellations. As the man who scouted out much of the area beforehand and did much of the planning, I accept a lot of that responsibility personally. We know full well there were many things that could have been done a lot better (including many things not mentioned in the article above), and for this we express our sincerest apologies to those who attended. It was the first tour we’ve ever conducted, and the mistakes that were made were not due to “insincerity” or lack of preparation, as Lee put it, but inexperience. We will work hard to ensure that the lessons learned are reflected in our upcoming trips to Jeonju, Damyang and Songgwang-sa.
But was the trip a “disgrace to the nation,” as Lee so declared in his subtitle? Nuts. Some 65 foreign residents of Korea not only got a free trip—on the Korean taxpayer’s dime, mind you—to one of the most beautiful areas of Korea, but also got to experience traditional Korean music—performed by some outstanding musicians—in one of the most superb settings you could ever want for a performance of that nature. The Cheongpung performance was very well received by the foreign participants; one of the foreign participants said after the performance that it was the most beautiful thing she’d seen in two years in Korea. Frankly, I’ve been in Korea for about 10 years, and the musical performance at the Hanbyeongnu Pavilion—amidst the drizzling rain—was one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen during my time here. Some of the figures mentioned in Lee’s article have not only sent us positive feedback about the trip, but have signed on for the next one to Jeonju. Almost every foreigner I talked with was generally happy with the way things turned out in the end, so I can only assume the JoongAng Ilbo’s Mr. Lee was at another Korean music tour full of grumpy, unhappy foreigners scoffing at Korean inefficiency.
The reporter also played loose with the facts. There was no mass protest from restless (non)natives on the boat to Cheongpung, as he makes out. Prof. Hahn made the call to cancel first performance (on the boat) and hold it together with the second performance (at Cheongpung, which lasted over an hour, not 50 minutes) after taking into consideration comments from some—but certainly not all—participants and advice from other organizing staff, including myself. And his decision was well received, as it allowed participants to relax and enjoy the scenery and saved the music for the Hanbyeongnu Pavilion, an outstanding musical venue. Given the circumstances—due to unforeseen outbound traffic, we had missed the larger (and quieter) boat on which we initially planned to hold the performance—it was a good on-the-fly call in a difficult situation that seemed to be appreciated by most of those in attendance, with the obvious exception of Mr. Lee.
I’m not even going to touch the use of unattributed quotes and “quotes” about which at least one of the attributed sources has called the JoongAng Ilbo to protest.
And not for nothing, but it’s not like we were planning an outing to the Gyeongbokgung. This was Chungju, and as much as one makes fun of “Korea Time,” you need to be flexible when traveling around the countryside, and most of the foreigners on the trip I spoke with understood this and did a remarkable job of “going with it.” In fact, many were taking things, including the terrible outbound traffic situation (over which we had no control) in much better stride than the organizers (including myself) who were seriously stressing out as the traffic situation forced us to improvise. Yes, it would have been nice if things had went according to plans, and we certainly could have planned better, but all in all, the trip didn’t turn out to be such a terrible experience, especially considering the improvisation that was required when a one and a half hour bus ride to Chungju turned into a three hour trip (and the wrong turn taken by the bus drivers near Chungju Dam accounted for only 5 minutes of that). I saw very few “furious” participants, and a “national disgrace” it was not. In fact, the only thing disgraceful is the manner in which JoongAng Ilbo reporter Lee Jang-jik has maligned the efforts of my company, the Art Council Korea’s Korean Music Festival, and Prof. Hahn Myong-hee, a man who has dedicated most of his life to preserving and promoting Korea’s traditional music and certainly deserved better.
NOTE: Well, at least the Korea Herald and Newsis liked it. So did the Segye Ilbo. The Munhwa Ilbo’s Ko Kwang-il, meanwhile, did a very good job of just copying what they read in the JoongAng. Sheesh, Mr. Ko, were you even there?
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53 Comments
Korea has music?
Anyone settng out to disgrace Korea would be up against insurmountable competition from the country’s journalists.
You got panned. It’s happened to me a couple of times before. It sucks for the ego, Unless Lee is the taste-maker of the nation, the best thing to do is ignore it. Even if he is full of shit, you can’t do anything about it except be better next time.
Strong words from an unhappy person: “it was a pity.”
I can see that woman’s face in my head. She’s all pulling her hair out and smoke and fire are shooting from her mouth and nose!
“‘It Was A Pity!’ the women screamed for three hours straight as the bus fought its way through the heavy traffic Hank Kim’s family had set up along the chosen route. All of the other foreign guests wanted to scream as well, but they were too upset at the national shame they were forced to witness — for three hours in heavy traffic that Hank Kim’s family had arranged — to even speak one word. but, the mood on the bus could not be mistaken: no one had a bright face.”
Robert,
I am sure that the event was as good as it could have been considering all the different problems you guys ran into. Also, all the future trips will be better.
(But everyone will still talk about the first one and all the problems and laugh about them. Actually, the first group will reach urban legend status and everyone on the later trips will be asking you to tell them about the funny mishaps and goofs on that legendary first trip. Within three years it will become common knowledge that the boat on the first trip actually sank. Oddly, this will help fill seats.)
“Rarely have I ever been so angry”
Well it looks like you’ve got good reason.
At least you’re not completely powerless this time around.
Sounds to me like someone in Joongang’s inmaek wasn’t given full honors and so called up a reporter there to have him get revenge.
Did the Joongang Daily translate the story? If not, why not? Did Daily’s staff see how it would be an embarrassment?
It is a cheap shot, as it is easy to knock something down.
Yeah, just reporter-with-chip-on-shoulder bullshit. Don’t stress yourself too much on it, Robert, just look forward to the next one. Otherwise, he truly wins…
I join you in your outrage.
I am described in the article as having “cynically remarked about the insincerity of the organizers, “Waiting for an hour in the bus to depart, we experienced ‘Korean Time.’”
I did no such thing.
In fact, it was the reporter, who evidently was intent on editorializing, who started the interview by observing that it was disgraceful that there was an hour wait before departure and that it was a deplorable example of “Korean time”. When he sought my agreement, I explicitly demurred, only observing mildly that there obviously had been a little confusion at the start, which was later compounded by bad weather and heavy traffic.
He kept fishing, though, and I kept declining to rise to the bait, until I finally cut him off saying that despite the difficulties, and contrary to his deprecation of the sincerity of the organizers, I was impressed by three things:
1. the sincerity of the organizers, including the staff of Seoul Selection, and especially Professor Hahn , who gave a short but very sensitive and revealing explanation of the contrast between Western and Korean music before the beginning of the performances at the Hanbyeong Pavilion;
2. the wonderful and, in a couple of cases, inspired performances by a group of outstanding musicians, and
3. the superlative setting in which the performances finally were held — Hanbyeong Pavilion — which was far more suitable and evocative of the full experience of Korean traditional music than the sessions originally planned for the boat ever could have been.
In the end, these factors made the outing very worthwhile and enjoyable notwithstnding the bumps at the start.
The Joongang’s reporter has done an unwarranted hatchet job on the organizers and a disservice to the interests of Korean tourism – which needs more of these sorts of enthusiast-driven events in place of the typical bureaucratic efforts – apparently in the interest of passing off his own prejudices and opinions as those of the people whose views he is supposed to be reporting.
We’d like to let it just pass, but that piece spent much of the day as one of the most-looked at pieces at Naver.com, and several other news agencies used it to run stories of their own. Needless to say, it’s caused a great deal of consternation for both us, Korean Music Festival and, one would imagine, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. I will say, however, that I had lunch with Prof. Hahn this afternoon, and he was taking it with a lot more grace than I, but he was a pretty graceful character to begin with…
Given the comment by Kent Davy above, I wonder if the problem was that reporter Yi Jangjik doesn’t usually have to wait for anything.
Reporters who cover arts & film at the big papers are usually treated like royalty. I’ve seen them flash their press passes at events they weren’t invited to and that they have no intention of covering, just in order to get in. Organizers want to keep from upsetting them because they don’t want bad press, so give them and their girlfriends or entire families good seats.
Robert, actually the reporter is not “ripping” you. He wants to help you. He wrote the catch phrase, “national shame”, to bring more resources to this endeavor.
Don’t be surprised that for your next event money pours in. Korea doesn’t want to look bad.
Many music critics with the local papers here are a very low kind of people Robert, with some pleasant exceptions.
Make friends with as many decent reporters or better critics or experts (as you can find) and keep them in your press briefings and send them kits (did you send out kits?).
It is important that one recognizes a reporter with an agenda or who expects to have their ego pampered, otherwise they will slam you like this fellow did. (you already know all this though, right?)
Don’t invite any others you do not respect or know either. (You would grimace to see what I have to deal with but then I’ve got good management.)
Robert, I’m really sorry to hear about this turn of events.
Not that I know anything about the situation or the reporter’s motivations, but Oranckay’s thoughts in comment #12 seem plausible. Perhaps he was miffed to not get his usual 5-star treatment, if that’s what Korean arts critics are accustomed to? A few more 실례했습니다s and prostrate 사대 directed his way, and hey presto, a top-notch review! (Not that you should have to have done any such thing.)
I assume you and hopefully other organizers will be firing off letters to the JoongAng?
They should just refund everyone his/her money and call it at that. Simple as that.
I think we should all have an interview with Mr. Lee so we can clarify for him what REALLY is a “national disgrace” for Korea. He seems unclear of the definition.
Better yet, lets get some red headbands printed up, gets some tents, rent a van with a huge ass loud speaker…
Sounds like some ahjussi had too much to drink just before his deadline.
Marmot: Lee has changed the URL of the article.
If you wanted to disgrace Korea, you’d have to top the: crackpot journalists, communist teachers’ union, corrupt politicians, societal pressures that essentially pushes all but the upper-classes’ women into prostitution, lying professors that simple make stuff up, K-pop singers, and my personal favorite — shitty sidewalks.
–Remort
Wow, national disgrace, you caused a stampede in which 11 people died and 72 were injured–wait, that was MBC…well, you let 35 kids get injured in a stampede, oh no, that was Lotte World….
Let’s talk about (dis)organization in Korea.
If people signed on for the next trip, you’ve done plenty right. I hope to make it too if my schedule permits.
Reading your updates re Mr. Lee’s deletion of unsympathetic comments on his blog, this guy seems like a really, genuinely classless piece of work. Even suppressing criticism of his, er, criticism!? Man, he’s in diva territory!
All I can suggest is escalating it in a letter to the editor that’s full of well-chosen words. Who’s doing more damage to Korea’s image here? If this piece were ever translated into English and someone were to read it, they might be turned off your and your colleagues’ well-intentioned attempts to promote appreciation of Korean music. It seems that Mr. Lee is doing the real disservice here.
Is it possible Mr. Lee has some history/bad blood with someone at the Korea Arts Council, Korean Music Festival, or Seoul Selection? Or did he attempt something similar at some point in the past, and it failed miserably, hence his pissiness?
Robert, do you know anyone who has connections with the JoongAng Ilbo (perhaps from your days at the Chosun Ilbo), who can somehow help to set this right?
I hear there were screenshots taken of the offending comments. That “저질리스트” needs to learn a few tricks…
“If this piece were ever translated into English and someone were to read it…”
Duh, I meant “If an English translation of this piece were ever published elsewhere than here (i.e., out of context)…”
Since you’ve been here that long and saw the “news coverage” during the 2002/2003 hate fest, nothing about the local media should even remotely surprise you.
I couldn’t find much on this character in English, but there’s a JoongAng Daily translation of a piece he wrote, dated August 22nd of this year, here:
http://joongangdaily.joins.com.....09101.html
If you’ll bear with me, you may find it mildly amusing.
He leads off a largely friendly interview with the soprano Jo Su-mi (whom I’ve heard in concert—she’s superb) with this snippy beaut (his comment, not the lady in question):
As a kicker, here is the original interview in Korean: http://news.joins.com/et/20060.....0a510.html . Perhaps I read it too quickly and missed it, but I can’t find this editorial comment in the original Korean! All I can find of these opening lines is:
And that’s it! Could the drive-by pissiness have been added to the translation, because Mr. Lee considered it unfit for domestic consumption? Mere speculation, but could this indicate some kind of complex the critic has regarding foreign perceptions of Korean arts and artists?
Here’s a copy of the
missilemissive I’ve launched at the Joongang; I wonder how much of it will see print:Your article “Snafus Mar Music Tour Offered Free to Foreigners” quotes me as having said that “I experienced ‘Korean time’ while waiting on the bus”, while also suggesting that I was unhappy about the fact that the departure was delayed by an hour. In the even more incendiary version of the article that appeared in the Korean language version of your paper, entitled “Foreigners Furious at ‘Korean Time Experience’ - Art Council Korea’s Korean Music Festival disgraces nation”, I am described as having “cynically remarked about the insincerity of the organizers, “Waiting for an hour in the bus to depart, we experienced ‘Korean Time.’” [아내와 두 딸과 함께 오전 7시30분에 도착한 아케이트 코리아 겐트 데이비(54) 이사는 "버스 안에서 1시간 가까이 출발을 기다리며 '코리안 타임'을 체험했다"고 주최 측의 무성의를 꼬집었다.]
I did no such thing. [I also have only one daughter, and I’m 55; so your reporter also seems weak on fact collecting.]
In fact, it was your reporter, evidently intent on editorializing, who started the interview by observing that it was disgraceful that there was an hour wait before departure and that it was a deplorable example of “Korean time”. When he sought my agreement, I explicitly demurred, only observing mildly that there obviously had been a little confusion at the start, which was later compounded by bad weather and heavy traffic.
He kept fishing in the same stream, though, and I kept declining to rise to the bait, until I finally cut him off indicating that despite the difficulties, and contrary to his deprecation of the sincerity of the organizers, I was impressed by three things:
1. the sincerity of the organizers, including the staff of Seoul Selection, and especially Professor Hahn from Korea Music Festival, who gave a short but very sensitive and revealing explanation of the contrast between Western and Korean music before the beginning of the performances at Hanbyeong Pavilion;
2. the wonderful and, in a couple of cases, inspired performances by a group of outstanding musicians, and
3. the superlative setting in which the performances finally were held — Hanbyeong Pavilion — which was far more suitable and evocative of the full experience of Korean traditional music than the sessions originally planned for the boat trip on Chungju Lake ever could have been.
It is unfortunate that weather and traffic delays prevented the participants from making the planned stops at Mireuk-sa and Mungyeong Saejae. But in the end, the outing was very worthwhile and enjoyable notwithstnding the bumps at the start.
Apparently from misplaced zeal to create controversy where there is none, your reporter has done an unwarranted hatchet job on the organizers and a disservice to the interests of Korean tourism – which needs more of these sorts of enthusiast-driven events in place of the typically overly-hyped bureaucratic efforts.
The only disgrace in this affair is your reporter’s for trying to pass off his own opinions as those of the people whose views he is supposed to be reporting – a fault which he has compounded by apparently manipulating the Joongang’s blog pages to erase comments by those who have called him on his unprofessional behaviour. If there are things about Korea about which I am cynical, among the highest on my list is the truly deplorable state of Korean journalism evidenced by this report, particularly in its original Korean version. Among the things about Korea that I appreciate are the sincere efforts of people like Professor Hahn and the staff at Seoul Selection to present the best of Korea without bombastically trying to oversell it.
Robert,
Do you really have the right to call someone “pathetic,” Robert, given that you refuse to link to Matt’s blog, Orientalism, in spite of all the requests?
I think you are a hypocrite and a blowhard.
Correction: Matt’s blog is http://www.occidentalism.org/
I come from a generation of Koreans whose values were such that if one put his heart and earnest effort into a certain endeavor, it deserved to be commended with a 수고헤슴니다, even if that particular endeavor didnt turn out the way it was supposed to. The degree of effort put into it was just as important as the end result, if not more.
I guess things have changed. Journalistic critics are a sour bunch to begin with in any place, but the ones connected with the arts or culture even more so. In addition, something also tells me that the Korean journalistic industry is drunk on its power to shape the opinion of the public and galvanise them into some kind of action. It is not too surprising that there would be some who would abuse that power.
Robert,
Do you really have the right to call someone “pathetic,” Robert, given that you refuse to link to Matt’s blog, Orientalism, in spite of all the requests?
I think you are a hypocrite and a blowhard.
What the hell are you talking about? MARMOT can do whatever he wants with his own blog. He has his own reasons and that’s his business. You’re the one who is pathetic. If you thought Marmot and his blog was so stupid you would be whining about him not linking something here in the first place now, would you?
I fail to see how I am a hypocrite because I fail to link a particular blog on my blogroll. As for me being a blowhard, well, you’re free to think so–and in fact say so, right here on my own blog—much as I am free to call Mr. Lee “pathetic.”
Robert, I think Gerry is frustrated because he (and we) recognize that your site has transcended its humble beginnings to become one of the virtual “opinion makers” among expats in Korea. Therefore, he wants your site to reflect its excellence in every facet, not only your truly outstanding photography, but also even such seemingly minor details as your blogroll.
However, not only is your blogroll missing such relevant Korea-related sites such as http://www.occidentalism.org, many of the sites linked are now defunct. Not only that, Occidentalism is a legit blog, while Internet pranksters like Nora Park (and “her” alter ego) are still linked. What kind of message does that send to your audience, which is not made up solely of lowly rabble rousers like me, but contains Harvard-educated attorneys and Korea scholars?
Frankly, I was going to link Occidentalism the next time I did my blogroll update (which was supposed to be yesterday), because you’re right—there is no reason for it not to be there, considering how I link to just about everyone else regardless of politics, including the blogs of two of Occidentalism’s contibuters. I just don’t see how failing to link said blog makes me a hypocrite, and I definitely don’t see how I’m a “blowhard,” because I thought I’ve made it quite clear I consider myself nothing other than a fat-ass white guy with a blog, a wardrobe full of hanbok and too much time on his hands. And as far as I recall, I’ve never said anything bad about Mr. Bevers, whose stuff I’ve always enjoyed reading.
Thanks Robert.
By the way, did you ever find out what happened to Kushibo? From reading his blog, you see that the only people he ever mentions actually meeting are you, and Nora Park, his imaginary friend. Since Nora is not real, I guess that would make you his ‘best’ friend lol
Seriously though, you actually knew the guy in real life, what is your impression about what he was doing?
Robert, it does sound like a very unfair and mean-spirited review, and I sympathize with you.
I just wonder if you’ve considered whether what you are doing - perhaps complaining directly to him, certainly encouraging the community here to complain to him at his blog or letters to his employer (ok, you never encouraged that, but some here seem to be doing it) - is what you should be doing.
Bear with me here.
It sounds like you are in some sort of organizing/PR role with Seoul Selection and this event. And I guess this is the kick-off event of what will hopefully be a series of cultural events done together with Art Council Korea and Prof. Hahn Myong-hee
Is attacking him the correct Public Relations move to make, or is it the individually satisfying one?
I know a bit about this field. If you are going to have a PR function with your company (or any company), you have to take every event, even infuriating or unfair, and first ask “How can we influence this positively?” and examine every reaction of your own on a similar basis of “What positive outcome do we expect from this?” In this case, the article is published, so the positive outcomes you want are that future articles be fairer.
From a PR point of view, I think you would have done better to contact this journalist and tell him that you, a representative of Seoul Selection, would like to take him out and buy him lunch to discuss “the recent concert” and get his “suggestions”. At this lunch you would be as friendly and engaging as you know how, politely differing with him on some important points you’ve made in your post. Having a few glasses of wine or Baeksaeju shots (depending what sort of restaurant you brought him to) would be a good idea too. The whole idea is to win him over, because while it is so easy to slam a stranger, it is so hard to do that to someone you like or feel you owe. You would then ask for and make a show of ‘intently noting’ his ’suggestions for us to improve’, to puff his ego, and change the tone from confronting him to coopting him. Still in ‘Friendly and Likable rep of SeoulSelection Robert” mode, you would finish off with a promise that the next one will be sure to impress him, and that you will personally contact him and arrange for him to have tickets or whatever for the next one. And you would do all that.
Don’t get mad, but something like the above would be the professional thing to do. You have a PR situation, and indulging your temper helps nothing.
Good luck with it all!
That topic might make a good thread on its own.
mwahahah. Try again.
I am frequently amused at the deft sylllogisms the contributors to this blog can come up with. Exactly how does this conclusion follow from these premises?
That Chewbacca Defense must be rubbing off on you.
[pant pant pant, pandering for attention, lame-ass blog owner wants visits! Duh]
Considering that the front page is covered at least 2/3 by unending drivel about the Tokto lies and shit by the commentor, I think it is a bit disingenuous – if not outright hypocritical – to say “Matt’s blog” as if it was a one-man show, and the commentor had no relationship with the site…
For all those that are taking this as a laughing matter, how many of you were actually on the trip? As a very grateful recipient of some outstanding hospitality, I thoroughly enjoyed the trip. Along with my wife and two other friends, (one of who is mis-quoted in the article) we experienced some fantastic scenery, a delicious lunch, a memorable boat trip and traditional Korean music in an authentic and natural setting. All of this… for free. I think that this reporter is skating on very thin ice and I personally would have blasted him if I had been so blatantly misquoted (as Mr. Davy and other people were). I did answer some questions posed by a reporter from The Korea Herald but my comments did not make the cut. Perhaps I was too complimentary? I, for one, apppreciate all the time and effort that went into organizing this free trip for us and I am not about to lie about a few inconveniences. I’ll rather sign up for another one of the free trips. Hopefully this esteemed reporter will have better things to do with his valuable time than join us!
At least Matt knows how to format his blog properly.
If by that you mean endless posts and maps, yeah.
Yeah, those endless posts, maps, facts, figures …. must really make one’s head hurt.
No, by format, I meant simply knowing how to arrange the parts of his blog so that they do not overlap, become truncated, etc. on the reader’s monitor.
There is a toned-down translation of this on the newspaper’s site. The title “Snafus mar music tour offered free to foreigners” is very much toned down from the original Korean. This is a rather sneaky thing to do on the part of this newspaper.
The original author should be chastized for his slander and the paper held accountable and banned from covering certain events.
It still misquotes Mr. Davy, unfortunately.
I received quite a rude and bullying reply from one of the Joongang Ilbo’s editors when I queried why the English version of their newspaper published the French deadbabydaddy’s full name, while the Korean version didn’t.
I’m not surprised by the naked duplicity of this reporter, nor his utter inability to handle criticism.
People arrive late for events and bus drivers sometimes make wrong turns, stop the presses. Not one line about why the organizers put this event on in the first place–did this guy even ask anyone?
It’s a really petty article.
Dda,
Yes, I post on Matt’s blog, but I did not make the above comment to promote the blog. I do not even care if Robert links to Matt’s blog, though Matt might. I do not worry about hits, even on my own blog. I usually post as a way to get things organized in my head.
The reason I wrote what I wrote was that I got angry at Robert for calling Mr. Lee “pathetic” because he had erased comments on his blog. If Robert can manage his blog the way he wants, then why can’t Mr. Lee do the same? Maybe, Mr. Lee also felt the comments being made were “unwarranted, unbalanced and mean-spirited”?
Anyway, it just sounded hypocritical for Robert to complain about Mr. Lee’s deleting comments while Robert, himself, has refused to link to a relevant, popular blog for reasons that I can only guess. The request for a link to Occidentalism.org has been made several times in the past, but it has always been ignored. By the way, I have only recently started contributing to Matt’s blog and have nothing to do with its popularity.
I post on Matt’s site for two reasons, dda. One is to shut up people like you and Oranckay, who have claimed that “Dokdo” was historically Korean territory. In that respect, I think I have accomplished my goal. The other reason I post on Matt’s site is to create a discussion on Dokdo/Takeshima, which hopefully gets me more information on the issues, especially from the Japanese side. As I said before, I am not interested in getting hits, but I do want people to know the truth about “Dokdo.” Of course, you, dda, are free to ignore my maps and post on “Dokdo” and search for pictures of half-naked women or whatever you are interested in.
To Robert,
I apologize for my comment above, especially the part about your being a “blowhard.” Actually, in the beginning of your blog, and while you were working at Chosun Ilbo, I did consider you somewhat of a blowhard, but it was never very serious. It came out today because I was angry about some of your comments. I think I was just holding you up to too high of a standard.
I recognize and envy your knowledge and skills, and I am amazed at how fast you have learned Korean, but, I guess I sometimes feel that you are often too easy on Korea when it comes to Korea-Japan issues.
Anyway, I am sorry for calling you a blowhard.
Gerry Bevers
From my perspective, I view Robert and his efforts, as making Korea a better, and more enjoyable place to be by enlightening us and bringing matters to our attention we might otherwise not have known without his efforts. It really pains me to see some jerk go way out of his way to present such a one-sided view of an event that essentially slanders and defames Marmot and his place of employment. It’s quite clear to understand Mr. Lee’s agenda…
So Robert, stay focused on your goal of having fun blogging, and making this place a fun place to share ideas and information about life in Korea. A Podcast outside of Mr. Lee’s place of employment (with 10,000 screaming Marmot’s Hole fans) might be a fun endeavor, and definitely make him think twice before getting jiggy with the Marmot again.
Thanks for the fish.
–Remort
Not that I’m advocating action against any particular reporter, but there is a relatively gentle and benign dispute-resolution process (mediation, really) available through the Korea Press Ethics Commission for anyone who has been wronged by a false report. The Commission has the right to “recommend” a correction to any unfair reporting; generally the press always follows the recommendation, as the Commission is a creature of the press itself. That means a retraction, and usually a new, friendly report. The aggrieved party also has a right to file, by report to the prosecution through the local police station, a criminal complaint for defamation. Korea’s Criminal Code makes a crime of defamation, and the only elements to the crime are publication of statements of fact about a party which cause harm to reputation — falsity is not an element.
Lastly, I checked with PR people who know and the word is that that newspaper writer is notorious for doing just what he did (he does not seem to be liked much either). He is also one of the very few who would do such. It was your bad luck to have him along Robert.
Q: If you put people who make incendiary comments AND people who allow them to derail civilized discussion by responding on a deserted island, who would survive?
A: The rest of us.
So die already, Peter… Cuz the people you’d like to shelve on an island aren’t casting for Lost 3!
oranckay: 이장직 기자님의 양심과 정신상태가 의심됩니다.
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