On the 57th anniversary of the start of the Korean War, the Korea Times reports that fewer and fewer youngsters know anything about the war. One in five, in fact, believe the war was fought between Korea and Japan.
Meanwhile, words of wisdom from the KTU:
“In the past, many focused on teaching children to hate North [...]
When we think of Daehangno, we usually think of the neighborhood’s small theaters, romantic cafes and vibrant youth culture. For those with a keen interest in Korean history and contemporary architecture, however, Daehangno yields a few more gifts. Among the treasures located here are the former main hall of Seoul National University (originally [...]
The Royal Asiatic Society Korea will hold its second semi-monthly Lecture-Meeting of June (and final one of the season) this coming Tuesday the 26th, at 7:30 pm, in the 2nd-floor Resident’s Lounge of the Somerset Palace Residence (downtown, near Anguk Station, west of Exit #6; north of Jogye-sa Temple. All in English, open to the [...]
Norimitsu Onishi has written an interesting portrait of a North Korean refugee in Inchon and of the reality of being caught between two societies and ideologies.
Okinawan politicians are upset about the attempts to “make changes to several textbooks” for the purpose of de-emphasizing the Japanese military’s role in encouraging Okinawans to commit suicide during WWII.
Well, children, today is the day when the National Election Commission ban on writing messages in support or opposed to specific presidential contenders [Korea Herald] goes into effect:
A person who violates the election laws could face a prison term of up to two years and a fine of 4 million won, it said. “Not all [...]
I’ve enabled WP-Cache (v 2.1.1). This should make loading pages — particularly long pages — quicker, and conserves server resources. If you notice a boost in performance, let me know.
Since I was knee high to a grasshopper, my mom told me that I would one day end up on “ZuZu Island.” Guess what, Mom, I ended up on ZuZu Island, but it’s actually a peninsula!
Virtually everyone I know who I see on a regular basis who could be described as a “long-term” expat here [...]
I’ll be updating my Wordpress version. Blog may look funny/be inaccessible for a couple of minutes. Update complete.
Jeju University has released hundreds of aerial photos taken of Korea by the US Navy immediately after Japan’s surrender in WWII. The Chosun Ilbo (English) has some of the photos, while the Kyunghyang Shinmun (Korean) has some more.
Nothing gets you laid like an APC. [Coming Anarchy] Just ask the Ukrainians.
There’s a cool festival happening in NE Seoul this weekend, with the above title, held by Gangbuk-gu District. All kinds of cultural aspects of Korea’s mountains, with an atmosphere of public celebration. Music, dance and other performances (old Korean, modern Korean and western) 7-9pm Saturday evening. Then an international “mountathon” and group-climbing event up over Samgak-san’s Yeong-bong and [...]
This is my idea of K-pop; this popsicle is only sold in Korea. The green is apple flavor, red is watermellon, the seeds are chocolate-coated sunflower seeds. After the monsoon, this will help greatly. The picture is behind Dongdaemun. (photo courtesy of “Superlocal“)
The good folks up in the DPRK have decided to do their part to prevent global warming. I would have thought that a near-total economic collapse would have been enough.
When the tale of Roy Pearson, the DC administrative law judge who is suing a Korean-American dry cleaner for $54 million for a lost pair of pants, was first reported, I asked whether race might have something to do with it.
Not everyone thought that was wise.
It appears, however, I’m not the only one asking that [...]
In another tourism sparkling masterstroke, Seoul is going to have a “history and culture axis, tourism axis, green area axis and combined cultural axis.”
Get the barf bags ready — reports Yonhap:
A famous South Korean director said Wednesday he will make a film of the life of a Korean-American who spent almost eight years in a U.S. prison for spying for Korea to explain his agony stemming from the power politics of the two allies.”
How about his agony stemming [...]
The publishing company for which I work, Seoul Selection, is currently bidding for a book project being awarded by the Northeast Asian History Foundation. What we need, however, is a Korean-to-English translator. The book, whose Korean title is “East Asia As a Discovery,” is about 460 pages and a compilation of work by four [...]
