Sunny Lee at Asia Times writes about how the Borg of China™ may have shown Koreans that they are absolute pussies when it comes down to enthusiastic displays of nationalistic protest.
Per the article:
South Korea’s reputation as the world’s unparalleled bastion of nationalism and master of all forms of street protests - ranging from physical confrontations with [...]
The Sports Chosun reports that there are a surprising number of “classic” Korean cars still on the road.
For instance, there are still some 638 Kia Brisa (1974–1981), 256 Sehan (now Daewoo) Gemini (1977–1981), 7,064 Hyundai Ponies (1976–1990) and 1,444 Hyundai Cotinas (1968–1983) registered with the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association.
Last July, I spotted a Hyundai Pony [...]
The Hankyoreh reports that some major works of late architect Kim Swoo-geun have been torn down or are on the verge of being town down.
Last year, of course, the Hanguk Ilbo building in Junghak-dong — built in 1968 — was torn down. Now, the Tower Hotel (1969) and Seun Arcade (1967) face a similar fate. [...]
Park Kyung-ni(ree), one of the most important Korean novelists has passed. Her masterwork entitled “The Land” (toji) is believed to be the summation of modern Korean literature. The first two sections have been translated into English and can be found here.
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Upcoming Royal Asiatic Society - Korea activities of interest to M-Holers:
Tuesday, May 6th: RAS-K Lecture-Meeting featuring Michael P. Spavor (BA in International Relations from University of Calgary and now studying at the Graduate School of North Korean Studies in Seoul on foreign NGOs and the DPRK). He will be speaking on “Pyongyang [...]
You can experience this Korean delicacy vicariously at the Shangaiist. If mollusks could scream, I don’t think this dish would be so popular. On second thought, maybe it would be even more so.
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As reported in two Chosun Ilbo articles, Koreans may be “going overboard” with mad cow disease. “PD Diary”, the famous MBC current affairs program, has claimed that 94 percent of Koreans have a “special” gene that makes them more susceptible to getting Mad Cow Disease vs. regular Americans or Britons (Canucks, Kiwis and Aussies were, [...]
As you may all know, Lee Kun-hee has publicly resigned as Samsung Group’s Chairman. Or has he? According to today’s Washington Post, Lee’s power and influence may stay long after his announced resignation. The tentacle-like arms of the Lee family are long and far reaching and the press conference yesterday may merely be a rehearsal [...]
April 17, 2008 – 10:48 am
CNN ran a report on Daniel Kim, a 21-year-old Korean-American student at Virginia Tech who committed suicide eight months after the Cho Seung-Hui Seung-Hui Cho massacre. His family feels Virginia Tech ignored the warning signs:
William Kim still calls the cell phone of his son, a 21-year-old senior at Virginia Tech, just to hear his voice. [...]
April 16, 2008 – 11:39 pm
As you all know, last Tues April 8th was Lunar 3.3 (third day of the third moon) and so there were Sanshin-je [Mountain-spirit veneration-ceremonies] held in villages and at sacred mountains nationwide. I spent my time at Inwang-san right here in Seoul, where i found a great medium-sized Sanshin-je going on at a relatively-obscure [...]
An exhibit of painted screens (ch’aek-kori) from Korea are on display as part of an exhibit entitled “Beauty and Learning: Korean Painted Screens“.
. . . Organized by Soyoung Lee, assistant curator of the department of Asian art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s tightly focused exhibition “Beauty and Learning: Korean Painted Screens” places four marvelous examples [...]
Since the launch, things are really heating up down here on Earth. I’ve been getting extremely positive responses from non-Koreans to the Yi Soyeon videos, and I generally think the reaction amongst many Korean women is positive. My Ewha FLHS girls, for example, are enamored of her.
However, certain Korean netizens are forming an attack army [...]
Sure, we put a man on the moon, but Korea has managed to combine food container and drink cup into one revolutionary piece of snack portability technology:
Proving yet again that South Korea is light years ahead of everyone else in fast-food technology is The Col-Pop. The nation that brought the world the spiral-cut potato on [...]
Upcoming Royal Asiatic Society–Korea activities of interest to M-Holers:
Tuesday, April 8th: RAS-K Lecture-Meeting, featuring Dr. Andrei Lankov (well-known researcher on social and cultural aspects of 20th-Cen Korean modernization, including the DPRK, a Professor at Seoul’s Kookmin University and a Visiting Fellow at Australian National U, columnist for several publications, PhD from Leningrad State University) speaking on [...]
The release of the US remake of “My Sassy Girl” looms ominously before us — here’s the trailer:
Well, at least Elisha Cuthbert is cute.
Here’s the original Korean trailer, for comparison’s sake:
(HT to reader)
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March 31, 2008 – 12:52 pm
This wonderful little video is of a Korean song but the guitarist looks Japanese and the drummer is absolutely wild. A Wild Korean Band
Commenter Brian on the Open Thread posted a link to Korea Beat translation of a story from the Hankyorehon some schools requiring students with naturally brown or curly hair to show proof that these features are natural and carry special IDs, called 자연머리 확인증, or Confirmation of Natural Hair.
Recently schools have been requiring students with [...]
March 29, 2008 – 10:25 am
BBC Radio 4’s Crossing Continents has a report on Korean missionary work in Asia (March 31, 2030 GMT). As per the article on such, some of the more interesting quotes run as such:
. . . many church members in South Korea go a step further, signing up for visits to Korean missions abroad - [...]
How in the world did I miss this news?
Woodstock, the legendary music festival from 1968, will be revived in Korea with a participant from the original event, Neil Young.
Young is known as the godfather of grunge and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.
The concert in Seoul, titled “Flower Power [...]
March 22, 2008 – 12:25 pm
OK, it’s not much — two pages of pure fluff, and poorly written fluff at that — but it is the first published piece I’ve written in Korean.
It’s part of a larger section with contributions from architect Clark E. Llewellyn, writer Michael Fitzpatrick and photographer Lee Jongkeun (who did the amazing work in Korea Style).
To [...]
