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 in Buyeo, Chungcheongnam-do — and I’ve got the photo to prove it!

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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. The Tower Hotel’s distinctive concrete exterior will be covered in glass, which is kind of odd, considering that the city cultural properties committee OK’d the hotel’s renovation on the condition that the exterior not be destroyed. The Seun Arcade, on the other hand, will be torn down completely as part of Seoul City’s plan to incorporate the neighborhood into a green corridor linking Bugaksan and Gwanaksan.

Kim Swoo-geun Cultural Foundation director Kim Won, who worked with the great architect, noted that many places in the Gangbuk area — including Kim Swoo-geun works — will be disappearing over the next couple of years thanks to redevelopment and the building of so-called “New Towns.”

Marmot’s Note: As you know, I’m a big fan of Kim Swoo-geun — see here, here and here for photo essays dedicated to his work. Obviously, it saddens me to see any of his work torn down or, in the case of the Tower Hotel, defaced.

Still, cities are a living organism that are perpetually transforming. Accordingly, you can’t save everything; the most you can hope for is to choose well the things you can save, and that whatever replaces the rest is an improvement.

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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 through my eyes: An up close and personal look inside North Korea.” He will offer a slide-presentation focusing on what he experienced of the realities of contemporary North Korean society when he recently served in an NGO there. See the interesting description of this speech on our website for more. 7:30 pm in the 2nd-floor Resident’s Lounge of the Somerset Palace, Anguk-dong (N of Jogye-sa), Seoul. Free for RAS Members, w5000 donation requested from others.

Sat May 10th: Bukchon Hanok-Neighborhood Walking Tour in Seoul We will take a 3-hour walking tour in this fascinating area to observe its remaining traditional Korean houses (hanok). Our guide Prof. David Mason (me) will explain some of the history involved and point out key architectural features of interest. This introduction to the charms of Seoul’s former aristocratic neighborhood will feature a visit to the new Bukchon Culture Center in Anguk-dong and observe its preservation project for the hanoks, and visiting some artisans & museums who’ve established themselves there.

Mon May 12th: Buddha’s Birthday Tour in Seoul
On this RAS “tour of enlightenment” we will visit four different temples around northern Seoul in the afternoon and evening, to observe their treasures and the colorful ceremonies and festivities that mark this occasion. Led by Korean Tourism & Culture Professor David Mason.

Sat-Sun May 17-18th: Gyeongju Tour – Relics of the Shilla Kingdom A tour of the historically rich and scenic capital of the Shilla Dynasty, including the world-famous Bulguk-sa and Seokkuram temples. The whole city of Gyeongju is basically a big outdoor museum and is recognized as such by the United Nations; we will be introduced to its best sights.

Saturday May 17th: Special One-Time-Only! Daejeon Korean Christian Missions Symposium Tour with the TCIS Hannam Campus. Led by Dr. Donald Clark (well-known Professor of early-20th-Cen Korean History) and Dr. Elizabeth Underwood (Professor of Missionary-to-Korea Sociology).
This special tour will visit the TCIS (Taejon Christian International School) to attend its 50th Anniversary Symposium on Korean Christian Missions. Following the academic meeting, the RAS group has been invited on a walking-tour of the ten-acre garden-like TCIS campus, home of the third oldest foreign school in Korea. For more details on this rare opportunity, please read the description on our website.

Sun May 18th: Buyeo and Gongju, Ancient Capitals of the Baekje Kingdom Tour A “scenic historic-cultural tour” which will take us back for a survey of the Baekje Kingdom. Highlights include historic Buddhist temples, a famous king’s tomb and a ferry ride down the White Horse River.

Tuesday, May 20th: RAS-K Lecture-Meeting, featuring Professor Donald Clark (PhD in in East Asian History from Harvard, author of books on Seoul and foreigners-in-Korea history, son and grandson of Presbyterian missionaries who first arrived in Korea in 1902). He will speak on “Where do Foreign Missionaries fit in Korea’s Modern History?”, addressing four clusters of questions aimed at an understanding of what “missionaries” in general did and didn’t do in modern Korea. See the interesting description of this speech on our website for more. 7:30 pm in the 2nd-floor Resident’s Lounge of the Somerset Palace, Anguk-dong (just north of Jogye-sa), Seoul. Free for RAS Members, w5000 donation requested from others.

Sun May 25th: Odae-san National Park Tour This great park is much less-famous and thus less-visited than Seorak-san, but this is one of its attractions because it is possible to enjoy the beauty of the pine-forested sloped, deep valleys and grand temples in a relatively quiet atmosphere. Buddhists also consider it one of Korea’s most important mountains, as it was a crucial site in the history of the propagation of Buddhism in Korea.

Sat-Sun May 31-June 1st: Gangneung City / East Cost Tour A visit to the historic city of Gangnung, gateway to Korea’s east coast. After visiting the interesting and well-preserved Neo-Confucian architectural sites around Gangneung, we will take a scenic drive along the east coast, stopping at the stunning Bulyeong Valley on the way home.

Being a Member of the Royal Asiatic Society - Korea has many benefits, including free attendance of interesting Lectures, receiving newsletters of activities, discounts on great Tours of Korea’s most beautiful and fascinating places led by experts, discounts on books about all Korean subjects in English, and more. Everyone involved with Korean Studies who speaks English would do well to join this 108-year-old scholarly organization. For more information, call 763-9483 in Seoul during business hours, write to raskb@kornet.net or visit our website http://www.raskb.com/

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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, unfortunately, not mentioned in the report). Per the article:

“A tepid and delayed response from the government is only fueling fears. The personal blog of President Lee Myung-bak, who promised that resuming import of U.S. beef will bring high-quality and low-priced beef to the table, has been virtually shut down by Internet users who bombarded it with messages protesting against the decision.”

Interesting bit of “scientific” exposé there MBC! It would have reinforced their case if they had interviewed just one gyopo from America who’s had his brains melted from a lifetime of eating American beef. Reminds me of another equally futile piece of pseudoscience that Koreans still hold dear.

Picture from Japanese show “Morning Musume”.

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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 to a puppet master pulling the strings from above. 

However, others take a more positive view and see it as the begining of the end for Korea’s plutocratic chaebols and its kleptocratic and “chummy” relationship with the government.  Yeah, right indeed.

In anycase, looks like Lee Kun-hee’s ajoshi drinking and golf buddies are up in arms, protesting the charges and burning pictures of Kim Yong-Chul.

At the end of the day, Korea may be at a cross roads of sorts, with a choice to reduce graft and corruption or just go with the program as usual.  An article from Bloomberg quotes our very own Brendon Carr who says dryly:

“Korea is corrupt fundamentally…. Corruption is illegal on the books, but it’s socially mandatory.”

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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. He feels cheated out of a chance to save his only boy.

His son, Daniel Kim, wasn’t a victim of last year’s massacre that left 32 students and professors dead. His son committed suicide eight months later, after falling into a deep depression.

A Korean-American, Kim feared that classmates might mistake him for shooter Seung-Hui Cho.

“They treated it like some kind of joke,” William Kim said of the way the university handled his son’s warning signs.

One of his online buddies had even emailed school authorities:

Pribush, who recently graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, had met Kim online in the “World of Warcraft” game. In the months after the Virginia Tech massacre, Pribush said, he noticed a change in Kim.

“He was saying he was Asian, and he really didn’t have too many friends in real life,” Pribush said.

Then, in late October, Kim revealed his darkest thoughts. “He actually thought about purchasing a gun and planning to kill himself like soon. I’m like, ‘Dan is that a joke; is that something funny? I don’t think that’s funny. You shouldn’t joke about having a gun.’ He said, ‘I’m serious. I actually bought a gun.’ “

Several days later, Kim threatened suicide again by “swallowing pills” and getting into a “car accident.” Pribush became so concerned, he eventually e-mailed the Virginia Tech health officials.

Blacksburg police records show that they interviewed Kim and they classified him as “C-4,” which is the code for OK. And then police drove off.

Interestingly, when first informed of the suicide, the family was quite suspicious at first, noting the lack of a suicide note and erased phone call records.

OK, I’m going to ask it — I really have no idea how “plugged in” Kim was to the greater global Korean community, but is it at least possible Kim’s paranoia about being mistaken for Cho was partially a result of ceaseless warnings in the Korean press — warnings that prompted official apologies from both Korean and Korean-American officials and figures — of the impending “Great Backlash” that was supposed to follow the massacre?

Just asking.

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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 cliff-shrine; turned out to be the the first such event by a new-to-me nationalist-shamanic Association who have a high regard for that sacred mountain (and some other ones). They were very friendly & welcoming to having some foreign observers (not always true at these gigs) and the leader-woman even invited me to make a brief speech to the crowd. I’ve started to put photos up here, but haven’t gotten too far yet…

Anyway, these fascinating (to students of still-thriving Korean cultural traditions) events continue this very weekend, with Lunar 3.15 (the third full moon) falling on Sunday, auspicious for bigger crowds. There should be plenty more Sanshin-je and other Shamanic rituals going on at sacred mountains nationwide, and most Buddhist temples will hold theirs on Monday (lunar 3.16) like this one i sometimes go to in Seoul. If anyone here knows of any such events going on near where they are (or anywhere) please post some info in the comments here.

This year i’m going to the 4341 Gyeryong-san Mountain Spirit Festival — my 5th time there, as it’s the largest, most spectacular and most multi-religions one in the entire nation, but my first in some years. I want to see what it’s grown ito by now… My photos from the 2001 festival start on this page. For those interested in attending that, and maybe linking-up with me and my friends there, i’ll post more info in the first comment. It’s supposed to be excellent weather this weekend, so get out there and enjoy some mountain-culture!!

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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 of ch’aekkori painting alongside related decorative objects from the permanent collection. (from the NY Times article)

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