November 16, 2009
November 15, 2009
Having a laugh with the L.A. Times
This story about the one-hole golf “course” in South Korea next to the DMZ is a good read not just for the combined weight of golf *and* military cliches, nor the fact that it’s actually interesting subject matter. No, it really stands out because it seems like our country’s finest managed to do a pretty damn good job taking the piss with the L.A. Times Seoul correspondent:
Over the years, the course has developed its own mystique. Play alone here and you’ll see. Weird things happen.
“You see animals,” Thurman says.
Like wild boars, Korean tigers and so-called vampire deer.
And even something weirder.
“Some guys say they’ve seen this thing, a man-bear-pig,” Thurman says without smiling. “That’s what they say.”
And this now, somehow, provides the sole entry on the ManBearPig Wikipedia page under “Sightings.”
I can’t tell if this is awesome, or stupid, or both.
1 week ago
November 13, 2009
NYT: Euna Lee gets book deal
According to the NYT, Euna Lee, one of the two journalists held in North Korea earlier this year, has landed a book deal, and Laura Ling, her partner, is working on securing one.
I’ve made my feelings about this known in the past, so all I’m going to do is say that I think it would really serve them well to be upfront about how much they’re making for the books, and then give all of that to support groups working with North Korean refugees and aiding cross-border transit, the groups whose work they severely fucked up.
1 week ago
November 6, 2009
More hard hitting journalism by this guy
It’s about Seoul’s version of the 48 Hour Film Project.
But none of them, as far as I know, had music by Elroy Jefferson and the Space Cadets.
2 weeks ago
November 3, 2009
Of course Kim Jong-il is friends with a magician named "Princess Tenko"
Fairly interesting story in the Christian Science Monitor quoting experts claiming that in Kim Jong-il’s public appearances over the past few months, it hasn’t really been him, but one of his doubles. The last line I’m quoting really did it for me:
No one here, however, is ready to go as far as Japanese writer Toshimitsu Shigemura, who has written two books and numerous articles claiming that Kim has been seriously ill for the past decade and may even have died.
Mr. Shigemura says that if the real Kim, looking wan and weak, appeared before the Supreme People’s Assembly several days after North Korea fired a long-range missile on April 5, then it must have been a look-alike who hosted former US President Bill Clinton in August.
“They were totally different people,” says Mr. Shigemura, a former correspondent for Mainichi Shimbun, a major Japanese newspaper, who now teaches international relations at Waseda University in Tokyo. “In August, he looked very healthy.”
Shigemura suspects that a skilled actor delivered the lines to Mr. Clinton during their three-hour, 17-minute meeting, which ended with Mr. Clinton flying back to the US with two journalists who had been held for 140 days.
Shigemura is equally convinced that an actor played Kim in recent meetings with China’s prime minister, Wen Jiabao, and the head of Hyundai Asan, the South Korean company responsible for developing special economic and tourist complexes in North Korea.
After the June 2000 summit, says Shigemura, Kim “was bedridden with diabetes” and “cannot walk by himself.” He cites the names of three Japanese who claim to have met his look-alikes, including one who was told flatly, “I am a double.”
One of them, a magician named Princess Tenko, Shigemura describes as a “close friend” of Kim, saw him more than once in visits to Pyongyang.
2 weeks ago
October 30, 2009
Basterds: Nasty Guys
“Inglourious Basterds,” - or “Basterds: Nasty Guys,” as the Korean title translates - finally came out here! My review.
3 weeks ago
October 26, 2009
Assassanniversary (Don't let the awful title prevent you from reading this post)
On October 26th, 1909, Korea was less than a year away from being fully annexed by Japan. At the time, there was already a Japanese resident general in place overseeing the Korean peninsula. His name was Hirobumi Ito, and he had been Japan’s first prime minister during the late 19th century. One hundred years ago today, he was gunned down at the train station in Harbin, China, by Korean nationalist Ahn Jung-geun.
Today, to say that Ahn is considered a hero in South Korea seems like an understatement. The Korean government and press consider him and his actions heroic, and view the assassination as in line with bringing peace to East Asia. While sitting in Chinese jail in the months following the assassination, Ahn worked on an essay called “On Peace in East Asia.”
Recently, new Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has talked about the importance of East Asian regionalism and integration. Here, you have editorial writers crediting that idea to - guess who?
In Seoul, at bus stations, there have been posters with Ahn’s face hanging up for a few months. One of the symbols representing him is a hand print with the ring finger lopped off (a sign of his devotion to the cause of Korean independence). I took this picture yesterday at Gwanghwamun Plaza, one of the main public gathering areas in central Seoul:
Kind of a big deal?
Adding to the public idolatry, a musical called “Hero,” about Ahn’s life, begins today. Hello, Stephen Sondheim.
And then there’s this tidbit that ran on our front page today:
“We thought, this is it - the Ahn Jung-geun Guitar!” said Han Yeong-hun of Samick Musical Instruments.
The local musical instrument maker has recently introduced the Ahn Jung-geun Guitar, a limited-edition electric guitar made especially for the centennial of Ahn’s assassination of Ito.
Samick, one of the market leaders in the guitar industry, has in recent years felt more and more threatened by its foreign rivals. The recent setback in the world economy also took a toll on its business.
“We felt we needed to brace ourselves, to face these challenges with strong determination, just as Ahn did,” Han said.
Don’t Panic! South Korea heard about your “national emergency” in the U.S. We’ve got everything under control. Eat your kimchi!
Click through for an explanation.
And by explanation, I mean, of why kimchi is delicious.
Not how it will prevent the flu.
3 weeks ago
October 23, 2009
Greetings! I hope you haven't removed me from your RSS feed!
Hello, readers. I know it’s been a while. If you correspond with me via e-mail, you might be used to this phrase: “Sorry it’s taken me so long to get back to you.” But lately, the time I could be spending blogging has instead been devoted to studying Korean.
As Kurtis Blow would say, “these are the breaks.” [Incidentally, I bought “The Best of Kurtis Blow” at a flea market in early September. A few weeks ago, my office participated in a flea market of it’s own, and employees were required to donate three items. Since I didn’t really bring much to Korea besides clothes and a handful of books I have not read, it was farewell to Kurtis Blow.]
But despite very little free time to speak of, I have had a few stories published in the last month or so:
Review of “Fireproof.” It’s a Christian film starring Kirk Cameron that was released in the U.S. in 2008. Why did I see it? Part of the explanation is in the review. The other part of the explanation is that because of my class schedule, I couldn’t make it to the theatre that week, so I asked my roommate to download one of the week’s new releases for me. I didn’t specify, and he didn’t think I would be interested in seeing “The Ugly Truth.”
Expats help celebrate “Chuseok,” the Korean harvest moon festival.
Review of “Metropia,” a Swedish animated film with the voices of Vincent Gallo and Juliette Lewis. It’s about the future being bleak and mind control and it was kind of boring. It was shown at the Pusan International Film Festival, which I had the pleasure of attending (more on that later).
Review of “Moscow,” which was also screened at PIFF. A really stellar Korean take on a cross between a buddy movie and a bildungsroman. Stars two really shining young Korean actresses.
1 month ago