The Korea Times

Bong Joon-ho and abyss in Korean cinema

A few days ago I told my students that the difference between Park Chan-wook and Bong Joon-ho is that while the former tells his stories through themes and symbolism, Bong’s movies are far more direct and focused on pushing the plot forward through action. Though we might want to see signs and symbols in the stairs and so on, ultimately, Bong is telling stories through plot. He’s putting certain characters in a specific situation, and then seeing what happens.

Jul 20, 2024By David A. Tizzard

Opinion

Korea in ten words: (5) Jeong

Korean summers are brutally humid. You sweat just looking out the windows. Nevertheless, we had broken down a large wardrobe and had to now carry these large planks of wood outside to a recycling area familiar to anyone who lives in Korean apartments. Illuminated, slightly removed, and watched over by a passionate "ajjoshi" seemingly desperate to make sure you take off every piece of paper and wash every piece of plastic. Even without cameras, there's always the fear that failing to recycle properly will result in a notice going up in the elevators about "somebody" not doing their job properly. The public gaze in this country is super real. People don't act right and avoid stealing stuff because they're inherently better people than elsewhere. It's often because there's an inescapable feeling that you're always being watched. It's known locally as either "nunchi" or "namui siseon."

Jul 14, 2024By David A. Tizzard

Opinion

Oldboy: revisited

It’s fascinating to me just how much and how little my international students know about Korea and its culture. Many of them will talk passionately with me about each member of NCT, recount the various releases of Seventeen, and provide opinions about the ongoing saga between Bang Si-hyuk and Min Hee-jin. Then, these very same students will look pensively at the board and ask, “Professor, what does BoA mean?” or “Who is Lee Hyori? Is she an actor?”

Jul 6, 2024By David A. Tizzard

Opinion

The politics of time

It’s an understatement to say that times have changed. But this is not just to say that a passage of time has taken place or that certain things have disappeared. How we take photos, how we consume the news, how we contact our loved ones and how we measure our worth as humans have all undergone a fundamental shift. We have access to everything but own nothing. Our music, our houses, and our accounts are all temporary. But the internet is forever…at least until the bombs come.

Jun 29, 2024By David A. Tizzard

Opinion

NewJeans as gateway drug: The past and future of K-pop

The latest B-side from NewJeans is not mean to appeal to a wrinkled old raver like me. I’m not going to learn the names of the girls in the video, be sucked in by the girl crush concepts, and spend loads of money on their merchandise and CDs. However, “Right Now” is a great track.

Jun 22, 2024By David A. Tizzard

NewJeans as gateway drug: The past and future of K-pop

Opinion

To be Korean and progressive: Park No-hae

What does it mean to be progressive? Does progressive mean supporting or criticizing North Korea? Does it mean recognizing women as different from men or as the same as men? Does it mean championing the striking doctors or wanting more of them back in work to care for the people of the country?

Jun 15, 2024By David A. Tizzard

To be Korean and progressive: Park No-hae

Opinion

How fake are K-pop views?

“When a new song dropped, I would wake up before school, turn on five or six different devices, and log-in using my mum’s, my sister’s, and my friend’s accounts. I would then just sit there streaming the song. I wouldn’t even really be listening to it. I was just making sure to stream it. I would then be really tired at school that day but, at the time, it felt worth it.”

Jun 1, 2024By David A. Tizzard

Opinion

When Koreans take off their clothes

What you’re doing right now doesn’t feel like culture. It’s just real life. Culture is what other people do. Culture is exotic, mysterious: something to be preserved, treasured, and protected from unfair use and exploitation. Korean culture features intangible concepts such as han, jeong and nunchi. It is represented by artifacts such as the hanbok, the hanok and pansori.

May 18, 2024By David A. Tizzard

Opinion

Being a white immigrant in Korea

Modern life says we are allowed to define ourselves. We become the masters of our own identity, narrative, and existence. Previous forms of control (society, religion, and science) have all succumbed to the power of the individual. The lived experience takes precedence. And while acknowledging the liberation this has brought to countless millions, I’ve often perceived myself differently from many of my kind in Korea.

May 11, 2024By David A. Tizzard

Opinion

Bernado Kastrup and Korea's search for meaning

Human existence is a funny thing. We are smart. We are stupid. We are capable of breathtaking feats of beauty, heart wrenching moments of cruelty, and pure nihilism as we sit, glued to a rectangular square, watching video after video play, showing everything but teaching nothing. Some believe we are driven by power, some by pleasure. Viktor Frankl, however, explored our need for meaning. His was the suggestion that if we have a why, we can endure any what. Make us taskless, jobless animals and we expire. Provide our lives with a purpose, and we flourish.

May 4, 2024By David A. Tizzard

David A. Tizzard

Read more

Bong Joon-ho and abyss in Korean cinema

Korea in ten words: (5) Jeong

Oldboy: revisited

The politics of time

NewJeans as gateway drug: The past and future of K-pop

To be Korean and progressive: Park No-hae

How fake are K-pop views?

When Koreans take off their clothes

Being a white immigrant in Korea

Bernado Kastrup and Korea's search for meaning

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