The Korea Times

North Korea outlives America

Courtesy of Franzisko HauserBy David A. TizzardGovernments, nations, borders and cultures flow in and out of existence. They emerge and flourish amid waves of hope and triumph. They perish as bodies age and congregations decline. Some fade into irrelevance while others suffer unimaginable tragedies. Thus has it ever been: the stark inevitability of the human experience. The forever rise and fall of nations. It's commonplace to project a sense of the eternal onto countries and organizations as if to provide greater legitimacy. And the younger we are, the more we take the idea of the state for granted. Yet political entities millions once called home have fallen off the map, split up, changed names, been taken over or had their recognition denied. Bohemia, Czechoslovakia, Persia, Prussia, the Ottoman Empire, Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union are all gone. Taiwan and Tibet face a daily struggle, while Palestine's reality is debated in chambers of diplomatic authority. Parallel to all this has been the creation of 34 new countries since 1990. The world map of 2121 will no doubt look differ

Oct 23, 2021By David A. Tizzard

Opinion

Music and the lost future

Courtesy of Pedro Ribeiro SimoesBy David A. TizzardNo one is really bored anymore. We always have a phone. We are connected at all times. A digital world of our choosing at our fingertips. Now even 90 seconds waiting in a line has most people reaching for their pocket rather than suffer the crippling anxiety of existing next to someone. No one is bored, but everything is boring. Content is content-less. A 10 second TikTok. An Insta story. YouTube short. Facebook moments. Disposable ideas. Enough to pass the time but never enough to actually stop and think about what you are doing and whether any of it actually means anything. A news article tells you that the latest K-pop video has another 50 million views as if it matters and isn't just paid promotion. It doesn't tell you the exponentially growing views are because a select group of people are streaming the video on 9 different devices 24 hours a day just to try and keep the thing relevant. If you want to think for a second about the energy use that these 'like' farms and view factories use, it makes the whole thing even more depres

Oct 16, 2021By David A. Tizzard

Opinion

What is morality in 21st-century Korea?

Courtesy of FarrukhBy David A. TizzardIn many ways, we are the first real people to exist without any answer to the question of what we're doing here or, more importantly, what we're meant to do. Secularization and the increasing absence of religious authority have left many modern citizens grappling with existential questions. Worryingly, this situation leads some to conclude that the only answer must be a return to 1950s-esque social cohesion, where any dissenting views are hammered back into shape and we all supposedly live for the greater good. There needs to be some form of stable society, yes. But society must also be dynamic enough to change and adapt to new and unexpected circumstances. Among all this, somewhere, is the question of morality. It's not as simple as just obeying the law. Someone could go slightly over the speed limit and we wouldn't automatically think of that person as being immoral, despite the illegal nature of their actions. At the same time, a person could have a series of extramarital affairs and, despite that now being legal (the adultery law in Korea was

Oct 3, 2021By David A. Tizzard

Opinion

'Squid Game': Linguistic realities

Courtesy of StorebukkebruseBy David A. TizzardFor good reason, “Squid Game” is dominating headlines and streaming charts. It's an exquisitely made, claustrophobic thriller which brings to light the underlying economic struggles of Korean life in the 21st century, with echoes of “Battle Royale,” “The Hunger Games,” “Saw” and more. Lee Jung-jae rekindles the fabulous star power he demonstrated in 2019's “Chief of Staff,” and is supported by Gong Yoo in the first episode and then others as the story progresses. As expected with Korean dramas, however, Kim Joo-ryung and Anupam Tripathi struggle to present any nuance; their caricatures bring the occasional grimace for anyone seeking critical realism or a hint of Stanislavskian performance. Rather than give any spoilers or repeat what others have said about the socialist and capitalist implications of the themes presented, I thought I'd try and explain a couple of things for those watching the drama with English subtitles. Because we are a subtitle generation; young people often u

Sep 25, 2021By David A. Tizzard

Opinion

Mental health not missiles

Courtesy of Koen JacobsBy David A. TizzardThis week we've seen North Korea launch missiles from a train and, not to be outdone, South Korea launch missiles from a submarine with the President looking on all authoritatively. Those vertical peninsula pushes have since been surpassed by an announcement from Biden, Boris and “that fella down under” that there will be an axis of Anglo-Saxonism with its own missiles combining and being pointed towards Beijing. Taiwan seems to be getting involved too. Nothing to worry about though, of course. Just weapons of destruction being paraded in front of us. It's for our own safety. Our guns are defensive; theirs are a threat. And the missiles will be only used on the “other” people, and they don't count.Are Kim Jong-un and Pyongyang really an existential threat today though? Norm Macdonald got it right when he said no one really wakes up in the middle of the night clutching their blanket in a cold sweat worrying about North Korea. Perhaps John Bolton does, but the less said about him the better.And despite all of this, the d

Sep 20, 2021By David A. Tizzard

Opinion

The death of Korean politics

Courtesy of Chris ChristianBy David A. Tizzard“He said this about this. Then she said that about that. Oh my god, have you heard their latest comments? Outrageous! Are they going to apologize? There's a petition on the Blue House website!” Quickly, choose one of the three old lads in their colored ties. That's the only solution. And thus the machine doth turn.Current polls have the three main candidates for next year's presidential election as Lee Jae-myung, 56, Hong Joon-pyo, 67, and Yoon Seok-youl, 60. Essentially, three old dudes who all seem pretty out of touch with the country's youth and the values espoused in day-to-day life. Television news promotes coverage of this trio from morning to night, walking around, fist-bumping citizens, looking authoritative, sitting behind a desk, and striding stoically among a bustling group of photographers and journalists. All the things that politicians seem to do here. Then the news has a 20-minute break while a whole host of adverts shout things at you: eat this, drink that, buy this, pay for these. And then back to the images o

Sep 11, 2021By David A. Tizzard

Opinion

The Korean proletariat

Courtesy of Hokman ToBy David A. TizzardThursday morning was spent discussing the plight of delivery drivers in Korea as part of a live radio show. “Not all heroes wear capes,” I exclaimed in an effort to draw even a small amount of attention away from the glitz and glamour of Marvel action figures and photoshopped gods and goddesses living an idolized curated existence. The media likes to point to Korea's economic pandemic performance as a source of pride; the achievement is also used to bestow a sense of legitimacy on the ruling party. While there is some truth to this, beyond the headlines of financial security and gain there lies a more disturbing and frightening reality. We have witnessed a huge transfer of wealth in society, perhaps the largest Korea has seen in its modern history.Many corporations have emerged relatively unscathed from the pandemic: some have recorded soaring profits and given their executives and chairmen even more millions than they had previously. Against this, row after row of streets in the capital bear witness to empty stores and the sad sigh

Sep 4, 2021By David A. Tizzard

Opinion

K-Afghanistan: Welcome to Korea

Courtesy of tomscoffinBy David A. TizzardWelcome to Korea fellow people of the Earth. It is obviously heartbreaking to see the situation in which you have arrived: torn from your home, your land, and your loved ones amidst gunfire, explosions, and the click-clicking of global news cameras looking for stories. But once you eventually find a moment of privacy, we hope that you find sanctity, peace and freedom here in Korea. The country is already home to over 400 people from Afghanistan (legally, at least) so there are the beginnings of a community to join. But most of all, it's time for you to embrace South Korea. A country that, for the first time in its history, sent military aircraft overseas to rescue those in need because of conflict and warfare. Considering that, in the recent past, Korea was also home to a devastating internecine civil war and ideological conflict that saw people creating mass graves for political prisoners, the change has been truly remarkable. And it's that change which should be embraced because, as with all change, it's not finished yet either.Korea is a la

Aug 29, 2021By David A. Tizzard

Opinion

Masters of war

Courtesy of Raphael Labaca CastroBy David A. Tizzard“You play with my world like it's your little toy. You lie and deceive; you want me to believe. Come you masters of war,” said Bob Dylan in 1963, addressing no-one and everyone at the same time. As we see people falling from the sky in Kabul and think about the women and children fearing for their lives this week, we have to ask ourselves how far we have really come since then. We seek information, but lack knowledge. We read every headline and tweet, but never gain wisdom. We like, comment, and subscribe without ever actually communicating. We save thousands of photos and videos but never make memories. We horde followers and friends but forget to interact in real life. And all of this keeps the machine turning. This week, we are aghast at what is taking place in Afghanistan and our social media is filled with everyone's opinion irrespective of education or firsthand knowledge. But in a few weeks all those hot takes and demands that people recognize just how much we care about the injustice will be forgotten. So it was

Aug 22, 2021By David A. Tizzard

Opinion

Should North Korean YouTube be banned?

North Korean presenter Un A of “Echo DPRK,” a YouTube channel believed to be managed by the North Korean regime, introduces goods at a department store in Pyongyang. Korea Times fileBy David A. TizzardIf people in Pyongyang could watch Polish student v-logs, check reaction videos to the latest Italian espresso machines, and listen to Senegalese lo-fi beats while they travel around the city, things would be very different for them. But rather than focusing on what those inside North Korea can or can't engage with, how about those of us in more open and democratic societies: What should we be allowed to access on social media? And who should and shouldn't be allowed to post things?The reason the question is important is because YouTube has once again shutdown a North Korean channel. While much is said about South Korea's cultural outputs and the influence of hallyu, few are as aware that North Korea, in an effort to attract others and soften their image, has also embarked on a little soft power trip of its own, creating social media-friendly videos and posts for internation

Aug 15, 2021By David A. Tizzard

David A. Tizzard

Read more

North Korea outlives America

Music and the lost future

What is morality in 21st-century Korea?

'Squid Game': Linguistic realities

Mental health not missiles

The death of Korean politics

The Korean proletariat

K-Afghanistan: Welcome to Korea

Masters of war

Should North Korean YouTube be banned?

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