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'Death Punk Disco' band 18Fevers to infect UK

Fevers / Courtesy of Blair KitchenerBy Jon DunbarCOVID-19 is fading into the background, but is the world ready for 18Fevers?The Seoul-based band is about to embark on its first U.K. tour, where it will play four cities ― London, Brighton, Birmingham and Liverpool ― before showing up at Rebellion Festival in Blackpool for a set on Friday. The band, which features both Korean members and Americans, is touring with Rumkicks, its “sister band,” who will play a few dates in Europe first. And 18Fevers also just released its latest album, “Death Punk Disco,” and a new music video for the song “Gate Keeper.” Also, its own beer, though that's unlikely to make the journey across the world. “Back in 2019 I submitted my previous band to play and got the invite just as COVID-19 was breaking,” Mathew Nolan, the band's American bassist, told The Korea Times. “Needless to say, that year's Rebellion didn't happen but we didn't know that for a while so I was able to build a relationship with the organizers. By the time the pandemic clear

Jul 25, 2023By Jon Dunbar
'Death Punk Disco' band 18Fevers to infect UK

RAS KOREA An American farmboy in 1970s Korea

Steven L. Shields poses with his Korean-language tutor at Bulguk Temple in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, 1976. Courtesy of Steven L. ShieldsBy Steven L. ShieldsI arrived in Korea at the tender age of 19, a time in most young people's lives when they believe themselves impervious to disease, death and other calamities. Korea in the mid-1970s was a land on the cusp of an economic explosion, but it hadn't happened yet. Many of the puzzle pieces were in place, though. In a short decade, the small, impoverished, war-torn and oppressed former kingdom, former empire and former colony would roar onto the world stage and soon be known as the “Miracle on the Han River.”A newsstand offers various publications, including The Korea Times, in 1976. The once-ubiquitous newsstands have largely disappeared, replaced by more permanent stalls in the busy areas of the city or by convenience stores elsewhere. Courtesy of Steven L. ShieldsFor many in the 1970s, prosperity was still a distant dream. Most people then lived outside the bustle and traffic snarls of a city that had grown so

Jul 23, 2023By Jon Dunbar

Inuit art travels from Nunavut to Gwangju, Seoul

West Baffin Art Collective marketing manager William Huffman and Lee Sun, co-curators of the “Once a Myth, Becoming Real” exhibition on Inuit artwork, pose together at the exhibition in the Canada Pavilion of the Gwangju Biennale at the Lee Kang Ha Art Museum in Gwangju. Courtesy of Arlo MatiszBy Arlo MatiszArt from around the world was displayed at the 14th Gwangju Biennale, which ended its 94-day run earlier this month. Of the nine national pavilions, the Canada Pavilion was a little different. It displayed 90 artworks from 32 Inuit artists, products of the West Baffin Art Collective in Kinngait (Cape Dorset) in Canada's northern territory of Nunavut. “What are the commonalities between Gwangju's history and people, and the people and history in Kinngait? This is all about cultural resilience and the values of democracy and freedom, the idea of thinking in a way that doesn't need to be confined,” said William Huffman, the marketing manager of the West Baffin Art Collective who co-curated the exhibition with Lee Sun. “This is also about looking at langu

Jul 22, 2023By Jon Dunbar
Inuit art travels from Nunavut to Gwangju, Seoul

Inadequacy of adoption records management criticized during Assembly forum

Rep. Kim Mi-ae of the ruling People Power Party, center, poses with organizers, presenters and supporters of the National Assembly's Open Forum on the Management of Adoption Records at the National Assembly Library auditorium, July 17. Courtesy of Jia H. JungAdoptees and other victims of false birth and adoption papers demand truth at National Assembly Library By Jia H. Jung Tensions between international adoptees and Korean officials erupted last Monday during a forum held at the National Assembly Library addressing the management of national adoption records. After experts gave their recommendations on the country's handling of over seven decades of birth and adoption documents, 15 minutes remained for members of the audience to voice concerns and ask questions. The short session ended with a shouting match among attendees and a walkout by a group of 16 international adoptees and a man raised within Korea's orphanage system.International Korean adoptees comprised at least half the audience of approximately 60 people. Some were residents or reinstated citizens of Korea, while others

Jul 22, 2023By Jon Dunbar
Inadequacy of adoption records management criticized during Assembly forum

Korea-US streetwear brand brings together all that's black, metal, cute

Matthew Gamble sells Diazable apparel at a table set up outside Phillies in central Seoul's Haebangchon neighborhood, April 15. Korea Times photo by Jon DunbarBy Jon DunbarIf you catch him at one of his stands, streetwear entrepreneur Matthew Gamble may introduce himself as Guksu, a Korean word for noodles. Just take a look at his designs, and you'll see why. Many of them bear his most popular character, Baby Noodle, a bashful little creature with a black hat, puffy cheeks, a wispy moustache, snakebite piercings and lots of tattoos. The character can be seen in a lot of poses, but the most popular one has him chowing down in a bathtub-sized bowl of noodles. The character is a dead ringer for Gamble. “Baby Noodle is me,” Gamble told The Korea Times. “He is literally just me but 1,000 percent cuter. He has a hat on because I always wear a black hat. He has tons of tattoos because those are all my tattoos. He has snake bite piercings because I have those piercings. Calling him Noodle and putting him in a bowl of noodles is not only cute, but everyone who knows me will

Jul 19, 2023By Jon Dunbar
Korea-US streetwear brand brings together all that's black, metal, cute

TEMPLE ADVENTURES Rare close-up access to Seokguram Grotto

A look through the glass barrier at the Buddha statue in Seokguram Grotto in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province / Courtesy of Dale QuarringtonBy Dale QuarringtonA line had already formed when I first arrived, snaking its way out towards the concrete stairs at the entry. The sliding metal fence was removed at 6:10 a.m. sharp, and the families that initially formed the ever-expanding line went bounding down the dirt trail led by their children. At the end of this mountainous trail, and up a set of uneven stairs, is the nearly indistinguishable mound that protrudes slightly out from the side of the mountain. And beneath this unassuming mound are hundreds of stones that form the world-famous Seokguram Grotto. The beauty and scope of the artistry and architecture at Seokguram Grotto is unsurpassed in Korean Buddhism. And for just one day ― and one day only ― the protective glass barrier at the grotto is moved aside to welcome visitors to the Silla-era stone masterpiece atop Mount Toham in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province. This past Buddha's Birthday, this writer was one among the thou

Jul 19, 2023
[TEMPLE ADVENTURES] Rare close-up access to Seokguram Grotto

Tierpark plans final Korea tour before going on hiatus again

The members of Seoul "dreamgaze" band Tierpark / Courtesy of Kim Tae-youngBy Jon DunbarThe four-member “dreamgaze” band Tierpark has two final shows in Seoul this weekend and Busan next weekend, before two of its core members move away. “It's been a pretty hard decision to make, but ultimately we've decided to leave Korea, for now, to pursue things in the U.S.,” guitarist Jonathan Jacobson, who is moving away with his wife, lead vocalist Kim Sehee, told The Korea Times. “That being said I won't say that our band is ending but rather being put on hiatus. We've done that before and were still able to write and create new things.” He said he's looking forward to new experiences and the effect they will have on his writing. “I'm interested in trying new things and seeing where that takes us,” he said. “And it's getting easier and easier to stay connected digitally.”Before they leave, they'll release a new EP, titled “Where Fish Sleep.” The album features the band's signature dreamy, shoegaze style they've called

Jul 18, 2023By Jon Dunbar
Tierpark plans final Korea tour before going on hiatus again

Street artist behind 'We.Seoul'd.U' artwork comes forward after 5 years

The "We.Seoul'd.U" heads of former U.S. President Donald Trump and his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-un wheatpasted on the wall of U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan in central Seoul's Haebangchon neighborhood show signs of wear, Nov. 20, 2021. Korea Times photo by Jon DunbarBy Jon DunbarFormer U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met for the first time on June 12, 2018, in Singapore. The next morning, grotesque versions of their faces appeared on a cinder block wall in central Seoul's Haebangchon (HBC) neighborhood, at the southern end of Sinheung-ro over the iconic kimchi pots that mark the alley. Above the two faces was stenciled “We.Seoul'd.U,” a parody of Seoul Metropolitan City's divisive former slogan. The work of art has remained in place for over five years, left alone for most of this time but still observed by all those who enter the neighborhood on this side. The heads, which are made of paper affixed to the wall by wheatpaste, have been peeling a little in recent years, and more recently someone appears to have attempted to paint over t

Jul 16, 2023By Jon Dunbar
Street artist behind 'We.Seoul'd.U' artwork comes forward after 5 years

PINNACLE'S ITAEWON Itaewon Global Village Center marks 15th anniversary

Katherine Corteza, director of the Itaewon Global Village Center, right, poses with a coworker at the center in central Seoul's Hannam-dong, July 14, on the center's 15th anniversary. Korea Times photo by Jon DunbarThis is the first article in the Serving Itaewon series exploring assistance-related agencies and businesses that aid the assimilation and development of migrant residents of Itaewon and surrounding communities.By Pinnacle TheHustlerThe Itaewon Global Village Center (Itaewon GVC), a vital resource for foreigners residing in Korea, has been diligently serving the international community since its establishment on July 14, 2008, having just passed its 15th anniversary. But no celebration was held last Friday to mark the day, only a T-shirt upcycling class. Katherine Corteza, the director of the center, said it slipped everyone's minds. “We celebrated the 10-year anniversary in 2018 with a big party, but then the pandemic happened, and we've been too busy ever since,” she said.With a mission to facilitate foreigners' adjustment to life in Korea, the center has bec

Jul 16, 2023By Jon Dunbar
[PINNACLE'S ITAEWON] Itaewon Global Village Center marks 15th anniversary

LIFE'S OLLE TRAILS 6 Discovering deer carcasses at the tea museum

Two deer eye a human intruder on Jeju Island. Courtesy of Rachel StineBy Rachel StineThe deeper I went into the woods, the more dissatisfied I became with some of the negative patterns I had picked up in Seoul.This became very clear at work. In February 2022, I decided to limit my relationship with the teaching environments of Jeju Island and Daechi-dong, where students compete so viciously for university admissions they compare their lives to “SKY Castle.”Instead, I took a new job at an English library. The student demographic there was mixed, with some students attending elite boarding schools and others at local public schools.My new boss also enjoyed hiking. When she asked for new field trip ideas, I suggested we explore an Olle Trail near our campus.That's how I ended up in the backseat of a minivan, reading an Olle Trail plant guide to second graders. If a time traveler told New York Rachel that her career would involve not only hiking, but hiking with a screeching pack of second-grade girls, she would have spit out her coffee.Truly, I was a long way from home.After

Jul 15, 2023By Jon Dunbar
[LIFE'S OLLE TRAILS 6] Discovering deer carcasses at the tea museum
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