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Songdo's Cinder Bar witnesses birth of a city

Warren Kidd, left, and the staff of The Cinder Bar in Incheon's Songdo International City, May 22. / Courtesy of The Cinder BarBy Jon DunbarWarren Kidd runs a bar in a city so new, it isn't even old enough to drink. Songdo International City is said to have officially “opened” in 2009, and The Cinder Bar opened there in early 2013. Kidd took it over from its first owner, a fellow New Zealander, in December 2014.“At that time, Songdo was dead ― really dead,” Kidd told The Korea Times. “I joke that back then, you could pick a lane on that eight-lane main street, lie down for half an hour, and you probably wouldn't have died.”Songdo was envisioned as a futuristic megacity on reclaimed land off Incheon's coast. It wasn't like other Korean cities that can trace their history back centuries ― nothing had been here before, just tidal flats and seawater. All of Songdo was new, from the streets and buildings to the people that slowly started to populate it and the community they built. For years, the ambitious city project was seen prematurely as a failure,

Jun 1, 2021By Jon Dunbar

'It's not easy to live in Korea as foreigners'

A group of foreign student volunteers carry charcoal briquettes for impoverished residents in Busan, in this Jan. 13, 2016 photo. Korea Times fileKorea's residents of foreign nationality see disparities between Korea's image, realityBy Bahk Eun-jiMerita, an Iranian national working at a Korean company here, has been in Korea for 10 years. Although she speaks Korean quite well and has adapted to Korean culture, she feels she is still regarded as an outsider. “Being fluent in Korean helps me to be closer, but at some point it stops, and I have never been close or intimate with Koreans,” she told The Korea Times.“Koreans don't accept us, they see us as 'aliens,' no matter if you speak Korean or if you marry a Korean,” Merita said. “(Despite my 10 years of stay), I don't feel a real connection (with Korean nationals) and none are categorized as my best friends.”Merita is one of many foreign residents here who has experienced the downsides of living and working in Korea despite her best efforts to assimilate.A recent survey by InterNations, the world's

May 30, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji

'It's not easy to live in Korea as foreigners'

20% of foreigners overstaying their visas amid pandemic

Local governments creating support programs to manage foreign national residents

Hwaseong Mayor Seo Cheol-mo, fifth from left, and Rep. Song Ok-joo of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, seventh from left, pose with representatives of the foreign national community and city officials, during the opening ceremony of a cultural center, named Seoro (Korean for “each other”), for foreign national residents and those from multicultural families, Sunday. Courtesy of Hwaseong CityBy Jun Ji-hyeAmidst an increase in the population of residents with foreign nationalities across rural areas and small towns of Korea, some local governments are providing various support programs for foreign national residents in a bid to prevent them from being excluded from Korean society, as well as to enable the government to be more closely in touch with their lives and whereabouts.Yeongam County in South Jeolla Province has decided to support all expenses for undocumented foreign nationals when they are required to be isolated in temporary quarantine facilities for two weeks after coming in close contact with COVID-19 patients. The measure, the first of its kind among local

May 27, 2021By Jun Ji-hye

Local governments creating support programs to manage foreign national residents

Irish Catholic priest honored as 'Immigrant of the Year'

Father Daniel Brendan O'Keeffe, right, formation programme director r of the Missionary Society of Saint Columban in Korea, bumps fists with Justice Minister Park Beom-gye after receiving a presidential citation for “Immigrant of the Year” at an awarding ceremony held in Government Complex Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, May 20. YonhapBy Lee Hyo-jin Father Daniel Brendan O'Keeffe, formation programme director of the Missionary Society of Saint Columban in Korea, was honored as the “Immigrant of the Year,” recognized for his over 40 years of dedication to supporting marginalized people in the Korean society. The 70-year-old Catholic priest from Ireland was awarded with a presidential citation at an award ceremony organized by the Ministry of Justice, May 20.“I was very surprised to hear that I was selected as the awardee, out of many other immigrants that have shown greater deeds than me. I appreciate the Missionary Society of Saint Columban for having sent me here, giving me an opportunity to carry out my ministry with the Korean people,” O'keeffe sai

May 27, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin

Irish Catholic priest honored as 'Immigrant of the Year'

Korea Encounters Trying to save a gov't from a coup in 1961

Military academy parade, published in The Korea Times May 19, 1961. / Korea Times Archive By Matt VanVolkenburgAt 3 a.m. on May 16, 1961, tanks and trucks carrying around 4,000 marines and soldiers began rolling into Seoul. Other than some military police on the Hangang Bridge, no one opposed them, and by 5 a.m. key buildings had been secured and KBS was broadcasting their message to the country. Tanks drive past the Bank of Korea, published in The Korea Times May 17, 1961. / Korea Times Archive Two key figures of the military junta, Chang Do-young and Park Chung-hee, published in The Korea Times May 18, 1961. / Korea Times Archive As The Korea Times reported, “Announcing the formation of a military revolutionary committee, the coup

May 25, 2021By Jon Dunbar

Big Day South audiovisual festival revives in Daegu

Drinking Boys and Girls Choir / Courtesy of Drinking Boys and Girls ChoirBy Jon DunbarBig Day South (BDS), a somewhat nomadic festival spotlighting musicians and artists in various locales far south of Seoul, is back after taking last year off, this time coming to Daegu this Friday and Saturday. “The easiest reason [for why it's in Daegu] is that it's where I'm living right now. There are so many great people who are willing to work together and support each other,” said Philip Brett, an Irish expat who cofounded Angle Magazine, an online magazine which operates the festival. “The Daegu scene is full of people who are working hard to support what is happening down here, and that played a big part in wanting to move here too.”The festival was originally held in Daegu in 2014, then moved to Ulsan, Gwangju and Busan. Last year, it was set to take place in Ulsan again, with a full lineup and schedule prepared, but the whole thing was canceled. This year, the festival returns to Daegu where it runs for two days at two primary venues, a scaling down from previous sp

May 25, 2021

Big Day South audiovisual festival revives in Daegu

RAS Korea Ganghwa Island: Cultural heritage spot, defender of Seoul

Henri Zuber's illustration of Ganghwa Island during the French 1866 invasion, showing French cannons aimed at a Korean village and fortress wall / Courtesy of Brother Anthony of TaizeBy Steven L. ShieldsNorthwest of Seoul, Ganghwa Island occupies a strategic place in the Han River estuary. For centuries, the island has been a haven for the royals of both the Goryeo and Joseon kingdoms, to which they would retreat in times of war. A Goryeo palace was built in the 1200s, where the king lived in self-exile for several decades. In modern times, Ganghwa Island has been an idyllic, country getaway for city dwellers and a pastoral bread basket for the local farmers. Ganghwa offers the weekend traveler a host of historic and scenic sites. Habitation of the island began millennia ago, as attested by the dolmen (ancient stone structures). Archaeologists continue to debate the purpose of these dolmen ― do they mark burials, were they used for sky burials, or were they altars for worship? At Mount Mani, an altar is said to have been used for ancestral worship by Korea's legendary founder Dangun.

May 18, 2021

[RAS Korea] Ganghwa Island: Cultural heritage spot, defender of Seoul

Farewell Peter Bartholomew, defender of Korea's heritage

Peter Bartholomew sits in the courtyard of his hanok home in northeastern Seoul, Sept. 15, 2016.  Courtesy of Jon DunbarBy Robert NeffSometime in the middle of the night of May 11 or 12, Peter Bartholomew's 53-year-long sojourn in Korea ended with his sudden, unexpected death. Known for his passionate defense of traditional Korean houses, or hanok, his deep appreciation for Korean history and culture, his relationship with Korea's royal family and his business success, he often appeared on television, in newspapers, magazines and online articles, and guided friends, colleagues and peers to the hidden and vanishing treasures of Korea's past. He was often long-winded but surprisingly we know little about him.Peter Bartholomew was born in New York in 1945 and received a BA in French Literature at Hamilton College. He later admitted to Tom Coyner ― a long-time friend and fellow Peace Corps volunteer ― that he had chosen French literature because he saw it as an easy degree; he already spoke French having spent some of his childhood living in Quebec.In late 1967, he joined the Peace

May 18, 2021

Farewell Peter Bartholomew, defender of Korea's heritage

Friends of Korea Witnessing Gwangju's 1980 democratic uprising

From left to right: German journalist Jurgen Hinzpeter and his assistant Henning Rumohr, and Peace Corps Volunteers Judi Chamberlin, Tim Warnberg, Paul Courtright, and David Dolinger / Courtesy of Paul CourtrightBy Paul CourtrightMay 18, 1980, started like most Sundays with the peal of church bells dominating the clucks of thousands of chickens enriching my village with their prolific egg production. As with four other of my Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) colleagues who ended up in Gwangju during the May 18 democratic uprising (referred to as 5.18), the quiet start to the day did not prepare me for the upheaval that was to come.Every person, Korean or foreigner, who ended up part of 5.18 has their own story to tell; each is unique. I can only tell my story, not the stories of my four PCV colleagues. The book “Witnessing Gwangju” was my effort to capture my story ― for foreigners and Koreans interested in an American's on-the-ground experience during this seminal moment in Korean history. Relating the comprehensive story of Peace Corps and 5.18 would require contributions of

May 18, 2021

[Friends of Korea] Witnessing Gwangju's 1980 democratic uprising

New Toastmasters club goes online

An online meeting of the North River Toastmasters Club / Courtesy of Peter Kim By Jon DunbarToastmasters International, founded almost a century ago in 1924, has 364,000 dues-paying members in over 16,200 clubs in 145 countries. There are over 70 Toastmasters clubs already in Korea, offering get-togethers on various days of the week in locales across the country in a variety of languages, including Korean, Chinese and English. There are also bilingual clubs and even a trilingual Korean-Spanish-English club. One of the newest clubs, North River Toastmasters Club (NRTC), was chartered on Jan. 20 this year amid the pandemic, and events are only held online for now. “NRTM didn't want to start an online club, but it ended up being that way because of the coronavirus pandemic,” NRTC President Peter Kim told The Korea Times. “Although everyone prefers having offline meetings, we nonetheless decided to start a club because there are more clubs in southern Seoul than norther

May 11, 2021By Jon Dunbar

Global Community

Global Community

Songdo's Cinder Bar witnesses birth of a city

'It's not easy to live in Korea as foreigners'

Local governments creating support programs to manage foreign national residents

Irish Catholic priest honored as 'Immigrant of the Year'

Korea Encounters Trying to save a gov't from a coup in 1961

Big Day South audiovisual festival revives in Daegu

RAS Korea Ganghwa Island: Cultural heritage spot, defender of Seoul

Farewell Peter Bartholomew, defender of Korea's heritage

Friends of Korea Witnessing Gwangju's 1980 democratic uprising

New Toastmasters club goes online

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