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Yongsan Legacy A KATUSA's journey from Camp Fuji to Yongsan

Yu Yong-bong, a former KATUSA who served in the 1950-53 Korean War, is seen in 2018. / Courtesy of Yongsan LegacyBy Kyung LeeIt was Aug. 16, 1950, when Yu Yong-bong, then 18, realized he would make direct contributions to the war effort. Drafted and soon transported ― alongside his country brethren ― from Busan Port to Camp Fuji in Japan, Yu was headed for training with the U.S. Army 7th Division as one of the 313 soldiers to be outfitted under the founding Korean Augmentation to the United States Army (KATUSA) unit. While undergoing intensive combat training, Yu believed he was being seasoned to aim his rifle at enemy troops, but fate aimed him in a different direction when he was assigned as a combat medic to the U.S. Army 7th Division's 17th Infantry Regiment.“When they issued me an M1 Carbine at first, I fired it and my whole body was knocked back from the recoil,” he said. “Later, I found it more suitable to carry a pistol so I could tend to the wounded.”Yu's training transitioned from killing to saving lives.Following three grueling weeks of boot camp at

Apr 23, 2019
[Yongsan Legacy] A KATUSA's journey from Camp Fuji to Yongsan

Legendary lineup comes together for DMZ music festival 2019

Former Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock, center, performs at DMZ Peace Train Music festival 2018 alongside former No Brain member Cha-Cha, left, and Crying Nut bassist Captain Rock. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar By Jon DunbarThe second annual DMZ Peace Train Music Festival is set to bring domestic and international musicians together to deliver a message of peace and unity, right at the world's most heavily fortified border.The festival has been expanded to three days this year, running from June 7 to 9 at various locations in Cheorwon, a border city in Gangwon Province. The lineup is almost completely disclosed, with room to spare for a few more surprises yet to come.Last year the festival scored a coup by booking Glen Matlock, founding bassist of the legendary U.K. punk band Sex Pistols, but how could they possibly follow up on that? Turns out the answer is a founding member of the legendary rock band Velvet Underground, John Cale.The Welsh composer, singer, s

Apr 23, 2019By Jon Dunbar
Legendary lineup comes together for DMZ music festival 2019

Bill proposed to give high-educated foreigners Korean citizenship

Foreigners acquiring a bachelor's or higher degree in South Korea may soon find it easier to become naturalized here, as a group of lawmakers have proposed easing the nationality law to help overcome the nation's population reduction.Rep. Kim Kyung-jin of the minor opposition Party for Democracy and Peace said Monday that he and nine other lawmakers have jointly tabled a motion to revise the Nationality Act to the National Assembly, seeking to ease the rules on simplified naturalization.The proposed revision calls for allowing foreigners earning a bachelor's degree or higher in South Korea to be naturalized as a Korean citizen. It also obliges the government to flexibly devise and implement its nationality policies depending on special and economic circumstances."The government has spent several hundreds of trillions of won over the past decade to overcome the population crisis caused by the severe low birthrate but failed to attain any visible outcomes," Kim said."Our country should also implement a policy of naturalization that actively accepts foreign talent."The lawmaker said the

Apr 22, 2019
Bill proposed to give high-educated foreigners Korean citizenship

Teenagers more open to multiculturalism than adults

Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong plays traditional Filipino game Tinikling with multicultural family members prior to Lunar New Year' day at Namgwang Elementary School in Jeju on Feb. 6. / Courtesy of Jeju Special Self-Governing ProvinceBy Kim Jae-heunTeenagers are more open to people with multicultural backgrounds than adults, according to government research published Thursday. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family released the 2018 results of its study on the nation's receptivity to multiculturalism, a study which it conducts every three years. The research grades people's receptivity from zero to 100.The study showed that teenagers' acceptance of a multicultural society had improved ― they scored 71.22 points last year, up from 67.63 points in 2015. However, the level of receptivity for adults dropped slightly from 53.95 points to 52.81 points over the same period.The ministry attributed such a result to an increase in opportunities for teenagers to build more relationships with friends or neighbors who were from different racial and cultural backgrounds. The rate of adults who h

Apr 18, 2019By Kim Jae-heun
Teenagers more open to multiculturalism than adults

National museums offer guided tours in English, Chinese, Japanese

A gold crown on display at the National Museum of Korea. Korea Times fileBy Park Si-soo If you are a museum lover, don't miss out on this. The National Museum of Korea and the National Hangeul Museum are offering special guided tours in English, Japanese and Chinese for foreign visitors on May 14-16 and 28-29. Each tour will last 90 minutes, offering a glimpse of Korea's major cultural heritage.Reservations are necessary, which will be offered on a first come, first served basis. For more information, contact 02-2124-6293 or email eh1027@korea.kr.

Apr 17, 2019
National museums offer guided tours in English, Chinese, Japanese

Foreign Line

Kiwi Chamber celebrates 10 yearsThe New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in Korea is celebrating its 10-year anniversary with a special event this Thursday evening. Founding Kiwi Chamber Chairman Les Edwards will talk about the exciting and challenging formative times of developing the chamber and share his experiences in his current role with the Tasman Rugby Union. The event will be held at the New Zealand ambassador's residence in Dongbinggo-dong, south of Itaewon. Attendance costs 25,000 won for chamber members or 35,000 won for nonmembers. A light buffet plus New Zealand wine and beer are included. Visit fb.com/kiwichamber or kiwichamber.com for more information or to RSVP. Foxman to headline femme-positive techno partyNew York-based DJ Kim Ann Foxman, who runs the label Firehouse Recordings, returns to Korea to share her upbeat raw house music infused with emotive techno this Saturday at Contra Seoul in Itaewon. “Foxman…helped reshape the underground music and queer nightlife culture in NYC,” organizers said on Facebook. “Come join us in the celebration of a

Apr 16, 2019By Jon Dunbar

Art-pop duo Party Fears comes full circle with Korea tour

Party Fears / Courtesy of Jinny ParkBy Jon DunbarFor the two members of Berlin-based indie-pop band Party Fears, their ongoing tour of Korea is a trip down memory lane. Maggie Devlin and Eilis Frawley both once called Korea home, making waves in the local live music community with the four-piece band Baekma. After that, they formed the smaller-scale act Party Fears, right before transplanting their lives and the band to Germany in summer 2016. “The idea to create a new band formed on a rooftop in 2015 or so in Wolgok, northeastern Seoul, when Eilis and I talked about continuing to collaborate together in another city,” Devlin, originally from Ireland, told The Korea Times. “So we kind of formed in Seoul, on the road, on airplanes and over skype calls. But it all started at that first chat.”Before they left Korea, they threw themselves into developing songs and recording a debut album with close friends, including their former Baekma bandmates, as well as members of New Blue Death and Sotto Gamba.Compared to Baekma, Party Fears goes down a more pop-art route, w

Apr 16, 2019By Jon Dunbar

Shuttle's #NoCutlery food delivery service cuts back on plastic waste

By Jon DunbarAs the Korean government becomes more serious about cutting back plastic waste, food delivery companies are scrambling for ways to make their businesses more eco-friendly. Shuttle, an expat-run food delivery service, is way ahead of the curve. The delivery company, which is partnered with over 450 local restaurants, bakeries and grocery stores that don't offer their own delivery services around Seoul's Yongsan, Mapo, Seodaemun and Jung districts, introduced the #NoCutlery option last September, allowing customers to opt out of receiving disposable cutlery along with their orders. “We began the initiative to reduce plastic cutlery consumption long before the government called upon changes because our company believes, environmentally, it was the right thing to do,” Jason Boutte, Shuttle co-founder, said in an interview with The Korea Times. “We also made the move because we listened to feedback from our customers; it turns out many of our customers are conscious about the environment and want to d

Apr 16, 2019By Jon Dunbar
Shuttle's #NoCutlery food delivery service cuts back on plastic waste

Movie screening stresses need for bicycles

Bicycles are parked at a bike rack in downtown Seoul in this 2018 file photo. / Korea Times photo by Jon DunbarBy Jon DunbarWhat does it mean to cycle in a city like Seoul flooded by cars? Can Seoul become a bike-friendly city like Copenhagen?A free screening will be held at Seoul Global Cultural Center in Myeong-dong this Saturday of the award-winning documentary “Bikes vs. Cars” by Swedish filmmaker Fredrik Gertten. The film looks at the challenges facing cyclists in Sao Paulo, Los Angeles and Copenhagen, but Seoul-based viewers can take some key lessons from it. “The most important lesson shown in the documentary is that there is a need for bicycle infrastructure,” said Nikola Medimorec, a German green transport expert based in Seoul who will be leading a discussion session after the screening. “We can all clearly see that cities and decision-makers prioritize cars on our streets and in urban planning. Car driving is highly subsidized and the vast majority of cities are built around car use. It can be seen how the human scale is greatly ignored and hu

Apr 16, 2019By Jon Dunbar
Movie screening stresses need for bicycles

There's gold in them thar hills

From left: Fred Dustin, unidentified Canadian, Herb Gidney, Lou Nonini (Koryo's mining engineer), Roland Tims and Gladys Caughran. Circa July 1969. / Robert Neff CollectionBy Steven L. ShieldsGold mining is not and has never been one of Korea's major industries. Nonetheless, there was a lot of mining done during the 20th century. Millions and millions of “dollars” worth of gold were mined by British, American and Japanese concerns. Gold mining on the Korean Peninsula may have been done as early as 1100 BC. There are many grave goods ― gold crowns and the like ― that testify to the availability of the precious mineral.Edwin W. Mills, who was connected with mining operations in Korea for over 10 years prior, gave a comprehensive paper to the Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch (RASKB), published 1916. In the paper, he collated information from mining company officials, government data and historical records, dating to the 1880s. Mills told his listeners that Korea's geology was favorable to gold deposits, because of recent volcanic rock intruding into more ancient geological

Apr 16, 2019By Jon Dunbar
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