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Adoptee musician explores lost heritage through solo album

By Jon Dunbar Korean-Canadian musician Andrew Blad / Courtesy of Blad Korean-Canadian musician Andrew Blad has released a remarkable solo album titled Poppycock, touching on genres from punk rock and metal to math rock and retro video game music. “The lyrical content is entirely based on things I've experienced and reflected on since moving to Korea,” he told The Korea Times. “From living in a city and avoiding your ex after a breakup, dating someone with an untreated mental illness, moving on from glorified past friendships, watching your parents grow older in what seems an instant, dating someone who is in the middle of a divorce, sitting back as people tell you what they believe is best for you (musically) and the many facets of the adoptee experience both in Korea and our adoptive countries.”Born in Korea but adopted overseas to Ontario, Canada, he always felt like he was raised by wolves. “You grow up with wolves and you think you are a wolf; I always thought I

Apr 2, 2019By Jon Dunbar

Adoptee musician explores lost heritage through solo album

Collaborative art space Yogiga celebrates 15 years

By Jon DunbarThis weekend, the nomadic Yogiga celebrates its 15th anniversary with two days of events.For all that time, Yogiga has been a representative collaborative space of Seoul, where artists of all types can come together and do their thing.Lee Han-joo, a graphic design major, founded it as Yogiga Experiment Shop, a sales space for art goods. After that, he opened Yogiga Expression Gallery, the most iconic iteration of the space, located in a once-quiet corner of Hapjeong-dong, now a bustling street full of cafes and bars. “I spent my 30s and 40s in the space,” Lee told The Korea Times. “I still feel like I'm home when I pass there. But now it's a clothing store. I don't want to go in.” The unique art venue has relocated four times in all. Yogiga has set up shop in Seogyo-dong, Hapjeong-dong, Mangwon-dong, Yeonnam-dong and now Donggyo-dong, all along the edges of the constantly ending gentrification mess colloquially called Hongdae, named after nearby Hongik University.Rather than blaming gentrificatio

Apr 2, 2019By Jon Dunbar

Collaborative art space Yogiga celebrates 15 years

Job fair for marriage immigrants due April 5

By Park Si-soo Seoul City will host a job fair for marriage immigrants on April 5. The free event will take place at 1 p.m. on the basement floor of Seoul City Hall. The Multicultural Family Support Center in Seoul's Yeongdeungpo-gu will co-host the event. Companies recruiting interpreters, translators, foreign language trainers, call center workers or lecturers on multiculturalism will open their booths for on-site job interviews. Last year alone, 176 marriage immigrants landed a job through the event, which Seoul has hosted once or twice a year, according to officials. Various consultations for job hunting, labor and other work-related issues will be offered. For more information, call the center (02-845-5433)

Mar 31, 2019

Job fair for marriage immigrants due April 5

INTERVIEW Counting down to adulthood - or living stateless

Attending a Korean high school, Syrian teenager Murad is despondent his decade-long life as a Seoulite doesn't guarantee residencyBy Ko Dong-hwanA new semester for third-graders at Hwigyeong Technical High School began in early March. But for Murad, a Syrian, 19, who moved to Seoul in 2009, the passage of time seems slow and weighty as he fears what will happen to him after next year's graduation. When his “general trainee” D-4 visa's one-year validity expires at the end of the year, he needs an alternative document to keep living here legally as a foreign resident. He can extend the visa by pursuing postsecondary education or applying for a working visa. Already at the age considered an adult in Korea, he can no longer rely on his father to be granted the status of a child of a migrant worker. The distraught youth had dreamed of becoming an airplane pilot and going to the Korea Aerospace University in Goyang city. But he suffers from asthma, back pain and other problems and recently failed the school's health evaluation. This led him to abandon his dream. It's still hard

Mar 29, 2019By Ko Dong-hwan

[INTERVIEW] Counting down to adulthood - or living stateless

Cityscapes Caught in Suwon's abandoned amusement park

Various rides are left abandoned at Woncheon Lake Land Amusement Park in this 2009 file photo. / Courtesy of Ron Bandun By Ron BandunToday's purveyors of abandoned amusement parks don't know how easy they have it. You can just go to Jungnang-gu and pay 5,000 won to enter Yongma Land. Ten years ago, Korea had one famous abandoned amusement park, Okpo Land, located all the way down on Geoje Island in South Gyeongsang Province, a long trip involving a bus through Tongyeong or a ferry from Busan. So when I discovered Woncheon Lake Land Amusement Park, my life became considerably easier.Lake Land was found at a resort area surrounding Woncheon Lake in southeastern Suwon. The whole area was being demolished to make way for some new megaproject. There actually had been another amusement park right next door, Woncheon Greenland, but it was demolished first.My first visit was in October 2008, when the area still had some life to it and families were still visiting for whatev

Mar 26, 2019

[Cityscapes] Caught in Suwon's abandoned amusement park

Former military bunker restored as place of peace

A tank covered with a colorful blanket stands in front of Peace Culture Bunker in northeastern Seoul. / Courtesy of Hallie BradleyBy Hallie BradleyFor more than half a century, the Demilitarized Zone in Korea has been the site of clashes, skirmishes and tension. However, a new age is dawning on the Land of the Morning Calm and sites that were once used as bunkers and military installations are being converted into community, arts and culture spaces given back to the community at large. Sites that had previously been surrounded by barbed wire are seeing a transformation as the metal fencing is taken down and architects and artists come in to breathe new life into decaying structures. Citizens are able to walk in and use spaces that have been off limits for decades and with that, new communities are developing.Last October, the Peace Culture Bunker was unveiled just outside of Dobongsan Station on Seoul Metro lines 1 and 7. Originally constructed between 1968 and 1970, the structure was a defensive shelter for tanks on the first floor and featured housing on the second. The third and f

Mar 26, 2019

Former military bunker restored as place of peace

Comedian Jim Gaffigan comes to Seoul

Jim Gaffigan / Courtesy of Robyn Von Swank By Jon DunbarU.S. comedian Jim Gaffigan is stopping in Seoul next Tuesday as part of his “Quality Time Tour” stand-up live show. The Grammy-nominated comedian, actor, bestselling author and father of five ― yes, five ― will share his stand-up comedy act at ECC Samsung Hall on the campus of Ewha Womans University. “I have always been excited by the Korean culture and getting an opportunity to perform there will be very special,” Gaffigan told The Korea Times in an email interview. “Whether I was doing a show in Korea or not I would want to visit. I do know some of the more recent history and some of the popular trends like K-pop. Korea is a fascinating unique culture that has always been alluring to me.”Gaffigan's humor settles around his life ― fatherhood, his Catholic faith and everyday observations. Though he has earned a reputation for “clean” comedy, this may be underestimating his talents and his experience. “It is my

Mar 26, 2019By Jon Dunbar

Seoul 7th most expensive city in the world: survey

A view of Seoul from the Lotte World Tower in Jamsil, southeastern Seoul. YonhapSouth Korea's capital city, Seoul, ranks as the seventh most expensive city in the world to live in this year, a survey showed Saturday.The Worldwide Cost of Living (WCL) Survey, conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), measures the prices of more than 150 items in 133 cities across the globe, with the index for New York set as a benchmark of 100.According to the latest WCL poll, Seoul ranked seventh, on a par with New York, down one notch from the previous survey.Singapore, Paris and Hong Kong are the joint most expensive cities in the world with an index of 107, followed by Zurich of Switzerland with 106, and its sister Geneva and Japan's Osaka coming next with 101 each.Tokyo is 4 percent cheaper than New York and Seoul to live in, while Shanghai is the most expensive city in mainland China, ranking 25th on the global chart with an index of 85."Seoul continues to be one of the most expensive cities in the world to top up a shopping basket," the EIU said in the press release. (Yonhap)

Mar 23, 2019

Seoul 7th most expensive city in the world: survey

Transfer of foreign prisoners urged

Graphic by Bae So-youngBy Lee Suh-yoonFrank Chinedu Obioha is a Nigerian inmate at a foreigners-only prison in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province.He has been here for a decade now. First arrested in China in 2007 then transferred to Korea, he was given a life sentence in 2009 after being found guilty of heading a drug trafficking ring.The only person who used to visit Obioha at the prison was the Nigerian ambassador around Christmas time. However, he has not had a single visitor after these annual visits ended in 2013. Now 51, he wants to serve the rest of his sentence back in Nigeria, where he can get regular visits from his family and friends while serving out his term, National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) officials who interviewed him at the prison said.But Obioha cannot apply for a transfer to a correction facility back home as Korea does not have a standing agreement with Nigeria for the transfer of convicted felons yet. After reviewing Obioha's case, the human rights watchdog called on the Ministry of Justice to “actively seek out which prisoners wish for a

Mar 22, 2019

Foreign Line

Jimmy Carr cancels Asia tourU.K. comedian Jimmy Carr, set to perform in Seoul March 31, has canceled his Asia tour. Event co-organizer, A Comic Soul, cited delays in visa issuances for some countries. Due to his busy schedule, the tour could not be rescheduled. Refunds are available at the point of purchase. “Jimmy is very disappointed in not being able to come to Seoul but hopes he will be able to return with his brand new show in the future as part of his next world tour,” a representative of A Comic Soul said. Meanwhile, U.S. comedian Jim Gaffigan's Seoul April 2 appearance still seems to be set. SAKorNet hosts braai in HBC“The Workshop” in Seoul's Haebangchon (HBC) hosts a braai this Saturday. A braai is a South African style barbecue. The event organizer, the South Africans in Korea Network (SAKorNet), said the event is a warm-up to Freedom Day on April 27 and the general election on May 8. SAKorNet is a volunteer organization that connects South Africans in Korea. It works closely with the South African Embassy to Korea but has no official association wi

Mar 19, 2019By Jon Dunbar

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