South Korea - The Korea Times

Foreign Line 20181114

Book launch on JejuAuthor Brenda Paik Sunoo celebrates the official release of her latest book, “Stone House on Jeju Island: Improvising Life Under a Healing Moon” this Saturday at Nori Gallery in Jeoji Art Village. The book features 25 autobiographical essays on Paik Sunoo's experiences moving to Jeju Island, restoring a stone house there and becoming part of the community in the fishing village of Aewol. “I was always attracted to Jeju because the women and the shamanism and just the history have a confluence of all the things I feel passionate about ― there's something that just brought it all together,” Paik Sunoo told The Korea Times.The author will read a passage from her book, and her husband Jan Sunoo will provide music along with Ruth Minnikin. Visit fb.com/Aewol for more information.Hanoi's underground music in SeoulA handful of Vietnamese music acts are coming to Seoul next Monday for a showcase of ambient, neo-soul, electronic, hip-hop and beatboxing at Strange Fruit, a basement venue near Hongik University.The acts all use various looping techniqu

Nov 13, 2018By Jon Dunbar

The Collective presents Romeo and Juliet

Samia Mounts (right) and Heather Moore star as Romeo and Juliet in The Collective's production of the classic Shakespeare love story premiering on Friday Nov. 23 at Emu Artspace. Korea Times Photo by Celeste KrielBy Celeste KrielRepresentation matters in Seoul's newest theater group The Collective's rendition of Romeo and Juliet. The company is bringing a unique take on the tragedy to Seoul, premiering this Friday. The founders say the production will showcase the classic story of impossible love “by displaying it in an alternative reality, reaching the same heights of love and power,?but this time in a matriarchal society.”Founded in January by Seoul-based theater makers Kim Schroeder from South Africa, Ray Salcedo from the U.S. and Alameen Saidu from Nigeria, The Collective was birthed from a desire to?bring underrepresented artists from different fields together and give life to their work in the spirit of intersectional collaboration and community-building.In keeping with the spirit of “representation matters” and telling stories that are often underrepres

Nov 13, 2018

The Collective presents Romeo and Juliet

HBC introduces regeneration project to foreigners

Haebangchon in Seoul seen on Nov. 13. / Korea Times Photo by Jon Dunbar By Jon DunbarFor decades, city planning in Seoul has centered around redevelopment ― the total destruction of buildings, street grids, even the soil under our feet. But now, the city is experimenting with a new model of regeneration, which breathes new life into old structures and keeps communities vibrant. A test case for this new regeneration model is Haebangchon (HBC), a neighborhood with a large foreign population, wedged between a mountain and a U.S. military base. As part of this initiative, HaeBangChon Urban Regeneration Center manager Lim Jin-gyu is holding a series of English-language meetings this month to communicate with foreign residents and business owners.People familiar with HBC may be surprised to hear the area has seen shrinking, as Lim outlined at the first meeting Monday at Onzigonzi, a community center attached to Shinheung Market in HBC. The area has seen a significant pop

Nov 13, 2018By Jon Dunbar

HBC introduces regeneration project to foreigners

Yongsan Legacy Waking up in an unfamiliar place in 1957

Bill Morgenstein in 1957 / Courtesy of Yongsan Legacy By Bill MorgensteinFor some reason Halloween was a big holiday for us. Halloween was party time. You drank until you fell. The ambassador was long gone and last thing I remember was downing whiskeys at the OEC Club on post with my friend Jimmy. Waking up out of our stupor, the two of us were in an unfamiliar place. Worse, our boots were gone and walking around in khaki army socks was no pleasure. We had to get off the rocky road and into a town and then find the base. We didn't have a compass with us and I have a notoriously bad sense of direction. After lots of aimless walking suddenly we saw some two- or three-story buildings in the distance ― Seoul, hopefully. As we approached in what seemed like an eternity, we saw a shocking site. Flags were draped from the windows. Not just flags, but red flags. My God, we must have wandered into North Korea. As we were now completely sober, we knew a number of things. 1. W

Nov 13, 2018By Jon Dunbar

[Yongsan Legacy] Waking up in an unfamiliar place in 1957

Italian Embassy to hold 'World Week of Italian Cuisine'

Italian Ambassador to Korea Marco della Seta, left, and Vice President of Italian Chamber of Commerce in Korea Alberto Mondi, right, pose with Yoo Jung-suk, CEO of Italian restaurant Terra 13 in Seoul, in this November 2017 photo. Yoo is the winner of last year’s Ospitalita Italiana prize. / Courtesy of ITCCKBy Kim Jae-heunThe Italian Embassy in Korea will hold a World Week of Italian Cuisine in Seoul from Nov. 19 to 23 as part of its government's global initiative to promote Italian food in 110 countries.This is the third year the Italian Embassy will be hosting the event here along with the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Korea (ITCCK), Italian Cultural Institute in Seoul and Italian Trade Agency. The main theme is Mediterranean seafood, which UNESCO has selected as intangible cultural heritage. Olive oil has been adopted as a representative of the Mediterranean diet at the Korean event, and experts will run seminars while offering food tastings to promote its nutritional value. “Seafood is a huge part of the Mediterranean diet and a strong element of the Italian food cu

Nov 9, 2018By Kim Jae-heun

Italian Embassy to hold 'World Week of Italian Cuisine'

Cheonanite encourages music lovers to 'Look Beyond'

The interior of Victor Ha's newly opened Look Beyond Music & Skate shop in Cheonan / Courtesy of Look Beyond By Jon DunbarCheonan, a relatively minor stop on the cross-country rail networks, seems an unlikely place to find indie music, but 23-year local resident Victor Ha has made it his mission to put this South Chungcheong Province city on the map. “Indie music is what I enjoy the most,” he told The Korea Times. “I just wanted to put on shows with my favorite bands wishing people could recognize a live music scene exists in Cheonan.”Ha has done it all: singing for the now-defunct hardcore punk band Things We Say, making merch for the scene through his micro-enterprise Button King, and self-publishing fanzines “Break the Shell” (started in 2004) and “In Walnut We Trust” (2011), both clearly referencing Cheonan's staple food, the walnut. Oh, he's also into competitive downhill skateboarding and kendama, a Japanese cup-and-ball skill toy. Somehow on the side of all t

Nov 6, 2018By Jon Dunbar

Cheonanite encourages music lovers to 'Look Beyond'

Korea Encounters When 'guests criticize their hosts'

The Korea Times on Aug. 27, 1975 / Korea Times archive By Matt VanVolkenburgOn Aug. 27, 1975, The Korea Times published a “Thoughts of the Times” piece by John G. La Bella titled "Ups and Downs." While prefacing his column by saying he liked Korea very much, he began listing its “downs,” such as the “well-dressed and good looking gal” who “spits on the sidewalk,” “guys who beat up their women,” corrupt contractors and “filthy buses and taxis.” Among the “ups” were “the practice of seated bus passengers holding the bags and packages of those who must stand,” “hardworking and intelligent people,” “hard studying students,” “charming, beautiful and intelligent women,” and “safe streets to walk at night.” He also lauded the “low prices…the foreigner enjoys” and Westernized Koreans like fathers who didn't “think it degrading” to carry their babies and couples who weren't afraid to hold hands in public. The debate that unfolded in The Korea Times' letter section over the n

Nov 6, 2018By Jon Dunbar

[Korea Encounters] When 'guests criticize their hosts'

RASKB follows 'gentrification refugees' to Mullae

Young people walk past a corner store in Mullae-dong on Nov. 2. / Image by Jon Dunbar By Jon DunbarGentrification seems to be happening in every part of Seoul simultaneously. Some upgrading is always nice, but this also displaces communities of people and independent businesses. As these gentrification refugees move to new areas, they may carry with them the seeds of their own destruction.The same is happening with Mullae-dong, a fading industrial region in southwestern Seoul where rents are low and facilities are unpleasant. As it is only four stops south of Hongik University Station on Line 2, artists fleeing Hongdae gentrification have been moving here since 2003. Even now-disgraced former President Park Geun-hye visited Mullae in 2014 to praise the “creative convergence” of the area.Artists find inspiration in the stark industrial function of metalworks; during a visit on Nov. 2, two art displays were found made of repurposed rusted metal pieces from the shops.

Nov 6, 2018By Jon Dunbar

Seoul to launch metropolitan area travel pass for foreigners

By Kim Jae-heunForeign tourists will get free admission or discounts at 96 attractions in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, with a special travel card.The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Monday it will issue 6,000 limited versions of the Discover Seoul Pass on Tuesday.The travel ticket exclusively for foreigners, introduced by Seoul City in July 2016, has given free access to 36 tourist sites and discounts for 30 concert halls, beauty parlors and hallyu-related venues in the capital city only, plus transportation card function.However, the special edition card, made in collaboration with tourist organizations of Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, will allow visits to 30 more spots in the capital region, including Everland and the Korean Folk Village in Yongin and Ara Waterway Cruise. The promotion is designed to encourage foreign tourists to visit regions other than Seoul ― 78.8 percent of tourists last year traveled only in Seoul, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.The city government will issue 2,000 tickets each for one-, two- and three-day passe

Nov 5, 2018By Kim Jae-heun

Seoul to launch metropolitan area travel pass for foreigners

Foreign teachers told 'Don't molest students'

Attendees of a mandatory seminar for foreign English teachers in Gyeonggi Province on Oct. 20 stand for the Korean national anthem. / Courtesy of Joe McPhersonBy Ko Dong-hwan and Jon DunbarForeign English teachers across Gyeonggi Province woke up extra early on Saturday, Oct. 20, many before sunrise, to attend a seminar they were told was mandatory. The seminar, held in the remote provincial town Icheon, started at 8:30 a.m., requiring many teachers from the far-flung corners of the province to find their own way there, as they had to leave before public transportation opened. Joe McPherson, a longtime resident of Korea on an F-5 permanent resident visa, was up at 6 a.m., leaving behind his Korean wife and children in Gimpo and driving his car to what he called the “Dirty Foreigner Seminar.”“This isn't about career enrichment,” said McPherson, a restaurateur and owner of a successful tourism company who teaches on the side to make ends meet. “It's because of the stereotype that we're all sexual deviants.”Ji-young Kim, an F-4 visa holder based in Pa

Oct 30, 2018By Ko Dong-hwan

Global Community

Global Community

Foreign Line 20181114

The Collective presents Romeo and Juliet

HBC introduces regeneration project to foreigners

Yongsan Legacy Waking up in an unfamiliar place in 1957

Italian Embassy to hold 'World Week of Italian Cuisine'

Cheonanite encourages music lovers to 'Look Beyond'

Korea Encounters When 'guests criticize their hosts'

RASKB follows 'gentrification refugees' to Mullae

Seoul to launch metropolitan area travel pass for foreigners

Foreign teachers told 'Don't molest students'

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