By Matt Van Volkenburg
"Ever since the middle of 1964, I have been receiving at my office weekly visits from a flabby, furtive, rat-faced character who thrusts in front of me a few illegibly scribbled sheets of foolscap headed Scouting the City." This was how James Wade described, in his 1967 book "One Man's Korea," the birth of one of the better-known Korea Times columns of the 1960s and 1970s. Though he asserted his weekly visitor, Alf Racketts, was the author of the column, it was a thinly veiled secret that Wade himself was the writer.
As John Stickler, another Korea Times staff member, recalled, "Scouting the City" began in 1964 as a parody Wade wrote of a Stars and Stripes entertainment column (by one Alf Ricketts) which impressed The Korea Times acting editor Hong Soon-il enough to make it a regular Saturday feature _ one which continued for a decade.
Wade came to Korea with the U.S. military in 1954. The country made such an impact on him that he moved back in 1960. He was a member of The Korea Times' editorial staff, and as a freelancer wrote literary and music criticism, fiction, poetry, even operas. His non-fiction writing, however, often examined the friction that arose between Americans and Koreans with the aim of promoting mutual cultural understanding.
While "Scouting the City" often focused on entertainment, it also turned a critical eye toward "any person or organization that seemed to be in need of a little deflation." This included people who wrote uninformed or overly negative things about Korea. Time and Male magazine (and their "con men journalists") were eviscerated for the sensationalistic way they covered G.I.-centered prostitution in Korea, while Nelson Algren (best known for writing "The Man With The Golden Arm") was criticized for his "typical" description of an amorous evening spent in Busan's Texas Street, as well as the inclusion of the brothel's address (472 Choryang-dong), of which Wade wrote, "Talk about kiss and tell!"
"James Bond" writer Ian Fleming, meanwhile, was lambasted for describing Koreans (such as the assassin Oddjob in "Goldfinger") as "the cruelest, most ruthless people in the world" who wanted only "to submit the white race to the grossest indignities." As Wade put it, "How can any country fight a negative image like this, exploited for cheap thrills and quick bucks?"
One of the largest targets "Uncle Alfie" took on, however, was the U.S. Army. As the column became known for airing the Army's dirty laundry, it served as a release valve for employees at U.S. bases who would leak "choice tidbits" to Wade, such as the "commander who authorized himself to buy 18 air conditioners one summer," or another "who needed cinnamon sticks for a winter beverage recipe and a jet fighter flew some up from Taipei in time for the party."
On at least one occasion an irate general visited The Korea Times in response to seeing such embarrassing stories in print, and eventually Wade lost his job as a part-time consultant for the American-Korean Foundation in order to strip him of his PX privileges. This did little to stop Wade, however, who continued to wield his pen until, amid increasing control of the press by Park Chung-hee's authoritarian government, the column suddenly failed to appear one Saturday in December 1974. After 528 appearances, "Scouting the City" disappeared from The Korea Times forever.
Matt VanVolkenburg has a master's degree in Korean studies from the University of Washington. He is the blogger behind populargusts.blogspot.kr.
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As John Stickler, another Korea Times staff member, recalled, "Scouting the City" began in 1964 as a parody Wade wrote of a Stars and Stripes entertainment column (by one Alf Ricketts) which impressed The Korea Times acting editor Hong Soon-il enough to make it a regular Saturday feature _ one which continued for a decade.
Wade came to Korea with the U.S. military in 1954. The country made such an impact on him that he moved back in 1960. He was a member of The Korea Times' editorial staff, and as a freelancer wrote literary and music criticism, fiction, poetry, even operas. His non-fiction writing, however, often examined the friction that arose between Americans and Koreans with the aim of promoting mutual cultural understanding.
While "Scouting the City" often focused on entertainment, it also turned a critical eye toward "any person or organization that seemed to be in need of a little deflation." This included people who wrote uninformed or overly negative things about Korea. Time and Male magazine (and their "con men journalists") were eviscerated for the sensationalistic way they covered G.I.-centered prostitution in Korea, while Nelson Algren (best known for writing "The Man With The Golden Arm") was criticized for his "typical" description of an amorous evening spent in Busan's Texas Street, as well as the inclusion of the brothel's address (472 Choryang-dong), of which Wade wrote, "Talk about kiss and tell!"
"James Bond" writer Ian Fleming, meanwhile, was lambasted for describing Koreans (such as the assassin Oddjob in "Goldfinger") as "the cruelest, most ruthless people in the world" who wanted only "to submit the white race to the grossest indignities." As Wade put it, "How can any country fight a negative image like this, exploited for cheap thrills and quick bucks?"
One of the largest targets "Uncle Alfie" took on, however, was the U.S. Army. As the column became known for airing the Army's dirty laundry, it served as a release valve for employees at U.S. bases who would leak "choice tidbits" to Wade, such as the "commander who authorized himself to buy 18 air conditioners one summer," or another "who needed cinnamon sticks for a winter beverage recipe and a jet fighter flew some up from Taipei in time for the party."
On at least one occasion an irate general visited The Korea Times in response to seeing such embarrassing stories in print, and eventually Wade lost his job as a part-time consultant for the American-Korean Foundation in order to strip him of his PX privileges. This did little to stop Wade, however, who continued to wield his pen until, amid increasing control of the press by Park Chung-hee's authoritarian government, the column suddenly failed to appear one Saturday in December 1974. After 528 appearances, "Scouting the City" disappeared from The Korea Times forever.
Matt VanVolkenburg has a master's degree in Korean studies from the University of Washington. He is the blogger behind populargusts.blogspot.kr.
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