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Thu, July 18, 2019 | 00:08

My life at a Korean law firm (part 31)

North Korea (officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea) first normalized diplomatic relations with Australia in July 1974 and opened an embassy in Canberra in December of that year.

2018-08-11 10:24

My life at a Korean law firm (part 30)

In 2002, two events in Korea resonated noticeably in the Korean immigrant and overseas student community in Melbourne, Australia, where I lived. Both brought groups of Koreans to the streets, one in a happy celebration, the other in an angry and sad demonstration.

2018-08-04 09:12

My life at a Korean law firm (part 29)

The committal proceedings against the crew of the Pong Su, as well as the two or three Malaysian Chinese men caught on land with the heroin in their car and the one man left abandoned by both parties on the seashore began in late 2003. I went to the court in Melbourne several times to watch.

2018-07-29 14:39

My life at a Korean law firm (part 28)

During the almost 4.5 years my wife and I lived in Melbourne there were a number of Korea-related events that took place in Australia.

2018-07-22 10:18

My life at a Korean law firm (part 27)

When Jimin and I moved to Australia at the end of 1999, one of the primary pull factors was my widowed father, who was living alone and whose Parkinson's disease was beginning to take its toll. As an only child, I felt it was only right that I should live near him and help him to manage.

2018-07-15 12:40

My life at a Korean law firm (part 26)

When I came to Korea, and for many years afterwards, Koreans would tell me certain stock things about their country: the staple food is rice, hometown X was famous for object Y, Koreans are diligent, kimchi is spicy, and so on. The one thing that I feel sure we all heard ad infinitum back then was that Korea has four seasons. It was repeated so often and in so many settings a...

2018-07-08 09:42

My life at a Korean law firm (part 25)

Before leaving Korea for Australia in late 1999, my wife Jimin and I had heard that Korean was one of the “priority languages” in my home state. Along with Mandarin Chinese, Indonesian and Japanese, Korean was now taught at primary and secondary school levels, we were told. Since Jimin had been a primary school teacher in Korea, we decided to try to get her accredited in Vict...

2018-07-01 09:37

My life at a Korean law firm (part 24)

I have always been a fan of hot baths, so it was with great joy that I heard from my first friends in Korea that there were public bathhouses. In the early years of Korea's postwar development, many houses did not have running hot water, and certainly not the luxury of a bathroom with a tub inside. Most houses built in the 1960s and 1970s were equipped with a simple cold wate...

2018-06-25 09:39

My life at a Korean law firm (part 23)

Although I grew up in Australia, my parents and I were still Dutch citizens. We all had permanent residence visas; I didn't obtain Australian citizenship until shortly before my 18th birthday. My parents were never allowed to vote in Australian elections - not even local council ones. So I grew up in a house where voting and elections really were not a big matter for discussi...

2018-06-17 11:54

My life at a Korean law firm (part 22)

The first 4-week intensive session I taught at the teachers' training center in Pyeongtaek was in August 1997. One of the 72 elementary school teachers was a lady who was to become my wife, although of course neither of us knew it at the time. What attracted me to Ji-min, apart from her obvious beauty, was her sassy, independent character and her sense of humor. Here was a wo...

2018-06-09 10:32

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