Sewol Sinking Facts - Japanese Documentary

Somehow looking for Kim Namgil newest drama episode files has led me to finding this documentary from 2014. I do understand the logic behind it - after all people died in Sewol ferry sinking.

[Book Review] Hyeonseo Lee - The Girl With Seven Names

Reading about North Korean people is like walking on a tiny path through quicksand at night. Surely, there's some thrill to it, but one wrong step and you may end up checking whether the sand has any bottom. The pitfalls of such books are easy to point out - we associate ourselves with oppressed people, those who desperately want to run or those who have no say and no opinion, being stripped of their human traits. Some weird people find other meanings - how wonderful Juche is, whole politics of songun and society "unpolluted by capitalism". It's best to deal with books about North Korea the same way we deal with every other documentary or autobiographical work.

I'm Unique. Like Anyone Else...

   Having read tons of books on human behaviour, cultural patterns, language and anthropology makes it easier for a person to see patterns and set a distance between you and things you observe. I always talk with students about stereotypes, because it's fun and, surprisingly, educational. However, without the right tools to do that, the talk about stereotypes can turn into: a) bashing, b) nonsense, c) personal opinion based on one (1) person's view. Anyone who heard anything about sociology knows that one person's opinion is worth less than a toilet paper (on the second thought... no, wait...)

We had this talk about overfloated individualism lately.

The First Stalker

   During my latest research in the topic of connection between plants and blood, I came across a nice legend, explaining how the race of Stalkers was born. Don't let me be misunderstood, the ancient Greeks gave us philosophy (blergh) and art (yey!). But they also left some humongous baggage of weird archetypes and complexes (Oedipus, enyone?). This website gives the legend of The First Stalker in the best narrative form I found, so I'll quote it here.

Media and Condemnation by Memory in the Internet Age

 There was a good article appearing in Korea Focus, dealing with recent scandal in Korea on top levels. This is why I think it's worthwhile to read a lot of words.

S. Korean Law System

   I am not a lawyer. Heck, half of the jargon they speak is kind of a foreign language to me. But since we have few dramas now that deal with crime, law or Baksa Adeul... I mean hawt criminals, I went here and there and now I present links and facts about Korean law.

Vanity conquers all

A woman holding a designer handbag crosses a street in this undated file photo. Many Korean female consumers crave designer bags with the belief that the high-end accessories, fake or genuine, make them appear richer than they actually are.

 I understand where this trend comes from, but it's kind of alarming.

Safe Little Home

   This post serves only one purpose - to apprehend the meaning of double standards that are so pervasive in the academic world, be it thorough research or casual critical thinking. 

Problem lies in my own country's scientific and cultural establishment that rarely ventures beyond the boundaries, that doesn't feel the need to "boldly go where no one has gone before".

For f*ck's sake, just don't swear!

   I love Knetizens because I always liked stories about insanity, creepiness and in overall The Fall of Ushers. They are consistent in fact - they can never, ever let you down in category of "let's ridicule ourselves. Again". So if anything happens in Kfandom funky world - check comments and your world will soon become brighter. Well, brighter than K-ent anyway. (pun intended).

March 1st Commemorative Speech by President

Let's be frank, Lady President has a tough, chaotic and quite crazy country to lead. 

If you wonder what March 1st Movement is - I wrote about that here.

Post-Psy: Quo Vadis, Brand Korea?

 There is a quite good reason why Korea will always have the troubles to promote itself. Factions. It is still prevalent factor to country's inability to promote its cultural heritage as aggressively and wide as all the neighbours. There is always someone who says "but why your agency not mine?" and dampens down any efforts. I remember the Olympics in Seoul, and I remember there was nothing on Korea anywhere back then. Oh well, that pattern is not totally unfamiliar to me, in my country, we have exactly the same actions.

But then, if PSY is considered as Korea's brand, then maybe every viral video should be the symbol of the country it comes from? It's called "viral" for some reasons.

Want to re-marry hubby? Hell, naw!

source

   The Chosun Ilbo has a great article on the question asked: "would you marry again your present spouse?" And not surprising, many Korean women have second thoughts. Men, of course, are more satisfied with marriage. Well, understandable, since Asian men do nothing except for going to work and women act as slaves housewifes. I don't even want to imagine having kids and working for woman. Under the article on the page there are links to more articles exploring a bit this topic, so you may click if you want.

Korea's New President

   I swear, I was never much interested in politics, until Far East Asia came. Asian politics are quite different from usual, western one and after some bewilderment and shock, I came to one conclusion, similar to the one Indiana Jones said once: Nothing shocks me. I'm a scientist.

Korea ranks 108th in gender equality yet yesterday the country elected first female President.

I'm not jumping from joy though. It will be hard for her because of few reasons - she's a woman (and hello, we're in Korea afterall) and she's the daughter of general Park Chung Hee who held Korea in tight military regime.

Anyway, I gathered few articles presenting the new President of South Korea coming from conservative Saenuri Party.

A school for fathers

By Oh Jung-hun

A few years ago, I enrolled at a school for fathers run by a nonprofit corporation, which issued an honorary certificate after completing the designated courses.

I went there because I couldn't deal with the unexpected friction as my son reached adolescence. In fact, I constantly told my son the same message that every Korean father is forced to work like a slave to provide sustenance in these economically hard times.

One day, soon after I rattled out the verbose advice, it dawned upon me that it would require more time and energy to become a ``qualified” father.

Kim Jong-un named Sexiest Man Alive for 2012

   I'm a big fan of parodies and satire. I like to relax by watching all good "literal versions" on YT, because they show the nonsense of some MVs out there (I'm torn between some of them in naming the winner though).

I'm a big fan of SNL institution and humour, not the newest one, but the seasons with good ol' cast like Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch and Darrell Hammond, and I must say SNL Korea has picked up the nice flow too.

Yet sometimes satire falls flat in the Land of Morning Calm. And we all know, when satire is not understood, it ceases to BE a satire.

Korean Shamanism

 
 

   I know, the article is long overdue, and because of some problems and deadlines hanging above me like sword of Damocles, it's also not that long.

One thing needs to be stressed out before delving more into fascinating world of shamanism - this is live tradition in South Korea, not just folk custom displayed for tourists, or obscure rites for some initiated elite of practitioners.

1st Korean Woman to Lead Vienna Boys' Choir

The Vienna Boys' Choir has gotten the first Korean conductor in its 500-year history. Kim Bo-mi has been appointed director for the Mozart Choir, it announced Sunday. 

New Standards of Fair Trade Commission - KBS

   Is this a first step to a normalization of this insane and sick situation we have in entertainment? Let's hope so, but let's hope it won't have a backlash even worse than situation nowadays.
Also, if it wasn't for the world-shattering thing JYJ did, there would be no such talk around. Yet no one seems to voice their opinion and it looks as if only 3 men had problems with their company. And I believe it's the same situation everywhere, under every label, not only monster SMEnt.

Weapon of mass destruction

   In the previous post I gave links to 3 funny fancams. Two are of SuJu's and one BB's. And one doesn't have to be a sociologist to predict a shitstorm that followed the last one, mostly so-called "clash of cultures". Let me just explain myself. I do believe in this clash of cultures, it happened in 19th century when white man came to Pacific islanders who never saw any other people than themselves. I believe in clash of cultures in the middle of 20th century, when the whole world was recovering from WWII and Cold War started shattering old alliances and forming new ones. But I hardly believe in clash of cultures in 2012. 

S. Korea ranks 108th in gender equality: WEF report

   I read WTF report, but when I read what kind of neighbours on the list Korea has, I probably stay with WTF. Not that it's something new anyway.

But before slamming, ebbrybody, better to remember that Korea is around US in 60's right now.

The revolution will come. First harbingers of it were thrown already both at Super Junior and lately at Big Bang. So that young korean boys would know (if they haven't already) what condom is and what bra is.