Ask a Korean! Wiki: Why do You Watch Korean Drama?

Dear Korean,

Here is a simple question. Why are Korean dramas so addicting?

K-drama Fan


Dear K-drama Fan,

Honestly, the Korean does not know. He absolutely LOATHES Korean dramas. Except for a few notable exceptions, the writings are terrible, the lines are unnatural, acting is awkward, everything is about hysterical yelling and the storylines defy belief. The Korean watched exactly three Korean drama series from start to finish in his life, and he hated himself for watching one of them. Give the Korean the DVD set of Six Feet Under, and leave him alone.

This is a particular pickle because many people become enamored of Korean culture through Korean dramas. And these people send such questions like "Why is Korean healthcare system so terrible? Seems like every Korean baby gets switched at birth." ARGH!

But the Korean's big belief is that people are not stupid. If they like something, they like it for a reason. So here is a Wiki question for all AAK! fans of Korean dramas -- why do you watch Korean dramas?

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Justice prevails, and Arizona is appealing immediately.

A good summary of Korean cuisine-inspired taco craze on New York Times. Just remember -- don't call it Korean food.

The Tortilla Takes a Road Trip to Korea [New York Times]

Ask a Korean! News: Four-Second Singers

Translation of a hilarious article on Dong-A Ilbo. This is exactly why the Korean cannot take the k-pop boy/girl groups seriously.

Idol Groups Only Have a Few Words in Solo Parts as Number of Members, Chorus Increase

Seven groups' solo time measured
Even with just four seconds of singing, a singer nonetheless?
Average 16 seconds per person, less than one-tenth of a song.
Cases of no solo part, only repeating the refrain
Parading looks-stage presence, mass-producing "goldfish singers".

"The Beauty of Four Seconds."

This is the snarky label from the Internet for Heechul, member of an idol group Super Junior who only has four seconds of solo singing time in "Sorry Sorry," the title song for the group's third album. Together, there are 13 members of Super Junior who sang this song. Since all 13 divide up a single song, each member can call himself a "singer" after singing for only four seconds.

Lately there are increasing cases in which solo parts of a song last no more than a few seconds, as the number of members in the idol groups such as Super Junior, Girl's Generation and After School increase. This is contributing to the pop culture in which those who rely on looks or conversation skills are considered "singers" regardless of their singing abilities.

Idol Group Members Sing 16 Seconds on Average

According to Dong-A Ilbo's measurements of solo parts, seven idol groups (Girls' Generation, Super Junior, 4minute, After School, Infinite, mBlack, FX) appearing on MBC's "Show Music Center" (July 10), SBS's "Pop Songs" (July 11) and KBS's "Music Bank" (June 25), sang for 16 seconds per person on average. Because a song lasts around 3.5 minutes on average, each member of those group sang less than one-tenth of a song, excluding the chorus.

Among the groups, Girl's Generation (singing "Oh!") had the shortest solo parts, averaging 9.4 seconds per part. The main vocal Taeyeon sang for 22 seconds, while Seohyeon's solo parts -- two lines consisting of "oppa look at me, just look at me" and "listen, really" -- amounted to 5 seconds. When After School sang "Bang!", members Nana and Lizzy had no solo parts; instead, the two sang together for 8 seconds. Juyeon's solo part -- "The heart-thumping night, my heart is oh oh oh oh" -- lasted 4 seconds.

Infinite, singing "Come Back," had the greatest time differential among the members' solo parts. While the main vocal Kim Seong-Gyu sang for 29 seconds, Lee Seong-Jong, Lee Seong-Yeol and L sang for 1, 3 and 4 seconds respectively. The words that Lee Seong-Jong sang alone were four letters (다 거짓말 "all lies"). Lee Seong-Yeol only had the line, "Feels like I'm going to die, my head hurts." Lee Yeong-Joon, director of Infinite's management company, said: "It is not that the members have different singing abilities. It is more the case that the process of assigning the solo parts while taking the tone of this particular song into consideration made the parts of certain members relatively smaller."

As individual singing is increasingly obscured through the lengthened chorus and the shortened solo parts, certain bloggers have taken to uploading videos of live performances with pre-recorded background music edited out, then proceeding to evaluate the singers.

No Shame in No Singing

Yoona of Girls' Generation, in "The Family is Here 2" aired on SBS on June 27, said: "We can't go longer than ten seconds (on solo parts)," and that her part is five letters. (밀하고 싶어 "I want to say.")

Since his debut, Heechul cumulatively sang 39 seconds of all Super Junior title songs; Yoona of Girls' Generation, 42 seconds; and Nicole of Kara, 45 seconds. Instead of being embarrassed, they appear to treat this as a fodder for laughter. In MBC's "Radio Star" aired on June 30, Jung-ah, member of After School, was a recipient of a joke from MC Kim Guk-Jin that she was "amazingly, a main vocal." Jung-ah only responded by laughing and half-heartedly singing one line of a song. Gu Hara of Kara, whom music fans have pointed out for lacking singing ability, invited further criticism by only repeating the refrain "hallo hallo hallo" in Kara's new song "Lupin," released February of this year.

Music critic Im Jin-Mo said, "If there is only a few seconds of solo parts, a singer will naturally practice less singing -- which is what singers are supposed to do," and noted, "Another problem is that members with less solo parts will feel excluded, which hurts the teamwork of the group, shortening the group's lifecycle." Music critic Kim Jak-Ga said, "The more idol groups -- who do not put much emphasis on singing -- there are in the pop world, there is less room for singers with real talent."

아이돌그룹, 멤버수 - 중창 늘며 솔로 파트는 단 몇마디만  [Dong-A Ilbo]

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

AAK! PSA: Watch This Video

As a part of the effort to raise awareness for North Korean refugees, The Jubilee Project will donate 30 cents to the non-profit Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) for every view this video receives. The money will be directed to an initiative called The Hundred, which seeks to rescue 100 North Korean refugees.

So just watch the video, will you? It is for a good cause.

Got a question or a comments for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Ask a Korean! News: North Korean Soccer (Part II)

[See Part I here.]

This is Part II of the translation of Mr. Joo Seong-Ha's account of North Korean soccer history and analysis.

--------------------------------------

The national soccer team was swept into the purge as well, because the team received unconditional support from Park Geum-Cheol, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Organization of the Central Committee of the Communist Party who was then the number-two man of North Korea and leader of the Gapsan Line; and from Kim Do-Man, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Propaganda. Park Geum-Cheol and Kim Do-Man did utilize soccer to advertise their achievements.

As the political atmosphere changed, the players had to undergo endless sessions of Ideology Struggle Meetings and Self-Criticisms. Shin Yeong-Gyu had a particular problem of being a son of a landowner. Eventually, the entire national team was purged and scattered in rural areas. The purge of that time was notorious in its breadth; by the middle of 1968, two-thirds of officer seats in rural areas were empty.

At the time, there were rumors in North Korea that the national team was purged because they fell for the "courtesan tactics" of the imperialists. In short, the team allowed five goals in the Portugal game because they slept with the foreign women who infiltrated the hotel the night before the game. Although the rumor was never proven to be either true or false, it is difficult to believe that Team North Korea, with their pride as the Chollima, would mentally slack off before such an important game.

Documentary "The Chollima Soccer Team," 

based on North Korean games in the 1966 World Cup

Most purged players were placed in a factory in Hamgyeongbuk-do Gyeongseong-gun. Even as laborers, their passion for soccer did not cool. Apparently, it was easy to spot former national team members who would kick around the ball on the way to and from the factory. Jewel is still a jewel, even in the rough; a few years later, the soccer teams for schools which the children of the players attended began winning national championships. It is not clear how much this factored in, but the teams from Hamgyeongbuk-do, where the majority of the quarterfinals team was exiled, is still the best among all provincial teams.

After a decade of "revolutionization period," the North Korean regime returned a few players. Because they were well over the age to play, most of them became coaches. But some were buried forever. The biggest example is Shin Yeong-Gyu, whom the president of FIFA extolled as a world-class player. The North Korean regime announced that Shin died in 1996, but there is no knowledge of his whereabouts since the England World Cup.

According to reports, Park Seung-Jin (who holds the record as the first Asian player to ever score in the World Cup finals) was in the Yodeok political prisoner camp in the 1980s. His nickname in the prison camp was "cockroach" because Park reportedly said that cockroach was the most delicious among all the insects he had eaten.

In 2002, English documentary director Daniel Gordon visited North Korea to film a documentary called "Chollima Soccer Team" [TK: English title is "The Game of Their Lives"] that chronicled the story of North Korean team in the England World Cup and thereafter. Although it had only been 36 years since the World Cup, there were only seven survivors from the team: Park Du-Ik, Park Seung-Jin, Lim Jung-Seon, Lim Seung-Hui, Yang Seong-Guk and Han Bong-Jin.

The surviving players from the England World Cup in front of Kim Il-Sung's statute. 

From left, Park Seung-Jin, Lim Jung-Seon, Park Du-Ik, Lim Seung-Hui, Yang Seong-Guk, 

Lee Chang-Myeong, coach Myeong Rye-Hyeon, Han Bong-Jin.

Park Seung-Jin is apparently pardoned from the prison camp. They were working as soccer team coaches. Director Gordon said "North Korean players were surprised that Westerners would make a documentary out of their story," pleased that they were not forgotten. The former players visited Middlesbrough that year thanks to the documentary.

After the national team was purged, there were whispers in North Korea that North Korean soccer would not rise for another thirty years because the generation was cut off. Indeed, North Korean soccer paid a steep price for making sports as a political pawn.

During the 1960s, South Korea deliberately avoided playing North Korea, which was then the top team in Asia. In fact, South Korea forfeited the entry into the 1966 England World Cup preliminaries because it wanted to avoid playing North Korea. In January 1967, inspired by North Korea's quarterfinals run, Kim Hyeong-Wook, (former director of Korean Central Intelligence Agency) founded a Yangji Team made up of contemporary South Korean stars such as Kim Ho, Kim Jeong-Nam, Lee Hoe-Taek. But the North-South match never came to pass, and the team was disbanded three years later.

The first time when North and South Korea played each other in an international soccer match was in 1976, at the semifinals of Bangkok Youth Asian Games. South Korea lost 1-0. The first game between the national teams was in December 1978, in the final of Bangkok Asian Games. The two teams tied 0-0 after overtime, and shared the gold medal.

North Korean soccer went into a significant decline since the 1980s. South Korea defeated North Korea in all of the contests since the 1980s, such as the semifinals of the Asian Cup in Kuwait in September 1980 (2-1); Italy World Cup preliminaries in Singapore in 1989 (1-0); and the Dynasty Cup in Beijing, China in 1990 (1-0).

A notable event in North Korean soccer of the 1980s was the establishment of the women's team. When women's soccer became an official sport of the 1986 Asian Games, North Korea established the women's national team in May 1986 and strategically invested in the team. At first, the team was selected from the women's track and field team.

North Korean women's team raises the trophy.

This was an about-face from the official attitude, expressed in the official publications mere three to four years before the establishment of the team, sneering, "The rotten and diseased world of capitalism does not spare women from kicking a ball. Not only women's soccer, but also other former objects of criticisms such as women's judo and women's weightlifting now act as medal-winners for North Korea sports.

North Korea, having lost a series of games against South Korea in men's soccer, finally achieved a reversal in women's soccer. The first match ever between North and South Korean women's soccer team occurred in 1990 Beijing Asian Games. North Korea dominated the game, winning 7-0. Lee Hong-Sil, who scored the first goal, won the honor of becoming a Labor Party member on the spot. Awarding Labor Party membership on the spot is only permitted for a special achievement. Lee later became a referee for international women's soccer.

Unlike women's soccer, men's soccer of North Korea only faced an increasing gap with the rest of the world. In the early 1990s, North Korean finally came to adopt groundbreaking measures. First, it established the Pyongyang Cup International Football Games in 1990, which was the first international soccer game hosted by North Korea. This game only happened three times until 1992, perhaps because of the incredibly cheap award of $20,000 for the winning team, $10,000 for the second place and $5,000 for the third place. Also, there were few countries that participated, and North Korean team did not do very well at any rate.

Another measure was to introduce a foreign coach. Pal Csernai, a Hungarian coach who had significance experience in the German league, was invited to coach the North Korean team. While Csernai once was the coach of Bayern Munich FC for five years between 1978 through 1983 -- the golden age of the Bundesliga -- and won the league twice, at the time in 1990 he was relegated to being a coach for a Hungarian pro team.

Csernai served as North Korean team's advisor from June 1991 to October 1993. The coach of the team was a North Korean. The initial results were positive; within four months, North Korea would beat the United States 2-1 in a friendly. But overall, Csernai's North Korean venture was not very successful. Regardless of the ability of the coach, there was not much room to operate in North Korea. In October 1993, North Korean team left for Qatar to play the preliminaries for the 1994 United States World Cup. In the preliminaries, North Korea lost every game but one. In particular, it was dominated by South Korea in a 3-0 loss, gifting "The Miracle of Doha" for South Korean team.

Csernai returned directly to Hungary from Qatar. The head of the national team organization, only known as "Kim" of the Athletics Committee, was demoted to being a laborer in a train station in Pyongyang. Yoon Myeong-Chan, coach of the national team, was not free from blame either; Yoon eventually defected to South Korean in 1999. After the people who advocated for a foreign advisor were quieted, North Korean soccer went to a dozen years of remission.

North Korean sports went through a difficult period as the economic crisis worsened in 1995. The soccer team would not receive balls or cleats. But the soccer team had it better than other teams. In 2004, the family of Moon Gi-Nam, former coach of the North Korean national soccer team, defected to Korea. Moon Gyeong-Min, son of the coach Moon, testified that North Korean soccer players nonetheless were able to eat meat. The younger Moon also played for the national team in the 1990s, while playing for the Locomotives in North Korea. He testified that North Korea imported beef from Germany when hundreds of thousands of cattle were slaughtered due to a mad cow disease outbreak, and the beef was first provided to the soccer players.

Even amidst the economic difficulties, soccer leagues in North Korea maintained its lifeline. North Korea has a league system. While the teams do not home and away games because they lack the means to travel quickly, they hold games three times a year, each round held in a single region. Mangyeongdae Cup, which begins in February, gives its winner in April. There is a Technological Revolution Games in July, held in a tournament format; and there is the Republic Cup in September, held in a round-robin format.

The three winning teams of the three games play one more time to anoint the champion in November; if the same team wins multiple games, the runner-up plays. The final champion wins the Football Association President's Cup and the chance to enter the King's Cup held in Thailand. The last-place team is demoted to the second league. The first league is called "Best Team Games" or "Myeongsu Level League". Usually the first league has 12 teams. 4.25, Pyongyang City, Locomotives, Aprok River, Wolmi-do, Lee Myeong-Su, Yongnam-san, Light Industries, Daedong-gang, Sobaeksu, etc. are the standing members of the first league. Among them, the first four teams are the special teams that have all different sports teams.

Also, the first place in the matches among the provincial soccer teams play in the first league. Among the provincial teams, Hamgyeongbuk-do is strong. Sometimes the national team and the youth national team play in the first league also, to have a feel for the real game. The second league contains the reserves of each teams and the province-level teams. In all, North Korea has five levels of leagues, totaling 130 soccer teams.

Even with this many soccer teams, North Korea's FIFA world ranking hovered outside of 100th place. The biggest problem is the dearth of human resources, as it is difficult to find budding stars with the requisite physique in North Korea. The physical status in the 20s depends much on the nutritional intake around age 5. But there is no way to selectively feed well the young children who will grow into a successful soccer player. North Korean soccer official bemoan that it is no use to feed well the fully-grown players who lack the basic stamina due to the malnutrition at young age. Even a talented player struggles in the international stage with inadequate height and physique.

Perhaps recognizing this limitation, North Korea has been lowering the ages of selecting its players. It had been establishing U-20, U-17 and U-15 teams, and recently it also established a number of Under-12 teams in which children of ages 8-9 play. There are several such teams under Team 4.25. This is done to feed well the future soccer stars and raise their average height.

But even the best provision of food is limited in North Korea. Recently, South Korea has been aiding the North Korean team training in Kunming, China. Because not every North Korea team can come out to train, only one team per age group would travel to China. Especially for younger, growing children, the well-fed six months in China is enough to make a noticeable difference in height compared to other soccer teams of the same age group.

(Continued in Part III)

[북한축구해부2]-남한에도 없는 5부 리그 북한엔 있다 [Nambuk Story]

As a bonus, here is an equally fascinating interview with Pal Csernai, referenced in the post.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Today, the New York Times. Tomorrow, the world...

What does the Korean think about Yellow Fever?

Dear Korean,

Do you think there is a growing trend of white male/Asian female couplings? If so, could they possibly have stemmed from anything other than traditional notion of love? My personal view is that most of white male/Asian female coupling was heavily influenced by innate sense of inferiority that some Asians tend to display towards Caucasians and mass manipulation by the media. As a Korean male, what is your stance on this subject?

Concerned Korean Teenager

Dear Concerned,

Your concern is valid to some extent. There is no denying that the media tends to fetishize Asian women, and some non-Asian men certainly gravitate toward Asian women in particular because of their image, rather than the women as persons. A litany of examples can be seen in the following article by Vickie Chang on OC Weekly:

By the time we've reached adulthood, most Asian American women have experienced so many episodes of Asiaphilia that it becomes something we laugh about over dinner. There was the time that one smooth-talking (and way too short—I hope you're reading this) guy from LA Weekly's marketing department asked me where I was from.

"Los Angeles," I said.

"No, really, where are you really from?"

There was the 20-year-old UCI economics major who swears that Asian women's vaginas "feel different somehow—very smooth and naturally lubricated." Or the guy who sauntered up to me and asked, "You must be great with a chopstick, huh?" Wink, wink.

It pisses us off—no, I don't want to see your killer Chinese-character tat; it probably doesn't mean what you think it means—but we're not sure what we can do but laugh.

"It's been happening so long I just let it roll off my back," Christina says. "I used to have a mouthful for every guy, but they'd just laugh at me and say, 'Oh, she's a feisty one!'"

...

The overwhelming ratio of males with Asiaphilic attraction to females suggests that this fetishization isn't based on looks alone. Asiaphiles are looking for authority in their romantic relationships, premeditated or not.

This issue moved out of the theoretical and into the personal when I dated a white boy I met in college.

"Do you like boba," he asked me.

"I don't."

"Ever visited the Japanese Garden at Huntington Library?"

"I have, but I prefer the Shakespeare Garden."

"Ever read The Art of War?"

I was devastated. Couldn't he see I was into the same things he was—Dostoevsky, early '90s shoegazer music and Indian food?

Yellow Fever: They got it bad, and that ain't good [OC Weekly]

The more messed up part is that some Asian American women explicitly refuse to date Asian American men based on superficial qualifications also, like this poor deluded soul:

You know you are really at the bottom of the heap when Tyra Bank serves as a voice of wisdom for you.

The examples that the Korean outlined above are clear displays of racism, almost in its purest form. These people make a pre-judgment that characterizes an entire race, and proceed to apply that racial pre-judgment to individuals. One can hardly think of a better definition of racism than that. 

The Korean wishes he could say those examples are isolated, but they are not -- if you are an Asian American, you have all seen these types at least once or twice in your life. And it is deeply distressing that such blatant racism may carry on like this.

But at the same time, the Korean thinks that there are countervailing considerations about this topic that are not discussed as often. As much as the Korean despise the dumb racists, the entire thing needs to be put in context.

More after the jump.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

The countervailing considerations are based on a simple recognition -- there are many, many Asian/non-Asian couples in the world, and it is not possible that all of them are motivated by racism of the kind discussed above. And it is deeply unfair if every Asian/non-Asian couple should receive a dirty look based on the idea that one or both of them is/are racist.

Consider the nature of attraction and love. We all have our "types" of what we want in our romantic interest, and for the most part, having a certain type is not a conscious process. We generally tend to develop our types through influences that we do not even realize at the time when our types are being developed. And when we go look for our romantic interest, it is not as if we jot down our types on a checklist and automatically eliminate those people who do not meet the criteria.

For example, after about 15 years of women-gazing, the Korean realized that he consistently turned his head for tall women. (And sure enough, the Korean Wife is 5' 9".) How the Korean developed this preference is a total mystery. All he knows is that whenever he was looking to speak to a group of women of roughly equal attractiveness, he always gravitated toward the tallest one. (One side effect of this was that it made the WNBA surprisingly watchable for the Korean, especially when Candace Parker is playing.)

Regardless of what you think about WNBA, 

you gotta admit that Candace Parker is pretty hot.

Because the way we develop our types is not clearly understood, it is plausible that the development of our types, as well as the application of our types in real-life situations, involve a racial element. It is plausible that when a non-Asian guy decides to hit on an Asian girl, a racial stereotype may have played some subconscious role (the extent to which is unknown) in that decision. Likewise, when an Asian girl decides to reciprocate on the attention and chats up the non-Asian guy, another racial stereotype may have played some subconscious role (again, to what extent, no one knows,) in that decision. In fact, given the abundance of racial stereotypes in our society and the relative abundance of a non-Asian man/Asian woman pairing (which is consistent with the stereotypes,) it is a fair guess they likely involve a racial element to some extent.

Now, the important part: there is nothing wrong with our subconscious playing this role, because we cannot control our subconscious. The problem begins when the racial element rises to the surface of our consciousness, is considered in a deliberate manner, and then is nonetheless employed in practice -- like Gina Choe, who explicitly rejected all Asian American men on a national television based on the stupid idea that Asians are short. (Puh-leeze. The Korean is 6' 1".) At that point, the racism should be considered blameworthy. But the Korean is certain that if we Asian Americans took a sober look at our experience, we will see that while the overt racists may exist in numbers enough to annoy us, they do not constitute a majority or even a significant minority.

Mind you, the Korean is not saying that subconscious racism is not a problem in general. It would be ideal if we could suppress our subconscious racism as well, because even subconscious racism eventually results in real discrimination. But at least in this context, the fact that racial stereotypes operate subconsciously is not a big problem. Whom to date and love is one of the most private decisions we can ever make. Overt racism in the dating context is misguided and ignorant, because it makes one treat one's partner as a projection of racial prejudice rather than as a real person. But racism that may or may not operate at the depth of our minds that we do not even realize, much less control? That's something else.

(As an aside, it's not even that difficult to see if the potential romantic partner is approaching you based on conscious racism, since -- as seen in above examples -- these people tend to reveal their racism rather quickly.)

We must also consider the demographic that is not very often represented in this topic -- Asian American women. Sure, there are tons of discussions about what Asian American women think, particularly among Asian American (and mostly young) men. But how often do we directly hear from Asian American women who are engaged in interracial relationships? And why should anyone else second-guess the choice of dates that Asian American women make? If a stupid racist Asian girl ends up dating a stupid racist non-Asian guy, that's a match made in heaven and the world is a better place for that.

In fact, much of the discussion about yellow fever does not amount to much more than frustrated ventings of Asian American young men who have trouble finding dates, trying to figure out why. If you fall into that group, allow the Korean to tell you right now -- it has less to do with race than you think. (The Korean's inbox is overflowing with emails from women asking how they might attract Korean guys!) Take it from the guy who just recently finished his dating career: in not-too-distant future, you will look back and laugh about how trivial these things were.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Fear the ajumma. Every part of this story is awesome. (Via Marmot's Hole.)

Ask a Korean! News: Join the Lakers, Jeremy Lin

Is it wrong for an Asian American to be particularly excited about Jeremy Lin, former star player of Harvard basketball team? Because the Korean totally is, especially since Lin might join the Korean's beloved Lakers.

Here are some excerpts from Lin's profile on ESPN from last year, when Lin was still in school:

Soon the rest of the college basketball world might be turning its collective eye toward Jeremy Lin. Think about what the senior has done just this week for Harvard, which is off to its best start (7-2) in 25 years.

In keeping his team in the game right to the end, Lin scored a career-high 30 points and grabbed 9 boards in a 79-73 loss to No. 12 UConn. Then, in the Crimson's 74-67 upset at Boston College on Wednesday -- the second straight season Harvard has beaten BC -- Lin contributed 25 points.

So in two games against New England's annual NCAA tournament participants, Lin scored 55 points and shot 64 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free throw line.

He boasts an all-around repertoire rarely on display. Last season Lin was the only player in the nation to rank among the top 10 players in his conference in points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, field goal percentage, free throw percentage and 3-point percentage.

This year? He is merely second in the Ivy League in scoring (18.6 points), 10th in rebounding (5.3), fifth in field goal percentage (51.6 percent), third in assists (4.6), second in steals (2.4), sixth in blocked shots (1.2) ...

...

In his senior season [in high school] Jeremy averaged 15 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds and 5 steals, leading Palo Alto to a 32-1 record and a stunning 51-47 victory over nationally ranked Mater Dei in the CIF Division II state championship game.

Along the way, he converted some of the people who had mocked him. When Palo Alto played Mater Dei, students from both Jeremy's high school and rival Henry M. Gunn High crowded a local pizza joint to cheer for Jeremy and his team.

Converting people outside Northern California was more difficult. By his senior season, Lin was the runaway choice for player of the year by virtually every California publication. Yet he didn't receive a single Division I scholarship offer.

Lin doesn't know why, but believes his ethnicity played a part.

Asian-Americans make up just 0.4 percent of Division I basketball rosters, according to the latest NCAA numbers. That equates to 20 players out of 5,051.

...

But stereotypes die hard and remain propagated by the ignorant. At UConn, as Jeremy stepped to the free throw line for the first time, one disgraceful student chanted, "Won-ton soup."

"I do get tired of it; I just want to play," Lin said. "But I've also come to accept it and embrace it. If I help other kids, than it's worth it."

Immigrant dream plays out through son: Harvard's do-it-all star learned the game from his father and a host of NBA legend [ESPN.com]

Here is also a nice video of Lin going toe to toe with John Wall, the number one pick of the draft this year.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Ask a Korean! News: Bok and Dog Meat

A new addition to the roster of the Korean's favorite blogs (see the right sidebar) is 악식가의 미식일기, a Korean blog run by a food columnist. Blogger Hwang Gyo-Ik writes mostly about Korean food.

Today is bok day in Korea. Bok refers to the three days in summer on which Korea is the hottest. Traditionally, on bok days Korean people eat hot, boiling soup that is supposed to make you sweat and restore balance of your body. The favorite dishes of the bok days are samgyetang (chicken and ginseng soup) and boshintang (dog meat soup.)

The Korean's previous exposition on dog meat is here. Below is Mr. Hwang's take on boshintang, which shows how the dog meat debate is shaping up within Korea.

-----------------------------------

I wrote a column about dog meat in 2007, and received curses and insults that I have never faced in my life. Since then, I re-live that nightmare every year on bok day. I do not particularly want to rehash that event, but I re-post the columns that I wrote at that time because cowering in the face of insults would mean defeat. My thoughts on this issue remains the same today as it was when I wrote it. The columns were carried on Weekly Dong-A.

Chewy and Supple, the Best Health Food
(Weekly Dong-A, July 18, 2007)

Ever since I was born, my house always had a dog, be it a Jindo, Spitz or Poodle. I always had a pet dog even after I was married and had my own family. Currently my family raises a Yorkshire Terrier. My family and I have devoted a lot of affection for our dogs. If one happened to die, we would all sink in sorrow for days.

But I eat dog meat. (The rest of my family does not. The children are too young for dog meat just yet, and I never suggest it to my wife since she never eats it.) I do not eat it just for the sake of health; I eat it for the flavor, like the way I eat beef or pork. When my coworkers or clients ask, "Should we go have some meat?", I instinctively associate the "meat" to include dog meat. I am sure most middle-aged men are the same way as I, particularly during summer.

For people like myself who loves dogs as well as dog meat, there is a historical document that provides comfort. (Don't we love it when something is written down somewhere?) Bonchogangmok, the leading book of ancient oriental medicine, categorizes dogs into three groups based on use: "The first is a hunting dog; the second is a guard dog/home dog; the third is a meat dog. Dog raises the yang of the body, heals the five fatigues and seven injuries, aids blood flow and warms the waist and the hips. It is good for illnesses that cause loss of appetite; it also brightens one's eyes..." These categories are still useful today. As long as we avoid misusing a home dog as a meat dog, they are very helpful toward alleviating the dilemma of being a dog-loving, dog-meat-gourmand.

Inability to distinguish dogs for a pet from dogs for food really hinders the enjoyment of dog meat. Imagine boshintang restaurant listing the items by breed, such as "Sheppard soup -- $ 9", "Yorkshire Terrier soup - $ 7", "Jindo soup - $ 10". Even a person who does not have a pet dog would have a hard time adjusting to that.

The term boshintang ("body-helping soup") itself was a strategy to subdue the imagery of pets when the word "dog" is mentioned. Reportedly, the term boshintang was coined during the Rhee Syngman administration; traditionally, the name used was either gaejang or gujang ("dog soup"). The administration forbade the use of the term gaejang or gujang because it thought that foreigners would consider the dog-eating habit to be primitive. As the name boshintang became widely known for its true meaning, other names like yeongyangtang ("nutrition soup") or sacheoltang ("four-season soup") were used as well.

The names boshintang, yeongyangtang and sacheoltang imply that dog meat is good for your health. Most Koreans who enjoy dog meat believe that dog meat would benefit their health. I believe that foreigners consider dog meat consumption as "primitive" at least partly because they are critical of Koreans' obsession over health.

But should dog meat be had only because of its supposed health benefits? To my palate, dog meat is a very delicious meat. It does not have as much umami as beef, but it outshines beef in its lean texture and subtle, unique aroma. In particular, the grease from dog meat is much lighter, which makes the flavor fresh and clear. The meat with skin has an elegant combination of chewiness and suppleness.

I do, however, have a lot of issues with the restaurants that serve this delicious meat. Many of them serve meat in the color of tree barks, limp vegetables that are too green and too dark at the same time and unappetizing broth. The pot and the gas burner are riddled with soup stains, as are the table and the cushions. The interior smells damp and the lighting is dim, giving off an unhygienic vibe. I think this atmosphere partially contributes to the trend in which women tend not to enjoy dog meat. It is said that food is 70 percent atmosphere, 30 percent flavor. There is no reason why dog meat cannot be enjoyed in a presentable format served at a clean, upscale interior.

Recently, boshin.com, a website selling dog meat online, was summarily closed after receiving unfavorable and angry Internet attention. Even though the website might have enabled people to enjoy boshintang in the clean atmosphere of one's own home instead of in an unhygienic restaurant, dog meat remains in the center of controversy.


Food Cannot be Immoral
(Weekly Dong-A, August 1, 2007)

I am going through some truly unbelievable events. In my column last week I wrote that I eat dog meat; now I am a target of all kinds of insult. I would just ignore the online comments on the column itself, blaming the crass Internet culture. But now I am receiving emails with insults. I am considering filing a police report.

I had no intention of starting a debate with dog meat abolitionists. As a food columnist who eats dog meat, I merely wrote a column about food that many Koreans eat. I do see a point in what dog meat abolitionists are arguing, since they may see it disgusting to eat an animal that is close to people. But that position cannot be the universal truth.

It is violence to fling insults and threats to dog meat-eaters, screaming that "You should not eat dog meat because I do not eat dog meat." That people who do not maintain the most basic respect to fellow humans force other people to respect dogs is incredibly wrong. I, a dog meat eater, have no intention to force-feed it to dog meat abolitionist, as much as I have no intention to force-feed pork to my Muslim friend.

As I study Korea's food culture, I feel that there is a certain attitude of cultural superiority within a certain class of our society. The people who consider themselves to be in a higher class has a tendency to eat different things, as if to show off, "You can't eat this, can you?" But lately, this distinction has slowly eroded as restaurant industry developed. Food has been democratized, such that the dishes that were only available in five-star hotel restaurants are now cheaply available at any franchise restaurant. This trend hampers their strategy to distinguish themselves through food. I believe that the dog meat controversy is a part of the new strategy -- to highlight their superiority by looking down upon what others eat.

The reason why I think the dog meat abolitionists are the same with Korean society's cultural aristocracy is because of their rationale that dog meat is immoral. Food can be neither moral nor immoral, as much as a lettuce cannot be categorized as moral or immoral. But they seek to categorize moral humans and immoral ones on the basis of whether one eats or does not eat dog meat. This is how they reconfirm to themselves that they are on a morally superior position.

I will reiterate that dog meat abolitionists have a point. There is no culture that must be preserved absolutely at all cost. Culture changes over time. Not long ago, dog meat was a "seasonal dish for healthy summer," but now many have come to regard it it as repulsive due to the pet dog culture that flourished in the last decade. Consider how long it has been in Korea since people started raising dogs inside the house -- for Koreans, the culture of dogs for meat is several thousands of years old, while the culture of pet dogs only a decade. But currently, the pet dogs have the upper hand in popular culture. The trend will almost certainly reduce the population of those who eat dog meat in the future. This change does not depend on the idea of whether or not dog meat is moral or immoral; it only depends on the idea of dog meat is edible or inedible.

The cultural difference regarding food has a potential to cause a lot of damage, because food strongly reflects the cultural identity of those who enjoy it. So please, dog meat abolitionists, stop with the insults and charges of immorality just because there is a difference in opinion. Just loving your own dog is enough to slowly phase out the dog meat eating culture.

복날의 개고기 [악식가의 미식일기]

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

50 Most Influential K-Pop Artists: Just Missed the Cut (Part 2)

[Series Index]

It's been a long interruption due to the Korean's wedding and such, but the 50 Most Influential K-Pop Artists series is back. This is Part 2 of the roundup of K-Pop artists who were considered, organized by their debut year. Part 2 consists of the artists who debuted after 1990. After getting these names out of the way, the series will move along with a full head of steam.

All of these singers are all pretty famous, and their songs are worth listening to if you want to get the full context of the prevalent music within the genre and the era. The Korean included Korean names of the singers/bands so that readers may copy/paste the names in Youtube search window.



Yoon Jong-Shin (윤종신), 1991

In 15 words or less:  Creator of ballad songs that are not cheap and banal.
Maybe he should have been ranked because…  Nah, he shouldn’t have been ranked.
He was not ranked because…  He shouldn’t have been. His influence was just not that great.

Um Jeong-Hwa (엄정화), 1993

In 15 words or less:  A huge multi-talent who can sing, dance, act AND age gracefully.
Maybe she should have been ranked because…  She has turned an actress who can single-handedly carry a movie – a rarity in Korea.

She was not ranked because…  This chart is about music.

배반의 장미 ("Rose of Betrayal") by Um Jeong-Hwa

Cool, 1994

In 15 words or less:  Fairly popular dance group in the mid-1990s.
Maybe they should have been ranked because…  Their song Woman of the Beach (해변의 여인) is still the unofficial anthem of summer in Korea.

They were not ranked because…  One hit wonders don’t well on this chart.

해변의 여인 ("Woman on the Beach") by Cool

Cho Gwan-Woo (조관우), 1994

In 15 words or less:  One of the rarest voices in Korea, climbing five octaves.
Maybe he should have been ranked because…  His second album created a boom of remake albums.

He was not ranked because…  What have you done for me lately? He somehow could not parlay his massive success of his second album into better and better music.

꽃밭에서 ("At the Flowerpatch") by Cho Gwan-Woo

DJ Doc, 1994

In 15 words or less:  Arguably the hardest partiers in K-pop history, with the music to match.
Maybe they should have been ranked because…  Sex. Drugs. Scandals. Name it, DJ Doc did it – and they wrote some pissed-off songs in response. It may have been the first instance in K-pop history where an artist/band gave the public the middle finger.
They were not ranked because…  Musically they were not particularly special except for one album, and they were not the last one to be mired in scandals and gave the middle finger.

Kim Jin-Pyo (김진표), 1995

In 15 words or less:  Pioneering Korean rapper.
Maybe he should have been ranked because...  He elevated the very nascent Korean rap to another level of maturity.
He was not ranked because...  Close call, but did not last long enough to gain cultural significance like other rappers did. Legacy is also exaggerated because he was associated with Lee Jeok (이적), who was the mastermind of their band, Panic.

Fly by Kim Jin-Pyo

Kim Gyeong-Ho (김경호), 1995

In 15 words or less:  The man who kept Korean rock alive in the mid- to late 1990s.
Maybe he should have been ranked because...  He really was the only person who kept rock relevant to Korean pop culture for about five or six years.
He was not ranked because...  He sustained the genre, but did not exactly advance it.

Clon, 1996

In 15 words or less:  The group that could really dance and just have fun.

Maybe they should have been ranked because...  A couple of their songs are iconic. (One of them below.) Also, Gang Won-Rae's tragic motorcycle accident, which rendered him paraplegic, provided a much-needed boost for disabled people's rights in Korea.
They were not ranked because...  At the end of the day, not special musically. (And they also misspelled what was meant to be "Clone" -- not that it matters.)

꿍따리샤바라 ("Koongdarishabara") by Clon

Juju Club, 1996

In 15 words or less:  One of the pioneers of the weird.

Maybe they should have been ranked because...  Also has an iconic song that still plays today.

They were not ranked because...  Ended up being a one-album wonder, and were not as weird as they could have been either.

열여섯스물 ("Sixteen/Twenty") by Juju Club

Jinusean, 1997

In 15 words or less:  Another rap group that could really have fun.

Maybe they should have been ranked because...  They were one of the pioneers of the Korean-Americans-in-Korean-entertainment trend.

They were not ranked because...  Close call, but hard to rank too many rappers when rap/hiphop as a stand-alone genre is not that huge in Korea.

Lee Gi-Chan (이기찬), 1997

In 15 words or less:  Significant ballad singer.

Maybe he should have been ranked because...  He owned the ballad scene for about two years (2001-02).

He was not ranked because... That's not enough to be ranked, considering he did not innovate at all.

춤추는 나무 ("Dancing Tree") by Lee Gi-Chan

Lee Jeong-Hyeon (이정현), 1999

In 15 words or less:  The woman who made techno mainstream in Korea.

Maybe she should have been ranked because...  Anyone who can carry a genre by herself deserves a consideration.

She was not ranked because...  At the end of the day, not musically special, and not much commitment to the genre. Also, much of her fame was based on having the right lyrics ("change") that resonated with the popular politics at the time.

CB Mass, 2000

In 15 words or less:  At one point, might have been the top 2 rap group in Korea.
Maybe they should have been ranked because...  May have been the best pissed-off rappers in Korea.
They were not ranked because...  Given the relatively small influence of rap compared to the overall k-pop landscape, they could not jump ahead of the better rappers.

The Movement II by CB Mass

No Brain, 2000

In 15 words or less:  Significant punk rockers, particularly in the live scene.
Maybe they should have been ranked because...  Probably had the most unique sound in Korean punk rock to go with fantastic pissed-off lyrics.
They were not ranked because...  Similarly to CB Mass with rap, there are only so many punk rockers who can crack the top 50 given the relative influence of the entire genre.

Cherry Filter, 2000

In 15 words or less:  One of the best female-lead rock bands in Korea.
Maybe they should have been ranked because...  At least one of their songs made it HUGE.
They were not ranked because...  Ten years after their debut, their legacy is still not clear, hanging above one-hit wonder but below perennial hit makers.

낭만고양이 ("Romance Cat") by Cherry Filter

Big Mama, 2003

In 15 words or less:  Female group that bucked the trend.
Maybe they should have been ranked because...  At least for a year or so, presented a real way in which female singers could succeed with the merits of their voice alone.
They were not ranked because...  At the end of the day, nothing changed; that's no influence.

체념 ("Letting Go") by Big Mama

Jang Yoon-Jeong (장윤정), 2004

In 15 words or less:  Woman who singlehandedly brought trot back to life.
Maybe she should have been ranked because...  In terms of the level of difficulty, getting the young people interested in trot again was an enormous feat.
She was not ranked because...  Very close call, but not enough to outrank those above her. However, that might change depending on how the current trot trend shakes out.

어머나 ("Oh My") by Jang Yoon-Jeong

Wonder Girls, 2007

In 15 words or less:  At one point, the hottest girl group in Korea.
Maybe they should have been ranked because...  See above.
They were not ranked because...  They sabotaged their own influence through an ill-advised U.S. venture.

Nobody by Wonder Girls

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Oh great. The Korean can only imagine what kind of stupid questions will come in after this mess airs...

Meet The Cast Of The Asian Jersey Shore: K-town [MTV Iggy] (via Marmot's Hole)

Pricking Fingers

Dear Korean,

I have been watching Korean dramas and there is something I noticed. When someone is not feeling well, they will use a needle to prick the fingers. How does that help? Is it a Korean thing?

Kat


Dear Kat,

Yes. To be more specific, it is a type of acupuncture.

The remedy is usually deployed for severe indigestion -- the type that feels like the food is stuck somewhere just above your stomach, happening mostly when you eat a little too fast. (Koreans have a word for this condition - che or geup-che - that is separate from normal indigestion. But the Korean cannot think of a single English word that is equivalent.)

The remedy itself is really easy. Sanitize a needle either by burning the tip or washing it with alcohol. Tie your thumb with a string or a rubber band to constrict the bloodflow. Then prick the little sliver of flesh on the corner of the thumb where it meets the fingernail. Press and let the blood out. The end result should look like the picture below.

 Example of a medicinally pricked finger.

(Source)

Based on personal experience and numerous, numerous first-person accounts, this remedy works like a charm; usually after about 15 minutes or so, you can feel the "stuck" feeling slowly going away. But how does this work? Chinese medicine practitioners have an explanation based on the body's qi flow and about how the bodily functions are replicated on a person's hand. But as far as the exact science is concerned, the mechanism by which pricking a finger helps indigestion is a mystery, like the way the exact mechanism by which acupuncture helps is still a mystery. Also, Korean doctors warn that this remedy only mitigates the symptoms without curing the underlying cause. Feel free to try out this remedy, but the safe thing to do is to visit the doctor.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Ask a Korean! News: North Korean Soccer (Part I)

First of all, congratulations to the Taeguk Warriors for making the knockout round for the first time outside of Korea.

While this World Cup has produced plenty of compelling moments -- like Landon Donovan's beautiful 91st minute goal against Algeria (USA! USA!) -- the leading Korean Peninsula-related story of the World Cup is the Chollima (the "Thousand-Mile Horses") of North Korea, who fought well against the 2-1 defeat against Brazil in the course of being eliminated.

Personally, the Korean thinks that North Korea should never have been allowed to play in the 2010 World Cup. Eve Fairbanks of Newsweek described the Korean's sentiment well:

But I have to admit that the more goals the Portuguese scored, the worse I felt. I didn't dare to wear my fiery colors of labor too obviously inside the Troyeville, but I was rooting for North Korea. Partly because of the amusement factor—rock-paper-scissors!—but mainly because, when I looked at those hapless North Korean players giving up goal after goal, I wondered how safe their friends and families would be.

...

FIFA—and South Africa—missed an opportunity by failing to ban the North Koreans. Enlightened people love to pooh-pooh cultural boycotts, but a ban would have reflected this part of the continent’s unique ethos and history. South Africa is the single country where a sports boycott did the most to heighten outside awareness of the evils of a regime—and to foment internal restlessness for change.

Bring Back the Sports Boycott [Newsweek]

The Korean cannot help Ms. Fairbanks get the boycott she (and he) wanted. But he can help taking a guess at what North Korean soccer players might go through, thanks to Mr. Joo Seong-Ha of Nambuk Story. Below is a series by Mr. Joo providing analysis on North Korean soccer's history and the current state. Because the series is in three parts, the Korean will also give the translation in three parts.

North Korean Soccer Analysis: Part I - Defeat Makes a Sea of Tears

June 18, 2008, King Fahd Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

As soon as the game against Saudi Arabia ended -- the last game in the Asia preliminaries for 2010 World Cup -- the North Korean players shed tears of joy as they embraced one another. They had just advanced to the World Cup Finals for the first time in 44 years. This was also the first time in history when South and North Korea advanced together.

 North Koreans players cheer at King Fahd Stadium after qualifying for the World Cup.

The players received a massive welcome parade in Pyongyang. The regime also rewarded them with awards at the highest level. Sixteen received the name of "People's Athlete," and three received the name "Contributing Athlete." People's Athlete is the highest honor for an athlete in North Korea. North Korea usually reserves the People's Athlete honors for athletes who won in the Olympics or a world championship, and the Contributing Athlete honors for those who won an Asia-wide competition. The unprecedented number of those who received the People's Athlete honors at the same time reflects how much North Korea values advancing into the World Cup.

The families of the People's Athlete apparently moved to the best Athlete's Apartments in Pyongyang. In particular, the families who used to live in rural areas won a Pyongyang citizenship, which is extremely difficult to obtain, thanks to their sons. This also shows the soccer's popularity in North Korea, and the emphasis that the regime puts on the sport.

Then why did North Korea fail to distinguish itself in the international stage for over 40 years? To understand this, it is necessary to explain the glory days of North Korea soccer -- the legend of quarterfinals in the England World Cup of 1966, 44 years ago.

June 30, 1966. When 66 members of Team North Korea and staff landed in London, many locals came to see them. For Europeans of that era, Asian soccer players were a curiosity. They were astonished by the fact that the average height of Team North Korea was 165 cm [TK: 165 cm = 5' 5"].

The culture shock was the same for the North Koreans. The players who went to the airport restroom were surprised when a "woman" came out of what was clearly marked as a men's room. Only after the interpreter arrived did they learn that in England, men could grow long hair as well.

It was a clear day when Team North Korea arrived -- an unusual sight in London infamous for bad weather. The local newspapers reported, "The players of the Land of the Morning Calm brought sunshine."

The group stage for North Korea was at Middlesbrough, in northeastern England. Upon arriving Middlesbrough, Team North Korea rejected the hotels assigned by the hosts four times, electing instead to stay outside the city at St. George Hotel, which was still under construction. This was done to save foreign currency.

Team North Korea's every move grabbed local paper's attention. An article reported that Team North Korea consumed more than one kilogram of chili pepper a day; a hotel chef was quoted, "If Englishmen ate chili like this, they would explode." Team North Korea appeared to be a team of mystery for Middlesbroughers.

No one expected North Korea to advance to the quarterfinals, because the same group had the contemporary powerhouses -- Soviet Union, Chile and Italy. The strongest one among them was Soviet Union, led by the legendary goalkeeper Yashin. As expected, Soviet Union defeated North Korea and Italy, advancing as the top team of the group. Later, Soviet Union would lose to West Germany in the semifinal in an upset, as West Germany beat Soviet Union for the first time since World War II. Led by its soccer hero Franz Beckenbauer, West Germany prevailed 2-1 after two Soviet players were red-carded.

Soviet Union beat North Korea 3-0. The scoreline implies a complete defeat, but in fact North Korean defenders did an impressive job defending the Soviet attacks despite overwhelming height disadvantage. The Times of London reported, "Only the final goal was the first and the last time when Soviet Union completely penetrated North Korean defense."

Middlesbroughers were surprised by Team North Korea. In the next game against Chile, more fans visited the stadium to cheer for North Korea. Chile had a strong team, finishing third in the 1962 World Cup. The final score was 1-1, but with an advantage to North Korea who outshot Chile 16 to 9.

The game against Italy was the last game in the group stage. Although North Korea was missing starters due to injuries from the Soviet Union and Chile games, it defeated Italy 1-0 thanks to Park Du-Ik's goal. Team Italy had to face a shower of rotten eggs upon their return home.

North Korea-Italy game in the England World Cup of 1966.

North Korea's "ladder header" beating the Italian defense.

Kim Bong-Hwan, Park Seung-Jin, Park Du-Ik, Han Bong-Jon 

and Lim Seung-Hui are forming the ladder, beating out Giacinto Facchetti.

For its first World Cup, North Korea advanced to the quarterfinals as the second place of its group. (At the time, World Cup finals had 16 countries.) Three thousands fans from Middlesbrough, fascinated by Team North Korea's game, traveled with the North Korean team to Liverpool, where the quarterfinals were to be held.

In the group stage, Portugal -- North Korea's quarterfinals opponent -- beat Brazil, the champion of the 1962 World Cup, by the score of 3-1. North Korea at first was leading by 3-0, but eventually lost by the score of 5-3. Eusebio, the best striker of the era, scored four goals.

Because of the time difference, North Korean people listened to this game live via radio on 1 a.m. Lee Sang-Byeok, a North Korean broadcasting legend who passed away in 1997, announced the play-by-play. Lee's voice was full of energy when North Korea was ahead by three. But as the team gave up goal after goal, his voice began losing strength. "Ah, Eusebio again" -- hearing this four times, the name Eusebio was deeply engraved in North Koreans' memory. After the North Korean team allowed the fourth goal, Lee began crying. In the crack of dawn, the entire North Korea turned into a sea of tears. As Italy still cannot forget Park Du-Ik, North Korea still cannot forget Eusebio.

Regardless, North Korea left a strong impression in its first-ever World Cup. What was the method of their success? People generally remember the Netherlands as the origin of "Total Soccer". But nearly a decade earlier, North Korea already employed a strategy that was essentially "everyone defends, everyone attacks." They overcame the physical disadvantage by simply running like hell.

Stanley Raus, then-president of FIFA, had asked "What kind of team is North Korea?" before the England World Cup. Upon watching the North Korea - Chile game, Raus pointed out the team captain Shin Yeong-Gyu and praised him as a world-class player. After the World Cup, Raus is reported to have said, "The world's best team would have Eusebio to attack, Shin to defend, and Yashin as the goalkeeper."

The players who returned to North Korea received the best treatment while staying at a hot springs resort in Hamgyeongbuk-do Ju-Eul for several months. But this was the time the watershed event for Kim Jong-Il's consolidation of power -- the purging of Gapsan line.

Gapsan line is the group of communists who were active around Hamgyeongnam-do during the Japanese colonial era. Kim Il-Sung, in a secret Labor Party Central Committee Meeting held on March of 1968, decided to purge the Gapsan line, which hindered the establishment of his unitary rule.

(Continued in Part II)

[북한축구해부1] -패배는 북한을 눈물바다로도 만든다 [Nambuk Story]

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

AAK! PSA -- New Vincent Chin Documentary

Below is a public service announcement by Mr. Tony Lam.

Dear Korean,

This week marks the 28th anniversary of the hate crime murder of Vincent Chin, a case that ignited the first Asian American civil rights movement and gave rise to a new "Asian American" identity and community.

In commemoration, we are releasing a Special Edition DVD of VINCENT WHO?, the 2009 documentary about Vincent Chin and the Asian American experience in political activism (see our new widescreen trailer). We are also launching a new website dedicated to Vincent Chin and his legacy to serve as an educational resource.

In doing so, we hope to contribute toward the day when the momentous, but mostly unknown story of Vincent Chin becomes a familiar one, not only among Asian Americans, but all Americans. Please join us in this effort by spreading the news. Thank you for your support!

Tony Lam

Director, Vincent Who?
 
Read more about Vincent Chin here.
 
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com

Ask a Korean! Wiki: Cultural Classes in Korea?

Dear Korean,

Do you know of any place in Seoul where I can take classes to learn calligraphy, paper making, bookbinding, knitting, how to cook Korean food, etc.?

Gina

Dear Gina,

The Korean does know a number of such places, but he presumes that you are not looking for a Korean-speaking place. Readers, do you know any foreigner-friendly cultural craft classes?

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Ask a Korean! News: Culturalism at Work - Why Is China So Bad at Soccer?

Before anyone takes out his flamethrower, the Korean must note that he did not come up with the title; the good folks at New York Times did:

The Chinese are enthralled with World Cup soccer. Nearly 24 million viewers in China watched the match between Greece and South Korea, making it the single biggest audience in the first days of World Cup play. But the Chinese team failed again to qualify for the World Cup, when even North Korea has made it to South Africa. Corruption in the Chinese soccer organization, which is a state enterprise, and the arrests of several coaches and players have added to the humiliation.

Why does China lag far behind in soccer when it competes so aggressively in many Olympic sports?

Where Are China’s Soccer Stars? [New York Times]

The reason why the Korean notes this particular item is not to sneer at Korea's westerly neighbor's inability to qualify for the World Cup. The Korean noted this item because this is an excellent example of culturalism.

What is culturalism? The Korean wrote previously that culturalism is the impulse to explain away people's behavior with a "cultural difference," real or imagined. Although few people focus on culturalism at this point, the Korean is convinced that this issue will become more important in the future. The danger of culturalism is plain -- by relying on an easier, "cultural" answer, we rob ourselves of more penetrating analysis. Instead of getting to the root of an issue, we settle with a facile cultural answer that is often incorrect. New York Times asked four experts about why China did not qualify for the World Cup, and the answers from those "experts" is a ridiculous parade of culturalism.

At the heart, having a national team that is good enough to qualify for the World Cup is a relatively micro-level issue. Remember, the question is not about why China is not winning the World Cup; it is about why China is not among the top three or four teams in Asia and qualify for the World Cup. At most, the scope of this question only needs to deal with the top 50 players of a country (from which the 18-men squad will be formed,) the manager of the team, and the governing body for the national team that oversees the entire process.

But instead, each writer's response in the New York Times reads like the list of "Things I don't like about China." None of the four respondents to the New York Times' question mentioned anything about China's top players. Nor did they say anything about China's manager. Only one respondent bothered to discuss the governing body, and only tangentially. Rowan Simons, chairman of China ClubFootball FC, says that the Chinese Football Association is a top-down, government-controlled body that cannot advance Chinese soccer. Simons wrote: "The simple truth is that China needs a system of community-based clubs that are run by the people for the people."

Really? South Korea qualified for World Cup seven times in a row since 1986, but it doesn't really have any community-based club. (Although it does have elite academies for top-flight players, like China does.) And good luck finding a community-based club team in North Korea, Mr. Simons.

Susan Brownwell, professor of anthropology at University of Missouri - St. Louis, says more of the same. "Why is there no Chinese soccer team at the World Cup? To answer that question, one has to ask why China has this state-supported system narrowly focused on Olympic medals rather than grassroots sports."

Like hell. Again, South Korea had no grassroots sports in 1986; in fact, South Korean sports apparatus of the time was not much different from the Chinese sports apparatus of today. Both were elite-oriented and government-driven. But South Koreans in 1986 cranked out seven consecutive World Cups over the next 24 years. And again, North Korea has no grassroots sports. This should be obvious to anyone who cares even a little bit about soccer in Asia.

Ray Tsuchiyama (a contributor to The China Tracker blog with no apparent expertise in soccer) says maybe the Chinese government does not want local clubs:

Perhaps the Chinese government feared that small soccer clubs proliferating throughout China would become a “bottom-up” societal movement that would challenge the Communist Party. Allowing thousands of small grassroots soccer clubs in semi-rural areas, provincial towns and cities would bring families, neighborhoods together and potentially create loyalties to the club over the state and its sports bureaucracy.

The Korean might admit that a local soccer club might be a more attractive draw than a local chapter of Falun Gong, but Tsuchiyama's point is laughable. English Premier League soccer and NBA basketball are exceedingly popular in China already. If the Chinese government is worried about sports stealing the loyalties of the people, wouldn't it prefer the loyalty-thieves to be stars of the local soccer clubs instead of Wayne Rooney and Kobe Bryant?

But wait, there's less -- Tsuchiyama conjectures that the "high-fat diet and sedentary lifestyle of children in many Chinese cities" might have something to do with the Chinese' soccer aptitude. Um, no. The fattest country in the world -- the mighty United States of America -- has no problem qualifying for the World Cup. Tsuchiyama also thinks that Chineses education system might be relevant, but South Korea's education system is no less grueling and sedentary.
 
Xu Guoqi, history professor at the University of Hong Kong, throws out everything but the right answer:

Too many factors contribute to China’s poor performance in soccer, including its political system, lack of a decent pool of soccer players, and Chinese parents’ overemphasis on book learning and academic examinations over everything else, soccer included.

Again, South Korea is a complete disproof to everything at which Xu guesses. South Korea's political system -- economy-focused authoritarianism -- was about the same as China until mid-1990s. South Korea did not even have a pro soccer league until 1983. And Korean parents take no backseat to anyone in whipping their children into scoring high in exams.

The most basic comparison involving the most successful national soccer team in Asia (South Korea) or the most headline-generating national soccer team in Asia (North Korea) would have shown that the success of a national soccer team (as long as "success" is defined as "qualifying for the World Cup") is not about having club teams or a particular political culture or educational system. The Korean does not doubt that all four respondents to the New York Times' query are intelligent people. And this goes to show the virulent strength of culturalism -- the intelligent is not free from its grip.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.