A plea to Korean American parents for Halloween:  Please do not dress your children in traditional Korean garb for Halloween. Not to say all Korean American parents do this, but the Korean has definitely met enough young Korean Americans who had been traumatized by this experience. Korean traditional dress is not some costume that you dust off for a day marked with the strange and the outlandish....

Ask a Korean! Wiki: What is the Best City for Asian Americans?

Dear Korean,Now that I have some financial freedom to move relatively wherever I want, where is the best place for Asian Americans to live? New York City has been my home for 30 years and I have never liked the attitude towards Asians here.SamDear Sam,Very interesting question. The Korean's personal pick would be a tie...

In today's "court-decision-that-makes-you-shake-your-head" news, the Constitutional Court of Korea (one of the two highest courts of Korea) ruled that the military may disallow draftees from reading certain banned books (that are freely available in bookstore and government-funded libraries.) In a separate lawsuit, the administrative court ruled that military could justifiably fire the JAG officers...

Very clever -- Daewoo Securities, as a charity event, sold bottles of dirty water out of a vending machine for KRW 1,000 (about a dollar). For each bottle sold, Daewoo will add KRW 9,000 and donate to UNICEF for cleaning drinking water. They are aiming to sell 5,000 bottles, which will amount to KRW 50 million in proceeds after making the addition. Daewoo said they will...

Still More about Korean Names!

[Series Index]Dear Korean,I noticed in quite a few cases (at least on TV) that siblings share one syllable of their name. How common is this, and what is its origin? I get the sense that it is not considered as eccentric as giving all your children names which begin with the same letter. I also noticed that close friends and family sometimes will call a person by the syllable which is not shared with...

Like a G6 by Far East Movement, a hiphop group made up of four Asian Americans (two of them Koreans) went platinum (selling over 1 million) and topped the Billboard's Hottest 100.Not the Korean's cup of tea, however. His selection of recent rap is Eminem's Space Bou...

50 Most Influential K-Pop Artists: 44. Yoon Do-Hyeon

[Read more reviews from the Korean from the Library Mixer. To join, click here.][Series Index]44.  Yoon Do-Hyeon (also spelled Yoon Do-Hyun) [윤도현]Years of Activity:  1994-presentDiscography:Regular Albums (as leader of the Yoon Do-Hyeon Band)In Front of the Autumn Post Office [가을 우체국 앞에서] (1994)Yoon Do-Hyeon 2 [윤도현 2] (1997)Marginalization [소외] (1998)Re-Singing Korean Rock [한국 Rock...

Cut Peppers (Owww.....)

Dear Korean,This question might sound weird or even offensive but trust me -- I am asking this because I just wanna know. No offense intended. Or maybe I'm the only one who doesn't know the answer to this question yet. Anyway, I'll get straight. Are Korean males circumcised? If yes, what's the percentage?Rezzell E.Dear Offensive...

Ask a Korean! News: Islamophobia Reaches Korea

This cannot end well.An absurd assertion arguing that Islamic immigrants will bring down Korean society, spreading online, is causing a controversy. Other racially discriminatory assertions, not simply against Islam but also demanding the abandonment of the current multiculturalism policy, are also being boldly made, attracting attention as to the identity and the background of those who submit such...

Here is a piece of news to chew on:Germany's attempt to create a multi-cultural society has failed completely, Chancellor Angela Merkel said at the weekend, calling on the country's immigrants to learn German and adopt Christian values.Merkel weighed in for the first time in a blistering debate sparked by a central bank board member saying the country was being made "more stupid" by poorly educated...

Ask a Korean! Wiki: Freelancing in Korea?

Dear Korean,What's the freelancing scene like in Korea? Here in NYC, most people I know in my circle are freelancers and the others are salaried folks. I'm wondering if it's the same way in Seoul or Daegu. This may be a candidate for the wiki. Mike G.Dear Mike,Indeed it is! Readers, any thoughts?Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.c...

Ask a Korean! News: Kim Jong-Un Propaganda Begins

North Korea is gearing up to deify the new successor Kim Jong-Un, which is being met with cynicism. Below is the translation.------------------------------------As the North Korean regime embarked on a massive project to deify Kim Jong-Un, it is being met by jeers and ridicule from the people as it relies on absurd propaganda defying common sense. As the regime strains to package a 27-year-old man...

The Korean on Model Minority Myth

Dear Korean,How do you feel about the Model Minority Myth? I'm black and often inspired by Asians who have stats that say they are 4% of the country but 24% of Harvard. Others will say this is a myth of the success of Asians. What do you think?RedmanDear Redman,Here is the Korean's view in a nutshell:  properly used (note the emphasis,) the "model minority myth" can be a very useful...

Anti-Fan Death is Real?

Dear Korean,Ever since I got familiar with the Korean entertainment industry I’ve wondered why fans over there are so aggressive. They attack verbally and/or physically celebrities they hate, other fans, or anybody with negative or even different opinion about their favorite star. The first time I read about “antifans” was...

Ask a Korean! Wiki: How to Become a Makeup Artist?

Here is a question that totally stumped the Korean:Dear Korean,I'm a working make up artist here in the states and more recently in the last 3-4 years I've noticed that the craze for the more natural/translucent "Korean look" is high in demand, especially for bridal parties. I'm interested in going to Korea to get some proper training and was wondering if there are such facilities available to foreigners?...

The Korean is two episodes into the new Hawaii Five-O. Has there ever been another American TV show that featured two Koreans in the top-4 of their casting? It has to be a milestone of some sort.For the record, the Korean thinks the show is stupid. But the Korean Wife likes it, so we continue to wat...

50 Most Influential K-Pop Artists: 45. Girls' Generation

[Read more reviews from the Korean from the Library Mixer. To join, click here.][Series Index]Oh dear gods of rock, please forgive the Korean for what he is about to do.45.  Girls' Generation (also known as SNSD) [소녀시대]Years of Activity:  2007-present.Members:TaeYeon (Kim Tae-Yeon [김태연]) - Main VocalJessica (Jessica Jung/Jeong Su-Yeon [정수연]) - Main VocalSunny (Lee Soon-Gyu [이순규]) - Sub VocalTiffany...

Germany, 20 years after unification, still has uneasy tension between the two former regions. The discussion has primarily emphasized financial disparities: wages in the east remain at 80 percent of the west’s; the unemployment rate in the east is nearly 12 percent, about double that in the west; and the average wealth of an East German family is about 40 percent lower than its West German counterpart....

Ask a Korean! News: Nambuk Story on North Korean Succession

It's official -- the 27-year-old (seriously!) Kim Jong-Un, son of Kim Jong-Il, is named as the successor. There is plenty of coverage about Kim Jong-Un, but not nearly enough about other family members of Kim Jong-Il who are also rising to prominence. And as always, Mr. Joo Seong-Ha of Nambuk Story has got that covered. *                 ...

Fantastic article about translations on New York Times. A sample:Let’s try to forget that the words “Call me Ishmael” mean anything, and think about how they sound. Listen to the vowel sounds: ah, ee, soft i, aa. Four of them, each different, and each a soft, soothing note. Listen too to the way the line is bracketed by consonants. We open with the hard c, hit the l at the end of “call,” and then,...

Ask a Korean! News: Critical Kimchi Shortage in Korea

Korea is in a state of mayhem, because of the exorbitant price of cabbage -- which in turn affects the price of kimchi. The Economist blog captures this pitch-perfect:It is unfortunate then for this nation of 50 million that the price of [napa] cabbage, the core ingredient of the most classic form of kimchi—is locked in an inflationary spiral. The price of this humble vegetable has risen over 400%...

THE PRESIDENT:  Now, I have to ask my Republican friends a question here: Do you think that China is cutting back on education?AUDIENCE:  No!THE PRESIDENT:  Do you think that South Korea is making it harder for their citizens to get a college education?AUDIENCE:  No!THE PRESIDENT:  These countries aren't playing for second place. And let me tell you something, the United States...

AAK! PSA: New Documentary from LiNK

Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) is releasing a new documentary, titled Hiding. The trailer is below.LiNK also partnered with Ford to follow a North Korean defector as he settled in Los Angeles. More details at LiNK's website.Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.c...

Happy October...

Ask a Korean! News: Interview with Mahbub Alam

One Korean movie that generated a lot of buzz last year is Bandhobi, which was one of the first major Korean film that dealt with immigrants into Korea from poorer Asian countries. The star of the movie, Mahbub Alam from Bangladesh, recently gave a very interesting interview with Dong-A Ilbo. Below is the translation.*                   ...