Ask a Korean! -- New Subscription Plan

Dear readers,Many of you mayㅁ have heard that theㅏ New York Timesㄴ online is movingㅇ to a subscription-based system, which inspiredㅜ the Korean. Although ㅈAAK! has been attracting thousandsㅓ of visitors a day, the Koreanㄹ resisted putting upㅈ advertisements -- mostly becauseㅗ he did not want to deal withㅋ the obnoxious "DATE A KOREAN GIRL NOW" ads. But whyㅡ not a subscription system? Why...

50 Most Influential K-Pop Artists: 31. Kim Min-Gi

[Read more reviews from the Korean from the Library Mixer. To join, click here.] [Series Index]31.  Kim Min-Gi [김민기]Years of Activity:  1971-present (last original album in 1987)Discography:Kim Min-Gi [김민기] (1971)Factory Lights: Musical Original Soundtrack [공장의 불빛 OST] (1978)Gaettong'i: Musical Original Soundtrack [개똥이 OST] (1987)Daddy's Face is Pretty: Musical Original...

Ask a Korean! Wiki: Calling All Gay Koreans!

Dear Korean,Let's say I want to meet an Korean (gay) guy... where can I find one? WesleyNo. Idea. The Korean already retired from his hetero dating several years ago, and has no idea what the young gay whippersnappers do to meet people.Where are my Korean gay people at? Feel free to describe locations as well as online communities.Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakore...

Walls with Barbed Wire?

Dear Korean,What's with all the barbed wire in Seoul? I hear nothing but positive comments on the safety and low crime rate in Korea, so I wonder why are the fences and walls surrounding apartments, 'villas' and homes are topped with barbed wire? S. EronProbably the most accurate answer is -- why not? While Korea does have...

Ask a Korean! News: Rumors Begin to Spread in Japan

Well, it would be strange if a society was totally immune to crazy rumors in the wake of a disaster in a historical scale. According to Asahi Shimbun (via Dong-A Ilbo,) around northeastern Japan rumors such as "there is a group of foreigner thieves," "there are more rape cases," etc. are spreading.The zainichi community -- Korean-Japanese people who are mostly the holdovers from the colonial era --...

AAK! PSA: Documentary about Comfort Women -- Free Screening This Saturday

There is a free screening of an award-winning documentary about Comfort Women this Saturday in Seoul. Here is a press release:From: The House of Sharing - International Outreach TeamWhat: FREE Documentary screening of “63 Years On”, the story of ‘Comfort women’ – the film is inmultiple languages with English subtitles. There...

Another grandmother who was exploited as a Comfort Woman passed away today. Just this year, there were six such passings. Now there are only 73 registered former Comfort Women still ali...

Ask a Korean! News: The Korean Saw This Move Before...

The Korean previously wrote that what goes on in Korea sometimes presages American politics and social phenomena. But this is just astounding:Clashes at state capitols over organized labor have become commonplace this year, with protesters throughout the country objecting to proposed limits on collective bargaining and cuts in benefits. Maine’s governor, Paul LePage, has opened a new — and unlikely...

The Korean was cited in the Economist. (Look under "What we're reading".) Co...

Ask a Korean! News: North Korean Special Forces

Here is a translation of an interesting/terrifying news story about North Korean Special Forces.Mr. Im Cheon-Yong (45) was a captain of North Korean Special Forces. He is relatively short -- not quite 170 cm [TK: 5' 7"] -- but had unusually large fists, reminiscent of a cartoon character. The fact that this reporter met an officer of North Korean military's special combat unit became even more real...

50 Most Influential K-Pop Artists: 32. Patti Kim

[Read more reviews from the Korean from the Library Mixer. To join, click here.][Series Index]32.  Patti Kim [패티김]Years of Activity:  1958-presentDiscography:(Patti Kim did issue albums prior to 1969, but the information online only traces back to 1969.)Stereo Highlight Vol. 3: The White House [스테레오...

The Korean previously wrote about ethnic niche businesses -- for example, apparently Koreans are prevalent in the donut stores around Dallas/Ft. Worth area. An interesting New York Times article discusses the same idea in New York:For generations, sociologists have been studying the way immigrant groups gravitate to such pursuits and professions. In New York lately, Filipinos and West Indians...

This Jalen Rose-Grant Hill thing is still going strong. An interesting point from Ethan Strauss, a writer for ESPN:I’m indicting my fellow white writers here. When sports spawn racial controversies, our conveyor belt churns out one of the two responses: 1. LeBarryBrondsism: “I’m mad at a black athlete and race is NOT a factor here! I know that because I’m incensed enough to speak out on this issue....

Holy cow, YB. Shades of Jo Yong-Pil in this performance. (Start at 1:50 mar...

A Retrospective on Identity: State of a Gyopo at Age 30

Thirty is probably the age that causes the most trepidation among Koreans. Thirty means much more than the pressures for a job and marriage from your parents. It is an occasion for a deep reflection about your life. It is not a coincidence that one of the most iconic Korean pop songs is titled "Around Thirty." For Koreans around thirty, Kim Gwang-Seok's soft voice, singing "Another day drifted...

Homefront: Too Scared to Offend China

Dear Korean,I just wanted to share with you a concern I have about a particular video game I played, called Homefront. . It's basically an alternative view of reality where North Korea unified both North and South when Kim Jong-Il died and his son took over. The thing that concerns me is its portrayal of North and South Korea....

The principle that idiocy knows no national boundaries was again confirmed in the reactions to the tragedy caused by Japan's earthquake -- in Korea, idiots on the Internet celebrated Japan's earthquake, and in America, some idiots on the Internet thought Japan was getting its payback for Pearl Harbor attacks.But the king of all idiots in this parade is Tokyo's Governor Shintaro Ishihara, who said...

The Korean is Now on Twitter -- in Korean

To be honest, the Korean is a Luddite when it comes to social networking sites. It took this blog more than 3 years to get a Facebook page, only after many proddings from the readers about getting a Facebook account.And then, there is this whole Twitter thingamajigger. The Korean avoided it as long as he could, but the same problem as Facebook happened with Twitter -- there are so many people on it,...

Any day on which David Chang gets a shitty review is a good day for the Kore...

The Korean puts in a lot of effort to show people that what they do unknowingly could betray their subtle racism, held unknown even to themselves. And then the Korean sees a video like this, and despairs -- why bother talking about subtle racism in the face of such obvious raci...

Just look at the way Lee Sora owns the crowd in this video with her voice:This is music, boys and gir...

The Korean is LIVE CHATTING at the Mixologist tonight, from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. EST. Follow the link the sign up for the LibraryMixer and the Mixologist. Remember to add "The Korean" as your friend on LibraryMix...

The "Untranslatable Word" Trope

First of all, the Korean's thoughts and prayers for everyone in Japan today. Please be safe.In reaction to Japan's earthquake, Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times wrote a blog post about Japan's national character that will assist the recovery from this disaster. The Korean generally agreed with the overall point made by Kristof, but he found this passage a bit annoying:But the Japanese people...

This BBC survey is very interesting -- it asked people from different country whether a given country's influence in the world was positive or negative. The most interesting part for the Korean? 68% of Koreans believed that Japan has a positive influence in the world, while only 39% of the Japanese believed that their country has a positive influence in the world. (At p. 1...

50 Most Influential K-Pop Artists: 33. Kim Jong-Seo

[Read more reviews from the Korean from the Library Mixer. To join, click here.][Series Index]33.  Kim Jong-Seo [김종서]Years of Activity:  1986-presentDiscography:As vocal of SinawiDown and Up (1986)Solo AlbumsRethona (1992)PETSDN2 (1993)Kim Jong Seo (1994)Thermal Island (1995)Kim Jong Seo V (1996)Seeds (1998)The Seven Kim Jong Seo (1999)Odyssey (2001)No. 9 (2005)As vocal...

What to Make of Korean Wave?

Dear Korean,What do you make of the 'Korean wave', is it just an easily replicable fad or are Koreans becoming a key player in Southeast Asian pop culture?JoonkiDear Joonki,When many a K-pop group fills up stadium after stadium across Asia with their concerts, it is pretty hard to say that Korea is not a key player in Asian (not just Southeast Asian) pop culture:Many of the readers of this blog come...

If Immersion Works So Well for Language Learning...

One of the most popular posts on AAK! is about what is the best method for learning a new language, based on the Korean's own experience of learning English at age 16. Many people found it to be helpful and correct, and just as many found it to be wrong and misleading. And the objector's points usually go like this:I agree that memorization if vital but studying under stress will harm the learning...

Ask a Korean! News: Is the Union the Real Problem in American Education?

As the New York Times noted today, it is fashionable nowadays for Americans to bash on teachers and teachers' union for the failing American education.The jabs Erin Parker has heard about her job have stunned her. Oh you pathetic teachers, read the online comments and placards of counterdemonstrators. You are glorified baby sitters who leave work at 3 p.m. You deserve minimum wage.“You feel punched...