Ask a Korean! News: New York Times Endorses Fan Death

This is fun:In a new study, a team of researchers based primarily in Britain sought to review evidence on the effectiveness of electric fans during heat waves that have occurred all over the world. . . . The authors of the new report pointed out that when temperatures climb past 95 degrees, having a fan pointed at you can actually contribute to heat gain, not reduce it.At those temperatures, being...

Pyeong, and Old Habits Dying Hard

Dear Korean, When Koreans talk about the size of their condos they talk in something called pyung, like fifty pyung or one hundred pyung. So far nobody has been able to explain to me what that is. Could you tell me what one pyung is in square footage?CondePyeong [평] is a unit of measurement that has been in use in Korea, until very recently. It is the traditional measurement unit that managed to...

"Red Sun!"

Dear Korean,My wife is a fan of Korean dramas, and I have also a seen a few series. The other day, a colleague of mine who is even more of a K-drama fan mentioned that he's noticed references to "red sun" in several different series over the past few years, and it has piqued his curiosity. In each instance, a character apparently said the words "red sun" and made some sort of a gesture with his or...

Culturalism: Fukushima Edition

The Korean has long been an advocate against culturalism -- the instinctive response to blame culture to explain any and all behavior. In today's Financial Times, an excellent op-ed by Prof. Gerald Curtis shows the falsehood of culturalism in the context of Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster:[T]he commission concludes, “this was a disaster ‘Made in Japan.’ Its fundamental causes are to...

50 Most Influential K-Pop Artists: 18. Kim Hyeon-Sik

We are now finished with Tier 3 - Strong Impact K-pop artists. Beginning with our number 18, these artists are considered the greatest of a given era in K-pop.18. Kim Hyeon-Sik [김현식][Series Index]Also Romanized as:  Kim Hyun-Sik Years of Activity: 1980-1991Discography:New Songs by Kim Hyeon-Sik [김현식 새노래] (1980)Kim Hyeon-Sik 2 [김현식 2] (1984)The Third Album by Kim Hyeon-Sik and Spring,...

No Evolution in Korea?

Dear Korean, This is horrifying. I knew many are stupid this way in the US, but I hadn't realized that S. Korea was worse - although with the large Christian population, maybe it's not surprising. (No offense to Christians, I just have trouble with people who can't reconcile religion and science.) Is this likely to be a permanent...