Ask a Korean! Wiki: What to See Around Busan?

Dear Korean,

I will be in Busan in May for business and will be going on a tour of Oedo Island & Hallyeo Marine Nat’l Park and a tour of Bulguksa Temple, Tumuli Park and Cheomseongdae Observatory in Gyeongju. I will have 4 or 5 days for myself for day trips and am wondering where you would recommend to travel. I think I would like to go back to Gyeongju and see other areas as well. Are there national parks near Busan that are recommended? I would love to be with the nature and do some hiking and photography.

P.

Dear P.,

The Korean Father is from mid-east Korea. The Korean Mother is from southwestern Korea. The Korean lived in the heart of Seoul for all of his life in Korea. That means that southeastern Korea -- which encompasses Busan and Gyeongju -- is a huge blind spot for the Korean. He does not know anything about southeastern Korea any more than any travel book can tell you.

This apparently is Busan. The Korean wouldn't know.

(Source)

Readers, did you enjoy any part of southeastern Korea? Any recommendations? Food recommendation would be particularly welcome, as the Korean found most food in Daegu to be completely inedible. (He has heard very nice things about Andong, however.)

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

God Loves Tiger Moms

Dear Korean,

I'm writing in response to what you've discussed in your post about Professor Chua's article: in general, you seem to espouse the stance that hard-line parenting is best. If I'm correct in recalling your mentioning Christian faith somewhere in your blog, how do you reconcile your faith with your support of Chua's parenting? Regardless of whether children are happy playing piano more than an hour a day, could they actually become godly in an environment that emphasizes personal achievement over human relationships? I fail to see how a God who calls rich young men to lay down their riches - who tells us to love Him and others extravagantly, and as a pursuit higher than acquiring knowledge or doing good works - could possibly be squeezed into the busy lives of Chua's daughters.

Katherine

Dear Katherine,

You recall correctly -- the Korean is a church-going Christian who takes his faith seriously. That means that the following caveat is necessary:

ATTENTION, asshole atheists who troll the Internet. The Korean respects atheists. The Korean does not respect assholes. The respectable atheists write thoughtful books, articles and blog posts about their beliefs. The asshole atheists go around the Internet, latch onto any marginally pertaining to religion, and screech and holler about how religion is stupid and so are the religious people. The Korean takes all comers -- if you want to debate religion with him, send him an email. Don't shit on the comment board just because religious people want to discuss religion. It is a sad statement on you people that this kind of caveat is even necessary.

With that out of the way, the Korean must add another caveat. While the Korean is a serious Christian, he is not any sort of authority. It's not like he attended a seminary. This is just what he thinks, based on what he believes. Take this post for what it is.

Now, onto the question. Katherine is actually asking two questions. First question is -- could Tiger Cubs become godly in an environment that emphasizes personal achievement over human relationships?

This question begins from a false premise. The greatest misconception about Tiger Parenting is that it leaves no room for human relationships. The champion of this misconception is New York Times' David Brooks, who wrote:

Participating in a well-functioning group is really hard. It requires the ability to trust people outside your kinship circle, read intonations and moods, understand how the psychological pieces each person brings to the room can and cannot fit together.

This skill set is not taught formally, but it is imparted through arduous experiences. These are exactly the kinds of difficult experiences Chua shelters her children from by making them rush home to hit the homework table.

Chua would do better to see the classroom as a cognitive break from the truly arduous tests of childhood. Where do they learn how to manage people? Where do they learn to construct and manipulate metaphors? Where do they learn to perceive details of a scene the way a hunter reads a landscape? Where do they learn how to detect their own shortcomings? Where do they learn how to put themselves in others’ minds and anticipate others’ reactions?

These and a million other skills are imparted by the informal maturity process and are not developed if formal learning monopolizes a child’s time.

Amy Chua is a Wimp [New York Times] (emphasis added)

(Would you be surprised that this article was sent or referred to the Korean a few dozen times? No? Ok, let's move on.)

Brooks might have a point if indeed formal learning utterly, completely monopolized a child's time under Tiger Parenting. But that is just not true. It is not as if Prof. Chua chained her daughter to the piano. Prof. Chua's daughters went to school, where they surely must have had many group projects for which group management is crucial. Prof. Chua's daughters surely must have hung out with their friends during breaks in school. Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld has a boyfriend, for crying out loud. This misconception lives on because often, critics of Tiger Parenting have no idea what Tiger Parenting actually looks like. So they conjure up the most horrifying image, and spend their time railing against that specter. In essence, this is no more than a variation of the "roboticity" argument, which is wrong, wrong and wrong some more because it just has no basis in reality.

As Katherine correctly implies, being a godly Christian entails sharing your faith with your fellow Christians. Tiger Parenting does not foreclose this type of sharing. The thriving Asian American churches all across America are proofs that Tiger Cubs have no problem getting together to share their faith. (As the Korean explained previously, Asian Americans are not the only Tiger Cubs of America -- but they serve as a reliable indicator of Tiger Cub behavior, because they are most likely to have Tiger Moms.)

Let us now address Katherine's bigger question:  How does the Korean reconcile his faith with Tiger Parenting?

The Korean believes that Christianity can serve as a guardrail to prevent Tiger Parenting from going wrong. The Korean has no doubt that Tiger Parenting is superior. But as he explained previously, that does not mean Tiger Parenting is perfect. And one of the greatest imperfections of Tiger Parenting is that unless it is firmly backstopped by love, it runs the risk of becoming an ego-tripping trophy creation by the parents.

By submitting oneself to God, a Christian parent will have a healthier perspective on what they can do for their children, and what must be left to God. Following God's words serves as a good reminder that no one can do exactly what s/he wants to do. On a more practical level, regular participation in church service and activities increases the social interactions over which the critics of Tiger Parenting so worry. This way, Christianity can serve as an essential complement to Tiger Parenting.

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

Ask a Korean! News: Sweden - Not the Least Racist Country in the World

The Korean previously wrote that America is the least racist country in the world, because:

[I]t’s one of the few countries that racial minorities are in a position to threaten the racial majority, and it’s the only one among those countries that is by and large successful in curbing the racist sentiments that inevitably follow from such a situation.
...
[A] country that has no significant number of racial minorities cannot possibly claim that it is not a racist country. How can you confidently say that your morals will overcome your survival instinct, if your survival was never tested?

Right now, Sweden's survival instinct is getting tested, and sure enough, racism inevitably rears its ugly head:

For a time, Sweden seemed immune to the kind of anti-immigrant sentiment blossoming elsewhere on the European continent. Its generous welfare and asylum policies have allowed hundreds of thousands of refugees to settle here, many in recent years from Muslim countries. Nearly a quarter of Sweden’s population is now foreign born or has a foreign-born parent.

But increasingly, Swedes are questioning these policies. Last fall, the far-right party — campaigning largely on an anti-immigration theme — won 6 percent of the vote and, for the first time, enough support to be seated in the Swedish Parliament.

Six months later, many Swedes are still in shock. The country — proud of its reputation for tolerance — can no longer say it stands apart from the growing anti-immigrant sentiment that has changed European parliaments elsewhere, leading to the banning of burqas in France and minarets in Switzerland.

...

Mr. Gasi was able to earn a doctorate degree here, and he has a job as a teaching assistant. But he still does not feel welcome. He points to the swastikas and the Serbian crosses etched in the hall outside the mosque he attends.

“It’s hard to watch the news,” he said. “It’s Muslim this, Muslim that. Everything is about how bad we are. The Swedish won’t say anything to your face. But they say things.”

Swedes Begin to Question Liberal Migration Tenets [New York Times]

If one wants to truly gauge the level of racism in a country, one needs to take a serious look about whether minorities are in a position to threaten the majority. Any country can claim tolerance when there is no one around to tolerate. Put differently, the formula for anti-racism is the proportion and status of racial minorities, times the actual tolerance practiced.

Can you really practice tolerance when you feel the racial minorities might change everything around you? That is the true test of how anti-racist a society is, and there is still no country on the Earth that does better on that test than America.

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

Ask a Korean! News: What do Americans Know about Fighting for Democracy?

New York Times' Nicholas Kristof touched upon something that the Korean has been thinking about lately.

We Americans spout bromides about freedom. Democracy campaigners in the Middle East have been enduring unimaginable tortures as the price of their struggle — at the hands of dictators who are our allies — yet they persist. In Bahrain, former political prisoners have said that their wives were taken into the jail in front of them. And then the men were told that unless they confessed, their wives would promptly be raped. That, or more conventional tortures, usually elicited temporary confessions, yet for years or decades those activists persisted in struggling for democracy. And we ask if they’re mature enough to handle it?

The common thread of this year’s democracy movement from Tunisia to Iran, from Yemen to Libya, has been undaunted courage. I’ll never forget a double-amputee I met in Tahrir Square in Cairo when Hosni Mubarak’s thugs were attacking with rocks, clubs and Molotov cocktails. This young man rolled his wheelchair to the front lines. And we doubt his understanding of what democracy means?

In Bahrain, I watched a column of men and women march unarmed toward security forces when, a day earlier, the troops had opened fire with live ammunition. Anyone dare say that such people are too immature to handle democracy?

Unfit for Democracy? [New York Times]

To take one step further from Kristof's point -- what do Americans know about fighting for democracy? To be sure, Americans know a whole lot about running and maintaining democratic institutions and traditions. But do Americans know anything about creating democracy out of oppression? Do we know anything about reversing a millennium of un-freedom? In the last 30 years, has any American been beaten, tortured, broken for the sake of democracy? Are we not clumsily stretching the lesson from a bygone era over an inapposite situation of today? ("Founding Fathers had guns. Libyans should have guns too!")

As the Korean has explained before, America has previously engaged in successful democracy-building projects. But that does not mean we have the sole, or even superior, expertise about how democracy is created. The right thing to do is to lower ourselves humbly and assist the flowering democracy in any way we can, and not to spew garbage about who deserves democracy and who does not. After all, it's not like we know.

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

AAK! PSA: Film Festival

Korean American Film Festival New York will be held next month. Below is their press release.

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Now in its fifth year, the annual Korean American Film Festival (KAFFNY) is the only New York based independent film festival showcasing Korean American and Korean diasporic perspectives in film. Since 2006, KAFFNY has broadened its programming to include international films and videos by Korean and as well as non-Korean filmmakers.

For its fifth anniversary, KAFFNY presents New York audiences with a challenging and innovative program ranging from groundbreaking early Korean cinema to the most current emerging Korean American films.

This year KAFFNY honors the veteran documentary filmmaker Dai-Sil Kim-Gibson with a retrospective of six pioneering films that powerfully capture the complexities of the Korean diaspora. Special guest and long-time collaborator Charles Burnett will join Dai Sil Kim Gibson for a discussion about the LA Riots, 19 years later, after the screening of her documentaries SA-I-GU and WET SAND: VOICES OF LA.

KAFFNY’s opening night presentation features a live re-score of the seminal Korean Golden age drama MADAME FREEDOM (1956) by Paul Miller aka DJ Spooky with virtuoso violinist Sean Lee and acclaimed cellist Okkyung Lee. KAFFNY will screen over 14 feature films and more than 25 short films by emerging and established Korean American, Korean and international directors.

FESTIVAL LOCATIONS

Chelsea Clearview Cinemas: 260 West 23rd St, New York, NY 10011
White Box: 329 Broome Street. New York, NY 10002
Big Screen Project: 6th Avenue between 29th and 30th Streets

All programs at White Box will be live streamed to the Big Screen Project in the public plaza behind the Eventi Hotel at 30th and 6th Ave.

Please visit www.kaffny.com for program updates and final schedule.

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After the jump, the roster of films and more information.

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

FEATURE-LENGTH FILMS

International Premiere: THE BOAT (Chelsea Clearview): Korean Japanese co-production directed by Young Nam Kim, tells the unlikely story of a cross-cultural friendship that develops between a couple of smugglers, Hyung Gu (Ha Jung Woo) and his contact on the other side, a young Japanese man called Toru (Tsumabuki Satoshi).

NYC Premiere THE HOUSE OF SUH (Chelsea Clearview): Award-winning documentary by Iris Kim recounts the chilling story of the House of Suh, an immigrant family whose pursuit of happiness quickly became riddled with misfortune, culminating on September 25, 1993, when Andrew shot and killed his older sister’s fiancé of eight years, Robert O’Dubaine, at Catherine’s bidding.

NYC Nontheatrical Gallery Premiere PSYCHOHYDROGRAPHY (Chelsea Clearview, White Box, Big Screen Project): An analysis of the flow of water from mountain to aqueduct, city to sea. Shot at and around the Eastern Sierra Nevada, Owens Valley, Los Angeles Aqueduct, Los Angeles River and Pacific Ocean. HD video constructed entirely from single frame photography, directed by Peter Bo Rappmund

US Premiere THE WOMAN, THE ORPHAN, AND THE TIGER (Chelsea Clearview, White Box, Big Screen Project): The third film in a trilogy of narrative experimental films by Jane Jin Kaisen dealing with international adoption and the ideological, geopolitical, historical, and psychological effects of that process. This film looks at the legacy of international adoption from a feminist perspective and within a transgenerational and transnational scope. Directed by Jane Jin Kaisen and Guston Sondig-Kung.


DOUBLE BILL

CENTRE FORWARD (Chelsea Clearview) – North Korea’s first football film originally made in 1978, remastered by Koryo Tours in 2010. This 75 minute film is well known in North Korea but has never been released internationally. Fascinating both as an example of North Korean filmmaking and a strong story of overcoming athletic adversity, CENTRE FORWARD is at once inspirational, dramatic, amusing, and educational. Even better, by showing the sport’s importance in societies very different from our own, this illustrates the truly universal appeal of the 'beautiful game'. Directed by Pak Chong Song.

RED CHAPEL (Chelsea Clearview) – One of last year’s standout films at Sundance, where the film had its US premiere. RED CHAPEL is a feature-length documentary about a journalist without scruples, a self-proclaimed spastic and a comedian who travel to North Korea under the guise of a cultural exchange visit to challenge the totalitarian regime. Directed by Mads Bruegger.

DAI SIL KIM-GIBSON RETROSPECTIVE

Born in northern Korea when it was under Japanese colonial rule, Dai Sil Kim-Gibson came to the United States in 1962 to pursue graduate studies. She received her Ph.D. in religion from Boston University, and taught at Mount Holyoke College, which was followed by her career as a federal and state government employee: senior program officer at the National Endowment for the Humanities and director of the media program of the New York State Council on the Arts. She resigned from the New York State Council on the Arts to pursue a film career in 1988, going on to produce an array of award-winning films.

Sa-I-Gu (3/4" video, 36 minutes), or “April 29,” about the 1992 Los Angeles crisis from the perspectives of Korean woman shopkeepers, was praised by the Washington Post as “a passionate point of view piece.” A Forgotten People: The Sakhalin Koreans (16 mm, 59 minutes), her film about the forced Korean laborers on Sakhalin island, victims of World War II and the Cold War, was called “a bracing reminder of the human victims in the global chess game played by superpowers” by the Los Angeles Times. Silence Broken: Korean Comfort Women, a powerful documentary about Korean women forced into sexual servitude by the Japanese Imperial Military during World War II was called "a wrenching and formally inventive film," by the Village Voice. Wet Sand: Voices from LA (2004) explores the aftermath of the 1992 Los Angeles civil unrest and has been shown at numerous festivals in the United States and abroad, including the 8th Pusan International Film Festival in Korea and the 12th Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles. Her most recent film, Motherland (Cuba Korea USA), had a sold out world premiere at the 11th Pusan International Film Festival in October, 2006. It is currently distributed by Women Make Movies in New York City. In addition, she produced and wrote America Becoming, a feature documentary, and Olivia's Story, a 14-minute drama, directed by Charles Burnett, was cablecast on Sundance Channel in 2001.

Chelsea Clearview, Sat 3/19 – Sun 3/20:
Sa-I-Gu: From Korean Women’s Perspectives (1993)
Wet Sand: Voices from LA (2004)
Olivia’s Story, directed by Charles Burnett (1999)
A Forgotten People: The Sakhalin Koreans (1995)
Motherland(Cuba Korea USA) (2006)
Silence Broken: Korean Comfort Women (88 min version) (1999)


SHORTS COMPETITION

Richard the Elite University Student from London by Lee Yong-seung
Affair (Jung) by Dou Xing
Heart by Erick Oh
Apple by Jung Chul
To Wander in Pandemonium by Edward Kim
Mist Trail by Andrew Oh
Triangle by Janice Ahn

SHORTS 1
Works of Art by Andy Pang
The Queen by Christina Choe
The Agency by Sam Schectman
Maria the Korean Bride by Maria Yoon
Mister Green by Greg Pak
Hanji Paper Project by Aimee Lee

SHORTS 2
ether by Gi Young Rhee
Inert by Kyunghee Kang
Ajumma Are You Crazy by Brent Anbe
Chase Thompson: A Film by Chase Thompson by Vincent Lin
Rosewood by Marvin Choi
Arirang Blues by Pyeungheun Baik
Toy House by Yun Jeong Ko
Daddy Called Me a Snake by Sun Young Kim
One Blue Strip Show by So Young Yang

SPECIAL EVENTS/PANELS

KAFFNY 2011 Launch Party – Sat, 3/12, ArtGate Gallery, 520 W. 27th Street, #101

MADAME FREEDOM Live Rescore - Opening Night Presentation, Thursday – Thurs, 3/17, Chelsea Clearview

LA Riots 19 Years Later Discussion with Dai Sil Kim-Gibson and Charles Burnett – Sat 3/19, Chelsea Clearview

White Box + Big Screen Project Film/Video Screenings: Peter Bo Rappmund’s PSYCHOHYDROGRAPHY, Jane Jin Kaisen and Guston Sondig-Kung’s THE WOMAN, THE ORPHAN, AND THE TIGER and video works by So Young Yang – Fri 3/18, Sat 3/19, White Box/Big Screen Project

Korean American Filmmakers Panel, Sun, 3/20, Chelsea Clearview

RELATED LINKS
www.kaffny.com
www.twotigers.org
www.whiteboxny.org
www.bigscreenproject.org
www.djspooky.com
www.okkyunglee.com/okkyunglee
http://seanleeviolin.com
http://www.artgateny.com

A limited number of screeners are available for review and interview purposes.
For the complete program, please visit the Film Guide at KAFFNY.com and check the schedule for updates. Tickets cost $12 (general admission) and $9 (students and seniors).

50 Most Influential K-Pop Artists: 34. Dongbangshinki

[Read more reviews from the Korean from the Library Mixer. To join, click here.] 

[Series Index]

Starting with Number 34, this ranking is moving into Tier 3 - artists who had a strong impact on shaping Korea's pop music scene. Tier 3 begins with...

34.  Dongbangshinki [동방신기]

Also Known As:  DBSK, TVXQ.

Years of Activity:  2004-present

Members:

Choigang Changmin "Max" [최강창민] - Vocal

U-Know Yunho [유노윤호] - Vocal

Yeong'ung Jaejung "Hero" [영웅재중] - Vocal (until May 2010)

Micky Yucheon [믹키유천] - Vocal (until May 2010)

Xiah Junsu [시아준수] - Vocal (until May 2010)

Discography:

(Regular albums only - there are 39 singles unlisted here.)

Regular Albums:  Korea

Tri-Angle (2004)

Rising Sun (2005)

O - Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis [O - 正, 反, 合] (2007)

Mirotic (2008)

Keep Your Head Down (2011)

Regular Albums:  Japan

Heart, Mind and Soul (2006)

Five in the Black (2007)

T (2008)

The Secret Code (2009)

Representative Song:  Hug, from Tri-Angle

Hug

하루만 니 방의 침대가 되고싶어
Just for one day I wish to be the bed in your room
더 따스히 포근히 내 품에 감싸 안고 재우고 싶어
Warmer and softer, I wish to put you to sleep in my arms
아주 작은 뒤척임도 너의 조그만 속삭임에
For the smallest rustle, for your little whisper
난 꿈속의 괴물도 이겨내 버릴텐데
I will defeat the monsters in your dream

내가 없는 너의 하룬 어떻게 흘러가는 건지
How your day without me goes
나를 얼마나 사랑하는지 난 너무나 궁금한데
I am so curious how much you love me
너의 작은 서랍 속의 일기장이 되고싶어
I wish to be the diary in your little drawer
알 수 없는 너의 그 비밀도 내 맘속에 담아둘래 너 몰래
I will hold in my heart that unknowable secret of yours, you wouldn't know

하루만 너의 고양이가 되고싶어
Just for one day I wish to be your cat
니가 주는 맛있는 우유와 부드러운 니품안에서
With the delicious milk you give me and in your soft arms
움직이는 장난에도 너의 귀여운 입맞춤에
Your cute kiss given even when you are teased
나도 몰래 질투를 느끼고 있었나봐
I must have been secretly feeling jealous

내 마음이 이런거야
That's how my heart is
너밖엔 볼 수 없는거지
I cannot see anyone but you
누구를 봐도 어디 있어도
No matter who you see, no matter where you are
난 너만 바라보잖아
I am only looking at you

단 하루만 아주 친한 너의 애인이 되고 싶어
Just for one day I want to be your very close boyfriend
너의 자랑도 때론 투정도 다 들을 수 있을 텐데 널 위해
I will be able to hear all your boasting and complaining, for you.

In my heart in my soul
In my heart in my soul
나에게 사랑이란 아직 어색하지만
For me love is still awkward but
이 세상 모든걸 너에게 주고싶어 꿈에서라도
I want to give you everything in this world, even in a dream

내 마음이 이런거야
That's how my heart is
지켜 볼 수만 있어도
Just being able to look at you
너무 감사해 많이 행복해
I am so thankful, very happy
나 조금은 부족해도
I may not be much but
언제까지 너의 곁에 연인으로 있고 싶어
I want to stay by your side as your lover forever
너를 내 품에 가득 안은채 굳어버렸으면 싶어 영원히
I wish I could turn into stone, holding you in my arms forever

Translation Note:  The portion written in English in the original is marked blue. Is it just me, or is it normal to projectile vomit while translating?

In 15 Words or Less:  The peak of K-pop's global domination.

Maybe they should be ranked higher because...  They will easily win the award for "Most number of death threats sent to the Korean by their fans for not ranking them #1." That counts for something, right? Right?

Maybe they should be ranked lower because...  A huge apology to gay readers of this blog, but there is just no other way of saying this: DBSK is the homoest homos who ever homoed. They are responsible for ingraining "Korean men are gay" stereotype around the world. And that's before talking about their pile of diarrhea music. (Actually, come to think of it, does that make DBSK even more influential? Ugh.)

Why is this band important?
Why is DBSK important? Because they have a screaming horde of fans around the world, that's why. Does the Korean understand why there is a screaming horde of girls (AND grown women) around the world? No. But they are there, and they create influence.

The Korean is being glib, but that's really it. The current influence of Korean pop culture over Asia began with Korean dramas in the late 1990s and early 2000s. While there were certain pioneers (discussed later in this list,) K-pop as an international force was not yet to be.

Then DBSK came around, and their international popularity was unlike anyone that preceded them. To be sure, influence via the fans can take many forms. For example, no one can deny that Nirvana is one of the most influential pop musicians in the last 20 years. But there is just something about thousands of screaming girls at Justin Bieber's concert that the quiet, reverential homages to Kurt Cobain do not have. Same with DBSK -- there had been other K-pop artists who were successful outside of Korea, but not like DBSK. No one brought out a cloud of screaming girls all across Asia quite like DBSK. For many people around the world, DBSK is the first meaningful contact with Korea and K-pop. If for nothing else (and there really is nothing else,) DBSK deserves its spot here.

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

Professor B.R. Myers, of The Cleanest Race fame, bets that Korea will be reunified in the next five years. It's a bold wager, but given the events around the world, it actually seems like a reasonable guess.

Five Questions for B.R. Myers [Busan Haps]