Month: September 2013 (Page 2 of 2)

• Tom Coyner’s column today is an insightful look at historical preservation — or lack thereof — in Korea. He’s not just criticizing Koreas for not preserving their culture in the “right” way. Rather, it is more about two very different approaches to preservation. (Korea JoongAng Daily)
• The positive, upbeat world of Korea’s only privately-run prison. Cheaper than regular prisons with a much lower recidivism rate (Korea JoongAng Daily)
• The new, 800 km trail that goes around Mount Halla on Jeju Island (Korea JoongAng Daily)
• Want a job at a Korean company? They’re looking for passion and diligence. Creativity? Not so much. Tough news for President Park Geun-hye’s “creative economy” plans. (Chosun Ilbo)
• If “credibility” and “capability” become necessary to bringing criminal charges against Korean politicians (e.g.: charging the UPP with insurrection), I fear you might as well give all Korean politicians blanket immunity. (Hankyoreh)

As for this weekend’s box office (Fri-Sun):

Title – Weekend tix – total tix – Weekend revenue – Total Revenue
1. Now You See Me – 626,000 – 2.2 million – 4.5 billion won – 15.2b won
2. Elysium – 573,000 – 708,000 – 4.3 billion won – 5.4b won
3. Hide and Seek – 563,000 – 5.1 million – 4.07 billion won – 36.0b won
4. Snowpiercer – 159,000 – 9.1 million – 1.16 billion won – 65.3b won
5. The Flu – 159,000 – 3.0 million – 1.11 billion won – 21.1b won
(Source: KOBIS)

Amusingly, DESPICABLE ME 2, even though it does not open until Sept. 12, was the No. 6 movie on Sunday, and has already made 531 million won.

• Which reminds me: August was the biggest month ever for movies in Korea, with nearly 21 million admissions — which blows away the old record of 18.1 million, set in February. Korean films were more than 78 percent of the box office. (Chosun Ilbo)
• The Korean government is creating a practice space for indie musicians in Hongdae (Yonhap)
• Here’s G-Dragon teaming up with Missy Elliot for G-Dragon’s new song “Niliria”: