Mark James Russell

Books, blog and other blather

Category: South Korea (Page 2 of 13)

Wednesday morning links

November 6, 2013 / / 0 Comments
  • It’s a great day to be from Toronto, as the fine city’s mayor finally admitted to smoking crack last year. He’s not an addict, he says, he just did it once because he was so drunk. So, yeah, that looks pretty terrible. On the other hand, why should I care? He’s hardly the only politician who drinks too much or uses recreational drugs.
  • Anyhow, here’s an overview of the Rob Ford crack situation. (Globe and Mail)
  • As I’ve said before, I’m far more shocked that Ford was elected mayor than that he drinks too much or smokes crack.

As for non-Toronto, non-cocaine news:

  • Usually, I hate attempts at “modernizing” the hanbok, but here are some funky examples. (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  • My wonderful Hongdae neighborhood gets strangely singled out for all its litter. And it can get filthy at times, especially in the center of town on the weekend. But here’s a thought — if you don’t want trash in Hongdae, put out some trash cans. That’s true for pretty much all of Seoul. Also, how about cracking down on room salons and others who crank out those smutty fliers? That’s not even a Hongdae problem (at least compared so some other “entertainment” districts around Seoul). (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  • I find it hard to believe that Korean kids today are just 24th out of 60 countries for English ability. Young people have gotten so much better in recent years. (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  • An interview with conductor Gum Nanse, who, in addition to all his orchestral commitments, helps run the Korea Young Dream Orchestra, a program that sets up youth orchestras in the poor countryside areas around Korea. (Korea JoongAng Daily)

Monday morning links

November 4, 2013 / / 0 Comments

Sorry for taking last week off. Deadlines loomed, once again. But just as it is darkest before the dawn, so too is it deadline-iest before the publication. Or something like that. Anyhow, links ahoy:

  • I had a good time last week as part of a round-table discussion for the JoongAng Sunday about branding in Korea. We started off talking about such majestic blunders as “romantic mushrooms” and “fit milk”, and things just sort of spiraled from there. (JoongAng Sunday – only in Korean for now, sorry).
  • Although more middle-aged white guys telling people what to do? Sorry about that.  :-/
  • 74-year-old feminist artist Yun Suk-nam, painting images on old hanok roof shingles (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  • I knew there were areas around Seoul that were getting heavily foreign, but 58,000 out of 87,000 people? That’s pretty crazy. That would be Wongok-dong in Ansan, at the far end of line No. 4, far to the south of Seoul. On the plus side, think of how easily they’ll soon conquer Songdo. (Korea JoongAng Daily)

Tuesday Morning Links

October 15, 2013 / / 0 Comments
  • For the Korea JoongAng Daily’s 13-year anniversary issue — and to mark the 60-year anniversary of the end of the Korean War — I wrote an overview of the history of Korean movies. You probably know the broad strokes of this story already … However, I was lucky enough to get some wonderful details from actor Ahn Sung-ki, producer Jonathan Kim, and the big boss of CJ Entertainment Miky Lee. Huge thanks to all of them for taking the time to talk to me. (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  • Interesting article on Lee Shin-young, who is reportedly the first female horse trainer in Asia. (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  • Unfortunately, one big detail in the previous story was wrong — Lee Shin-young was not Korea’s first female jockey. That honor goes to Lee Ok Rae, who rode back in 1975 (Horse Racing in Korea blog)
  • Google vs. Korean government over future of Internet freedom in Korea (New York Times)
  • Something funny about Korea complaining about Chinese smokers. (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  • Hard to believe, but I can still remember a time when smoking was allowed on airplanes on domestic flights in North America. But one by one, countries are slowly turning against the (smelly) (and sublime) habit.
  • Today, the International Herald Tribune is no more. It rebrands as the International New York Times. INYT? Doesn’t exactly scan well, does it? As my first article for the IHT was nearly 10 years ago, I’m a bit  sad about the change. For me, when I think of the Herald Tribune, I am always reminded of that scene from Breathless, when we first meet the Jean Seberg character:

Wednesday morning links

September 25, 2013 / / 0 Comments

A few links and notes today:

  • 77-year-old gayageum master Hwang Byung-gi (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  • Another branch of Seoul Museum of Art has opened, this one in the north of the city, in Nowon District (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  • T-Ara, Davichi and other K-pop acts went to Mongolia and played for nearly 20,000 people in Ulaanbaatar. That’s kind of amazing. (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  • Face Reader had an awesome Chuseok, including a 900,000 admissions Saturday (nearly a record). After two weeks in theaters, Face Reader now has 7.1 million admissions, and has made 52 billion won ($47 million). (Numbers from KOBIS, of course).
  • From yesterday, here is my review of Andrei Lankov’s The Real North Korea. Excellent overview of North Korea. (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  • I can’t get enough of stories piling on former dictator Chun Doo-hwan. Now he’s been forced to give back the medals he awarded himself in the 1980s. (Chosun Ilbo)
  • A Pyongyang amusement park has gotten a “4-D” movie theater. (Chosun Ilbo)

Wednesday Morning Links

September 18, 2013 / / 0 Comments

Happy Chuseok, all — a holiday so big, even the news stops happening. No complaints from me, though, as I’ll enjoy a bit of free time. Anyhow, on with the morning links:

  • Han Jae-rim’s Face Reader is definitely the big film of Chuseok. After just one week, it has already pulled in 3.2 million admissions and made nearly 23 billion won ($21 million). Great cast, great-looking movie. (KOBIS)
  • Bored over Chuseok? Many of Korea’s best museums are open. Many of them for free. (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  • Seopyeonje was one of Im Kwon-taek’s most famous and successful movies, about a family of traveling pansori singers. Before it was a movie, it was also a book. And since then it has been made into a musical. Now, famed theater director Yun Ho-jin has turned Seopyeonje into a changgeuk, or a traditional-style opera. Even more strangely, he’s gotten rid of the idea that the father blinded the daughter to teach her han and make her a better pansori singer; now there’s incest. The mind boggles. (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  • A Q&A with leading liberal commentator (and art theory guy) Chin Jung-kwon (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  • Does Chuseok feel less crazy than it used it? That’s because it is. Holiday travel down 19 percent over last 15 years. (Korea JoongAng Daily)

Regarding the de-crazification of Chuseok … You can totally feel the difference in Seoul. Chuseok used to turn the capital into a ghost town, but now it feels more like a quiet Sunday morning. It’s still a nice holiday, but not jaw-dropping. On the other hand, my newspaper isn’t publishing for  four days, so it’s obviously still a big deal (with the time off, I’m not complaining).

Oh, here are a couple more pics from Face Reader, which stars Song Kong-ho, Lee Jung-jae, Kim Hye-soo, Baek Yoon-shik:

 

Monday Morning Links

September 16, 2013 / / 0 Comments
  • More than 100 years of “Arirang” recordings, on display until Feb. 28 at National Gugak Center (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  • Terrible suggestion for fixing problem of lending Korea’s National Treasures — just lend replicas! (Korea JoongAng Ilbo)
  • At least one left-wing group wasn’t guilty of insurrection (Hankyoreh)
  • Not good — Hankyoreh claims evidence linking Blue House to resignation of Korea’s head prosecutor (and NIS foe). (Hankyoreh)
  • Fascinating look at the Korea Crime Victim Support Fund, a badly flawed (if well-intended) program (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  • Has it really been 10 years since Daejanggeum? Lee Young-ae looks back on the pivotal drama and her career. (Chosun Ilbo)
  • As cool as it is that Drunken Tiger’s new release, The Cure, is doing so well, it feels more like a Yoon Mirae album than a Tiger one. Her vocals really define it, not just on “The Cure,” but also tracks like “Beautiful Life” and “Time Travel.” (Billboard) (Soompi‘s not bad either) Buy it on iTunes!

 

Friday Morning Links

September 13, 2013 / / 0 Comments
  • Wash, rinse, repeat … NK nuclear-style. (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  • An interview with young singer Lim Kim. (Korea JoongAng Daily). She has an interesting voice, and her music is that light, soft-pop style that seemed to be more common a couple of years ago. Videos posted below, too.
  • Those odd artificial “Floating Islands” in the Han River that have been sitting idle for last 2 years? Finally going to open. (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  • Great. I spent 3 months living in the Anguk-dong area, and as soon as I leave, the Pak No-su Museum and Brew 3.14 open (the Marmot’s Instagram).

This is Lim Kim’s “Colorring” (sic), which I rather liked:

This was her biggest hit, “All Right.” A million Youtube hits in just three months for a newbie isn’t bad:

And “Rain,” which is rather appropriate for this soggy day:

Speaking of rain, here’s a photo of Hongdae in the rain:

 

Exploring Hongdae 1

September 12, 2013 / / 0 Comments

Against my better judgment, I descended into the heart of Hongdae last Saturday evening. I mean, I like the Hongik University area a lot, but Saturday night the center of that neighborhood can get a bit out of control.

But Saturday, the Sangsang Madang arts space was holding a screening of the short films by Namkoong Sun, a talented young filmmaker, so I decided to check it out. You might know her music videos for Byul.org (“Pacific” and “Secret Stories Told by a Girl in an Opium Den”), as well as Neon Bunny and others. The screening was good fun, and several actors from her shorts showed up.

The after party was evidently going to go a lot later than I had the energy for, so I excused myself around 11 and took a walk through Hongdae, just to check out the neighborhood and see what it is like these days. No surprise, things were pretty crazy. Can you believe that, way back in the late 1990s, you could hit most of the Hongdae bars in an evening (well, at least the good ones)? But somehow the neighborhood keeps growing.

The park was, as usual, full of people and music. Perhaps this sign is as good a metaphor for Hongdae as anything:

It reads, “So not to inconvenience local residents, please no more live music in the park after sunset.” This photo was taken about 11:30pm, as yet another band started a set.

Anyhow, what I was there, a group called Monster People were playing. They are quite good — kind of an Interpol-like modern rock sound — so if you have the chance to catch them, I quite recommend it. Here’s some of their music over on Soundcloud:

The vibes were all pretty good that evening, at least while I was there. People were pretty blitzed, but I guess drunks don’t get belligerent and start fights until after midnight.

Looking at all the changes to Hongdae, the explosion of restaurants and cool things, I think I might start blogging about the neighborhood with some regularity. Every time I walk down an alley, I’m amazed by what I’m finding (in a good way, mostly). It’s fun to be back.

Monday Morning Links

September 2, 2013 / / 0 Comments
  • 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”:

Morning Links

August 20, 2013 / / 0 Comments
  •  The Hankyoreh, with yet another really good story, has a look at laws in Korea that discriminate against people with physical and mental handicaps. Points out that things have gotten a lot better than a few years ago, but there is still a lot of prejudice and sloppily written laws.
  • Hong Sang-soo won the director prize at the Locarno Film Festival (Chosun Ilbo)
  • Prostitution and drug abuse rising in North Korea as the government loses control of areas. (Chosun Ilbo). As with all North Korea stories, please read with a bit of skepticism. But this line did amuse me:
Virginity is a prerequisite for the song-and-dance troupes who entertain the North Korean dictator, and the defector said officials had a hard time finding any virgins.
  • Japan’s movie box office is about twice as big as Korea’s, but the health of its local movie scene is quite different. Take a look at the top four domestic movies in each country for the first half of 2013.

Japan 2013 (via Film Business Asia):

  1. One Piece Film Z — ¥6.85 billion (US$69.6 million)
  2. Doraemon: Nobita’s Secret Gadget Museum — ¥3.96 billion yen (US$40.4 million)
  3. Detective Conan Private Eye — ¥3.61 billion (US$36.8 million)
  4. Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods — ¥3 billion (US$30.6 million)

Korea 2013 (via KOBIS):

  1. Miracle in Cell 7 — 91.4 billion won (US$82 million)
  2. The Berlin File — 52.4 billion won (US$46.8 million)
  3. Secretly, Greatly — 48.7 billion won (US$43.5 million)
  4. The New World — 34.9 billion won (US$31.1 million)

In Japan, the top four are all animated movies, and all films geared toward children. In Korea, the top four are all live-action, geared toward young adults and adults.

 

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