I’m sure everyone is aware of the Na-yeong case and the current outcry for harsher punishments for sex criminals who target children. While it seems that this may lead to progress, the fact is that a similar uproar several years ago led to only small steps being taken, and another case after that led to [...]
Author Archive > popular gusts
Farewell to Pimatgol
There has been quite a bit written about the demolition of several blocks of Cheongjin-dong near Gwanghwamun, including Pimatgol, the alleyway where commoners once walked to keep out of sight of Yangban on horses whom they had to bow before on Jongno. The best of the articles is Scott Burgeson’s “Annyong, P’imat-gol.” Go read it [...]
’100 Years of Korean Comics’ Exhibition
Here’s something that might be fun this weekend – or any weekend over the summer. From last week’s Korea Times: Commemorating the centennial of Korean comic books, or manhwa, South Korea’s national art museum will host a massive exhibition featuring some 1,500 pieces by 250 artists beginning this week, according to Yonhap News Agency. The [...]
Photos of North Korea on exhibit in Jongno
From the Joongang Ilbo: “Changing Social Landscape: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (1950-2008)” contains 70 pictures by nine photographers from different fields who visited the North to capture the land through their lenses over the last six decades. And not just any photographers – they include photojournalist Margaret Bourke White and French documentary maker Chris [...]
Anyone for an organic buffet?
A few weeks ago I went to Cheongmirae, a Korean-style organic food buffet restaurant in the very south of Sinjeong-dong (south of Mok-dong). For 13,000 won, you can have all you can eat. There are numerous leafy/salad options…
How trustworthy is the law – or lawmakers?
From the Chosun Ilbo: Koreans consider the National Assembly the least law-abiding organization. In a telephone survey of 800 adults across the country by the East Asia Institute and Hankook Research last Saturday, a mere 5.3 percent of respondents said parliament abides by the law. Civic groups topped the list of upstanding organizations with 35 [...]
Self-serve
I don’t drive, so I’d never thought about gas stations in Korea (except when I needed to fill my bicycle tires while on the road), and didn’t realize there were so few self-serve stations here until I read this Joongang Ilbo article about GS Caltex opening the first self-service filling station in Samseong-dong. As the [...]
A disturbing pattern
[Update (May 23): I added actress Woo Seung-yeon and former president Roh Moo-hyun to the list.] [Update (March 12): A trot singer has killed himself.] The Korea Times reports that 26 year-old ‘Boys over Flowers’ supporting actress Jang Ja-yeon was found dead in her home last night. She hanged herself. The police quoted her sister [...]
Double standard?
The Hankyoreh reports that yesterday a Spanish dancer was arrested for importing and smoking hashish with three castmates from an international musical (other papers say its Don Juan). The prosecution suspect he smuggled hash into the country when he arrived in late January and smoked it three times after arriving. He was caught when almost [...]
“Rote memorization is oppression”
On the day of the university entrance exam, Roboseyo posted about this protest against the exam. I just found an article from a week and a half ago at Yonhap titled “Young activists risk future in breaking from ‘oppressive’ school system,” which looks at two of the students who took part in the protest and [...]
Have 6.5% of middle and high school girls sold sex?
Today’s Korea Times has an interesting article titled “Female Students Vulnerable to Sex Trade on Internet.” One in every three female secondary school students in Busan were found to have received sex trade proposals while chatting online, according to a survey by the Ministry of Gender Equality Monday. The ministry questioned 2,012 female students in [...]