Jul 25
By Jennifer Stevens
My relationship with my Korean boyfriend seemed to be playing in fast-forward—minus the sex—until one day he said,“I make reservation at a hotel this weekend for us,”
“Oh, wow, really?” I responded. “Where is it?”
“It is really nice hotel near Seoul. We will cook for each other and then sleep in the bed together.”
My mouth fell open as I searched for something to say. “Can’t wait!” I managed to get out.
I immediately called every girlfriend I could think of who could give me sex advice at 11 o’clock on a Wednesday night, 10 a.m. U.S. time on the east coast.
Jul 25
by John Flynn
This isn’t to say that there aren’t great songs on this album. “I Wanna Rock,” “Vengeance is Mine” and “새벽2시(Two in the Morning)” just seem much more thought out than a lot of the other songs here. They allow singer Velvet Geena to stretch herself as singer and show some emotional depth in her voice. The songs themselves also offer a depth of songwriting that is lacking on more kitsch songs like “ZombieNight.” “새벽2시” creates a darker, more pained take on Rockabilly. The surf guitar, for once, takes a backseat and becomes more of a mood peace, giving the song a kind of paranoid 60s LA sound. The song shows the band stretching the parameters of their genre into brilliant new territory. Album closer “I Wanna Rock” is the shortest song on the album and has a visceral edge to it that is just lacking on the faster tracks presented. It’s a song that realizes the pastiche that this band trades in and just has fun.
Jul 19
By Iwazaru
A Chinese businessman recently in Pyongyang reportedly snapped a picture of a propaganda poster that shows a naval soldier smashing a ship in half with the words below the image stating “Deom-byeo-deul-myeon Dan-mae-e!” (“Ready to crush any attack with a single blow!”).
Radio Free Asia reported the story and released the photo and comments from the businessman who wished to remain anonymous. In addition, the report referred to comments made by a South Korean military expert who said the ship isn’t just any random vessle but a corvette just like the Cheonan which was blown in half on March 26 killing 46 sailors. A multinational international investigative team presented evidence that pointed to a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine, though intrigue has lingered along with North Korea’s denial of involvement.
Jul 19
By Jake Reed
As of now there have been five mass stabbings at schools in China. Every one of the killers seemed intent on maximizing the stabbing and minimizing our understanding of why they did it. The head count so far is “Seventeen people have been killed and nearly 100 wounded in the attacks.” As an ESL teacher in China, I’ve been creating scenarios in my head, mostly nightmarish: It’s a normal day in your kindy class.
Jul 19
by Jason Sander
On July 9, Canadian indie-giant Caribou came to V-hall to grace Seoul with a moment of live bliss—sans Aquanet. It’s safe to say that Dan Snaith, the creative genius behind the band, is not afraid to experiment and has proven with every album release that it is OK to change. Upon witnessing their recent performance, Snaith and the boys of Caribou proved beyond any cerebral stretch that dancey-pop on stage can be much more than an aging hipster simply turning his hat backwards and pressing “play.”
Jul 19
By Kathryn Fidler
If you’ve been watching Top Chef the last two or three seasons, you might be aware that American yuppies will suck down just about anything that’s grilled with an Asian sauce and wrapped in a romaine lettuce leaf. Here in Seoul, however, we can afford to be a bit more discerning about our barbecue. In fact, the new resident or visitor is often faced with the enviable problem of too many restaurants to choose from, with very little English-language guidance on the subject. It can be daunting to stare down a street full of establishments with nearly identical menus and try to select one, even more so when faced with a language barrier and/or dietary restrictions.
Jul 12
By Rishika Murthy
Green Korea United, or Green Korea as it’s called for short, is one of the main environmental NGOs on the Korean peninsula. It began in 1991. Originally, there were three separate groups who then united to form the current Green Korea.
This eco-action group has pressured current president Lee Myung-bak into abandoning his “Connect Korea” canal plan that would have created 1000’s of construction jobs by “straightening” Korea’s largest rivers and wreaking havoc on natural habitats along the way…More
Jul 12
By critic Jeon Bongho
A queer mapping of Seoul in this kind of homophobe environment is no walk in the park. Centering in Itaewon and Chongro, the gay culture of Seoul grew like a culture of germs in a petri dish; hidden away and in quarantine. Like in the case of theater and poet, these spaces were not growing on general estimation, tolerance or even recognition. In a heterosexual world, there is not room for the homosexual, since it would not show on any map of Seoul.
Showing a hypocritical relationship to sex, a typical characteristic of Confucian culture, homosexual space was firmly restricted to the shadows of society. Naturally, in the beginnings of modern homosexuality in the 1960s, the only gatherings were at dark theaters, leaving room only for commercial sex. Also the gay-bars, frequented in the 70s and 80s, spread surrounding these theaters. These bars, seated in the hollow emptiness of an abandoned downtown… More
Jul 12
By Justin Thoreau
“Ma. Hi it’s me. No, no, no, I’m in Cambodia. CAM-BO-DI-A!!!! Sorry, it’s a bit loud. I’m in a bar. Listen something happened. No, I’m not in jail. No, I’ve got enough money. Listen, we’ve kind of declined. We’ve gone back a few steps in evolution. How? I don’t really know how all I know is that Jim and I are now primordial ooze and we’re going back to where we came from so I don’t think I’ll be home for a while…
Jul 12
By Anji Shirai
The World B-boy Masters Championships (R-16) is a series of competitions where world-class B-boy crews (selected by the International B-boy Association) compete for the title of best crew. Starting in 2007 as an experimental performance event, the program has continued to gain international participation, with this year’s competition in Seoul marking R-16’s fourth anniversary.
Jul 05
By Gabriel Sylvian with Iwazaru
Last year, in honor of the twentieth anniversary of poet Gi Hyeong-do’s death (1960-1989), a collection of writings on Gi’s life, art and legacy was published by Munhakgwa jiseongsa, including essays by several who knew Gi personally: poets, friends, and colleagues. Not surprisingly, the words “gay” or “homosexual” make no appearance in the book’s 476 pages. Then again, one might say, neither do those words appear in any of Gi’s own writings. Does this absence justify the continuing taboo on discussions of Gi’s sexuality? Do attempts to recuperate a voice from pre-LGBT Korean history (pre-1990s) for a present-day LGBT politics make any sense? More
Jul 05
By Justin Thoreau
A half hour after we’d downed some slices of “happy” pizza, Jim and I found ourselves at the market in Siem Reap.
“You feel anything yet?” Jim asked me.
“Maybe, I can’t really tell,” I responded. “Give it another ten minutes.”
We were waiting for the worm to turn. With the sheer force of will we tried to summon the high, as if pure mental concentration would stoke the green flecks in our stomachs to life. Ten minutes passed, then twenty, still nothing. “I think we’ve been got,” I said, “like junior high kids purchasing a bag of Oregano. Smoke this and it will really get you out of your body.”
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