Jan 09
By The Expat
I don’t like or dislike the entire “Korea Experience.” That is to say, I’m not in love with the place, but I don’t hate it either. I’m simply a non-person here, a marriage migrant who rolled the dice and accepted the outcome.
We all have experiences both good and bad in Korea, but for me, most of my experiences are simply neutral. I don’t experience mind-blowing revelations, nor do I experience extreme depression or feelings of hatred. Day after day passes, and my experience mostly remains neutral. In fact, I make a concerted effort to exert as much control over my neutral “Korean Experience” as possible.
For example, I avoid areas with large numbers of publicly intoxicated people. I also avoid driving for reasons of both health and sanity. Not going to drinking areas and avoiding driving have significantly reduced my number of unpleasant encounters with the locals. I mostly encounter Koreans in positive or neutral situations, and largely avoid unpleasant situations. This has allowed me to avoid the trap of constantly harboring feelings of negativity.
Jan 09
By Mizaru
Part 1
I’m in Love with modern moonlight
And the neon when it’s cold outside
I’m in love with rock ‘n’ roll and I’ll be out all night
To Sinchon Rotary from Incheon International Airport. Airport BusLimousine # 6044. I’m just back from an E-2 visa run to Japan and, yes, it feels like I have been on some sort of public profile tour. I get off the plane, bob and weave through immigration and set feet on solid ground. And it’s not just in my head that Korean Immigration is clocking me and to the best of my knowledge it has nothing to do with making 3WM. I am up to about 10 delays, missed trips, rescheduled flights skittered boat crossings and the like which when all combined should add up to about two months of ‘overstayed visa’ time. Of course it’s a melodrama involving officials and a back-packer, “Why have you overstay?” “I didn’t know, Mr Kim at Immigration office told me to get a bigger passport. I need more pages.”
Jan 02
By Seon-Myung Yoo
Before the Kim-jang
Jin-Ok Hong, 51 years old, is scurrying through her house, vacuuming, wiping, washing the dishes, and doing the laundry. While the washing machine tosses and turns the laundry, Jin-Ok squats down in the bathroom to scrub the floor and walls extra carefully. Then, she prepares a simple lunch for herself before her siblings arrive for the annual kim-jang.
Kim-jang, is the process of making kimchi for the winter. Historically, Koreans have pickled their cabbages and radishes toward the end of the fall after harvest in preparation for the winter. The tradition is preserved into the modern contemporary Korea. The women of the family get together every year to go through the various stages of kimchi-making at a large scale.
Dec 26
By Iwazaru and Peter Ward
What comes next is where it gets very interesting. Successor designate Kim Jong-un is now in the unenviable position of having to preside over his father’s funeral and then attempt to consolidate his grip on power. What follows is seemingly likely to take one of three paths.
Kim Jong-un, with or without the help of his aunt Kim Kyong-hee and her husband Chang Song-taek may succeed in consolidating his power. This might not happen straight away. He may not simply leap into the shoes of his father and start going on tours of the country, giving disciplinary speeches to the high-level cadres that turn up in the newspaper and be the centre of a fanatical personality cult all of his own. The above mentioned has already begun in the North—he was reported to have gone on tours with his father several times, and has his own (still nascent) personality cult. He may take his time, behind the scenes consolidating his power, whilst in public mourning his father’s passing, much like Kim Jong-il did in the three years after the death of his father.
Dec 19
By John M. Rodgers and Jamie Grimwood
In mid-July as 3WM entered a summer hiatus, the former editor in chief received information regarding the case of PVT Andre Fisher from an acquaintance who’d had previous legal difficulties within South Korea. That information was hastily formatted and published. Essentially, it was a plea from PVT Fisher’s family and friends and included a rough petition to parties of interest and links to other reports and the “Bring Andre Fisher Home” Facebook page. No editorial discussion took place regarding the objectivity and presentation of the content.
Subsequently, an attempt to clarify several essential things took place. First, what actual facts existed in the numerous reports—both in the press and on social networks? Second, who could provide legal documents or official statements to support any assertion made with those reports? Third, were those legal documents and official statements consistent?
With the core 3WM staff scattered and on a scheduled break until mid-August, the process moved at a sluggish pace. Moreover, the path to the facts was littered with one obstacle after another, mostly piles of misinformation and subterfuge. Dates, times, locations, evidentiary details, USFK conduct in relation to the case, Fisher’s treatment in prison—all these things were jumbled up in opinion, translation, interpretation and negligence in research (some of which 3WM initially contributed to). Now 3WM intends to present the clearest possible explanation of Andre Fisher’s case from beginning to end.
In part one of this series, aspects of the evidence from the night of the crime on 18 November 2010 into the early morning of 19 November 2010 will be examined. This information is based on official documents obtained by 3WM.
Dec 19
By Yi Nam-hui
At the end of last year, designated as “Literature Year,” there was a small fracas in publishing circles. A novel had come out with the provocative title, Try to Do as I Do. It got attention because the book was full of sexual descriptions from beginning to end. It was the sort of book rarely seen in the publishing world. The author, who went around repeatedly saying he had intended to write a porno novel, was not in the country then, but the authorities were seeking judicial means to have the book banned. A year-long offensive and defensive battle ensued as to whether the book was smut or art. The issue was taken up in a public debate on the topic of “Sex and Liberation” held at a live performance theater as part of a big cultural fest. The event was really typical of that period. It was a pretty fiery scene. Everyone demanded to have a voice in the debate, and contradictory opinions existed even among those opposed to judicial handling of the case.
Dec 19
By Conor O’Reilly
Imagine, one morning during an English teaching adventure you wake up, smell for the cleanest t-shirt, eat the usual breakfast of ramyeon and toast, and leave for work.
The streets, damp and cold with December, are a little quieter than usual. At the front door of your school the usual hubbub of the morning is absent. Close by, the yellow buses are parked, silent, dark, and empty—not a joyous scream or shout from a child can be heard. You push the door but it holds firm. Just to be sure you give the door a firm pull. It doesn’t budge. Confused, you rattle it then peer into the dull lobby for a reason why the door is locked.
The old guard shuffles towards you, his hunched and padded silhouette growing larger in front of the glow from his electric heater. Looking through the plate glass door, he gives you a confused look as you hunch your shoulders over exaggeratedly, hands held up at your sides to express your confusion at the situation.
Dec 12
By John M. Rodgers
Following five months of investigation into the circumstances surrounding PVT Fisher’s case including but not limited to the conduct of his attorney who was chosen from a list of 15 USFK approved Korean lawyers, the alleged events on the night of Fisher’s arrest, the testimony of the taxi driver which was seemingly taken as the key element in the conviction, the forensic analysis of the crime scene and evidence seized from Fisher’s person, and the USFK’s interest in, handling of and contact with Fisher and his case, The Three Wise Monkeys (3WM) has come across numerous discrepancies, leaps of logic, acts of negligence, failures of responsibility and attitudes of indifference.
Among the many things supported by documents that 3WM has obtained, is the fact that PVT Fishers initial conviction on 10 June 2011 was based on flawed reports/documents that judges relied on to make their determination. That initial judgment served as the basis for all subsequent decisions and the final rejection of his appeal on 8 December 2011. This calls into question Fisher’s entire legal process.
Over the next few months, 3WM will publish a series of articles focused on exposing the many aspects of PVT Fisher’s case that, at the very least, point to a flawed handling of the case or, at the worst, indicate an utter miscarriage of justice.
Dec 12
By Iwazaru
Seven full days into the more than 400 kilometer pilgrimage across the Korean peninsula in an attempt to trace the footsteps of 7th century Buddhist monk Wonhyo, the members of the trek have changed, the leader, Tony MacGregor, has taken a dangerous fall, Koreans have stepped forward with immense generosity and the road has provided its good share of challenges and rewards. All the while Macgregor, Chris McCarthy and Sangmin sunim, a Buddhist monk who’s joined the pilgrims, have pushed on sometimes joined by professor David Mason.
On Saturday, December 10, MacGregor was happy enough to answer some questions about the journey while settling in after a dinner at Muryang Buddhist Temple in Yeongyang. Among the many things he said, one stood out toward the end of the interview when he offered that each day was a “stepping into the unknown” which he was actually enjoying.
See here for the original story about the pilgrimage and visit the official Site where the pilgrims post pictures and words each day.
Dec 12
Editor’s note: Over the past few months 3WM was in contact with a volunteer at an Korean orphanage who offered to submit an article about the goings on at the center itself. Yet, as she conducted her research for the article, she found herself under increasing pressure from the staff. Below is the article she was able to submit under the circumstances. Following that is some of the correspondence that took place between 3WM and the author during the course of the research and composition process. 3WM is withholding the name of the author and the orphanage.
By Jane Doe
I do not blame the children at the orphanage for being wary of new tutors. The children become very hurt when a tutor fails to show up or when his teaching contract is finished and returns back to his home country. My students adored the previous teacher and felt deeply saddened when she left. After several months of going to the orphanage, I had to leave to teach English on Jeju Island for a month. Dae Kwan was a bit disappointed to see me leave and stopped attending the class taught by my replacement. When I returned to the orphanage in March, Eun Jung chose another volunteer to be her tutor. I tried to not take the rejection personally and wished Eun Jung the best.
Dec 05
By Rahn Kim (a.k.a. Hae Ran Kim, a.k.a. 김해란)
During my teenage years, I sometimes heard my father half-jokingly express his discontent at my lack of concern for appearance and embellishment, in other words, my lack of femininity. Then I would get an earful of his impromptu analysis—a symptom of his personality and psychiatric profession—attributing the influence of my nonchalant character to my mother’s disinterest in “feminine” activities such as make-up, beautiful hair, extravagant clothing, and so on. As disagreeable as that sounds, my parents’ love is surprisingly well-balanced and harmonious, like two peas in a pod. I wouldn’t call my father a misogynist, nor an obstinate or ignorant man. This is the same father who told the very young Hae Ran that every person is bisexual to some degree, the father who loves to contemplate the rich complexities and beauty of life and art while watching tear-jerkingly boring DVDs of operas and ballets, and the father who took my pure and untainted, maidenly fourteen-year-old sister to New York’s infamous and fabulous Museum of Sex’s special exhibition: “Fetishes.” Standing in front of the horse role-player exhibit, he profoundly announced to my squirming sister, “Look! This is important.”
Nov 28
By Rahn Kim
Being different had never been a foreign concept, even back when I was still “homegrown.” Teased for my height at my piano school by a short, insecure boy, my education of othering began at age four, the moment I sent a satisfactory kick into his unsuspecting nuts. This was my protest, my hidden potential, and my victory: the pure unadulterated resilience of a child. Too young to care about the consequences, I ignored the commotion that ensued. I ignored the little boy’s enraged mother and I ignored my own mother’s calm and collected, kind advice:
“Be careful baby. If you destroy his nuts, you’ll make him sterile.”
Seven years old, much taller and a little chubbier, the world remained as cruel as ever, and the burden on my shoulders had become a little heavier. A “big-boned” first grader daring enough to take on the older boys, I went head-to-head with the neighborhood third graders.
Nov 28
By Marie Kulik
The friendly looking disciplinarian robots, three of which are set to roam the halls of a prison in Pohang from March 2012, are programmed to notice suspicious, violent or suicidal behaviour and report it to the humans. So sneaking around a corridor before head butting someone and then having a bit of a cry, is going to bring you a robot friend.
Whilst that may sound harmless, if slightly creepy, the progress of the technological sector in the last handful of years is leading to something of a game changer, socially and militarily.
The idea of building a machine to do something that a human can do in a limited capacity is nothing new. One must however see a difference between the first solid weaving machine rocking the world in 1812, leading to a major shift in freeing up man-power and what is coming.
South Korea is unquestionably attempting to lead a robotic revolution, along with everyone else who has realised that robot personnel are the way forward.
Nov 28
By Stella Jang
Every time there is an important election, campaigns are held all over the country in order to encourage youths to vote. This kind of apathy towards politics is considered a serious problem since the very group of people from which some will have to be political leaders and the others will have to determine the country’s future by either supporting the leaders or criticizing them is alienating itself from reality. This way, only a few people who are deeply concerned about politics will take up the role, and the world of politics will become polarized by these extremists.
However, in order to get young people to vote and be interested in politics, politicians themselves must prove that the world of politics is not a place of incessant senseless battles. One of my friends pointed out that politicians must stop waging a war between the conservative and the progressive, but seek actual solutions to problems in reality such as the unemployment crisis or financial difficulties.
Nov 28
By Jen Lee and 3WM
It’s nearly December and the notorious Korean Mosquitoes or mogee continue to infiltrate apartments and pester occupants late in to the night. This year’s wacky weather led to a great absence of the pests in September thanks to all the flooding that basically washed them and their pools of eggs away.
Then, in November, we had some chilly weather and it seemed that they were gone for good until, over the past few days, the temps headed for the balmy range, hitting 16 degrees Celsius (60 degrees Fahrenheit) Sunday and Monday. Now they’re back and buzzing around in ninja mode.
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