Your Culture is Bigger than You

Dear Korean,

I was hoping that you might respond to this review I did of Gish Jen's book on Asian and Western subjectivity. The review is 90 percent summary and expresses a few reservations about the cross-cultural psychologists that Jen relies on to make her generalizations about culture.

I'd be curious to see whether you find this research to be credible. There's no questions that it conforms almost exactly to the "thin and monochromatic" views of the differences between East and West adopted by Westerners, including Malcolm Gladwell, with the (perhaps?) meaningful difference that most of the cross-cultural researchers are Asians from Asia, and that Gish Jen is herself an avowedly Asian American novelist fixated on the question of East and West. While many Asian Americans and other politicized types take strong exception to the generalizations about Asians contained in this body of research, most regular Asians and Asian Americans I ask about seem to more or less agree that the overall schema fits into the pattern of their own experience.

Wesley Yang

If you are wondering because the name of the questioner sounds familiar--yes, it's that Wesley Yang, who wrote the article titled Paper Tigers for the New York Magazine, which elicited a strongly critical response from me. Let me first say this: it takes a remarkable strength of character to have been blasted in a way that Mr. Yang did, and come back for seconds. I am flattered that he is asking for my take; I can only hope I don't disappoint.

Mr. Yang's question is how I feel about the cross-cultural research involving Asian culture. But I see a second, underlying question: in trying to understand Asian culture, how are we to treat our own experience as Asian Americans? The second question, in particular, is important and timely. I just got done blasting non-Asians for trying to essentialize Asia through "cultural explanations." Then what about Asian Americans? How are we to approach our own culture? What do we make of the fact that Gish Jen attempts to explain her father's life through these studies? What are we supposed to think if those studies seems to explain our lives as well?

First question first: how do I feel about research regarding culture? Contrary to what Mr. Yang may think, I am open to them. I will accept the conclusion of the research (with the residual amount of skepticism consistent with the scientific method) if the research is conducted rigorously. The reason for this is simple: clearly, culture affects behavior. As a blogger who writes about Korean culture, it would be strange if I did not recognize this. Accordingly, a rigorously conducted study may well reveal the nexus at which culture translates to behavior. (Of course, normal caveats apply--after all, many studies end up being quite wrong.)

This proposition is so self-evident that it is almost not worth saying out loud. The real question, whose answer is not as self-evident, is: how much do these studies explain? How much do those studies explain the national culture? How much do those studies explain the reality that unfolds before our eyes? And how much do those studies inform our own experience as Asian Americans?

These questions are part and parcel of a larger and more fundamental question: how are we supposed to understand and explain culture? Once we have a solid grasp on this fundamental issue, the rest falls into place.

(More after the jump.)

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Culturalism, Gladwell, and Airplane Crashes

A few weeks ago, I attended a PGA golf tournament. You might think watching golf is boring, but I beg to differ: professional golf tournaments offer a chance to witness firsthand one of the amazing athletic feats in the world. 

If an ordinary weekend golfer made ten great shots in a row, that might be the best day of her golfing life. If I saw two ordinary weekend golfers making ten great shots in a row at the same time, I would start exclaiming out loud after each shot and buy a round of beer for both of them. Now, imagine watching a hundred fifty golfers playing, in a championship golf course that is designed to leave a very small margin of error. Imagine watching virtually every one of them knocking off ten great shots in a row. The good players may hit 20 or 30 great shots in a row; the best ones, 40, 50, 60 great shots. This is why a golf tournament is so exciting: it is a collective display of perfection, shown over and over and over again.

Against the backdrop of such perfection, errors become magnified. The mistakes end up drawing more attention than the shots well hit. If all three golfers in a group hit the perfect drive, such that their balls are a foot away from one another's in the middle of the fairway, the gallery would give a polite applause. But if one of the golfers shanks it into the woods, the gallery would exhale a downcast "ooh," and hurry toward the golf ball among the trees like buzzards toward a rotting carcass.

I am not an exception; watching a tournament, I also fixate on the golfers' mistakes. When I see a golfer hitting a poor shot, I take a moment trying to recreate the swing in my mind, trying to see if I could identify what went wrong. I picture the golfer making his approach to the ball; the stance; the back swing; the alignment of the club head when the back swing reaches the top; the down swing; location of the hip during the down swing; the follow-through. Then I think about the path of the ball flight, and try to identify which part of the swing contributed to the deviation from the intended path.

And then I do something peculiar. I look up which country the golfer is from. And if I happen to remember a poor shot from a different golfer of the same country, I try to see the bigger picture in addition to their respective swings. I start wondering if there is something about that country's culture that affects their golf swings. In the particular golf tournament attended, I saw two Canadian players hitting a poor shot. One golfer hit it short in the 10th hole, dropping the ball into the water. The other, in the narrow 16th hole, badly sliced the drive and ended up in the woods. Quickly, I mustered every scrap of knowledge I had about Canadian culture in my head, and I tried to connect the dots: is there something about Canadian culture that leads to poor golf shots by two different golfers at two different holes?

Just kidding--of course I am kidding. Obviously, I did not think about connecting Canadian culture and poor golf shots, nor do I ever try to connect any national culture with poor golf shots. Nobody in the right mind would do such a thing. We all know that.

But if we all know that, why do so many people do the same thing when it comes to airplane crashes?

*         *         *

(source)

This post is about the Asiana Airline's crash-landing in the San Francisco Airport last Saturday. It is also about culturalism. The term "culturalism" is my coinage, which I introduced the concept several years ago in this blog. Culturalism is the unwarranted impulse to explain people's behavior with a "cultural difference", whether real or imagined. Because the culturalist impulse always attempts to explain more with culture than warranted, the "cultural difference" used in a cultural explanation is more often imagined than real. To paraphrase Abraham Maslow, to a man with a culturalist impulse, every problem looks like a cultural problem.

Seen collectively, landing an aircraft is not unlike a golf tournament. It is not an easy task to land a giant, fast-moving tube of metal onto a small, defined target while keeping everyone inside the tube alive. Each landing of a jumbo jet may as well be a small miracle. Yet, like a golf tournament filled with the world's greatest players, air travel is a marvelous display of perfection: airplanes manage to land millions of times every year with very few accidents. (Let us be charitable to the much-maligned airline industry, and define an "accident" as something more significant than a delayed flight or lost luggage.) It is common knowledge that you are much more likely to die in the car that you drive to the airport, than in the airplane that you board at that airport. 

Perhaps we focus so much on a plane crash for the same reason that golf watchers focus more on a poor shot than a good one: it is a rare deviation from perfection. Like the golf gallery surrounding an errant ball landed among the trees, we surround and gawk at every minute detail of the latest airplane crash. We run through all kinds of scenarios about what went wrong, and talk about them. We explain, then we over-explain--which is when the culturalist impulse kicks in. Already, venerable news organizations like CNN, the Washington Post and NBC News are wondering aloud: did Korean culture contribute to this extremely rare event?

(More after the jump)

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Why are Korean Names Two Syllables?

(To read more about Korean names, here is a list of all posts related to Korean names.)

Dear Korean,

I want to know what the deal with the two syllable names. After almost 8 months of teaching and living here in Korea 99.9% of the names I come across are two syllable names. Why the two syllables all the time? And why is it ok to break that rule sometimes?

Jo-Anna

Jo-Anna is correct that most Korean names are two syllables, like, for example, Jin-yeong [진영]. Why the two syllables? 

Actually, this question was partially answered in the previous post that explained dollimja [돌림자]. To recap: generally, Koreans follow a convention in which they use one of the syllables to signify the generational level, and the other syllable is given as the "true" name. Thus, a traditional Korean "given" name ends up being two syllables: one to show your generational level, the other your "true" name.

Dollimja tradition is somewhat weakened today, but the convention for two syllables stayed. For Koreans, it just looks normal for a given name to have two syllables. So even in case of a given name that do not follow the dollimja system, Koreans tend to name their children with two syllables. For example, purely Korean names, by definition, do not follow dollimja, because dollimja requires Chinese characters. Yet even Korean people with purely Korean names tend to have two-syllable first names. (E.g., Ha-neul [하늘] or Na-rae [나래]).

Deviation from this rule can come in two forms: a single-syllable given name, or a given name with 3+ syllables. Single-syllable name is generally still in the dollimja framework. Certain clans (e.g. Yangcheon Heo [양천 허씨]) consciously reject the "generational syllable," and name their children with a single syllable. Certain others name their firstborn son with the generational syllable only (without a "true" name,) to signify that the child is the first of the generation.

On the other hand, given names with 3+ syllables--which are extremely rare--are almost always a result of the parent's attempt to use a purely Korean word. For example, in 1997 there was a notorious kidnap-murder case involving an 8-year-old girl. Although a murder of an 8-year-old is a sensational news under any circumstance, the murdered girl's name was so unusual that it stayed with Korean public's consciousness like the way Jon-Benet Ramsay's name stayed with American public consciousness. The girl's name? Take a deep breath: 박초롱초롱빛나리, a given name with whopping seven syllables.

Interestingly, because the two-syllable convention is so strong, even Koreans with 3+ syllable given names are usually compelled to use a two-syllable nickname. (For example, in a lot of official forms in Korea, there are only two spaces to fill out one's first name.) The murdered 8-year-old was also known as 박나리, taking the last two syllables of her name.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Can Non-Asian Foreigner Succeed in the K-pop Scene?

Dear Korean,

How ready do you think Korea is for a foreigner in the K-pop scene? My definition of a foreigner in Korean market would be someone who isn't Korean and does not look visibly Asian.

Maria J.

The Korean would point out the vaguely racist quality of this question first. "Foreigner," from the perspective of Koreans, has its own definition: anyone who is not Korean. The Korean has no idea why Maria J. had to twist that word and narrow its coverage to someone who "does not look visibly Asian." But be that as it may...

This type of question has been coming in fairly frequently, apparently because a new girl group called The Gloss has a white French girl named Olivia as a member. So is Korea ready for a non-Asian foreigner in its music scene?

Try this for a size:  the number one band of K-pop in 2012 has three members, all of whom young men. Two of this band's members are Korean, but one is not. One of them is a white man from America, named Brad Moore. Mr. Moore has been quite visible in all of the band's activities (including music videos and show programs,) and his whiteness or non-Koreanness has never been a subject of discussion in Korean people's appreciation of the band.

The band's name? Busker Busker.

The Korean is not joking when Busker Busker was the number one K-pop band of 2012. They deserve the moniker based on any serious metric. Busker Busker sold the most number of albums in 2012 in Korea, and their songs were the most downloaded. (They sold significantly more songs online than PSY in 2012 Korea, even with PSY's Gangnam Style.) The band also placed six different songs in the top 10 of Gaon Chart (the most authoritative chart for K-pop) through 2012, and five songs in the top 10 of Billboard's K-pop chart. Busker Busker also took home three Korean Music Awards for 2013, including Best Pop Album and Best Pop Song. In the cafes of Seoul last year, it was practically impossible to avoid Busker Busker's songs, like 벚꽃 엔딩 ["Cherry Blossom Ending", the video above] or 여수 밤바다 ["Yeosu Night Sea"]. And this wildly successful band had a highly visible white member, who is the drummer for the band.

Does this mean that the next non-Asian foreigner will be inevitably successful, or be able to completely avoid Korea's racism? Of course not. But Busker Busker's success is still a significant data point. The number one band of K-pop in 2012 had a member who was a non-Asian foreigner, and Korean pop music scene hardly made a fuss about it. That should have answered the question before it even made its way to the Korean's inbox.

It is fair to wonder if non-Asian foreigners can succeed in the K-pop scene. But it is strange to see that, in discussing this topic, no one among the supposed devotees of Korean pop music brings up the fact that K-pop's number one band has a white member, and it has been that way for a whole year. Maybe they would have noticed if they stopped distracting themselves with shitty music.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

When Korea's E-Sports was at the Brink of Death

Dear Korean,

I heard there was a huge scandal regarding E-sports about 2-3 years ago. From what I've heard, the scale of the scandal was so big that it almost put an end to the E-Sports itself. Would you be willing to explain what exactly happened back then? How did the Koreans react to the scandal?

Avid gamer

It has been more than three years since the Korean wrote the post about the popularity of Starcraft in Korea. Incredibly, it is still one of the most frequently read posts of this blog. Consider this post to be a sequel: how illegal gambling and match-fixing nearly destroyed the world's first professional e-sports league in Korea.

First, a quick review on how Starcraft became a professional sport in Korea. Starcraft was released in 1998. For a game released at that time, Starcraft had an ambitious Internet-based multi-player gameplay. This was ambitious because, at the time, it was not clear who would be able to take advantage of this multi-player design. Remember that 15 years ago, only a small portion of the world's population had Internet, and most of those who did have Internet relied on dial-up connection through the phone lines, utterly inadequate for online gaming.

(source)

Korea, however, recognized the potential of the Internet early on, and began a massive public investment in installing a fiber-optic cable network throughout the country. The result was that, by the end of 20th century, Korea had a national broadband network that boasted the fastest Internet in the world by a wide margin. Using the unparalleled Internet infrastructure, Koreans begin playing Starcraft, the best Internet-based multi-player game available. The rest is history: Korea is the forefront of the worldwide e-sports, with televised video games and professional gamers with rock star-like status.

(The lesson: government is good, and it should be in the business of picking winners and losers. If Korean government did not take the initiative in the late 1990s to invest a fortune in installing fiber-optic cables, but waited instead for private companies to build their own, would Korea be a major player in the high-tech industry that it is today? Would Korea have created, seemingly out of thin air, professional e-sports leagues, an entire new multi-million dollar market that can only grow in importance in the age of the Internet? If you say yes, the Korean has some Ron Paul presidential memorabilia to sell to you.)

Starcraft began becoming professional around 2000. Independent Starcraft tournaments began sprouting up, and cable televisions in Korea would broadcast the matches. In fact, in many cases the cable TV stations were the ones hosting the tournaments, with a prize money funded by its sponsors in exchange for advertisement placements. Soon, a pattern emerged: Korea's Starcraft leagues and players operated somewhat like professional golf--a collection of different tournaments, with varying levels of competition, prize money, and prestige.

For the next several years, the popularity of professional Starcraft leagues would grow exponentially. Then came 2007.

(More after the jump.)

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Just How Formidable are North Korea's Hackers?

[Index for translated Joo Seong-ha articles]

When it comes to North Korean news, the Korean has one simple rule: listen carefully to people who have actual access to the facts at the ground level in North Korea. One of the few people who do have such access is Mr. Joo Seong-ha, reporter for Dong-A Ilbo. 

Long time readers of this blog are familiar with Mr. Joo. He was born and raised in North Korea, and graduated from Kim Il-Sung University. In other words, he was on track to be an elite officer of the North Korean regime. Instead, he escaped from North Korea into China, and eventually made his way into South Korea, to work as a reporter. Because of his unique background, he is able to access the facts of North Korea like few others can. For example, in 2009 when American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were captured in North Korea, Mr. Joo was able to speak directly with the North Korean border patrol who captured them.

From Mr. Joo, here is another good one. Recently, South Korea was rocked by a massive cyber attack, for which North Korea was suspected to be responsible. Mr. Joo spoke with one of the North Korean hackers to get a sense of North Korea's cyber attack capabilities. Below is the translation.

*             *            *

Conversation with North Korean Cyber Warrior

To write, or not to write.

I agonized long and hard about writing this article. It could be a violation of the National Security Act. Some may look at me askance. And do I really need to write something like this in this type of environment? But in the end, I decided to write this.

To confess--I know the two of the so-called "North Korean cyber warriors." Because of personal security issues, even the question of "know" versus "knew" is sensitive. At any rate, the person with whom I have had conversations for the last several months is not a former cyber warrior; he is currently one.

Recently, all kinds of myths about North Korean hackers are permeating South Korea: "The Mirim University in North Korea raises a thousand selected cyber agents every year"; "North Korea has 30,000 cyber soldiers"; "North Korea's hacking ability is commensurate to that of the CIA."

I asked one of the cyber warriors about Mirim University. He said: "That place is for soldiers who did not open a book for nearly a decade. The teachers for that school can't wait to transfer out to a different school." According to him, there are around 50 students who learn "a little bit" of computer skills before they graduate. In short, the idea that Mirim University is a training camp for cyber warriors is a massive exaggeration. Come to think of it, the original name for Mirim University is the University of Military Command Automation.

Then I asked which places teach computer skills. The answer was Geumseong Middle Schools 1 and 2, which are magnet schools. The schools apparently teach approximately 500 hours of Internet-related lessons for six years. But no one in the faculty of Geumseong has sophisticated hacking ability.

I asked if Geumseong Middle Schools 1 and 2 were the best; the answer was no. Those who excel from those schools advance to Kim Il-Sung University, or Kim Chaek University of Technology. But he said that the top destination for the North Koreans who learned computer skills is India. Since mid-2000s, North Korea sends around 10 computer engineers to study abroad in India; these are the best of the best. The very first team that was sent to India stayed there, for software development. Later, some of them were transferred to China.

I asked if there were several thousand North Korean cyber warriors in China. He said that there are around 10 teams that each has less five members; they somewhat know each other. But he added that they receive almost no assistance from the North Korean regime, because the "old men" (the decision makers) did not grasp the concept. I heard this a few years ago. Even though the young Kim Jong-Un's leadership began to grasp the concept, it is an unwarranted exaggeration to say that there are several thousands of North Korean hackers in China.

I did not ask about their missions, because that is the confidential information on which their lives depend. Other than that, there was nothing I could not ask, and no answer I did not receive. The cyber warriors who live outside of North Korea have not a shred of loyalty for the Labor Party. I regret that I cannot disclose the full transcript.

I used to live in Pyongyang. I know Mirim University and Geumseong Middle School. Therefore, I trust the people I spoke with about a hundred times more than the people who chatter without never having been to Pyongyang. Of course, this is not to say that we should ignore North Korea's capabilities for cyber terrorism. It only takes a few dozen truly great hackers to deal a significant amount of damage. But that is about as much as North Korea can do.

To conclude:  I know there is someone from Pyongyang who visited my personal blog on North Korea every day, because he leaves the traces of browsing around the different pages. I am sure he will see this article as well. I would love to speak with him too.

북한 사이버 전사와 나눈 대화 [Dong-A Science]

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

50 Most Influential K-pop Artists: 15. Kim Geon-mo

[Series Index]

15. Kim Geon-mo [김건모]

Also romanized as:  Kim Gunmo

Years of Activity: 1998 - present 

Discography:
Picture Painted After Parting [이별 뒤에 그린 그림] (1992)
Kim Geon-mo 2 [김건모 2] (1993)
The Wrong Encounter [잘못된 만남] (1995)
Exchange Kg. M4 (1996)
Myself (1997)
Growing (1999)
#007 Another Days... (2001)
Hestory (2003)
Kimgunmo 9 (2004)
Be Like... (2005)
Scarecrow [허수아비] (2007)
Soul Groove (2008)
Everything's Gonna Be Alright (2009)
Autobiography & Best [自敍傳 & Best] (2011)

Representative Song:  잘못된 만남 [The Wrong Encounter] from 잘못된 만남 (1995)

잘못된 만남

The Wrong Encounter

난 너를 믿었던 만큼 난 내 친구도 믿었었기에

Because I trusted my friend as much as I trusted you

난 아무런 부담없이 널 내 친구에게 소개시켜줬고

I introduced you to my friend without thinking twice about it

그런 만남이 있은후부터 우리는 자주 함께 만나며

After that encounter we simply got together a lot

즐거운 시간을 보내며 함께 어울렸던 것뿐인데

Having a good time and hanging out together

그런 만남이 어디부터 잘못됐는지 

But at what point did such encounters turn wrong?

난 알 수 없는 예감에 조금씩 빠져들고 있을 때쯤 

As I was slowly stepping into mysterious apprehension

넌 나보다 내 친구에게 관심을 더 보이며 

You were paying more attention to my friend than me and

날 조금씩 멀리하던

Slowly distancing me

그 어느날 너와 내가 심하게 다툰 그 날 이후로

Then on that day when you and I got into a big fight

너와 내 친구는 연락도 없고 날 피하는 것같아

You and my friend stopped calling and began avoiding me

그제서야 난 느낀거야 모든 것이 잘못돼 있는 걸

Then I finally realized that everything went wrong

너와 내 친구는 어느새 다정한 연인이 돼있었지.

You and my friend had already turned into lovers

있을 수 없는 일이라며 난 울었어

I cried, thinking how this could be

내 사랑과 우정을 모두 버려야 했기에

Because I had to lose both my love and friendship

또다른 내 친구는 내 어깰 두드리며 

Another friend of mine tapped on my shoulder

잊어버리라 했지만 잊지 못할것 같아

And told me to forget it all; but I don't think I can

너를 사랑했던 것만큼 내 친구도 믿었었기에

Because I trusted my friend as much as I loved you

난 자연스럽게 너와 함께 어울렸던 것뿐인데

I simply hung out naturally together with you but

어디부터 우리의 믿음이 깨지기 시작했는지

Since when did our trust begin to crack

난 알지 못한채 어색함을 느끼면서

I did not know; I kept feeling awkward

그렇게 함께 만나 온 시간이 길어지면 질수록

And the longer the time we spent hanging out like that

넌 내게서 조금씩 멀어지는 것을 느끼며 난 예감을 했었지

I felt you were slowly drifting away from me, and then I sensed it

 넌 나보다 내 친구에게 관심이 더 있었다는 걸

You were more interested in my friend than me

그 어느날 너와 내가 심하게 다툰 그 날 이후로

Then on that day when you and I got into a big fight

너와 내 친구는 연락도 없고 날 피하는 것같아

You and my friend stopped calling and began avoiding me

그제서야 난 느낀거야 모든 것이 잘못돼 있는 걸

Then I finally realized that everything went wrong

너와 내 친구는 어느새 다정한 연인이 돼있었지.

You and my friend had already turned into lovers

있을 수 없는 일이라며 난 울었어

I cried, thinking how this could be

내 사랑과 우정을 모두 버려야 했기에

Because I had to lose both my love and friendship

또다른 내 친구는 내 어깰 두드리며

Another friend of mine tapped on my shoulder

잊어버리라 했지만 잊지 못할것 같아

And told me to forget it all; but I don't think I can

In 15 words or less:  Korea's king of pop, the "National Singer".

Maybe he should be ranked higher because...   In the entire history of K-pop, his popularity is matched or exceeded by probably no more than three or four other artists.

Maybe he should be ranked lower because...  At the end of the day, what exactly did he achieve musically?

Why is this artist important?

Take any K-pop musician at his/her peak. Then imagine asking Korean people at the time how they feel about that musician. What would be the response? In most cases, a certain group of Korean people would love that artist, and other groups will not. Jo Seong-mo, for example, enjoyed a level of popularity that is matched by few others in Korean pop music history. Yet at the end of the day, his popularity was propelled mainly by women in their teens through 30s. Few in the history of K-pop transcend that level. Korean women who are older than mid-20s could care less about Girls' Generation. Even PSY, he of a billion Youtube hits, has his detractors in Korea.

For those shining few who rise above that bar and become beloved by the entire nation, Korean pop culture bestows a moniker:  국민가수, the "National Singer." Depending on whom you ask, there are only three to five "National Singers" in the history of K-pop. But no matter whom you ask, the name Kim Geon-mo will come up as the representative "National Singer". 

To be sure, one can nitpick on Kim Geon-mo until the cows come home. He never was much of a singer;   this lack of talent was painfully exposed in the first episode of the reality show I am Singer, in which Kim suffered the disgrace of becoming the first singer to be dropped from the show. He did not compose his greatest hits, and he never created music or lyrics of any depth. (The lyrics of The Wrong Encounter, Kim's greatest hit, is positively cringe-worthy in its juvenility.) In fact, the moment he began composing his own songs was the moment when his career began sliding downward. At the end of the day, he was not much more than a dancing entertainer, who scored high on likability.

Make that "scored astronomically on likability," actually. Measured strictly by popularity, Kim Geon-mo's three-year peak from 1993 to 1996 was probably greater than any three-year peak of any K-pop artist in history, save maybe two (whom we will discuss later in this series.) Kim's perceived lack of natural talent ended up becoming a plus for his likability, as the narrative of his career became that of an underdog--who was not particularly handsome nor musically talented--that nonetheless succeeded against all odds. In the mid 1990s, Kim Geon-mo ruled the K-pop world like virtually no one else did, because absolutely everyone loved him. Even Seo Taiji, who is on the short list of K-pop's Greatest of All Time, avoided releasing any album when Kim Geon-mo released an album. 

Although Kim himself did not possess any particular musical talent, his popularity itself would become his musical legacy. Because of Kim Geon-mo, various dance music genres--reggae, electro-pop, sanitized hiphop--would graduate from the state of being imported music to become Korea's own. Kim Geon-mo was the moment in which dance music would become K-pop's mainstream. 

Interesting trivia:  In college, Kim Geon-mo majored in traditional Korean music.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Korean President Power Ranking

On February 20, President Lee Myeong-bak held his last cabinet meeting, effectively ending his tenure as the president of Korea. (The inauguration for the next president Park Geun-hye is on February 25.) With another president into the pages of Korean history, it seems like a good time to have . . . the presidential power ranking!

Technically, the Republic of Korea has had ten heads of government since its birth in 1948: (1) Syngmn Rhee (1948-1960); (2) Chang Myon (1960-1961); (3) Park Chung-hee (1961-1979); (4) Choi Gyu-ha (1979-1980); (5) Chun Doo-hwan (1980-1987); (6) Roh Tae-woo (1987-1992); (7) Kim Young-sam (1992-1997); (8) Kim Dae-jung (1997-2002); (9) Roh Moo-hyun (2002-2007) and; (10) Lee Myeong-bak (2007-2012). But one can see that Chang Myon and Choi Gyu-ha did not last very long, because they abdicated from their posts when their successors rolled into Seoul with tanks.

(Note:  Several commenters pointed out that Yoon Bo-seon, not Chang Myon, was the president after Syngman Rhee. That comment is technically correct, but it is not a fair comparison. Korea's short-lived Second Republic was a proportional representation system, in which the people elected the Prime Minister, the head of government. The National Assembly elected the president, the nominal head of state without much real power. Yoon Bo-seon was the president; Chang Myon was the prime minister. Therefore, apples-to-apples comparison should involve Chang Myon, not Yoon Bo-seon.)

Thus, a fair ranking would involve eight presidents. How would they stack up? Here is the Korean's ranking, in reverse order.

(More after the jump)

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

I am not Watching Super Bowl This Year

The Korean is boycotting the Super Bowl this year. In fact, the Korean will never watch the NFL again, unless the league finds a way to dramatically reduce the level of brain damage that the players suffer. If this means American football no longer exists in the current form--instead evolving into something like touch football or rugby--I'm fine with it. If this means the death of football in America, I am ok with it.

Here is why.

*               *               *

One of my fondest memories from law school involves 1987 Chicago Bears. Not that I watched the Chicago Bears in 1987--more accurately, the memory involves a virtual simulation of the '87 Bears. 

In law school, my closest friends--let's call them JA, RT, and SW--and I wasted a lot of time together. RT had bought a hacked Xbox from eBay, which came pre-loaded with many classic NES games. One of the games was Tecmo Bowl, a video game from 1988 that primitively simulated the NFL at the time. RT and JA would play Tecmo Bowl together, while SW and I would watch the game, drink beer and crack jokes. 

RT favored San Francisco 49ers, which featured a fearsome aerial attack with Joe Montana. JA would always play Chicago Bears, relying on Walter Payton's running game. But--because we were idiots--the absolute highlight of the game featured neither of the Hall of Famers. For us, the moment we always waited for was when Chicago's safety made an interception of Montana's pass. Then the cheesy, 1980s NES graphics would flash this across the top of the screen: "INTERCEPTION!!!!!" This would be followed by these following letters: "DAVE DUERSON!!!!!!!" 

None of us has ever heard of Dave Duerson, who was a safety for the Chicago Bears in Tecmo Bowl. But that did not stop us from cracking jokes--mostly juvenile puns involving the last name "Duerson." The longest running joke was that each time Duerson made an interception, he would "Duer" RT's mom. The joke kept running because the virtual Dave Duerson would make plays like clockwork. Duerson in our Tecmo Bowl games would make about 10 interceptions a game, largely because of RT's overconfidence in the Niners' West Coast Offense. With SW, a masterfully funny guy, this joke expanded into the ones featuring various places and manners in which Dave Duerson would have sex with RT's mother.

For one Super Bowl, we decided that the four of us should kill 100 cans of Coors Light that day, and play more Tecmo Bowl before the game came on. With about five beers in, I foolishly declared that I would shotgun a can of beer each time Duerson made an interception. I don't remember how many cans of Coors Light I drank in what could not have been more than a 20 minute span, but they were enough to make me black out for the entire Super Bowl game, muttering: "Dave Duerson, you did this to me, you're awesome."

(More after the jump.)

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Where is Korean Rock?

Dear Korean,

I know that you've touched a little bit on Korean rock music-- particularly in your "most influential" series-- but I was curious as to what the rock scene is really like in Korea today. Why is there so little Korean rock music? How are rockers treated today in Korea, considering the dominance of the K-pop idols?

Curious K-Rock fan

Let's address the first question first -- why is there so little Korean rock music?

Answer:  the premise of the question is wrong, because there are tons of Korean rock music. Tons. Let's put it this way: if we played a game where the Korean names two rock songs for every one idol group song, the Korean guarantees that he will win every time. In fact, this is one of the most frustrating things about discussion Korean pop music -- the idea that manufactured pretty boys and pretty girls comprise the entire universe of K-pop. Nothing can be farther from the truth.

Nor is this guy the entirety of K-pop.
You had your fun, people. It's time to move on.
(source)

It is true that Korean rock is less visible to the international audience because Korean rock, unlike Korean idol groups, is not systematically pushed abroad by well-capitalized management companies. It is also true that Korean rock is less "mainstream," in a sense that Korean rock sells less number of albums, appear less on television and less frequently heard (if at all) in shopping malls in Korea.

But so what? Isn't being independent, underground and non-commercial more properly within the spirit of rock and roll? Do you know how many number one singles that the legendary rock band Radiohead has? Zero. How about other legends like Led Zeppelin or Depeche Mode? Also zero. Celine Dion has not one, but two, albums that outsold Nirvana's Nevermind, widely considered the greatest alternative rock album ever. Speaking of Nevermind, you would never hear Smells like Teen Spirit in your neighborhood mall. But does any of these factoids diminish the importance or influence of rock music? Of course not.

The lesson here is simple: people like mainstream pop more than rock music. That's why mainstream pop is mainstream. Korean pop music scene is not an exception -- that's why mainstream Korean pop established a beachhead in the international stage first. But that should not lead to the conclusion that rock music does not exist in Korea, or Korean people don't like rock music. In fact, rock music is one of the two pillars that hold up the foundation of Korean pop music, and it has a storied history in Korea. (The other pillar is -- don't laugh -- trot [트로트]. This will be explained in a future post.)

(More after the jump.)

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Best of the Worst 2012

Did the world end yet? No, it only feels like that whenever the Korean receives these stupid emails. Despite seeing the examples of dumb questions from 2008, 2009, 2010 (in Parts I, II, and III) and 2011, people simply do not learn.

So here is another edition of AAK!'s end of the year tradition -- the worst emails of the year 2012. As always, these are all real emails that the Korean really received. Other than redacting personal information, not a single thing about the email is changed or modified in any way.

---------------------------------------

re:  your picture

Dear onyeka,

I saw your picture in the internet and decided to write you a mail, because you have so hot body and penis! Wow!

You should know that! 

XXX, Adriana

Adriana was attempting to reach the winner of the Best of the Worst 2009. The Korean always wondered if women were attracted by a dong shot. Now he does not wonder any more.

re: Request for info

Hullo ,
    I came across your helpful blog .
    I wonder whether you can help me get the email id of some of LG Korea's
top officials --  Koo Bon-Moo , Koo Bon-Joon , etc. I have some
complaints regarding service of my LG TV back here in India. The
problem is primarily  the non cooperative attitude of some of the
Indians working for LG here.
    LG Korea has a website , but Google Translate somehow does not work.

    Any help from your end is appreciated.

   Cheers ,
      Ramesh.

Gotta love the multiple levels of stupidity involved in this one. Don't like LG customer service in India? Why, of course you should email LG's top executives! How do you get the emails of LG's top executives? You should ask this random Korean guy on the Internet! He did tell you to ask, right?

(More after the jump)

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Korea's Presidential Election - Part III: Ahn Cheol-soo

Part III of this series will discuss Ahn Cheol-soo, an independent candidate.

Ahn Cheol-soo (Independent)

Ahn Cheol-soo [안철수]
(source)

Ahn Cheol-soo was born in 1962, which makes him around ten years younger than both Park Geun-hye and Moon Jae-in. That fact, coupled with Ahn's biography, puts Ahn in a fundamentally different position from both Park and Moon. Unlike Park and Moon, Ahn is not tethered to Korea's tortured past of the 1970s -- which is one of the reasons why he has enjoyed such massive popularity as an independent.

Ahn was born in Busan. Ahn's childhood was unremarkable, which is actually remarkable for a middle-aged Korean. In the tumultuous times of Korea in the 1960s and 70s, few in Korea had a normal childhood. Recall that Park Geun-hye lost both her parents to political assassination, or that Moon Jae-in grew up in dire poverty in a Korean War refugee camp. In contrast, Ahn's youth had no drama. Ahn's father was a doctor who had (and still has) a small medical office in Busan. Ahn grew up living a comfortable but not lavish life, as a bookish student.

Ahn began his career as a research doctor after having graduated from Seoul National University school of medicine in 1986. Only four years later, he would serve as a dean of Danguk University school of medicine at age 27, the youngest dean in Korean higher education history. Ahn's research focus was in irregular heartbeat.

(More after the jump)

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Korea's Presidential Election - Part I: Park Geun-hye

Dear Korean,

Can you explain a little bit about the current Korean presidential election, mainly about the candidates running today? What are the problems S.Korean citizens are most concerned about and should be concerned about as well as the candidates' positions on those issues. And who would you prefer, if you do care?

Paul K.

Korea's presidential election is now approximately 40 days away, and exciting times are ahead. First, if you are completely unfamiliar with the general landscape of Korean politics, the Korean would recommend reading this post first for an introduction.

Let's address Paul's question in reverse order. What are the biggest issues at hand for the upcoming presidential election? Interestingly, this election has been a relative anomaly because there has not been a big campaign promise that is dividing the electorate. For example, in 2002, the winning candidate Roh Moo-hyun promised that he would move the capital away from Seoul to promote balanced regional growth. In 2007, the winning candidate Lee Myung-bak promised that he would construct a Grand Canal that would make transportation more efficient. Each promise was controversial, and Korean electorate spent a great deal of time debating them.

This time around? Not as much. To be sure, there currently is a very strong policy demand from Korea's electorate -- namely, expansion of the welfare state. But the demand is so strong that even the conservative candidate, who might oppose such initiative under regular circumstances, is promising free childcare for children between ages of 0 and 5, increased welfare payments for the disabled, expansion of public housing, etc. While there are certainly differences in the specifics of the campaign promises from each candidate, it is fair to say that the campaign promises are at least directionally the same. Thus, the current election is driven more by the personalities of the candidates, and the standing ideologies that they represent, rather than any particular policy ideas. Which is just as well, because each candidate in the running are extremely interesting in his/her own way.

Thus, this series will examine the three major candidates currently running in the presidential election, and what the standing ideologies that they represent. As of now, the three major candidates are:  Park Geun-hye of the conservative New Frontier Party, which is the majority party of the National Assembly and the current holder of the Blue House; Moon Jae-in of the progressive Democratic United Party, the minority party of the National Assembly, and; independent candidate Ahn Cheol-soo, a Seoul National University professor who made a fortune through a start-up anti-virus software company. Then the series will conclude by giving the current state of play.

At this point, full disclosure:  the Korean supports Moon Jae-in of the DUP. Each part of this series will examine each major candidate. At the end of the series, the Korean will briefly explain why he supports Moon. First up is Park Geun-hye, after the jump.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Looking for Someone?

Dear Korean,

How do I go about finding someone in Korea? I only have a name, and what he used to be back in the 1980's. Any help would be much appreciated.

F.V.

This is a very frequent question for which the Korean has no good answer. Just think about the absurdity of the question -- how can F.V. seriously expect to find someone with just a name, from the 1980s? It is not as if the Korean knows everyone in Korea across all time and space. Yet this type of questions continue to come in.

The Korean suspects that part of the reason why this question is so frequent is because people often do not realize is just how populous Korea is. Korea is a country with 50 million people. It has more people than Spain, Argentina, Poland or Canada, just to give a few examples. Finding one person among the 50 million will not be easy.

Short of hiring a private detective in Korea, there is no "good" -- as in, high-percentage -- way to find someone in Korea. If one is willing to try even a very low percentage shot, the best option for someone living outside of Korea is, in fact, Facebook, as approximately 8 million Koreans are on Facebook now. But it would be wise not to get your hopes up.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

The Obligatory Gangnam Style Post

Dear Korean,

We've all heard it and we all love it, but what exactly is Gangnam Style and what makes it so popular in your opinion?

Chris

The Korean tried. He really tried to avoid the fad. He thought this was going to blow over in a few days, and everyone will feel a bit silly afterward. But no . . .

Gangnam Style just kept coming on -- 273 million views and counting, appearances on network televisions shows, continuous climb up the charts and numerous homages to the original. (The latest one: from the Ohio University marching band.) Questions about Gangnam Style just kept coming also, even though the Korean has been slower with blog updates.

So, FINE. Let's discuss Gangnam Style. First, what exactly is "Gangnam Style"? "Gangnam" literally means "south of the river." But generally, Gangnam refers to a specific area in Seoul located south of the Han River that bisects the city. The area generally encompasses the northern half of (confusing name alert) Gangnam-gu and Seocho-gu, covering neighborhoods like Apgujeong, Sinsa and (confusing name alert, again) Gangnam. It is an area with posh malls, expensive dining and swanky clubs. People who populate those areas are rich, stylish and beautiful, carrying all the appropriate status symbols like imported cars and fancy handbags. They are often celebrities or heirs of Korea's magnates.

The Korean was raised in Apgujeong, so he is the original Gangnam man. And it has been a little bit funny to see his old home described breathlessly as some place that "has no real equivalent in the United States. The closest approximation would be Silicon Valley, Wall Street, Beverly Hills, Manhattan’s Upper East Side, and Miami Beach all rolled into one[,]" according to the Wall Street Journal (quoting this clueless blogger.) Finding the U.S. equivalent of Gangnam is quite easy: it's West Hollywood / Beverly Hills. It has celebrities, style, money, and nice homes and good schools just behind those flashing lights.

(Aside:  This "no equivalent in U.S." trope is really overused, and in this instance, the comparison is clearly hyperbolic and incorrect. Gangnam is obviously not a Silicon Valley, since there is no huge concentration of tech companies in Gangnam. Nor is it Wall Street -- that would be Gwanghwamun / City Hall area, north of the river, where all the major banks have their headquarters. Gangnam is not Upper East Side either, since Gangnam is decidedly nouveau riche. The old money of the kind that occupies the Upper East Side of New York is found in Yeonhee-dong of Seoul, north of the river. The Miami Beach comparison is too dumb to address.)

So when PSY speaks of "Gangnam Style," he means to invoke the trendy, stylish image. But of course, what PSY ends up doing in the music video is a parody of such image. He is wearing a ridiculous suit and dances a ridiculous dance. He appears in decidedly un-Gangnam areas:  children's playground, on a paddle boat, riverside park, a bus with a disco ball, etc. A couple of times, PSY does encounter what might be fairly close to a Gangnam-type occasion -- a man driving a fancy car (a cameo appearance by the legendary comedian Yoo Jae-seok,) and a beautiful woman (cameo by Hyuna from the girl group 4Minute) flirting. But those moments quickly dissolve into another round of ridiculous dancing.

(Aside:  If you immediately understood the relevance of the bus with a disco ball, you have a black belt in Korean culture. The "party" bus is usually for older Korean men and women, who would like to dance away from the public view. To release their urges to shake it, they would charter these buses with total strangers and have a mobile dancing session. By the way, those old Korean folks dance about as well as your parents. It is probably the most un-hip mobile party in the world -- which fits perfectly with Gangnam Style's aesthetics.)

Having said that, what made Gangnam Style so popular?

(More after the jump)

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

50 Most Influential K-Pop Artists: 18. Kim Hyeon-Sik

We are now finished with Tier 3 - Strong Impact K-pop artists. Beginning with our number 18, these artists are considered the greatest of a given era in K-pop.


18. Kim Hyeon-Sik [김현식]

[Series Index]

Also Romanized as:  Kim Hyun-Sik

Years of Activity: 1980-1991

Discography:

New Songs by Kim Hyeon-Sik [김현식 새노래] (1980)
Kim Hyeon-Sik 2 [김현식 2] (1984)
The Third Album by Kim Hyeon-Sik and Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter:  Love Songs in the Rain [김현식과 봄 여름 가을 겨울 3집: 빗속의 연가] (1986)
Kim Hyeon-Sik Vol. 4 [김현식 Vol. 4] (1988)
Kim Hyeon-Sik 5 [김현식 5] (1990)
Kim Hyeon-Sik Vol. 6 [김현식 Vol. 6] (1991)
Self-Portrait (1996)

Representative Song:  My Love by My Side [내 사랑 내 곁에] from Kim Hyeon-Sik Vol. 6

내 사랑 내 곁에

My Love by My Side

나의 모든 사랑이 떠나가는 날이

The day when all my love departs

당신의 그 웃음 뒤에서 함께 하는데

Is with you behind your smile, but

철이 없는 욕심에 그 많은 미련에 당신이 있는 건 아닌지 

I wonder if you are in the childish desire and those many regrets

아니겠지요

No, you would not

시간은 멀어짐으로 향해 가는데

Time heads toward separateness, but

약속했던 그대만은 올 줄을 모르고

You, despite your promise, are not coming, and

애써 웃음 지으며 돌아오는 길은 왜 그리도 낯설고 멀기만 한지

Why is the way back, forcing a smile, so unfamiliar and far

저 여린 가지 사이로 혼자인 날 느낄 때

When I feel myself being alone between those frail branches

이렇게 아픈 그대 기억이 날까

Would this painful memory of you come back

내 사랑 그대 내 곁에 있어 줘

My love, you, please be by my side

이 세상 하나뿐인 오직 그대만이

Only you, the only one in the world

힘겨운 날에 너 마저 떠나면

If even you leave in these difficult days

비틀거릴 내가 안길 곳은 어디에

Where will I be held, stumbling

Translation note:  This is one of the most difficult songs the Korean has ever translated for this series.  As it stands, the translation is a total mess, because the original lyrics in Korean is poetically forced. Suggestions are always welcome.

In 15 words or less:  The voice of the 80s.

Maybe he should be ranked higher because...  Few singers defined an era like Kim Hyeon-Sik did.

Maybe he should be ranked lower because...  He did not have any impact outside of music.

Why is this artist important?

Considering the massive impact that he will make, Kim Hyeon-Sik's beginning in 1980 was meek. Although a couple of songs in his first album gained some popularity, Kim did not become a household name until his second album in 1984, with the headlining song I Loved You [사랑했어요]. But reportedly, Kim himself was not particularly satisfied with this album, in which he was mostly a vocalist for songs written by someone else.

Kim's third album in 1986, in contrast, truly had his finger prints. Kim formed a band, christened Spring Summer Fall Winter [봄 여름 가을 겨울], specifically to create his third band. (The keyboardist for SSFW was Yoo Jae-Ha.) Each band member contributed his own songs into the album, giving the album the diverse colors of rock, blues and fusion jazz. But undeniably, the keystone of the album was Kim's gravelly, Louis Armstrong-like voice, which tied together the album as a single theme.  Kim's third album sold over 200,000 copies, and is considered one of the greatest in K-pop history. (SSFW eventually spun off and became its own band, still playing to this day.)

Kim, however, was not the type who could enjoy his success into the sunset. He chain-smoked and binge-drank. He also smoked marijuana, still considered a very serious crime in Korea. Kim's health declined rapidly. When he was sober and in between the trips to emergency room, he would spend the days holding concerts and the nights recording songs. Alcohol-induced liver sclerosis finally took his life in December 1990, while he was still in the middle of recording his sixth album. Kim was 42. The title song of his last album, My Love by My Side, dominated the airwaves in 1991; the album would sell more than a million copies. As it turns out, Kim's last album was also the last meaningful album of the 1980s K-pop, as in the following year, a supernova would change K-pop forever.

Interesting trivia:  Kim attended Samcheong Elementary School in Seoul, the same elementary school as another K-pop legend of the 1980s -- Jeon In-Gwon of Deulgukhwa.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

"Gook" is a bad word

Dear Korean,

Lately, the guys at my school have started calling my Korean friends and I "gooks". At first we just thought it was an immature thing that they had made up, but it turns out that when my older cousin was in middle school, her math teacher called her and all the other Asians the exact same thing. Is it supposed to be a racist word or just another name to call Koreans/Asians?

Sincerely, Confused "Gook" Girl

This post is more like a PSA, because the Korean believes (or hopes!) that most people would know about this. But apparently, at least some people in the world does not know this, so here it is:

"Gook" is a racist term denoting Asians. In fact, it is right up there with "chink" as the most offensive term to describe Asians.

If you ever hear this term, do not let it slide. Get in the face of the slur-utterer and shake him/her down like s/he owes you money. Because the only way to get the racists to change their ways is to make them learn that they are fucking with the wrong gook.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Jasmine Lee, the First Non-Ethnic Assembly Member (Part II)

[Part I]

Now, for the second part of Eric's question:

Also, it seems that the Saenuri Party is making a greater effort than other parties to appeal to immigrants to Korea. From a western perspective, this is perplexing as one would expect a progressive party to be more, well, progressive. Could you help to provide some context on this?


Certainly. Given Korea's upcoming presidential election at the end of this year, the Korean will use this question to give a bit of primer about Korean politics, which would help one understand this oddity.

As of today, Korean politics can be divided largely into two camps:  conservatives and progressives. Broadly speaking, Korea's conservatives and progressives generally follow the same direction as the rightist and leftist politics of the United States or Europe. But there are peculiar aspects in Korean politics, owing to Korea's history, that drive Korea's conservatives and progressives into unexpected directions. Thus, to understand Korea's political landscape, one must first understand modern Korean history.

[Full disclosure:  The Korean and his family have been staunchly progressive, so read the rest with that bias in mind.]

Here is a very fast recap of modern Korean history. In 1945, Korea gained independence from Japan at the conclusion of World War II, but was immediately divided into North and South Korea. In 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea; Korean War ended in 1953. From 1953 to 1988 (or 1993, depending on who you ask, which is explained further below,) South Korea went through a series of fascist dictators, who justified their murderous dictatorship by (1) pointing to Korea's miraculous economic rise, and (2) citing the threat of North Korea attempting to invade the south once again. After waves and waves of democratization protests, South Korea's first democratic administration was established in 1988 (or again, 1993, depending on who you ask.) Since then, Korea has had 3 or 4 presidential elections, leading to this point.

(More after the jump.)

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Ask a Korean! Wiki: What to do with Asian Names?

Dear Korean,

We are adopting a sweet little boy from the Seoul area. My husband is Lebanese/American and I am European/American. We were planning on keeping the name his birthmother had given him which is HaJin. However a Chinese/American male friend didn't think this was a good idea. My friend stated that growing up Asian was difficult enough, and he and his Asian friends were grateful to have been given more English sounding names. What are your thoughts on this?

Paige K.

That issue is a tricky one not only for adoptive parents, but also for a lot of young Asian American parents. Paige's Chinese American friend is not wrong -- it is tough enough to look different, and adding the extra effort of telling people how to pronounce your name all the time, only to see them never remember your name, could be a rather alienating experience. But on the other hand -- especially for adoptees, who have a difficult time retaining their heritage culture -- using the given name could serve as a good reminder of one's heritage. One form of compromise among Korean American parents is to choose a name that can operate in both in English and in Korean (e.g. "Mina".)

As for the Korean himself, he hopes to give the Korean Baby a Korean first name and an English/Christian middle name, so that while the child could go by the English name, the priorities would be clear, especially when it comes to everything legal.

Having said that, let's hear from our readers. Asian Americans, how do you feel about your ethnic names? What did/will you do with your children's names?

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

50 Most Influential K-Pop Artists: 20. Crying Nut

[Series Index]

20.  Crying Nut [크라잉넛]

Years of Activity: 1998-present

Members:
Park Yoon-Sik [박윤식] - Vocal, Guitar
Lee Sang-Myeon [이상면] - Guitar
Han Gyeong-Rok [한경록] - Bass, Guitar
Lee Sang-Hyeok [이상혁] - Drum
Kim In-Su [김인수] - Accordion, Keyboard

Discography:
Run the Horse [말달리자] (1998)
Circus Magic Traveling Troupe [서커스매직유랑단] (1999)
Love Song Under the Water [하수연가] (2001)
Old Radio [고물라디오] (2002)
Cow at the OK Corral [OK 목장의 젖소] (2006)
The Uncomfortable Party [불편한 파티] (2009)

Representative Song:  Circus Magic Traveling Troupe [서커스매직유랑단] from Circus Magic Traveling Troupe.

서커스매직유랑단
Circus Magic Traveling Troupe

[Intro]

안녕하세요 오늘은 김선생이랑 같이 나왔어요
Hello! I came out with Dr. Kim today
아이고 김씨 아저씨도 나오셨네요
Oh my, Mr. Kim came out too
아랫마을에 장이서서 서커스가 왔데요
The village is holding a market and a circus came
아~ 그럼 우리한번 가볼까요
Ah -- then should we go take a look?

아이구 장에 나오니 사람 참 겁나게 많네요
Oh my, the market is so crowded
글쎄 써커스단 이름이 뭐래요
What's the name of the circus by the way?
서커스 매직 유랑단 이래요
They call themselves Circus Magic Traveling Troupe.

[Song]

헤이! 헤이! 요기조기 모여보세요 요것조것 골라보세요
Hey! Hey! Come one, come all. Pick one, pick all
우리들은 서커스 매직 유랑단
We are Circus Magic Traveling Troupe

안녕하세요 안녕하세요 우린 매직 서커스 유랑단
Hello hello we are Magic Circus Traveling Troupe
님 찾아 꿈을 찾아 떠나간다우
We travel to find our honey and our dreams
동네집 계집아이 함께 간다면
If a girl from the town will come with us
천리만길 발자욱에 꽃이 피리라
Flowers will bloom at her footsteps for ten thousand miles

우리는 크라잉넛 떠돌이 신사
We are Crying Nut, traveling gentlemen
한 많은 팔도강산 유랑해보세
Let's wander around the sorrow-filled Eight Provinces
마음대로 춤을 추며 떠들어보세요
Dance and talk as loud as you want
어차피 우리에겐 내일은 없다
For us there is no tomorrow anyway

오늘도 아슬아슬 재주 넘지만
Again today performing the thrilling stunts
곰곰히 생각하니 내가 곰이네
But to think and think, and I am the bear
난장이 광대의 외줄타기는
The midget clown's tightrope walking is
아름답다 슬프도다 나비로구나
Beautiful, sorrowful, a butterfly

우리는 크라잉넛 떠돌이 신사
We are Crying Nut, traveling gentlemen
한 많은 팔도강산 유랑해보세
Let's all wander around the Eight Provinces filled with sorrow
마음대로 춤을 추며 떠들어보세요
Dance and talk as loud as you want
어차피 우리에겐 내일은 없다
For us there is no tomorrow anyway

커다란 무대위에 막이 내리면
When the curtain falls on the big stage
따뜻한 별빛이 나를 감싸네
The warm starlight shrouds me
자줏빛 저 하늘은 무얼 말할까
What does that violet sky say
고요한 달 그림자 나를 부르네
The silent shadow of the moon calls me

떠돌이 인생역정 같이 가보세
Let's go together on the vagabond life journey
외로운 당신의 친구 되겠소
We will be friends for you who are lonely
흥청망청 비틀비틀 요지경 세상
Extravagant, stumbling, kaleidoscopic world
발걸음도 가벼웁다 서커스 유랑단
The steps are light for the traveling circus

오늘도 아슬아슬 재주 넘지만
Again today performing the thrilling stunts
곰곰히 생각하니 내가 곰이네
But think and think, and I am the bear
난장이 광대의 외줄타기는
The midget clown's tightrope dancing is
아름답다 슬프도다 나비로구나
Beautiful, sorrowful, a butterfly

우리는 크라잉넛 떠돌이 신사
We are Crying Nut, traveling gentlemen
한 많은 팔도강산 유랑해보세
Let's all wander around the Eight Provinces filled with sorrow
마음대로 춤을 추며 떠들어보세요
Dance and talk as loud as you want
어차피 우리에겐 내일은 없다
For us there is no tomorrow anyway
떠돌이 인생역정 같이 가보세
Let's go together on the vagabond life journey
외로운 당신의 친구 되겠소
We will be friends for you who are lonely
흥청망청 비틀비틀 요지경 세상
Extravagant, stumbling, kaleidoscopic world
발걸음도 가벼웁다 서커스 유랑단 헤이
The steps are light for the traveling circus. Hey!

Translation note 1:  The song contains a lot of cultural allusions that need full background to understand.

- In traditional Korea, the market was consisted of traveling merchants who would appear every five or seven days to set up shop. Very rudimentary circus troupe sometimes travels with the merchants. This persisted in rural Korea through 1960s and early 1970s, and still continues to a very small degree to this day.

- The "Eight Provinces" is an idiom that refers to Korea, as traditional Korea was made up of eight provinces.

- The reference to "bear" is designed to evoke Korean old saying, "The bear dances and the owner takes the money," which is used in a situation when someone went through a lot of effort that ended up benefiting someone else.

Translation note 2:  There was no good way to translate 흥청망청 비틀비틀 요지경 세상. As always, suggestions are welcome.

In 15 words or less:  The reigning kings of rock in Korea.

Maybe they should be ranked higher because. . .  Greatest rock band of Korea in the 2000s. Doesn't that count for more?

Maybe they should be ranked lower because . . .  Has rocked mattered that much in Korea in the past decade?

Why is this artist important?
Seeing today's K-pop scene, it is difficult to believe that only 25 years ago, rock was the king of Korean pop music. But it was true -- through late 1980s, legendary rock bands like Deulgukhwa were dominating the charts, radio waves and TV times. Starting from early 1990s, however, Korea's rock began to cede the public stage to dance, hiphop, and general corporatization of pop music. By early 2000s, Korean rock was at a nadir. It appeared that, against the depressed consumer market following the East Asian Financial Crisis, the album market ravaged by the introduction of Internet downloads, and the swarm of manufactured idols backed with massive capital, Korean rock was gasping for its last breath in the self-segregated enclaves of Hongdae and Daehakro.

However, as its adherents have reminded the world for decades, rock will never die. Korean rock came back in a huge way in the early 2000s, and Crying Nut was the band that led the charge. How? Arguably, Crying Nut is the best translator of Korean sensibility into rock format since Deulgukhwa of the mid-1980s. The band's best songs consistently invoke the slightly retro, nostalgia-inducing images of Korea (well represented in Circus Magic Traveling Troupe) and marry them sometimes with manic energy, at other times with deep sentimentality.

Crying Nut has been building momentum in the underground indie scene, but it truly exploded into the scene during the 2002 FIFA World Cup, for which the band composed the official supporters' anthem for Korea's national soccer team. This opportunity for an outpouring of passion once again proved that there was no better music than rock to express overwhelming energy; rock bands like Crying Nut and Yoon Do-Hyun Band would lead the rebirth of rock by holding massive outdoor concerts that doubled as a viewing party for the World Cup. The renewed appreciation for rock reverberates in Korean music to this day, as more talented indie bands are marking their territory even as the manufactured idol groups march on their path toward world domination.

Interesting trivia 1: The two Lees of the band are twins.

Interesting trivia 2: Apparently, the band was formed after the members, who were high school classmates, went out on a field trip and saw a guy with a guitar attracting many girls. Therefore, initially the band was made up of five guitarists. The owner of the club in which the band was set to perform had to forcibly allocate the appropriate instruments for Crying Nut to be a legitimate band.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.