What is the Line Between Curious and Creepy?

Dear Korean,

While reading through several different entries on your blog I noticed that while you seem to have frustration toward non-Asian people who don't know how to interact with Asian Americans, you also seem to have a disdain for people with "yellow fever" or who are caught up in the Korean wave. What do you consider a normal balance between having no clue about Asians and having a creepy obsession with them? Is there some sort of normal or appropriate level of interest in Asian culture?

Joanna C.

Dear Joanna,

The Korean likes your question so much that it jumped the line. The Korean likes it because it really goes to the heart of appreciating different cultures, of what to do and what not to do.

First, you have the Korean exactly pegged. He is very annoyed by people who do not know how to deal with Asian Americans. He also finds blatant yellow fever to be vile. The Korean's stance is not idiosyncratic to himself -- this is generally resonant with prevalent Asian American attitudes. These two stances appear to be opposite of each other, because one appears to be about knowing too little while the other appears to be about knowing too much. So maybe a middle ground is the way to go?

Actually, no. What appears to be two opposite things is actually two different manifestations of the same root cause, and it is that root cause that Asian Americans find annoying. The name of that root cause is "objectification."

Here, the Korean is using the term "objectification" to mean treating a person like a non-person or a half-person. This is the incessantly recurring reality for Asian Americans: instead of being treated as a whole person, they are treated as an abstract representation of their ethnicity. We may breathe, walk and talk like real persons, but we are not quite a real person like white Americans are real.

Let us start with the cluelessness with Asian Americans part. In one of the post popular posts in AAK! history, the Korean wrote:

Do not ask "Where are you from?" to an Asian person unless you are reasonably certain that s/he is outside of his/her American hometown. If the Asian answers, say, "Los Angeles", do not follow up with "where are you originally from?" or "where are your parents from?" Our precise ethnicity is none of your fucking business.

Why is the question annoying? It is annoying because when a clueless person insists on asking "Where are your parents from?" to an Asian American, it becomes clear that the person is fixating on the ethnicity of the Asian American above all else. The many other possible interests -- the human interests -- of that Asian American are ignored and buried under the person's ethnicity. That Asian American might like Tupac, enjoy Russian literature and have a strong opinion on balancing the federal budget. No matter. She will be defined by her parents' country of origin, because the questioner cannot get past her looks. In the eyes of the questioner, she is no longer a person with real experience, real emotions -- she is an object, a representation of her ethnicity, a scale-model of "Asian-ness."

Here is another example that the Korean wrote:

Do not say "gonnichiwa" to an Asian person in America ... On second thought, don't say any Asian phrase to any Asian person, unless you are at least conversational in the language. It's the 21st century, people. We are no longer impressed by your amazing ability to say "hello".

Throwing out one or two pieces of meager Asian language vocabulary to an Asian American is doubly insulting. It signifies not only that the the verbiage-thrower sees the Asian American's ethnicity above and beyond all else, but also that the thrower thinks offering an ethnicity-specific magic word will somehow cause a friendly reaction.

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: 41. Yoo Seung-Joon

[Read more reviews from the Korean from the Library Mixer. To join, click here.]

[Series Index]

41. Yoo Seung-Joon [유승준]

Years of Activity:  1997-2002 (Active in China from 2002-present)

Discography:
West Side (1997)
For Sale 1998 V2 (1998)
Now or Never (1999)
Over and Over (1999)
Summit Revival (2000)
Infinity (2001)
Permission: Promise of Jun [승낙 - Promise of Jun] (2006)
Rebirth of YSJ (2007)

Representative Song:  Nanana from For Sale 1998 V2

나나나

Nanana

기억하고 있니 어릴 적 예쁜 꿈들을

Do you remember those pretty dreams when you were young

모두 다 이룰 수 있을 것 같던 시간들

The times when everything seemed possible

소망을 꿈꾸며 주문을 외었지

We dreamed hope and recited a spell

시간이 지나고 세상에 지쳐 갈때쯤

As the time passed and by the time I got tired from the world

꿈은 그저 꿈일 뿐인걸 알게 됐지만

I learned that dream is just a dream

어릴적 주문을 아직 노래 하네

But I still sing the spell from my childhood

언제나 힘들고 지칠 때 날 일으켜 주던 꿈이 가득한 이 노랠 했어

I sang this song full of dreams that picked me up whenever I was in pain and fatigue

나나나나 나나나나 나나나나 나나나나

Nananana nananana nananana nananana

어두워진 가리워진 나의 길을 밝혀주는 이 노래를 함께 해봐

Sing this song with me that illuminates my darkened hidden way

[Rap]

난 그냥 되는 되는데로 살았었지

I just lived as the life took me

간섭받기 싫어 그냥 피했던 거지

Didn't want to be told what to do, just avoided everything

내일의 두려움도 필요없어

Didn't need to fear tomorrow either

그런 막막함이 내 시간만 좀먹었었어

Being at a loss like that ate away my time

그러다 내 어릴적 꿈을 보았었지

Then I saw the dream from my childhood

거친 바람속 내 어릴 적 노랠 들었지

In the roaring wind, heard my childhood song

그래 이건 아니었어 용서할 수 없어

That's right, this isn't it, this is unforgivable

다시 나를 살린 이 노래를 불렀었지

Sang this song that made me live again

어느샌가 내게 찾아온 사랑을 위해

For the love that came to me without even me noticing

그렇게도 나를 애태운 그대를 위해

For you who worried so much for me like that

영원을 꿈꾸며 주문을 외웠지

I recited the spell dreaming of eternity

피해갈 수 없는 현실에 지쳐갈 때쯤

As I got tired from the inevitable reality

무거워져 가는 걸음에 힘겨울 때면

When I feel pain from the steps that become heavier

어릴 적 주문을 노래하곤 했지

I would sing the spell from when I was young

언제나 힘들고 지칠 때 날 일으켜 주던 꿈이 가득한 이 노랠 했어

I sang this song full of dreams that picked me up whenever I was in pain and fatigue

나나나나 나나나나 나나나나 나나나나

Nananana nananana nananana nananana

어두워진 가리워진 나의 길을 밝혀주는 이 노래를 함께 해봐

Sing this song with me that illuminates my darkened hidden way

[Rap]

자꾸만 어긋나 버리고 퇴색해 버리는 내 꿈을 지키고 싶었어 이루고 싶었어

I wanted to protect my dream, achieve my dream that was going the wrong way, fading away

누구도 가식의 가면을 버리지 않으리 끝끝내 발버둥 칠때에 또 감추려 할때에

Nobody will take off their mask of hypocrisy as they struggle and hide to the bitter end

하늘에 새긴 내 어린 꿈들이 내 귓가에 들려준 이 노래 내 순수의 노래

This song that my childhood dreams in the sky sang into my ears, the song of my innocence

키 작은 아이의 함성과 내 사랑이 내게 들려준 이 노래 지켜갈 이 노래

This song that a shout from short kid and my love sang into me, the song that I will protect

언제나 힘들고 지칠 때 날 일으켜 주던 꿈이 가득한 이 노랠 했어

I sang this song full of dreams that picked me up whenever I was in pain and fatigue

나나나나 나나나나 나나나나 나나나나

Nananana nananana nananana nananana

초라하게 변해버린 나의 꿈을 밝혀주는 이 노래를 함께 해봐

Sing this song with me that illuminates my shriveled dream

Translation Note:  Some lines ended up being very inelegant, although the underlying song is not particularly elegant at any rate. As always, suggestions are welcome.

In 15 Words or Less:  Pioneering rapper whose career ended up in the monstrous bowels of Korean society.

Maybe he should have been ranked higher because...  Serving as Exhibit A of the sickness of Korean society might be more influential than one might think.

Maybe he should have been ranked lower because...  The flash he demonstrated early in his career was already getting old by 2002.

Why is this artist important?
Yoo Seung-Joon -- also known as his American name, Steve Yoo -- is in many ways a pioneering figure in Korean pop culture. Like Solid, Yoo was a Korean American artist who brought in elements of American pop culture -- in his case, rap. And not just any rap; the aggressive, authority-defying, "thug life" kind of rap prevalent in American rap at the time. His first hit song was about liking older women (horror of horrors!) The music video for Nanana took it a step further, displaying Yoo in all possible variations of thug-life style power play in Korea -- best fighter in class, romantic liaison with a female teacher, etc. Of course, by the standards of today (both in U.S. and in Korea,) Yoo's attempt at defiance of authority is at best cute, at worst laughable. But heck, the first airplane by the Wright Brothers was also pretty laughable in isolation. What matters is that the attempt happened, paving the way for others.

But those who are well-versed in K-pop history would know that his music is not the thing for which Yoo is remembered in Korea. Yoo's high-flying career met a fiery death in 2002 in a manner he probably never expected.

Until that point, Yoo was arguably the biggest star in K-pop. Yoo's brand of brash rap was as big a hit as it was back in U.S. His good looks and unthreatening exoticism from being a Korean American acted as a magnet for screaming fan girls, arguably the engine of K-pop. In a way, Yoo was LeBron James of his day -- his dominance was that strong. But Yoo's fall, whose cause was also essentially a public relations mistake, was far deeper and irredeemable than James'.

In 2002, as Korean American pop artists increasingly appeared in K-pop scene, the question of mandatory draft reared its head. If a Korean American (loosely defined) is a Korean citizen with American permanent residency, he is eligible for draft if he earns money from Korea. There were some cases in which small-fry Korean American pop artists did certain things to avoid being drafted, which raised suspicion on Korean American artists generally.

Yoo was already raising suspicion before 2002. Although on stage he would engage in rigorous choreography, he managed to get a Level 4 in his draft physical with a stated cause of herniated disk, which would assign him to administrative duties for his military service. But at least he was going, people thought -- and Yoo publicly stated that he would serve his "holy duty of national defense." He was scheduled to report for duty in April 2002.

Until he didn't. In January 2002, the news that Yoo acquired U.S. citizenship and would not serve his military duty as a result broke -- and Korean society roiled into rage in a scale that no one (and certainly not Yoo himself) could have anticipated. What Yoo, who grew up in Southern California since age 13, never quite grasped was how seriously Korean men took their years of service. Truth is, few men in Korea want to serve the duty for 2.5 years, pissing away their precious youth. Few ever enjoy the military, alternately filled with bullshit and boredom. But they nonetheless report for duty, because they have to. They grit their teeth and tolerate the bullshit, because they have to. And when they see someone who is not pulling his weight? Then all hell breaks loose.

Yoo bore the full brunt of that hell. This was early days of high-speed Internet in Korea, where news spread fast and reactions were instantaneous. The keyboard warriors went to work, screaming and howling about Yoo's betrayal. The powers that be at the time did not yet have the ability to discern what was legitimate public opinion and what was malicious trolling -- which might not have mattered in Yoo's case after all, since they likely would have been pissed off all the same. Yoo lied about serving in the military. All other concerns were secondary.

Korea's Ministry of Justice considered him to be a draft-dodger, a criminal. As a criminal, Ministry of Justice declared, Yoo would not be able to enter Korea ever again. Yoo tried to explain somehow, blaming that it was his management company that made the decision. But at the end of the day, there was no way to escape the fact that he acquired U.S. citizenship to evade his military duty. He was allowed into Korea only once since then -- in 2003, to attend his father-in-law's funeral. Since then, Yoo has been active in China.

Yoo's musical contribution in K-pop was significant, but the social impact growing out of his disastrous mistake ended up overshadowing everything. Because of Yoo, Koreans began to have a national conversation on topics that were not discussed before. What was the value of military service? How is the precise relation between Koreans and Korean Americans? Considering that one of the major themes of the 2002 presidential election of Korea was that the losing candidate's son suspiciously did not serve his military duty, a case can be made that Yoo Seung-Joon's influence may have been greater than anyone else on this list -- a meaningless consolation to a truly talented musician whose life was broken by his own country.

Interesting Trivia:  Yoo's style, like the style of American rappers that he emulated, elicited a lot of hostility from other rappers. In 1998, a prominent rapper Kim Jin-Pyo rapped, obviously aiming at Yoo: 

혹시 그거 아냐? 여기는 미국 아냐
You know something? This isn't America.
얼어죽을 East Side, West Side  외치지만 말고
Stop saying freakin' "East Side, West Side"
제대로 좀 해봐 몇 년 후에 깡통 매봐
And do something real. Or wear a can a few years later. [="go bankrupt and become a beggar."]
그럼 두고두고 땅을 치고 후회할 테니 그럴 테니 하하하하
Then you will regret it for the rest of your life, that's right, hahahaha.

These lines may as well be the most prescient lines ever written in K-pop history.

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

The Mexican Asks the Korean (Again)

All rise for today's honorable guest, the grandaddy of all "Ask" blogs:

Dear Korean,

Why is the word "rang" in so many Korean names for things? Sarang Community Church, Hwa Rang Do, Arirang Market--what's "rang"?

The Mexican

Dear Wab,

Very nice of you to visit this humble site, inspired directly by your greatness.

Actually, this is what Ask a Korean! is missing

compared to !Ask a Mexican! -- an awesome logo.

But as to your question, the Korean is afraid that his answer is a bit of a letdown -- the "rang"s that you identified are basically false cognates. They don't really have any meaning on their own, and even if they do, they have nothing to do with one another.

To be more specific, sarang is purely Korean word meaning "love," and it is not the case that sa means one thing and rang means another, like "lo" and "ve" in "love" do not have any independent meaning.

Hwarang-do is slightly different, because it is a Sino-Korean word. Sino-Korean words are basically Korean words derived out of Chinese, a lot like the way many English words are derived out of Latin. (More explanation about Sino-Korean words can be found here.) So in fact, hwa, rang and do in Hwarang-do actually mean something individually. Put differently, Hwarang-do is written in Chinese characters like this: 花郞道. Each Chinese character -- 花, 郞 and 道 mean something.

But this is not to say that the meaning of the composite word exactly equals the sum of the meaning of its parts. 花 ("hwa") means "flower," 郞 ("rang") means "young men" and 道 ("do") means "way." So the composite meaning is... "the way of the flower men"? (What the hell?) Actually, the actual meaning of 화랑 (= "flower men") is a group of young men in late 6th century in Korea, who were known for their mental discipline and a certain strain of martial arts (among other things.) So Hwarang-do is actually the martial art practiced by the Hwarangs.

(Quick side note: if you were thinking the term "flower men" sounds rather, um, alternative, you are not too far off -- there are some number of Korean historians who claim that Hwarang group is the first sign of homosexuality in Korean history.)

One thing to note is that rang here does not stand alone in the normal parlance. This is easy understand when compared to Latin-based English. For example, the word "circumspect" is Latin-based -- "around" ("circum") - looking ("spect"), i.e. "careful to consider all circumstances." But English-speakers use the part "spect" alone just to mean "looking." (Anglophones would say "Look at this," not "Spect at this.")

The last example -- arirang -- is actually very, very tricky. Arirang is a refrain in many of Korea's traditional folk songs. In fact, many of those songs are simply titled Arirang, and each region of Korea has a different kind of arirang. (Also, interestingly, the biggest propaganda show in North Korea is called Arirang Festival as well.) Arirang is a pure Korean word, so rang itself PROBABLY does not mean anything. But the reason why the Korean had to emphasize the word "probably" was -- no one knows for sure what arirang is supposed to mean. The speculations have gone all the way from a proper name of a valley to pain associated with childbirth. And those speculation tend to hyper-analyze each syllable in arirang, trying to extract any possible meaning that makes sense. In this context, some scholars contend that rang has an indepedent meaning, while other scholars disagree.

One more occasion you might hear rang in Korean is when it is used as a classificational particle indicating companionship. (More about classificational particles here.) For example, a sentence that says: 나는 영호랑 식사를 했다 [na-neun Young'ho-rang siksa-reul het-da] means "I dined with Young'ho." The rang in that sentence is attached to the person's name ("Young-Ho", a Korean boy's name that transliterates rather unfortunately) to signify companionship with the person. In other words, rang in that sentence means "with", but note that particles only carry a meaning when attached to a noun. (This is more fully explained in the link above.)

-EDIT 11/22/2010- The Internet, as the endless echo chamber, brings back the Mexican's coverage of the Korean's coverage of the Mexican's question, which was prompted by the Mexican's comments on the Korean's coverage on CNN. That's a lot of covering.

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

50 Most Influential K-Pop Artists: 43. Leessang

[Read more reviews from the Korean from the Library Mixer. To join, click here.]

[Series Index]

43.  Leessang [리쌍]

Years of Activity:  2002-present

Members:
Gary [개리]- rap
Gil [길] - rap

Discography:
Leessang of Honey Family (2002)
Re: Development [재, 계발] (2003)
Library of Soul (2005)
Black Sun (2007)
Baek-Ah Cuts the Strings [伯牙絶絃(백아절현)] (2009)
Hexagonal (2009)

Representative Song:  It's Not Me Laughing (feat. Ali) [내가 웃는게 아니야], from Library of Soul

내가 웃는게 아니야

It's Not Me Laughing

날 사랑한다는 말 천번을 넘게 내 맘 구석구석 빼곡히 써놓고

The words, "I love you," you wrote over thousand times filling up every corner of my heart

이제 와 나를 망부석 여인처럼 남겨둔 채 방 한구석 먼지처럼 나를 밀어둔 채

Now you leave me like a woman turned into stone, push me aside like dust in the corner

헤어지자 말하는 너의 뺨을 나도 모르게 때리고

You say let us part; I somehow slap your cheek and

내 발목을 잡는 땅을 억지로 뿌리치며 한참을 걸으며 다짐했어

Walked for long, shaking off the ground that grabbed by ankle, and swore,

다신 내 곁에  널 두지 않겠다고

That I will never put you next to me

여태 널 지키기 위해 했던 나의 노력 그 모든걸 다 오려

All of my efforts so far to protect you, cut them all out,

저 달리는 차들 속으로 던지고 눈물 섞인 웃음을 짓고

Throw them into those running cars, make a smile mixed with tears,

어떻게든 너보다 잘 살 거라는 믿음 저 짙은 어둠속에 새기며

Carve into that thick darkness the faith that I will somehow end up better than you

내가 웃는게 웃는게 아니야

Me laughing is not laughing

또 내가 걷는게 걷는게 아니야

And me walking is not walking

너의 기억 그 속에서 난 눈물 흘려 너를 기다릴뿐

Inside your memories, I only cry while waiting for you

내가 웃는게 웃는게 아니야

Me laughing is not laughing

또 내가 걷는게 걷는게 아니야

And me walking is not walking

너의 기억 그 속에서 난 눈물 흘려 너를 기다릴뿐

Inside your memories, I only cry while waiting for you

몇 일이나 지났을까
How many days passed

늦가을 쓸쓸한 거리처럼 물가에 홀로 앉은 낚시꾼처럼
Like the lonely late autumn streets like a fisherman sitting alone by the water

외로움과 기다림에 지친 난 끝없는 줄담배에 기침을 하며
Tired of loneliness and waiting, I cough at the endless stream of cigarettes

미친 듯이 추억속으로 빨려들어가
And get sucked into the memories like mad

애교 섞인 목소리에 꺾인 나뭇가지처럼 쓰러져
To her flirty voice I fall like a broken twig

그녀의 품에 안기고 달콤한 꿈에 부풀어
Held in her arms, dream sweet dreams

영원히 나를 붙들어매라며 농담을 하고
I joke, tie me down forever

어디를 가도 누구를 만나도 언제나 둘이기에
No matter where we go, no matter who we meet, there were always two,

즐거운 분위기에 우린 항상 행복해
Always fun times, so we are always happy

했었지 그랬었지 하지만 이젠 그녀는 내 곁에 없지
It was like so, that's right, but now she's not next to me

난 또 외로움에 밤길을 걷지
I again walk the night streets in loneliness

그대 떠나보낸 내 가슴에
In my heart that sent you away

눈물이 차올라 날 흔들며 아프게 해
tears fill up, shaking me and hurting me

그대 떠나보낸 내 두 눈에
To my two eyes that sent you away

어둠이 다가와 또 난 -
darkness comes. Again I -

너를 잊을래 난 너를 잊을래
Forget you, I'll forget you

아무리 외쳐봐도 그게 안돼
No matter how I scream it I cannot do

너를 아껴주지 못해 또 후회하네
I could not adore you, I regret again

너를 잊을래 난 너를 잊을래
Forget you, I'll forget you

아무리 외쳐봐도 그게 안돼
No matter how I scream it I cannot do

네가 웃던 기억 속에 또 미쳐가네
Inside the memories of your smile I go mad again

내가 웃는게 웃는게 아니야
Me laughing is not laughing
또 내가 걷는게 걷는게 아니야
And me walking is not walking
너의 기억 그 속에서 난 눈물 흘려 너를 기다릴뿐
Inside your memories, I only cry while waiting for you
내가 웃는게 웃는게 아니야
Me laughing is not laughing
또 내가 걷는게 걷는게 아니야
And me walking is not walking
너의 기억 그 속에서 난 눈물 흘려 너를 기다릴뿐
Inside your memories, I only cry while waiting for you

너 없는 아픔에 모든 건 눈물을 흘리며 코를 푸네
Because of the pain without you I cry and blow my nose at everything

(남자답게 웃고 싶지만)
(Although I want to be a man and laugh)

매 순간 멍해지는 습관 고쳐지질 않고
I cannot fix the habit, I space out

(남자답게 웃고 싶지만)
(Although I want to be a man and laugh)

남자답게 난 웃고싶지만
I want to be a man and laugh but

밥 한숟갈 떠 넣기가 이렇게 힘들수가
How it is so hard to put one spoonful of food in my mouth

날 위로하는 친구의 웃음도 내 눈엔 슬픈 구슬로 바뀌어
Even my consoling friend's smile turns into a sorrowful bead in my eyes

웃으려 웃어봐도 안되는 난 먼 곳으로 -
I try and laugh and laugh, I cannot do, and I am away far -

내가 웃는게 웃는게 아니야
Me laughing is not laughing
또 내가 걷는게 걷는게 아니야
And me walking is not walking
너의 기억 그 속에서 난 눈물 흘려 너를 기다릴뿐
Inside your memories, I only cry while waiting for you
내가 웃는게 웃는게 아니야
Me laughing is not laughing
또 내가 걷는게 걷는게 아니야
And me walking is not walking
너의 기억 그 속에서 난 눈물 흘려 너를 기다릴뿐
Inside your memories, I only cry while waiting for you

Translation Notes: 
- Rap is so, so hard to translate.
- The entire first 2.5 lines are a dependent clause modifying the subject of the sentence, which goes for four lines!
- The lines break by meaning, which destroys the rhyme. But there was no other choice if the translation was going to make sense. Hooray for accidental rhyming in translation.
- 망부석 is a figure in Korean folk tales, about a woman who was waiting for her husband, a sailor in the sea, until she turned into stone.
- Any ideas for translating 나도 모르게 succinctly?

In 15 words or less:  "Family" men who completed the Koreanization of rap.

Maybe they should be ranked higher because...  Rap is only going to get bigger in Korea, and they are leading the way.

Maybe they should be ranked lower because...  Actually, this feels just right.

Why is this group important?
The transplantation of rap in Korea has been an interesting progress for contemporary observers, because rap's importation into Korea is happening in real time, right now. After all, the first K-pop song that may legitimately be considered as a "rap" song only appeared in 1992, and the progress of rap in Korea since has been well-documented through albums, television shows, music videos, etc.

Leessang is important because its history neatly represents Korea's localization of rap, and its music represents Korean rap's final form -- for now. The two rappers of Leessang were formerly a part of another rap group Honey Family, a seven-member rap group that styled itself to be like Wu-Tang Clan, a large group that would assemble ad hoc while its members also pursued solo careers. Honey Family also distinguished itself by relying on very little English and staying within Korean language in its rap.

Truthfully, Gary and Gil did not do much in Honey Family -- which made music critics scratch their heads when they launched Leessang. But to everyone's surprise, Leessang took off with its distinctive style. No one will mistake Leessang for the most accomplished technicians, as Leessang's best songs are chill and rhythmical but not exactly replete with ingenious rhymes. But Leessang was nonetheless successful, and their success is almost entirely based on their ability as lyricists, the ability to tell a compelling story with interesting imageries.

Korean-style narratives are generally characterized by conveying overwhelming emotion. In poor formulations of such narratives, the story-telling becomes corny, over-the-top and melodramatic. (Think all Korean dramas.) But in the best formulations of such narratives, the story-telling hits the spot unlike any other. (Think Old Boy.) The song above is a nice representation of Leessang's strength. Simply talking about being heartbroken means little to anyone other than the heartbroken person. But when "laughing is not laughing" and "walking is not walking," one can feel the depth of the pain through those words.

Korean-style narratives, in rhymes constructed in Korean language -- this is what Leessang accomplished, and they deserve acknowledgment because of that.

Interesting Trivia:  The name of the group is a play on word of the name Yi Sang, a Korean novelist/poet of the 1930s who is famous for near-psychotic novels and extremely esoteric poems that often involved nothing but numbers and graphs.

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

Still More about Korean Names!

[Series Index]

Dear Korean,

I noticed in quite a few cases (at least on TV) that siblings share one syllable of their name. How common is this, and what is its origin? I get the sense that it is not considered as eccentric as giving all your children names which begin with the same letter. I also noticed that close friends and family sometimes will call a person by the syllable which is not shared with the sibling. What could you tell me about that?

Andrew T.

Dear Andrew,

You, sir, know how to jump the line in AAK! -- by asking questions about one of the Korean's favorite topics, Korean names. Korea's naming conventions are elaborate and unique, and the Korean never gets tired of talking about them.

What you identified is a custom called dollimja (돌림자, "circulating letters"). To understand this custom, you have to first understand the clan names of Koreans, which is explained in this post. To summarize quickly:  Koreans can generally trace their last name all the way back to the very first person who held their last name. For example, the "Kim" clan can be traced to a single, actual person who lived around the first century. Every reputable lineage society (종친회), at least one for each last name and several for large last names like "Kim", maintains the record of the lineage and the children born into the clan. Based on that record, each Korean can precisely identify, by number, how many generation s/he is from the very first ancestor of her/his last name.

In this context, the function of dollimja is to show another person what generation level you are in. The shared letter is not just shared among siblings -- it is shared among everyone who is at the same generational level. This includes your siblings, your first cousins (because their parents belong to the same generational level as your parents,) your second cousins, etc. By the same token, your father, uncles and the parents of your second cousin would all share a syllable in their names. Also, your children and nephews would all share a syllable in their names.

This tradition has weakened somewhat in modern times, but it is still fairly strong. Formerly dollimja would only cover male heirs  -- don't forget the fact that traditional Korea was very sexist -- but now it is fairly commonplace for daughters to take the dollimja as well, when the dollimja is conducive to making girls' names as well. For example, the most famous brother-sister actor-actress pair in Korean history, Choi Jin-Sil and Choi Jin-Yeong, shared the dollimja "Jin" ("truth"). In the Korean's family, all the girls took the dollimja as well.

Dollimja is unique by clan; each clan has a line of dollimja to be used for all of its children. This necessarily means that you share the dollimja with the children of your father's brother, but not with the children of your father's sister (because those children would take the last name of your father's sister's husband.)

More after the jump.

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

Ask a Korean! News: Islamophobia Reaches Korea

This cannot end well.

An absurd assertion arguing that Islamic immigrants will bring down Korean society, spreading online, is causing a controversy. Other racially discriminatory assertions, not simply against Islam but also demanding the abandonment of the current multiculturalism policy, are also being boldly made, attracting attention as to the identity and the background of those who submit such writing. Some suggest that certain particular groups, dissatisfied with the multiculturalism policy, are intentionally disseminating Islamophobia to gather like-minded people similar to the "Tablo incident."

[TK note: Tablo is a celebrity rapper of Korea who is a graduate of Stanford University. There have been persistent allegations on the Internet that Tablo faked his degree, which managed to survive even after Stanford registrar produced a true copy of Tablo's diploma. The ringleader of the people who spread this false rumor was arrested for defamation. More background on that story here.]

On the 18th of this month, according to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, there have been 1500 posts on the free discussion board on MOEL homepage titled "Exclude Islamic Nations from Labor Export States" since the 23rd of last month. The posts, submitted after having undergone true name certification, argued that "Europe recently prohibited the importation of labor from Islamic nations such as Bangladesh and Pakistan," and "Korea must likewise forgo the multicultural policies." The submitters of the posts also suggested a mass objection against the current administration's multiculturalist policies, linking to the homepages of MOEL and e-People [TK note: Omnibus government website that receives all grievances against the government.] They are also continuing the attack by publicizing the telephone numbers of the chambers of National Assemblyman Jin Yeong, the Grand National Party member who proposed the Unified Basic Law on Multiculturalism last December. Spokesperson for Assemblyman Jin said, "We get dozens of calls a day asking us to give up on the multiculturalism policies." MOEL deleted all related posts, citing that "Same repeated posts are causing inconvenience to the operation of the board." MOEL is also cautiously considering asking for police investigation if such posts continue to be submitted.

Experts are casting their suspicion on an article titled, "Ruination of Sweden by Islamic Immigrants (the Future of Korea)," which is spreading through online communities and blogs. The article is mostly sensationalistic and hortatory, alleging that Sweden's social problems worsened after permitting Islamic immigrants to enter. Choi Yeong-Gil, professor of Arab Regional Studies of Myongji University, noted: "It appears that people who are dissatisfied with not just a particular religion but the multicultural society itself are duplicating and expanding Europe's Islamophobia." Kim Yi-Seon, director of Safety Center for Multiculturalism and Human Rights of Korea Women's Development Institute, said: "As the economy faces difficulty and the society becomes more chaotic, resistance against multiculturalism is gaining traction," and emphasized: "What is clear is that the current problems of Korean society is not due to multiculturalism."

광우병… 타블로… 이번엔 ‘이슬람 공포증’ [Dong-A Ilbo]

Many, many different angles to explore here, in no particular order.

1.  Multiculturalism, as a policy, is not a thoroughly examined policy in Korea yet. Non-Ethnic Korean (let's call them "NEK" for short) Korean citizens, especially in the form of mail-order brides and immigrant laborers, crept up on Korean society until they all of a sudden became a reality for mainstream Koreans. Korean elites were sympathetic enough to set a pro-multiculturalism agenda, such that legislators and mainstream media pushed for tolerance and acceptance. This is the first occasion in which opposition to that agenda is materializing in a meainingful, organized manner.

2.  Dong-A Ilbo is a conservative (within the spectrum of Korean politics) newspaper, and it clearly drew the battle line stating that opposition to multiculturalism is "absurd". More liberal newspapers (for example, the Hankyoreh) have been consistently promoting the multiculturalism agenda also. No politician so far has made a career by antagonizing immigrants yet. Cut off from mainstream media and politics, how will the opponents of multiculturalism legitimize their agenda? Which mainstream media and policians will co-opt into this advantage?

3.  Two faces of Korea's nationalism are in conflict here -- the more traditional race/culture-based nationalism and the more modern citizenship/polity-based nationalism. Which one will emerge victorious? Or will there be another variant to nationlism to accommodate both? (Perhaps, for example, language-based?)

4.  How will the NEK Koreans respond? Probably not much reaction is possible right now, but recall that a significant proportion of children (up to 10 percent) in Korea's rural areas are mixed-race children. Four years ago in the third post ever on AAK! -- so long ago that the Korean was speaking in first person -- the Korean wrote: "Unless Koreans do something to radically change their attitude toward foreignors and interracial people (unlikely), wide-scale race riots a la Los Angeles or Paris in about 20 years is a virtual certainty." Korea has done more than the Korean expected to move toward changing their attitude. But will the progress thus far be enough to avert wide-scale race riots 15 years from now, when these mixed-race children become young adults?

5.  How will Germany's recent disavowal of multiculturalism policies affect this discussion? How will America's anti-immigration rhetoric? Remember, "what other advanced countries do" holds a lot of sway in Korean political discourse.

6.  The Korean is not positive that even those Koreans who advocate for multiculturalism policies truly mean "multiculturalism" as the word is understood in other parts of the world.  When this debate intensifies such that the proponents begin to realize that "multiculturalism", originally envisioned when the term was coined, involves a lot more than they might be comfortable with -- e.g. bastardizing traditional Korean cuisine, maybe -- how will they respond?

7.  Kim Yi-Seon is correct that immigrants have little to do with Korea's current problems -- as of now. In the future when more immigrants come, they will contribute to Korea's problems, not because immigration is inherently problematic but because no movement of a large human group is free from at least some negative consequences. Will this change the debate in the future? Could proponents of multiculturalism solidify their grounds enough before the problems inevitably come?

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

Anti-Fan Death is Real?

Dear Korean,

Ever since I got familiar with the Korean entertainment industry I’ve wondered why fans over there are so aggressive. They attack verbally and/or physically celebrities they hate, other fans, or anybody with negative or even different opinion about their favorite star. The first time I read about “antifans” was when I read news about Korean celebrities. It seems to me that in Korea being an antifan of one celebrity is just as popular trend as being a devoted fan of another. Why?

Nell


Dear Nell,

Excellent question. The intensity of the so-called "anti-fans" in Korea is exactly as you describe, and this phenomenon dates back to the beginning of the corporate-produced boy/girl bands in the late 1990s. Perhaps the most infamous case of anti-fans involves Gan Mi-Yeon, a member of a bygone girl group called Baby VOX. She was targeted with extra intensity because she was rumored to be dating a rather popular member of a boy band. In a recent interview, Gan said throughout 1999 she received scores of "fan mails" filled with razors, apparently so that she would hurt her hand as she opened them, along with pictures of her with her eyes taken out or letters written in blood.

Physical attacks against celebrities by anti-fans are relatively rare, but they do happen -- and this should be distinguished from a more common form of violence against celebrities, such as stalking or kidnapping for money. In 2000, Yoon Gye-Sang, a member of a boy band called G.O.D. (not kidding about the name of the band) received a soda injected with bleach. Yoon's mother drank it instead and had to be hospitalized. Similarly in 2006, U-know of Dongbangshinki received a soda injected with industrial glue and was hospitalized also.

Gan Mi-Yeon during her years at Baby VOX

(Source)

And then of course, there are the good ol' fashioned slams on the Internet. It seems like compared to the foregoing, bad things said on the Internet might feel like no more than a breeze. But they nonetheless cause real psychological damage. Recently a thesis written by actress Park Jin-Hee for her master's degree in social welfare caused a stir. In a survey of 240 actors, nearly 40 percent replied that they suffer from some level of depression, and have considered suicide. 20 percent took specific steps toward committing suicide, such as purchasing drugs. Park pointed to negative comments received through the Internet as one of the causes of stress suffered by those actors, along with more regular worries like career stability.

When the anti-fans are not attacking the celebrities they hate, they attack the fans of the celebrities they hate. The most infamous case would be the massive hair-pulling street fight between the fan club of H.O.T. and that of Sechs Kies, rival boy bands of late 1990s. Such actual conflicts have subsided since, but low-intensity versions of such conflicts happen to this day. For example, at a joint concert in 2008 featuring multiple boy/girl bands, the fan clubs of Super Junior and SS501 went quiet on purpose when Girls' Generation appeared on the stage. The concert organizers also paused the concert 20 minutes into the show because of potential clash between fan clubs.

How do anti-fans come to hate certain celebrities? As seen from above, it is often about rivalry and jealousy. But a worrisome number of anti-fans seem to hate celebrities "just because." When one reads the posts on the anti-fan sites (the Korean won't link them; he knows better,) the amount of blind hatred in the form of doctored pictures, baseless rumors and vile death wishes is simply stunning. There are some who attempt to give a somewhat rational reason (for example, one commenter at a Girls' Generation anti-fan site apparently hated the group because they were untalented,) but those people are few and far between, and the stated reasons are wildly disproportionate to the intensity of hate expressed on those sites.

To be sure, celebrities everywhere attract their fair share of hateration. As of this moment, 41,562 people "like" the "I HATE LADY GAGA" Facebook page. But the intensity of Korea's anti-fans and their willingness to do much more than quickly clicking the "like" button on a Facebook page are quite something else. What is it about Korea that contributes to this?

More after the jump.

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

Ask a Korean! News: Nambuk Story on North Korean Succession

It's official -- the 27-year-old (seriously!) Kim Jong-Un, son of Kim Jong-Il, is named as the successor. There is plenty of coverage about Kim Jong-Un, but not nearly enough about other family members of Kim Jong-Il who are also rising to prominence. And as always, Mr. Joo Seong-Ha of Nambuk Story has got that covered.

*                  *                  *

Kim Jong-Un was officially introduced as the successor as he was appointed to be a general at North Korean Labor Party Representatives Meeting. Also, his aunt Kim Gyeong-Hee was appointed as a general of North Korean military, establishing the "Kim Jong-Il Family Management System." It appears that Kim Jong-Il's governing style, thus far appointing his lackeys formally at major posts for him to micromanage, will also change toward the family at major posts operating those areas. At the core of establishing family management system are Kim Gyeong-Hee and her husband Jang Seong-Taek.

In particular, the most prominent part of the appointments is the fact that Kim Gyeong-Hee was elevated to a general, soaring into the core of the power. In addition, Jang Seong-Taek -- Kim Jong-Un's uncle by marriage -- is already the chairman of administration of the Labor Party, having a firm grip on North Korea's security apparatus. Last April, He was also appointed as the vice chairman of the National Defense Committee, the highest power organization of North Korea. Much interest is commanded on what role the husband-and-wife patrons Kim Gyeong-Hee and Jang Seong-Taek will pay in order to assist Kim Jong-Un's succession plan.

Who is Kim Gyeong-Hee?

Kim Gyeong-Hee, who received the title of "general" on the 28th, is well known for being Kim Jong-Il's only sister, aunt of Kim Jong-Un and wife of Jang Seong-Taek. But the past of Kim Gyeong-Hee as a person is not very well known.

Kim Gyeong-Hee was born as the third child of Kim Il-Sung on May 30, 1946. At birth Kim Gyeong-Hee had two older brothers, Yura (childhood name of Kim Jong-Il) and Shura. But Shura drowned in a lake several months after Kim Gyeong-Hee was born. There are stories that as Shura was splashing in a knee-deep lake, the terrified Kim Jong-Il who was playing with him could only hide and watch. Afterward, when Kim Il-Sung wanted to scold Kim Jong-Il, he frequently said, "That's why you could only watch as your brother drowned." It is said that it was Kim Jong-Il's Achilles' heel.

In 1949, when Kim Gyeong-Hee was three years old, her mother Kim Gyeong-Sook also died while giving birth, as she could not stop bleeding. Afterward, Kim Il-Sung lived with the daughter of Hong Myeong-Hee, author of the novel Im Ggeok-Jeong. After liberation, Kim Il-Sung married Kim Seong-Ae, who was a secretary working with Kim Il-Sung. As Kim Seong-Ae became her stepmother, Kim Gyeong-Hee spent her childhood unloved, which had a large influence on her emotional development.

Kim Gyeong-Hee's looks and personality very closely resemble those of her mother Kim Jeong-Sook. Kim Jeong-Sook was a tough woman who won Kim Il-Sung's love with sheer devotion of, for example, drying Kim Il-Sung's underwear with her body heat during the negative 30 degree cold during their years as communist guerrillas. There is a story that when young Kim Il-Sung cheated on her, Kim Jeong-Sook had Kim Jong-Il stand against the wall with an apple on his head. Then she told Kim Il-Sung, "Don't sleep around if you want to save your child," and shot the apple with a pistol. Even Kim Il-Sung feared Kim Jeong-Sook.

Kim Gyeong-Hee's personality is well demonstrated through her dating Jang Seong-Taek. Originally, Kim Il-Sung was planning to get a son-in-law from the military, so that Kim Jong-Il would assist him within the Party and the son-in-law would assist him within the military. But Kim Gyeong-Hee was deeply into Jang Seong-Taek, who was her classmate. Kim Gyeong-Hee would tease Jang Seong-Taek, who sat in front of her, by tickling his ear with a blade of grass. They eventually fell in love.

To stop this, Kim Yeong-Ju, brother of Kim Il-Sung, transfer Jang Seong-Taek to Wonsan University of Economics. But it is said that Kim Gyeong-Hee would drive her father's car herself down to Wonsan, doing laundry for Jang Seong-Taek at his dormitory. The faculty at Wonsan University would be in an emergency because they thought the Great Leader was making an unannounced visit, and would be surprised when a young woman gets out of the Great Leader's car to walk to the dormitory. Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il had to capitulate to her stubbornness.

But the marriage with Jang Seong-Taek was not very smooth. A persuasive rumor says they do not have any children. There are stories that there was one daughter named Jang Geum-Song who committed suicide, but there is also a rumor that she was adopted.

Kim Gyeong-Hee, dissatisfied with her married life, hit the bottles since the 1980s. According to Fujimoto Kenji, a Japanese chef for Kim Jong-Il, recalled in his memoir that Kim Gyeong-Hee would drink whiskey like wine, and she was unstoppable when she became a belligerent drunk. Fujimoto also wrote that Kim Gyeong-Hee was catty toward Jang Seong-Taek, and treated Jang like a subordinate or a house servant, yelling in front of many people, "Drink more, Jang Seong-Taek." According to Fujimoto, Jang could say nothing.

Since her brother was nominated as the successor, Kim Gyeong-Hee was the subcommittee chairwoman and then the vice chairwoman of the Labor Party's Committeeon International Affairs. She was appointed to be the chairwoman of the Labor Party's Committee on Light Industries in 1987, and was in that post since then. Chairwoman of Light Industries Committee was a seat that was somewhat removed from the power center.

But regardless of the position, Kim Gyeong-Hee played a very important role, albeit unknown to the outside world, for her brother. As her brother Kim Jong-Il changed his women in the order of Seong Hye-Rim, Kim Yeong-Sook, Go Yeong-Hee and Kim Ok, Kim Gyeong-Hee handled the dirty work. She was like the queen in feudal Korea. It is said that Kim Gyeong-Hee was the one who blocked the new of Kim Jong-Nam's birth between Kim Jong-Il and Seong Hye-Rim from reach the ears of the father Kim Il-Sung. She was also was the one who sent Seong Hye-Rim to Moscow after Kim Jong-Il feel for Go Yeong-Hee.

It is said that Kim Jong-Il's women were terrified of their sister-in-law Kim Gyeong-Hee. Kim Jong-Il's children also grew up in Kim Gyeong-Hee's interest. Beyond this, Kim Gyeong-Hee handled the marriage of her husband Jang Seong-Taek's brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces.

Kim Gyeong-Hee, who has directly managed the growth of the royal family, accepted a new role in 2010. Instead of being a quiet supporter, she emerged on the forefront as an active patron so that her nephew can succeed the regime without difficulty. In particular, Kim Gyeong-Hee's rapid emergence appears to imply that as far as the succession issue is concerned, Jang Seong-Taek is not fully trusted either.

Who is Jang Seong-Taek?

Jang Seong-Taek, vice chairman of the Labor Party's National Defense Committee and Kim Jong-Il's brother-in-law, is noted to be the person with the greatest role in Kim Jong-Un's succession while Kim Jong-Il is in ill health.

Jang's father is said to be a colonel in the military. Jang was born in 1946 in Cheonnae, Gangwon-do to an unremarkable home. As Jang was admitted to Kim Il-Sung University and became classmates with Kim Gyeong-Hee, his destiny would change completely. Kim Gyeong-Hee was enthralled by Jang, who was not only a good organist but also a good-looking smooth-talker, and married him despite her family's opposition.
Jang, who suddenly became a part of the royal family from his low beginning, did his best to win the heart of Kim Jong-Il since then. In the mid-1970s when Jang was a chair of Subcommittee on International Affairs in the Committee on Organized Instructions of the Labor Party, Jang built a luxurious villa for Kim Jong-Il for the purpose of relaxation. It is also known that around this time, North Korean diplomats began to sell narcotics to establish the "loyalty fund."

In 1978, Jang -- who liked to drink and party -- began to host feasts like the ones held by Kim Jong-Il, with his cronies and women. This was caught in Security Bureau's surveillance, and was reported Kim Jong-Il. Kim Jong-Il was enraged. It was infuriating that his brother-in-law, living with his sister, would party with other women, but even more infuriating was Jang dared to imitate him. Jang had to be "revoluntionized" by working as a pit boss at Gangseon Steel Mill for two years.

In 1989, Jang was appointed to be the chairman of the Labor Party's Committee on Youth Organization, and in 1995 he was appointed to be the chairman of the First Committee on Party Organization. But because he was Kim Jong-Il's brother-in-law, Jang (referred to as "Chairman Jang") lived as the Number Two in power since 1980 regardless of his position.

Jang Seong-Taek faced another adversity in 2004. Kim Jong-Il, long suspicious of the fact that Jang planted his people in major positions of the regime, relegated Jang in the name of "causing division" and "wasteful spending." Jang's men in key positions were all dragged to gulags for political prisoners or "revolutionized" in rural areas. In 2006, Jang returned to power as the chairman as the Committee on Labor Organizations and Capital Construction. But as he reached the bottom twice because of Kim Jong-Il's orders, Jang appears to be perfectly obedient to Kim Jong-Il's orders.

Outside of North Korea, people debate either Jang is a reformist or a conservative. But Jang is no more than someone who will do anything to preserve his position and win Kim Jong-Il's favor, and his stance can always change. This is the lesson he has learned through 40 years as a royal in-law. Thus, it seems likely that also in the process of Kim Jong-Un's succession, Jang will lower himself and be absolutely loyal so as not to be out of Kim Jong-Il's good side.

How do North Koreans view many civilians being promoted to generals?

It is unprecedented for North Korea to award the title of "General of the People's Army" to civilians such as Kim Jong-Un, the aunt Kim Gyeong-Hee, former acting secretary of the Hwanghaebuk-do Labor Party Choi Ryong-Hae and chairman of the Party's Committee on Organized Instructions Kim Gyeong-Ok. There are cases in which a high-ranking military general would quit the military, assume a major post of the Party or the government, then return to the military. But there is no case in which a pure civilian was appointed to be a high-ranking officer of the North Korean military. The only exception so far was when Kim Jong-Il received the title of Supreme Commander, as he was appointed to the chief leader of the North Korean military in 1992.

It was expected that Kim Jong-Un would be appointed as a general. After Kim Jong-Un was selected to be the successor, North Korean regime described him as "Comrade General Kim" in the propaganda. But no one expected Kim Gyeong-Hee, Choi Ryong-Hae and Kim Gyeong-Ok to become generals.

Particuarly surprising is Kim Gyeong-Hee's appointment. There are only five female generals in the history of North Korea, and all of them were brigadier generals. In the early 1990s, North Korea's Mansudae Creative Company [TK: a propaganda art factory] did make an oil painting depicting Kim Gyeong-Hee, dressed in a general's uniform and smiling at the top of Mt. Baekdu along with Kim Il-Sung in his Great Supreme Commander uniform and Kim Jong-Il in his Supreme Commander uniform. But no North Korean would have expected that the depiction would come true.

It appears that ordinary North Koreans would react cynically to this round of appointments. Even in 1992 when North Korean system was relatively functional, people gossiped about Kim Jong-Il's appointment as the Supreme Commander that "It's ridiculous to have someone whose experience is no more than playing soldiers as a child as the Supreme Commander." At this time when the people's loyalty completely evaporated, it is easy to guess the people's reaction. In particular, in North Korea where the idea of male superiority is strong and nearly all men have military experience, it would be difficult to accept that a woman without any military experience is suddenly appointed as a general only because she is the sister of Kim Jong-Il.

North Korean generals are organized from the top as Great Supreme Commander, Supreme Commander, Vice Supreme Commander, Four-star General, Three-star General, Two-star General and One-star General. [TK: The appointees are Four-star Generals.] Among them, only Kim Il-Sung is the Great Supreme Commander. There were four Supreme Commanders:  Kim Jong-Il, Oh Jin-Woo, Choi Gwang, Lee Eul-Seol. Oh Jin-Woo and Choi Gwang are dead. There have been 13 Vice Supreme Commanders so far, and dozens of Generals. Even a Vice Supreme Commander would naturally bow to lower-ranked Kim Gyeong-Hee and Kim Jong-Un. Some say the title of general for Kim Gyeong-Hee is an honorary one, but there is no such thing as an honorary general in North Korea.

Personally when I heard the news that Kim Gyeong-Hee was appointed as a general, I thought, "North Korea finally dropped all pretense." I felt that the devastating finale was near.

인간적으로 본 김경희와 장성택 부부의 삶 [Nambuk Story]

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

Ask a Korean! News: Interview with Mahbub Alam

One Korean movie that generated a lot of buzz last year is Bandhobi, which was one of the first major Korean film that dealt with immigrants into Korea from poorer Asian countries. The star of the movie, Mahbub Alam from Bangladesh, recently gave a very interesting interview with Dong-A Ilbo. Below is the translation.

*                    *                    *

"An Earthling Living in Korea" -- Mahbub Alam's "Love in Korea"

Star of the movie Bandhobi, depicting the realities of migrant laborers
Wants to make feature length movies and a charter school in Bangladesh

He is called the Denzel Washington of Korean independent movies. Mahbub Alam, 33-year-old former migrant laborer from Bangladesh, made his name in the world through Bandhobi, a movie depicting the friendship between a Korean girl and a young Bangladeshi migrant worker. He also starred in 5-6 independent movies including Where is Ronny and The City of Crane, and produced independent documentaries such as People Driven Away and Returnee. He was also in a radio station for migrant workers, served twice as the chief organizer of Immigrant Foreigner Movie Festival that he established five years ago and published a book titled, I am an Earthling.

In the book, he calmly describes his 30-odd years of life, living as an "Earthling" who brought down the walls of race, religion and class as a young immigrant living in Korea. Currently, he finished filming and editing his third documentary Love in Korea and in the middle of finalizing it.

Q:  You have done a lot of different things, and are doing a lot of different things right now. How do you introduce yourself?

A:  I don't know, that's kind of difficult (laugh). "Movie personality" would be correct, to give a short one, because I appear in movies and I am making movies.

Q:  Bandhobi was not your first movie, right?

A:  Right. Totally by accident, I appeared in a short film called "Dream of Revenge" in 2005. At first when I was offered a part, I was very curious. I was in an acting club in Bangladesh, so I still had some thoughts about seriously acting. The movie was also about migrant workers, so I figured let's give it a shot. But it was awkward to see my face on a huge screen for the first time. (Laugh.)

Q:  Then you kept working in movies?

A:  I actually held a camera even before that.  I was working in a factory, then learned about the "Media Movement" as I was protesting against the Employment Permission Act [TK: law regarding migrant workers] in early 2000s. I began making films since 2002, and made some migrant laborer-related programs for RTV, a citizen-sponsored television station afterwards. Now I don't really do any more broadcasting work other than appearing on personal documentaries once in a while.

Q:  You must have a different perspective on Korean media as an immigrant. There is an increase in programs about multiculturalism on network television. What are your thoughts?

A:  I have been speaking a little too much about this... (laugh). I want the media to have more different stories. That's why I started broadcasting also. Existing network TV has two perspectives on immigrants -- really sad, or funny. Recently it changed a little, but it is still frustrating. For example they might watch Love in Asia and shed some emotional tears, but there is story about why they live such sad lives. At one point whenever I walk on the street, children would tease, "Bad manager!" because of a skit in a comedy program. They see me only as a sad factory laberor who of course has to work under a bad manager because I am an immigrant with dark skin. Always the sense of looking down from up high, always seen as someone who needs help -- from my point of view it has to be unpleasant. Those are the programs that either make me appear sad or funny.

Q:  But isn't it true that many multicultural families do require assistance? If they do not appear to be people who need help, wouldn't people question why assistance is necessary?

That's correct. It is true that many immigrant and multicultural families need assistance. But the means of assistance is a problem. You can rely on assistance to a degree, but you can't receive public assistance all your life. But places like migrant centers only tries to give assistance. From the recipient's point of view, he only would only think of himself as someone to be helped; there will be no growth. This type of assistance is being repeated over and over again.  This is a matter of perspective. Of course "Global Beauty Talk" in a good entertainment program in this respect. But there, only the well-off people come out, which is opposite of Love in Asia. I am not saying those two are problems; the problem is that there are only those two. Also there needs to be some thought over the many immigrants who come for reasons other than international marriage and forming a multicultural family. Korea seems to only have discussions revolving around marriage immigrants.

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

Mahbub Alam first came to Korea in 1999. Majored in accounting in college, he at one point planned to study abroad in Helsinki, Finland, but chose Korea where his brother was living in order to pay for his mother's hospital bill. He initially intended to leave after two or three years, but now he has been living in Korea for 11 years. He married a Korean woman in the meantime, and is currently preparing to naturalize.

Since his immigration 11 years ago, Alam has been consistently active in the indie movie field.

Q:  At first you came to Korea for a simple reason -- to earn money for your mother's hospital bill. But now it seems like it got more complicated.

A:  No, it's simpler than people think. (Laugh.) At first I had a goal to earn money quickly and go home because my mother was sick and having a hard time. But she passed away six months after I came to Korea. The person I wanted to go back and see disappeared. So my goal disappeared. Afterward I met my wife here, and developed other relationships. So I ended up staying in Korea longer.

Q:  Do you not miss Bangladesh, the place itself, as your hometown?

A:  Obviously my mother was the most important part for me, but I do have places and people I miss. But now that I see them again in Bangladesh, I do feel that both us changed a lot. For example, I surprise myself when I feel frustrated with the way my Bangladeshi friends live. And when I got lost on the streets -- I never get lost in Seoul -- I think to myself, "Oh, I have become Korean." Hometown... it's about memories. If I leave Korea and settle in still another country, I will have that kind of feelings about Korea also. Hometown is not so much about the roots or the people, but more about family, friends ... that's what comes first for me.

Q:  It seems like you must have had many difficulties while living in Korea.

A:  I experienced the same difficulties that many immigrants face. It's been nearly 12 years since I came to Korea, but every day I hear questions about which country I am from, how long I have been here. That's stressful. But there are more good things, and that's why I live in Korea. I consider myself a Korean. I live in Korea, I do a lot of things in Korea, and have a lot of friends. So I consider myself a Korean, and consider Korea's inequality issue as my problem. Instead of blaming it wholesale, I think we should try to think about it together and resolve it.

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

I met Mahbub Alam through a different reporting assignment. I contacted him to write an article about multicultural family in relation to couples of Third-World country men and Korean women, but he courteously declined, saying, "I am ok with it, but it is diffcult to put my wife in the spotlight," adding, "We received a lot of guff on that topic." The movie Bandhobi announced him to the world, but he paid the price.

Mahbub Alam dreams of living as a Korean and destroying Koreans' prejudice.

Q:  How did you get to star in Bandhobi?

A:  I knew Director Shin Dong-Il from starring in My Friend, His Wife. Afterward he asked for my help making Bandhobi. I thought it was interested because the concept was the story of immigrant laborers of Bangladeshi background. I ended up interfering a lot because I was giving advice about things that made no sense in Muslim culture in the screenplay. Then the director and I had to cast the main character, but that was pretty difficult. The guy has to be good-looking, should be legal, should be able to speak Korean -- it was hard to find that kind of person around us. So I suggested, "How about I do it?" (Laugh.) The director was surprised at first, but let me do it with a condition because I persisted. The condition was to quit all my jobs to concentrate on the movie, and lose weight. I was not a professional actor, but I wanted to do a good job. So I quit everything I was doing -- including all my broadcasting work -- and even got acting lessons. I also dropped 12 kg. Obviously I gained it all back after the movie. (Laugh.)

Q:  People must recognize you after Bandhobi.

A:  There are people who recognize me sometimes. It was a low-budget movie and did not have much viewers, but there are people who do. Especially at movie festivals -- people coming toward me saying, "Bandhobi." It's pretty fun.

Q:  On the other hand, I heard you also received threatening phone calls.

A:  Bandhobi was liked by a lot of people and it was a new attempt, but personally it was a movie aimed to make people think about the problems of Korean society. People who hated it ganged up on me to attack. Really negative comments on the Internet, threatening or protesting calls to my job or friends ...

Q:  Protest?

A:  Telling me to keep quiet, why I would make a movie like that. I don't know how they found out, but one of them called me to tell he will murder me. There was not much substance to it. He was just saying why a dark foreigner was dating a Korean woman. I was just acting in a movie, and the whole thing was really about the director, but the protests were only aimed toward me.

Q:  The director did not receive any protest?

A:  Strangely, no. It's his movie! (Laugh.) So I thought about it. There is a lot of international marriage in Korea, but it was not a problem if a Korean man dates or loves a woman from another country, and only the opposite is the problem. I actually felt that way as a person who married internationally; if Bandhobi was about a Bangladeshi woman and a Korean man, there would be no talks.

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

Since Bandhobi of last year, he has been active as a film personality. While he is making his own movie, he appears in wherever that requires his acting, regardless of genre. He starred in television dramas such as Queen Seondeok, and played the main character in The City of Crane, which opened last May.

Q:  Even considering The City of Crane was a low-budget film, its opening was not even very much publicized.

A:  It is one of five works in "Meet Korea" series sponsored by Arirang TV, but maybe they did not have enough budget for marketing. Personally I was a bit disappointed. At least it showed in a few movie festivals abroad, and it keeps showing somewhere.

Q:  You seem happy with your work.

A:  I don't know about other works, but I really liked it in The City of Crane. Director Moon Seung-Wook has a lot in common with me. He once said he was a stranger in Korea too; he was studying abroad for 10 years, and felt difficulties when he returned to Korea. This movie was a mockumentary, and had no screenplay. I was really satisfied with excessive reality. What I felt lacking in Bandhobi or Where is Ronny was, like I said earlier, they cannot get away from the feel in Love in Asia. This nice, naive immigrant laborer doesn't receive his salary or gets fired arbitrarily ... a character eliciting sympathy. The movie might need one, but as an actor it did not feel enough for me to play only that. But in The City of Crane, the Korean woman is more like an immigrant and my character acts all big. (Laugh.)

Q:  What movies do you like?

A:  Recently I really enjoyed The Poem.  I like movies by Lee Chang-Dong. I watch a lot of Korean movies, and I love them. Korea really knows how to make movies. The problem is, actually making them is so hard. So obviously I worry about it -- whether I will have any future in this.

Q:  What are your plans for the future?

A:  Right now I am in a project to discover immigrant artist, sponsored by one regional cultrual foundation. I am planning a camp that discovers immigrant artists, in which they talk about how to communicate and strengthen their network. Personally, a cable TV offered me a part in a sitcom. That will start shooting in November, but nothing specific yet. And right now I am finalizing Love in Korea, the movie.

Q:  What is Love in Korea about?

A:  It's also a documentary, all based on real stories. There were nine people who came from Bangladesh to shoot a movie, and six of them -- including the director -- disappeared. The director produced 22 commercial films, but he just disappeared like that. So as I visit them, the movie talks about why they migrated. It is nearly done, and it will open this year if I'm lucky.

Q:  What are your dreams now?

A:  I want to make a feature length movie. And really far into the future, I want to build a charter school in Bangladesh. I want to teach children with media, culture and art education. I would invite Korean artists as guest lecturers to teach the children.

'한국에서 사는 지구인' 마붑 알엄의 '러브 인 코리아' [Dong-A Ilbo]

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

Ask a Korean! News: Why Koreans Eat Rice Cake on Holidays

Hope everyone is having a good chuseok, and eating a lot of songpyeon. Here is an insight on why Koreans eat rice cake on holidays like chuseok, from the always-informative food blog 악식가의 미식일기.


Why We Eat Rice Cake on Holidays

To cook rice, a pot is necessary. Up until the three kingdoms era, metal could only be used for weaponry. In other words, a pot made of cast iron to cook rice with was not in the kitchen. Among the artifacts of that era, steamers (siru, 시루) is the most prevalent among the artifacts having to do with eating. Thus, one can surmise that not rice, but rice cake was the staple.

Before a centralized state's formation was complete, Koreans have long lived a tribal life. Such tribe likely would have been formed based on blood ties. Also, there would have been more property common to the tribe rather than privately owned properly. While it would have been difficult for the whole tribe to cook and eat at the same time, but at least those who recognize each other to be belonging to a single family tree would have cooked together. Tracing back to the memories of the single last name villages that existed throughout Korea's rural areas as recently as 40 years ago, up to fourth cousins were considered a single family. The range would have been greater in the past.

At this point, we can imagine our ancestors cooking together. Even the steamer would not have been that common, and maintaining the fire would have been particularly difficult. Thus, one can imagine several extended families within a tribe coming together to take care of their meals. Our ancestors, setting powdered grain on a steamer, steam up rice cake, then sitting in a circle to eat. Thus, rice cake is the food of the community.

Cast iron pot appears to have become prevalent as a cooking tool around Goryeo Dynasty. This is the point at which rice becomes a regular meal. Each family's kitchen had a pot, and by then only a family ate together at a meal. "Eating rice from the same pot" [TK: a Korean idiom meaning "sharing affinity"] has come to mean that they were a family. Thus, rice is the food of the family.

We make rice cake on holidays such as chuseok or New Year's Day. Or at least, we buy rice cake to eat. It is a form of reminiscing the nostalgia for the community long, long ago. Our rice cake holds our people's ancient spirit of community.

명절에 떡을 먹는 이유 [악식가의 미식 일기]

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

How to Hold Jesa

Dear Korean,

I came across your blog while doing a search for 제사 procedures. I can't seem to find anything in detail in English, and the Korean is way over my head. We are coming up on the 4th year since my mother passed. In the past, we have done the ceremony at a local temple that set everything up for us and we just paid and attended the ceremony. This year though, we have moved and there is no temple near us. I am thinking we are going to have to do it at home, but have no idea how or what I even need to do!

Any tips as far as food-wise, table settings, and anything else that we're supposed to do?

Thanks,

Alicia

P.S. I am the only child - and a girl by the way. It would just be me and my husband doing the ceremony.

Dear Alicia,

First off, a quick explanation on what jesa (제사) is -- jesa is a memorial ceremony for the dead. In fact, there are many different types of jesa, because technically it is a general term for memorial ceremonies of all types. The types include: myoje (묘제), held at the grave; sije (시제), held every season; charye (차례), held on major holidays like Lunar New Year's Day and Chuseok, etc. But currently when Korean people speak of jesa, they are mostly talking about gijesa (기제사) -- the kind held once a year, on the day the person passed away.

Jesa is very, very important in Korean culture. It is one of the few traditional ceremonies that Korean people still follow faithfully, often without regards to particular religion. For example, one of the reasons why Catholicism was able to make inroads with Korea faster than Protestantism is that Korean Catholics are allowed to hold jesa, per decree from Pope Pius XII in 1939. (Protestants of Korea held out longer -- while majority of Protestants in Korea do not hold jesa, a significant number still holds jesa or a modified form of one.) In fact, in a family life jesa is as important as a birthday. After all, it only makes sense that if there is a birthday, there also is a deathday.

The Korean will describe a model way of jesa below, be mindful that this ceremony is both highly adaptive and geography specific. Each family of different regions of Korea holds things with different food and different order. In fact, the Korean had to pause about whether this would be applicable to Alicia at all, because she mentioned that her jesa was held at a temple -- which could mean that her mother was a Buddhist, who have slightly different procedures.  Also, because of the convenience of modern Koreans, certain things are abbreviated. But for the sake of everyone who might be interested in a model jesa, here is one model that is fairly common.

Logistics of Jesa

First of all, who is honored by jesa? As of today, the common practice is to hold jesa (i.e. gijesa, the "deathday") for up to your (paternal) grandparents. The ancestors beyond the grandparents level are honored through the other kinds of jesa, namely the ones held on major holidays, etc. If both of one's parents passed away, a single jesa is held for both of them together, on the jesa day of the father. (You will soon notice that much of this process is pretty sexist, but that's how traditions generally are.)

Who holds a jesa? The oldest male heir does. For a jesa for parents, the oldest male heir is the oldest son. For a jesa for grandparents, assuming there is no surviving male child of the grandparents, the oldest male heir is the oldest male child of the oldest male child of the grandparents. So for example, if the Korean Parents were to pass away, the Korean -- the oldest male child of the Korean Parents -- would hold the jesa for the Korean Parents. The Korean Grandfather has already passed away, and his jesa is held by one of the Korean Uncles, who is the oldest male child among the five that the Korean Grandfather had. If the Korean Uncle passes away, the grandfather-jesa duties would go to the oldest son of the Korean Uncle, i.e. the Korean Cousin. Just to trace back a little bit further, just for fun -- the Korean Grandfather was the last child among the three brothers, so the jesa for the Korean Great-Grandfather is held at the Korean Father's Cousin's house -- who is the oldest son of the Korean Grandfather's oldest brother.

Alicia's parents apparently passed away without a son, so technically her parents do not receive a jesa because only men are allowed to hold jesa. This is one of the major reasons why having a son in traditional Korea was such a huge deal. But in modern Korea, especially in cases when parents die without a son, daughters with their husbands hold jesa nonetheless.

When exactly is the date and the time of the jesa? The correct answer is "the earliest possible time on the day the person passed away," which means the midnight of the date of death. (A common threat in Korea is "Today is your jesa day," i.e. today is the day you die.) Practically, this means that people actually gather for jesa on the day before the date of death, so that jesa may begin exactly at 12 midnight of the next day. One tricky part is that because Korea traditionally has used a lunar calendar, jesa date is also traditionally determined by lunar calendar as well -- which means it changes from year to year on a solar calendar. But in modern Korea, following only the solar calendar is acceptable.

Be sure to be dressed properly. No need to go crazy with traditional garbs, but men generally wear a suit and women wear conservative dresses. 

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: 48. Dongmulwon

[Series Index]

48.  Dongmulwon [동물원, "Zoo"]

Years of Activity:  1987-2003

Members:

Regular Members
Yoo Joon-Yeol [유준열] - Vocal, guitar
Park Ki-Yeong [박기영] - Vocal, keyboard
Bae Yeong-Gil [배영길] - Vocal, guitar

Temporary Members
Kim Chang-Gi [김창기] - Vocal, guitar
Park Kyeong-Chan [박경찬] - Vocal, guitar, keyboard
Lee Seong-Woo [이성우] - Vocal, guitar
Choi Hyeong-Gyu [최형규] - Drum
Kim Gwang-Seok [김광석] - Vocal

Discography:

Regular Albums
Dongmulwon [동물원] (1987)
Dongmulwon Second Collection of Songs [동물원 두번째 노래 모음] (1988)
Dongmulwon Third Collection of Songs [동물원 세번째 노래 모음] (1990)
Dongmulwon Fourth Collection of Songs [동물원 네번째 노래 모음] (1991)
Dongmulwon 5-1 [동물원 5-1] (1993)
Dongmulwon 5-2 [동물원 5-2] (1993)
Dongmulwon 6 [동물원 6] (1994)
Dongmulwon Seventh [동물원 일곱번째] (1997)
Dongmulwon Eighth Story [동물원 여덟번째 이야기] (2001)
Dongmulwon Ninth Footprint [동물원 아홉번째 발자국] (2003)

Special Albums
Dongmulwon in Concert [동물원 in Concert] (Live, 1994)
Dongmulwon Revisited [다시 가본 동물원] (Compilation, 1996)
Dongmulwon Best [동물원 베스트] (1999)

In 15 Words or Less:  The amateur representative of Korean folk rock.

Representative Song:  Hyehwa-Dong, from Dongmulwon Second Collection of Songs.

혜화동

Hyehwa-dong

오늘은 잊고 지내던 친구에게서 전화가 왔네

Today, a phone call came from a friend I had forgotten

내일이면 멀리 떠나간다고

Tomorrow he is going very far away

어릴적 함께 뛰놀던 골목길에서 만나자 하네

Says let us meet at the alleyway where we ran and played as children

내일이면 멀리 떠나간다고

Tomorrow he is going very far away

덜컹거리는 전철을 타고 찾아가는 그 길

The way over, taking the rumbling subway

우린 얼마나 많은 것을 잊고 살아가는지

How many things have we forgotten as we live

어릴 적 넓게만 보이던 좁은 골목길에

The narrow alleyway that seemed so wide when we were young

다정한 옛친구 나를 반겨 달려오는데

My good old friend runs to greet me

어릴적 함께 꿈꾸던 부푼 세상을 만나자 하네

Says let us meet the beautiful world we dreamed together as children

내일이면 아주 멀리 떠나간다고

Tomorrow he is going very far away

언젠가 돌아오는 날 활짝웃으며 만나자 하네

Says someday when he comes back let us meet with big smiles

내일이면 아무 멀리 간다고

Tomorrow he is going very far away

덜컹거리는 전철을 타고 찾아가는 그 길

The way over, taking the rumbling subway

우린 얼마나 많은 것을 잊고 살아가는지

How many things have we forgotten as we live

어릴 적 넓게만 보이던 좁은 골목길에

The narrow alleyway that seemed so wide when we were young

다정한 옛친구 나를 반겨 달려오는데

My good old friend runs to greet me

랄라 랄라라 랄라랄라라 라랄라랄라라

Lala Lalala Lalalalala Lalalalala

우린 얼마나 많은 것을 잊고 살아가는지

How many things have we forgotten as we live

Translation Note:  Hyehwa-dong is a district in the center of Seoul, with many colleges, theaters and coffee shops.

Maybe they should have been ranked higher because...  Actually, this is about as high as this band could possibly go.

Maybe they should have been ranked lower because...  See the discussion below.

Why is this band important?

The Korean can already hear the objections of those who are conversant at K-pop. Clazziquai at 49, but Dongmulwon at 48? Dongmulwon never once had a number one song on the charts. It never had a huge media presence, nor did it ever attract a screaming horde of girls. It was not even very musically talented, as it was a band made up of a rotating group of amateurs. Their songs do not require a huge range of voice, nor do they require a particular skilled hand at the guitar. Perhaps at that point the objectors might recall that this list is subject to the Korean’s arbitrary and capricious whim, and stop reading altogether.

But the Korean’s ranking is not completely off the reservation. The Korean believes his placement of Dongmulwon at 48 is justified, because of the significance of folk rock as a genre in K-pop history, and Dongmulwon’s significance within that genre cannot be discounted.

Let us ask the basic question one more time: What is K-pop? The Korean defined this term earlier as popular music of Korea, recorded for commercial purposes. While this definition does a decent job at defining what “pop music” is, it has a glaring deficiency – what does “music of Korea” mean? Does this mean that the music has to be sung in Korean language? Does this mean that the singer of the music have to of Korean ethnicity?

Implicitly, the Korean so far has been employing a broad definition of “music of Korea” – music of artists who were/are primarily active in Korea, such that their music operates within Korean popular culture. But perhaps a different definition can be used – a definition that refers to Korea as not merely as a geographical location, but as a cultural and spiritual sphere. Under this definition, “music of Korea” would simply mean: music that reflects “Koreanness,” the emotional core that characterizes Korea.

To be sure, the two definitions are not mutually exclusive. Generally, music that survives in Korean popular culture does so because it contains some measure of “Koreanness” that appeals to its fans, i.e. Koreans. But in discussing influence – which, again, is what this chart is intended to measure, not popularity, talent or fame – the Korean thinks it is fair to give a higher mark to artists who did a better job at reflecting “Koreanness”. This is so because the popular music that survives in the minds of the public (i.e. becomes influential) is the one that reflects the essential zeitgeist of the times.

In fact, this is exactly the reason why pretty girl/pretty boy artists across the world receive no respect for the aesthetic quality of the music they perform. Pretty people exist across the space and time. So do banal and saccharine love songs. They simply do not reflect any essential quality of their life and time. Accordingly, Bob Dylan’s music survived the times and remains influential, but Britney Spears’ did not.

Korean folk rock is the most significant K-pop genre because it is the genre that did the best job at reflecting the life and times of Koreans. For all of Clazziquai’s considerable talent, there is not much about techno/electronica that reflects the emotional core that is particular to Koreans. Same with heavy metal, and even less so with ballad or generic dance music. (A more serious case might be made for trot or rap, which will be discussed later in the series.) This is so because folk rock is a message-driven music. The music itself in folk rock is never complicated – many of the times it only involves a single guitar. The main focus of folk rock is always about the message carried in the lyrics, contained the simple and flexible vessel of its melody.

Dongmulwon is important because it is one of the finest representations of what folk rock in Korea is all about. The band was made up of rank amateurs, friends from high school and college. It was no more than a hobby, and except for a few members who left the band to become professional musicians (among which the most notable was Kim Gwang-Seok, who later became a legend,) everyone had a day job. None of their songs involved sophisticated tunes or particularly outstanding singing. But they nonetheless managed to put out nine albums over 15 years, exactly because they did such an outstanding job reflecting exactly how Koreans were feeling at the time of their music.

In fact, Dongmulwon’s most representative songs are all about certain recognizable places. Other than Hyehwa-dong that was translated above, their most popular songs were On the Street [거리에서] and At the Subway Station in front of the City Hall [시청 앞 지하철역에서]. Because the places are familiar to their listeners (although not necessarily for non-Koreans or Koreans of later generations,) the emotions that are evoked by those places are also familiar.

Since late 1980s through 1990s, Korea was a fast-changing place that left every Korean feel rushed and hurried. As the dictatorship was ending, Koreans were freer but not too free; as the country industrialized, Koreans were not poor but not too wealthy. Hyehwa-dong is a beautiful representation of the zeitgeist of such times – vague sense of loss and fatigue caused by changes, but small joys that spring up regardless. The friend is leaving, but they will see each other one more time. The alleyway now seems small, but it carries fond memories.

Dongmulwon was never the most prominent figure in K-pop history. But the band is important because decades later, people will turn to their songs to reminisce how things were in Korea at the time. More popular or more talented musicians might fade into history, but Koreans will keep singing Dongmulwon's songs.

Interesting Trivia:

- The band is named "Zoo" because the members thought that they were being caged, both by the stiffness of the society and ideology-driven college culture at the time. But the first suggestion for the band name was "Ballad for Ewha Students" [이대생을 위한 발라드], based on the jocular calculation that simply selling albums to Ewha Woman's University students would let them sell at least 1,000 copies.

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