A plea to Korean American parents for Halloween:  Please do not dress your children in traditional Korean garb for Halloween. Not to say all Korean American parents do this, but the Korean has definitely met enough young Korean Americans who had been traumatized by this experience.

Korean traditional dress is not some costume that you dust off for a day marked with the strange and the outlandish. It does not belong next to Spider-Man and fairies. It is for important, joyous occasions like Lunar New Year, Chuseok, weddings and birthdays. The Korean understands the sentiment, but please stop it. Instead of relegating it to a dumb holiday with silly dresses, have your children wear it seriously and proudly in more meaningful times.

Ask a Korean! Wiki: What is the Best City for Asian Americans?

Dear Korean,

Now that I have some financial freedom to move relatively wherever I want, where is the best place for Asian Americans to live? New York City has been my home for 30 years and I have never liked the attitude towards Asians here.

Sam

Dear Sam,

Very interesting question. The Korean's personal pick would be a tie between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Both cities are heavily Asian, which means no more dumb statements like "Your English is so good!" or "No, where are you really from?" It also means that Asian Americans run major businesses, which means less potential discrimination (intentional or otherwise) in the course of your job. Both cities have very good and real Asian food, although San Francisco leans more Chinese and Los Angeles more Korean/Vietnamese. But they do have slight differences, which ends up being a matter of preference. (It should be obvious that this is all generalization and individual experience may differ.)

San Francisco is where Asian Americans can go in America to feel "normal". The Asian American population there is so old that it is essentially mainstream. Even 80-year-old Asian American grandmothers speak perfect English. Even the white people in San Francisco have gotten so used to Asians that it does not even really register that Asians are supposed to be different somehow. No one has to apologize for the fact that the lunch that he packed for the office smells like Asian food, for example. In San Francisco, an Asian American can live while being oblivious to the fact that she is a minority.

Los Angeles is where Asian Americans can go in America to feel "special". Angelenos want to be hip, and being Asian in 2010 is hip. It is sometimes annoying that people constantly remind your Asian-ness, but that attention is generally positive -- it feels nice that people are curious about your culture and want to learn about it. Asians in Los Angeles tend to be more recent immigrants, which means you tend to be closer to the goings-on of your country of origin (e.g. the latest K-pop), if you care about that type of thing. But that can also mean that Asians in Los Angeles are farther removed from the mainstream.

Since this is a Wiki, let's hear from everyone. Asian American readers, where do you like? If you like your city, make a case for it even if it might not be exactly the "best". For example, the Korean has been curious for some time about what it's like to live in Montgomery, Alabama, where Hyundai is a major employer. Would the locals lovingly embrace Asian Americans who brought them jobs, or secretly resent their presence? Don't limit yourself to American cities either -- let's hear them all.

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

In today's "court-decision-that-makes-you-shake-your-head" news, the Constitutional Court of Korea (one of the two highest courts of Korea) ruled that the military may disallow draftees from reading certain banned books (that are freely available in bookstore and government-funded libraries.) In a separate lawsuit, the administrative court ruled that military could justifiably fire the JAG officers who challenged the constitutionality of the book ban. Because of their discharge, the JAG officers cannot practice law for the next 5 to 10 years.

서점서 파는 책, 군대선 맘대로 못보게 할수있다 [The Hankyoreh]
'헌소’ 법무관들 어떻게 되나 [The Hankyoreh]

Very clever -- Daewoo Securities, as a charity event, sold bottles of dirty water out of a vending machine for KRW 1,000 (about a dollar). For each bottle sold, Daewoo will add KRW 9,000 and donate to UNICEF for cleaning drinking water. They are aiming to sell 5,000 bottles, which will amount to KRW 50 million in proceeds after making the addition. Daewoo said they will donate KRW 50 million (around $50,000) regardless of the result of the sales.

구정물을 한병 1000원에? [Dong-A Ilbo]

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.

Like a G6 by Far East Movement, a hiphop group made up of four Asian Americans (two of them Koreans) went platinum (selling over 1 million) and topped the Billboard's Hottest 100.

Not the Korean's cup of tea, however. His selection of recent rap is Eminem's Space Bound.

50 Most Influential K-Pop Artists: 44. Yoon Do-Hyeon

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

[Series Index]

44.  Yoon Do-Hyeon (also spelled Yoon Do-Hyun) [윤도현]

Years of Activity:  1994-present

Discography:
Regular Albums (as leader of the Yoon Do-Hyeon Band)
In Front of the Autumn Post Office [가을 우체국 앞에서] (1994)
Yoon Do-Hyeon 2 [윤도현 2] (1997)
Marginalization [소외] (1998)
Re-Singing Korean Rock [한국 Rock 다시 부르기] (1999)
An Urbanite (2001)
YB Stream 6 (2003)
Why Be? (2006)
Coexistence (2009)

Special Albums and Notable Singles
Official Album of Red Devils Cheering Songs 2002 [붉은 악마 공식 응원가 앨범 2002] (2002) (contributed Arirang)
Standing on the Road - Yoon Do-Hyeon Band Photo Essay [길위에 서다 - 윤도현밴드 포토 에세이] (2005)
2006 YB World Cup Cheering Songs [2006 YB 월드컵 응원가] (2006)
Korean Peninsula Original Soundtrack [한반도 OST] (2006)

Representative Song:  Someday [먼훗날], from Marginalization

먼훗날

Someday

널 이젠 잊겠어 

I will now forget you

내 깊은 그리움으로 이밤을 지새운건 아니었는데

I did not spend this night longing deeply for you

이제는 닦아 낼 눈물이 없어
But I have no more tear to wipe

하고픈 말 서럽게 쌓여만 가고
The words I want to say only piles on sadly

기억되는 그리움의 아픔이 너무 두려워
So afraid of the remembered pain of longing

홀로 남겨진 이 순간 원할건 없지만
This moment, left alone, although I have nothing more to want

정말 널 사랑해
I really love you, 

차마 그말 한마디 못한 내가 너무나도 원망스러워
I blame myself for not being able to say just that one word

먼훗날 다시 널 우연히 마주칠수 있다면
Someday if by chance I may see you again

사랑했다 말할거야
I will tell you, I loved you.

Translation note: Truly well-done poetry in Korean -- which uses all possible angles of ambiguities that Korean language allows -- is darn near impossible to translate elegantly. This is one such occasion. Suggestions are welcome.

In 15 words or less:  The rightful heir of Korean rock, evaluator of true talent.

Maybe he should be ranked higher because...  The game-changing nature of his TV show (described below) is easy to underestimate.

Maybe they should be ranked lower because...  If he is ranked for not-strictly-musical influence, shouldn't Lee Su-Man (of the SM music group) be ranked higher than him?

Why is this artist important?
Among the followers of Korea's rock scene, this placement might feel high -- because just in terms of musical quality, one can make a strong case that Yoon Do-Hyeon is not particularly special. But it is Yoon's period of activity that makes him particularly influential. In terms of relative influence, the nadir of Korean rock was late 1990s through early 2000s. The airwaves were utterly dominated by boy/girl bands, and it appeared that rock was being driven to the brink of extinction. Yoon Do-Hyeon Band was one of the few bands that stuck it out during those dark times, trudging along while churning out quality albums.

Rock made an unexpected comeback in 2002, and Yoon was at the heart of revival. Yoon's band was one of the bands that wrote some of the most popular songs for Korean national soccer team playing in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. It is not an exaggeration that Yoon Do-Hyeon Band, along with one other rock band (to be introduced in this ranking later) led the renaissance of Korean rock that is resonating to this day.

This is already a substantial achievement, but Yoon's influence on K-pop scene was arguably greater in his other activity -- playing host of the TV show, Yoon Do-Hyeon's Love Letter, from 2002 to 2008. Love Letter was a music-focused late night show, in which singers interspersed serious yet entertaining dialogue with the host with real, live performances. The show's effect on the K-pop scene should not be underestimated. When other music-related TV shows were slowly turning into various levels of insults to intelligence, Love Letter was rigorous about the choice of real, talented artists to feature, and strict about the requirement to perform live. Much of that rigor was driven by Yoon's personal force, as an intelligent artist who always cared about the quality of pop music in Korea. Yoon's energetic and witty personality was an indispensable ingredient that allowed the show to go on strong for seven years, acting as a litmus test that showed who was real, and who was produced.

Interesting trivia:  Although never confirmed, it was widely suspected that Yoon quit Love Letter because of the pressure applied by Korea's current conservative administration, as Yoon was an active voice of Korea's liberals.

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

Cut Peppers (Owww.....)

Dear Korean,

This question might sound weird or even offensive but trust me -- I am asking this because I just wanna know. No offense intended. Or maybe I'm the only one who doesn't know the answer to this question yet. Anyway, I'll get straight. Are Korean males circumcised? If yes, what's the percentage?

Rezzell E.

Dear Offensive Weirdo,

You inadvertently stumbled upon a highly interesting topic -- not only because it involves, ahem, peppers (Korean euphemism for male you-know-what,) but also because it involves history.

Spicy and delicious

(Source)

Korea is an anomaly in the world when it comes to circumcision. First, take a look at this map:

(Source)

Entire Asia is more or less grey, except for Korea (and the Philippines), which is darker. The World Health Organization estimates that 60 percent of all Korean males are circumcised -- the highest among non-Muslim and non-Jewish countries. This trend is directly contrary to Korea's Confucian's heritage, which teaches people to keep whole the body received from the parents. Why did this trend happen?

Here is an absolutely fascinating survey of circumcised men in Korea conducted in 2000. The most interesting part is this -- nearly no one born prior to 1945 was circumcised. Circumcision in Korea began in 1945, and the number rose dramatically through the 1960s. So here is a pop quiz:  what was the most influential force in Korea from 1945 through the 1960s?

Answer: the Yanks! As U.S. military occupied Korea after the end of World War II and through Korean War, it had an unofficial policy of circumcising its soldiers because it was believed to prevent venereal disease and generally improve hygiene. Especially during Korean War, Korean soldiers fought side-by-side with Americans. And whatever was considered good by Americans, Koreans enthusiastically followed. The circumcision fad died out in the U.S., but it lived on in Korea for the next two decades. As a result, the survey shows that nearly 90 percent of Korean men who were born in the 1980s are circumcised. In fact, circumcision nearly became a rite of passage for all men -- particularly so because nearly all Korean men must be drafted, which means they will be sharing showers with about dozen other men for more than two years.

However, as the medical benefits of circumcision is becoming increasingly dubious, more doctors in Korea are recommending that circumcision is not necessary in the last decade. But if you encounter a strapping eligible Korean man in his 20s-30s, it is highly likely that he is carrying a cut pepper. (shudder)

To conclude, here is a contest -- come up with the best "pepper" joke using the information from this post! The Korean dropped enough innuendos here to give fertile ground for an enormously entertaining load. (Hey, there was one just now.) Go nuts!

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.

Here is a piece of news to chew on:

Germany's attempt to create a multi-cultural society has failed completely, Chancellor Angela Merkel said at the weekend, calling on the country's immigrants to learn German and adopt Christian values.

Merkel weighed in for the first time in a blistering debate sparked by a central bank board member saying the country was being made "more stupid" by poorly educated and unproductive Muslim migrants.

"Multikulti", the concept that "we are now living side by side and are happy about it," does not work, Merkel told a meeting of younger members of her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party at Potsdam near Berlin.

"This approach has failed, totally," she said, adding that immigrants should integrate and adopt Germany's culture and values.

Merkel says German multi-cultural society has failed [Yahoo! News]

Hmmmmmmm.

Ask a Korean! Wiki: Freelancing in Korea?

Dear Korean,

What's the freelancing scene like in Korea? Here in NYC, most people I know in my circle are freelancers and the others are salaried folks. I'm wondering if it's the same way in Seoul or Daegu. This may be a candidate for the wiki.

Mike G.

Dear Mike,

Indeed it is! Readers, any thoughts?

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

Ask a Korean! News: Kim Jong-Un Propaganda Begins

North Korea is gearing up to deify the new successor Kim Jong-Un, which is being met with cynicism. Below is the translation.

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

As the North Korean regime embarked on a massive project to deify Kim Jong-Un, it is being met by jeers and ridicule from the people as it relies on absurd propaganda defying common sense. As the regime strains to package a 27-year-old man without any achievement as a "great leader," the tactic is backfiring.

On the 11th of this month, Open North Korea Radio, a radio station broadcasting toward North Korea, made public the material for lectures held late last year against Labor Party officials and members. The propaganda material, titled "Material on the Greatness of Young General Comrade Kim Jong-Un", claimed that "Comrade Young General was an expert marksman since the age of three, and this year hit a row of light bulbs and bottles 100 meters away with a semiautomatic rifle, firing at three shots per second." It also claimed that Kim fired 20 shots at a target and hit all of them within the 10-point circle. In addition, it claimed that Kim "figured out all renowned generals through the East and the West and throughout history by his teens, is proficient in all areas of military affairs including the army, navy and the air force, and only took a few days to complete the 'automatic ceremonial cannon firing program,' which not even engineers could not accomplish."

Reportedly, this material also contains claims that Kim Jong-Un is not only proficient in politics, economics, culture, history and military affairs, but also a genius who completely acquired four languages -- English, German, French and Italian -- in his two years of study abroad, and that he is taking time out to study and master up to seven languages. It also propagandized that Kim amazed those around him by composing a difficult Chinese poem with a calligraphy brush at age three, and that North Korea developed nuclear weapon because Kim, through his study abroad, determined that "Against those with nuclear weapon, we must rise with nuclear weapon also."

The material directed toward farmers reportedly contains claims that Kim Jong-Un surprised the researchers of Sariwon Grain Cooperative Farm on a visit in 2008 when he spontaneously invented a microbial fertilizer that improves acidic soil, and that this farm produced 15 tons of rice per jeongbo [TK: unit of area, equivalent to 9917 m²) the next year. Last year, South Korea produced 5.2 tons of rice per jeongbo.

North Korean informants said after hearing the lecture, the people sneered, "Now there is no more food problem since all the rain and snow will turn into rice," "We are already worried about how to handle the excess food," "[Kim Jong-Un, the child of heaven] decided that this year's crop will be destroyed by flood," etc.

The deification of Kim Jong-Un is far more absurd than the deification of Kim Il-Sung or Kim Jong-Il. Kim Il-Sung's deification propaganda (also well-known in South Korea) about how he "made grenades with pine cones and crossed rivers on floating leaves" is on a children's book. Neither did Kim Jong-Il's deification, at least when aimed toward adults, contain such propaganda as absurd as "expert marksman at age 3." One defector noted, "It looks like the propaganda is getting worse as the officers of the propaganda bureaus have changed into the generation that grew up with the deification education."

김일성 뺨치는 김정은 우상화… 北주민 “쌀 넘치겠네” 비아냥 [Dong-A Ilbo]

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

The Korean on Model Minority Myth

Dear Korean,

How do you feel about the Model Minority Myth? I'm black and often inspired by Asians who have stats that say they are 4% of the country but 24% of Harvard. Others will say this is a myth of the success of Asians. What do you think?

Redman

Dear Redman,

Here is the Korean's view in a nutshell:  properly used (note the emphasis,) the "model minority myth" can be a very useful instrument.

The model minority theory is fairly well known, so only a little bit of explanation would suffice. Asian Americans are often considered the "model minority," because despite being a minority who is supposed to be at a disadvantage in a racist society, Asian Americans excel to a degree that surpasses even whites. Across all ethnicities in the U.S., Asian Americans are most likely to be college-educated, most likely to be in high-skill occupation, have the highest median family income, and least likely to be poor or be on public assistance.

Because it is fashionable to hate on the model minority theory, the Korean would like to remind everyone this:  the fact that Asian Americans tend to do well in America is not a bad thing. People should be happy with the fact that Asian Americans, despite immigrating to a new land where they face significant barriers, nonetheless manage to (broadly speaking) succeed greatly.

The problem, instead, is when the success of Asian Americans is used to push other things that do not quite connect. Thus the critics of model minority theory are quick to point out that model minority theory is used by certain groups to pit Asian Americans against other minorities. Or that model minority theory glosses over the heterogeneity within Asian Americans, as certain Asian American sub-groups (e.g. Cambodians) do not follow the overall trend of Asian Americans. Or that Asian Americans still have to put in more hours of work to earn the same amount of money as whites. These criticisms are of course correct, and they need to be taken into account when we evaluate the success of Asian Americans.

But the Korean cannot help but wonder:  why don't people care more about why Asian Americans succeed? Even if all the criticisms are true, they do not change the fact that a good number of Asian Americans are successful in America against all odds. Why is there no effort -- or at least, no effort commensurate to the effort devoted to argue against the model minority theory -- to decipher what Asian Americans are doing right, theorize it, and apply the theory for the betterment of all Americans, particularly minorities? If what Asian Americans are doing is conducive to success, shouldn't all Americans do what Asian Americans are doing? Shouldn't that be the greatest contribution of Asian American Studies as a scholarly discipline?

If anything, the trend so far has been the opposite. Any suggestion of what other minorities could learn from Asian Americans is often met by charges of arrogance from other minorities, and a tut-tut from Asian American Studies people claiming that such suggestion pits Asian Americans from other minorities. Whites are happy until Asian Americans are about as successful as they are, but are quick to dismiss the success of Asian Americans when it appears that Asian Americans might actually be doing better than them. So the mainstream society devalues Asian Americans' success as "too focused on academics" or "not creative" -- a ludicrous notion, given the success of Asian Americans in music (easily half of the Juilliard School,) literature (Amy Tan, Maxine Hong Kingston, Changrae Lee, Min Jin Lee,) sports (Michelle Wie, Anthony Kim, Christina Kim,) fashion design (Vera Wang, Jason Wu, Richard Chai,) or just about any other field. At high schools in San Francisco Bay Area where Asian American students excel, there is a "reverse white flight" because Asian American parents are "too competitive."

Obviously, model minority theory cannot explain everything about Asian Americans, or success in America. No theory is perfect; if you follow only one theory to guide your life, you will be seriously wrong and badly lost. But this must be said, and said confidently:  We Asian Americans are, on average, doing great because we are doing something right. We do not have to apologize for our success, or find a way to explain somehow that our success is not a real success. We are indeed the model minority, in the true sense of the word -- the model which all of America would do well to take notice and learn from.

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! Wiki: How to Become a Makeup Artist?

Here is a question that totally stumped the Korean:

Dear Korean,

I'm a working make up artist here in the states and more recently in the last 3-4 years I've noticed that the craze for the more natural/translucent "Korean look" is high in demand, especially for bridal parties. I'm interested in going to Korea to get some proper training and was wondering if there are such facilities available to foreigners? Any information would be greatly appreciated, I would love to go study aboard and work in Korea for some time to master my craft!

Linda T.,
San Francisco, CA

Linda, you are speaking to a man who could not understand why his wife had to pay for the wedding makeup when she apparently knows how to apply makeup. He has no idea. The Korean did see some Korean-American blogs focused on makeup, but does not know any more than that.

Readers, any suggestion?

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

The Korean is two episodes into the new Hawaii Five-O. Has there ever been another American TV show that featured two Koreans in the top-4 of their casting? It has to be a milestone of some sort.

For the record, the Korean thinks the show is stupid. But the Korean Wife likes it, so we continue to watch.

50 Most Influential K-Pop Artists: 45. Girls' Generation

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

[Series Index]

Oh dear gods of rock, please forgive the Korean for what he is about to do.

45.  Girls' Generation (also known as SNSD) [소녀시대]

Years of Activity:  2007-present.

Members:
TaeYeon (Kim Tae-Yeon [김태연]) - Main Vocal
Jessica (Jessica Jung/Jeong Su-Yeon [정수연]) - Main Vocal
Sunny (Lee Soon-Gyu [이순규]) - Sub Vocal
Tiffany (Stephanie Hwang/Hwang Mi-Yeong [황미영] - Sub Vocal
HyoYeon (Kim Hyo-Yeon [김효연]) - Sub vocal
YuRi (Gwon Yu-Ri [권유리]) - Sub vocal
SooYoung (Choi Su-Yeong [최수영]) - Sub vocal
YoonA (Im Yoon-Ah [임윤아]) - Sub vocal
SeoHyun (Seo Ju-Hyeon [서주현]) - Sub vocal

Discography:

Regular Albums

Girls' Generation [소녀시대] (2007)
Oh! (2010)

Singles/Remixes

World Encountered Again [다시 만난 세계] (2007)
World Encountered Again Remix [다시 만난 세계 Remix] (2007)
Kissing You (Rhythmer Remix Vol. 1) (2008)
Baby Baby (2008)
Gee (2009)
Tell Me Your Wish [소원을 말해봐] (2009)
Run Devil Run (2010)

Representative Song:  Gee, from Gee

 Gee

Uh-huh! Listen Boy, My First Love Story

My Angel I'm a Girl My sunshine
uh uh let's go!

너무너무 멋져 

So so good-looking 

눈이눈이 부셔 

 So dazzle dazzling

숨을 못쉬겠어 

Can't breathe

떨리는 걸

 I'm shaking

Gee Gee Gee Gee Baby Baby Baby
Gee Gee Gee Gee Baby Baby Baby

Oh 너무 부끄러워

Oh so embarrassing

쳐다볼 수 없어

Can't look
사랑에 빠져서 

Because of love

수줍은 걸

I feel shy

Gee Gee Gee Gee Baby Baby Baby

Gee Gee Gee Gee Be Be Be Be Be Be

(어떻게 하죠) 어떡 어떡하죠

(What do I do) What do I what do I do?
(떨리는 나는) 떨리는 나는요

(Shaky me) This shaky me?
(두근두근두근) 두근두근 거려
(Thump thump thump) My heart is thumping
밤엔 잠도 못 이루죠
So I can't even sleep at night

나는 나는 바본가봐요
I, I must be a fool
그대 그대 밖에 모르는 바보
A fool who only knows you, you
그래요 그댈 보는 난
That's right, I, looking at you

너무 반짝반짝 눈이 부셔
So sparkle-sparkle so dazzling

NO NO NO NO

너무 깜짝깜짝 놀란 나는
So so surprised I am like

OH OH OH OH

너무 짜릿짜릿 몸이 떨려
So electrifying, my body shakes

Gee Gee Gee Gee Gee

Oh 젖은 눈빛 
Oh the soft gaze

Oh Yeah

Oh 좋은 향기
Oh the good smell

Oh Yeah Yeah Yeah

Oh 너무 너무 예뻐
Oh so so pretty
맘이 너무 예뻐
So pretty heart
첫눈에 반했어
Love at first sight
꼭 찍은 걸
 You are mine

Gee Gee Gee Gee Baby Baby Baby Baby

Gee Gee Gee Gee Baby Baby Baby Baby

너무나 뜨거워
Too hot
만질 수가 없어
Can't touch
사랑에 타버려
Burning with love
후끈한 걸
It's so hot

Gee Gee Gee Gee Baby Baby Baby Baby

Gee Gee Gee Gee Be Be Be Be Be Be

(어쩌면 좋아) 어쩌면 좋아요
(What do I do) What am I supposed to do?
(수줍은 나는) 수줍은 나는요
(Bashful me) This bashful me?
(몰라 몰라 몰라 몰라) 몰라 몰라하며
 (I don't know I don't know) I say I don't know, I don't know
매일 그대만 그리죠
And think of you every day.

친한 친구들은 말하죠
My good friends tell me
정말 너는 정말 못말려 바보
You are really something, silly
하지만 그댈 보는 난
But I, looking at you

너무 반짝반짝 눈이 부셔
So sparkle-sparkle so dazzling

NO NO NO NO

너무 깜짝깜짝 놀란 나는
So so surprised I am like

OH OH OH OH

너무 짜릿짜릿 몸이 떨려
So electrifying, my body shakes

Gee Gee Gee Gee Gee

Oh 젖은 눈빛 

Oh the soft gaze

Oh Yeah

Oh 좋은 향기
Oh the good smell

Oh Yeah Yeah Yeah

말도 못했는 걸
Couldn't even talk to him
너무 부끄러워 하는 날
I am too embarrassed
용기가 없는걸까
Do I lack courage
어떡해야 좋은걸까
What am I supposed to do
두근두근 맘 졸이며 바라보고 있는 나
I, looking with my heart thumping

너무 반짝반짝 눈이 부셔
So sparkle-sparkle so dazzling

NO NO NO NO

너무 깜짝깜짝 놀란 나는
So so surprised I am like

OH OH OH OH

너무 짜릿짜릿 몸이 떨려
So electrifying, my body shakes
Gee Gee Gee Gee Gee
Oh 젖은 눈빛 

Oh the soft gaze
Oh Yeah
Oh 좋은 향기
Oh the good smell

Oh Yeah Yeah Yeah

Translation note:  The lines originally in English were marked in blue. The Korean also learned that stupidity is very difficult to translate without making it sound, well, stupid.

In 15 words or less:  The most perfect business plan for a girl group so far.

Maybe they should be ranked higher because...  Like it or not, produced idol groups are the most influential force in Korean popular music right now -- and Girls' Generation is the reigning queen of produced idol groups.

Maybe they should be ranked lower because...  OHMYGOD I AM ABOUT TO SAY GIRLS GENERATION IS SOMEHOW BETTER THAN DELI SPICE AND CLAZZIQUAI SOMEONE PLEASE KILL ME BEFORE THE NEXT PARAGRAPH IS WRITTEN.

Why is this band important?
[Must... be... objective... without... vomiting...]

Ok. Alright. It must be admitted: Girls' Generation is huge. Around 2008  it was either Wonder Girls or Girls' Generation, but as of 2010 the game is over. Girls' Generation defeated Wonder Girls by a mile in every measurable criteria -- domestic and international album sales, "presence" on media, "influence", etc. In fact, they are right now at the top of the heap among female "idol groups" (a term denoting heavily corporate-produced bands,) and quite possibly among all idol groups.

While the work that these young women put into their career should by no means discounted, one can rightly despair about the reality in which people who are no more than pretty puppets following a set business plan can achieve greater adulation than the most innovative artists. But when that business plan succeeds as spectacularly as the one behind Girls' Generation, one still needs to take note.

The strength behind Girls' Generation is that it had a clear goal:  create the broadest appeal possible. Everything about Girls' Generation revolves around that goal. First, there is a horde of them -- nine girls with different types of looks to choose from. Also, they were meticulously trained in dance and foreign language. Because they needed to appeal to young and old alike, they stuck with being cute without being overly sexualized. Their dance moves often involved old-school moves reinterpreted. (This is visible in the choreography for Gee.) This worked to an amazing degree, as men 40 years old and above often were able to follow Girls' Generation without feeling like a pervert. They always kept it simple with their hair, costumes and makeup. In fact, one of the most successful theme that Girls' Generation pulled off was skinny jeans and white t-shirts. (This is in stark contrast to Wonder Girls' outlandish concepts of the Dream Girls in the 1960s, for example.) The way Girls' Generation plays the media is also innovative. To saturate the media, each member of Girls' Generation had a side project as an actress or a featured member at a project band, while continuing to stay as a whole -- like Voltron, perhaps.

As a music lover, the Korean deplores the proliferation of "bands" like Girls' Generation. But going past the personal taste, there is plenty of things to learn from how this group became successful where many others have failed.

Interesting trivia:  Nikkei Business, a prominent business magazine in Japan, recently carried an article analogizing Girls' Generation's success to the success of Korean global corporations like Samsung.

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

Germany, 20 years after unification, still has uneasy tension between the two former regions.

The discussion has primarily emphasized financial disparities: wages in the east remain at 80 percent of the west’s; the unemployment rate in the east is nearly 12 percent, about double that in the west; and the average wealth of an East German family is about 40 percent lower than its West German counterpart. And of course, those in the West often complain about the $1.7 trillion paid — so far — to rebuild and prop up the east.

...

Yet no one here is whitewashing the disappointment, the sense even now, two decades later, of feeling treated as immigrants in their own country, of the deeply insulting perception that their values — forged in a socialist state — were expunged and delegitimized. No one forgets that some of the former states are struggling financially and still losing population, and that 30 percent of the jobs in the east vanished with reunification.

“There is an East German identity, yes, but it must be,” said Ms. Kummer’s close friend Katrin Fromm, 44, a surgical nurse in Erfurt. “It was my life; you cannot just say the East is out.”

For Some Germans, Unity Is Still Work in Progress [New York Times]

When Korea is unified, it will be lucky to have only that level of anxiety after 30 years.

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.

Fantastic article about translations on New York Times. A sample:

Let’s try to forget that the words “Call me Ishmael” mean anything, and think about how they sound.

Listen to the vowel sounds: ah, ee, soft i, aa. Four of them, each different, and each a soft, soothing note. Listen too to the way the line is bracketed by consonants. We open with the hard c, hit the l at the end of “call,” and then, in a lovely act of symmetry, hit the l at the end of “Ishmael.” “Call me Arthur” or “Call me Bob” are adequate but not, for musical reasons, as satisfying.

Most readers, of course, wouldn’t be able to tell you that they respond to those three words because they are soothing and symmetrical, but most readers register the fact unconsciously. You could probably say that meaning is the force we employ, and music is the seduction. It is the translator’s job to reproduce the force as well as the music.

“Chiamami Ismaele.”

That is the Italian version of Melville’s line, and the translator has done a nice job. I can tell you, as a reader who doesn’t speak Italian, that those two words do in fact sound like something, independent of their meaning. Although different from the English, we have a new, equally lovely progression of vowel sounds — ee-a, ah, ee, a, ee — and those three m’s, nicely spaced.

If you’re translating “Moby-Dick,” that’s one sentence down, approximately a million more to go.

Found in Translation [New York Times]

The Korean can empathize 100 percent, particularly when he is translating songs.