Recently, there was an interesting study that revisited the efficacy of Tiger Parenting. Su Yeong Kim, associate professor at University of Texas, sought to quantify and measure whether Tiger Parenting was indeed effective. This is how Kim defined Tiger Parenting:
For Kim’s study, parents and children answered questions during the children’s adolescence about their parenting styles. The vast majority of parents were foreign-born in Hong Kong or southern China, with relatively low educational attainment and a median income of between $30,001 and $45,000 in each of the study’s three phases, spaced out equally over eight years. Three-quarters of their kids were American-born. The study controlled for socioeconomic status and other potentially confounding factors.
. . .
Adolescents and parents rated the parents on several qualities, for example, “act loving, affectionate, and caring,” “listen carefully,” and “act supportive and understanding.” Warmth, reasoning, monitoring, and democratic parenting were considered positive attributes, while hostility, psychological control, shaming, and punitive measures were considered negative. These characterizations would be combined through a statistical method known as latent profile analysis to determine Kim’s four parenting profiles: Those scoring highest on the positive dimensions were labeled “supportive;” those scoring low on both dimensions were deemed “easygoing;” “harsh” parents were high on negative attributes and low on positive ones, and “tiger” parents scored high on both positive and negative dimensions.
The result? "[T]iger moms produced kids who felt more alienated from their parents and experienced higher instances of depressive symptoms. They also had lower GPAs, despite feeling more academic pressure."
As the Korean was reading the article, he could practically hear the cheers and see the tears of joy of the many, many haters of the Tiger Parenting idea. When the Korean wrote the post Tiger Mothers are Superior, the reaction was swift and angry as hell, especially from Asian American. Many significant Asian American bloggers and writers spilled much digital ink claiming that Tiger Parenting was in fact inferior, and and was responsible for all the bad things that happened in their lives. Wesley Yang found notoriety through his New Yorker article, talking about how he heroically defied the yoke of Asian culture upon himself and told younger Asian Americans to do the same. Kim Wong Keltner, in her book Tiger Babies Strike Back, kvetched about how she grew up having "no idea how to connect with other people." So, what does the Korean think about this development? Is he ready to change his mind about the benefits of Tiger Parenting?
Hardly. Tiger Mothers are still superior. And here is why.
(More after the jump.)
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
The Korean is having a very busy stretch, but he cannot let this one slide:
Osaka Mayor and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) coleader Toru Hashimoto refused Wednesday to back down from his comments about the necessity of the “comfort woman” system during the war or the desirability of legal brothels in Okinawa for U.S. military personnel.
. . .
On his advice to American officials in Okinawa earlier this month that U.S. military personnel should make more use of sex establishments as a way of controlling their sexual urges, Hashimoto said he did not tell the U.S. that it should use such facilities, or to build such facilities, noting it was only a suggestion.
When the Korean wrote the long series on Korea-Japan relations to explain why Koreans are still angry with the Japanese, a lot of people responded: "Today's Japan is a very different place from the Imperial Japan during World War II. So Koreans should just get over it."
Is it now? Today's Japan has a mayor of a major city, who is considered a potential future Prime Minister, telling the world that sex slaves are necessary in times of war and the U.S. forces in his own country should visit brothels more often. Today's Japan has a Prime Minister who is a grandson of a Class A war criminal. But rather than having a heightened consciousness about his country's past crimes, he sits in an airplane with the number 731--clear invocation of Unit 731, which conducted live human experimentation during World War II--grinning and giving a thumbs-up.
The fact that these two leaders think Japan did nothing wrong during World War II was hardly a secret. Prime Minister Abe Shinzo announced to the world that he would withdraw Japan's apology to former Comfort Women, and denied that Imperial Japan forcibly recruited the Comfort Women to serve as sex slaves. Yet the Japanese people overwhelmingly elected Abe, as well as the candidates for the far-right Japan Restoration Party, to which Mayor Hashimoto belongs.
The Japanese people I know are wonderful, kind, artistic, gritty and civic-minded people, worthy of deep admiration. But the longer this takes, I cannot draw myself away from this appalling conclusion: Japan, as a whole, does not think it did anything wrong to these women.
I desperately want to believe that the Japanese people are not amoral
monsters, who would rather play the cynical waiting game until all of
the former Comfort Women die away. But each time the Wednesday
protesters are turned away, each time the Japanese Embassy protests a
statue commemorating the Comfort women, my faith in human decency,
common among all people of all places and times, gets chipped away
little by little.
With these two latest scandals, the Korean's faith in the decency of the Japanese people took a very large hit. Did Japan really change? You tell me.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
I know this isnt usually your standard fare, but recently our friend Kevin Andresen from the UK has passed away in Korea, an article about which is here. As you can imagine, it is super expensive to send his remains home, so we have started a fundraising website (http://www.gofundme.com/2vigbc) to help us and his mother.
Liam
If you are inclined, please visit the site and donate to help.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Christianity in Korea is a complex subject, but I have a simple question: why are there so many Korean missionaries?
Mati
Short answer: it was born that way.
But let's back up a bit first. It is absolutely true that there are a great number of Korean Christian missionaries. Korea sends more missionaries abroad than any other country except for the United States. According to Korea World Missions Association, an umbrella organization for Korea's Protestant missionaries, more than 23,000 Korean missionaries are proselytizing abroad as of January 2012. The top five destinations are China, United States, Japan, the Philippines and India.
So why so many Christian missionaries from Korea? One obvious reason is that Christianity is a significant presence in Korea. According to the official governmental survey in 2005, nearly 30 percent
of Koreans were Christians. Among them, approximately 12 percent were
Catholics, and 18 percent were Protestants. (For reference: 46.5 percent
of Koreans do not have any religion. After Christianity, Buddhism is
the biggest religion, as nearly 23 percent of Koreans are Buddhists.)
But more importantly, Christian churches of Korea are enthusiastic about sending missions because missions were the vehicle through which Korea's Christianity began. One must remember that Christianity in Korea has a history of nearly two centuries. Catholicism
arrived at Korea in the early 1800s, and the first Korean priest (St. Andrew Kim Taegon, who is also the patron saint of Korea) was ordained in 1845.
Protestantism arrived at Korea a bit later, but it was just as successful. The
Pyongyang Revival of 1907 was attended by so many people, whose faith
was so intense, that Pyongyang came to be known as the "Jerusalem of the
East."
Two centuries is a long time, but not quite long enough for people to forget the origin of their faith. Nearly all major congregations in Korea can trace its origin to a missionary who came to Korea in the early 19th century. In addition, for decades after Korean War, Korea saw a constant stream of American missionaries who came to provide humanitarian aid in the war-torn country, and assist the development of Korean churches.
Thus, missionary work is deeply embedded in Korean churches. It was how they were born, and how they were raised. It is only natural, then, that these congregations would consider
serving missions to be one of the most important duties as Christians.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
I am an avid reader of Korean pop news. I know this might be old, but popular Kpop stars such as BoA and Se7en are planning to enter the US mainstream market. Some people have deep doubts about their ability to make it. I, being a skeptic and cynic, too have my doubts. But a part of me wonder, if cross-cultural singers such as Ricky Martin can go mainstream, why can't us Asians? What do you think the problem is? Is it the cultural difference that block Kpop artists way to the Grammy's or is it racism? A friend of mine mentions how Kpop music is "behind" in mainstream America because the idea of pop idol stars', boy band's, girl band's era are over. And BoA and Se7en carries the "dead pop" act that is widespread in Korea that is essentially "old-fashioned" in America. But how the hell do you explain the ugly and painful phenomenon that is the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus?
Slightly Confused Non-Crazy Fangirl
This email is from February 23, 2009. Yes, the line of unanswered question is actually that long. More than 1,400 questions, accumulated over four years, about which the Korean thought worthwhile to write a post. By the way, this question is not even the oldest question in the queue--that honor belongs to a question sent to the Korean on September 26, 2008.
Now, about the question itself. If you are wondering, no, the Korean is not planning to answer this question. This guy made the question moot:
(Come on, play it one more time, for old time's sake. 1.5 billion people did it already.)
In the early stages of K-pop, so many critics argued that K-pop could only be a limited attraction within Asia. Others mistakenly took a crabbed view of K-pop, reducing it to upbeat dance music performed by pretty young things--which became another reason why K-pop could never succeed in America. They made all the same points that the questioner raised--that K-pop was too staged, too behind, too Korean, too Asian.
Oh, how they were wrong. We now have a K-pop star, not particularly beautiful, singing entirely in
Korean, who became a record-breaking worldwide sensation. Sports
stadiums would play his music during breaks in the game. College marching bands would play his song during halftime, and the cheerleaders would dance his dance. For Halloween, American people would dress up not just as him, but as the entire cast in his music video. South Park episodes would feature his looks. Saturday Night Live
would make a skit out of his song. He would seamlessly blend in with American icons like Madonna and MC Hammer. He would perform at the White House
Christmas party, then in the center stage of the Times Square on the new
year's eve.
Amazing how things change in just a few years, right? But just you wait, because K-pop's best days are still ahead.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Years of Activity: 1992 - present? (Last album in 2007)
Discography:
Wandering Time [떠도는 시간] (1992) (as Park Jin-yeong and the New Generation [박진영과 신세대])
Blue City (1994)
Entertainer [딴따라] (1995)
Summer Jingle Bells (1996)
Even After a Decade [십년이 지나도] (1998)
Park Jin-yeong 5th (1998)
Game (2001)
Back to Stage (2007)
Representative Song: Elevator [엘레베이터], from Entertainer
엘레베이터
Elevator
엘리베이터 안에서 우린 사랑을 나누지
In the elevator we make love
그 누구도 모르게 비밀스런 사랑을
A secret love that no one knows
엘리베이터 안에서 우린 사랑을 나누지
In the elevator we make love
지하에서 윗층까지 벨이 울릴때까지
From the basement to the penthouse, until the bell rings
우리는 만났어 처음 만났어 우린 첫눈에 보자마자 반했어
We met, met for the first time, we fell at the first sight
흘러나오는 웃음을 참지못해 서로에게서 도저히 눈을 떼지못해
We couldn't hold the laughs, couldn't take our eyes off of each other
우리는 느꼈어 예 느꼈어 새로운 사랑의 시작을 우린 느꼈어
We felt it, yeah, we felt it, we felt the beginning of a new love
이 설레임 이 두근거림 너무나 오랜만에 느껴보는 이 느낌
This fluttering, this heart-beating, this feeling that I'm feeling for the first time in so long
하지만 더 기쁜건 더 중요한건
But the thing that's even happier, the thing that's even more important
그녀도 분명히 느끼고 있는 것 같다는 것
Is she seems like she is definitely feeling it too
그녀도 분명히 내게 반한 것 같다는 것
She seems like she is definitely into me too
이제 외롭던 날들의 끝인 것
Now the lonely days are over
그래서 우린 나갔어 헤어지기가 아쉬워서
So we stepped out, but I couldn't let her go
저 저녁식사나라고 하려는데
So I was about to say, hey how about a dinner
그녀가 먼저 (제가 저녁 사드릴께요)
But she first goes (I'll buy you a dinner)
시간이 가는줄도 밤이 깊어가는줄도 모르고
We forgot the time passing, forgot that the night deepening
수없이 많은 얘기를 나눴고
Shared so many stories
서로의 맘속에 사랑이 싹트며 서로의 눈을 지그시 바라보며
Love sprouted in our hearts, we gazed into each other's eyes
식당문을 열고 집으로 가기위해 엘리베이터를 탔는데
Opened the restaurant door, to go home, we got on the elevator
엘리베이터 안에서 우린 사랑을 나누지
In the elevator we make love
그 누구도 모르게 비밀스런 사랑을
A secret love that no one knows
엘리베이터 안에서 우린 사랑을 나누지
In the elevator we make love
지하에서 윗층까지 벨이 울릴때까지
From the basement to the penthouse, until the bell rings
(여보세요)
(Hello)
(예 저 진영인데요 저 오늘 재미있으셨어요)
(Hey it's Jin-yeong. Did you have fun today?)
(예 즐거웠어요)
(Yes, I had fun)
(저 그럼 내일 또 만날수 있어요)
(Then can we meet again tomorrow?)
(왜요 또 만나고 싶어요)
(Why, you want to meet again?)
(네 저 내일 그럼 어디 갈까요)
(Yeah, so where should we go tomorrow?)
(어 63 빌딩)
(Hm, the 63 Building)
그후로 오랫동안 우린 만났어
For a long time thereafter we met
서로의 맘속에 들어갈수록 들어가서 들여다볼수록
As we got into each other hearts, as we looked into them inside
점점 더 빠져 들었어 이제 돌이킬수가 없어
We got into it deeper and deeper, can't go back now
호기심을 넘어 좋아하는 걸 넘어 사랑을 향해 다가가고 있어
Getting over curiosity, getting over liking, we are approaching love
이제는 때가 됐다 생각이 들어서
I thought it was the right time
카페에서 마주보고 앉아 있다가
We were sitting across from each other at the cafe
일어나서 그녀에게 다가가 우리 이제 이렇게 앉자며 옆에 앉았어
I got up, approached her, and said let's sit like this now, and sat next to her
자연스럽게 그녀의 가는 어깨 위에 살며시 팔을 올리려고 하는데
I was trying to naturally put my arm on her slender shoulders, and then
그녀가 먼저 살며시 내게 기댔어
She first quietly leaned into me
와 두 뺨에 흐르는 눈물
Wow, tears rolled down my cheeks
좋아 그럼 용기를 내서 뽀뽀를 해보기로 마음을 먹고
Alrighty then, I got up the courage to try kissing her
눈을 맞추며 조금씩 다가가는데
We lock eyes, and get closer to each other
(박진영 씨 싸인 좀 해주시겠어요)
(Mr. Park Jin-yeong, can I get your autograph?)
그래서 나는 모든걸 잊고 깨끗이 마음을 비우고
So I forgot everything, got everything out of my mind,
카페 문을 열고 집에 가려고 엘리베이터를 탔는데
Opened the cafe door, trying to go home, and got on the elevator
(무슨 생각해)
(What are you thinking?)
(너랑 같은 생각)
(Same thing you are thinking.)
(무슨 생각인데)
(What's that?)
(엘리베이터 안에 너랑 나밖에 없다는거)
(That only you and I are in this elevator)
엘리베이터 안에서 우린 사랑을 나누지
In the elevator we make love
그 누구도 모르게 비밀스런 사랑을
A secret love that no one knows
엘리베이터 안에서 우린 사랑을 나누지
In the elevator we make love
지하에서 윗층까지 벨이 울릴때까지
From the basement to the penthouse, until the bell rings
Translation note: 63 Building, or formally known as the Daehan Life Building, was the tallest building in Korea at the time of this song--which presumably means the longest elevator ride.
In 15 words or less: Korea's Madonna.
Maybe he should be ranked higher because... If you consider his influence as a businessman, it is arguable that he is one of the few people who created K-pop as we know it today.
Maybe he should be ranked lower because... What did he do musically? Did he do anything more than adding a bit of different zeitgeist?
Why is this artist important?
We all know who Park Jin-yeong is. Better known now as JYP to his international admirers, he is the head of the "big 3" entertainment companies of Korea, the JYP Entertainment. He is the guy who came up with Rain, Wonder Girls, 2PM and the like. But forget all that for a minute--because Park Jin-yeong, the artist alone, stripped of his business accomplishments, remains a very important figure in the history of K-pop.
The Korean considers Park Korea's Madonna, and the designation does not come lightly. Broadly speaking, Madonna achieved two things in her career: she compelled people to take dance pop music seriously as an art form, and she revolutionized the portrayal of sex in mainstream music. Park Jin-yeong achieved those same things in Korea.
History of pop music features a constant tension between the pulls in the opposite directions--the desire to elevate the music to the realm of art, and the desire to sell the music to the masses. The tension separates Nirvana and Justin Bieber, as well as Yoo Jae-ha and Girls' Generation. Like Madonna, Park Jin-yeong subverted that tension. He engaged in the "low" music, but carried himself like he was the second coming of Mozart. The title of his second album, Entertainer [딴따라], said it all. 딴따라 is a derogatory term for "entertainer," reminiscent of the grasshopper in the fable: lazy and overall useless. But Park gladly labeled himself as 딴따라, announcing to the world that he is here to make people respect him.
Park's blatant sexuality was another lightning rod. The risque depiction in Elevator was jaw-dropping for Korea in 1995. He also made waves by declaring repeatedly on television that "sex is just a game." His concerts were more like a burlesque show. Korea, at first, tut-tutted on this brash young pup. But over the next decade and a half, it was JYP who had the last laugh. He managed to become respected while staying true as an entertainer, and sex was never freer in Korea. That's some influence.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
By the way, Jo Yong-pil is 63 years old, and Hello is his 19th regular album. His musical achievements are enough to easily place him within top five of the most influential K-pop artists of all time. (And no, that should not be a spoiler.) There is a reason why Koreans refer to Jo as the "King of Singers" [가왕].
If you are curious, have a listen at Bounce.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
I heard there was a huge scandal regarding E-sports about 2-3 years ago. From what I've heard, the scale of the scandal was so big that it almost put an end to the E-Sports itself. Would you be willing to explain what exactly happened back then? How did the Koreans react to the scandal?
Avid gamer
It has been more than three years since the Korean wrote the post about the popularity of Starcraft in Korea. Incredibly, it is still one of the most frequently read posts of this blog. Consider this post to be a sequel: how illegal gambling and match-fixing nearly destroyed the world's first professional e-sports league in Korea.
First, a quick review on how Starcraft became a professional sport in Korea. Starcraft was released in 1998. For a game released at that time, Starcraft had an ambitious Internet-based multi-player gameplay. This was ambitious because, at the time, it was not clear who would be able to take advantage of this multi-player design. Remember that 15 years ago, only a small portion of the world's population had Internet, and most of those who did have Internet relied on dial-up connection through the phone lines, utterly inadequate for online gaming.
Korea, however, recognized the potential of the Internet early on, and began a massive public investment in installing a fiber-optic cable network throughout the country. The result was that, by the end of 20th century, Korea had a national broadband network that boasted the fastest Internet in the world by a wide margin. Using the unparalleled Internet infrastructure, Koreans begin playing Starcraft, the best Internet-based multi-player game available. The rest is history: Korea is the forefront of the worldwide e-sports, with televised video games and professional gamers with rock star-like status.
(The lesson: government is good, and it should be in the business of picking winners and losers. If Korean government did not take the initiative in the late 1990s to invest a fortune in installing fiber-optic cables, but waited instead for private companies to build their own, would Korea be a major player in the high-tech industry that it is today? Would Korea have created, seemingly out of thin air, professional e-sports leagues, an entire new multi-million dollar market that can only grow in importance in the age of the Internet? If you say yes, the Korean has some Ron Paul presidential memorabilia to sell to you.)
Starcraft began becoming professional around 2000. Independent Starcraft tournaments began sprouting up, and cable televisions in Korea would broadcast the matches. In fact, in many cases the cable TV stations were the ones hosting the tournaments, with a prize money funded by its sponsors in exchange for advertisement placements. Soon, a pattern emerged: Korea's Starcraft leagues and players operated somewhat like professional golf--a collection of different tournaments, with varying levels of competition, prize money, and prestige.
For the next several years, the popularity of professional Starcraft leagues would grow exponentially. Then came 2007.
(More after the jump.)
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
According to Statistics Korea, 81.3% of Korean office workers re-use the paper so that both sides would be printed. While this is a desirable practice overall as a matter of conservation, re-using the paper is sometimes known to cause public disclosure of sensitive information printed previously.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
I've recently been getting into Korean dramas and picked The Moon Embracing the Sun as my first. In an early episode, they try to find an eligible girl for the prince to marry. In one scene they have a line of young girls entering through the palace gates and stepping on this wooden or stone thing with their right foot as part of their entry pathway. If this is part of real traditional process, why do they do this? I was thinking it might be to test their grace, as girls who slip would be instantly eliminated?
A new Drama fan.
Enough with the depressing North Korea news. Here is an obligatory installment of AAK! where the Korean, bound, gagged and with a gun pointed to his head, is forced to answer a question about Korean dramas.
The drama in question is 해를 품은 달, and this is the scene that the questioner is referring to:
What are the women stepping on? It is actually the lid of a very large, cast-iron pot. In a traditional Korean kitchen, it is common to have a giant pot, about two feet wide or larger, in which the rice for the whole family is cooked. The women are stepping on the lid of such a pot.
This custom was not limited to the royal court, by the way. The pot lid also made an appearance in a wedding for the noblemen. The new bride would be carried from her old family to her husband's house in a carriage, and the carriage would stop inside of the walls of the house. The pot lid would be placed at the ground next to the carriage, such that the new bride would step on the lid first before stepping on the ground.
Why? There are two theories, and either or both may be true. The first is the theory that the questioner guessed--to test the grace and balance of the women who will eventually be the queen. The grace and balance are not just for the sake of physical appearance; it was believed that a graceful walk over the lid would lead to a smooth, peaceful marriage. In the drama Queen Myeongseong [명성황후], the princess-to-be is seen slipping from the lid, portending a rocky marriage. (Remember folks--this is just a drama. There is no record as to whether Queen Myeongseong actually slipped from the lid.)
The second theory is more directly connected to superstition. The lid, for obvious reasons, represents the kitchen and the spirit residing there. By stepping on the lid, the new bride is making an acquaintance with the spirit of the new kitchen, in which she will undoubtedly spend a great deal of time. (Don't shoot me for the sexism here. The Korean is just a messenger.) Considering the more widespread custom involving the noblemen, this is probably the truer purpose of stepping on the pot lid. In fact, in case of a wedding of a noble family, the bride uses two hands to lift up the pot lid three times before leaving her house, as a way of saying farewell to the old kitchen spirit.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Are things so dire in North Korea that war is the only way out?
Paul R.
Normally, the Korean only accepts questions via email and not through Twitter, Facebook or other channels. But this question, sent via Twitter, was just so spot-on that the Korean could not resist.
(If you have a problem with this, please refer to the AAK! Policies. It is my blog, and I will do whatever the hell I damn well please with it. Don't be surprised if you visit this blog tomorrow and suddenly run into a foot fetish porno site. You just never know.)
Let us elaborate the question just a little bit. As North Korea escalates the tension, there is a fear that Kim Jong-un is putting himself into a position from which he cannot exit without some kind of military action. The thought is: if Kim Jong-un threatens to use force, he can't not use force if he wishes to maintain any level of credibility.
Is this true? It may well be, but no one really knows. But here is the question we can actually answer: does this have to be true? For that question, the answer is a resounding no--because North Korea previously backed off after having taken even closer step toward the brink: it actually killed American soldiers at Panmunjeom.
(More after the jump.)
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Gaeseong Industrial Complex (GIC) is an industrial complex in Gaeseong, North Korea, which is developed jointly by the two Koreas: South Korea supplies the corporations and capital equipments, and North Korea supplies the workers and the land. Every day, hundreds of South Korean workers--usually middle- and senior-managers--enter and exit North Korea to oversee the operations at the GIC.
As a part of its attempt to raise the tension in the region, North Korea has forbidden South Korean managerial workers from entering North Korea for the last six days. (South Korean workers who were at the GIC, however, were allowed to return home.) Yesterday, North Korea announced that it will shut down the GIC and withdraw all of its workers. Shutting down the GIC is probably the highest level of threat that North Korea may issue, short of actually attacking South Korea. This is because since its founding in 2005, the GIC never closed--not in the face of, for example, the shelling of Yeonpyeong-do in which North Korea actually attacked South Korean territory and killed four people.
Here is a collection of all relevant charts regarding the GIC, created by South Korea's Ministry of Unification. GIC hosts 123 corporations, which manufactured $460 million's worth of products in 2012. It employs over 53,000 North Korean laborers. Last year, nearly 246 vehicles crossed the Armistice Line from South Korea to North Korea every day to deliver supplies to the GIC.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Anonymous demands that Kim Jong-un resign and install direct democracy in North Korea. At the same time, apparently in order to prove that they indeed hacked into North Korea's propaganda site, Anonymous released the information of the membership of that website--the email addresses, date of birth and other personal information of more than 9,000 members of the propaganda site.
Well, these self-proclaimed freedom fighters probably did not anticipate what would have followed. It was apparent from the email addresses that many of them were of South Korean origin. For example, more than 1,400 email addresses ended in hanmail.net, a large email servicer in South Korea. Out of the 9,000 email addresses, more than 2,000 appear to be of South Korean origin. Seizing upon this, the South Korean far-right wingers engaged in a campaign of Internet stalking to indiscriminately reveal actual names, addresses, occupations and phone numbers of the South Korean individuals who joined the North Korean propaganda site.
As of this moment, there is simply no guarantee that the email addresses that Anonymous revealed in fact belong to North Korean sympathizers. From the emails, the opposite is more likely to be the case, as many of the emails belong to South Korean news organizations. The email addresses even include South Korean National Assembly and the conservative New Frontier Party. There is also the concern that the email addresses were fake or misappropriated. Some of the emails, for example, belong to the email of the webmasters that are publicly on display on large-scale websites.
But such subtleties are completely lost on South Korean right-wingers, who consider North Korean sympathizers to be the absolute evil that must be destroyed at all costs, even if the cost include basic civil liberties for democracy. Already, several South Koreans received a flood of emails and phone calls, shouting obscenities and death threats. South Korea's Supreme Prosecutor's Office vowed to investigate the South Korean members of the site as well, turning this episode into a veritable witch hunt.
Partly because the tyranny of North Korea is so horrific, it is often lost on people that South Korea's own fascist tyranny in the recent past was not much better than North Korea's communist tyranny, and the traces of such fascism still exert strong influences in South Korea. So we might soon see the tragicomedic spectacle of more than 2,000 South Koreans lined up to be prosecuted for daring to browse through a North Korean website.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Am I the only Korean American that thinks some of this article is patently ridiculous? Yes, 'han' is uniquely a Korean word, and even we Koreans like to pretend that it's a uniquely Korean thing. And I see that the writer is trying to be somewhat balanced in his treatment of the issue. Still, I can't help but think that whenever 'han' or 'jeong' is brought up to explain how Koreans act, it's a gesture of "othering" us. We, like people of any culture, are not so strange from the rest of humanity that our actions have to be explained in terms of unique emotions that westerners can't possibly understand.
David H.
David H. is speaking of this article by Jay Kang, a Korean American writer who wrote a lengthy feature regarding the Oikos College mass shooting for the New York Times. Regardless of precisely one may feel about it, it is a good read. The Korean would recommend reading it.
The Oikos Shooting occurred on April 2, 2012. The shooter was One L. Goh, a Korean immigrant. In the article discussing the shooting, Kang advances two major points. First is that, for a mass shooting that left behind seven dead people, the shooting at Oikos did not receive much attention, and was quickly forgotten--likely because the college was an obscure, technical school, and those who died were immigrants and racial minorities. After examining the lives of the victims who died in the shooting, Kang presents this points in a powerful manner:
It rakes at your guts, to watch your tragedies turn invisible. You know why it’s happening, but admitting it to yourself — that it has to do in some indivisible way with the value of immigrants’ lives — is something you’d rather not confront. The victims of the Oikos massacre came from Korean, Indian, Tibetan, Nigerian, Filipino and Guyanese backgrounds. They attended a low-cost, for-profit, poorly rated Korean-community nursing school in a completely featureless building set along the edge of a completely unremarkable part of Oakland. They were not held up as beacons for the possibilities of immigration, nor were they the faces of urban decay and the need for government assistance and intervention. They did not exist within any politicized realm. One Goh came from the same forgotten stock. And because the Oikos shooting occurred in a community that bore almost no resemblance to the rest of the country, the magnitude of the tragedy was contained almost entirely within the same small immigrant circles, many of whom fear that any talk about such terrible things will bring shame directly on them.
The Korean cannot help but admire Kang's writing prowess on display in this paragraph. "To watch your tragedies turn invisible." That is a fantastic phrase that very succinctly captures the lot of racial minorities in America.
The second point that Kang advances may be more controversial--and this is the point to which the questioner David objects. Kang notes that the Oikos shooting was the second mass-shooting involving a Korean American perpetrator since the Virginia Tech shooting with Cho Seung-hui. Kang attempts to find a Korean cultural trait that might connect the two shooters, and in the process speaks with Winston Chung, a child psychiatrist in the Bay Area:
Chung’s interest in One Goh and Seung-Hui Cho comes from a lifelong, personal investigation into han and hwabyung, two Korean cultural concepts that have no equivalent in the English language. By Western standards, the two words are remarkably similar. Both describe a state of hopeless, crippling sadness combined with anger at an unjust world. And both suggest entrapment by suppressed emotions. Both words have been a part of the Korean lexicon for as long as anyone can remember, their roots in the country’s history of occupation, war and poverty.
To the degree equal to which the Korean admired the earlier quoted paragraph, he cringes at this paragraph. One should be automatically suspicious when there is a claim that certain words or concepts are "untranslatable" or "have no equivalent." Also, in a previous post, I wrote that it makes little sense to talk about certain types of super special Korean emotion such as jeong.
To be sure, Kang does not go so far as to blame some type of Korean essence as the culprit for a proliferation of Korean American mass shooters. (In fact, there is no such proliferation.) In this sense, the Korean would disagree with David H.'s assessment, even as I understand where he is coming from. Yes, I would agree that maybe the concepts like han and hwabyung were better left unintroduced, or at least not characterized something unique to Koreans that Anglophones cannot understand. But Kang is not exactly latching onto this concept to make a broad indictment about Koreans. (Kang's interview with the NPR on this point makes his intentions clearer.)
On that point, this paragraph was both revealing and puzzling to the Korean:
Two Korean-American men, five years apart, walked into their former places of education and executed innocent students. This, by definition, is a coincidence, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a single Korean-American who feels that way. I have no idea whether these killings came out of han or hwabyung or some other shared heritage, but it’s clear that the search for an explanation is far more threatening to the Korean-American community than whatever the actual answer might be.
This paragraph is revealing because it makes clear that Kang is not exactly blaming han or whatever cultural characteristic that is supposed to be unique to Koreans. Kang just wants to find some logic, any logic that might connect the two shooters, because as a Korean American man, he feels that connection may explain something about himself as well. Kang knows that it is a tenuous logic to latch onto han or hwabyung, so he refrains from completely buying into those concepts. But a tenuous logic might have to do when there is no other real logic.
But on a personal level, the paragraph was at the same time hugely puzzling. The Korean furrowed his brow at this sentence in particular: "This, by definition, is a coincidence, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a single Korean-American who feels that way." Hard-pressed? I am a Korean American, and it never occurred to me that the connection between Virginia Tech shooting and Oikos shooting was anything other than coincidental. I know I am not alone in this. I am inclined to think that David H. might feel the same way. I certainly did not have the same kind of conversation that Kang and his Korean American friend had with my own Korean American friends.
So this was the puzzling part. Kang does not actually think that the connection between the two shootings is not coincidental. (Please excuse the double negative.) Then why does Kang, and a lot of Korean Americans that he knows, feel that it was not coincidental? And why does the Korean, and a lot of Korean Americans that he knows, do not feel the same? What sets these two camps of Korean Americans apart?
This is even more puzzling because, even as Kang talks about how he instantly understood the term "typical Korean father," he says his own father does not fit into that concept. I, on the other hand, would describe the Korean Father as a "typical Korean father"--yet I do not feel the compulsion to somehow connect the two shootings through some nebulous Korean essence. One might expect that Kang and I would have the opposite attitudes: Kang with nonchalance recognition of coincidence, and the Korean with brooding search for some kind of Korea-related explanation. Yet somewhere there is a twist along the way, and we stand on the opposite shores of where we are expected to be. So what, exactly, is it that separates Jay Kang and the Korean?
Ever since the flare-up with Wesley Yang, I am sensing that there is an important fault line within the Korean American community that is only instinctively recognized. I feel that this is another manifestation of that fault line. How deep and how far that line runs is the question that requires more thought.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
When it comes to North Korean news, the Korean has one simple rule: listen carefully to people who have actual access to the facts at the ground level in North Korea. One of the few people who do have such access is Mr. Joo Seong-ha, reporter for Dong-A Ilbo.
Long time readers of this blog are familiar with Mr. Joo. He was born and raised in North Korea, and graduated from Kim Il-Sung
University. In other words, he was on track to be an elite officer of
the North Korean regime. Instead, he escaped from North Korea into
China, and eventually made his way into South Korea, to work as a
reporter. Because of his unique background, he is able to access the facts of North Korea like few others can. For example, in 2009 when American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were captured in North Korea, Mr. Joo was able to speak directly with the North Korean border patrol who captured them.
From Mr. Joo, here is another good one. Recently, South Korea was rocked by a massive cyber attack, for which North Korea was suspected to be responsible. Mr. Joo spoke with one of the North Korean hackers to get a sense of North Korea's cyber attack capabilities. Below is the translation.
* * *
Conversation with North Korean Cyber Warrior
To write, or not to write.
I agonized long and hard about writing this article. It could be a violation of the National Security Act. Some may look at me askance. And do I really need to write something like this in this type of environment? But in the end, I decided to write this.
To confess--I know the two of the so-called "North Korean cyber warriors." Because of personal security issues, even the question of "know" versus "knew" is sensitive. At any rate, the person with whom I have had conversations for the last several months is not a former cyber warrior; he is currently one.
Recently, all kinds of myths about North Korean hackers are permeating South Korea: "The Mirim University in North Korea raises a thousand selected cyber agents every year"; "North Korea has 30,000 cyber soldiers"; "North Korea's hacking ability is commensurate to that of the CIA."
I asked one of the cyber warriors about Mirim University. He said: "That place is for soldiers who did not open a book for nearly a decade. The teachers for that school can't wait to transfer out to a different school." According to him, there are around 50 students who learn "a little bit" of computer skills before they graduate. In short, the idea that Mirim University is a training camp for cyber warriors is a massive exaggeration. Come to think of it, the original name for Mirim University is the University of Military Command Automation.
Then I asked which places teach computer skills. The answer was Geumseong Middle Schools 1 and 2, which are magnet schools. The schools apparently teach approximately 500 hours of Internet-related lessons for six years. But no one in the faculty of Geumseong has sophisticated hacking ability.
I asked if Geumseong Middle Schools 1 and 2 were the best; the answer was no. Those who excel from those schools advance to Kim Il-Sung University, or Kim Chaek University of Technology. But he said that the top destination for the North Koreans who learned computer skills is India. Since mid-2000s, North Korea sends around 10 computer engineers to study abroad in India; these are the best of the best. The very first team that was sent to India stayed there, for software development. Later, some of them were transferred to China.
I asked if there were several thousand North Korean cyber warriors in China. He said that there are around 10 teams that each has less five members; they somewhat know each other. But he added that they receive almost no assistance from the North Korean regime, because the "old men" (the decision makers) did not grasp the concept. I heard this a few years ago. Even though the young Kim Jong-Un's leadership began to grasp the concept, it is an unwarranted exaggeration to say that there are several thousands of North Korean hackers in China.
I did not ask about their missions, because that is the confidential information on which their lives depend. Other than that, there was nothing I could not ask, and no answer I did not receive. The cyber warriors who live outside of North Korea have not a shred of loyalty for the Labor Party. I regret that I cannot disclose the full transcript.
I used to live in Pyongyang. I know Mirim University and Geumseong Middle School. Therefore, I trust the people I spoke with about a hundred times more than the people who chatter without never having been to Pyongyang. Of course, this is not to say that we should ignore North Korea's capabilities for cyber terrorism. It only takes a few dozen truly great hackers to deal a significant amount of damage. But that is about as much as North Korea can do.
To conclude: I know there is someone from Pyongyang who visited my personal blog on North Korea every day, because he leaves the traces of browsing around the different pages. I am sure he will see this article as well. I would love to speak with him too.
There are people who are Korean but were born in America and don't really have any fellow Koreans around them. Later, they would be introduced to "Korean world" in high school and college, beginning watching Korean dramas, trying to become fluent in Korean, trying out Korean fashion, logging on to Soompi.com forums to get the latest news on Korean celebrities, etc.
Why is it that even completely American Korean-Americans get one whiff of Korean culture and then are obsessed with it like there is no tomorrow?
A Confused Friend
Why is Korean pop culture so attractive to Korean Americans? Why is it that, despite having spent most or all of their lives growing up in America, they gravitate so strongly to pop culture generated out of Korea, which can often be significantly different from the American pop culture in which Korean Americans grew up?
Why do Korean Americans stream to the Madison Square Garden to see SHINee?
(source)
Short answer: there is nothing quite like seeing yourself in an idealized form.
Believe it or not, a very similar question was raised a few years ago, albeit in a different area and with someone who may appear very different from K-pop idols: in the NBA, with Omri Casspi. The Sacramento Kings drafted Casspi, a small forward, with their 23rd overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft, making Casspi the first Israeli first-rounder in NBA history. Casspi had a decent rookie season with the Kings, averaging 10.3 points per game.
Ever since Omri Casspi hit the scene, I've had two general conversations with people I know: The first is with Jewish family and friends, few of whom follow pro basketball very closely. They've heard about this Israeli kid playing for some team in California. This is the greatest thing ever! Have you met him?! When is he coming to my city? What's the best way to invite him to Shabbos Dinner? Is he observant?
The second conversation occurs with non-Jewish friends, each of whom appreciates that Casspi carries great symbolic importance for Jewish folks. But, in the politest way possible, they want to better understand why the fervor over Casspi in the Jewish community is such a phenomenon. After all, there have been Jewish ball players before and, fifty years ago, they had a major presence in the league. Today, current Laker Jordan Farmar is a rotation player for the reigning NBA champs. There are a number of Jewish NBA owners and the league's front offices are filled with Jews. So--and we mean this in the least offensive way possible--why are NBA arenas packed by ecstatic Jewish fans every time the Kings show up?
Arnovitz's answer to the second question is extremely insightful: Casspi was popular among Jewish Americans because Casspi touched upon an important aspect of American Jewish psyche. To paraphrase Arnovitz's point, Jewish Americans adored Casspi because he came from Israel, a special place for the Jewish diaspora worldwide. This "specialness" is not necessarily a result of Judaism as a religion. Rather, Israel is special because it is the place in which idealized Jewish manhood can be realized.
In America, Europe and elsewhere, Jews faced antisemitism, one of whose many forms is a stereotype about being physically weak (while being smart and conniving.) As an ethnic minority, Jews could never completely defeat such stereotype. But not so in Israel, the Jewish State. Indeed, Maccabi Tel Aviv (Casspi's former pro team) was a product of the "Muscular Judaism" ideology, which sought to prove that Jews had the physical strength to overcome the oppressions of the 1930s. From here, the Korean will have Mr. Arnovitz explain:
One of the funnier snippets of Philip Roth's "Portnoy's Complaint" is American Jew Alexander Portnoy's arriving in Israel toward the end of the novel, in absolute awe of the virile Israelis: "And that's the phrase that does me in as we touch down upon Eretz Yisroel [the land of Israel]: to watch the men. I love those men! I want to grow up to be one of those men!"
There's a little bit of Alexander Portnoy in the American Jewish men who can't wait to watch this Israeli man fly around the court, shoot 3s, harass ball-handlers and run the break. Yes, some of that fascination is a simple expression of nationalism, but Casspi personifies something deeper for American Jews. The fact that he's not a slight, cerebral point guard but a rangy, explosive -- sometimes even careless -- young swingman makes him all the more appealing.
The central insight from this need not be confined to Jewish Americans, nor does it have to be confined to basketball and masculinity. It is about being able to see, in real life, our idealized selves--the ability to picture ourselves to be more beautiful, more powerful, more talented, more everything.
Korean Americans may not face the exact same type of discrimination that Jewish Americans face. (And certainly not the type that Jewish folks generally faced in the early 20th century!) But Korean Americans, living in America, nonetheless face marginalization. It would be easier to use negative stereotypes against Asians in the American media as the prime example of what causes such marginalization. However, the Korean thinks that the bigger driver of marginalizing Korean Americans (or Asian Americans for that matter) in the American media is the near total absence of Asian faces. For an unformed identity that desires to take form, even a negative portrayal is a step up from no portrayal at all. Thankfully, many pioneering Asian Americans (Margaret Cho, Daniel Dae Kim, Grace Park, John Cho, etc.) have somewhat eased that deficiency. But still, it only takes a little bit of watching American television and movies to make one realize that Asian faces are not really relevant in American pop culture.
Korean pop culture--which is now easily available in the United States thanks to the Internet and other technology--rushes in to fill that void of relevance felt by Korean Americans. Just like a Jewish American can visualize the idealized Jewish man through Omri Casspi, a Korean American can visualize the idealized Korean men and women through Korean pop idols, actors and actresses, performing in an ecosystem in which they are the main characters, not a token sidekick. Seeing those beautiful people performing great feats of talent represents a total validation of Korean American's ethnic identity. As the questioner described, only "one whiff" is quite enough, because the desire to see the greater form of self is just that strong.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
In 2009, there were 21,547 PC Bangs [Internet cafes] in Korea, which were the major contributor for Korea to become the world leader in professional online gaming. But in 2010, the number declined to 19,014, and in 2011 the number further declined to 15,817--according to this Dong-A Ilbo article.
Oversupply, faster wi-fi and competing entertainment venues such as coffee shops (whose number and quality vastly improved in the last five years) are blamed for PC Bangs' decline. The article notes that online game companies such as Riot Games, Blizzard and Nexon are working together with PC Bangs to help their survival, so that they may continue to serve as an outlet for their games.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
As an attorney, it did not escape the Korean's notice that today, the Supreme Court heard the oral argument for Hollingsworth v. Perry--a case that may well become the most important Supreme Court case in 60 years.
Personally, I am split right in the middle. I am so conflicted on this issue that I am abstaining; I am resigned to letting things happen. I know this is not satisfactory to either side of the debate. But the decision to abstain is not a lazy forfeit. Rather, it is a result of having undergone continuous reading and reflection, and arriving at a question that is too difficult to resolve by any knowledge that I have. I am able to articulate and deliver the best versions of the arguments from either side. But while I can appreciate the strengths from each argument, I am not completely convinced by either.
Therefore, on this issue, I do not plan to advocate for either side. Instead, given the importance of this issue, I would simply urge everyone, to please, read the best versions of both arguments, and think for yourself. Politics in the Internet age has become a series of information
balkanization, in which each side refuses to step out of the echo
chamber of information that never presents the best version of the
opposing argument. Step out of that echo chamber and face your opponent's best shot.
On this point, the Korean must note that people who are likely to read this blog--young and diverse--are not particularly likely to encounter a very high quality argument opposing gay marriage. If you are inclined toward supporting gay marriage (as I imagine most readers of this blog would be,) you owe to yourself to read What is Marriage? by Sherif Girgis et al. It is a thoughtful, reasoned argument in favor of keeping marriage heterosexual. Like I said, it did not totally convince me, just like the best arguments I have read in favor of homosexual marriage did not totally convince me. But I was enriched by having examined the best case against gay marriage, and I am sure you will be, too.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
I'm seriously thinking of moving to Seoul. Do you have an idea of what the budget listing would be for about a 15 week stay in Seoul, a detailed tally of expenses? Are there any other unexpected expenses expats/non-citizens are known to incur?
Ashley
Here is the problem: the Korean never visits Korea as a foreign tourist. He always has a free place to stay in various parts of Korea, because he has numerous relatives and friends who would be positively offended if he did not spend a few days at their places. Half the time, his meals are free also. Plus, he would not purchase any large items (such as furniture,) or order any consistent service (like the Internet or cable television.) So while the Korean is aware of how much things cost generally in Seoul, he cannot confidently say exactly how much living in Seoul for, say, more than a month will cost.
So let's hear from mid- to long-term residents of Korea. Can you describe your budget, with as much detail as possible? One thing to keep in mind is that many expats in Korea are English teachers who usually receive free housing--which is usually the biggest part of the living expense equation. For this exercise, it would be great to hear about the list of items that generate a constant stream of expenses, such as rent, utilities, etc. Future visitors to Korea will thank you.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
This is interesting. Yonhap News is reporting that China is cracking down on North Korean restaurants operating in China. There are several hundred North Korean restaurants in China, which serve as a valuable revenue generator for the North Korean regime. In an unprecedented move, the Chinese government are coming down hard on whether the restaurant workers have the appropriate visas, whether health regulations are being met, whether the restaurant is properly licensed to sell their wares (which include souvenirs from North Korea, etc.) As these regulations were loosely enforced previously, most North Korean restaurants are expected to pay a fine, or in some cases shut down.
The Korean is always hesitant to jump to any conclusion when it comes to North Korea, but this is an encouraging sign.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
The Korean is a Korean American living in Washington D.C. / Northern Virginia. He lived in Seoul until he was 16, then moved to Los Angeles area. The Korean refers to himself in the third person because he thinks it sounds cool.
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