Korea`s Gardens

nov 2013
Author
Cheon Woon-young
Jeonju, Where History and Food Meet
Korea's Gardens
The Beauty of Natural Harmony
Cover Story
CONTENTS november 2013 VOL.9 NO.11
04
Gateway
to
C o v er S t o ry
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Korean gardens form a perfect harmony between
nature and the manmade.
Korea
Korea’s Gardens
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18
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PEN & BRUSH
Author Cheon Woon-young
PEOPLE
Dr. Kim Soon Kwon changes the world through corn
TRAVEL
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28
SPORTS
Korea’s rising gymnastic stars
ENTERTAINMENT
Jazz singer Nah Youn-sun moves European audiences
SPECIAL ISSUE
2013 Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale
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18
Jeonju
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CURRENT KOREA
Korean reality shows go global
SUMMIT DIPLOMACY
President Park discusses innovation, openness and
investment during Southeast Asian trip
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reporting on Korea
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POLICY REVIEW
Regulatory reform changes lives
CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY
Korea takes to the seas for energy, minerals
GLOBAL KOREA
Building houses of home with HFHK
GREAT KOREAN
Confucian scholar Yi I
MY KOREA
Taking in the autumn colors
MULTICULTURAL KOREA
The hand of God
TALES FROM KOREA
Pak Hyeokgeose
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FLAVOR
Gimjang
3
C o v er S t o ry
Korea‘s
Gardens
Garden of Seongyojang villa, Gangneung
Revealing the beauty of nature as it really is
Written by Hong Kwang Pyo
Huwon Garden, Changdeokgung Palace, Seoul
Buyongdong Garden, Bogildo
Cover Story
application of feng shui is for the founding of cities, but on a
micro scale, it involves things like digging ponds and planting
trees in your garden to control energy flow.
The influence of Buddhism can best be seen, naturally
enough, in the gardens of Buddhist temples. Ponds are dug and
lotuses planted to recreate the Buddhist Pure Land paradise.
The influence of Seon (Zen) is also apparent in the use of
nature as an object of contemplation. Confucian virtues, like
filial piety, are also physically expressed in the scenery of
Korean palaces, Confucian schools and homes.
Korean Garden Forms
1
W
hile relatively unknown overseas,
Korean gardens embody a unique
aesthetic beauty and philosophical
underpinning that make them truly mesmerizing.
With a gardening heritage that dates back millennia,
Koreans have created spaces that reveal a natural
beauty with as little artifice as possible. Korean
gardens are the products of a people who love nature.
Korean Garden Philosophy
Korean traditional gardens embody a variety of
ideologies and philosophies. Through this we can see
Korea and Koreans through the spiritual world they
have built over time.
Typically, the gardens embody the following
philosophies: hermitism, Taoism, Yin and Yang
and the Five Elements, feng shui, Buddhism and
Confucianism.
A philosophy that tangibly reflects Korean
traditional society’s view of nature and life, hermitism
6
is a major influence on Korean gardens. The hermitage
garden, a type of Korean traditional garden, is based
on this philosophy of tossing aside worldly interests
and desires and returning to nature to remain aloof
from the world.
Taoism has also left an impact. This philosophy
encourages you to pursue benefits in the here and now
with the objective of obtaining immortality. This was a
core value of those who maintained hermitage gardens
with the intent of making nature their friend.
Yin and Yang refers to the yin and yang in the
taegeuk, while the Five Elements—water, fire, wood,
metal and earth—create and transform the cosmos.
Korean gardens sometimes make use of part of this
philosophy, which posits that the cosmos is round
while the earth is square. This is most frequently seen
in the design of ponds, which are often square with
round islands.
Feng shui, meanwhile, seeks places where the energy
within the earth is the strongest. On a grand scale, the
1. Changdeokgung
Palace’s Buyongji
Pond, a beautiful
example of
Korean palace
gardening. The
Huwon Garden, of
which the Buyongji
Pond is a part, is
a UNESCO World
Heritage Site.
Fundamentally, Korean gardens are composed of natural
elements like water, wood and stone. Where no natural
elements exist, an artificial framework is created and nature
moved into it.
In the case of hermitage gardens, the natural environment
is left relatively unchanged compared to other garden forms.
For instance, at Soswaewon Garden, a space was made in
the garden wall to not impede the flow of water, while at
Songgwangsa Temple, the natural environment was retained so
that people could enjoy reflections on the gathering water.
Artificial gardens are often inside palaces and aristocratic
estates. Building such a garden requires a good deal of
groundbreaking and landscaping, which in turn requires a lot
of money. So these kinds of gardens were rarely built by laymen
or the non-wealthy. Anapji Pond in Gyeongju and the rear
gardens of Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung palaces are
examples of such gardens, with largely artificially dug ponds.
Composition of Korean Gardens
Korean gardens are a combination of architectural, spatial,
water and stone elements.
Architecturally, Korean gardens make frequent use of
pavilions. Typically, they employ jeong (small pavilions)
and nu (larger pavilions). Nu are prevalent in palaces
and government buildings, but jeong are typically used
in home and hermitage gardens. Examples of nu are
Gyeongbokgung’s Gyeonghoeru, Changdeokgung’s Juhamnu,
Namwon’s Gwanghallu, Byeongsan Seowon’s Mandaeru and
Gukdamwon’s Pungyongnu. The numerous examples of jeong
include Gyeongbokgung’s Hyangwonjeong, Changdeokgung’s
Buyongjeong and Aeryeonjeong, Bogildo’s Seyeonjeong,
Seongyojang’s Hwallaejeogn, Andong’s Gunjajeong, Bonghwa’s
Cheongamjeong, Buam-dong’s Seokpajeong and Buamjeong,
Hwasun’s Imdaejeong and Yeongyang’s Gyeongjeong.
Occasionally employed are dae, which are either a raised slab
of earth or stone or a building built on it.
2
2. Damyang’s
Soswaewon
Garden, one
of Korea’s best
loved hermitage
gardens.
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Cover Story
Spatial elements of a garden include the courtyard,
hwagye, walls and gates. Gardens are usually found
in the courtyard of the men’s quarters or the rear
gardens of the women’s quarters or detached halls.
A hwagye is a staircase-like flower bed and usually
contains seasonal flowers or trees that turn beautiful
colors in autumn. Typical examples of this can be
found at Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung and
Changgyeonggung palaces.
Walls, meanwhile, are used to delineate space
or provide privacy. Gates are built to provide
beautiful views.
Water is an important element in Korean
gardens. The water elements employed include
yeonji, yeongji, gyeryu and gyedam. Certain water
elements are natural but most are artificial, and
depending on the character of the garden, their
design can vary wildly.
Most ponds in Korean gardens are square with
round islands. Gyeongju’s Anapji Pond has three
islands that symbolize the Three Gods Mountain,
while the pond of Gyeonghoeru at Gyeongbokgung
Palace has three square islands. Ponds are divided
into yeonji and yeongji, depending on their function.
If it holds lotuses, the pond is called yeonji. If it is
a reflecting pond, it is yeongji. Yeonji can be found
at Buddhist temples, while yeongji are found at
palaces, aristocratic homes and hermitage gardens.
The lotus flowers planted at yeonji in Buddhist
temples symbolize both the Enlightened One—
the Buddha—and the Pure Land Paradise. Lotuses
planted at aristocratic homes or hermitage gardens
represent virtuous men.
A yeongji, meanwhile, is a reflecting pond. The
ponds of many Korean gardens serve as both lotus
and reflecting ponds. Typical reflecting ponds
include that of Gyeonghoeru at Gyeongbokgung
Palace, the Buyongji and Aeryeonji ponds of
Changdeokgung Palace, Gupumyeonji Pond
of Bulguksa Temple, the reflecting pond of
Munsuwonjeong in Cheongpyeong, and the
reflecting pool of Haeinsa Temple.
Most streams, or gyeryu, found in Korean gardens
are natural. Examples of natural streams include
those at Damyang’s Soswaewon and Myeongokheon
gardens and Bogildo’s Buyongdongwonseo garden.
Gyedam, meanwhile, are “ponds” formed by
blocking streams. Many examples are found at
Buddhist temples. They serve a feng shui purpose
by turning bad spots into auspicious ones and
an aesthetic purpose in serving as reservoirs to
store water used for a variety of purposes. Leading
examples can be found at Songgwangsa, Baegyangsa
and Haeinsa temples.
2
1
1. Anapji Garden in
Gyeongju. Built in the
7th century, the garden
is Korea’s oldest existing
garden.
2. Hyangwonji Pond and
Hyangwonjeong Pavilion,
Gyeongbokgung Palace,
Seoul
8
Korean gardens also use a wide range of stonework
elements. Chimneys take away the smoke created by Korea’s
underground heating system, but Koreans have long used them
as decorative elements as well. Ornamental examples can be
found in the rear garden of Gyeongbokgung Palace. Chimneys
at Buddhist temples typically use broken roof tiles stacked
together with clay mortar.
A hwaseok is a set of uniquely shaped rocks positioned near
ponds or in flower beds. The rocks are either placed on a base
or planted directly into the ground.
A seongnyeonji, a stone basin, is sometimes used to grow
aquatic plants or raise fish. Another piece of masonry often
used is a dragon- or turtle-head spout that empties stream
water into ponds. Finally, a seongnujo, a stone tongue, funnels
rainwater like a waterfall.
Differences with Chinese and Japanese
Gardens
While gardens in Korea, China and Japan are based on nature,
the way they express this is quite different. Chinese gardens
exaggerate the beauty of nature within a confined space, while
those of Japan tend to create artificial beauty by abstractly
depicting beautiful natural scenes. Korean gardens, meanwhile,
strive for naturalistic beauty. They stress the meaning of nature
and return people to the environment, recreating nature as it is.
The Beauty of Korean Gardens
Korean gardens are set apart by their affinity for nature.
Indeed, a Korean garden's closeness to nature, its resemblance
to nature, is generally its most desired trait. Ever since the
olden days, Koreans have preferred to build their pavilions
9
C o v er S t o ry
Korea’s Representative Gardens
Anapji Garden
Anapji is Korea’s
oldest existing
traditional garden,
built in 674 during
the reign of King
Munmu of the Silla
Kingdom. Anapji is a
fully artificial garden
in that the pond was
dug, hills created, flowers planted and rare birds and animals
introduced. The water in Anapji comes from Gyeongju’s Bukcheon
Stream via a series of stone steps. The lakeside is modeled on
the shape of the seashore, and ornamental rocks have been
placed there to lend beauty to the landscape. Also accentuating
the scene are flowering trees that bloom in accordance with the
seasons. (Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do)
Gyeongbokgung Palace’s Amisan Garden
Amisan Garden behind Gyeongbokgung Palace’s Gyotaejeon Hall
has a four-story flower bed made of rectangular stone. In the
flower bed are ornamental rocks, stone basins and other stone
elements, as well as four and six-sided chimneys beautifully
built from brick. The chimneys are finely decorated with a variety
of motifs including arabesque, pine, bamboo, plums, peonies,
chrysanthemum, dragons, tigers, bats, haetae and clouds.
Flowering shrubs like dwarf almonds, yellow and red plums,
apricots, peonies, azaleas and cherries are planted alongside tall
trees such as those of pine, pear and apricot and Cornelian cherry,
producing a beautiful vegetation landscape. (Seoul)
Changdeokgung Palace’s Huwon Garden
Changdeokgung
Palace’s famous
Huwon Garden
is divided into
several sections:
Buyongjeong,
Aeryeonjeong,
Jondeokjeong and
Ongnyucheon.
Located at the entrance of Huwon, the Buyongjeong area
utilizes scenic elements with different meanings, producing a
10
private space that is a cut above mere simple beauty. Sit above it,
and you feel almost as if you’re on a ship.
Located on the way to Ongnyucheon Stream, the Aeryeonjeong
area is simple and rustic.
If you head up a bit from Aeryeongjeong, you’ll come to a
couple of pavilions such as Gwallamjeong and Jondeokjeong--this is the Jondeokjeong area. The ponds and pavilions in this area
have been placed in a way that maintains the natural topography.
A nice walking path has been created, too.
In the deepest part of the garden is the Ongnyucheon area. The
heart of this section is a stream flowing from the eastern peak of
Mt. Bugaksan. The name Ongnyucheon comes from an inscription
written onto a rock by King Injo. On this rock, a channel has been
carved, taking the water to an artificial waterfall that produces a
waterfall-like sound in a deep valley. (Seoul)
Soswaewon
Built in the 16th century by scholar Yang San-bo, Soswaewon is
one of Korea’s best known hermitage gardens. As a hermitage
garden, its makers showed great restraint and produced a naturefocused space. For instance, the garden wall was designed to
avoid impeding the flow of the stream at the heart of the garden.
Several pavilions are at vantage points throughout the garden. To
reach the garden, you must first pass through one of the country’s
most scenic bamboo forests.
Soswaewon is located in a village called Jigok; nearby are
many pavilions such as Hwangbyeokdang, Myeonangjeong and
Songgangjeong. (Damyang, Jeollanam-do)
Buyongdong Hermitage Garden
Located on the
southwestern
island of Bogildo,
Buyongdong
Hermitage Garden
was built in the 17th
century by scholar Yun
Seon-do.
The garden can
be divided into several sections. The area around Seyeonjeong
Pavilion comprises a pavilion, pond and pool. The square-shaped
pond has a square island and draws water from a pool made by
blocking a stream with a stone dam. Built between the pond and
pool, Seyeongjeong Pavilion was built with an entirely open
structure to provide unobstructed views of the surroundings.
On a mountain slope a kilometer north of here is the
Dongcheon Seoksil section. The center of this section is
Dongcheon Seoksil, a small pavilion whose name means
“house of a hermit.” Yun spent quite a bit of time here,
reading books and enjoying the mountain scenery.
The last section of the garden is Yun’s own living space, the
halls of Nakseojae and Goksudang. Both have a natural
beauty to them. Behind Nakseojae is a beautiful boulder,
while next to the Goksudang flows a stream. In the pond dug
in front of the Goksudang are three ornamental rocks that
represent the Three Gods Mountain. (Bogildo, Jeollanam-do)
Dongnakdang
Dongnakdang was the living room and study of Joseon
Dynasty scholar Yi Eon-jeok. Using the “borrowed landscape”
technique, the room allows visitors to enjoy the surrounding
natural beauty. From it, one gets fine views of the pine forest
beyond its walls. (Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do)
Seongyojang
Founded by Yi
Nae-beon in the
mid-1700s, the
ten-building
structure
Seongyojang
took several
eras to reach
completion.
Hwangnaejeong Pavilion was built in the early 19th century,
with a pond full of lotuses. The nearby myrtles fill the space
with beautiful flowers and scents in summer.
(Gangneung, Gangwon-do)
in beautiful natural locations rather than in their homes.
Most Korean gardens are located in naturally beautiful
spots. In particular, hermitage gardens are built on sites with
outstanding natural scenery and much care is taken not to
harm the aesthetic or ecological elements of the location. The
garden was built so people could return to nature, borrow
the space for a bit and make friends with nature. This sets
Korean gardens apart from Chinese, Japanese and Western
gardens.
Korean gardens are designed to highlight the passage of
time. People can tell spring has come from the sound of
stream water flowing from the melting ice and the scent of
plum blossoms. Azaleas and peonies blossom, followed by
myrtles. Then the rains come, signaling the arrival of summer.
As maple turns red, ginkgoes go golden, and grasshoppers
chirp, you can feel the deepening of autumn. Finally, you
wake up one morning and the garden is covered in white
snow—winter is here. The Korean garden is a stage to see the
passage of the four seasons through the transformation of
nature.
Korean gardens also reveal the beauty of emptiness.
Trees are neither planted in intricate clusters nor spread
out sparingly. The garden makes use of empty space thanks
to a technique called chagyeong, or borrowed landscape.
Through chagyeong, the beauty of the surrounding scenery
is “borrowed”, so to speak, and is used as part of the
garden itself. This gardening technique creates beauty from
emptiness and is hard to find in other countries. Balance is
created by emptying full spaces and filling empty spaces.
Korean gardens are also a total sensory experience that
use light, smell, sound, taste and touch. As the light changes
from morning to dusk, lit spaces and shaded spaces are
created and the scenery is transformed. The scents never
stop, as different flowers blossom with the change in seasons.
Humans and nature are in harmony through the beautiful
music created from water, wind, birds and the swaying
bamboo. The true taste of nature can be enjoyed by sitting on
a pavilion with a cup of tea. Feel the softness of flower petals,
your hair blowing in the wind, the coolness of the water
when dipping your feet in the pond and the passage of time
while gripping the weathered railing of an old pavilion.
11
C o v er S t o ry
Globalizing Korean Gardens
Over the last few decades, diverse efforts have gone
into building Korean gardens overseas. About 15 such
gardens have been made in Japan, China and Europe,
helping to promote Korea’s unique culture abroad and
instilling pride in ethnic Koreans living outside of the
motherland. A Korean garden has been built in the
Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar, and efforts to do the
same in Los Angeles and Irvine, California, will also
promote Korean culture.
Most Korean gardens overseas have been built by
municipal and provincial governments, usually for
overseas expos or as part of sister city ties. None were
initiated or paid for by private initiative, however,
partly because private entities have difficulty raising
the cash for the projects. The main reason, however, is
lack of leadership from the private sector.
Korea has become a world leader with a mature
economy and political system. Still, few abroad seem
to know that the country has 5,000 years of history and
unique culture. The Park Geun-hye administration’s
launch of its Cultural Enrichment initiative seeks to
promote Korea as a culturally mature nation and instill
pride in its citizens as cultured people.
Building Korean gardens overseas to promote
Korean culture can help realize the initiative’s goals.
Active participation from central and regional
governments and the private sector is required.
The Korean traditional garden is a symbolic icon
cultivated by Korea’s unique environmental conditions
and the people raised under those conditions. From
Anapji Pond of the Silla Kingdom to the UNESCOregistered Huwon Garden of Changdeokgung Palace,
such gardens have a scenic nature quite unlike those of
other nations. Palace gardens express the highest level
of decoration through the use of ponds, pavilions,
flower beds and stones. Hermitage gardens show the
beauty of nature as it is by employing as few manmade items as possible. Home gardens, meanwhile,
focus on the backyard to produce a rustic atmosphere,
creating a hidden beauty. When building Korean
gardens overseas, this identity must not be damaged.
When this principle is adhered to, the Korean
character of traditional gardens can be preserved.
Lotus ponds of
Seonyudo Park, a
modern example of
Korean gardening.
12
“Gardens are made by people, but the
principle is to make it look as if it were
made by heaven.”
This is the key to Korean gardens,
explains SeoAhn Total Landscape
President Jung Young-sun, one of
Korea’s top landscape architects. In fact,
she designed the venue for the interview,
the lovely Heewon Garden of the HoAm Art Museum in Yongin, Gyeonggido.
As we conducted the interview, she
took the writer on a tour of the gardens,
pointing out the beauty of the rough-cut
rocks, the view of the nearby lake, and
the terracing that gradually brought the
hilltop museum into view.
Jung quickly stresses that Korean
gardens are quite diverse. “A very
important thing is that Korean
gardens—be it Huwon, Gyeongbokgung
Palace, Seoswaewon or Buyongdong—
have similarities but are also quite
different, depending on the place
and the architecture,” she says. This is
reflected in Heewon Garden, which
some call an “encyclopedia of Korean
gardening.” She adds, “I analyzed how
our ancestors viewed nature and how
they reflected this in their living spaces,
their temples, their palaces. I also looked
at how they viewed the land.”
Searching for the roots of these
attitudes, she found them in the land
itself. “Because our land is different
from China’s and Japan’s, naturally our
view of nature is different,” she says. “In
particular, we have a lot of mountains,
and if we just adjust the land a bit, we
can see the surrounding scenery, to
borrow it.”
This principle was put to work at
Heewon, where Jung first read the
landscape, taking note of the mountains
and the lovely reservoir, and then set
about finding ways to utilize it. She
says Heewon is not merely a Korean
traditional garden—it’s an evolution
of tradition. “A lot of our history and
tradition was cut off by the Japanese
colonial period, the Korean War and
afterwards,” she says. “Especially with
gardening, there was no modernization
process. In that regard, this place is very
important.”
True to Korean gardening techniques,
Jung chose not to copy Korea’s other
famous gardens. “We couldn’t just
imitate Huwon or Soswaewon or
Buyongdong,” she says. “We needed to
make something that fit this building
(the museum), this landscape and this
age.”
To further take advantage of the
landscape, she included a larger “outer
garden” with the lake and mountains so
that visitors from the city could better
appreciate the beauty of the landscapes.
The garden is also an exhibition space—
throughout the landscape are stone
figures, Buddhist reliefs and other
artistic works of masonry. Even the
coffee shop, which has lovely views of
the garden, is designed to blend in with
the landscape and harkens back to a
time when scholars sat in their pavilions
with a cup of tea.
Jung laments that some of Korea’s
more famous gardens are either
overtouristed or are not as well
maintained as they should be. Still, she
recommends Seoul’s Seongnagwon
Garden and Seokpajeong Villa as good
examples of Korean gardens.
Borrowed
Beauty
Landscape architect says
a garden is more than
what’s inside the walls
Interview by Robert Koehler
13
PEN & BRUSH
Not Just a ‘Woman’
Writer
Cheon Woon-young breaks the mold with a literary world all her own
Written by Kim Hyung-eun and
Robert Koehler
“A
s a writer, as somebody who gives birth to
something, it was like self-reflection. And
personally, as a woman who is past 40 and not
a mother, it was like introspection. I still have much to say
about mothers, both in themselves and as symbols.”
So says author Cheon Woon-young about her latest volume
of short stories, As You Know, Too, Mother (Moonji Publishing
Co., Ltd, 2013). Since the release of her first collection of short
stories, The Needle (Changbi Publishers, 2001), Cheon has been
provoking audiences and shattering stereotypes about female
authors with her vivid imagery and raw and almost primal
stories and depictions. With As You Know, Too, Mother, she
tackles a number of issues, including the cause of evil, but most
importantly, she examines the meaning of “mother”—both the
literal and symbolic meanings of the word—and the impact
that even bad mothers can have on this world.
Good Seed from Bad Mothers
Being a collection of short stories published over the last four
years, As You Know, Too, Mother did not find its inspiration
from one specific source. “In the case of full-length novels,
you write with one purpose from start to finish, but in the case
of short stories, you immediately write the stories that touch
you when they do,” says Cheon. “So after you collect the short
stories you’ve released, you also come to realize the theme you
wanted at the time.”
Some of the stories began as explorations of the start of evil,
14
but many—including the title work—deal with mothers and
mother-figures, be them physical or symbolic mothers, or,
as Cheon explains, “a being that conceives and gives birth to
something, a being that feeds and raises something, a being
that educates and influences something.” In particular, she
wanted to see how even poor mothers can produce something
good. She says, “The mothers in the book might seem like bad
mothers or mothers that had a bad influence, but I wanted to
try thinking about how, ultimately, we get good seeds from
these mothers.”
Talking to People. Watching People.
Cheon says she finds her inspiration from life, both hers
and those of others. “There’s nothing as vivid, complex and
mysterious as real life,” she says. She’s always talking with other
people, or at the very least observing them. “When I write a
novel, I shut myself inside alone, but I’m constantly with people
until the time I begin writing,” she says.
Likewise, when the words don’t flow, she mixes with the
masses, watching what they do. “I sit for a while in one spot,”
she says. “I watch quietly. People. Things. I just sit there. There’s
nothing else I can do.”
‘I Thought You Were a Man’
Literary critics as well as the general public have praised Cheon
for breaking with the bourgeois sensibilities displayed by
female writers of the 1990s to launch a grittier literary trend.
15
PEN & BRUSH
M
The Needle
Ginger
“I wonder if perhaps I receive such reviews because existing
female writers usually write women’s stories or because they tell
their own stories more subtly, and my novels are different from
that,” says Cheon.
Saying many readers seem to have a prejudice toward female
writers, she says she’s never really thought of herself as a female
writer, let alone set out to create a whole new school of female
literature. “I’ve never thought of myself as a female writer. Nor
did I set out to create a new female aesthetic to erase the title of
woman,” she says. “All I did was find the right voice when I had
a story I wanted to tell.”
At any rate, Cheon is wary of public reviews. “They become
prisons,” she says.
They Are All My Children
To ask Cheon which of her works she likes best is like asking
a mother to choose her favorite child. “I’m attached to all my
works for different reasons,” she says. “They are all my kids, the
bad ones and the good ones.”
The Needle, for instance, is her eldest son, written in a white
heat. Farewell, Circus (Munhakdongne Publishing Corp.,
2005), on the other hand, required quite a bit of work. The
novel, which deals with a Korean-Chinese person now living in
Korea, required Cheon to travel back and forth between Korea
and China. It was tough, but she did pick up the unique Korean
16
As You Know, Too, Mother
dialect spoken in the ethnic Korean region of northeast China.
“Now that I think of it again, I wonder how I did it,” she says. “It
would’ve been impossible without the stamina of youth.”
She considers her most significant novel, however, to be
Ginger (Changbi Publishers, 2011). This daring work tells the
story of a torturer—based on a real and still very much alive
individual—who tortured dissidents during Korea’s military
dictatorships of the 1970s and 80s. “I had quite a hard time
because it’s still ongoing history,” she says. “It’s not something I
could talk about rashly.”
Ginger also showed tension between what she wanted to say
and “what the story wanted to say,” as she puts it. There were
also times when she managed to frighten herself. “There’s a
scene where the torturer, immersed in his work, is beautifully
romanticizing what he’s doing,” she says. “As I wrote that, I saw
myself enjoying the torture, too. I was frightened.”
The book took a while to finish, but once she completed it,
she said she felt as if she had passed through a sort of gate. “The
most important thing was that through the process, I could
realize what kind of person I was,” she says. It also represented
the start of a new direction in her writing. “A flow that had
begun with The Needle had slightly changed course with
Ginger,” she says. “I really like the change in direction. I plan to
go with the flow for the time being.”
y older brother held out the limp paper
clown for the woman to take. After a
moment’s hesitation, she took it. This was the
woman my brother liked. He pretended to be
uninterested, but had been watching everything.
I started doubting again. All this woman is
looking for is a marriage certificate and plane
ticket to Korea. Behind those gentle features,
she is hatching a clever scheme, no doubt.
My brother spoke to me with his kind eyes.
Don’t doubt her.
With his good-natured eyes, he told me that
he didn’t have anything to lose anyway.
“My brother’s voice is a little . . . but other than
that, he’s good hearted, and the restaurant he’s
running right now is doing pretty well, too. Once
you get used to his voice, it’s not that bad. It’s
not like he can’t speak at all, you know . . . since
he hurt his throat in that accident . . .”
I kept fumbling for words, like a child making
one excuse after the other or a soldier who lost
the will to fight. I stopped talking and looked
at my brother. He grinned even wider and kept
smiling like a fool. When he smiles, you can see
the wrinkles in his throat. It makes him look older.
“I like this girl,” my brother said in my ear.
Her name was Hae-hwa. Lim Hae-hwa. My
brother said her name was pretty. The woman
laughed for the first time, maybe hearing what
my brother said. He chuckled along with
her. While my brother was laughing, I stole a
glance at the woman’s eyes. The back of my
head itched as if I had something to hide. The
expression on her face didn’t change at all. She
wasn’t the kind of person who showed fear or
confusion easily. Her carefully composed face
actually frightened me for some reason.
My brother brought out the present he had
purchased. It was a set of Korean cosmetics
that we had been told was popular with Chinese
women. The marriage broker had the men on
the tour buy presents they would need if they
ended up with one of the women, gifts for the
bride and her parents. All of the men bought the
same cosmetics set at the airport. The woman
toyed with one corner of the packaging. My
brother looked at me and gestured with his chin.
“That’s a present, so anyway, you can just
have it. No pressure at all.”
When I was done talking, my brother nodded
his head in an exaggerated way and then
whispered something else in my ear.
“My brother says that this is fine with him. . .
as long as it’s fine with you.”
The woman didn’t reply. Perhaps she didn’t
like my brother? As my brother’s smile kept
getting bigger and as her silence kept stretching
out longer, I gradually felt more and more uneasy.
“Do you think it would be okay if . . . we had
the wedding before we go?”
The woman spoke with her eyes facing down.
After she was done, she slowly lifted her head
and gazed at my brother. Her face looked like
she might start crying at any minute.
“I’m the only child in the family. My parents
aren’t happy with the idea of sending me off
without a wedding. Anyway, we’re supposed to
have an engagement ceremony before we go,
right? If we can’t do the wedding, it should be
OK to take a picture of me in a floral veil, right?
If nothing else, I should
leave a picture behind
when I go. . .”
The woman wasn’t
speaking to me, but
to my brother. At last,
I relaxed a little. My
brother gave her a
big smile instead of a
response.
Excerpt, Farewell, Circus, p17–18.
In addition to the Korean
original, the novel is available in
French translation, too.
17
P
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E
just sit around the laboratory all day in a suit and tie,
you’ll never get anywhere,” he said.
One of his professors then suggested that Kim go
with him to Africa and help develop corn for the
hungry. Kim, however, was intent on returning to
his homeland to help the starving people there. After
humbly refusing the offer and returning to Korea to
start his research, the good doctor soon found that
few were on his side.
Homegrown Success
Corn research was severely limited and most people
in the field refused to even conduct further research
on developing it, saying it was useless for Korea. Kim
was not easily deterred, however. Convinced that a
proper genetic hybrid of corn could be developed to
feed more Koreans, he stuck to his research. In 1976,
he developed Asia’s first hybrid breed of corn that
could produce three times the volume of food corn
provided at the time.
News of Kim’s success reached agricultural experts
all across the world. This humble man from the
Korean provinces had accomplished a world first in
his field, finding an effective and safe way to fight
mass hunger in underdeveloped nations.
1
Seeds D
of
Hope
Dr. Kim Soon Kwon
helps feed the world
with his revolutionary
corn research.
Written by Felix Im
18
r. Kim Soon Kwon was born
in 1945 to a family that
farmed and fished for a living.
Japanese occupation of Korea had just
ended and the country would soon see its
most tragic civil war. Growing up, Kim
and his friends would often roam the
countryside and hunt for frogs, pheasants
and even grasshoppers; not for kicks, but
for food. When he failed his high school
exam, he had no choice but to help his
dad work on the family farm.
Kim eventually got into high school,
however, and went on to attend university
and graduate school, where he studied
agricultural science to fulfill his dream of
developing hybrid crops to make farming
more efficient and to provide better, safer
food for more people in need. Following
his professor’s advice, he applied for
the Ph.D program at Seoul National
University, but failed that exam, too.
“I was never the best student. It turns
out I don’t even have that high of an IQ,”
he said.
Eyes Opened
Nevertheless, Kim was apparently good
enough for the University of Hawaii,
where he studied thanks to a scholarship
and received his doctorate in only three
years. While there, he grew particularly
fascinated by one professor who never
hesitated to wear overalls and sneakers and
jump into the field to conduct research.
“I realized then that you can’t become a
proper agricultural researcher if you don’t
jump into the cornfield yourself. If you
Finding a Different Way
This time, the United Nations pleaded with him to go
to Africa to do for the people there what he did for
Korea. Agriculturalists from all over the globe had
failed in more than 30 years of research to produce a
proper hybrid that would flourish in the native soil,
largely due to the indigenous weed, striga, nicknamed
“the devil’s plant”, which made it impossible for any
corn to grow.
Kim, recognizing that complete resistance to nature
was futile, developed a hybrid breed that would live
in harmony with striga. His predecessors had simply
tried to wipe it out entirely, and failed each time.
“Striga is native to Nigerian soil. You can’t expect
it to totally relinquish its home turf. You have to
compromise a little. I made a corn that could live
with striga instead of trying to rebel against it.”
The good doctor had succeeded again. Thanks to
his work, thousands of people have been saved from
mass starvation. Recommended by many for the
Nobel Prize, Kim said his next dream is to develop
corn to feed people in North Korea.
“To me, corn isn’t only food, it’s hope. I believe it
can be a means to achieve world peace.”
1. In 1976, Kim
developed corn
that produced three
times the amount of
food corn provided
at the time.
© International Corn
Foundation
2. Kim trains
students at an
agricultural school
in Zimbabwe.
© International Corn
Foundation
2
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T
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Jeonju
Where traditional Korean charm and
culinary delights collide
Written by Robert Koehler
T
o appreciate Jeonju’s charms, you must prepare to
get lost. And bring your appetite with you.
Jeonju—exemplified by the Jeonju Hanok
Village—is a heady mix of picturesque alleyways, rustic
Korean homes, old Confucian shrines, artisan workshops,
historic gates and plenty of good food. It’s even more
charming in autumn, when the leaves change color and
bathe the alleyways in wonderful hues of gold and crimson.
Elegant Korean Hanok homes and quaint alleyways of Jeonju Hanok Village. © Jeonju City
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More Info
Catholic churches. Built by French missionaries in 1914, the mostly
Romanesque brick structure is crowned by three Byzantine spires.
Nobody will confuse it for the Hagia Sophia, but it’s spectacular
nonetheless. The old brick rectory there is quite lovely, too.
Where to Eat
Jeonju’s best
known bibimbap
house is Gogung (T. 063251-3211), a taxi ride from
Jeonju’s Hanok Village.
Closer to the village is
Gajok Hoegwan (T. 063-284-0982), which is also highly
recommended. This writer recommends Seongmidang
(T. 063-273-0029), a smaller place hidden in an alley near
Gajok Hoegwan. It’s friendly, held in high esteem by locals
and above all, does great food.
Quiet place to think
1
1. Jeonju’s signiture dish, the bibimbap. © KTO 2. Jeondong Catholic Cathedral, one of Korea’s oldest and most beautiful Catholic churches
3. Yellow ginkgo leaves form a golden blanket over Jeonju Hyanggyo, a historic Confucian school. © Jeonju City
Land of royalty
Jeonju is the ancestral home of the Jeonju Yi clan, the royal
family of the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910). The kings of Joseon
ruled Korea for 500 largely stable years, overseeing some of
the nation’s greatest cultural accomplishments including the
invention of Hangeul, Korea’s ingenious indigenous alphabet.
Gyeonggijeon Shrine, located in the heart of the city, was
founded in 1410 to pay tribute to the founder of the Joseon
Dynasty, King Taejo. Most of the complex dates back to a 17thcentury reconstruction. The rustic halls and gnarled old trees
make for a wonderful stroll. Don’t miss its small bamboo forest,
a popular photo-taking place.
and stores. Maps of the neighborhood are available at tourist
information booths, but to really get a feel for it, just put on a
pair of good walking shoes and explore.
Byzantine gem in southwest Korea
Not everything in Jeonju’s Hanok Village is purely Korean,
though. The village’s easiest recognized landmark—indeed, it’s
one of the few buildings here taller than one story—is Jeondong
Catholic Cathedral, one of Korea’s oldest and most beautiful
One of Bukchon’s most charming spots—especially in autumn—is
the Jeonju Hyanggyo, the town’s old Confucian school. Moved to its
current spot in 1603, the school is a collection of graceful wood halls
and centuries-old trees, perfect for a relaxing stroll. In autumn, the
ginkgoes in the courtyard turn bright yellow; as the leaves fall, they
create a beautiful golden carpet. As an added bonus, the school is
relatively tourist-free, creating a tranquil space for contemplation.
Where to Stay
Many of the
homes in Jeonju
Hanok Village double as
guesthouses. You’ll find
some real gems here. The
nicest is Hakindang (T.
063-284-9929), a palatial
estate built in 1905 by high-ranking royal court official Baek
Nak-jung. The home’s architecture incorporates aspects of
royal palace design. Korean independence activist Kim Koo
(1876–1949) slept in what is now the VIP room. Another
great place is Dongnagwon (T. 063-287-2040), a Hanok
estate in an alleyway off Eunhaeng-ro. In addition to being
a lodging facility, it also serves as a memorial to American
missionary William McCleery Junkin, who conducted many
religious and educational activities in Jeonju after coming
to Korea in 1892.
Culinary capital of Korea
Many Korean foodies will tell you Korea’s best cuisine can be had in
Jeonju. The bread basket of Korea for centuries, the region produces
some of Korea’s best quality rice and foodstuffs. The ingredients are
liberally combined into dishes that bewitch the senses.
Jeonju’s signature dish is Jeonju bibimbap, a bowl of rice mixed
with 30 seasoned vegetables and other ingredients, including
raw beef and tangy red pepper paste. A table full of side dishes
accompanies each meal, the number and variety of which boggle the
mind. Another Jeonju favorite is kongnamul gukbap, a soup of bean
sprouts, anchovy broth and rice. Not only is it tasty, but makes for a
great hangover remedy.
Getting There
The KTX express train connects Jeonju with Seoul’s
Yongsan Station (travel time: about 2 hrs, 10 min).
Seoul
Jeonju Hanok Village
The most popular tourist destination in Jeonju, however,
is Jeonju Hanok Village, Korea’s best known collection of
traditional Korean houses outside of Seoul’s Bukchon district.
Like those of Bukchon, Jeonju’s traditional houses—or
Hanok—date from the early 20th century, when urbanization
spurred new housing development. Unlike their country
cousins, Jeonju’s Hanok are densely packed along narrow alleys.
Get a bird’s eye view of the village from Omokdae Pavilion—it’s
almost like a sea of black tile roofs.
Many Hanok here are still homes, but many others have
been transformed into restaurants, cafés, galleries, workshops
22
Jeonju
2
3
Jejudo
23
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P
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a golden generation
Young Korean gymnasts leap into the big time
Written by Kim Tong-hyung
1
24
Y
ang Hak-seon is running out of competitors and
his coach is running out of superlatives.
In October, the 21-year-old Yang became the first
South Korean gymnast in 21 years to win back-to-back gold
medals at the world championships, dominating the vault
competition in Antwerp, Belgium. This made national team
coach Joo Young-sam wonder whether Yang’s talent will hit a
ceiling.
“I was rooting for him on the sidelines, but really, he won
all by himself and the enjoyment is all his,” Joo told reporters.
“He wasn’t in ideal physical condition, and there was also
the pressure of everyone talking that a gold medal would
be inevitable. But he braved through it, practiced hard and
even prepared a new technique. He earned his medal and I’m
proud of him.”
In Antwerp, Yang was not close to top physical form due
to back pain and having tweaked his neck in practice. Still,
even at less than 100 percent, he was comfortably better than
everyone else in the building. The outcome was made more
predictable by North Korea’s Ri Se-gwang, who had been
considered Yang’s closest rival but checked out early after a
disappointing preliminary round.
Yang cruised through the preliminary and took care
of business in the final, pulling off his famous “Yang1,” a handspring triple twist named after him, on his first
attempt. He then executed a “Lopez,’’ a one-and-a-half back
somersault and three twists, on his second to score 15.553
points overall.
American Steven Legendre took the silver with 15.249
points and Britain’s Kristian Thomas the bronze with 15.233.
In praising Yang for his triumph in Belgium, the South
Korean media also expressed disappointment that he did not
showcase his new move, the “Yang-2,’’ or a Tsukahara triple
with an extra half turn. He has pledged to make his next
namesake vault, and his competitors like Ri could bring out
the South Korean’s best next time.
“Yang wasn’t in good condition and the other players didn’t
get high scores, so there was no reason for him to attempt the
Yang-2 this time,’’ said Kim Dae-won, vice president of the
Korea Gymnastics Association.
“Perhaps Yang will need the Yang-2 in next year’s Asian
Games, where he could be competing against Ri.’’
Young Talent Emerges
Bringing home his country’s first Olympic gold in gymnastics
in London last year, Yang is widely considered the most
talented gymnast to come out of South Korea. He is
considered to have eclipsed Yoo Ok-ryul, who topped the vault
competitions in the 1991 and 1992 world championships.
Whether Yang is the country’s most dominant athlete in any
sport is debatable, as that argument would probably favor Kim
Yu-na, who reigns with authority in women’s figure skating.
But unlike Kim, Yang gets routines named after him.
Yang is the biggest name among a group of gifted South
Korean gymnasts who have inspired talk of a “golden
generation” in the country’s gymnastics. Kim Hee-hoon, 22, is
the country’s next-best talent in the vault, while Park Min-soo,
19, showed his potential by finishing 22nd in the individual allround in Antwerp in his first major international event.
On the women’s side, Sung Ji-hye, 17, who won silver in the
2012 Asian Championships all-round, is generating the most
excitement. She finished 34th in the individual all-round in
Antwerp with 52.065 points, leading to speculation that she
could emerge as a medal hopeful in the 2016 Olympics in Rio
given her talent and learning curve.
It was precisely 10 years ago when South Korea announced
itself as a world gymnastics power, with Kim Dae-un winning
the silver medal and Yang Tae-young the bronze in the men’s
all-round at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
That memory is bittersweet for South Korea, however. Kim
should have been the men’s all-around champion, but the
judges would not correct a mistake they made and American
Paul Hamm ended up with the gold.
Fortunately, the new vault king, Yang, gives himself a wider
margin of error, precluding any judging controversies.
1. Yang Hak-seon won Korea’s first gold in gymnastics at the 2012 London Olympics.
2. Yang performs his famous “Yang-1” on the vault at the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia.
2
25
E N T E R TA I N M E N T
“When I tell my friends in Korea about this experience
[of foreign audiences getting teary-eyed while listening to
“Arirang”], they don’t believe me. But they really cry. That’s the
charm of this traditional folk song,” she said.
Being born to musical parents—Nah’s mother is one of
Korea’s first generation of musical actresses and her father
is a classic vocalist—it seems natural for Nah to have gone
into music. She insists, however, that everything has been
“coincidental.”
Nah majored in French in college and her first job was
as a copywriter at a public relations company. But after just
eight months, she left her job and stayed home for months
wondering what to do with her life. Then a close friend
suggested she audition for a musical since she knew that Nah
enjoyed singing. But as Nah knew how difficult things are for a
musical actress by watching her mother, she was hesitant to set
foot in the industry.
“But I thought it’s better to do something than nothing, so I
auditioned and got a part in the musical ‘Subway Line No. 1,”
Jazzing Up
Arirang
Vocalist Nah Youn-sun moves European
audiences with Korean folk tune
Written by Yim Seung-hye
J
azz singers usually do not make their audience sob after
listening to their songs, unless they are at a jazz bar and
people in the seats have had one too many cocktails. This
certainly does not occur at legendary venues like the Théâtre
du Châtelet in Paris.
However, Nah Youn-sun brings a flood of tears to her
audience’s eyes whenever she sings “Arirang,” a Korean
traditional folk song.
It’s odd enough to make audiences sob in a jazz concert,
but Nah, 43, sings what is considered Korea’s second national
anthem in almost all of her concerts. Koreans grew familiar
with the singer after seeing her at President Park Geun-hye’s
inauguration, where she sang “Arirang Fantasy” with veteran
singer Insooni, musical actress Choi Jung-won and pansori
master Ahn Sook-seon.
Nah, however, has a large following in France and across
Europe. She was named a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and
Letters by the French government and ranks high on European
jazz charts. She has performed on more than 200 stages in
26
1
said Nah. After performing
on stage, she said she
wanted to study more and
decided on jazz after a
friend’s suggestion.
Nah spoke a little
French and was a big fan of
chansons, lyric-driven French
songs, so she boarded a plane
to Paris at the fairly late age
of 26 to study a musical genre
that she said she knew nothing about.
Since leaving for France in 1995, Nah has studied at the CIM
Jazz School and the National Music Institute of Beauvais as well
as the Nadia and Lili Boulanger Conservatory. In March, she
released her eighth album, “Lento,” which includes her jazzy
rendition of “Arirang.” In early October, the singer performed
at the Jarasum International Jazz Festival in Korea and then left
for Europe for a tour of Germany.
1. Jazz singer Nah Youn-sun’s performances of the Korean folk song “Arirang” have moved European audiences. © Nah Youn-sun
2. Nah performs before a packed Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, France on March 25, 2013. © Nah Youn-sun
25 countries and despite being on foreign soil, Nah has won
fans on the continent with a jazzy version of her motherland’s
classic tune, “Arirang.”
“You’d be surprised to know that I didn’t come up with the
idea of singing ‘Arirang’ in our repertoire. My guitarist Ulf
Wakenius told me one day that he knew a Korean song and
played it on his guitar. It was ‘Arirang,’ and I was surprised that
he knew it,” she said.
As Nah was looking for a Korean song to sing at her concerts,
she asked her guitarist if he could play the tune. He confidently
said yes, and then asked if she could sing the song, to which
she said, “What do you mean if I can sing it? Nearly everyone
in Korea can.’”
Bringing audiences to tears
Nah and her band have since been performing “Arirang” in
nearly all of their shows. Every time, she says she is surprised to
see audiences shedding tears while listening despite being unable
to understand the lyrics and the meaning behind the song.
2
27
SPECIAL ISSUE
F
irst held in 2001, the Gyeonggi International Ceramic
Biennale (GICB) is one of the most prestigious events
in the world of ceramics, bringing together artists
and enthusiasts for a 51-day celebration of the ceramic arts.
Under the theme, “Community: With Me, With You, With
Us,” this year’s biennale features stimulating exhibits by top
ceramic artists from both Korea and overseas. In particular,
the event presents an opportunity to discover transformations
in the ceramics community vis-a-vis art and in everyday life.
Invited Artists, International Invitational Competition
Park Je-duck, Lee Hun-chung, Lee Hwa-jin, Hahn Ai-kyu and Han
Young-sil (Korea); Christ Antemann, Beth Lo, Albert Pfarr and
Jeanne Quinn (United States); Li Xiaofeng and Huang Chunping
(China); Takashi Hinoda and Toshio Oh (Japan); Lee Yong Ming
(Taiwan); Vipoo Srivilasa (Australia/Thailand), Debashis Pal
(Bangladesh); Neil Forrest (Canada); Isabel Cisneros (Venezuela);
Kukuli Velarde (Peru/United States); Keka Ruiz-Tagle (Chile); Clare
Twomey (United Kingdom); Johan Creten (Belgium); Milan Kunc
(Czech Republic); Isabel Ferrand (Portugal/Netherlands); Varda
Yatom (Israel); Wilma Cruise (South Africa); and Moyo Okediji
(Nigeria).
Building a community
1
1. Some of the works invited to the 2013 Gyeonggi
International Ceramic Biennale. © KOCEF
2. Glass blowing at the 2013 Gyeonggi International
Ceramic Biennale. © KOCEF
Reaching Out
Through Ceramics
One of the ceramic world’s biggest events, the 2013 Gyeonggi
International Ceramic Biennale refocuses on sharing and community
Written by Robert Koehler
28
Since Hongik University professor Lee I-chin took over
as director in 2012, the biennale, now in its seventh year,
has refocused on the concept of “sharing.” Namely, as an
internationally recognized event, it was now time for the
Korean ceramics scene to give back. The goal this year is to
share the biennale with as many people around the world as
possible, including young artists, ceramic educators, curators
and specialists. Event organizers will also reach out to groups
that have been ignored or discriminated against.
The GICB 2013’s main event, the International Invitational
Competition, features more than 50 works by 27 artists from
18 nations. The competition has just one award, the grand
prize, which comes with a sum of USD 20,000.
The special exhibition of the GICB 2013, “Hot Rookies,” is an
omnibus exhibit featuring works by 20 young artists, defined
as artists under the age of 40, from eight nations. The theme of
this exhibit is “Paradoxical Aesthetics.” All the works address
issues of today’s materialistic neo-capitalist society, including
alienation and resistance.
In keeping with the biennale’s objective of sharing and
community-building, a special feature exhibit will comprise
works by Korea’s disabled community. The National Ceramic
Competition for the Disabled features 60 pieces by 50 artists.
the International Invitational Competition. The second part of
the Mentoring Camp, the Traditional Korean Ceramic Camp,
focuses on the history and aesthetics of Korean ceramics. The
workshop event is related to food and ceramics focused on
encouraging participants to abandon disposable wares in favor
of those of ceramics.
Another hands-on program, “Clay Workshop, Healing
Camp,” seeks to help participants overcome their emotional
scars through ceramic art. This family event has extended a
particular welcome to minorities and other neglected classes of
society.
The biennale also includes a series of academic events,
including an International Ceramic Symposium (Sept. 27–28
and Oct. 2–4), and discussions between artists and art critics
including the “Talks by Artists” program, a series of talks by
well-known artists aimed at the general public.
2
Sharing knowledge
The GICB 2013 has added “Mentoring Camp” and “Talks by
Artists” programs to help spread information and knowledge
about the ceramic arts.
The camp is a three-part workshop, beginning with a
short-term residency program and forum workshop, the
International Ceramic Camp, featuring invited artists from
29
CURRENT KOREA
3
1. “Dad, Where Are You Going?” © MBC
1
2
Korean
Reality Shows
The Korean Wave scores yet another hit
G
one are the days when Korean entertainment
shows were considered mere copies of formats
from abroad. Producers of hit reality shows in
Korea have nowadays inked export deals with many Asian
countries, proving their competitiveness in the overseas
market.
The cable channel TvN’s “Grandpas Over Flowers” features
Korean celebrities in their 70s backpacking around Europe
and other countries. MBC’s “Dad, Where Are You Going?” has
famous fathers bonding with their children on trips, breaking
the stereotype of Korean mothers being the primary caregivers.
KBS’s “1 Night, 2 Days,” a long-running outdoor reality show,
is credited with starting a camping boom in Korea.
30
Written by Kim Hyung-eun
Deals inked
For starters, “Grandpas Over Flowers,” one of the biggest
surprise hits of the year, is finding plenty of interest around
Asia, with export deals signed with channels in Taiwan and
Hong Kong.
A spokesperson at CJ E&M’s global content team said in
September, “The show has been sold to Taiwan’s largest cable
channel EBC and Hong Kong’s largest private broadcaster
TVB, and this came after only three episodes were aired,”
adding, “It’s rare to sell a program before it completes its run.”
CJ E&M, a broadcast affiliate of CJ, one of Korea’s largest
conglomerates, owns the channel that aired the show, TvN, and
produced it.
2. “Grandpas Over Flowers” © tvN
3. Vietnamese fans flock to see the recording of “Running Man,” a popular Korean reality show. © SBS
In the first season, the elderly actors traveled to Europe, and
in the second they explored Taiwan. Upon arrival in the island
country, where Korean dramas and stars are quite popular, the
grandpas unexpectedly found hundreds of fans and dozens of
broadcasters waiting for them.
“It was really surprising that the grandpas became a leading
force in Hallyu,” a CJ source said, referring to the booming
popularity of Korean pop culture overseas, also known as the
Korean Wave.
Star producer
Among other Korean reality shows that have earned export
deals, “Dad, Where Are You Going?” will have its format
exported to China’s Hunan Satellite TV in April. “1 Night,
2 Days” clinched a similar contract with China’s Sichuan
Satellite TV.
Both, “Grandpas Over Flowers,” and, “1 Night, 2 Days,”
are the brainchildren of producer Na Young-seok. “1 Night,
2 Days” aired on KBS, becoming one of the country’s most
popular shows in history. “Grandpas Over Flowers” was Na’s
first show for CJ E&M, whither he moved after leaving KBS last
year.
Na is now directing four veteran actresses—Yoon Yu-jeong,
Kim Ja-ok, Kim Hee-ae and Lee Mi-yeon—on a trip. After
directing four actors on two trips for “Grandpas over Flowers,”
he has invited the four actresses to film a show tentatively
named, “Actresses.”
Social trends
The explosive popularity of the three reality programs is
directly related to social trends in the country.
“Grandpas Over Flowers” reflects Korea’s rapidly aging
society. Statistics Korea projects that by 2030, a fourth of the
population will be aged 65 or older, and by 2050, the country
will be among the world’s oldest societies, with 37 percent as
senior citizens.
“Dad, Where Are You Going?” shows the growing trend in
Korea for both the mother and the father to share the burden
of childrearing as more women seek to continue their careers
after marriage and having given birth.
“1 Night, 2 Days” has spurred interest in outdoor activities.
Outdoor gear brands now take up the best spots at Korean
department stores and in newspaper ads.
Korea’s entertainment industry also seems to have the
full support of its government. The Ministry of Science, ICT
and Future Planning and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and
Tourism announced in October that they plan to raise content
exports from USD 4.8 billion to 10 billion by 2017.
President Park Geun-hye said on Sept. 3, “Broadcast content
is the key to the ecosystem of a creative media industry,”
adding, “I hope to see a virtuous circle in which competitive
content gets its values recognized, investment is made and
more competitive content is created. […] I pledge my full
support to ease regulations and to develop the technologies.”
31
SUMMIT DIPLOMACY
2
1
Innovation, OpenNess,
Investment
President Park stresses creative industries, reducing barriers at APEC
P
resident Park Geun-hye spent early October in
Southeast Asia. She attended: the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) Meeting in Bali,
Indonesia, Oct. 6–8; the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) +3 Summit, the 16th Korea-ASEAN
Summit and the eighth East Asia Summit in Brunei, Oct. 8–10;
and paid a state visit to Indonesia, Oct. 10–12.
APEC Meetings
President Park was on the Indonesian island of Bali to
attend the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting from Oct. 6–8.
She delivered a keynote address entitled, “The Business of
32
Innovation: Why Does It Matter?” to the APEC CEO Summit
on Oct. 6. In it, she said she believes that a creative economy is
key to an innovative paradigm that can help bring economic
growth, not just to Korea, but to all nations, through mutual
opening and cooperation. To reach that goal, she stressed the
need to overcome the barriers of regulation, finance, education
and international borders.
This was the second time for the president to speak at a
global gathering about the importance of the creative economy.
The first was at the G-20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, in
September.
In the first session of the APEC Leaders’ Meeting, President
Park delivered a speech on “APEC’s Role in Strengthening the
Multilateral Trading System.” She said, “A free trade policy
is the most efficient and has the lowest cost. It can help with
economic revitalization and job creation and can improve
consumer welfare, all without having to shoulder a financial
burden.”
President Park stressed the importance of harmonizing
macroeconomic and monetary policies to bring about a global
economic recovery. She added that the mutual opening of
economies was important for recovery, citing Korea’s own
recovery from two financial crises. To promote free trade, she
emphasized a stronger multilateral trading system based on
World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements, a response to
protectionism and the coordination of regional integration.
Warning against protectionism, she urged APEC members to
move forward toward regional integration. “All countries need
to make an effort so that discussions on regional integration
can move forward in a transparent manner within APEC,” she
said. “This will help realize the goal of a multilateral free trade
area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP), one of the long-term goals of
APEC.”
In the meeting’s second session on Oct. 8, President Park
proposed boosting private infrastructure investment, voicing
support for the Indonesia-sponsored APEC Framework on
Connectivity and the APEC Multi-year Plan on Infrastructure
Development and Investment. Stressing the importance of
infrastructure, she said, “It takes large long-term investment
to build infrastructure. There is a limit to public finances. So
it is necessary to promote the private sector’s involvement in
infrastructure investment.”
She asked multilateral development banks like the World
Bank and the Asia Development Bank to cooperate in
removing barriers faced by private investment.
1. President Park delivers a keynote address during the APEC CEO Summit on Oct. 6.
2. President Park meets with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. 3. Participants at APEC Indonesia 2013 pose for a commemoration photo.
3
33
SUMMIT DIPLOMACY
Southeast Asian
Diplomacy
Korea boosts ties with Southeast Asia and Oceania during presidential visits
to Brunei, Indonesia
U
pon the conclusion of the APEC
Leaders’ Meeting, President Park Geunhye traveled to Brunei to attend the
ASEAN +3 Summit, the 16th Korea-ASEAN
Summit and the eighth East Asia Summit. On Oct.
9, she held bilateral summits with the leaders of
Brunei, Singapore, Australia and Myanmar and
discussed matters of mutual interest.
At the East Asia Summit (EAS) on Oct. 10,
President Park discussed climate change, disaster
control, food and energy security and cooperation
among East Asian countries. She backed the
Brunei-sponsored declaration of the 8th East Asia
Summit on Food Security, and emphasized the need
to jointly respond to natural disasters, especially
in the face of climate change. As an example of
such efforts, she cited the ASEAN Regional Forum
Disaster Relief Exercise, a joint disaster rescue drill
2
1. President Park and
Indonesian President
Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono hold extended
summit talks in Jakarta,
Oct. 12.
2. President Park meets
with Sultan Hassanal
Bolkiah of Brunei at Brunei
International Convention
Center, Oct. 9.
3. President Park shakes
hands with Australian
Prime Minister Tony
Abbott in Brunei on Oct. 9.
3
held by Korea and Thailand in May.
Also on Oct 10, President Park attended the
ASEAN+3 Summit, where she praised the progress
ASEAN has made in member cooperation,
including the launch of the Chiang Mai Initiative,
the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office and
the ASEAN+3 Emergency Rice Reserve. She also
welcomed the scheduled 2020 launch of the East
Asian Community. To boost physical, institutional
and people-to-people links within ASEAN,
she expressed interest in building an East Asia
single window trade facilitation system to create
communication channels between universities
across the region.
Participating leaders at the ASEAN+3 Summit,
meanwhile, welcomed President Park’s Northeast
Asian peace initiative.
Summit with Indonesian
President Yudhoyono
1
34
After the ASEAN +3 Summit, President Park flew
to Indonesia for a state visit from Oct. 10–12,
highlighted by a bilateral summit with Indonesian
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta.
In their talks, the two leaders agreed to conclude
a comprehensive economic partnership agreement
(CEPA), a form of free trade pact, by year’s end.
President Park said, “A Korea-Indonesia
comprehensive economic partnership agreement
will contribute to achieving the trade volume goal [of
boosting trade from USD 30 billion last year to USD
100 billion by 2020] and institutionalize economic
cooperation between the two countries. We agreed
to conclude negotiations by year’s end.”
Bilateral trade has doubled since 2007 and
Indonesia is Korea’s largest target for investment in
Southeast Asia. In particular, both countries have
grown closer through defense industry projects and
both leaders agreed to expand this cooperation.
“President Yudhoyono and I agreed to cooperate
closely to expand South Korean companies'
participation in new defense industry projects while
ensuring that existing defense cooperation projects,
such as the export of Korean-made advanced trainer
jets and submarines, move forward smoothly,”
President Park said.
35
POLICY REVIEW
Less Thorns, More Talk
Government moves to ease regulations and promote communication
Written by shin yesol
T
he Prime Minister’s Office of Korea is pushing
a series of measures to allow businesses and
individuals to more easily find and make use of
administrative services through regulatory reform.
The actions are part of a larger effort to promote public
awareness of government efforts to reform regulations and
implement the Park Geun-hye administration’s “Government
3.0 Paradigm.”
As a start, Seoul has begun publishing a collection of
regulatory reforms to benefit the public, entitled, “Regulatory
Reform Talk Talk.” The first volume, “Removing the Thorns
and Growing Hope,” looks at 43 examples from 23 government
ministries and departments. Divided into two parts, “Economic
Revival” and “Public Happiness and Cultural Enrichment,” the
36
welcomed by animators, especially at a time when animated
content is taking off within the Korean entertainment industry.
Likewise, regulations used to prevent factories from building
temporary warehouses to store their raw materials. Companies
resorted to covering raw materials with canvas, meaning that
the materials frequently got wet in the rain or snow. Many
others built structures with panel roofs, fully knowing that it
was illegal. Now, factory owners can build warehouses with
walls and roofs made of plastic and other synthetic resins.
Regulatory reform has also impacted hiring. Prior to July
2013, Korean companies had to keep the percentage of foreign
staff to under 20 percent of their workforce, though hightech companies and certain blue-chip exporters were allowed
to hire up to half. This proved burdensome for small and
medium-size exporters. A staff of 10 meant a company could
hire at most two foreigners. That limit no longer applies to
small and medium-size companies if they can show that they
need specialized foreign staff.
To see these regulations in action, consider the example of
Kim Dae-yeol, a medicinal herb and fruit grower in the East
Sea coastal town of Gangneung. The Korea Forest Service
operates a program to help small-scale herbal producers
who lack a sales network. The program also allows smallscale producers to share information. Unfortunately for Kim,
the rules said an applicant had to be under the age of 50 to
join. Earlier this year, however, the age limit was raised to
55, and Kim was allowed to join the program. In addition to
financial support, he also benefits from cultivation know-how,
distribution information and even training programs.
Regulatory reform is also making Korea safer. Lee Jae-jun, an
office worker in the southern Seoul suburb of Seongnam, was
recently the victim of a phishing scam that resulted in a phone
bill of about USD 250,000. This was because regulations did
not require that a user approve a cell phone payment before
it was made. In September, however, the government revised
regulations so that users first need to approve payments before
they are made.
Regulatory Control Tower Created
In September, the Joint Regulatory Reform Bureau was opened
as a regulatory control tower linking the government with the
Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Korea
Federation of Small and Medium Businesses. The goal of the
bureau is to remove regulatory factors that cause inconvenience
and hence resolve difficulties for investment expansion and job
creation.
This and the government promotion effort are part of a
larger campaign launched in May, to “pull thorns from beneath
fingernails,” to boost economic activity among small and
medium-size businesses. The government says bad regulations
must be removed so that smaller businesses can grow and that
social underdogs can make it. So far, 1,133 such “thorns” have
been identified; more than 200 have been corrected through
regulatory reform. According to the Bank of Korea, if 10
percent of government regulations are relaxed, it would boost
productivity by 0.3 percent.
book uses illustrations and storytelling so that companies and
individuals can make better use of it.
Rationalizing Regulations
The regulatory reform efforts cover a wide range of areas. In the
economic sector, many of the blind spots that had previously
plagued Korea’s regulatory system have been corrected,
creating opportunities for previously overlooked groups.
For instance, cartoonists and animators had been left out of
the government’s investment recognition project for start-ups
as both investment amount and project returns in this sector
were low. As a result, animators had a tough time finding
investment regardless of whether or not they had a good
idea. The inclusion of animation into the program has been
1. Gripin CEO Yun Jeong-jin.
Yun’s one-man company
manufactures mobile phone
accessories. Recently reformed
regulations expanded
eligibility for benefits for oneman creative companies from
22 industries to 28, including
accessories. © Gripin
2. Seo Jeong-cheol of office
furniture manufacturer KOAS.
Changes in Public Procurement
Service regulations now
exempt from separate quality
screenings companies with
certified internal quality
control systems such as KOAS.
© Kim Hyeon-dong,
JoongAng Ilbo Sisa Media
1
2
37
CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY
Expanding Offshore
Wind Turbines
Korea goes to the seas in search of energy and
minerals
Written by Sohn Tae-soo
1
A
s part of the Korean government’s plans to
promote cutting-edge technology to reap
economic gains, the nation is researching
power generation offshore and exploring deep-sea
resources.
The state-run Korea Institute of Energy Research
(KIER) has expanded offshore wind power generation
off the coast of Jejudo. It has also begun operation of
a power-generating turbine by using osmotic pressure
from salt water. Most recently, the government also
tested the maneuverability of its first deep-sea mining
robot after decades of research.
The national project of offshore wind power
generation has moved a step forward through the
construction of a 2-megawatt offshore wind turbine, the
first of its kind in the nation. The Jeju Global Research
Center (JGRC), an affiliate of KIER, is in charge of the
project.
Approximately 1.5 kilometers from the Jejudo shore,
Wind farm on southern island of Jejudo.
38
2
1. MineRo, a Korean-built deep sea mining robot, enters the water for a maneuverability test.
2. Korean Institute of Ocean Science and Technology researchers pose for a photo after the successful testing of the MineRo. © Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology
the wind turbine stands 70 meters above sea level and has three
blades with a rotor diameter of 72 meters.
Offshore wind power can make use of favorable wind
speeds, and unlike land-based wind farms, they face little
opposition from local residents.
The institute will also build a 10-gigawatt “floating” offshore
wind turbine complex by 2030 in close collaboration with the
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. When
the complex is completed, wind power is expected to reduce
the emission of 380 tons of carbon dioxide annually.
The JGRC has been focusing on generating electricity
through the use of osmotic pressure produced between fresh
water (with low salinity) and salt water (high salinity).
When researchers establish a thin layer of semi-permeable
material, the “membrane”, between fresh water and salt water,
water (as a chemical solvent) moves from the former to the
latter and naturally produces pressure tantamount to the power
of water falling directly from a height of 240 meters.
Researchers say that because seawater is unlimited, the
potential to generate electricity from it is enormous, adding
that it is eco-friendly and requires no fossil fuels.
The JGRC is focusing on building a power plant that can
utilize differences in salinity as an effective energy-saving
system. If successful, this will be one of the most promising
next-generation methods of power generation for a power-
addicted nation. Korea suffered three blackouts last year due to
low power reserves.
Deep-sea Mining Robot Tested
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries has conducted the
country’s first test of a deep-sea mining robot, which experts
say could enable the mining of resources in the Pacific Ocean
worth billions of dollars.
In July this year, the Korean-built robot MineRo finished
a maneuverability test at a depth of 1,370 meters in waters
130 kilometers off Pohang, a port city along the nation’s
southeastern coast. The 25-ton MineRo, whose name is a
compound of “mineral” and “robot,” weighs just nine tons
when underwater.
With the test, the nation has obtained key domestic
technology for submarine navigation and for the exploration of
manganese ore in deep waters.
By 2015 the government will also develop cutting-edge
technologies required for extracting and refining metals,
according to ministry officials.
In 2002, Korea acquired exclusive rights to explore a
maritime zone in the Pacific Ocean some 2,000 kilometers
southeast of Hawaii. Known as the Clarion-Clipperton zone,
the area reportedly stores an estimated 560 million tons of
manganese ore deposits valued at US$370 billion.
39
GLOBAL KOREA
raising consciousness about volunteer work, they are greatly
helping to spread a volunteer culture, and we're grateful to
them for that. It feels great each time I see students who wanted
to do volunteer work but didn't have the chance, building good
memories, broadening their experience, changing their ways of
thinking and developing new dreams for the future,” she says.
Corporate support
1
BUILDING HOUSES OF HOPE
Habitat for Human Korea teams up with corporate giants for global projects
Written by ben jackson
A
s the scope and variety of Korea’s official
development assistance increase, the
country's nonprofit organizations and
private sector are also doing their part to share
their resources and expertise abroad. Over the
last 10 years, collaborations among NGOs, major
conglomerates and young volunteers have begun
producing results both at home and overseas.
Among the various programs, efforts to provide
housing for those in need have been particularly
successful.
Multilateral partnerships
Habitat for Humanity Korea (HFHK) is at the
forefront of efforts to provide proper shelter to
40
families in Korea and abroad. Dedicated to making
adequate, affordable shelter as well as eliminating
substandard housing and homelessness, the
organization was incorporated in 1995 and has
provided essential help to more than 3,000 families
in Korea and 7,000 abroad with help from sponsors
and volunteers.
“We are supported by many organizations
including the Korea Housing Guarantee, POSCO,
Kookmin Bank and Binggrae,” says Shin Ye-eun,
Public Relations and Communications Manager at
the HFHK.
Shin is particularly appreciative of corporations
sponsoring youth volunteer programs. “By
providing large-scale support and systematically
Steelmaker POSCO, one of Korea's largest conglomerates, has
run “Beyond—POSCO Global Youth Volunteers” since 2007.
Its overseas volunteer work in conjunction with the HFHK
has been conducted in countries generally considered strategic
partners by POSCO, such as Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.
Earlier this year, the company sent a team of around 100
student volunteers to the Indian village of Bawana, northwest
of New Delhi, for a house-building project that marked its sixth
year. The volunteers took part in all stages of construction,
from preparing foundations to painting walls. This year’s 12day project was of significance because it was in Bawana that
Beyond volunteers built their first homes in 2008.
Kia Motors runs the Happy Move Global Youth Volunteer
Corps, another major youth volunteer program that sends
around 1,000 college students to developing countries during
university vacations. Previous projects have included rebuilding
a village in China’s Sichuan Province after the devastating 2008
earthquake and other projects in Brazil, the Czech Republic,
Turkey and Malawi. Now in its 11th year, the program sent
teams to China, India, Malaysia and Indonesia this summer.
Building a new future
These projects are more than just about bricks and mortar;
they have had a profound effect on the lives of those involved.
“If there’s one thing we’re even more proud of than the homes
we’ve built around the world, it's the change we’ve brought
about in people,” says Shin. “What makes us most proud is
when we hear the stories of families whose parents find new
motivation in life when they move into a newly built house
and start harboring new hope for the future as their children
start to perform better at school and find emotional stability
over the years, and the stories of volunteers who get teary-eyed
as they tell us that they started out wanting to help others but
ended up gaining more for themselves.”
The HFHK is looking to help more child-led households,
senior citizens living alone, multicultural families and singleparent households in Korea, as well as expand the country's
role in providing housing assistance to developing countries
and areas hit by natural disasters. Shin says, “Habitat is about
building houses of hope that transform the lives of all those
involved.”
1, 3. Volunteers with
POSCO’s Beyond program
in India © Habitat for
Humanity Korea
2. Kia Motors’ Happy
Move Global Youth
Volunteer Corps in China
© Habitat for Humanity
Korea
2
3
41
G R E AT K O R E A N
H
Yi I
ave you ever wondered about the
faces that grace Korean currency?
You’ve probably peered at the face
of Yi I on the KRW 5,000 bill several times
without realizing who he was or what he did.
Also known by his pen name of “Yulgok,”
Yi is often remembered as one of the most
prominent Confucian scholars of the Joseon
Dynasty, responsible for modernizing
traditional Confucian thought, turning it into
practical policies that streamlined the central
and provincial governments.
Leading Confucian scholar and statesman
worked to modernize Confucian thought
Written by Felix Im
Born to Be a Scholar
1
42
Born to a government official father and an
accomplished calligraphist mother, Yi was a
highly gifted scholar from an early age. He
was known to have started writing poetry and
literary works at age 8, at which point he had
learned the basics of the Confucian classics.
He passed his first civil service exam at 13
with the intent of starting a career as a civil
administrator. With the sudden death of his
mother when he was 16, however, he secluded
himself in the mountains next to her grave
for three years under a common practice of
the times called simyo to honor the death of a
parent. He studied Buddhism all the while.
At 20, after composing a detailed work of
personal self-reflection, he returned to normal
life, continued his Confucian studies, and got
married at 22.
Clearly, Yi’s time spent away from society had
no detrimental effect on his scholarly abilities,
which he proved by passing all of his civil
service exams (conducted in several stages)
with top honors nine consecutive times. Over
this period, he composed the highly praised
thesis, Cheondochaek, “Book on the Way to
Heaven,” on Confucian philosophy’s relation to
politics. This was eventually considered a great
literary work by later Confucian scholars.
Trusted by Royalty
Upon entering the government sector, Yi went to
work as an administrator checking and balancing
King Seonjo’s executive decisions. After serving as
a document official for China’s Ming Dynasty, he
began to write and edit royal historical documents,
including the prominent Myeongjong Annals.
Yi eventually held many offices and continually
wrote treatises on royal policy and the application of
Confucian ideals to practical politics. He presented
these documents to the royal court as administrative
guides. One of his most widely known works is the
Dongho Mundap, which described Yi’s thoughts
on an ideal and righteous government. His wide
range of political experience gave him expertise in a
number of administrative areas and earned him the
trust of the king, whose court called on him several
times for his services.
Internal Disagreement
The royal court, however, was a tumultuous arena
with a complex structure and unpredictable politics.
On numerous occasions, internal political conflict
prompted Yi to leave his official duties and flee to
the countryside and resume his scholarly interests.
During these times, he reflected on and developed
his personal philosophy while constantly writing.
Always thinking of the welfare and wisdom of
future generations, he also wrote works on the
education of his disciples and successors. After
an erratic period of leaving office and then being
recalled to duty by the royal court, he left his final
post as coordinator of national security and military
operations in 1583. He died the following year in
Seoul at age 48.
Part of the controversy that surrounded Yi and
his ideals stemmed from his long-held conviction
of building a proper continental army to defend
against foreign invasion, something that many
officials considered unlikely at the time. Yi, however,
was convinced that the Japanese were an imminent
threat, and was vindictated when the Imjin War
erupted in 1592 soon after his death.
Yi in Daily Life
In addition to his face being on the KRW 5,000
note, Yi has also been commemorated in modern
times. Yulgok-ro is a street in central Seoul named
after his pseudonym Yulgok. The Yulgok Project,
which sought to modernize the South Korean
Military, was also named after Yi due to his keen
sense of national security and defense.
2
1. Portrait of Yi I
2. Yi’s childhood home of
Ojukheon in Gangneung,
Gangwon-do
43
M Y
K O R E A
A
Autumn Colors
When the skies turn blue and the hillsides crimson, Korea is at its best
Written by Curtis File
Illustrated by kim yoon-myong
44
ny expat that has lived in Korea
for more than a month has
undoubtedly been treated to one
or more short lectures on the country’s
four distinct seasons. Along with Korean
food, the weather and seasons are favored
topics for taxi and water cooler small talk,
especially among the older generation.
Though seemingly an odd point of pride
at first, it begins to make sense when
considering the degree to which Korean
culture revolves around the seasons.
Recreation, cuisine and holidays are all
related to seasonal change. While every time
of the year brings new activities to explore,
there is perhaps no better time to see the
country than in fall.
The crisp autumn air is refreshment from
the hellish humidity of the summer monsoon
months. I first arrived in Korea just as fall was
beginning. In a matter of a few weeks, I was
invited to my first real autumn experience
in Korea: a hike up Mt. Dobongsan on the
outskirts of northern Seoul for a day of
viewing danpung, or the changing of the
leaves. It was in that season that I found my
love for Korea’s natural beauty.
Though I heard that Korea had a strong
hiking community and had imagined that
the mountain trails would attract a healthy
handful of outdoor enthusiasts, I wasn’t quite
prepared for the crowds that flocked to the
tiny town that day. Hoards of people filled the
restaurant stalls at the base of the mountain
serving every manner of Korean specialties,
from salted fish to steamed silkworm larvae.
It wasn’t just the crowds I wasn’t prepared for
though.
Coming from the Canadian countryside,
I am used to colorful falls and beautiful
scenery, but I still could not have imagined
the view on the hike up those rocks. The
entire mountain face was covered in vibrant
red, orange and yellow hues that rolled out
over the hills into the distance. From the
peak, I could see where small farms tucked
into valleys met the edge of the city. It is still
among the most beautiful views of Korea I
can remember.
Outdoor Community
Equally surprising was the spirit of the
outdoor community. Hiking may be an allages activity, but in Korea, the rule seems
to be the older, the better. While I was redfaced and gasping for air, more than one
couple past their 70s flew by me without
breaking a sweat. The fall spirit of love and
generosity was alive and well. One couple
even pulled me aside to share barbecue duck
and makgeolli, or Korean rice beer, near the
peak. In no time at all, I had fallen in love
with Korea’s autumn nature and was looking
to explore more areas of the country.
That same year, I took a cruise on
Chungjuho Lake in Chungcheongbuk-do.
Though the hills were much smaller, the
scenery was no less impressive. The crowd on
the two-hour cruise was much smaller and
quieter, consisting of a few expat teachers
and Korean families. The ride from the city
of Chungju to Danyang passes through small
valleys and islets, some vacant, some settled
with cozy farmhouses. Unlike the mountains
in Seoul that inevitably meet the concrete
of the city, the autumn in Chungju seems
to have no limit. The red and orange foliage
seems to stretch out in all directions, making
it a perfect getaway for city dwellers in need
of a break from traffic and neon lights or
casual tourists looking to see a different side
of the peninsula.
45
MULTICULTURAL KOREA
O
ver the years, countless people have landed on
Korean shores to work or play. Some stay a short
while, others never leave, and some become Korean
citizens. Russian native and Korean football club Busan IPark
goalkeeper coach originally came for work but ended up
taking an oath to the Korean motherland.
Like all who did so before him, Sarychev was obliged to
choose a Korean name after getting his Korean citizenship in
2000. Yet the man who rose to national stardom in the 1990s
by defending the goal for several championship teams in Korea
had his official name chosen for him by his fans.
Not long after he first suited up, Koreans recognized that
Sarychev's talent for keeping the ball out of the net was, well,
divine. Thus he was soon dubbed Shin Eui-son, which means
“hand of God” in English.
“It wasn’t what I picked, I saw it on TV one day next to my
Russian name,” he recalls. “All the fans called me ‘Shin Eui-son,
Shin Eui-son.’ When I applied for citizenship later, the head
coach said, ‘This name’s very good for you.’” And so it stuck.
Starting a trend
The Hand of God
Russian-born goalkeeper coach Valeri Sarychev
adds multicultural touch to Korean soccer
Written by Bobby McGill
Photographed by Peter DeMarco
46
Born and raised in Tajikistan, the 53-year-old Sarychev was a
standout right out of high school, playing professionally at age
18 for his hometown team and then for the Soviet pro team
CSKA Moscow.
It wasn’t until 1992 that Sarychev, along with his wife and two
children, came to Korea to play for the Seoul-based club Ilhwa
Chunma. It was an unusual move for a Korean team to hire
a foreign keeper, as most clubs with foreign talent generally
choose strikers or midfielders to lead them down the field.
The gamble paid off. In Sarychev’s first year, Ilhwa took
second in the K-League Cup before going on to win three
consecutive league titles. Coaches around the league took
notice. “Other teams started thinking, ‘What is Ilhwa doing,
they’re winning everything in Korea. Maybe it’s better to buy
one goalkeeper and win everything,” says Sarychev. “In 1996,
almost every club bought a foreign goalkeeper.”
The trend alarmed Korean soccer’s governing body, which
feared an inability to develop Korean goalies for international
play. “For the Korean soccer federation, this was a headache
because if you hire a foreign goalkeeper, who will play for the
Korean national team? This was a big problem,” Sarychev says.
To tackle the situation, the league implemented a strict policy
designed to phase out foreign goalkeepers.
“They made a rule especially for foreign goalkeepers,”
Sarychev says. “In 1996, foreign goalkeepers could only play in
70 percent of the games. In 1997, it was 50 percent and in 1998,
we could play no more than ten games.”
Becoming a Korean national
This didn’t bode well for Sarychev, who had yet to receive
Korean citizenship and whose life here depended on having a
job.
In 1999, the LG Cheetahs (now FC Seoul) asked him to
coach the team’s goalkeepers. That decision would have a
profound effect on Sarychev’s future.
“After a year coaching, the LG (head) coach asked me, ‘How
would you like to play goalkeeper? Maybe you want to play
again?’” Sarychev says. “I asked him how, and he said I should
take Korean citizenship. I thought he was joking.”
The coach wasn’t. So in 2000, after cramming for the test
under the tutelage of LG-appointed instructors, Sarychev
officially became Shin Eui-son, a naturalized Korean citizen.
With that technicality out of the way, he took to the field as the
team’s goalie and lead them to the championship his first year
in front of the net.
He retired four years later, and after stints coaching teams
including Goyang Daekyo Women’s FC and the national
under-20 team, he settled in Gimhae, just outside of Busan, not
far from IPark’s training facility.
As for his future in Korea, it’s day by day for God’s hand. “I
wake up today, I think about tomorrow, I wake up tomorrow, I
think about the next day. That’s my life.”
47
Tales From Korea
An Upright man
According to the Samguksagi, written in 1145, King
Hyeokgeose ruled for 60 years from 57 BCE to 4 CE. Go Ungi, a professor of Korean studies at Yonsei Unversity in Seoul,
says few historical documents about King Hyeokgeose’s reign
remain but a few notable passages in the Samguksagi mention
his work and show his character.
In the 30th year of his reign, he defeated troops from nearby
Nangnang. An anecdote says that after observing that the
Nangnang forces did not lock their doors at night, he told his
men, “Those people don’t steal from each other, which means
the country is a country of morality.” This shows that he was a
big enough man to respect even his enemy.
Also during his reign, the king of the nearby region of
Mahan died, and one of King Hyeokgeose’s officials suggested
the invasion of Mahan. But according to one passage, King
Hyeokgeose said, “To take other’s misfortunes as our fortune is
not a wise move,” indicating his upright nature.
The Silla founder died at age 72 and his funeral was held
around the present-day stream of Namcheon in Gyeongju.
Silla remembered
Pak Hyeokgeose
the founder of the Silla kingdom was respected and
courageous
Written by Kim Hyung-eun
Illustrated by Shim Soo-keun
H
e became king when he was 12 years old. He was
a compassionate and wise ruler who founded one
of the strongest, wealthiest and most flamboyant
kingdoms in the history of the Korean Peninsula.
Pak Hyeokgeose (69 BCE–4 CE), known as King
Hyeokgeose, founded the Silla Kingdom (57 BCE–935 CE),
one of the three kingdoms during the Three Kingdoms era (57
BCE–668 CE) that later unified the peninsula.
48
Besides the unification of the three kingdoms, the Silla era is
well-known for its artistic achievement and cultural freedom as
well as for the flourishing of Buddhism and broad international
ties. This is why when Koreans think of Silla, sumptuous gold
accessories, explicitly portrayed clay dolls, precious Buddhist
temples, pagodas and artwork are the first things that pop into
their heads.
The year 2013 marks the 2,070th anniversary of Silla’s
foundation, so KOREA takes a look at the life and achievements
of King Hyeokgeose and at the kingdom he founded.
Born in a large egg
Before Silla was established, people in Gyeongju, which later
became the Silla capital, had no king. They lived scattered
across six villages, each with its own chief. One day, they
concluded in a meeting that with no king or kingdom, running
the villages would be hard.
As they sought a virtuous man to serve as king, they saw a
light near a well. A white horse was bowing there. When the
village chiefs ran toward it, the horse ascended to the skies and
a large egg appeared where the horse had been bowing. The
egg broke when they touched it, and a young boy was hatched.
The village chiefs considered this a sign and named the
boy Pak Hyeokgeose; bak after egg and hyeokgeose meaning,
“someone who will rule the world with bright light.” They
raised him to be king.
Some two millenia later, the culture of Pak’s kingdom is now
captivating a global audience.
New York will be offered a glimpse into the kingdom of Silla
this fall in an exhibition hosted by the Metropolitan Museum
of Art. Titled “Silla: Korea’s Golden Kingdom,” the event
will feature some 100 Silla relics from Nov. 4 to Feb. 23. The
Met will be the first Western museum to have an exhibition
exclusively of Silla works.
Thomas P. Campbell, director and CEO of the Met, said the
show is expected to be one of the most significant
displays of Korean art at the Met in more
than 40 years. He added that it will
transform the public perception of
Korean culture and also place
the works of Silla on par with
the world’s greatest artistic
achievements.
49
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Autumn colors at Baegyangsa Temple, Jangseong © KTO
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F
la
v
o
r
C
ultures can differ in the way they prepare for winter. For Koreans, one of their earliest
winter preparations takes place during gimjang, the season for making large quantities
of the country’s best known food, kimchi. Kimchi is a necessity in almost all Korean
meals, so making large enough quantities of this spicy red fermented cabbage dish to last
through the coldest months of the year is one of the year’s most important seasonal rituals.
Gimjang usually starts in mid-November and ends in early December, depending on the
weather.
Kimchi boasts dozens of varieties ranging from radish to cucumber, but cabbage
kimchi is the most common. A family of four usually uses 20 to 30 heads of napa
cabbage for gimjang kimchi, but grandmothers in the countryside need far more since
they like to make kimchi for their children who live in the city. The traditional way to
store kimchi is in earthenware jars buried in the ground, up to the jars’ neck to prevent
freezing. Nowadays, however, most people use kimchi refrigerators at home, even in the
countryside.
Don't Eat Cold Foods
There is a great temperature difference between day and night in autumn in
Korea. Mingming seems to have a cold. Let's learn some Korean expressions
at a hospital.
01
02
어떻게 오셨습니까?
eotteoke osyeotseumnikka?
ne, mogi apeugo gichimi nayo.
My neck hurts and I'm coughing.
What's the problem?
04
03
열이 심하진 않아요.
목감기입니다.
찬 음식을 먹지 마세요.
약은 언제 먹어요?
yageun eonje meogeoyo?
When should I take medicine?
yeori simhajin anayo.
mokgamgiimnida.
chan eumsigeul meokji maseyo.
It's not a fever, it's a sore throat.
Don't eat cold foods.
네, 목이 아프고 기침이 나요.
05
밥을 먹은 후에 약을 드세요.*
babeul meogeun hue yageul deuseyo.
-지 말다
Take it after you eat.
This is used with an action verb stem
indicating
not to do something.
* ‘들다’ is an honorific form of ‘먹다’
-(으)ㄴ 후에
This is used with an action verb stem and indicates ending
of the action in the first clause and the subsequent result in
the second clause. Verb stems ending in a vowel take ‘-ㄴ
후에’, and
verb stems ending in a consonant take ‘-은 후에’.
Let’s
practice!
Try to give advice
to your friend
as shown in the
example below.
×
찬 음식을 먹다
chan eumsigeul meokda
To eat cold foods.
눈을 비비다
nuneul bibida
Gimjang
Written by Yim Seung-hye
Photograph courtesy of the Korean Food Institute, Sookmyung Women's University
50
To rub eyes
허리를 구부리다
heorireul guburida
To bend down
×
×
찬 음식을 먹지 마세요.
chan eumsigeul meokji maseyo.