Sorry readers, Part II of the Suicide in Korea series was due to be posted today, but somehow the post came out with 2/3 of the contents cut off, disappeared to the Internet netherworld. It will be a little bit before the Korean get reconstruct the entire post. Damn.
Sunday, 25 September 2011
Here are all the AAK! posts nominated by the readers for the five year anniversary extravaganza:
If you are a relatively new reader to the blog, you could use this as a guide for exploring older posts that other people liked. As always, thank you for reading!
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
- Korea-Japan Relation Saga, Part III – WWII (Feb. 23, 2007)The Korean is very happy to see that there was not too much over-representation of the more recent posts. Thank you all for the nominations. The voting is open until the 11:59 p.m. (EST) of October 20, 2011.
- Open Letter to Non-Asian People (Aug. 22, 2007)
- Korean Language Lessons - Particle I (Classificational Particles) (Nov. 26, 2007)
- The Ultimate Korean Looks List – How to Pick Koreans from Other Asians Just by Looking at Them (Sept. 8, 2008)
- How Dare You Call Me by My Name! (Nov. 11, 2008)
- Lesson in Cultural Gap through an Exercise of Translation (Dec. 9, 2008)
- Fan Death is Real (Jan. 7, 2009)
- Protests in Korea (May 15, 2009)
- Dog – It’s What’s for Dinner (Aug. 30, 2009)
- 2PM, Jaebeom, and Korea's Internet Culture (Dec. 4, 2009)
- The Korean's English Acquisition, and the Best Method to Master a Foreign Language, Guaranteed (Jan. 14, 2010)
- Why is StarCraft Popular in Korea? (Feb. 19, 2010)
- How to Hold Jesa (Sept. 19, 2010)
- Still More about Korean Names! (Oct. 26, 2010)
- Confucianism and Korea - Part II: What is Confucianism? (Jan. 6, 2011)
- Ask a Korean! News: North Korean Riot in 1998 (Jan. 26, 2011)
- God Loves Tiger Moms (Mar. 1, 2011)
- A Retrospective on Identity: State of a Gyopo at Age 30 (Mar. 18, 2011)
- Why You Should Never Listen to Asian American "Writers" of Angst (May 9, 2011)
- Another Person's Room (Aug. 11, 2011)
- Language Split Personalities? (Sept. 13, 2011)
If you are a relatively new reader to the blog, you could use this as a guide for exploring older posts that other people liked. As always, thank you for reading!
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Friday, 23 September 2011
[Series Index]
25. Panic [패닉]
Years of Activity: 1995-present? (Last regular album in 2005, currently performing individually.)
Members:
Lee Juck [이적] - Vocal
Kim Jin-Pyo [김진표] - Rap
Discography:
Panic 1 [패닉 1] (1995)
Beneath [밑] (1996)
Sea Within (1998)
Panic 04 (2005)
Representative Song: Lefty [왼손잡이], from Panic 1.
Translation note: The lyrics are so elegant and intuitive in Korean, and ugly and clunky in English. The Korean simply failed to translate 모른 척 and 그런 눈으로 욕하지마 in an elegant way. Suggestions are welcome.
In 15 words or less: Gifted musician and skilled rapper, united through a rebellious spirit.
Maybe they should be ranked higher because... Korean culture now commonly uses the word "Lefty" to describe "an eccentric" (with a positive connotation.) That's influence.
Maybe they should be ranked lower because... Can we really say Panic truly broke any new ground in terms of music?
Why is this group important?
The Korean is certain that when the entire history of K-pop is examined, mid-1990s will prove to be a very important inflection point. Critics often characterize the songs of this period as songs laden with social criticism. That description is not entirely accurate -- Kim Min-Gi's A Little Pond, for example, was as socially critical in 1971 as any of the songs of the mid-1990s. The difference between the protest songs of the 1970s and 1980s and the rebellious songs of the 1990s is the latter's overt cynicism. While the protest songs euphemistically sang for hope and brighter future, the 1990s songs bared their teeth and snidely mocked the world.
Panic, debuted in 1995, would be one of the main producers of such songs. At their debut, the profile of Panic's membership was itself newsworthy -- Lee Juck was attending the prestigious Seoul National University, and Kim Jin-Pyo was a high school senior. Their first hit song was a soft rock that was not particularly special in terms of music. (You can listen to it here.) The rest of the first album was filled with lyrics dripping with rebelliousness expressed with slightly twisted cynicism, but relatively few people noticed at the time.
Ironically, people began noticing the true merit of Panic's first album as Panic, in their groundbreaking second album, pushed its rebelliousness toward Tim Burton-esque creepiness. The album jacket's design says it all:
Except for the title song that blatantly pandered to the public taste, Beneath stabbed at social issues with razor-sharp lyrics. Teachers engaging in corporal punishment were "dirty dense beasts." Overbearing mothers were met with threats of suicide. People wantonly kill a clown hanging by a thread, and the three sons of the dead clown take revenge by (among other things) cutting people open. It was, arguably, the farthest that any mainstream Korean band has ever gone to date.
The song Lefty received a renewed spotlight as Beneath was creating a sensation. Traditionally (as is the case in many parts of the world,) Koreans considered left-handedness a bad luck. Left-handed children were forced to learn to eat and write with their right hand. To that tradition that oppressed on the accident of birth, Lefty asked: "Just leave me alone, because I won't ruin anything." The word "lefty" became a symbol for the new generation of Koreans -- independent, skeptical of authority and diverse.
Interesting trivia 1: Lee Juck's real name is Lee Dong-Joon. He chose the stage name "Juck" from the Chinese character for a flute (笛).
Interesting trivia 2: Aside from his music career, Kim Jin-Pyo is also a professional race car driver. He is also the host for Korean version of the TV show Top Gear.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
25. Panic [패닉]
Years of Activity: 1995-present? (Last regular album in 2005, currently performing individually.)
Members:
Lee Juck [이적] - Vocal
Kim Jin-Pyo [김진표] - Rap
Discography:
Panic 1 [패닉 1] (1995)
Beneath [밑] (1996)
Sea Within (1998)
Panic 04 (2005)
Representative Song: Lefty [왼손잡이], from Panic 1.
왼손잡이
Lefty
나를 봐 내 작은 모습을
Look at me, this little me,
너는 언제든지 웃을 수 있니
Can you always laugh
너라도 날 보고 한번쯤
Just once, could you just
그냥 모른 척해 줄 순 없겠니
Pretend like I'm not here
하지만 때론 세상이 뒤집어진다고
But you say sometimes the world turns upside down
나같은 아이 한둘이 어지럽힌다고
And you say one or two kids like me mess it all up
모두 다 똑같은 손을 들어야 한다고
And you say everyone should raise the same hand
그런 눈으로 욕하지마
Don't chastise me with your eyes like that
난 아무것도 망치지 않아
I won't ruin anything
난 왼손잡이야
I'm a lefty
나나 나나나나나나나나 나나나나나나나
Nana- Nananananananana Nananananana
Lefty
나를 봐 내 작은 모습을
Look at me, this little me,
너는 언제든지 웃을 수 있니
Can you always laugh
너라도 날 보고 한번쯤
Just once, could you just
그냥 모른 척해 줄 순 없겠니
Pretend like I'm not here
하지만 때론 세상이 뒤집어진다고
But you say sometimes the world turns upside down
나같은 아이 한둘이 어지럽힌다고
And you say one or two kids like me mess it all up
모두 다 똑같은 손을 들어야 한다고
And you say everyone should raise the same hand
그런 눈으로 욕하지마
Don't chastise me with your eyes like that
난 아무것도 망치지 않아
I won't ruin anything
난 왼손잡이야
I'm a lefty
나나 나나나나나나나나 나나나나나나나
Nana- Nananananananana Nananananana
Translation note: The lyrics are so elegant and intuitive in Korean, and ugly and clunky in English. The Korean simply failed to translate 모른 척 and 그런 눈으로 욕하지마 in an elegant way. Suggestions are welcome.
In 15 words or less: Gifted musician and skilled rapper, united through a rebellious spirit.
Maybe they should be ranked higher because... Korean culture now commonly uses the word "Lefty" to describe "an eccentric" (with a positive connotation.) That's influence.
Maybe they should be ranked lower because... Can we really say Panic truly broke any new ground in terms of music?
Why is this group important?
The Korean is certain that when the entire history of K-pop is examined, mid-1990s will prove to be a very important inflection point. Critics often characterize the songs of this period as songs laden with social criticism. That description is not entirely accurate -- Kim Min-Gi's A Little Pond, for example, was as socially critical in 1971 as any of the songs of the mid-1990s. The difference between the protest songs of the 1970s and 1980s and the rebellious songs of the 1990s is the latter's overt cynicism. While the protest songs euphemistically sang for hope and brighter future, the 1990s songs bared their teeth and snidely mocked the world.
Panic, debuted in 1995, would be one of the main producers of such songs. At their debut, the profile of Panic's membership was itself newsworthy -- Lee Juck was attending the prestigious Seoul National University, and Kim Jin-Pyo was a high school senior. Their first hit song was a soft rock that was not particularly special in terms of music. (You can listen to it here.) The rest of the first album was filled with lyrics dripping with rebelliousness expressed with slightly twisted cynicism, but relatively few people noticed at the time.
Ironically, people began noticing the true merit of Panic's first album as Panic, in their groundbreaking second album, pushed its rebelliousness toward Tim Burton-esque creepiness. The album jacket's design says it all:
 |
| 밑 ["Beneath"], Panic's second album (source) |
The song Lefty received a renewed spotlight as Beneath was creating a sensation. Traditionally (as is the case in many parts of the world,) Koreans considered left-handedness a bad luck. Left-handed children were forced to learn to eat and write with their right hand. To that tradition that oppressed on the accident of birth, Lefty asked: "Just leave me alone, because I won't ruin anything." The word "lefty" became a symbol for the new generation of Koreans -- independent, skeptical of authority and diverse.
Interesting trivia 1: Lee Juck's real name is Lee Dong-Joon. He chose the stage name "Juck" from the Chinese character for a flute (笛).
Interesting trivia 2: Aside from his music career, Kim Jin-Pyo is also a professional race car driver. He is also the host for Korean version of the TV show Top Gear.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Thursday, 22 September 2011
Sometimes, the Korean forgets how strange he could appear in America.
My Korean Deli is a delightful story. Howe, an editor (at the time of the memoir) of the esteemed literary magazine The Paris Review, buys a convenience store in Brooklyn with his Korean American wife Gab. The memoir chronicles the many adventures of Howe in the course of running the deli as a (self-described) hilariously unqualified white-collar WASP. It is a nice setup that features two main personalities. On the side of Howe's life that involves esoteric mental work, there is Howe's boss George Plimpton -- a wealthy overgrown frat boy with his head in the clouds, cavorting in fabulous parties and supporting the arts. On the side that involves gritty manual labor, there is Howe's mother-in-law Kay -- no-nonsense immigrant with impossibly thick skin, working until she has a heart attack and coming back to work just a few weeks later.
Howe is a great story teller. If he could speak like he could write, you would love having a beer with him. His prose is smooth, at times maybe a little glib. With his deadpan and self-effacing sense of humor, the book frequently reduced the Korean to a collapsed pile of laughing rubble. Howe's eyes are keen for details, and are firmly fixated on people around him rather than himself. He selectively deploys humorous exaggerations that, if taken out of context, might be a wee bit offensive. (A reader of this blog emailed about how she was annoyed by Howe's description of kimchi -- how it "gives the breath that can kill mice in the walls".) The portrait of Kay -- tiny Korean grandmother taking a drag of smoke while wearing a sleeveless shirt that says "Costa Rica!" -- is not necessarily flattering.
But intents are what offends, not words. Howe does not offend because he clearly approaches his subjects with love and warmth. He goes through great lengths to describe just how out of his elements he was, and just how strange people around him seemed. In fact, if I took anything away from My Korean Deli, it was that despite well-meaning people's best efforts, Korean Americans (along with a lot of other New Yorkers) can appear really strange and incomprehensible. Howe handles this quite admirably; he is honest about his frustrations, but at no point does a reader feel that he lets his frustrations slip into a cold blooded hatred. When bad things happen to Kay or Dwayne -- a large, foul-mouthed and big-hearted black man who works at the deli -- one would get choked up along with Howe.
The appeal of My Korean Deli for Korean American readers, however, goes beyond its discussion of Korean Americana. Despite Howe's profuse description of the difference between him and Korean Americans around him, Howe is actually not that different from Korean Americans of his generation: generally in white-collar profession, little experience in the gritty parts of life, and unable to truly understand Korean Americans of our parents' generation even as we love them dearly. (After all, that is probably why Howe married his wife.) Often, the Korean found himself to be more affected by Howe's account of his life at the Paris Review -- as much as Howe has a vague sense that his work as a literary editor is somewhat BS, the Korean also has a vague sense that his work as a corporate lawyer is somewhat BS.
All in all, My Korean Deli is a fun read. The Korean recommends it.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Sunday, 18 September 2011
Dear readers,
The five year anniversary of Ask a Korean! is drawing close. The Korean is preparing a big five year anniversary special, and needs your help here.
Please nominate your favorite AAK! posts. You can nominate them in the comment section here. The Korean will take the nominations until the next Sunday, September 25. Then there will be a poll on the blog to pick the Top 10 Posts of AAK!, to be revealed at the five-year anniversary. (Single posts only -- if you liked a series, like Korea-Japan relations series or Confucianism series, please nominate your favorite post within that series.)
As always, thank you all for reading!
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
The five year anniversary of Ask a Korean! is drawing close. The Korean is preparing a big five year anniversary special, and needs your help here.
Please nominate your favorite AAK! posts. You can nominate them in the comment section here. The Korean will take the nominations until the next Sunday, September 25. Then there will be a poll on the blog to pick the Top 10 Posts of AAK!, to be revealed at the five-year anniversary. (Single posts only -- if you liked a series, like Korea-Japan relations series or Confucianism series, please nominate your favorite post within that series.)
As always, thank you all for reading!
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Thursday, 15 September 2011
Dear Korean,
When I first saw Korean written, I thought it looked very cool; sleek and modern, I guess. And then when I heard it spoken, it sounded very harsh to me. In addition to English, I speak Hebrew, and whenever I ask other Americans what they think of the sound, they often reply that it sounds like a mixture of Arabic, French, and sometimes Russian. I think this is a pretty fair assessment. But, like my sentiments with spoken Korean, most of the people rated Hebrew low on the "pleasing to the ear" scale.
As an over-generalization, many Americans, myself included, like the general sound of languages like French and Italian, and dislike the sound of languages like Chinese and German. To me personally, when it comes to English and Hebrew, I have virtually no opinion one way or the other. They both sound normal to me. I don't see a pattern in terms of country of origin informing language preference, and so I was wondering what the Korean's perspective on this was. Surely, Koreans must find certain languages pleasing to the ear and others not, right? What does the "average Korean" think of some of the languages out there.
Sort of a weird question, but it was something I am always interested to find out.
Mr. Inaudible
As to the Korean himself, he has no particular feeling toward how Korean or American English sounds. Japanese, European Spanish, Italian and Cantonese sound quite pleasant, while Mandarin Chinese, Caribbean/South American Spanish, Hindi and German are little tough on the ear. The Korean's absolute favorite "language sound" is probably South African English, spoken with Xhosa accent.
The Korean is not certain if "pleasing to the ear" thing depends on the nationality, but why not ask around? Readers, have your say. What is your nationality, and what languages do you like/dislike to hear?
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
When I first saw Korean written, I thought it looked very cool; sleek and modern, I guess. And then when I heard it spoken, it sounded very harsh to me. In addition to English, I speak Hebrew, and whenever I ask other Americans what they think of the sound, they often reply that it sounds like a mixture of Arabic, French, and sometimes Russian. I think this is a pretty fair assessment. But, like my sentiments with spoken Korean, most of the people rated Hebrew low on the "pleasing to the ear" scale.
As an over-generalization, many Americans, myself included, like the general sound of languages like French and Italian, and dislike the sound of languages like Chinese and German. To me personally, when it comes to English and Hebrew, I have virtually no opinion one way or the other. They both sound normal to me. I don't see a pattern in terms of country of origin informing language preference, and so I was wondering what the Korean's perspective on this was. Surely, Koreans must find certain languages pleasing to the ear and others not, right? What does the "average Korean" think of some of the languages out there.
Sort of a weird question, but it was something I am always interested to find out.
Mr. Inaudible
As to the Korean himself, he has no particular feeling toward how Korean or American English sounds. Japanese, European Spanish, Italian and Cantonese sound quite pleasant, while Mandarin Chinese, Caribbean/South American Spanish, Hindi and German are little tough on the ear. The Korean's absolute favorite "language sound" is probably South African English, spoken with Xhosa accent.
The Korean is not certain if "pleasing to the ear" thing depends on the nationality, but why not ask around? Readers, have your say. What is your nationality, and what languages do you like/dislike to hear?
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
[Series Index]
Dear Korean,
I have a BIG question, what is the deep dark secret of South Korea?
We are semi-professional backpackers, and we were in Seoul for 2 months last year. We had an odd feeling that South Korea was TOO perfect, low taxes, high employment, low crime -- no I make a mistake -- ZERO crime. I left my motorbike in Seoul with the keys in the ignition all night in Mapo-gu and it wasn't stolen. Pefect transport system, the only bad point was the agressive driving which is nothing compared to London driving which is 400% more agressive than Seoul. Even homeless beggars on the streets would keep their belongings in neat rows and be clean and shaven and neatly dressed and politely ask you for a bottle of Soju or something. Also kind old ladies wouldn't kick us out of all you can eat places like they normally do, after our 23rd bimibap serving.
In that it felt a bit like the film The Stepford wives, in that there is something huge and deeply darkly secret in S Korea that is unmentionable. You know as a form of counter balance to the positive sides of S Korea. You know the old Yin Yang thing.
So straight up, what is the deep dark secret?
Ken M.
Obviously, Ken M.'s praise for Korea is a bit over the top -- no country is "TOO perfect." But his question does set up an interesting contrast.
As far as countries go, Korea is pretty good. It is in the first world, which means Korea rarely has difficulty taking care of the basic needs of its citizens. There may be poverty, but no one starves or dies from rampant epidemic caused by unhygenic conditions. As Ken pointed out, Korea's taxes are quite low compared to other developed countries. Korea's national health insurance is top-notch. Unemployment is also low in Korea -- although youth unemployment is somewhat high in Korea (especially since the 1997 East Asian Financial Crisis), it is nonexistent compared to, say, Spain's astounding 46.2% youth unemployment. The wealth gap between the rich and the poor, although increasing rapidly in recent years, is still small enough that Korea is one of the more egalitarian countries in the developed world. Plenty of crimes happen in Korea, but overall Korea's crime rate is on the low side.
So, Korea has a lot of good things going for it. Then this question becomes quite unavoidable -- why are Koreans in such a hurry to exit their lives?
The grim statistics have been become too familiar. In 2009, Korea's suicide rate per 100,000 people was OECD-leading 21.5, outpacing Hungary (21) and Japan (19.1). Korea's suicide problem has been covered around the world, and the list of prominent people who ended their own lives include a former president, several A-list celebrities as well as numerous school children.
To begin this series that will explore the various aspects of Korea's suicide issue, the Korean believed Ken's question was particularly appropriate -- although not because suicide is Korea's deep, dark secret. As a trend well-covered in national and international media, Korea's high suicide rate is hardly a secret. Korea's true deep, dark secret is unnoticed by casual observers, and its reach is much greater than the suicide issue.
What is Korea's deep, dark secret? The secret is that Korea, as a society, condones an incredible level of ruthlessness and cruelty to those who lose out in the social competition. It is not possible to understand the suicide issue in Korea without understanding this: modern Korean society is premised on competition at the level unfathomable for most people outside of Korea, and absolutely no mercy is shown to those who lose. Precisely how this interacts with Korea's suicide issue will be the first meaningful step toward gaining insight into Korea's suicide problems, and possibly devising a way to reverse the trend.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Dear Korean,
I have a BIG question, what is the deep dark secret of South Korea?
We are semi-professional backpackers, and we were in Seoul for 2 months last year. We had an odd feeling that South Korea was TOO perfect, low taxes, high employment, low crime -- no I make a mistake -- ZERO crime. I left my motorbike in Seoul with the keys in the ignition all night in Mapo-gu and it wasn't stolen. Pefect transport system, the only bad point was the agressive driving which is nothing compared to London driving which is 400% more agressive than Seoul. Even homeless beggars on the streets would keep their belongings in neat rows and be clean and shaven and neatly dressed and politely ask you for a bottle of Soju or something. Also kind old ladies wouldn't kick us out of all you can eat places like they normally do, after our 23rd bimibap serving.
In that it felt a bit like the film The Stepford wives, in that there is something huge and deeply darkly secret in S Korea that is unmentionable. You know as a form of counter balance to the positive sides of S Korea. You know the old Yin Yang thing.
So straight up, what is the deep dark secret?
Ken M.
Obviously, Ken M.'s praise for Korea is a bit over the top -- no country is "TOO perfect." But his question does set up an interesting contrast.
As far as countries go, Korea is pretty good. It is in the first world, which means Korea rarely has difficulty taking care of the basic needs of its citizens. There may be poverty, but no one starves or dies from rampant epidemic caused by unhygenic conditions. As Ken pointed out, Korea's taxes are quite low compared to other developed countries. Korea's national health insurance is top-notch. Unemployment is also low in Korea -- although youth unemployment is somewhat high in Korea (especially since the 1997 East Asian Financial Crisis), it is nonexistent compared to, say, Spain's astounding 46.2% youth unemployment. The wealth gap between the rich and the poor, although increasing rapidly in recent years, is still small enough that Korea is one of the more egalitarian countries in the developed world. Plenty of crimes happen in Korea, but overall Korea's crime rate is on the low side.
So, Korea has a lot of good things going for it. Then this question becomes quite unavoidable -- why are Koreans in such a hurry to exit their lives?
The grim statistics have been become too familiar. In 2009, Korea's suicide rate per 100,000 people was OECD-leading 21.5, outpacing Hungary (21) and Japan (19.1). Korea's suicide problem has been covered around the world, and the list of prominent people who ended their own lives include a former president, several A-list celebrities as well as numerous school children.
To begin this series that will explore the various aspects of Korea's suicide issue, the Korean believed Ken's question was particularly appropriate -- although not because suicide is Korea's deep, dark secret. As a trend well-covered in national and international media, Korea's high suicide rate is hardly a secret. Korea's true deep, dark secret is unnoticed by casual observers, and its reach is much greater than the suicide issue.
What is Korea's deep, dark secret? The secret is that Korea, as a society, condones an incredible level of ruthlessness and cruelty to those who lose out in the social competition. It is not possible to understand the suicide issue in Korea without understanding this: modern Korean society is premised on competition at the level unfathomable for most people outside of Korea, and absolutely no mercy is shown to those who lose. Precisely how this interacts with Korea's suicide issue will be the first meaningful step toward gaining insight into Korea's suicide problems, and possibly devising a way to reverse the trend.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
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