Today, TK Learned:

... that a law firm gets awfully quiet on Rosh Hashana.

• If you read Playboy, women will smile at you. [Retronaut]
• Lawyers are like soybeans -- replaceable by machines. [Slate]
• Korea's aging population will cost more than 1% of its GDP growth in 10 years. [The Economist]
• If you weigh 680 pounds, you can get fired for being too fat -- but you can also sue your employer. [Houston Chronicle]
• Value of a college degree can be shown in a number of nifty graphs. [The Atlantic]
• Samsung has come a long way, and is poised to make the next move. [The Economist and The Economist]
• One Korean American (while drunk) misses "the racists of Fenway who used to heckle [his] family." [ESPN: Grantland]
• This year's new law students might be collectively dumber than previous years'. [Above the Law]
• If you earn $100,000 or more, United Arab Emirates is an awesome place to be. Tax-wise, that is. [The Economist]

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

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Novels on Korean History?

Dear Korean,

I would really enjoy reading something that encompasses the entire history of Korea in novel form, just as “The Covenant” by Michener does for South Africa. Does such a book exist?

Wendel

There are two difficulties with finding a novel that encompasses Korean history. First, Korean history is just too long, arguably stretching all the way back to 2333 B.C.E. if you believe in the Dangun myth. There may be epic novels that cover, say, a 50-year period, but the Korean is not aware of any novel that covers the entirety of Korean history. Second, even if there was such a novel, it would be tough to find it translated into English. This is too bad, because much of Korean fiction draws from various periods in Korean history. For example, recently the best selling novel in Korea was Song of the Sword [칼의 노래] by Kim Hoon, which was written from the perspective of the heroic Admiral Yi Sun-Shin who lived in the 16th century. If you prefer to go even farther back, there is Goguryeo [고구려], a very recent novel by Kim Jin-Myeong that covers Korean kings of the 4th century. It is a pity that these novels are not more widely available to the worldwide readership.

Try as he might, the Korean's first thought was Land by Park Kyong-Ni. It covers Korea in the early 20th century, which is probably more relevant to those who are interested in understanding contemporary Korea. It is also one of the few Korean epic novels that were translated into English. But unfortunately, Land is made up of five parts, and only part 1 is translated -- and part 1 alone is more than a thousand pages. Apparently there are plans to translate the remaining parts, but no one knows just exactly when the entire novel will be translated. (The Korean is not holding his breath -- it took Park 25 years to finish the novel.)

Yup. This is just Part 1. There are four more parts not translated yet.
(source)

Therefore, the Korean turned to the ultimate authority on this one: Professor Charles Montgomery of Dongguk University, who is the proprietor of the blog, Korean Modern Literature in Translation. How would we trace the history of Korea in translated novels? Below is the response from Prof. Montgomery:

I’d do it in a series of books.

The first book that springs to mind is “Three Generations” by Yeom Sang-seop. It doesn’t cover all of Korean history, but does a good job of a really critical time -- i.e. the 20s and 30s. By invoking the three generations, it actually covers a bit more historical territory. After that I would perhaps read Cho Se-hui’s “The Dwarf” and Yang Kwi-ja’s “A Distant and Beautiful Place” These books would get you adequately through the 80s or so. Then on to Ch’oe Yun’s “There a Petal Silently Falls”, which is at least brief-ish.

To cover Korean War (actually one of my least favorite topics, as the literature is rightfully, but horribly monochromatic) I might also add “Who Ate Up All the Shinga” by Park Wan-Suh. Then “I Have The Right to Destroy Myself" by Kim Young-Ha would get us up into Apgujeong and rampant materialism in contemporary Korea.

Sounds like an excellent reading plan. Readers, do you have any Korean historical novels that you like? (Please don't talk about historical dramas, the Korean begs of you.)

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

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Ask a Korean! News: How Justice System Manufactures "Criminals"

Although people are more easily outraged by criminals who evade the law, the Korean is more outraged at the criminal justice system that makes innocent people criminals. Here is a great example of that.

(By the way, this has nothing to do with Korea, just in case you didn't notice.)

The case is Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Hart, and this is what happened. In 2007, Mr. Hart, a 35-year-old part-time college student, was driving around when he saw two middle school kids walking in the rain, carrying heavy backpacks. The college student asked them if they wanted a ride, and they declined. Then the middle school kids took the guy's license plate and called the police. The college student turned himself in, and was convicted of attempting to "lure a child into motor vehicle," which is a criminal offense in Pennsylvania. He avoided jail time by getting 18-month probation, but got listed on a sex offender registry because of his conviction.

That alone is ridiculous enough, but just as ridiculous is the description of a case from Pennsylvania Superior Court that that the State used in support of its position, called Commonwealth v. Figueroa:

In Figueroa, three children were walking on the sidewalk in single-file to their bus stop on the morning after a heavy snowstorm when the defendant pulled out from the driveway of the children’s neighbor, drove up alongside the last girl in line, and asked if she would like a ride to school, whereupon she refused. The defendant then pulled his car forward and asked the first girl in line if she would like a ride to school, and she too declined. After these refusals, the defendant entered another nearby driveway, turned around, and headed in the opposite direction from which the children were walking.

For the trouble of offering a ride to children after a heavy snowstorm, the defendant in Figueroa is now a convicted criminal listed on the sex offender registry.

Luckily, Mr. Hart fared better -- the Supreme Court overturned his conviction. But it took him four years to get through the court system and vindicate the idea that offering a ride does not amount to a sex offense against minors. (For more information how ridiculously harsh and unjust sex offender registry is, take a look at this Economist article.)

There is a way out of this madness. As democratic citizens, it is incumbent on all of us that we do not get blinded by the sweet appeal of "getting tough on crime." Truth is, we are already pretty damn tough on crime. Whenever there is a proposal for a new crime, we should demand our leaders to think not about what criminals the law will catch, but what innocent acts will be rendered as criminal.

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

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Today, TK Learned:

... how to sustain a shameless gimmick item for more than one installment! It's like keeping a goldfish alive. Huzzah!

• Throwing out the garbage is a complicated process in Korea, which is one of the reasons why the Korean lives in America. [The Korea Blog]
• Ichiro is slowing down. The Korean remembers his American friends who scoffed at his belief that Ichiro would be an all-star and a hall of famer. They are not scoffing anymore. [New York Times]
• Samsung and Microsoft are joining forces. [Wall Street Journal]
• Erik Spoelstra is half Filipino and visits the Philippines every year. Basketball is huge in the Philippines, apparently. [ESPN: Grantland]
• City of Houston cautions against Fan Death: "Electric fans should only be used in conjunction with an air conditioner. A fan can't change the temperature of a room; it can only accelerate air movement, and will accelerate the body's overheating." [City of Houston Health and Human Services]
• At least one U Penn graduate is an idiot. [Dealbreaker]
• Legal fees are high in Korea, and lawyers are crooks. What else is new? [Korean Law Blog]

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

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Ask a Korean! News: Cabbage Kimchi

Koreans love kimchi, and regard kimchi made of napa cabbage to be the standard kind. But does that make sense? Here is a good article by Mr. Hwang Gyo-Ik, the Korean's favorite Korean food columnist.

*                      *                      *

Koreans eat cabbage kimchi in all four seasons. There are significantly less people who make a separate batch of winter kimchi as per tradition. The market sells cabbages in all four seasons -- when kimchi runs out, people can simply buy the cabbage and make more. In fact, there is not even the need to make more kimchi. Factory kimchi is sold throughout the year, so people can simply buy it. There is not a day when the home shopping channel fails to sell napa cabbage kimchi. What easy world we live in.

It has not been long since we began eating napa cabbage kimchi like this. Napa cabbage grows at a cool temperature. Napa cabbage seeds were sown in the fall, and the cabbages were harvested in the beginning of winter. Chinese cabbages were barely available in the spring and the winter. Summer cabbages were unthinkable -- the cabbages would melt away in the heat. It was not until the 1970s when summer cabbages appeared in the market. As the highlands of Gangwon-do were cool during summer, farmers there grew cabbages. Around the same time, farmers near the southern coast attempted growing winter cabbages in the winter, enabling cabbage kimchi in the middle of the winter and early spring. Also, the cabbages grown in hothouses in the spring would appear in the market before summer cabbages from the highlands do.

In just 30 years, Koreans forgot the season for napa cabbages -- they began to regard it as available in all four seasons. As the cabbages are not being produced on their natural time of the year, there is a huge yearly variation in production. In particular, summer cabbages depend entirely on the weather of the highlands. Too much rain melts away the summer cabbages, and the market complains of exorbitant prices. One may suggest: "Don't be so dependent on the production of unseasonal summer cabbages; make kimchi with radishes [열무]." But such suggestion is immediately met with a retort: "Cabbage kimchi is essential for a Korean table." There is not a single expert who questions whether it is right for Koreans to have an eating habit that is oblivious to the seasons.

Some may ask: "How is it a bad thing that cabbage kimchi is available in all four seasons thanks to the advancement in farming technologies?" The problem, however, is that raising farm products is not simply the matter of technology. Nature is the absolute condition for growing vegetables; human technology can only supplement. There is a limit to controlling the conditions of growing farm products, and that limit eventually leads to anti-natural results. At that point, a situation may arise in which no one wins -- farmers lose, as do consumers.

Most fields on the highlands are on a hill, which means the water drains well when it rains. As the water goes, so do the soil and the organic matters in the soil. It is difficult to add organic fertilizer to a hilly field located in the highlands. Also, in most cases, the landowner and the farmer are not the same -- which means the farmer has no incentive to keep the land fertile. Simply put, farming in the highlands is predatory. Cabbages growing on infertile land based on predatory farming techniques are prone to contract finger-and-toe disease, which causes their roots to rot. Once there is an outbreak of finger-and-toe disease, all the cabbages on the highlands are good as done.

There is now a modified breed of cabbages that are resistant to the disease, called the "CR". But the CR cabbages taste bad -- the leaves are tough, lack sweetness and smells spicy. To overcome the disease, the cabbage sacrificed the taste. But as the words spread recently that CR cabbages are not tasty, more farmers are back to growing the regular type of napa cabbages. To stave off the diseases, a lot of chemical is required, sprayed practically every time after it rains.

So, the summer cabbages from the highlands are either not tasty or covered in pesticides. That's the choice that the consumer faces. Which cabbage would you eat?

맛이냐 건강이냐 그것이 문제로다: 여름배추의 진실 [Donga Weekly]

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

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Today, TK Learned:

Here is a new shameless gimmick item -- a quick list of articles that the Korean read. For the Korean's Facebook friends, most of the links can be found on the Korean's Facebook wall. Will the Korean be able to stick to it, or will it meet the fate of the last shameless gimmick item, which is yet to see another installment? We'll see.

• Chang-Rae Lee won Dayton Literary Prize for The Surrendered. Congratulations! [KoreAm]
• Andrew Cohen of The Atlantic has a similar view on death penalty as the Korean. [The Atlantic]
• The way a trader thinks is "different from a human being" because a trader always sees the bright side of the recession. [New York Times: Dealbook]
• Democracy roughly correlates with gender equality. [The Economist]
• More federal crimes mean The Man hardly needs to prove anything to put you in prison. [Wall Street Journal]
• An economist thinks Korea has the lowest chance of currency crisis in Asia. [Yonhap]
• "Bosses think their firms are caring. Their minions disagree." [The Economist]
• Baby pandas are very cute. [Dong-A Ilbo through Reuters]

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

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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.

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