North Koreans pose for photos in front of the newly unveiled statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il at the Mansudae Grand Monument in Pyongyang.
Photojournalist Mark Edward Harris captures scenes from North Korea’s celebration of the 100th anniversary of the nation’s late founder.
story and photographs by MARK EDWARD HARRIS
On April 13, the North Koreans launched a three-stage rocket. Seconds later, it exploded. The launch was no doubt timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the birth of the nation’s late founder, Kim Il-sung—an occasion also marked by a series of major celebratory activities, including a simultaneous, multicity fireworks display and grand military parade.
News of the failed launch was unusual in that it was broadcast to the people of North Korea without the usual spin—no scapegoating or attaching blame on those south of the 38th parallel or Washington. Is this a signal of the leadership style of new, third-generation leader Kim Jong-un?
I wanted to travel for the eighth time to North Korea to see the country for the first time since the passing of Kim Jong-il, son of Kim Il-sung, last December. I arrived April 14 at Pyongyang’s Sunan International Airport, where I had first set foot in the reclusive country seven years earlier. I have witnessed a sea change since 2005—including scenes like this one: an Italian restaurant complete with red-and-white checkered tablecloths and Italian clothing-garbed women tossing pizzas; a Helmut Sachers Austrian coffee house; and a Paradise microbrewery.
Thousands of cars now travel on the once-barren streets. This is, of course, in Pyongyang, which is the showcase city of the North. But having ventured throughout the country on numerous occasions, I am witness to historic changes that cannot simply be passed off as propaganda created for foreign eyes. Continue Reading »
Time of My Life
A Korean punk band’s recent show in L.A. forces an old fan to reflect on the perils of fandom.
by EUGENE YI
I gave you the time of your life!” shouted the woman, from across the bar. I blanched. My girlfriend, by my side, looked on, bemused. I answered in the only appropriate manner.
“What?”
“I introduced you to Crying Nut! You love Crying Nut, right?” Oh right. She had gotten me into the Los Angeles date of this year’s Seoulsonic tour, headlined by Crying Nut, the seminal Korean punk band. Apparently, she was under the impression that the band was one of my all-time favorites, when really, the group was only important to me from May 2001, when I started listening to Korean punk because it was serviceable, to June 2002, when I stopped listening to Korean punk simply because it was serviceable.
But what a high it was! Crying Nut blasted open my notion of contemporary Korean music. They affirmed a punk Korean identity, and, by proxy, my own sense of identity. They did what good art does: make us less lonely. Continue Reading »
Name: Jamie Hong-Boyett
Age: 47
Location: Hacienda Heights, CA
Occupation: Director of Operations
Describe your background (where did you grow up, etc.)?
I was born in Incheon and immigrated to Houston, Texas with my family in 1974. After graduating from high school in 1983, I have moved here to California and have stayed here ever since.
If you could have an endless supply of any food, what would you get?
Oh my goodness … if I don’t gain an ounce, I would LOVE an endless supply of Häagen-Dazs coffee ice cream by the bucket loads. Harder the better!
How would you describe your style in clothing?
Comfortable, modern, stylish.
What do you feel is your most attractive physical feature? Continue Reading »
Photo by Eugene Yi
How K-Town Lost, and Won
Politics is dirty. Local politics is dirtier, and redistricting is as dirty as it gets. This spring, Koreatown fought back. The neighborhood will never be the same.
by EUGENE YI
The disbanding of an ad hoc political commission is a bit like the end of camp. Take the case of the Los Angeles City Council Redistricting Commission. For its three-month existence, the 21 appointees of the commission spent hours together, often late into the night, poring over maps, gutting through accusatory public testimony and bickering, as they redrew the boundaries of the 15 council districts in the City of Angels. On Feb. 29, 2012, after they’d voted to approve the map that would be the fruit of their labor, each commissioner was given two minutes for some final thoughts. The arch-top windows lining the sides of the chamber had long gone dark, and nostalgia emerged as the commissioners reflected on the process.
“Hearing from … the Koreatown neighborhood council, I’m never going to forget that. Never going to forget everyone standing up at the same time in solidarity. That’s an image that’s going to be burned in my mind,” said commissioner Antonio Sanchez.
“I can still see, in my eyes at night, everyone sitting there with the white sashes across their chest,” said commissioner Ken Sampson, sounding haunted by the beauty-pageant-style protest sashes worn by hundreds of Koreatown protestors as they delivered their message: keep the neighborhood whole, and put it in a district where they could potentially elect a Korean American to the City Council.
Instead, the commission’s final map would leave the neighborhood’s political power split, as it has been for decades. For most, it wasn’t a surprise. There are few parts of American democracy as nakedly political as redistricting, the decennial process that redraws electoral districts to reflect the latest census data. The term gerrymandering has been around for 200 years, and incumbents have long used redistricting to fortify their access to money and votes. There are winners, there are losers, and often, there are lawsuits. This year, Koreatown lost, and Koreatown is talking lawsuit. Continue Reading »
Name: Yo Sub Kim
Age: 25
Location: New York, New York (born in Thailand but with a Korean passport, whoop whoop!)
Occupation: Social Media Manager, The Weinstein Company
What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning?
My dog Harley normally wakes me up so I always think “It’s too early, Harley!” Either that or “I hope Harley didn’t pee on the floor.”
If you could be invisible for a day, what would you do?
I would sneak onto a plane to Paris. I would probably prank the passengers on the plane, steal their peanuts and move around their luggage while everyone’s sleeping.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I see myself owning my own company, hopefully in Asia. I want to take everything I learned about business in the U.S. and apply it abroad. Perhaps China? Thailand? Who knows where life will take me.
What do you feel is your most attractive physical feature? Continue Reading »
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Featured Event
One of the the biggest Asian cinema events to hit Southern California opens on May 10. The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, presented by Visual Communications, features the latest works by established and emerging filmmakers, along with seminars, panel discussions and symposiums on topics relevant to Asian Pacific cinema.
Opening Night features “Shanghai Calling,” directed by Daniel Hsia and starring Korean American Daniel Henney, who plays a Chinese American expat lawyer navigating his way through the mean streets of Shanghai (the picture above also indicates he is a raisin smuggler). But does he take off his shirt? Go watch the movie to find out! read more
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