In a Starving Nation, Luxury for a Few
New York Times

The South Korean news media, which scrutinizes every photo of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, zeroed in this week on one particular photo released by the North’s state-run media on Tuesday. It shows Mr. Kim watching an art performance by soldiers during a military visit, the first reported in the North Korean media since he fired the top army leader, Vice Marshal Ri Yong-ho, on July 15.

But the photo also showed his wife, Ri Sol-ju, with something most North Korean women have never heard of, much less owned: a Christian Dior handbag.

South Korean journalists did not take long to identify Ms. Ri’s handbag and its going price in Seoul: 1.8 million won, or $1,600. That is about 16 times the average monthly wage of a North Korean worker in the Gaeseong industrial park, a joint venture between North and South Korea that provides some of the best-paying jobs in the impoverished North.

Violence and Making Sense
The Awl

Cho was a Korean-American from the South who had entered college with dreams, however mangled and bizarre, of becoming a writer. That same sentence could have been written about me. As the evidence of Cho’s derangement began to surface in the videos, short stories and plays he left behind, it became clear that Cho had been trying to tell a righteous story, where the “rich kids” and “brats” were cleansed from the earth by a sort of Frankenstein’s monster of messianic figures and revenge-movie heroes.

Wesson accuses council of racial, geographic cliques
Los Angeles Times

In videotaped remarks posted online by a Los Angeles Baptist ministers organization, Wesson discussed the council’s recent, once-a-decade redistricting process, saying the council is divided into four factions: white, black, Latinos and those who represent the San Fernando Valley. He noted an ongoing split between himself and the council’s two other black council members, Jan Perry and Bernard C. Parks. And he said some of his colleagues deliberately tried to exploit that rift, which became public after Parks and Perry skipped the vote to make Wesson council president.

North Korea: Don’t Call Us “Naughty”
Wall Street Journal

North Korea gets referred to in less-than-glowing terms on a regular basis, and for good reason. But now it’s upset about being called something a lot less damning: naughty.

On Tuesday, the North’s official news agency lashed out at an Australian newspaper for its tongue-in-cheek reference to North Korea as “Naughty Korea” in an Olympic medals table printed last Wednesday. The free daily, mX, referred to South Korea as “Nice Korea” in the same table.

‘Comfort Women’ Billboard Goes Up in Houston
Chosun Ilbo

An advertisement titled “Do You Hear?” condemning the Japanese government for failing to apologize to women it subjected to sexual slavery during the World War II was set up on a highway billboard in Houston, Texas.

La Crescenta Library to Receive 10,000 Korean Books
Montrose Patch

About 10,000 Korean books were shipped by boat across the Pacific from Korea to Los Angeles, and will soon line the shelves at La Crescenta Library.

Crescenta Valley Town Councilmember James Suh, Ph.D., learned about a Korean language book donation program happening at a library in Cerritos. He contacted the Campaign Association of the Book Supplying for Overseas Koreans.

‘Go On’: Matthew Perry and John Cho share a moment
Zap 2 It

Perry plays Ryan King, a sports-radio host whose wife dies a month before the series opens. Cho is Steven, Ryan’s boss at the station, who orders him to attend group therapy to help cope with his loss.

As you can see, neither man is exactly at ease talking about the sensitive subject.

K-Town by K-Town: A Jokbal Platter + Seoul Train + Partying in Rounds
LA Weekly

Chatter of K-Town, an unapologetic Asian American rendition of Jersey Shore, began in 2010. Rumors mixed among facts: R&B singer Tyrese Gibson is the executive producer; it was slated to air on a cable network; and it was about to drop any minute. Angry Asian Man kept tabs on when (and where) the show would premiere, while critics debated the merits and failures to both community and pop culture at-large. SNL even made a spoof. All this until it was apparent that K-Town was experiencing distributive difficulties.

Television network aims at growing US Asian market
New York Daily News

In hopes of seizing an untapped market, Mnet, the first round-the-clock Asian American entertainment network, has been expanding across the United States with programs ranging from Korean pop to US-produced animation.
Mnet, which entered Washington and Philadelphia in June as its latest markets, faces a complicated task ahead as it looks to appeal to one of the most diverse demographics in the United States.

Emmy nominee Margaret Cho: ‘The most alarming thing’ is that I look like Kim Jong-il
OMG via Yahoo Canada

Margaret Cho was recently nominated for her first-ever Emmy … but it’s for a guest role most viewers don’t even realize she’s playing. After all, who would ask a 43-year-old woman to portray North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il? “30 Rock” star and executive producer Tina Fey would (and did!) and Cho jumped at the chance.

“It seemed like a good fit. I was absolutely flattered. People don’t expect it to be me because I’m so disguised. But the way I’m disguised is just that I’m not wearing any makeup. That’s actually enough to transform me into him,” Cho, whose parents both emigrated from South Korea, explains of the comic-infused version of the notorious leader she’s played on the NBC sitcom for the last two seasons. “The most alarming thing is that I just look like that. There are a couple of different fat suits I wear, and I guess it’s in the performance, so that’s good. I’m proud that I get to play a man and be nominated as an actress. I feel like Cate Blanchett.”

Olympic Update: Japan to Battle Rival South Korea for Men’s Soccer Bronze
Wall Street Journal

Like Japan, South Korea missed the finals, unable to answer any of Brazil’s three goals during the semifinal match. But the Asian rivals’ dashed gold medal hopes mean fans back home will be treated to a fiery kicker.

Japan is chasing its first Olympic soccer medal in 44 years. South Korea wants its first ever. Now one of them is assured of walking away with both a medal and the satisfaction of thumping a rival.

Cerritos Native-Gold Medalist Reflects on the Olympic Moment That Almost Wasn’t
Cerritos Patch

It was a golden moment that almost didn’t happen. Between waking up with a 102 degree fever that morning, and suffering a broken toe in his first bout that day, Jimmy Kim was ready to give up.

But after a few words of wisdom from his coach/father Grand Master Chan-Yong Kim, the 21-year-old Olympian fought through the pain and exhaustion that ravaged his body and instead became the first American male to ever win a gold medal in Taekwondo at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea.

Viewers’ guide to UFC 150
Sports Illustrated

So when the former lightweight champion stares into the eyes of Benson Henderson on Saturday night in Denver (10 p.m. ET, PPV) and has a déjà vu moment, it’ll be a familiar feeling. The UFC 150 main event with Henderson, who dethroned Edgar in February, will be Frankie’s sixth fight in a row against someone he’s met in his last one or will face again in his next.

Park won’t be back with Penguins
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Richard Park’s second stint with the Penguins officially ended.

The Penguins showed little interest in bringing the veteran center back for another season, and on Tuesday, he inked a two-year deal with HC Ambri Piotta in Switzerland.

Park enjoyed two previous stints in the Swiss Elite League. He scored seven goals and added seven assists last season in 54 games with the Penguins.

Say It Ain’t So — Kogi BBQ Truck Gets Rid of Select Menu Items
Food Beast

Looks like Chef Roy Choi of Kogi BBQ fame is back on his feet again and is planning to add new menu items to his world famous Los Angeles and Orange County based trucks.

Following a recent stint in which Choi stopped eating meat for a week and considered leaving the culinary world, it seems as if his passion for cooking has been reignited.

Boo, the World’s Cutest Dog, Calls a Facebook Employee “Mom”
AllThingsD.com

Two of my tipsters say that Boo’s adoptive human mother of the past six years is Irene Ahn, a dyed-in-the-wool Facebook employee working in a leading position in the company’s finance department. After working for Yahoo and PayPal in the past, Ahn has been with Facebook since December of 2008.

Here are some videos we’re watching this week at KoreAm.

IU Graphite Drawing
Through the years, K-pop fans have been trying to show love for their idols. This fan got his creative juices flowing and drew a very realistic picture of singer IU. His drawing is so lifelike, it is almost identical to a photograph.

Seoul Time Lapse
Seoul comes alive as a hustling and bustling metropolis in this time lapse video. From the wee hours of morning until the late, lighted night, watch as the city lives. This video shows different historical sites as well as beautiful cityscapes of Seoul.

How To Free Yourself From A Sinking Car With A Headrest
If you ever find yourself stuck in a car as it’s sinking into unknown waters, this video could possibly help you get out. Instead of trying to break the window with items in your car, this Japanese video teaches to take out the headrest and use it to shatter the entire car window.

Smart Trashcan By Japanese Inventor
Ever get into a creative funk and end up tossing all your ideas on the floor? Well, YouTube user minokur has invented a solution to keep your floors a little cleaner. The “smart” trashcan is a trashcan on wheels. With a number of senors, the bin can track an incoming object and and move to the correct space in time to catch the object.

Giant Rideable Mech Robot From Japan
In Sci-Fi and in movies, there tends to be final battles where people operate enormous robots in order to defend the world. Thanks to the robot engineering firm, Suidobashi Heavy Industry, the world is one step closer to that dream. The engineers created a working mechanical robot walker and included this instructional video.

John Cho’s “Total Recall” Interview
John Cho’s latest project, the remake of 1990′s “Total Recall” premieres today. Cho, who plays Bob McClane in the film, stops for a quick interview during the premiere. Check out the interview here:

If you have more videos you’d like us to see, email linda@iamkoream.com.

North Korean Leader Calls for Greater Prosperity
The New York Times

The North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for building a “prosperous country” in a major policy guideline published on Friday, a day after he told a visiting Chinese delegation that he was focused on “developing the economy and improving people’s livelihoods.”

The North Korea guessing game
Los Angeles Times

For all the opacity, however, one can glean a few signs that life in Pyongyang is not totally frozen in time. Traffic lights at major intersections had been installed since my last visit four years earlier, and during our time in the capital we even encountered occasional traffic jams. In previous visits, I don’t recall ever having been delayed by other vehicles on the city’s mostly empty streets.

On this trip, I also saw people preparing to move into brand-new homes in a row of high-rise apartments in the center of the city, a sign that those with rank and connections, at least, live comfortably.

Bergen County Republicans announce new Korean-American committee
NorthJersey.com

The Bergen County Republican Organization on Thursday announced the formation of the Korean American Republican Committee in what officials described as an effort to forge stronger ties with one of the county’s fastest-growing ethnic groups.

Myungsuk Lee Won’t Sue the New York Post After All
PolitickerNJ

Just over a week ago, Queens Assembly candidate Myungsuk Lee held a press conference denouncing the New York Post for publishing reports of his newspaper, the Korean American Times, containing ads for prostitution services. At the conference, he reportedly vowed to sue the tabloid for defamation and libel, in addition to seeking a face-to-face sit down with the Post‘s chief editor to discuss the publication’s bias “against Korean-American community at large.”

Ex-U.S. gang member in custody for robbing bank
Yonhap News Agency

A South Korean-born former U.S. gang member has been arrested for robbing a Seoul bank, police here said Friday.

The 38-year-old suspect, identified only by his initial A, allegedly attacked a bank security guard at a Woori Bank in southern Seoul’s downtown Gangnam area at around 4 p.m.

The AP’s North Korea bureau
Columbia Journalism Review

North Korea was just two weeks out of a national period of mourning the death of Kim Jong-il in January when two Associated Press journalists, Korea bureau chief Jean H. Lee and chief Asia photographer David Guttenfelder, opened the AP’s Pyongyang bureau. The move was sold to the regime as a print and photography expansion of the video bureau the AP established in the city in 2006.

Dai Sil Kim-Gibson: In Mourning, a Filmmaker Turns to Writing
Open City Magazine

About a decade ago, I became familiar with the work of filmmaker Dai Sil Kim-Gibson, who’s best known for documentaries on the 1992 L.A. Riots and Japan’s system of sexual slavery during WWII. On panels and during post-screening Q&As, with her unmistakable fan of frizz-curl, she always struck me as sharp and unflinching.

I finally met her in person last year, for an interview occasioned by a film retrospective. But when she entered the uptown diner where we’d agreed to meet, she was frailer, sadder than I’d imagined.

Yong Kim: Two Koreas, Paraguay and Then L.A.
KCET.org

“There was no particular reason why we chose L.A., except that my dad had a friend here and that we spoke Spanish and there were a lot more Latinos here than any other area in the United States, other than perhaps Texas.

“Americans have to understand that before 1945 and World War II, there was just Korea. Korea was divided by Russians and Americans.

Books: Korean American Machismo
Hyphen Magazine

Liberal arts college-educated Philip Kim of Jay Caspian Kang’s debut novel, The Dead Do Not Improve is a Gen X, tight-jeans-wearing, earlier wave gentrifier of the Mission District in San Francisco — apparently now on its “seventh wave” — weaned on the Simpsons, nineties hip hop, nachos from Taqueria Cancun, artisan coffee from Valencia Street shops with one-noun names, and artfully poured drinks from obscure Guerreo Street bars. You can’t help but feel that it reads like a hipster’s guide to San Francisco. Many of his characters are young, cool, Silicon Valley, or artistic types who are foodies, plugged into social media, and who understand Thunder Cats references. As much as Kang scorns them, you can tell he is also one of them. His older characters also wax poetic about the good old days with such alacrity that you feel like a voyeuristic gentrifier yourself if you take just one step down Valencia Street.

Esther Ku shares comedy and musical parodies
Daily Progress

You’ve seen her in Office Depot and Volkswagen commercials and on “Last Comic Standing 6,” and you’ll see her again in “The Cookout 2” with Vivica Fox and Faizon Love. On Saturday night, you’ll get two chances to catch Esther Ku sharing her comedy in Charlottesville.

Scientists bend light the ‘wrong’ way
Fox News

At Harvard University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, a team of researchers led by Hosang Yoon and Donhee Ham showed that using ordinary semiconductors and confining electrons to a two-dimensional plane they could make a material with a so-called negative refractive index that bends radio waves the “wrong” way, and does so a hundred times better than other methods.

What’s Up With The ‘Gangnam Style’ Video?
Wall Street Journal

The song currently tops the Korean sales and download charts. And the video has been viewed nearly 12 million times so far on YouTube.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly how or why Psy’s video took off among America’s online hipsters. A tweet by rapper T-Pain on Sunday no doubt has a lot to do with it. “Words cannot even describe how amazing this video is,” he wrote.

By midweek, Psy was being talked about on Reddit and Gawker. Even political commentator Andrew Sullivan offered up the video as his daily “mental health break” to readers.

John Cho’s “Total Recall” Interview
John Cho’s latest project, the remake of 1990′s “Total Recall” premieres today. Cho, who plays Bob McClane in the film, stops for a quick interview during the premiere. Check out the interview here:

New pastor joining St. Michael’s Church in Palisades Park, where a fire killed former pastor
Bergen County Record (N.J.)

Rev. Minhyun Cho has been named the new pastor of St. Michael Church, becoming the first Korean-American to lead the 100-year old parish.

Cho succeeds Rev. James F. Reilly, the church’s long-time pastor who died in March a week after he sustained serious burns in a rectory fire.

Tewksbury woman charged with threatening children with bat
Lowell Sun (Mass.)

A 44-year-old Tewksbury woman is accused of chasing her teenage son and daughter from their home with an aluminum baseball bat she keeps for protection.

Kathy Cho, of 27 Ellington Road, pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon for an incident at her home on Saturday night. As a condition of her release, Cho must obey all orders from the state Department of Children and Families.

More Men, Singles, Asian-Americans Lived at Home During Recession
U.S. News and World Report

The study also finds connections between race and ethnicity and the likelihood of living at home. The share of Asian-Americans age 20 to 34 living with parents grew sharply between 1980 and the late 2000s, from 17 to 26 percent, a pattern that may be attributed either to this group’s later marriage age or tendency to live in places with high costs of living, according to the report.

In North Korea’s industrial center, factories and wood-fueled trucks
Christian Science Monitor

Hamhung, North Korea’s largest industrial center, was opened to foreigners just two years ago. There’s no hiding the poverty in the region.

South Korean Youth Eschew Samsung Jobs for Facebook Dreams
Bloomberg Business Week

Not so long ago, South Korean students dreamed of lifetime jobs at Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) Now, many are shunning the juggernaut, intent on trying to emulate the likes of Facebook Inc. (FB) (FB)’s Mark Zuckerberg.

Sim Cheol Hwan, 27, is typical of the trend. He wants to take a break from college in Seoul to set up a company rather than line up for job interviews at Asia’s biggest electronics company paying an average of 77.6 million won ($68,300) a year. So he’s set himself up in his own business making apps for Samsung and Apple Inc. (AAPL) (AAPL) phones.

South Korea Hates Japan More Than North Korea & Loves America, Gallup Poll Reveals
Rocket News (Japan)

It was in the midst of this festive atmosphere that Gallup Korea published their annual poll showing the country’s opinion of the rest of the world. The results? South Korea hates Japan even more than North Korea and loves America the most.

Okay, so the Japanese and South Koreans don’t get alone—what else is new? Japan hit the top of the same list back in 2002 and it shouldn’t be too hard to find a poll in Japan where Korea scores the same.

How North Korea Turned a Missing Dutch Tourist Into a Pro-North Korean Columnist
Gawker

Last year, Dutch stamp dealer Willem van der Bijl was arrested and imprisoned during a trip to buy posters and stamps in North Korea, alarming relatives in the Netherlands. Perhaps even more alarming was when he appeared in the pages of a state-run newspaper extolling the virtues of the DPRK’s elections. Now, one year later, we have the full story of how van der Bijl became an involuntary North Korean propagandist. It’s a bit more complicated than “They said they were going to kill me if I didn’t.”

A Debut Novel Considers the Angry Asian
Wall Street Journal

Men in their 20s, says Philip Kim in “The Dead Do Not Improve,” “should never ever discuss their lives in any meaningful way. Our stories were about boredom, porn, children geniuses, talking dogs.”

But the novel, Jay Caspian Kang’s first, ignores its own protagonist’s advice, tackling race, class and privilege in its story of a recent graduate entangled in a murder mystery. Mr. Kang uses a classic whodunit structure, alternating from a funny first-person voice to hard-boiled third-person narrative following Siddhartha “Sid” Finch, a detective assigned to the case. The storyline touches on the actions of Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho, and the reactions of the novel’s Korean-American characters.

Keep an eye out for our featured profile of Jay Caspian Kang in the upcoming August issue of KoreAm.

Luxury lifestyle for North Korean winners, losers may fear fate
Reuters via Chicago Tribune

It’s still only Day Four at the London Olympics but one early surprise is that North Korea are fifth in the medals table, a performance that will bring good news to the pariah state – and not a little relief for the athletes themselves.

The country’s three gold and one bronze medals will spread a bit of joy to a people who have seen little of that lately – the North is currently battling floods that have killed scores of people and turned tens of thousands out of their homes.

Blatter wants ban for Morganella in racism fight
Reuters

Swiss player Michel Morganella, expelled from the Olympics for tweeting an insulting message about South Korea, should be banned, FIFA’s Swiss president Sepp Blatter said on Tuesday.

“I hope he has gone home,” Blatter told reporters after helping to launch a new FIFA initiative with Britain’s Kick It Out anti-racism campaign.

Choo remains in Cleveland, looks to the future
MLB.com

Shin-Soo Choo tried not to focus too much on the rumors that swirled in recent days, but it was hard for the Indians right fielder not to consider the possibility that he might be dealt before Tuesday’s non-waiver Trade Deadline.

Choo did not go anywhere.

“I wasn’t really worried about it, but I was still thinking about it,” Choo said on Tuesday afternoon. “Am I going? Will I stay here? But it didn’t bother me. I don’t have any control. My job is just to play every day and play hard and try to help the team win games.”

Brick-by-brick women’s fencing semi-final: Shin A-lam’s sit-down protest – video
The Guardian (U.K.)

An animated reconstruction of highlights of the women’s épée, which South Korea’s Shin A-lam thought she had won – until the clock was reset and Germany’s Britta Heidemann triumphed with a do-or-die hit. When the result was announced, Shin, 25, burst into tears, and remained on the piste for over an hour in protest.

Shooting: Korean Kim wins 25m pistol gold
Reuters

In an Olympics labeled the Women’s Games, Kim Jang-mi proved that South Korea’s female shooters were every bit as capable as the country’s men by claiming the 25 meter pistol gold after a tense battle with China’s Chen Ying.

Bravo, Team Korea!
Korea Times

The cool way the three athletes acted only illustrates this spirit of sports. In other words, Byun tried to do the first part, while the three did the second part.

We Koreans are possessed of both Byun and the trio in us to our advantage ― in forms of courage and grace, aggressiveness and understanding, and can-do spirit and a sense of satisfaction from having gotten the job done.

MMM-Bibimbap! Korean Chain Bibigo Coming to NYC in 2013
GrubStreet New York

Three years ago, a fledgling Korean restaurant chain announced its ambition to become the “McDonald’s or Starbucks of Korean food.” Bibigo opened its Los Angeles flagship in 2010 serving a streamlined, fast-casual menu of bulgogi and rice bowls, then announced plans to open 1,499 other locations around the world.

South Korean Activist Says He Was Tortured in China
New York Times

“For the last two months of my detention, they persistently demanded two things as a condition for my release: I admit to violating the Chinese laws and I never talk about the abuse I had suffered in their hands when I returned home,” Mr. Kim said. “I rejected them.”

“Even when the Chinese security officials handed me over to the South Korean officials at the airport for my expulsion, I angrily demanded that they apologize for the torture and abuse,” he added.

South Korean Police Tire of Abuse by Drinkers
New York Times

In May, large banners went up around the city announcing a crackdown on drunken violence. It is intended to prompt the drinking public to behave more responsibly, to reassert police authority in a country that remembers, resentfully, when the police served as henchmen for Japanese colonial masters and military dictators, and to challenge South Korea’s general tolerance of misbehavior by the intoxicated.

The Mythical Rise of Asian Americans
Project Syndicate

Asian Americans remain a relatively rare sight in leadership positions, even in the corporate world, where one would assume that their education and ambition would be most beneficial. If hard work was all it took to rise into the upper echelons of power in corporate America, one would expect to see many Asian American faces at the top, perhaps especially in financial services, accounting, technology, and health care.

Study after study shows the reverse to be true.

Korean American fest comes to L.A.: Festival spent six years in Gotham
Chicago Tribune

A newly formed affiliate of the Korean American Film Festival New York, the noncompetitive Los Angeles fest features four feature-length films, including 2010′s “Magic and Loss,” plus 13 short films in both narrative and documentary formats. A centerpiece of the fest is a program of five works, ranging from a musicvideo to a 81-minute feature, that look at Korean-American viewpoints on the L.A. riots.

Korea launches official foreigner-only national bus tours
CNNGo

The “K-shuttle” is a foreigner-only bus that trundles out of Seoul to 10 different cities around the country.

Visitors can choose to go on a package tour or just pay the fare to one of the destinations, which are Busan, Gyeongju, Andong, Wonju, Pyeongchang (host of 2018 Winter Olympics), Gangneung, Buyeo, Jeonju, Gurye and Yeosu, home of Expo 2012.

South Korea’s Han to miss Olympics with injury
Yahoo Sports

South Korea midfielder Han Kook-young has been ruled out of the London Olympics with a left foot fracture. Team officials said Han was taken off the 18-man squad after undergoing scans on Tuesday, and will likely be replaced by Jung Woo-young. The 22-year-old Han plays for Shonan Bellmare in Japan’s J-League.

The Debut of K-Town: Come And Get Your Cousins
Hyphen Magazine

The show is awful in the way I think all reality shows are, because the conversations were so obviously staged and I’m naive enough to think reality shows are not supposed to be this way. And at its best, K-Town is gut-wrenchingly hilarious. At one point, Jowe actually goes around introducing himself to girls as “The Prince of K-Town,” and Jasmine calls a poor unsuspecting dude Colonel Sanders to his face. Neither the mundane conversations nor the most scandalous moments come off very authentic, so it’s hard to take the show too seriously.

Author Don Lee Addresses The Young Asian American Experience
Here & Now

If you’re Asian-American, have you suffered stupid questions like: What’s a good place to eat in Chinatown? Do you know Kung Fu? Do you eat dog meat? The perceptions, stereotypes and realities of three Asian-Americans play out in Don Lee‘s new novel, “The Collective.” Here & Now’s Robin Young sat down with Lee, part of the conversation is transcribed below, followed by an excerpt from the book.

Sneaky Dunkin’ Donuts Scented Buses Spike Sales in Korea, Could You Resist
The Inquisitr

Buses were imbued with the intoxicating aroma, and what do you know? It worked, and quite effectively. Blog TheNextWeb posted a clip chronicling the Dunkin’ Donuts coffee-scented bus initiative (ugh, could you imagine if White Castle started doing that?) but the site points out that DnD took a leaf from Disney’s book in making buses smell good.

District Commons’ Boo Kim on His Neighborhood Gems
Eater DC

It should come as no surprise that the man responsible for taking care of guests at District Commons appreciates a restaurant with great hospitality. In the latest edition of Dining Confidential, District Commons’ general manager Boo Young Kim shares his favorite neighborhood spots, including Saigon Saigon, Busboys & Poets and Honey Pig.

Chloe Flower Interview: More Than Just Classical Music
Gumship

Gumship conducts a Q&A with Chloe Flower, a Korean American pianist who appears on rapper Nas’ latest album.

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