Tired of life in the fast lane? Escape to this “slow city” in Damyang for a taste of traditional Korea.
Story and photographs by Bill Stephens
If you spend a week in Seoul, it’s easy to see why the national branding slogan “Dynamic Korea” has replaced the “Land of Morning Calm.”
But travel three hours by train and then 30 minutes by bus and taxi to Samjicheon Village in the Damyang region, and you’ll experience perhaps what was meant by the more traditional designation. Rice fields and traditional hanok-style homes provide a bucolic setting for this area on the southwestern tip of the peninsula that has long inspired poets.
Samjicheon is an official “slow city,” a designation made by an organization based in Italy, where the Cittaslow movement started in 1999. The movement encourages nations around the world to preserve the cultural legacies of small towns and promote slower lifestyles, discouraging technology in favor of tradition.
Samjicheon, located in South Jeolla province, was the first city in Asia to gain such status in 2007. Since then, four other towns in Korea have also been named slow cities. Only 111 cities worldwide share this distinction. Continue Reading »
Text and photographs by Mark Edward Harris
Few lands have been more devastated by war and conflict than 20th-century Korea. Yet the perseverance of the peninsula’s people has maintained for posterity many of its cultural institutions and historical structures.
I started my exploration of South Korea’s rich history with a visit to the tomb of Sejong the Great in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province. While so many world leaders are associated with conquests and wars, it’s inspiring to learn about a leader who gave—instead of took—to earn his fame. He is, of course, most known for developing Hangeul, the modern Korean phonetic writing system that brought reading and writing to the masses.
After paying my respects to Sejong the Great, I continued my exploration—with camera in hand—of the royal tombs of the Shilla Dynasty and the palaces of the Joseon period.
The tomb of King Sejong the Great.
A door detail at Bulguk Temple. Continue Reading »
The third Asian American tapped to join Obama’s cabinet, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke—who also made history as the first Chinese American governor—muses on the “100-year” trail that led him to one of the nation’s highest posts. This month, as U.S. Census forms filter into the homes of Americans, one of Locke’s biggest tasks is to ensure an accurate count of the national population and tackle low levels of immigrant participation, including among historically “hard to count” Koreans.
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
By Suevon Lee
In describing his family’s experience in the United States, Gary Locke often says it took 100 years to move one mile. That, after all, is the distance separating the governor’s mansion in Washington State from the house where Locke’s immigrant grandfather once performed work as a servant.
Last year, Locke, the nation’s first Chinese American governor and first Asian American governor of a mainland state, continued that remarkable journey by traveling another 3,000 miles to assume the role of Commerce Secretary in President Obama’s administration.
Locke oversees such agencies as the U.S. Census Bureau, Patent and Trademark Office and National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, plus divisions that set technology standards. Such wide-ranging responsibility no doubt requires the seasoned hand of a state executive with years of management and budget experience.
It also takes someone as focused and determined as the Seattle native to help fulfill the ambitious agenda that Obama has set out to achieve, beginning by spurring job growth during a time when 14.8 million Americans remain out of work.
“There are a lot of positive economic signs, but the president still is not satisfied and will not be satisfied until every American can find a job,” Locke said during a recent phone interview from his home in Maryland. “That’s been a top priority and that’s really been what the Department of Commerce has been focused on.” Continue Reading »
From hunters to cherished companions, the role of the canine in Korean culture has transformed radically
By Michelle Woo
Photograph by Grace Chon
Once upon a time, Koreans believed a dog was just a dog.
The four-legged creature lived in the confines of the backyard; his filthy paws were never to step foot onto Mom’s just-waxed marble floor. His meals consisted of leftover scraps from dinner. His job was simple: to protect the home.
He was a dog. He lived a dog’s life.
And then we cracked.
Amy Chung, an attorney in Washington, D.C., recently cut out pictures of her dogs’ faces and attached them to popsicle sticks so that they—or at least their photographs—could be part of her out-of-state wedding. Helena Sung, a writer in New York City, serves only organic boneless chicken, veggies and brown rice to her pooch, Jasper. Eileen Song, an accountant in San Francisco, has purchased more than 50 different outfits for her posh pup, along with hats, jeweled collars and a pink backpack personalized with her name, Snowball Song. Liz Paik and her husband take separate vacations so someone can always be home with their tailed pal, Abigail.
“My life revolves around the dogs,” says Chung, mama to Kota, a cream-furred Shiba, and now Juneau, her fiancé’s 60-pound husky. “All my conversations are about them. I’ll be like, ‘Kota hasn’t being going No. 2’ and the person I’m talking to will be like, ‘Gross. Why are you telling me this?’” Continue Reading »
Joe Wong on 'The Ellen Show.'
Joe Wong on the ‘Late Show with David Letterman’
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD0s7gfTotk&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
By Emil Guillermo
They walk funny. They dress funny. And that accent. Definitely, they talk funny.
So is it okay to laugh at them?
I refer, of course, to the majority of our immigrant community, especially the members of that very unique subset often dubbed as “FOBs.” (And no, it doesn’t matter if technically they came by plane).
Often a great source of humor at family gatherings, making fun of Uncle Gun-woo in the right places can be (with the right touch) a form of ingratiation, and an oddly affectionate way of showing love and understanding. But bring it out into the public, and is it all that funny? Would you sell the dignity of your Uncle Gun for a yuk at his expense in mixed company? Continue Reading »
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Featured Event
It’s the new year, and Yim Jae Beum is coming to town! After a sold-out show in Los Angeles last October, he is coming back to hold two U.S. concerts for the 2012 Lunar New Year. Everyone already knows this man can sing! He’s got an impressive resume, debuting as a rock singer back in 1986, releasing Korean classics, such as “For You,” and most recently, joining and winning first place twice on the MBC show, “I am a Singer.”
Seattle and New Jersey, get ready! We are happy to announce that we will be giving away TWO (2) pairs of tickets! read more
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