The Korean dessert of sweet red beans and fruit over shaved ice is known as patbingsu. Said to have originated in the late 1950s and sold by street vendors, the popular dessert has changed over time, undergoing several makeovers.

These days, the former street food dish has made its way into upscale cafes as well as fast food chain restaurants such as McDonald’s and Burger King, which uses soft serve ice cream as a topping.

Here, we take a look at 13 different takes on patbingsu. Continue Reading »

As North Korea heats up, South Korea and Japan should warm ties
Christian Science Monitor

Cooperation on missile defense between South Korea and Japan would help blunt threats from North Korea. But Japanese officials’ recent insensitivity to Imperial Japan’s painful role in World War II, including forcing South Koreans to become ‘comfort women,’ works against cooperation.

U.S. lawmakers lambaste Japan’s mayor over view on ‘comfort women’
Yonhap News

Two U.S. congressmen strongly criticized an outspoken Japanese politician Wednesday for openly backing Japan’s sexual enslavement of Korean and other Asian women during the World War II.

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto reportedly said earlier this week that pushing those women into sexual servitude was a military necessity. More than 200,000 young women from Japan’s colonies are said to have been forced to serve as “comfort women,” an euphemistic expression.

“Mayor Hashimoto’s remarks that comfort women were ‘necessary’ are contemptible and repulsive,” Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) said in a joint statement with Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY).

SKorean women scoff at fired Park aide’s claim ‘cultural difference’ behind touching scandal
Associated Press via Washington Post

A South Korean presidential spokesman who was fired after inappropriately touching a woman during a U.S. trip blames a “cultural difference” with America. Other South Koreans say the fault for such incidents truly lies with a society that allows powerful men to get away with harassment.

Five months after the country elected its first female leader, Park Geun-hye, last week’s incident involving her spokesman Yoon Chang-jung marred her first trip to Washington as president. It also highlighted the gender divide that remains in South Korea, where women say they get paid less than men and are given fewer promotions.

There’s an “unspoken consensus” among influential South Korean men that they can avoid punishment for sexual harassment, office worker Joo Insun said. She added that a former employer responded to her own claims of a colleague’s misbehavior by scrutinizing her instead.

Man Sentenced For Throwing Fatal Beach Party Punch
NBC Chicago

A Chicago man was sentenced Thursday morning in connection with a beach party fight that turned deadly.

James Malecek, 19, waived his right to a trial and pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

A judge accepted the plea agreement, and Malecek will serve 145 days in jail beginning July 1.

Malecek punched Mt. Carmel high school student Kevin Kennelly during a July Fourth disturbance in Long Beach, Ind., in 2011.

Korean group petitions schools over textbook
Bergen County Record (N.J.)

The Korean-American Association of New Jersey is making a push for school districts with large Korean student populations to use textbooks that refer to the Sea of Japan as the East Sea as well.

The association recently presented Fort Lee school officials with a petition signed by members of the Korean-American community. Similar requests by individuals acting on behalf of the Korean-American community were made to Leonia and Palisades Park officials, said association Vice President Sonny Kim. More than 1,500 signatures of residents from the three towns were collected, he said.

“We knew it as East Sea, and we want our children to learn the correct term,” said Kim, who immigrated to the United States at age 4. “To us Korean-Americans, the correct name is East Sea.”

CD 13 Debate: Mitch O’Farrell Says John Choi ‘Foments’ Racial Division
Patch.com (Los Angeles)

The two candidates for the Los Angeles City Council District 13 seat met one last time Tuesday in the Elysian Valley.

Choi’s ability to represent beyond the local was his big theme. O’Farrell emphasized his proven experience working in the Council District 13 boundaries.

The campaign has become rough these last few weeks, with Choi accusing O’Farrell of voter fraud and O’Farrell focusing on Choi’s ties to labor and machine politics.

Once down on their luck, Washingtonville deli owners on rebound
Times Herald-Record (Middletown, N.Y.)

After losing their business and their home to the recession, the owners of the closed Lim’s Deli in Blooming Grove have reopened at a new location, this time in a tiny renovated building behind a sushi restaurant off West Main Street.

The new venture was made possible thanks to the support of a community that refused to see the couple, who gave out free coffee and breakfast sandwiches to those in need, put out on the street.

“Everybody came together, one helping hand led to another, and now it’s finally open,” said Lucille Cimorelli, who provided Yeon Suk Choi and her husband, Chun Suk Lim, the 450-square-foot building they now lease from her for a fraction of their former rent.

The gathering place features an upbeat name — Rainbow Deli — and a few new menu items, including a Korean Bulgogi wrap. Choi’s wise counsel, sympathetic ear and compassion, which won her many loyal customers over the years, are free, as always.

South Korea’s PSY to co-host MuchMusic Video Awards
CTV News (Canada)

The MuchMusic Video Awards are going “Gangnam Style.”

The music station has signed on South Korean pop star Psy as co-host and performer for the MMVAs bash in Toronto on June 16.

MuchMusic says the “Gangnam Style” singer will be making his live Canadian television hosting and performance debut at the street-level show that’s known for its wild antics.

Psy to perform on ‘Dancing With The Stars’ (American version)
allkpop

In the previous season of America’s “Dancing With The Stars“, the contestants performed Psy‘s worldwide hit, “Gangnam Style“. However, in the current season, we’ll get to see Psy perform live as the show enters its final weeks of competition later this month!

According to YG Entertainment, Psy will be performing “Gentleman” on the 21st’s episode to cheer on all the finalists remaining on the broadcast airing through ABC.

Hyun-Jin Ryu plays catch with young Dodgers fan in the stands (Video)
Yahoo Sports

Here’s a pretty cool scene that we don’t see every day: Hyun-Jin Ryu, the Korean pitcher imported by the Los Angeles Dodgers this season, playing catch with a kid in the stands during batting practice.

The young fan goes by the name of Deuce, and he’s a regular in the Dodgers left field pavilion. (And he’s got a pretty good arm, huh?) Deuce’s future trips to the stadium won’t be as cool as this one. According to Dodgerfilms, who captured and posted the video, the pair played catch for about five minutes until batting practice ended.

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and champion figure skater Yuna Kim appeals for the children of Syria
Unicef.org

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and Olympic Gold Medallist and world champion figure skater Yuna Kim today made a heartfelt appeal for support for the children of conflict-torn Syria.

In a 30-second video message Kim, a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF since 2010, calls on viewers to, “Help UNICEF help the children of Syria.”

Sungsoo Han, photographed at his West Covina, Calif., office, heads Wells Fargo’s new Korean Division.

The New Frontier

Although the traditional symbol associated with Wells Fargo is the horse-drawn stagecoach of the Old West, the bank today is trying to tap into the 21st century global market.

story by REBECCA U. CHO
photographs by MICHAEL QUIROS

In a few years, Korean Air will leave an indelible mark on the downtown Los Angeles skyline with a $1 billion hotel and office tower that will become the tallest building in the West.  The skyscraper will serve as a visible reminder of not only the airline’s presence in Southern California, but also of the many South Korean companies of all sizes that are thriving in the region.

Recognizing this growing market, banking giant Wells Fargo is looking to make inroads with middle-market Korean companies in the Los Angeles area through a new banking initiative.

Wells Fargo has created a new division under its commercial unit dedicated to serving Korean businesses. And in a decision symbolic of the mainstream bank moving into territory traditionally left to Korean financial institutions, Wells Fargo hired Sungsoo Han, a former executive vice president of Wilshire State Bank and senior vice president of Hanmi Bank, to head the effort.

“I’ve never seen any major bank embark on the ethnic market like this,” says Han, 56, who is serving as senior VP and senior regional director of what Wells Fargo is calling the Korean Division.  “I thought it was a great opportunity for me because I thought it was about time major banks started doing business with the Korean market.” Continue Reading »

A youth minister from the San Francisco Bay Area was arrested last week after he was caught in a prostitution sting in Orlando, Fla., authorities said.

Samuel Yoon, 45, arrived at a predetermined location on May 8 expecting to have sex with a 14-year-old girl but was instead arrested by undercover detectives, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

Police said Yoon, in town for a youth ministry conference, is a youth pastor at New Community Mission Church in San Leandro, Calif., and has no prior arrest history. Continue Reading »

U.S. Envoy Talks With Chinese About North Korea
New York Times

The State Department’s senior envoy on North Korea said Wednesday that he had discussed “all aspects of the North Korea issue” with Chinese officials, including sanctions on the North, during a one-day visit to Beijing.

“I think this is all a work in progress,” the diplomat, Glyn B. Davies, said at a briefing for reporters in Beijing. “The Chinese have said to us that they will faithfully implement U.N. Security Council sanctions and are doing so. And, as I’ve said before, we take them at their word.”

U.S. gov’t urges N. Korea to free jailed American
Yonhap News

The U.S. government called Wednesday for North Korea to release an American citizen jailed there, saying Washington’s top priority is to secure the safety of its nationals.

“We urge the DPRK (North Korea) authorities to grant Mr. Bae amnesty and immediate release,” Patrick Ventrell, deputy spokesman for the State Department, told reporters. “There is no greater priority for us than the welfare and safety of our U.S. citizens abroad.”

Canadian linked to Algeria attackers faces 10 years in prison
CBC News

Prosecutors in Mauritania have accused a jailed Canadian man of helping prepare an attack on an Algerian gas plant in January and have asked a court to extend his sentence to 10 years from two.

Aaron Yoon, 24, formerly of London, Ont., was convicted last July in Nouakchott on charges of having ties to a terrorist group and of posing a danger to national security. He has served almost half of his two-year sentence.

On Monday, prosecutors told a court that Yoon had acted in connivance with those responsible for the Jan. 16 attacks on an Algerian gas plant and the four-day siege that followed, killing more than 80 people. Yoon has denied involvement and protested that he is innocent.

South Korean Media Blast Abe’s ‘Numerical Provocations’
Wall Street Journal

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is facing a challenge from Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto as the most reviled Japanese politician in South Korea, but the Korean media gave Mr. Abe’s latest militaristic photo opportunity top billing Wednesday.

The largest-circulation newspaper in South Korea, Chosun Ilbo, ran at the top of its front page a photo from Sunday of Mr. Abe in a trainer jet, as did two other nationally circulated papers. Others carried it on inside pages.

All drew attention to a marking on the jet with the number 731, which they noted was the same number as that of a Japanese biological and chemical warfare research facility that performed human experiments during the 1937-45 Sino-Japanese War and World War II.

Choi and O’Farrell in contentious battle for council seat
Los Angeles Times

Theirs has become the most contentious of the four council races on the May 21 ballot, with the candidates accusing each other of homophobia and race-baiting, and their supporters clashing in the streets. Allegations of threats and voter fraud in Little Armenia have prompted investigations by the police and Los Angeles County prosecutors.

The battle is being waged against a backdrop of uneven campaign fundraising and a torrent of spending by independent groups that don’t have the same limits as candidates. Choi, who has the support of many in the city’s political establishment, including Villaraigosa, the powerful federation of labor, and the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, has raised nearly twice as much as O’Farrell.

Choi has also benefited from nearly $600,000 in independent spending, nearly all of it from labor unions.

“That’s who he’s going to be accountable to,” O’Farrell insists. He pointed to Choi’s comments in an endorsement meeting with a major city employee union earlier this year as proof.

Hyongsoon Kim: The Koreatown Advocate
LA Weekly

On the 24th floor of Century Plaza Towers, in his office at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, attorney Hyongsoon Kim enjoys expansive views of West L.A. and the Pacific Ocean but revels in what’s closer to hand: a mess of legal briefs, boxes and court documents strewn about the room. “This chaos to me invites creativity,” says Kim, 34. “You’re not going to find a lot of attorneys who will agree with me. … But litigation is chaos. You can’t control every piece of it. It’s good for a litigator to thrive in chaos. Because that’s what you’re in the middle of.”

Kim studied to be a classical musician as a teen, attended Cal State L.A. at age 15 and earned his law degree from Columbia at 22. Today he’s lead attorney in a federal lawsuit that’s shining a light on Los Angeles City Hall chicanery by challenging a controversial 2012 gerrymander that handed City Council president Herb Wesson more power. The lawsuit alleges that Wesson, the L.A. City Council and the redistricting commission illegally used race as the main factor to redraw voting-district boundaries for Wesson’s City Council District 10. The contorted land-grab consolidated Wesson’s black voter bloc — and diluted the power of rising Koreatown.

Tiger Mom Amy Chua Responds to Tiger Baby
Wall Street Journal

It’s a sign of just how deep tensions are around parenting today that, over two years after Amy Chua’s “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” was published, its combination of shocking revelation, serious reflection and tongue-in-cheek exaggeration still sends T. Rex-scale ripples skittering across the surface of our sociocultural Dixie cups.

Two weeks ago, novelist Kim Wong Keltner’s “Tiger Babies Strike Back” was published — her nonfiction account of growing up under the paw of her authoritarian Tiger parents. Last week, the web was abuzz over the release of UT Austin psychology prof Su Yeong Kim’s longitudinal study tracking the parenting styles and social outcomes of over 400 Chinese American families in the Bay Area, which seemed to show that children of Tiger Parents had both poorer emotional health and lower GPAs than those of parents who embraced warmer and fuzzier child-rearing strategies.

Florida prom-goers aid in car accident rescue
NBC News

Prom-goer Peter Kim told NBC Miami that he grabbed a young boy from the overturned van and helped calm the mother.

“We laid her down, and we tried to calm her down. She was just panicking, she was in shock,” Kim said. “She was screaming out, ‘Where’s my baby? Where’s my baby?’”

Philadelphia woman gets probation for Montco car insurance scam
The Intelligencer (Doylestown, Pa.)

A 69-year-old Philadelphia woman, who engaged in a car insurance scam with a Montgomery Township man, will not have to go to jail for her crimes.
Kathleen B. Chung, of the 500 block of Penny Lane, Philadelphia, last week was sentenced to seven years of probation on two felony insurance fraud charges and a misdemeanor false reporting charge to which she pleaded guilty in February.

Chung also will have to perform 125 hours of community service and pay her half of the $24,554 restitution ordered in the case.

Co-defendant Kyung Soon Kim, 53, of the 100 block of Robertson Court, Montgomery Township, will pay the remaining half of the restitution as part of the sentence he received last month following his guilty plea to theft and conspiracy charges. Kim also was sentenced to two weekends in jail and handed a seven-year probation sentence. As part of that sentence, Kim will pay a $5,000 fine and perform 200 hours of community service.

Star Trek: Into Darkness Interviews Part II: – John Cho and Simon Pegg
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Sara Fetters: Speaking of evolution, was it easier this time to step into the shoes of these characters? Do you still feel the pressure of decades of Star Trek lore?

John Cho: It was easier. We’ve done it once and we went through that anticipation of whether it was going to be accepted. Also, the welcome was exceptionally warm with the last film. For me, I felt like it wasn’t on us, it’s really all on J.J (Abrams). He’ll take the rap.

Ken Jeong Excited About ‘Community’ Renewal, Calls Cast ‘Harlem Globetrotters Of Comedy’
Huffington Post

Ken Jeong was pretty ecstatic when he dropped by “Late Night.” His show, “Community” had been picked up for a 13-episode fifth season by NBC. And despite it not being on the schedule yet, it was a pretty big deal. The show had been considered by many unlikely to return and was one of only two comedies to be renewed at NBC (the other being Parks & Recreation).

“Fifth season,” Jeong said proudly. “Five, six seasons and a movie!” The latter is a catch-phrase that’s been trumpted by fans of the show for the past few years, encouraging NBC to stick by the cult favorite. They’re inching ever so much closer to that goal, even if these latest two have been shorter season orders.

Some of the Juiciest Bits of ‘Rodham,’ the Hillary Clinton Movie Biopic: Sex, Scandal, More
The Daily Beast

Ed. note — Kim immigrated to the States at the age of 9 and considers himself Korean American.

Rodham was written by Young Il Kim, a relatively unknown South Korean. Though casting and filming haven’t begun, the movie is set to be produced by Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen of Temple Hill Entertainment (The Twilight Saga) and directed by James Ponsoldt, whose coming-of-age drama The Spectacular Now was a standout at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The screenplay for Rodham was a hot commodity in Hollywood, earning a place on the 2012 Black List—an annual compendium of the best unproduced screenplays floating around Tinseltown. And according to The Wrap, “industry executives who have read the script claim it offers a potentially award-worthy role for one lucky ingenue.” Kim, meanwhile, has received the Sundance Institute’s Alfred P. Sloan Commissioning Grant to develop his next project—an original, untitled script based on the life of Stephen Hawking.

Check out our story on Kim and his screenplay from last month’s issue of KoreAm:
April Issue: Young Il Kim’s Hillary Clinton Screenplay Earns Hollywood Hype

Gay South Korean film director to marry in bid to pry open closet
Reuters

A gay South Korean film director is set to symbolically marry his long-term partner, saying he aims to pry open the closet in this conservative Asian country where homosexuality is still taboo and gays have been subjected to hate crimes.

AS Monaco Reportedly Targeting Park Ji-sung
Chosun Ilbo

AS Monaco are thinking of grabbing Park Ji-sung from Queens Park Rangers, Patrice Evra from Manchester United and Carlos Tevez from Manchester City in one fell swoop, according to Goal.com on Monday.

“Monaco are considering moves for both Carlos Tevez and Patrice Evra as the Ligue 2 champions-elect construct a team intended to win France’s top division at the first attempt next season,” it reported.

Christina Kim happy to be back in Mobile, looking for good week at Mobile Bay LPGA Classic (video)
al.com (Ala.)

No one has ever had trouble finding Christina Kim. Her high-energy approach to golf and life in general and her bubbly personality have made her a favorite with fans on the LPGA Tour.

That’s especially true in Mobile, where Kim won the 2005 The Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions crown at Magnolia Grove’s Crossings Course. She bested many of the LPGA’s top players at that time in winning the then-limited field event on the city’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail course.

Unfortunately for Kim, that is the most recent of her two LPGA Tour victories. The California native who now lives in Orlando has been slowed by injuries in recent years but told AL.com she is looking forward to this week’s Mobile Bay LPGA Classic, a course she knows well and one on which she is comfortable playing.

Michelle Wie looks to make a run at this week’s Mobile Bay LPGA Classic
al.com

This week, Wie will seek her third victory in a LPGA Tour event — her first came in the 2009 Lorena Ochoa Invitational, the other at the 2010 CN Canadian Women’s Open — when she competes in the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic at Magnolia Grove’s Crossings Course. The par-72 course on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail will welcome Wie and 143 other golfers seeking the tournament title.

Gripping Photos Capture the Mirror Worlds of North and South Korea
Gizmodo

Architectural photographer Dieter Leistner was born the same year East Germany began construction on the Berlin Wall. He was 37 when it fell. Maybe that’s why his interest in North and South Korea feels so personal—he spent forty years in another divided country.

Leistner’s new book, Korea – Korea, is a compendium of images that were shot in 2006, in Pyongyang, and 2012, in Seoul. Each spread compares two different public spaces in each city, including bus stops, subway cars, and public squares. In a foreword to the book, curator Klaus Klemp explains his perspective as a German:

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