all the unnecessary talks

di47f — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 14:11:00 GMT

Mr. Bowie came back!!! I'm so excited now :D

The panicked 48%

di47f — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 10:04:10 GMT

New York Times Op-ed

South Korea's Generation Gap

By HANS SCHATTLE

December 21, 2012

SEOUL — There is an expression in Korean — “men-boong” — which means feeling shell-shocked to the point of mental collapse. My university students here are saying they are completely men-boong with the election of Park Geun-hye as South Korea’s next president. And many of us following South Korea’s growing pains as a democracy can understand why.

Park is the daughter of South Korea’s former president, Park Chung-hee. He spearheaded the country’s economic miracle, but his 18 years in power are remembered as a very dark period for democracy and human rights.

To the younger generation, that Park Geun-hye would run for president is offensive. That their parents and grandparents would elect her is repulsive.

The election result exposes a generation gap: Older voters remember the country’s poverty before Park Chung-hee took power in a 1961 military coup. They lived through South Korea’s rags-to-riches transition; they still revere the former president. Some of their children and grandchildren feel the same way. Every year, I have my students write a letter to a past or present head of state, and occasionally students pen valentines to Park Chung-hee.

Most of their classmates, like most South Koreans under 40, see Park Chung-hee differently. They never knew the poverty their elders escaped. For them, Park Chung-hee and the two military men who followed him as president in the 1980s were scoundrels who ordered imprisonment, torture and, in some cases, death sentences for people they saw as threats to their authority.

At first glance, the election of Park Geun-hye as South Korea’s first female president seems like a milestone. Korean culture is still very male-dominated, even chauvinistic, and Park’s election could be a golden opportunity to improve the standing of women.

For the younger generation, though, Park Geun-hye embodies a throwback to the bad old days. They know the stories of student activists who were labeled communists and had to hide to avoid getting hauled in for questioning by the police. These people feel betrayed by their elders who voted for Park.

Democracy advocates around the world are also concerned. South Korea’s democratic credentials have been slipping under the outgoing president, Lee Myung-bak. International human rights monitors are worried about an increase in prosecutions as a tactic to silence critics of the government. Freedom House even downgraded South Korea’s press freedom ranking in 2011 from “free” to “partly free” because of government meddling in the broadcasting industry.

But the South Korea of Gangnam Style is well beyond the South Korea of Park Chung-hee. Internet media and alternative news outlets are reshaping public debate. South Korea now has its own version of “Saturday Night Live,” and the skits lampooning the presidential candidates were a hit — the male actor who played Park Geun-hye presumably has a steady gig for the next five years. Younger Koreans are addicted to a podcast that combines the satire of the Colbert Report with biting political invective targeting conservative politicians. The program is called “I’m a Petty-Minded Creep” — a shot at Lee Myung-bak — and the title just might become even more harsh once Park Geun-hye takes office. The big television networks have become more deferential to the ruling party, but South Korea’s netizens have no plans to hand her a free pass.

Winning the election with 51.6 percent of the vote is one thing, but it will take much more for Park Geun-hye to win widespread confidence and trust. And South Korea has a tragic history when it comes to presidents — corruption has been rampant over the years, and not a single president since the country’s founding in 1948 has left office in high public esteem. Is there any chance Park Geun-hye could break this cycle just as she has broken through the proverbial glass ceiling for women? As a first step, she needs to show her country and the world that she is wholeheartedly dedicated to advancing a robust and transparent model of democracy.

Hans Schattle is an associate professor of political science at Yonsei University.

di47f — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 17:13:40 GMT

Maybe as expected, people started to choose to die
(rather than to live where the justice is hardly valued).

Free hugs for the losers

di47f — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 09:57:07 GMT

Pyo Chang-won, who once was a very famous professor of a police academy but resigned for speaking up more freely about the corruption of the police and the prosecution, and the infringement of freedom of speech, offered free hugs to the citizens, especially 48% of the voters who voted for Moon Jae-in.

di47f — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 06:14:52 GMT

The percentage of votes for Moon Jae-in according to the age & regional groups.
(* And the turnout of the voters in their 50s was about 90%.)

di47f — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 05:41:51 GMT

8. The ministry of health and welfare just announced that it will reduce the service for the older and the low-income group.

di47f — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 05:02:37 GMT

6. And he, the candidate we supported, said during the ceremony to disband the camp, "rivers slowly wind their ways, but never give up reaching to the ocean."
7. A young poet tweeted about the awards held last night. The honoree was a famous critic, doyen of the literary world, and it was said he refused to receive flowers during the ceremony. The poet wrote in his twitter that everyone attended there cried a lot again and the elder critic consoled them saying "it would be ok, let's just try to write better."

di47f — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 04:37:45 GMT

3. The privatization of the water supply seems to begin.
4. The public utilities prices started to be raised.
5. A former fired employee who had just got reinstated but discriminated committed a suicide last night.

This Christmas will be the most depressing holiday for us. We're just not in the mood to enjoy the holiday, literally speaking.

di47f — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 17:36:47 GMT

1. The podcasters who reported the corruptions of the regime and satirize the current politics for years will be examined by the prosecution.
2. It's just found that the proper results of the keyword "privatization" don't appear on NAVER, one of the largest portal site in Korea.

I was in the 48%, and we lost the election.

di47f — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 13:03:36 GMT

I'd never thought that I would have to live under such a government.
It seems our Weimar was ended. I'm afraid to imagine what lies ahead of us. What will happen to us? How cruel and unreal things will happen? Will we be able to endure them? Will we be alright and safe after then?
I'm thinking of Nadejda Mandelstam and her memoir Hope Against Hope. Could I show as much power as her, endure everything and protect the good and the right whatever will happen to me as she did?

There are many who are contemplating about immigration. A part of me, too, wants to leave this country as soon as possible, but I can't. I cried so much last night, cried today, have almost no energy to move on. It feels so unreal! I can't believe that woman, daughter of a dictator became the president! It feels like a nightmare, the worst nightmare I'm still caught in.

I hope everyone and everything will be alright. I hope they won't be hurt too much after all the five years. I hope there won't be too many things that will draw tears from people.

We're talking about the quote of Tocqueville saying "In every democracy, the people get the government they deserve." And we're regretting, reflecting ourselves, and ashamed of ourselves. Someone told us that the justice can come slowly, more slowly than we expected, so we'd rather remain calm and patient. And people seem to start to manage themselves together and return to their life and work. I'll do so, too, I have to do. But I can hardly keep from tears.

I still remember the good days I spent on this place with several good friends. Looking back on it now, I was so lucky then. The times were rather like a paradise. Thank you all. And please wish me luck. Please remember that we're living in a country where the democracy is on the brink of being violated. Please show more concern for us.

di47f — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 09:00:47 GMT

In Berlin (dir. Ryu Seung-wan, 2013)

di47f — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 12:34:08 GMT

Presidential campaign commercial of Moon Jae-in

di47f — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 11:29:42 GMT

Campaign song of Moon Jae-in for the upcoming president election.

di47f — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 15:51:01 GMT

BIGBANG - Haru Haru (Newark, NJ, 12-11-09)

di47f — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 03:33:00 GMT

Naul - The memory of the wind

di47f — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 06:37:18 GMT

Here in South Korea, Ahn Cheol-soo just announced his candidacy for president, quoting William Gibson's phrase "the future is already here, it's just not very evenly distributed." And the writer's name is trending on major portal sites......

This is very interesting and hopeful!

di47f — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 05:04:24 GMT

It's exactly the way how Korea has been standing up till now...... ;b

di47f — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 10:15:23 GMT

This! :)

di47f — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 09:47:28 GMT

The concert crowd :D

Mika - We are golden (2009)

MIka - Rain (2011)

Maroon5 - She will be loved (2011)

Keane - Everybody's changing (2009)

Travis - Closer (2009)

Muse - Starlight (2010)

di47f — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 13:45:06 GMT

Psy - We are the one (2006)

A singer who calls himself a 'beggar'

di47f — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 04:56:07 GMT

This young musician whose stage name is Kim Geoji (Beggar Kim in translation) is now attracting attention of people including me. He said he decided to call himself 'beggar' just because he wanted not to forget the times when he had to starve to save money for buying a guitar.

Kim Jeong-gyun a.k.a Kim Geoji - Monologue

di47f — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 02:44:17 GMT

Something is definitely happening now. But I don't know whether it'll be proved to be bad or good. Recent pieces of news scare me, but who knows? The powers moving under all these happenings and accidents are just pure powers, unpredictable, free of value. Or, am I wrong?

Watching recent music videos like BIGBANG's Monster or Kayip's In The End, I think maybe foreign fans wouldn't notice what Koreans naturally pick up in them. The assumption or feeling, that is, our lives and this world where we're living are not guaranteed.

di47f — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 14:27:56 GMT

I just bought two albums of Kayip and Jambinai, and made my MP3 player full with their music and Brian Eno's. It seems something is happening now here definitely! And who knows? We might end up with unification or something.

di47f — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 13:32:33 GMT

Beware. It's literally mindblowing.

Jambinai - Time of Extinction

di47f — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 06:26:32 GMT

And I love Viktor Tsoi.