Tag: Korea

They Mutilate Kids in Korea, Gangnam Style!

 

While my fellow Americans cut off their kids’ penises or breasts on a whim and make with the hormone-blockers, here in Korea they have found another reason to mutilate their kids — their concept of beauty. I’m still not 100% sure what that means, even after all this time, but it definitely means the looks given to you by Mom and Dad’s genetics weren’t enough.

The “double eyelid” surgery is the one you hear most about. Gotta get that “Western/caucasian” looking eyelid. (Don’t know how they do it.) Anecdotally, the cartoon characters drawn by kids here, as well as those used in advertising and YES, even military recruiting, all have ping-pong-ball round eyes.

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Returns are starting to come in. Korean presidents serve one five-year term, after which they either go into exile, commit suicide or go to prison. (Rimshot.) Why should we care? Current President Moon’s Democratic Party is shifting the country more into appeasement mode with North Korea and China, and away from a close relationship with […]

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Korea to the US and Back: Amped Up Hysteria

 

I’m not writing for style points, and I’m pretty sure I’m disqualified anyway because of the steroids, but I want to lay out my experience traveling to the US from Korea and coming back to Korea yesterday.

I left Korea for Oklahoma City on December 31. At the airport in Incheon, I took the required antigen test to enter the United States. It cost about $77. Because of this test and the time it took to get results, I had to be in the airport more than 10 hours before my flight. Also, I was refused service at a coffee shop, café, and convenience store because I didn’t have a negative test result, despite the fact that it is not a requirement in everyday Korean life. During my day in the airport waiting, I noticed the janitorial crew in hazmat suits and plastic visors emptying trash cans at 30-minute intervals and spraying them with disinfectant. (I always have loved performance art.) From that point on, there was no check of my health, though the airport was festooned (always wanted to use that word) with signs boasting, and promising, three temperature scans before boarding.

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WWII:Democrat President declares war on Germany and Japan after Japan attack’s US.We beat the German Axis and Japan. We remain in Germany, Italy and Japan to stabilize and protect them, even today, 75 years later. South Korean:Democrat President enters war with South Korean to push out North Korea.Republican President, and war fighter, takes over as […]

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Green Shoots in My Community

 

I live near Little Asia in Mesa. This commercial community has been flourishing, revitalizing a portion of a run-down part of town. The latest good sign is the opening of an H Mart. This is a Korean-American supermarket chain with everything from inexpensive to luxury items. The store opened as Arizona started recovering from the governor’s knee on disfavored businesses’ necks. The parking lot is full, every day. This entrepreneurial audacity is worth celebrating this Independence Day weekend.

H Mart entry sign You can see the lettering on the entry all the way across the parking lot. In huge block letters, this company set out its policy, before any state or local official edict:

NO MASK

Ave Korea: Things Will Never Be Perfect, Y’all

 
Lotte Tower

View of Seoul from the 123rd floor of Lotte Tower.

Y’all stateside are being set free by your government betters, so I thought it might be a good time to tell you how it’s going here in the Seoul metroplex: we had the outbreak earlier than you, so maybe our results will make for a good “coming attractions.”

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Yes, Koreans went to the polls and voted IN PERSON, not by mail. I saw one guy without a mask, and he WAS allowed in to vote….and everyone’s forehead was scanned for fever. But it was me who had fever, election fever, after seeing the crazy election returns on TV. Here are too brief snippets. […]

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Good morning, America, how are ya? I have in my hands a few KF94 face masks. These are the most common masks you see in Korea, and they’re an “all occasion, year round” accessory that you simply MUST have. Before the wet markets of China unleashed the Wuhan Virus™️, they unleashed SARS™️, so people bought masks. […]

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Colorful Korean Meal

 

Various forms of contemporary kimchi. National Institute of Korean Language [CC BY-SA 2.5]

Across the northern hemisphere, this is the time of year for harvest festivals. In Germany, Oktoberfest 2019 is in its final week. Two weeks ago, South Koreans celebrated ChuseokI claim no expertise in Korean culture or cuisine but have a few colorful memories of Korean food.

Start with green and white cabbage. Cabbage is preserved by fermentation, both in Asian and in Europe. In Korea, instead of sauerkraut, a mild dish, you get kimchi. Driving through the hilly Korean countryside north of Seoul, I noticed very large plastic sheets laid out on the sides of the road, near farming houses. They were covered, covered with small bright red chili peppers, laid out to dry. These would form the fiery base of the spices that separate kimchi from sauerkraut. There are many other possible ingredients, but you can usually expect orange carrots, green and white scallions, and white radish, ginger, and garlic.

ACF #27: Oldboy

 

Here’s another Eastern classic–after Kurosawa, a modern Korean movie by Park Chan-wook. George Dunn and Peter Paik and I discuss Oldboy, the centerpiece of the Vengeance trilogy, which won Park the Palme d’Or in Cannes. Korea’s transformation into a prosperous democracy and Oh Dae Su’s transformation into a superman go together to first conceal and then reveal the dark secret at the foundation of civil society: The sacred law on which politics is based is the family, which must obey public laws. This is tragedy in a modern setting, moving between the epitome of wealth and the underworld of crime, incredibly violent, but also strangely hopeful about the possibility of reestablishing civilization.

Robert Kelly is known worldwide. He is the “BBC Dad,” the scholar whose children and wife burst into the room, delightfully, as he was giving an interview. Do you remember? It’s good that Kelly has a worldwide fame – because he knows as much about the Koreas, North and South, as anyone. With Jay, he runs through many of the most important issues. And he also relates what it’s like to be the “BBC Dad.”

Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America embark on the second half of their six-episode saga known as the 2018 Three Martini Lunch Awards. Today, Jim and Greg offer up their selections for the best political idea, worst political idea, and boldest political tactics for 2018.