Happy Daylight Savings Time!

Happy Daylight Savings Time!  No joke, I don't care for DST and am glad Korea doesn't observe it.

Waygook Weekend Update - March 10th 2012

Hey everyone,

My best friend from high school has taken up comedy as his full time career path and he lives in Austin, Texas right now.  He started a youtube channel and does daily update videos about what's trending on the internet.  I thought I'd pay him some respect and steal the format of his show and give comedy a try while talking about topics related to Korea.

No guarantees this will be a regular thing yet, I had fun making this, but scripting, filming, and editing videos takes a really long time...

Here is the script for the video and the links to the stories...

Anyounghaseyo everyone and welcome to the waygook weekend update. I’m your host Wes Broe and these are your headlines for the weekend of Saturday March 10th.

Veteran actor Hong Seok-Cheon was back in the headlines this week after the Los Angeles Times ran a feature on him. Hong Seok-Cheon has become one of South Korea’s leading gay rights activists after coming out of the closet in 2000.

Mr. Hong claims he made history this week as the first gay man to discuss sex and sexual orientation on-air in Korea while guest appearing on the popular TV show “Star Lecture Series”.

He is most well-known for being the onetime host of a popular 1990s childrens’ citcom, Po Po Po, that was often referred to as South Korea’s version of Sesame Street.

When he came out of the closet in 2000, he was immediately fired from his program and cast out as a pariah in Korean society.

He reflected on his decision to come out then and claims with Korea’s traditional Confucian origins and its modern embracement of Christianity, he should really have seen it coming.

When reached for comment by the old people of Korea, they responded by saying… “who? Oh yeah, that guy. He’s not gay. And even if he is, we assure you, he is the only Korean that is.”

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-south-korea-gay-activist-20120306,0,6884637,full.story

On the popular Korean Blog The Marmot’s Hole, photos surfaced of Koreans drinking alcohol on a subway car, being loud, and blocking the subway doors and walking paths for the other passengers.

This is really only news because photos of white English teachers doing the exact same thing surfaced last year and Korean netizens threw a collective hissy fit and claimed waygooks had no respect for Korea.

When asked for comment about the glaring hypocrisy of the situation, Korean netizens responded by saying well, whatever, unlike some foreigners at least Koreans never park their cars on the sidewalks, urinate in the streets, pass out drunk in public places, or cut in line at the grocery stores.

http://www.rjkoehler.com/2012/03/02/booze-parties-on-the-subway-not-just-for-foreign-louts/

http://www.rjkoehler.com/2011/05/10/foreign-louts-drink-play-cards-on-subway-ohmynews/

It was reported this week on Busan Haps, the magazine for what’s happening in Busan, that the program for native English speaking teachers in public schools in Busan will be cut dramatically next year.

The Busan MOE claims that last year 522 teachers were employed in the district and they went more than 4 billion won over budget because they over hired.

Due to cuts last year, and more cuts coming this next year to their English education budgets, the city of Busan said it will have to let go at least 55 and as many as 75 native teachers for next year.

The Busan Office of Education says it is embarrassed by these cuts and is going to have to adjust its recruitment goals for the second semester to compensate.

When reached for comment by some of the adorable children attending an elementary school that is about to lose their native teacher, they said “Hi, how are you. I’m fine, and you Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, too.”

http://www.busanhaps.com/article/busan-cut-native-speaking-teachers

The United States announced this week a breakthrough with North Korea in efforts to start a full-fledged bilateral and multilateral talks on denuclearization.

In their high-level meetings in Beijing late last month, the North agreed to freeze its uranium-enrichment program at the Yongbyon nuclear site and refrain from nuclear and long-range missile tests while dialogue is under way.

In return, the United States has promised to the North Korean government 240,000 tons of food aid, and the promise that they would talk to the Harlem Globe Trotters and see if they could be persuaded to play a charity exhibition game in Pyeongyang vs Kim Jong-eun and thirty of his closest body guards.

http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20120307000455

The Dong-a Ilbo reported this week that Radio Free Asia could quote a confidential source from within the North Korea military that more than 10 North Korean soldiers were killed and tens of others injured by South Korean counterattacks after the North shelled Yeonpyeong Island in 2010.

The South Korean military remains confident after their counter response shelling, that North Korean forces are reluctant to fight or engage artillery fire with South Korean forces again.

When asked for comment on these claims, the official response from the North Korean regime was that the counter artillery fire from the South not only missed and failed to harm any of their forces, but it managed open fissures in the earth in which rare and amazing treasures poured forth.

They then added, thanks for the gold and bullet-proof unicorns that we found as a result of your feeble and inept counter-attack.

http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2012030363458

The Chosun Ilbo reported this week that statistics show that a growing number of Koreans are putting off marriage until they are in their 40s.

The gyeonggido Family and Women’s Research Institute surveyed that the number of men in their 40s who are tying the knot for the first time increased by more than 4-fold from a decade ago, while the number for women more than doubled.

The articled commented that the main reason for Koreans waiting so long to be married is that they want to be financially secure and have a fulfilling career before they settle down and marry.

Senior executives at Korea’s largest corporations were shocked by these statistics, claiming that they had no idea their employees by the time they reached their 40s were starting to feel financially secure enough to start a family.

They claimed they were do their part and improve those statistics and make sure their employees never felt financially secure enough to start a family.

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/03/03/2012030300352.html

And now for the weather, me dressed as a ninja.

It’s going to be very cloudy tonight. Good chance of heavy fog… you won’t see me coming…

Thanks me, the payment of 100 pounds of gold will soon be ours.

South Korean K-pop star Ham Eun-jung was back in the headlines this week, as disgusting Korean internet trolls remain unwilling to leave this woman and her body image alone.

Eun-jeong is a popular singer from the K-POP group T-ara, and she was photographed this week in Indonesia while filming a television episode of the MBC variety show “We Got Married.”

Korean netizens kept commenting about how much chubbier she looks in these photos and how her v-line chin was nowhere to be seen.

When asked for comment from some random American guy, he said “why is that skinny, Korean girl wearing high heeled shoes in the jungle?”

http://omonatheydidnt.livejournal.com/8665644.html

The Korean JoongAng Daily reported this week that seven Korean teenage boys allegedly carried out a cyber attack on the web site of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

Last year the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family enacted numerous unfavorable laws targeting children including the now infamous “Cinderella Policy”.

This policy prohibits any minor from logging onto the internet and playing online games between the hours of midnight and 6am.

The policy aims to reduce the growing trend of computer gaming addiction amongst children in Korea. The teenagers claimed they orchestrated the cyber attack on the ministry’s website because they feel that older people don’t care what they think and they don’t want them to be happy.

To which every Korean in the nation collectively sighed and said, “ahhh, feels the same way for us, too, sometimes”.

That’s all for tonight… be sure to toon in next week!

http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2949498&cloc=joongangdaily|home|newslist1

8-Bit KPOP

Allkpop already found this months ago... but I just discovered it!

A Japanese artist named Danjyon Kimura created a 20 track KPOP 8-Bit ensemble.  This is so much fun.

The full list of tracks include:

00 Orange Caramel – Bangkok City
01 SUPER JUNIOR – BONAMANA
02 Rainbow – A
03 BEAST – Breath
04 KARA – Mr.
05 miss A – Bad Girl Good Girl
06 4minute – Mirror Mirror
07 BIGBANG – Lie
08 T-ara – Bo Peep Bo Peep
09 SHINee – Ring Ding Dong
10 Brown Eyed Girls – Abracadabra
11 U-KISS – Man Man Ha Ni
12 2NE1 – Go Away
13 AFTERSCHOOL – Bang!
14 f(x) – Pinocchio(Danger)
15 少女時代（SNSD） – Oh!
16 CNBLUE – I’m A Loner
17 FTIsland – Flower Rock
18 2PM – I’ll Be Back
19 東方神起（TVXQ） – Rising Sun

Kony 2012

This 30 minute video put out by the organization, Invisible Children, has ignited the internet.  This is one of the most well put-together and concise videos I have ever seen.  Very powerful and very moving.

With that said...

Most of Africa in general is a pretty f'd up place and there is no way this guy could continue to operate if local government and police authorities were not at least a little involved in keeping his operation going.  This video doesn't give us all the information, but I am sure it is more complicated than just "kill or capture this one guy".  In general... I firmly believe it is not good policy and I don't support the practice of foreign powers going into less developed countries and settling their disputes for them. It is not and should not be our business. Denying these people, or any people, the right of self-determination leads them to reject whatever outcome (positive or not) that we thrust upon them.

However, this is an awareness campaign.  I believe the statistic in the video that less than 1% of the world knows who Kony is, and this guy is arguably the world's worst human rights abuser. George Clooney is right in this video, mass murders should be as famous as Hollywood actors and people should work together to stop them. The people of Uganda have to stop this from happening, and there is a lot the West can do to help them (without doing it for them) and that is what I support. Being aware never hurt anyone and that is the main focus of this internet campaign.  Everyone should be aware and help the people in all parts of the world who are struggling and suffering to improve their lives.

New Documentary About Bullying

Bullying has always been a problem.  Every culture at every point in time has had bullies who intimidate and pick on others to get what they want or feel better about themselves.  I was lucky enough to escape my childhood without being the target, but I was easily a bystander and watched other beings picked on by the bullies of my childhood schools.  The problem with kids is they always believe that they are the only one, and they cannot grasp the world waiting for them beyond today.  It gets better...

I saw this plea on facebook from Ellen to get the rating changed of an upcoming documentary about bullying.  It got an "R" rating for strong language (such bullshit) while on-screen sex and violence in movies like Twilight get the PG-13 pass.  All of the language in the film is in context and has an educational purpose I'm sure.

And here is the trailer for the film.  Korea has plenty of its own problems with bullying.  I really do think that bullying is not new, nor is it getting worse.  I think just that technology and the internet allows for people for the first time to see bullying of children on cell phone cameras and then easily shared over the internet.  Imagine the terrible things people could have watched if everyone in the deep south in the 1960s and 1970s had iphones with HD cameras.

 

Eat Your Kimchi recently also did a video about their experience with bullying.  I have always taught elementary school, and I'm sure it still exists, but I imagine it is not as bad as students at the middle and high school levels.

Korean Teens Rage Against Cinderella Policy

It is being reported that several teenage Korean boys allegedly coordinated their own cyber attack on the website for the Korean Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.  Last year the Ministry enected several unpopular policies affecting teenages including the "Cinderella Policy," which has attempted to stop minors from being able to play online games between the hours of midnight and 6am

The Cyber Crime Investigation Team of National Police Agency said yesterday it caught seven boys disseminating malicious code to paralyze the ministry’s Web site and booked their 16-year-old leader without detention. 

The boys attempted distributed denial-of service attacks on the Web site four times from Jan. 26 to 29, but the attacks failed because the police detected them immediately. 

“The attacks were made on four different occasions,” investigator Yang Jong-min told the Korea JoongAng Daily, “and one was made at midnight.” 

The police said the boys were clever enough to change the IP address of their computer to make it look like the attack was coming from outside Korea. 

I'm not exactly a cyber terrorist... but doesn't that seem like the least you could do?  How can that be deemed 'clever' when if they had done anything else it would have been incredibly moronic of them.

When questioned by police, the boys said they hated a series of policies by the ministry, particularly the Cinderella Policy that’s been in effect since November. 

It prohibits underage people from playing online games between midnight and 6:00 a.m. to curb computer game addiction. 

They also dislike the ministry’s screening of music and animated television shows to see if they’re suitable for children.

“I felt like the ministry doesn’t care about what we [teenagers] think,” the 16-year-old alleged ringleader told police during questioning.

That's correct.  They don't care what you think.  Now get back to studying your asses off.

Cheap Korean Cosmetics Sell Well in Japan

The title of the article from The Chosun Ilbo is titled "Korean Cosmetics Take Japan by Storm", but the author of the article used the word "cheap" three different times to explain the quality of Korean cosmetics.  This is just an interesting way to describe their nations' good and services.  In the west we use the more economically soft term "inexpensive" to avoid the negative associations of the word "cheap" with poor quality.

Not Koreans.  They love anything "cheap".  Seriously, though, the cosmetics here are fantastic and with their pop culture projecting so many beautiful Korean faces over the Pacific Rim, it makes sense that foreign nations would want to hord Korean beauty products.

Shinjuku Station in Tokyo was packed with people last Thursday even though it was long after the morning rush hour when Missha, the cheap Korean cosmetics brand, opened a store there.

People rushed in the moment the sales assistants gave the signal. Within half an hour the shop ran out of the 100 jars of Missha Super Aqua Cell Renew Snail Cream priced at 3,480 yen (approximately W48,000), which it had prepared as giveaways. About 1,200 customers visited the shop on its opening day.

The Shinjuku Station shopping mall alone is a battlefield for cosmetics brands. Global brands like L'Occitane, The Body Shop and DHC have stores there, and among Korean brands Missha joins Etude House and SkinFood.

The Missha and Etude shops are strategically located in an area all passengers at Shinjuku Station must pass, and the station is so central that some 3 million people pass through in a day, with 80,000 of them just visiting the shopping mall.

Korean cosmetics brands perform remarkably well in Japan. Missha Japan, which was established in 2005, saw sales increase from 296 million yen in 2006 to 1.98 billion last year, more than six times in six years. Missha Japan's vice president Kim Doo-kyum said, "Missha offers not just low-priced products for teenagers but also products that appeal to people of all age groups."

Etude, which opened its first brand shop in Japan last November, is also doing well. While Missha tries to attract customers of all age groups with its subdued, refined interior, Etude's shop is decorated like a doll house and uses images of its model boy band SHINee. It expects to achieve sales of about 400 million yen (W5.5 billion) this year. SkinFood has grown so rapidly that it now has 18 shops in Japan and earns 1.5 billion yen (W20.6 billion) annually.

The main advantage of Korean cosmetics is that they are cheap. A 39-year-old woman in Shinjuku Station said, "Some time ago, I started buying Korean cosmetics because they're cheaper than Japanese brands and their quality is just as good."

Their popularity also owes something to the appeal of beautiful Korean actresses and their use of natural ingredients like snails and ginseng. Last year, Missha earned 2 billion yen (W27.5 billion) from sales of Snail Cream, the largest revenue for a single product there.
[Click for More]

The 10 Best KPOP Videos of 2011

For many Westerners, KPOP ranges from a mystery to a nuisance. But within the Pacific Rim, KPOP is what is quickly becoming the preferred playlist for the youth of Asia. The Korean Wave has been progressing quick to engulf the Asia pop markets in the last five years and it is only a matter of time before the Korean Music Industry adapts a group that will be able to crack into the European and North American pop markets.

KPOP is simply entertainment. Gorgeous people singing and dancing with a catchy tune, some flashy clothes, and a few crazy moves. It does not require thought (especially if you do not speak Korea), and the less you think about it, the more entertainment you will get from it.

These are the ten best music videos of 2010 as chosen by an expert panel of free-time Youtube surfing Waygooks.

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#10 - "Itaewon Freedom" by UV (with J. Y. Park)

Release Date: March 27th, 2011

Special Honors: Best Styled Wigs, Most Likely to Offend a Black Person in Itaewon, Best Remake of an 80s Pop Song Nobody Has Heard Of Before







A comedy duo decided to team up with JYP to remake a song called "Harlem Desire" by the London Boys.  These guys had fun making a song dedicated to the foreigner district in Seoul, and the joke was lost on Koreans.  This song received little attention or appreciation from sincere KPOP fans, but it is hard to not be infected by the absurdity of this song and it had to make it on the list of best KPOP songs of the year.  Nice hair!

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#9 - "Knock Out" (뻑이가요) by GD and T.O.P

Release Date: January 3rd, 2011

Special Honors: Best Use of Bubble Wrap, Least Likely to Acknowledge Your Presence In An Elevator, Best Effort at Literacy Promotion in a KPOP Video




G-Dragon and T.O.P of Big Bang had a fantastic year.  They took a break from their own solo work... and their work within their group, Big Bang... to release a series of awesome hits together.  They have a compelling story as childhood friends turned pop stars and their clash and compliments in style make for memorable moments.  If you think these guys deserve recognition, check out their other songs together "High High", "Don't Go Home", "Baby Good Night", "Oh Yeah".

*************************************************************************************************************************************

#8 - "Hot Summer" (핫썸머) by f(x) (에프엑스)

Release Date: June 17th, 2011

Special Honors: Most Likely to Ask to Borrow Your Spare Stick of Deodorant, Best Use of Pink Artillery, First to State the Obvious About the Weather in August


This is a dynamite song with an obvious seasonal message, but it caused some controversy in that f(x) bought the rights and completely stole this song from a German group called Monrose.  Can you blame them for stealing?  It's a... hot... song.  This countdown also needed a second song with a tank in the video, so this song had to make it.  f(x)'s other hit this year was "Danger".

*************************************************************************************************************************************

#7 - "Keep Your Head Down" (왜) by TVXQ (동방신기)

Release Date: January 3rd, 2011

Special Honors: Most Likely to Actually Be Gods, Best Use of Gratuitous-360-HD-Slow-Motion-Panning, Most Likely to Show Up To a Knife Fight With a Fireball


TVXQ holds a very coveted title in KPOP: 'Most names for their group'.  Their international name is TVXQ (also stylized commonly as TVXQ! or TVfXQ) and it stands for Tong Vfang Xien Qi in Chinese. However, in South Korea they are known as DBSK or Dong Bang Shin Ki (동방신기) and in Japan they are known as Tohoshinki (東方神起). All of their names and acronyms are supposed to translate as "The Rising Gods of the East.".  This alone makes them the biggest badasses on the countdown.  The video lives up to their name(s).

*************************************************************************************************************************************

#6 - "Be My Baby" ( 비마이베이비) by Wonder Girls (원더걸스)

Release Date: November 5th, 2011

Special Honors: Least Likely to Be Your Baby, Best in Heels, Most Likely to Have Gotten Their Inspiration From an 'OK Go' Video



Everyone loves the Wonder Girls!  How you can not from watching their videos?  Their style is definitely distinct and their retro fashion and set design always makes for a great combination with their upbeat music. They spent much of 2010 touring with the Jonas Bros. and they took a hit with their fan base here in Korea.  But this song has brought them back and put them back in the top tier of groups.

*************************************************************************************************************************************

#5 - "Perfection" (태완미) by Super Junior (슈퍼주니어)

Release Date: February 28th, 2011

Special Honors: Best in Coon Skin Hat Fashion, Most Perfect at Being Perfect, Least Likely to Know the Names of Everyone in Their Group





With Super Junior, you know exactly what you are going to get with every video: amazing style and furious dance moves.  These guys brewed a powerful formula with their all time greatest hit, "Sorry, Sorry", three years ago and all they have done since then is rinse and repeat their silky smooth image.  These guys always show up to entertain and it would not be a true countdown without them representing.  Their other hits this year were "Mr. Simple" and "A Cha".

*************************************************************************************************************************************

#4 - "Sixth Sense" by Brown Eyed Girls

Release Date: September 22nd, 2011

Special Honors: Best Use of Sex Appeal in a Music Video, Most Super-Sexy-Sex-Sexiness, Least Likely to be Without a Date on Valentine's Day




Is there any group that Korea missed more than B.E.G.?  We all have been waiting forever for them to release a new hit together.  The girls who brought us "Abracadabra" more than two years ago are finally back and their new hit was the sexiest video of the year.

*************************************************************************************************************************************

#3 - "Love Song" by Big Bang

Release Date: April 13th, 2011

Special Honors: Most Likely to Spontaneous Combust, Least Likely to Comprehend the Origins of the Universe, Best at Not Looking Sweaty in the Desert




Be careful if you utter the words "Big Bang" in public, it will cause the Korean masses to go into a fit of panic.  No other male group can come close to the recognition and respect that Big Bang has earned for their members both as a group and as individuals over the last three years.  These guys are all accomplished and distinct personalities and their return this year generated the most hysteria among diehard KPOP fans.  Their two big hits this year were "Long Song" and "Tonight".  Love Song made the countdown for all the cool stuff that gets set on fire and blown up in the video.

*************************************************************************************************************************************

#2 - "Roly Poly" by T-ara

Release Date: June 28th, 2011

Special Honors: Coolest Dance of the Year, Most Totally Historically Accurate KPOP Video Ever, Most in Need of a Popped Collar



For those who remember T-ara's "Bo Peep Bo Peep" from two years ago, it is difficult to watch these girls and not picture them in cute animal outfits saying what in English really fast sounds like "puck me, puck me, puck me".  T-ara easily had the best dance of the year and their video was a cute retro throw back to a time in Korea that probably never existed.  This video is buckets of awesome.  You just have to skip the first 8:00 minutes to get to the good part.  Click here for the 'Copacabana' version.

*************************************************************************************************************************************

#1 - "I am the Best" (내가제일잘나가) by 2NE1

Release Date: June 27th, 2011

Special Honors: Most Modest, Best Use of a Rotating Chair, Last People You Want to Know the Combination to Your Gun Safe


The title of their song says it all.  If artists were allowed to repeat on this countdown, then all their hits from this year would have had to have been included on the countdown.  These girls are fierce, fun, sexy, and overall hands down the best pop group that Korea has to offer to the world.  They can dance.  They can sing.  And they will charm your pants off in an interview.  They are the best, don't hate.  Their other hits were "Hate You", "Don't Cry", "Don't Stop the Music" "Ugly", and "Lonely".



There were lots of other lesser known and appreciated KPOP videos that were still good this year.  If you like KPOP and missed any of these, check 'em out.

Mighty Mouth - Tok Tok
Girls' Generation - Visual Dreams
Girl's Generation - Taxi
Kahi - Come Back You Bad Person
GD&TOP - Don't Go Home
2NE1 - I Hate You
Kim Wan Seon & Yong Jun Hyeong - Be Quiet
IU - You and I
Girl's Day - Twinkle Twinkle
B2ST - Fiction
Orange Caramel - Shanghai Romance
Orange Caramel - Funny Hunny
Tiger JK - Get It In
Secret - Shy Boy
Sunny Hill - Midnight Circus

Happy New Year!

Hey All,

It's been a while.  I took a new job in Korea last summer and it consumed a significantly higher portion of my time and energy than my previous job, so I decided to take a break.

It has also been a fantasy of mine to either start or promote this blog to a video blog and post more original videos and content.  I have tons of ideas, but lack the technical knowledge and tools to make the stuff.  I bought a mac and the software needed, but self-teaching is difficult and the internet at times really isn't as intuitive as programmer manuels want you to believe.

Cheers!

Lost Time

My schedule became a little too overwhelming this spring and I decided that updating a blog was an unnecessary source of stress in my life, so I decided to take some time off.  I have also been having internet/computer issues and have plans this summer to reevaluate what I want from my time blogging.

I recently took a trip out to the remote island of Beegeum Do Island off the coast of Mokpo.  It was as remote as you can get anywhere in Korea...

They also had a naturally formed heart shaped beach (only looks that way from one perspective).  Cool, eh?