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curly carrot
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Re: The Korean Wave & Domestic News
with regards to the "hallyu" to the US, from our experience, all promotions and advertisements have been directed to and filtered through Korean media. If it weren't for our accidental encounter with a Korean Drama in 2006, we would know nothing about the Korean entertainment scene and its attempts to engage Americans in the dialogue of cross cultural entertainment. It has been strictly on our own initiative and investigative search that we have obtained info, tickets, etc. to a variety of live Korean performances held here in CA. It is obvious that the current "wave" tactics are to market the Asian communities (specifically the Koreans) and although we don't fault this move (for obvious reasons) any breakthroughs to the non-Asian American market need to be addressed through English channels. A pricy venture I am sure but it appears that they are missing out on a large population of high school and college audiences by not advertising and promoting the Korean artists on the many campuses located in the US and through english speaking media. Thus far, the Korean Cultural Center in LA has done a modest job in promoting the culture to non-Koreans but as with all "new" ideas and ways of seeing our world, it will take time and much effort. This is where the Korean Americans can play a vital role in welcoming and engaging the various cultures within America. Something, that at least from our experience, has not been offered or encouraged. Hopefully, fear and protectiveness will someday give way to courage, risk and openness and it will be met with mutual openness and welcoming.
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3/9/2008, 11:45 am
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ccwf
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“My Sassy Girl” Remake
class blockquote nchristi wrote in Nov 2006: class blockquote KBS GLOBAL
Entertainment News
November 03, 2006
[…]
Gold Film Circle had attempted a remake of “My Sassy Girl” and Vertigo Entertainment had attempted remakes of “My Wife is a Gangster,” “Old Boy” and “Ring.”An acquaintance/ex-coworker of mine is on the soundtrack for My Sassy Girl, so I just got an update saying that the “film is coming out soon” and that you can view the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXsMTxrsQR4. Enjoy!
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3/26/2008, 6:29 pm
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nchristi
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Re: The Korean Wave & Domestic News
The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition)
July 24, 2009 class ul Korea's Oldest National Tree Found in Gangneung
The Korea Forest Research Institute on Thursday said it has found Korea's oldest rose of Sharon tree in Gangneung, Gangwon Province. This indigenous tree, 4 m tall and 6 m wide in the crown, with a trunk measuring 0.5 m across, is presumed to be 90 to 110 years old.
The normal lifespan of the rose of Sharon or mugunghwa tree is 20 to 40 years, but this specimen has lived so long because it has been taken good care of with sufficient fertilizer, according to analysis.
Dr. Park Hyung-soon of the KFRI said, "I believe that from the hereditary viewpoint, this tree should be used as the subject of studies and designated and taken care of as a protected tree."
After an on-the-spot survey, the city of Gangneung has applied to the Gangwon provincial government to give the tree protected status. It is then to be cared for by the central and provincial governments.
It is hard to find out old mugunghwa trees in the country, because most of the indigenous specimens were damaged as part of the Japanese colonial government's policy of obliterating the spirit of the Korean nation. Only three 60-year-old protected mugunghwa trees exist throughout the country.
englishnews@chosun.com / Jul. 24, 2009 07:54 KST
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7/25/2009, 9:16 pm
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nchristi
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Re: The Korean Wave & Domestic News
The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition)
October 6, 2008 class ul 309 Additional Indigenous Species Banned from Export
The Ministry of Environment announced on Sunday, "309 native species have been designated biological resources subject to export permission" to prevent their commercial exploitation following reckless exports. The designation affects 99 species of plants, 30 fish species, and 180 species of insects.
Specimens of designated species are also under export ban, not to mention the eggs, seeds or roots in their live forms. Those found to have violated the ruling could be sentenced to two years of imprisonment or fined up to 10- million won (approximately US$ 10,000). Even when taking those export-prohibited species out of the country for the special purposes of exhibition or research, government approval should first be attained.
The government's move to safeguard native flora and fauna is attributable to reckless previous exports, whereby Korean biological resources were improved and then traded as species native to countries other than Korea in international markets, or imported back to Korea.
One such case is that of the syringa patula from North Korea, from which an American floriculturist took seeds to the U.S. in 1947 to improve and rename it as Miss Kim lilac, a Korean fir used as a Christmas tree. The lily species day lily and hanson lily underwent similar fates.
The Ministry also added that "to protect indigenous biological resources, the export ban will be expanded to cover about 3,000 species by 2014." Regarding designation, priority will be given to endangered species, and those with high economic potential as food or for decorative or medicinal purposes. The current number of species requiring government approval for export stands at 822, including the newly-designated 309 species.
englishnews@chosun.com / Oct. 06, 2008 12:00 KST
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7/25/2009, 9:20 pm
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nchristi
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Re: The Korean Wave & Domestic News
The Joong Ang Daily
August 31, 2009
Suicide is the 4th leading cause of death in Korea
Korea’s suicide rate is estimated to be the highest among advanced countries, according to the National Statistical Office yesterday. class float-right
 Issuing its annual death report, the NSO said a total of 12,858 people, or 24.3 people for every 100,000 Koreans, took their own lives last year, equivalent to 35 people killing themselves on average every day.
The figures represent a rise from 23.9 per 100,000 people in 2007 and 21.5 for 100,000 in 2006.
The figure for Japan, where suicide is also a major social problem, was 19.4 in 2007, and the rate for Hungary, which is also known to have a high suicide rate, was 21 per 100,000 in 2005, according to the latest data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development this year.
The NSO said given the fast growth in the suicide trend in Korea, no other OECD country comes close. “The figures for other OECD countries, even after they are updated, would not be as high as Korea’s recorded last year,” said Lee Ji-yeon, an official of the NSO, one of the report’s authors. “Not even the rates for Japan and Hungary are rising as quickly as Korea’s.”
According to the NSO, suicide was the biggest cause of death for Koreans in their 20s and 30s last year. Those taking their own lives accounted for 40.7 percent of those who died in their 20s last year, the NSO said. Traffic accidents and cancer caused 18.8 percent and 10.5 percent of deaths, respectively, of people in their 20s.
Suicide accounted for 28.7 percent of deaths of people in their 30s, followed by 20.6 percent for cancer and 9.6 percent in traffic accidents.
Suicide was the fourth largest cause of death for all age groups after cancer, brain disease and cardiovascular diseases.
In Korea, the suicides of celebrities or other public figures often make the headlines. After the suicide of the popular actress Choi Jin-sil last October there was a surge in the number of people taking their own lives, according to the NSO.
In May of this year, former President Roh Moo-hyun, under pressure from an investigation into his financial affairs, jumped to his death.
Experts attribute the rapid growth in suicide in Korea to the rising unemployment rate among young people and the weak social safety net for senior citizens, among other factors.
By Moon Gwang-lip [joe@joongang.co.kr]
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8/30/2009, 4:41 pm
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nchristi
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Re: The Korean Wave & Domestic News
The New York Times/Seoul Journal
October 14, 2010
Rising Cost of Kimchi Alarms Koreans
By MARK McDONALD
SEOUL, South Korea — Even in the middle of a loud and bustling outdoor market, her voice drops to a whisper when she agrees to reveal the two secret ingredients that make her kimchi so popular with her customers.
“Fermented-anchovy paste and pickled-prune sauce,” says Kim Gil-soo, looking warily, both ways, down the alley in front of her store, called Prosperity.
“I special-order the sauce from a certain place in the countryside,” she said, still whispering. “I’m quite well known for my kimchi.”
But recent sales have been disappointing, Mrs. Kim said, because of an unavoidable spike in the price of her kimchi, the fiery and pungent Korean national dish that typically combines cabbage, radishes, red chili peppers, garlic and salt. The price for one head of long-leafed Napa cabbage grown in Korea has skyrocketed in the past month, to as much as $14, from about $2.50. Domestic radishes have tripled in price, to more than $5 apiece, and the price of garlic has more than doubled.
Kimchi has become so expensive that some restaurants in the capital no longer offer it free as a banchan, or side dish, a situation akin to having an American burger joint charge for ketchup, although decidedly more calamitous here. The politics editor of a major South Korean newspaper called the kimchi situation “a national tragedy,” and an editorial in Dong-a Ilbo termed it “a once in a century crisis.”
Wholesalers and economists have blamed overly rainy weather for the cabbage shortage, as well as fewer acres having been planted after a bumper crop and low prices in 2009. The average price for a head of Napa cabbage last year was $1.40, according to food industry figures.
The opposition Democratic Party also has laid blame for the shortages on a large river-reclamation project, saying it destroyed farmland that would have been used for cabbages and other vegetables, a charge the government has denied.
Meanwhile, there have been reports of cabbage rustling in rural areas, and the government has suspended tariffs on imported cabbage and radishes from China, beginning Thursday. The president of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak, has said that until the crisis eases he will eat only the cheap and inferior kind of cabbage — the round-headed variety commonly found in Europe and the United States.
“There is no reason for regular folks to have to buy items integral to daily life at higher prices than international prices,” Mr. Lee said at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, while instructing his economists to more closely monitor commodity prices that have sent the South Korean consumer price index to a 17-month high.
The price increases have caused many middle- and lower-income homemakers to cancel the making of kimchi at home this year, a traditional rite of autumn that typically brings together mothers, daughters, aunts, grannies and neighbors. Some families can go through a couple of hundred heads of cabbage, and it’s not unusual for all the bathtubs and sinks in a house to be filled with bobbing cabbages as they are washed, soaked and brined.
“I’m probably not going to do it at home this year,” said Roh Eun-ja, a Seoul restaurant owner. “Even if the price of cabbage comes down and I do make kimchi, I’ll be downsizing. Not so much this year.”
Mrs. Roh has two daughters, both in their 30s, and she said they learned to make kimchi “by looking over my shoulder, by tasting and doing, like all Korean girls are supposed to.”
One daughter works at an Outback steakhouse, the other at an upscale department store, and they have little time to make kimchi on their own, Mrs. Roh said, lamenting the loss of another tradition to the “ppali ppali” or “hurry hurry” lifestyle of modern South Korea.
“It’s also more expensive to make it on your own,” Mrs. Roh said, “so more and more people buy it ready-made now. That’s what my daughters do.”
Supermarkets have reportedly had difficulty keeping packaged kimchi in stock. A pouch of the popular Chongga Jip brand, made solely from Korean ingredients, sold this week for $4.05 a pound — about half the price of homemade.
Some Koreans are taking the kimchi crisis in stride, saying it is a blip in the market. At her food stall in the sprawling Mo Rae Ne market in western Seoul, Lee Young-ae still serves free kimchi to the vendors and laborers who come by for a $5 plate of roasted pig cheeks, blood sausage and her famous soondae soup.
“The prices will go down,” she said. “Sometimes they’re high, sometimes they’re low. Easy come, easy go. That’s life.”
The making of kimchi is more art than science, more a craft than a repeatable recipe. There are hundreds of variations, with varying ingredients, colorations, textures and levels of heat. As well as a condiment, kimchi is eaten in Korea as a main dish, in soups, stews or with fried rice. There are kimchi burgers, kimchi bacon rolls and kimchi pizza.
“Even if it’s pickled and fermented, if it’s your national dish and you’re in Asia, believe me, they’ll find a way to make it special,” said the celebrity chef Bobby Chinn, the host of World Café Asia, a travel and cooking television show. “For Asians it’s a popular alternative to salads.”
The cabbages are not usually shredded or dismembered, and the salted leaves are slathered with spices, sauces and pastes. The intact cabbages are then placed in earthenware jars and buried in the ground. (Apartment dwellers and urbanites now use stainless steel containers or special kimchi refrigerators.) The cabbages then pickle and ferment into the eye-watering dish served year-round in Korea, at breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Most Koreans see kimchi as a staple food, even a daily necessity, a kind of health food. During the SARS panic in Asia in 2003, the rumor spread widely that kimchi was an effective antidote.
For most Westerners, however, kimchi remains an unacquired taste. It can offend not only with its taste but also with its odor, which can linger on a person for hours. And for those unused to its fire and fury, even a small dish of kimchi can appear less as a delicacy than as a kind of incendiary device.
“To a Western palate, with all the other options out there, kimchi won’t rank very high,” Mr. Chinn said.
A gathering was held in Seoul last week to promote Korean food, with European master chefs coming in for panels and demonstrations. Michel Troisgros, the renowned French chef from Roanne, listened to a Korean official hold forth on the wonders of fermentation and an ambitious project to export Korean foods like kimchi.
“I think you have to stop talking about fermentation,” Mr. Troisgros told the man. “It’s not sexy.”
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10/15/2010, 6:58 pm
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brad6
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Re: The Korean Wave & Domestic News
I just read all this thread and found it so interesting...especially about the kimchi. It reminded me of days gone by when my mother used to pickle red cabbage. It was nothing like the assortment of additives put with the Korean cabbage however, as it was simply shredded red cabbage well washed and put into sterilised jar and boiling dark vieigar was poured over before closing the jars. Even tho it would be kept through the winter the cabbage sayed crunchy. It was pretty good as I remember. Good as a side sish with cold meats.
I also remember a 'tonic' that a neighbour used to make every year to go through the winter. It took several pounds of red beets which were boiled and then the skins were carefully removed so as not to cut into the beet flesh. this would be done by hand..no knives. You would end up with very red stained hands. These were then sliced over a very large strainer saving all the juices, and then several bottles of Guinness stout would be carefully poured over the beets. This would slowly drain into a very large container. It took a whole day to do this. This liquid would be bottled and used as a tonic through the cold weather. I must say the smell of boiling beets is not exactly appetising but the final result was rather pleasant. This was good for anaemia and almost anything that ails you I think.
Nowadays vitamins and other assorted pills do the job I suppose.
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10/17/2010, 1:13 pm
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Hiroshi66
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Re: The Korean Wave & Domestic News
That's very interesting to read about the tonic with red beets that your neighbor used to make, Peggy. Wow, it sounds like it took quite a lot of effort and hard work to carefully prepare the tonic from the beets, but it must have been quite effective against various ailments. That's one of the things that I find so fascinating about foods like kimchi. While being a Korean staple food and quite a popular dish, it seems that at the same time, there are also quite a few health benefits to eating them on a regular basis.
The shredded/pickled red cabbage that your mother prepared sounds very delicious, too! Cabbages are one of my favorite vegetables, especially when they are pickled and crunchy.
I like kimchi cabbage, but sometimes they can be a little too spicy for me. When I go to Korean restaurants where the kimchi is particularly spicy, I ask for the kimchi radish. It's not quite as spicy and tastes very delicious and crunchy, too. I wonder if the popularity of kimchi radish has increased recently in South Korea, especially with the rising price of cabbage there.
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10/17/2010, 1:47 pm
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