Comic book about Yongsan redevelopment tragedy in 2009
This is a "book concert" for an awesome-looking comic book about the redevelopment policies in Seoul that killed 6 in January, 2009. The comic book artists and surviving families will be giving a talk.
I love the line drawings of the cityscape on the cover and this poster! On my list of books to acquire...
Popularity: 1% [?]
Tags: 2009, development, Korea/Diaspora, YongsanSouth Korean Rev. Han Sang-ryeol visits North Korea
Rev. Han Sang-ryeol, age 60, is a co-founder of the Korea Alliance for Progressive Movement, a pro-unification group in South Korea. He has been on an unauthorized trip to North Korea since June 12 this year, having entered through the North Korean embassy in Beijing. With the variety of cultural exchanges and "exposure" trips to North Korea, it might seem odd that Han's visit is making headline news, but the fact is, this is the first case (publicly known, at least) of an unauthorized visit to North Korea by a South Korean since 1989 -- 21 years ago. 
Back then, Im Su-gyeong, a student activist, got into a heap of trouble for not only visiting North Korea but also receiving a hero's welcome there. In North Korea, she was celebrated as a "flower of reunification," a crime for which she was sentenced to 5 years in prison when she returned to South Korea (she served 3).
In a predictably polarized fashion, Rev. Han's visit is the subject of much admiration from the left, some of whom are calling him the "modern day Jesus," but it's raising eyebrows (and blood pressure) of right-wing anti-NK pundits outraged by Han's "pro-North Korean" actions. This RFA commentary even makes fun of Rev. Han's political and conscious choice in wearing traditional Korean clothes -- "If somebody in North Korea wore traditional Korean clothes like Rev. Han and grew his beard long like him, he would be seen as a lunatic and thrown into a mental institution. But in South Korea, nobody cares about how people dress." In other words, South Korea good, North Korea bad.
Well, take a look at this group of fellow crazy leftist Christian comrades, then, gathered for a press conference in support of Rev. Han. They declared Han's visit as an act of conscience, a desperate effort towards peaceful reunification and anti-imperialist struggles. A full text of their statement can be found here.
Popularity: 6% [?]
Tags: Christianity, Korea/Diaspora, NorthKorea, reunification, SouthKoreaautoethnography by a hard of hearing Korean adoptee
This is neither a review nor an endorsement. I haven't read it yet, but it sounds interesting. (If you have academic access, download article from here.)
Equity & Excellence in Education, Volume 43, Issue 3 July 2010 , pages 341 - 356
Within education and social justice, the lenses of race, class, and gender are prevalent in analyzing multifaceted oppression, but there is a need to expand beyond those in order to obtain a more in-depth understanding of the intricacies of oppression. The autoethnographic approach enables me to use my experiences a Korean adoptee with a disability as an entry point to examine intersectional and interlocking oppression and to offer a different frame of reference that is absent in the literature: the integration of Korean adoptee and Disability Studies literature to further problematize each field and to complicate and advance the understanding of oppression. The critical self-reflexive process of writing allowed me to contest the prevailing representation and knowledge through my experiences and to develop an awareness of how we all are ensnared in this process of constructing/deconstructing oppression; thus personal and societal experiences of oppression and privilege are not easily separated. In order to shift toward a collaboratively oriented social justice, we must realize that focusing on one or multiple forms of oppression, but not all, cannot lead to true social justice change and transformation because all forms of oppression interact in a convoluted manner that reinforce or undermine each other in an entangled labyrinth.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Tags: adoptee, article, Korean, QueerFive Best Mobile Fitness Apps?
I've blogged about RunKeeper before, which is on this top 5 list of "best mobile fitness apps" on Lifehacker.
Having recently joined an awesome new YMCA near my house, I've also been using iFitness a lot, too -- though it's kinda annoying that all the illustrations feature white men. And it feels pretty dorky to keep staring at my iPhone at the gym. Whatev.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Tags: apps, fitness, iphone, RunkeeperWhy one North Korean man sought asylum in Canada
Don't get me wrong -- it's not like I believe every word on Radio Free Asia. No way. I subscribe to the daily Korean-language email newsletter because I want to stay updated on North Korea-related news, not because I endorse RFA's mission or intent. It's the same reason why I subscribe to all the right-wing and Christian fundamentalist email newsletters out there. 
Anyway, RFA was the reason why the Great Firewall of China inadvertently blocked Google in its entirety in March 2010, and according to Wikipedia, Chinese state-controlled newspapers claimed that RFA is a CIA broadcast operation. I wouldn't doubt it. RFA is a US Congress-funded propaganda machine, and North Korea has cleverly called RFA as "reptile broadcasting services." Hmmm... wait, but that's RBS, not RFA.
In 1999, Catharin Dalpino of the Brookings Institution, who served in the Clinton State Department as a deputy assistant secretary deputy for human rights, called Radio Free Asia "a waste of money." "Wherever we feel there is an ideological enemy, we're going to have a Radio Free Something," she says. Dalpino said she has reviewed scripts of Radio Free Asia's broadcasts and views the station's reporting as unbalanced. "They lean very heavily on reports by and about dissidents in exile. It doesn't sound like reporting about what's going on in a country. Often, it reads like a textbook on democracy, which is fine, but even to an American it's rather propagandistic." (excerpted from here)
So it's no wonder why RFA repeatedly publishes articles about North Korean refugees or dissidents in exile. Having said all this, RFA does actually gather and publish a lot of things that never make it into the news -- local, national, or international. I find more articles in RFA about North Korean refugees settling down in Toronto or captured in Thailand than in any of the mainstream media that simply regurgitate the same old stories without any new research or investigation. So, like anything and everything written about North Korea, take everything in RFA with a grain of salt.
This article talks about a University of Toronto student group that's assisting with asylum applications for North Koreans, as well as offering free translation services and English tutoring.
Then this article caught my eye: 서진우 씨의 탈북 동기와 캐나다 정착 이유. I've heard lots of reasons why someone leaves North Korea, but why did this man decide to settle in Canada?
Aha. Because with a Canadian passport, one can more easily visit North Korea than someone with a South Korean or US passport. Talk about politics of passports and mobility. So interesting.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Tags: Canada, Korea/Diaspora, NorthKorea, refugeeTwo very good articles about Time Magazine’s controversial cover
In case you haven't seen the cover photo yet, this is what Time Magazine published last week:
This is what happens if WE leave Afghanistan?!? As a friend said, it's "evilly misleading." It's so evil to use one person's tragedy to justify this terrible war. Absolutely horrific.
Jezebel, which often publishes quite smart and critical commentary on all aspects of popular culture, ran an analysis piece right away:
A Visual Introduction To An Afghan Woman's Mutilation (July 29, 2010)
And not to be missed, Daisy Hernandez has written a sharp and provocative piece in Colorlines. I've read Colorlines over many years, but I have to say, DH's recent articles on politics and culture really make me appreciate the unique media source that Colorlines is and should be. Hernandez has written an interesting piece on the right's opposition to mosques, this piece on queer politics and the film, The Kids Are All Right, and this piece on skin color and racial hierarchy. They're interesting, well-written, timely, and offer a critical perspective often missing in the corporate media. You should check it out.
How Time's Aisha Cover Obscures the Horror of War
Daisy Hernandez
How Time's Aisha Cover Obscures the Horror of War
Popularity: 4% [?]
Tags: Afghanistan, Colorlines, media, militarism, war, womenDaewoo wins major contract in Libya (again)
Following up the previous post on South Korea-Libya spy scandal, here's a little update in The China Post, August 7, 2010.
South Korea's Daewoo wins major Libyan project despite diplomatic row
SEOUL -- South Korea's Daewoo Engineering and Construction Co. said Friday it had won a major power plant project in Libya despite a row over alleged spying by Seoul. Daewoo on Thursday signed a contract in Libya with the state-run General Electricity Company of Libya to build a 750-megawatt power plant in Zwitina, some 140 km (87.5 miles) southwest of Benghazi, for US$438 million.
The project will start in November this year and is to be completed by May 2013, the company said. It is the fourth major power plant contract Daewoo has won in Libya since 2003.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Tags: development, Korea/Diaspora, LibyaLibya – South Korea spy scandal, alleged ties to US and Israel
South Korean media outlets have been reporting recently that a South Korean agent ("Jun") was deported from Libya on espionage charges. Libya has also arrested and detained a South Korean Christian missionary (Pastor "Koo") for violating Libya's religious law, and it has effectively shut down its economic mission bureau in Seoul, which serves as the de facto embassy in South Korea. I started following this because of the missionary angle, but it's even more interesting than I thought.
First of all, it's been reported that Libya was upset at South Korea's information-gathering (i.e. espionage) activities concerning defense industry cooperation between North Korea and Libya.
But in one of the most informative article I've come across so far, News N Joy, a progressive-liberal Christian paper, points out that the focus on the missionary is distracting and misdirected (somewhat intentionally by the South Korean government whose vague statements and silences let the rumors spread) and that this isn't a case of zealous missionaries causing diplomatic tensions. Yes, people are sensitive about this after the Afghanistan missionary hostage crisis in 2007. And a growing number of "anti-Christians" are mad as hell and quick to jump to conclusions.
JoongAng Ilbo and News N Joy both look beyond the Korean government's official statements (Libya AFP, London-based Asharq Al-Awsat, etc.) and report that the scandal actually began with a South Korean diplomat getting in trouble for espionage.
Libya is apparently livid -- LMB's own older brother Lee Sang-deuk (himself a member of the parliament) led a special envoy to Libya from July 6 to July 13, but was denied a meeting.
Apparently, this kind of "information-gathering" (i.e. intelligence gathering, spying, paying informants) is often used by Korean companies eager to secure contracts in the region. What's at stake? According to Joonang Ilbo:
The relationship has been heavily focused on economic ties. With Daewoo Engineering and Construction’s project to build a medical school for Garyounis University in Benghazi in 1978 as a starting point, 29 Korean companies have been working on 288 projects worth $34.6 billion in total. They are also eyeing more power plant and subway construction projects in the country.
But as News N Joy suggests, what's perhaps most intriguing (and worrisome) is that these alleged espionage activities were conducted not only on behalf of the South Korean government or companies, but other governments as well.
The target of espionage was The Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, a charity led Muammar el-Qaddafi's son. In mid July, the Foundation had sent an aid ship to the Gaza, shortly after, and partly in protest against the now-infamous Israel's brutal attack and killings on the Gaza aid flotilla in May. Libya's flotilla was diverted by Israeli naval vessels to Egypt, without fatalities this time, but things have been quite tense between Israel and Libya.
So what other governments did the South Korean spy allegedly work for? US and Israel, apparently. But nothing confirmed. Of course.
Popularity: 8% [?]
Tags: Korea/Diaspora, Libya, missionary, spytech woes
Is it just me or do technology/computer problems usually happen in batches? Currently plaguing my productivity:
The trusty laser printer won't work. It refuses to show up on the home network. It's an 8-year-old HP LaserJet 2100M, with a brand new cartridge (which cost nearly $150, arghhhh), attached to a mini D-Link print server. It worked just fine 3 weeks ago... (Update: I went out and bought a parallel-to-USB cable for a whopping $56 at London Drugs. I was surprised they sold one, and the store clerk was also amused that someone actually needed this dinosaur cable. Well, the good news is that I plugged it into the USB port of the Time Capsule, and it worked perfectly. Bad news is that this is way too expensive of a solution for this aging setup. I'll need to keep looking for either a cheaper cable or...)
More annoying: I finally decided on a color laser printer model to buy: Brother HL-4070CDW with built-in wireless & duplex printing or the lower model 4040 without built-in wireless, both at fantastic sale prices at Office Depot and Best Buy. But it's out of stock at Office Depot and it's out of reach at Best Buy -- there's something wrong with the website and it won't let me buy it. It's probably out of stock, too. Now I really, really want it!
The iPhone won't sync with iTunes. Upgrade and restore won't work, and it won't complete a backup. Trying a bunch of options as suggested by this thread. And no, I'm not rushing out to buy the new iPhone. (Update: while I was writing this blog, the said iPhone successfully updated to the latest 4.0.1 when connected to a different computer. It still won't back up to my MacBook Pro, though.)
The Dell HackBook (Hackintosh) won't boot. I was trying to fix the sleep problem (where the lid will shut but the computer will stay on, run hot, and eventually run out of battery while sitting in my bag) before I left for Europe, but something went wrong. I don't even know where to begin. I might have to just reinstall the whole darn thing all over again.
To top it off? I took the Prius in for regular maintenance, and they found a nail embedded in the tire.
Popularity: 5% [?]
Tags: Tech, troubleshootingCategories
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