Stuff korean moms like

Have a look at Chiyo's website dedicated to her Korean mom. Her blog is like a window into the inner-workings of a typical Korean housewife's mind. Very insightful and hilariously written.

*Pictured above is correction: is not her actual mom!

Wind Surfing at Gwangali Beach

I fell over about 100 times... very difficult...

Jinju

Jinju city is located a couple hours west of Busan. It is the home of Jinju Fortress, a remarkable site that harkens back to the days before the invasion of Korea by Japan. Jinju's moment of glory came in 1592 during the Imjin War, when a force of just 3,800 Koreans held off an invading army of 20,000 Japanese. Unfortunately, the Japanese came back the next year with an army of 70,000. Jinju was finally overtaken that year. Luckily, this historical site has since been rebuilt to its former glory. It's a great place to be immersed in Korea's history and learn about the culture.

Korea circa 1945

These rare pictures give us a view of Korea before the 35 year occupation by Japan where a large portion of Korea was burned to the ground.

Thank you to Flickr user "dok1" for posting these amazing pictures of his travels to Korea in 1945. These photos are amazing. Please click here to view the entire set as well as his interesting captions.

Korea is mad about mad cow

Large protests against the importation of American
beef have been going on in Seoul for the last couple
of weeks. Plans to reopen the beef trade in accordance
to the american FTA agreement have come to a grinding
halt because of escalating opposition which has
recently turned violent. Nearly 50,000 protesters were
greeted with water canons as they rallied in front of
Seoul city hall last night. American beef was halted
from entering the country 4 years ago because of fears
of mad cow disease. Actual instances of mad cow have
yet to be reported, however fear and rumors have been
spreading like wildfire.

With no real danger of mad cow disease one has to
wonder "what is all this madness about"? Korea imports
Australian beef with no worries. Is it based on
mistrust of America? Or is it public manipulation by
farm lobbyists to protect the Korean beef industry
from cheaper imports?

Check out this video from the BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7429726.stm

Kwangju Democratic Movement

Yesterday marked the day of the Kwangju democratic movement, often referred to as the Kwangju massacre. Here are a few video clips about the story.
http://gwmodernkorea.blogspot.com/2008/04/kwangju-democratic-movement.html
These videos are a stark reminder of tragedies and political turmoil in the peninsula just just a few decades ago.

Wikipedia describes it like this: "The Gwangju Democratization Movement refers to a popular uprising in the city of Gwangju, South Korea from May 18 to May 27, 1980. During this period, citizens rose up against Chun Doo-hwan's military dictatorship and took control of the city. During the later phase of the uprising, citizens took on arms to defend themselves, but were crushed by the South Korean army. It is simply called 5.18 by South Koreans to avoid politicizing the event. (Those who condemn it call it "5.18 Incident" and those who support it call it "5.18 Uprising") For the period of Chun Doo-hwan's reign, the incident was denounced as a rebellion inspired by Communist sympathizers. But after civil rule was reinstated, the incident received recognition as an effort to restore democracy from military rule. The government made a formal apology for the incident, and a national cemetery was established for the victims."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwangju_Massacre