KoreanWaveNewYorkTimes2010 2011
KoreanWaveNewYorkTimes2010 2011
KoreanWaveNewYorkTimes2010 2011
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1E l\.O HE \ \ \\ \\ E \ S \ IE\\ EDT ll HOl C ll TllE P\CES OFTll E \ E\\ H>H I" T l\ IES I\ 10 10 ~\: 10 11T ll E l\.OIH: \ \ \ 1
As \/ieV\ ecl 1
From T he New York Times 2012 2012 The New York Times. All rights
reserved. Used by permission and protected by the Copyrigh t Laws of rhe Un ired
Stares. The printing, copying, redistribution, or retransmission of this Content
without express written permission is prohibited.
IE KOHEAN \\~\\'Er\S \'IEWl~DT l-IHOCCH TllE PACES OFTllE .\'E\\'YO HK Tl.\I ES IN 20'!0 l\ 20 11 Tll E KO Hi'::\.\' \\
As Viewed
Through the Pages of
The New York Times
in2010 & 2011
JVIUSIC&PERFORJVIANC E
A Violinist's Bells and W histles 0l5
Instrumentalists ac an Exhi bition 0l7
H am let as Eager Korean Prince 0 l8
South Korea Forgets its amnesia and rediscovers its rock 'n' roll soul 0 19
W hen Bach Laid Bare His Own Soul 022
Korean Pop Machi ne, Ru nning o n Innocence and H air Gel 024
FOOD
Backyard Bulgogi 027
Feel Free to G raze, but Just Be Q uick 029
H eat by the H andful 03 1
A 300-Duck Day and Cabbages by th e Thousands 034
Korean Barbecue In a Smoke-Filled Room 037
FASH ION
She Wants More Than H er MTV 041
Traditional Korean Style Gets a Forward Spin 043
Esther Kim and Joseph Va ret 046
A Wh ite Ho use Debut for Doo.Ri 049
A RTS
A Korean Artist's O rigins, by Parachute 05 1
Sheep in T imes Square 053
Vessels of C lay, Cenruries Old, That Speak co Modernity 054
A Fine Line: Style or Philosophy? 056
Squeezing Essence From a Stone 058
FILIVIS
W here W it and Genre Filmmaking Collide 061
Fierce Love: Better Not Make This Mo m Angry 063
Festival Moves co Fancier Base but Keeps Its Genre-Bending Fare 065
A Fine Balance: The Quiet Life Of a Star Actress 068
Consider an Apple, Consider rhe World 070
Through a film make r's lens, views of Korea 072
A Rogue Film Festival Earns Respect (Sort Of) 073
SPORTS
Kirn Raises Bar, Delighting Fans 077
Korean Is First Woman to Scale 14 Highest Peaks 079
Making Their Own National Noise, bur Losing Anyway 081
Soccer offers lesson in how to get rough 083
I.O.C. Awards 20 18 Winrer Garnes co a South Korean Resort 086
TOURISM
Youth Program Inspires Dreams of Korean Uni ry 089
1l1e Place 'Fir Li ke a Jacker' 092
Korean Tradition, Italian Style 094
Seoul 096
A G razing Tour of Koreatown 100
socrETY&LlTERATURE
D eath Pursues H er 103
Exacting Teaching Mach ine Sticks to the Scrip t in South Korea 105
Korean Isle Looks Abroad For an Education at Home 107
In a Land of the Aging, Children Counrer Alzheimer's 109
As Koreans Pour In, A Town Is Remade 113
Lost in Tra nsit 115
Ch arles K. Armstr ong is the Korea Foundat ion Associat e Professo r o f Kor ean St udies in t he So cial Sciences
and t he D irect o r o f t he Center for Korean Research at Columbia University. A specialist in t he modern history
of Korea and East Asia, Professor Armstr ong has published several books on contemporary Korea, including
most recently The Koreas (Rout ledge, 2007).
T
he "Korea n Wave" has been w it h us fo r well a nd Korea n cul ture is ha rd ly a newcom er to places li ke
over a decade. I nvented by C hinese jou rnalises New York C ity. Still, the visibility of Korea in "main-
at the end of rhe 1990s, the term HalLyu or st rea m" America n cultu re has increased expo nentia lly
" Korean Wave" originally descri bed rhe sudden and in the lase several yea rs. Korean movies are no longer
extraordi nary rise in popula rity of Korea n pop music, li m ited rn rhe a rt house fringe bur a re reviewed regu-
TV dram as, fashion, f ilm a nd food in C hina a nd else- la rly in rhe N ew York Times; New Yorkers consume
whe re in As ia. T h roughout t he 2000s, Ko rea n culture Korea n food with gusto, whether traditional food in
d rew an enthusias tic a nd ever-growing following all Queens, fusion fa re in tonier parts of Manhattan, or
over the Asia n continent, fro m midd le-aged ho use- ba rbecued beef and rice fro m rhe wandering "Korilla"
wives in Japa n add icted to Korea n melodramas, to trucks. Americans who spea k nor a word of Korean
you ng men in Bh uta n sporti ng haircuts modeled after rune in regula rly to Korean T V dra mas, and m any
their favo rire K-pop sta rs. Europe and t he Americas fa natica l followers of K-pop can be found among col-
were a bit slower to catch rhe Korean wave, bur in re- lege srudents of a ll ethnicities. In rhe second decade of
cent years Korean c ultu re has fo u nd a significant niche the rwenty-fi rsr century, Korea is pan of rhe American
in France, A rgenti na, C a nada a nd the United Scares, as culrural la ndscape. The Korea n Wave is here to stay.
wel l as in other Western countries. Of cou rse, Koreans
have been im migrat ing to rhe US for over a century,
Forl'\\ ord
T
he ra nge and impact of Korea n culture in decade of mass popul arity in As ia, K-pop has made
American life is reflected in the diverse ar- serious inroads into t he A merican market in rhe last
ticles on Korea in rhe T imes. Food was a big few years. Korea's SM Enterta in me nt pro duced a series
story, and nor just in restaurants: as a sign of how far of sold-our concerts ar M ad ison Square Ga rden, and
Korea n food has good mainstrea m , rhe Times ra n two rhe T imes covered in derail rhe combination of intense
articles on how to cook beef bulgogi - one rhe tradi- competition, savvy marketing a nd sheer ta lent and
tional grilled way, the other in a slider. T ravel articles hard work that have made K-pop a global phenom-
on Korea d escribed rhe local food wirh enthusiasm, enon. On rhe classical e nd of rhe spectru m, Korea n
and fo r rhose wanting to sray close to home, the Ti mes musicia ns like Jennifer Lin a nd H ahn- Bin m ade rhe
ran a useful article on where to ear in Ma nharra n's news for their arti stry (as well as, in Hahn-Bin's case,
Koreatown. New York-based celebrity chefs like David provocative fash ion statements).
C hang and Jea n-George Vongerichren have helped to
Korea n fi lms, from Bong Joon-ho's thri ller "Mother"
boost rhe visibiliry of Korean food, at the sa me ri me
ro Lee C hang-dong's quiet and co ntemplative "Poetry,"
rhar rhey made rheir own unique versions of rhe cui-
received rave reviews. Shin Kyung-sook's novel "Please
sine. Along with his Korea n-born wife Marja, chef
Look After My Mom" was reviewed prominently in
Vongerichten brought Korea n cooking to America n
the N ew York T imes book review, a nd became the
living rooms wirh The Kimchi Chronicles, a hir food
first work of Korean fi ction (by Korea's most popular
and travel show on PBS. Perhaps the on ly question
novelise) ro become a besrscller in t he US. Sports were
about rhe newfound popularity of Korea n food in
a lso in rhe news, as the Korean city of Pyeo ngchang
America is: why d id ir ra ke so long? O ne might have
won rhe right ro host the 20 18 W inter Olympics, after
thought that rhe American palate wou ld naturally
two previous failed bids. There were ind ividual sport
gravitate rowa rd spicy gri lled beef over cold raw fish
achievements as well, especia lly by women: a Korean
and rice, bur after rhe long reign of sushi, ir looks li ke
woman beca me the first female climber to scale che
Americans may be raking ro bulgogi as t heir favorite
world's fourtee n highest mountains, and fig ure skater
Asia n d ish.
Kim Yu-na was rhe srar of the W inter O lympics in
Music, borh Western classical music a nd pop, was Va ncouver.
also a n imporra nt Korean story. After more th an a
The "o n a11 \\'an is I l1rc to S ta.'
Korea n clorhi ng, arr, arch itecture a nd design have Korea is becoming a n increasingly fam iliar place for
been receiving some belated appreciation in rhe West, America ns, bu r Korea is no lon ger a place "over there,"
as a n a rricle on rhe a rt of rhe ha nbok showed. Korean- exotic a nd stra nge. It is becom ing increasingly pa rr of
influenced clothi ng design even reached rhe White the A merican cul rura l fabric, a place as famil iar ro rhe
H ouse, when First Lady M ichelle O bama wore a dress readers of the Times as the resta ura nt down the block.
by t he Korea n-American designer Ooo-ri C hung fo r Ar t h is poinc, it may no longer be useful to describe rhe
a srate d inner with P resident Lee Myung-bak, a d in- Korea n cul ru ral im pact as a "wave." Korea n culrure is
ner where rhe Korea n-America n sisters the Ahn Trio now a major triburary of the America n mainstream.
perfo rmed. T he revival and modernization in con-
temporary Korea of the hanok, o r rrad it ional Korea n
house, made the news as well. Back in New York,
rhe Merropoliran Museu m of Arr held a beaut iful
exhi bit ion of t rad itional Korea n ceramics, a nd Lee
Ufan's insta llation "Marking Infin ity" occupied rhe
Guggenh eim Museum.
A VIOLINIST'S BELLS
AND WHISTLES
BY ALEX I IA\VGOOD
Dt-M Copyright 2001 1by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with permission.
" 7"'" ..,..,.- .-_..~r ""l.rl..'l!'\!o._'" :;.,~-~--,.,-:-"7""~~~~/y-"T'"1'""!"""""'""-=.-.-.,.-
n the left panel of Si mon Dinnerstein's painting The recita l opened w ith some of Barrok's 44 Violin
Copyright 20011 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with perm1ss1on
THE NEW YORK TIMES, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2011 CJ
HAMLE T AS EAGER
KOREAN PRINCE
BY KEN .IJ\\VO HO\VSK I
Copyright 2011 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with pcrmrssron.
- .
THE GLOBAL EDITION OF THE NEWl'ORKTIMES , FRID.Al: OCTOBER21, 2011 8, 9
South Korea forgets its amnesia and rediscovers its rock 'n' roll soul
rnlitMJ buts &I "'W
lllOlldl .. U.S. llt l\u ..,. caDtd tbl god1a1hcf ol u1u htrt lNn tvtr, rtlfMcuwd and r.-
New generation connects South Korta.-.;s bte "'Gu&ar Boop South Kffn roct.. Moio ma,p.Jb
Stp;tmbtr bslltd fWO mrotS*U"t' of
Mr.Shin's ml.ISie. lnttrpttted by a MW pntntlonolfans.
to music suppressed Shuft\e," " 40 Miln ol Bad Rold'" and liktntd him to Phil Sptetorfhbabl). A~ cntkOown "1 lt?"S. Kltn J.lin-joon.knownuDJSoubc.tpr,
_.,._._.
CW'I
" Rock AroWld the Cock" - the ruit ()' 10 di.KOYtt laknl and ante IOUnds. nd musk. nwijuan.l and lht <Ow1ltr ls such fanolthl South Kattan mlWccl
by the military in 1975
-... . -... .... .....,, ......
IOl1J Mr. Shln s&na. lntltad et fust pU).. Mt. Shln't tound WU low..f\ and ps)'theo C\IZturein~puc.nabruptrndlO
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the ll70s and '10t: thaC he put IQðtt I
Ing guhu. "The aok2Jen lttrntd to Ulle ckk, lfftl y milnc Fft'es and. u time Mr. Shin's C#ftf. Chan&ll'lc wu:s mb: CD calkd .. MOR Sound ot Seoul."
IV MAU a.USSUl.. my guitar ~" bt recallfd. "'They
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wa'ert'allJ'~tk:andolt.a lk.Mdbe~'**oftbenot,..,..rn ten fl.d. and cllcGU.U. (Adl'ltnta:ta
Sbm~rtllWtllb'ltblar. ubdb'mcn-.... ontbeA&Xk.~Uk8wulor Nt.Sl&lin h aUllk dub. His CCIP)'rircbclP. ~.mtlNbtCllll'I
timitbtud.the .... ,,,,_.. . . tn Bands l.blll pt lbd' --1 rod:q ml .w:tlheblftd.lieal. . . ~- ab-.~btpllltobea.ll'donCD ~lh'e:..,.,.tbeCXIDKdon.aotldlk.)
SNu&. , _ l&.t. bad P9*d~ 00 U.S. AnlJt/ * - btcMlit tbt YD- ~.,-nrmnm:n-., lndll:md-11111&,butebtn .... lltdil: tk IC:Dftld ~Kor-. hlttq an
b' tbt US. apdl N'JftJ ..S WU -"ct pll'dd. nrw-tc'~Scuh ~ ..,,. ........ rndlrtic:IGlirJwtao
td ID pi.I)' tap Amitricm IW 10 tbt tR10PL
"I WMCOO)'OlmllObetcert'd.'" lbt?).
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ru. Mr. SWn .... _..,......,.
dw-., d ll,auz- mlud Wnun ...ac: IUCb a nia.
-.11.IMldfolkwDtbesou:ndolttd-
mliaarnm ........ tSIM~
popwwil)'nlPJ~
mrtm~totddm~
m cdlecticn ot l.)00 o1c1 WQt albamt
thlll.n-elhtlclandMJaalarmanyol
)"Hf'<lldrodtn'...,ln1f'kophanens- many ol the nlOM memonbk rodt SCS1P liOnal Kornn musk,.. uid N att s-im. Bue now, af\er Oetadts of bdrw bis ~... Mr. Kim b mthustd
ritw..... . JG uitd lOdo aood)ob."
Soon., he wupi.ytna20tol0da1na ....... ..,,_
rta:lf'OtodlnSouth ""'npocia!lytn::m n.n, found d lJ&bt In lhe Attk Rec-
onh.anAmtrk:an boi.11ique labd lhal In
KIM N I~ 1k1 DJ s-i.c.,t, IJ. &..
ef KlftMwicot U.ltlO.ud"IOI.
mostly forp:iuen. dw mu.U: from South
Kotfa'srodc"n'roll ~bmorpop-
dut lmttat In old KorHn musk Is Oft
ltOO:,fACU
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rook rhe srage 55 yea rs ago in Seoul. Just 18,
South Korea rediscovers its rock 'n' roll soul
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Army and was selected to play top A merican hits ro
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rhe t roops. "I was coo young to be scared ," rhe 73-yea r-
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,.... ........ lfoellllt*,- - old rocker said in a telephone interview, "so I jusr rried
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Soon, he was playing 20 ro 30 d ates a month ar U. S.
/ '
m ilirary bases a ll over Sourh Korea, songs like "Guitar
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Boogie Shuffle," "4 0 M iles of Bad Road " a nd "Rock
Around rhe C lock " - rhe first song Mr. Shi n sang,
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like my guirar playing," he recalled . "They were really
enthusiasric a nd ofren asked fo r more solos."
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Ba nds rh ar gor t heir sta rt rocking o ur on U.S. Army
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bases beca me rhe va ngua rd of a new music scene in
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Sourh Korea. M r. Shin was ar rhe heart of ir, creating
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_ bands, find ing singers and w riri ng many of rhe mosr
_,.. ,.....,._,__.... memorable rock songs recorded in South Korea, espe-
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... ...... cia lly from 1968 to 1975.
H
e has been called the godfather of South Sato Yukie is a lso a fan of the era. A Japanese musi-
Korea n rock . Mojo magazine likened him to cia n who fel l in love wit h vintage South Korean music
Phil Spector for his abili ty to discover talent during a 1995 vacation to Seoul, he formed a Korean
and create sounds. M r. Sh in's sound was low-fi and classic-rock cover band called Kopcha ngjeongol
psychedelic, freely mixing genres and, as rime passed , (named for a spicy beef-inna rds soup) and moved t here
it grew ever more wild.His albums typically had short, in 1999. His band has released two records of covers.
poppy songs, on the Aside, bur side B was for M r. Shin "There's defin itely a boom in the old songs goi ng on
and the band, featuring free-flowing instrumentals up now," he said.
to 22 minutes long.
Mr. Sato's bandmate, Yohei H asegawa, is a guitarist
"The man was a revolutionary who mixed Western a nd producer in South Korea, and had a hand in pro-
music such as rock, soul, a nd folk with the sound of ducing t he latest album by o ne of rhe mosr imporrant
traditional Korean music," sa id Matt Sullivan , fo under acts in the retro-reviva l, Cha ng Kiha and the Faces, a
of Light in the Attic Records, an American boutique group that ca me from nowhere a couple of yea rs ago to
label that in September issued two retrospectives of become one of the biggest bands in the country.
Mr. Shin's music.
South Korea's indie scene has long been tiny, but it be-
A government crackdown in 1975, on rock music, ga n to change about 10 years ago w hen several young
marijuana and the countercu lrure in general, pur an musicians, Mr. Chang a mong them, got together at
abrupt end to Mr. Shin's ca reer. C han gi ng tastes has- rhe student music clubs at Seoul National U niversity.
tened the public's amnesia for his music, and he spent
They formed a variety of minor bands, a nd, after grad-
most of the next years in obscurity running a live music
uating, four of t hem c reated BGBG Records in 2005.
club. His a lbums finally began to be issued on C D in
The label's president, Go Geon, wasn't in terested in the
the m id-1990s, bur there was lit tle mainstrea m inter-
music at first, but one of his bands int rod uced him to
est at a time domi nated musically by teenage-oriented
the old sounds, like Sanull im and Shi n Joong-hyun.
dance-pop a nd syrupy ballads.
"I didn't like Sanullim's unique a mateuri sm," Mr. Go
But now, after decades of being mostly forgotten, the
said, "bur I was impressed by their attempts at differe nt
music from South Korea's rock 'n' roll heyday is more
genres, especially psychedelic rock." It was a n interest
popular h ere than ever, reimagined and re-interpreted
shared by seve ral BG BG bands, such as Broccoli You
by a new generation of fans.
Too?, Nine and the Numbers- who were co-founde rs
Park M in-joon, k nown as DJ Soul scape, is such a of the label and fellow Seoul Nationa l students - and
fa n of rhe South Korean music of the 1970s and '80s C hang Kiha.
that he put together a mix CD called "More Sound
By then, rhe Internet had ravaged rhe South Korean
of Seoul," featuri ng 40 obscure and mostly forgotten
music ma rker, leaving indie labels with less money
funk and disco tracks. (Ad heri ng to copyright law,
than ever. BGBG's first two releases did so poorly the
however, mea ns he ca n only give away the collection,
label nea rly shut down, but by 2007 ir managed to re-
nor sell it.)
lease a few more records. To save money, they burned
H e scoured South Korea, hitting fl ea markers every- their own C Ds and printed their own packaging.
where to build an impressive collection of 1,500 old vi-
C hang Kih a and the Face's EP, released in July 2008,
nyl albums that serve as rhe foundation for many of his
was the ninth boutique release fo r BGBG, b ut it was
retro-mixes. Mr. Park is enthused that inte rest in old
by far t heir biggest hit, t ha nks to a surprise explosion
Korea n music is on t he ri se and said that more reissues
of Web interest and word of mouth. It was q uirky, with
were in the works. 'Tm surprised at how much young
witty lyrics and a folksy sound like something from
people are into this music," he sa id . "Bur for them, it's
the late 1970s. People loved it, pa rticu larly the single
nor old music, it's li ke something new."
"Cheap Coffee," with its e lectric guitar hook that
It's not only Koreans who a re interested in the sound. quickly transitioned into a bossa nova-esque acoustic
Mr. Park sa id D.j.s all over the world enjoy rhe genre- bounce. By Februa ry, w it hout a ny marketing budget,
bending albums. H e has spun his retro set in Los BGBG sold 10,000 copies, a ll ha nd-burned.
Angeles and New York.
C
han g Kiha's first full-length a lbum, "Living
a Nothi ng Specia l Life," sold 52,000 copies
- big numbers for a n ind ie release in South
Korea these days - and his second ful l-length a lbum,
released in July, is gerring his bes t reviews yer.
O ot Bach's p.-.rt1135 and son.ua.s fa< ol the se1, Ms. Koh said, adding. 11 feeb
unaccompanied \'tOlin Ser gcy hkc lhtJ con~1an 1 s1n1ggle 10 reach tr.'ln
Khxha1ry:u1 as shrouded in s.ccndcnce; The 1r.msl1lo11 into the Ad.ag10
d>lrkn"U. head 111ted b3ck. C)'CS raised pi of the Sona1n No. l an C, ronung directly af
ouJfy nnd handJ prt!Std 1ogc1her abo\e tcrwar..t it the \l,Ofks are played m ordcr, tS
his lnstrumt-nL Tht: image is an apt r<>pre-- n kind ol 3teeptruK'e of humamt); she
scntl'llk>n ot the rcvertnce that musicians. s.rud. She descnbtd che h l"5t rno.. ement of
scholars and Ustcnoen often bfin&to 3 d1.s- 1tmc sona1.J M 1he rnost tragic C m.'\)Or
tuSS10n of 1hese monumttt- l '\ eC'\Crhtard."
taJ works. OtllC'n Of 11.ach"s t)'tlts for solo mstru
INTO THC B.ich wrocc the 1hree so- ments, h"-e the six partJt.ls ror kC'yboard.
MUSIC 031~ :inJ l hrtt pannas, :m~ ~omeumts pl.l)'C'd nnd rl'C'Ol'dC'd in
whkh were prob.'lbty llC'\"'tr \'tlr)'UI& Ofdt...-s. Hut lf l hC' SIX v1ohn sona.tM
perf0tmtd an public dunng hlJ hfetlnlt. and p.'\rtll4' nre 10 be performed (Ompleu\
over n sp.1n of some 17 )'Cars m the early 1t "virnl 10 pcrrorm them In 1hc sequence
1~ 1 h C'cntury. The set "almost SC'ems hke n Dach specified. M ~. Koh Mid, cnlbng 1he
pm)'U book," J.'lid the viohmst Jennifer set "on lncn..<hblc mu."Slc;tl '1rc:
t\oh. Ms. Koh heard Nnthan Mibteln, who
" There Is some1hlng 111cred1bly IX'l"SOMI died In 1992, perform 1he D minor parrna
nbout II," she :\ddl'd. " ll feels hke n hfe- when she w;is 9. nn<l she clescribcs i1 M a
tunc's journ('y." formative ex1>ericncc. M1ls1cin's searing
Ms. t\oh will play an she work.s on Sun 1975 DeutJChe Gr runmophon rt..'COrdmg of
d:ty ~flernoon in a redt;\I ::u the ArnC'ncan 1he set rcmnlns n benchmark. along w11h
Af'Memy or Arts and Leners. p~nt<'d by oi her :?Oth-cC'n1ury f\."COrdings hkc Anhur
the M1JIC'r The;itt r. Dr.we v1ohmsu \lolth Cnim1Jux's bcau11fully swttt loncd. soar
UCC'ptaoru.I stanun.J occasaon.ally \'fnturt in& lnl trprttalions for Ph1hpJ in 1961 and
lhtJ ft'JI. a daunting chJ.llengc. gl\~ the Jascha llC'lfttz"s mttMdy expresSl\"C rtn-
muuc's emoc.MJl'l!ll dtpeh and technd hur dnion for RCA Vtceor In 1952. Mr. Kh.xh3
dl'"- try:m. J u ha Fa1dK'r. Rachel Podger, Cxion
B.xh. a keyboard and organ \ 1rtuoso. 0
n the cover of his recent recording of Bach 's "There is so me thing incredibly personal abo ut it," she
G
erman violinist-composers began writing conceived the piece, I a m quire certain char rhe excess
polyphonic works for solo violin in che mid- of excitement a nd earth-shattering experience wou ld
i 7rh cenrury. Bach is rhou ghr ro have been have dri ven me out of my mind."
influenced by musicians including Johann Pau l von
The C haconne " is the most human" part of rhe set,
Westhoff, a prominent Weimar violinist a nd favo rice
Ms. Koh said , add ing, " Lt feels li ke this constant
of Louis X IV; he published a set of solo violin par-
struggle ro reach tra nscendence." The tra nsition inro
citas in 1696. Westhoff incorpo rated tech niques like
the Adagio of rhe Sonata No. 3 in C, coming directly
bariolage, a fast alternation between static a nd chang-
afrerward if rhe works are played in order, is a " kind of
ing notes, wh ich Bach also used ro c reate contrapuntal
accepta nce of huma nity," she said . She described rhe
tex tures. But Bach 's set fa r surpassed any previous at-
first movement of that sonata as "rhe most tragic C
tempts in the genre in terms of imaginat io n, complex-
major I've ever hea rd."
ity a nd profundity.
Others of Bach 's cycles fo r solo instruments, li ke rhe
Structurally che p ieces adhere ro Baroque norm s.
six parciras fo r keyboa rd , a re somet imes played and re-
Bach 's fo ur-movement sonatas reflect rhe fou r-move-
corded in varying orders. Bur if rhe six viol in sonatas
ment church sonata (sonata da chiesa}, and hi s pa rciras
and parriras are to be perfo rmed complete, it is viral
offer rhe stylized dance movements of the chamber
ro perform chem in rhe sequence Bach specified , M s.
sonata (sonara da ca mera}. Bach blended che solo line
Koh said, calling the set "an incredi ble m usical a rc."
and the accompan iment in ro o ne pa rt, w ri ting mul-
t iple, independenr voices that unfold simul taneously. Ms. Koh hea rd N atha n Mi lstei n, who died in 1992,
T he fo ur-voice fugues in t he sonatas should sound as if perform rhe D minor parrira when she was 9, and she
t hey were being played by different violi ni sts. descri bes it as a fo rmative experience. M ilsrein's sear-
ing 1975 D eutsche Grammophon reco rding of rhe set
Some have suggested char the six works co nvey a reli-
rema ins a bench ma rk, along w ith other 20rh-century
gious na rrative, with the G minor Sonata representing,
recordings like A rthur Grumiaux's beautifully sweec-
say, the C hri stmas srory a nd the C major So nata t he
roned , soaring inrerprerarions fo r Phi li ps in 196 1 and
Resurrection. Others have interpreted the monumen-
Jascha H eifctz's intensely express ive rendition for RCA
ta l C haco nne, che approx imately 15-minu re move-
Vicror in 1952. Mr. Khachatrya n, Ju lia Fischer, Rachel
ment that concludes the Partita No. 2 in D mi no r, as
Podger, G idon Kre mer and C hristia n Terzlaff a re
an ex pression of the Ho ly Trinity, with the openi ng
a mo ng rhe younger generatio n w ho have contributed
D minor section representing rhe Father, the ensuing
clisrincrive recordings.
D major section t he Son a nd the co ncludin g D minor
section the Holy Spirit. M s. Koh would like to record rhe sonatas a nd pa rticas.
Bur instead of presenting che m as a complete cycle, she
W hile not a ll perfo rmers a nd scholars a na lyze t he sec
w ill probably pa ir indi vidua l works w ith contempo-
in light of Bach 's religio us beliefs (he was a pracricing
rary pieces, as she has been doing in her solo recitals
Lutheran}, it would probably be hard ro find a vio-
in rhe Mi ller Theacer's Bach a nd Beyond series. Ma ny
lin ist w ho hasn't g rappled w ith the music's profound
promine nt instrumenta lists never play Bach 's music,
spi rituality.
which is nerve-rackingly ex posed, for an audience. M s.
For M s. Koh, who interprets the six pieces in a broader Koh, who has performed the so natas and parci tas sepa-
spiritual sense instead of specifica lly religio us terms, rately on va rio us occasio ns, sa id rhe works a re so na-
the mig hty Chaconne - a series of 64 variations on ked , viscera l and persona l char she hesitated for a lo ng
a stately four-bar, tri ple-mere r d ance theme - is "rhe rime before d eciding ro play a ny of chem in public.
heart of rhe cycle." The movement is rhoughr ro have
She fi nds ir poigna nt, she sa id, char Bach d idn't write rhe
been Bach 's me mo rial co his first w ife, Ma ria Barbara
set fo r a particular com mi ssio n or perfo rmance. As a n
Bach, who died in 1720.
artist, she add ed, "yo u need to create a nd compose."
The C haconne has t ransfixed listeners for centuries. In
" fr doesn't matter if it pays," she said. "Ac rhe encl you
a letter ro C lara Schumann, Brahm s wrote: "On one
do it because you love it in every fi ber of your being.
staff, for a small instrument, rhe man writes a whole
T here is somethi ng so beauti fu l ro me char Bach just
world of rhe deepest tho ug hts a nd most powerfu l feel-
needed ro write this."
in gs. If I imagined char I could have created, even
Copyright 2011 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with perm1ss1on.
THENEWYORKTIMES, TUESDAY, OCTOBER25,2011 Cl, C7
T
hink of rhework requi red to m ake jusroneJusrin
Korean Pop Machine, Running on Innocence and Hair Gel
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South Korea's Prolific Pop Mad1ine Runs on Innocence and Hair Gel
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TVXQ a nd the newe r- m inced aces like Super J u n io r,
G irl s' Generatio n a nd S HINee.
BACKYARD BULGOGI
BY MARK BI T T MAN
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n lookin g to create a men u fo r a n ea rly-seaso n T he exot ic ism and excitement derive from bot h rhe in-
barbecue t hat would appeal to everyone - meat g red ients and t he techniq ues. Ma ny of t he ing redients
!lovers, vegeta ri ans, culin ary thrill-seekers and you' ll need ca n be foun d at any halfway decenr grocery
whoever else might show up - I rea lized that such a store, bur there is one importa nt except ion: gochujang,
men u a lready exists. It's just that it is n't what we t hink o r Korea n chi li-bca n paste . T his co mbines t he salty,
of as "A merica n food ." co mplex rang of m iso w ith a mi ld fi re, a nd it's a n abso-
lu te mu st as a cond imenr fo r the beef. (If you've earen
Still, it is America n to not fuss abom the orig in of
Korean barbecue, you've been offered it.)
recipes, especia lly when the menu spotlights both in-
tensely fl avored g ri lled ma rinated meat and a bu nc h of Gochugaro, Korea n chi li powd er, w hich contributes
q ui rky, flavorful a nd mostly meatless side d is hes. heat ro the ki mchi a nd sca llion-salad recipes, is a lso
d ifficult ro find in most su perma rkets, but a su bst itute
In th is case, the so urce is Korea n . And w ith a lirtle
of red-pepper flakes o r nor-terribly fiery grou nd ch ili
pla nnin g a nd ad va nce work, yo u can make beef bul-
powder will give yo u a simila r effect. D epending on
gogi and banchan (t he na me fo r the li ttle tidbi ts ei-
w here you li ve, you may wel l be able to fi nd m u ng
ther served first or as accompan iments) at ho me. A nd
bea n sprouts (wh ich sta r in a si m ple salad), daikon rad-
you' ll make them as well as o r better t ha n you've eaten
is h (pickled along w ith cabbage in kimchi) a nd hijiki
them on 32nd St reet in Manh atta n o r w herever your
(whi ch is soaked and then srir-fr ied in w ha t is quite
local joinr m ight be. In other words, you' ll kick off the
possibly the besr seaweed prepa rat ion I've ever had) in
grilling season w ith a n appea ling, exotic, even exciting
your local superma rket.
menu t hat w ill make most others seem d u ll.
T
he insta ntly recognizable profile of Ko rea n
food, however, comes nor from obscure in- the meat wrapped in lettuce leaves. with gochujang
for dipping.
gredients bur from the relatively mainst ream
ones: sesame (both seeds a nd oi l), ga rl ic, soy sauce, Serves 4 to 6.
garlic, rice vinegar, garl ic, suga r and sca ll ions. And gar- Sesame Spinach and Tofu
lic. I've more than once ca lled Korean food "Japanese Cook I tablespoon minced garlic in 2 tablespoons
foo d with guts," nor as a slight against Japa nese food sesame oil over medium-high heat for I minute; add
(wonde rful i n its own rig ht) bur as an e ndorsem ent of I pound chopped spinach and cook. stirring occa-
sionally, until it begins to wilt. C rumble in 1/2 pound
Korean c u isine's vigorous, muscular, co mple tely un-
extra-firm tofu and st ir until warmed through. Stir
subtle flavor profile. Korean food's aggressive season- in I tablespoon soy sauce, a pinch of sugar and I
ing is really just right fo r grilling, whe re attempts at tablespoon sesame seeds. Serve hot or warm.
nuance are usua lly in va in. Korean Potato Salad
So m e elements of th is barbecue are fami liar bur Cook I pound julienned or shredded potatoes and
tweaked. (Some of char fam iliarity com es from 1/2 pound julienned o r shredded carrots in salted
boiling water unt il barely tender, about 5 minutes;
t he A merica n presence in Korea, now going o n 60
add I/2 cup fresh or frozen peas for the last minute
years.) Korean poraro sa lad , for instance, is s imi lar to of cooking. Drain and rinse with cold water. Whisk
American poraro sa lad in that its dressing is mayon- together 1/2 cup mayonnaise and 3 tablespoons rice
naise-based, bur the Korea n vers ion sometimes uses vinegar; toss with the vegetables, 1/2 cup chopped
chives and 1/4 cup chopped scallions. Garnish with
julie nned rather than c hunked potatoes a nd a lso con-
more chopped scallions and chives. season with salt
ta ins carrots, peas, scall ion s and chives. It's fa r from and pepper to taste and serve.
conventional and far from bland.
Grilled-Scallion Salad
l will not (and ca nnot) claim char e ve ry element of th is Brush I pound untrimmed scallions with I table-
m e nu is legitimately Korean . ln fact one recipe, t he spoon sesame oil; grill over moderately high heat,
plum-and-herb cockta il, is plain made up: a sang ria- turning once, until charred and tender, 5 to I0 min-
utes. Roughly chop and toss with 1/3 cup rice vinegar,
like concoction of wh ite wine, gi n, rosema ry-infused
I to 2 tablespoons gochugaro (Korean chili powder)
simple syrup and fresh plums. I see it as a tribute ro o r less if using red-pepper flakes, I tablespoo n sesa-
the sweet plum wine so ofren served in Korean res- me seeds and 2 teaspoons sugar. Serve immediately.
taura nts . (If you want robe authentic, drink soju - it Kimchi
will ge t you drunk in a hurry - or beer.) But if my
Layer I small green or white cabbage (separated
cocktail isn't authentic , it is good and, like t he rest of into leaves) and I small-t o-medium daiko n radish
the m enu, very potent. (cut into I-inch cubes) with 1/2 cup coarse salt in a
large bowl. Let sit until the cabbage is wilted, about
2 hours. massaging and weighting it if needed to
Beef Bulgogi help soften. Rinse and d ry well. Roughly chop and
toss with 15 to 20 chopped scallions, 1/4 cup fish (or
Time: 45 to 150 minutes soy) sauce. 1/4 cup minced garlic. 2 to 4 tablespoons
I bunch scallions. roughly chopped sugar, 2 tablespoons minced ginger and I to 2
tablespoons gochugaro (Korean chili powder) or
8 or more garlic cloves. peeled and roughly less if using red-pepper flakes. Serve immediately or
chopped refrigerate fo r up to a week.
I tablespoon sugar or honey Fried Hi jiki
1/ 2 teaspoon black pepper Soak I ounce dried hijiki in 2 cups hot water. When
1/2 cup soy sauce it's tender, about 5 minutes later. drain, squeeze dry,
remove any hard bits and chop. Cook I tablespoon
I tablespoon sesame oil minced garlic and I/4 cup chopped scallions in I
2 pounds sirloin, rib-eye or skirt steak, thinly sliced, or tablespoon neutral oil (like grapeseed or corn) and
3 to 4 pounds beef short ribs. boned and thinly sliced I tablespoon sesame oil over medium-high heat
fo r I minute; add the hijiki and cook until browned
Boston or loose-leaf lettuce leaves for serving
and beginning to shrivel, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in I
Gochujang (Korean chili-bean paste) for serving. tablespoon each soy sauce and sesame seeds and a
pinch of sugar. Serve hot o r warm.
I. Combine the scallions, garlic, sugar, pepper, soy
sauce and oil in blender and puree, adding water as Plum-and-H erb Wine Cocktai l
needed to form a smooth mixture. Toss the meat
Cook 1/3 cup sugar, 1/3 cup water and I sprig fresh
with the soy mixture and marinate for 15 minutes to
rosemary or thyme over medium-low heat until the
2 hours. Heat a grill with the rack 4 to 6 inches from
sugar dissolves; cool and remove the herb. Combine
t he flame; the fire should be as hot as possible.
I bottle not-too-d ry white wine (like Riesling). 1/4
2.Remove the meat from t he marinade, and grill until cup gin, the juice of I lemon, 2 to 4 chopped plums
browned outside but still rare inside. no more than a and I/4 cup of the rosemary syrup. Chill for at least 2
couple of minutes per side; do not overcook. Serve hours, taste and add more syrup if you like and serve.
Copyright 201 1 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with permission.
-- ...- -- ... ~ ~ ...
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THE NEW YORK TIMES, WEDNESDAY,AUGUST.17, 2011 D6
anji is a wee little restaurant on West 52nd stools along the ba r or at high tables in t he from of rhe
Danji works best if you buck the trend and eat a g reat
R f.STAURANTS
deal as leisurely as you ca n, building a tasting menu
Feel Free to Graze, but Just Be Quick out of rhe rapas. (The plates run $6 to $ 18.)
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'-'ttedl ......
dlo!'~.-1 . . . . . ltylk
tmwtM..,. ruc""U. utik.
dlt'.utdollM~'"*'
are each othe r's bcsr friends.
.
....:~.a:t.M r .. _ all..-"""ltitm'Mlf"'*dl.-
o.._-Uti.-'ltllJWbudi
<ltltlf't*S..Sffll&n'M otafat
lt(COWitOIOUDKIC.t.- -
:::::::- "':."..........
Krt;IRl(and""'~"
-.xta.o.....-~
O rder more noodles: japchae, glassy little numbers off
-~---
............ ..... ... , _
-----ot-
~-,..<-..~ - - - - . ......... Qlil,/- nupllllccr..a..dirnbw
~--tMtapaL
-USlA""'f_
~
PfGC*-C'Glft<:t.
a family reun ion table in Seoul, sweer and salty w ith
?~~?~
(TllirpWelr.NtotU.) MofT 11---..i ~ tJw.c~
Stan iDlpMvi,catl lbt wun l1n1'""sliollofthflda...
11adll10N11-111it,ofl(ll(Y~ rwi<l !IAICC S - - . . . M l lt.
Wol.adMld a-.aDP* of bld
" htMllOOdliM..TllkOQ&tlt io~
~ ~IO ,.....,_.,.,
...
drllvft.TlwJ'llrt'.-Aldwr"t m17blaJIDo'.lftlllluwdllb""" dM\.kM'fJW-OIMt~-W NIMll~llO.,.I&.
cMr!;.-J;orrMtneddllil.lt'&
n...11on111 ........ 0..t.d.
tc-l!Md toJ.ptk..Pl'lt' L'ld
Ku-r't'd~Wllh~
tllfn-.darilldtlOf efit from some kimchi as wel l, m ade fo r t he restaura nt
.._..
OnliN-~JIC)(tt.lit. ~,~ -~
cMylllalif~otrr.., Cl"u.i~oaO..,..'t.....,... ofC.oh!Md1r. . . . . .ritpt-
....,__htft., r"'~
..-Ulblllll~'""ft.11\d dlouP .-nMr...... - ..... ,....11....,..d!Mp.1.1P>ll U
l.lll)'U~Clll.cwlM11.
...Ot.lsdPICt'fMdprklO lbM~h~.- hl.ttMd
p6alntlrft1-.blleC.:111ttp1
ofW11Wlll.{.-.-hrr~~
..,~ ,~.tnfd<U
m.w'l-.11...... I M ) - I '
- - . . , , , . tsttp 10 1 W t ' -
by Mr. Kim's morher-in-law. T here is Napa cabbage,
,.,........,.~,..
~~ '""'.,...,~ IN l ~-Wc'bu.:D~Z
Uk~ Im" .. hom- 1lll
-~""'Jmloll
ftll)&lllddb&ft.n.d bttf.. lb1~
ru.tinctMntJw-.MdlM
bul&Oclslid.(1Uf1lt.1rdlt's.
mnl'*f'W. a ~Olltortan~
tilollnl~t hill~bltsol~
no<.......,Bnomtflll:
htftrt'.at~on~
of course, among other va rieties: cuc u mber, of late,
c"pWIU11f*'t&tt'of~i u1nu-1.0blrJtt.d W!UttM dot:Md~.r.o< k ~, llrtld11 And ....... d)'OUoull~w-q
a.rldJtornn~theM">
loodYt'l"lolOll" b1\JlllAbieUJ1
1 -l lll\lmalA.llMptatMd
lht~y bWllofwy_. h
anJramrnl!IDClJSnln11-pey throucfltMmorma.CM'Onll'f,I!
"'"l\t'lloflood.. ~ nw.a.IM IMf\11 and pony ra il radi shes.
~V. . .""*fA ffoin unolty-Olf-"'thoidft11.
Mt'dyu.Jlt' fl l!)..dbtt(.11~
'"''"
On tbt "ll'IOdttnu. of1he
-laJullcnar~~
~l!oJQ!MttQukll:ly Mt-Wt.
'/:=::..~~'?'~~":..
-U..:llllaswdl..madllof
IMl'I'_ _ .., M r ll:lm'a
~ t wrDffll-1114~11 Wf\1""11.h~Orft.t-.
mM!wf-1..tw'Tbtfth~ pd.)t'dNnlnlbf"lllld~ 11\&- ll kftUCIClil.Mr.JQrnroll IH
atltMp.d~.-.ochrr anlJ>tdta.'llonWw.""' 1~ol lrnll"1f-.111J'CIWO Nllt'Kt-('".O.
gnore for a moment the obvious sops to Western his fine dice and careful plating, ma kes the d ish seem
Copyright 2011 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with permission.
HEAT BY THE HANDFUL
BY SAM Sll'TON
EAT
.uk.r~ .. -~Wft )Olclo-M.iunr0<rH'l')IO
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T
here a re th ree ways co make t he recipe char ed Korean hot-pepper paste k now n as gochujang, they
follows here; th ree pathways co d innert ime can rise to higher pla nes.
n irvana. The d ish is the Korea n barbecue
Bulgogi sandwic hes are a caste of the sore of home
sta ndard known as bu lgogi - " fire meat," is the lit-
cooking that can lead to mo re home cooking. T hey
eral t ranslation - transformed into a sa ndwic h fill-
serve as fragrant hamburger crushers, elega nt van-
ing, a sloppy Joe for a more perfect union. (File u nder
quishers of pizza. They are a n enemy of cakeour.
"Blessin gs of Liberty.") Fed to chi ldren with a ra il glass
of milk, the sa ndw iches may inspire smiles and licked To cook chem, you ca n follow the instructions slavish-
plates, rapt attention and rhe request th at t he meal be ly, as if working for H ooni Ki m , che c hef and owner of
served at least monthly - they are not at a ll too spicy D anji, on the edge of the cheate r district in Manhattan.
for you nger palaces. Given to adults accompanied by Bulgogi "sliders" are a ha llma rk of his menu and by far
cold lager, cucumber kimchi and a pot of the fcrmenr- the restaurant's most popular dish. The recipe is his.
m , who grew up in New York and dropped o ur So does forgo ing t he sauce pans and precisio n. On this
2 tablespoons sesame oil I. Place the cucumbers in a medium -size bowl, then
sprinkle with the salt. Let stand 20 minutes.
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2. Rinse cucumbers in cold water to remove salt. drain
2 tablespoons mirin
and pat dry.
I tablespoon sesame seeds
3. Return cucumbers to bowl. add other ingredients.
2 bunches scallions, cleaned. dried and sliced on the toss to combine. cover tightly and place in refrigera-
bias tor overnight or until ready to use.
Copyright 2011 by The New York Times Co. Repnnted w1th permission.
THE NEW YORK Tli\1ES, W~DNES,DAY. NOT~Elv/BER 23, 2011
~ ... .. ~ '-.Ill'
,DJ
~
So Ms. Lee buys 1hem frozen from Ki
Othcaa, n brand of llr:uihan Spectall>' founder ol the 1ruck, which buys 2<10
Foods 111 Norlh Dffgcn. NJ. The compa pounds or Ko.Am's k1mch1 evtry week.
nys prrsidem. CetUho Santos, snid he l~M ....I WO'll"lll"" TUlll:TIWJ
When 1he Konll.n BBQ food 1ruck first
stlls 1he bread 10 15 of the 30 or so Brn s1-:mcd in October 2010, Kum Gane 5.r.m
i1han resttmr:ints in New York a1y. A LARCC ORDCR Hyuk Su l..t.'C mnkcs kimchi for reslnuran~ at the KoAm Food Corpomtion in Flushing, Queens. let J\lr. Song and his partners make
Making k1mchi is the pro\'ince of a 1hei r food in its kitchen. A few months
spcciahs1, hllld Yun 1-1. Park, the prMI la1cr 1he Konlla team started cookmg m
dt'nt of 1wo l chiumi restnuranls, ::t &00 n kitchen o f ils own In Brooklyn.
seo11 place m Monhamm nnd n 400 "They were so su111>0rti\e of our
semer In Edison, N.J.. 1ha1 serve Jnpa truck. and our go..'lls," said Mr. Song,
nc.se illltl Kori'nn food. Mr. Park buys who ate often at Ku m Gan~ $;in while
400 l>OUlldS o( !l08i kimchi, a lradilional growing up i n Oaysidc. "So it 's logical
\'Crston of kimchi. each wctk from the for us to buy their khnchl"
Ko-Am Food Corpormion in Flushing, Nol fnr a"ny, in Corona. Quc.'Cns, 1s
Queens, wht'rc a kilchcn prod~ccs 10 Tortillcria Nix1n..1m\I, ;1 rcstaumrll well
Ynrie11t.'S of lhl' fermcmed \ege1able known for tortillas made from mas.1. a
dish. dough of dried v.hi1c corn that has bttn
1f Mr. Park mes to make his own, " I boiled and soaked in slaked lime nnd
h.3\'C to hire 1wo prople to mnkc kimch1: water, which soliens the c:om and
I h..1\C 10 lure 1K>Ople who spcaah2e 111 makes 1t easier 10 peel - n process
khnch1,M he said. One !kllary is ""'II called nixtam.'\J1zntk>n. The com Is then
finely ground for 1ondL'\ dough.
O\'tr "a U.CC!k, nnd I hzwe 10 buy t~
rna1cna1s. In New York Clt)', most tOrlillM :trC
Wh::u ~1~ resu1ur.uns from roastinc made from a dncd, l)O'o'i"dered version
lheir own ducks 1s oftrn lhe nff'd !or OV called m.i.s.a harina. whkh h:l$ prcser
ens that ttrc ne3rly SIX fe-el high and get vatl\cs and lS less tasty, s:ud ZnreL'I
M hoe as ;50 dcgrttS. Eas1 Oc'tan Pal Martinez. the cookbook nuthor who
nee, \\hkh has ISO seats, ls one of a.half closed her M~nhauan resu111ra111, 7.Are--
dozco klc'al businesses tha1 buy ducks b, earher 1his year. When h eated, the
fro111 Corner ~. a Fluo;hmg restaurant N1x1amal 1omlL1s puff up and toute
1hnt roasts hundrC(ls daily, clearl)'. though subll)'. of com.
~Restm1mms pick up here, nnd 1hey Inside Thr'tilleria N1xtam.1l lrom 4 to
rche:n i1, said Alan Gao, the manager 10 a.m., the 1or11llns IK>P out of o ma
ofCorutr28. chine.
Al 9 one morning, two burnished Can ws 3,000 1omllas an hour, 6,000 to
IOllCS<! roast ducks - 1hc1r 11\Cnt IJlOISI 12,000 ionillas a dny, 7 days a week, :ws
:md deeply n:won:d - hung in the win days a year; snld Fernando Ruiz, a firt.
dow of Corner 2@:, a 1hree-s1ory es1ab fighter and nati\'C of Mexico who
lishmcnt on Mnln S1rc-e1 m 401h Rond. opened N i xtamal i n 2008 \\'ll h his s;irl
Oy II, Uc1i111gstylt: llucks, with cracker friend, Shauna Page. a Conner business
cn'iJ> skin, were at the takrout window consulmnL
as 1Kln of a snnc.k: a s1eamed bun. a "Ou r 11ucnt1on wns 10 be a 1on1Ucria
slice of meal. cmckhng skin, a drop of to New York's Corona, a growmg Mex
hoisln and a soncr o f sh\'Cretl scalhons. lean ne1ghborhood," Ms. Pnge sn1d.
In 1hc base.rnent kitchen, Wnng Wei Wll\llto-'l.1110.Tt<I; ,,....,,ulU.~ II is more th.'\n th:tt Akhtar Nawab.
ymg. the barbc<ue chef. O\'Crsee5 the BUSYOVCNS Hundreds of ducks MC roas1ed each day a t Corner 28 i n Flushing, which suppl ies rest<'lumnl~. 1hc cxecuuvc chef of L.'1 Esquma in
roasting: 2'40 to 2SO docks each wttk Solfo and Cafe de La Esquina In Brook
day, and 300 l)r1 S.'Uurd~ and Sundays. lyn, buys 1onillas from N1x1am.'\l.
The slx:md-.ahalfpound birds arm-c head would slide easily 1hrough n round clea\'tr C\'cry 15 minutes.. The birds wcc. A worker ma.ss.'\jted n cup of dry They're al"'zys hot nnd fresh. (\Jl{!
pl!Xkcd but noc C\'is'r.ucd. On thlS metal collar that h.1 a hook :machcd " ('t'e washed In cold water. mix into lhe duck's caVJt)'. t hen 3 half ther're ''Cry !!Oft,'" he S.'1id ~There's 3
d.'l)". u.orkers - all men - nnsed them Then 1he)' cut off the feet :i.nd dasc:trdcd Each d:i.y Mr. Wang nukes a df)' mix cup of the cooked sauce. lie sk~~rC'd h1tle chew. They"rt> rbky, hkt 3 fine
aod ht'3ptd nbou1 20 on a choppmg t3 the mnards. They worked easily and of aniseed. sugar and salt. and cooks a shut the 'km around 1hc ca\'lly, nnscd French pastry but n more 1>ea.s;int coo
bit. Af1cr rcmO\'mg the wmp, lhc men rhy1hmlcally, f:'\iSttmung a duck m "et m.innade of h01Sm sauce, minced the duck m cold V.'tlter and brusht'\1 11 stnm. and 1hey h~we pockets of mr. and
hacked ulf 1tw So"cr bc:lJc so 1hnt the three mmutes and sharpening the fr~h gmgcr. g.lrhc, coriander and let with a syrnp ot wwgar cooked \l.ith 1hcy smell of com.'"
T
he food cognoscenti like co know the source of Mr. Park buys 400 pou nds of pogi k imchi , a tradition-
their vegetables, fis h a nd meat. Is th at lettuce al version of k imchi , each week from rhe Ko-A m Food
organic? D id that chicken range freely and Corporation in Flus hi ng, Queens, w here a kitchen
merrily during its short life? produces 10 varieties of rhe fe rmented vegerable dish .
Bur consider dishes whose sources are harder to find, If Mr. Park tries to make his own, "I have ro hire two
that a re not farmed or fished but made from scratch, people ro make kimchi; I have to hire people who spe-
and not in gigantic factories owned by Dole or Genera l cial ize in k imchi," he said . "One sa la ry is well over
Foods. T hin k of the C hinese roasted ducks at the East $500 a week, a nd l have co buy the materia ls."
O cean Palace in Fo rest H ills, Q ueens; k imchi at the
What stops restaurants fro m roasting t heir own d ucks
Korilla BBQ food truck; the lightly layered torti llas at
is often rhe need fo r ovens that are nearly six fee r high
D os Toros Taqueria in Ma nhattan; and pfo de queijo,
and ger as hor as 750 degrees. East Ocean Palace,
puffs of Brazilia n c heese bread, at Casa in G reenwich
which has 150 sears, is one of a half-dozen local busi-
Village.
nesses that buy d ucks from Corner 28, a Flushing res-
None of these specialties a re made on the premises. tauranr char roasts hu ndreds d aily.
Despite their authentic flavors a nd signature place on
"Restaura nts pick up here, and they reheat it," said
menus, t hey are turned out - by machine, ha nd or
Alan Gao, the manager of Corner 28.
both - in commercia l kitche ns in Q ueens and New
Jersey that are large but little known . Ar 9 one morning, rwo burnished Ca ntonese roast
ducks - their meat moist a nd deeply flavored -
Restaurants outsource these foods because they are
hung in rhe window of Corner 28, a t h ree-story es-
labor-intensive or requ ire specia l equipment o r sk ills,
tablishment on Main Srreec ar 40th Road. By 11,
a nd because they a re so popu lar they must be pro-
Beijing-style duc ks, with cracker-c risp sk in, were at
duced in bulk, li ke the pfo de queijo.
rhe takeout window as part of a snack: a steamed bun,
"You need a machi ne to bea t the dough; it's rea lly a slice of meac, c rackli ng skin , a d rop of ho isin and a
hard, and you've got to really beat it," said Jup ira Lee, scatter of sli vered sca llions.
the owner of Casa, wh ich sel Is 3 00 of the gol f-ba II-size
In t he basement kitchen, Wa ng Weiying, che barbe-
breads every week. "If you make a sma ll batch for a
cue chef, oversees t he roasting: 240 to 280 d ucks each
home, like a bowl of dough, you ca n ma ke it yourself.
weekday, and 300 on Saturdays and Sund ays.
But if you're maki ng 300 or 400 pfo de queijo, it's a
lot of labor." T he six-a nd-a-ha lf-pound birds arrive pl ucked bur not
eviscerated. O n rhis day, workers - all men - rinsed
So Ms. Lee buys t hem fro zen from K i D elic ia, a bra nd
t hem and heaped about 20 on a c hopping cable. After
of Brazilian Specia lty Foods in North Bergen, N .J.
removing t he wings, rhe men hacked off rhe lower beak
The company's president, Gen'.dio Santos, sa id he sells
so that the head wo uld slide easily through a round
the bread to 15 of the 30 or so Brazilia n restaurants in
metal collar that has a hook attached. Then t hey cut
New York C ity.
off the feet and discarded the in nards. They worked
Ma king k imch i is the province of a specia list, sa id easily and rhythmically, evisce rating a cl uck in t hree
Yu n H. Park, rhe president of two Ichiumi restau- minu tes a nd sharpen ing t he cleaver every 15 m inu tes.
rants , a 600 -seac place in Ma nhatta n a nd a 400-searer The bi rds were washed in cold water.
in Ed ison, N.J., rhar serve Japa nese and Korean food.
W hen rhe Korilla BBQ food truck firsr sra rced in
E
ach day Mr. Wang ma kes a dry mix of an iseed,
sugar a nd salt, a nd cooks a wer mari nade of October 2010, Kum Gang San ler Mr. Song and his
hoisin sauce, minced fres h ginger, ga rlic, cori- parrners ma ke rheir food in irs kirchen. A few months
ander a nd lenuce. A wo rker massaged a cup of dry mi x lam rhe Korilla team started cooking ar a k itchen of
in to rhe duck 's caviry, rhen a ha lf-cup of the cooked its own in Brooklyn .
sauce. H e skewered shur the ski n around rhe cavity,
"They were so supportive of our truck, a nd our goals,"
rinsed rhe duck in cold water a nd brushed ir wirh a
said M r. Song, who ate often at Kum Ga ng San w hile
sy ru p of vinega r cooked wirh maltose. T he duck dried
growing up in Bayside. "So it's logical for us to buy
in front of a fan fo r a ha lf- hour, rhen was roasted at
their kimchi ."
about 500 degrees for 55 minutes.
Not far away, in Coro na, Queens, is Tortilleri a
Just eighr blocks away, on Northern Boulevard near
N ixta mal, a restaura nt well know n fo r tortillas made
Union Srreer, is Ko-Am Food , wh ich shares a base-
from masa, a dough of dried white corn that has been
mem k irchen with irs sisrer business, Ku m Gang San
boiled and soa ked in slaked lime and water, which soft-
restauram . Soon Bo Lee, 63, who directs the cooking,
ens the co rn and makes ir easier to peel - a process
lea rned how to make kimchi ar age 16 in Seoul.
called ni xtamalization. The corn is then fi nely ground
"She lea rned from he r mother, because a woman, be- for tortilla dough.
fore she's ma rried, musr lea rn how to make kimchi,"
In New York C ity, most tortillas a re made from a
said Sang Ji n Kim, Ko-A m's presidem, who interprer-
d ried , powdered version called masa harina, which has
ed fo r his cook.
prese rvatives and is less rasty, said Zarela Martinez,
M rs. Lee a nd a staff of eight men and women ma ke 10 rhe cookbook aurhor who closed her Manhatran res-
rypes of k imchi, mos tly from cabbage (2,70 0 pounds tauranr, Zarela, ea rlier th is yea r. W hen heared, the
a d ay) bur a lso fro m dai kon a nd cucumbers. T he staff N ixtam al torrillas puff up a nd taste clea rly, thou gh
curs rhe vegetables by ha nd. subtly, of corn.
"We rried using a machine, but the machine broke up Inside Torcilleria Nixrama l from 4 to 10 a. m., rhe tor-
the cabbage," M r. Ki m sa id. For all 10 varieties, Mr s. ti llas pop out of a machine.
Lee has a mother sauce of anchovy, kelp, radish and
"Ir's 3,000 torrill as an hour, 6,000 to 12,000 tortillas
onion, boiled in water for rwo hours, then cooled a nd
a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a yea r," said Fernando
tweaked fo r each variety.
Ruiz, a firefighrer a nd narive of Mexico who opened
The most common va riat ion is bright red a nd redo- Nixra ma l in 2008 w ith his girlfriend, Shauna Page, a
lent of ga rlic. Mrs. Lee mixes crushed red pepper, fish fo rmer business consul ta nt.
sauce, sa lted shrimp sauce, fresh on ions and rad ish in
"O ur intention was to be a torrilleria to New York's
a blender, rhen adds ir to rhe cooled sauce a long wirh
Coro na, a growing Mexican neighborhood," Ms. Page
freshly sliced green pepper, sliced radish and garl ic.
sa id .
Pogi kimc hi, using napa cabbages sliced in ha lf verti-
cally, a re d ipped in the chunky marinade, which work- It is more than rhat. Akhta r Nawab, the executive chef
ers also brush onto each leaf by hand. of La Esquin a in SoHo a nd Cafe de La Esquina in
Brooklyn, buys tortillas from Nixtamal.
T he Korilla BBQ food truck, which won a recent
Vendy awa rd fo r rookie of the year, sells bulgogi tacos "They're always hot a nd fresh, and they're very soft,"
topped wirh pogi kimchi, said Edward Song, a fou nd- he said. 'There's a li ttle chew. They're Oaky, like a fine
er of rhe rruck, wh ich buys 240 pounds of Ko-Am's French pastry but a more peasa nt construct, and they
kimchi every week . have pockers of a ir, and they smell of co rn."
Copyright 2011 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with permission.
.-.{",_~,~~'--i;;"T~~ ~~.......,.T- .. - ~ -
KOREAN BARBECUE
IN A SMOKE -FILLED
ROOM
BY KA HLA COO K
Korean Barbecue
In a Smoke-Filled Room
fly KAHL.A COOK uon (~ ::Wou1 that bu~r), every dlS.h TRADITIONAL Korean bn.rbecuc dish
I tnt'd was \'Ct)' good. from the liny ea arc grilltd in the table at Kimchi
TEP 1n10 1hc dining room of Kun
(10l>nur.'7
Ith ptpptn and SC3.lllon~
Jnlood ~t. pnme bttf batbttut.
rmnn:t.ttdspartubb:u~~
1hrtt yean ago.
But back 10 the barbecue: Kunch1
piec~ ready for dressing
Chung's hou.stm3de
Mr.
docnpng (fer
menttd soy paste) :1nd wrnppmg m let
and swtt1 shrimp with g.vlic s.1uce rtt
ommended by the sener, ,,.,th prtdKt
brwbttuit.&Mnband "lkt~soup. llmn.-.deh tr"ttS. tuce~aves. able result.5: too m uch brtadlll&, 1nost ol
WORnt lT Slone pOfl t11bunb;tp. sttamtd rncN11'h our barbtt'Uc 1.:able "''M one m :1 llne She r~ttd the process " nh the 11 soggy,and \'ff)' liUle shnmp rtavor.
nc lf'ACt Nc>lnDl. l?knt Gr.in& room W1th ')'titan SprouU. 5Wttt net' dnnk, of them al the bark oi the bi& d1run1 bulaoga but, v.,th an "ye on thf- scrum of At dH.Sttt ume-. "e skJpped the ttcl
~wmt-pn\'altdonlnlr'OOIM. W' YOU COO Lunch Monday thn:Ju&h Fncby, room . ._,here tht a.moke wu p;inlCUbr bean and &rttn tc;a ttt Cl'TlrnJ. ordenng
repl.airlllbks end a.usbi tm_The~ wa.uJng diners, a.skcd "htther she coukl
lnCMtaftlqlttlaltunch IS'Wr.a.ll;JOa.m.. ly thick. Weonl<r<d bul&O&i (m:>nnAted cook the dUckcn m t.be bade.. We inst~ a s,_.eet dnnJ... Slkh)'t, m3de
r.w..t.\'.CC"pelorlhtpm-.Wtd.lmlclrtm. tol p.m. "1Mf nwm ~'Td llJOa.m. to bed), lbced bontlns chtc:ken and m;in-
Oft one ln"'d, a:.. the 'PK" IS tqbL lO p..m. tc'\'C'ft da)'1 Atmy cl Jhopp:nc ogreed. and $hortly she l>n>ulht the v.itb malt flour, nee and supr. The
n;ued lp.:t.rt nbt ias tntrttS. Just as we gmns ol sticky ntt Oolted amonc tin)'
' caowo ~And cnual. llh IU.n). " " ' " pubnc. Rtwo-.iom acttptd
Olli) b plrUd:of KXCI' marr. ~an our 1weuun - fntd pork
coolced duc:km, ttmO\'Ui the grate and
Cl.I.be$ ol ta!, combint.n.& 1th the ltq\Ud
~; ...."tf'lateOSrtmdyntrorrc, CO>ls and replOC<d the lid. and the t>ble
to make a k>'.ety ~1e deanser. We felt
~tn~wtltn~NJ
tomm. .......
IU.flHCS Dorn MM. Wonrt lt.0."- Don 1 dumphng.s and 1 P'fasa.ntly crunchy
f1ourbastd ~ncali.e 1;1uddcd '14ith hol
?<'PPtt' and sulhons - the server ap-
wa.s as bd0tt. Out knees grew cool
My plan 10 order the l.3rge marinatl'd
equally rcf~hed bier ,_..hen we leh the
smoke--hlk!d room for the de:i.r night rur,
peartd '14ilh the cool buckets :uK1 the shrimp ba.rbue on a second \ '\Sii was
ha\'inge.a1tnsowtll :u K1mch1 lt o.na.
rep into che d in ing room of Kimchi Hana Bur back to the barbecue: K imchi H ana delivers.
WORTH IT
Copyright 2011 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with permission.
IN THE NEW YORK TIMES
THE NEW YORK TIMES, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2010 E8
SHE WANTS
MORE THAN HER MTV
BY \IE LE \ :\ HYZ I K
' ' H ave you had a popsicle? T hey're sooo of aspha lr on the Lower East Side, helping sell designer
good," sa id SuChin Pak, known co a T-shirrs and rhose really good ice pops, wh ich come
generation of screa m ing teenagers as in arrisanal Mex ica n flavo rs like horchara and mango
the sweer and c hippe r on-a ir correspondent fo r MT V. con chili.
"Let me buy you one! "
No, Ms. Pak did nor lose her plu m job as a n MTV cor-
It was a sweltering Sunday, a nd Ms. Pak was nowhere respondenr. She still covers events like rhe earthquake
nea r the red ca rpets or green rooms, inrerviewing in H airi and every pop scar's laresr baby bump a nd
Taylor Swifr or spotlighting some d o-gooder youth. broken engagemenr. Bur these days, she has become
Instead , she was walking up and d own a small parch consumed by a side project, one t hat rakes her to every
corner of a newly tre ndy pocket a long the Lower East
Side-Chinatown border, foraging for indie designers
UpO...
a nd boutiques, a nd seeking new flavors like rruffled
She Wants More Than Her MTV pretzels and wild lobster rolls.
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more like a hyperloca l block parry.
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Every weekend the precious sliver of land, barely wider
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nw - ......... a. c.--.~.. tha n two pa rked cars, is tra nsformed into a modern-
........... _ _ '""' _ _ _ _ _ lift\
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........... -... ... .....,,..-.'t ..... ,.,~----- ... - - 1-. I fV-""'- - day pushcart bazaar, teem ing w it h stylish terrarium s,
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--""""""pwyno_.lf-tr 1\ 11p~lfh."r' rof tht l'~:t\-.QI'~ --
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vin tage jewelry and refurbished bicycles, plus a rorar-
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'"':::'!'!'""-=~~~."- .... -- salmon and barbecued pulled pork - all from neigh-
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...,. It helps rhat Ms. Pak a lso seems to know everybody
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~ ....... M . . . . . .. within a 10-block rad ius. "Jr's an obsession," Ms. Pak,
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34, said of the fa ir. "For me, right now, ir's rhe mosr
creative rhing that I do."
T
hat says a lot, considering her quirky, un likely T he Paks brought in Ron Castella no, a n architect who
ca reer path. The daughter of conservative, helped design Santos Party House and whose office
religious parents from Korea who spea k little overlooks t he Hester Street space, a nd Ada m Zeller, a
English, Ms. Pak was born in Seoul and moved to rhe TV marketing executive, as parrners. T hey now over-
suburbs of San Francisco at 5. She grew up in a pop see rhe fair's look and irs online promotion. Suhyun
culrure vacuum, fo rbidden to watch television or listen runs rhe d ay-to-day operations, whi le SuC hin, as he
to Western music. H er world was school, church and put it, "puts rhe little touches and rhe cool facto r."
her parents' cafe in downtow n Oakland.
Ms. Pak has been known to sell some of he r own de-
How she ended up on television, on MTV no less, is signer castoffs ar rhe market. She recruited other fas h-
not a story of typical teenage rebellion. Even befo re at- ion insiders to do the sa me.
tendi ng the University of California, Berkeley, where
"I always knew chat one d ay I wou ld ask for a favor
she studied political science, Ms. Pa k spent part of her
from my friends, who are a ll ex tremely well connected
high school years contributing to a n ABC affi liate as
and really too cool fo r school," M s. Pak said. "And
the host of a show called "Straight Talk N ' Teens."
now I'm call ing them li ke, ' Remem ber chat story I d id
("My hair," she said, "was very intense.")
rwo yea rs ago, remember that biog pose I posted? It's
After graduation, she moved to New York to lead a payback time.' " Sway, another MTV correspondent,
short-lived ta lk show, "Trackers," which she described is having his birthday party rhere on July 31, pa rt of a
as " less Bad Girl 's C lu b and more 1 A m Woman parade of fami liar televisio n faces a nd dow n town per-
H ea r Me Roa r," on the then newly launched Oxygen sonali ties who populace rhe fa ir.
network.
Ms. Pak's parents, meanwhile, didn't quite understand
W hen she was 24, MTV recruited her. She has been her des ire to run a flea ma rket. T hen aga in, they srill
there ever since, over the years co-hosting rhe Video watch her TV appearances with the sound off. Bur
Music Awards a nd developing a series about im mi- rhey ca n resr easy: Ms. Pa k does not intend to swap TV
grant li fe. Most recently she has been driving cross- for fu ll-time bazaaring. "We just wa nt to throw a really
country to cover the recipients of grants from Pepsi for great pa rry every weekend here," she said. "Ir's fun."
civic, environmental and arts projects.
Wa lking around the marker, appea ring preternaturally
"I love TV," Ms. Pak said. "I've done ir since I was 16. cool in a ru ffled a nd pleated skirt a nd blouse and flar
I don't have anothe r skill." C ha nel ga rdenia sanda ls, she blended in easily wit h
shoppers looking for vintage clutches or fancifu l ca ke-
But, she added, " It's not a creative game fo r me, it's
pops. She's usually recognized on ly by teenagers.
much more of a busi ness ga me." T he H ester Street Fair
is her outlet. "Every time l get caughr on t he subway around 3 or 4
during the school yea r, ir's definitely d icey," she said .
She and her brother conceived the fair in response to a
"I get a lor of like - yo, are you that girl? Then I have
request from the Seward Pa rk Cooperatives, the sprawl-
to go eight stops wirh them."
ing redbrick towers built by labor and trade un ions in
rhe 1960s, where Ms. Pak has shared a two-bedroom Not that she's complaining. "Ten m ill ion 16-year-old
unir wirh Su hyun , 32, for six years. The co-op wa nred girls would sell their right arm to live the life that I've
ideas fo r the empty lot, which it owns. had," she said.
"Everybody pur in these really lame pitches- dog park This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
or a reflection pond," Ms. Pak said . Having grown up Correction: )1161 25, 2010
going to swap meets in Northern California, she and
her brother im mediately suggested a flea market. T hey An ar1icle 011 July 8 about the Hester Street Fair on the Lower
fast Side misspelled the given name ofone ofthe organizers. He
also envisioned it as an a ntidote to the interchange-
is Suhyun Pak, not Suyhun.
able MozzArepas-a nd-tube-socks fa irs that plague ciry
streets every summer.
Copyright 2010 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted w1lh permission.
THE NEWYORKTIMES, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2010 WEB ONLY
TRADITIONAL
KOREAN STYLE
GETS A FORWARD SPIN
BY AUC E PF EI FFEH
SEOUL
ess mass-ma rketed th an the k imono, the han-
I
t's fitting that Esther Jin Kim and Joseph
... ..,,..._....,._
rs.._.,AAU.aO'a ntY
.. r.......,.,._ ,....._ .. _"""""_ ~111-~ldorM'-ic.. Rosenwald Va ret met because of their support of
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Performa, a n o rganization in New York that pro-
-~
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motes the work of perform ing artists. After all, these
a re two people who approach life as a kind of experi-
.-...,..c..
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For them, even the most mundane activ ity is an op-
...... '
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~_.._.-
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e.-wu.iilis.._S... .,,........._~tep,TM-.p&e.t.ff1htw--.,abow. portunity for art istic expression. Mr. Varet, 35, has
..,
i..,_,.OltGlliCllifniofM
W..W..C.-9Not-V.t. NWll'trllM-ttrn"-
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to find just the right produce for a picturesque beach
........ , ....... 11 .....
-- __ picnic. And Ms. Kim, 29, stores her countless pa irs of
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designer jeans in a glass case rather than using some-
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'--91Wdlor,,,__.._rM1'> _,.._ ._.._"'_~...,. '&tllllfWJwa _ _ thi ng as prosaic as a chest of drawers.
Mel.tlls.r.-YOi\ - - 1
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tu~~.O.....S\'*""L"I ........ "They both have a highly developed aesthetic sense,"
,._ ..
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~ 1 be.tllUlllll.llll' ....... _~ . . . .
\ A roupk "hoK"\.
~
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~~
1hc~'illll)inlhc1rdiffl-n.110..'S
MPM_,,..
o....,,..,.. """"'_.._,_..."" said Dr. Audrey C hun, Ms. Kim's cousin a nd direc-
C..-,..""""'0..M'fflSlrf-WM,_.ly :md sl\llrea rom1non qtk'tll ~::;.a::i,=~~
...-
............ ..,.,..,,dlt11."l~llltl"'-YlflM
""4'11 9" ...-...i.. ,... . . ui.-...,.,4'1. for :U1i...lic ad\'Cllh ll\.',
....................
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9ftllc..... ter of the Ma rtha Stewa rt Center for Living at Mount
---
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Mr .
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Mr. Varet was captivated from the moment he first saw
---
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............ ,.,.,~.......--...
. . . . . . . . . . . ....,. . . . In~~
---~~t.....- ~'*"'..-..-"1'!1 a~"l-4 .. Ms. Kim. It was April 2009, a nd she had arrived late to
~
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""'-- ~ n'-11, ...... ...... . .
~- ~ .. ....... .._... a meeting of young patrons of Performa called to pla n
.tMr.aa....,..,.'M_,,.,.lt'ltd.._,
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______ ....
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AP . . . by111'flil"""' .... Ml t.,frw-J blo!Mr \ ...... lll lrlbnc,w.. ~ n.nlllS*-llbfW.-,oc11ta1
a benefit ga la. But M s. Kim, who graduated from Ya le
.. ___
hnt(,.,.....$11ot~O..~ 1 ~-twndiilw-tth .;,toe..,.._..__.. bill: hM M NrlcM -
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a nd was a busy Ph.D. ca nd idate in the history of art at
.
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",_ Columbia University a nd a part-time art dealer, didn't
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IOlllll notice him, despite caking the seat next to his.
' ' Wen I saw her ir was li ke I had been g rounds Escher," Dr. Chun said . "And I think she
working o n this puzzle and someone bri ngs him out of himself."
had suddenly given me rhe answer,"
A few weeks after they began seeing each other, he
said Mr. Varer, who the year before had sold the co m-
made a bold move.
pany he co-founded , LX.TV, to NBC Un iversa l for a
reported $10 millio n. (A broadba nd network and on- They were attendin g rhe Perform a benefit they had
line production compa ny, it is perhaps best known for helped pla n, a nd in midsentence he kissed her.
the programming rhar plays in the back of New York
"I d idn't know what t0 do," M s. K im sa id . "I was ta lk-
taxicabs.)
ing, and he kissed me, and then I continued ta lking
H e had been looki ng for a li ke-minded aesthete to where I left off."
share his life.
Mr. Ya rer said, "Eicher she was ignoring me or obl ivi-
"Joseph ach ieved professionally beyond h is w ildest ous, bur I wanted to make it clea r how I felt."
dreams a nd t hought, Now what?" said his younger
Up to t hat point, she did nor think of him as boyfriend
brother, David Varer. "I think he was final ly ready for
material, much less a potenti al husband , because her
love."
parents wanted her tO marry a Korea n. "I have always
T heir mother, Elizabeth Rosenwa ld Va rer, w ho is rhe been very sensit ive to pleasing my pa rents," she said.
chairwoman of A merican Securit ies Group and g rand-
The kiss, she said, began tO cha nge her attitude, as did
daughter of Jul ius Rosenwald, an ow ner and pres ident
rhe icons next to h is name as she read Gotha m maga-
of Sears, Roebuck & Company, agreed rhar her elder
zine's 2009 " 100 Hottest Bachelors" ran ki ngs. Alo ng
son was ready for love bur added dryly, "I have t h is
w ith a pi le-of-mo ney icon, wh ic h meant he was wealthy,
theory rhar people get ma rried to ger o ut of rhe agony
and a pile-of-books icon, which meant he was smart
of daring."
(he has an undergradu ate d egree from Ha rva rd a nd an
Mr. Varer's interest was piqued by rhe fac t rhar M s. M.B.A. from Columbia), he a lso had an apple-pie ico n,
K im, whose parents immig rated to D a ll as from Seoul wh ich mea nt he was good to rake ho me tO Mom.
shortly before she was born, is Korean. Mr. Va rer's
" l kn ow it sounds silly, bur that rea lly got me ch ink-
friends a nd fami ly said rhat he had lo ng had an affin-
ing," she said. "] rea lly starred wondering if my par-
ity for Asian a rt, cuisine a nd culture a nd had rraveled
e nts, a lthoug h he wasn't Ko rea n, would love h im, too,
extensively in Asia.
for t heir daughter."
Mr. Varer gor M s. Kim's e-mail address from group
Sensing he was making prog ress, a nd after several more
e-ma ils sent our by Performa and began inviting her to
dares, Mr. Ya rer invited himself to visit her in South
d inners in Koreatown as well as to the opera a nd arr
Korea, where she spem her sum mers. Her parents,
ga llery openings. She accepted h is invitations bur on ly
C hang and Susa n K im , have homes in Seoul, D al las
because she had a n ulterior motive.
and Kona, Hawa ii. Bur rwo d ays before Mr. Va rer was
"] t hought he was in tech nology a nd cou ld help se r up sched uled t0 leave fo r Sourh Korea, he had a biking
a Web site for my art deal ing," she said . W hen it be- accident on rhe H udson River bike path a nd fractured
ca me clea r he didn't know much about creating Web his left kneecap. His d ocror advised aga inst travel, but
sires, she tried to discou rage him by telling hi m she Mr. Va rer, in a leg brace, was determ ined .
had a boyfriend in Pa ris (a lthoug h she knew rhar rela-
"I wouldn't see her for eigh t o r nine weeks and knew
tion sh ip wasn't going anywhere). H e was nor deterred.
she'd forger all about me if I did n't go," he sa id.
"H e was pretty persistent," she said. "Bur in a patient
way, nor a n a n noying way." Ms. Kim pushed him arou nd Seoul in a wheelchair. "It
wasn't all t hat attract ive," she said. "My gra ndmother
Friends describe Mr. Yarer's a nd Ms. Kim's perso n-
who had had a stroke could get around better d1an he
a li ties as co mplementary: H e is calm a nd delibera-
cou ld."
tive wh ile she is passionate and sponta neous. "Joseph
B
ur her family was impressed. "They sa id he Mr. Varer gave Ms. Kim a $4 ri ng bought ar a beach
muse really li ke me to go to so much effo rr," she srand; he knew she would wa nt ro desig n her own
said. "H e worked so hard ro ger my arcention." ring.
W hen he rerurned to che Un ired Scares lacer rh ar sum- On April 9, rhe couple stood surrounded by 14 ausrere,
mer, he worked rirelessly co rehabi li tare his knee before plum-colored paintings by rhc abstract artist M a rk
M s. Kim joined him ar his renred summer house in Rorhko at the nondeno mi national Rorh ko C hapel in
the Hamprons. H ousto n. The Rev. Shawn Ka ng, a Presby rerian min-
ister, o fficiated with R abbi Monty Eliasov ta king part
" He was constantly exercising with a pursed brow a nd
in the ceremony. The bride's brother, Abra ha m Kim,
focused sta re - li ke Rocky," said Perc r Fried land, who
played rhe processional on his H awaiian u kulele.
shared the house with Mr. Va rer a nd who has known
him since high school. "This was a Joseph Varet I had After the re!igious ceremony, guests gathered fo r
never seen before. A Joseph in gym cloches. A Joseph a seared Korea n banquet at the Sheraton H ouston
in love." Brookhollow Hotel, owned by the bride's fat her. The
hotel's ballroom had been transformed into what
Everything the rwo of rhem did together chat August
looked like a mod nightcl ub: the floor covered with
was studied and a rtfu l, from rhe particular way they
iridescent white sy nthetic tur f, the wa lls draped with
ground a nd brewed coffee, ro the beach time they
folds of fro rhy, whire fab ric, accented w it h turquoise
spent not sunning or swimming bur painting warer-
and oran ge lighting.
colors to presenr to each orher.
The t rendy ambience contrasted wich rhe Korean pae-
T hey began to sec the beauty in their di fferences.
baek ceremony, during wh ich che couple wore cradi-
"H e's solid where I'm like water," M s. Kim sa id . "I cional silk robes, known as ha nboks, as he carried her
never caught him in a lie." piggyback around the room to symbolize his ability to
support her.
Lase year, rhe couple extended their reach fo r artistic
ex pression and perfec rio n by embarking on a four- The co uple will continue rheir quest fo r artisric adven-
month rrip to Sourheasr Asia to discover the best street rure, o nce back from an African safari honeymoon.
food , something both are passionate abour. They will live in Venice Beach , Cali f., where rhe bride-
groom boughr a rhree-story contemporary rown house.
"We wenr to a ll t he most obscure food carts to ear
Ms. Kim hopes to show and sell arr in a n ex hibition
some of the most bodacious food s imaginable," Ms.
space on the ground floor as she finishes her Ph.D. dis-
Kim said. "It was chat adventurous spirit, whether
sertation, which focuses on the influence of compu ter
we're in LA., Brooklyn, Seoul or Penang, th at pro-
technology on conceprua l a rt.
pelled us ro spend so much time toget her, to explore
and share experiences a nd th at will inspire us to keep She said that a rt, like street food , is a connect ion she
going tomorrow." and Mr. Varer share chat sustains a nd nourishes t heir
relario nship: "It's always changing form a nd creating
The couple concluded their travels w irh a visit during
challenges to old ways of thi nki ng, or savoring, the
rhe Thanksgiving holiday to M s. Kim's pa rents' home
world ."
in Hawaii, where Mr. Va rer proposed in front of sev-
era l family members, includ ing her parents. This rmicle has bew revised to reflect the following correction:
far her, who is very cradirional," Mr. Va rer sa id . " He The Vows column Inst Sunday, about the marriage of Esther
had to make me swear a little. He knew I hadn'r been Kim r111d Joseph Vnret, misspelled the name of a traditional
work ing a nd wa nted to know why." He passed musrer Korean gnrme111. ft is a hnnbok, not hmnbok.
by explaining rhar he was mak ing investments in Start-
up media companies.
Copyright 2011 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with permission.
THE NEWYORKTIMES, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2011 WEB ONLY
A WHITE HOUSE
DEBUT FOR DOO.RI
BY EHI CWI LSON
Copyright 2011 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted w ith permission.
IN THE NEW YORK TIMES
THE GLOBAL EDITION OF THE NEW YORK TIMES, TUESDAY, MARCH JO, 2010 11
A KOREAN
ARTIST 'S ORIGINS,
BY PARACH UTE
BY SO~ I ,\ KOLE \l lKOV-J ESSOP
SINGAPORE
B
The arrisr is now preparing a fa bric insta llation fo r rhe
tistic family. His father, Suh Se-ok, was a pivotal Venice Bicnnale of Arc hitecture (Aug. 29 co Nov. 21),
figure in Korean modern arr for his use of tra- where he will represent the facade of his brownstone
d it ional ink painting in an abstract style. In the 1960s, apartment in New York. H e's also planning a n insral-
many of Korea's rradirional homes were destroyed co larion for rhe 2010 Liverpool Biennia l (Sepe. 18 co
ma ke way for modern buildings, bur Mr. Su h's parents Nov. 18), where he will place a replica of his ch ildhood
had a small, rradirional scholar's house builr of discard- hou se in an empty lot wirh a parachu te and rhe scar-
ed wood from a demolished palace building. rered contents of the house. The Liverpool insra llarion
conti nues work on a rheme that explores a srory Mr.
T his house and irs traditiona l decorative elemenrs have
Suh wrote in 1999 chat resembles rhe opening scenes
become centra l co rhe arrisr's work as he reflects on his
of "The W iza rd of Oz." A Korea n house is lifted by a
own feelings of cu ltural displacement and longing af-
tornado over rhe Pacific, landing in Providence. W irh
ter moving co t he Un ited Scares in 199 1. R ight afrcr his
a parachute slowing its fa ll, rhe house gees stuck in the
graduation from the Rhode Island School of Design
corner of a brownstone bui lding similar co rhe one rhe
in Providence in 1994, he was living in a noisy apart-
arrisr lives in roday.
ment in New York when he rhoughr about recreating
his qu iet Seoul home using translucent orga nza. In "Fallen Scar: Wind o f Destiny," (2006), Mr. Su h
rep resenred t hat Korea n house atop a tornad o of carved
" Jn many ways, rhis was a pivotal piece in my ca reer
Styrofoam and resin, and in "New Beginning," (2006)
because ir was one of rwo o r three major pieces char 1
he showed a large d oll house-like representation of his
did right after school," Mr. Suh said. " l first sewed my
18rh-century apartment in Providence wirh his fa m-
studio a nd made so me samples of che Korea n house."
ily's Korea n home stuck in the middle of it.
Then he goc a gra nt and was able co rea lize the fu ll
version. Mr. Suh is also working on commissions from rwo
American museums. One is fo r the Los Angeles
Two years lacer, Mr. Suh was invited co present four
County Muse um of Arc's Korean ga llery: an in siru
works in the Venice Biennale, wh ich brought him
a roya l folding screen recreated in clear acrylic resin a
international recognition. rn "Some/One," he used
section of the palace where the screen initially would
Korean military dog rags co form a giant imperial robe,
have been housed. For his second museum commis-
and in "Floor," 180,000 fragile plastic fi gures righcly
sion, at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, he is rec-
placed against each orher hold up a glass floor. The
reating a rradiciona l Korean gate, bur is doing so in a
works reflect on rhc power a nd strength of rhe collec-
negative space char visitors can wa lk eh rough. "So here
tive, sometimes ar rhe expense of rhe individual.
it's also about rra nsporring rwo traditional buildings
"A ll of my works really come from che sa me idea. They in Korea to chose insrirurions; ir's also about displace-
all deal wirh space; being a n archiceccural one or a fig- ment of che space a nd cransporcing che space like my
urative one like your persona l space," he said. other fabric insrallarion," he said.
Copyright 2010 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with permission.
THE NEW YORK TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2011 CJ
SHEEP
IN TIMES SQUARE
BY HAN DY K EN ~EDY
Copyright 2011 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with permission.
THE NEW YORK TIMES, FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2011 CJO
JOHNSON ~:~~~:~
C3.J11C. on's nod n K'fily trul for3 hnndlC". Ism In the 1950s and to Mlnlmillist
There Is nOlhlng ostent3tious Most!) buncheong has the son o( tendtncK"S m the 19605.
-- thtwn)'J)3.int,ca.nvas. about bunchfong, \lohkh e\ol\'t'd unpretentious sculp1ural iupttt In :\dmlmbly lood Qtalog ei>
Rt:~ :~~-~~sv:!:;:. out of the previously popular
ccladon, astyle ch:uaaerized by
that ct'r.unKS by and ror the ptO-
plc ha\'1! hnd since time 1mmcmo
says the exhibitk>n'S curators
raJ.JC 1mrtgulng questions about
caust SOl1le' styles 1>mcticed in its diJllncli"'e jJde grttn glru:cs. rial wh31 1hc bunchcong !lylc me.;uu
the p:sst by forgontn IU1h.ans Bunchee>n.K cok>rs range from Th< be>ulyolbunch<ong. how 10 its creators and consumers..
embody fedmp of b\"t:lmcss and ettant)' \loil.lte to warm shades or ever, lS less an us third dtmensaon \Vh:ll WM ll about the rustlC st) le
unmecb3cy th.:u mock:m :utt5ts black. The"' httltumed forms than 1n Its surfacf' dec-or:.tkln. lls of late bune:htong 1h:11 soap-
love 10 tmul.ltt. are elegantly 11mplc but have a defining ltthnkal feature Is the puled 10 the aristocrats and
A beguiling CJ.Se in point is the comparmi\'tly co.1rsc, homespun "PPlic:ulon of white slip -a coal common people who Avidly ac
collce11on of OOnles, vnses, bowls <1ualU)'. Some bottles have nnr- of viscous white cl"y- 10 1hc qulre<t It'I Did bunchcong crafts
and dishes from the 15th and 161h row mouths with oullllmcd rims grny b:i.sc clll)' of a vessel. Early
ttnlu~ln'"l>ot:tryinO-.y: Ker
men consciously cater to nostal
nnd roundshouldcred. tapering buncheonx c:rahsmen c.1ned or gia ror country life and umes past
rnn Buncheong Ct-nunics from bocbes endlna In Oartd bases. lnased Images lnio lhe bast cL1y the- wJy producers ot raux rut
Lttum.Samsung ~IUSf!Umof Others arc ptM Wptd. ~ and fillfd tM exc3\'JUOM \\1lh liQUK p.Jn"t}'ed by llort:S hb
An,"' 3 beau11ful ttubition at t M are rbskWped boctJes in the slip to crt3te M"3mlessJy inQld Pou cry Dam do today? Did they
Metropolitan Museum of Art. form ot s pheres O:mtned Imo represc111"tions of flo\lo"'t'r'S, fish. fa\'ur a spont:ineou<, Sttming.ly
canteen formi. Dnim-shaped bot birds, trees and other ll31ural mo 031\'C style as an "authentic..
Poe1ry lnCJay: KOf'!On Buncht ales are horizontal cylinders w11h tlf.s. lbty also used stamps 10 im counter 10 more ovcnl)' urb:me
ong Ctramo from Lttum. Som roundcdmds. nv.bmayopen prtSS ftllf'-gmined r~lds ot dou C"Slhcck:s and hfC"Styk's of their
sung Mll.St'Unl of Alf," continues out or tum in to assume squal, andtiny~s.
1111.-.......-.. . . . . ~.'llOf"'1 day?
through Aug. 14 01 lht Mtlropol podlike profi~ Works rt13de by 1his method Mi. Ltt details tt000m1C and
tan Mwt'um of Ml, (112)5357110, nre 1he 1nos1 rnfincd and the ear- A jar in laid , sta mped nnd ironJ>"inted wi1h fid1a nd pc1nls.
Excess ornn~nt Is rare, but n pohtlc.ol friccors 1hnt 111:-iy ha\c
me1museum .org. rcrMrkablc exceptioo in the liest In the show. A 15th-century cncoumgcd A turn to less labor
bottle wilh n scrpen1inc, goulc paucrn1 were mndc b y d mwlnn M1o thcr Bpproa(h wn!C 10 intensive modes or produCtion.
eyed dr:t.gon flying vtildly runong with pointed lnstrumc111J into the brush gestural. black inugery d1 buc she~ she does not think
the clouds inbld in v.1u1e *1th wet Jbp. An ei,gtllinchUlll Oask rtttly onto the dned slip.:\ cech thtyHpbln ~'ff)'thmg.\idem
bl.lck acttntJ on the \"eSSel"S buJ. Wpod bo<tl lrom th st<Ond nique Glllt'd 1r0n-pam11ng. An ly thtte wtte no cnt1cs 3l'OUl1d
bous., gray Upper tuJ.f is ll JO)'OUS h3U ol the 15th ctntury tw a eye--popp1111exampk' is ;a b.1ck then to tluacbte lhe 1$.SUes.
1o1.tdd1ng of dftSSIQlly res1ralned. comk::ll. lumpy dog on itS side la1e- 151h or carlyl 6th-<cntury, But a stltction of buncheong re-
30 form and infectiously nukt ch:u looks :t.sd11 wered mwn by drumSh:\ped bou lc bennnga V1Val ware from the 19th, :?01h
lint.'.ll' draflsmaru.hip. Picasso. On a shmbr boctle from burstmJ.;, loosely symm etrical and 21s t ttniurics by Korean and
As txmcheoris; C\'ol\'ed, ~1 ~ around the same time n ranoon composi1lon or SJlhouettcd peony Jo1>3nc.se 3MIStS intludcd m the
c;tme not mOC"e but lt:ss polished lsh, semlnbstmct L1ncbcal>t' re- blossoms. Matisse would h1we cxh1b\1lon sugxens thnt fantasies
and~ vigorously cxpressm:. sembles a drn"Aing m.ide by Mir6 bttn thrilled by this cho<t0grn of rur.:al lnnoctnce, nmumbsm
Works of this son cspcc:1:llly rcs or Klee ma mood of ch ttrful de- phy ot org;inic exubernnc,, and unbrid~ expressionism are
on:uc wllh 1hc ?O th ccn1ury's dc- lirium. Mo~u of the show's \l.Orks In bunchcong's la1er St:ljtes likely 10 persist wherever and
ligh1 in spootnneity and dln.'Cl exude n happy and e'-en goofy some nn1sts ehminnted Imagery whenever mctropolitrm anx1edes
ness. In m~ny cases Imagery and dispos111on. by d1J>l)lng plccn Into 1he shp to flourish.
M
ore rha n mos r orher kinds of arr or cra fr, A begui ling case in point is the collection of bottles,
ceramic works ca n seem u nbou nd by rime. vases, bowls and dishes from the 15th a nd 16th centu-
A vase m ighr be hundreds of years old and ries in "Poetry in C lay: Korea n Buncheong Ceramics
yet look as if ir were m ade only decades ago. Thar is from Leeum, Sa msung Museum of A rt," a beautiful
pard y because glazed and fired clay does nor show irs ex hibirion ar rhe Metropolitan Museum of Arr.
age rhe way painr, canvas, wood and even stone do.
T he show was orga nized by Soyoung Lee, an associate
And it is partly because some styles pracriced in rhe
curator in t he Met's Asian art depa rtment, and Seung-
past by forgotte n a rrisa ns embody feelings of livel iness
cha ng Jeo n, chief curator of rhe Leeu m, Samsu ng
and immediacy rha r modern artisrs love ro emulate.
M useum of Arr, in Seou l, from which mosr of the
works ca me.
T
here is norhing osrentarious abour buncheong, scape resembles a drawing made by Miro or Klee in a
which evolved our of rhe previously popular mood of cheerful delirium. Mosr of rhe show's works
celadon, a sryle characrerized by irs disrincrive ex ude a happy and even goofy disposirion.
jade green glazes. Buncheong colors range from creamy
Another approach was ro brush gestural, black im-
whire ro wa rm shades of black. The wheel-ru rned
agery direcrly onro rhe dried sli p, a rechnique called
forms are elega ntly simple bur have a compararively
iron-painting. An eye-popping example is a lare-15rh-
coarse, homespun quali ry. Some borrles have narrow
or early-16th-cenrury, drum-shaped borrle bearing
mourhs wirh our-rurned rims and round-shouldered,
a bursring, loosely symmerrical composirion of sil-
capering bodies ending in fla red bases. Orhers are pear
houerred peony blossoms. Matisse would have been
shaped. There are flask-shaped borrles in rhe form of
rhrilled by this choreography of organic exuberance.
spheres flaccened into canteen forms. Drum-shaped
borrles are horizontal cylinders wirh rounded ends. In buncheong's larer stages some artists eliminated im-
Bowls may open out or rum in ro assume squar, pod- agery by dipping pieces inro rhe slip ro creare uniform
like profiles. surfaces resembling porcelain or by using wide brushes
ro produce wavy, striated parrerns. These roo have a re-
Excess orname nt is rare, but a remarkable exceprion
markably modernistic look char calls ro mind cera mi-
in rhe show is a mid-15rh-century ewer with a mouth
cisrs' responses ro Abstracr Expressionism in the 1950s
shaped li ke a dragon's and a scaly rail for a handle.
and ro Min imalisr rendencies in the 1960s.
Mosely buncheong has rhe sorr of unprerentious sculp-
rural aspect rhar ceramics by and for rhe people have In admirably lucid catalog essays rhe ex hibition's
had since rime immemorial. cu rarors ra ise intriguing questions abour whar rhe
buncheong sryle meant ro irs crearors and consumers.
T he beauty of buncheong, however, is less in irs rhird
W har was ir abour rhe rusric sryle of !are bu ncheong
dimension rhan in irs surface decorarion. Its defin ing
rhar so appealed ro rhe arisrocrars and common people
technica l fearure is the application of whire slip - a
who avidly acqu ired ir? Did bu ncheong crafrsmen con-
coat of viscous whire clay - ro the gray base clay of
sciously carer ro nostalgia for counr ry life and rimes
a vessel. Early buncheong crafrsmen carved or incised
past rhe way producers of faux antiques purveyed by
images into rhe base clay and filled the excavarions
scores like Porrery Barn do roday? Did rhey favo r a
wirh slip to create sea mlessly inlaid represenrarions
sponraneous, seemingly na'ive sryle as an "aurhentic"
of flowers, fish, birds, trees and other natural morifs.
counrer ro more overrly urbane esrherics and li fesryles
They also used stamps ro impress fine-grained fields of
of rheir day?
dors and tiny blossoms.
Ms. Lee derails economic and polirical facrors rhar
Works made by rhis merhod are rhe most refined and
may have encouraged a turn ro less labo r-inrensive
the earliest in the show. A 15th-cenrury botrle with
modes of production, bur she says she does nor chi nk
a serpentine, goggle-eyed dragon flying wild ly among
rhey explain everyrhing. Evidenrly rhere were no crit-
rhe clouds inlaid in wh ite with black accenrs on the
ics around back rhen ro elucidare rhe issues. Bur a se-
vessel's bulbous, gray upper half is a joyous wedding of
lecrion of buncheong revival wa re from rhe 19rh, 20rh
classically restrained, 3-D form and infectiously fluid
and 2 lsr centuries by Korean and Japanese anises in-
linear drafrsmanship.
cluded in rhe exhibirion suggesrs rhar fa ntasies of rural
As buncheong evolved, ir became not more bur less innocence, natu ralism and unbridled expressionism
polished and more vigorously expressive. Works of rhis are likely ro persisr wherever and whenever merropoli-
sort especially resonare wirh rhe 20rh cenrury's dclighr ran anxieries flouris h.
in sponraneiry and direcrness. In many cases imagery "Poet1y in Clay: Korean Bu11cheo11g Cemmics Jio111 Leeum,
and paccerns were made by drawing with poinred in- Sa111m11g Museum of Art," comi11ues through Aug. 14 flt rhe
srrumenrs into rhe wer slip. An eight-inch-rail flask- Merropolira11 Museum of Arr, (212)535-7710, 111et11111se11m
shaped bottle from rhe second half of rhe 15rh cenrury .01g.
has a comical, lumpy dog on irs side rh ar looks as if
ir were drawn by Picasso. On a similar borrlc from
around rhe sa me rime a carroonish, semiabsrracr land-
Copyright 2011 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with permission.
THE NEW YORK TIMES, FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 2011 C33
F
or the hot, t ired and frazzled masses, the Korea in 1936. H e studied painting in Seoul a nd phi-
Guggenheim Museum offers a n oasis of cool se- losophy in Japan, where he moved in 1956.
renity this summe r. "Marking Infinity," a five-
decade retrospective of t he a rr of Lee Ufan, fi lls the Steeped in rhe phenomenology of Merleau-Po nty a nd
H eidegger a nd in Ma rxist politics, he became an ac-
museum rotunda and two side galleries with about 90
tive participant in t he countercultural upheavals of the
works in a Zen-Minimalist, be-here-now vein.
1960s. Ar the end of the decade he was co-founder of
Mr. Lee, 75, is an aesthetic distiller. H e boils rwo- a nd an antirradirionalis r m ovement called Mono-ha, which
three-dimension al arr down to formal and concept ua l rough ly translates as "school of things."
essences. Sculptures consist of ordinary, pumpkin-size
bou lders juxtaposed with sheers and slabs of dark, Examples of Mr. Lee's Mono-ha works here have an
glossy steel. Paintings made of wide brush strokes ex- enigmatic, wry wit. A piece from 1969 called "Relatum"
ecuted in gridded order o n raw canvas exempli fy ten- (Mr. Lee has used this word in rhe titles of most of his
sion between action a nd restraint. three-di mensional works) makes his concerns explicit.
A length of rubber ribbon marked in cenrime ters li ke
A much published ph ilosopher as well as an artist who a rape measure is partly stretched and held down by
divides his rime between Japan and Paris, Mr. Lee has three stones. A stretchy ruler will give false measure-
enjoyed considerable recogniti on in Europe and in the ments, bur are nor all h um an-made measuri ng devices
Far East. Last year the Lee Ufan Museum, a build- similarly fa llible? Here was a parable fo r a rime when
ing designed by Tadao Ando, opened on the isla nd of authoritative represem arions of trut h seemed increas-
Naoshi ma, Japan. ingly unreliable to yout h ful rebels everywhere.
Bur Mr. Lee's reputation has nor extended to the United A work from 197 1 consist ing of seven found boulders,
Scares. This exhibit ion, h is fi rst in a North America n each resti ng on a si mple square cushion on rhe floor,
museu m, gives a sense of why. His art is impeccably fores hadows Mr. Lee's solution. The pillows add acer-
elegant, bur in its always nea r-perfect composure, it ta in anthropomorph ic humor, as if the stones were in-
teeters between arr a nd d ecor. ca rnations of the legendary Seven Sages of t he Bamboo
Grove, whose minds expanded beyond human limits
His sculptures call to mind chose of Richard Serra,
to embrace geological rime. Bur more important, rhe
bur shy away from t he brute physicality of Mr. Serra's
seven rocks pro mpt meditation on our unmediaced ex-
works; his paintings invite comparison to chose of
perience of rhings in rime and space.
Robert Ryma n, bur a re less pragmatically inventive. In
its modernization of classical Asian gestures, his work The problem is char in a museu m seccing it is nex t to
is more suavely stylish t ha n philosophically or spi ritu- impossible to ex perience stones unclothed by culcural,
ally illuminat ing. symbolic associations. We have seen too many rocks
used as landscape ornaments and read too many po-
lr is interestin g to lea rn, rhen, from rhe well-wrirren
ems about chem. Looki ng ac a "Relacum" from 2008,
cata log essay by Alexa ndra Munroe, who orga nized
in which a boulder is placed in from of an 80-inch-tall
the show and is the Guggen hei m's curator of Asian art,
steel place char leans against the wall, the juxtaposition
what a turbulent environment of a rr and politics Mr.
of natu re and culture is too fa mil iar, too formulaic, to
Lee ca me our of. H e was born in Japanese-occupied
be revelatory.
n paintings from rhe last fo ur decades, Mr. Lee has
AA\-.fC.t,l.111'\f_.,.~Q,u...u.HJ. . IUlC"Cl!I""
I
ltt Ufao: Mirking Infinity, o rttrospn-tl\'t at thcGUJCl:tnhtirn Mu.M'um 1ha1u tht/1n 1North Arntrmm mu-
u1jm uh1bl11on/or Mr. l.tt, mrludn '"Nt/(1h<1m si.ltnctb'" (1005), ltfl, nnd '"Dioloj:ut"' (1007),
made the brush st roke h is primary device, often to
optically gripping and ly rica l effect. I n the '70s he A Fine Line: Style or Philosophy?
pursued two approaches, a lways using just one colo r For ttw hot. und and fnazzltd It 1s 1n1ernt.1ng to team, then. the ~Md.:uy Se\'tn 5:'1aH ot tht'
m.i.un.1htGU&&tnhtun Mu- lrom the well-wrmen coU.3.loa tt- BambooCl"O\-e, .,.hose m1ndsu:
per canvas - usually blue, red or black. ~m oHcn an oasis oi cool M:>-
rrmty thl' :summrr. '"Mo1kln~ In
J.l)' by Ale:Dndm Munroe. ho
Of"K3niud 1he Wlow nnd ls the
p:mded be)'Ond huiNn l1m1ts 10
embrace gcoogkal dme. Bui
llnuy." n lhe-decadc n.1rosii Guiu;cnh cim'scumtorof Ashm more 11111>0rurn1, 1he Stl\'tll rocks
t1''" of the 3fC ol Ltt drl, v.hnt !\ t urbulent environ- prompt mtd1tndon on our unme-
In one series he used a pai nt-loaded brush to make hor- KEN Utan. I.US th< mu ment of an and pohoc:s Mr. Lee
ameoutol. Hev.asborn1nJap;t
cha1ed upentncc ol thlnis In
time and i..pxe
JOHNSON ==:::::~" nnC'-OCOJptfd Koru an 1936. llt" TilC: rroblml ls that in a mu
izonta l rows of squa rish marks one after a not her, each seum~ 1lngu is next tolmposst
Rt:~ :~~~~:,:i;;
stud1td painting in Seoul :md phi
~yinJap;in,Yt-hetthc' bk- to upcn~ Slants: un
paler tha n its predecesso r, as the pa int was used up. He httt-ono\Jl'\'nft.
Mr. Ltt. i5,.asan~1het1Cdu
nlO\'td 1n 1956.
Slttped Ul the phtnornenolo&)-
dodlCd b)' cultural. S)1Tlbobc: ;u..
S00.3.lKlftS. We h.1\ e Sf't'R 100
t1lkr. He bods t~ and 1hrC'Ml1 of Mtrleau-Ponty Md llt&dcger many rocks used :u Landscl.pc or-
thereby created gridded fields of sraccaro pattern in g. mcn!lion.i.I n.n down 10 lorm:\I Md and In Marxist poh1ia , he bc-- n:uncnis Md 1tad 100 many po-
contcpturu t~ncrs. Sculptures t3rne:in acuve par1lc1p.1nt In the ems about them. Looking :u a
consist of ordinary. pumpkinll.te rountcrcullur.il uphe:wab of 1~ Rt:L'\1um from 2008, ln whkha
botddtti Juxtaposed wnh 'httt.s 1960s. Al the md of the d('C)i~ IK" boulder is~ an front of an S0-
In orher paint ings he used wide brushes ro ma ke lo ng, wtd 5labs a( darl<_ pouy Mttl was co-foundtt ol :an anutrad1 1nch--taJI slct:I platr 1tw k'ans
Pa.lntmas ~ ol w>de brush lt0ru)hst mmreme-nt c3Jled Mono- agairw the W3ll, the }uxtaposi
vertical stripes, da rk ar rhe rop a nd fading toward the ~rok~ uecutcd In griddtd or
ckron rawanv3.Sexemphfy ltn
ha. v. hkh rou&flly ll"3.nsb1cs 3S
xhool of 1hinp."
tion ol na1ureand tuhurc is coo
fanuh.:ir, 100 fonnu.Jaic.10 be rn-e-
borrom. T hey give rhe imp ressio n of srockade fe ncing '*" bft'ttn acuon and r~
s.anunL
E.umplesdMr. Ltt"SM~
tu works here ha\"'f an tntgrnalte,
btory.
In p;un11np from the Last four
A mLKh pubhshttd phdosophtr Ytr)''n.Apiecefrom 1969alltd dee~. t-.lr. Ltt haJ made tM
obscured near rhe grou nd by low-lying fog. M cllasM :v11s1 whod1v1dcs
tus 11me bct wttn Japan nnd
Rel:uum ( Mr. Lee has used 1llls bnish stroke his prlm."lt)' dcvlte,
often to O(llitally gnppmg o.nd
Pam. Mr. Ll'e has tl\JO)'rd ton- l)TICalerlta. In the "70s he pur
s.dcrnNe rm>gn11ion In Europe sued t"''O approaches. al"''l)'S us-
In t he '80s M r. Lee loosened up his strokes a nd bega n Md In the Far East. LMl )'t:t.r lhe
l.t."t Ul:m t.luseum. abu1k!1ncde
Works so composed ing Just one C'Olor per can\'D.S -
usually blue, red or bladc..
Signed by Thebo Ando, opco:ntd on t hey teeter between lnone~rics heult'dai p:t.int
ro produce a iry, monochrome compositions in a kind theisbndof N~JJpan. a rt a nd d ecor. k>aded bl'\ISh to make horizontal
But Mr. Ltt'J npuw.an tw r'OW'Sol 5Qu.insb nwksoneafter
of Abstract Expressionist sryle d riven nor by emotional not Ulended to the Umtf'd
Suues. Tbas exhlbluon, his rim in
anolher, t'xh P3kT th;m llS J>l"td
tteSSOr. M the p.l.int was ust'd up.
n North Amenc:sn muscum, IJ\"M lie thtrcby created griddtd fields
angst bur by delight in ex iste ntia l fl u x. T h is period a1Cnseolhy. l l1sart is1mJ>
"' ord In the titles of mos-1 of his
lhrtt-dimcnsional works) ma.kn of staccato p.111unin,a.
tJbty ctqan1, but 1.n 1u aJways his concerns ~IC'll. A length of lnocherp.'\inunp heustd
cu lmi nates at rhe end of rhe decade in canvases dense- M>:U-perlea composure, II ttt-
cen bt1wttn an and dkor.
rubber ribbon mar\ed In ntl
mcu~rs hke o utpe measure Is
wide bnuhH t o nlAke long, vttt1
cal s1n1Jtt,cl.'\Tk at the loptmd
1lls sculptures c:ill to mind fading 1ownrd the bouom. TbC>'
ly covered by squ iggly gray marks rhat a rc a mong the 1hoseof Richard Serra. bu1 &hy
p.1rUy strelclled and held down
b)' three s1oncs. A stretchy rultt &;l\"'t the lmpttUion ot stodc.1de
a--ay from the brute ph)'Sta.bty Yt1.U 1we false meawnmtnu. but tmona ob5c:um:l near the
exh ibition's most com pelli ng. of Mr.Sttra'S works; htS pa&nt an not :ill hum3JNn.ie n~r ground by io.4yu11 toe.
U\IS IR\'llt companson 10 lholit ol mg dc!\'K.'H iumil.vly fallible? In the "80s Mr. Ltt ~up
Robert R,yman. but are~ Pro.& l fere wasap;arablcfora11mc hls strokes a.nd began to produce
1na1K3lly ln\tnll\'C. In its mod a.in. monochrome compositions
I
hc:n ou1hori1am e rtprt'$t'ntn
From rhe mid-'90s on, M r. Lee pa red dow n his paint- emlt.aoon ot classtcal Asua.n ses-.
turts, his wori is more su.t\ ely
uons of truth Sttmcd 1nc:rus1n1 in 3 kind of Abstract Expressk>n-
ty unrebable 10 )'OUlhful ttbcb lSI s.i;yle dm-m noc by emodonat
11yhsh 1ha.n pMosophu:nlly or angst but by dtlight In u1stent1ll1
ings, arriv ing fou r yea rs ago at a pa rticul ar modula r i plntually lllum1naung.
cveryv.here.
A work from 1971tonslstlng of flux. This period whnlmucs :tl
st\en found boukkn,each rest the tnd of 1hc dtc.-.de In tanvases
form : a n oversize brush stroke shaped like a slice of "I tt U/o.n; Markin& lnJv11I)'," ma 00 :l f.implc lq\W't rush~ 00 dcnsir:ty co\'ered b)' squiuly gr'3y
ma.rb l!ul art :uncwt& lhe atu'bi-
NIU~ Stpt.13 GI tM C"6- I.be floor, foreshado'A'$ Mr. Ltt'J
tion's mosc compc_lbna..
b read a nd fadi ng from black ro pale gray. H e uses rhis l."tnhf'lln Mwsnim.10111-"ifth ,.\\~
Aue. or &!Uh SZrtti; (211) -411.J.SOO.
soluoon. The pilloYt-s 3dci a ett
lrun Mlhropomorphic humor, a.s From lhcnud"90son.Mr. Ltt
aua;enhitlm.org 1f the stones v.ne 1nQtn.11toos of pared det\'n has p.1.1n11ngs. a.rri\'
device to pu nctuate spa ringly large, otherwise bla n k, m,g fout )'t'US 310 ru a partM:"Ul.:t.r
modubrfonn: :mQ'\Tl"SQe brush
SU'Oll:e Jh.nped bke a sl~ of b1t3d
off-whire ca nvases. H ere, as wirh rhe srone and sreel and fading lrom black to p.'lle
gray. lie utcS t his device 1o pu nc-
works, preciousness tru mps phenomenology. 1uate sp.1rlngly large.otherwi~
btlnk.otf"'hilt'Clll\'.UU. llere.
115 Ytith the' 5t0nt' and $lttl works.
pttdousncss trumps phcnom
Bur somet h ing d ifferent a nd more exciting h appens cnoloj;y.
But someching d1ffttt'nt and
mott uounc h3pptnt in :a sitc--
in a sire-specific work char e nds rhe show. In a n ap- spearac: work that cncb the show.
In an approxunate:fy 1qu.ve
proximately squa re room, Mr. Lee pa inted one of h is room, Mr. Lee p;un1cd one ol his
gm,ybl:1ck modules dfrcc1ly 011
gray-black modu les d irectly on each of t h ree wal ls. A each of three w!l]ls. A surprising
1enst0n bctttn 1he mattnahty
of the paint nnd M llluJJon of
surprising tension bet ween rhe ma reria liry of rhe paint space :m.ses. The modu~ be
COfnt' l1kt tl"lev1s1on w.rttns or
;urpb.ne Yt 1~ affording
and an illusion of space a rises. The modu les become news of tnderirut~. poua.bly lnf.-
rute spxe be)-ond the museum
like television screens or airpla ne wi ndows, affordi ng from Lme; 11 1977 work, ia an example of M r. Ltt'a m~king wa.lls. It m4ktS fora hne tddsng
or the re:.I Md 1he mct.'lphys.ital.
lhe bru sh a1roke hia primAry dcvi<'e over 1he liut four dccndca.
views of indefinite, possibly in fin ire space beyo nd the
museum wa lls. It ma kes fo r a fine wedd ing of t he rea l
a nd the metaphysical.
"Lee Ufa n: Mflrking Infinity ," runs through S1p1. 28 flt rhe
Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth A venue, flt 89th Street;
(212) 423-3500, guggenheim.org.
Copyright 2011 by The New York T1mes Co. Reprmted wtth permission.
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, JUNE 26, 2011 AR20
BRIDGEHAMPTO N, N.Y.
I
o n the East E nd of Long Island. He stud ied huge gray
majo r museum show using o nly a n industri al steel 1,400-po und bo ulders rhar had ro be moved by fo rk-
plate and a rock, the n rhe rock had better be just lift. H e bent down to gaze at brownish med iu m-size
righr. stones, tu rn ing them over to examine them as if they
were precious diamonds.
So ir was rhar Lee Ufa n was standing in a freezing rai n
early rhis spring, ca refull y culling sto nes in a large M r. Lee, a nd rhe half-dozen helpers a nd associates
field d ivided by a muddy driveway at a ga rden cenrer with hi m, had spent rhe previous day picki ng our these
rocks fro m a nearby q uarry, a nd were now ar work o n
m rhe second cur, with rhe goa l of find ing 52 rhar were fir
for t he G uggenheim Museum ex hibition "Lee Ufan:
M arking In finity," w hic h opened o n Friday, his 75 rh
bi rthday. Ir w ill be rhe fi rst large rerrospecrive of his
work in rhe U nited Stares.
Copyright 2011 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with perm1ss1on. ~
IN THE NEW YORK TIM ES
WHERE W IT AND GENRE
FILMMAI( ING COLLIDE
In '111\. E llA L E
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in Brooklyn, this five-d ay series wi ll present the
entire o utput of Mr. Bong, a Korea n w riter-direc-
tor who is o ne of the most seriously entertaining
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tht--.-...-. rend ro share a righr set of concerns: corruptio n,
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balance of power between women a nd men. T hese
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dwJr>11t...,.,,..._..W1m-,,1 flow from the d islocations of recent Korea n history,
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do mination and sepa rat ion fro m t he North .
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hese are Mr. Bong's rhemes as well, bur no lr also benefirs from rhe presence of rhe fearless come-
orher direcror of rhe c urrenr Korean fil m re- d ia n Bae Doo-na as rhe bookkeeper. Mr. Bong rend s
naissance has ha nd led rhem wirh rhe same ro arrracr a high class of acror: M s. Bae reappears as the
sorr of finesse. From his firsr fearure, "Ba rking Dogs aunr wit h a ralenr for a rchery in "The Host" (2006),
Never Bice," in 2000, he has done jusrice ro rhe srory- char rollick ing combination of creature featu re, SARS
rell ing demand s of a va riery of genres - rhe para noid parable, eco-d rama, agirprop a nd dysfunctio nal-fam i-
rh riller, rhe police procedu ral, rhe sca ry-monsrer mov- ly comedy; a nd Song Kang-ho, sta r of a good share of
ie - wh ile wrapping rhem in h is bone-dry, perfectly the most prominenr South Korean movies of the last
calibrared wir. For America n audiences ir's a n unusu- 12 years, brings his ha ngdog charisma ro both "The
ally friend ly combinario n. Hosr" and "M emories of M urder."
"Monsrers a nd M urderers'' includes Mr. Bong's besr- "Murder" (2003) remains rhe besr combinat ion so far
known fi lms, "Memories of Murder" a nd "The Hosr," of Mr. Bong's anarchic impulses a nd h is metic u lous
bur irs highlighrs are a snea k preview of his mosr re- genre craftsmanship. Based on a stri ng of ki ll ings in
cenr release, "Morher," wh ic h opens in New York on a South Korea n village in rhe lare 1980s, it srars Mr.
M a rch 12, and rhe rare opporrun iry ro see "Barking Song as a bumptious loca l cop who relies ent irely on
Dogs." T har fil m opens wirh rhe proclamarion, "No h is shaky instinc ts, a nd Kim Sang-kyu ng as a more
a nimals were harmed in rhe making of rhis film." A sophisricared derecrive who arrives from Seoul ro
series of small, annoying dogs meer or are rhrearened rake over rhe case. "Bra iny geeks like you ca n go to
wich gruesome, if ficrional, end s, bur rhe real violence America," the homerown boy says, settin g up rhe faul t
is done ro human self-esreem . li nes of old versus new a nd small rown versus big city
along wh ich the case will fracrure.
The srory concerns a low-level academic who discovers
rhar bribery is rhe only way ro obrai n a professorship O rher rouchsrones appea r: a call for help goes un-
and ar leasr parrly even rhe play ing field wirh his im- a nswered because a ll rhe exrra cops are off suppress-
perious, more ga infully employed wi fe. Addi ng ro his ing a demonsrrarion; rhe breakrh rough in the case is
rro ubles is rhe incessa nr yapping of a neighbor's dog made by the on ly female officer in the srarion; semen
in rhe high-rise apa rrmenr block where nea rly all rhe sa mples musr be ma iled to America for DNA a nalysis.
acrion rakes place. A sudden opporruniry ro dispose of Beauriful ly composed a nd adroirly paced, rhe film is
rh is per sers in morion a pirch-black comic plor in wh ich suffused wirh a melancholy rhar Mr. Bong, in his sig-
a jan iror wirh a rasre for dog soup and a spacey book- narure rrick, somehow ma rries to low humor. When
keeper wirh a hero complex also figure prominen rly. rhe detectives connecr rhe killings ro a man seen lurk-
ing near a school ourhou se, rhey go ro invesrigare and
T he humor in "Ba rkin g Dogs" is broader rha n rhar
have to push rhrough a crowd in t he schoolyard. Only
of Mr. Bong's larer films - in one recurri ng mo rif
rhe arrenrive viewer will nore, wirh sarisfacrion, rhe
rhe wife hands her husband bags of nurs and orders
reason: ir's rime for a gas-arrack d ri ll.
him ro crack rhem wirh a hammer for her d inner. T he
basic joke: If a Korean man allows ir, he'll be rreared "Monsters and Murderers: The Films of Bong }oon-ho" rum
worse rhan a dog, and probably deserve ir. " Dogs" may Thursday through Monda)' flt the BAM Rose Ci11emm, 30
be m inor compa red wirh rhe eleganr "Memories of Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Plflce, Fort Greene, Brookf.yn,
(718) 636-4100; schedule: bnm.org. Mr. Bong wi/L nppenrfor
Murder" and rhe h igh-ocra ne " Hosr," bur ir's funny
questions after the 7 p.m. screening of"J\1other" 011 Friday and
from srarr ro finish and showed rhar Mr. Bong's fil ms the 6:30 p.111. screening of "The Host" 011 Smurdfl)'
would nor be characrerized by rhe m isogy ny rhar fi nds
such mulri fa rious ex pression in Korea n cinema.
mJ Copyright 2010 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with perm1ss1on.
, Tl/E l\'EWYORK TIMES, FRID.Ill', ,\MRC/-112, 2010 CR
FIERCE LOVE:
BETTER NOT MAKE
THIS MOM ANGRY
In ~I-\ '\011 LA DAJlC IS
he last monster to run w ild through Bong a li ttle slow, Mother runs exceedingly fast, as you see
Joon-ho's imagination was an enormous crea- shortly a fter the mov ie o pens when , while play ing w ith
ture fro m the watery deep. A differenr men- a dog o ne bright day, Do-joon puts himself in the path
ace scorms t hrough "M other," the fo urth feature from of an o ncomin g BM W, which leaves hi m d azed if nor
this sensationa lly ta lented Somh Korea n filmmaker, particula rly mo re addled.
tho ugh she too seems to spring from unfatho mable
You watch the accident unfold alo ngs ide Mo ther, who
depths. Unlike the beast in "T he H ost" - a cata-
busily chops herbs w ith a big blade in her darkened
strophic byproduct of the A merica n mi li ta ry - the
shop whi le casting worried gla nces at Do-joon as he
monster in "Mother" doesn't come with much of a
goofs off across t he street. From her va ntage point,
backstory, which suggests t hat she is a primal force, in
he looks as cenrered within the shop's front door as a
other words, a natura l.
li ttle pri nce inside a fra med portrait. T he dim interio r
She is and she isn't as Mr. Bong revea ls th ro ugh a and bright exterior on ly accentuate his body - the
kinked narrative and a monumenta l, ferocious perfor- daylight functions as a kind of flood light - w h ich
ma nce by Kim H ye-ja as the title cha racte r. W ritten puts into visual te rms the idea that he is the only thing
by Mr. Bong, shar in g credit w ith Park Eun-kyo, t hat Mother really sees. Mr. Bo ng may li ke narrative
"Mother" o pens as a love story that turns into a crime detours, sto ries filled w ith more wrong turns than a
story before fusing into something of a cri min al love maze, bm he's a born fi lm ma ker w hose images - rhe
story. N othi ng is really certa in here, even the fi lm's spilled water that foreshadows spilled blood - tell
genre, a nd little is expla ined, even w hen the characters more tha n you might initia lly g rasp.
fill in the bla nks. T hough richly a nd believably drawn,
H e's also a film ma ker who find s great, unsettling dark
Mr. Bong's cha racters are often opaque a nd mysteri-
co medy in violence, and once agai n the blood does run,
ous, given to sudden rages, behaviora l blurts and h ic-
if somewhat less generously tha n in "The H ost" and
cups of weird hu mor. But it's this very mystery that
his often brilliant "M emo ries of Murd er." A lthoug h
ca n make them feel terribly real.
Do-joon seems ro recover from his accident, the event
None are truer, more disturbingly persuasive than sets off a c hain of increasingly violent incidents t hat
Mother, who li ves wich her 27-year-old so n, Do-joo n culmin ate in the murder of a loca l schoolgirl, Ah-jung
(Won Bin), in cramped qua rters adjoining her t iny (Moon H ee-ra), whose body is fo und slumped over a
apothecary. Beautifu l a nd strangely c hildl ike, D o- roof wa ll in t he vi llage, positioned , one c ha rac ter says,
joon doesn't seem right in cl1e head: he's forgetfu l, like " lau ndry." Do-joo n is summ arily a rrested fo r the
seemingly naive, perhaps reta rded . (\'V' hen he cries to death after an incrim inatin g golf ba ll is fo und at the
re me mber so meth ing, he violently m assages borh sides scene. Mad w ith grief, Mother sets off to clea r him a nd
of his head in a n exercise th at Mother, wi tho ut appar- begins fu riously rooting around t he village in sea rch of
ent iro ny, ca lls "t he tem ple of doom .") Bue ii he run s the killer.
he hard-poundi ng heart of "Mother," Ms.
Kim is a wonderment. Perched on rhe kni fe
edge between tragedy a nd comedy, her deliv-
ery gives the na rra ti ve - which tend s to dri ft, some-
t imes begu ilingly, someti mes less so - much of its
momentum. A t times it feels as if M s. Kim is actu ally
w illing it, or perhaps M r. Bong, fo rward . Yer while
Mother ca n seem like a caricature of monstrous ma-
ternity ("You and I a re one," she insists to the jailed ~u~.s
T here's a vagueness to rhe film ch ar doesn't feel or- doesn't come wich much or a
WITll : Kim 11)-c-p (MO!hcr). Woo Dm
(Yoon Do-)oon). JinGoo{Jm 1~). Yoon
backstory, which suggests that Jae-moon (Je..mun),Jun Mtwn (~h
ga nic - as if, hav in g created a powerhouse centra l she is n 1>rimal force, in other .un), SongS:w-b-iluk (~taknw Dt-
words, n nn.mrr\I. ltc tW~) and Moon lltt-rn (Moon Ah-
Ju~).
cha racter, he didn't exacrly know what to do wi th her. She Is n.nd she Isn ' t n.s l\1r.
Bong reveals 1hroug h a kinked
narrative ;md a monumental.(~ I l ost " and hi.soften brilliant
T hat said, his visua l st yle a nd the way he mi xes eccen- rocious pcrformnncc by Kirn "'Memories of Murder." Al
Hycja as 1he title character. though Do-joon seems 10 re
t ric rypes wit h the more banal, like a chem ist prepar- Written by Mr. Bong. sharing cover from his accidem.1hc
credit with Park Eunkyo, event sets off a chain of lncrcas
ing a combustible fo rmula, are often sublime, as is Ms. "Moth cropensasnlovestory ingly violent Incidents that cul
that tu'l"ns into a crime story be minate in lhc murder or a local
Bong, bmed Oil a story by Mr. Bong; director ofphotogmphy, tnes 10 remember something. he
violently mass..,ges both sides of
Hong Kyrmg-pyo; edited by Moon St1e-kyou11g; music b)' Lee his hend in an exercise that
Mother, without opparen1 irony,
A son's a rrest for
Byeong-woo; production clesig11e1~ Ryu Seong-hie; costumes calls "the temple of doom.") Out
if he runs nli11le slow, ~tother
murd er leads to a
by Choi Se-J1eoll; martial t1rts by Jung Doo-hong t1nd Heo runs exceedingly fast, as you sec parent's crusade.
shonly nftcr the movie opens
when, while playing wi1h a dog
Myeong-ht1eng; produced by Mooll Yang-kwoll, Seo Woo-sik one bright day, Do-joon puts
him self in the path of an oncom Imps Mr. Bong, forward. Yet
and Pmk Tt1e-joo11; relet1sed by Mt1gnolit1 Pictures. In Korean, ing DM \V, which leaves him while Mother can seem like a
dazed if not pttrticularly more caricature of monstrous mater
with Ellglish subtitles. Runlling time: 2 hours 9 millutes. addled. nity ("You nnd I arc one," she in
You wntch th e accident unfold SIStS to thcj:Ulcd Do-joon) l he
alongside Mother, who busily performance Is enormously sub
WITH Kim Hye-jt1 (Motlm), Woll Bin {Yoon Do-joon), Jin chops herbs whh 11 big blade in tie, filled with shades of grny
her darkened s hop while CMting that emerge In tandem With the
Goo Uin-tae), Yoon Jae-moon Ue-1111111),Jun Mi-sun (Mi-su n), womcd glances nt Oo-joon :u he unwinding investigation. There
are several crimes in " M other,"
goofs off ncross the street From
Song St1e-bet111k {Sepaktt1kmw Detective} t1nd Moon Hee-ra her \'111ltage poi n1. he looks as ornd wh ile none can be justified,
Mr, Bong v.-orks hard 10 make
ccntercd within the shop's front
(Moon Ah-Jung). door ns a little prince inside a sure none are easily condemned.
framed por1ralt. l11c dim interior "Mo1hcr" ls a curious film, al
and bright exterior only accen- 1c.rnately tlauling and frustrat
tuate hi s body-1hc daylight in1;. Mr. llongs \'inucs ns n film
funcuons as a kind of floodlight mnkc r , lncludmg his s naking sto-
- whic h puts inio visual terms ry1elling and refusal toovcrcx-
the ideu that he is the only thing plnin actions nml l>ehnvlors. c;in
that Mother really sees. Mr. here feel like evasions or indul
Bor1g may like narrative de- genccs rather than fully
tours, stories filled wilh more thoug.ht--0u1 choices. There's a
wrong turns thnn n maze, but vagueness 10 the film 1hn1
he's n born fihnmaker whose im- doesn't f~I organic- ns i f, hm
ages - the spilled watrr thn.t ing created n powerhouse cen
foreshadows spilled blood - tell trnl charncter, he didn't exactly
more than you might initially know what to do with her. That
grasp. said , his visunl style and lhc way
He's nlsoa filmmaker who he mixes eccentric types with
finds great. unsettling dark com- the more banal. like a chemist
edy in violence, nml once nt:ain preparing a combustible romm
the blood does run, i f somcwhnt In, arc often sublime, ns Is Ms.
Jess generously than in "The Kim's turn as the mo1her of all
nlgh1marish mothers, a d readful
mnn i fostation of a love so con
suming it all but swallows the
world.
Copyright 2010 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with permission.
THE NEWYORK TIMES, FR.IDAY,JUN!~ 25, 2010 Co
FESTIVA L MOVES TO
FANCIE R BASE
BUT KEEPS ITS
GENRE-BENDING FARE
BY ~ II KE llJ\ LE
Juni: Rrc\Von pla)'S an o.go"1phobic "l'Oman livin.: in an ap.1.r1mc.nt in the South Korean film "'C:a.Jtawoyon the Moon ," one o( 45 offerings in this )"t'u 's New York "\sian Film Fcstiv.al.
Copyright 2010 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with permission.
I
I
I
THENEWYORKTIMES.. SW'lfD.;Jl',
-
FEBRUARY6,2011 AR13,.AR14
A FINE BALANCE:
THE QUIET LIFE
OF A STAR ACTRESS
BY FHJ\NZ LI DZ
FILM
A Fine Balance:
The Quiet Life PARIS
Of a Star Actress
u n Jung-H ee appea red in the lounge of the
l~~~
_.... ___ ........
,..,
Gra nd Hotel l nterContinental here wearing a
gray wool suit and a silk blouse the color of he-
l!!~
._'. "-==
:~..;:, _ . .--..--
_,.,,. ...... ....,_---
_____ ,_ _____
... ---
......... ....-_
... ___ ..__
-------
liotrope, a grande dame trailing a half-century of Sout h
Korean fi lm history as lightly as a w isp of perfume.
~~15 E~~.:;;; ;F~~~~d _.....- _
-~---..-.-
_.. -
,...,
......
She was on the arm of her husband, t he pianist Kun
------ ~- ..... -..-io. ..-
Maintaining the Quiet Life M r. Paik gazed at his wife with amusement. " Befo re I
leave home on concert tours," he said, "she makes sure
ularity. "I wai11 ed my real hfe 10
From""""'JJ beaqmet life."
I have black socks in my suitcase."
i:my Awnrds - (or the 1h1rd lime. Se\'en }<ears later, In 1m. Ms.
Ms. Yun 1.s onc o( t\orcas Yun did rrseule. m Pans. where
most 1rt:asurtd, dccomltd and she enrolled in B film program
:md commuted to shoots m Asia.
br-lo\"<"d llCl~.- srud Ted Kim,
a Los Angeles-bastd u:ecuth>e n1 "'I rtahxtJ I should h\'C 1.n the He fli nched ar t he memory of the socks char she once
one of Korea's biggest cmcnmn L'\nd of th<' Lum~re br<Mhcrs."
mflll comp.ln1a '"'ltkc M1d\3tl sheiald.
Th:lt san~ }'t:ar Ms. Yun :ind
packed fo r a recital at A lice Tully H a ll in New York.
Jord;us she st~ away from
the game in htt absolute prime."' Mr. Palk, ..,.ho ..,.- ;is born in Stoul
Though Ms. Yun had bttn con and wu then h\ing In NN' York, "They were black, all right," he said, "bur t hey be-
sldettd the frontrunner for best met tit the Natk>nal lllcatcr Mu
ac1r6S at bst )car's C.inn~ nKh dunng a perfonnanc.e of
"Sim Ttong," M ope:ra b.utd on a
longed to our daughter, Jin-hi."
Film Fcsm'ill. the hooor -.-;ent 10
the kM:31 l:l\'Ontc Juhcuc Binoche folk 1a1C a.boot 111 girl v.ho hn~s
for her role In A~ Kfarosta with her blmd r:uhcr.
mi's eemned Copy." "I saw a btauuful !My.'" Mr.
P<llk stud. 1didn"t know she was
Ms. Yun, 66, flas hed rhe wry, w ide smile char illum i-
"Gre.:11 reviews nre bcllrr tli.i.n
pnzes." Mr. l>.lik said. perh.1ps nnactrcs.s."'
spea.kmg from his own c.xpcri M s. Yun s.iid, "I didn't know he nated some 330 fea ture fil ms from 1967 to 1994, t he
ences. '" II would be ."l\\. ful to get was a ptanl.st
pnxes and 1cmble revtews."
Ms. Yun has bttn eaminft nc
She did know the opera's plot,
luwlng just pLiycd 1hc girl 111 n
yea r she stepped out of t he spotlight to fold and pack
rolades sinre her film debut. in mm \"CrstOn. The llCXI night Mr.
1967, a1 2J. Born Imo modest af P.1lk accomp.,nied h er to a fo r M r. Paik. Moviegoers wi ll once again be able to
fluentt In Gwanruu. she n.p- !etttningof the fcamrt.
pc3r('(I in school m usicals and
idolized Audrey Hepburn bul M
"I didn't Stt much of the girl In
lhc mQ\'lt," he said. "I ..,.as too en
glimpse t hat grin in "Poetry," Lee C h a ng-dong's in-
p1red 10 be :t d iplomat. She w."ls chn111cd by 1he bc;1ut1ful Judy m
m;ijonng in his1ory at n. college in 1hc nud!rncr." tricate meditation on arr and empat hy, which opens
Seoul \\hen, on n whun, she nu The couple 111nrril'd in 197-1, and
Ms. Yun scaled b.1c.k her schl'du!e
d111oned for "'Chcongchun Gcuk
jnng,"' ("Sorro,\1111 Youun. n film oon.sidcrnbly. Af1cr a Oacjong Friday in New York.
adaprauon of a popular novel Aw:mlwm nlng turn m 1hc J\ore-
about l\orean rcsi!ilance hghl crs nn Wnr epic '"M:uunub.111g"
during 1hc Jn1)311ese occup:ulon.
Sh(' h ad read the book :'Ind
' ll1e filmnmk cr Lee C hani:
don g im id he w rote "l'oc1ry"
(199 1), she was orrcred - and de-
clln<'d - many proj<'<'1S.
She plays M i-ja, a pensioner in a provincial tow n who
strongly 1dc nt1ficd with one of the As Mr. L~ .1 llO\'CllSI turned
will1 Yun .Jung heo in mind.
d1amc1crs. an exch;mgc s1ml<.nt lllnn11akcr who ~crvcd ns culture
minister of South Korc.i from
signs up fo r a poetry class and struggles to find inspi-
m Tokyo who falls 111 love. "'I felt
as if I could enter h er perwnahty She cssnycd s1rie'I, 1cnchcrs, 2003 to 200~. wro1c "Poetry; he
thn.-ctly," n"Called M<t. Yun, who inxl drwers, n1Rl11cluh si ngers, imagined the mnm character In ration in everyday beauty. Her a ttempts at writ ing are
won the part over 1.200 o ther sham:11t.S :llld k1.S.'\CllJt~. th e J\orc- Ms. 'fun's i mage. llc lntrodul'ed
hopeful!..
While the fl1111 was a Sl'ns:ttion,
:in t.quiv:ilcnt ot gt.1.sh:u. '"Vil
IJ.Jns. not very much," :she s:1ld.
tunuclf to her, nncl onr nigh! O\'Cr
dinner with Ms. Yun and her hus
co mplicated by t he o nset of de mentia, the demands
she WilS somcthln" else again. ouce I w.u a k n o;uu who low:d b.1ml he sht.'<'plshly mentioned
(Al 1h<1 1 111ne In J\Ort"an dnl'nl<t the l-C'recnpl.1y. She was so IL11 of mercy sex fro m the stroke victim she cares for, and
womt>n were mostly lumtcd co 1crro 1hm she acrepted Ille role
roles as housewives or femme fa While grate ful for wnhout e\'en knowmg v.h:u the the news that her sullen teenage g ra ndson, whom she
tales.) Scremnlng tccn:\gc girl s movic w;u about.
mobbed her. T\.'Cnagc boys
her popularity, Yim " I nm hkt- MlJa; she sale!. " I
scra..,. led fan lcuers in bk>od. 1 Jung-hec wanted a d:iydream nnd lose myself In is ra ising herself, was involved in the ga ng rape of a
couldn't lea''t my house," Ms. bcau1y. When l see a Oo....er. I
Yun said. m easure of freedom. st"re:1m wtth toy."
classmate, leading to her suicide.
Not 1ha1 sht" spent much ume S1111ng In the bnght, rury
o.t home. Ourinjf. the '60s ruld 70s a man already married." There loonge of the Grand llott'I, Mr.
Ms. Yun worked on as m.'lny as 50 ~ the $hghcest or p:msc.s. "No. P~uk hs1e11ed 10 his wife with a
rums" }"tar. somet 1m~ thrtt in 3
single day.
m.ike lh..11 SC\'Cl"aJ llntt."S."
Ongin:tlly Ms. Yun pl:mntd 10
look or mhmte 1mdcrs1andmg.
-y~ :tgo 141! went to Vtnlct'.
"To Mi-ja, wrmng poems is importa nt because she's
A mckldmma in the morning. makr 1nrn. 1~ 1n her homeland ror and ~he pl'3c11cally no.11cd
J histonc:al drama in the :tfll'r ll\C yc:in, thcn n'IO\'e to the Urut through 1he cny," he silk.I. "' I felt discove ring the meaning of the world ," M r. Lee said .
noon. n c:onltdy nt m&hl," Mr. ed States and nucnd film s.chool. hke I ..,.-as holding omo a balloon
w1th a 1t11n 1hrtad."'
Paik said. Al one pomt f1\'t' of Ms.
'fun's films played m th<':uers w
'"I was Jtratdulfor 1ht lldor.mon I
rttc1\ l!'J In Kort..&, but I lmd no Mr. Paik cr Oi~ his Jc-gs, rc-- "The pa radox of he r life is char she's leaving the world
mult.mt"OUsly. frffliom. she- SJ..td oC ht-r pop- \~alingabbck scxk.
a nd forgetting t he words."
he paradox of Ms. Yun's real life is that despite O riginally Ms. Yun pla nned to make movies in her
arrempts to remain in the background she is homeland for five years, then move to the United
~ celebrated all over the world. Her performance States and attend film school. "I was grateful for rhe
in "Poetry" has been w ildly praised in Somh Korea, adoration I received in Korea, bur I had no freedom,"
where she was named best actress at the 2010 Daejong she said of her popularity. "I wanted my real life to be
Film Awa rds - that nation's Academy Awa rds - for a quiet life."
the third time.
Seven years later, in 1972, Ms. Yun did resettle, in
Ms. Yun is "one of Korea's most treasu red, decorated Paris, whe re she enrolled in a film program a nd com-
and beloved actresses," said Ted Kim, a Los Angeles- muted to shoors in Asia. "I realized I should live in the
based executive at one of Korea's biggest entertainment land of the Lumiere brothers," she said.
companies. "Like Michael Jordan she stepped away
That same year Ms. Yu n and Mr. Paik, who was born
from the game in her absolute prime."
in Seoul and was then living in New York, met at the
Though Ms. Yun had been considered t he front-run- National T hearer M unich during a performance of
ner for best actress at last year's Cannes Film Festival, "Sim Tjong," an opera based on a folk tale about a girl
the honor went to the local favorire Juliette Binoche who lives with her blind father.
for her role in Abbas Kiarostami's "Certified Copy."
"I saw a beautiful lady," Mr. Paik said. "I did n't know
"Great reviews are berrer than prizes," Mr. Paik said, she was an actress."
perhaps speaking from his own experiences. "It would
Ms. Yun said, "I did n't know he was a pianist."
be awful to get prizes and terrible reviews."
She did know the opera's plot, having just played the
Ms. Yun has been earning accolades si nce her film
girl in a fi lm version. The next night Mr. Paik accom-
debut, in 1967, at 23. Born into modest affluence in
panied her to a screening of t he feature.
Gwangju, she appea red in school musicals and idol-
ized Audrey Hepburn but aspi red to be a diplomat. "I didn't see much of t he girl in the movie," h e said.
She was majoring in history at a college in Seoul "I was too enchanted by the beautiful lady in the
when, on a whim, she auditioned for "Cheongchun aud ience."
Geukjang," ("Sorrowful Youth"), a film adaptation of
a popular novel abom Korean resistance fighters dur- The couple married in 1974, and Ms. Yun scaled back her
ing the Japanese occupation. schedule considerably. After a Daejong Award-winn ing
turn in the Korean War epic "Manmubang" (1994), she
She had read the book and strongly identified with one was offered - a nd declined- many projects.
of rhe characters, an exchange student in Tokyo who
falls in love. "I felt as if I could enter her personality di- As Mr. Lee, a novelist turned film maker who served as
rectly," recalled Ms. Yun, who won the part over 1,200 culture minister of South Korea from 2003 to 2004,
other hopefuls. wrote "Poetry," he imagi ned the main character in Ms.
Yun's image. He introduced himself to her, and one
W hile the film was a sensation, she was something n ight over dinner with Ms. Yun a nd her h usband he
else again. (At that time in Korean cinema women sheepishly mentioned the screenp lay. She was so flat-
were mostly li mited to roles as housewives or femme tered rhar she accepted the role without even know ing
fatales.) Screaming teenage girls mobbed her. Teenage what the movie was about.
boys scrawled fan letters in blood. "I couldn't leave my
house," Ms. Yun said. "! a m like M i-ja," she said. "I daydream and lose myself
in beauty. When I see a flower, I scream with joy."
Not that she spent much rime at home. During the
'60s and '70s Ms. Yun worked on as many as 50 films Sitting in the bright, airy lounge of t he Grand Hotel,
a year, sometimes t hree in a single day. Mr. Pa ik listened to his wife with a look of infinite
understanding.
"A melodrama in the morning, a historical drama in
the afternoon, a comedy at night," Mr. Paik said. Ar "Years ago we went to Ven ice, and she practically float-
one point five of Ms. Yun's films played in rheaters ed through the city," he said. "I felt li ke I was holding
simultaneously. onto a balloon with a thin thread."
She essayed spies, teachers, taxi drivers, nightclub si ng- Mr. Paik crossed his legs, revea ling a black sock.
ers, shama ns and kisaengs, the Korean equivalent of
geishas. "Villains, nor very much," she said. "Once I was
a servant who loved a man already married." There was
the slightest of pauses. "No, make that several rimes."
Copyright 2011 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with permission.
TJJE 1VEWYORKTIMES. FRIDAY, FF.HRUARY.1.1, 201.l CJ, C16
. '
CONSIDER AN APPLE,
CONSIDER THE WORLD
BY MJ\NOllLJ\ DJ\HC IS
he women and few men sitting at their desks in about art a nd maybe li fe. Instead he holds up an apple
the fil m "Poetry" have open faces and smiles. and ta lks about seeing.
T hey're good pupils, these older people who
The importance of seeing, seeing rhe world deeply, is at
have come to the cultu ral center to learn. Perhaps be-
t he heart of this quietly devastating, huma nistic work
cause they have chosen to be there, they don't have the
fro m the South Korean filmmaker Lee C hang-dong.
look of su llen resentment and cultivated boredom rhar
T h roughout rhe story, the teacher, a bespectacled ma n
glazes the faces of rhe high school students gli mpsed
with an easy man ner, wi ll gu ide the students as each
now a nd again. I nsread rhese latter-day bards gaze
struggles to write a single poem, search ing memories
at rhe man who has come to say something to t hem
and emotions for inspiration. "Up rill now, you haven't
seen an apple for real," he says in rhar fosr class, as rhe Th is cruelty doesn't exist in isolation, as becomes obvi-
film curs ro a smdenr, Mija (Yun Jung-hee), slidi ng ous when the fa ther of one of the other accused rapists
inro a sear. "To really know w hat an apple is, ro be contacts M ija and sweeps her off roan afternoon meet-
inreresred in ir, ro undersra nd ir," he adds, ''rhac is re- ing at a restaurant. Together, he and fo ur other fathers
ally seeing ir." From rhe way t he ca mera secrles on M ija have decided - w ith the school 's blessing - ro give the
it 's evidenr chat he could subscim re rhe word apple for dead girl 's mother a la rge sum of cash, a bribe for her
woman - or life. silence. What's done is done, one man more or less says,
as another pours the beer. ("Ladies firsr," he says, of-
or M ija, a 66-yea r-old raisi ng her only grand-
fering Mija a glass.) "Although I feel sorry for the dead
so n, Wook (Lee David), in a cra mped, clurre red
girl," a fat her says, "now's the t ime for us ro worry abour
aparrmenr in a n unnam ed ciry, the pursuir of
ou r own boys." H er face empty, M ija sits word lessly.
poetry becomes a pasrime a nd then a passio n and fi-
A nd then she drifts outside, opens her linle norebook
na lly a mea ns of transcendence. Ar first, rhough, ir's a
and begins wriri ng: "Blood ... a flower as red as blood."
pleasa nr distraction fro m a n orherwise munda ne exis-
tence, if also a way ro exercise a mind rhat, as a docror Out of pa in, M ija finds a way ro see, really see the
cells Mija early on, has begun ro sli p slowly away from world, wirh its flowers, rusrling trees, laughing people
her. O ur of fea r or con fusio n, she keeps the diagnosis ro and cruel ries, a nd in doing so turns realiry inro arr,
herself and almost from herself, celli ng neirher Wook rragedy into the sublime. It's a n extraordinary trans-
nor his mother, who lives in anorher c ity. Instead she formatio n, o ne that emerges th rough seem ingly un-
dons the poet's cap. " I do have a poet's vein," she says, connected na rrative fragments, tenderly observed
chatte ring inro her cel lpho ne. " I do like flowers and momenrs and a for ma l rigor that mig hr go unnoriced.
say odd things." Yet everything pieces rogether in rhis heartbreaking
film - motifs and ac tions in the opening are mi rrored
She seem s so unremarkable, thi s woma n with her white
in the last scenes - includ ing flowers, chose that be-
hats, tidily arranged sca rves a nd va nity. But like this
witch M ija ourside the restaurant and chose in a vase
subtle, transfixing film , she draws you in. C rucial in
ar the dead girl 's ho use. T he river chat flows in rhe
this respecr is Ms. Yun's performance, a rour de fo rce
openi ng shot srrea ms th rough the lasr image roo, less a
of emotiona l complexity that builds th roug h rescrainr
c ircle rhan a continuum.
and, like Mr. Lee's unado rned visual style, ea rns rather
rha n demands your attentio n . (H is ea rlier features in- Ar one po int, Mija asks her poetry reacher with al-
clude "Secret Sunshine.") T he shabby rooms and or- mosr comic in nocence, "When does a 'poeric inspira-
dina ry srreers in "Poetry" a re shown w itho ut fanfare, tion' co me?" It doesn't, he replies, you mus t beg for ir.
more li ke statements offacts than pieces of an evolving "Where must I go?" sh e persists. H e says that she m ust
narrarive. Yet it's the prosa ic qua lity of rhis world, its wa nder arou nd, seek it out, but that it's there, right
ordi nari ness, that makes the srory's shocks reverberare w here she stands. In truth, there is poetry everywhere,
so forcefu lly, beginning with rhe revelatio n rhar Wook includi ng in those who pass th rough her li fe, at rimes
and fi ve friends, all boys, have been implicated in the invisibly, like the ha ndicapped retiree (K im Hira) she
death of a classmate, a girl first seen floatin g face d own cares fo r pan t ime, a hu sk of a man whom she w ill at
in a river in the open ing scene. lasr a lso see clea rly. The quesrion rhar she doesn'r ask
is the why of a rr. She doesn'r have ro because rhe film
The re's a mesmerizing qua li ty ro char sequence, wh ich
- irself a n exa mple of how arr allows us ro rise our of
begins w ith an image of rushing warer, parrl y because
ourselves ro feel for a nother through imaginative sym-
- like rhe young chi ld on rhe ri ve rbank whose view-
pathy - a nswers th at question beautifully.
point you sha re - you initia lly ca n'r make ou t whar ir
is thar you're looking ar until rhe body floars inro rhe Poetry
frame in close-up. The corpse belongs to a tee nage girl Opem 011 Friday in J'vfanhattan.
who accused so me classmates of having se rially raped
Writte11 a11d directed by Lee Chang-dong; director ofphotog-
her. On the most bruta l level, her bod y int roduces a
raphy. Kim Hy1111g-seok; edited by Kim Hyun; production de-
mystery. Yet there's more ro the openi ng, including
sign by Sihn }eom-hui; produced by Lee Joan -dong; released
the children clusrered o n rhe ri verbank, om inously by Kina !11ternatio11al. In Korean, with English mbtit!es.
doubled by the teenagers who helped pur rha t body Running time: 2 hours 19 minutes. This film is not rated.
in the water and w hose ind iffere nce suggests rhac, fo r ~'(I/TH: Yun }1111g-hee (Mija), Lee David ( Wook) and Kim
them , this death wasn't cataclys mic, just play that go t /-Jira (M. Kang).
out of ha nd.
Copyright 2011 by The New York Time s Co. Reprinted with permission.
I TlIE GLOBilL EDITJON OF11J,]\7~JVYORKTIMES, TUE~D./ll~JUNJ:.'14, 2011 15
THROUGH
A FILMMAKER'S LENS,
VIEWS OF KOREA
13Y .JAN INE J\ HM IN
Copyright 2011 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with permission.
'- ... --..,...... ....
. M ~ .!. Er ,
THE NEWYORK:FJMES ;,.FRJJ -<~_-"..
>a1
he New York Asia n Fi lm Festiva l has a n im- Not every selection in the New York Asian Film
age to uphold, based o n a wel l-honed story Fest ival is g reat, o r even good, bur ne ither is every one
of low-re nt beginnin gs and d isreputable pro- in rhe New York Film Festival or New Directors New
gramm ing. This fami liar na rrative srarrs in 2002 wirh Films. Meanwhile rhe As ia n fesr presents virtually the
fi ve young g uys a nd rheir credit cards, a nd embraces sa me number of major new releases as those rwo a u-
rowdy, fiercely obsessive audiences ja mmed into down- gust events, whi le ma inta ining more co nsistent quality
rown rhearers watch ing movies about young Japa nese a nd foc us than the sprawling Tribeca Film Festiva l.
women whose breasts double as machine g uns.
Of course, rhe Asia n Fil m Festiva l suffers from a com-
Asked where his baby ranks among the c iry's annual plete lack of two things rhat, in add itio n ro big sta rs,
film co nclaves, G rad y H endri x, o ne of the festiva l's give a fi lm event credibi lity: European arr-house mov-
founders and its lo ng rime spokesm a n, roes rhe line. ies a nd scru ffy A merica n independenrs. While operat-
"Fi rmly at the bottom," he declares. ing o n the geogra ph ic a nd c ultura l fringe, t he festiva l
is pro udly ma instrea m in its taste a nd go rges itself on
H e's exaggerating for effect, bur he's seriou s about
genre films and wacky comed ies.
ma intainin g the event's renegad e cha racter. " In te rm s
of rhar film festiva l circ uit, we're pretty much rhe out- Ar rhe sa me rime, it has helped introduce New York
siders lookin g in," he said in an interview. "We don't to hig hbrow favo rites like Pa rk C ha n-wook, Bong
have enoug h fa ncy parries." Joon-ho and Seijun Suzu k i. This year's lineup in-
cludes directors li ke Takashi Miike, Tsui H a rk a nd Na
Maybe nor. Bur whatever it lacks in red ca rpers a nd
H o ng-jin rhar any highfa lutin festival would be happy
seafood rowers, it makes up for in the qua lity, quantity
to recruit.
a nd va riety of fil ms. As it celebrates its IOrh yea r with
a program of 40 feat ures, showing Friday th ro ugh July And over rhe course of a decade of relentlessly track-
14 at the Wa lte r Reade Thearer and Japan Society, it's ing down and watching Asian movies in whatever time
rime to acknowledge rhar this outsider actually be- they can rake away fro m t heir day jobs, the fou nders
longs in t he top tier of New York 's film fest iva ls, next have grown inro the ir roles.
to some very se ri ous, very inside gatherings.
''
e're a ll gerring older," Mr. H endrix A th ird high-profile entry from C hi na fearures the mar-
said. "Our rasres are changing. And ria l ans srar Jee Li but couldn't be more different from
l chin k we have a berrer feel for rhe rhe w u xia fil ms. I n "Ocea n Heaven," rhe directing
audience's rasre." They're now willing ro book slower, debut of the fil m scholar X ue X iaolu, Mr. Li forsakes
more serious, less caregorizable movies rhar would have fighring encirely to play a n agi ng, ailing aquarium
sca red rhem off before (given rhat empry rhearers ca n maincenance worker obsessed wich provid ing for the
mea n empcy pockers fo r rhe volunteer programmers). fumre of his au rist ic son (Wen Z hang). T here's enough
noble sufferi ng here ro fi ll rhree or four movies, but Ms.
Bur rhe emphasis is srill on visceral, accessible enrer-
Xue hand les ir with remarkable restraint for a Ch inese
ra in menr of all k ind s, especially in rhis lOrh-ann iver-
d irector, and while M r. Li 's performa nce suffers from
sary year, when, as M r. H endrix puc it, "we're sort of
the lack of kicking a nd punching, his immense li k-
being a liccle self-ind ulgent." That means a subsec of
abi li ty is enough ro ca rry hi m in the role.
C hi nese wu x ia (martia l arts) movies that includes four
fil ms written or directed by Mr. Tsui, who will appea r The array of Sou eh Korea n act ion-suspense movies -
at screeni ngs on Ju ly 9 rh rough 11 , and a generous, there are eight on the sched ule - offers proof of t he
d iverse selecrion of Korea n chrillers. genre's longev ity a nd flexibilit y, half a decade after its
fi rst heyday with M r. Park 's "revenge t rilogy." l n a
This yea r's fesrival breaks down fai rly evenly into films
ca tegory know n fo r the brural ity of its viole nce a nd
from C hina (includ ing H ong Kong and Taiwa n),
the sometimes insa ne complex it y of its plots, two of
So urh Korea and Japa n, wirh single films from a few
the festiva l films are exemplary.
orher co untries (Ma laysia, Thailand, rhe Phil ippines)
rhrow n in. "The Unjust," d irected by Ryoo Seung-wan, is film noir
at its mos r cynical, with a rosrer of characters ranging
In "Dececrive D ee & rhe Mysrery of che Phanrom
from prosa ically corrupt to blatantly evil and a hero
Flame," Mr. Tsui's most recent film, and "Reign of
who lies closer co t he wrong end of the scale. The story,
Assassins," direcced by rhe up-and-comer Su C hao-
involving a battle fo r survival between a d irty cop a nd
pi n and rhe vetera n Jo hn Woo, rhe fesriva l is offeri ng
a dirty prosecutor, is a spiral of double a nd rriple cross-
cwo light-on-their-feer marria l arcs capers rhat sra nd
es in which there is never a good option, not that these
in pleasa nt contrast ro rhe bloated, nationalistic epics
men wou ld be incl ined to choose it if they could.
that are C hina's ma in c inemat ic exporr rhese days. ("l f
it's got more than five horses in it and more than two T he violence in "The Unjust" is fairly ordinary and
scenes of giant arm ies massing on rhe plain, wavi ng often has a bu rlesque quality, bur in Jang Cheol-
fl ags, we avoid ir," Mr. H endrix said .) Su's "Bedevilled," scy thes, scones a nd other weapons
a re wielded in shockingly vivid and graph ic ways. Ji
"Detective Dee," starring the H ong Kong superstar
Seong-Won a nd Seo Young-Hee (in a gripping per-
Andy Lau as t he ricle cha racter, works ics kung fu into
forma nce) play chi ld hood girlfr iends reunited o n the
a reasonably credible seventh-century mysrery story
island where they grew up, a place where relationsh ips
(wirh supernatural elements). Its most memorable
between women and rhe few men who stick around
sequence, a ceasing, not-quire-nude scene in which a
have a dynamic straighr our of "Delivera nce."
beautiful courrier (Li Bingbing) uses her marrial arcs
ski lls co dress hersel f whi le dodging hu nd reds of ar- The best of rhe festiva l's C hi nese and Korean films ful-
rows, reca lls rhe famously sexy duel between Brigitte fil! expectations in stylish and exciting ways, but ifyou're
Lin a nd M aggie C heung in "Dragon In n" (1992), looking fo r su rprises, they're more easily fo u nd in the
wh ich is also being shown in the festiva l. Japanese movies. One of the best examples is Yoshimasa
lsh ibashi's four-pa rt "Milocrorze: A Love Story," a
"Reig n of Assassins" tweaks the wu xia recipe by tak-
wacked-out fantasy chat recalls ea rly T im Burton one
ing a break fro m its story of professiona l killers pu rsu-
moment, late Q uentin Tara nti no the next. A segment
ing a mon k 's mummified remai ns to indu lge in a long
involvi ng an abusive, white-suited television host is
strerch of genrle (very gentle) romantic-domestic com-
punctuated by groovy, wonderfully deadpan dance
edy. Michelle Yeoh and the Korea n actor Jung Woo-
nu mbers, wh ile a sendup of sam urai and yakuza sto-
sun g play a n ace assassin in hidi ng a nd a naive delivery
ries suddenly erupts inco a n elaborately choreographed
boy who meer cure du ri ng che Ming dynasry.
and brilliantly sraged six-mi nute sword-fight sequence
inside che tight confines of a tarami-marred brothel.
rher highlig hts of the Japanese selecrions
include M r. Miike's "Ninja Kids!!!," a rau-
cous comedy wirh a ralemed casr of c hi ld
actors rhar's part "Naruto," pa rt "Harry Porrer"; a nd
the fo rmer pornography di rector N oboru Iguch i's
"Karate-Robo Zaborgar," a loving homage to Sarnrday
morning cartoons whose ride characrer is rhe human
Andy L.nu in '"Det~i"'" Dee & the Myatt:'ry of the Plumtom
hero's brorher, pa rmer, mora l compass a nd motor- fUune; which blends kung ru into a ~-entho:n1ury 1:1lc-.
Thisyrar~festhnl breaks
down f:urly evenl)' in10 fi/mJ from
Chmtt (u)('IU(ting Ilong Kong and
14 at the Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th Street, Linco/11 T1uw11n). South Korea nnd JnJXln,
w11h single films from a few other
Center, (212) 875-5367; and Thursday through Ju ly 10 at coumries (Mnlnysia, Thailand.
u~ 1>hd1ppmes) t hrown lfl.
In ~tttn-l' Ott t. 11~ M)"S-
Japan Societ;y. 333 East 47th Street, M anhattan, (212) 715 - ltt)'ol the rtll.\nlOO\ Ft:a~; Mr.
nul's nl051 rttent film. and
1258, subwayci11ema. com. Rtlgnol A.ssassm~d1r'l'C1edby
the up-a.nd<0n1e:r Su Ch;,o.pm
Wen Zhang. k:ft. 3nd Je1 Li in
Xue Xiaolu's Ocean Hc.,,vcn:
mnd 1~ \'ttemn John Woo. t~
rr-Mwoil is offC'ring fv.''O llghl-on
lhl'irftti martin! an.scaper-s th31 Seo Yoong Hee (in :i gnpping
'land in J>'tli41ll <"Onlmst lOthe
perfornunce) play childhood g.lrl
bbi1C'd, nauonahstic t'pics that fncndsre\lmtedon !he 1sbnd
where they gttW up .;, plxt
~ ctuna'S nwn anrmahc e.x
port 1hest' d.3)'$. r 1r 11s
than fh~ borsn In It and mott
''
11'\0f'r
"ht1"e reb.uonsb1P5 bt-t'A"ttn
\.\"Ofttl\ and the IN' 1nen u.1'IO
,__
__Rogue
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but ot lhc r11n1 sthObr Xue Xi.>Olu, ru compass ollld motorcyck.
A Film Festival
_ ___--
Ea
, rns __,_..., Respect (Sort Of) Mr. LI forsakes f1gh1fag cntirrty (ZaborpraJs.ollpPC3fS IObe
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Lhe ooly film ln this )'t':tr's ftsrn-al
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to pbiy an Qgmg. ru.hng nquanum
___SP-orls
Vancouver 2010 nytlmos.com/al ,mpic'\ 4
She's the
f<Utes t skater
INSIDE THE RI NCS I've ever seen.'
MICJIEU.E KWAN,
'She's the
By J ERtLONCMAN scnbc the resourcdulness.complexity Asad.'l said.
and artistry of her &Juumg,except 1n What the ;u.td1t~ of 11.n1at raor.c whole package.'
VANCOUVER, Bntish C'umbta -
thl$ comexz: Kim would h.we f101.shal Cohseum h:u.I vntnnsed was an unprl'C'
Oress~ In az.ure, accomp.uued by OOROTIIY HAMIU...
ninth in the men's rompetnlon. ntJTly tdtntcd combtna tion ot technical d1ffl
Gershwin. Kim YUna of South Korea lN 1916 '1--pll( cMms--
10 points nhead of 1he- Amt"ncan nauon cull y and w1liovo')' soph1st1c.atJOn as Kim
Sttntingly Oo.lted to the clouds with ht'r al ch.1mpion, J ettm)' AbbotL
soorlngjumps and :liryc~ Thurs- btt.arne the first South Kor e3Jl skater to
Moo Asada of Jnpan became the first win :ut Olrmp.c g okl mcdnl. She hcki up
day nigh1, "inning an Olympic gold W'Oman to l.lnd t"-o tnple axels ma frtt un<kr enonnous pressure to suett-ed as Kim YuM is the
medal Md her n glulul p lace as one of skate a t 1he \\.'in ter Games. but she still
thegrc3tCSt womtn's figure sk.:ners of an n1hlct<!, n cullural icon and a van firlt South
finished a d istanl second by mo n. 1hnn
nnyera. qu1\ her of competitors from Japan. Korc:.n figure
W points. E\en before As.'lda s k;ited,
Demonstrating cechnlcal supenonty which occup.td the Korean peninsula k.'llcr lo win a n
she k new th3t her chances for gold were
Md ethereal gr:ice at 19. Kirn dell\'e red futile after Kim's refined Md charnung r' or
35 ye.1rs through the end \\'()(Id Olympic mccfal.
D world record pcrfonn:inee o f 228.56 pcrfonnance . Wnr ll.
101al points. Maih .:alone cannot fully de- " I could hear the crowd going crazy," Con111tut"fl on J>agr J).I
D
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Kim Yu-na of South Korea seem ingly Roared
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ro the clouds wirh her soaring jumps and
airy elegance llrnrsd ay night, winning an O lympic
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._ gold medal and her righ tfu l place as one of the grearesr
____........____ __ ....-
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women's figu re skaters of any e ra.
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O n 1lrnrsday, Ki m whisked like a feather across the ice. "1l1is is nor sports, this is war," Lee Jiseok, a reporter
fo r the Daily Sports Seoul newspaper, said, laughi ng.
"Technically, she's the greatest of all rime," said Ted
H e and his colleagues had already prepared stories on
Barton, a Canadian who helped devise the new points-
Kim, her mother and her coach. "If sh e loses, we're
based scoring system . " If she skates a little longer and
dead," Lee said. "We'll have to explain w hy she lose."
does this over the n ext three or fo ur years, she will be
the greatest skater of all time." 1l1at would not be necessa ry; Kim won the most glam-
orous event at the W inter Games.
Scott H amil ton, the 1984 men's O lympic champi on,
compared Kim to Seabiscui t, th e thoroughbred , as " I chink the whole nati on is in fro nt of the television,"
do min ant athletes who broke the ir com petitors' will. said John Moo n, chief of staff of the South Korean
O lympic Co m mittee. "Kim Yu- na is rhe country's spe-
"Yu-na has only been at the top of her game for a cou-
cial sister. Every athlete is important, but her medal is
ple of years," Hamilton said . "Bur if she's here a nother
more im portant than the others. She is beautifu l. She's
fo ur years at this level, a lot of skaters would break
our pride. I chin k Koreans will have a lo t of drinks."
clown. 1l1ey would try to up their games so much, th ere
wo uld be injuries. 1l1ere's no wea kness there. Com pare
her with anybody; she's got it all. Under any system,
anywhere, any time, she'd win."
Copyright 2010 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with permission.
THE NEW YORK TIMES, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2010 B13
KOREAN IS
FIRST WOMAN
TO SCALE
14 HIGHEST PEAKS
BY CHOE SANG -II UN
C
li mbi ng on all fo urs after 13 g ruel ing hours,
a dim inutive So uth Korean woman , O h
Eu n-su n, reached the su mmit of o ne of the
CLIMBING H imalayan gia m s o n Tuesday to lay claim to being the
first woman to scale th e world 's 14 highest moun tains.
In keep ing with her cou m ry's intense pride in irs ath -
letes, she pull ed out a So uth Korea n Aag, raised her
arms and shouted: " Hurray! Hurray!"
" We recogn ize herachi eve mentas the first woman climb-
er to sca le all the highest mou ntains in the wo rl d," said
Ang Tshering, pres ident of th e Nepal Mountaineering
Associatio n, accord ing to The Associated Press.
0
h's closest rival, Edurne Pasaban of Spain , Nationalism looms la rge in sporrs in South Korea, a
scaled Annapurna this month but has yet to co untry obsessed wi th maki ng a mark on the interna-
reach the 26,330-foot-high Mount Shisha tio nal scene. Kim Yu-na, the figure skater who wo n this
Pangma to march Oh's fear. year's O lympic gold, is a nat ional star.
Pasaban has raised questions about whether O h actu- News reports about spores stars wi n ning wo rld cham pi-
ally reached the summit of Mount Kangchenjunga, the o nships brim with patriotism. Repo rters often ask the
world's third-highest peak, last yea r. athle tes to "say something to the people back home,"
and they always thank "rhe people a nd rhe fatherland"
" Her Sherpas told me that she didn't reach the summit
before mentioning thei r fa mi ly a nd loved ones.
because of bad weather," Pasaban told l11e Times of
London recently. "When life was hard and we were tired, spores have
encouraged us with good news," said Ko Dong-guk,
In rhe absence o f an international mountaineering
one of hundreds of T V viewers who left congraru larory
body, Elizabeth H awley, an 86-year-old American
messages on the KBS Web si te.
mountaineering journalist, is considered the final ar-
biter on such disputes. She agreed last week to reco rd 7his article has been revised to reflect the Jollowi11g correction:
Oh's ascent of Kangchenjunga as "disputed ," pendin g Correction: April 30, 2010
an investigation.
Because ofan editing error, an rtrticle 011 \Vednesday about Oh
Oh, 44, scaled 4 of th e 14 peaks last year but retreated 1111-sun ofSouth Korea, who on Tuesday reached the summit
several hundred feet from Annapurna's summit because of A1111apuma in central Nepal to lay claim to being the first
o f bad weather. wo111a11 to scale the world's 14 highest mo11ntains, misstated
her age. She is 44, not 34. The article also referred imprecisely
O n her historic climb, she was carrying a photograph to the n11mber ofpeople who have acco111plished the feat. The
of Ko Mi-young, her rival an d fellow So uth Ko rea n, figure, "fewer than 20 people," referred to the number ofpeople
who had done it before Tuesday; that did not include Oh.
who plummeted to her death last year while descend-
ing from N anga Parbat, the world's ninth-highest peak.
Ko had climbed l I of the 14 peaks.
Copyright 2010 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with permi ssion.
THE NEW YORK TIMES, FRIDAY,]UNE 18, 2010 A26
M
uch has been made of the vuvuzelas, whose
buzzy d ro ne has been the soundtrack of the
Wo rld C up games being p layed in South
Africa's stad iums.
Copyright 2010 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with perm1ss1on.
THE GLOBAL EDITION OF THE NEW YORK TIMES, MONDAY, JUNE 20, 2011 9
LONDON
" Zero tolerance" is rhe in phrase among s porrs of- T his, remember, is t he Republic of Korea- nor Nort h
ficials these days. Korea.
Sepp Blarrer of FIFA and Jacques Rogge of rhe The K.F. A., the pa renr body to rhe 28-yea r-old
Inrernarional O lympic Co mmirree speak abour it. K-League, has been built u p th ro ugh its past presi-
Sout h Korea practices it. dent, C hu ng Mong-joo n, a leading lawmaker in the
Nat iona l Assem bly in Seoul.
T his pasr weekend , 10 Korea n professional soccer
players were ba nned fo r life from playing rhe ga me. C hung was recenrly deposed as a vice presidenr of FIFA,
T he men, including one former nariona l rea m player, in parr because h is straight talk sat uncomfortably with
Kim Dong-hyun , have ye r to face criminal prosecu- some of the corrupt pract ices now bei ng unraveled at
rion. Bur rhe Korea Foorball Associario n has banned the top of rhe world govern ing body of soccer.
rhem anyway.
By coincidence, lraly's courrs are still sitti ng on t he case
"We made rhe decision derermined thar rhis would be ofluciano Maggi a nd Anton io Gi raudo, the men barred
rhe firsr a nd last match-fix ing sca nda l in rhe league," fo r five yea rs fo r t hei r al leged roles in the Calciopoli
sa id Kwak You ng-cheol, rhe head of rhe K-League d is- corru ption case that preceded Italy's wi n ning rhe 2006
ciplina ry commirtee. World C up. Maggi and Gi raudo were fo und, by rhe
sports aurhoriries, to have wielded s uch infl uence over
"Players mu sr keep in mind rhar rhey wi ll be kicked
referees that Moggi's club, Juvenrus, won champion-
o ur of rhe sport perma nenrly if rhey ger caug hr com-
ships thar were larer stripped fro m rhe records.
m icring wrongdoing." The 10, and fo ur orher men ac-
cused of collaboraring to fix rhe omcome of marches But Maggi has no t gone away. H e sti ll contributes cor-
for berting purposes, could, if convicred in courr, face uscaring colum ns to rhe Libero newspa per a nd acer-
seven years in jail. bic co mrnenra ries on Telcapri Sport TV. He is srill in
cou rt, in Naples, pleadin g that he has a lways been in-
T he associario n, it seems, has concl uded their g uil t,
noce nt and was fra med in relation to Calciopol i and
though Kwak conceded t hat the life bans wou ld be
other cases involving a player agency.
rev iewed if they were clea red in crimina l proceed ings.
I
n che same week char Souch Korea was decla ring An llch player, KimJung-kyum of che PohangSteelers,
10 players persona non graca, the Icalian soccer was handed a five-year ban afcer a llegacions char he
federacion suddenly ruled char Moggi must neve r learned of che Oaejeon C itizen plot and bet on ic.
be a llowed back into t he spore, in any capacicy.
No club officials are accused of k nowing of the ploc
So, zero colerance before trial in Korea, and zero coler- chat a llegedly scarred with o ne player's being paid 120
ance five years afcer che fact in Italy. million won, abouc $110,000, and distri bucing ic to
team maces.
This column applauds draconian measures to rooc our
match fixers in any spore, not just soccer. Nothing They lose the game againsc Pohang Steelers in A pril.
contaminates sports more than attempts to corrupt
H owever, che clubs pay a penalty - a n ironic o ne:
the outcome - and as the recenc tria l in Bochum,
chey w ill be docked a la rge part of che nea rly 270 mil-
Germany, has demonstrated, che same big fixers come
lion won paid an nually to each K-League ream from,
back aga in and aga in, even afcer t hey have been jailed
of all t hings, Sports T oro. That is South Korea's only
fo r game tampering.
licensed spores lottery.
The spread ofl ncernet becring has increased che stakes,
We are looking at the scare of a zero-colerance policy
and made it possible fo r syndicaces on the other side of
chat will not be watered down by courts, as it very
the world to accempt to fix precise moments in match-
likely mighr in Europe or t he United Scates.
es to make their financial killings.
No matter how good Kim Dong-hyun was on the
There are sinister consequences co this. In 2008, two
field , che chances of his getting an amnesty and a re-
C hinese scudencs who attended Newcastle Uni versity
call to che nationa l squad are long.
in England were found to have been murdered. T heir
killer refused to cake che sta nd ac his tria l and went to He has all the rime in rhe world now co reflecc on the
prison w ithout a nswering police and prosecutio n ques- real meaning of zero tolera nce. And he mig hc, if Kim
tio ns relacing t he murders co Triad becring ga ngs in is a scudent of soccer history, thi nk his misfortune was
China. to be born where he was.
A su icide a month ago in Souch Korea triggered che Way back in 1980, Paolo Rossi was disqual ified for
reverberations throughout the K-League. The news three years afcer being implicaced in anocher Ical ian
agency Yonhap reported char a player found dead in sca ndal, the Toconero betting affa ir. H is ban was later
his hotel roomhad lefc a note in which he referred co a reduced to two years, jusc in rime fo r Ross i co ma ke the
match-fix ing cartel. 1982 World C up squad.
The invescigacion char followed led co t he bans, is- After a slow scare, Rossi became the Golden Boot and
sued lace Friday nighc, even before che state started ics Golden Ball winner of che Ita lia n team char won the
prosecutio n. Eighc of the indicced players are fro m che World Cup in Spain. Indeed, FIFA made hi m player
Daejeon C itizen club. One is from Gwangju, and o ne of the year.
from Sa ngmu Phoeni x.
All was forgiven, and later, in his book "I Made Brazil
The Sangmu player, Kim Dong-hy un, is in big trouble. C ry," Rossi maintained his in nocence, corroborated
His rea m is run by che military, and military prosecu- by one of his accuser's admi ccing th at Rossi was never
tors are o n the case. If che K-League verdict holds, nor guilty of anyching. The evide nce aga inst him, appar-
only w ill he never represent Souch Korea again, bur he, ently, was a lie.
and the ocher nine barred players, wi ll not be allowed
co be involved in any way at all with soccer.
ISoccer offers lesson
in how to get tough
the world 10 nttempt t o fix precise mo-
ments in matches to make their finnn
cinJ killings.
There arc sinister consequences to
this. In 2008, two Chinese students who
nttended Newcastle University in Eng
land were found to have been murdered.
Rob Their killer refused to truce the stand at
his trial and went to prison without an
Hughes swering police and prosecution qucs
1 lions relating the murders to Triad bcl
ting gangs in China.
GLOBAL SOCCER A suicide a month ago in South Korea
triggered the rcve.rbcrations throughout
the Kleaguc. The news agency Yonhnp
LONDON "Zero tolerance" is the in reported that a ployer found dead in his
phrase among spons officials these hotel roomhad left n note in which he re-
days. ferred t o a match fixing cartel
Sepp Blatter of FI FA and Jacques The invest ignlion that followed led to
Rogge of lhc I nt ernational Olympic the bans, issued late Friday night, even
Committee speak about it. South Korea before the st:it e s tarted its prosecution.
practices it. Eight of the indicted players are from
This past weekend, 10 Korean profes- the Daejeon Citizen club. One is from
sional soccer players were banned ror Gwnngju, and one from Sangmu
life from playing the game. The men, in Phoenix.
duding one former national team player, The Sangmu player. Kim Dong-hyun,
i Kim Donghyun, have yet t o face crimin is in big trouble. His team is run by the
al prosecution. But the Korea Football military, and military prosecutors arc
Association has banned them anyway. on the case. If lhe KLeague verdict
"We made t.he decision determined holds, not only will he never represent
that this would be the fir.a and last south Korea again, but he, and the oth
matchftxing scandal in the league," er n ine barred players, will not be aJ.
I said Kwak Young<heol. the head of the lowed to be involved in any way at all
K-League disciplinary commiuee. with soccer.
"Players must keep in mind that they An llth player, Kim Jung-kyum of the
will be kicked out of the sport perma Pohang Stcclers. was handed a five-
nently if they get caught committing yeor ban after allegations that he
wrongdoing." The 10, and four other learned of the Oaejeon Citizen plot and
men accused of c:ollaborating to ftx the bet on it.
outcome or matches for belting pur- No dub officials ore accused or
poses, could, if convicted in coun, face knowing Of the plot lhOl allegedly SlOI'
seven years in jail.
The association, it seems. has con-
' duded their guilt, though Kwak con
ceded that the life bans would be re-
viewed if they \\'ere cleared in criminal
proeeedings.
This, remember, is the Republic of
Korea - not Nonh Korea.
The K.F.A., the parent body to the 28
year-old K-league, has been built up
through its past president, Chung
Mongjoon, a leading lawmaker in the
""'""""""".....,,.,
Kim Donghyun was gl\'en ;a llfet lme ban.
National Assembly in Seoul.
Chung was recen tly deposed as a
vice president of FIFA, in part because led with one player's being paid 120
his straight talk sat uncomfortably million won. about $110,000. :ind distrif>.
with some of the corrupt practices now ut ing it to t cammates .
being unraveled at the top of the world They lost the game against Pohang
! governing body of soccer. Steclers in April.
1
By coincidence, Italy's courts are still Howe\'er, the clubs pay a penalty -
1
sitting on lhe case or Luciano Moggi and an ironic one: they will be docked a
I Antonio Giraudo, the m en barred for large pan of the nearly 270 million won
I five years for their alleged roles in the paid annually to each KLeague terun
Calciopoli corruption case that preceded from, of a.JI things, Sports Toto. That is
Italy's winning the 2006 World Cup. South Korea's only licensed sports lot-
Moggi and Girnudo were found. by the t ery.
sports authorities, to have wielded such We are looking al the start of a zcr~
influence over referees that Moggi's tolerance policy that will not be
club, Juventus, won championships that watered down by courts. as it very
were later stripped from the records. likely might in Europe or the United
But Moggi has not gone away. He States.
still contributes coruscating co1umns to No matter how good Kim Dong-hyun
the Libero newspaper and acerbic corn- was on the field, t he chances of his get
, mcntaries on Telcapri Sport TV. He is t ing an amnesty and a recall to t he na
still in coun. in Naples, pleading that tional squad are long.
I he has always been innocent and was
l framed in relation to caJciopoli and oth-
He has all the time In the world now
t o reflect on t he renl meaning of iero
1 er cases involving a player agency. tolerance. And he might, if Kim is a stu
I n the same week that South Korea dent of soccer his tory, think his misfor-
Copyright 201 1 by The New York Tirnes Co. Reprinted w ith permission.
THE NEW YORK TIMES, THURSDAY,]ULY7, 2011 BJJ
I.O.C. AWARDS
2018 WINTER GAMES
TO A SOUTH KOREAN
RESORT
BY .J ERE LO.\l C ~IA\l ASD Cl IO E SANG -II UN
T
he W inter O lympics were awa rded fo r rhe fi rsr grearer rhan rhe orher bids - $ 1.5 billion for the actu-
ri me ro Sourh Korea o n Wednesday as rhe al- al Ga mes a nd $2 billion to $6 billion fo r infrasrrucru re
pine resort of Pyeongchang was named hosr of projects, according ro news reporrs, as Pyeongchang
rhe 2018 Ga mes. seeks to become a regional w inrer sports hub.
Pyeongchang had been a persisrenr ca ndid are fo r a de- T he Sourh Korean candidacy also enjoyed w idespread
cade, fini shing second ro Va ncouver in the voting fo r public support, which t he I.O.C. considers an impor-
the 2010 Games and ro Sochi, Russia, fo r the 20 14 ta nt facto r. Its pla n to have all evenrs wirhin 30-min-
O lympics. It built its successful ca ndidacy fo r 201 8 ure's drive from Pyeongcha ng appa rently was also
on a proposal to expa nd access to winrer sporrs in rhe appea li ng. And the Olym pic delegates seemingly were
populous and lucrative Asian ma rket. swayed by the fac r thar Sout h Korea's president, Lee
Myung-bak, t raveled to Durban to make a personal
T he South Korea n city won overwhelmingly on
pirch fo r the 20 18 Ga mes.
the first ballot of a secret vo te of d elegates of the
International O lympic Committee, receiving 63 vores, But rhe most persuasive facto r in Pyeongcha ng's bid
compared with 25 fo r Munich a nd 7 for Annecy, may have been the c ha nce to furt her expa nd the popu-
France. Voting took place ar a general asse mbly of rhe larity of winter sports in a country that had not pre-
I.O.C. in D urba n, Sourh Africa. viously hosted rhe W imer Olympics. Pyeongchang is
about I 00 mi les east of Seoul, t he South Korean capi-
"There is maybe a lesson in the achievement of
ra l, which has a popularion of more rhan 10 million.
Pyeongchang," Jacques Rogge, the president of rhe
I.O .C., said at a news con fere nce. "Patience a nd perse- Andrew Judelson, rhe c hief revenue a nd market-
verance have prevailed." ing officer for rhe Un ired Srares Ski and Snowboard
Associario n, said in a sraremenr, "The O lympics w ill
Pyeongcha ng will be the t hi rd Asian city to host rhe
benefit fro m rerurn ing to Asia and especially Korea,
W imer Games, after Sapporo, Japa n, in 1972 and
which has become a major global business cenrer."
Naga no, Japan, in 1998 . l rs budger fo r 20 18 was far
OLYMPICS
-...
u'Jl'dtd for the firss llmt to ac:hle\'t'mffil of Pyrongchang; Ou1 the mosi pttSu.351\"e f3C10< to bnn& tM ,.:orkl's bipttt the hose ol the' I~ Surnmtr
JacqUts Rogge, the pttSldent o1 in P) 11ngchmg's bed may ha\ e sparung ~cnu 10 rbcn v.httr Olympics. South Kett01 v. H the
South Kort3 on WtdMSCbf as sovrn
the 1.0C.. p><t :u a nr.r.-s conftt bttn the chan to lunhn" ex thl') h3d not bttn prt\'lOUSI)' ro-host "uh Japan of t ht 2002
lh< lllp<no ....., "' P)'tOngch.l"lt KOREA
\lo'3j Mmtd host ol the 2018
tnce. "'Pautt1ee and perse'~r p;i.nd the populanly ot v.;mer Mid. Tlle 2014 W1nttt Games wlll WorkJC\lp.
Carnes.
a.nee tu\>e prC't':l.I~. spons 1n a count!")' t?ut had not go 10 Russii fw the (1r5t llmc and Yet. corrupoon 1n\ohing h11th
Pycongc:h.i.ng will be the third prt\10051)' hostrd tht Wmt'1" the 2016 Summer G3mts v.:111 be rnnkmg Olymf( offic1.'\J' lrom
Pyeongchang had bttn :t ~r Asian cuy 10 host the \Vmter Olymp.cs. Pyeongcha.ng lS about held for 1he hrst 11mc in South South Kore01 has alJo hrouaht
si11ent Cl1Khda1e for a decade, C11mes, nfttr Snpporo. J3p:sn. m 100 nults c;ut ol Seoul. the South Ame nca. v.1th Rio de Jant1ro LU emb.1rrnssment 10 t he 1.0.C. Kim
finishing second 10 Vaneotl\'t'r In 1972 nnc.I Nn.gano, Japan. in 199S. l\orcan c:1~1 nl, ""'Inch has a pop-
1he \'OC1n,g for the2010 CnmM nnd host. Un-yong, a formtt 1.0.C. v.ce
II'\ budget for 2018 was far great ul:ulon or mort than 10 million. p~1den1, rcs~gned In 200' afttr
10 Socht. Russa.'l, lor lhe 201'1 The mono ot the Pytongchang
er 1tm11 1he other bids - SLS b1l Andrew Judelson. the!: chief being <'onv1c:tl'd of embelUe-
Olympics. It ~nit its succn.sful lion for Che actw.I Gnmt1 and $l btd was "new horizons; which
rl'vcnuc and nurkeung offi<'tt mrnt. Lee Kunhtt. lht chalnnan
c:1.nd1cbcy fOt' 2018 on a propcn.nl b1lhon 10 $6 billion tor mfr.mruc- Cho Yangho. 1he ~ comm1t1ce's
for 1hc Uni ted States Ski nnd
<'h3Jrm.3n, d~nbed as an oppor
of samtJung, an Olympic spon.w, 09. ...... ~r..u
10 exp.lnd XC6S 10 \\inter sports
tun: pl"Oft'CU, nccordmR lo ne'olo"S Snowboard As.soc1.iuon. said m a rtlmqu1~htd his dut1n as an
in 1he popolou~ and IU(T.1the l umty to l'KJ)alld wmll'1' spons Pyeongchang .ec.ka 10 bt.-come
As1anmartet.
reporu.'" Pyeongd1:rng seeks to s 1:ucmtnl. "The Olymp.cs "",u 10 new ~s of Ille W"Orkl Md
1.0.C. deltg.lte in 2003 and v.1u
a. rqiionnl winte r sports hub.
be<ol:nt a ttx.c>nal wmtl!r s.poru bene fit from ttlUmmg to ASl.3 convicted ot ta_'ll e\':rnon; he "'m
The South Korean 01y won hub and cspcoa.lly Korea, wtuch tw g.we opportumty to new J>l"'OPltt blt'r pardontd and rttumtd his
O\~hdmingly on the first bal Thl" South Kore:.n candidacy become a m.1JOr gk>baJ busmess 103ccess 10 the \V1mcrG;uues. role w11h 1he 1.0 C. lasl )~o.r. $12m1llion.
kM of a ~ ' -01e of ~leg:atn of nlJO tilJOYcd wklesprtad pubhc Ct'ntct." P.u k Yonc-sung, htad ot 1he Part, the head of Sotnh Kort :i'a 1bc nc-A-s of Pycongchm&'s
the lntnational OlympK Com suppon, ,... hteh the 1.0 .C. cons1d In a fin:ll pitch to 1.0.C. ddc- South KortM Olympic Comnul Olymp1t Comrmll~. wns c:om'1Cl vtetory came near nudmght In
mllltt, rcawmg 63 votes, corn ers nn lmpon:mt rac1or. Its plan g:.tes on \\'cdnesd:iy, Pyt"Ong tee. said 1tut P)'t0ngch3111:'s \'I<' cd or embeulcm ent but par SOuth t\orca. tn the reson , \'11138
pared with ?S for Munkh and 7 10 havt nll t \encs w11hm 30- chang's bid lt:idcrs d1spl:t,)'td a tory "g.:we new hope for those d~ doned in 2007. 010, l he chairma n crs d;u1ccd and wa\'cd natlon;ll
for AnnK)', Frnncc. Vo1i11g took rmnutcs drl\'c from Pycong m ap showing lh:lt 19 of the prev1 \eloping <'oumne-s, becnusc 111 or Pytongchnn1fs bid com111111~ nnd Olympic rtags.
place at a gcncr:i.I asSt'mbly of chnnx npparcntly was also ap- ous 21 W1n1cr Games h3d been the past we think 1he Ol)'mp1c:s and of Kor~an Air, was cl13rgtd "This Is a \'ktory tor the proplc
llCl'llmg. And the Olympic dcle- held In Europe and North Amer ~ire only for the rich nnd big roun- with cax evnslon in 1999 and )\IV of Sou1h Koren: l..cc, the coun
Ch~ San.i:hun rrporrtd from gu1cs Sct"mmgly were sw:iycd by lea. s uggesting 11 was tune to give trics." en n 1hrcc-ycnr pri:scm ter m, but t1')"S president, s..'tid from Our
St'Oul, Sou1h KOrt!il. the fnct 1htll South l\orcn's pr<.'SI Asia another chance. South Koren ha..'i &hO'A'n 11..S abtl settled with the JtO\'ernmcnt for ban.
I
In addition to being rhe hosr of rhe 1988 Summer
Pyeongcha ng's bid leade rs displayed a map show- Oly mpics, Sourh Korea was rhe co-hosr wirh Japan of
ing rhar 19 of rhe previous 2 1 W inter Games had rhe 2002 World C up.
been held in Europe and Norrh America, suggesting ir
Yee, corru prion in volvin g high-ranking Olympic of-
was rime to give Asia ano rher cha nce.
ficials from Souch Korea has a lso bro ughc embarrass-
Wednesday's vore was in keeping wirh rece nt arre mprs ment to rh e 1.0.C. Kim Un-yong, a former l.0.C.
by rhe O lympics and soccer's World C up to bring vice presidenr, resigned in 2005 after being convict-
rhe world 's biggest sporri ng events to places where ed of embezzle ment. Lee Kun-hee, rhe chairman of
rhey had nor been previously held. T he 20 14 W inter Sa msung, an O lympic sponsor, relinquished his duties
Ga mes wil l go to Russia for rhe firsr time and rhe 2016 as an 1.0.C. delegate in 2008 and was convicted of tax
Summer Ga mes wi ll be held for the first rime in Sourh evasion; he was larer pardoned and resumed his role
America, with Rio de Ja ne iro as hosr. with rhe 1.0 .C. lasr year.
The n1otto of rhe Pycongchang bid was "ne\v hori- Park, rhe head of Sourh Korea's O lympic Committee,
zons," wh ich C ho Yang-ho, rhe bid commitree's cha ir- was convicted of embezzleme nt bur pardoned in 2 007.
man, described as an opporruniry to "expand winter C ho, rhe cha irman of Pyeongcha ng's bid comm ittee
spores to new regions of the world and give opporru- a nd of Korea n Air, was charged with rax evasion in
nity to new peoples to access to rhe W imer Ga mes." 1999 and given a rhree-year priso n rerm, bur serried
wirh rhe governmenr for $ 12 mi llion.
Pa rk Yong-sun g, head of rhe South Korea n O lympic
Com mittee, said that Pyeongchang's victory "gave T he news of Pyeo ngcha ng's victory ca me near m id-
new hope for those developing countries, because in night in Sourh Korea. Jn rhe resorr, villagers danced
rhe pasr we rh ink rhe O lympics a re on ly fo r rhe rich a nd waved nationa l and O lympic flags.
and big countries."
"This is a victory for rhe people of Sout h Korea," Lee,
Sourh Korea has shown irs ability to orga ni ze major in- rhe country's president, sa id from Durban.
rern ariona l sporting events over rhe pasr rwo decades.
Choe Sa11g-hu11 reported from Seoul, South Korea.
Copyright 2011 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with permission.
IN THE NEW YORK TIMES
THENEWYORKTIMES, THURSDAY,]ANUARY14,2010 A16
YOUTH PROGRAM
INSPIRE S
DREAMS OF
KOREAN UNITY
BY CllO E SA.SC- II N
W
end Program ror South~ North Korean s.c:hools. the Northerners en Ju Jin-ho arrived here fro m Norrh
Kort;an Ttt:rl3Cf'S Togethtt. w.u att lorced t o begin nearly from
btgun Wt August by the Rev.
Benjamin H. Yoon. 80. lhe ~ader
scra1e:h. In the North, they spent
as much lJme le3mlng :about the
Korea in 2006, ir was as if he had come to
of the Ouzcns' AJll;incc for North family of th~r ka(lcr, Kim Jong
Korean Human Rig h1s. ii, "-' they did :'lbottt the rest ot n alie n contine nt, nor just rhe southern
'"Although we share the same Kore3n lu.story. F'e w learned
,;enrs. Soi.uh and North Koreans
lhe hke comp letely di fferent iX"O"
Eng.h~h. wluch Is 3 requirement
in Somh Korean schools. Dropout
half of the Korea n Peninsula.
pies. "'ith different accems,. dlf r.1tes nmong defl"C'tors arc fi\"t'
T hey attend concerts. T hey cook, comparing North and Ms. Pa rk said she used co look down o n North Koreans.
South Korean dishes. The North Ko reans, who arc adept " I associated them with something poor, dark and neg-
at farming, have shown the South Koreans how to har- ative," she said.
vest yams and make scarecrows. The teenagers from the
South give chose from the North tips on how to succeed
socially and academi cally. T hey have made friends.
A
lthough many successful South Koreans have
their roots in the North, a stereotype has de-
Yeloped here of Northerners as seco nd-class
Koreans, need y and starving, bur also surly and bel-
ligerent. The mistrust is mutual. In the North, teachers
tell child ren rhar South Korea is an Am erica n co lony, a
s pringboard for a future invasion, many defecro rs say.
Copyright 2010 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with permission.
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY.JUNE 13, 2010 RE4
THE PLACE
'FIT LIKE A JACKET'
BY CONSTA NCE HOSENBL UM
The Place
'Fit Like a Jacket'
Uy CONSTA.."CF. ROSF..NHLUM
OHLIHC: TAILORED TO S UIT
ll E np.mmcm in Jac"'5on
T
he apa rrm enr in Jackso n H eights, Q ueens,
w here Sa ng a nd Minja Ji have li ved fo r nine d eeply rom antic.
yea rs fairl y explodes w ith o riginal and unusua l
"It's as if with a soft wave o f her tail , M inja was invit-
wo rks o f a rt.
ing me to chase after her," Mr. Ji likes to say.
Above the so fa han gs a mi xed-media piece by the
H is wife o ffers a less sentimenta l readin g. "Jn my opin-
Aust ra lian artist David Bromley, a dream y depiction
io n," M s. Ji sa id, 'Tm the o ne swim ming behind him
o f a boy su rrou nded by images of ca rs, boars and air-
and jusr quierly watching his back."
planes. Overlo oki ng their bed is a watercolor o n ha nd-
m ad e pa per show in g Vietnamese women immersed 111 Despite their different reactions to the im age, the Jis are
their da ily cho res. in m any ways very much alike. T hey have similar fa m-
ily backg rounds a nd have pursued sim ilar ca reers. A nd
Bur o ne o f t he m os r fetching pieces is a crea my white
they discovered each other in a New Yo rk sort of way.
wa ll hang ing, its surface in terrupted o n ly by a pair o f
sleek golden ko i.
bur it's true ."
M
r. Ji , who is 35, immig rated fro m Korea
wirh his parents w hen he was 10, a nd was
The apartment has a disti nctly Korean atmosphere,
ra ised in Elmhurst , one subway srop away
and nor jusr because the Jis ask visitors ro remove rheir
from where he lives today. After graduati ng from rhe
shoes upon entering, as is customa ry in many As ia n
Fashion l nsriru re of Tech nology, he went to work as an
households. D uring the couple's Korea n wedd ing
assistant pattern maker. Today he is director of techni-
trip, t hey boughr several pieces of a ntiq ue furn iture,
cal services for t he desig ner Na rc iso Rod ri guez.
among them a 19th-centu ry c hest studded with iron
Ms. Ji, who is 38 a nd immig rated from Korea in 1994, ha rdwa re, a low schol a r's cable char now d oes duty as a
a lso graduated from F. l.T. She met her furure husba nd television stand , a nd an a rmoi re made of Korea n pine,
when he interviewed he r for a n inrern's job as an entry- notable for irs densely dera iled gra in.
level pattern maker at J. C rew, w here he was wo rking
Opposite rhe bed hangs a ha nd-carved woode n plaque
ar the rime.
wirh a Biblical verse in Ko rea n rhar reads in pa re,
"H e was very roug h," said Ms. Ji , who is now a director "With your blessing the house of your se rvant will be
of tech nical desig n for Ann Taylo r. " H e was nor quite blessed foreve r," a wedding gift from rheir ch urch, rhe
happy w irh my work." Flushing Korean C hu rch of rh e Nazarene.
Norwirhs ra nd ing rhis in ausp icious srart, rhe rwo be- Many of their furnishings are rh e work of marquee-
ga n d ating secretly. They quickly became a couple, name desig ners, a mo ng them t he M ichael Ara m sil ver
a nd in April 200 1 traveled ro Ko rea, where Ms. ]i 's ca ndlesticks, rhe Simon Pea rce wooden bowls a nd rhe
pa rents live, to be married. Barbara Ba rry cherry-wood chest. (The J is are adept ar
shopping sa mple sales and snapping up floor models.)
A yea r ea rlie r they had sca rred looking for a permanent
home, and one of t he first places they saw was t his very A few couches sra nd as a remi nder of the couple's pro-
apartment. fessio nal inte rests. A pa ir of dressmaker's dumm ies
preside over the Jis' workroo m, li ke mute sentries keep-
"It fel t as if ir fit like a jacket," Mr. Ji said, choosing
ing guard.
an appropriate me tapho r. " It was over our budget , but
t hanks to so me creative math we made an offer. Then The shelves rhar line a wall of t he d ini ng area a re
it was pulled from the ma rker. We were heartbroken." crammed w irh glossy books o n figu res like Yohji
Yamamoto, Yves Saint Laurent and H enri Carrier-
The couple wrore t he owner a lerte r, sayin g t hat if she
Bresson. Mr. Ji 's libra ry a lso incl udes a po ignanr relic
ever decided ro relist rhe apart menr they were definite-
from his childh ood, dozens of leather-bound classics,
ly inreres red. T hey never hea rd a word.
among rhe m "Iva nhoe," "Little Women" and "War
And so the ir sea rch conri nued , rig ht up ro a memo- and Peace," rheir rides embossed in gold.
rable day rhe following Ja nu ary. O n that day they were
"This was my mom 's attempt to make me read more
taken ro visit a co-op rhat, as described by the broker,
books," Mr. Ji said . "Jc did n't exactl y work."
sounded eerily familiar.
The Ji s' apartment has o ne obvious drawback. D espite
"We rurned a corner, an d o ur hearts sca rred pound-
nine-foot ceilings, cream-colored wal ls and living
ing," Mr. Ji said. "We looked at each o ther and asked
room w indows char overlook rhe street, some of rhe
ourselves, cou ld it be? Then, sure enough, we stopped
rooms ca n be d a rk.
in front of this bui ld ing."
"So we said ro o urselves, let's embrace t he darkness,"
The origin al purchase price of $ 145,000 had cl imbed
Mr. Ji said . "Let's make the apartme nt even darker."
to $ 165,00 0 - even more of a fina ncial reach - bur
The ea rth-roned furn irure cont ributes to t his look, as
rhe Jis were nor deterred.
do rhe cherry-wood blinds coverin g the living room
"We didn't want co seem roo desperate," M r. Ji said. windows.
"We ca lled that evening."
T he couple would be rhe firs t ro admit chat for every
Their apartment is in a five-srory red brick building deco rating triumph there have been a few awful mis-
on 78 rh Street, and faces a lush courtya rd ga rden fi lled steps. The C ha rles Shack leton cherry-wood armoire,
with floweri ng plants and mature t rees. Ever since rhe originally intended for the liv ing room, never qu ite fit
bu ildin g went up nea rly a century ago, t his oasis has in and was sadly ex iled ro the work room.
been one of its grear selli ng points. To rhe Jis, whose
"And this is our third rug," Mr. Ji said, pointing to
bedroom and kitchen overlook rhe garden, rhe big ciry
rhe robacco-colored Ti betan rug fro m Dolma o n
seems miles away.
Lafayet te Street chat was ca rted ho me by subway a nd
"We wake up a nd hea r birds singing," Mr. Ji said. "We ra xi. "When we la id it our o n the floor, we were just so
feel rhe sun in ou r faces. I realize it sounds like a cliche, rel ieved that somethin g finally worked."
KOREAN TRADITION,
ITALIAN STYLE
BY G ISELA \VI LLlJ\J"S
F
rom the outside, the home of Simone Ca rena so chat the open ing - and the courtyard - would
and J ihye Shin looks like a rraditiona l Korean face west, offering views over the surrounding roof-
ho use, or hanok, with its carved wooden door tops, roward the sunset. "And towards Iraly," he sa id .
and pagoda-style roof But the cherry red Ducari
The construction cost about $ 150,000 a nd was a con-
parked out front hints at something unexpected in-
stant battle, he said, because skilled traditional build-
side: a modern , lofrli ke space in an eye-popping shade
ers are hard ro find - they work almost exclusively on
of bamboo green.
large jobs, li ke museums or palaces, for organizations
"We wanted a strong natura l color that would bring the that can pay t heir high fees - and most of chem te nd
outside in," said M r. Carena, 41, a fo und ing partner ro be wa ry of unconventional design solutions.
of Moroelastico, an architecture firm with offices in
Needless ro say, there were problems. Soon after Mr.
Seoul and T u rin, lraly. "Simila r ro the conrrast you get
Carena and Ms. Shin moved into t he two-story,
from bamboo leaves against a backdrop of black tiles."
1,100-square-foot home in Apri l, they discovered
T he couple bought the property in the Samcheong- leaks around the windows above the kitchen cabinets.
dong district in the spri ng of 2007, fo r 280,500,000 So M r. Carena came up with a n innovative solution:
South Korean won, or about $300,000 ar the time. a "little microsystem," as he put it, that uses gutters
and plastic funnels to direct ra inwater into fl ycatcher
"Everyone we knew here thought we were crazy ro buy a
plants and a miniature herb ga rden.
hanok," sa id Mr. Carena, who moved ro Seoul from Italy
in 2001, ro reach at the International Design School fo r The house is full of co ncealed storage and clever de-
Advanced Studies, now part of Hongik University. sign ideas. A wi ndow cut into the courtyard floo r and
framed with mirrors brings light into the cellar room
At first, so did his wife, a fashion designer who grew
below and offers a " kaleidoscopic view" of the archi-
up in a hanok nea rby and remembered what it was like
tecture, Mr. Carena said. A tiny terrace set on rop of
ro live in a house without modern amen ities - and
the kitchen offers the co uple a nd their I-year-old son,
the inconvenience of having ro use an outhouse, espe-
Felice, a place to enjoy the view of Mount Inwang dur-
cially during Seou l's harsh winters.
ing the summ er.
"Even my parents advised us aga inst it," said Ms. Shin,
And unusual decorative elements - like the enor-
3 1. "But l believed in Simone."
mous convex mi rror (typically used ro provide visibi l-
le tu rned our ro be the right decision. In recent yea rs, ity around tight turns on roads) and the stud io lights
the neighborhood has become one of Seoul 's most in t he living room - create "the feeling of a film set,"
fas h ionable districts, w ith a new cafe or ga llery open- he said.
ing every few months, Mr. Carena said, and rhe prop-
"This house is a puzzle of open views and hidden sror-
erty has tripled in value.
age," he continued. Of course, a ll those open views
Because the house was in "very bad cond it ion," he said, make it easy for others to look in.
they decid ed ro tea r it down and build a new one in-
"One of our neighbors warned us one day t hat he saw
stead of renovating, reusing the origina l roof tiles and
us dancing in t he kitche n," Mr. Ca rena said. "We
found ation srones.
didn't mind, but J buil t a smal l bli nd for his sake."
Mr. Carena and his partner at Moroelastico, Marco
Bru no, designed a U-shaped structure, positioning it
O N LOCATI ON
3. ln51ead ol rcnc:Nat-
ing the ooginal house
on mo site, ""i\oeh was
in OOd st\.lpe. they
1ore 11 <-n and bu:JI a
new one. rrusaigthe
old rod lales and Joun.
"""""Slones
4. The Wing room has
a stnr.en S4tJng are.i
MCI unusuat deeora-
INC clcmcnts, kko a
1ralhc minoc. studlo
lights and a gr.in! re.
mote con1101. lO create
"lhc rcehng of a film
sel. Mt. Qlrena said
7. ThocclbtroomtSusedla$10t300,andasa
playroom and bedroom f0t Felce
By CJSEL\ Wll.UAMS
SEOUL. Scxuh Korea 8. In the office arc.a. the desk on the nght whdl
ROM theotll~dc. the home of SnnOlt("
racos thO sunken seating arC.l in lhO IMOQ rocm
F
Clren:i and Jihye Sh in looks hke a tm OOublcS as o drning room table Ovcrhoad IS a
dition:il Korean house. or hnnok. w11h IOI! bed. bu"'t into the cc1:.ng
its carved v.1)()(Jcn door :md pagoda
style roof. But tht' cht'rry red Duc..itl
9 . Tr\O nouso h3s two smau OO:lhroom5 ThO ono
parked out front hintS at S01nc1hing
uncXP<"Clt"d inside: :i mOdcm. loflhke odJClff"ll"IQ !ho bedroom IS lined wnh mosatc 111o~
sp.1ce i n M cyt--pOpping sh..~ of bamboo J;retn. wchased llomsevcrol ShopS., South Korea
"' We 'N'aflled a slrong na1ural color ltull would
bnng the outside In,'" said Mr. C:lttn:t. -41, a foond
Ing 1>3r1nc:r ot Motoebsuc:o. an :1rd11ttorc firm
with omccs an Seoul 3nd Thnn. Italy. Sim1W 10
the contruc )'OU g et from bamboo ktli\"t"S 11gl\ln!>t :11
bocl<dn>p ol bl.xk . -
The coupit bouJ:,ht the propmy in the Som
c.hlin&-don& dmnct In 1he 5pnn.s ol %001. for archumure, Mr. sakl.
280.$00,000 South Kt'.nJ.n ""On. or about SJ00.000 at mos1 f:Wuonab&c dlStncts, with a nt'Vo' o.tc or ! dUSil\"dy on ~ )Obs.. bkt museum1 or palacu.. sropte vtr'W. of~ Cl~
u.. .,,,,., ~ optnin,g t"\'try few months. Mr. C:.U-m.i. ukl, for i.wp.nu.:auons chat can pay thttr high ftt::s - A 1my ICl"f:.l set on lop al the knchm olfers the
ilnd the property~ 1npled In value. and ~ ol lhern t~ 10 be wary of uncon\"Cfllion- roup&e and lht-ir I-year-old son. Feta, ., pbct' 10
E\"C'f')"OJ\C' ""Cknew h~ thought we wtre
~U$C tht house WM ~n "'\'tt')' bad condl- 3l dt'SllJ\ solutJOns. t'njoy 1he ~of Mount lnwang dunng thf: ~m
uaiy to buy ah."lnok; $3id M r. Cattn.l. who 100\'ed
10 Seoul from It.My an 2001. 10 IC.-.Ch :u the In..
ltm.tlt!Oml Design Schc:lo' for Adv:mcN Studlt'S.
uon; he s."Ud. thty dtodtd 10 lr:at ~t ctov. n and
build a new one in.:Mead of r enov01;t1ng. rtullnJ lhc
Nttdltss to s::iy, there tr-e probk-ms.. Soon ;,f.
1er Mr. Carcn:a and Ms. Shin f'OO'\'Cd inco the cwo- """And unus~ dccorauve eltmcnts - hkc 1hc
on1tirull rool 11ln 3:11d found:l.uon stOOM. scory, 1,100-squace-f(IO( homt m April, 1hcy dlscov enormou i con\-cx mirror (l)'J)IC.311)' used to provide
now pan of Hong.ik Univtrsay. t'red ~aks around t~ windows nbo\'e lhe k1tthnl \'1slblh1y around tight turns on ro.ids) ruid the stu
At first. sod.id his ....-ire.a fashion designer who Mr. Cotren3 and his 1>attner :it Motocl.-uuro,
catkneu. So M r. Can:na came up with an lnnov3- d10 Ughts an the IMng room - cre:ue "'th(- fee-ting
grew up In 3 tunok nea rby :md remembered \\hat M:u-co Hru no. deslg.ncd ::i Ushaped struc1ure. PC>S m e solution: a "little: microsys1em." as he put 11. olufilm sei .-hes.\id.
It was like 10 h\e inn house wnhout rnodun amen 11oning i1 so lh<'I the opening - and 11\e tour1ynr1I 1hat u~ guuers aod plasuc funnels 10 cllrect mln 111Js house Is a puule of open views alld hid
i1ics - and the inconvenience o f h.'lvm~ 10 use nn - would face v."t offtnni: vi~ s O\'tr the a ur water Into flycatcher pl:i.ms and a mlnl;uure herb de n !i l orag~.p he continued. or ('()Ur$(', :tll t hose
outhOUSC', tspeciallyduring Sooul's hllr.Sh winters. rounding rooftops. towa.r d Ille s uns.et. "'A1XI 10- .:.irdm. 01>en \>Jews make It C'J.S)' for othen to look m.
"'E\en my parents at.lvut'd us .,~'\Jn" h; "--Ud ward s l1aJy; hes.'\id. The house Is f ull ol conccal~'11 stora.gt' nlld one of our ncighbors w:1.med us one I.by t hat
Ms.Shin.JI. nut I bei1C\'t.-d In Sunooe.- The construction cost nbout SIS0,000 ;md wa" c~"er dnla.n Micas. A window cut ln10 I' court he S<IW us d.i.ncmg 111 thc kuche:n. Mr. Caterui said.
11 mrntd out 10be1hc nght dlsion. In rtttlll a COllSU'.llll 00tt~. he S3Jd, bc~U~ ilul ~ tradition )'ard floor and frarntd "'ith m1rron brinltS hatn .. We didn't mmd, but I built a s mall blind fOf" !us
years. the netghborhood tw ~ oot of Seciurs :ii bulklcrs arc h.lrd lO find - they 1A'Of1' 3lm0it ex Into the <'tll.lr room below Md offers a pka16do- sak~.p
Copyright 2010 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with permission.
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2010 TR13
SEOUL
BY J\H IC Cl I EN
FROM LEll"T Cooling off artcr a sauna at the 11prnwlio g Dragon I !ill Sp11 & Resort ; sam pling burbccut..'tl pork belly ni "IAclak ne~r the Hongdae 11i wlit 1ife di suict; neon.lit strec1scene in Hongdne.
0
Uy ARICCllEN 7:lOp.m.
ASTILY rebuilt after the
4 p.m .
l) CU LTURE, T H EN A N D NOW
H
ast ily rebui lt after the Korea n War, Seoul is
shedd ing its once-gritty image co become one T he convergence of arr and arch itectu re, Korea n a nd
of Asia's most glittering metropolises. Under Western, old and new, finds a marquee home at the
irs design-obsessed mayo r, Oh Se-hoon, rhe ciry has Leeu m, Sa msung Museum of Art (747- 18 H anna m-
been spiffed up with everythi ng from sleek bus shelters dong, Yongsan-gu; 82-2-20 14-6900; leeum .sam su ng-
co decked-out bridges. What's more, it was named this foundarion.org). Squ irreled away in a hi lly residentia l
yea r's World D esign Capita l by a n internat ional de- section of rhe Iraewon a rea, rhe museum showcases
sig n all ia nce. Bur rhar's just rhe beginni ng. Seoul has rhe Samsu ng Foundatio n's impressive art collectio n
a boom ing contempora ry a rr scene, fashionable scores in a campus of buildi ngs designed by Rem Koolhaas,
rh roughour rhe u rban landscape, a nd a thriving pop Jean Nouvcl and Ma rio Borra. Pieces dare fro m his-
and youth culru re t hat now rivals t hat of other Asia n toric Korean Buddh ist pai ntings a nd celadon cera mics
capitals like Tokyo. to works by Mark Rorhko, A nish Kapoor and Na m
June Paik. T hen, for a contrast co t he Leeu m's pol-
ished presentation, walk five m inures co Ggooll (683-
3 1 H a nnam-dong, Yongsan-gu; 82-70-4 127-6468;
choijeonghwa.com). T he experi mental arrisr C hoi
Jeong Hwa has tu rned t his fo rmer hovel into a riot-
ous, well, hovel that doubles as a cafe and alternative
ga llery.
7:30 p.m.
2) KIMCHI REDUX
It was only a matter of t ime be fore Korea n cu isine got
rhe nouvelle treatment, and a pioneer in this growing
movement is Jung Sik Dang (3F, Acros BI D, 649-7
Sinsa-dong, Ga ngnam-gu; 82-2-5 17-4654; jungsik-
dang.com), nex t co Dosan Park. T he di ni ng roo m is
modern and subdued , with white tablecloths a nd leath-
er c hai rs. The rotating set menu ( I00,000 or 120,000
won, or about $92 or $ 110 at 1,085 won co t he dollar)
m ight include sea squi rt bib im bap, a nchovy paella and
"Five Senses Satisfact ion Pork Belly." T here is just a
handfu l of rabies, so be sure co make a reservat ion.
10 :30 p.m.
3) SEOUL AFTE R DARK
Seoul has a panoply of night-life districts that carer to
different crowds, bur perhaps rhe trendies t is Garosu-
gil. It's home.; to cure cafes and im maculate boutiques
like p. 532 and l imo O utler, bur at night its ma ny bars
throb to life. Two cool spots include Cafe des Arrs
(2F, 545 Sinsa-dong, Ga ngna m-gu ; 82-2-54 1-0507),
w it h irs beer and flea market vibe, and the yuppie-ish,
dark-and-moody W ine & D ine (535- 18 Sinsa-dong,
Ga ngna m-gu ; 82-2-545 -6677).
Saturday Seoul. The hea rt of temptation lies in the Cheongda m-
IOa.m . dong distric t, and spreads o ur from there. Watch inter-
national brands try to outdo one a nother, be it with
4) DESIGN DIGS
the vegetation-covered Ann Demeulemeester (650- 14
The D ongdaemun Design Plaza, a massive complex Sinsa-dong, Ga ngna m-gu; 82-2-3442-2570 ; a nnde-
designed by Za ha Hadid, will be a cemerpiece of meulemeester.be); the new concrete-on-conc rete R ick
Seoul's design transformation when it is co mpleted as Owens (65 1 Sinsa-d ong, Ga ngnam-gu; 82-2-5 16-
ea rly as 201 2. Though still under construction, its im- 22 17; rickowens.eu); or rhe u napologerically decadent
pressive, space-age skeleton is already worth a look (2 10 Corso Como (79 C heongdam-dong, Gang nam-gu;
Eu lji-ro 7-ga, Jung-gu; 82-2-2266-7330; seouldesign. 82-2-30 18- 1010; JOcorsocomo.co.k r). For homegrown
or.kr). So is the new H ad id-designed park that sur- . lu xury emporiums, stop by Boon the Shop (89-3
rounds it, wh ich elega ntly incorporates recently dis- a nd 79-1 3 C heongda m-d ong, Gangnam-gu; 82-2-
covered ruins, includi ng a military complex from the 542-8006 ; boonrheshop.com) and t he edgier Daily
C hoson dynasty ( 1392-19 10). Small design exhibitions Projects (1-24 C heongdam-do ng, Ga ngnam-gu; 82-2-
accompa ny a museum ch ronicling the site's history. 3218-4075; dai lyprojects.kr). And for local skater a nd
streetwear design, H umantree (4F, 653-1 Sinsa-dong,
11 a.m
Ga ngna m-gu; 82-2-514-3464; humantree.info) shows
5) WH ITE CUBES
off its hoodies and T-shirts next to a Planet of the Apes
T he city's conte mpora ry arr scene is blossoming and blow-up doll.
it's centered in pleasa nt Samcheong-dong. Blue-chip
spaces include Ga llery H yundai (80 Sagan-dong, 7:30 p.m.
Jo ngro-gu; 82-2-2287-3570; ga lleryhyunda i.co m); 8) FASHION BARBECUE
Kukje Gallery (59- 1 Sokeuk-dong, Jo ngro-gu; 82- G iven that its proprie tor is a former ed itor at Vogue
2-735-8449; kukjegallery.com); a nd Ara rio Ga llery Korea, you might expect Tadak (412-29 Hapjeong-
(149-2 Sokeuk-dong, Jongro-gu; 82-2-723-6190; a ra- dong, Mapo-gu; 82-2-333-6564) to be a rad preten-
riogallery.co m). Anchoring the area is rhe Arrsonje tious. Quire rhe opposite. Stylish ye t low-key, this
Center (144 -2 Sokeuk-dong, Jongro-gu; 82-2-733- wa rm-and-woody Korean barbecue restau ra nt opened
8945; a rtsonje.org}, founded in 1998 to support con- earlier this year near the Hongdae srudenr night-life
tempora ry and ex perimental art. Meanwhile, over in district. Beef, pork a nd vegetables a re grilled over wood
the C heongda m area is the Platoon Kunsrha lle (97- charcoal at your cable, accompan ied by all t he pickled
22 Non hyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu; 82-2-3447-11 91; and bean paste fixings. The prices are just as palatable:
kunsthal le.com), an alternat ive art space built from 10,000 won per one-person portion. A serving o f cold
stacked shi pping con tainers. naeng myun nood les is 4,500 won.
Copyright 2010 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with permission.
THE NEWYORKTIMES, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2011 D6
A GRAZING TOUR
OF KOREATOWN
BY BET SY 1\_\'D HE\\'S
T
S25 /\N I> UNl) ER here's a wonder of t hi ngs to ear in Korearow n:
marin ated bu lgogi, mi lky beef-bo ne soup, siz-
A Grazing Tour of Koreatown zli ng bibi m bap. Bur, wit h the bancha n, the
llt:'tL 'S.'llllikrofth111P
T.....
~ ~~
to UtllllClA'ellO'<>"'ll INifl
iutlfd~l'lbt\..V bttf.
Kdlcln--.ISrt't p.Mlo-.llf"
(UH)Tht"'hil.IJlil'Jf-"'loml.
.oftMlll'tfyq&y.lllpkntyd
ft.-lyrM-htbs~klo.ir
rableside gril ling, and the communa l g razing, d ining
S-.OIM~llw~
Wt.,....MdWt.-...1
dllklGl6'1rolir.-d~
tt.l"">- here ca n be a commitment.
:=-..:"""'c-bt ~'l.t,.IW'W\l&lllir
..,,..... o1 r ooocu.1LUn" U ,/I
WhAt lO<lotl)W'rtlwlM'rllll J \11.UlktSll'W'L(lll)M1!6;ia
lortJinchllnbuffJ?LIKlll)' r-s*illlh;oowbnMOWll Kl).
__.._....,_..."'*""
thrn-."""1tra1~ ,_nfl-toa~.~ W hat to do if you're ha nkering for k imchi in a hurry?
MWntM'-".-~.n
..........
.. _.........
lbblibnftlllrt'~ -~
~nit~~
~yte~10Kn1
,,...,,,.....tro-ll..A..tlbl'
lc'u""'PJ...:otk'-t_,chdlJhl' Luckily there are plenty of opportuni ties, new or lesser
111c"mwJ..lt1llciM1UfJ.buttt hlinarealf'W"IM!lot'"""-
l~ln l lwlMO!., hrn loa.t lhtJbof\Jthl 1tw.-.in..i
~f'<_.,.~at.1)1.t b)'l/'wT....._,..h)-.J11ld.
"-0..:0wwwrty~'YCC'nv
known, to snack.
Tbt't..,.,.,.....e..c.u... ~) Ta.np~.,..,.c...,.
~--.ClllllUOO'"' rm~ l'"""at~. ah ... ~n. ..ld}..ftttt-*MudN_...
.iSooxbltarfl,t oolc:dl" porl ""r.o-nt~.
Its ba keries offer scru mptious surprises. T he Japa nese
b.o.ll'tt,.~l,.,..,..., .. f'fl'll(
lt'C~U~lual'iriJol
rrt'mlpuflJ.Al l lwtbtftf'llluJ1
_ , . . , MMINl.Lmiw-cA
NAISUGUITIL 'lt'"'l."'a4
llM~ryrNQkl.naataiklY
tllllldoc(,.loollflllotl$NOllfVIJ
ltwKuir.aA'A',N)"*IO'W'ftVU""ll
~.ti.cnto'IY
llJof\lto~lhfll..tctt.atniJ.lr.
'""'')'. fillrdp.&~f)'
l.aroJ.tw(bllll"~~~
-~-b.
11i.rb.xu..
...
mu>flnlosm;,cklftlfttmpand
't'~K ... llllWlllbGn\tl
"""''"~.......,.,(~).
n.~_...
\.l41'1Ma111t~-'"'"
.. e-
brought Parisian-style baking ro Korea in rhe m id-20rh
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economy bro ught a taste fo r fo reig n luxu ries.
Copyright 2011 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with permission.
IN THE NEW YORK TIM ES
THE NEWYORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW. SUNDAY, MARCH 14, 2010 13
-----
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-- almost imperceptible processes by which ex-
perience acqui res weigh t, mass a nd, if you're lucky,
mea ning. "Life, ga thering," reads one full sencence in
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----.., ....._.......- tion of what good fiction asp ires to. This novel, his
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ta in stealth: Lee doesn't bolt it all down at once, as the
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re fugee chi ldre n in his story do. "The Surrendered,"
his largest, most a mbitious book, is about the horrors
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of war and the sorrows of surviva l, yet its man ner is
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h is heroine, a "d iffic u lt" woma n na med June Singer
(nee Han), orphaned by the Korea n War a nd now, in
=~~- =.;:.::::.-.:: New York in 1986, suffering t he end stages of stomach
cancer. " Her talent, her gift," the novel tells us, "was
an instantly patent resolve," a sometimes frightening
determina tion ro survi ve by any mea ns necessa ry. Her
story beg ins in Ko rea in 1950, where withi n che space
of a few pages she loses her encire fami ly: her fa ther a nd
older brother are taken away, never to be seen again;
her mother, two siste rs and a little brother perish, one
by one, on the road. She is by tempera ment a tough-
minded girl - Lee never tries to convince us her hard
shell is solely t he product of her wartime ordeal - a nd
her capacity to leave even the most cherished people
a nd possessions behind helps get her through t he trials
fate, or hisrory, has a rranged. As a c hild in wa rtime
she lives in the present, in fu ll flig ht, aware always of
"the suspension of any future save the one in which
they persisted, kept on ." As a dying adult, adrift in a
morphine haze, she becomes more reflective, but she
still ca n't seem to let herself rest: in the last days of her
brief life (she's 47), she sets off for Europe in search of
her waywa rd son, Ni cholas. To the end, she persists.
I
t's no easy task for a novel ist to make sheer dogged- in the pasr, a nd because omniscience does nor, l sus-
ness beauriful, or even, fo r the length of a nea rly pecr, come narurally to him: to his credir, Lee has never
500-page na rrative, interesting, but Lee trusts his seemed com fo rtable playing God. Whatever desrin ies
own patience, his stubborn reso lve to get to the bot- he dreams up for his characters are w har rhey have ro
tom of things. H e moves back and fo rth in ti me, cir- live wirh, and if he burdens them too heavily rhe re's
cling his cha rac ters, sizing rhem up - trying, as June the risk rhar rhey' ll stop crying co explain themsel ves
does, to "see each moment from every side." H e shifts to rhemselves, char they' ll stop persisting.
po int of view frequently to give us so me relief from his
But in "The Surrendered" Lee rakes that risk, enlarg-
heroine's blurred, in-a nd-out consciousness. A good
ing the operations of fare a nd challenging his char-
deal of the story is seen thro ugh the eyes of a root-
acters to assimilate, somehow, the rhings rhat have
less ex-G.I. named H ector Brennan, who is Nicholas's
befallen them. June cha rges ahead ; H ector fu mbles
long-absent fa rher and whom June enlists to a id her in
along, dragged kicki ng (but not screaming) inro some
her search. Lee describes Hector, a ha rd-dri nking jani-
kind of sertling in to h is ow n ba ffled life. They're very
tor, as a man who, in his mid-50s, is still "nor yet fi xed
different, bu r rhey sha re the memory of an orph a n-
into his own li fe": a ma n who, a fter serving in Korea
age missionary named Sylvie Ta nner, w hom th ey both
and then lingering there doing odd jobs ar a n orphan-
loved a nd who made her accommodations w irh dread-
age, has preferred to be "happily ignored , free to go his
ful experience rather ha lti ngly and nor, in rhe end, suc-
unsung way." H e is, not to put too fine a point on it, a
cessfull y. She is the sing le most touching figure in "The
classic loser, someone who has let life get the better of
Surrendered " a nd rhe validatio n of Lee's rhird-person
him. And he believes his very presence is desrrucrive to
ga mble. Seen mostly from the outside, mostly throu gh
others: he survives everything, wirhouc much ca ring
the eyes of Ju ne and Hecror, she's un forgerrable.
ro, a nd buries rhose he loves.
Fi nally, though, "T he Surrendered " must d epend on
W hat has always mosr concerned Lee, from his firsr
Lee's own vo ice, the one he has adopted to tell these
novel, "Narive Speaker," through "A Gesture Life" and
people's stories in a way they ca n't, or won'r, themselves.
"A loft," is t he way people interpret rheir own lives, rhe
Senrence by mournful sentence he keeps on, srrug-
accommodations they make in order to live with all
gling a bit ar times bur constantly pushing forward,
they've seen a nd done. T he evenrs, t he specific experi-
raking his cha racters however he ca n co a place where
ences, are important, bu r there's an awful randomness
they ca n rest. A nd at the end of their journeys - for
to them, which ca n be accepred or denied or, most
June and H ector, the stopping point is Solferino, Ira ly,
ofren, willfully ignored. For both June and Hector,
where a bloody battle not their own once rook place
war and irs aftermath make capric ious experience
- there's a sense char something has gathered there,
unignorable: "You could never anticipate whar might
th at some value has mysteriously accrued. D eliverance
happen nexr, the eanh-sharcering a nd the trivia l in-
might be coo strong a word for what awa its chem: it's
terspersing wirh the cruelest irony. You could be saved
more like a profound, bone-deep sense of relief. Bur
by pure chance, or else ruined. T hat was rhe terror of
they've ea rned it, in the ir different ways, so it feels, to
ir." Throughout "The Su rrendered ," both in the past
them and to us, li ke a great victory on rhe field of wa r.
a nd in the presenr, terrible things happen, some purely
In the long course of "The Surrendered," Lee makes
accidenral, some d eliberately inflic ted, and many that
us understa nd, in painful increments, rhe virtue of en-
seem to exist in a kind of causa l no man's land: no-
durance and the blessing of simple surcease.
body's fault, and everybody's.
Terrence Rafferty is t1 Jrequ em contributor to the Book Review.
There are more of those events in "T he Surrendered "
than in any of Lee's previous novels. T he body co unt
is high: Lee invents an extraordina ry number of vivid
characters, many of whom prove to be just passing
through on their way to viole nt, senseless ends. T he
exponenria lly increased evenrfulness of this book,
compared with Lee's others, is perh aps the result of
a d ecision co do something here that he's never done
before - to cell a story in the traditional omniscient-
narrator manner rather rhan rhe particula r, self-in-
terpreting voice of a n individual. It's a leap of fa ith
because the first-perso n mode has served him so wel l
Copyright 2010 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with permission.
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, JULY 11, 2010 A19
EX ACTING
TE AC HIN G MACH INE
ST ICK S TO TH E SC RIP T
IN SOUT H KORE A
BY Cll OE SA \'G-1 I L)N
C
arefully trained by a governmcn r-run lab, she Enrc r Engkcy, a teacher w ith exacting standards and a
is the latest and perhaps most in novative re- sil ken voice. She is just a little penguin-sh a ped robot,
,
cruit in South Korea's obsessive drive ro reach bur both symbolica lly a nd practically, she sta nds for
its children rhc globa l language of English . progress, ach ievemenr and national pride. What she
Over rhc years, this counrry has im ported thousands docs nor sta nd for, however, is bad pronunciat ion.
of Americans , Ca nadians, South Africans a nd others "Nor good this time!" Engkey ad monished a sixth
ro supplemen t local teachers of English. Bur the pro- grader as he stooped awkwa rd ly over her. "You need to
gra m has strai ned rhe governmcn r's budget, and ir is focus more on your accent. Let's rry again."
increasingly d ifficu lt ro get nat ive English spea kers to
live on islands and other remote a reas.
ngkey, a contraction ofEnglish jockey (as in disc
E
der with North Korea with a never-sleeping camera
jockey), is the great hope of C hoi Mun-raek, a eye, night vision a nd lethal fire power.
tea m leader at the Korea Insti tute of Science
But t he most notable step was this country's pla ns to
a nd Technology's Center fo r Intell igent Robot ics. "In
use robots as teaching a ids. In February, the Education
three to five yea rs, Engkey will mature enough to re-
place native spea kers," he sa id. Ministry began deploying hundreds o f them as part
of a plan to equip all the nation's 8 ,400 kinderga rtens
Dr. C hoi's team recently demonstrated Engkey's in- with robots by 20 13 .
teractio ns with fou r sixth graders fro m Seoul who had
O ne rype of robot, toddler-size wirh a domed head and
nor met the robot. Engkey tracked a student around
boxli ke body on w heels, rakes attendance, reads fairy
the room, wheeling to a stop a foot away, a nd extended
tales a nd sings songs with c hildren. A smalle r puppy
a greeting in a synthesized female vo ice. (A lthough a
robot hel ps leads gymnastics a nd fl ashes red eyes if
male voice is also ava ilable, D r. C hoi says the fe male
touched roo ro ugh ly.
model seems more effecti ve in reaching.) She then led
the boy co a shelf stacked with plast ic frui t. Even though they are little more tha n fa ncy toys, ex-
perrs say, these robots prepare child re n For a fast-ap-
"How ca n I help you today?" Engkey said.
proaching robotic fu ture.
"Do you have any frui ts on sale?" the student said.
Ea rly this year, when the insti tute did a n experi mental
"Wow! Very good!" Engkey exulted. She sounded a ru n of Engkey in Masa n on the south coast, there was
fanfare, spun and raised her left a rm for a hi gh-five. A a mad rush a mong children robe selected for rhe pro-
screen on her chest showed stars grading the student. gra m, said K im Bo-yeong, a n English teacher.
T he students we re amazed . "They all loved robots. T hey ger shy befo re a foreign
native speaker, afra id to make mistakes," M s. Kim
"It's cool - a machine hea ring and responding to me,"
said. "But rhey fi nd robots m uch easie r to talk ro."
said Yang Ui-ryeol. "The re seems to be a life inside it."
An independent evalua ror of the trial noticed that
Still, Engkey has a long way to go to fulfil! her c re-
Engkey required the consta nt presence of a technical
ators' drea m. The robot can help students practice only
operator. "Engkey has a lon g way to go if it wa nts to
scripted conversations a nd is at a loss if a student veers
avoid becoming a n expensive yet ignored heap of scrap
off script, as Ya ng d id during the demonstration.
meta l ar rhe corner of rhe classroom," said Ban Jae-
"I love you," rhe boy said to appease Engkey after he chun, an ed ucation professo r ar C hungnam National
was chastised for a bad pronunciation. Engkey wou ld Universi ty.
have none of it; it was not in her programmed scri pt.
Dr. C hoi knows rhe challenge. After rests in more
"You need to work on you r accent," the robot repeated. schools rhis winter, he hopes ro commercialize Engkey
and ro reduce the price, currently $24,000 ro $32,000,
W hen Ya ng said, "I don't li ke apples" instead of "I love
to below $8,000.
apples," as he was supposed to, Engkey froze. T he boy
pan ed her and said , "Hello, a re you alive or dead?" Dr. C hoi said his tea m was racing ro improve the ro-
bot's ability ro recognize students and to discern a nd
T he trials and errors at the Korea l nsti tute, a wooded respond ro a student's voice amid noise. It is also cram-
top-security compound for the country's best scien- ming .Engkey with more conversational scenarios.
t ific minds, represent South Ko rea's a mbi tious robotic
drea ms. For now, though, Engkey's limits quickly b ecome ap-
parent. H a hn Yesle, who pa rticipated in rhe recent
Last month, it a nnounced a trial service fo r 11 types demonstratio n, said: "Engkey is fun . But she is not hu-
of intelligent robots this yea r. T hey include " kiosk ro- man. Repeati ng the sa me d ialogue is what she does. I
bots" to roa m amusement parks selling tickers, and wish she wou ld become more expr.essive a nd respon-
"robo soldiers" that will man part of the 155-mile bor-
sive, li ke a human teacher."
Copyright 2010 byThe New York Times Co. Reprinted with permission.
THENEWYORKTIMES, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER2, 2010 AS
ia~ ~ \
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H
ere on Jeju Island , famous for its tanger- keep rheir fam il ies toge cher wh ile givi ng their children
ine groves, pearly beaches a nd honey moon a more global and E nglish-lang uage curriculum begin-
resorts, South Korea is conductin g a bold ning w ith elementary school, and by governments hop-
educational experimenr, o ne inrended to bolster oppor- ing for economic rewards from maki ng cheir councries
tunity at home a nd attract investment from abroad. more accraccive co foreigners w ith money to invest.
By 2015, if a ll goes according to pla n, 12 prest igious "We will do everythi ng human ly possible to create a n
Wes tern schools w ill have opened branch campuses in a environmenr w here your children must speak English,
gove rnmenr-financed, 940-acre Jeju G lobal Education even if rhey a re not abroad," Jang Tac-young, a Jeju of-
C iry, a self-conrained community w ithin Seogwipo, fic ial, recencly rold a group of Korean parents.
where everyone - srudenrs, reachers, ad ministrarors,
By inviting leading Western schools, che government
docrors, store clerks - will spea k only English. The
is hoping to address one of che notorious stress poincs
first school, North London Collegiace, broke g round
in South Korea n society. Many parents wane ro send
for its ca mpus th is month.
ch ildren abroad so chey ca n learn English a nd avoid
Wh ile rhis is rhe councry's firsc enclave constructed the crushing pressure and narrow focus of the Korea n
ex pressly around fore ign-scyle educarion , individu al educational syscem. T he number of South Korea n stu-
ca mpuses are open ing elsewhere. Dulwich College, a dents from elemencary school eh roug h high school w ho
privare British school, is schedu led ro open a bra nch in go abroad for ed ucation increased to 27,350 in 2008
Seoul, rhe capita l, in a few weeks. A nd che C hadw ick from 1,840 in 1999, acco rding to government data.
School of C aliforn ia is sec ro open a branch in Songdo, a
Bue ch is a rrangement ofren resulted in che fracturin g of
new rown rising wesr of Seoul , around the sa me ti me.
families, wich che mocher accom panying rhe child ren
What is happening in South Korea is pa rt of che global abroad and t he facher becoming a "goose" - by sray-
expa nsion of Western schools - a complex trend fueled ing be hind to earn che mo ney to fi nance these ventures
by pa rencs in Asia and elsewhere who want co be able to a nd raking occasio nal rra nsocea nic flights to visir.
l~is trend has r~ised ~ la rms abour broken fam i-
T
In South Korea, English proficiency and a d iploma
lies and a bra111 dram from a counrry rhar is fro m a cop American un iversity are such important
already suffering from one of rhe world 's low- sracus ma rkers char some dcliberacely sprinkle rheir
est birch races. Many of che chi ld ren who scudy abroad Korea n conversation wich English phrases.
encl up staying abroad; chose who return ofcen have
T he counrry sends more nonimmigranc scudenrs -
trouble fi nding jobs ac Korean companies, regaining
113,519 in the fiscal yea r char ended on Sepe. 30, 2009
their language fluency or adapting co che Korean way
- co rhe United Scares rhan any other country ex-
of doing business.
cept China, according ro rhc United Srarcs Office of
Lee Kyung- min, 42, a pharmacist in Seoul whose Immigracion Scaciscics.
12-year-olcl daughter, Jeong Min-joo, arrended a pri-
In a 2008 survey by South Korea's National Sracisrica l
vate school in Canada for a year and a half, said she
Office, 48.3 percent of Sourh Korea n parents said they
knew why fami lies were will ing co make sacrifices ro
wa nted co send cheir chi ld ren abroad co "develop glob-
send their child ren away.
al perspectives," avoid che rigid domesric school sysrem
"Jn South Korea, it's all rore lea rning for college en- or lea rn English. More rhan 12 percent wanted ir for
trance exams," Ms. Lee said. "A srudenr's worch is cle- rheir children as early as elemenra ry school.
rerminecl solely by whar grades she gers." She added
Critics say char rhe Jeju schools - wirh an nual ruirion
rhar compecirion among parenrs fo rced rheir children
fees of $ 17,000 co $25,800 and their English-language
co sign up for exrracurricular cram sessions rhac lefr
curricu lum , aside fro m che Korean language and his-
rhem with liccle free rime co develop chcir creacivicy.
rory classes for Korean scudenrs - will create "schools
"Children wither in our education system," she said .
for rhe rich." But Kwon Do-yeop, a vice minister of
So Min-joo's parents bel ieved char exposing her co a land, transport and maritime affai rs whose depart-
Western school system was worth che $5,000 they paid ment oversees rhe project, said ic could save Souch
each month for her cuirion and board, 10 rimes what Korea $500 million annually in what is now being
they would have spent had she scucl ied ac home. spenr ro educate children overseas.
Bue Ms. Lee said her heart sank when Mi n-joo bega n "Jeju schools cost half what you spend when you have
forgeccing her Korea n gram mar and sropped ca lling your children studying in rhe United Scares," said
home. Sti ll, she did noc wanr ro leave her husband be- Byon Jong-ii , the chief of the Jeju Free lnrernarional
hind co join her daughrer, because she had wicnessed C iry Development Cenrer, which is managing che
in her own neighborhood how often rhe loneliness of education projecr as pare of an overall plan for rhe is-
"goose" fachers led ro broken ma rriages. land. "Noe everything goes right when you send your
children abroad."
"O ur fami ly was losing irs bonds, becoming just a
shell," she sa id. Some of rhe things char can go wrong have been high-
lighted by rhc economic downturn.
In June, chey brought M in-joo home, and rhey plan co
en roll her in one of che inrernarional boarding schools "Ma ny of rhc students who were senc abroad in che
in Jeju, often roman ized as C heju , nexr year. For Ms. 1990s have since recurned home," said Shi n Hyun-
Lee, chis is rhe closesr she can gee co sending her daugh- ma n, che president of CareerCare, a job placement
ter abroad wirhouc leaving che country. company. "Despite rheir foreign diplomas, they we re
unable co find jobs abroad because of rhc global re-
"There is an expressed desire in Korea ro seek rhe cession. Bur rhcir Korean isn't good enough, and rhey
benefits of a 'Western' or 'America n' approach ro pre- don'r adapt well co rhe corporate culrurc here."
collegiare education," said Ted Hill, headm aster of rhe
Chadwick School, whose Songdo campus has been Jimmy Y. Hong, a graduare of Middlesex University in
deluged wirh applicants ro fill rhe 30 percenr of slors London and now a marketing official ac LG Electronics
reserved for Korean students. T he balance of rhe stu- in Seoul, sa id char when he returned ro South Korea in
dent body will be recru ited from ex patriate famil ies 2008, he enrolled in a business master's degree progra m
living in South Korea and Ch ina. ac Yonsei University in Seoul ro help compensate for his
lack of local school con nections, which can be critica l
"When we explain ro Korea n parents whar we cry ro co making friends, landi ng jobs and closing dea ls.
do in rhe classroom, we sec their eyes light up," sa id
C hris DeMari no, business development direcror at "[ feared I might be oscracizcd for studying abroad,"
Dulwich College Ma nagement lnternarional, which he said.
has a government-sec 25 percent ceil ing on Korea n
scudents ac its Seoul school. "There is a tremendous
demand for what we offer, bur, un fort unately, we have
to cum many of chem away."
Copyright 2010 by The New York Tomes Co. Reprinted with perm1ss1on.
THENEWYORKTIMES, FRIDAY,NOVEMBER26,2010 Al,A14
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T
hey were srooped, hobbled , disorienced, fum-
bling arou nd rhe house. They got confused day care and home care, have increased fi vefold since
in the bathtub and struggled up stairs rhar 2008, ro nearly 20,000. C are is heavily subsidized.
seemed ro swim before them.
And a government dementia database allows families
"Oh, ir hurts," said Noh Hyu n-ho, sinki ng ro rhe ro register relatives and receive iron-on identification
ground. numbers. Citizens e ncountering wanderers wi rh de-
mentia report t hei r numbers ro officials, who contact
"I thought I was going ro di e," said Yook Seo-hyun. families.
There was surprisingly little giggling, conside ring To finance this, South Korea created a long-term-ca re
t hat Hyun-ho, Seo-hy un and the o thers were actu- insurance system, paid fo r with 6.6 percent increases in
ally perfec tly hea lthy 11- ro 13-year-old children. Bur people's national health insurance premiums. In 2009,
rhey had strapped on splines, weighted harnesses and about $ 1 bill ion of government and public insurance
fogged-up glasses, and were given tasks like "Doorknob mo ney was spent on dementia patie nts. Sti ll, w ith rhe
Experience" and "Bathroom Experience," all to help over-65 popu lation jumping from 7 percenc in 2000 to
them feel what it was like ro be old, frail or demenced. 14 percenc in 2018 ro 20 percenc in 2026, dementia is
"Even though they are sm iling for us, every day, 24 straining the country, socially and economically.
hours, is difficu lt for them," Jeong Jae-hee, 12, sa id "Ar least one family member has ro give up work"
she learned. "They lose rheir memory and go back ro ro provide caregiving, said Kwak Young-soon, social
childhood." welfare direcror for Mapo District, one of Seoul's 25
lr is part of a remarkable South Korean campaign ro geographic districts. Because South Korea encourages
cope with an exploding problem: Alzheimer's d isease people ro work well past retire ment age, families may
and other demencias. As one of the world's fastest- also lose dementia sufferers' incomes.
aging councries, with nea rly 9 percent of its popula- Most fam il ies no longer have generations living to-
tion over 65 already afflicted, South Korea has opened gether to help with caregiving, and some facilities have
a "War on Dementia," spending money and shining long waiting lists, bur "we can't keep building nursing
flood lights on a disease that is, here as in ma ny places, homes," M r. Kwa k sa id. "We call it a ghost. It's basi-
riddled with shame a nd fear. cally eati ng up the whole house."
South Korea is traini ng thousands of people, including D ement ia Epidemic
children, as" demencia supporters," ro recognize symp-
toms and care for patiencs. T he 11- ro 13-year-olds, South Korea is at the forefro nt of a worldwide erup-
for insta nce, were in t he governmen t's "Aging-Friendly tion of dementia, from about 30 million estimated
Comprehensive Experience H all" outside Seoul. cases now ro an estimated 100 million in 2050. And
Besides the aging simulation exercise, they viewed a while Sourh Korea's approach is unusually extensive,
PowerPoint presentation defini ng demencia and were even in t he Uni ted Stares, the National Alzheimer's
tra ined, in rhe hall 's Dementia Experience Center, to Project Act was introduced this year ro establish a
perform hand massage in nursing homes. sepa rate Alzheimer's office to create "an incegrared
national plan ro overcome A lzheimer's." Supporters of
" 'What did I do with my phone? It's in rhe refrig- rhe bill, currently in com m ittee, include Sa ndra Day
eraror,' " said one insrrucror, explai ning memory loss. O 'Connor, whose late husband had Alzhei mer's.
" Have you seen someone like rhar? T hey may go m iss-
ing and die on rhe street." South Korea also worries rhar dementia, previously
stigmatized as "ghost-seeing " or "one's second c hild-
In a nor her striking move, South Korea is also push- hood" cou ld "d il ute respect for elders," Mr. Kwak
ing ro m ake diagnoses ea rly, despite there being scant said. "There's a saying that even rhe most filial son or
treatment. daughter wil l nor be fi lial if they look after a parenc fo r
"This used robe hidden" and "there is sti ll stigma and more than three yea rs."
bias," said Kim Hye-jin, director of senior policy for So the authorities promote the notion rhar fi lial piety
t he Health and Welfare Ministry. But "we want ro get implies do ing everything possible for elders w it h de-
rhem our of their shells, out of their homes a nd di- mencia, a condit ion now called chimae (pronounced
agnosed " ro help fam ilies adjust and give patients "a chee-may): d isease of k nowledge and rhe brain which
higher cha nce of being taken care of ar home." makes adults become babies. Bur South Korea's low
Hundreds of neighborhood dementia d iagnostic cen- birth rare will make fam ily caregiving rougher.
ters have been created. Nursing homes have nea rly rri-
''I feel as if a rsun am i's coming," said Lee Sung-
hee, t he Soud1 Ko rea n A lzheimer's Associarion
Mapo district center: "Make the Brain Smile!" a nd
"H ow is Your Memory? Free d iagnosis center in
presidenr, who trains nursing home sraff Mapo."
members, bur also thousa nds who regularly inreracr
The Mapo Cente r fo r Dementia perches ar a busy
wirh rhe elderly: bus drivers, tellers, hai rsrylisrs, posral
crossroads of old a nd new, nea r a university and a shop
workers. "Somerimes l rhink I wanr ro run away," she
sell ing naruropath ic goar extracts. lr has exercise ma-
said. "But eve n rhe highesr mounrain, jusr worrying
chi nes our fro nt a nd a van with pictures of sm iling
does nor move anyth ing, bur if you choose o ne area
elderly people.
and move srone by srone, you pave a way ro move rhe
whole mounrain." Even people wirhour sym proms come, Dr. Ya ng said.
They are "eased by hea ring, 'You do not have dementia
South Korea is even trying ro rum a crisis inro a busi-
and ca n visit rwo years later.' "
ness opporruniry. The Aging-Friendl y ha ll, financed
by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, encourages C ha Kyong-ho's fa m ily was wary of getti ng hi m rested.
businesses ro enter "silver industries," producing items " De menria was a subject to hide," said his daughter,
for feeble elderly people, from chopsricks rhar are easi- C ha Jeong-eu n. "I worried his pride would be hurr go-
er ro pick up to auromared harnesses rhar hoisr people ing through rh is kindergarten experience."
from bed, slid ing along a ceiling rrack, and deposir
Bur when "my mother asked h im to get ingredienrs fo r
rhe m onto roilers or living room couches.
curry rice, he ca me back with mayo nnaise," she said.
College srudenrs visir rhe ha ll and don blue 3-D glasses And one day, Mr. C ha, 74, a retired subway official,
fo r "Demenria Expe rience" video journ eys follow ing could nor f ind his way home. "I was like, 'Where the
people disorienred on streers or seeking barhrooms. hell am I?' " he said .
Throughout Sourh Korea, M rs. Lee leads "demenria U lrimarely, he vis ited Mapo's center, finding t he rest-
supporrer" rraining, argui ng againsr longrime pracric- ing cha llenging.
es of chasrisi ng o r neglecri ng parienrs, and advocar ing
"Sometimes I don't remember what I read, o r I can
fo r preserving rheir ski lls and self-esree m.
see ir with my eyes and my brain is processing it, bur
One tip: give deme nred relatives "a washing pan and I can nor say it our loud," he said about rhe questio ns.
washboa rd " and say, " 'The washing machine's rer- " How can my brilliant brain remember everyth ing?
rible - we need your help' " washing clorhes, she told Jeez, it's so headachy."
200 sen ior citizens interes red in nursing home jobs or
Checking his abi lity ro categorize items, Dr. Ya ng
fam ily caregiving advice. If parients say, " Tm good ar
asked, "W hat do you call dog and tiger?"
mak ing soy soup,' bur fo rger ing red ients," g uide rhem
srep by srep, she advised. Otherwise, "They may make " I call them dog and tiger."
ir inro salt soup, and everyone will say, 'Oh, rhis is rer-
rible, you stop do ing it.' " "Penci l and brush?"
Even rhe you ngesr are enlisted. M r. Kwak, rhe local "Oh, there's a word for that."
govern m ent officia l, a rra nges for nursery school classes "A irplane and train?"
to play games w irh nu rsing home parienrs, saying rhar
ir d esrigmarizes demenria and rhar parients w ho "re- " I feel embarrassed I d on'r know."
gress ro earlier days" may "find ir easier ro relare ro "You have a lot ofloss of memory," Dr. Yang said. "This
young children ." is rhe very beginni ng stages of Alzheimer's d isease."
And Dr. Yang Dong-won, who direcrs o ne of ma ny H e suggested that Mr. Cha get a govern menr-subsi-
govern ment-run diagnosric centers in Seou l, has vis- d ized brain M .R.l. w confirm the diagnosis, and said
ired kindergarrens, bri nging rofu. "This is very sofr,
dru gs might delay symproms slightly. H e recommend-
like rhe brain," he said, leerin g ir cras h down. Now, ed Mapo's free programs "ro stimulate what brain cells
"rhe brain is destroyed." he has." These include rooftop garden "floral therapy,"
"Dementia is very bad fo r you, so prorecr yo ur brain," arr classes making realistic representations of everyday
he said, with exercise, "not drinking too much sugar," objects, music the rapy with bongos sounding " li ke a
and saying, " ' Daddy, don't drink so much because it's hea rrbear."
nor good fo r dementia.' " Mr. Cha sighed.
Ar a D emenria March outside rhe World C up Soccer " I thi nk," he said, gesru ring reward his brain, "that
Sradium, ch ildren ca rried signs promoring Dr. Yang's somerhing's wrong wirh rhis, just a little bir."
IIIll
Students as Helpe rs
chools offer community service credit, e ncour- For Kim H a n-bit, 16, the progra m is inrensely per-
Copyright 2010 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with permission.
THE NEW YORK TIMES, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2010 A32
T
As Koreans
wo decades ago, t he police here somet imes
Pour/n, roused Jason Ki m in the wee hours, bur nor
A 7own
ls Remade
because he was in trouble. There were few
Koreans in town, a nd few of them spoke English, so
whenever one was arrested, rhe police needed M r. Ki m
to translate the Mi rand a warning.
T
he Korean presence is growing fasr; rhe 2000
census found rhar 3 1 percenr of Pal isades Park ford Forr Lee," said Mr. Kim, who moved from South
residents were Korea n-American. The 44 per- Korea co rhe Bronx as a teenager, then co Pa lisades
cent figu re ca me fro m surveys raken from 2005 to Park in 1986. "The rea l estate agencs cold people co cry
2009, a nd local Korea n leaders predicr rhar rhe figure Pa lisades Pa rle"
wi ll be higher when 2010 census numbers a re released
The infl ux made che town more prospero us, as Korea n
nex r year.
businesses moved in, renovating buildings and erecr-
"\'\/hen I came here, on ly rwo stores were Korean; ing new ones. Bue fo r the old-ti mers, it made the place
rhere were no Korean churches," said Mr. Kim, 54, alien, and property more expensive. Today, 39 per-
who teaches marh and co mpurer science at Bronx cenc of the popul ation is whi te, bur few businesses are
Communiry College and also has a business prepari ng wh ite-owned.
swdents to rake rhe SAT. "lr is hard co believe how
" In che begin ning, some of che old businesses shut
much it has changed."
dow n because che Koreans wou ld nor patronize them,"
Palisades Park has not e nd ured rhe ki nd of violent said George Mahsoud , whose fam ily has run a shoe-
clashes rhar somerimes accompa ny erhnic rransirions, repai r shop here for 35 yea rs. "You really had co make
bur neithe r has irs transformation been trouble-free. an effort - li ke I put a Ko rea n sig n in rhe window
and I smi led a nd ta lked to rhem . Korea ns are all abour
Andy Nam recalled rhar after he opened Grand
reputatio n - rhey have to hear good rhi ngs abo ut you
Furniture on Broad Avenue in 1989, "We had some fro m rheir friends, and rhat took awhile."
young kids, rroublemakers, who broke che windows,
w ri te 'Go home kimchi,' rhar kind of th ing." Two whi re wome n emerging from a bank, who asked
nor to be named fo r fear of offending t heir newer neigh-
Korea n restaura nts a nd bars foughr fo r years - un- bors, said rhcy lived in Palisades Park, b ur shopped
successfully - fo r permission co stay open arou nd the elsewhere. T he Korean shops carer mostly to Koreans,
clock. W hite residenrs co mplai ned of shops char had rhey sa id - a face char used to bother chem, bu r rhar
signs only in Korean, until nearly all rhe new mer- now just peacefu lly propels them elsewhere.
chants volunta rily added English translations.
T he Korea ns' numbers have been slow ro rranslare into
T he first-generation Korean-America ns faced a huge clout; o nly abour o ne-quarter of t he voters are Korean.
language barrier. For yea rs, they relied heavily on peo- Mr. Kim was the fim Asia n-American elected ro a sear
ple like M r. Nam, now 70, who spoke E nglish, a nd o n on rhe school boa rd , in 1995 - his th ird rry - and
chose like M r. Ki 111 who called rhemselves generarion rhe first to w in a sear on the cou ncil, in 2004. A sec-
1.5 - born in South Korea, bur educated here. ond Korean immigrant, Jong C hui Lee, was elected to
Unti l the 1980s, the rown was overwhel mingly wh ite, rhe council lase year, a nd t wo others sir o n the school
a mi x of blue-colla r workers and professiona ls whose board.
fami lies had come predominantly from Ita ly, C roatia, " I knew from rhe sta rt I couldn't win wit h jusr Korea n
Germany a nd G reece. Irs ho uses were inexpensive, a nd votes," Mr. Kim said. "[ still can't. We have to work
it had a number of vaca nt shops and offices. with everybody."
A pattern had sta rred co emerge by then, of Asian
immigrants moving from New York C ity to Bergen
Counry. They were drawn by che a rea's relative safety
a nd high ly rega rded schools, and by its proxim ity ro
the George Wash ington Bridge, for co mmuting ro
jobs in rhe city.
Copynghl 2010 by The New York Times Co. Repnnled w1lh permission.
THENEWYORKTIMESBOOKREVIEW, SUNDAY,APRILJ,2011 23
LOST IN TRANSIT
BY 1'IYT lllLI C. HAO
Lost in Transit
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' ' P lease Look After Mom," by rhe Sourh anguish. The daughter is stu n ned : "Mom got head-
Korea n w riter Ky ung-sook Sh in, ope ns aches? So severe t hat she couldn't even cry?" These are
wirh a fam ily in d isa rray. Mom is missi ng, some of the many quest ions chat punctuate her narra-
separared from Farher by rhe closing doo rs of a subway tive a nd lead to a cascade of revelations. Mom's debil i-
car in a busy rrain station in Seoul. A day, a week, rhen tating headaches a re t he byproduct of a stroke she told
nea rly a monch goes by. Mo m's husband a nd adult no o ne about. Ot her d iscoveries come grad ua lly. Afte r
ch ildren are nor only worried, bur crippled w ith g uile one of Chi-ho n's older brothers leaves t he vi llage fo r
and regret, fu mbling " in confusion, as if rhey had a ll Seo ul , she is responsib le fo r writing letters to him, dic-
injured a pare of rheir brains." Are you pun ishing me? tated by Mom. For years, Chi-ho n assu mes t his is just
each privately wonders. an additional chore. The reali ty is revea led in another
question she asks of herself: "W hen was it yo u rea lized
T he eldest daughter, C h i-hon , is the writer of her fam-
char Mom didn't know how to read?"
ily, a nd she is persuaded to draft rhe missing-person fli-
ers. "A ppearance: Shorr, salt-and-pepper permed ha ir, Sh in's prose, inrimare and haunringly spare 111 this
promi nenc cheekbones," she writes, " last seen wear- translation by C hi-Youn g Kim, moves from first to
in g a sky-blue shirt , a w hite jacker a nd a beige pleated second a nd thi rd perso n, a nd powerfully conveys
skirt." W hen Chi-ho n thinks back o n t he Mom of her g rief's bewi ldering immed iacy. Chi-ho n's voice is t he
chi ld hood, she sees a woma n w ho "strode t h roug h the novel's most d isti net, bur Father's is t he most devastat-
sea of people in a way th at would intimidate even the ing. Returnin g to rhe ho use in Chongup, he is " blud-
aurhori rarive buildings looking o n from above." The geo ned" wirh Mom's abse nce as he real izes char he
stra ngers who respond to her ads pa int a d ifferenr pic- never fully appreciated her, th is "sreadfast tree" at t he
ture: "They saw an old wom an wa lking very slowly, cenrer of his li fe- and rhac a ll this time he had been
some times sitting . .. o r sta nd ing vacantly." Could it in den ial ove r her hea lth 's dete riorat ion.
be the same woman?
"The word 'Mom' is fami lia r," C hi-hon observes, "and it
Sh in's novel, her first to be t ranslated into English , em- hides a plea: Please look after me." Passages of the novel
braces mu ltiplicity. It is told from rhe perspectives of may ca use the g rown ch ild ren among Shi n's readers to
four members of t he fa m ily, a nd fro m their me mo ries cringe. ("You were the o ne who always hung up firsr,"
emerges a port ra it of a heroical ly selfless and indus- C hi-hon mournfully remembers of her own behavior.
trious woman. She runs their rura l home " li ke a fac- "Yo u would say, 'Mom, I'll ca ll you back,' and then you
tory." She sews a nd knits and rill s the fields, and ra ises didn't.") A nd yer this book isn't as inreresred in emo-
pupp ies, piglets, duck lings a nd ch ickens. The fam ily tio nal man ipulario n as iris in che invis ible chasms th at
is poor, bur she sees to it char her children's be llies are o pen up between people who k now one a no ther best.
filled , their cuicio n fees paid. Who is che missing woma n? ln th is raw tribute to the
mysteries of motherhood , only Mom k nows.
Only after her chi ldren g row up a nd leave their ho me
in C hon g up does Mom's strength and purposefuln ess Mythili G. Rao has written for 711e New York Observer, V:lords
begin to flag. When C h i-ho n visits un anno unced, she \'(/ithout Borders and Boston Review.
finds rhe house in shambles a nd Mo m sufferin g private
T his is l he complelc li sl or The New York T i mes ar l ides O il Ko rea n Cu It ure in 2010
acco rdin g Lo 0 111 resear ch al l ime or pu bi ical ion.
\ ol al I ar t iclcs on LltC' I isl " ere selC'cLcd for l his boo k lel. T he a r LiclC's th al a re included i 11
t ltis book let w ill be i 11 BOLD.
JANUARY- MA RC H
No. Date Article By Title of Articles Booklet Page(s)
Ja111 1ar.\ .\larli11 ,..ac kler ................ s('I'\ i11 g a FatlHr b.\ Bringi11 g Long- 1,ost
l\.orca 11 s I lon1e
2 Ja1111an 10 C hoe S ang-1 lun \ Kor<"an Doctor's Cro11p
\\'a1 1l s lo I lalL 1\I Jorl ions
3 Ja1111 an 10 .\rie C he n .. \\ here To Co i11 20 10
4 Ja11uan II C hoe Sa ng-I lt11 1 To B('l'Oll{'i le tlw Ko rcas .
Tec 11a gc rs S h<)\\ a \\ 'ay
5 Ja 1111a ry Iii C hoe Sang-I lu11 You th Prng-ram lnspins Dreams of
Korea n l 11i1, 89 91
6 Ja 111 ian 28 :\11n e \ lanc1 1so Spa r<' Tin w
7 .Ja1111ar\' 28 C hoe S ang- I l11n Hui e of'Tl111rnb s:
l\.o rca 11s l\! ig 11 in Te,t i11 g \\ orld
8 Fe! ll'Ua I ) 12 Carol \ 'ogcl l11 siclc- 1\rt : See It , 11cc l It, To1wh It. C li1nb II
9 Fe brua I' \ l'3 .Jul iet \lac11 r 01.' rnpic I lo pes l\es l \\ 'it h S kating F~n o rile
Ki m Yu-11a
10 lcbruan 14 .Ju liet 'llacur .... ... ... ... .. .. ... I lope G lid<'s \\ ith a S mi le
11 Fcbrua rv I ~) A.O. S 1ott ... ............ .. Do11 't Thi1 1k of It as \11otlier l.'ilm FcstiYa l.
Thin k of' It as a S a111pl<'r
12 February 22 J e rl- Lo11 g 111a11 Ba la 11!'ed 0 11 a S kater's Blades.
tlw l:" pe!'lalio 11sol"a \atio n
13 Fchrua1'\' 24 Juliet \l aeur Pressu re is \o l'roble111 1()1' Ki111 Y11 -na
14 Fclll'ua ry 2:) i\ like llale .. \\'hen\\ it and Ce n1c Fi lm maki11g Collid1 .... Gl- G2
15 Fcbrua 1'\" 26 .Julie t \laC'11r An Effo rtl <'ss IJ11t E 11101io11al C old
16 Fchruar) 27 .kn' Longma n .... ............ h.im Ib ises Bar. Delig htin g Fans .......... ... ........ 77 78
17 .\larch I Cang \\ . I.cc S 11a ps hols Fro111 C:a 11ada
18 .\ larch :> Dave ll zkoff Bill.' Elliot' L<aps I 1110 South Korea
19 i\ lareh 12 i\ la noh la Dargis ............ Fi<1<1 Low:
lktt('I' ~o l \lak( T hi s \lom 1\11 g r,,,, .................. 6) - 6/j
20 i\ lal'(h Iii Te1TCIH'(' Hafferty Deal h Pul's ucs 1le l' ... ......................................... 103- 10/j
21 .\ larch 'D Cl1oe S ang- I lu11 I1 1 S ('oul. Cl'ce 11 Tran sit Is \layo r's l'e l l'l'Oj<ct
22 \ la reh 28 De11nis Lim !\est l'i<'lc d . but \ ot De lnrc cl
23 \ larch 28 Brad l. <'f'l o11 \a1io11's Pride 111 a S i11 gle Pit('li
24 .\larch '10 Sonia 1'..ol<'snikm -Jessop \ h.ona11 \rtis t's 0 1igi11s, I>,\ Pa1aeh11te 5 1 52
25 \ larch '{ I S 1ephc11 I lo ldc 11 \111id Dcsolat<' l.i\'es \11d Pit (' li cd 13all les.
1
32 i\Jay 18 Ki111 Scvc rso11 .. ................ Mari,i 11ana F1wls a 1'<w Ki1 cl 1e 11 C1tll111T
33 .\la' 22 Hielt Scl 1ul1z \\' i<' Keeps 11 S irnp k and Hc:wl1es l\01111d
of ICi i11 } la1 cl1 Play
37 !\ lay 28 ' l~yl c r Kl'p ncr t\ F1111nc Fi ll1'd \Vi 1lt Pro1nise a nd D111 y
41 Ju11e 2 S lew S 11 1illt Pacif'ie Crossing: Bra l1111s by \ Vay o f' co11l
42 .Ju11l' 8 Ala n \V lrea lle.' Hcin\'C nli ng li> r S ueC'css in Soul h Ko rea
43 .Ju11 r 10 lb dH' I Lee I la rris J\ 13ikc To1n l(ll' Arl Lovers, a S ltow fo r Fc la!"
Fa 11 s Ca poeira Lessons and a Ko rea n lilm
44 .Jun<' 13 Co11sl a11ec Hos111 ul11111 T hl' Place ' Fi1 Like a .lacke1' 92 93
45 J une 14 ler11 a nda Sa nl os i\ Q 11cc ns DeHlopn11111 Haiscs ELl 111ic Tens io n
46 .lu rw 16 l\oli I lugltes S 11rprisi11g ll w \Vol'i d , a rid Al111osl Brazil
47 .h1111 18 Cor<'.) Kilganno n J\faki11g T h0i1 O wn Natio na l l\oise,
bul Losing A ny wa) 8 1- 82
48 June 22 A la n Kozinn Acade mic Series i11 .J azzy S 11rrou ndi 11gs
49 J une 23 C l11 H'k C1tl pc ppc1 Coa l; So111 h Ko rea 2, Nig<'ri a 2
50 J un r25 Rob I lughes ..... Ch'1rs al ~ 111opc's l ~x p c n sc
52 .lu h- I C is<'la \\ ill iams l\.011a n Tradition, Italian S t.' It .. ...... .......... .. .... . 9/i !):)
53 .Juh- 7 Ferrra11cla S;1nlos L:rng 11:rgl' I lelp lc>r \('11 Yor k I1n 111 igranls
l s ing Ci ty c n i('<':-. Falls Short of" Coa ls
56 .l uh- 20 Larry Dorrnan l111 1rrralional Pla_H'l'S 1-.ccp Hising lo tir e Top
i1 1 \la_jor Tour11anwnl s
57 .luly '.W A lexis J\ lai11 l:111d Ci t\ Hoorn: \<'11 ~<>l'k On lin e/ 1\ sk 1\ 1-. or<'a n !
58 .Jul\'28 .l oh n T. l ~ dgc .......... ..... .... Tiii' To r tilla Tak1s a Hoad Tri p lo 1-.orca
59 .Juh 2!J I.arr.' Dorrrra n \or1 l1 1-.orf'an Op<' ra Dra11s :\c<'lain1 in C hin a
60 t\ ug usl 2 .la 11cs IL 01's1l'l'iclr 1\ lalrln and S t r:111 ss f-..<1 p Co11 cl1wlors
(1>111 \ol L<' vir H') H11s.'
61 Aug ust I:) Clro<' Sa 11g- l lr11 1 \\ illr Clrarcoal as a11 l ~ li x i r. Sou1l1 1-.orf'arrs
1\1' ital izc by Hoa sl irr g i11 Kilns
62 Aug ust 2 1 Clroe S:111g- l lt11 1 1-.o rl'a's 13o ld Lt'arrri11 g l ~x p eri111(' 11 l
63 Aug ust 22 1\la 11 Kozi11 11 .................... Prais in g Peacl' and Igno rin g C:al c11dar D<'lai ls
64 Sept 111il>l'r 2 C hoe Sa ng- 1lun ............. . l\.on a 11 Isle Loo ks \hroad
For a11 Education at llomc 107 108
65 Sept" ' '' h<'r 4 Cl 1oc S a 11 g- l l111 1 ........ ..... Tr'.' i11g and Tr.' i11g \ gai n (9GO Ti1111s
f(u a I.ieC'11se
66 Scplc1nlwr 10 .\I ikc I la l<' .......... ... ........... T iil' 1: rozcn \\ ar i11 1-.orea
67 Scpl <'1nl wr 2'~ Lis 1i11g ............... ... ..... ...... \ralwsq 11cs .\11d Pirn11 cllcs On Pa rade
71 OcLobcl' 7 Tirn J\ lc Keougf ............... J\ S1ude111 's New Scl'ecn Evokes \\!aves a nd
Cai ns Accl ai111
72 0cLobel' 8 Debbie Lee ..................... W liaL th e Squ il'l'els Know: /\ corn s fol' Di nn el'
73 OcLobel' 12 Daniel .I. \Vak i11 .............. Violini sLCancels
l~cc ila l Ovf'I' De Lr-oi l S uike Tension
74 OcLobcr 15 J\ lark Mcdona ld ............... His ing Pl'iccs Crea le J\ K imchi C1i sis
75 OcLobcr 2 1 Ca1herin e Sa int Louis ... . A 13eLLer S111 ile (bu l Nol Too Ped ccl}
76 OcLobcr 22 Sieve S 111i1h .................... 1\ Pencha111 !o r Bnrclr (S ince S he Was O nly 5)
77 OcLobcr 22 13 1'ad Spm gcon ................ J\ Soulh Kona Prepa res fOI' I1s I i rsl l.'orrnu la
0 11c Weekend
78 Oclober 29 1\ la rk J\ lc Dona ld .............. A l'Ler 6 Del:adcs of' Sq n1 l'alio11 in Kol'ea,
a 1\lceLing
79 Nove111bcr 7 David E. Sangel' Gel Me 0 111 of Here
80 November 7 Ce11e Lu<11 Yang ............. .!11 s1 Over rite Page, :i Pal'a ll el Uni vel'se
81 Nove111ber rn J\ la rk Mcdo11 a lcl ............... G-20 Even! lo S howcase So111 l1 Kol'e<i 's Al'ri va l
82 Novenrbcl' LO Sonia Ko k11 s 11ikov-.Jessop So11 Ih Ko l'ea Sels ll s S ights on Fo l'eig n Toirl'isls
83 Nove111bcr 11 Brya n Kay ................... I lavol' of l3ri1ain \Virt s over So uth Kol'ea ns
94 DecC'r11 l>C'I' 7 T l'ip C abl'i<' I !\ Forn H'I' St' hools ( :lric f" S lra p<'s J lel' Co rnc bat'k
95 Dccl'rn bc l' 7 S a111 Dillo 11 To p Tcsl Sco l'<'S
17rn nr S lia ngfori S ul' pl'iS<' l~d11 t' alo rs
96 Decernbcr 8 Kai ic Tho mas Et I1ics Issucs Do n1 Dcle l' S . Ko 1'c;1s OI.' m ic Bi d
97 Dccc rnbcr 13 ?l lal'C ~kD 011ald Savin g a Ko n a n Disl l'i<'I
98 DccT111her IG Hiehard Pfrl'z-Pl'rw As Ko nans Pou r In . \ Tmrn Is R<111adc 11 3 11 4
99 DecC'nrbcl' 2 1 S il'\ <' S rnilh D l'a\\ i11go 11 Fond C lt ildlrood \lcrn orics
fo l' a Pai 1'i 11g of" Bc<' llH)\'<' n and B<'l'io
100 DecC"111hcl' 2 1 \ ivic 11 S cl111 c iLzc l' J\11ollrc l' ~ l c rl'.) Clr l'is1111as
\\"i1lr ll H B l'andc11 hul'gs'
101 Deel' Ill bcl' 22 1\ .0. Srnll .......... .......... .. . Fi<'IT(' T<sls or l~ 11 d ll l'Ca ll CC
a nd llrl' l ~ csi li e nc< of"l lH' S pil'il
102 Dcce111bcr 29 1\eil C c nzli ngc l' :\ Fa ke Dani slr Cor ned.' Troupe
C <ws To \ o l'llr K<ma . \\ i1h S ll'ang< Result s
103 Dccc rn bcl' '1 1 S lr i\a n i \ 'o l'a Ta ke a l'lun ge. oa k L p I lcal. Tr.' a Scrub.
S ta.\ O ff Your Feel
104 Dccc111 bcl' 11 Dave ll zko fT H.:rl'e ~ l ov i c Treat in \ol'lh Ko l'ca
THE LIST OF 2011
The Nevv York Times articles
on Korean Culture
This is the com plete li st o f'Tlw t\cw York T in1 cs arlicles 0 11 Korea 11 C ullurc in 20 11
ac<"o rd i ng lo o ur rcsca reh at Ii 111e o f' pt 1bi icalio 11.
~o l a II a rl ielcs on 1lir
Iisl \\'c 1r sc lccl cd f(:>r this book Icl. T he arLiclcs Lh at a re i ncl uclcd i n
Lhi s book let w ill be i11 BOLD.
JANUARY-M ARC H
No. Date Article By Title of Articles Booklet Page(s)
.lan11a rv 10 S tew S11 1i11J .. .... ............. .. J\ S iri ng l ~ n semhl e al Play: Bod.' Language
and S licer l:, ul wra 11<c
2 .l an11a 1T 2G Flo r('lll'C FabriC'a 11 l Of'fTlw 'll c nu
3 .l a1111a ry 27 S lew S rnilh .. ......... ......... l'a 111ed G liosls \11d Tl1eir Dili g<' nl Kee pe r
25 \l a rd1 22 \' ic k Fox .... ... ... ... ... ....... .. . 1-.orcalo" 11: \\line lo l ~a l
37 Apri l 2/i Ta 11vi ll'hlrC'da ................ Ill Los \11 gf'lcs, S 111a ll \IC'els \ lega111a ll
38 .\ pril:l!i "at e .\ lurph.' .. ......... ...... . Esthe r "im and .lot'sph \ aret 4G li8
40 \I ~" I Ti re J\ssoci:r ll'd Press .... . Tce11ag1 rTi<d f"o r l. . P.G .1\ . Lead
41 May I Cltris loplwr Clare'_)' ....... . 1\11wriC'a 11 ll'c' Darwcrs Tan go lo Gold .
.\ a l ion's Firsl 0 11 \\ oriel S 1agc
43 \la' D Claudia \\allis S1 udy in 1-.orca Pul s /\ u1i s1n's Prc\a l<ll('('
al 2.60. S u rpri sin g l:xpc rls
48 .I 111 l (' "J. Sa rn Dol11 i('k ...... .. ..... ...... :\ \r" ) o rk S t a pi< .
"-.01ea11 Croc l 1s \r<' Dll'i 11d li11 g
49 .I 11111' ~ Zarhan \\ e>0 ll'< l 11s lrn11untalists at a11 E:\ hil>itio11 17
50 .I 111I(' '1 Diane Farr Bri 11g i11 g I lo111e tit<' \\ rn11g Hae<'
51 .l111w :i 1\lark Bitt111a11 Bac kya 1d Bulg>gi ... .... .... .... ............... ....... ......... 27-28
Korean Cultural Service New York is a branch of the Ministry o f Cul t ure, Sports and
Tourism of the Republic of Korea. Since ou r inauguration in December 1979 under t he
authority of the Korean Consulate Genera l in New York. we have w orked to p ro m ote
cultura l exchange and stimulate interest in Korean culture through our cultural
programs. exhibitions. mov ies and events.
www.koreancultu re.org
EXHIBITIONS
Gallery Ko rea's prima ry goal is ro encourage culrural
understandi ng as a s ite of culcu ral exchange between
Korean a nd Western a rr lovers. Each year, G allery Korea
prescnrs exhibitions devoted ro d iverse-folk, conrem po rary
co diasporic-Korea n a rts, as well as group shows featuring
ince rnarion al a rriscs.
EVENTS
1l1e elegance in Korea n culm re ca n be experienced eh rough
the C ulru ra l A rcs Evcnrs . In addition ro our ow n evcnrs,
incl udi ng class ical music concerts, jazz concerts, literatu re
readings, culin ary rasring evenrs; we collaborate wirh many of
the city's finest cu lrural organizations.
SPOTLIGHT KORE A
T he Korean C ulrural Service NY along wirh Lotus Music
a nd Dance are promoring Sporl igh r Korea, an educarional
progra m which se nds one ro fo u r Korean rraditiona l danc-
e rs o r musicians, ro K- 12 New York Ciry public schools in
KOflCA.N CUlTUtlAL SERVICE NY
o rder ro reach a nd perform Korean music and dance.