Gwangju News December 2022 #250

Gwangju FC’s Victory and Hopes

From the Editor

December 2022, Issue 250

Published: December 1, 2022

Cover Photo

Gwangju FC

Courtesy of Gwangju FC

THE EDITORIAL TEAM

Publisher Dr. Shin Gyonggu

Editor-in-Chief Dr. David E. Shaffer

Managing Editor William Urbanski

Chief Copy Editor Isaiah Winters

Layout Editor Karina Prananto

Photographer Kim Hillel Yunkyoung

Online Editor Karina Prananto

The Gwangju News is the first English monthly magazine for the general public in Korea, first published in 2001. Each monthly issue covers local and regional issues, with a focus on the roles and activities of the international residents and local English-speaking communities.

Copyright ©2022 by the Gwangju International Center. All rights reserved. No part of this publication covered by this copyright may be reproduced in any form or by any means – graphic, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise – without the written consent of the publisher.

The Gwangju News is published by the Gwangju International Center: Jungang-ro 196-beon-gil 5 (Geumnam-ro 3-ga), Dong-gu, Gwangju 61475, South Korea Tel: (+82)-62-226-2733~34 Fax: (+82)-62-226-2731

Website: www.gwangjunewsgic.com Email: gwangjunews@gic.or.kr gwangjunews gwangju_news

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Registration Date: February 22, 2010

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For volunteering and article submission inquiries, please contact the editor at gwangjunews@gic.or.kr

Special thanks to Gwangju City and all of our sponsors.

Decemberis upon us – the month whose doors close out the year. And what a year it has been! As 2022 has dug us out from under the tyranny of the Covid virus, we have been able to enjoy more of the in-person events that were once so commonplace.

The impending end of the year invites one to look back over the past year and ponder what has transpired. I would like to take a few moments to enumerate some of the year’s events highlighted in the Gwangju News. The year started off with the death of Bae Eun-sim, known as the “Mother of June” for her activism for democracy after the death of her martyred activist son. In May, Dr. Cynthia Maung was awarded the 2022 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights for her humanitarian work on the Myanmar–Thailand border.

Among the many interviews that the Gwangju News has carried out over the year, I would like to accentuate two of them. In May, we interviewed Song Seon-tae, head of the May 18 Democratization Movement Truth Commission, who has devoted himself to the truth, memory, and heritage of the Movement. In July, we were able to meet with the newly elected mayor of Gwangju, Kang Gi-Jung, for an exclusive interview on his plans to guide Gwangju into the future.

As Covid relented, the city became more active. The World Human Rights Cities Forum, focusing on the climate crisis and human rights, was again held in Gwangju. As was the Chungjang World Festival of Recollection, but this year, the event included the first-ever Buskers World Cup, a truly international event.

October also hosted Gwangju International Community Week, expanded from a one-day to a one-week event, and the Gwangju Fringe Festival. In the area of sports, the Gwangju News interviewed in June Jun Woong-tae, Korea’s winningest pentathlon athlete, sponsored by City Hall. And this month, we feature Ahn Young-kyu, captain of the Gwangju FC, who won their league championship this year and are setting their sights even higher for the next season!

The Gwangju International Center plans to end the year with its annual Adios event, which we are carrying a preview of. There is of course so much more in this December issue which we invite you to read.

We at the Gwangju News wish you a very, very happy holiday season, and look forward to serving you throughout 2023 as January opens its doors to another inviting year!

David E. Shaffer Editor-in-Chief Gwangju News

Photo of the Month

By Kim Hillel Yunkyoung

The Photographer Kim Hillel Yunkyoung is a priest of the Anglican Church here in Gwangju and also a portrait photographer. More of his photographs can be found at Instagram @hillelkim.

Along with so many in the nation and beyond, we were shocked to hear of the Halloween weekend crowd crush that took so many lives in Seoul's Itaewon district.

Gwangju and the Gwangju News mourn the loss of the 158 precious lives that perished in the incident and send our condolences to the families and friends who lost loved ones. We hope for the speedy and complete recovery of all those harmed in the incident and hope that sufficient measures will be taken so that such a calamity shall never happen again.

Gwangju City News

Gwangju City Wins Grand Prize for Elderly Jobs and Social Activity Support Business Evaluation

Gwangju City won the grand prize for creating senior jobs in the Evaluation of Elderly Jobs and Social Activity Support Business put on by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Gwangju City had discovered eco-friendly jobs for the elderly that can be a response to the climate crisis even during this difficult time of promoting seniorcitizen job projects in the era of Covid-19. This includes neighborhood resource manager projects, park environment maintenance projects, and Pungyeong River crime-prevention team projects.

Also, Gwangju City has focused on creating happy jobs for the elderly that are involved with the community by discovering specialized regional social projects using funds from public institutions such as the Korea Gas Safety Corporation and the Korea Petroleum Quality and Distribution Authority.

In particular, the city received favorable reviews for signing agreements with organizations such as the Korea Environment Corporation, the Agency for Traditional Market Administration, and Lotte GRS, and for creating 110 more job opportunities for the elderly with these organizations through promoting the Recycling Used Coffee Grounds Project.

This year, Gwangju City is providing around 28,350 job opportunities with a budget of 99.9 billion won, and high-quality, customized jobs are being created to reflect the characteristics of the aging baby boomer population.

Gwangju

City Asks Citizens to Save Water by

20 Percent

The Gwangju Metropolitan City Waterworks Headquarters launched a campaign to inform residents of the severity of the drought and appeal for water conservation by 20 percent per resident.

The campaign seeks to inform residents that the Dongbok Dam, the water source for Gwangju, will be exhausted by the end of March next year due to the severe water shortage. The campaign also suggests certain water conservation practices such as adjusting the water pressure of water meters, using gargling cups, reducing shower time, and putting plastic bottles in toilet tanks.

Deputy Mayor Moon Young-hoon said, “If water consumption does not decrease from where it is now, the city could have a water shortage situation with limited water supply in the spring of next year.” Meanwhile, the Waterworks Headquarters has been conducting a weekly water conservation campaign for residents since November 1 and, on the 16th, conducted a street campaign in which all city officials participated.

From the Gwangju Metropolitan City Press Release ( http://gwangju.go.kr )

Gwangju City Gets First Place in Evaluation of Traffic Safety Implementation Plan

Gwangju City ranked first among metropolitan cities in the 2021 Regional Traffic Safety Implementation Plan Evaluation organized by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (MOLIT).

The Traffic Safety Implementation Plan Evaluation is a nationwide evaluation done every year by MOLIT in order to improve traffic safety management. This evaluation includes an “Actual Result” part for things such as facility improvement, promotion, education, regulation, and cooperation with related organizations, as well as an “Actual Effect” part for the reduction of the traffic accident death rate or improving the traffic culture index improvement rate.

Gwangju City received high scores for improvements in traffic accident deaths, traffic safety facilities, and safety management indicators for business vehicles.

In particular, the city achieved an improvement of 106 percent in terms of traffic accident deaths (with a target of 52 and a result of 49), and showed a 22.2 percent decrease in the number of deaths from the previous year (from 63 to 49), which ranked the city first, four places up from last year.

This is interpreted as being a result of Gwangju City's active efforts to reduce the number of deaths from traffic accidents, including efforts to share traffic safety policies through operating collaborative teams of officials from traffic-related organizations for the reduction of traffic accidents.

In addition, Gwangju City is promoting various practices for traffic safety, including improving traffic systems and expanding traffic safety facilities at traffic-accident hazard locations for better traffic accident prevention, maintaining old traffic facilities, promoting traffic accident prevention through media, and conducting education for accidentprone groups, such as the elderly and children.

▲ Gwangju City Hall officials, including Gwangju Mayor Kang Gi-Jung on a street campaign.

Translated by Lim Se-ryeong.

Gwangju FC’s Victory and Hopes for 2023

022 couldn’t have been a better comeback for Gwangju FC, one of the two professional sports club in this city of 1.5 million. Its winning in K League 2, putting it back to K League 1 next year, gives hope to the football (soccer) club that has been having an up-and-down history in its involvement in the Korea Football League.

Formed in 2010, it first participated in the K League (Korea Football League) in 2011 (to those who had lived in the city earlier than 2010, Gwangju’s very first football club was Gwangju Sangmu FC, founded in 2002 and later disbanded in 2010). Gwangju FC’s very start in K League was weak. Although it won its first match against Daegu FC in March 2011, at the end of the season it was in 11th place. It was first relegated to Division 2 of K League (K League 2) in 2013. It made a comeback to K League 1 in 2015 but was again relegated to K League 2 in 2018. It may not be the strongest team in the league, but the appointment of a new manager, Lee Jeong-hyo, who previously was the head coach of Jeju United, gave the club a new breath of hope.

Lee Jeong-hyo was named the club’s seventh manager and has a big responsibility of making sure that the team is back on track to winning ways and no longer ranked at the bottom of the league. His mission to bring pride back to the team as well as to the give the team a boost of confidence is essential.

His decision to appoint Ahn Young-kyu, a veteran athlete, to be the team captain and to lead the team, was also thought of as one of the contributing factors to the team’s success this year. Ahn started his professional football career in 2011, Participating in the China Universiade on the Korean national team before entering the Samsung Bluewings in 2012. We are fortunate to meet with Ahn and to get to know more about the Gwangju FC through the following interview.

Gwangju News (GN): Thank you so much for accepting our proposal for this interview. It is an honor for us to meet with you. Please accept our warmest congratulations for your team’s winning on the K League 2 title and returning to K League 1 next year!

Coach Lee Jeong-hyo’s “New Wind Soccer” (새바람 축구) and the teamwork of the “Gwangtan Boys”

(광탄소년단), who displayed their “win-and-rise” (우승과 승격) spirit, seem to be the reasons for Gwangju FC’s great season. Could you please tell us more about this, and for our international readers, the origin of the Gwangtan Boys’ unique name?

Ahn Young-kyu: We worked really hard this year with manager Lee Jeong-hyo and all the coaches. So, instead of using the title “Gwangtan Boys,” all our players, manager, and coaches, we all came together to train, prepare and do everything. We prepared while looking forward to the promotion of the team (to K League 1), so I think we have prepared a foothold for us to win and return to K League 1 immediately.

And I honestly don’t know exactly what the word “Gwangtan Boys” means, but maybe before I came, “Gwangtan Boys” didn't refer to all the Gwangju FC players, but there is a youth team in Gwangju FC. It is operated by alumni of Gwangju Kumho High School, and I think the name was created based on the people who graduated from the high school and who are on the youth team. But I am also from Kumho High School, and I am the oldest among the players from the high school who are affiliated with Gwangju FC. People are saying that I’m leading the Gwangtan Boys, so the name “Gwangtan Boys” is probably based on the players from Gwangju Kumho High School and those on the Gwangju FC Youth Team.

GN: What do you think is the Gwangju FC’s greatest strength?

Ahn Young-kyu: I think that each player on Gwangju FC is exceptional. It’s not a team where only one player is greater than others, but everyone is considered equal. We are one team. Everyone on the team becomes one; we play as a whole, and we prepare for our games as one. I think that’s our biggest weapon. Our strength is that we are one.

GN: What do you think was the biggest challenge that the team faced this season, and how did you all overcome it?

Ahn Young-kyu: I remember that when we played the opening game at home this season, we lost 2–1 to Gimpo FC. I felt defeated and worried that we might have a hard time performing for the rest of the season. Personally, I think that was the most difficult time. But we reviewed what we were lacking in, and we reminded ourselves why we play.

And after that, I think we became a completely different team from that first game. Since then, we’ve been getting good results and putting on a good performance.

GN: What was the team’s most unforgettable moment of this season?

Ahn Young-kyu: I don’t think there was one particular episode. But when we won [the K League 2 title], we felt that we had a great season, we tied Chungnam Asan FC 0–0 in our last [away] game. I don’t think that was our best performance. So, the manager scolded us, asking whether or not we were a winning team, because I think we should have won the game. We should have ended the season happily, but we couldn’t, so it was a pity.

GN: What is the team’s goal for next year?

Ahn Young-kyu: We have been promoted from the second division, so we are in the position of challenger in a way, but we have the mindset that we can do well. I think the goal for Gwangju FC is to show a better side next year, and try to get into the upper split in the rankings and play in the ACL (AFC Champion League).

GN: So far, our questions have been about Gwangju FC, but we would like to know more about Ahn Young-kyu as an individual. First of all, congratulations on being named MVP of K League 2 for this season! Could you introduce yourself briefly to our readers?

AhnYoung-kyu: I was born on December 4, 1989, and I am originally from Gwangyang, Jeollanam-do. I stayed in Jeollanam-do through high school, and then I went to Ulsan University. My first professional team was Suwon Samsung Bluewings. After all these years playing as a professional athlete, I was chosen as an MVP and also received the biggest award, the Best Eleven award. I felt like this year was the year that has given me the most joy during my professional sports career. I also got married two years ago, and live a very happy married life.

GN: When did you first start playing soccer? Ahn Young-kyu: I officially started playing soccer

when I was in third grade at Gwangyang Jecheolnam Elementary School. After that, I went to Jangheung Middle School, Kumho High School and Ulsan University. In 2012, I joined the Suwon Samsung Bluewings as their top draft pick.

GN: You played for Gwangju FC between 2015 and 2018, and then moved to Asan FC and Seongnam FC before returning to Gwangju FC this year. How do you think Gwangju FC has changed over the years?

Ahn Young-kyu: The biggest change is that we didn’t have our own clubhouse and lodging in 2015, so we trained at Mokpo Soccer Center at that time. We trained and lived there, so it is funny that we played our home games in Gwangju. For each home game, we had to ride the bus from Mokpo, which can take about 40 minutes to 1 hour each way. When I look back now, I think that was the biggest change because we now have our own lodging and training ground in Gwangju. Also, previously we played at the Gwangju World Cup Stadium, and now we play in a dedicated football stadium, which once was the auxiliary stadium. We can use that ground now, so I think that is the biggest change.

GN: What is the difference between playing at the World Cup Stadium (which was used until 2020) and the current Gwangju Football Stadium?

Ahn Young-kyu: The Gwangju World Cup Stadium

▲ Ahn Young-kyu at the MVP Award Ceremony.

has a track around it. That created a gap between the spectators and the players, so we both felt far from each other. Also, when we were playing at the World Cup Stadium, you couldn’t really hear what the players were saying, as they were so far away from the stands. Now at our dedicated football stadium, the distance between the spectator’s seats and the field is quite small, so the spectators can see the game more up close. It will be more fun to watch the game that way, since you will also be able to see how we communicate with each other.

him, I spent the year thinking that I have a lot to learn. I’m thinking that I can learn a lot from him while working with him. I am thinking of be like him when I retire from playing. I feel like I wanted to do as he does.

GN: How about your childhood, did you have any favorite soccer player back then?

Ahn Young-kyu: When I was young, I looked up to the national team players or professional players. I felt that I was like Hong Myung-bo (currently the manager of Ulsan Hyundai FC). I thought that he was cool and I looked up to him.

GN: What do you do in your free time?

Ahn Young-kyu: During the season, we usually have a day or two break every week. So usually during this time, my wife and I go out to a café, eat many delicious foods, or visit new places. This is because while training, I follow the same routine day after day. So, on my off days, I try to spend more time with her and do fun things with her.

GN: Do you have any message for our readers?

GN: You were chosen team captain by coach Lee Jeong-hyo this year. Could you share with us your biggest challenge as captain as well as your role as a defender for the team?

Ahn Young-kyu: I think he thought I was the best person to convey his thoughts and lead the team well, so he entrusted me with the title. Being the go-between, I need to make sure that I fill the role well by communicating the team’s opinions and the opinions of the manager and coaches well. I have to unite everyone so that the team can go forward together with a single vision.

GN: Who is your role model or your inspiration in life?

Ahn Young-kyu: I didn’t think much about it, but I think I’ve been learning a lot from manager Lee Jeong-hyo. Reflecting on the coach’s thoughts on soccer and what he does with the people around

Ahn Young-kyu: To be honest, I think there are a lot of people who don’t know about Gwangju FC. And they might not know that there is a player called Ahn Young-kyu on Gwangju FC team. I hope people will have more interest in the team now that we have played so well this year. Next year, now that we have returned to K League 1, we promise to always give our best performance, so please get to know more about us, about our club, show a lot of interest, and please come to the stadium more often to support us!

GN: Thank you very much, and we wish you and Gwangju FC the best of luck for next season!

Interviewed by Karina Prananto Photographs courtesy of Gwangju FC.

Painter of the “Halo Effect” Oh Soo-kyung

By Kang Jennis Hyunsuk

Last spring, I went to a department store in Gwangju. There I was attracted by the poster for an art gallery. When I followed its directions to the gallery, I found a refreshing combination of green leaves, colorful flowers, and fruits in oil paintings.

It was glamorous and fancy artwork from a distance, but when I had a closer look, the paintings revealed a simple beauty, like that of a woman with light makeup. At the time, I wondered how they could have this double beauty. I’d always thought that the charm of oil paintings was to have a thick texture. I was shocked by this new style in oil paintings, so I asked the artist for an interview.

The place I visited to interview the artist of these paintings, Oh Soo-kyung, was at her mother’s house where the painter Oh Ji-ho (1905–1982), her grandfather and a master of modern Western painting, had once lived and worked. Currently, Oh Soo-kyung’s mother lives there, so it was an honor for me because the complex is not open to the public at all times for privacy reasons. The interview was conducted in the studio that the artist Oh Ji-ho and his son, Oh Seung-yun (1939–2006), had once used. Now Oh Soo-kyung sometimes paints in the studio, adding her paint stains to the floor like her father and grandfather before her. Here is our interview.

Jennis: Thank you for your time. I really enjoyed your unique paintings of flowers and fruits at the exhibition. In your paintings, I felt that the natural objects such as flowers and leaves were free from their original shapes and colors. I wonder if you paint by diluting the paints with lots of oil because your paintings are so translucent.

Oh Soo-kyung: I hear that from time to time. Some people have wondered if I’m trying to save on paints. Actually, no. I use a lot. When I color, I don’t color an object all at once. Because of the nature of oil paints, it takes some time to dry. I apply one color and leave it on the canvas to soak in. If I wipe it off before the paint dries, the canvas is lightly colored. Then I add another color, brushing it on the canvas horizontally and vertically like weaving cloth.

Jennis: Your work is like dyeing the canvas, similar to dyeing one’s fingernails with balsam flower petals.

I think it takes a lot of time to complete a large canvas. Your style of work seems very different from those of your grandfather, the artist Oh Ji-ho, and your father, the artist Oh Seung-yun. What do you think?

Oh Soo-kyung: Yes, by nature of being a painter, I have to have my own unique world of artworks. So, I’ve had a lot of time to think about finding my own direction in art, with influences from the paintings in my family that I’ve seen from a very young age and the abstract art that I majored in at university.

Jennis: Oh, you majored in abstract art. By the way, I can see many flowers, trees, and fruits in your artworks. I wonder what exactly you wish to express through them.

Oh Soo-kyung: Flowers are often used as the subject for my paintings, perhaps because I grew up looking closely at the flowers blooming in the yard, thanks to my mother, whose hobby is growing flowers, shrubs, and trees. When I look at flowers, I sometimes feel something surrounding them. Like the rings of light that surround the moon and the sun, I wanted to capture the energy of flowers, which I can feel but cannot actually see. It might be an influence from the abstract art that I majored in. I like this effect of art – art changing itself over time. It can be called “the art of time.”

Jennis: I don’t remember where I read it, but I remember the saying, “A painter is a person who paints something invisible and allows people to see it.” Your words about the aura, or the “halo effect,” surrounding flowers remind me of my grandmother who prayed to the god of the trees, the god of the grains, the god of the moon, and the spirits that exist in everything.

You’re a third-generation artist in a family of artists, which includes your father and grandfather, and also your uncle Oh Seung-woo. Do you have any other relatives working in the arts? Oh Soo-kyung: My two younger brothers and my cousins work in art-related

fields. And my daughter is also doing her doctorate in the art history of Northeast Asia in the United States. Although she was not born in Gwangju, she is proud of Gwangju’s May 18 Democratization Movement, which was a milestone in Korea’s democratization, and she loves Gwangju people so much.

Jennis: So, including your daughter, four generations have been working in the arts. Did you have the urge to become a painter since you were young? I wonder what your childhood was like and the atmosphere around a family of artists.

Oh Soo-kyung: My father was my grandfather’s second son, and they lived together. The eldest son, my uncle, was active in Seoul, leading a large organization called Mogu-hoe (목우회), which represents Korea’s conceptual art. When my grandfather was a professor at Chosun University’s College of Fine Arts, he built this studio in the yard and painted there like a monk. It is said that he had the window placed facing north to minimize the change of light and the flow of time. He was very nice to me, but when he entered his studio, I wasn’t allowed to open the door. When he finished his painting for the day, my mother would wash and dry his brushes.

Jennis: Oh, your mother was like his apprentice. I can guess that she surely respected her father-inlaw. And I want to ask who you think is the artist that influenced you the most.

▲ Detail of Apple Tree, with “halos” around fruit and leaves.

▲ Four Seasons, 2021. Oil on canvas, 116x90 cm.

▲ Summer, 2021. Oil on canvas, 116x90 cm.

Oh Soo-kyung: It’s hard to choose just one person, but I think I got a lot of help from my father, who recommended that I go to Ewha Womans University to study art. He studied at Hongik Art College and lectured in the College of Art at Chonnam National University. When he stayed in France, his works in our five traditional Korean colors received lots of attention. He expressed the harmony between nature and humans with soft curves of mountains, rivers, and fields, and I consider him to be my respected senior artist. He always told me not to fall into the mistake of merely carrying the outward appearance of a painter, but to be a faithful person inside. I cherish and attempt to keep those words of advice.

Jennis: Oh, a few years ago, I saw the exhibition by your father, Oh Seung-yun, at the Lotus Gallery at Mugak-sa, the temple

in the Sangmu district. I still remember his moving artworks. He expressed our traditional philosophy of the universe as being composed of yin and yang in five colors: blue, red, yellow, white, and black. Please let me know what your plans are for the future.

Oh Soo-kyung: Like my work Apple Tree, I am planning to create a series of paintings of the light of the sky and the colors of the air between the leaves. I want to deliver what I feel from nature. While my father painted the traditional five colors, I’d like to paint the diverse spectrum of light with another five colors.

Jennis: I’m rooting for your new series with its five other colors. Thank you for this extensive interview!

AFTER THE INTERVIEW…

The artist, Oh Soo-kyung, painted in Texas for five years before recently returning to Korea. Her stay in Texas –

1, 2022. Oil on canvas, 162.2x130.3 cm.

Oh Soo-kyung at the studio with her father’s artworks.

▲ With My Father, 2001. Oil on canvas, 45.4x53.0 cm.

where the endless horizon meets the equally endless sky – made her feel that the sky is always with her. This experience is now expressed in her paintings as fresh air between leaves and petals. I send my encouragement for her new style in painting.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

• 2022 Individual Exhibition (Lotte Gallery, Gwangju)

• 2019 Individual Exhibition (Gallery of Jangseong Library)

• 2017 Individual Exhibition (ACC Hotel Gallery, Gwangju)

• 2007 Individual Exhibition, Secret Garden (Hang Gallery, Seoul)

• 2005 Invitation Exhibition of Chung-Ang National University (Central National University Museum of Art, Beijing)

• 2005 Art Seoul Exhibition (Seoul Arts Center, Seoul)

• 2003 Individual Exhibition (Shinsegae Gallery, Gwangju)

• 1997 Individual Exhibition (Chohung Cultural Center, Gwangju)

MAIN COLLECTIONS

• Seoul Museum of Art (Seoul)

• Gwangju Museum of Art (Gwangju)

• Hong Kong Embassy’s official residence (Hong Kong)

• Beijing Embassy’s official residence (Beijing)

The Interviewer

Jennis Kang has been living in Gwangju all her life. She has been painting in oil paints for almost a decade, and she learned that there are a lot of fabulous artists in this city of the arts. As a freelance interpreter, her mission is to introduce Gwangju’s wonderful artists to the world through English.

The 12th World Human Right Cities Forum: Views from Participants

Compiled by the WHRCF Secretariat

The 12th World Human Rights Cities Forum (WHRCF) was held at the Kimdaejung Convention Center for four days, October 10–13, 2022. During this year’s Forum, 38 programs were organized with 320 domestic and foreign speakers and around 1,900 participants in total. Under this year’s theme, “Climate Crisis and Human Rights,” we concluded that it was important to recognize that the climate crisis could also impact human rights, not just the environment. Also, we came to understand that the first groups to be put into jeopardy are the vulnerable. In addition, we took time to explore ways to secure human rights of those in need. Furthermore, we had in-depth discussions on the important role of local governments that have been able to develop prompt and direct responses to human rights issues in this global emergency.

This year’s Forum, attended by officials and those related to international organizations and local governments at home and abroad, dealt with globally discussed issues and shared best practices. The Forum invited young activists and provided attendees with an opportunity to listen to their voices and understand their views as well. In particular, the Forum, held in-person this year, was able to provide a very active atmosphere that we have not seen over the past two Covid-effected years. At every corner of the venue, we could see that domestic and international participants freely shared their opinions and thoughts with one another. Tour

programs (including a Human Rights Tour, Human Rights Policy Tour, and Culture and Arts Tour) and other side events provided participants with diverse experiences and a fun time.

The secretariat of the WHRCF has asked officials and speakers from domestic, international, and overseas organizations to send their reviews in order to report on the vivid atmosphere of the Forum. Based on their views, the secretariat has prepared a follow-up report on the 12th WHRCF from the viewpoints of participants. The following comments are from representative officials and speakers who were part of the Forum and concern what they saw and felt.

NATIONAL PARTNER OFFICIALS

Bae Hyun

Department Head of the Gwangju Human Right Center for People with Disabilities

My name is Bae Hyun, and I was in charge of the disability-focused session co-organized by the Gwangju Human Rights Center for People with Disabilities and the Gwangju Solidarity on Eradicating Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities at the WHRCF every year. As this year’s

▲ Bae Hyun

Forum was held under the theme of “Climate Crisis and Human Rights,” we organized the session’s agenda by posing a question: What Is the Future of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the Era of the Climate Crisis? Extreme heat waves, floods, pandemics, and other climate and ecological crises caused by climate change are worsening every year. As such, discrimination and inequality against minorities, including persons with disabilities, have been worsening around the world, so the theme was timely and appropriate.

I remember the words of one presenter, Michal Balcerzak, the committee vice chairperson of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. He said, “In responding to the climate crisis, it is very important how we interpret and apply the term ‘vulnerability.’ There is some controversy around the term. It has been used in international laws and soft laws related to the climate crisis and disasters, so we need to ponder how to interpret and apply the term.” I also believe that this issue requires discussions among all relevant parties because the contents and quality of responses are dependent on the interpretation of “vulnerability” when it comes to human rights security for persons with disabilities in the climate crisis era.

Lastly, I have benefited a lot while preparing for the sessions on disabilities over the past several years. I have been able to have a chance to meet and work with relevant people from various organizations and groups in the process, which widened my perspective, as I encountered the issues that other people face. As a result, I came to be interested in various human rights issues, not only in disabilityrelated issues in our society. In this regard, I think that the WHRCF is significant for the broad range of issues it addresses. In particular, one of the strengths of the WHRCF is that the it and its organizers try to make sure the results from the thematic sessions are linked to actual policies and systems.

YOUTH ACTIVISTS

Park Hyun-bin Student at Gwangju Inseong High School

Hello, I am Park Hyun-bin, a resident of Gwangju, South Korea, and a student at Gwangju Inseong High School. As a youth activist, it was my second time to be part of the WHRCF. Now, I would like to share my review on attending the Forum. My first time at the WHRCF, I attended the thematic session related to children and youth. At that time, I

▲ Main speakers at the World Human Rights Cities Forum during Plenary Session 1.

delivered a speech on studentengaged ecological education with the agenda of “Seeking Educational Transition in the Disaster Era.” During my remarks, I concentrated on the necessity for changes in the educational system and curricula, and the severity of the climate crisis from the perspective of youth. I remember that when an official from the secretariat asked me whether I was available for the Forum, the term “world” in the title felt quite overwhelming to me. Also, I was the only student participant, which made me more nervous. When I was at the venue, however, I was able to feel a very warm and welcoming atmosphere. I was worried that the audience and organizers might ignore my opinions and words because I was a student; however, they paid attention to me, which made me feel respected. In my view, the most noticeable characteristic that distinguishes the WHRCF from other such events is that the youth and students are given an opportunity to speak.

During this year’s Forum, I attended thematic sessions on children and youth that I had participated

in previously and talked about climate actions. Also, I had time to discuss the youth’s thoughts on ways to respond to the climate crisis and exchanged opinions with others. What made me surprised was that, thanks to Covid-19’s gradual reduction, many international attendants participated in the session to listen to the opinions of the youth. In addition, I could see more young participants this year than last year. Kim Na-hun, a youth activist at the event, expressed that some students agreed on the severity of the climate crisis; however, that was not enough to directly lead to action, with which I fully agree. Therefore, my plan is to take aggressive action to figure out ways to make the youth have full empathy in regard to the climate crisis and enable them to easily take direct actions against said crisis. I hope to see that the results from the discussions at the Forum are turned into action and do not just remain words.

Lee Han-gyeol

Representative of the Gwangju Youth Climate Action 1.5°C

I am Lee Han-gyeol of “1.5°C,” a Gwangju youth climate activist group. As a representative activist, I participated in the WHRCF’s “Youth Action in

▲ Disability session attended by Bae Hyun (far right).

▲ Park Hyun-bin

Response to the Climate Crisis” session. During the session, we discussed cases of youth climate action in Gwangju, climate justice, and human rights of the youth. While attending the WHRCF, I expected that the voices of the youth climate activists would reach out to a greater number of people. We had a chance to talk about the rights of youth activists, including topics like the “climate crisis of the youth,” the “right to know about what is going on around the world,” the “right to study climate justice,” the “right to eat a vegan lunch,” and the “right to go picketing every Friday.” We hoped that our voices and opinions would be well accepted in society.

Through this latest WHRCF, I think that I gained good companions. I was able to meet four other panelists who participated in the session, and we have kept a good relationship with one another since. Recently, we have even been working on some climate justice actions in Gwangju based on solidarity. We have determined to come up with interesting climate actions for the city. So, please, keep your eye on us.

INTERNATIONAL PARTNER OFFICIALS

Anindya Kana Communications Officer at the Kota Kita Foundation

Organizing and participating in the 2022 WHRCF has been such an eye-opening experience for me! For three days, we had the chance to connect and learn with a diverse network of likeminded activists, civil society organizations, experts, and government officials working hard to advance rights-based action plans toward a sustainable future.

Besides the talks and discussions, my colleagues and I also got to learn more from the city of Gwangju and its citizens on how to engage various stakeholders in the city to promote human rights and democracy during the Human Rights Tour and Human Rights Policy Tour. Concurrently, the lessons we learned from the tours serve as an example and a reflection on the session that we organized, which highlighted the topic of the Right to the City and showcased citizen-led collective action that aims to promote and achieve climate justice.

Wulandari

▲ Lee Han-gyeol

▲ Children and Youth session attended by Park Hyun-bin (second from left) and Lee Han-gyeol (third from right).

▲ Wulandari Anindya Kana

Even though this was personally my first time to come to Gwangju to attend and organize a session at the WHRCF, Kota Kita Foundation’s WHRCF attendance and cooperation with the Gwangju International Center date way back. As we have done in prior years, the Global Platform for the Right to the City and the Kota Kita Foundation are keen to continue our participation in the 2023 WHRCF to build on this year’s session and to encourage more profound discussions. See you at the 2023 WHRCF!

OVERSEAS PARTICIPANT

Fithriyyah Iskandar

Youth Right Ambassador for Clean, Healthy, and Sustainable Environment, ASEAN Youth Forum

I was one of the panelists for the special session [Youth Talk 2.0] – Human Rights and Climate Adaptation Plans organized by the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law and the ASEAN Youth Forum. Attending the WHRCF was a really impressive experience, as I never expected

to be so impressed by Gwangju’s history and its commitments to creating an environmentally friendly city. Besides that, by experiencing the Forum activities in person and meeting so many experts from various countries and regions, I also realized that the WHRCF successfully brought together the important stakeholders, governments, and youth to be at the same table to address the ways in which human rights are related to environmental issues. I learned a lot about best practices, which were provided by resource persons, about country and city adaptation plans in response to the climate crisis. I think this is something that we need to have to provoke further discussions based on best practices so that there will be meaningful knowledge- and experience-sharing that can inspire policy prototypes or adaptation models in each country.

▲ Fithriyyah Iskandar

▲ Fithriyyah Iskandar (second from left) at the Youth Talk 2.0 session.

The GIC’s End-of-Year Event Adios 2022

By Karina Prananto

There are a few weeks left before we say goodbye to 2022. Time flies, as many of us would agree, and many things have happened this year, such as the easing of restrictions for Covid-19, which resulted in the Gwangju International Center (GIC) being able to hold many events that were canceled last year. There are many things to be thankful for this year, but the GIC’s most important possessions – its members – are the ones we are most thankful for!

For those who missed the events that were canceled last year, we plan to hold several events this December, including our usual year-end Adios party on December 17. And to gear you up for these events, here is what we will prepare for you:

ONE-STOP COUNSELING DAY

Do you have any inquiries that have not been answered? The GIC will invite experts from various fields, such as the Gwangju Immigration Office, Gwangju Mental Health Center, and a lawyer’s office, to help you solve all your problems! Come visit and do not be shy – it is time to have all your problems resolved before the New Year!

GIC MEMBER’S DAY

Volunteering Programs

The GIC exists thanks to its community. We would like to spread more love to a wider community this year, and we invite you to join us! Last year, the GIC staff and some international residents were able to distribute coal briquettes to elderly people’s homes in the Nam-gu area. This year we plan to visit an

orphanage to spread some love. If you are interested in joining, please do not hesitate to contact us at 062226-2733.

One-Day Culture Class

It is almost Christmas, so the GIC will help you drum up more of that holiday spirit that is already in the air! Bring your family and friends, as Santa will also be there to spread some holiday cheer! A great time guaranteed for adults and kids alike!

GIC Reports and GIC Choir Performance

Some of you probably remember Adios 2019 where the GIC staff sang Christmas carols with a twist. Well, we will be back with more! We will also present you our report for this year, to let you know more about our activities and programs. We will also present our members with their very own calendar, available only to those who come on this day!

Flea Market and Freecycle

We know this is one of the most anticipated events by the expat community. The long-awaited Freecycle and Flea Market are also back! Donate your used items in good condition to the GIC or register as a seller. Please make sure that your donated or for-sale items are in good condition.

So, are you ready and as excited as we are? For more information, visit the GIC website (www.gic.or.kr), follow our Facebook page (@gwangjuic), and/or check us out on Instagram (@gwangjuinternationalcenter) or see back cover for more details.

The 2022 Human Rights Education Training Program for Sustainable and Inclusive Communities

By Jana Milosavljevic

Following the successful completion of the 2021 Online Human Rights Education Training Program for Sustainable and Inclusive Communities in November last year, this year Gwangju Metropolitan City, represented through the Gwangju International Center (GIC), conducted another KOICA Fellowship Program: the CIAT (Capacity Improvement and Advancement for Tomorrow). The 2022 training program was also held fully online, conducted under the same name and targeting the same country: Kenya. Nevertheless, even though there were some familiar faces among the lecturers and facilitators, this year’s program welcomed a whole new group of trainees and underwent a couple of changes to the curriculum.

For Gwangju News readers who would like to learn more about the background of the GIC’s cooperation with KOICA in conducting the human resources development training program, “Human Rights Education Training Program for Sustainable and Inclusive Communities,” as well as to find out more about last year’s program, we recommend going back to issue #238 of the Gwangju News, published in December 2021.

The 2022 Human Rights Education Training Program for Sustainable and Inclusive Communities gathered high- and mid-level government officials

from Kenya and was held over a period of 10 days, from October 24 to November 2. Speakers from the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI), the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), the City of Utrecht, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), Mayors for Peace, and Chosun University, as well as a representative of Gwangju City Hall and the GIC were invited this year to conduct online lectures, seminars, and human rights activities. The focal points of the training program were regional human rights mechanisms, local governments’ roles in and examples of promoting human rights, human rights-based approaches, and sustainable development goals.

This year as well, the trainees worked in teams, analyzing the human rights sensitivity within their respective organizations and presenting the results in the form of a “country report” at the beginning of the program. As the main goal of the program is elevating human rights administration in Kenya through the process of creating and later implementing a specific “action plan” based on the country report’s findings, each team worked on creating a human rights education program to establish a culture of human rights within their organizations and promote human rights on a national level. Through specific “action-plan writing workshops,” the trainees were able to discuss the

process and receive feedback on their action plans with guidance from the facilitators, who were none other than the program’s alumni from last year.

We asked the trainees to share their impressions about the training program. What follows are the impressions of four of the trainees in the program.

Dr. Gabriel Juma Okumu, deputy director of Compliance and Quality Assurance of the Public Service Commission, had the following to offer:

“I count myself lucky to have been given an opportunity to attend the 10-day intensive online

Human Rights Education Course organized by KOICA. The training came with the backdrop of another assignment that was very involving. I consoled myself and hoped that because the training was virtual it would only take three hours daily. Then I would use the rest of the time to work on the related assignments. The first activity was to prepare a country report, which was to be submitted the Sunday before the start of the program. As one of the four officers from the Public Service Commission, we prepared and submitted the report as expected.

“Come Monday, October 24, the lectures began, and that is when it dawned on us that they would run the whole day with only a one-hour lunch break. Besides the lectures, we also had group assignments on a daily basis because each group was expected to submit an action plan based on the country report submitted earlier. As team one, we purposed from the outset to work hard and prepare the best action plan. We burned the midnight oil to ensure that we prepared a good action plan that was based on improving representation of PWDs [persons with disabilities] in public service institutions to the constitutional threshold of 5 percent. We look forward to implementing the action plan, which has been shared with the CEO for purposes of implementation.

“For me, the greatest lesson is that with determination, good leadership, and meaningful participation of the people, it is possible to transform a country within a short time. The knowledge I got from the program will enable me to be a human rights champion. Thank you, KOICA, for the training, and a special thanks to Ms. Jana for being a great coordinator.”

Ms. Maina Nelly Awuor is senior gender officer in the State Department for Gender, part of the

▲

Dr. Gabriel Juma Okumu

Ministry of Public Service and Gender. She also had a very positive opinion of the training program:

“The training program was a big hit for me, as it presented a complete overview of human rights education. The wellstructured outline of the topics allowed me to have a clear understanding of our action plan, particularly during discussions that proved to be vital. The training experience also gave me some useful and relevant insights that opened new horizons for me as gender equality champion. The training program will definitely shape my future as a practitioner in a profound manner.

“Regarding specifics such as the writing workshops and presentations, I got an opportunity to scale up my research skills. Furthermore, due to the damaging effects of climate change ravaging my country, Kenya, I got to learn more about adaptation mechanisms that intrigued me to play my part in the response for a prosperous future. I enormously enjoyed the many lessons I had with the facilitators who were timely, efficient, and consistent.”

Mr. Mohammed Angunza Rashid, is assistant director of the Directorate of Quality Assurance in the Ministry of Education. He expresses how happy he was with the program:

“I was delighted to be part of the team that participated in the Human Rights Education Training Program for Sustainable and Inclusive Communities. After

“For me, the greatest lesson is that with determination, good leadership, and meaningful participation of the people, it is possible to transform a country within a short time. The knowledge I got from the program will enable me to be a human rights champion.”

▲ Maina Nelly Awuor

▲ Mohammed Angunza Rashid

the training, may understanding of human rights was broadened. Issues and circumstances that would otherwise pass unnoticed as human rights violations were brought to the fore. “Development of the action plan enabled me to think through and visualize how human rights can be mainstreamed in the Ministry of Education programs. Working as a team drawn from the same state department afforded an unprecedented opportunity to think through issues at hand and agree on a common position. Thank you for the opportunity. I am looking forward to further interactions.”

Lastly, Selina Amsugut Iseme, deputy director of Legal Services in the Public Service Commission, tells us what her key take-away from the program was:

“It was an honor for me to attend the human rights education training program. As intense as the program was, I enjoyed every bit of it. The knowledge gained was worthwhile. I appreciate the preparation that went into organizing the training event, as everything went as per the program outline. A key takeaway for

me was that it is possible to reduce the inequalities vulnerable groups face in accessing services and achieve an inclusive and sustainable community. It requires deliberate effort through leadership and participation by the citizens to make it happen. The citizens must have both the knowledge and the space to implement said knowledge. For the citizens to participate meaningfully, education is paramount. Thank you, GIC and KOICA.”

Useful Websites

• http://www.koica.go.kr/koica_en/3441/subview.do (KOICA CIAT)

• http://www.inhec.org/index_e.php (Human Rights Education Center)

• https://rwi.lu.se/ (RWI)

• https://www.uclg.org/ (UCLG)

• https://www.knchr.org/ (Kenya National Commission on Human Rights - KNCHR)

The Author

Jana Milosavljevic was born and raised in Serbia. She currently lives and works in Gwangju as one of the GIC’s coordinators. She loves exploring new places, learning about new cultures, and meeting new people. If you are up for a chat, she can talk to you in Serbian, English, Korean, Japanese, or German.

▲ Selina Amsugut Iseme

Hwasun’s Hidden Shrines and Fortress Ruins

By Isaiah Winters

The view from the ancestral shrine toward the main gate, with part of Yeseongsan in the background.

In the last two issues of the Gwangju News, this column went island-hopping through Sinan County to a coastal cave and a far-flung peninsula, both located at extreme ends of their respective islands. This month, we’ll turn to the interior for a visit to Hwasun County, located just southeast of Gwangju. There we’ll visit a pair of abandoned family shrines and the ruins of a mountain fortress dating back to the Goryeo era. Contrary to the island locations, there’s nothing extreme about our Hwasun sites save my extreme oversight: I’ve known them for years but only recently discovered just how unique they really are. So, this article is a long overdue mea culpa of sorts that aims to give these two places the attention they deserve.

To reach this part of Jeollanam-do, you simply head south of Gwangju and continue down past the city of Hwasun, where eventually you’ll reach a small, riverside township by the name of Chunyang. If you’ve got a keen eye, you’ll spot a good amount of traditional architecture along the way, especially old ancestral shrines. Called sadang (사당), these shrines often look like small, traditional hanok (한옥) houses except with more detailed tilework, ornate paintings, and thick walls on all four sides. In fact, they’re more akin to micro-temples, especially when they’re decked out in the standard red-andgreen color motifs seen at temples and hermitages. Spotting these shrines along the roadside always fills me with excitement, and from my anecdotal experience, Hwasun County seems to have the most, with adjacent Naju having quite a few, too.

The two shrines featured in this article have been on my radar for at least seven years, and I drive by them from time to time to snap photos and see how they’re holding up. This month, I noticed a critical change: Someone had left the gate wide open, so I just walked right in – more like lurched, actually – as the moment I crossed the threshold, a pheasant darted from the bushes and into the air. If you’ve ever been startled by one of these birds, you’ll understand just how large, loud, and abrupt they can be. Once inside the courtyard, I was a bit disappointed to find the shrine doors locked. After peeking through tears in the doors’ paper, however, I realized that getting inside wouldn’t be a problem: One whole corner of the shrine had collapsed in the back. Thrilled by what I might find, I rounded the back and cautiously

approached the massive crosshatch of loose beams teetering dangerously overhead. What I found inside floored me.

Along the shrine walls were high wooden chairs – five to the left and five to the right – each with a box resting on top. These boxes are known as sinju ( 신주) or spirit tablets, and they’re meant to contain the spirits of a family’s ancestors. Interestingly, only one chair was turned backwards to face the wall – maybe a crazy uncle put in time-out. Standing before each chair was a table-like platform, likely for holding some sort of symbolic offering, and beneath each platform was a small stool carrying a chrome incense holder. What floored me about all this was the combination of seeing spirit tablets for the first time inside a shrine I’d visited for years without ever being able to enter. It was like learning a shocking secret about someone I thought I knew well – a new detail that forever changes their image.

Equally impressive was the paintwork inside the shrine. Rather than the vivid greens and dark reds commonly seen in such buildings, the inside was almost entirely painted white, save the thickest beams holding up the walls and roof. These bore beautifully preserved paintings of chickens with technicolor tailfeathers on one side and a pair of wispy dragons – one yellow and one blue – clutching their dragon balls on the other. Given the shrine’s function as a place for performing ancestral rites to remember the dead, I’d guess using white for most of the interior has to do with mourning, as white was traditionally the color worn by Koreans in grief. I simply can’t think of any other such shrine I’ve come across that had so much white paint inside –even the highest roof beams were all painstakingly painted white.

Yet another thing about this shrine that makes it special is that it’s about a three-minute drive from a Goryeo-era mountain fortress that few ever visit. The fortress, known as Yeseongsanseong (예성산성), was built with the mountain’s unusually formidable geography in mind. Though it’s a small mountain under 400 meters, Yeseongsan is unique in that one of its peaks features a massive stone slope with a narrow, craggy valley running up the middle. It’s hard to explain this rock feature in detail without referring to female anatomy, but you’re free to use

Gwangju News, December 2022 gwangjunewsgic.com

▲ Spirit tablet ruins.

▲ One of the dragons painted on a beam inside the ancestral shrine.

your imagination. Protected by high, narrow walls, the valley up the rockface blocks the wind and collects moisture better than the rest of the mountain, so the flora found along the valley floor is extra mossy with lots of ferns and bamboo, while the rest of the mountain is dry and dominated by trees. Every time I hike this crag in fall or winter, it feels like I’ve stepped back in time a few weeks, as if seasonal changes seen on the rest of the mountain are delayed here.

As for the fortress itself, today there’s little one can discern from its ruins, as its builders used as much of the natural topography as possible. I did, however, find an obviously manmade wall about halfway up the valley that now sits under a thick blanket of moss. Tile fragments can be found scattered around here and there, too. According to the Hwasun County website, the fortress dates to the Goryeo era and used to be about a kilometer in circumference. It was a place where grains and weapons were stored in times of peace, and during times of invasion, people living in the valley below would hike up to take refuge behind its walls, which were then manned by soldiers. During extended periods of attrition, like during the Imjin War (1592–1598), this fortress saved many lives. Then the Japanese army thought

it could sustain its siege of the area long enough for provisions to run out, but the fortress at Yesongsan held firm and supplies weren’t depleted before the invaders finally withdrew.[1] It’s amazing how much history is packed into this one tiny crag.

And there you have it, dear readers. These two sites reminded me that there’s always so much more to the world than meets the eye. I hope you find similarly humbling revelations in the various recesses of your own lives. And by the way, if you’re interested in seeing the video version of this article, I encourage you to visit the Lost in Honam YouTube channel. Thank you!

Source

[1] Choi, I. (n.d.). 예성산성 [Yeseong mountain fortress]. Digital Hwasun Culture Reference. http://hwasun.grandculture.net/ hwasun/toc/GC05600676

The Author

Born and raised in Chino, California, Isaiah Winters is a pixel-stained wretch who loves writing about Gwangju and Honam, warts and all. You can see some of his unique finds on Instagram @d.p.r.kwangju and YouTube at Lost in Honam.

▲ Looking out at the valley from Yeseongsan. Those taking shelter in the fortress would have shared this view.

Beyond Bukhansan

By Nicola Archer

Welcome to Seoul, the city of roundthe-clock activity happening right on your doorstep. From shopaholics to food connoisseurs to music enthusiasts, there’s something for everyone. But when I made the move from Gwangju to Seoul, as much as I was excited for the hustle and bustle of the capital city, I grew to love Mudeungsan and the pleasures a weekend hike provided me. Would Mudeungsan be my last mountain?

In fact, arguably the first mountain you’d think of when South Korea comes to mind is Bukhansan, nestled in its eponymous national park spread out over 30.86 square miles along the northern periphery of Seoul. Unsurprisingly, it tops most peoples’ to-do list and would likely be your first port of call as a hungry hiker newly moved here. But there are many more mountains to be explored beyond Bukhansan. So, like a kid in a sweet shop, I hovered my hand over the glass jars and made my first mountain pick: Gwanaksan.

Situated south of the Han River and marginally close to a shopping mall, it was decided. We all know dress shopping in and out of changing rooms straight from a sweaty trudge across hill tops is what most gals want to do. No, rather I had a wedding to go to the next day, and this was my last chance to grab appropriate attire. So that was that, a pleasant October walk before popping in a shop and snatching up a steal by 10 p.m. closing. Easy.

Walking a slow, steady slope up alongside the stream through the safety of a lush, green forest was just what I was looking for. This is what it could have been had I started off on the Government Complex Gwacheon Station side of the national park, like where I descended. As it happened, I was clinging on to an exposed rocky terrain with what felt like less skin than a fingerprint, having to hoist my ankles to my ears and push up. Okay, I’m not a rock climber of any sort, but with the wind flapping at my earlobes and any slight tweak of my head to the left, it did feel like the entire city below me was disappearing before

my watery eyes. Past those hair-raising, overhanging rocks and some ropes to hoist myself up, the reward of the view at the top was spectacular.

At the summit, you will find Yeonjudae Temple carved into the cliff edge: a unique spot. The entrance sits a few meters back from the rockface and looks out over the immense drop to the valley below. There was just enough room for six people to kneel down and pray. A calming chant led by a monk inside the temple filled the air, while rows of rounded red lanterns bobbled about in the breeze overhead. While I paused there for a moment, I was offered a sweet by a kind ajumma (아줌마, middleaged woman) who seemed keen to flex her English. She’d traveled all the way from Daejeon to the temple on the advice of her recent shaman visit. Gwanaksan hosts several important Buddhist temples, but said to be the most famous and sacred is this one.

Based on feng shui principles, Gwanaksan is regarded as a “fire mountain” because the peaks resemble the shape of flames. With the mountain’s spirit of fire, during the Joseon period, there was actually a serious concern about a potential fire occurring at the Imperial Palace. For this reason,

there were two statues of the mythical animal haetae (해태, a creature believed to prevent fires) positioned on both sides of Gwanghwamun as a protective measure.

On this autumn afternoon, groups of hikers and intimate couples were cuddled together drinking and laughing, clinking cups brimming with makgeolli. But if an alcoholic thirst quench is not what you’re looking for on top of a mountain, perhaps a flavorful, frozen popsicle would do? Those too can be purchased from a cool box for a couple thousand won.

At the base of the descent, you’ ll see ajeossis (아저씨, middle-aged man) tucking into soups on stove tops, but unfortunately the closing time of the shopping mall was looming, so I had to cut my adventure short. I’ ll definitely be back, although I think I’ ll opt for the easier route up next time.

The Author

Nicky Archer is a Kia Tigers’ enthusiast and somewhat of an adrenaline junkie. While living in Gwangju, she enjoyed being a part of the Gwangju Hikers club and the occasional saunter down Chungjang-ro.

Language Teaching Learner Journals and Portfolios for Language Improvement

By David E. Shaffer

Language learner journals and language learner portfolios have both been promoted individually as second language learning instructional tools for increasing motivation and self-direction in the language learner and thereby leading to better study practices. However, very little has been done to document their effectiveness and learner attitudes toward their use. Over the years, I have experimented with numerous ways of incorporating journal writing and portfoliobuilding into English skills courses at the university level. This article reports on a quite successful, combined journal-portfolio project with 76 university students over a one-semester period. Its purpose was to determine satisfaction with the project, its effectiveness in improving autonomous learning program design, and its effectiveness in improving autonomous study habits.

Students were asked to reflect in written English on the perceived effectiveness of their study methods and what they thought they might do differently to improve their individual English study program. In addition to their reflective writing, their journalportfolios contained samples of the work that they did. Student attitudes toward the project were obtained through a questionnaire administered at the end of the project.

The results of the study revealed a positive change in student attitudes toward the project. They also felt that their study methods improved due to the project and that their communication skills improved through the project. Comparisons are drawn between this project and earlier, separate journal

and portfolio projects. Finally, recommendations are made for incorporating a form of this project into a variety of English programs to aid learners in customizing their own language learning programs to fit their needs.

EDUCATION IN KOREA

Education in Korea has traditionally been teacherdesigned, teacher-directed, teacher-centered, and test-driven. There were very few decision-making opportunities available to the student concerning their study. This is still true to a large extent in Korea’s current high school education system. Accordingly, many students enter the radically different university education system discovering that they need much more concentrated English language study than that built into the curriculum of required courses, but they are unsure as to how to go about it. They find themselves lost, directionless, not knowing exactly what to study or how to go about it. Consequently, they also become demotivated. As reflective learner journals and student portfolios

have been promoted as both creating motivation and fostering autonomous learning, it was decided to examine their effectiveness as language learning tools to increase motivation and nurture selfdirection in the English study of Korean university students.

LANGUAGE LEARNING JOURNALS

Journal writing is considered to be a beneficial mechanism to encourage students to be more critical and reflective in a growing body of research across a range of disciplines. Journals are able to provide a means for reflection before, during, and after a learning experience. Various studies have concluded that reflective journals help foster critical thinking and enhance learning by learners asking questions, engaging in higher order ideas, and making connections between theory and practice. It has also been recognized that journal writing holds great potential for enhancing learning in experiential education; university students have been more successful at thinking about and finding ways to make course material more relevant to their lives, applying the material to their lives, and finding ways to make the material more interesting. The effectiveness of the learning journal in generating motivation and directing autonomous English language learning in Korean university students was examined in Shaffer (2013) and is discussed here.

LANGUAGE LEARNING PORTFOLIOS

The learner’s portfolio has been widely regarded as a tool that has the potential to increase student motivation as well as self-direction in one’s studies, providing the language learner with better study practices and providing the teacher with an additional assessment tool. One of the aims of the Shaffer (2013) study was to gauge the effectiveness of the learner’s portfolio in promoting motivation and self-directed learning for the English language learner at the university level in Korea. Those findings will also be discussed here.

WHO, WHAT, AND HOW

Participants: The participants in the study were 76 EFL students at a large private university in Gwangju,

Korea. The participants broke down into 17 male and 59 female students, and their average age was approximately 22 years old. All the participants were juniors or seniors majoring in an English languagerelated major.

Instrument: The instrument administered in the study was an online survey created through the web-based survey provider SurveyMonkey, administered at the end of the journal-portfolio project. The survey contained questions about the participants’ impressions of the language learning journal-portfolio project and about the contents, amount, and frequency of their journal writing and portfolio keeping. The journal- and portfoliorelated questions were multiple-choice type, several with Likert-scale-type response choices. All survey items appeared in Korean so that the possibility of misunderstanding the items would be minimized.

Procedure: In a classroom situation, the participants were asked to keep a combined language learning journal and portfolio for 10 continuous weeks as part of the course requirement of their English oral-aural skills course. They were asked to include samples of their language learning methods and procedures in their portfolio and to describe and, very importantly, reflect on them in the journal portion. They were also asked to include a copy of their language learning study plan and schedule, and to also include any subsequent changes that they

may have made to the plan. They were not given any minimum requirements for number or length of journal entries, or for number of portfolio items to include. They were informed that the main purpose of this journal-portfolio project was for them to reflect upon their individual language-learning practices, and through their reflection, to assess the effectiveness of each element of their language study program, and make adjustments to their study program as they felt necessary; examples were given by their instructor at the beginning of the project.

The participants were told that their journals and portfolios could possibly be checked during the semester, and it was stressed that the content was of primary importance, not the grammar or spelling of written text. During the semester, random spotchecking was carried out,

students’ questions about the project were answered, and the journal-portfolios were collected and assessed at the end of the semester. It was at this time that the participants were instructed to complete the online survey concerning their journal-portfolio project.

RESULTS OF THE COMBINED JOURNALPORTFOLIO PROJECT

The most significant results of the post-project survey will be highlighted here. The majority of the participants (57.9%) made entries in their journals twice a week and 72.3% wrote between 100 and 599 words per week. Items were added to their portfolios 1–2 times a week by 79.0% of the participants. These results were in the range of production that the course instructor expected of the students. The journal-portfolio project was considered successful due to participant responses to a number of the survey items. While 94.7% of the participants thought at the onset of the project that it would be beneficial, only 26.3% of them thought

it would not be difficult. However, by the end of the project, 42.1% of the participants thought it was not difficult. Keeping a journal-portfolio was thought to be helpful in improving English study methods by almost all (96.1%) of the participants, helpful in improving English proficiency by 96.1%, and helpful in improving communication skills by 73.7%. A majority of the participants (52.6%) thought that their skills had improved more with the project than they would have without it, and 57.9% felt that their knowledge of language learning methods had improved more with the project than it would have without it. Two thirds of the participants (66.7%) thought it would be beneficial to do the journal project again in the following semester, and in addition, 57.8% responded that they planned to keep a journal-portfolio after the end of the course project.

COMPARISON WITH DUAL JOURNAL AND PORTFOLIO PROJECT

The results of the combined journal-portfolio study (Shaffer, 2013) will here be compared with results of an earlier language learner journal project carried out concurrently but separately from a learner portfolio project with a different but similar group of university students (Shaffer, 2012). More participants in the present study (26.3%) thought that the journal-portfolio project was not difficult than participants who thought that the earlier journal writing project was not difficult (16.4%); hereafter, represented in the form “(26.3 vs 16.4%)”, as an example. More participants also thought that it was not difficult at the end of the project (42.1 vs 34.2%). More participants in the journal-portfolio project wrote 4–5 times per week (11.8 vs 1.4%), and more wrote over 300 words per week (35.6 vs 19.2%). More detailed study plans were included in the journal-portfolio project (81.6 vs 67.1%), and more changes to study plans were recorded in the journal-portfolio project (61.9 vs 49.3%). There were no instances in which the responses to a survey question were meaningfully more favorable to either the journal project or the portfolio project in the Shaffer (2012) study than they were to the combined journal-portfolio project in the 2013 study.

IN CONCLUSION

The 2013 study has shown that the combination language learning journal-portfolio is an effective

tool in helping Korean university students reflect on and make informed alterations to their individual language learning programs as a teacher-initiated but student-driven course project. It is projected that journal-portfolio keeping would also be effective in giving a reflective voice to the language learner in more autonomous language-learning environments and in allowing the learner to make informed alterations to their individual language learning programs. The results of this study lend support to Apple and Shimo (2005), Hamp-Lyons and Condon (2000), and Shimo (2003), who conclude that through language learner portfolio keeping (a) learners can reflect over their learning processes, (b) it is possible to make a continuous assessment over a long period of time, (c) learners can make original products, and they can feel a greater sense of achievement than with traditional tests, (d) learners can take control over their learning and feel more responsibility for it, and (e) learners can assess weaknesses and strengths in their own language learning, increase their proficiency, and set and reset goals more effectively by viewing their work.

Also shown in the 2013 study is that both student production and student attitudes towards journal and portfolio keeping are higher when the two tasks are combined into a single activity rather than being two concurrently executed, but separate, tasks. As most of the on-task time is spent out of class, the journal-portfolio project can easily and effectively be integrated into university student language learning programs, and become a language learning tool voluntarily employed by the student in their own language learning endeavors for reflection on and analysis of their language learning methods and strategies in order to make changes to their study practices and try out new methods for more effective language learning.

References

Apple, M., & Shimo, E. (2005). Learners to teacher: Portfolios, please! Perceptions of portfolio assessment in EFL classrooms. In T. Newfields (Ed.), Proceedings of the 2004 JALT Pan-SIG Conference (pp. 53–58). JALT Publications. Hamp-Lyons, L., & Condon, W. (2000). Assessing the portfolio: Principles for practice, theory, and research. Hampton Press. Shaffer, D. E. (2012, September). Language learning journal

writing and portfolio projects: Efficacy and sustainability. In 2012 KAFLE International Conference Proceedings (pp. 383–394). KAFLE. Shaffer, D. E. (2013, September). A journal-portfolio project for improvement of student-guided study. In 2013 PKETA International Conference Proceedings (pp. 265–275). PKETA.

Shimo, E. (2003). Learners’ perceptions of portfolio assessment and autonomous learning. In A. Barfield & M. Nix (Eds.), Learner and teacher autonomy in Japan 1: Autonomy you ask! (pp. 175–186). Learner Development Special Interest Group of the Japan Association of Language Teachers.

GWANGJU-JEONNAM

KOTESOL

UPCOMING EVENTS

• December 10, 2022: Monthly Workshop and YearEnd Party

Check the Chapter’s webpages and Facebook group periodically for updates on chapter events and other online and in-person KOTESOL activities.

For full event details:

• Website: http://koreatesol.org/gwangju

• Facebook: Gwangju-Jeonnam KOTESOL

The Author

David Shaffer has been involved in TEFL, teacher training, and research in Gwangju for many years. His research has been presented at over 200 international and domestic conferences. As vice-president of the Gwangju-Jeonnam Chapter of KOTESOL, he invites you to participate in the chapter’s teacher development workshops and events (online and in person) and in KOTESOL activities in general. He is a past president of KOTESOL and is currently the editor-in-chief of the Gwangju News.

Photograph by Cathryn Laverya on Unsplash.

Everyday Korean

Episode

60

콧대가 높아요

He is a snob.

By Harsh Kumar Mishra

Grammar Points

V/Adv ~ 아도/어도/해도

The Conversation

멍지에: 언니, 저 너무 짜증났어요. Meongjie: Eonni, I am so annoyed.

정민: 왜? 누가 뭐라고 했어?

Jeongmin: Why? Did anybody say anything to you?

멍지에: 새로 들어온 동료 때문에 매일매일 짜증나요. Meongjie: I get annoyed every day because of my new colleague.

정민: 설명 좀 해 줄래? 짜증나는 이유가 뭐야?

Jeongmin: Will you please elaborate? What’s the reason for getting annoyed?

멍지에: 제가 하는 업무를 자주 방해하고 자기만의 의견을 강요해요.

Meongjie: He keeps interfering with my work and forcing his opinion.

정민: 그럴 때 너는 아무 말도 하지 않았어?

Jeongmin: Don’t you say something to him when he does that?

멍지에: 했죠. 그는 콧대가 높은 사람이에요. 말해도 자기가 이 분야에서 오래 일해서 다 안다고 그래요.

Meongjie: Of course, I did. But he is a snob. He acts like he has worked a long time in this area and knows everything.

정민: 아 우리 멍지에 참 불쌍하구나! Jeongmin: Oh! My poor Meongjie!

This grammar pattern is used with verb/adjective stems and gives similar meaning as ‘even if’, ‘regardless of’. Use 아도 when the verb/adj ends in ㅗ, ㅏ vowels, use 어도 when they end in any other vowel and use 해도 when they end in 하(~하다 words).

Examples

- 시간 없어도 아침을 먹어요

Even if I don’t have time, I eat my breakfast. - 걸어가도 오래 걸리지 않아요.

Even If you walk, it won’t take long.

콧대가 높다

This frequently used idiom of Korean literally means “having a pronounced nose” but is used to express that someone is a “snob” or an “arrogant person.”

Examples

- 명문대에 들어가자마자 콧대가 높아진 친구 하나 있어요.

I have a friend who become a snob as soon as he got into a top university.

- 나는 콧대가 높은 사람하고 잘 안 맞아요.

I don’t get along well with an arrogant person.

Vocabulary

짜증나다: to get annoyed, 새로: newly, 들어오다: enter; join; come in, 동료: colleague, 이유: reason, 설명: explanation, 업무: work, 의견: opinion, 방해하다: interfere; disturb, 강요하다: impose, 분야: area, 불쌍하다: to be pity, 명문대: a top/famous university

The Author

Harsh Kumar Mishra is a linguist and Korean language educator. He volunteers with TOPIKGUIDE.com and Learnkorean. in. He has also co-authored the book Korean Language for Indian Learners.

If Winter Comes, Can Spring Be Far Behind?

By Park Nahm-Sheik

This is P. B. Shelley’s visionary take on winter as the harbinger of spring ahead. I agree with the poet’s outlook on the seasonal changing of the guard depicted here in such eloquent verse. I buy into the underlying insight that nothing in life is all bad however dire it may seem at first. It sure is a privilege to always be able to look on the bright side of things.

Far from being a time of utter despair, frigid winter is when we can look forward and ahead to a beautiful spring over the horizon. Incidentally, I like the saying that “No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.” Alexander Pope (1688-1744) famously said, “Hope srings eternal in the human breast.” Deeply comforting is this inexhaustible capacity of ours to hope for better things down the road. No matter how dire the circumstances may be, this inborn optimistic streak in us will always come to our rescue and deliver us from the darkest abyss imaginable.

Surely, winter needn’t be a time of totally suspended animation. For it could be co-opted into a timely break to charge up and prepare ourselves to gently click into gear the upcoming season from the very get-go. Say, by spending snow days incubating meaningful action plans for spring and beyond. A winter retreat can also help birth such plans. As for the GIC, fireside chats and/or focus groups, on or offline, could be utilized to search for upgraded versions of its slate of responses to the most urgent needs of the intercultural community in and around the City (of Sunshine).

True, we have no choice but to wait out Jack frost. Still, we can at least afford the leisurely midwinter luxury of waiting to be among the first to witness glitters of a light at the end of Old Man Winter’s long, long tunnel. Take heart. Before long, the winter of our discontent will be nearing the end of its reign of terror. It will soon be a thing of the past that belongs in the rear-view mirror only. The spring of our content is just waiting in the wings. Meanwhile, we may as well count the many blessings brought our way by General Frost. One of which is the joy of anticipating in the dead of winter the fragrance of spring hovering just around the corner. Snow days plus the Christmas holidays, the New Year’s Day and the traditional Lunar New Year’s Day also belong in the generous package of winter’s gifts. For good measure, outdoors afficionados can further count in the ever beckoning thrill of skiing down snowcarpeted slopes or climbing ice-clad rockfaces.

Sure enough, winter is already on our doorstep. Not to worry, though. Spring will soon be smiling upon us. Let’s all buckle down and press ahead. We will all not just survive but thrive as well. That said, shall we get ready to welcome spring.

The Author

Park Nahm Shik has a BA in English from Chonnam National University, an MA in linguistics from the University of Hawaii, and a PhD in applied linguistics from Georgetown University. He is a professor emeritus after a long and illustrious career at Seoul National University.

Hwasun’s Nineteenth Annual Marathon

By William Urbanski

On the first weekend of November, the county of Hwasun was host to the 19th Annual Dolmen Marathon (제19회 화순 고인돌 마라톤 대회). In addition to being surprisingly well attended, it was one of the most well-organized, exciting, and high-energy race events that I’ve attended in about a decade.

“MARATHON” BASICS IN KOREA

First of all, the term “marathon” in Korea is used pretty liberally to describe the entirety of 5K, 10K, half marathon (21.1K) and full marathon races (42.2K). So, even if a race event says it’s a “marathon,” it’s safe to assume there are other races, too. Signing up for these races is pretty simple and almost always done through the website with payment being done through bank transfer. When signing up for any race, there are two options: general (일반) and “mania” (매니아). Regular participants generally receive a race T-shirt or other special item a few days before the race. “Mania” is cheaper, and these participants don’t receive the commemorative T-shirt or other item but still get to run the race and have full access to everything that happens on race day. Mania participants, of course, also get all the race bibs, timing chips, and necessary information they’ll need for the big day. Either option is good, but if you end up doing a bunch of races, you’ll quickly accumulate a big stash of race T-shirts.

There are some other things to expect at the event before the race actually gets started. First, there will be an extremely well-organized and efficient storage facility (보관소) where you can safely leave your gear while running. Next, these events tend to have a festive atmosphere with plenty of music and a big, group warm-up session. Last, you can

pretty much expect the parking situation to be a nightmare, so either get there early or be prepared to park on the street kind of far from the start line.

If you were a bit of a pro-star runner back home and expect to win any of the races in Korea, let me warn you that there are always a couple of ringers at these races, and these guys can really move. In Hwasun for example, the 10K winners came in at around thirtytwo minutes, which is ridiculously, blisteringly fast. For context, the world records for 10K road races are about twenty-seven minutes for men and about thirty minutes for women.

THE HWASUN COURSE

In Hwasun, all the races that took place started in the public stadium (화순공설운동장); then runners made their way out onto the country roads, which were all expertly blocked off and very easy to follow. There’s always a bit of mayhem and crowding at the starting line, and my advice would be to hang

back for a minute or two and let people spread out a bit before you start your race. The timing chip that all runners attach to their shoes will indicate your true time anyway.

The various courses in Hwasun went out into the country a little bit, and runners had to turn around at their respective halfway points (which were pretty hard to miss). At any race, the course is always a bit of an x-factor, and the one at the Hwasun Marathon was no exception. After the first few hundred meters, the course basically went uphill for a solid two kilometers, which was a bit of an unexpected challenge, but most people seemed to manage it alright.

It’s worth mentioning here that the race was at risk for being cancelled outright due to it taking place only one day after the end of the national mourning period for the tragic events that took place on Halloween in Itaewon. While it obviously ended up going ahead, the organizers did make the curious decision to change the half marathon race to an eleven-kilometer one. From what I could gather, this was done to “tone down” the event a bit or perhaps even avoid overcrowding. Whatever the reason, it was nice that the event still took place, especially considering all the work that went into it.

AFTER THE RACE

The weather at the start of November was a beautiful time to run – not to hot and not too cold. But all good things must come to an end, and it’s always a satisfying feeling to

see the finish line approaching. At the finish line, there was a professional photographer waiting to take an action shot which made for a nice memento.

As mentioned above, the Hwasun Marathon’s organization was brilliant, and the finish area was where the organization really shone. After crossing the finish, there were plenty of volunteers handing out gift bags and drinks. Close by, there was a photo zone as well as a booth set up where you could get your official finishing time printed up onto a certificate – a nice touch! There was even a place where, for a few extra bucks, you could get your finishing time engraved onto your medal if you so desired (although I’ll have to wait until my time improves to take advantage of that service).

On a final note, even though I was permanently traumatized by a horrid and foul bowl of ddeokguk (떡국) in the year 2014, I actually found myself enjoying a couple bowls of the stuff that was prepared with care by another set of volunteers near the parking lot.

CONCLUSIONS

Participating in race events in Korea is a great way to get some exercise, achieve your fitness goals, have a great time, meet some people, and see new parts of the country. In general, races in Korea are much more fun and convivial than races I’ve seen in other parts of the world. They also tend to run smoothly, and in this respect, the Hwasun Marathon was exceptional – you could really feel that the race organizers and team of volunteers truly cared about putting on a great event.

See you next year!

The Author

William Urbanski is rediscovering his passion for running. His 10K time will remain a closely guarded secret until further notice. Instagram: @ will_il_gatto

The Richness of Costa Rica

By Sebastian Benavides Vargas

안녕하세요. 코스타리카 아세요? (Hello, do you know Costa Rica?)

Hello, do you know about Costa Rica? This was the question that attracted curious people closer to the Costa Rican booth, where I was explaining about my country during Gwangju Community Week.

The second week of October was chosen by the Gwangju International Center to hold the event, and specifically, that weekend was the one I was waiting for months. I had the honor of joining the preparation team for the event as a volunteer, and even though I do not live in Gwangju Metropolitan City anymore, those 18 months that I studied at Chonnam National University were enough to let me know that I would come back often and still get involved in projects whenever possible.

As a volunteer, one of my tasks was to send an invitation to the Embassy of Costa Rica in Korea and explain the event so they could consider it. Luckily, the embassy was interested, and they were able to participate in the event. However, due to the tight schedule of the representatives, I had the responsibility to introduce and explain more about my country in the booth. There is still a lot of information I must learn about Costa Rica, but

my numerous field trips during my university period helped me with stories, facts, and interesting information of my country for some of the visitors.

Costa Rica is in Latin America, specifically, in Central America. It is only about 0.03 percent of the Earth’s surface (51,100 km2, not including its the marine territory), but there you can find up to 6 percent of all the biodiversity in the world. And as with most of the people that came to the booth, you might have heard about the quality of our coffee, the protected environment that is compared to paradise, or even its famous football (or soccer) teams that entertain a lot of people around the world. However, my goal was to teach about other details that are not often shared.

Let me start with a little bit of history so we can understand more about the information. In 1948, a civil war happened in Costa Rica, and after that event, significant changes to the law were made, and a clear distinction of the country in the region (and in the world, in some aspects) was created.

For example, a fact that caught the attention of visitors to the Costa Rican booth was that we do not have an army. After the civil war ended, the army was constitutionally abolished, and the

military resources were transferred to four main areas: social guarantees, education, healthcare, and environmental protection. I still remember the surprised expressions of people after hearing that fact: a fact that makes all Costa Ricans proud.

But like any other process, it has not been an easy road. For example, in the 1980s, deforestation was a huge problem due to the growing incentive for cattle production. At that time, the country only had about 21 percent of its land covered in forest. However, that environmental protection idea was big, and we were able to reforest the areas so that currently about 51 percent of Costa Rica is forested.

Another interesting fact that piqued the interest of booth visitors is that 25 percent of the whole country is designated as Protected Wildlife Areas managed by the government.[1] The embassy sent brochures and maps to give to visitors, and due to that, they were able to understand more of this information. Furthermore, I studied environmental management engineering back home and had the honor and opportunity to visit most of these protected areas, so I added some stories about these experiences visiting the national parks.

Also, did you know that more than 98 percent of all the electricity in Costa Rica comes from renewable sources?[2] The electric grid is another project of environment protection. Most of our electricity is produced through hydroelectric projects and wind turbines, also we take advantage of some of our active volcanoes to generate electricity through geothermal projects. Furthermore, a small percentage of solar and biomass contribute to the system. When the system cannot produce all the demanded electricity during peak hours, we use thermal plants. However, each year, more than 300 days in a row, we just use renewable sources to produce electricity.

If you are a coffee lover like me, you have probably tried Costa Rican coffee. Costa Rica is about half the size of the Republic of Korea. We are a small country. For that reason, we do not have much space to cultivate things. That is the reason why we chose quality over quantity. Coffee is part of our culture, most of us drink it on a daily basis, and it is vital in social gatherings. However, the rich history of the processes and elements used in the past, like the

“carreta” (traditional method of transportation using oxen) and “sacos de yute” (bags made with natural fiber to store and transport coffee), were important to transport the coffee from the plantations to the ports to export the coffee to other countries. Souvenirs sent from the embassy were vital to explain this process.

As a Costa Rican, I really appreciated the opportunity to explain about my country in South Korea – and even more, in Gwangju Metropolitan City, which was my home for a year and a half. I still remember the smiles and interest of people that got closer to me and made me even prouder of being Costa Rican.

Finally, I would like to thank the Embassy of Costa Rica in Korea once again because they have always been supportive with these projects. The souvenirs, maps, brochures, and other materials they sent helped enhance the booth and grab the attention of visitors. Also, I would like to share my gratitude to the Gwangju International Center, which always welcomes foreigners with a warm smile and a noticeable willingness to help us.

So, now do you know about Costa Rica?

Sources

[1] Sistema Nacional de Areas de Conservacion (SINAC). (2022). Áreas Silvestres Protegidas. https://www.sinac.go.cr/ES/asp/ Paginas/default.aspx

[2] Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE). Costa Rica. Matriz Eléctrica. Un modelo sostenible, único en el mundo. https://www.grupoice.com/wps/wcm/connect/8823524c7cc7-4cef-abde-a1f06e14da0e/matriz_folleto_web2. pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=l8SK4gG

The Author

Sebastián Benavides Vargas is a Costa Rican environmental management engineer who came to Korea to study about disaster management. He loves deep conversations while drinking coffee, learning from other people, and traveling to know more about communities, cultures, environments, and ways to improve them all. Instagram: @ sebaspbv

What If the Gwangju Subway Were Free?

By William Urbanski

If you’ve tried to walk, take a bus, or drive anywhere in Gwangju over the last two years, you’ve no doubt noticed that there’s a massive construction project going on underneath our feet. The powers that be decided long ago that all the temporarily rerouted streets, roads with half as many lanes as usual, and general headaches that come with any major infrastructure project would all be worth it if in the end the people of Gwangju could have access to an expanded subway system.

Needless to say, the City of Gwangju has a lot invested in this enterprise and, if it really wants its new subway to be a resounding success, it should make it free to use.

Alright, alright, I can hear you already: “Preposterous! Heresy! Nonsense! A subway could never afford to operate if people didn’t pay their fares!” While that is a common and reasonable opinion to hold, it turns out that the case for abandoning fares isn’t as ridiculous as it sounds, and as outlined in a recent episode of the Freakonomics Podcast, there’s actually a worldwide movement that sees public transportation as a basic human right.

With the subway slated to open sometime in the next few years, this is Gwangju’s chance to do something really special and set a new standard for all subways systems in Korea and Asia, for that matter.

THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

Let’s cut to the chase: Fares never have and never will generate enough revenue to pay for a subway.

The Gwangju subway extension is estimated to cost 2.58 trillion won (or about two billion USD), a tidy sum by any standard. According to the Gwangju Subway website, the current ridership of the subway is about 50,000 people per day. Now I’m simplifying a little bit here, but that means if the subway is bringing about fifty million won per day (at about a thousand won per fare), it would take a hundred years to pay for this project. A hundred years! And yes, ridership will increase once then extension is open, but even if it doubles, it’ll take a solid fifty years – basically a lifetime – to pay for. This is of course excluding all the regular operating costs such as salaries for the employees, electricity, and maintenance.

So yes, while fifty million won per day generated in fares (or between eighteen and twenty million bucks per year) is nothing to shake a stick at, it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the actual cost of the subway, which has been funded by various levels of government.

WHY MAKE A SUBWAY?

There are a few main reasons for building a subway (and public transportation in general), but they boil down to reducing dependence on personal automobiles and increasing access to transportation for those with limited financial resources. Both of these goals can be bolstered by eliminating fares. But can we be sure that getting rid of fares will guarantee that more people use the subway? Pretty much.

In his incredible book Predictably Irrational , Dan Ariely explains that while there’s a linear relation between the price of something and how many people consume it, when something is free, people absolutely lose their minds. Think about this: Have you ever seen a long lineup of people waiting to get something because it’s free? Many people would be happy to wait half an hour or even a full hour to get a free cookie or donut. But this kind of behavior doesn’t really make sense, and it would be better to just pay a dollar or two to get one instead of waiting, since for most people, their time is worth more than a few bucks per hour. Of course, it doesn’t matter what’s logical – all that matters is that when people can get something without having to fork over some cash, they go nuts.

It follows that in order to get fewer people to drive, the best approach would be to make the price of taking the subway so attractive that it causes people feel that they are missing out by getting behind the

wheel of their car. As well, there’s the added benefit that those who really have difficulty paying for transportation would be given unfettered access to any place along the subway lines.

THE SECOND ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

When people have to pay for things, they tend to respect them more (or at least abuse them less). So, it’s very reasonable to believe that if the subway were free, it would be a breeding ground for vandalism and bad behavior. In virtually any other country, I would agree with this sentiment, but not in Korea. This is, after all, the country where protesters pick up their own garbage and people generally return personal items they find in public.

CONCLUSIONS

I really hate to say it, but when the subway extension is completed, I doubt many drivers will switch from using their cars. If anything, most drivers are probably hoping that other drivers will start riding the subway so that there are fewer cars on the road. If the goal is to make people drive less and use the subway more, eliminating the need for fares is, without question, the best way to do this.

As it stands, fares make up a relatively small percentage of the total cost of the subway, with the majority being picked up by various levels of government which get the money from, you guessed it, everyone’s taxes. So, why not go all the way with it and make it free? The benefits of having fewer cars on the road (with less road maintenance, fewer accidents, and less pollution) would cover the cost of the lost fares in no time.

There are all sorts of things that are free to use and enjoy in Gwangju, such as libraries, public education, parking (even on sidewalks!), as well as incredibly annoying festivals pretty much every weekend at the ACC. It’s not that much of a stretch of the imagination to add the subway to that list.

The Author

William Urbanski is the managing editor of the Gwangju News. He is married and can eat spicy food. Instagram: @will_il_gatto

The Bastard of Istanbul

By Elif Shafak

Reviewed by Michael Attard

The Bastard of Istanbul, by Elif Shafak, is a complicated novel which, through the lens of historical hostilities between Turks and Armenians, tells the story of people conflicted by the burden of reconciling the past with the present. They must choose to accept or reject an inherited angst within themselves which strikes at their existential nature.

It is difficult to clearly determine who the main character is. But the actual “bastard” of Istanbul is Asya, a 19-year-old Turkish woman living in that city with five other women: her grandmother and four other women whom she calls “Auntie.” However, one of the four aunts is her birth mother. Asya is a self-proclaimed nihilist. Rejecting moral righteousness and believing that existence is meaningless, she has attempted suicide and written her own nihilistic principles. Perhaps because her mother had originally planned to abort her, she was predetermined as a non-pertinent being while in the womb, and this carried forward to life.

Armanoush is also a 19-year-old woman, and her ethnic background is Armenian-American. It is her father who is Armenian. His family, which long ago fled Turkey, ensures that she is aware of the Turkish genocide against the Armenians in 1915. Her paternal grandmother and her father’s three sisters are key figures in her life. Her father’s family lives with the past and fears for Armanoush. They did

not want her “to stand out” or “to shine too bright.” “Writers, poets, artists, intellectuals were the first ones within the Armenian milleu to be eliminated by the Ottomans.” Family dynamics lead her to feel that “something was absent.” She had to go there, to Turkey, “to find her Armenianness.”

Interestingly, the author has linked these two young women through Armanoush’s mother’s second marriage to a Turk. It is her stepfather’s family that she visits in Istanbul, which happens to include Asya and the four aunts. Her stepfather, Mustafa, is of course their brother whom they have not seen for twenty years.

There is plenty for the reader to keep track of, but the underlying current remains consistent: Turkish denial of genocide against the Armenians versus the Armenian inherited pain. Common to both sides is a resentment of the other. The Armenians exhibit an inability to stop thinking about the past and suffer bitter indignation at having been treated unfairly. The Turks resent this insistence upon connecting them to perpetrators of evil from a perceived ancient time.

The dreariness of the story is encased in the writer’s ability to transfer the macro-historical perspective into the personal. It seems that the question of who Asya’s father is will never be answered, but eventually it is, and truth only exacerbates the shame. Historical shame morphs into individual ignominy.

Asya’s multitudinous thoughts play out through characters she often encounters in “a small coffee shop on a narrow, snaky street on the European side of Istanbul.” Here, nihilists, pessimists, and anarchists shared their penchant for lethargy. Asya expressed her belief that the past was a “shackle.” Her lover counters that, “Everybody needs a past.” And thus, the ability to live meaningfully is no further understood.

From the perspective of the injured party – historically the Armenians, and personally Armanoush’s family – there is the desire for recompense. This theme is created, developed, and carried to a conclusion through a piece of jewelry, “a graceful brooch in the shape of a pomegranate, delicately smothered with gold threads … with seeds of rubies glowing.” Once stolen, it was returned 90 years later by a Turkish aunt to an Armenian niece.

It is this act of returning the brooch, never actually completed, which illustrates not only the theme of recompense but initiates the acknowledgement that retribution is due and cannot be escaped. It is the clairvoyant Turkish aunt who pierces into the dark of a hidden, egregious act and presents the most culpable with a choice. They can remain inert in ignorance or walk out of both the past and the future at once.

There is a sudden death and yet the story is less bleak. Asya’s mother is drinking tea from a fragile glass that she had bought twenty years ago. She is surprised when she realizes that the delicate glass has lasted this long. She did not know that it could “survive.” Intrinsic to the story is the author’s writing ability. She shows us who the characters are through her vivid description of their physical features, the way they dress, and how they smoke cigarettes. More profoundly, the writing portrays how others comprehend the main characters. In reference to Asya’s mother, the reader can feel “the gaze of all the men who stared,” and how “the vendors looked disapprovingly at her shiny nose ring … deviance … the sign of lustfulness.”

At times, I felt that the description diminished the story. The long lists of Turkish and Armenian food became tedious. More baffling were segues that went on for a few pages. We are introduced to a young

man who goes on a date with Armanoush. It appears that the reader is meeting a significant character but then he fizzles away like the date. This episode and others like it detracted from and slowed the story down.

Ultimately, the book is not easy to read, and the historical political background will only appeal to a certain audience. However, the author’s examination of how individuals through the past come to be the people they are is a method by which we can all better understand our personal histories.

The Reviewer

Michael Attard is a Canadian who has lived in Gwangju since 2004. Though officially retired, he still teaches a few private English classes. He enjoys reading all kinds of books and writes for fun. When the weather is nice, you may find him on a hiking trail.

Freckles

By Ellie Goodwin

Forty-seven. Yes, definitely forty-seven’.

He finished his count with a flourish; an artist giving his final stroke to an oil painting. Why had he been counting in the first place? And this woman in the waiting room, sat with one leg crossed over the other, deigning a mixture of weariness and boredom that was a requirement of such a place. Who was she? Instinctively, he knew that they had seen one another before.

A crossing of paths, paradoxically fleeting yet inexplicably poignant.

A newspaper materialised, thrown into existence and already open at a page for the woman’s perusal. All in the space of a second.

‘Forty-eight’. The woman did not lift her gaze, merely wetted her finger and lazily turned the page. ‘The new one should be on your left wrist. Just below your watch strap’.

The woman was right. What had once been a patch of soft, unblemished skin now played host to a faint freckle: a dot on a clean canvas. ‘You’ll notice that this one is lighter than some of the others’.

The man wondered if such a comment was supposed to carry some meaning for him. He handled it with the same uncertainty as one would with foreign currency. ‘Yes’. He did not know what else to say. This freckle was indeed fainter than the others.

Dazed, he stood, trying to remember how he had come to this place. The waiting room was empty, save for himself and the woman. The five metal chairs were the only furniture, evenly spaced between one another and all unoccupied. The walls were chalk white without decoration or the hint of having once borne any. Accompanied with the artificial lighting, the effect of the room was a clinical one; a daily purge of all that was sentient through meticulous cleaning. The absence of life brought the man to his senses like a pinching on the arm.

‘Where am I?’

The woman sighed wearily. Boredom dripped from her. It was a pendulum question and one that she heard too often. Like a mother with a newborn, her ears were attuned to it, and she knew the moment when it would be asked. Worn down by its frequency, she gave a robotic answer. This was the forty-eighth time Geoffrey Reynard had asked her, not that he recalled having done so. ‘Heaven’.

‘Heaven?’ Geoffrey Reynard repeated with stunned disbelief. He had not been an intelligent man in this life, though this was not the reason why his fortyeighth freckle was fainter. Other factors came into play and, in some cases, intelligence had little to do with it. ‘But... but it can’t be. Heaven doesn’t look like this’.

The woman rolled her eyes, wetted her finger again, and turned the page of her newspaper. She knew what was coming next. Others would be faster on the realisation, though she suspected that the same could not be said of Geoffrey Reynard, whose mouth had been gaping for several stagnant seconds now. ‘Your concept of heaven is nothing more than fiction. A paradise where the dead go if you’ve lived a moral life? It’s nothing more than a way for you to find some comfort with the uncomfortable thought of death’. The woman’s eyes lazily lifted from her newspaper and widened by a fraction, prompting Geoffrey Reynard to reach the conclusion that he was so slow in meeting. Like dry-swallowing a pill, it was uncomfortable for both parties.

Geoffrey Reynard struggled blindly through the thick fog that had settled in his mind. Why had he been counting the freckles on his body? And why did heaven resemble the waiting room of a doctor’s surgery? This last thought snagged like caught bait on a fishing line.

Mouth dry, he asked, ‘I’m dead?’ It was a disembodied voice.

‘Yes’.

Winded, Geoffrey Reynard sank onto one of the chairs. The woman paid him no attention, too engrossed in the article she was reading. It was another regurgitated scenario that she had grown numb to. No sympathy came, for it was not needed.

‘But I can’t be - how can I be dead? I’m talking to you’. Geoffrey Reynard’s stammer, riddled with anxiety, did nothing to stir the sentiments of the woman. It was nothing that she hadn’t heard before.

‘Epileptic seizure in the shower. Painless death. There are far worse ways to go’.

Geoffrey Reynard gripped the arms of his chair. Bile rose and came to rest at the back of his throat. His bloodless face and greyish colouring had caught the woman’s attention.

‘No,’ she said sharply. ‘I’ve already had to clean up after someone else today, and I’m not doing it again’. She gave an irritable tut. ‘The woman who came in here before you was crying about dying at ninetyfive! As if she had anything to be complaining about – she had a long life, far longer than some other people who have seen me and none of them made a hysterical racket. Well I can tell you one person that won’t be bawling their eyes out – the old lady’s son. Always nagging and criticizing him, not a word of thanks and a financial burden to top it all. It’s hardly a surprise the old lady’s freckle was fainter. Here you go, drink something’. Just as the newspaper had materialised, so did a glass of ice-cold water, which she shoved into Geoffrey Reynard’s hand none too gently. The water sloshed in the cup, resembling Geoffrey Reynard’s stomach.

Geoffrey Reynard gulped the water. Latching onto the only word discernible to him, he said, ‘freckle’. He had counted forty-seven. The woman had amended his count to forty-eight.

Satisfied that Geoffrey Reynard was not going to empty his stomach onto the carpeted floor, the woman returned to her seat and resumed her reading.

‘It’s your tally and our way of keeping a record. You’ve just finished your forty-eighth life. Each time you die another freckle is added to your skin. How faint the freckle indicates how much of a positive impact you had on the life you just expired from. The fainter the freckle the lesser the impact. Your forty-eighth freckle is darker than your forty-seventh but fainter than your nineteenth, which still stands as the life where you had the most positive impact’. It was with monotony that the woman recited this information without pause for breath.

The life, the forty-eighth life, that the woman referred to had escaped Geoffrey Reynard’s memory. Like the tail end of a dream, he only caught snatches with his fingertips.

A woman, frail and elderly with glassy eyes that did not see. Geoffrey Reynard cried silently as she asked who he was for what felt like the hundredth time, still wearing the bruise she had given him from her outburst in their last visit. Smiling weakly, he takes her hand and patiently listens to her as she rambles about a time far in the depths of her crumbling memory, not forgetting to kiss her on the cheek and

give her his love before leaving. The friend from university who had appeared on his doorstep with a suitcase filled with clothes and toiletries as well as the baggage of his homophobic parents, who Geoffrey Reynard had, without hesitation, offered his couch, whiskey and undivided attention.

Waiting outside a classroom door on tenterhooks then roaring with triumph as a younger boy, his brother, ran to meet him, hands waving triumphantly with a graded assignment clutched in one.

A dimly lit pub with drunk men huddled around a dank, scratched table, either whistling appreciatively or slapping Geoffrey Reynard on the back. With a Cheshire cat grin, he watched as his mobile was passed, the nude photographs of his ex-girlfriend plastered for all to see. Uneaten food thrown into a bin, the stout plastic bottle containing laxatives under the pillow of a crying teenage girl whose face was a mirror copy of his own. He had made incessant, ill-disguised comments about her weight months before, the tightness of her clothes, her breathlessness whenever she walked up a flight of stairs, the far healthier looking friends in her social circle.

‘You can start your forty-ninth life now, if you wish’.

‘Start?’

‘Like re-spawning on a video game’. It was a crude image but a simple one for Geoffrey Reynard to understand.

‘Ok. I want to start my forty-ninth life’. Staying in this waiting room was not an option. For the first time, he truly observed his surroundings. No doors and no windows.

The woman turned the page of her newspaper again. The printed text was written in a language Geoffrey Reynard did not know, manic scribbles by a person whose sanity had collapsed, but the woman read each page intently, apparently understanding every scratched and jagged line that had pierced the paper. Nerves crept up Geoffrey Reynard’s spine.

‘I assume you want to hear the conditions first’.

‘Conditions?’

The woman folded the newspaper, visibly annoyed. This was her punishment. Repeated conversations,

repeated questions, varying in the smallest detail. Her days were indistinguishable from one another, each one the same as before. True, she saw different faces, but what difference did that make when the words that came from their mouths were always the same? It would not be long now. The fragile strings that tethered the woman to sanity would soon be torn, leaving nothing but the stumps of frayed ends. She would join the others who had lost their minds.

‘Two chances and then you’re out. If your freckle at the end of your forty-ninth life is fainter, then that’s one chance gone. If the fiftieth freckle is fainter than your forty-ninth, then that’s two chances gone. And that means you’re out’.

Geoffrey Reynard absorbed this news silently, considering his options as one may do when perusing the shelves of a supermarket, overwhelmed by the selection. His reaction had been the same last time, too. And all the times before that. ‘What if I don’t want to start my forty-ninth life? What if I don’t want to risk it?’

‘Then you stay here. We always have positions available. There are lots of people coming through everyday, after all’. She imagined herself screaming, shaking Geoffrey Reynard, imploring him not to consider staying, to not even contemplate the idea of it. Ceasing to exist would be better than this daily hell that was her life, a constant loop of the same conversations, days and weeks blending into one, none distinguishable. The chance to make darker freckles was ready for the taking. Rejecting it would be madness.

It was precisely for this reason that her contract stipulated that she could not say such thoughts or risk the fury of the Higher, that omnipotent Entity who was, she supposed, responsible for everything, both here and in the world of the living.

And so, she said the same exact words that she always said to those who passed throughout this waiting room. ‘Whatever you decide, you’ll have no recollection of this conversation when you go back’.

‘Wait, so this means I may have had this conversation before? With you?’

‘Yes. We have’.

‘I thought I’d seen you somewhere’. The mumble was

more to himself than the woman. Geoffrey Reynard stared at the walls around him, as if one may present an answer for what to do.

‘You said something about two chances and then you’re out’.

‘Yes’.

‘What if both of my new freckles are fainter and I lose my two chances. What happens then?’ ‘You go on’.

A predictable confused look. ‘On? On where?’

Geoffrey Reynard had asked the woman this question forty-eight times during meetings that he had no recollection of, as did the others whom she met with. Another punishment, another reminder how she had failed, how she had feared living. Her body had not concocted an anaesthesia for this question, had not found the way to detach itself from the fleeting pain that always came whenever posed to her.

‘I cannot answer. I have not seen it myself’.

‘Why not?’

The idiot. His insensitive questions were fingernails clawing at her insides, scratch after scratch. Replying with dismissal, the woman had learned, was the best way. The only lesson that years of imprisonment had taught her. ‘I stayed here. I did not try at another life, I did not try to live. In my head, I saw the freckle as quantifiable – as a measure of if I succeeded or failed. I feared failure and I did not try for success. I did not live, nor did I die.’

She did not want to discuss that particular subject anymore. ‘Now, what is your decision, Geoffrey Reynard?’

English teacher by trade and keen traveler the rest of the time, Ellie Goodwin has been to 36 different countries, lived in China for over three years, and has lived in Gwangju for eight months. In her free time, she enjoys (you guessed it) traveling, hiking, reading, and the occasional soju. Instagram: @elliee_goodwin

Whose Onus Is It, Anyway?

By Muthukumar Elangovan

We’re into the bleak and barren. Naught we’ll gain from heaven!

It’s not an idle tale, Our future is already pale!

www.openai.com

Water and warmth are rising, hark! Let’s halt, ere all goes dark!

Never we’ll see green, Let’s forbid before our children scream!

The land of familiar places will change; Let’s do something before it gets strange!

What lies ahead isn’t hidden, Let our thoughts for deeds awaken!

It’ll be a sepulcher of the Anthropocene, Let’s undo it afore it’s an everyday scene!

Once again Mother Earth has given birth, Let’s fulfill this New Year with a feat of worth!

The Author

Muthukumar Elangovan, PhD, is a biologist at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST). He is a naturalist, loves reading nonfiction books, and writes poetry, short stories, and a range of other items in his blog. One of his pursuits is to promote scientific literacy and popularize science among the general public. Email: pentomuthu@gmail.com

The Author

Top of The Drop

By Daniel J. Springer

Each month, Daniel Springer of the Gwangju Foreign Language Network (GFN) picks his favorite newly released tunes that you may not have heard yet, along with some upcoming albums and EPs that you might want to keep on your radar. — Ed.

SAULT – “LION”

The semi-mysterious and still unconfirmed funk and soul juggernaut has pretty much blown everyone’s minds the past few years with both the quantity and quality of output, averaging two or three albums per annum. Well, that was then, and we now live in a different era, with the group featuring (only allegedly) Cleo Sol and Michael Kiwanuka dropping FIVE stellar LP’s (yes, as in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) available free of charge for only five days at the end of October, but you can still catch the albums via their bandcamp. While it feels like the ensemble mystérieux need (or maybe even want) to come out of the ever-receding shadows for their big reveal, we’ll still have to wait on that, but at least there’s an incredible amount of fascinating music to keep us company in the meantime.

GHOST FUNK ORCHESTRA – “YOUR MAN’S NO GOOD”

The morphing and everexpanding project of Seth Applebaum, started years ago as a solo bedroom project, has just released their latest studio album A New Kind of Love. While their last two albums have been absolutely superlative, the evolution of sound to this release culminated in an audioscape that is so cinematic and crystal clear that you imagine even David Axelrod marvelling in tears at how Applebaum wound this album’s arrangements up as tightly as he did while maintaining the fun, daring, and fluid dark spirit it exhibits.

WEYES BLOOD – “IT’S NOT JUST ME, IT’S EVERYBODY”

Another candidate for album of the year, And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow is the fifth album from the solo project of Natalie Mering, whose output just seems to get more and more poetic, elegant, and heartbreaking with each new record. The music washes by like a series of secular hymns passing under a bridge, somehow cleansing the listener in the process without touching the flow underfoot.

HONEY DIJON – “LA FEMME FANTASTIQUE”

For those that like to get down, one of our Sweet Home queer favorites just returned with their second career LP, Black Girl Magic. While it’s no surprise given Dijon’s Chicago roots that this LP is awash in cutting edge yet old school house music vibery, the record is nonetheless a statement of powerful love and freedom that still burns amongst the LGBTQ+ community and people of color therein. Also, do yourself a favor and check out Miss Honey Dijon’s DJ sets, they are bumpin’!

SHARON VAN ETTEN – “WHEN I DIE”

Earlier this year, Sharon Van Etten dropped her sixth studio album We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong via Jagjaguwar. November 11 saw the deluxe version of the album drop, with this as another brooding departure from Van Etten’s previous

albums, and one that ostensibly was left on the cutting room floor for initial release of the record. Whatever the mood, Van Etten remains one of the most captivating singer-songwriters out there, and this is just another brilliant testament to that fact.

KATIE FERRARA – “WOLF CRY”

November 1 saw the latest single from the LA-based Ferrara, whose very clean and sunny sound is sure to start garnering attention from bigger places in the business. With a finalist spot at the recent Gwangju Buskers World Cup secured, it seems that process has already begun over on this side of the ocean, and this tune should be part of a larger project coming next year.

CONNIE CONSTANCE – “KAMIKAZE”

This joint drops like a concussion on the artist’s sophomore LP Miss Power, which honestly could have been a gigantic mess given the breadth and scope of the twists and turns it takes stylistically. However, with the deft touch the London-based artist had in the arrangement and ordering, it instead turns into one of the most thrilling albums of this year, with this punk-based fuel-injector being a prime acute angle turn in the endorphin release.

CAROLINE ROSE – “LOVE/LOVER/FRIEND”

It’s hard not to feel for Caroline Rose, as the artist back in 2020 released a righteous stomper of an album called Superstar that was set up perfectly to light the globe with its pulsating dancefriendly tunes, cheeky sarcasm, and endless fun. Right after appearing on Late Night with Seth Meyers however, the Covid thing that ruined everything kicked in everywhere, and that was that. On this single, the tension and release is just excruciating at times, reflecting the growth process that has happened for Rose (and honestly for all of us) in the past three years’ time.

MISS GRIT – “FOLLOW THE CYBORG”

This is the solo project of NYC-based KoreanAmerican Margaret Sohn, and is the title track to the artist’s upcoming debut album, due out in late

February. If you slept on the Impostor EP, released early in 2021, do check it out as it’s one of the fiercest little records of the year. Think Stereolab’s Laetetia Sadier leading a group with a bit more of a hard rock leading edge, and the electronic and synth elements more incidental to the sound but still a key component.

ABOUT

& HEMO FT HWI YOUNG – “BURN”

For our local spotlight, we head up to Seoul and get into a new album called Omnibus, which dropped independently on October 23. About and Hemo have been doing their thing on the production duo collab tip since about 2018, but the dynamics have only really swung fully into motion since 2020. This tune features SF9 vocalist Hwi Young, and the rest of the album is spiced with several other names you’ll need to know moving forward if looking to familiarize with Korean indie.

NOVEMBER RELEASES

Cavetown – Worm Food (Nov 4)

Connie Constance – Miss Power (Nov 4)

First Aid Kit – Palomino (Nov 4)

Phoenix – Alpha Zulu (Nov 4)

Christian Leave – Superstar (Nov 11)

Hyd – Clearing (Nov 11)

Run the Jewels – RTJ CU4TRO (Nov 11)

WizKid – More Love, Less Ego (Nov 11)

Weyes Blood – And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow (Nov 18)

Cautious Clay – Thin Ice on the Cake (Nov 18)

Stormzy – This Is What I Mean (Nov 25)

DECEMBER UPCOMING (WATCH OUT!)

Half Alive – Conditions of a Punk (Dec 4)

Brakence – Hypochondriac (Dec 4)

A Boogie wit da Hoodie – Me vs. Myself (Dec 11)

Ab-soul – Herbert (Dec 16)

Weezer – SZNS: Winter (Dec 21)

The Author

Yun Hyoju was born and raised in Gwangju, and somehow ended up married to an Irish guy named Alan. She has been working on her short comic, “Alan and Me,” which is about their daily life. She publishes a new comic every week on Instagram. It can be found here: @alan_andme.

C R O S S W O R D P U Z Z L E

Created by Jon Dunbar

Org. headquartered in Humphreys

No longer working

Frasier actress Gilpin

Park in Gyerim-dong

Life-saving first-aid practice

Comedy actor Shore

Pie ___ mode (2 words)

Going out ___ limb (2 words)

Southern Seoul’s Starfield ___ Mall

Exclamation of discovery

Translation service that can help schedule mental health appointments

Based in Osan and Kunsan

Dirty Rockhon, Monkey Pee Quartet, BettyAss

Free antivirus software

___ Mahal

Military group

Goes with Kill Chain and KMPR

Mad cow disease

Brockovich

Animal shelter

SNU-developed English proficiency test

Hockey players Bobby and Colton

Blend together

Star Wars heroine

Namdaemun or Dongdaemun

“You’ll ___ the day!”

Cry like a banshee

“___ well that ends well”

Ivy League school

Imperial measurement of length

Gwangju Citizens’ ___

Tie the knot

Gibberish jazz vocal style

Opposite of acid

Black gemstone

“Monsters, ___”

What a cow says

Origin of 18 across, 5 down

“Mountain” in Korean

Expression of shock