[EN] Gwangju News September 2018 #199

Gwangju and South Jeolla International Magazine I September 2018 #199 I Morten Kjaerum: Upholding Human Rights for All

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From the Editor

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September 2018, Issue No. 199

Published: September 1, 2018 Cover Photo: Morten Kjaerum: Upholding Human Rights for All Story begins on page 8.

THE EDITORIAL TEAM Publisher Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Chief Proofreader Layout Editor Photo Editor Proofreaders Photography Team Online Editorial Team Researchers

Dr. Shin Gyonggu Dr. David E. Shaffer Wilson Melbostad Isaiah Winters Karina Prananto Lorryn Smit Di Foster, David Foster, Timm Berg Annalise Reinhardt, Adam Travis, Sarah Pittman, J.T. White Karina Prananto, Shahed Kayes, Sen Nguyen Baek Ji-yeon, Kim Ju-seong

The Gwangju News is the first public English monthly magazine 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.

The Gwangju News is published by 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 Registration No. 광주광역시 라. 00145 (ISSN 2093-5315) Registration Date: February 22, 2010 Printed by Logos Color 로고스칼라 (+82)-62-672-2566 gwangjunews

GwangjuNewsGIC

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

For advertising and subscription inquiries, please contact karina@gic.or.kr or 062-226-2733.

Special thanks to Gwangju City and all of our sponsors.

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You’ll want to learn about the Gwangju cultural mapping project and the Goryeo-in village it discovered. Also of interest is the demise of the Mudeung Park Land amusement park and the Filipino communities’ annual get-together for some fun and unique sports games.

The Gwangju News (GN) takes you to Naju to shoot clay pigeons, GN takes you to Gokseong to gaze at the sun by day, and then GN takes you to Yun Dongju’s “hill bathed in starlight” for “A Night Counting Stars.” For those wishing to venture farther, we offer an Indonesian holiday.

Still hungry? Learn how to make kimchi quickly, or fill up at Another Kitchen. For those intellectually hungry, GN offers a book review that is “a delightful palate cleanser,” a delightful movie review: Jupiter’s Moon, an autumn Korean lesson, and teacher development suggestions from Korea TESOL. Learn of some surprising events on past Chuseok holidays, consider Korea’s obligations to refugees, and view some stunning photos shot from drones.

October Alert: Our October issue of the Gwangju News will be Issue #200! And the Gwangju News and the Gwangju International Center will be celebrating!

In addition to GIC events – an Oct. 5 commemorative event and a special Oct. 6 GIC Talk – the Gwangju News will be providing you with a special expanded edition that will include memoirs of past GN editors, pieces by present GN staff, and a selection of some of the best GN articles that have graced the pages of our past issues. You won’t want to miss it!

David E. Shaffer Editor-in-Chief Gwangju News

September 2018

GwangjuNews

Our cover story this issue is about a person coming to Gwangju to address the World Human Rights Cities Forum: Morten Kjaerum of Denmark. Our second feature is about an artist who has just arrived from the U.S. to bend and blend bamboo for the Biennale: Ma Jong-il.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

Copyright 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.

he heat alerts and typhoon alerts are (hopefully) behind us, allowing September to bring a respite of restfulness in which to enjoy this month’s Gwangju News. We have for you our monthly dose of important local news; useful information on things to do, places to go, things to see; and purely enjoyable reading.

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September 2018 Schedule Every Saturday 4-5 p.m. GIC Hall September 1 Hamel’s Journal: A Cross-Cultural Encounter in 17th Century Korea Speaker: Thomas Adriaenssens (Netherlands)

September 8 Freecycle No GIC Talk

September 15 You Can Improve Your Vision Speaker: Becca Haydon (USA, Professor and Vision Therapist)

September 22 National Holiday Chuseok No GIC Talk *GIC will still open on September 22

September 29 The Basis of Corporate Investment in South East Asia: The Laos Dam Collapse and other Environmental Disasters Speaker: Wilson Melbostad (USA, Human Rights Lawyer)

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CONTENTS

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SEPTEMBER 2018 #199 GWANGJU NEWS 04. Gwangju City News 05. Gwangju Theater Schedule 06. September 2018 Happenings 56. Community Board

FEATURE 08. Morten Kjaerum: Upholding Human Rights for All 13. You, The One, Standing in the Prosperous Land COMMUNITY 17. Gwangju Cultural Mapping Project: Bridging Differences, Highlighting Humanities 33. The Games of Our Childhood: Larong Pinoy TRAVEL 20. Lost in Gwangju: Mudeung Park Land – The Little Amusement Park That Couldn’t 24. Around Korea: Reach for the Stars in Gokseong 27. From Abroad: Holiday in Jakarta SPORTS & ACTIVITIES 30. Shooting It Up in Naju

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FOOD & DRINKS 36. Where to Eat: Not Just “Another Kitchen” 38. Quick Kimchi

OPINION 54. South Korea’s Obligation to Refugees

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September 2018

ARTS & CULTURE 43. Unusual Chuseok Holidays of the Past 44. Photo Essay: Drone Shots of Jeollanam-do 48. Photo of the Month 50. Gwangju Writes: Yun Dongju and His Poetry 52. Book Review: A Delightful Palate Cleanser: The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden by Jonas Jonasson 53. Movie Review: Jupiter’s Moon

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EDUCATION 40. Korea TESOL: Things to Do for Teacher Development 42. Everyday Korean: Episode 9 – Autumn in Korea

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Gwangju City News Compiled by Karina Prananto Reprinted with permission from Gwangju Metropolitan City Hall

GWANGJU NEWS

However, the Incheon Airport KTX service has now been suspended due to low demand, as evidenced by the passenger numbers staying far below necessary quotas.

Meanwhile, in light of this decision, the Gwangju World Aquatics Championship Organizing Committee expressed concern over the successful operation of next year’s event. Visitors to the previous championship in Budapest, Hungary, in 2017 reached over 480,000.

Gwangju City Buses to Provide Free Wi-Fi Officials of the committee stressed that direct trains from October between Gwangju and Incheon Airport were essential for Starting this October, free public Wi-Fi will be available for use on Gwangju city buses.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

September 2018

Gwangju City revealed on July 18 that it plans to install free Wi-Fi systems on 294 city buses by September, which will be available free of charge starting in October. The rest of the 706 city buses will have Wi-Fi systems installed during 2019.

The new city bus Wi-Fi infrastructure is a project to reduce telecommunication expenses, which is a key living expense of the people. In March, Gwangju City and the Ministry of Science and ICT signed an agreement and selected service providers. Funding by the city and national government will be matched at a 1:1 ratio.

Since 2013, Gwangju has built 358 public Wi-Fi systems at traditional markets, welfare facilities, and public health centers to provide citizens and visitors with free wireless Internet access.

a smooth operation. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, however, suggested plans to increase intercity express buses between Gwangmyeong, Seoul, and Gwangju during the event.

The 2019 Gwangju World Aquatics Championship will be held from July 12 to August 11, 2019, inviting some 15,000 athletes and officials from 208 different countries around the world, including North Korea.

Gwangju Biennale to Present North Korean Artworks at the Exhibition

The Gwangju Biennale announced on July 24 that the Ministry of Unification has recently given permission to bring 22 North Korean paintings into South Korea to be displayed during this year’s Gwangju Biennale.

KTX Service from Gwangju to Incheon Airport to Be Suspended

The organizers of Asia’s biggest art exhibition will begin to ship the artworks late this month before framing them in mid-August for display at the Biennale Exhibition Hall and the Asia Culture Center. The North Korean segment of the Biennale exhibition will feature Pyongyang’s topnotch painters, such as Choe Chang-ho and Kim In-sok, as well as the country’s state-run Mansudae Art Studio.

The collection will include six large paintings collectively created by artist groups.

In 2014, KORAIL began to offer KTX high-speed train connections from Incheon International Airport to Seoul, Daegu, Busan, Gwangju, and other cities in Korea.

This year’s Gwangju Biennale, themed “Imagined Borders,” will delve into the notion of belonging, national borders, personal identity, and community, and last from September 7 to November 11.

KTX operations between Incheon Airport and Gwangju will officially be suspended, a fact which has worried the Gwangju World Aquatics Championship Organizing Committee as to the successful hosting of the event.

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Gwangju Theater

62 Chungjang-ro 5-ga, Dong-gu, Gwangju (two blocks behind NC Wave) TICKETS: 8,000 won CONTACT: 062-224-5858 For more information, please visit http://cafe.naver.com/cinemagwangju * Synopses excerpted from Wikipedia, IMDb, and Hancinema.

All English language films are presented with Korean subtitles; non-English international films are presented with Korean subtitles only.

ADULTHOOD

어른도감 Genre: Drama Director: Kim In-seon Film Length: 92 minutes Language: Korean (no subtitles) Starring: Um Tae-goo, Lee Jaein, Seo Jung-yeon Summary: At her dad’s funeral, Kyeong-eon meets her uncle Jae-min, a complete stranger.

He bilks her father’s insurance money. She demands her money back, but he unashamedly refuses. To get her money back, she joins his next scam.

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LEAN ON PETE 린 온 피트 Genre: Drama Director: Andrew Haigh Film Length: 121 minutes Language: English (Korean subtitles) Starring: Charlie Plummer, Amy Seimetz, Travis Fimmel Summary: Charley, a 15 year old living with his single father, finds casual work caring for an aging racehorse named Lean On Pete.

When his father dies, making him likely to go into care, and he learns Pete is bound for slaughter, Charley and the racehorse embark on an odyssey across the new American frontier in search of a long lost aunt.

September 2018

TASHA TUDOR: A STILL WATER STORY 타샤 튜더 Genre: Documentary Director: Mitsue Matsutani Film Length: 105 minutes Language: Japanese (Korean subtitles) Starring: Tasha Tudor Summary: The movie portrays Tasha Tudor, one of America’s most beloved author-illustrators of children’s literature. During her lifetime, she becomes

THE GOOSE GOES SOUTH 대관람차 Genre: Drama Director: Baek Jae-ho Film Length: 108 minutes Languages: Korean, Japanese (Korean subtitles) Starring: Kang Du, Ji Dae-han Summary: Wooju was sent to Osaka to find his missing senior, Daejung, after a ship accident.

On his last day there, he saw someone who looked a lot like Daejung playing a guitar in Pier 34, a small bar in Taisho, Osaka. He said his name was Snow and that he was the bar owner. After spending the night there, Wooju woke up late, missing both his flight to Korea and his phone. He quits his job and starts on an unlikely vacation.

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LAST CHILD 살아남은 아이 Genre: Drama Director: Shin Dong-seok Film Length: 124 minutes Language: Korean (no subtitles) Starring: Choi Moo-sung, Kim Yeo-jin, Sung Yoo-bin Summary: A boy dies while saving his friend from drowning.

The deceased boy’s father tries to have his son recognized for his heroic act, while the mother has fallen into a deep depression.

In a strange turn of events, the father befriends the boy whom his son saved. As he was orphaned and a victim of bullying, the couple finally decides to raise him, and although their lives seem to be in harmony again, it does not last long as they learn the truth about their lost son.

famous for writing and illustrating more than two dozen children’s books. She is also famous for her marvelous garden. Her natural lifestyle and philosophy of life still attract people today in this film.

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September 2018 Happenings Compiled by Baek Ji-yeon

2018 Jeonnam International Sumuk Biennale GWANGJU NEWS

2018 전남국제수묵비엔날레

Jeollanam-do is the region that follows the tradition of sumuk (traditional Asian ink painting) best, and is also the birthplace of sumuk artist Nam Jong-hwa’s artistic works. Using this historical-cultural base, Jeollanamdo has planned this Biennale to let all visitors know about sumuk in an effort to make it a part of global cultural content. Visitors can enjoy lectures featuring sumuk experts, experience VR (virtual reality) art made of sumuk, and appreciate regular performances based on sumuk. Come to the festival if you want to experience the best of Jeollanam-do’s sumuk tradition.

September 1–October 31 Dates: Mokpo Culture & Arts Center Location: Namnong-ro 102, Mokpo, Jeollanam-do 전라남도 목포시 남농로 102 (목포문화예술회관)

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September 2018

Nojeokbong Arts Park Museum Yudal-ro 116, Mokpo, Jeollanam-do

2018 Muan Red Clay Mudflat Festival. (Photo courtesy of Muan County)

The 2018 Great Battle of Myeongnyang Festival.

(Photo courtesy of Haenam County)

전라남도 목포시 유달로 116 (노적봉예술공원미술관)

Ullim Sanbang Art House, Geumbong Museum of Art, Namdo Traditional Museum of Art Ullimsanbang-ro 315, Uishinmyeon, Jindo-gun, Jeollanam-do 전라남도 진도군 의신면 운림산방로 315 (운림산방, 금봉미술관, 남도전통미술관)

Oksan Art Museum, within Jindo Art Museum, Jindo-daero 7197, Jindo-eup, Jindo-gun, Jeollanam-do 전라남도 진도군 진도읍 진도대로 7197 (진도향토미술관 내 옥산미술관)

Admission: Telephone: Website:

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Free 061-280-5871~2, 5877 http://sumukbiennale.org/index.php

“Mudong” by Kim Heung-do.

(Photo courtesy of 2018 Jeonnam International Sumuk Biennale)

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2018 Muan Red Clay Mudflat Festival

The 2018 Great Battle of Myeongnyang Festival

The red clay mudflat of Muan is the first mudflat protection district in Korea. Starting in 2013, this festival has been presenting various performances and enjoyable events.

Visitors can participate in a singing contest and mudflat wrestling competition, and make red clay pottery, among other things. If you are fine with getting your clothes dirty while beating the summer heat, come to the Muan red clay mudflat.

This is a memorial event for Admiral Yi Sun-shin, who played a major role in the Great Battle of Myeongnyang, a battle that proved to be a decisive chance for finishing the seven-year Japanese invasion of Korea beginning in 1592. Held in Jeollanam-do’s Haenam-gun and Jindogun since 2008, visitors can enjoy a Myeongnyang Battle reenactment and parade, Jindo drum playing, Haenam pungmul (traditional Korean percussion band), and various other experiences.

2018 무안황토갯벌축제

Dates: Location:

Admission: Telephone: Websites:

September 7–9 Muan Red Clay Mudflat, Yongsan-gil 140, Haeje-myeon, Jeollanam-do 전라남도 무안군 해제면 용산길 140 (해제면) 무안황토갯벌랜드 일원

Free 061-450-5473, 5474 http://getbol.muan.go.kr/, http://tour.muan.go.kr/tour/festival/ getbol

2018 Suncheon Food & Art Festival 2018 순천 푸드∙ 아트 페스티벌

Here, tourists can enjoy the flavor of Jeollanam-do and art of Suncheon. Visitors can taste various foods all in one place – not only grilled chicken and gukbap (국밥, rice soup), a representative food of Suncheon, but also prepared foods made from locally sourced Suncheon ingredients. Also, the festival will provide cooking classes presented by a famous chef. Festival-goers can enjoy art performances such as pantomime, bicycle stunts, and artwork displayed by local artists.

September 7–9 Jungang-sageori, (Haengdong) Jungangro 125, Suncheon, Jeollanam-do

Dates: Location:

전라남도 해남군 문내면 관광레저로 12-36 (진도 녹진관광지, 해남 우수영관광지)

Admission: Telephone: Website:

Free 061-749-5502 http://sc-fafestival.com/html/main.php

Free 061-286-5261~5 http://www.mldc.kr/web/

2018 Yeonggwang Bulgap Mountain Sangsahwa Festival 2018 영광 불갑산상사화축제

Sangsahwa (Lycoris) is one genus of summer flowers of the amaryllis family. During the festival, seoksan (red spider lilies, Lycoris radiata) dye all the mountains red. Visitors will be able to enjoy sangsahwa-themed performances and events, such as sangsahwa hidden singer, a golden-bell quiz show, making sangsahwa light , and a sangsahwa mission tour, among others.

Dates: Location:

전라남도 순천시 중앙로 125 (행동) 중앙사거리 일원

Admission: Telephone: Website:

September 7–9 Jindo Nokjin Tourist Attraction, Haenam Usuyeong Tourist Attraction Gwangwang-rejeo-ro 12-36, Munnaemyeon, Haenam-gun, Jeollanam-do

September 13–19 Bulgapsa Temple, (Bulgap-myeon) Bulgapsa-ro 450, Bulgap-myeon, Yeonggwang-gun, Jeollanam-do

전라남도 영광군 불갑면 불갑사로 450 (불갑면) 불갑사 관광지 일원

Admission: Telephone: Website:

Free 061-350-5269 http://sangsahwa.cafe24.com/

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

Dates: Location:

2018 명량대첩축제

September 2018

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www.gwangjunewsgic.com

September 2018

FEATURE

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Morten Kjaerum, WHRCF 2018 speaker.

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Morten Kjaerum: Upholding Human Rights for All Speaker at WHRCF 2018 Written by Wilson Melbostad Photographs courtesy of Morten Krjaerum

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Morten Kjaerum: I am a grandfather of three small boys, and a lot of what drives me is to fulfill their right to a future together with all the other small boys and girls across the globe. That has always been what pushed me ahead. After I graduated from law school, my first job was to defend asylum seekers arriving in Denmark. This was in the 1980s. At that job, I was also deeply involved in developing the newly established NGO network, European Council of Refugees and Exiles, of which I am proud to be the chairperson today.

The Raoul Wallenberg Institute (RWI), which I am also in charge of today, is named after the prominent Swedish diplomat who went out of his way to rescue many Jews and others out of Budapest, Hungary, in 1944–1945.

He was a true humanist. Thus, our work is in his spirit: protecting the individual. We do research, education, and direct engagement in the field of human rights, primarily addressing people on the move, inclusion and non-discrimination, economic globalization, and rule of law. Apart from the head office in Lund that covers the European region, we have regional offices in Nairobi to cover Africa, Amman to cover the Middle East and North Africa, and Jakarta to cover Asia. These regional offices are complemented by bilateral offices in Beijing, Phnom Penh, and Istanbul. We firmly believe that by working together, alongside our regional offices and their local partners, we can double the impact of our work; and with the current challenges worldwide, there is no time to waste on counterproductive competition and infighting.

We owe that to all those that have put trust in us for many years.

GN: What was your initial inspiration for pursuing a career in law, in particular, public interest and human rights law?

September 2018

Morten Kjaerum, hailing from Denmark, has been director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in Sweden since 2015. He has also served as the director of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) in Vienna as well as the founding director of the Danish Institute for Human Rights. Appointed by the UN Secretary General, Kjaerum chairs the Board of Trustees for the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights, he also served during 2002– 2008 as a member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). Aside from his long list of accolades, this interview will also showcase Kjaerum’s truly admirable qualities, namely, his humility and incredible passion to serve other fellow humans.

Gwangju News (GN): Please tell us about yourself as well as the organization you currently work for. What is your current position, and what types of people do you serve?

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

hose who live, have lived, or have even visited Gwangju know that the city prides itself on its recognition of democracy (even when others did not) and forward thinking in regards to human rights. It was this fighting spirit that fueled the student uprisings against the Japanese imperialists in 1929, the May 18 Uprising against a brutal dictatorship in 1980, the city’s passing of the 1998 Asian Human Rights Charter, and ultimately the decision to host the World Human Rights Cities Forum, which has been a staple of Gwangju tradition since 2013. For those who might not know, the aforementioned World Human Rights Cities Forum is a collection of policymakers, members of civil society, and human rights experts who gather over a three-day symposium to share the best practices and envision new strategies for the protection of human rights at local levels. Since the forum is just around the corner, (October 17–20 at the Kim Daejung Convention Center), this is an opportune time to introduce our readership to not only one of the most exciting speakers at the event but also a long-time, world-renowned protector of human rights in local and international arenas.

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www.gwangjunewsgic.com

September 2018

Morten Kjaerum has been director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in Sweden since 2015.

Kjaerum: When I was out of high school, in 1976 (after spending one year in the US during 1974–75), I lived and worked with a group of irregular migrants in France. At that time, the irregular migrants where Spaniards from southern Spain, where they had a small olive farm. They spent 9–10 months on the roads of Europe taking the lowest-paid jobs in industry and agriculture. I stayed with them for some months and saw how they were treated by people in the community, by the authorities, and by the police. Since I was by far the best educated (after only finishing high school!), they always turned to me for advice. Thus, that led me to law, and two years into the study, we opened in my hometown of Aarhus the first legal aid office for migrants. The experience has followed me ever since. I told this story when I, in my capacity as director of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), met the Spanish minister of the interior, who was utterly hostile to irregular migrants. I reminded him that only some years ago it was his people who were the irregulars.

GN: In light of your experiences (whether within CERD, the Refugee Asylum Department, the Danish Center for Human Rights, or anywhere else you have worked), what have you learned about the human capacity for racism or bigotry towards other humans? Are there particular circumstances that you have found to give rise to greater levels of hatred in people?

Kjaerum: I firmly believe in the good in people – the smile is the shortest way between human beings.

However, hatred against the other can be orchestrated and

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stimulated in particular if two conditions are present: (1) times of uncertainty/insecurity and (2) the existence of cynical leaders who are ready to pull the hate card. As far as the first condition is concerned, we live in such times now with new technologies creating lots of insecurity about the future labor market, climate change impacts, globalization in general, and a sense of uncontrolled migration. As to the second condition, political leaders have great difficulties in addressing the issues why it has been tempting for many leaders – despite repeated warnings from the likes of CERD and other international human rights mechanisms – to divert attention from the real fears to the imagined “evil other.” In Europe, the arrival of Syrian refugees in 2015 offered such a window of opportunity for the populists that they could not resist.

The refugee challenge in Europe could have been resolved by collaboration; however, solidarity was weak and populism has prevailed. One lesson learned is that hate against others does not need to be rooted in reality. In Poland, you have a strong base of anti-Semitism with only a few thousand Jews living there. It is very much about creating and sustaining the fear. In Europe, politicians and media have for more than 25 years talked about Muslims very negatively. Fear of the unknown is easy to trigger.

Thus, the ground is fertile for the next steps to be taken.

GN: There are more displaced peoples currently than ever before in human history. Despite this, there seems to be a widespread backlash from governments and (some) of their citizens against accepting these people into their countries. What has been your biggest hurdle in

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11 convincing others that refugees should not be viewed as detrimental to a nation’s development and culture? Have you found success in convincing people otherwise?

Kjaerum: In our work protecting refugees, we witness a more vocal opposition to receiving and including refugees into our societies. However, there is also sustained support throughout Europe in civil society to assist and include the refugees, and my impression is that a similar pattern ultimately prevails on other continents as well. What is important for the human rights environment – again, in Europe – is to address the real issues, including what works and what does not work. One serious backdrop for the anti-refugee/immigrant discussion is the socalled stigma of failed integration. This has become a common stereotype held by many; however, it needs to be challenged. What we see from many studies, including from FRA, is that integration has been highly successful.

In many countries, including my home country of Denmark, you see proportionally more Muslim women in higher education than Danish women. The immigrants have the same or an even higher trust in democratic institutions than the majority population. These trends are reflected at every level.

At the same time, migrants, and their kids in particular, figure more often in crime statistics – and that is something we need to address more proactively. It should be noted

though, that if we make a historical class analysis, then the lower classes today (composed largely of immigrants) are way more peaceful and law-abiding than before when the working classes were made up entirely of Danes, Frenchmen, Germans, etc. All this needs to be put on the table and discussed, but currently it is very difficult to get the messages through. Thus, the human rights world needs to improve its communication strategies.

“I firmly believe in the good in people – the smile is the shortest way between human beings.”

GN: Transitioning gears a little bit, I am wondering how, over the course of your career, you’ve managed your work–life balance. What activities do you pursue outside of work to keep yourself grounded and sane?

Kjaerum: First, I do not really like the concept of work–life balance: If work is not life, most people have a miserable life, and that I do not believe. In all my director positions, I have talked about work–social or family–life balance.

This is of course an indicator of where I come from: I am sitting here during my vacation with the privilege

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September 2018

Mr. Kjaerum signing a new protocol at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute.

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Mr. Kjaerum presents at the MR-Dagarna Conference, the Nordic region’s largest human rights forum, in Stockholm.

of spending my time to partake in this interview. This is work, and yet I really do not mind. My wife is sitting just across from me working on her articles. I was able to find a great partner, and thankfully we share the same approach to life; otherwise, it would not have worked out.

We have two great sons and now three grandchildren.

Family has always been a key part of my life. Apart from that, I run and do cross-country skiing. I make a point of always reading novels, listening to music, and pursuing other things that can bring me away from or closer to human rights issues. Finally, we have very good friends who are involved in other things than we are. In fact, we have some friends that we have had dinner with once a week for 35 years!

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September 2018

GN: In light of the upcoming World Human Rights Cities Forum, can you speak a little bit about how you feel cities fit into the landscape of upholding human rights, as well as how RWI will particularly contribute to the forum?

Kjaerum: Cities play a key role in upholding human rights, and many cities (if not most) still do not realize their relevance in such roles. People live locally, so this is where human rights first and foremost should unfold.

Human rights, in this regard, should not be viewed through the lens of legal standards, but rather as a way of perceiving citizens as people and understanding their role as duty bearers. Discussions should be centered around how to shape institutions so they meet the real needs of citizens, including the most vulnerable, and how to create a city space so that everybody feels included, even to the point where the elderly dare to venture out into the public space without a perceived fear of being mugged. Of course, human rights are also legal standards, thus the local authorities need to establish mechanisms for mediation and redress in order for people to have trust in the system as such. In that way, local authorities

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have a unique possibility to recreate some of the trust in democracy and democratic institutions that has been lost in recent years.

As far as this upcoming World Human Rights Cities Forum is concerned, in close collaboration with the other partners in the forum, RWI will bring in our experience and investigate how human rights can be made more concrete in a very local setting. A further dimension I look forward to exploring is how city planners, architects, and entrepreneurs can contribute towards creating a living and inclusive city. The list of qualified guests is long, and I look forward to meeting colleagues again this year, as well as exploring ways to strengthen the forum and global networks in this regard.

GN: We would like to extend a very special thank you for your time. It was a pleasure speaking with you.

Kjaerum: The pleasure was all mine, thank you so much.

Looking forward to seeing you at the forum.

The Author

Wilson Melbostad is an international human rights attorney hailing from San Francisco, California. Wilson has returned to Gwangju to undertake his newest project: the Organization for Migrant Legal Aid (OMLA), which operates out of the Gwangju International Center. He has also taken on the position of managing editor of the Gwangju News.

World Human Rights Cities Forum 세계인권도시포럼 Dates: October 18–21, 2018 Venue: Kim Daejung Convention Center, Gwangju Inquiries: 062-226-2734 Website: http://whrcf.org/

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You, The One, Standing in the Prosperous Land

Written by Robert Grotjohn Photographs courtesy of Gwangju Museum of Art

FEATURE www.gwangjunewsgic.com

September 2018

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uring the last week of June, the foyer of the Gwangju Museum of Art (광주시립미술관) in Jungoe Park was filled with several hundred pieces of bamboo of various lengths painted different shades of the three primary colors: red, yellow, and blue.

A few of the longer pieces were tied to the bare metal framing of the museum walls in the back corner of the exhibition space. Over the next two weeks, the rest of the bamboo was gradually added to the installation created by Ma Jong-il with the help of his old friend Kim Jongyop and several assistants. I talked with him several times during that process.

Ma grew up in Jangheung, Jeollanam-do, and relocated to New York 22 years ago.

He was back to help commemorate the establishment of Jeolla-do a thousand years ago by creating part of the exhibition titled “Millennial Heaven, Millennial Earth” (천년의하늘, 천년의땅).

In discussing the piece, he asked me to imagine the Brooklyn Bridge and the way its cables and towers carry the stress and tensions of the structure to keep it stable. He suggested that I think also of the exposed metal framework of the museum itself, or of the way societies might accommodate the stress of different people and groups.

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The egalitarian openness of interpretation from various angles suggests more layered ways of seeing the installation as a part of millennial Jeollado. That openness and the bamboo itself echo some of Ma’s own story.

In the U.S., he often works with wood, but bamboo was more useful for expressing his ideas in the process of creating the piece here. It is a familiar material that ties into his Korean roots.

He grew up with it, and it means a lot to Korean culture. It is a beloved material for people of all classes and all times, and a common image in traditional Korean painting, for instance. Indeed, Damyang County supported the installation by donating the bamboo because county officials saw the cultural value of using it for this millennial celebration.

Ma’s vision grows from his Jeolla-do roots, but it is not limited by those roots. The three colors suggested a traditional Korean fan to me, as do the three lower sections of the installation, but the colors that run through and between the different sections show that the tradition is not static. Ma notes that

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The structural support on which those ideas hang comes not primarily from the structures in the open area visible from the entrance but from the stairway and exposed metal framework behind the intertwined, twisting mass of bamboo that is the finished work. Much of the

The finished installation has four key parts. The supports tied to the stairway are one. The other three spread out on the floor. One area is predominantly yellow, one predominantly blue, and one predominantly red, although all the colors mingle in each area. Split bamboo bent into curves and circles creates flows within and between each section. Several pathways run through the piece so that viewers can enter directly into and stand within the work itself, seeing it from multiple angles, some of which turn the three basic colors rainbow-like in their proximities.

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Ma’s installation, one of four, responds to the theme of “The Germinating Land” (발아하는 땅) and is titled “You, The One, Standing in The Prosperous Land.” He did not explain the title, suggesting, rather, that viewers should come up with their own interpretations.

stairway is blocked from view by a ceiling, and the viewer must walk around that section of ceiling and a low wall to see how the piece climbs up the stairway.

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“That openness and the bamboo itself echo some of Ma’s own story ...

Ma’s vision grows from his Jeolla-do roots, but it is not limited by those roots.”

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September 2018

COMMUNITY

those colors melted into many East Asian areas from ancient to contemporary times, from Siberia to Mongolia and Korea. Thus, those colors show a connection that crosses borders, just as they cross between the areas of the installation.

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The entire work, especially with the multiple angles created by the not-perfectly-plumb and not-perfectlylevel straight pieces and the multiple circles placed at many different angles, seems to flow outward from the supports tied to the stairway. At the same time, however, from another viewing position, the colors seem to rise from the floor, through the supports, and to the stairway.

That back-and-forth, up-and-down flow recalls the Heaven and Earth of millennial Jeolla-do. Because of the constraints of the space, with the partial ceiling and a false wall blocking some of the open space, it is impossible to view the whole installation at once. A viewer must move around and through the installation to view it from different angles in order to imagine its wholeness. I encourage readers to do just that. The installation will be in the museum until November 11.

How to Get to the Museum: By bus: - Yongbong 83 or Sangmu 64 to Gwangju Biennale Hall - Moonhong 48, Songjeong 29, Sangmoo 63 to the old Jeollanam-do Office of Education By car: Use the Biennale parking lot. Turn right toward Jungoe Park from the Seogwangju IC exit.

Museum Hours: Daily 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and until 8:00 p.m. on the last Wednesday of every month.

The Author

Robert Grotjohn teaches American literature and popular culture in the Department of English Language and Literature at Chonnam National University and is a former editor-inchief of the Gwangju News.

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COMMUNITY

Gwangju Cultural Mapping Project: Bridging Differences, Highlighting Humanities Written and photographed by Lee Suk Pei

FATEFUL ENCOUNTER It all started on a sunny Sunday towards the end of May when I decided to walk downtown via the Folk Culture Street (향토문화로) near Chonnam National University. While walking around the street, the big red Xs spray-painted on the neighborhood’s gates, doors, and glass windows caught my attention. I started taking some photos of them to highlight that there was a redevelopment project along a street designated for folk culture and express my anxiety about disappearing

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I would have to collect were still going to be in Korean!

After doing some thinking, that initial idea that came up around December 2017 was swept aside for some time until one very fateful day.

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eing a foreigner in a foreign land, I am really curious to understand more about the place where I reside here in Korea. However, due to my slow learning of the local language, exhibition signs and explanations in museums and at tourist attractions that are mostly written only in the local language do not help me understand much. Therefore, I was wondering whether there was any walking tour that I could join to help me understand and get a taste of the local culture. I found nothing much, other than the one done on Yangnim-dong. There may be a lot of other walking tours available out there, but many are conducted in Korean. Hence, I thought to myself, why not make one myself, since I had already participated in a similar kind of project back in Malaysia? Apparently, it did not cross my optimistic mind that the stories that

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The project members and the kindhearted people who accommodated us while we conducted our recce on a hot Sunday.

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September 2018

folk culture on Facebook. At that time, Jong-hwan, an acquaintance of mine, commented on the photos, and we started to talk about losing folk culture in Gwangju.

After a few exchanges, I decided to bring up that old idea of mine again: Why not do a project to document these cultural losses?

PURPOSES We decided to meet and talk. I shared my cultural mapping experience in Malaysia with Jong-hwan, and he started to bring others into the project. We also had the opportunity to meet with Professor Maria Lisak from Chosun University to advise us on the project. I really appreciate her for reminding me again that the main purpose of the Malaysian project was to bridge differences between different cultures by allowing participants of different backgrounds to come together and cooperate.

After several meetings, our original plan to carry out the project in Dongmyeong-dong was changed to the Goryeo-in community at Wolgok-2-dong, Gwangsan-gu.

Our hope was to draw locals’ and foreigners’ attention towards the long-forgotten and marginalized residents, the Goryeo-in, and to bridge the differences between these residents, other locals, and foreigners by getting everyone to do things together.

MEMBERS By the end of June, we managed to gather six participants to work on the project. Our new team is a mix of four Korean students and two international students. The Korean students are my acquaintance Lee Jong-hwan and Park Bo-mi from Chonnam National University, Ha Ji-seon from Dongshin University in Naju, and

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Lee Jae-seok from Chosun University, while the two international students are Mazaher Akbari and yours truly from Chonnam National University. We meet regularly to discuss the direction of our project and work on it together. We aim to complete the project within our schools’ two-month summer vacation so that it does not conflict with our classes.

GORYEO-IN VILLAGE Goryeo-in (고려인), translated into English as “Goryeo people,” refers to the Korean diaspora in Russia and Central Asian nations, including Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan. Due to hard times on the Korean Peninsula in the 1860s, Korean peasants staying near the Siberia-Korean border decided to migrate to the Maritime Province (Primorsky Krai) of Russia to look for a better life. During the Japanese occupation of the Korean Peninsula, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, who worried about the Japanese infiltration of Koreans staying in the Russian Far East, decided to forcefully deport them to Central Asia. According to some reports, around 36,000 families making up 170,000 people were deported.

Life was difficult due to the totally different climate and environment there, but they managed to settle into a normal lifestyle within around three years. When the countries in Central Asia each declared independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Goryeoin in that region were then made citizens of several countries, with most being found within the borders of Russia, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan.

The beginning of the 21st century has seen the Korean diaspora slowly come back to the Korean Peninsula,

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19 mainly to Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, and Wolgok-dong in Gwangju. Both places were chosen mainly because of their proximity to industrial complexes that have a higher availability of jobs. Nevertheless, coming back to the motherland has not necessarily made for an easier life. Language barriers and misconceptions about their immigration status have resulted in many of them being treated like migrant workers, facing the same issues, such as the late payment of salaries.

As the project was conducted in the Goryeo-in community in Wolgok-2-dong, Gwangsan-gu, frequent visits to the neighborhood were warranted despite the faraway location. Our first visit to the Goryeo-in Village was filled with surprises for our eyes, ears, and taste buds. In the village, we saw people with Korean faces who did not speak Korean, but rather Russian or Uzbek.

We visited the Goryeo-in Museum, which is housed in a residential location within the village. The museum also functions as a clinic on Tuesdays where volunteer doctors make visits to provide medical services to Goryeo-in who are unable to receive treatment at hospitals for whatever reason. Restaurants and supermarkets selling Russian and Central Asian food are seen around the village and frequented mostly by Goryeo-in who buy their daily necessities there. Our encounter with the local delicacies resulted in a totally different kind of taste from the Korean cuisine we were accustomed to, suggesting a great change had taken place during those 154 years away from the motherland.

WHY THE PROJECT? A simple search on Google or Naver results in tons of results for “Goryeo-in” in the form of news articles, SNS

pages, videos, and so on. However, a survey done by our project team revealed that as many as 37 percent of our survey respondents, residents of Gwangju, had never heard about Goryeo-in, 58 percent had never heard about the Goryeo-in Village, and a whopping 97 percent had never been to the Goryeo-in Village. Such results confirm the necessity of such a project in order to increase the awareness of locals about their fellow countrymen and provide a great opportunity for foreigners to understand a forgotten piece of Korean history. We also hope that assistance and resources will become more readily available for this community, following the heightened awareness provided in part by this project.

Our project team is now working hard to produce a cultural map booklet detailing the history, stories, and culture of the Goryeo-in in both Korean and English.

Team members are keeping up with the work despite their busy schedules. The project team has also received much help from passionate people providing us leads and contacts for information. This hard work and passion will hopefully pay off on September 8 when a walking tour in both Korean and English begins. Interested individuals are invited to join the walking tour by signing up on the Gwangju Cultural Mapping Project Facebook page or by scanning the QR code on this page.

The Author

Suk Pei is currently studying for her master’s degree at Chonnam National University. Having been in Gwangju for almost one year, she is starting to extend her tentacles to meet different people and participate in various activities here in Gwangju. Gwangju is definitely more than what meets the eye.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

September 2018

The Goryeo-in FM studio.

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20 2020 Lost in Gwangju

Mudeung Park Land: The Little Amusement Park That Couldn’t

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September 2018

COMMUNITY TRAVEL

Written and photographed by Isaiah Winters

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f you’ve ever taken Gwangju’s pleasant ski lift or acrophobia-inspiring monorail, then you might have noticed a derelict clutch of buildings nestled along the foothill opposite Hotel Mudeung Park. The overgrown site, known as Mudeung Park Land (무등파크랜드), is a failed amusement park that’s still listed on the hotel’s sitemap under “facilities.” Online pictures from the park’s glory days reveal a highly depressive alternative to Family Land, Gwangju’s top amusement park. By comparison, this makes Mudeung Park Land seem like the little amusement park that couldn’t, though that wasn’t always the case.

Mudeung Park Land is just one tiny part of a larger, far older amusement park that dates back to the late 1970s, making it Gwangju’s first. Named Jisan Amusement Park (지산유원지), it includes the hotel, driving range, monorail, ski lift, and amusement facilities seen in the area today.

Since the company’s bankruptcy in 1994, however, only some of the facilities have remained functional, while others have fallen into various states of disrepair.

Today, anyone who pokes around the valley will quickly notice pockets of rot scattered all around. For example, right next to the ski lift terminal are two long, brightly colored waterslides that weave gradually in and out of the dense weeds before abruptly halting over the edge of a parking lot. Although the hotel’s website makes no mention of this seasonal waterpark facility, pictures from its heyday are still displayed on signboards in the hotel’s elevators. Based on the photos, the fixed plastic slides and other inflatable ones once disgorged riders into large metal-frame pools, some of which remained in use as late as 2013. In all likelihood, the place was a lot of fun at its peak and could still make a comeback.

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The waterslides sit on a large slope that forms a reservoir where people used to be able to take boats out for a row.

Rising from the reservoir lakebed are two octagonal pavilions with rooftops offering panoramic views of the now shallow, algae-covered water below. These two pavilions are connected to the shore and to each other by a badly water-damaged, forked bridge that’s been completely neglected. One of the two pavilions functioned as a panoramic restaurant serving eel, raw beef, and alcoholic beverages. The other’s windows are all covered in Disney cartoon stickers, suggesting it was a place for the kiddos to play while their parents enjoyed refreshments nearby. All that’s left inside the Disneythemed pavilion are large pieces of framed art, mostly orphaned calligraphy.

Mudeung Park Land, the little amusement park within Jisan Amusement Park, used to have a lot of facilities as well, though there’s not much left today. The ticket box still looks quite new and has a functioning public restroom inside. Its signboard lists a Viking ride, bumper and race cars, a “space fighter” ride, and a merry-goround among the park’s facilities. It seems that visitors could pay to ride only the rides they wanted at 3,000 won a pop (and 2,000 won for kids). It would be a stellar place to photograph had the rides remained onsite in a sad, dilapidated state, but today all that remains are large concrete slab foundations and the odd snake. Mudeung Park Land’s largest remaining structure is its two-story restaurant, which, according to the neon light lettering on its façade, is “a space for both dreams and romance.” Now it’s just a jumble of broken windows and rotten furniture.

Big efforts are underway to redevelop Jisan Amusement Park’s wasted spaces. Nakyung International (나경인터내셔널),

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The park’s monorail whirs above a clutch of dilapidated buildings.

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▲ Slides at Hotel Mudeung Park’s defunct waterpark weave in and out of overgrown weeds.

the company which acquired the park back in 2003, is seeking approval from Gwangju City’s Urban Planning Commission and local land owners to develop many new facilities, including a work experience center for children, an education center, a swimming pool, and new amusement facilities. However, the massive 200-billion-won project is being met with resistance from some local landowners and environmental groups and is therefore still being negotiated.

If Nakyung International gets its way, redevelopment is set to begin as early as 2020. If it doesn’t, the valley will likely remain in disrepair.

Of interest to me is how the proposed redevelopment will affect the local landscape. Over at Hotel Mudeung Park’s blog, all I could find were a half dozen architectural renderings from 2013 showing some proposed redevelopment projects. In the computerized sketches, the park’s three-tiered Mudeung Mountain Octagonal Pavilion (무등산 팔각정), which already offers one of the best mountaintop views of Gwangju, has been given a new facelift, including rooftop access for better visibility and more extensive landscaping. While the proposed changes would offer better views of the city from a more stylish vantage point, they would also require a lot more

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trees to be cleared from the mountaintop.

Among the renderings, the most dramatic change was made to the monorail, which currently brings visitors to and from the mountaintop pavilion. In them, the iconic monorail has been replaced with an elevated boardwalk.

Don’t worry – this doesn’t mean that the monorail is going to be scrapped. Back in 2013 when these renderings were posted, the monorail hadn’t been in operation for eight years, so Nakyung International was apparently considering removing it all together. Three years later, however, the company spent 2.1 billion won to reopen the monorail using new electric train cars instead of the old diesel-powered ones, so the city’s iconic death box in the sky is likely here to stay. If the elevated boardwalk had come to fruition instead, then many more trees would likely have to have been cleared to make way for an even worse eyesore than what already exists.

The remaining sketches show minor changes to the ski lift terminal and landscaping changes along the trail leading from the ski lift to the elevated boardwalk. Another small change gleaned from the sketches was made to the reservoir, which is now shown to have two sparkling

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23 white pavilions atop an ample lake of clean water. If actualized, this alone would beautify the area greatly. Lastly, the renderings show Mudeung Park Land, the little amusement park that couldn’t, cleared of its undergrowth and fully operational again, though without any rides for some reason.

In total, these relatively modest redevelopment sketches from 2013 would probably have resulted in a mixed bag of tradeoffs, including (1) more jobs and tourism in exchange for more noise, traffic, and pollution; (2) the beautification and better maintenance of some existing facilities in exchange for rarefying much of the local forest; and (3) the revival of an iconic amusement park close to downtown at the risk of it being just another redevelopment flop.

The current 200-billion-won redevelopment project, on the other hand, is likely to result in far more substantial changes to the valley than what’s shown in the outdated

2013 sketches. How exactly these changes may affect the area is yet unknown. Naturally, it would be best for the area’s many existing facilities to be redeveloped within their current footprints in the least invasive ways possible, though I’m skeptical that an investment this large will be anything but hugely transformative for the valley. Let’s hope either the city or local land owners can temper the extent of the current project; that way the project doesn’t result in the little amusement park that shouldn’t.

The Author

Originally from Southern California, Isaiah Winters first came to Gwangju in 2010. He recently returned to South Korea after completing his MA in Eastern Europe and is currently the chief proofreader for the Gwangju News. He enjoys writing, political science, and urban exploring.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

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▲ Here guests could enjoy refreshments and a panoramic view of the reservoir.

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TRAVEL

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The super powerful telescope allows us to observe the stars.

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The brightly colored observatory.

Reach for the Stars in Gokseong Written and photographed by Karina Prananto

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The journey took us one hour and involved passing by the Train Village and through the Gokseong countryside.

It was beautiful. On the way, we saw the Seomjin River Suspension Bridge. A small road down the path under the bridge led us to a small, yet very brightly colored building. I thought it was a daycare center at first because it was so colorful. The building was decorated with stars and constellations. I thought it would be up on a hill, but to my surprise it was in a low-lying area, which dampened my mood for a moment. However, as we entered, the friendly staff told us that we were right on time to watch a movie about space. We quickly paid our admission fees and entered the planetarium. It was small, probably only seating 30. The seats were fully reclined

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Gokseong is a county about 60 kilometers northeast of Gwangju. It’s easily accessible by highway from Gwangju.

The 200-kilometer Seomjin River also flows through it before passing to Gurye, a neighboring county to the south. Gokseong is most famous for its Train Village, where the annual Rose Festival is held each spring. This is probably what people first associate with Gokseong.

Although I’m not exactly sure why Gokseong is famous for trains, I do know that the local people in the past boarded a steam engine train for their travels, and the still-running Gokseong Station is big, clean, and efficient.

(Gokseong is on the Jeolla line, not the Honam line that services Gwangju.) The county also provides many attractions related to trains, such as rail biking along the Seomjin River and the steam engine riding experience for families and couples.

I went to the Train Village last year, which is strategically located near both the bus terminal and the train station.

It’s a good place to learn about trains, and children love it, but I was soon left wondering what other places Gokseong had besides trains. An article in an old Gwangju News issue about the space center in Gokseong caught my interest, so I told my husband we should go there on a trip. We didn’t expect much because people didn’t seem to talk much about it. Apparently, if one wants to learn about space, Goheung Space Center is far more popular.

It’s with this low expectation that we went to Gokseong on the second weekend of March to check it out.

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raveling makes one more open-minded, to paraphrase Mark Twain. While Gwangju in itself is interesting, there are endless opportunities to see what’s beyond Gwangju given its location in the center of Jeollanam-do, making it easy to access neighboring counties and towns. The Gwangju News is one of my main sources of information for Jeollanam-do tourist spots, and an article about Gokseong in a previous issue caught my eye last week.

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The beautiful Gokseong countryside. The observatory is the yellow colored building in the background.

September 2018

After the movie, the staff asked us to proceed to the next room on the second floor: another dome-shaped room with a huge telescope in it. There were no chairs, only small mats for us to sit on and a TV screen. Honestly, it was freezing! There, we got more information about the sun, which we were told we were going to see that day (apparently tours about the sun are provided in daytime, and tours about stars and constellations are offered at nighttime). As the video came to an end, they clicked on a remote button and the dome opened up before us.

The bright sunlight came in, and we were in awe. We were actually being shown the sun! Well, we see the sun every day, but never up close! The telescope, with a huge 600-millimeter lens, was manufactured by the Korean Astronomy and Space Science Institute. We were told not to touch the lens, for obvious reasons, and they had set it so that we could clearly see the sun by looking with one eye. It was a bright orange circle with tiny dots. I was amazed. I’m sure I will never look at the sun the same way as before.

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at about a 170-degree angle, and the dome was the screen. A 20-minute video about the moon and the sun captivated me; though it was in Korean, it wasn’t so hard to understand. There were only seven people in the room – us and another family of four. I was left wondering how many people they received on a regular weekday. Still, the atmosphere was relaxing.

Here, we thought the tour had come to an end, but they had another surprise for us. We were taken to the third floor, the rooftop, where they had set up four more telescopes in different directions. Two telescopes were reflection telescopes using mirrors, and the other two were regular telescopes, although less powerful than the one on the second floor. Still, we were able to see objects at very long distances. Each one of us was given a chance to use the telescopes before the staff gave us another chance to see the sun directly using a film card to protect

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our eyes. The sun shone brightly that day, as if wanting to show us its full power.

The tour was finally over, so we descended back to the first floor where a small exhibition of space-related items was presented (though, unfortunately, without English explanations). I realized that this place had given me a new impression about space. The staff told us that there are different periods when we can see the stars and planets, but that we could always observe the sun at any time during daylight hours.

I’m glad we decided to go. It’s not just for children, as adults can also learn a thing or two. It’s too bad we won’t be able to go at nighttime, but I hope the place will receive lots of interest in the future. We went home curious for more.

GOKSEONG SEOMJIN-GANG ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY 곡성 섬진강 천문대 Address: 1234 Seomjingang-ro, Gurye-eup, Gurye-gun, Jeollanam-do 전라남도 구례군 구례읍 섬진강로 1234 Admission: Adults 3,000 won, Youth (ages 13–18) 2,000 won, Children (ages 6–12) 1,000 won Opening Hours: Daily 2–10 p.m. (closed every Monday, New Year’s Day, Seollal, and Chuseok) Phone: 061-363-8528 (Advisable to call first if you’re coming at nighttime to see whether you can observe the stars on that day) Website: http://star.gokseong.go.kr

The Author

Karina is from Jakarta, Indonesia and has been working with Gwangju News since 2007. She loves reading, traveling, and driving with her family. She also loves watching horror movies whenever she has the chance!

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JAKARTA

Holiday in Jakarta Written and photographed by Zico Mulia

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Among the local Dutch architecture, constructed in 1710 is the former City Hall of Batavia (the city’s name before Jakarta). Here I saw various relics and audio-visual material depicting the history of Jakarta from prehistoric times, through to the colonization periods under the Portuguese and Dutch, and on to the independence era of the Republic of Indonesia. The museum houses paintings from famous Indonesian maestros, sketches, animations, and artifacts.

After walking through the Jakarta History Museum, I stopped by a coffee shop. The coffee shop was located in an old building that has been slightly renovated. The coffee

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The Indonesian government proclaims that Jakarta has five main tourism industries, namely, business, maritime, culinary, health, and culture tourism. If you want to go to Jakarta, South Korea has many flights from Incheon Airport to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. I checked the economy ticket price on skyscanner.co.kr, and prices there ranged from 450,000–550,000 won (400–488 USD) roundtrip. If you want to get the cheapest ticket prices, I suggest you book ahead of time with flights scheduled between Monday and Friday.

KOTA TUA (OLD TOWN JAKARTA) Kota Tua, or Old Town Jakarta, was built in the 16th century and is a place of cultural and historical tourism.

This area was the center for the Royal Dutch Trading Company (VOC) in the East Indies (an area covering a wide geographical expanse in South and Southeast Asia) as well as a center of trade in Asia. Kota Tua contains several museums, including the Jakarta History Museum, Wayang (puppet) Museum, Fine Art and Ceramics Museum, Maritime Museum, Museum of Bank Indonesia, and Fatahillah Museum. Additionally, visitors can also relax and enjoy coffee at one of the old town’s many coffee shops or watch the various activities going on in Fatahilah Square. Because of the limited time, I just explored the Jakarta History Museum, Fatahillah Square, and relaxed for a while at a coffee shop. Entrance tickets for the Jakarta History Museum cost a mere 5,000 rupiahs (380 won).

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

At the beginning of last July, I went home and vacationed in Jakarta and two other cities in Indonesia for almost two weeks. Besides being my hometown, the center of government, and an economic center, Jakarta has also become a popular tourist spot visited by local and foreign tourists. In 2017, Jakarta was the second largest entry point for foreign tourists to Indonesia after Bali. Tourists from China, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, and Saudi Arabia typically visit Jakarta from January to March. Though many Koreans also visit Jakarta, most prefer to holiday in Bali. Last year, Korea ranked ninth in number of tourists to Bali after China, Australia, India, Japan, Britain, the United States, France, and Germany.

In this article, I will tell you about the two places I visited during the summer holidays early last July: Kota Tua (Old Town Jakarta) and Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII – Beautiful Indonesia Miniature Park).

TRAVEL

I

f you know about or have ever visited Indonesia, then you most likely know the city of Jakarta. Jakarta is the capital of this island nation in Southeast Asia. The population is around 10 million people with an area of 664 square kilometers. For comparison, Seoul has a population of 10.17 million and an area of 605.2 square kilometers.

Jakarta, which a few centuries ago was dubbed the “Queen of the East” and the “Jewel of Asia” by European sailors, was a melting pot of people from various ethnic backgrounds, religions, cultures, and social classes.

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www.gwangjunewsgic.com

September 2018

Fatahillah Square and Fatahillah Museum. The square is a public space for recreation and cultural arts performances.

A life-size Rumah Gadang, in TMII, the traditional house in the province of West Sumatra.

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29 served there is mostly authentic Indonesian coffee with Arabica and Robusta beans that have a strong aroma and flavor. The price is between 20,000–35,000 rupiahs (1,550– 2,700 won).

After leaving the coffee shop, I stopped by a souvenir shop that sold statues, masks, traditional Javanese and Betawi (ethnic groups living in Jakarta) accessories, and T-shirts.

Along the way, near the Museum of Bank Indonesia and Taman Fatahillah (Fatahillah Square), there are also several souvenir sellers with prices ranging from 20,000–50,000 rupiahs (1,550–3,900 won).

In Fatahillah Square, visitors can see various cultural attractions and art performances, or they can rent a bike with striking colors. Here there are also Indonesian specialties, such as tahu gejrot (fried tofu with a mild sweet and spicy sauce), es selendang mayang and es cendol (cold drinks with jelly from flour and sweeteners from palm trees), and martabak telor (similar to pizza but made from eggs, flour, rice, and Indonesian spices) with prices ranging from 8,000–20,000 rupiahs per portion (540–1,550 won).

Kota Tua can be a space for relieving stress with thrifty tourist attractions for anyone.

If you are interested and have enough time and money to holiday in Indonesia, you must visit Jakarta.

The Author

Zico is a master’s degree program student at Chonnam National University, majoring in interdisciplinary NGO studies. Hailing from Indonesia, he is also active as a human rights defender and pro-democracy activist. Zico likes to read, listen to music, play sports, and travel.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

TAMAN MINI INDONESIA INDAH (TMII – BEAUTIFUL INDONESIA MINIATURE PARK) Another tourist attraction in Jakarta is the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII – Beautiful Indonesia Mini Park). TMII is an Indonesian cultural theme park in East Jakarta that opened in 1975. The distance from my house to TMII is around 11 kilometers, or about 15 minutes by car or motorcycle. This park is a microcosm of Indonesian culture, covering various aspects of people’s daily lives in the 33 provinces, and features traditional houses, as well as various local clothing, dances, and traditions. The TMII ticket price is 10,000 rupiahs (780 won) per person. The center of TMII showcases a miniature of the Indonesian archipelago. Visitors can see the local lake with traditional houses around it from the top by cable car. I tried the cable car with my two nephews while documenting the view from the top. Ticket prices on weekends are 50,000 rupiahs (3,900 won) per person.

and TMII, including the commuter line train, TransJakarta bus (city bus), taxis, or online taxis (cars and motorcycles).

I usually choose the train or TransJakarta bus because they are more efficient and economical, and because the distance from the train station and TransJakarta bus stop to the two tourist attractions is short. Using TransJakarta, you can also visit many other interesting places in Jakarta.

Like city buses in Gwangju, to use this bus you can use any card that works like e-money, a bank card, or you can also buy a card at any TransJakarta ticket counter. The price is about 20,000 rupiahs (1,550 won) just for the card, and then you can add credit to it. You need to know that Jakarta traffic is heavily congested at certain times, including on holidays, so TransJakarta and the trains are modes of transportation that many people use because they have their own designated lanes.

Several modes of transportation exist for getting to Kota Tua

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Children’s Palace at TMII (Beautiful Indonesia Miniature Park) is a favorite place of kids and adults alike.

September 2018

In addition, TMII has various museums related to fresh water, fauna, transportation, science, and technology, as well as the Keong Mas (Golden Snail) IMAX Theater, waterpark, and palace of children’s playgrounds. Various aspects of Indonesia’s modern civilization as well as natural and cultural wealth are demonstrated in this 150-hectare area. Visitors can also tour TMII by car or train at 10,000 rupiahs (780 won). Each ticket can be used to stop in three places.

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SPORTS & ACTIVITIES

30 30

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

September 2018

▲ Two shotgun shells wait to hit their target.

I

t’s always good to step out of your comfort zone, especially when you find yourself worn thin by the daily grind. To relieve myself of workplace tedium (and put my high-heeled date on the spot), we recently went clay shooting in Naju. It was my second visit to this particular shooting range and umpteenth time shooting a firearm, so I knew what to expect; however, for her it was all nerves from the instant we disembarked and heard the first shots echo through the verdant hills. And yet, by the final shell she was already keen to try other firearms in the future. That’s how fast the excitement of shooting can grow on a first-timer.

What’s far less exciting is finding the official name of the shooting range we went to. The building itself says Jeollanam-do International Shooting Range (전라남도 국제 사격장), while the granite sign out front says Naju General Shooting Range (나주 종합 사격장). Then again, the instructions bulletin inside the office calls it Jeonnam General Shooting Range (전남 종합 사격장). The shooting range’s information guide, on the other hand, has no

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Korean name and simply calls it Jeollanam-do Shooting Range in English. Meanwhile, Daum Maps calls it Jeollanam-do General Shooting Range (전라남도 종합 사격장) for whatever reason, and the local road signs say Naju Generalization Shooting Range. For this article, I went with the simplest name and called it a day.

The Naju General Shooting Range is located in the hills just behind Naju City Hall. It’s quite a serene location that’s well insulated from the hustle and bustle of the nearby city. The facilities are quite new and well maintained, and the security guard in charge of the armory is very friendly.

If you don’t speak Korean, you can just say “clay” or “American trap” and he’ll guide you to the right place (to the left of the main building, downstairs). There, a small office will have one or two instructors on the spot ready to help you sign in and learn the basics, including how to hold the shotgun, how to stand, and how to best line up the barrel with the clay pigeons for increased accuracy.

Most of the instructions, which will be given in Korean, can be easily understood via body language and common

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31

▲ One of the shooting range’s many names is displayed out front.

Shooting It Up in Naju Written and photographed by Isaiah Winters

sense. The others you’ll likely figure out in real time.

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September 2018

Arguably the best part of the experience is coming up with your own command word that lets your instructor know when to release the clay pigeons. You could go with

“As for the shooting experience itself, it’ll work wonders on your stress levels.”

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As for the shooting experience itself, it’ll work wonders on your stress levels. People who frequent batting cages and driving ranges often confirm that a few good hard swings can reduce stress, and shooting is no different.

The tension before pulling the trigger, the intense kick from the stock, and the surprise hit-or-miss results can leave quite an exhilarating feeling in their wake. (Less exhilarating is the shoulder bruising you’ll likely notice the next day. Consider it a souvenir.) Also, there’s nothing quite as badass as the feeling you get when you pop open the smoky chambers and the used shells are effortlessly ejected for you. If you go clay shooting like we did, you’ll notice a basket of discarded shotgun shells behind you that you can try to eject your shells into, that way you get practice shooting in both directions.

the ubiquitous Pull! that many say, but there’s no reason to be so boring. For example, yours truly went with shama lama ding dong. For less imaginative clay shooters in Korea, a simple eo (어) will suffice. By contrast, the worst part of the experience is probably how quickly your money goes. The minimum of 25 shotgun shells will cost you 22,000 won (or 880 won a pop), which doesn’t sound so expensive at face value, but when you consider how quickly you can shoot 25 rounds, the price begins to loom larger. This dawned on me after my first visit, which felt like a blur, so I was careful to slow things down the next time around. If you aren’t aware of this, then you might find yourself departing the shooting range only fifteen minutes after arriving, which can leave you wanting.

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32 One way you can prolong the experience is by putting down the shotgun from time to time to relieve muscle tension. The shotgun is heavy and you have to hold it steady the whole time, which can cause you to cramp up after only a few shots. Therefore, there’s nothing wrong with putting it down so you can loosen up for a bit. In fact, your instructor may even encourage this. Also, if your Korean is up to snuff, feel free to ask your instructor about ways to improve your shooting. For example, I wasn’t sure how long I should wait before pulling the trigger: Should I shoot as soon as the clays leave the trap house or should I let them gain maximum altitude first?

I asked my instructor and, of course, he said earlier was better because it was easier. Duh.

Korean) in the office, including no drugs, phones, or high heels allowed while shooting, but we openly flaunted two of those, and they were cool about it. Lastly, I’m not sure about the work hours, as their website (jnshot.or.kr) is buggy and not very user-friendly. What I do know is that over the phone they said no reservations were required and that early afternoon was the best time to visit. With that, happy shooting and shama lama ding dong, dear readers!

The Author

Anyway, if you decide to go, take your Alien Registration Card just in case. On my first visit, it was required, but not so the second time around. There are lots of rules listed (in

Originally from Southern California, Isaiah Winters first came to Gwangju in 2010.

He recently returned to South Korea after completing his MA in Eastern Europe and is currently the chief proofreader for the Gwangju News. He enjoys writing, political science, and urban exploring.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

September 2018

A shotgun and earmuffs sit idly between rounds.

A voice release system used for trap shooting stands ready.

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33 33

COMMUNITY

The Games of Our Childhood: Larong Pinoy Written by Ynell Lumantao-Mondragon Photographed by Paolo Mondragon ▲ A player from Jangseong is trying to cross the garter, one of the hurdles. Holding the garter are players from Yeosu, the opposing team.

T

Expressing her opinion about the games, GFCC VicePresident Sherryl Sambo Ko said, “Personally, I found

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Baste Villanueva, the overall game master, admitted that it was not easy to organize such an event since all attendees were busy trying to earn a living for their families. He said that coordinating with different Filipino migrant communities was a challenge, but due to the tireless efforts and dedication of the organizing committee, they were able to put everything together. He is hoping that this will be the start of a much bigger gathering among Filipinos in Gwangju and nearby areas.

A total of nine games were played, although most of the games were combinations of different games. Let us look at three of them. Karerang takbo is a relay race where players have to pass through a variety of obstacles. There is no limit to the number of participants, but every team must have the same number of players. The obstacles are “piko” (hopscotch), “limbo rock” (adopted from the famous limbo dance), and a sack race. The game starts with each team forming a line. Players on each team take turns running from the starting point, and then go through each hurdle. From the turnaround point, players

September 2018

When asked about the reason for this change, GFCC President Rexie Ponce explained, “With traditional Filipino games, everybody will be able to participate since the games can have many players, unlike basketball and volleyball, which have a limited number of players. With these games, adults are able to relive their childhood memories. The games are challenging and fun, making participants feel like childhood mates. In addition, their multicultural families can also play or watch the games.”

this year’s games more meaningful than the previous ones because attendees could have a chance to participate regardless of their age or skills. It is more inclusive, and it gives us the opportunity to introduce Filipino games to our families, especially to our children.”

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he Filipino communities in Gwangju and nearby areas held their summer games last month.

Dubbed “Larong Pinoy” (Filipino games), the event was a departure from their usual summer sports games of basketball and volleyball. Although women’s volleyball was included, for the first time ever, this year, Filipino traditional games were played. The Filipino communities from Gwangju, Yeosu, Jangseong, and Mokpo took part in this event, which was organized by the Gwangju Filipino Catholic Community (GFCC). This one-day community-building activity was geared toward promoting Filipino traditional games that enhance teambuilding, cooperation, and healthy competition among diverse migrant Filipino communities.

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EDUCATION

34

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

September 2018

The Gwangju team playing suot lusot. They are carefully p hand grip hoping they will win the game.

Children happily playing on their own while waiting for the games to officially start.

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A player from Yeosu is hopping with her feet inside the sa

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35 go through the same hurdles on the way back before the next runner’s turn. The team that finishes first wins the race.

Suot lusot requires team members to form a long line while holding each other’s hand without breaking their grip. A hula hoop is slipped from one person to another from start to finish and back. The first team that manages to get the hula hoop back to the starting point wins.

are carefully passing the hula hoop from one player to another without breaking their

Karerang talon is a jumping obstacle relay race where all payers pass through hurdles from luksong tinik, to Chinese garter, and then to luksong baka. The first hurdle, luksong tinik, requires two players from the opposing team sitting on the ground facing each other to stack their feet and hands to create the obstacle while players from the other team try to jump over. The second hurdle, Chinese garter, requires two people holding both ends of a stretched garter horizontally while players try to cross over it without tripping. If the garter is too high, doing cartwheels to cross the garter is allowed. The final hurdle, luksong baka, requires jumping over a person who bends over with his hands placed on his knees. The game starts with each team forming a line.

Players on each team take turns running from the starting line and go through each hurdle.

From the turnaround point, players go through the same hurdles on the way back before the next runner’s turn. The team that finishes first wins the game.

The Author

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September 2018

et inside the sack while other players are cheering and waiting for their turn.

Ynell Lumantao-Mondragon was born in the Philippines. She is a PhD candidate at Chonnam National University and holds master degrees in both business administration and linguistics. Her research interest centers on second language acquisition with a focus on language learning strategies. She has been an active member of the Gwangju community, creating events and performances such as The Vagina Monologues.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

It was decided that this activity would now become a yearly event, with Jangseong as next year’s host. In this age of smartphones and computer games, it is of paramount importance that we teach our children our ethnic games to preserve traditions while at the same time helping them develop their social skills as these games are played in groups.

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FOOD & DRINKS

36 Where to Eat

Not Just “Another Kitchen”

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September 2018

Written and photographed by Sarah Pittman

R

ecently, a friend invited my boyfriend and me to attend a menu tasting at Another Kitchen in Gwangju’s Sangmu area. When she offered, we jumped at the chance. I had been eyeing the restaurant for a while, but I had thought that it would be far outside our usual “date night” price range. I was quite pleasantly surprised to find that most of the menu’s prices were quite reasonable, ranging from 13,000 to 17,000 won for an entree.

The owner of the restaurant chain was kind enough to offer the house wine to pair with the steak dishes. The wine was a 2016 cabernet sauvignon from Chile. It was slightly acidic with notes of currant, blackberry, black

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pepper, and licorice. Very powerful on the palette, it paired beautifully with all of the steaks on the menu.

The starter was two strips of thick, hand-cut bacon with microgreens drizzled with a bright green herb oil, and a romaine wedge served on the side. The romaine came with a light, slightly sweet yogurt dressing and real shredded Parmesan. I am not normally a fan of sweet salad dressings, but it served as the perfect counterpart to the salt and fat of the bacon.

After the starter came the first plate, which contained both T-bone and tenderloin steaks with clarified butter, and a side plate of baked potato, sweet ranch dressing,

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37 roasted tomatoes, and Korean chilies. The restaurant staff cooked the steaks medium rare, which is my favorite way to eat them personally. The clarified butter was perfect with the T-bone steak because it provided the fattiness that many T-bones need, being drier cuts of meat. The tenderloin, however, already a well-marbled and fatty cut, lost some flavor to the clarified butter. The last plate was their showstopper, the tomahawk steak. Although it is their most expensive steak on offer, it was undeniably delicious, delivering wonderful juicy flavor in every bite.

If you have a mind to try these steaks yourself, the serving sizes for all the steaks are healthy enough that a plate might be shared between two friends.

All of the steaks are served with a selection of exotic salts, such as Himalayan pink salt and Guerande salt. I had tried Himalayan pink salt before, and I loved the light saltiness that it can add to a dish without being overpowering.

Guerande salt, a salt from the marshes in Guerande in

western France, was new to me. It is a coarse, rough salt with a strong flavor reminiscent of sea salts. Whatever your preference, they have options for everyone.

We thoroughly enjoyed our tasting of Another Kitchen’s new line of gourmet steaks, and would strongly recommend any steak lovers in Gwangju to give it a shot.

Although there are many Another Kitchen locations in Gwangju, the one that started it all is found in the Sangmu area next to the Megabox near E-Mart.

The Author

Sarah lives in Gwangju with her boyfriend and her dog Cosmo. She enjoys long Netflix binges of cooking shows and used to work in a butcher shop and multiple restaurants in California. She hopes to one day find a job that lets her bring her dog to work with her.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

광주 서구 시청로60번길 21-9

Telephone: 062-385-9085 Opening Hours: Daily 11:30 a.m. – 10:30 p.m.

Website: http://another-kitchen.com/

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September 2018

ANOTHER KITCHEN 어나더키친 Address: 21-9 Sicheong-ro 60-beon-gil, Seo-gu, Gwangju

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www.gwangjunewsgic.com

September 2018

FOOD & DRINKS

38 Korean Food 38

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39

Quick

Written and photographed by Joe Wabe

N

o Korean meal can be complete without the savory companion of kimchi side dishes. As we prepare to enter the cool and colorful Korean fall, and enjoy the deliciousness of food prepared for Chuseok (추석), I’ve decided to round up a quick kimchi recipe for those who’ll stay home and wish to learn the art of homemade kimchi.

It’s easy and fun to put together.

There are currently more than 200 different variations of kimchi, but the most popular known worldwide is baechu-kimchi (배추김치), or spicy napa cabbage, seasoned with chili powder, green onions, garlic, ginger, and salted seafood, among other ingredients.

My recipe comes from one of the best places for food in Jeollanam-do ‒ Jangheung ‒ a place well known for its distinctive food culture. It’s a recipe that I was introduced to about six years ago, and one that, up to this day, I’m still devoted to. I hope you can enjoy it as much as I have.

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The next day, drain the cabbages. In a blender, mix all the rest of the ingredients (except the green onions). Put the cabbages back in the bowl with the chopped green onions, and now pour and mix it all beautifully with the red pepper mixture. Pack the cabbages and the mixture in jars or containers, and let them sit in the fridge for two to three days, depending on how pickled you like your kimchi.

You can even eat it right away!

The Author

Joe Wabe is an established photographer and Gwangju local business entrepreneur. He has been contributing to the GIC and the Gwangju News for more than eight years.

September 2018

Every region has a variation of kimchi, and this regional classification dates back to the 1960s and contains plenty of historical facts, but the current kimchi-making trends in Korea are generally different from those written in national records. New trends and globalization have given birth to all kinds of creative forms of kimchi that have reached beyond the Korean Peninsula, where even unusual vegetables like broccoli and asparagus are used to make kimchi.

Instructions Rinse and cut the cabbages into about two-inch lengths.

Dissolve the salt in one cup of water, and in a large bowl, pour the salty water over the cabbages, and let it sit for about six hours or overnight. www.gwangjunewsgic.com

According to Wikipedia, the origin of kimchi dates back at least to the early period of the Three Kingdoms (37 B.C.‒7 A.D.), when many kinds of fermented foods were widely available; however, early records of kimchi don’t mention garlic or chili pepper, which are now standard ingredients. Chili peppers originated in the Americas and were introduced to East Asia by Portuguese traders around the 17th‒18th centuries. It wasn’t until the 19th century that the use of chili peppers in kimchi became widespread.

The recipes from the early 19th century closely resemble today’s kimchi.

Ingredients • 2 nappa cabbages • ½ apple (peeled) • 5 garlic cloves • 1 ginger root (peeled) • 12 dried red chili peppers • 3 tablespoons of red chili pepper powder • 4 green onions cut into two-inch lengths • ½ cup of salty shrimp or saeu-jeot (새우젓) • ½ small onion • 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds • ½ carrot • 1 cup of water • ¼ cup of sea salt

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40 Korea TESOL

Things to Do for Teacher Development

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September 2018

EDUCATION

Written by Dr. David E. Shaffer

F

or more than a quarter of a century, Jack Richards has been a marquee name in the field of English language teaching (ELT) methodology, professional development, reflective practice, and teacher training.

In his “retirement,” he has recently come out with a very useful little book: Jack C. Richards’ 50 Tips for Teacher Development. These are practical tips that the crisp neophyte as well as the weathered veteran can benefit from. It is not suggested that any one teacher execute all of the tips (though that would be quite beneficial).

They will be presented here, for teachers to choose the ones they would like to try, to remind teachers of teacher development methods they have allowed to recede into the foggy corners of their memory, and to introduce activities that teachers may not have yet been aware of. 1. Plan goals for your professional development: Without having a goal or goals to strive towards, selfimprovement is difficult. 2. Review your professional development: Review helps to decide what changes in your goals or routine would be most beneficial. 3. Review changes in your teaching: Reflecting on changes helps to determine how and why you changed and what changes you may wish to make in the future. 4. Use lesson reports to monitor your teaching: Documenting your lessons allows for reflection, evaluation, and revision, which lead to better lessons.  5. Watch or listen to yourself teaching: Audio-recording or video-recording your lessons can make you aware of classroom habits that you would like to change. 6. Observe each other teaching: Teachers can learn from watching others teach and gain great feedback from them. 7. Keep a portfolio: Showcase your achievements for pride, for reflection, or for new job opportunities. 8. Keep a journal: Journal-writing is a great method of reflection on one’s teaching. 9. Review designs for lesson plans: Reflection before

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implementation can lead to revisions, which lead to a better lesson! 10. Identify the features of an effective lesson: Is it enjoyable, relevant, well-organized, challenging, fastmoving, and full of variety? 11. Develop a lesson observation form: These points can be used when you observe other teachers or have them observe you. 12. Identify your students’ learning needs: Focus on identifying the strategies the students are using for reading, writing, speaking, and listening improvement. 13. Explore understandings of teaching and learning: What are your roles as a teacher? What are your students’ preferred ways of learning? 14. Study samples of students’ work: Explore how your students approach learning. 15. Learn from critical incidents: Reflection on unanticipated classroom events can prove quite meaningful. 16. Observe how you use questions: Are they closed or open-ended; display or referential questions? 17. Observe how you give feedback: It is motivational?

Only grammar-focused? Direct or indirect? 18. Use lesson transcripts to explore classroom language: Become aware of the teacher–student language actually used in lesson segments. 19. Learn how to engage in critical reflection: Examine a teaching situation, ask questions about it, then rethink beliefs and understandings. 20. Take part in group problem-solving: Discussion with colleagues brings more perspectives to the task. 21. Use clips from movies or extracts from fiction to explore teaching: Literature can be a good source of teaching materials. 22. Try doing something differently: Break up a stale routine. Reflect on long-held assumptions. 23. Form a reading group: Read the latest ELT articles and books and discuss the contents. 24. Learn from an expert: Interview an expert in your

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41 41

The Author

David E. Shaffer is vice-president of the Gwangju-Jeonnam Chapter of Korea TESOL (KOTESOL). On behalf of the chapter, he invites you to participate in their teacher development workshops at their monthly meetings. Dr. Shaffer credits KOTESOL for much of his professional development.

GWANGJU-JEONNAM KOTESOL MONTHLY MEETING Date: September 8 (Saturday) Place: Gwangju National University of Education • Workshop Presentation: Competition and Cooperation in Classroom Activities by Heidi Vande Voort Nam (Chongshin University, Seoul) • SwapShop – Share with the group an activity or teaching idea that you have.

For full event details: Website: koreatesol.org/gwangju Facebook: Gwangju-Jeonnam KOTESOL

September 2018

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at the Gwangju KOTESOL meetings. 47. Write for a magazine or online publication: Writing about ELT is another way of learning about ELT. 48. Become a mentor: Take a newbie teacher under your wing; teaching is learning. 49. Team-teach with a colleague: Share a class with another teacher and learn from each other. 50. Learn through peer coaching: Ask colleagues to teach you a specific technique that they are expert at.

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locale on a specific aspect of ELT. 25. Join a language teachers’ association: Korea TESOL welcomes all second language teachers. 26.Attend a conference: The Korea TESOL International Conference is on October 13–14 in Seoul. Stephen Krashen and Scott Thornbury will be speaking. 27. Learn how to review a textbook: All textbooks are not created equal. Learn how to critically evaluate them. 28. Carry out action research: Learn more about your classes, students, and teaching through teacherconducted research. 29. Try a replication study: Repeat someone else’s research; see if you get the same results. 30. Take part in a lesson-study: Plan a lesson as a group; one teacher teaches, the others observe; everyone reflects and revises. 31. Experience classroom activities: Do them yourself to understand how your students may feel about them. 32. Watch videos of teaching: This is another way to learn new techniques and to do class observation. 33. Use wikis for collaborative teacher development: Share your teaching insights and do problem-solving with other teachers. 34. Take part in micro-teaching: Practice the individual components of a teaching skill with a group of other teachers. 35. Be creative: Employ creative strategies in activity design – intrigue, choice, risk-taking, novelty, and fantasy. 36. Use narrative frames to explore teaching: Create a teaching story template (e.g., “A Recent Ah-ha Moment”) of sentence starters, and complete the story yourself.

Share stories in a group. 37. Use narrative writing: Put your teaching experiences in writing for yourself and for other teachers. 38. Monitor your teacher talking time: Are you talking too much in class and not allowing enough speaking practice time for your students? 39. Monitor your action zone: Do you interact with all students equally regardless of where they sit? 40. Use a case study to explore teaching and learning: Collect information on a specific topic over time to understand the issue more fully. 41. Create a culture of teacher development: Support professional development within your institution. 42. Make the most of meetings: Use teacher meetings to network, solve problems, share experiences, and develop a culture of cooperation. 43. Plan a workshop: Lead a workshop at your school or at a Korea TESOL meeting. 44. Start a suggestion box: Share teaching ideas with other teachers, or get suggestions from your students. 45. Join an online discussion forum: Share ideas and problems online with other teachers. 46. Make a presentation: Submit a proposal to the Korea TESOL International Conference or ask about presenting

2018-08-31 �� 1:33:51

42

Everyday Korean Episode 9: Autumn in Korea Written by Harsh Kumar Mishra Korean Language Expert at TOPIKGUIDE.COM

EDUCATION

TOPIK Guide (topikguide.com) is the most comprehensive website devoted to the TOPIK exam. It’s been helping Korean language learners pass the TOPIK (Test of Proficiency in Korean) for more than seven years. On this website, you can get all the TOPIK updates, grammar and vocabulary material, and study tips. 아나:

날씨가 이렇게 더운데, 가짜 가을이 아닌가?

Ana:

[Nalssi-ga ireo-khe deo-unde, gacha ga-euri anin-ga?]

Look how hot the weather is nowadays.

Autumn seems to be fake.

정민:

가짜 가을이라니? 정말 웃기네.

[Gacha ga-euri-rani? Jeong-mal ut-kine.]

Jeong-min: Fake autumn? You really sound funny saying that.

가짜: fake 가을: autumn 웃기다: to make somebody laugh 정오: midday, noon 아침: morning, breakfast 저녁: evening, dinner 선선하다: cool, refreshing 주변: surroundings 경치: scenery 알록달록: mottled, spotted 나뭇잎: leaf

Grammar

정민:

정오 때만 덥지. 아침과 저녁은 선선하잖아.

Use this pattern with nouns to express shock or disbelief at what was said.

Ex: 그 가방은 3만원이라니? 믿을 수가 없네.

I can’t believe that bag is only 30,000 won.

아나:

그야 그렇지.

September 2018

뭐가 웃겨? 너, 덥지 않아?

[Mwoga ut-kyeo? neo, deop-chi ana?]

What’s funny here? Don’t you feel hot?

Ana:

[Geu-ya geu-reochi.]

Yeah, that’s true.

정민:

그리고 주변의 아름다운 경치와 알록달록한 나뭇잎을 보면 가을 느낌이 안 들어?

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아나:

Vocabulary

아나:

Ana:

[Jeong-o ttae-man deop-ji. Achim-gwa jeon-yeo-geun

seon-seon-ha-jana.]

Jeong-min: It’s hot only during midday.

Morning and evening are calm and refreshing, aren’t they?

[Geurigo ju-byeone areum-daun gyeong-chiwa allok-dallok-han

namut-ipeul bo-myeon ga-eul neu-kkimi an deu-reo.]

Jeong-min: Also, don’t you get that autumn feeling when you see the

beautiful scenery and colorful leaves around?

그건 다른 것이잖아. 나는 날씨보고 그렇게 말한거지.

Ana:

[Geu-geon da-reun geo-sijana. Na-neun nalssi-bogo geu-reoke mar-han-geoji.]

That’s different, okay? I only said that because of the hot weather.

정민:

그래. 며칠만 지나면 낮에도 선선해질 거야.

~(이)라니

~잖아(요) Use this with the verb stem to express the meaning “You see?” / “No, that’s not true. In fact, ...” / “Come on, ...”

Ex: 밖에 너무 덥잖아요.

Come on, it’s very hot outside.

#KoreaLifeHacks 1.

2.

3.

Autumn in Korea is mesmerizingly beautiful.

Especially if you happen to have mountains nearby, do visit them during autumn to enjoy the breathtaking views.

Autumn can be a difficult season in Korea due to the temperature swings. The weather is slightly chilly during morning and night but like summer during the daytime.

Seoraksan National Park and Naejangsan National Park are two of the best places to see the beautiful autumn foliage.

[geu-rae. Myeochil-man jina-myeon naje-do seonseon-hae-jil

geoya.]

Jeong-min: Fine. Wait a few more days, and then even the daytime will be

refreshing.

Visit the TOPIK Guide website or our YouTube channel to improve your Korean and reach your goal on the TOPIK test.

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2018-08-31 �� 1:33:52

Korean Culture

43

Unusual Chuseok Holidays of the Past Written by Cho Namhee jeon ▲ Seoul–Dae

993).

Expressway (1

Interestingly, Chuseok (추석) was a one-day holiday up until 1985, and by 1989, it had become a three-day break with Chuseok Day sandwiched in the middle. Since then, conventionally, many families living in the nation’s capital and its surrounding cities away from their hometowns could spare a few days for “the golden holidays” to visit their families back home. However, the modern scenery of Chuseok has changed considerably for many reasons.

Therefore, instead of depicting typical scenes of this traditional Korean holiday, here are some of the indelible Chuseok holidays from the past that can never be forgotten.

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2016 Gyeongju Earthquake A 5.4 magnitude earthquake, the second strongest earthquake ever to occur in the country (only the 2017 Pohang earthquake was stronger), occurred in Gyeongju on September 12, 2016, just two days before Chuseok. The city is well known for its historical remains and heritage sites from the Silla Dynasty. Due to the impact of the first shock and a series of aftershocks, the city was designated as a special disaster area.

With that, I hope you have a pleasant Chuseok holiday and do not experience any extraordinary misfortunes like these. Have a happy and safe Chuseok!

The Author

Cho Namhee, an over-zealous sports fan, is a free spirit who calls Gwangju home. He studies communications at Chonnam National University and works for the 18th FINA World Championships, Gwangju 2019.

September 2018

Daejeon Expo 1993 The Daejeon Expo was the first specialized exposition held in Korea, and it ran for three months from August 7 to November 7, 1993. Under the theme “The Challenge

1996 Gangneung Submarine Infiltration Gangwon Province experienced its worst Chuseok holiday when a North Korean submarine was found stranded on the east coast near Jeongdongjin on September 18, 1996. Of the 25 North Korean infiltrators, one was captured alive, 11 were killed by their group, and 13 were killed by the ROK Army. During the 49-day manhunt, four civilians and 12 ROK soldiers died, with 27 soldiers wounded. The army imposed a curfew in the eastern part of Gangwon Province and stepped up inspections.

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Typhoon Sarah 1959 Forming on September 12 and dissipating a week later, Typhoon Sarah was the 14th typhoon of the year and was recorded as one of the deadliest typhoons to hit the Korean Peninsula in recorded history. It penetrated the mainland of Korea on September 17, the day of Chuseok.

The impact of the typhoon was even more fatal since there were no forecast systems like today’s at the time. Many people realized that it was a typhoon only after their houses and property had been leveled and were left strewn with debris. In figures, Sarah claimed 373,459 victims, including 849 deaths, 2,533 injuries, and 206 missing. Furthermore, 11,704 vessels, 10,000 houses, and 200,000 hectares of farmland were damaged, a loss of approximately $4.5 million in 1959 US dollars.

of a New Road of Development,” the expo was run by participants from 108 nations and 33 international organizations, and attracted 14 million visitors from home and abroad. With the Chuseok holiday taking place during the exhibition, the expressway between Seoul and Daejeon was overcrowded with vehicles heading to either the Expo or back home. As a consequence, travelers had to spend at least 15 hours to get to Daejeon from Seoul.

ARTS & CULTURE

A

ccording to the lunar calendar, this year the 15th day of the 8th lunar month (Chuseok Day) falls on September 24, and as a consequence, the full Chuseok holiday is marked on calendars in red from September 23 to 26. The long holiday, also known as Hangawi (한가위, meaning “big mid-autumn”), is one of the two biggest national holidays in Korea.

2018-08-31 �� 1:33:52

ARTS & CULTURE

44 Photo Essay

Myeongsa-shimni Beach, Wando.

Drone Shots of Jeollanam-do

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September 2018

Written and photographed by A.P. Tolang

T

raveling to new places and capturing good moments is my favorite hobby, and I try to enjoy it whenever I have free time. I try to explore new places and display their beauty through my lens. Jeollanam-do is full of beautiful and adventurous places. Every season has its own beauty, so there isn’t any specific season that’s more favorable to photographers. Thus, I don’t want to miss any season without capturing beautiful moments.

I used to imagine how many locations would look from a bird’s eye (or aerial) view. Now the drone camera has satisfied my curiosity. Drones can easily go where humans cannot. They offer a new perspective and bring a flexibility that’s rarely matched by a tripod or cumbersome equipment such as cranes. This new angle can give photographers an artistic edge. There are a lot of possibilities for drone photography, although taking care to be safe is a major consideration. Still, the benefit of using a drone is in getting clean shots, since I have full control of the drone

2018�9��.indd 44

and its camera. Sometimes, drones even allow me to get the perfect shot.

Without drones, if I wanted to capture any kind of aerial view, it’d be hard for me. To get those perfect shots, I’d have to hire a helicopter, which becomes more costly with a low possibility of success. A drone, therefore, is a useful tool for my photographic journey. Wherever I travel, I can easily carry it in my bag. That’s why I’m excited to use drones and keep finding new places to shoot from the sky.

The Author

A.P. Tolang is from Nepal and has been living in Naju since 2014. He is a traveler who loves spending his time in the mountains either by hiking, trekking, or pursuing travel photography. A.P. tries to expose and promote the beauty of life through his lens. Readers can follow A.P. Tolang on Instagram @gorkhe1980.

2018-08-31 �� 1:33:53

45

Yeongsan paddy field, Naju.

Four-lane highway from Naju to Yeongam.

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September 2018

Yeongsan River, Naju.

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46

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

September 2018

Wando City.

Four-lane highway from Naju to Yeongam.

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4747

Gureum-dari (Cloud Bridge), Wolchulsan National Park, Yeongam.

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September 2018

Yeongsan lighthouse and harbor, Naju.

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2018-08-31 �� 1:33:59

48

Photo of the Month

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September 2018

ARTS & CULTURE

By Lorryn Smit

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2018-08-31 �� 1:34:01

49

H

aving fun with the light in Seoul and a different tool in my hands. Days off are made for playing...

Fuji XT-2 at 23mm f/1.4 at 1/8000 sec ISO 200 Exposure compensation -0.3 The Author

Lorryn Smit is a South African who has called Gwangju “home” for seven years now. She is a recently turned full-time photographer specializing in documentary-style wedding and portrait photography. She is also the editor-in-chief of a popular photography blog called Photographers in Korea and freelances for a variety of publications in Korea.

September 2018

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www.gwangjunewsgic.com

Do you have any photos that you would like to show to Gwangju (and the world)? Gwangju News features a photo of the month to create more opportunities to promote more photographers based in the Jeollanam-do region and to show off our beautiful province from different areas and angles.

Submissions can be posted in the “Photography in the South” Facebook group throughout the preceding month. Alternatively, you can also send your submissions to the editor by email: photos@gwangjunewsgic.com

2018-08-31 �� 1:34:03

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

September 2018

ARTS & CULTURE

50 Gwangju Writes

Yun Dongju and His Poetry Text and poetry translation by David E. Shaffer

Y

un Dongju (윤동주) is one of Korea’s best-loved poets, as well as one of its shortest-lived (1917– 1945). Born into a Christian family in the Bukkando area north of the Korean Peninsula, Yun attended secondary schools there and in Pyongyang. The years surrounding his graduation were his most prolific as a poet, a time when half of his works were joyful children’s poems:

As did many independence-minded families at the beginning of Japanese colonial rule, Yun’s family left the tightly controlled peninsula for the lighter control of Bukkan-do before Yun’s birth. Though heavily veiled, his anti-Japanese feelings and sense of futility in waiting for independence can be detected in his early writings:

FALSE ALARMS

NO TOMORROW

Knock, knock, knock, Please open the door.

I’d like to stay for the night.

The night is deep and cold, Who could be there?

The door is opened to see that Blackie’s tail had sounded a false alarm.

Cluck, cluck, cluck, An egg has been laid!

Small Fry, come get your egg!

Small Fry goes running to see…

An egg? What egg?!

That old hen, in broad daylight, brazenly sounded a false alarm.

(1937)

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On hearing “tomorrow, tomorrow,” About it I asked.

“After the night sleeps, when the day breaks, it’s tomorrow,” came the reply.

I, who have searched for a new day, woke from my sleep and looked around.

It was not then tomorrow but today!

Friends, there is no tomorrow! ……………

(December 24, 1934)

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51 In 1938, Yun entered the Korean Department at Yonhui College (now Yonsei University) in Seoul. During this time, both his Christianity – through interaction with missionaries – and his independence activism strengthened. It was also at this time that Yun “published” his first collection of poetry: 100 handwritten copies of 19 collected poems, entitled The Heavens, the Winds, the Stars, and Poetry. As in many pieces of this collection, his faith and activism peek through (just enough to escape the eye of the colonial rulers) in The Road, allowing us to detect that it is human dignity and Korean independence that Yun lives to recover:

In 1942, Yun entered the English Department of Rikkyo University in Japan and soon became involved in a Korean independence cell there. Very little of his poetry survived confiscation by Japanese authorities upon his arrest and incarceration in 1943. But even before Yun crossed into the Japanese heartland (with the Japanese name he had been forced to assume), he foresaw Korean independence and his own demise, as expressed in the final stanzas of A Night Counting Stars:

A NIGHT COUNTING STARS (last stanzas)

THE ROAD It is lost!

What nor where, I do not know; With two groping hands in pockets, Down the road I go.

With stone after stone after stone in endless procession Along the stone wall the road does run.

The wall, with its iron gate tightly closed, Casts its long shadow over the road;

Longing for I know not what, On this hill bathed in starlight I have written his name And covered it with earth.

Indeed, for I am like the insects crying through the night, Bemoaning their shameful names.

From morning to evening, From evening to morning, the road runs on.

But when the winter passes and to my star comes spring,

Groping at the wall, tears gush forth; Looking up, the sky, to my shame, is blue.

In which my name is buried

The reason I walk this road with not a blade of grass Is because I am left out beyond the wall;

As green as it does on graves.

(November 5, 1941) Yun never lived to see that green grass. He died a slow death from a poison regimen in a Japanese prison in February 1945, just months before the surrender of Imperial Japan. But his name lives on, forever green.

The Author

▲ Yun Dongju, in Shaffer’s book of translations of the poet’s poetry.

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September 2018

David Shaffer is a long-time educator in Gwangju, with interests in Korean culture, history, language, and poetry.

He was awarded first prize in the poetry division of the 24th Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards (1993).

Dr. Shaffer is also the author/translator of The Heavens, the Winds, the Stars, and Poetry: The Works of Yun Tong-ju, Korean Patriot and Poet (1999, Hakmun), which contains commentary on Yun’s life and poetry, in addition to an English translation of the complete surviving works of the poet.

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And the reason that I live is solely To recover that which is lost.

(September 30, 1941)

Thick grass will proudly grow on this hill

2018-08-31 �� 1:34:07

52 Book Review

A Delightful Palate Cleanser The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden by Jonas Jonasson Written by Kristy Dolson

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

September 2018

ARTS & CULTURE

N

ow that this record-breaking summer is winding down, let us ease into autumn with a book that is simply delightful. The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden is a comedic fiction novel by Swedish journalist and author Jonas Jonasson. Despite being a rollicking, laugh-out-loud comedy, this book also has a surprising amount of substance, addressing the issues of sexism, racism, monarchism, and anarchism.

Ever since I had my world rocked in 2016 by Frederick Backman, another Swedish writer, I have kept my eyes open for curious Nordic literature. I happened to pick Jonasson up at my local library the last time I was in Canada, and I really, really liked his second novel. It was ridiculously enjoyable. Belonging to that rare class of nonsensical books, it just grabs readers, pulls them along on an outrageous journey populated with even more outrageous characters, and refuses to let go until the final outlandish page. Even now I am wondering what else Jonasson’s unlikely heroes have gotten themselves into since I closed the book.

The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden begins in Soweto, South Africa, where a young girl named Nombeko struggles to stay alive and dreams of visiting the National Library in Pretoria. She does not quite make it, however, as she is hit by a car driven by a drunken engineer. Because this is 1970s South Africa, our protagonist is sentenced to seven years of service to the white engineer, who turns out to be the head of South Africa’s top secret nuclear bomb development project. What a twist! So, she finds herself in an extremely secure research facility, cleaning the floors for an alcoholic know-nothing engineer, in what turns out to be a life sentence. But Nombeko is too determined and too smart to let things stay that way, and eventually she manages to escape. But an unfortunate mix-up with the diplomatic mail traps her in another unlikely and seemingly inescapable reality in Sweden.

This book is absolute mayhem and madness – with endearing characters and a heart of gold. The situations have real-world parallels and implications, but the narrative is delivered in a way that will make you laugh, shake your head at the mayhem, and continue reading at

2018�9��.indd 52

an unstoppable pace. I found it incredibly easy to gobble up nearly 200 pages in a single afternoon.

Although the novel jumps around a lot, the timing of events is linear, beginning in the 1960s and ending in 2007.

The reader is never lost thanks to superb transitions and fantastic pacing. The dialogue, hilarious and full of wit, serves to develop the characters and their relationships, and to move the plot along. The novel is divided into seven parts and an epilogue, and each part begins with a quote taken from a real-world source. These quotes set the tone of the events to come. It is an utterly charming technique which, as a lover of book quotations, only adds to my overall adoration of this masterpiece.

The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden is a tour de force on modern Western history and the follies of humans, countries, and world leaders. It is nothing short of brilliant as a looking glass back on the errors of human ways and the foolishness of harmful policies and politics.

This book was written to make readers laugh, but I hope it will also make them think more deeply about these follies and the future of humanity. My optimistic side looks forward to Jonasson’s future novel lambasting the harmful isolationist policies of modern politics – assuming we see the pendulum swing back before humanity gets to witness the effects of nuclear warfare, which Nombeko’s Swedish love interest, Holger Two, so efficiently described in his thesis.

I am sorry, did I say we were going to “ease into” fall? My bad. This book is easy to digest. But the issues and themes, when examined and discussed in the current political and social climate, may take a bit longer to break down.

The Author

(Photo by Lisa Crone)

Kristy Dolson lived in South Korea for five years before taking a year off to travel, read, and spend time with her family in Canada and Australia. She holds a Bachelor of Education and has just moved to Yeosu, where she splits her time between teaching at the new Jeollanamdo International Education Institute and reading as much as she can.

2018-08-31 �� 1:34:08

Movie Review

53

Written by Lee Suk Pei

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The screening of this movie at Gwangju Theater is timely, and I hope it can strike a chord among our anti-refugee counterparts.

The Author

Suk Pei is currently studying for her master’s degree at Chonnam National University. Having been in Gwangju for almost one year, she is starting to extend her tentacles to meet different people and participate in various activities here in Gwangju. Gwangju is definitely more than what meets the eye.

September 2018

Stern, a doctor whose life was ruined when a patient he operated on while drunk died, regularly collects money from refugees to help them escape from hospitals. Stern happens to meet Aryan at the refugee camp. He smuggles Aryan out of the camp after witnessing Aryan’s newly developed ability and plans to exploit it to help him earn some repatriation money for his dead patient’s family to stop them from suing him. Laszlo, the border policeman who shot Aryan, wants to cover up that fact and starts an endless search for the pair. Things get worse when Aryan and his father’s lost documents are misused by other refugees and later found at the scene of a bombing of a subway train. [Spoiler Alert!] The movie ends with Aryan jumping out of a window to escape and Stern dying from gunshots when he helps Aryan escape.

Though the ending leaves much unexplained about the movie’s intention or the director’s standpoint with regards to the refugee issue, the story has proven powerful in bringing out a message: The lives of even doctors and police, who are perpetually seen as “good” citizens, can be as affected as the lives of refugees. A refugee with a supernatural power, who goes on to be seen as an angel by religious locals, transforms the negativity that refugees are normally associated with – including being troublemakers, threats to the local job market, and overall unwanted people – into a positive outlook. In this movie, Stern wants to know why Aryan is alive. Aryan replies, “You have your purpose, I have my purpose.”

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The movie begins with a wagon filled with anxious Syrian refugees going to cross the border into Hungary through a water route, which results in them being discovered and stopped. The boat overturns and the refugees begin running into the forests, dodging bullets from the border police.

Aryan, the protagonist of the movie from Homs, is shot three times while running for his life. Instead of dying from the shots, he wakes to find his supernatural powers lifting him off the ground to make several turns up in the air.

Produced in 2017, when the Syrian refugee crisis was a hot topic that dominated almost every news discussion, promising Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó’s latest film, Jupiter’s Moon, aims to highlight a multitude of issues, ranging from the European refugee crisis, to governments’ responses to the issues, to religious faiths. Despite the overall less-than-satisfactory reviews given by movie critics, I personally think that the Cannes Palme d’Ornominated film succeeds in portraying the film’s central issue – the refugee crisis in Europe – using a different perspective and angle.

ARTS ARTS && CULTURE CULTURE

J

upiter has 67 known moons orbiting around it, and one of them happens to have a saltwater ocean under its icy surface that is a potential cradle of life. That moon is named Europa. The introduction of this moon, which the movie draws its name from, is considered by many critics to be irrelevant to the rest of the movie; however, I think this introduction sounds like the perspective of a refugee who is looking to run away from a war-stricken country to a new home that, although it is as foreign and distant a place as one of Jupiter’s moons, still offers hope for supporting new life.

2018-08-31 �� 1:34:08

54 Opinion

South Korea’s Obligation to Refugees Written by Praveen Kumar Yadav

O

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

September 2018

OPINION

ne chilly January morning this year, a 25-yearold lady landed at Incheon International Airport.

She had a narrow escape from prosecution by the Thai government.

She is young but brave. As a pro-democracy activist, she led many peaceful demonstrations against the junta.

On some occasions, the military arrested her and later set her free after interrogations. But this latest occasion was the first time she had been given a charge of lèsemajesté for sharing a BBC article on Facebook. The article had mentioned serious allegations about King Vajiralongkorn (Rama X) and his involvements, ranging from philandering and gambling to his extravagant lifestyle and illegal business.

Thailand’s lèse-majesté laws protect the royal family by prohibiting public discussion about succession. The laws are strictly implemented by the current military government led by Prayuth Chan-ocha, the army general who led the overthrow of Thailand’s elected government in May 2014.

No sooner had she received the notice from the government than she rushed to Bangkok Airport. She could not bid adieu to her family and friends. Nevertheless, she has inspired them and others who believe in democracy and human rights, and they are currently resisting the junta in Thailand.

or more. Furthermore, South Korea’s refugee acceptance recognition rate is low. Until she is conferred refugee status, she worries about her life in South Korea.

Like Chanoknan, there are tens of millions of forcibly displaced people worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, or human rights violations. Such people, also termed persons-of-concern, include refugees, internally displaced people, returnees, stateless persons, and others of concern.

By the end of 2017, the population of persons-of-concern was some 71.4 million around the world, as per the data maintained by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). UNHCR, established by the UN General Assembly in 1950, is mandated to lead and coordinate international action for the worldwide protection of refugees and the resolution of refugee problems.

Among the 65.6 million persons-of-concern in 2016, there were nearly 22.5 million refugees, over half of whom were under the age of 18, as per UNHCR. The number of refugees has increased by 5.4 percent in one year with the uptick in the number of the people of concern.

The democracy activist is Chanoknan Ruamsap, who is now in Gwangju, South Korea. According to her, she did not want to end her life in prison like many of those facing similar charges; many have suffered hapless fates and even passed away behind bars.

In the short span of just a few weeks in 2017, more than 600,000 people (Rohingya) from Myanmar fled to Bangladesh. This was the most rapid overflow since the massive refugee crises of the 1990s, as per UNHCR’s Global Report 2017. Likewise, other persons-ofconcern were displaced last year fleeing war, violence, and persecution in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, South Sudan, and Syria, among other countries.

In March this year, she applied for refugee status in South Korea. But she is not sure how long the application process will take. The process generally takes five years

Global trends show that state violence, human rights violations, conflicts, disasters, and risks to human lives due to various circumstances are on the rise and consequently

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forcing thousands of people every day to flee their homes in search of safety and protection. This requires more resources to ensure their safety and safeguard their rights.

Aside from the limited capacity to safeguard their rights, the search for safety has also become more dangerous, as per the Global Appeal 2018–2019 issued by UNHCR. Recently, some of the receiving states, which were somewhat impacted by refugee arrivals, have closed their borders. The premature return of refugees equally affects their sustainable safety. Similarly, the journeys in search of safety are full of risks, including life-threatening violence and exploitation, detention, and torture. Weak international cooperation has also eroded protection for those forced to flee.

In 1992, South Korea became a party to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and started

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However, the refugee acceptance rate (3.9 percent from 1994 until April 30, 2014; 1.54 percent of total applicants in 2016; the status of refugee applications as illustrated in the graphic above) is low.

The Author

Praveen Kumar Yadav, who is a human rights researcher from Nepal, is an international intern at Gwangju-based May 18 Memorial Foundation. He tweets at @iprav33n Disclaimer: As is always the case with our Opinion pieces, the views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Gwangju News, the GIC, or the Gwangju city government.

September 2018

Since 2001, the world has been observing World Refugee Day after the UN General Assembly unanimously passed a resolution on December 3, 2000, to mark June 20 as such. The first year of celebrating the international day for refugees coincided with the year when South Korea recognized its first refugee.

With the enactment of the Refugee Act in July 2013, South Korea has become the only Asian country that has a stand-alone refugee law clearly stipulating the rights and obligations of asylum seekers, those granted humanitarian status, and refugees, while also covering all major areas concerning the protection of those persons.

In light of these facts, the country appears to be making impressive strides toward supporting and protecting existing refugees.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

As the global community has recently marked the 18th World Refugee Day (June 20), the states and the stakeholders should come forward to address the aforementioned challenges consisting of limited capacity and risky searches for safety for the growing population of persons-of-concern. On this international day, the world needs to send a message – the world supports and stands with refugees.

accepting asylum seekers in 1994. However, the first asylum seeker was conferred the rights of citizenship only in 2010. He was an Ethiopian man who fled persecution in his homeland and arrived in South Korea in 2001. Still, South Korea stands among Asia’s few countries that have signed the 1951 Refugee Convention, and among the even fewer who have extended the rights of citizenship to refugees.

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Community Board

Have something you want to share with the community?

Gwangju News Community Board provides a space for the community to announce club activities and special events.

Please contact gwangjunews@gic.or.kr for more information.

Jayeon Saenghwal Vegetarian Restaurant 자연생활채식뷔페

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

September 2018

Seoseok-ro 85beongil 12, Dong-gu, Gwangju 062-228-0482, 0485

UNESCO KONA VOLUNTEERS KONA Storybook Center (KSC) is a registered small public library supported by UNESCO KONA Volunteers (UKV). UKV is a registered organization that helps disadvantaged children learn English independently through storybooks and story-maps. We guide families and children to develop a love of reading storybooks in English. We also give guidance to volunteers in using storybooks. We are looking for long-term volunteers who desire to enrich their lives. We are asking volunteers to commit to helping at least once a month.

available. To participate in the international cultural exchange programs, you may email peter.j.gallo@gmail. com or phone or text 010-9490-4258.

GWANGJU FILIPINO ENGLISH TEACHERS (GFET) Every 3rd Tuesday of the month 10 a.m. – 12 noon, GIC, Room 3 (2F) We are a group of Filipino English teachers in Gwangju who conduct regular lectures and accent training to help fellow English teachers to become better educators.

For more information, please visit http://cafe.daum. net/konavolunteers or our Facebook pages for KONA Storybook Center and UNESCO KONA Volunteers. Also, you can contact Kim Young-im at 062-434-9887 or email konacenter@gmail.com.

GWANGJU INTER FC The Gwangju International Soccer Team (Gwangju Inter FC) plays regularly every weekend. If you are interested in playing, email gwangju_soccer@yahoo.com or search “Gwangju Inter FC” on Facebook.

VOLUNTEER TEACHERS NEEDED for the Gwangju UCC (Universal Cultural Center). English teachers in the Gwangju area for 2018 with any level of experience are welcome to participate. UCC has a Facebook profile if you would like to see what kind of other services are

CHINESE-KOREAN LANGUAGE EXCHANGE GIC Lounge, 1st Floor, 6:30–8:30 p.m., Wednesday Application: https://goo.gl/WjBZQQ The language exchange is casual, and you can turn up when you like. Welcome to bring and invite friends.

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Attorney Attorney Park’s Park’s Law Law Firm Firm We're ready to serve your best interests in legal disputes.

We provide affordable consultation & representation.

▶ Areas of Specialty contracts, torts, family law, immigration, labor ▶ Civil & Criminal Attorney Park, Duckhee former judge, GIC board member Services available in Korean, English & Chinese

Tel: 062) 222-0011

#402 Simsan Bldg, 342-13 Jisan-dong, Dong-gu, Gwangju Location: next to Gwangju District Court

Fax: 062)222-0013 duckheepark@hanmail.net

Gwangju Guide www.gwangjuguide.com For Information on Living in Gwangju Korean

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We Made It Together!

Oct. 5, 2018 (Fri.)

5-7 P.M.

Gwangju International Center 1F

INQUIRY 062-226-2733 EMAIL karina@gic.or.kr 2018 9

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