Koreana Winter 2007 (English) by The Korea Foundation

K OR E A N A R T

C UL T UR E

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Worki ng together ， wecan bI ・ ing out the best in all ofus.

Hy os ung ， A Compa ny Phi l osophy Bas ed on Bui l ding Part nershi ps Wi t h an over 40 year hi story of mar ket l eadershi p and consi st ent l y st rong f i nancial peバ or manc e ， we pri de oursel ves on our abi l i ty to bri ng out t he best in our peopl e ， our product s ， and our part ners. A s has been true in our past ， we are commi t t ed to bui l di ng paはnershi ps for and even mor e pr osper ous future. C o me wor k wi th us

• Texti l es

. Industri al Materi al s

. Chemi cal s

• Power &Indu詑ial System s

・ Constructi on

GPFX??"aNG

. Tradi ng

.Infonnation &Com m uni 釧 m

BE AUT Y OF K OR E A

Chor ong t ype of tradi ti onal candl e-l i t l ant ern，t he chor ong wa s l ong

For exampl e ，Kor ean tradi ti on cal l s for t he gr oom' s parent s to

an i ntegral aspect of t he ever yday life of anci ent Kor eans

send gifts in a wooden box ，cal l ed h a m，to t he bri de' s hous e on t he

T he c hor ong woul d be hung on t he gat e and wal l s of

day bef or e t he mar r i age cer emony. As t he carri er of thi s box

home s ，and t aken al ong to l i ght t he wa y whe n ti wa s necessar y to

[ hamj i nabi l t ravel ed to t he bri de' s house ，t he pat h woul d be i l l um i-

vent ure out at ni ght The f r ame of a chor ong ，whi ch wa s ma de of wood or met al ，

nat ed by cheongsa chor ong. Mor eover ，after t he hamj i nabi arri ved at t he bri de's house ，cheongsa chor ong wer e hung on t he gat e as

i ncl uded a fi xture in t he cent er of t he base for t he pl acement of a

a s ymbol of t he i mpendi ng mar r i age. Af t er t he weddi ng ，th巴 pat h

candl e. An openi ng or vent at t he t op al l owed ai r ci rcul ati on so that

to t he gr oom' s hous e wa s al so i l l umi nat ed wi t h c heongs a

t he candl e f l ame coul d r emai n lit and s mok e coul d escape. Paper ，

chor ong

or red and bl u巴 silk ，wa s us 巴d to cover t he f r ame. Al t hough t he

The chor ong ，whi c h wa s in us e 'as far back as t he Gor yeo

chor ong di d not pr oduce a bri ght l i ght ，its s ubdued i l l uminat i on

Dynast y [ 918- 1392.1 l ong r emai ned an i ndi spensabl e part of t he

creat ed a sense of ref i ned el egance ami d t he ni ght' s darkness.

Kor ean househol d. Then， t he moder n era arri ved in Kor ea in 1887，

A chor ong wi t h a red and bl ue coveri ng wa s k nown as cheongsa

whe n el ectri c l i ghti ng wa s us ed to i l l umi nat e Gy eongbokgung

chor ong，rel ated to t he Kor ean concept of yi n and yang ，in whi ch yi n

Pal ace. In 1898，t he est abl i shment of t he Hans eong El ectri ci ty

wa s represent ed by bl ue and yang by red. And si nce t he cheongsa

Cor por at i on mar k ed t he avai l abi l i ty of el ectri ci ty servi c 巴， whi ch

chor ong wa s a s ymbol of har mony and good f ort une ，ti natural l y

event ual l y caused t he chor ong to fall i nto di sus 巴.

bec ame an arti cl e i ntri catel y associ at ed wi t h mar r i age ri tual s

IHoused in The Nati onal Folk Museumof Kor eaJ

凶

Kor e a na Kor ean Art & Cul t ure

V o l . 2 1 ，N o. 4 Wi n t e r 2 0 0 7

Publi shed quarterl y by The Korea Foundati on 2558 Nambus unhwanno，Seocho- gu Seoul 137- 863 ，Korea PUBLl S HE R Yi mSung- j oon EDI TORI AL DI RECTOR Park J oon K EDI TOR- IN- CHI EF Park J eon日 yeop PHOTO DI RECT OR Kwon Tae- kyun ART DI RECTOR Ki mJ i- yeon DESI GNER Lee Seon- young A550CI ATE EDI TOR Park Ok- soon Lee J i- hye ，Yi J un- sung EDI TORI AL BOARD Choi J oon- s ik. Han Kyung- koo，Han Myung- hee 凶 m Hwa- young ，Ki mMoon- hwan ， Ki mYoung- na ，Rhee J i n- bae 5UB5CRI PTI ON Pr ice for annual 5ubscri pti on Korea W18. 000. ASl a by ai r U5$33 el sewhere by ai r US$37 Pri ce per Issue in Korea W4 ，5。日 Subsc ri pt ion/ circul ati on co rrespondence T HE U.5. AND CANADA Yeong & Yeong Book Company 1368 Michel l e Or ive 5 1. Pau.l MN 55123- 1459 Tel ， 1- 651- 454- 1358 F a" 1- 651- 454- 3519 OT HER AREA5 I NCLUDI NG KOREA The Korea Foundation 1376- 1 Seocho 2- dong ，Seocho- gu ， 5eou1137- 863 ドorea Telo 82. 2. 3463. 56日4 Faxo 82- 2. 3463. 6086

ADV旦且皇且旦

CNC ad 4F ，Corner Bui l di ng ，202 Nonhyeon- dong ， Gangnam- gu ，Seoul 135- 010 ，Korea Telo 82. 2. 511. 6001 F a" 82- 2- 511- 6010

L位旦且工主旦. ! 2! 堕且

Ki m's Communi cat i on Ass o . ciates 504- 5 Munbal -ri ，Gyoha- eup， Paj u ，Gyeonggi - do 413- 756 ，Korea TeL 82- 31- 955- 7421 F a" 82- 31- 955- 7415 WININ. gegd. co. kr

Korean TV Dr amas 8

A Korean Phenomenon: TV Dr amas Take on a Life of their Own K a n g My o u n g S e o k

14 Two Faces of Korean Dramas: ' J ewel in the Pal ace' and ' Winter Sonata' Nh o J ung T a e

22 Growi ng Popul ari ty of Korean Dr amas among Vi ewers Worl dwi de Li

Sheng

Li .

Mi n Wo n j u n g . Ni s hi Ma s a y u k i . B u i Ma n h H u n g

PRI NTED IN WI NTER 2007 Sams ung Moonwha Pri nting Co 274-34 ，Seongsu- dong 2-ga，Seongdong- gu， Seoul 133- 121. Korea TeL 82- 2- 468- 0361/5

Kor eana I nt ernet Websi t e httpJ i' い川 w. koreana. or .kr

。

The Korea Foundati on 2007 All rights reserved. No part 01 this publication may be reproduced in any form wi thout thiE prior permission 01 the Korea Foundati on • The opi ni ons expressed by the authors do not necessari l y represent those 01 the edi tors 01 Koreana or the Korea Foundatl on Koreana ，registered as a quarterl y magazi ne with the M inistry 01Cul ture and Touri smIRe日istration No 8a. 1033. da! ed Aug. 8. 19871 .陪 also publ i shed In Chl nese. French，Spanl sh，Arabi c ， Russi an，J apanese ，and German

F OC US

Still Learni ng f r omthe Lessons of Hi story

I Ba i k S e ung c ha n

I NT E RV I E W K I MDONG- HWA

Innovator of Korea's Comi c Book Cul t ure Pa r k In H a

In Korea. TV dr amas have l ong been a part of everyday lif e for vi ewers . provi di ng a門 occasi on lor enti re fam i l i es to spend time together . deeply engrossed in the storIes and characters After decades 01 immens e popularity the genre is now undergoi ng maj or changes . in terms 01 qual i ty and vari ety

A R TIS A N YI S ANG- J AE

Handi craf t er of Sedge Mast erpi eces

I L e e Mi n Y o u n g

MAS T E RP I E CE S

Bosi ngak Bel l : Enduri ng Symbol of the J oseon Dynast y

A R T RE VI E W

Sut ra Pai nti ngs Exempl i f y the Bri l l i ance of Buddhi st Art

I P a r k Hy u n・S o o k

O N T HE GL OB A L S T A GE CHI N UNS UK

At the Foref ront of Cont empor ar y Musi c

I Pa r k S a ng - k uk

DI S COVE RI NG K OR E A WE R NE R S A S S E

Bl ue- eyed Schol ar wi th a Prof ound Love of Korea

I Choi E u n g C h o n

I P a r k Y o n g - wa n

O N T HE R OA D

Paj u: Longt i me Symbol of Korea's Di vi si on Takes on a Ne w Face S u h Y oung J i n

CUI SI NE

Tt eokguk，Ri ce Cake Soup

I Pa i k J a e - e un

LI VI NG

Ne wForce of the Cons umer Mar ke:t Gol d Mi ss

I L e e Mi n- hoon

J OUR NE Y S I N K OR E A N Ll T E R A T UR E

J EONS E ONG TAE Usi ng Wor ds to Preserve the Tradi ti ons of Vi l l age Resi dent s The Forest of Exi st ence I Tr ans l at ed b y Br ot he r Ant ho ny of Tai z e

I S e oY oung - i n

6 Koreana I Wint er 2007

Winter 2007 I Koreana 7

8 Koreana I Winter 2007

Winter 2007 I Koreana 9

Nowa da y s ，t echnol ogy advancement s and a di versi fi ed medi a envi ronment enabl e Kor eans to wat ch T V dramas wherever and whenever t hey pl ease. Cabl e net works ，whi ch are accessi bl e to practi cal l y every Kor ean househol d ι fer channel s t hat ai r Kor ean dr amas ar ound t he cl ock，i ncl udi ng f avori tes 仕o mt he 1980s and mor e recent series. Peopl e can al so vi ew T V dr amas o n port abl e vi deo pl ayer ， and mothei r P C， bile phone. A Kor ean dr ama f an might start the day wat chi ng an epi sode that he mi ssed on hi s mobi l e phone; chat wi t h co- workers about t he program' s recent devel opment s ; a nd t hen cat ch t he eveni ng' s dr amas at home. 1f A meri ca' s Korea' s pasfavori te past i me is basebal l ， t i me woul d be wat chi ng T V dramas.

。，

Kor e創 lS' Love of T V Dr a ma s 1n par此t，Kor ean T V dr amas can atトtri bute thei r pop叫ar口lty tω o由 the ∞ coun 此 ltr巧y' uni que cul tural backgr ound. 1n ot her count ri es ， t he T V broadcast medi a ar ri ved on the mass cul tural scene wel l aι ter t he ci nema had al ready establ i shed its appeal a mong a br oad- based audi -

t he ence. F r omthe 1930s to t he 1960s ， worl d' s movi e i ndust ry enj oyed a gol den age. 1n Kor ea ，h o w巴ver ，wat chi ng a movi e i n a theater was essenti al l y prohi bi ted duri ng its 35 years under J apanwhi ch was ese col oni al rul e (1 910- 1945) ， f ol l owed by t he out break of t he Kor ean Wa r (1 950- 1953) that resul ted i n wi de spread devast at i on and a l engt hy peri od of recovery. Meanwhi l e，at a t i me whe n Kor ea st ruggl ed to pr omot e economi c devel T V dr amas pr ovi ded an i deal opment ， di versi on， i n t er ms of its affordabi l i ty and ent ert ai nment val ue. Gover nment support enabl ed K BS，t he state- run T V to offer a st eady suppl y of dranet wor k， mas t hr oughout the year. 1n support of Korea' s rapi d economi c gr owt h， Kor ewhi ch ans endur ed 10- hour wor kdays ， i n l arge part ma de wat chi ng T V i n the eveni ng the mos t sui tabl e f or mof enter t ai nment for t he enti re famil y. W hereas not a si ngl e movi e had att ract ed over one mi l l i on vi ewers unti l the 1992 hit Seopyeonj ι s o me 24 dr ama seri es hav e r ecor ded over 50- per cent rati ngs si nce J anuar y 1992， whe n Ko-

1 Scene fromthe . What is Love.. drama [19911which portrays the every day life of a Korean family ledtry a typical Confucian fat her 2 Th巴 dramaseri 巴5 ..Tomato" was a st ory about two women， one good-hearted and the other connivi ng ，who competed fiercely at the workplace and in love. In the end，the "good gi rl" ulti mately prevai ls ， in k巴巴 pingwith the good tri um phs over evil" st ory line that is typical of KoreanTV drama pr ograms 3 Popul ar melodram as can attain impress ive vi ewer ratings ，thanks to large numbers of loyal fans who never miss an episode "Lovers in Pari s" was a huge success despite the add i it onal costs of fil ming on location abroad 10 Koreana IW inter 2007

rea' s T V rati ng syst emwas first i mpl ement ed. Unl i ke the movi e or musi c genthe T V dr ama is not j ust a f or mof res ， ent ert ai nment: It is a nat i onal past i me 出 at pl ays an i mport ant rol e i n the life of Kor eans ， like provi di ng conversat i on for the f amil y at t he di nner tabl e. 1n Kor ea， publ i c T V net works broadcast t wo drama seri es dai l y ，one pr ogr ami n t he mor ni ng and anot her i n t he eveni ng ， each wi t h five ne w epi sodes 仕o mMonday to Fri day. Thi s si gni fi cant amount of pr ogr ammi ng t i me has resul t ed i n dr amas that i nt i mat el y refl ect detai l ed aspect s of t he ever yday life and senti ment s of Koreans. sasi c T he me s of Kor ean Dr a ma s T V dr amas have l ong been 1n Kor ea， domi nat ed by mel odr amas wi t h famil ywhi l e hi st ory- t heme cent ered story l i nes ， seri es have enj oyed gr owi ng popul ari t y mor e recentl y. As such， progr ams relati ence fi cti on， suspense/ myst ery ed to sと thri l l ers ，and ot her t hemes have been rarel y produced. For exampl e，a recent hi t “， Cof f ee Pri nce N o. 1" ( Keopi peur i nseu il ho-

j eom) ， revol ves ar ound t he rel ati onshi p that devel ops bet ween a t omboyi sh girl f r om a l ower - i nc ome f ami l y a nd a young ma n wh o st ands to t北 e over hi s but wi t h hi dden t roufamil y' s weal t h， bl es of hi s own. A n ordi nary per son gett i ng ent angl ed i n a c ompl ex rel ati onas wel l as t he confl i ct and reconci l shi p， i ati on t hat f ami l y member s experi ence are a mong i n thei r pursui t of happi ness ， t he c o mmo n t hreads t hat underl i e t he mai n story of Kor ean dramas. Howev er ，thi s does not me a n t hat t he dr amas onl y provi de a mi r r or i mage of t he Kor ean lifestyle. T he producers of Kor ean dr amas stri ve to offer encour ma ny of wh o mdeagement to vi ewers ， si re a bri ef respi te f r oma demandi ng dayat wor k. Accordi ngl y， dr ama seri es will of ten f eat ure fanci ful pl ots of a rat her ordi nar y per s on wh o encount er s a l i fet he changi ng experi ence. For exampl e， l ead charact er of “ Lovers i n Pari s" ( Pariui Yeoni n) ， t he hugel y popul ar s how of was cast as a pl ai n and average girl 2004， wi t h a cheerf ul personal i t}ら wh o falls in l ove wi 出 t he hei r to a m勾or corporat e

f ort une and experi ences a whi rl r om叩 ce. t he heroi ne of “ My Na me Si mil arl y， 1s Ki mSam- soon" ( Nae 1r eumeun Gi msamsun) is a typi cal 29- year- ol d wo ma n i n sear ch of M r. Ri ght ，wh o meet s a weal t hy guy and falls i n l ove wi t h hi m. 1n l arge part ，t he basi c f or mul a f or a successf ul T V dr ama i n Kor ea calls for a l ead charact er ，a ki nd of reg叫 ar per son t hat Kor ean vi ewers can commi ser at e wh o wi nds up havi ng an out - of wi t h， t he- ordi nary r omanc e or whi msi cal experi ence，and i n t he end，l i ves happi l y ever a丘er. A vi d Fans ar ound Asi a

Because vi ewers can st rongl y i denti 今 a nd sympat hi z e wi t h t hese or di nar y t he Kor ean dr ama seems to charact ers ， i nvari abl y end wi t h t he t r i umph of good over evil. 1n t he hi t SBS dr ama “ T oma" whi c h st arred t he popul ar actress to， K i mHee- s eon，a “ good" f emal e l ead and an “ evi l " f emal e prot agoni st c o m pet ed f i ercel y ，over wo r k a nd l ove ， t hr oughout t he epi sodes ， whi ch natural ly ended wi t h a vi ct ory for good over

e吋1 .

Al t hough t hese dr amas mi ght be cri ti ci zed for thei r t endency to moral i ze a nd over si mpl i f y ，t hey have enj oyed wi de appeal across all ages and cl asses i n and mor e recentl y have capt ured Kor ea， t he f ancy of vi ewers all over Asi a. 1n fact ， t he Kor ean T V dr ama has been t he dri vi ng f orce behi nd t he socal l ed Kor ean Hal か u， phenomenon 出 at has reWa v e， sul t ed i n t he wi despread popul ari t y of Kor ean pOp cul ture i n Asi a and beyond 1n part i cul ar ，t he K BS dr ama “ Wi nt er a sent i ment al Sonat a" ( Gyeoul yeonga) ， l ove story， bec ame all t he rage i n J apan ， and has al so enj oyed t r emendous success i n Chi na，Sout heast Asi an countri es ，l i ke Vi et nam，and ot her regi ons ar ound t he gl obe. wh o share ConFor vi ewers i n Asi a， f uci an pri nci pl es an d pl ace a st rong emphasi s on f ami l y val ues and t rue l ove， t hey can readi l y e mbrace t he c o mmo n such as ret h巴me s of Kor ean dr amas ， puni s hi ng war di ng t he vi r t uous a nd 、 wr ongdoer s. A pr i me exampl e is t he MB C dr ama seri es about a cook i n t he royal J oseon court“，J ewel i n t he Pal ace" ( Daej anggeum) . T he dr ama gai ned pOp-

More recently. Korean TV dramas have become increas 旧日ly diverse in terms 01 their characterization and subject m atter. For example ，the lead charact er 01 My Name Is Ki mSam-soon" is a rather plain-looking ，29-year-old woman， whose romanti c pursuits struck a heartlelt chord among vi ewers 5 Nowadays ，the tradit ional m el odrama deviat 巴s widely Iromthe previous mal nstream. as seen In a rec 巴nt hit . "Collee Prince No. 1." in wh i ch a girl Irom a l ow-income lam i ly masquerades as a man to get a par t- ti m e job and then lalls in love wi th her boss 6 In Korea. past TV dramas that have been popul ar are olten remade or re-created due to their proven success. This incl udes "Love and Ambi tion." whi ch had ori ginal ly been produced in 1986. dur ing Korea's rapid industrializat ion. that was remade in 2006 with a modern- day context

W inter 2007 Koreana 11 1

、

1 ' Emper or Wang Geon" is a saga dr ama 01 the heroi c st ruggles 1Wang Geon，who l ounded the Koryeo Ki ngdomin 918 ，alter uni lyi ng the Goguryeo，Silla ，and Ba巴kje Ki ngdoms 2 "Yi Sun- s in" is about the nati onal hero Admi ral Yi Sun- si n who defeated the massi ve J apanes 巴 i nvasi ons in the mid- 16t h cent ury 3 "The Four Guardi an Gods of the Ki ng" gai ned popul ari ty by pioneeri ng a newgenr e，the fantasy- hi story drama 4 "Heo J un，" about the reno wned physi ci an 01 the J oseon Oynasty ，was the bi ggest hi t dr ama ser ies si nce 2000

。

20 T op Ra nk e d Kor ea n 1v Dr a ma s Ranki ng

Title

Broadca5t i ng Company -

Ra t h( %) Kal l ng

Lead Act ors I Actresses

Dat e of Broadcast

Heo J un

MB C

54. 9

J eon Gwang Ryeol ，Hwang Soo J ung

J ewel in the Palace ( Daej anggeum)

MB C

47. 2

Ji Jin Hee Lee Yeong Ae，

Lovers in Par is (Pariui Yeoni n)

SBS

42.7

Park Shi n Yang ，Ki mJ ung Eun

2004

Honest y (J insil)

MB C

42. 2

Choi Ji Wo o，Ryu Si Wo n

2000

Pri nce of the Legend ( J umong)

MB C

40.5

Song 11Kook ，Han Hye Jin

2006 ~ 2007

Emperor Wa ng Geon (Taej o Wanggeon)

KBS1

38. 7

Choi Su J ong ，Ki mYoung Chul

2000 ~ 2002

2000 2003 ~

2004

My Name is Kim Sam- soon ( Nae I reumeun Gims ams un)

MB C

38. 7

Kim Suna ，Hyun Bin

2005

AII in (Orin)

SBS

37.6

Lee Byung- hun， Song Hye Kyo

2003

Successful Story of a Bri ght Girl ( Myeongnang Sonyeo Seonggonggi )

SBS

35. 3

J ang Nara ， J ang Hyuk

2002

Ladi es of the Palace ( Yeoi ncheonha)

SBS

34. 3

J eon In Hwa Kang Su Yeon，

Ki ng and Queen ( Wanggwa Bi)

KBS1

34.0

1mDong J in， Chae Si Ra

Mi ss Mer mai d l( neoagassi)

MB C

33. 6

J ang Seo Hui ，Ki mSung Mi n

2003

2000 ~ 2001

2001

2002 ~

2000 2004 ~

Aut umn in My Heart ( Gaeul donghwa)

KBS2

32.9

Song Seung Heon， Song 卜Iye Kyo

Stai rs to Heaven ( Cheongugui Gyedan)

SBS

32.6

Choi Ji Wo o Kwon Sang Wo o，

2003

Cheers for the Wome n ( Yeoj amanse)

SBS

32. 3

Chae Si Ra ， Chae Ri m

2000 ~ 2001

Everyday in Happiness ( Nal mada Haengbokhae)

MB C

31. 9

Ki mSang- kyung ，Lee Tae Ran

Bad Fri ends ( Nappeun Chingudeul )

MB C

3 1.3

Song Yoon A An J ae Wook，

Mot hers and Si sters ( Eommaya Nunaya)

MB C

31. 1

An J ae Wook Hwang Soo J ung ，

2000 ~ 2001

Yai nshi dae

SBS

3 1. 0

An J ae Mo，Ki mYoung Chul

2002

i fe ( J angmibi t Insaeng) My Rosy L

KBS2

30. 8

Choi J in Sil ， Son Hyun J u

List 01 the most popul ar l V dr amas among viewer s in the Seoul metropol i tan area ， l romJ anuary 1， 2000 to Oec ember 31 ， 2006 Stat istics provi ded by AGB Niel sen Medi a R巴5 巴arch 12 Koreana 1Winter 2007

•

2004 ~

2000 2000

2003

2005

ul ari ty among Asi an vi ewers by weavi ng scenes about tradi ti onal Kor ean cui si ne i nto its mai n good- versus- e吋1pl ot line， and wi t hout passi ng j udgment on cul tural di fferences. In this way， Kor ean T V dramas have enj oyed a uni que and uni versal appeal ，whi ch heret of ore was hardl y i magi nabl e. Epi c- scal e Hi stori cal Dr amas Al ong wi t h mel odr amas ， the historical dr ama genre has l ong enj oyed i m mense pop叫arity among Kor ean vi ew ers. Al t hough based on actual hi stori cal fi gures and events ，t hey t ranscend the ordi nary accounts f ound in hi story textbooks t hr ough creati ve enhancement that bri ngs to life the i ndi vi dual personalities and their remarkabl e feats. Mor eover ，rather t han bei ng a f or mof ficti onal entertai nment ， the epi sodes often retlect current - day affairs ，so as to enabl e vi ewers to cont empl at e on today' s events 仕o ma hi stori cal perspecti ve. Typi cal l y，the hi stori cal dr ama is centered on l egendary heroes and extraordi nary ki ngs ，as wel l as fi gures i nvol ved wi t h notabl e i nci dents ， whi ch often unfol ds agai nst a backdrop of devi ous pol i ti cal conspi racy or grand- scal e battl es wi t h powerf ul i nvaders. Promi nent exampl es i ncl ude “ Heo J un， " about the experi ences of a c ommoner who eventual l y becomes the f oremost physi ci an of the J oseon peri od; “ Emper or Wa n g Ge on， " whi c h r ecount s t he f oundi ng of the Goryeo Ki ngdom; “ Sea God， " about the life St Ol γ ofJ ang Bo- go， who was k nown as the “ Lor d of Mar i ti me Commer ce" duri ng the Silla Ki ngd o mperi od; and "Yi Sun- si n， " the leg endary general who created the i nnova tive “ turtle shi p" that was i nstrumental in defeati ng the Hi deyoshi - l ed J apanese i nvasi ons of 1592 1598. A nother favori te topi c is the dramat ic life story of f amous Kor ean women. The “ J anghui bi n" dr ama，whi ch has been r emade several ti mes ， tells the story of the met eori c ascensi on and subsequent downf al l of J anghui bi n，a royal concubi ne of Ki ng Sukj ong (r. 1674同

1720) ， who schemed to have Queen Inhyeon wanghu rel egated to the si del i ne so that she coul d become her successor. Mor e recentl y，anci ent myt hs have been adopt ed as the story line of dr ama series ，such as “ Pri nce of the Legend: J u mong， " whi ch was hugel y popul ar in 2006 and 2007. And this was f ol l owed by “ Bal l ad of Seodong， " about Ki ng Muwa ng (r. 600- 64 1) of Baekj e，and “ The Four Guardi an Gods of the Ki ng， " whi ch descri bed the expl oi ts of Ki ng Gwanggaet o the Great (r. 391- 413) ，of Gogur yeo ( 37 B. C- 668 A. D. ) ，who expanded the ki ngdom' s terri tory far beyond the Kor ean Peni nsul a，that wer e hi ghl y successful as well.

are still popul ar ，especi al l y among the ol der generati on who prefer f am社y-ori ented t hemes that feature the si tuati ons that c ommonl y ari se i n a househol d wi t h an ext ended famil y. On the other hand，anot her KBS dr ama“，Resurrec ti on" ( Buhwal ) ，whi ch presents a c om pl ex tale of betrayal ，revenge，and mur der ， has establ i shed a l oyal fol l owi ng of younger vi ewers ， whose T V tastes seem to retl ect the i ntl uences of Amer i canstyle programmi ng.

Next Gener at i on of Kor ean Dr amas A recent phenomenon is t he socal l ed “ mani a dr ama， " whi ch mi ght experi ence l owvi ewer rati ngs at the tirne of its ori gi nal ai ri ng，but t hen gai ns a mea sure of popul ari t y t hanks to younger Di versi f i ed Audi ences vi ewers who later wat ch epi sodes vi a the In line wi t h 出 e myri ad changes that Internet or vi deo devi ces. For “ S now have been seen in Korea， the T V dr ama Queen" ( Nunui Yeowang) ，whi ch was has undergone an evol uti onary process as wel .l Koreans still wat ch T V in the broadcast by KBS in the same tirne slot as 出 e wi del ypop叫ar “ Pri nce of the Legeveni ng， but in most cases this is not the end" epi c series of MB C，it struggl ed to f amil y affair of the past. Today' s ol der record a l O-percent rati ng but went on generat i on，wh o gr ew up regul arl y to attai n success on the Internet ，as a wat chi ng dr amas t oget her wi t h thei r V O D ( vi deo on demand) hit. FOI ・ parents and si bl i ngs ，can st 出 be f ound “ mani a dr ama" i ndi vi dual s ， they woul d vi ewi ng t he f ami l y T V i n t he l i vi ng not t hi nk t wi ce about ski ppi ng an room. But they are likely to be al one，as adul t - age chi l dren t end to live apart eveni ng get-together wi t h co- workers if 丘o mtheir parents ， in this age of the nuit contl i cted wi t h their ability to vi ewan epi sode of their favori te drama. clear famil y，whi l e a maj ori ty of house Kor ean dr amas are now vent uri ng hol ds nowhave mul ti pl e T V sets. In ad di ti on，t echnol ogy advancement s al l ow i nto new terri tory， whi l e m0vi ng away the younger generati on to vi ewT V prof r omreal-life experi ences of the mungr ammi ng on al ternati ve medi a， such as dane worl d to fantasy advent ures that unf ol d i n myt hi cal or supernat ural the Internet. In contrast to thei r parents ，the far eal ms ，such as M BC' s “ T he Four Guar di an Gods of t he Ki ng" ( Taevored T V fare of the younger generati on has i ncl uded MT V and Hol l ywood fi l m s ， wangsasi ngi ) . At t he s ame t i me，thi s such as The Mat ri x and St even Spi el evol uti on and mat urat i on of the Kor ean berg' s spectacul ar bl ockbusters. In the T V dr ama further proves that it remai ns the No. 1 source of ent ert ai nment of the past ， Korean dramas general l y sought to appeal to a broad spect rumof vi ewers ， Kor ean publ i c ，despi t e its vari ous across a range of age groups. But t oday， changes. By cont i nui ng to maintai n its appeal among a mor e di verse generati on dr ama t hemes are bei ng i ncreasi ngl y diof Kor ean vi ewers ，the Kor ean T V draversi fi ed and segment ed to target parti cma will be better posi ti oned to further 叫ar audi ences ， based on the preferences its advance i nto the hearts of audi ences and interests of di fferent generati ons. t hr oughout t he Asi an regi on and As such，dr amas such as the KBS “ Hat e or Love" ( Mi una Gouna) series around the worl d. 凶 Wi nt er 2007 I Koreana

Two Faces of Korean Dr amas

' J ewel in the Pal ace' and ' W i nter Sonata' The mel odrama and the historical drama are the t wo representati ve whi ch are exemplified by genres of the Korean TV dr ama， the i mmensel y popul ar “ Wint er Sonat a" ( Gyeoul yeonga) and “ J ewel in the Pal ace" ( Daejanggeum). Nho J ung Tae Staff Reporter ，Dram ati que Phot ography: Ci ne21 ，MBC

J ewel in t he Pal ace" f eat ures t he epl c tal e of 5 芭o J a ng - Ge um，a wo ma n of t he J os eon Dynast y er a ，wh o l ost her par ent s wh e n s he wa s still a young gi rl due to a pol i ti cal conspi racy. Ther eaf t er . s h巴 ent er ed t he pal ace as a ki t chen assl st an， t weni on 旬 be c ome t he head c hef and 回ter be c a me t he f or emost physi ci an of th巴 J os eon pe 円 od

Kor eana I Wi nt er 2007

、

The ' Wi nt er Sonat a" mel odr ama wa s wl l dl y popul ar in J apan. creat l ng a cul tural phenomenon 01 an unpr ecedent ed scal e

Wi nt er 2007 I Koreana

The phenomenal success 01 ' Winter Sonata" vault ed th巴 two lead characters ， Kang J oon-sang [Ba巴 Yong J oonl and J eong Yu-jin [Choi Ji Woo.l to instant stardom 2 3 The star -crossed relat i ons hip 01 J oon-sang and Yu-jin included i s memoryιwh i ch he J oon- sang' s loss 01h later recovers due to anot her tragic accident 1

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abr oad， wher e t hey bot h have gai ned t r emendous popu1ari ty. Mor eover ，the t wo seri es have been i nst rument a1 in the deve10pment of t wo di sti ncti ve genres - the Korean- st y1e mel odr ama and hi st ory dr ama - a10ng wi t h upgr adi ng t hese t wo dr ama f or ms to an enti rel y ne w1eve.l Kor ean T V dr amas ，1i ke “ Wi nt er " have Sonat a" and “ J ewe1 i n the Pal ace， been the dri vi ng force behi nd the Korean Wa v e ( Hal l yu) phenomenon that has he1ped to spread Korea' s pop cul t ure t hroughout the Asi an regi on and，mor e recentl y，all corners of t he wor l d. The t wo seri es have i nt roduced forei gn vi ewal ong wi t h i nspi ri ng Asi an ers to Kor ea， peop1e，and t hose i n ot her regi ons ，to enrol l i n Korean- 1anguage cl asses and to 1earn about Kor ean cul ture. A n i n- dept h ana1ysi s of the Kor ean dr ama can provi de i nsi ght i nto its phenomena1 success and a gl i mpse i nto its future. 16

Koreana I W inter 2007

Compel l i ng St ory Li nes " Kang 1n the story “ Wi nt er Sonat a， J oon- sang，p1ayed by Bae Y ong J oon， transfers to a hi gh schoo1 i n Chuncheon， wher e he cont i nues the search for hi s bi010gi ca1 father. At t he schoo1' s dr ama he meet s J eong Yu- j i n， p1ayed by cl ub， and falls i n 10ve wi t h her. Choi Ji Wo o， Unf or t unat e1y ， thei r i l l -fated 10ve is t hr own of f t rack whe n J oon- s ang is and struck by a t ruck on Chri st mas Da y， 10ses hi s memor y. He depart s for t he and ret urns to Kor ea ten Uni t ed States ， wi t h a ne w i denti ty as Lee years 1ater ， Mi n- yeong. Yu- j i n， who is bur dened Meanwhi l e， by her memor i es of J oon- sang，eventually gets engaged to her 10ngt i me a d mirer ，K i mSang-hyeok ( Park Yong Ha). Thereaf t er ，Yu- j i n encount er s J oonsang，who i nt roduces hi mse1f as Mi nyeong，and 出 en agai n falls i n 10ve wi t h hi m. J oon- sang falls i n 10ve wi 出 Yu- j i n

as wel l ，even t hough he still has no memor y about what happened pri or to a丘er anot her car achi s acci dent. Then， ci dent resu1ts i n t he r ecover y of hi s me mor y，J oon- sang di scovers a secret about his bi rth. He is t or ment ed by hi s suspi ci ons of a past re1at i onshi p bet ween Yu- j i 山 father and hi s mot her ， whi ch cou1d mean that he and Yu- j i n are hal ιsi bl i ngs. Unawar e of thi s si tuaYu- j i n 1eaves for France to study. ti on， J oon- sang t hen begi ns to 10se hi s eyeas a res叫t of the acci dent 出 at re si ght ， stored hi s memor y. He 出 en goes to 出e Uni t ed St at es f or r emedi a1 surgery. Yu- j i n fi nal l y reuni tes Thr ee years 1ater ， . has bu社t， wi t h J oon- sang at the house he whi ch i ncl udes Yu- j i n' s i deas for her dr eamhouse. " it tells As for “ J ewe1 in the Pa1ace， t he epi c 1ife story of an ext raordi nary wo ma n duri ng the J oseon D 戸l asty era， Seo J ang- Geum，p1ayed by Lee Young

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Ae. As a young girl ，J ang- Geuml oses bot h her parents for 出 eir supposed invol vement i n the poi soni ng of Lady Yun， the mot her of Ki ng Yeonsangun (r. 1494- 1506) . T o ful 臼1 her mot her' s dy i ng wi sh， J ang- Geumenters the pal ace as an apprent i ce of the royal ki tchen. She serves under Lady Ha n ( Yang Mi k 刊 ng) ， prevai l s in competi ti ons agai nst her archri val Choe Geum- young ( Hong Ri na) ，and eventual l y becomes the head chef of the royal ki tchen. Thereafter ，she goes on to devel op a practi ce that combi nes cooki ng and herbal medi ci ne techni ques for the pro mot i on of peopl e' s wel l - bei ng，al ong wi t h becomi ng one of the l eadi ng physi ci ans of her ti m e. Al l this whi l e， she had to over come pol i ti cal l y mot i vat ed schemes that threatened to derail her career. Ul ti matel y， Ki ng J ungj ong (r. 15061544) desi gnates Seo as his royal physi ci an， maki ng her the first -ever woma n to

be so appoi nted. Eventual l y，she returns to her homet own so that she can serve c ommon peopl e，and t hen di es whi l e treati ng vi cti ms of a pl ague outbreak. “ Wi nt er Sonat a" has been a sensati onal success ， in and out of Korea. But consi deri ng its use of cl i ched pl ot devi ces ， such as secrets about the protagonist's past and t empor ar γamnesi a，the story of an i ndi vi dual' s struggl e to suc ceed，agai nst all odds ，as in “ J ewel in 出E Pal ace， " coul d wel l enj oy a l onger life in the publ i c eye. E xcepti onal Act ors and Charact ers It is not possi bl e to di scuss 可Vi nter Sonat a" wi t hout ment i oni ng its star ， Bae Yong J oon，as is the case wi t h “ J ewel in the Pal ace" and Lee Y oung Ae. These dramas have served as vehi cl es to l aunch thei r i nternati onal f ame，but thei r star qual i ty contri buted greatl y to the popularity of the t wo series as wel .l Due to

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the unprecedent ed success of “ Wi nt er Sonat a" in J apan，Bae Yong J oon has been best owed the regal title of Y on s ama ( Pri nce Yong i n J apanese) ，by whi ch he is al so k nown in Korea. The rabi d J apanese fans di d evef)沌hi ng possible，t hrough bot h official and uno伍cial routes ，to get hol d of all the dramas that Bae Yong J oon has ever appeared in. Consi deri ng that a l arge maj ori ty of these fans are housewi ves in their forties and fifties ，this was i ndeed a rare social phenomenon for J apan. Al t hough some attri bute the drama' s success mai nl y to Bae Y ong J oon' s hands ome Phnc e Char mi ng l ooks or the nostal gi a of vi ewers i n J apan for retro-styl e dr amas ，certai n critics cont end that the appeal of “ Wi nt er Sonat a" is due to the i ntri gue of Bae' s character. In thi s regard，t hey not e that buri ed deep wi t hi n the fai l ed memor y of Lee Mi n- yeong， whose refi ned manner s and Wi nt er 20日7 I Koreana

1- 3 Lee Young Ae ，who played th巴 5巴口 J ang-G巴umcharacter Iromthe

tim e when she was a teenager and up through m i ddl e-age，deliv巴「巴 dan pl ex im pressive portrayal 01 a com and determ i ned woman who heroically overcomes all mann巴r 01 adversity. Born a common巴r，Seo J ang- Geumacquired exceptioanl culinary talents ，and went on to learn m巴dicine，se刊 ing as the king.s physician

chari smat i c smi l e can ma k e wo me n s woon，is the presence of Kang J oon， struggl i ng to recall his sang，a lost so叫 first l ove. T o mi ddl e- aged housewi ves ， wh o have l ong got t en over thei r o wn first l ove，the critics poi nt to the J oon sang/ Mi n- yeong dual i ty as the source of the drari1a's fantasy. As such，a dr ama that can so perfectl y express a col l ecti ve fantasy woul d wel l be capabl e of casti ng a spel l over vi ewi ng audi ences. T he character ma y have been created by the Oh 5 0 0 Y un， but the task show' s wri ter ， of bri ngi ng hi mto life was the wor k of Bae Yong J oon. l roni cal l y，due to this i' ng success ，Bae t he act or over whel m nowseems to have been fully ecl i psed by his Yons ama persona Compar ed to Bae，who went on to become a ki nd of cul tural i ndustry，Lee Young Ae' s stature，as a resul t of “ J ewel in the Pal ace， " mi ght seemless significant ，but she di d emer ge as a maj or

cel ebri ty in Chi na，wher e she recei ved the red carpet treatment duri ng her visit. Al so， a Dae J ang Ge umrestaurant has been opened there. For Lee，who port rayed J ang- Geumf r omher t eenage years and up unti l she reached mi ddl e age，her perf ormance of this extraordi nary hi stori cal fi gure was all the mor e mast erf u.l 1ndeed，Lee' s vi vaci ousness and versati l i ty have been l auded by a broad spect rumof vi ewers ，企omvanous countri es and cul tures. The 吋Ni nter Sonata" mel odr ama in cl uded a cast that was domi nat ed by Bae Yong J oon and Choi Ji Wo o， al ong wi t h Par k Y ong Ha. O n t he ot her hand， “ J ewel in the Pal ace， " as a historical dra ma， featured a col orful cast of characters: Lady Ha n，who was bel oved by vi ewers for her mot herl y devoti on; Yi mH刊 nsik，whose comedi c talent was rewarded by his i ncl usi on as one of di rector Lee Byoung- hoon' s regul ar actors in subseー】

l arge part ，t he success of “ Wi nt er Sonat a" shoul d thus be attri buted to the char mof its storytel l i ng. The ci nemat i c style of Yoon SukHo，the di rector of “Wi nt er Sonat a" is al so wor t hy of ment i on. Fol l owi ng the success of “ Wi nt er Sonat a" and “ Aut umn i n M y Heart " ( Gaeul dong hwa) ， he establ i shed his own product i on company，Yoon' s Col or ，for the fi l ming Mast erf ul Product i ons of “ Spri ng Wal t z ， " the final i nstal l ati on Al t hough 可Vi nter Sonat a" was the of his dr ama tri l ogy based on the sea target of some cri ti ci smfor its f ormul ai c sons of the year. He has earned recogni pl ot twists ，this seems overl y harsh. 1n ti on for his memor abl e scenes ， captured my vi ew，the program's wri ter ，Oh Soo a t vari ous pi cturesque site s ar ound the Yun，a mast er of the Kor ean mel odra count r y t hat he sel ect ed，i ncl udi ng ma， deserves hi gh prai se for her exqui s Nami s eom， an i sl and that abounds wi t h ite wri t ing， whi l e mel di ng vari ous ci ne nat ural spl endor ，whi c h bec ame a mat i c techni ques wi t h sensi ti ve and nat ural di al ogue. 1n her subsequent wor k， touri st attracti on due to its e:呼 osure on “ Wi nt er Sonat a. " Howev er “， Spri ng “Weddi ng， " Oh tol d the story of a newl y Wal t z" di d not fare as wel l wi t h vi ewers ， marri ed coupl e by capturi ng the i nti macy of their i nteracti on wi t hout drawi ng whi ch seems to have somewhat dul l ed the l uster of Yoon' s creati ve geni us. on her repertoi re of ci nemati c effects. 1n

quent hi stori cal dramas; Ki ng J ungj ong ( 1mHo) ， who reveal ed a previ ousl y Ul l known humani s mof the J oseon r叫er ， as a gour mand and renai ssance ma n who was wi l l i ng to chal l enge soci al nor ms. The compl exi t y of these i ndi vi dual char acters was vi vi dl y brought to life t hrough 出 e cast's di verse acti ng talents.

Wi nt er 2007 I Kor eana

Following the extraordinary succ 巴ss of W i nt 巴r Sonata ，" dir 巴ctor Yoon Suk- Ho established his own production company ， whi ch produced additional mel odramas ，such as "Spring W altz 2 ""Ballad o f Seodong"" was directed by Lee Byoung-hoon 1

As f or “ J ewel i n t he Pal ace ， " it shoul d not be surpri si ng that its life story of one of Korea' s mos t remarkabl e wo me n woul d be wri t t en by a wo ma n， Ki m Yeong- hyeon， who earl y on wrot e for ent ert ai nment programs. K i mis not abl y adept at neatl y weav i ng t oget her vari ous narrati ve threads ， whi l e al so i nt erj ect i ng el ement s of myst ery i nto the pl ot. It coul d be sai d that Ki m' s wor ks are at the opposi t e end of the spect r um仕o mthat o f Oh Soo Y u n， whi c h pri mari l y f ocus on l ove and romance. Fol l owi ng the success of “ J ewel i n t he Pal ace ， " Ki m wor ked on anot her hi stori cal dr ama， “ Bal l ad of Seodong， " agai n i n col l aborati on wi t h di rector Lee Byung- hoon. She al so pr oved that Korea' s T V vi ew ers are recepti ve to an act i on- packed detecti ve dr ama wi t h “ HI T: Homi ci de Investi gati on Team. " Li ke “ J ewel i n the Pal ace， " whi ch inter 2007 20 Koreana I W

presents the life stoη T of a r enowned hi stori cal f i gure，Lee Byoung- hoon has al so adopt ed thi s t heme to hi s othi ncl udi ng “ He o J un， "“ Sanger wor ks ， " md “ Bal l ad of Seodong. " I n the do， past ， hi stori cal dr ama seri es have not f eat ured a her o charact er wh o succeeds i n hi s chosen mi ssi on i n life and al so attai ns spi ri tual ful fi l l ment. But af ter t he c ommer c i al success of “ Pr i nce of t he Legend" (J umong ) ( wri tten by Choi Wa n切 T U and di rected by Lee Byoung- hoon) and “ T he Four Guar di an Gods of t he Ki ng" ( Taewangsasi ngi ) ，whi c h cast Bae Yong J oon i n the l ead rol e，there has been a noti ceabl e shi 丘away 企o mthe t ragedy of t or ment ed heroes to bi ographi cal account s of pr omi nent 白gures i n hi story. It seems evi dent that t he Kor ean dr ama has been expandi ng its hori zons i n an effort to sustai n and enhance its recent pop叫arity. 国

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Bae Yong J OOn 972-J (1

As a uni versi ty student ，Bae maj ored in lilm，刊， and mul t i medi a. He then j oi ned a lilmproducti on crew bel ore maki ng a name lor hi msel l as an actor. Fr om the ti me 01 his 1v debut in 1994，Bae was extremel y popul ar among vi ewers lor his debonai r l ooks and warmheart 巴d demeanor. Thanks to the remarkabl e success 01 “ Winter Sonata" in J apan and 巴l sewhere， he became the bri ghtest star 01 the Korean Wave 「 phenomenon. Al ong with appeari ng on the silv巴 scr 巴en，Bae is currentl y star 円ng in the role 01 Gwanggaet o the Great in the 1v historical dr ama ， “ The Four Guardi an Gods 01 the Ki ng."

Lee

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In 1990，whi l e still a col l ege student ，Lee Young Ae l aunched her acti ng career with a wi del y-recogni zed 1v commerci a.l Today，she is active in 1v and lilm， al ong with conti nui ng to appear in commerci al s. She gai ned cel ebri ty status due to her l ead rol 巴 in "J ewel in the Pal ace"，' whi ch was hugel y popul ar in overseas ・ market s. In 2005，she al so portrayed a ruthl ess and revenge-dri ven woman in "Sympat hy lor Lady Vengeance ， " di rected by Park Chan- W ook.

1975-J Choi Ji Woo was di scovered in 1994 when she entered a talent contest sponsored by MBC

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After maj ori ng in cont emporary dance，Choi has been cast in a wi de vari ety 01 rol 巴5 in 1v dr amas and movi es. She is known as the "queen 01 mel odramas" lor her n'umer ous portrayal s 01 ki ndhearted characters . The notabl 巴 successes 01 “ Stai rs to.Heaven" and 'Wi nt er Sonata" have solidilied her status as one 01 Korea・ 5 l eadi ng ladi 巴s.

Wi nt er 2007 I Kor eana

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Korean TV dr amas have rapi dl y g'ained not ewort hy topul ari ty among vi ewers in several countri es around the worl d. Over the past f ewyears ， the Korean dr ama has been at the forefront of the Hal l yu ( Korean Wave) pop culture al ong wi th becomi ng one of the most far-reachi ng cul tural i nfl uences phenomenon， of the Asi an regi on. Through the establ i shment of cl ose rel ati ons wi th the film， showbi z ， touri sm， and publ i shi ng i ndustri es ， Korean dr amas have in fact moved wel l beyond the real mof TV. Howcan you expl ai n the ability of Korean TV dr amas to appeal to vi ewers in countri es wi th a historical background，political envi ronment ， and tradi ti onal val ues whi ch are so differ. ent f romthat of Korea? For this ，ti woul d be hel pful to reflect upon the i nsi ghts of local sp ~ cialst f romChi l e， J apan， Chi na， and Vi et nam， who have been tracki ng vi ewer reacti ons to the broadcast of Korean dr ama series.

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Wi nt er 2007 I Kor eana 23

Kor ean Wa v e Sur ges i n Chi na The popul ari t y of Kor ean T V dra 曲目 mas has spread steadi l y i n recent years. T he first Kor ean dr ama seri es i ntroduced to Chi na was 吋eal ousy" (J iltu) ， whi ch ai red as part of the cel ebrati ons to Kor ean T V dr amas ， whi ch wer e first br oadcast on Chi nese T V in 1993，have mar k t he second anni versary of di pl osi nce bec ome a mai nst ay of t he ai r waves ， i nt roduci ng ever mor e vi ewer s mat i c rel ati ons bet ween Kor ea and Chi to t he cul ture and peopl e of Korea. In addi ti on to bei ng t he central f orce na. Thereaf t er ，Chi na cont i nued to i mbehi nd t he Kor ean Wa v e，popul ar dr ama seri es have el evat ed Kor ean port and broadcast Kor ean T V dr amas ， act ors and act resses to t he status of hi gh-profi l e cel ebri ti es in Chi na. but t hey di d not qui te mak e a bi g spl ash. li Sheng li Prolessor 01 Cinem a and Television，Com m unication University 01 China Thi s all changed i n 1997， however ， when “ Wha t 1s Love?" ( Sarangi Mwogi l l ae) was broadcast on C C T V，Chi na' s stater un net wor k. Thi s 1991- pr oduced drama artful l y pai nt ed t he port rai t of a f amil y l ed by a tradi ti onal Conf uci an fat her f i gure wi t h conservat i ve val ues ， T K K Wa v e， or 助 l砂川i ch emer ged i n the earl y 21st cent ury， whi c h gai ned wi despr ead popul ari t y among Chi nese vi ewers. Numer ous K o has been sweepi ng across Asi a and beyond. Korea' s manuf act ur ed product s ， r ean dr a ma seri es have si nce been s hown i n Chi na，Tai wan，and Ho n g l i ke aut omobi l es and el ectroni c appl i Kong， t hus expandi ng thei r i nf l uence on ances ，had l ai d the gr oundwor k， whi l e the Chi nese- speaki ng worl d. Nowadays ， Kor ean mus i c ，ani mat i on，1nt ernet dozens of Kor ean T V dr amas a year are games ， fi l ms ， and T V dr amas have t aken bei ng ai red in mai nl and Chi na al one. the center stage of the Kor ean pop c叫 Especi al l y popul ar i n Chi na are t ure boom. Kor ean T V di amas ，t he m el odr amas 出 at revol ve ar ound r omanmos t wi del y k nown aspect of the Hal l yu tic l ove and dr ama seri es whi ch feature phenomenon， are a favori te among Chi hear t war mi ng f amil y t hemes. A number nese vi ewers ， t hanks i n part to Korea' s of hi stori cal dr amas wer e al so i mpor t ed cl ose rel ati ons wi t h Chi na.

The Korean T V Dr ama f roma Chi nese Perspecti ve

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Lar ge-scale outdoor sets. built for histor ical dramas ，are often converted into a kind of theme park uponthe projec t' s conclusion 2 Vi deotape copies of Kor e日nTV dramas and films are big sellers in China 1

24 Koreana I W inter 2007

】

合o mKorea， but 出 ey made barel y a rippl e unti l the phenomenal success of “ J ewel in the Pal ace" ( Daej anggeum). Kor ean dr amas are enj oyed by Chi nese vi ewers f r om all wal ks of life. Thr ough these pr ogr ams ，the Chi nese have c ome to recogni ze and appreci ate Kor ean cul ture ，i ncl udi ng its actors ， f ashi ons ，cosmet i cs ，accessori es ，lifestyles ，and cui si ne. The dr amas c ombi ne Conf uci an phi l osophy wi t h W estern moderni t y to create a newf or mof val ues. Mi ddl e- aged and el derl y Chi nese vi ewers strongl y endorsed this approach， even as t hey expressed concern about the di sappearance of thei r own tradi ti ons. 1n this way， Kor ean T V dramas appeal ed to the i nterests of Chi nese audi ences in novel and famil i ar ways.

acteristic of Korean dramas is thei r vi sually stri ki ng depi cti on of romant i c l ove， whi l e the f ashi on and accessory i t ems featured on screen add to the aestheti c enj oyment. Mor eover ，si nce the dramas need not be preoccupi ed wi t h worl dl y i nterests or real-life probl ems ， vi ewers can easily become emoti onal l y attached to fanci ful experi ences. Thi s is one of the pri mary reasons the dr amas have been recei ved so enthusi asti cal l y by Chi nese youth. W hen peopl e start wat chi ng a Korean soap opera，they can i ndul ge t hemsel ves in an al l - encompassi ng aestheti c and sensory experi en白血at i ncl udes visual as wel l as audi tory pl easures. V¥乃l en the “ Ful l Hous e" seri es was recentl y broadcast in Chi na，the heroi ne Song Hy e Ky o bec ame all the rage a mong younger- generat i on f emal e vi ewers ，in Love 創 l dRomanc e regard to her hai rstyl e ，cl othi ng，and Mel odramas center on ma抗ers ofl ove fashi on accessori es. “ Love St ory at Har var d， " whi ch and romance， a classic su旬ect of all manner of artistic genres. On Chi nese T V， port rayed the experi ences of f orei gn students at the presti gi ous U. S. uni verthere are many dramas that realistically was shot on l ocati on at the school depi ct l ove and personal rel ati onshi ps ， sity， campus. The green l awns and t i mebut not ma ny that deal wi t h romant i c wor n bui l di ngs wel l conveyed t he l ove， as in the Korean mel odramas. Thi s t heme i nstantl y attracted Chi uni que at mosphere of the revered 1vy nese vi ewers. The most di sti ncti ve charLeague i nsti tuti on. The drama' s depi c

ti on of academi c life，busi ness ，l ove ， fri endshi p，social consci ence， racial discri minat i on，and the pursui t of j usti ce le丘an i ndel i bl e i mpri nt on the memor y ofvi ewers. Meanwhi l e ，the “ S umme r Scent " ( Yeoreumhyanggi ) series i mpressed audi ences wi t h the vi brancy of its soundtrack. Capti vati ng background mel odi es hel ped to convey the mai n characters' i nt ense feel i ngs of l ove，reveal thei r pai nf ul angui sh，and accent uat e t he scenes of emot i onal confl i ct or tensi on. Kor ean T V dr amas portray r omantic l ove that is deep and i ntense， but never crude or vul gar ，onl y pur e and beauti ful . Ki ssi ng scenes are rare， and if any， they are present ed as moment s of pure romant i ci sm. W hen the hero and heroi ne share a shy ki ss ，thi s ki nd of scene calls for dr eamy musi c or a light fl urry of snowfl akes. These effects enabl e vi ewers to commi serat e wi t h the emoti ons that the characters are undergoi ng， whi l e eventual l y bei ng won over by the romant i c spl endor. Wa r mt hof F創 ni l y Fami l y rel ati ons is anot her t i mehonor ed t heme to whi ch vi ewers of all age groups can rel ate. 1n fact ，Chi na produces its own f amil y- centered dramas ，of whi ch many are excel l ent. But the Chi nese t end to vi ewthe famil y as a mi cr ocosmof soci ety ， wei ghed down wi t h a hi stori cal burden. Mor eover ， they do not hesi tate to reveal negati ve aspects of the f amil y and soci ety. 1n contrast ， Kor ean dramas t end to proj ect a soci ety that is cari ng and benevol ent. T he Kor ean “ Me n of t he Bat h House" ( Mogyokt angj i p Namj adeul ) series enj oyed notabl e popul ari ty in Chi na， among a broad cross-secti on of society. It deal s wi t h the mundane life of or di nary peopl e，ポlile at the s ame t i me at tai ni ng a hi gh l evel of artistic refi ne ment . Thi s dr ama does not resort to indecency or exaggerati on， nor does it indul ge vi ewers wi t h speci al effects or picturesque l andscapes. It si mpl y tells the story of an ordi nary famil y 出 at operates 】

Wint er 20日7 I Koreana

a publ i c bat hhouse. But thi s quai nt char mis what makes the pr ogr amso who i nvari abl y enappeal i ng to vi ewers ， j oy a sense of genui ne war mt h 仕o m出 e personal i nteracti ons. A n Internet user in Chi na descri bed “ Me n of the Bat h House" as "a dr ama that reveal s the tradi ti onal cust oms of Korea t hrough a fam i l y' s life story. It is not ewort hy that tradi ti onal cul ture can be so deepl y i ngrai ned in the dai l y life of ordi nary peopl e. In parti c叫ar ，出is drama made me realize the extent to whi ch tradi ti onal cul ture is steadi l y di sappeari ng 丘o mChi nese dai l y life. " In Korean f amil y- theme dramas ， tra such as respect di ti onal Conf uci an val ues ， for the el derl y，ranki ng by age groups ， and har moni ous rel ati ons ，can coexi st ， si de-by-si de， wi t h moder n- day norms. Because Chi nese vi ewers are currentl y undergoi ng rapi d and extensi ve soci al transformati on， dramas 出 at feature three generati ons l i vi ng together under one

26 Koreana I Wint er 2007

roof tend to evoke nostal gi a for the si m pl er lifestyles of the past. As such，Chi nese 羽 ewers can readi l y relate to 血e senti ments of Korean faJ也l ydramas. Creat i ng Added Val ue Of course，Kor ean T V dr amas are not necessari l y loved by all Chi nese peo ple. Even the most avi d fans 白l d it di 伍cult to connect wi th uni magi nati ve dramas based on f ormul ai c story lines and pl ots 出at progress at a snail's pace. In this regard， there are notabl e diι ferences bet ween the product i on met hods in Chi na and Korea. In the case of a dai l y f ami l y dr ama i n Kor ea ，t he epi sodes are shot and broadcast each day ( Monday- Fri day) ，whi ch i nvol ves a cont i nuous process of fi l ming and air ing. In contrast ，in Chi na，shows are broadcast at the concl usi on of the enti re pr oduct i on effor t. I n Kor ea ，a 30mi nut e epi sode (of a dai l y drama) w世 be ai red every weekday， whereas in Chi -

na， t wo or mor e 45- mi nut e epi sodes are broadcast on weekdays. Chi nese series will usual l y i ncl ude about 30 epi sodes that are shown over a course of t wo or three weeks ，whi l e Kor ean dr amas can be broadcast over several mont hs. Chi nese vi ewers are 出 us accust omed to the speedy unf ol di ng of their dr ama series ， whi ch causes Korean dramas to appear sl ow- movi ng and tedi ous. Mos t Chi nese are not yet famil i ar wi t h the lifestyle and cul ture of Korea. Ma ny get to k nowabout Korea and devel op f avorabl e i mpressi ons of Kor ea t hrough the Kor ean T V dramas. Thi s awareness encourages Chi nese consumers to purchase Kor ean- made products ，i ncl udi ng cars ，househol d appl i ances ，and cl othi ng， al ong wi th enti ci ng Chinese travel ers to visit Korea. Korean T V dramas are generati ng not onl y economi c benefi ts in Chi na but promot i ng posi ti ve soci al and cul tural val ues as well.

mal e charact er ，Cha Song- j u，bel i eves that heaven is a worl d of puri ty like “ a 回￨ Chil 旦 t heme par k bl anket ed wi t h s now，as whi t e as pi ano keys プ Ha n J ung- suh is a f emal e character who bel ieves that heaven 1S “ bei ng i n that t heme par k wi t h Song- j u and gazi ng i n the s ame di recー On Mar c h 13， 2006， t he first 叩 i sode of “ Stai rs to Heaven" ( Cheongugui ti on. " Ha n Tae- hwa，t he ot her mal e t he nati onal broadcast net wor k of Chi l e. Thi s Gyedanl wa s ai red on TVN， character ，is wi l l i ng to gi ve up his pl ace mar ked t he first t i me for a Kor ean dr ama to be ai red on regul ar Chi l ean TV， in heaven and wal l く t hrough eternal hell whi ch resul ted f romt he enthusi asti c vi ewer r esponse to earl i er broadfor l ove. Ha n Yuri . t he ot her f emal e cast s on a cabl e channe.l charact er ， bel i eves that admi ssi on to M in W onj ung Prolessor 01 Asia Study's Program，Catholic University 01 Chile heaven can be bought wi t h money and is det ermi ned to gai n entry by what ever means necessary. Al l f our are ent angl ed in a compl ex web of l ove and t ragedy， A m o n g 出 e vanous genres 0 蜘的 whi l e bei ng desti ned to cl i mb the staircont emporarγcul t ure， such as draway to heaven t oget her ，one step at a ma，f i l m，and mus i c ，Kor ean dr ama tl me. seems to possess t he broadest appeal Er nest o Lombar di ，of T VN' s i n a mong t he general popul ace，as evi ternati onal channel ，recalls : “ F r omthe denced by t he wi despr ead popul ari t y second epi sode， we wer e f l ooded wi t h so that Kor ean T V dr amas enj oy in ma ny m a ny e-m ai l s f r omvi ewers 出 at we had a regi on on Asi an countri es. Nowadays ， to re-ai r the epi sode in the eveni ng. Aι the opposi te si de of the gl obe is also beter the final epi sode was s hown，all our i ng i nt roduced to the magi c of Kor ean f emal e staff was in tears. " Encour aged dr amas. 1n Mexi c o“，Al l about Eve" ( l beuui Modeungeot ) was ai red in 2002， by this avi d response，T V N deci ded to ai r t he “ Stai rs to Heaven" seri es on whi c h was f ol l owed by “ St ar i n M y broadcast TV. Thi s was i ndeed remarkHear t " ( Byeor eun Na e Gas eume) i n abl e，consi deri ng that most Chi l ean T V 2003. 1n Venezuel a“，Wi nt er Sonat a" ( Gyeoul yeonga) was broadcast in 2006， net works had been al l otti ng mor e airt i me for i n- house producti ons. al ong wi t h “ Star in My Heart " and “Al l T he onl y unf or t unat e aspect was about Eve" in 2007. Kor ean dr amas and f i l ms have al so been s hown i n Per u， that the series was broadcast at 1: 30 in the af t ernoon when peopl e were busy at Par aguay，and ot her Lat i n Amer i can wor k. Howev er ，gi ven t he fact t hat countri es ，contri buti ng to an enhanced Chi l ean pr ogr ams wer e usual l y ai red awareness and appreci at i on of Kor ean dur i ng pr i me t i me ( 45. 5 percent ) or cul ture among the peopl es in this regi on. whi l e ot h eveni ng hours (43. 3 percent) ， er Lati n A meri can pr ogr ams wer e air ed Kor ean Dr amas Thr i ve i n Chi l e duri ng the a丘er noon (82. 6 percent) ョ nd “ Stai rs to Heaven" first ai red on most U. S. pr ogr ammi ng was ai red in the T V N，Chi l e' s nat i onal broadcast neteveni ng，t he 1: 30 af t ernoon t i me sl ot wor k，on Mar c h 13，2006. Due to t he was i deal for attracti ng the vi ewershi p of enthusi asti c vi ewer response that the sehousewi ves. ries enj oyed when it was ai red on its ca bl e channel ，T V N deci ded to s how it Fer vent Vi ewer Response agai n on regul ar broadcast TV. Thi s Wi t h the except i on of Brazi l ，whose mar ked the first t i me that a Kor ean dra ￨日 respon seto the tremendous popularity 01 "J ewel in the Pal ace l ocal l y pr oduced dr amas are popul ar in ma was ai red on broadcast T V in Chi l e. In sev巴ra l Asian countries ，As iana Airlin巴5 Lati n A meri can and out of the count ry， Four di sti ncti ve l ead characters are has oller 巴d""Jewel in the Palace" -them e vi ew ers m ai nl y w at ch Spani sh- l anguage " whi ch f eat ured i n “ Stai rs to Heaven， aircralt on its routes to/l romthese destinations dramas. Theref ore，a f orei gn- l anguage was pr oduced in Kor ea in 2003. A l ead

圃・・・・

Bri dgi ng Regi ons on Opposi t e Si des of the Wor l d

司

Winter 2007 I Koreana 27

In Chile. the "Stairs to Heaven" series was initiall y aired on a local cable channel; howev巴.r due to a del uge 01 viewer d巴mands. ti was re-broadcast by the nat ionw i de TV network 2 Th巴 lar-reaching popularity 01 Korean TV dramas and m ovi es has . which now se刊 ed to boost tourism includes various them e-rel ated package tour s and must-see attractions. lik 巴 these wax ligures 01 the lead characters 01 ' W inter Sonata.' 1

OQZN-

dr ama f r omKor ea wil l natural l y dr aw attenti on due to peopl e' s curi osi ty. A nd t he vi ewers are comf or t abl e wi t h t he happy endi ngs and good- versus- evi l t hemes of Kor ean dr ama s ，whi c h are sirnilar to 也 e nat ure of telenovel as. But what makes Kor ean dr amas so appeal i ng to Lat i n A meri can audi ences is t he added el ement of emot i onal subt l et y and restrai nt 出at is root ed in the tirne honor ed cul tural tradi ti ons of the Kor e an peopl e. O n the ot her hand， tel enovel as w出 of ten port ray stori es about promi scui t y， bet rayal ，seduct i on，and cr i me， whi ch t end to be e} 中ressed i n rat her crude l anguage. A mong Lati n A meri can tel enovethe subj ects of Chi l ean pr ogr ams are las ， general l y depi ct ed wi 出 consi derabl e re al i sm. Kor ean dr amas deal wi t h sirnilar t hemes ，al t hough a si ngl e epi sode can i nvol ve several subpl ot s that are i ntert wi ned wi t h t he mai n story. Vi ewer s t hus have to pay cl ose attenti on i n order to under st and t he vari ous twi sts and t urns and keep up wi t h thei r favori te characters. W hereas ，a m司ori ty of telenovel as have a happy endi ng， like a del i ghtful weddi ng scene，Kor ean dr amas w出 o丘四 l eave somet hi ng unt ol d in the final epi sode. A uni que attracti on of Ko

28 Koreana IW int er 2007

rean dr amas is t he abi l i ty to l eave t he Vl ewers “ cont em pl at i ng" vari ous scenarios ， rather 出叩 bei ng “ di sappoi nt ed" by an ambi guous concl usi on. Gr aci el a ( age 59) ，wh o wat c hed every si ngl e epi sode of “ Stai rs to Heaven， " r emar ked: “It was st range to see h o wKor eans don' t express thei r feel i ngs di rectl y. They s eemto ponder and reflect for a whi l e bef ore t hey speak，and al ways k now what t he ot her per son is feel i ng or thi nki ng. The f emal e characters s eemto choose to have di ffi cul t rel ati onshi ps. H o w can t hey mak e the girl suffer so muc h? 1 don' t underst and why t he girls wil l j ust keep si l ent and have thei r hearts broken. " Nat al i a ( age 20) ， wh o wat ches Kor ean dr amas o n noted: “ If you wat ch Kor ean YouTube， dr amas ， you can see h o w t hey devel op personal rel ati onshi ps. The mai n t heme is l ove，but t he l ove affai rs are overl y tragi c. Ev en comedi es unf ol d l i ke a h mel odr ama. Pr omot i ng Mut ual Under st andi ng Transl at i on was an i ndi spensabl e factor behi nd the success of Kor ean dr amas i n Lat i n A meri ca. Al t hough Spani sh is t he regi on' s c o mmo n l anguage，each count ry has sl i ghtl y di fferent l i ngui sti c

、

characteri sti cs and practi ces. I n fact ， there were porti ons of “ 5tairs to Heaven" that sounded awkwar d to Chi l eans ， because it was dubbed in Mexi can- styl e 5pani sh. There are other 匂pes of dramas ， 0出er than romant i c mel odramas ，由at coul d al so appeal to Chi l ean vi ewers. These woul d i ncl ude “ J ewel i n t he Pal ace" ( Daej anggeum) ，a hi stori cal dr ama series“，Pri ncess Hour s" ( Goong) ，a story wi t h a di fferent perspecti ve on royal tradi ti ons ，and “ M y Na me Is Ki m5amsoon， " whi ch depi cts the personal e】甲子 ri ences of a moder n Korean woma n，as she struggl es to cope wi t h the chal l enges of cont empor ar y soci ety. In addi t i on，

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doc山 nentary- type programs ， whi ch deal Kor ean cul ture and hi story，coul d be an effective means offurther promot i ng posi ti ve i mages of Korea. The advancement of Korean dramas i nto the Asi an market was in l arge part propel l ed by the prospect of commerci al gai ns. But ，the Lati n Amer i can market requi res a mor e active role on the part of the Kor ean government . For exampl e， the Korean government shoul d consi der acq凶ri ng the di stri buti on rights ，havi ng the dramas dubbed i nto a l anguage suitabl e to the local cul ture， and maki ng the programs avai l abl e for publ i c broadcast for no cost. A nd if the showi ng of Lati n A meri can dramas in Korea coul d be siw l出

Why Are Korean Dr amas So Appeal i ng to Local Vi ewers?

却血

These days ， 1find mysel f bei ng i ncreasi ngl y attracted to Korean dr amas ， a pa 出cul ar art f ormin whi ch 1had il 社le i nterest duri ng my studi es in Korea s ome 15 years ago. 1bel i eve that the phenomenal popul ari ty of Korean dr ama broadcast s is rel ated to J apan' s ability to successf ul l y adapt t hei r cul tural codes. N阻 hi Masayuki Staff writer of Art & Culture News Department ，The Asahi Shi mbun

a K O伽 m 児 a 附但叩 n 任叫ト 1叶吋叫 -la 刷組 n叩 myuni ，v刊erおsit匂 y days ， 1was fortunate enough to spend a year in 5eo叫 as an exchange student ，出 199 1. The mai n fo cus of my studi es was Korean pop c凶 ture. Al t hough t he subj ect s ounded grand，my 叫t凹 late purpose was to ex peri ence t he “ moder ni t y of Kor ea ， " t hrough its f ums ， pl ays ，musi c ，broadcast medi a，and magazi nes. In ot her wor ds ，1 was st udyi ng life abroad. Al t hough it was onl y 15 years ago，at that t i me it was very difficult to encount er 5

mul t aneousl y pr omot ed，thi s cul tural exchange woul d si gni fi cantl y enhance the mut ual underst andi ng bet ween the t wo peopl es 組 dc叫加res. At t he 2007 BC¥ヘパヘT ( Broadcast Wor l d wi de) Conf erence，hel d in Korea earlier 出is year ， tllere was a speci al tele novel a e油 ibit ，whi ch served as a vital l i nkage bet ween the Asi an and the Lati n A meri can T V markets. 5uch e働 rts w世 hel p to i ntroduce the tel enovel a ge町 e to Korea as wel l as el evate 出 e level of interest of Lati n A meri can vi ewers in Korean dramas. In essence，peopl e ar ound the worl d share uni versal val ues and interests ， i ncl udi ng a desi re to vi ewdramas 白紙 can artfully depi ct 白ehumane却 erience.

Kor ean pop cul ture in J apan. Thi s was when T V programs such as “ Eye of t he Dawn" ( Yeomyeongui Nundongj a) and “ Wha t Is Love?" ( 5arangi Mwogi l l ae) garneri ng hi gh vi ewer rati ngs in Korea. 川市ile 1 woul d often c ome across Koreans wat chi ng these T V dr amas at my housi ng compl ex or restaurants ，1 personal l y was not attracted by the programs and in fact rarel y wat ched t hem. Successof ‘ Wi nt er Sonat a' My schedul e di d not al l owme to sit m 仕ont of the T V at a presGri bed t i me and 1 coul d not afford to spend money on vi deos. Mor eover ， my level of Korean was not adequat e enough for me to enj oy Kor ean T V dramas. Al t hough 1 studi ed Korean for t wo and a hal f years ， the l anguage barri er cont i nued to be a maj or probl em. It was s ome 10 years later that 1 final l y began to qui etl y appreci ate Kor ean dramas. And in J apan of all pl aces! In parti cul ar ，1 t horoughl y enj oYsd the 20 epi sodes of the “ Wi nt er 50nat a" series. 50， whydi dI 白l d mysel f attracted to the dr ama this tirne around? It s mai n characters ，portrayed by Bae Yong J oon and Choi Ji W 00， were attracti ve i ndi vi dual s ， the enti re at mosphere surroundi ng the Wint er 2007 I Kor eana 29

was successful l y l ocal i zed i nto a J apanese adaptati on. Muc h like an adapter that mi ght be needed for an electrical devi ce to wor k in a forei gn count ry，the cul tural codes embedded in dr ama pr ogr ams must be adapt ed i n order for thei r broadcast abr oad to be successf ul. As such，t he t ransl at i on，dubbi ng ，and edi t i ng processes pl ay a critical rol e in the locali zati on of such cul tural senti ments. A J apanese researcher who speci al i zes in moder n Kor ean cul ture c omment ed t ome: “ Bal f of the great success of ' Wi n ter Sonata' in J apan shoul d be credi ted to 出 e efforts made by NHK. T o 出 is end， in order for Kor ean dramas to be accepted they must cl earl y percei ve the i n J apan， sensibilities of the target audi enceア

1 Korean ent 巴rtam ers 日re Irequently leatured on the covers 01 pop-culture

m agazi nes throughout the Asian reg l On 2 As a result 01 her lead role in “ W inter Sonata Choi Ji Woo has been elevated the top tier 01 Asia's best-known celebrities ，， "

Koreana I W inter 2007

E xcessi ve Kor eaness Si nce 1 oversee the art and cul ture news depart ment of a maj or newspaper ， 1 a moften asked questi ons like: “ What is t he attracti on of Kor ean dr amas?" Ma ny of those who ask me this questi on have never actual l y wat ched a Kor ean dr ama was one of sereni ty， and i he audi and natural l y associ ate the Koredr ama， ence f ound itself getti ng hooked on the an dr ama wi t h “ Wi nt er Sonata. " W hile i nt ert wi ni ng pl ot lines. These are the an i ntri gui ng story l i ne and attracti ve pr i mar y reasons for its popul ari t y，accast are regarded as t he f undament al cor di ng to vi ewer s wh o f ai t hf ul l y reasons for an artistic wor k，such as a wat ched the series epi sodes. dr ama or f i l m，to stri ke a chor d wi t h Bowever ，less apparent factors have the task of i denti 命i ng t hemes vi ewers ， been in pl ay as well. Mos t i mport ant l y， and actors 出 at can capture the f ancy of the enti re di al ogue had been transl ated audi ences is an i nherent l y t ri cky i nto J apanese. The renderi ng of the di aprocess. I ndeed，a f ormul a for sol vi ng l ogue of a f orei gn- l anguage dr ama，eithis l ongst andi ng conundr umwoul d be ther t hr ough subti tl i ng or dubbi ng，is no doubt wel c omed by T V and f i l m one of the most cruci al processes for enproducers the worl d over. abl i ng the target audi ence to properl y The use of excel l ent storyte山ng techunderst and the story line. Theref ore，it ni ques is a key attri bute of Kor ean drais necessary to eschewliteral i nterpretamas. Anot her uni que practi ce of such ti on in favor of refi ned transl ati on that dramas is use of the Internet to acti vel y is capabl e of conveyi ng the subtl eti es of and 出 en consi dsolicit vi ewei reacti ons ， the di al ogue and the characters' senti eri ng this i nput for the devel apment of the use of ment s. l n 出 is parti cul ar case， upc omi ng epi sodes. Kor ean dr amas “ sweet " voi ces to depi ct t hose of Bae about l ove stories will exhi bi t a basi c KoYong J oon and Choi Ji Wo o had the eι rean characteri sti c of i ncl udi ng"tragi c infect of creati ng a J apanese versi on of the ci dents ， such as an auto acci dent ， amnestory that revol ved ar ound the emot i ons sia，or secrets about someone' s past ， “ Wi nt er Sonat a" of “自rst l ove." As such， whi ch serve as obstacl es to the cons um

mat i on of a l ove affai r. Thi s techni que is si mil ar to that whi ch was f eatured in J apanese mel odramas of the pas t. Accordi ngl y，it has been cont ended that a m司ori ty of the J apanese vi ewers who have become fans of Korean mel odramas ，such as “Wi nt er Sonat a， " were in fact those who had l ong enj oyed this genre. In addi ti on，the appearances of the Kor ean characters ， as wel l as the city scenes that serve as the backdr op for such dramas ， are also fam i l i ar to J apanese audi ences. The fact that Kor ean dramas have al so been popul ar in Chi na， Tai wan，and even Vi et nam， proves that t hey possess a br oad appeal to Asi an vi ewers. I n thi s case，the Conf uci anbased pri nci pl es and atti tudes t owar d l ove and f ami l y val ues port rayed i n these dr amas have been ci ted as l i kel y factors behi nd this success. The outl andi sh cravi ng for Kor ean dr amas and actors appears to have receded somewhat in J apan. At one poi nt ， the compet i t i on to secure Kor ean dra mas and actors seemed to be centered on a frenzi ed bi ddi ng contest. There after ， the shared sensibilities and dreams that Kor ean dr amas and actors elicited among J apanese vi ewers often resul ted in di si l l usi onment ， when a commerci al based reality became i ncreasi ngl y apparent. In 出is regard，al though popul ar at home， the dramat i c styles utilized in Korea shoul d not be exported whol esal e to J apan. In parti cul ar ，producers run the risk of riling the J apanese medi a if they do not adopt measures to ensure that they can properl y respond to the reacti ons of J apanese audi ences. Consequentl y，the avai l ab日ity of persons who can take on the rol e of an adapter wil l be the key to the cont i nued success of Korean dramas in J apan.

such as “ Dest i ny of Love" by FUJ I TV. Thi s dr ama revol ved around the lives of ethni c Kor ean resi dents in J apan， a subject whi ch had heretofore been regarded as t aboo wi t hi n the J apanese broadcast i ndustry. Even t oday， the t erm“ Kor ean resi dent in J apan" will conj ure up i m ages of those who were forci bl y rel ocat ed to J apan as part of i mperi al J ap mobi l i zat i on pol i cy ( 1910- 1945) . The descendant s of these rel ocatees ， who had been forced to wor k in mi nes and muni ti ons factori es ，whi l e bei ng subj ected to constant persecut l On，cont mue to experi ence raci al di scri minat i on in J apan. A nother notabl e trend has been the recent i nt roduct i on of Kor ean hi stori cal dr amas in J apan. As for Korea' s hi stori cal dr amas ， The Asahi Shi mbun has recentl y undert aken a l arge-scal e endeavor enti tl ed “ I mpact of Hi story: 150 Years in East Asi a. " Thi s seri es ，publ i shed once a mont h，takes a l ook at moder n and cont empor ar y hi story. Appear i ng i n J apanese on the company websi te，this series has al so been publ i shed in English，Kor ean，and Chi nese. It is "accessi bl e on the Internet site of the Kor ean newspaper ，The Dong A Il bo，whi c h mai nt ai ns a wor ki ng rel ati onshi p wi t h TheA抑制 Shi mbun.

、如

My personal contri buti on to this endeavor has been a revi ewof the Korean dr ama ， “ Empr es s Myeongs eong" ( Myeongs eonghwanghu) . Empr es s Myeongseong ( 1851- 1895) ，the wi fe of Emper or Goj ong (1 852- 1919) ，after havi ng succeeded in graspi ng the rei ns of pol i ti cal power was assassi nated by agent s of t he J apanese gover nment ， whi ch was hel l -bent on sei zi ng control of J oseon. In Korea， the advent of sever al dr amas and musi cal s featuri ng E m press Myeongseong has l ed to a reassessment of her standi ng in Kor ean hi story. Of not e，the “ Empr ess Myeongseong" dr ama，ostensi bl y the depi cti on of a femal e hi stori cal fi gure， became a huge hit in Tai wan and Chi na t hrough its ab出W to convey uni versal sensibilities. Thi s dr ama，al ong wi t h the afore ment i oned “ Wi nt er Sonat a， " whi ch was i mmensel y popul ar i n J apan，can be i denti fi ed as the most successful exampl es of Kor ean drama. However ， thus far 也 e “ Empress Myeongseong" dr ama has not been ai red in J apan， whose hi story is i ntri catel y l i nked to 伽 t of Korea. Thus ， the barri ers that symbol i ze the tragi c hi story of Korea- J apan rel ati ons are evident in the worl d of dr ama as well. Thi s seems to be anot her exampl e of howart and life can i m i tate each other.

Out l ook for Kor ean Dr amas Al t hough t hey have been ai red in J apan for onl y about five years ，Kor ean dr amas have exerted a pervasi ve i nfl uence over J apanese vi ewers. The runaway success of “ Wi nt er Sonat a" made possi bl e the ai ri ng of uni que dr amas ， Wi nter 2007 I Kor eana 31

Wher e Korean T V Dr amas Fl ouri sh

出国m

Vi ewer s in Vi et namhave been wat chi ng Kor ean T V pr ogr ams si nce t he mid- 1990s. The popul ari ty of Kor ean T V dr amas has steadi l y expanded， whi l e Vi et namese vi ewer s can n o waccess t he l atest dr ama seri es f r om Kor ea on cabl e channel s. inh City University 01 Education Bui Manh Hung Prolessor 01 Linguistics & Literature，Ho Chi M

1 The Seoul Dram a Awards ，whi chwas esta blished in2006，seeks to

prom ote act ive exchange among the sectors 01 Kor ea and other countrl es Korean TV dramas and lilms ar e 日ow well rooted in the local cult ure 01 5 巴V 巴ra l Asiancount ries T V media

Koreana I W inter 2007

…

t namt oday， d a山 ovi es f r oma number of countri es are bei ng broadcast on cabl e T V，a mong whi ch Kor ean dr amas regul arl y gar ner t he hi ghest rati ngs ， 1t is c o mmo n to see a Vi et namese f ami l y，compr i si ng mor e wat chi ng Kor ean t han one generat i on， dr amas t oget her. Each t i me a Kor ean dr ama is broadcast ，the seri es becomes the tal k of the t own the f ol l owi ng day at and wherever else market s and 0 節目s， peopl e gat her. Vi et namese vi ewers have a st rong a伍 ni ty wi t h the characters and actors ，al ong wi t h adori ng the graceful ness of Korea' s l andscape sceneηι 山

E xc!i pt i onal Scri pt wri t i ng Though t hey are bot h Asi an coun-

tries，Kor ea and Vi et namare noti ceabl y in t erms of thei r cul tural ， relidi fferent ， gi ous ，pol i ti cal ，and soci al envi r onwhi ch natural l y i nfl uence the T V ment s ， vi ewi ng pref erences of l ocal audi ences. Then，why do dr amas f r omKor ea ap peal so strongl y to Vi et namese vi ewers? Fi rst ，Kor ean soap operas f eat ure based on uni que and di sti ncti ve stori es ， wel l wri tten scri pts that can realistically depi ct Kor ean soci ety t hrough everyday detai l s of mundane goi ngs- on. A nd conflicts are resol ved wi t hi n t hese wel l st ruct ured narrat i ve f r amewor ks. 1n it is reasonabl e to concl ude light of this ， that Kor ean dr ama wri ters possess remarl 王abl e creati vi ty and i ngenui ty. The romant i c l ove depi ct ed in Korean dr amas is especi al l y attracti ve to Vi et namese audi ences. Of course，l ove and r omance have al ways been a mai nst reamt heme i n the medi a arts. But Korean soap operas can depi ct r omant i c l ove mor e exqui si tel y and i nt i mat el y t han the pr ogr ams 仕o many ot her Asi an count ry，Kor ean producers have a knack for present i ng subtl e sensi bi l i ti es about the i nner worki ngs of l ove 企o mvari ous angl es and perspect i ves ， T he dr amas port ray h o wKor ean yout h will demon strate thei r undyi ng l ove unti l thei r very last breat h. Seri es such as “ Fi rst Love" “ Aut umn i n M y Heart " ( Cheot sarang) ， “ Wi nt er Sonat a" ( Gaeul donghwa) ， ( Gyeoul yeonga) ，and “ Perfect Love" ( Wanj eonhan Sarang) all gl ori fy r omanemot i onal l y engagi ng vi ewers tic l ove， wi t h a ki nd of pur e，unwaver i ng devo these dr amas are k nown to ti on，1ndeed， have made a l asti ng i mpr百 si on on Vi etnam' s younger generati on. Anot her reason for the hi gh prai se that vi ewers in Vi et namhave for Kor ean dr amas is thei r representati on of tradi ti onal Asi an. val ues. As such，depi cti ons of the dept h and i ntensi ty of love-rel ated emot i ons are not expressed t hrough whi ch expl i ci t scenes or di rect di al ogue， al l ows all member s of an ext ended f amily to gather together and enj oy the dra Kor ean dr amas provi de mas ，Mor eover ， vi ewers wi t h an entertai ni ng and hi gh-

Wi t h extraordi nary courage and fortit ude， the l ead characters are abl e to surmount daunt i ng chal l enges ，whi ch are nowrecorded in hi story textbooks. Stori es about patri oti smand staunch resistance agai nst forei gn i ntruders ，as port rayed in “ h日nong， " have struck a deep chord wi t h Vi et namese vi ewers. In order to see every mi nut e of thi s 80epi sode series ， peopl e w世 put asi de what ever 出 ey mi ght be doi ng so 也at they can catch the start of each broadcast.

mi nded after-work di versi on， whi ch can l eave audi ences wi t h a sense of bi ttersweetness. The human- i nt erest and lifeexperi ence val ues of the dramas reach a cl i max as the l ead characters envi si on an opport uni t y to live happi l y ever after. In addi ti on，Kor ean dr amas are ar tistically rendered， especi al l y in t erms of thei r ci nemat ography. The gorgeous scenes - t he bl ue ocean，maj est i c mount ai n peaks ， hustl e and bustl e of urban life，romant i c aut umn setti ngs wi t h col orful l eaves ，attracti ve houses ，and t rendy cafes and restaurants - beckon vi ewers to see the wonderf ul scenery of Korea for themsel ves. The attire of Ko rean actresses ，as wel l as thei r hai rstyl e and attracti vel y appl i ed make- up，all catch the keen eye of vi ewers. The clOtlli ng of actresses is stylish and f emini ne， whi l e actors convey an i nnate mascul i nity and ref i nement . As a resul t ，t he younger generati on takes their cue 企o m the dr amas ，whi ch has caused Kor ean cl othi ng and cosmet i c product s to be c ome must - have i tem s. Tal ent ed Per f or mer s Tal ented actors is anot her factor behi nd the popul ari ty of Kor ean dramas. Kor ean perf ormers are c ons ummat e professi onal s who fully i mmer se t hemselves in their roles to faithfully portray the characters and vi vi dl y express thei r

vari ous emot i onal experi ences. The l ook in their eyes ， al ong wi t h the realistic way they smil e， kiss ，and shed tears ，readi l y connect wi t h vi ewers of all age groups. The di sti ncti vel y Asi an appearance of Korean actors ，who exempl i 命yout h and beaut y，enthral l vi ewers. And the ti mel y use of si l ence， duri ng a conversati on， reveal s a uni que means of expressi ng a character' s personal t hought s and emot i ons ，wi t hout verbal communi cation. Thanks to the excel l ent acti ng of l ead characters ， thei r hardshi ps ， breakups ，and wi l l i ngness to sacrifice everythi ng for l ove elicit deep empat hy f r om Vi et namese vi ewers ，wh o mai nt ai n l ong-l asti ng memor i es of thei r favori te actors. Meanwhi l e，the dr amas refl ect the d戸l amic lifestyle of young peopl e in Korea， whi ch seems to be grounded in nati onal pri de. Al t hough Korea has undergone rapi d economi c devel opment and i nternati onal i zati on of its market s ，the day- t o- day life and cust oms present ed in the dramas i ndi cate that Koreans still pl ace muc h emphasi s on preservi ng and rei nforci ng their cul tural tradi ti ons. In parti cul ar ，hi story- rel ated dramas ，such as “ Heo J un， "“ J ewel in the Pal ace" ( Daej anggeum) ，and “ Pri nce of the Legend" ( J umong) ，pai nt an accurate pi cture of Koreans agai nst the backdr op of hi story' s t umul t uous events.

Fut ur e f or Kor ean Dr amas In Vi et nam，the mel odr amas and hi stori cal dr amas of Kor ea over whel m those 仕o mother countri es. In the past ， Tai wanese and Hong Kong dramas enj oyed broad popul ari ty， but thei r nonstop acti on scenes ，of good guys versus bad guys ，no l onger catch the f ancy of Vi et namese vi ewers ，whi l e falling short of Hol l ywood producti ons. Despi te thei r strong poi nts ，Kor ean T V seri es have certai n weaknesses as wel .l Si mil ar pl ot l i nes ， whi ch i ncl ude seri ous illness (0丘en cancer) ，acci dents ， hospi tal setti ngs ， l ove tri angl es ， and star crossed l ove bet ween persons 合o mdiι ferent social strata， t end to be repeated， in vari ous forms. In addi ti on，at ti mes ， there is an excessi ve f ocus on product pl acement ，whi ch can distract f r omthe mai n story line. Of course， these mi nor shmt comi ngs are hardl y enough to dampen the Korean dr ama boomthat has been enj oyi ng a surge in Vi et namfor several years now. In fact ，it coul d be sai d that the vi ewi ng of Kor ean T V dramas has become a ki nd of nati onal past i me in Vi et nam. I ndeed，Kor ean dramas have hel ped to bui l d a bri dge bet ween the t wo countries ，al ong wi t h narrowi ng the di fferences of thei r peopl es. As such，it will now be essenti al for bot h countries to acti vel y i mpl ement cul tural exchanges in order to further devel op thei r t woway relations. In the meant i me， vi ewers in Vi et namwil l eagerl y awai t the ai ri ng of even mor e entertai ni ng Kor ean dra ma seneS. 1温 Wi nter 2007 I Kor eana

8til

.~ear

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froI n

t he Lessons of

Hi story

Kor eans have been f asci nat ed by recent l y pr oduced hi stori cal dr amas that deal wi め past event s but can al so offer i nsi ght i nto pr esent - day mat t er s . I ndeed， hi st ory- rel at ed t hemes are no w preval ent in Korea' s fi l m，br oadcast ，and publ i shi ng sect ors . Bai k Seungc han Cul t ure Desk. The Ky ungHy ang S hi nmun Choi Hang- young Phot ogr apher

t hi~tonral

dr a ma弔， th~

l C' ad c he' r act ET i5 守l or C' t han

t er eot yp c c; l f l gure wh o 15 t or mE l' t Ed by t he t ragl c f dt e ount r y a nd peopl C' . In part i cul ar ， r at hC' r t han hi ghl i g 町t rng

hl 五t cri c I rCl dent 5， t her e 15 a f OCU5 0 1'わ O WIl 5t Orl Cai wi t h t hE' emot i onal e' xpcri enc( '

円g .l.l

r es

of r eg .J l ar pC' opl e

1 ・ RoyaL Court Ladi es" [Gungnyeol is a representative 5 fiLmsector exampLe of the recent deveLopment s in Kor 巴a・ Agai nst the backdrop of a J oseon-era royaL paLace ，the story Line is centered on an ordi nary court atl endant ， whose otherwi se Low- profiLe status wouLd be better sui ted for a supporti ng roLe 2 R巴centLy，Korean fiLms reLated to the peri od of J apanese coLoni aL ruLe ，in contrast to the overt patr ioti c themes that had been favored in the past ，have instead f ocused on the subtL e i ntri caci es of indivi duaL characters ，呂 5 seen In Epi taph，a mystery- suspense thriLLer 3 The Good，The 8ad，and The Weird，a ki nd of "Ori e円taL Western. . takeoff ，is said to be one of the most promisi ng Korean fi Lm s sLated for reLease in 2008

Epi 臼p h ( Gi dam，l in whi ch t he J apanes e agent assi gned to i nvesti -

wh e n Manchur i a wa s a r ef uge f or i ndependence f i ght ers ， bandi t s ，

gat e a hei nous mur der case is depi ct ed as a dedi cat ed prof essi on-

anar chi st s ，and soci al i sts . Thi s f i l m，whi c h is a t akeof f of t he cl as-

a.l [t pr 巴sent s a bi zarre st ory t hat unf ol ds agai nst t he backdr op of

si c The Good，The 8 a d，and The Ugl y t hat st arred Cl i nt Eas t wood，

a mode r n hospi t al in 1942，wi t h a narrat i on t hat is bot h sensi t i ve

is a sel f - pr ocl ai med “ Manc hur i an Wes t er n."

and chi l l i ng. I nst ead of angst over t he nat i on' s t ragi c f at e ，t he char act er s ar e s hown experi enci ng t he emot i ons t hat ar e f amil i ar s uc h as r emor s e over a mot he r" s acc 卜 to moder n- day audi ences ， dent al deat h or mour ni ng t he l oss of a f ami l y me mb e r .

Cr os s i ng Ov e r My t h a n d Hi s t or y Hi st ori cal dr a ma s about t he Gor yeo ( 918- 1392) and J os eon ( 1392- 1910) per i ods have al ways been popul ar. [n cont rast to T V

A s f or Moder n 8oy，w hi ch is current l y under pr oduct i on ，it

dr a ma ser ies t hat deal w ith love and f ami l y affai rs ，whi c h t hus

f eat ures t he s on of a pr o- J apanese f i gure as t he pr ot agoni s.t Of

t end to at t ract f emal e vi 巴wer s ，hi stori cal dr a ma s t hat f eat ure t he

not e ，t he st ory has little to do wi t h t he st ruggl e f or i ndependence;

i nt ri gue of power st r uggl es a mo ng f act i ons of th巴 royal c ou吋 ar e

it is all about t he j our ney of a prof l i gat e yout h whos e sol e i nter 巴st

mor e popul ar wi t h mal e audi ences . Over t i me ，howev er ，t he best -

is t he seduct i on of beaut i f ul wo me n. Rat her t han t he t ypi cal

k nown st ori es ，and adapt at i ons th巴reof ，have al r eady been tol d ，

whi t e- bl ouse and bl ack- ski rt dr ess of thi s peri od，t he char act er s

w hi ch has f or ced pr oducer s to fi nd i nspi rat i on f r om prehi st ori c

ar e ador ned in Wes t 巴rn- st yl e atti re ，i ncl udi ng gl amor ous g owns

t i mes " The F our Guar di an Gods of t he Ki ng ( Ta e wa ng ちas i ngi l， "

and s uav巴 f edor as. Anot her pr omi nent f i l m in t he mak i ng is The Good，The 8 a d，

and The Wei r d (J oeun N o m，Nappeun N o m，I sanghan N o m .l T he

t he Gr eat (r . 391- 413) wh o expanded t he bor der s of t he Gogur yeo

S ong Ka ng - ho ，L e e

Ki ngdom ( 37 B.C. - A. D. 668) over a vast terri tory. But thi s seri es

al ong wi t h boast i ng a budget

wa s not hi ng l i ke a typi cal hi stori cal dr a ma. [ nst ead ， it appear ed to

f i l m st ar s t hr ee popul ar ma l e act or s Byung- hun，and J ung Woo- s ung -

w hic h is bei ng ai red on MB C，tel l s t he st ory of Ki ng Gwanggaet o

of over 10 bi l l i on wo n ( about $11 mil l i on.l Schedul 巴d f or r el ease in 2008，t he f i l mis set in Manchur i a dur i ng t he 1930s and 1940s ，

have be巴n heavi l y i nf l uenced by f ant asy f i l ms ，il k e a ki nd of Kor ean versi on of The Lor d of t he Ri ngs. Winter 2007 I Kor eana 37

1 The "Yi San" dr ama seri es portrays the lile story 01 the r巴V 巴r巴d Ki ng J eongjo Ir. 1776・1800.1 who reigned over a per 旧 d 01political stabil ity. at the ti me when the infl uences 01 West ern cul ture 2

arrived on th巴 Korean Peni nsul a Nowadays. history-related novels and literary works have enj oyed a surge 01 popul ar ity among Korean r巴aders. lilli ng bookstore shel ves with a myriad 01 diverse select ions

The seri es is pr oduced by Ki mJ ong- hak ，one of Korea' s f ore-

royal court eunuch. Howev er ，t he pl ot lin巴s ar e cent er ed on t he

mos t pr oducer s ，and st ars Bae Yong J oon，an act or wh o enj oys

vari ous exper i ences of t he i ndi vi dual char act er s ，i nst ead of t he

i mmens e popul ari t y in J apan. Wi t h an unpr 巴cedent ed budget of

unf ol di ng of conspi r acy s c he me s to gai n power ，as had been

wel l over 40 bi l l i on wo n ( about $44 mil l i on.l t here ar e hopes that

c o mmo n wi t h thi s genr e in t he pas .t "Yi San， " whi ch is in its earl y

" whi ch s 巴e ms to be t he dr ama can reenergi ze t he " Kor ean Wa v e ，

st ages ，depi ct s th巴 confl i ct bet ween Ki ng Yeongj o (r> 1724- 1776J

l osi ng its mo me n t u mt hese days. Hi gh- t ech c omput er graphi cs

and hi s gr andson and successor J eongj o. Af t er Yeongj o or der s

wer e us 巴d to creat 巴 backgr ound set t i ngs and epi c- scal e battl e

t he ki l l i ng of hi s son，J eongj o's f at her ，J eongj o l ater ascends to

whi l e t he ki ng is port rayed as a cari ng p巴rson rat her t han scenes ，

t he t hr one ，bur dened wi t h a gr ave sens 巴 of r emor se. Unl i ke t he

a fi erce warri or

ki ngs of previ ous hi stor ical dr amas ，wh o wer e pri mari l y i ntent on

The at t empt to adapt t hemes f r om anci ent hi story wa s al so

properl y carryi ng out t hei r royal dut i es ，in t he earl y epi sodes ，

evi dent in “ J umong ， " anot her seri es t hat ai red thi s year . It f ea-

Ki ng J 巴ongj o is pr eoccupi ed wi t h deal i ng wi t h hi s per sonal sor-

t ures t he heroi cs of J umong ，a royal descendent and f ounder of

r owand agony.

t he Gogur yeo Ki ngdom. Due to a l ack of document at i on and ref巴r ence

mat 巴ri al s on t he event s of anci ent hi stori c peri ods ，muc h

As for t he “ The Ki ng and 1， " it is not abl e for its port rayal of t he monar c h as a “ pri vate i ndi vi dual " rat her t han a “ publ i c f i gure."

of t he st ory l i ne is a creati ve pr oduct of t he scri pt wri t ers . Despi t e

Thi s seri 巴s f eat ures t he life of a court eunuc h，whi ch br eaks n e w

quest i ons about t he authenti ci ty of vari ous detai l s ，t he dr amat i c

gr ound for a Kor ean dr ama s 巴ri es ，in t er ms of its subj 邑ct mat t er .

epi sodes have at t ract ed a l oyal f ol l owi ng

Ki m Cheo- s eon und巴r goes cast rat i on so t hat h巴 can bec ome a

Nonet hel es s ，hi st ori cal dr a ma s about event s in t he royal

court eunuc h，bel i evi ng thi s is t he onl y wa y he can r emai n cl ose

pal ace ，a favori t 巴 st andby t heme ，r emai n popul ar ，as evi denced

to t he wo ma n he l oves. The ever yday life of a eunuc h，whi ch had

by such seri es as “ Yi San， " about Ki ng J eongj o (r . 1776- 1800.1 t he J oseon ki ng wh o rei gned over a peri od of wi despr ead prosperi t y， and "The Ki ng and 1" ( Wanggwa Na.l whi ch tel l s t he st ory of a

38 Koreana I W i nter 2007

never been tol d in detai l ，is hi ghl i ght ed by col orf ul narrat i on. In t he seri es ，whi ch has enj oyed f avorabl e vi ewer rat i ngs ，t he ki ng and t he eunuc h bec ome bi tter archri val s.

℃U i \~t

I nsi ght i nt o Cur r ent Af f ai rs

an gover nment has acti vel y pur sued t he FTA . t here are still con-

A number of w巴l l - known aut hors ar 巴 al so wri ti ng hi stori cal

cer ns that it wil l wi den t he gap in an al ready pol ari zed soci ety

novel s. Of not e，fくi mHoon，a f or mer j ournal i st who has bec ome

Shoul d we si mpl y open t he gat es to t he gl obal f unds that are

one of t he mos t pr omi nent wri t ers in Kor ea ，has recent l y pub-

c amped outsi d巴 t he f ort ress? In thi s regard，t oday" s ongoi ng F T A

l i shed t wo novel s : The S ong of t he S wor d [ Kar ui nor ae) and

debat e is not muc h di fferent fro'm that whi ch occur r ed s ome 400

Namhans ans eong

years ago.

Si nce its rel ease in Apri l ，t he sal es of Namhans ans eong have

Anot her rel evant t rend is t he emer genc e of novel s that rei n-

r eached s ome 250， 000， a r emar kabl e feat for a hi story- rel ated lit-

t巴rpret f emal e f i gures of t he pas.t Shi n Kyong- suk and Ki mTak-

erary work. The novel is based on Qi ng Dynast y Chi na' s i nvasi on

hwan al most si mul t aneousl y r el eased thei r respect i v 巴 books

of Kor ea ，in t he earl y 17th cent ury，whi ch l ed to a humil i at i ng sur-

about t he st ory of a royal court dancer who fell in l ove wi t h a

r ender by J oseon. Tens of t housands of Qi ng t roops sur r ounded

Fr ench di pl omat ，bravel y f ol l owed hi mto Pari s ，wher e she hoped

t he Namahans ans eong f ort ress ，wher e t he J os eon ki ng had

to st udy，but in t he end coul d not ov巴r c ome t he soci al restri cti ons

t aken ref uge. I nst ead of at t acki ng ，t he Qi ng t roops cut off t he

i mposed by soci ety.

f ortress f r omt he out si de wor l d， whi ch f orces t hose t rapped wi t h-

An addi ti onal exampl e is Hwangj i ni ，a story about Hwang Jini ，

in to choose bet ween an honorabl e deat h or shamef ul capi tul a-

a l egendar y gi saeng，or cour t esan，of t he J os 巴on peri od，and

tlon.

Nongae， that recount s t he heroi cs of t he court esan Non'gae ，who

Ki m' s st r ai ght f or war d wri t i ng and s ombe r t on巴 gr 巴atl y

l ured a J apanes e gener al ，duri ng t he Imji n Wa r of 1592 ，to a

i nt ri gued readers. S o me even c ompar e t he Namhans ans eong

sheer cliff ，wher e she sacri fi ced hersel f by graspi ng t he general

si tuati on wi t h our current state of affai rs . At a t i me when gl obal

and causi ng t he t wo of t hemto hurtl e to thei r deat h i nto t he ri ver

specul at i ve f unds can seri ousl y under mi ne economi c stabi l i ty ，

bel ow. Her e agai n，i nst ead of t he hi stori c i nci dents bei ng t he focal

t he Nat i onal As s embl y" s rati fi cati on of t he Kor 巴a- U. S. Fr ee

poi nt ，t he story line deal s wi t h t he personal experi ences and sen-

Tr ade Agr eement [ FTA) s eems hi ghl y likely. Al t hough t he Kore-

t i ment s of t he l ead charact ers. I.i.t Wi nt er 2007 I Koreana 3 9

I NTE R V I E W

Ki m Dong- hwa I nnovat or of Korea' s Comi c Book Cul t ure Nowa da y s ，a wi de vari et y of Kor ean c omi c ser i es a nd book s [ ma n h wa，l is enj oyed b y a wi de r ange of r eader s of al l gener at i ons. Thi s popul ar i t y of ma n h wa c an in l ar ge par t be at t ri but ed to vet er an car t ooni st K i m Dong - hwa ，wh o capt i vat es r eader s wi t h hi s Kor ean i mager y a nd creati vi ty. Park In Ha Pr olessor 01 Comi c and Cartoon Cr eation，Chungkang Col l ege 01 Cul tural l ndustri es Ahn Hong- beomPhotographer

i m Dong- hwa [b. 19501 is a chamel eon- l i ke cart ooni st ，

c omi c book Candy，Candy wa s i nt r oduced to Kor ea ，i nst ant l y

who can adapt to a changi ng envi r onmen.t Even l ongt i me

becomi ng a huge hit a mong f emal e read巴rs

r eader s ar e a ma z e d by hi s abi l i ty to abr upt l y c hange

“

It wa s a s 巴nsat i on ， "' Ki m recal l s

“

For t he first t i me in my

f r om one subj 巴ct ar 巴a to anot her . He first rose to pr omi nence

me mor y ，t he Candy，Candy comi c wa s di scussed in news paper

in t he 1980s ，whe n he pr oduced r omant i c- based comi c seri es

巴di tori al s. 1 sti l l l i ke

t hat appeal ed to f emal e r eader s Howev er ，hi s prof 巴ssi onal

dr aw pretty pi ct ures ，but thi s wa s unacc 巴pt abl e to t he publ i sh-

car eer wa s al ready wel l und巴r way by that t i m巴.

巴rs .

目

Af t er starti ng out as an apprent i ce cart ooni st in 1969 ，Ki m manag ed to wi n a compet i t i on in 1975 ，sponsor ed by The Hank ook Chi l dr en 's Dai l y，but he di d not gai n n a me recogni t i on

unti l t he 1980s ，whe n My n a me is Ci ・ndy and Acaci a be c a me

pr 巴tty thi ngs. At t he t i me ，1 dearl y want ed to

50，1 dr ew run- of - t hemi l l stuff ，j ust to ma k e a living. But

wi t h t he success of Candy，Candy，in 1978，1 deci ded to ma k e a fr 巴sh start and dr awt he pretty i mages that Il i ked Thi s resul t ed 目

in Our St or y[ Ur i deur ui Iyagi .l whi ch wa s publ i shed in 1979: '

5t art i ng wi t h Our St or y Ki m' s r omanc e- t heme wor ks i ntro-

r unaway hi ts . At that t i me ，hi s e m巴rg 巴nce on t he comi c book

duced t he pl easur e of readi ng comi cs to Kor ean gi i l s . Then，at

scene wa s rat her unexpect ed. Hi s dr awi ng styl e ， whi ch empha-

t he peak of hi s popul ari t y as a r omanc e cart ooni st ，Ki m sud-

si zed f or mal beaut y ，wa s unf ami l i ar to Kor ean r eader s ，bei ng

denl y j umped ont o a n e w t rack f or t he popul ar c omi c - book

mor e al ong t he l i nes of t he ma ng a comi cs of J apan，wher 巴 t he

mont hl y Bomul s e om [ Tr easur e Isl and) . Our St or y，Acaci a，My

comi c book cul t ure wa s far mor e advanc 巴d，in t er ms of qual i ty

Na me Is Ci ndy [ Naui I r eumeun Si ndi) ，and Sapphi r e w 巴re typト

and vari ety.

cal r omanc 巴 st ori es for gi rl s . Af t er muc h t hought ，1 deci ded to

Mas t er of Cha ng e

wa s Pi nk，t he Fai ry [ Yoj eong Pi nk.l whi ch wa s publ i shed in s 巴「

add el ement s of c omedy and f ant asy to my wor k The resul t 目

In t hose days ，mos t peopl e woul d r ead thei r favori te comi cs

ial f or min 1984， " Ki mexpl ai ned.

at a comi c book st ore ，whi ch coul d be f ound in 巴very nei ghbor -

Pi nk，t he Fai ry d巴scri b巴s t he exper i ences of a fai ry ，wh o

hood. It wa s l i ke a smal l bookst or e but wa s op巴rat 巴d di fferent-

one day arri ves on eart h ，and bec omes f ri ends wi t h an amat eur

ly: r eader s pai d an admi ssi on f ee that al l ow巴d t hemto read as

phot ogr apher na me d Bean. Wi t h thi s wor k ，Ki m 的 i fted hi s

ma ny comi c books as t hey desi r 巴d wi t hi n a part i cul ar peri od of

f ocus f r om r omanc e to chi l dren's and f ami l y stori es. But thi s

t i me. 5i nce t he f ee wa s a nomi nal amount ，t he st ores ser ved as

wa s onl y t he start of hi s bol dness to t ake on ne wsubj ect areas.

a hangout f or nei ghbor hood t r oubl emaker s. As t he at mos -

Af t er conf i r mi ng t he mar ket pot ent i al for f ami l y st ori es wi t h

pher e was not sui t abl e for gi rl s ，t here wer e f巴w f emal e cus-

Pi nk，t he Fai ry，Ki mwent on to publ i sh advent ur 巴 comi cs for

t omer s ，such that t he comi c book mar ket for gi rl s wa s vi rtual l y

boys ，i ncl udi ng Bug Boy [ Gonc hung Sonyeonl and Yout h Pol i ce

nonexi st ent in Kor ea in t he mi d- 1970s. T h巴 n，t he J apanes e

[ Gyeongchal dael

40 Koreana I Winter 2007

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A 5tory of Ki sae円g，whi ch descri b巴5 the tr ial s and tri bulati ons of two cour t esans as t hey const ant ly compet e agai nst each ot her ，has be巴n hi ghl y accl ai med for its subtl e depi ct i on of latent erot icism

f!'

~ ( 網拡E 2 Ki mDong- hwa' s works are nowbeing introduced to readers in Europe. The Red Bi cycl e Ilef t.l whi ch portrays the everyday goi ngs- on of a typical rural vil lag 巴，and A Ye/[ o wStory lright.l about a gi rl 's journey into womanhood ， hav巴 been translated into French 3 Ki mDong-hwa's women characters are invari ably depicted with the facial featur es tradit旧 nally assoc iated with Korean beauty ，like a round face ，s mall eyes ，and l ownose

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ri ce paddi es ，and a pi ne f orest at a vi l l age ent r ance. Af t er Ugl y

K o r e a n T h e me s Ther eaf t er ，K i m cont i nuousl y s ought to br oaden t he s c ope

c a me A Yel l ow St or y ! Hwangt obi t I yag i) ，r eveal i ng a n ev en

of hi s wor k. T he n ，in 1993 ，he s a w di rect or L i m Kwon- t ael く s

mo r e pr of ound t r ansf or mat i on. A s a seri al i z 巴 d f eat u r巴 of a n

Seopyeonj e，a mov i e t hat f eat ur ed t he t radi t i onal Kor ean vocal

adul t magaz i ne f or m 巴 n，t he subj ect mat t er st ood in st ar k con-

mus i c f or m pansori . "Af t er I s a w t he mov i e ，I coul dn' t 9巴t up

t rast to t he body of Ki m' s pr evi ous wor ks . Still ，thi s radi cal n e w

f r om my seat ，巴V 巴 n wh e n ever yone el se had left t he c i nema .

appr oac h wa s a bi g hit ，r emai ni ng at op t he popul ari t y r anki ngs

That day ，I s a w Seopyeonj e f our t i mes in a r ow. I t hen deci ded I

f or its ent i re r un ， I ndeed ，it wa s ac c l ai med by cri ti cs and t he

had to do wor k s wi t h Kor ean t he me s . T he mov i e ma d e m e

pr ess as a t r i umph of Kor 巴ar ト st yl e er ot i ci sm

real i ze h o w beaut i f ul Kor ean t hi ngs ar e - t he l ands cape ，tradi -

Wh e n A Yel l ow St or y concl uded ，Ki m eager l y l aunched hi s next seri al ，A St or y of Ki s aeng ! Gi saeng I yag， )i whi c h d巴l ved i nto

ti on ，and musi c. " Thi s epi phany l ed Iくi m to under t ake t rai ni ng s o t hat he coul d do s omet hi ng

巴

nti r 巴 ly di f f erent f r om hi s pr evi ous wor k s ，

whi l e di scover i ng t he beaut y of Kor ean t he me s t hat coul d be

t he col orf ul l i ves of t he cour t es ans of t he pas t. But he t hen encount er ed a ser i ous pr obl em. " My vi si on wa s wor s 巴 ni ng. T he eyes ar e ever yt hi ng to a car t ooni s .t H o w c an y ou dr a w if you

expr es s ed in hi s c omi c seri es. He abandoned hi s l ong- f ami l i ar

c a n't s ee? I wa s suf f 巴 ri ng mu c h a nd havi ng doubt s about

dr awi ng st yl e and dedi cat ed hi msel f to cr eat i ng i mages t hat

whet her I coul d at t end t he Ang oul e me I nt er nat i onal Comi c s

woul d best depi ct Kor ean- st yl 巴 b巴aut y. He f ound mu c h i nspi ra-

Fest i val in Fr anc 巴 T hen， I st opped by at a bookst or e and s a w

ti on in t he genr e pai nt i ngs of J os eon Dynas t y arti st Si n Yun-

el derl y peopl e ，ma n y wi t h t hei r bac ks hunc hed over ，i nt ent l y

bok ， F r o mSi n's s c enes of t he ever yday life of c o mmo n peopl e ，

vi ewi ng c omi c books and even buyi ng copi es . Thi s wa s qui t e a

K i menvi si oned t he possi bi l i ti es f or Kor ean- st yl e c omi c st ori es .

s hoc k to me ，as s omet hi ng you'd never s ee in Kor ea That expe-

K i m's fi rst at t empt at thi s n e w di rect i on wa s t he omni bus

目

ri ence i nspi red m e to st art dr awi ng c omi c s f or ol der r巴ader s ."

)i whi c h i ncl uded s c enes f r om t h巴 past seri al Ugl y ! Monna n，

Bel i evi ng t hat Kor 巴a n c omi c s needed gr eat er di versi t y of

a nd t he pr es en t. Wi t h a cent r al t h e me i nvol vi ng t he l ove

subj ect mat t er and hi gh巴r qual i t y overal l to appeal to a br oader

bet ween t wo peopl e ，t he seri 巴s i ncor por at ed s uc h t radi t i onal

audi ence ，K i memba r k ed on t he pr oduct i on of c omi c s f or ol der

Kor ean i mager y as t hat ched- r oof cot t ages ，nar r ow l evees of

r eader s. He al so f ound a sol ut i on to hi s vi si on pr obl emwi t h t he

JV 会グ

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Ki m's A Yel l ow5t orybroke ne wgr ound wh en it wa s seri ali zed in an adult magaz ine for men

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In addl t l on to f eat uri ng Kor ean t hemes ， Ki l "1 Oong hwa s C' E' k究 to conv E' y thE' nat ural beaut y hke t he t hat ched roof s of ever yday Kor ean scenes ， l owst onE' wat l s ， nar r owl evees of ht. mbl e cot t agE' s ， and a t hi cket of t rees al ol" g nc e paddl es ， vi tl age ent rance. at th~

ai d of a c omput er Af t er l earni ng f r omhi s son howto wor k wi t h 目

whol e ne w audi ence for comi cs in Kor ea，and al so ma de Ki m' s

enl ar ged i mages ，Ki m coul d agai n st ay up ni ght s to dr aw hi s

na me k nown in Eur ope. It wa s publ i shed by Paquet in Fr ance ，

l atest comi c wor ks . On paper ，he wa s no l onger abl e to dr aw

whi l e The St or y of Ki saeng and A Yel l owSt or y wer e publ i shed

detai l 巴d i mages wi t hi n a regul ar- si z 巴 f r ame ，but hi s comput er -

by Cast 巴man. In addi t i on，Ki m has concl uded publ i cat i on con-

ai ded r ender i ngs wer e as arti sti c as ever

t ract s for Ugl y and Beaut i f ul Thought s in Comi c s I Manhwar o

Taki ng o n N e w ChaLLenges

Spai n. Earl i 巴r ，A Yel l ow St or y wa s successf ul l y publ i shed in

Bone un J oeun Saenggak，l whi ch ar e al so bei ng publ i shed in The R e d Bi cycl e I Ppal gan J aj eongeol wa s an omni bus

Tai wan and J apan.

seri es about a pos t man who del i vers mai l to an i magi nar y vil-

For decades ，Ki m has been wor ki ng nonst op，except for a

l age cal l ed Yahwa- r i ，but Ki m coul d not easi l y fi nd a wi l l i ng

t hr ee- mont h br eak in t he 19805. But ，he says it has not been

publ i sher. "At t he t i me ，I t hought that thi s wor k shoul d be pub-

t hat har d. If he had st uck to th巴 s a me t hi ng ，he mi ght have

l i shed by a news paper ，no mat t er wha.t And it had to be one of

bec ome bor ed of hi s wor k ，but he has been abl 巴 to ke巴p wor k-

t he l eadi ng nat i onal dai l i es ，l i ke The Chos un IIbo wi t h t he

i ng bec aus 巴 he has cr eat ed gi rl ・5 r oma nc e st ori es ，boy" s

l argest ci rcul at i on in Korea. If a seri al i zed c omi c wer e to b巴

c omi c s ，and adul t c omi c s ，whi c h all r epr esent ed、n e w chal -

f eat ured in that paper ，it woul d r each t he hands of 2.5 mil l i on

l enges that ener gi zed hi m. Even t oday ，he f i nds cr 巴at mg a ne w

readers. Wi t hout any previ ous cont act ，I t ook 24 i nst al l ment s to

proj ect an exhi l arat i ng and cat hart i c exper i ence.

s how to t he edi t or in char ge. Hi s react i on wa s t hat of ut t er

“ Of

cour se ， wri t i ng t he st ory and dr awi ng t he i mag 巴5 is a lot

a ma z e me n.t He had st acks of car t oons and comi cs that peopl e

of har d wor k. My hai r is whi t e and my body aches. Somet i mes a

had 5巴nt hi min hopes of bei ng publ i shed. But he sai d thi s wa s

deadl i ne is appr oachi ng and I haven' t wor k 巴d out t he story. The

th巴 fi rst t i me t hat s ome one of my age and r eput at i on had

mome nt that a st ory fi nal l y fal l s i nto pl ac 巴 is har d to d巴scri be

br ought hi s wor ks to hi min person' "

in wor ds Creat i ng comi cs is f asci nat i ng wor k. Th巴 pl easur e I 目

The next day ，th巴 edi t or phoned to say t he paper had agr eed to publ i sh The Re d Bi cycl e seri es. Thi s out c ome can be attri but 巴d to Ki m' s ent husi ast i c atti tude t owar d any ne w chal l enge. “

I wa s passi ng by Deoks ugung Pal ace whe n I got th巴 cal .l

1 wa s

gai n is as great as t he pai n that went i nto t he creati on. Th巴 pai n that goes i nto t he wor k st i mul at es and ener gi zes me: ' Ki m says he is ful fi l l ed t hanks to t he vari ety of wor ks that he has creat ed. Wi t h an i nsati abl e appet i t e for wor k ，h'‘'e i nt ends

50 el at ed. ' Now my c omi c s wi l l r each an adul t audi ence ， " I

to st ay up ni ght s dr awi ng for anot her t hree year s ，and onl y t hen

t hought to mysel f . The Re d Bi cycl e wa s ori gi nal l y schedul ed to

wi l l he s l ow down to a mor e l ei surel y pace. For Ki m，wh o

run for si x mont hs ，but it end巴d up r unni ng for t hree years: '

bel i eves in rei ncarnat i on，hopes for an encount er wi t h a UF O，

Ki m rec 巴i ved hundr eds of f an mai l s f r om r eader s in thei r

i magi nes that fai ri es can c ome out of bean pods ，and goes for a

60s and 70s ，t her eby provi ng hi s bel i ef in a comi cs mar ket for

dri ve at ni ght to al l evi ate st ress ，it is little wond巴r that he is t he

an el derl y r eader shi p. The R e d Bi cycl e 5巴r ved to cr 巴at 巴 a

dri vi ng f orc 巴 b巴hi nd Kor ea' s f l ouri shi ng wor l d of comi cs

団

Wi nt er 2007 1 Kor eana 4 5

ART I S AN

Yi Sang- j ae Handi cr a丘er of Sedge Mast erpi eces No wa d a y s in Kor e a ， it is i ncr easi ngl y di ffi cul t t o f i nd i t ems ma d e out of t he mu c h bel ov ed wa nc ho [ s edge.l Ho we v e r ，des pi t e t he a dv a nc e of a mo d e r n a g e t hat s e e ms i nt ent o n l eavi ng l ongs t andi ng t r adi t i ons in t he pas t ，ar t i san Yi Sang- j ae c ont i nues t o pur s ue hi s l i f el ong pas s i on of wa n c h o handi cr af t s. Lee Min Young Freel ance Wri ter I Seo Heun- kang Photographer

n t he pa5 t h

伺 a 叩馴 n叩一「e 陀問

J apan ar e si tuated. Al t hough s edge gr ows in t he wi l d t hr oughout

ever門y vi l l age ，t o we a v e hous ehol d i t ems ，s uc h as r ound-

Kor ea ，it is f ound in abundanc e in t he Gwa ng hwa do ar 巴a. Sedge

s haped mat s ，cont ai ners for t he st or age of f ood，and basket s

has l ong been r egar ded as a qual i ty mat eri al for t he maki ng of

f or s ewi ng i mpl ement s . Si nce t hese ever yday pr oduct s we r e

mat s ，cont ai ners ，and decorat i ve i t ems . Art i sans wh o speci al i ze

pract i cal and coul d be ma d e f r om readi l y avai l abl e mat er i al s ，

in s edge handi craf t s ar e k nown as wanchoj ang [ mast er of s edge

s edge handi craf t s wer e pri zed possessi ons of all soci al cl asses.

handi craf ts) .

Af t er l ear ni ng t he basi c t echni ques ，s edge c r af t s men woul d s ho w off t hei r advanc ed ski l l s by addi ng el abor at e decorat i ve el ement s to t hei r wor ks. Whe ne v e r a s edge art i san be c a me k nown f or hi s i mpr essi ve cr af t smanshi p，he wa s cert ai n to be

Accor di ng to r ef er ences in t he 5amgguks agi [ Chroni cl es of

t he Thr ee Ki ngdoms.l s edge wa s bei ng us ed as earl y as t he Si l l a

er a [57 B. C. - A .D. 935). Dur i ng t he Gor yeo peri od [ 918 - 1392.1 Kor ean ki ngs regul arl y presi ded over sacri fi ci al ri tes dedi cat ed to

del uged wi t h or der s f r om mer c hant s and me mbe r s of t he elit 巴

t he eart h god [tosi n) and cr op god [ goksi n.l on behal f of thei r sub-

cl ass.

j ects. For t he c er emony ，s edge woul d be pl aced under t he mor t u-

Al t hough s edge handi craf t s l ong enj oyed wi despr ead popul ari ty ， t hey wer e event ual l y suppl ant ed by mas s - pr oduc ed pl asti c pr oduct s ，whi c h peopl e f ound coul d s er ve t he pur pos e at a cheaper pri ce. Accor di ngl y ，handi craf t s ma d e f r omnat ural mat e

ary t abl et s to h巴lp s u mmo n t he t wo dei ti es . In addi t i on，vari ous typ巴5 of s edge handi craf t s wer e us ed as decorat i v巴 wor k s 川 in t he royal pal aces . Accor di ng tω O

5 of Ki ng T a 句 ej ongω.1 whi c h is a sect i on of J os eonl ok " I Anr円T冶al凶

ri al s s oon fell out of f avor ，whi l e age- ol d tradi ti ons sl i pp巴d i nto

wangj osi l l ok [ Annal s of t he J os eon Dynast y.l s edge pr oduct s ，

obl i vi on. In spi te of t hese di ffi cul t ci r cumst ances ，you can still fi nd

bei ng val ued possessi ons of me mbe r s of t he royal f ami l y and t he

s omeone l i ke Yi Sang- j ae [ 64 year s ol d.l a mas t er ma k e r of s edge

el i te cl ass ，we r 巴 regul arl y i ncl uded under vari ous n a m巴5 in tri b-

handi craf t s ，desi gnat ed I mpor t ant I nt angi bl e Cul t ural Pr oper t y

ut e i t ems pr esent ed to Chi na. As s uc h，s edge handi craf t s have

No. 103 ，wh o cont i nues to per sever e ，magi cal l y t urni ng s edge

l ong been appr 巴ci ated for thei r practi cal i ty and elganc

i nto exqui si te wor ks of art.

~ .

Ther e ar e t wo basi c t echni ques for m aki ng s edge handi craf t s that have been passed down to t he pr esent day. On巴 i nvol ves t he

5 e d g e Handi cr af t s

us e of speci al t ool s ，whi l e t he ot her cal l s f or t he s edge to be

The wanc ho [ sedge) pl ant ，whi ch gr ows to a h巴i ght of about

wov en by hand. Ganghwado I sl and is k nown as t he h o me of hand-

1.2-1 .5 met er s ，is c ommonl y f ound in t he ri ce paddi es and wet -

weavi ng t echni ques ，whi ch Yi Sangイ ae appl i es for t he maki ng of

l ands ar eas of tropi cal and t emper at e z ones ，wher e Kor ea and

hi s s edge handi craf t s W i nter 2007 1 Koreana 47

咽園田lU 聞圃

園側圃・.

U I U 圃幽置四 W I ・-

咽臨掴園田E阻阻岡田 l1由 . 回 - . T l I I I I 岡田E 咽田園

A Hal f Cent ur y of Dedi cat i on

，

IIJ U U園田町四回田圃臨111岡田

園町制阻圃圏直畑田園田

ter t hey can absor b t he col d by servi ng as a ki nd of i nsul ati on. In

Yi Sang- j ae st ands out as a t rue mast er of sedge handi craf t s

my opi ni on ，t her e is no bet t er mul t i - pur pose mat er i al t han

who is int 巴nt on cont i nui ng t he l ongt i me tradi ti ons of s edge- mak-

sedge. " For Yi ，despi t e hi s l i fel ong i nvol vement wi t h thi s craft ，t he

i ng that are root ed in Ganghwado Isl and. Yi first wor ked on sedge

nat ural attri butes of sedge cont i nue to be a sour ce of amaz ement

pr oduct s short l y af ter hi s compl et i on of el ement ar y school in

and admi rat i on

1956. Af t er havi ng l ear ned t he basi cs of s 巴dge cr af t smanshi p f r omhi s mot her ， Yi surpri sed ever yone when he won first pri ze in

Sedge- mak i ng Pr oces s

a handi craf t s cont es， t a mer e t hree years after he had been i ntro-

The maki ng of sedge handi craf t s starts wi t h th巴 gat heri ng

duced to sedge- maki ng. Al t hough thi s occurred whi l e he wa s still

and preparat i on of hi gh- qual i ty sedge. Typi cal l y，s 巴dge woul d be

qui te young ，thi s awar d s 巴rved as a f oundat i on that woul d vaul t Yi

pl ant ed in Apri l and th巴n t ranspl ant ed i nto ri ce fi el ds in earl y Ma y

to t he st at us of mast er mak er of sedge handi craf t s ，a di sti ncti on

Aft 巴r bei ng harv巴st ed in l ate s umme r (J ul y- August ，l t he st al ks

whi ch he has mai nt ai ned for t he better part of t he past 50 years.

are cut i nto st r ands and dri ed. Wh e n t he dri ed st r ands t urn a

“

Sedge wa s so c ommon in my home vi l l age of Gyo- dong on

bl ui sh col or ，th巴y are t hen soaked in wat er and left to dry out in

Ganghwa Isl and that all t he nei ghbor s ma de sedg 巴 product s . I

t he sun. The st rands event ual l y t urn whi t e after thi s pr ocess has

thi nl く that I wa s abl e to get to wher e I a mt oday becaus 巴 I c a me

b巴en r epeat ed five or si x t i mes. The whi t e sedge st rands t hus

i nto cont act wi t h sedge craf t smanshi p at such a young age. "

bec ome t he mat eri al s for t he maki ng of sedge handi craf t s . A dye-

The first product that Yi creat ed wa s a kkot bangseok (fl oor

cushi on wi t h wov en or embr oi der ed f l ower desi gn.l At that t i me ， kkot bangs eok and k k ot s amhap ( f l ower- desi gn basket set of

i ng pr ocess is necessar y to pr oduce t he col ored st rands that are used for t he decorat i ve el ement s Round- s haped pr oduct s ，s uch as kkot bangseok and kkot -

t hree si mil arl y si zed uni tsl wer e t he mos t c o mmo n pr oduct s

s amhap，ar 巴 t he represent at i ve t ypes of sedge handi craf t s. Fi rst ，

ma de wi t h sedge. Thereaf t er ，Yi went on to creat e such i t ems as

ei ght set s of no are wov en，of i nt erl ocki ng sedge st r ands ，wi t h

donggur i ( box wi t h cover for t he st orage or t ransport of f ood，l

hori zont al (nal j ul l and verti cal l i nes (ssijul .l Af t er t he bot t omsec-

s aj uham(c ont ai ner for present i ng a doc ument wi t h t he year ，

ti on has been compl et ed ，t he s amor i phas e is under t aken ，in

mont h，dat e ， and t i me of t he gr oom' s bi rt hday to t he bri de' s f ami -

whi ch verti cal l i nes are added to ar eas of i ntersecti on for rei n-

ly so that t hey coul d deci de on an auspi ci ous dat e for t he weddi ng

forc 巴ment of t he si des. The samor i phase i ncl udes th.e tteu庁1jil

c er emony，l and banj i tgori (c ont ai ner for sewi ng mat eri al s ，such

as needl 巴s ，t hread，t hi mbl es ，and fabri c.l Mor e recent l y ，Yi has

expand巴d t he f ocus of hi s s edge cr af t smanshi p to i ncl ude t he manuf act ur e of hat s ，bags ，and accessori es " Sedge product s can be used to st ore f ood in duri ng t he s umme r because t hey al l owfor air ci rcul ati on. Mor eover ，in t he wi n4 8 Koreana I Wint er 2007

pr ocess ，duri ng whi ch decorat i ve charact ers or desi gn pat t erns are i ncorporat ed “

The mos t i mpo吋ant aspect of s 巴dge craf t smanshi p is ensur

i ng that t he wov en st rands have be巴n properl y creat 巴d and evenl y r ender ed. To attai n thi s ，t he s a me amount of hand st r engt h shoul d be appl i ed whe n creat i ng t he hori zont al and verti cal l i nes

As a successf ul out c ome rest s sol el y on t he t ouch of your hands ， a si gni f i cant amount of concent rat i on is requi red f r om start to fi ni sh." Yi Sang- j ae ma k e s not e of t he f act t hat th巴 f undament al

1 Alter being gathered，the st rands 01 5巴dge ar 巴

prepared lor use by havi ng the msoak巴d in wat er and dri 巴d out. whi ch is repeated live or six ti mes Th巴n. colored st rands. lor decorat ive el巴ments ， are produced wi th a dying pr ocess 2 When the Iramework 01 an item has been lor med. wov巴n surl aces are lil led in lrom the bot t omup 3 During the tteumji l process ，decorative 巴l巴m巴nts . such as propitious Chinese characters and 日ood luck symbols. are added to enhance the artisti c appeal 01 the linal product

ski l l s ，i ncl udi ng hands wi t h a sensi ti ve t ouch，and an acut e percept i on of wei ght and bal ance ，c an onl y be acqui r ed t hr ough count l ess hour s of pract i ce. He al so went on，at consi der abl e l engt h，to poi nt out that t he tteumji l pr ocess ，whi ch provi des t he arti sti c beaut y of a wor k ，is a pai nst aki ngl y t edi ous endeavor . Sedge handi craf t s ar e general l y ador ned wi t h t he Chi nese charact 巴rs for good l uck and prosperi t y (喜 and 帽しbut can al so f ea

t ure a vari ety of decorat i ve desi gns ，such as ari rang and turtl e pat t erns “ It

is nat ural for pr oduct s that f eat ur 巴 mor e advanced tteumji l

t echni qu巴5 to be mor e popul ar . Thi s ref l ect s t he fact t hat t he

m 田園田臨個園田園 [1111園田園 l n:岨園田園匝咽

臨E 阻.

n: 田園田(Ii 田園田園町田園

cr af t sman has gi ven mu c h t hought to t he composi t i on of t he

4 5 Whil e bas ic wanc ho items are general ly round in shape. the not ewor thy cral t smanship 015 巴dge products cal ls lor ensuri ng that the strands are properl y woven and evenl y rendered，which can onl y be learned thr ough years 01 pract ice 勾

W i nter 2007 I Koreana 49

50 Kor eana I Wi nt er 2007

"Ent i rel y handmade Ganghwado wancho pr oduct s expr ess t he si ncere and dedi cat ed cr af t smanshi p of t hei r maker . It woul d be no exagger at i on to say that I have i nvest ed my ent i re life i nto t he maki ng of s edge handi craf t s. I cannot expr ess t he exhi l arat i on that I exper i ence whenev er I creat e somet hi ng out of onl y s edge mat er i al."

園山圏直阻幽圏直 '1 1.1凪掴圃. li l 岡田直畑岡田 . 1l1皿盟国a: 1l ，1DI 盟国1Il 1i DJ ; 圏直四四国 . .I'l' 置皿

量四国 . ，1 l1 I田園置間四国 .

Ii_UI

I I 圃. ，置 lI E岡田園

charact ers and desi gns ，as wel l as t he coordi nat i on of t he col ors.

sl i ghtl y bui l t up; s amor i pr ocess ，f or 5 巴aml essl y j oi ni ng t he

The qual i ty of a fi ni shed product is al so det er mi ned in great part

s quar e- s haped bot t om to t he r ound巴d si d 巴5; and tt 巴umj i l

by t he abi l i ty of t he mak er to properl y appl y hi s hand st rengt h

pr ocess ，whe n decorat i ve charact ers or desi gns are pai nst aki ngl y

whe n wor ki ng wi t h t he col ored st rands ，whi ch is under t aken dur-

appl i ed to enhance t he ref i ned appear ance of a f i ni shed wor k.

i ng t he t t eumji l process. Si nce you have to appl y t he col ored

However demandi ng it mi ght be for Yi to creat e a si ngl e wor k ，he

st rands ont o an al ready wov en surf ace ，twi c 巴 t he nor mal hand

fi nds sati sfacti on in hi s i mpeccabl e craf t smanshi p

st rengt h is requi red. In t he end，t he decor at ed sect i on shoul d appear to be a si ngl 巴-l ay巴r surf ace."

Fut ur e of Tradi t i onal Handi cr af t s

I nnovat i ve Mast er pi eces

percent handmade Ganghwa sedge handi craf ts. Even wh巴n tool s

" The si nceri ty of t he cr af t sman is deepl y 巴mbedded in t he 100 T he mos t t r easur ed wor k s t hat Yi cr eat es i ncl ude t he

ar 巴 used，they onl y pl ay a secondar y rol e. Each st rand mus t be

s aj uhamand pyebaek dongguri . In t he pyebaek weddi ng ri tual ，a

handl ed wi t h your full attenti on，wi t hout di stracti on. lt woul d be

bri de bows deepl y to greet her ne w parent s i n- l awj ust after get-

no exaggerat i on to say that

ti ng marri ed. Pyebaek dongguri is used by t he bri de to present

maki ng of sedge handi craf t s.

f oodst uf f s that she had pr epar ed to h巴r ir ト l aws. Al t hough tradi -

that

ti on cal l s for t hese i t ems to be r ound in shape，Yi now creat es

materi al . "

】

wor ks of a vari ety of shapes ，such as squar es ，hexagons ，and

experi ence whenever

have i nvest ed my enti re life i nto t he 1・ cannot

expr ess t he exhi l arati on

creat e somet hi ng out of onl y sedge

As a r巴sul t of t he i ndustri al i zati on age ，our life has c ome to be

oct agons. He began by creat i ng a squar e s aj uham and t hen

domi nat ed by mechani cal pr oduct i on pr ocesses; howev er ，Yi

desi gned an i nnovati ve r ounded- squar e shape. H巴 t hus creat ed

doubt s that any machi ne can be devel oped that coul d mat ch t he

an al l - new r ounded- squar e pyebaek dongguri ，whi ch exhi bi ts a

i ntri cate craf t smanshi p that goes i nto t he maki ng of sedge handi -

c ons ummat 巴 l evel of arti sti c craf t smanshi p

crafts. Accordi ngl y ，he is al so f ocused on efforts to see that th巴

“

目

To ma k e a wor k wi t h a r ounded- squar e shape ，numer ous

set s of no，of hori zont al l i nes ，t he nal j ul ，shoul d be r ender ed i nto

tradi ti ons of thi s craft can be kept al i ve

''The basi c

5 巴dg 巴 product s

are no l onger a part of our every-

a squar e and t hen woven t oget her wi t h verti cal l i nes ，t he ssi j u.l

day life. Nevert hel ess ，sedge crafts 前 anshi p mus t survi ve.

Af t er t he bot t omsect i on has been compl et ed， t he si des are ren-

rentl y wor k wi t h t wo st udent s and t wo assi st ant s who are maki ng

der ed i nto a r ounded shape duri ng t he samor i phas 巴， whi ch is an

di l i gent efforts to l earn t he t rade. " For Yi ，t her 巴 is a sense of

especi al l y tri cky process. Si gni fi cant hand st rengt h is requi red to

regret that t he younger generat i on does not have a great er i nter-

cur-

j oi n t he squar e and r ound ar eas ，ot herwi se t he nal j ul and ssi j ul

est in t radi t i onal cr af t smanshi p. Still ，whenev er vi si tors ，and

wil l not be properl y al i gned. "

巴speci al l y

Muc h t i me and keen concent rat i on are necessar y for such di ffi cul t t asks as t he undu pr ocedur e ，in whi ch t he si des ar e

f orei gn touri sts ，st op by to see Yi

・ 5

wor ks t hanks to

wor d of hi s stori ed reput at i on，hi s spi ri ts are buoyed and he l ooks to t he f ut ure wi t h r enewed conf i denc 巴. 凶 Winter 2007 I Koreana 51

Koreana

I W int er

2007

山 ………山 …

5 ml d K say goodbye to t he ol d year and wel c ome t he ne w by stri ki ng cer emoni al bel l s. A popul ar c er emony，broadcast live on

tel evi si on，is hel d at Bosi ngak Pavi l i on in J ongno，Seoul ，whi ch i ncl udes t he at t endance of cel ebri ti 巴5 and pr omi nent fi gur 巴s. The Bosi ngak Bel l ，desi gnat ed Tr easur e No. 2，has l ong been t he cent erpi ece of such bel l -ri ngi ng cer emoni es ，wher e Kor eans f r omall wal ks of life ma k e thei r Ne w Year wi shes whi l e l i steni ng to t he resoundi ng tones. The bel l c a me to be used for thi s pur pose in moder n t i m回目 Duri ng t he J oseon Dynast y ( 1392- 1910.1 Bosi ngak

Bel l wa s used to si gnal t he openi ng and cl osi ng of t he gat es to t he capi tal city ，whi ch wa s t hen k nown as Hanyang. But even bef ore that ，t he bel l wa s housed at a Buddhi st t empl e Char act er i st i cs of Kor ean Bel l s The ori gi n of Kor ean bel l s is root ed in t he tradi ti ons of Buddhi st t empl es . The di sti ncti ve reverberat i on of a t巴mpl e bel l ， whi ch wa s sounded to indi cat e t he t i me of day at Buddhi st t empl es and t he start of vari ous ri tual s or cer 巴moni es ，wa s i nt ended to al l evi ate peopl e of t he suf f eri ng and hardshi p of t he mundane wor l d，if onl y moment ar i l y. The ul t i mat e si gni f i cance of ri ngi ng t empl e bel l s is expl ai ned in the i nscri pti on on t he Di .vi ne Bel l of Ki ng Seongdeok:

“ Because

t he sound is like t he roar of a dr agon

it r eaches above to t he hi ghest heavens and bel owto hel l ， and t he per son who ri ngs it prai ses t he wonder of t he sound whi l e t he per son who hear s it is bl essed. " In accor dance wi t h Buddhi st bel i ef ，t he sound of t he t empl e bel l is i nt ended to offer r edempti on to all senti ent bei ngs Kor ea's ol dest exi sti ng bel l is f ound at Sangwons a ，a t empl e at M.t Odaes an，in Gangwon- do Provi nce. It dat es to 725 of t he Uni fi ed Silla peri od ( 676- 935.1 and i ncorporat es t he typi cal char-

acteri sti cs of a Kor ean t empl e bel .l t he Sangwons a Bel l is narwi t lT a gradr ow at t he shoul ders and wi dens at th巴 mi dsect i on， ual t aper t owar d t he bot t om. At t he t op is a hook in t he shape of a wri t hi ng dr agon，to whi ch a r ound sound pi pe is at t ached. The whi ch is hol l owand sound pi pe，a uni que f eat ure of Kor ean bel l s ， ext ends i nto t he bel l ' s i nteri or ，pl ays an i nst r ument al rol e in enhanci ng t he cl ari ty and vi brancy of its resonant sound.

Wi nt er 2007

I Koreana 53

A typi cal Kor ean bel l is nar r owat t he shoul der s and wi dens wi t h a gr adual t aper t owar d t he bot t om. at t he mi dsect i on， of t en in t he s hape of a wri t hi ng dr agon， At t he t op is a hook ， to whi ch a sound pi pe is at t ached to enhance t he cl ari ty and vi brancy of t he bel l' s r esonant sound.

The body of t he bel l f eat ures bands of decorat i ve pat t erns at t he t op and bot t om5 巴cti ons. J ust bel owt he upper band t her 巴 are nl ne squar 巴 5 巴cti ons wi t h 36 i mages of l otus bl ossoms ，ni ne in each secti on. Above t he l ower band of pat t erns ar 巴 t wo stri ki ng poi nts ，on opposi t e si des of t he bel .l The si des ，bet ween t he stri ki ng poi nts ，are usual l y decorat ed wi t h carvi ngs of cel esti al mai dens l apsara) . or f i gures maki ng an offeri ng ・Such decorat i on is a c ommon characteri sti c of Kor ean t empl e bel l s. Bos i ngak BeLL The Bosi ngak Bel l wa s pr oduced muc h mor e recent l y ，in 1468 duri ng t he J oseon Dynast y. It is a l arge bel l measur i ng 3. 18 met er s in hei ght ，whi l e its dr agon hook consi st s of t wo dr agons ， wi t h t he l arger fi gure havi ng five cl aws i nstead of t he usual f our The body of t he bel l i ncl udes a rai sed l i ne runni ng ar ound t he upp巴r secti on，t hree l i nes al ong t he mi ddl e ，and t wo l i nes ar ound t he mout h. A l engt hy i nscri pti on， whi ch i ncl udes t he names of t he peopl e i nvol ved wi t h maki ng t he bel l ，and thei r title and rank ，is f ound bet ween t he mout h and mi ddl e secti on. Unl i k巴 ot her bel l s ， t he names are not t hose of royal f amil y member s or seni or court offi ci al s ，but most l y rank- and- f i l e wor ker s of gover nment offi ces. The l ot us- bl ossom patterl l s that are ordi nari l y、f eat ured on J oseon peri od bel l s cannot be seen ，but fai nt t races of a Bodhi sattva r emai n in f our areas of t he upper secti on，whi ch s eems to i ndi cate that t he bel l wa s ori gi nal l y pr oduc 巴d for a t empl e Recent sci enti fi c st udi es of th巴 bel l i ndi cate that t he Bodhi sat t va fi gure meas ur ed about 83 cent i met ers in hei ght ，and that it wa s i ntenti onal l y obscur ed for an undet er mi ned reason. The Bosi ngak Bel l is di sti ncti ve for its cl ear depart ure f r om t he mai ns t r eam charact eri st i cs of Kor ean bel l s of t he J oseon Dynast y. Thi s is evi dent when compar ed to ot her wor ks c ommi s si oned by t he royal court ，such as t he H巴ungcheons a Templ e Bel l ，whi ch wa s pr oduced in 1462，and t he Bongseon's a Templ e Bel l . In fact ，it i ntegrates .t he styl e el ement s of Chi nese bel l s . A ne w bel l styl e wa s i nt roduced to Kor ea in 1346，duri ng t he l ate Gor yeo Dynast y 1918- 1392) . when a Chi nese cr af t sman pr oduced a bel l for Yeonboksa ，a t empl e in Gaes eong ，whi ch apparent l y served as a model for t he desi gn of t he Bosi ngak Bel l

5 4 Kor eana I Wi nter 2007

Fi ndi ng a Ho me Si mil ar to other bells ，the Bosi ngak Bell has been rel ocated on mor e than one occasi on. Bonsi ngak ，the pavilion f romwhi ch the bell takes its name，was originally call ed J ongnu (Bell Pavilion.l wher e the bell was first hung in 1395 for the purpose of tolling the morni ng and eveni ng hour . The b巴I and the pavilion W 巴re destroyed by fire in 1597，duri ng the J apanese i nvasi ons of Korea. Thereafter ，when the pavilion was rebuilt ，a repl acement bell was hung that c ame f romWongaksa Templ e. The pavi l i on was r enamed Bosi ngak in 1895 ，and the bell has si nce been known as the Bosi ngak Bel .l However ，due to the l ack of an i nscri pti on that i ndi cates th巴 origin of the bell ，little is known for certai n about its background， al though vari ous sources suggest its origin. Donggungmunheonbi go ( Reference Com pi l ati on of Not es on Korea.l an encycl opedi c reference book on J oseon soci et y，and the schol ar-offi ci al Si m Su- gyeong's Yuhanj amnok ment i on that the bell was housed at a t empl e hall nearby the t omb of Si ndeok wanghu，the wife of Yi Seong- gy巴， the f ound巴r o f the J oseon Dynasty. Lat 巴r，the bell was moved to Wongaksa Templ e. tI is sai d that Ki ng Seonj o (r. 156716081 had the bell rel ocated to Bosi ngak when the seat of government returned to Seoul ，after th巴 l ate-16th century i' nvasi on by J apan had be巴nthwarted However ，there is a di screpancy bet we巴n the t wo records ，as the f ormer refers to the bell as Heungcheonsa Templ e B巴I But that bell was produced four years 巴arlier than the Bosi ngak Bel l ， and is now housed at Deoksugung Pal ace in S巴ou.l As the bell had no f ormal name ，it s eems that the recorder mi st akenl y assumed that Heungcheonsa Templ e，whi ch had been erected to pray for the afterlife of Si ndeok wanghu，was the t empl e l ocated besi de h巴r t omb. Si nce the f oundi ng of the Republ i c of Korea in 1948 ，the Bosi ngak Bel l has been protected as Treasure No. 2. 'However， due to the bell' s deteri orei ted condi ti on. . whi ch i ncl uded cracks and accumul at ed damage f romrepeated str iki ng ，ti is di spl ayed in an outdoor exhibition area of the Nati onal Mus 巴u mof Korea whi l e a functi onal r巴producti on of the ori gi nal bell is hung in the pavilion. 四目

目

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Dur i n t he Go eo 0 nast 918- 13921 ， Buddhi st s so hi hl r ever ed t he sut ras t hat t he t ext s of ent i re books woul d be wri t t en in ol d and si l ver ， al on wi t h t he cover s bei n decor at ed 5l i IWll ' i fuj Ii I3tl W 4i tm 11 Ilil J ， i4i 4 : :t "!lEm f thi s ki nd of ext r ava ance can " hardl be f ound an wher e el se in t he worl d.

I jD('l-fJ3üFI~

"Unti l t he end of t he wor l d to whi ch I wil l have been reborn after thi s life ，I hope wi t h all my heart that thi s t ranscri bed sut ra wi l l never be dest r oyed. Ev en if a cat ast r ophe occur s and est roys t e w 0 e wor ， 0 e t 15 sut ra WI survl ve. t 15 wor

w 0 we c omes t e

a an

ec omes en 1 t ened

t roug t 15 sut ra an ma es coura eous en eavors to save othm:t

r; ilf

fuiIA

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nyon巴1 Dl

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l and Sut ra Wri t t en in Bl ack Ink on Whi t e Pa er" Bae く j1111¥ i 1 1# 1lj m 巴ban

wa n bul hwa巴o m eon ，whi ch wa s

r oduced duri n

，

t he Uni fi ed Silla Ki n d o m 676- 935 and is said to be t he ol dest

lta5i.L-tIl . i mti i!illiIi5_ l ai . . 14L-t:a: 4n1m ri i t 4. 4i ml i l =uMJ ai ZtO Iaii : ai m ; scri bes of Uni fi ed Silla bore m mi nd as t he under t ook t he arduous t ask of copyi ng Buddhi st sut ras . Ther ef or e ，sut ras are t he product of t he pi ousl y dedi cat ed monk scri bes who pai nst aki ng copl e t e t eac mg s 0

a 50 t at t ey an ot er a

attal n en 1 t enmen.t

cou

C o mp r e ens i ve Exhi bl t l on

erent s

e 5 eCl a ex 1 Itl on at t e mc u e mor e t an

The Fl ower Gar l and Sut ra" ex l ai ns in reat detai l t he ro-

at l onal

us e um 0

sut ra a mt m 5 r omvanous

w Ich enabl ed vl si tors to c o m are and a

or e eri ods ，

reci ate t he di sti ncti ve

cedur es Invol ved wi t h sut ra transcri ti on，whi ch i ncl uded col o ul

charact eri st i cs and evol ut i on of st l es . In addi t i on ，t he event

ri tual s that wer e conduct ed wi t h t he ut most r ever ence. Eve

i ncl uded t he first showi ng in Kor ea of s ome 40 t ranscri bed sut ras

charact er of t he ori gi nal sut ra had to be r epr oduced perf ectl y ，

of t he Gor yeo Dynast y that had been bor r owed f r omvari ous t em-

wi t h even a si ngl e mi st ake meani ng t he rui n of an 巴nti re proj ec.t

p es an mus e ums m apan

目

II mEJ ! J mmUi l i l nTil llli r:t: E

As such，t he pr ocess demanded keen concent rat i on at all t i mes ， al ong wi t h t he preci se brushst rok巴5 t at on c ome r omen ess

:w :a.Ei'..a: i ¥fl.i. ! RI i l U. I $Tl :i .i :t:i 1.

desi gnat ed Kor ean Nat i onal Tr easur es ，i ncl udi ng t he Fl ower

practi ce. Due to t he ext raordi nary effort i nvol ved wi t h sut ra tran-

ar an

utra

scri pti on，t he scri bes woul d be l auded for perf ormi ng such a vir ー

or ean

r easur es an t wo 1m ort ant

nt t en In l ac

n on

Ite Pa er ，al on wl t h 17 ul t ure

ro ert l es of

apan，as we as a vanet y 0 re I quanes ，cases ，an wr a 卯l川n

r ocess st匂 1m パt ed wi t h re a悶 IoU旧on of t he paper.

11m f r omt he cul ti vati on of mul ber

tr 巴Rr.'J'I'i"Il羽1 冶叫 a 剖削 k - 山 h巴 p 阿a 叩pe 釘 liI.iω o t he

c ot 5 or st onn sut ras.

Ith t he 51 e- b - sl de di s l ay 0 sut ra

vl ewers a rare 0

to ac ul re a br oad underst andi n of

mD R i . . u. . . ai i . :t L :::EBW .:，¥.iEi. kIt .iiiaii.t4.. . iaf :a:Ui t mMUoJ . W'Ui巴「巴 d ortunl t

pro 叩per atti tude 陀 r巴 qu 山ir問ed of 山 t e per sons Invo ve 州 w lは t山 Ii'II.'#I#ti m : 11

t he unl ue st l es of sut ra art that had been reval ent in Kor ea ，

t ranscri bing ・For t he mul ber r y t rees gr own to ma k e t he paper ，

J a an， and Chi na

LIm l γ n e e e to e nurt ure Wlt wa s r emov e an sheet s.

01 e

pe u me wat er .

mt o a I ber- u

In addi ti on，speci al i sts in sut ras and Buddhi s mpr esent ed l ec-

e tree ar

or makl n

a er

he a er maker s ，scnbes ，and amt er s who aパ BIi!1!m l

m t e sut r a- makl n

t ures

unng t e ex 1 Itlon peno ，w IC attracte e ect ur es ，w IC

ences.

oc us e

mal n y on

ar ge au 1-

おI I ZRdmml

r ocess woul d be best owed t he st at us of

Gor yeo Dynast y eri od，whe n sut ra t r anscn ti on eaked， rovi d-

Af t er eat i ng ，sl eepi ng ，or usi ng t he bat hr oom，t hey had to t ake

ti on，and characteri sti cs of i ndi vi dual wor ks ，t hereby hel pi ng l ay

Bodhi sat t va

ed a compr ehensi ve expl anat i on about t he backgr ound，c ompos 卜

a per f umed bat h bef ore r esumi ng thei r wor k. Every mor ni ng ，t he

per sons to gai n a mor e i n- dept h appreci at i on of thi s Buddhi st art

scn es J ome a nt ua processl on on t e w wa y to t e wor 5 0 .

f orm. Fur t her mor e ，a hands- on sut ra transcri pti on wor ks hop for

ll '4lmml i ml i l i iCl'a巴 In cer emonl a at t we ，0 owed by our mu s 卜

e ement ar y sc 00 stu ent s wa s uge y popu ar a mong c 1 ren

cl ans ，e t e prOCeSSI On，s t r ewm

and thei r parent s .

t e wa y ，w 1e recl tl ng sut ras .

ower s an

er u me al on

e scnbes ，who br ou ht u t he

ese ays ，you ml g t see

rear 0 t e rOCeSSI On，per or med t hree ri tes u on thei r arri val at

go - ea

t e wor 5 Op an on y t en t ook t hew seat s to start wor ki n

wnt t en In go

・

ter t e t r ans c nbm 0 a text wa s c o m l eted，i ma es of t he

;r; imE1i Tt l I: m

;m ; i nLi!! [ I M1.4i &4 i :a : t dUmEL4. tO.t'loJli5nt . i aMii oi anT:1

sut ras ma e mt o scrol l s ，a 5 m e.

sarira i ece wa s affi xed ont o each

sut ra that had been t ranscri bed wi t h such r of ound

ecorat l on， ut

t.wailm

ooks Wlt

l:~

thel r ent we cont ent s be m

or 51 ver are ar y ever seen. r anscn e sut ras

are a egacy 0 t e n l ance 0

orea 5

sut ra amt l n 5 are a mo n t e wor l

udd 1St cul t ure ，whl l e

5 mos t exce ti ona wor ks of

art . or ma n vl si tors ，t he 5 eci al exhl bl tl on 0 ened t he door to a l l t t l e- known wor l d 0 subl ime sut ra amt i n ，al on wi t h enhanc-

si ncent y and reザ巴 rence woul d of ten be enshri ned in a pagoda or

Buddhi st st at ue ，al ong wi t h servi ng as a t empl r:I弓 ImF. ' I ": mi ' : 1日1m]

scri ti on，whi ch in lar e aパ has c ome to be i nor ed in moder n

eo le' s awar eness of th巴 cul tural si ni f i cance of sut ra tran-

o同ect of wor shi p as wel .l

lflii'r.1'SJl1温 Wi nt er 2007 ] Kor eana

DI 5COVERI NG KORE A

Wer ner Sasse Bl ue- eyed Schol ar wi t h a Pr of ound Love of Kor ea In a n old hous e in Da my a n g ，t he bi r t hpl ace of g a s a， a nar r at i ve f or mof ， a s chol ar st udi es i nt ent l y ，una wa r e of t he pas s age of Kor ean poet 印

t i me. We r ne r S as s e，a f or mer pr of es s or of Kor ean St udi es at t he Uni ver si t y of Ha mb u r g in Ge r ma n y，has been st udyi ng anci ent Kor ean l i t erat ure f or

40 year s.

Park Hyun- Sook Freelance W ri ter I Ahn Hong- beomPhotographer

E onbl 何山川 l川 n 山川t 山 t he J oseon Dynasty，adopt ed a l i festyl e dedi cat -

ye訂 to see hi s f amil y. He chose to r巴si de in Damy ang

ed to st udyi ng and t eachi ng unti l t he end of thei r

because it is t he ho me of t he gasa f or m of Kor ean

t i me on eart h. Af t er havi ng pur sued thei r per sonal

narrati v巴 poet ry ，whi ch is t he f ocus of hi s schol arl y

aspi rat i ons in t he real wor l d ，in thei r l ater years ，t hey

pursui t s.

woul d event ual l y ret urn to thei r homet own to engage

" Gasa is not a wel l - known l i terary f or mout si de of

in st udy and t eachi ng. Wer ner 5asse [b. 1942，) a for-

Kor ea. I a mst udyi ng gasa so that I can ma k e it known

me r prof essor of Kor ean 5t udi es at t he Uni versi ty of

to t he rest of t he wor l d. I especi al l y like t he poems of

Hambur g [ Uni versi tat Hambur g，) who al so served as

J eong Cheol [a di st i ngui shed poet of t he mi ddl e

t he pr 巴si dent of t he Associ at i on for Kor ean 5t udi es in

J oseon Dynast y peri od.l I've been to Bogi l do Isl and，

Eur ope [ AK5E，] headed f or t he "home t own of hi s

wher e Yun 5eon- do [a r enowned J oseon poet) c om-

" whi ch he had l ong b巴en yearni ng for ，wi t hi n heart ，

pos ed mos t of hi s gas a wor k s Whenev er I c o me

days after hi s ret i rement in 2006

across somet hi ng I don't k nowabout ，I'll go anywher e

目

In Ger many，I felt like I wa s in exile. My heart wa s

to get hel p f r om an expert in t he fi el d. My schol ar

al ways in Kor ea ，and it s eemed to me that my t rue

f ri ends al so c ome to see me s o m巴t i mes. I have mor e

h o m巴t own wa s in J eol l anam- do Provi nce. I used to

f ri ends who are Kor ean t han Ger man."

“

50 now it is Ger many that he vi si ts once or t wi ce a

c ome to Kor ea once or t wi ce a year ，for a f ewdays ，to

Accordi ng to t he Anal ect s of Conf uci us，it is sai d

qu巴nch my l ongi ng . It is great to be home after t he

that whe n a ma n of vi rfue is vi si ted by f ri ends wh o

l ong years in 'exile.' I hope to cont i nu巴 my st udi es in

c o m巴 f r omaf ar ，thi s is a sour ce of great joy. I ndeed，

thi s tradi ti onal Kor ean hous e to t he l ast day of my

9巴ographi cal i nconveni ence shoul d not mat t er whe n

life."

it c omes to vi si ti ng f ri ends ， wi t h wh o myou can rel ate wi t h and shar e t he pl easure of l earni ng.

Da my a ng : H o me of Ga s a

60 Koreana I Winter 2007

Not onl y f ri ends ，but Kor ean st udent s al so visit

Prof essor 5asse l i ves in an ol d tradi ti onal - styl e

hi mqui te of ten，du巴 to hi s popul ari t y as a prof 巴ssor at

Kor ean house in Damy ang ，J eol l anam- do Provi nce.

Chonna m Nat i onal Uni versi ty ，wher e he serves as a

-r

、 ‘

r es ear ch sc hol ar at t he Cent er f or De moc r a c y，

somet hi ng you can expr ess adequat el y wi t h wor ds .

Huma n Ri ght s and Peace. Hi s deep passi on for Kor e-

Li ki ng somet hi ng is not a mat t er of r eason."

an l i terature l eaves an i ndel i bl e i mpr essi on on hi s st udent s. However ，t here is mut ual respect as wel l ，

The subj ect of his doct oral di ssertati on rel ated to t he di al ects of t he Gor yeo Dynast y ( 918- 1392) f ound in

as he recal l s bei ng filled wi t h el ati on whe n one of hi s

Gyer i myusa，a book wri t t en in t he earl y 12th cent ury

st udent s st ayed after cl ass to tell hi mthat he can now

that recorded t he cus t oms ，l anguage ，and i nsti tuti ons

appr eci at e a p o e m t hat he had onc e r ead in hi gh

of t he dynasty. In recogni t i on of hi s academi c achi eve-

school ，but never t hought muc h of

ment s ，t he uni versi ty opened a separat e depar t ment

也以判品泊以l i J ; 主当F

目

・

r r . l i ol " 暗躍軍 E I ・ 4 匂 t: l uI 唱町有 l

Spr eadi ng t he Wo r d i n E ur ope

for Kor ean St udi es ，whi ch hel ped Prof essor Sass 巴 to

Prof essor Sasse first experi enced Kor ea in 1966

bec ome t he cent ral fi gur 巴 of t he Kor ean Studi 巴s c om-

Hi s f at her- i n- l aw，wh o wa s wor ki ng as a t echni cal

muni t y in Ger many ，al ong wi t h cont ri but i ng greatl y to

advi sor at a ferti l i zer pl ant in Naj u ，J eol l anam- do

a br oadened awar eness of Kor ean cul t ure in Eur ope.

Provi nce ，i nvi ted hi mto visit Kor ea. For t wo years ，he

The Kor ean St udi es Depar t m巴nt at t he Uni versi ty of

l ear ned Kor ean and Kor ean l i t erat ure ，while al so

Hambur g ，whi ch he j oi ned in 1992，is wel l - known in

transl ati ng and i nstructi ng st udent s on Ger man man-

Eur ope and even attracts st udent s f r omabr oad.

ual s at t echni cal school s in Naj u，Yeosu，and I ksan. At that t i me ，Kor ea wa s still st ruggl i ng to recover f r om t he devast at i on of t he Kor ean War . Though a poor

62 Koreana IWint er 2007

“ T he

Kor ean al phabet Hangeul is one of t he

count ry ，wher ever he went he f ound war m- hear t ed

great est i nvent i ons of humanki nd. It is an easy and

peopl e ，whos e uni que cul t ure and tradi ti ons great l y

sci enti fi c wri ti ng syst em. Di d you k now UNE S CO gi ves

i nt ri gued hi m. But whe n h巴 want ed to l earn mor e

an awar d to t hose who cont ri but e to t he el i minat i on of

about Kor ea and its peopl e ，he coul d not fi nd any

illit 巴racy ，whi ch is na me d t he ' Ki ng Sej ong Li t eracy

books about Kor ean cul t ure. Bac k in Ger many ，he

Pri ze: to c omme mor a t e t he achi evement s of Ki ng

enrol l ed in t he Depar t ment of J apanes e St udi es at

Sej ong? Mos t of t he Ger man st udent s I have t aught

Ruhr Uni versi ty Boc hum ( Ruhr- Uni versi t at Boc hum)

can l earn to read and wri t e Hangeul in a week or so.

because at t he t i me it was t he onl y pr ogr amwi t h any

Whi l e t eachi ng Hangeul to my st udent s ，I al so i ntro-

Korea- rel at ed subj ect ar eas.

duc 巴 t hemto Kor ean phi l osophy ，t hought ，and cul -

I l earned about Kor ea usi ng t he books and mat e-

t ure. For i nst ance ，I expl ai ned about th巴 posi ti ve ，or

rials that I f ound in t he uni versi t y' s Asi an Cul t ure Cen-

front ，vowel s like '0 ド(ar and '.2 .・ (0) and negat i ve ，or

ter. My i nterest in Kor ean l i terature wa s so boundl ess ，

mi d vowel s ，like 'Oj' (eo) and '♀，(u) al ong wi t h t he

and Kor ean wa s such an easy and sci enti fi c l anguage ，

pri nci pl es of yi n-yang and t he Fi ve El ement s. I thi nk

“

Ki ng Sej ong: Gr eat Li ngui st a nd Poet

I wa s abl e to compl et e bot h t he under gr aduat e and

Ki ng Sej ong wa s bot h a great l i ngui st and a t al ent ed

graduat e cour ses and recei ve a Ph. D. in Kor ean St ud-

poe.t I full y real i zed thi s whe n I t ransl at ed Wor i n-

ies ，all in onl y five years . Peopl e of ten ask me why I

cheongangj i gok ( 5ongs of t he fv100n 's Ref l ect i ons on a

like Kor ean l i terature ，but i fs so hard to expl ai n. Ifs

Thous and Ri vers) i nto Ger man. He had t he vi rtue of

like aski ng a wi ne l over Wh y do you like wi ne? ' Ifs not

usi ng si mpl e l anguage ，expressi ng compl i cat ed con-

cept s wi t h easy wor ds. It" s t he s a me ki nd of tal ent t hat you can s ee in Ge r ma n wr i t er s l i ke Hes s e ， Goet he ，and Ri l ke." '

Poet r y ， 5 0 ng ， a nd Fr i ends On t he days when no l ecture cl asses are schedul ed ，he

巴nsconces

hi ms 巴lf in hi s st udy. The hi gh

In 2002 ，Pr of essor Sas s 巴 publ i shed a Ge r ma n

st acks of paper s on hi s desk and bookshel f ov巴rfl ow-

ori ncheongangj i gok after five years of transl ati on of W

i ng wi t h books reveal hi s i nsati abl e appeti te for l earn-

ri gorous research. In parti cul ar ，he hoped that thi s

ing. He is current l y wor ki ng on several di verse proj -

mi ght hel p Ger man st udent s to l earn anci ent Kor 巴an

ect s ，i ncl udi ng research about gasa ，vari ous transl a-

in an easy and i nteresti ng way. Af ter real i zi ng t he l i m-

ti on wor ks ，and books on t he anci ent idu transcri pti on

it at i ons of l earni ng t he l anguage f r om g r a mma r

syst em. Hi s wor kday ，whi ch usual l y begi ns at 7: 00

books al one ，he l ooked for a Kor ean l i terary wor k that

a.m. ，wil l often l ast l ate into t he ni gh.t No win hi s mi d-

he coul d transl ate and use as a r巴f巴rence resource.

60s ，how does h巴 fi nd t he ener gy to do all thi s wor k?

Then ，he di scover ed Wori ncheongangj i gok ，whi ch

To thi s ，he l ets out a heart y l augh and gi ves a wi tty

consi st s of mor e t han 500 poe ms wri t t en by Ki ng

r esponse. "You get si ck whe n you don't st udy har d

Sej ong in 1449 to prai se t he vi rtues of Buddha. Pro-

enough. I don' t have t i me to be ill because I have so

f essor Sass 巴 t hought that t he narrati ve poems ，whi ch

ma ny t hi ngs I want to st udy. I fe巴l happy when I a m

i ncl uded vivid descri pt i ons and stori es about anci ent

engr ossed in my st udi es . And happy peopl e s el dom

Kor ean cul t ure ，woul d st i mul at e t he i nterest of hi s

get si ck." '

st udent s. “

Many Kor eans h巴l ped me wi t h thi s transl ati on. It

If he needs to sl owdown，he l ei surel y reads al oud hi s f avori te poe ms and essays ，pai nt s a r.l Ori ent al

wa s an opport uni t y for me to appreci at e agai n how

l andscape scene ，or j ust t akes a deep breat h to revi ve

ki ndheart ed t hey are. Si nce t he wor k wa s enor mous

hi s ener gy . He al so pl ays t he gui t ar ，a l ongt i me

and its t ransl at i on r equi r ed i n- dept h knowl edge

sour ce of rel axat i on，rel at ed to whi ch hi s favori t e

about Buddhi s m，I had to st udy Buddhi st scri pt ures ，

s ongs i ncl ude “ Mor ni ng Dew" I Achi mi seul l and

such as t he Lot us Sut ra and Avat ams aka Sut ra ，as

" Aut umn Letter" I Gaeul pyeonj i ，l that he says al ways

wel l as Sanskri t. Due to t he l ack of annot at i ons for

fill hi s heart wi t h war mt h.

non- Kor ean speaker s ，s omet i mes I even anal yzed t he

On ni ght s when t he breeze is ref reshi ng and t he

text by parsi ng wor ds down to mor phemes . In addi -

moon bri ght ，he often get s t oget her with hi s f ri ends to

ti on，when I ref erred to rel evant mat eri al s ，I tri ed to

enj oy dri nks and camaraderi e. He natural l y connect s

t ake an anal yti cal appr oach rat her t han j ust descri b-

wi t h hi s f ri ends ，whos e di verse backgr ounds i ncl ude

i ng t he cont ent s . It t ook mor e t i me natural l y，but t he

medi cal doct or ，prof essor ，wri t er ，and cer ami s .t Pro-

process gave me 50 muc h mor e schol arl y pl easure. "

f essor Sasse t hi nks of t hese del i ghtful moment s as

Nowaday s ，he is t ransl at i ng Yongbi eocheonga I Songs of Fl yi ng Oragons t hrough the Heavens ，l a

cal l s to i nvi te Pr of essor Sas s e to dr op by . Af t er

preci ous gi fts . In t he af t ernoon，hi s cer ami st f ri end

ki nd of eul ogy of t he J oseon Dynast y' s achi evement s.

accept i ng ，he bounds out of hi s home ，beami ng like a

ori ncheongangj i gok， Publ i shed in t he s a me year as W

school boy who j ust fi ni shed hi s Last cl ass bef ore the

it is one of t he first t wo books wri tten in Hangeu.L

weekend. 凶 Wint er 2007 I Kor ea na 6 3

ONT HE GL OBAL S T AGE

Recent l y ，Kor ean c ompos er Chi n Uns uk has recei ved hi gh prai se f or her c ont empor ar y mus i c wor k s . I ndeed ，t he di st i ngui shed Bri t i sh c ompos er

Si mon Deni s Rattl e has cal l ed Chi n one of t he five l eadi ng c ompos er s of 21st cent ury. Par k Yong- wan Reporter. Audi t or i um

64 Koreana I Wint er 2007

ゆe

、

ore t han 20 year s ago，Chi n Uns uk [b. 1961]

wh o had to ov er c ome t he f or mi dabl e obst acl es of

left Korea. Si nce t hen ，s he has ardent l y pur-

bei ng a wo ma n in a mal 巴ー domi nat ed mus i c wor l d ，

s ued her passi on f or mus i c ，whi l e maki ng

and one f r omAsi a at that ，bec ome one of t he mos t

her wa y to t he f oref ront of cont empor ar y musi c in

well-r 巴spect ed f i gures in t he field of cont empor ar y

Berl i n. In 2004，s he achi eved wi despr 巴ad popul ari t y

musi c? However ，I al so i magi ned that thi s wo ma n，as

in h巴r mot h巴rl and of Kor ea ，whe n s he wa s na me d a

awe- 川 spi ri ng as her st ruggl e to reach t he t op mi ght

reci pi ent of t he Gr awemey er Awar d. Est abl i shed by

have been，mus t be “ hi ghl y aggressi ve ， "' in or der to

Char l 巴s Gr awemey er ，hi s names ak e awar d is pr 巴

attai n not abl e succ 巴ss. Mor eover ，muc h like t he styl e

sent ed to cont empor ar y musi c c ompos er s who are

of mus i c t hat s he c ompos es ，her personal i t y wa s

r ecogni z ed as wor l d l eader s in t hei r r 巴spect i ve

prQbabl y compl ex or even difficult

fi el ds. Chi n does not appear to be at all di sappoi nt ed

But wi t h t he da wn of a ne w cent ur y ，t here has

of havi ng to wai t all thi s whi l e to gai n recogni t i on in

been an evol ut i on in my perc 巴pt i ons of Chi n. Above

Kor ea ，nor does s he s e e moverl y i mpr 巴ssed wi t h t he

all ，I fi nal l y had t he opport uni t y to l i sten to her musi c

wel c ome mat b巴i ng laid out for her t hese days. Chi n

in per son Thi s wa s in 1991 ，whe n her Akrost i chon

has al ways gone about her wor k qui etl y ，and in her

Wort spi el work wa s first per f or med in Ams t 巴r dam，as

own wa y ，payi ng little heed to mat t er s unrel at ed to

part of t he festi vi ti es to cel ebrat e her vi ctory at t he

目

her musi c. Never t hel ess ，Korea' s musi cal c ommu-

prest i gi ous Gaudeamus Concour s. The pr 巴sent at i on

nity has t aken muc h pri de in her success abroad.

was per f or med by t he Ni euw Ens embl e ，a gr oup that speci al i zes in cont empor ar y musi c. Ther 巴after ，Chi n' s

Pr i de of Kor ea' s Musi cal Communi t y Af t er recei vi ng t he Gr awemey er Awar d ，whi c h ma ny regard as a “ Nobel Pri ze" of t he cont empor ar y

musi c has been per f or med in s ome 15 count ri 巴s by s uch' pr eemi nent conduct or s as Geor ge Benj ami n， Si mon Rattl e ，and Kent Nagano. In thi s wa y ，Akrosti -

musi c i ndust ry ，Chi n ret urned to Kor ea for t he first

chon- Wort spi el has served to greatl y enhance Chi n's

t i me in f our years ，in t he spri ng of 2005，to serve as

i nt ernat i onal reput at i on. Of cour s 巴， all of thi s wa s

「巴 si dent

c ompos 巴r for t he Tongyeong I nt ernat i onal

possi bl e becaus e of t he wor l d- cl ass qual i ty of her

Musi c F 巴sti va .l Upon her arri val ，Chi n- mani a s oon

composi t i ons . For me ，t he mus i c of Akrost i chon-

engul f ed Kor ea' s mus i c ci rcl es . In 2006 ，s he wa s

Woけspi el wa s so deepl y movi ng that any re.servat i ons

appoi nt ed c ompos er ーIn-r 巴si dence for t he Seoul Phi l -

that I mi ght have had t owar d Chi n si mpl y vani shed.

har moni c Orchest ra. And she wa s agai n in t he spot l i ght in J une 2007 ，whe n her Al i ce in Wonder l and oper a wa s pr 巴mi er ed in Muni ch. As such，t here is no

'In Your Own Language' Af t er recei vi ng t he Ga ude a mus I nt ernat i onal

doubt that Chi n' s successes have steadi l y upgr aded

Compos er s Awar d in 1985，whi l e s he wa s onl y in her

t he gl obal st andi ng of Kor 巴a ・ s musi cal scene. Chi n

mi d- 20s ，Chi n r emember s ho w sh巴 wa s br i mmi ng

has creat ed a gr oundswel l of int 巴rest in cont empo-

wi t h conf i dence as s he headed for a cri ti cal meet i ng

rary musi c ，whi l e her Al i ce in Wonder l and debut has

wi t h Gyor gy Li geti ，per haps t he great est musi c c om-

served to op巴n t he eyes of t he publ i c to t he fact that

poser of t he 20t h cent ur y ，wh o s he hoped woul d

n e w oper as ar 巴 act ual l y bei ng c ompos ed and pe ト

accept her as hi s st udenf Howev er ，soon t hereaf t er ，

f or m巴d in t he 21st century.

s he f ound hersel f cr ashi ng down to ear:1h wh e n

In t he 1990s ，whe n I had little personal knowl edge

Li geti poi nt edl yt ol d Chi n that s he needed to: “ Tal l く in

of Chi n，I r emember thi nki ng that she wa s an "extra-

your o wn l anguage ，not in t hat of ot her s ." Chi n

ordi nary l ady." Af ter all ，howel s 巴 coul d thi s i ndi vi dual ，

r e me mbe r s f eel i ng i mme ns e pr 巴ssur e whe n巴V 巴「

Winter 2007

I Koreana 65

:日目

川﹄

山 te t 1 d u 以け応山 nol ﹁ n相K hn Io ・打油日計 nLm 引 r m M C 目旧汚 M l e d d . t 引・比 'ku ・悶川川町 1 n r h e 9、 1 nu H nopsped二

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イ

6 6 Koreana I Winter 2007

引

ドトレ

・

C Y 5 出 tmU -日出 d c O 引 e 9 一'汀 1 円刊 1 児 W 山出田川町 1K L J A ﹄引 1 T ' h H ι l k o m.bu.内川 t A m J川町 m m 剖沼 -hmに引 m 創出 e e0 ・u n hH51 代 a a

L H a ル川 --h sHksm

、

T he s potl ight wa s again l oc used on composer C hi n Uns uk in J un巴 2007 ，at the pr 巴ml巴r p巴rl or mance 01 h巴r Al i ce i円 Wonderla nd opera in Muni c h

thi s maes t r o gaz ed at h巴r wi t h hi s pi erci ng eyes .

i ng. " On t he surf ace ，Chi n' s musi c appear s to be in

Wh e n Li g 巴ti reti red f r omt he Hambur g Musi c Acade-

c onf or manc e w ith t hi s t r end. 5 0 ，wha t ar e t he

my in 1988 ，ma ny of hi s st udent s ，who r egar ded t he

t hougnt s of Chi n ，one of t he musi c compos er s at t he

opport uni t y to l earn f r omhi mas t he very r eason for

f oref ront of mai nst r eam cont empor ar y musi c ，about

thei r exi st ence，felt l i ke t hey had been cast adri ft

thi s phenomenon?

wi t hout a capt ai n. Thi s was t rue of Chi n as wel l ，but

'T magai nst any f or mof shal l owmusi c. I thi nk t he

s he mov ed to 8erl i n ，wher e s he hoped to sort t hi ngs

i deal t ype of musi c mus t sati sfy t wo condi ti ons: whe n

ou.t It t ook awhi l e ，but after about t hree year s ，Chi n

musi c prof essi onal s hear it ，t hey shoul d fi nd s o m巴-

r et ur ned to her mus i c ，and in an ef f ort to h巴 ed

thi ng speci al about it ，and for t he general audi ence ，it

Li get i s advi ce of bei ng abl e to "tal k in your own l an-

sh9Ul d stri ke an emot i onal chor d目" For a f ewyears ，a

guage ， " s he c ompos ed Akrost i chon- W ort spi el .

fad 巴mer ged that f ocused sol el y on t he pursui t of ne w

“

I di d not c ompos e any mus i c for t hr 巴e year s ，

tr 巴nds. 8ut s uch a p巴dant i c appr oach can creat e a

and in ef f ect di d not hi ng mor e t han age by t hat

sense of al i enati on bet ween cont empor ar y musi c and

ma n y years. I real l y had a har d t i me. I t hi nk my

t he audi ence. The current si tuati on st ands in c om-

r ewar d for thi s hardshi p wa s t he at t ai nment of spi r-

pl ete cont ras .t The t rend toward composi ng musi c for

i tual enl i ght enment. I r巴al l y di d not do anyt hi ng . I

easy l i steni ng has spr ead t hr oughout the worl d. I per-

j ust exi st ed in a const ant stat 巴 of depr essi on. Fi nal -

sonal l y bel i eve that thi s is not an enti rel y desi rabl e

ly，I coul d not do that any mor e even if I want ed to. I

devel opmen.t Al t hough th巴 publ i c mi ght appl aud and

still f i nd mys el f bei ng ov er c ome by depr 巴ssi on

enj oy such musi c pr oduced for c o mm巴rci al pur pos 巴s ，

whenev er I fi ni sh a musi cal composi t i on. Howev er ，I

t he wor ks are usual l y f orgot t en wi thi n a year or t wo

a m n o w a prof essi onal ，not a st udent. Nowaday s ，

And， 't he r easons such pi ec 巴s bec ame popul ar in t he

I ' m al ways bei ng as ked to c ompos e mus i c or to

first pl ace al so soon di sappear ."

wor k on var i ous proj ect s. Ther ef or e ，I can' t l i ve ext ravagant l y l i ke I di d back t hen. " In J une ，th巴 d巴but of Chi n' s Al i ce in Wonder l and

Wh e n I as ked Chi n w hat s he was c onc er ned about th巴se days ，s he sai d t hat s he wor r i ed about knowi ng what di recti on s he shoul d t ake in t he f ut ure

oper a wa s per f or med by t he 8ayer i schen 5t aat sop-

To me ，thi s wa s an ephemer al r巴sponse ，l i ke tryi ng

er. For Chi n ，wh o once sai d that ''1 do not want to

to cat ch a passi ng ‘ cl oud. Then agai n ，don't we all

abuse such a wonder f ul st ory for my own musi cal

have t he s a me w orri es as Chi n about yest er day ，

adv anc ement ， " s he adapt ed a par ody of t he 19t h

t oday ，and t omor r ow? Chi n al so tol d me about t he

cent ury Vi ct ori an tal 巴司 s t he storyl i ne of her wor k.

t wi st s and t ur ns in her life ，l i ke needi ng t hr ee

Chi n' s s 巴cond oper a Thr ough the Looki ng- Gl ass

at t empt s bef or 巴 bei ng admi t t ed to 5eoul Nat i onal

and What Al i ce Found There is schedul ed to open at

Uni versi t y' s Depar t ment of Compos i t i on ，nev 巴「

t he s a me venue in 2013. Wher eas Al i ce in Wonder -

recei vi ng f i nanci al suppor t f r om h巴r f ami l y ，and

l and i nvol ves a car d g a me ，Thr ough the Looki ngGl ass and Wha t Al i ce F ound Ther e is cent er ed

Awar d that s he felt l i ke t he wi nner of a bi g- money

bei ng s o el at ed wi t h r巴C 巴i vi ng t he Gr a we me y 巴「

ar ound a g a me of ch巴ss ，al ong wi t h havi ng a mor e

l ottery. As s uch，it s e e ms that any such di ffi cul ti es

c ompl ex pl ot.

al ong t he wa y have' ma de her har d- ear ned success that muc h sweet er . For me ，and ot her music l overs

Mus i c wi t h E ndur i ng Val ue These days ，cont empor ar y musi c revol ves ar ound t he product i on of musi c that is gear ed to “ easy list 巴n-

in Kor ea ，w e c an onl y wonde r about wh e n Chi n Uns uk wil l c ompos e and present a wor k that is t he “ f ut ure." I:.t

Wi nt er 2007 I Koreana

1 For visi tors to Heyri，a leisur 巴ly stroll around the expansive area mi ght res ul t in a sight ing of uni que art works in out- of -the-way l ocat ions 2 Haemar uchon vil lage is si tuat 巴dwithin a civi lian-r estricted area ，along the DMZ 3 Ci ne Pal ac 巴 speci al iz巴s in th巴 di spl ay of memor abil ia rel ated to popular domesti c and foreign fil ms 4 Art Factory offers a wi de array of arts progr ams ，includi ng vari ous hands -on act ivities

…

h under goi ng a radi cal l n r e c e n t m叩 t r ansf or mat i on i nt o a pr omi nent dest i nat i on f or t hose wh o enj oy c ont empor ar y cul t ure and ar .t On a vast pl ai n wi t h a nat ur al gr een- b巴lt ar ea t hat has ma na g e d to avoi d t he spr awl of ur ban devel opment ，a gr owi ng numbe r of cul t ural and

日付 istic

faci l i ti es ar e

t aki ng root as part of t he Heyri art col ony ， I ndeed ，t he Heyri proj ect ，al ong w ith br eat hi ng new life i nto thi s l ong i gnor ed ar ea ，is t he n e w f ace of Paj u ，whi c h is poi sed to e mbr a c 巴 th巴巴 fforts to reuni f y t he Kor ean Peni nsul a ， He y r i Ar t Col ony Al t hough still a wo r k in pr ogr es s ，si nce 1997 ， t he Heyri proj ect is n o w h o me to s o me 370 wr i t er s ， arti sts ，f i l mmaker s ，mus i ci ans ，and archi t ect s ，wh o have part i ci pat ed in t he dev el opment of thi s cul t ural

⑦

w ith t he st eady const r uct i on of st udi os ， dest i nat i on， gal l eri es ，mu s e u ms ，cul t ur a l/ arti sti c faciliti 巴s ，a nd per s onal r esi dences ， Cur r ent l y ，t hi s t hri vi ng c o mmuni t y i ncl udes about 60 h o me s ，eac h w ith a n i ndi vi dual i zed desi gn and appear anc e ，al ong wi t h ma n y mo r e recent l y c ompl et ed bui l di ngs a nd t hose under const r uct i on ，on a pr oj ect si te t hat e nc ompa s s e s al mos t 500 ， 000 s quar 巴 m 巴t 巴rs of l and. In par t i cul ar ，t he H 巴yri pr oj ect is a real - l i f e c l as s r oom f or archi t ect ural pr of essi onal s a nd st uWinter 2007 I Koreana 71

dent s ，wi t h hi ghl y di sti ncti ve styl es that refl ect t he di vers 巴 personal i t i

巴5

of t he i ndi vi dual owner s. Of

The nat ural del i ghts.of Heyri i ncl ude myr i ad wi l df l owers that bri ght en Up th巴 r oadways and expansi ve

not e ，t he bui l di ng r巴gul at i ons for Heyri prohi bi t t he

r eed fi el ds whi ch s hi mme r gracef ul l y wi t h even a

appl i cat i on of pai nt to t he sur f aces of st ruct ures ，

gent l e breeze. The reed fi el ds offer a romant i c setti ng

such that exposur e to t he el ement s creat es a nat-

for coupl es ，wher e t hey can enj oy qui et wal ks al ong

ural weat her wor n l ook ，whi ch mar k s t he passage of

pat hways that f eat ure out door art i nstal l ati ons and a

t i me . A ful l day is not enough to appr eci at e t he

little bri dge over t he s wa mp that mak es t he ti nkeri ng

detai l s of t he vari ety of bui l di ngs and h o m巴5 scat -

of wi nd chi mes .

t ered about t he area. In addi t i on，t he si dewal ks of Heyri greet passer s- by wi t h 60 heartfel t wor ds and t er ms ，l i ke first love ，yearni ng ，and i nt i macy ，based on a poet ・ 5 col l ecti on.

Ha e ma r uc hon Out pos t Among Internet users in Kor ea ，a satel l i te phot o creat ed a stir because t here s eemed to be a vi l l age

Current l y， t here are s ome 40 gal l 巴ri es and exhi -

ar 巴a that wa s s haped lik 巴 t he G cl ef of a sheet of

bi ti on ar eas in Heyri that pr esent vari ous exhi bi t i ons

mus i c . Event ual l y ，t he ar ea wa s id 巴 nt i f i ed as

duri ng an annual art f巴sti val hel d in Sept ember . The

Haemar uc hon vi l l age ，in Paj u ，wher e t he r oadway

area' s faci l i ti es i ncl ude th巴 Cur r ency Mus e um，Ti n

enci rcl i ng t he vi l l age f or med a G- cl ef shape f r oman

Toy Mus e um，and Mus e um of Musi cal I nst r ument s

a巴rial vi ew. As for Haemar uc hon ，whi ch is si t uat ed

of t he Wor l d ，t oget her wi t h ot her venues dedi cat ed

wi t hi n t he ci vi l i an-r 巴stri cti on area of t he Sout h ，j ust

to s uch th巴me s as mus i c ，books ，and fi l m. Ot her

t wo ki l omet ers f r omt he Demil i t ari zed Zone that 手 p-

at t ract i ons i ncl ude t he Book Hous e ，a bookst or e

arat es Nor t h and Sout h Kor ea ，it has in l arge part

housed in a bui l di ng wi t h a uni qu巴 fl oor pl an; Book-

been i sol ated f r omt he out si de wor l d si nce t he end of

caf e BANDI ，wi t h a gar den ar ea out f i t t ed wi t h

t heKor eanWar ( 1950- 1953) .

mi ni at ur e st r eet l amps; and I Li ke Dal ki ，a mi n 卜

T he ci vi l i an- rest ri ct i on ar ea ，whi c h f or ms t he

t heme par k and i deal rest st op f or f ami l i es ，wi t h

nort hern bor der of Paj u ，is a scene of dreary desol a-

regul ar hands- on acti vi ti es for chi l dren.

ti on ，wi t h rust ed bar bed wi re and abandoned barri -

72 Kor eana I Wi nt er 2007

、

Due to the publ ic's restr icted access to the area. Haemaruchon oll ers bi rd wat chers an opportuni ty to gl i mpse rare spec ies 01 migratory bi rds 2 Nowadays. Haemar uchon vi ll age promotes a kind 01 eco-tour is mprogra mthat provi des urban l am i l i es with the opportuni ty to appreci ate the si mpl e pleasures 0 1 rurall ile and our nat ural envi ronment 1

cades al ong t he roadsi de. For access ，vi si tors mus t

spl endor of thi s unt r odden area. Bi rd wat cher s can

acqui r e per mi ssi on in advance and pass t hr ough a

al so 9巴t up- cl os 巴 gl i mpses of a vari et y of bi rd speci巴s ，

mil i t ary checkpoi nt to ent er t he vi l l age. Haemar u-

i ncl udi ng mi gr at or y vi si tors . Whi t e- naped cr anes st op

chon wa s creat ed as pa パ of a r eset t l ement pl an for

by t he Haemar uc hon ar ea ，whi l e t ens of t housands of

Nor t h Kor eans wh o lost thei r homet own due to t he

whi t e- f ront ed gees e w ill congr egat e near by t he vil-

af t er mat h of nat i onal di vi si on. In 2001 ，t he first gen-

l age ent rance. Rar e speci es ，i ncl udi ng th巴 spot - bi l l ed

erat i on of resi dent s mov e d i nto t he vi l l age ，wher e

duck and gol den eagl e ，ar e obser ved h巴「巴 as wel l

s o me 60 househol ds n o w resi de in smal l cl ust ers of homes . The houses are bri ghtl y ador ned，s o me even

Taki ng advant age of t hese nat ur al 、「巴 s our c es ， Haemar uc hon has been maki ng efforts to t r ansf or m

el aborat el y ，wi t h t he overal l at mos pher e of a t ranqui l

itself i nto an eco- t ouri st attracti on for ur ban resi dent s

vi l l age in t he count rysi de ，wher e wat er f owl rel ax in a

sear chi ng for t he experi ences of rural l i fe. Or gani zed

mar s hy s wa mp and f ar mer s busi l y t end to cr ops in

t ours ar e n o wavai l abl e that i ncl ude vari ous acti vities ，

t he fi el d ，ami d neat l y l ai d out r oads and a quai nt

s uch as bi rd wat chi ng and t he maki ng of tradi ti onal

cl apboar d bui l di ng t hat serves as t he c ommuni t y

f oods ，such as m句u [ f er ment ed soybean mas hJ and

cent er.

dubu [tofu.l Resi dent s say that cit y chi l dren enj oy t he

Recent l y ，Ha e ma r uc hon has been at t ract i ng

acti vi ti es and nat ur al envi r onm巴nt ，but ar 巴 real l y

at t ent i on for its wel l - pr eser ved ec os ys t ems . Wi t h

i nt ri gued whenev er t hey encount er a l and mi ne or

access havi ng been restri cted for mor e t han 50 year s

arti l l ery shel .l To visit Haemar uc hon，an ent ry per mi t

si nce nat i onal di vi si on ，t he vi l l age ar ea is t eemi ng

is requi red and vi si tors mu? t carry an 旧 at 'all t i mes .

wi t h wi l df l owers. Over 100 speci es hav巴 been i denti -

Regul at i ons pr ohi bi t v i si t ors f r om r emai ni ng

fi ed，whose col orful bl os s oms br 巴at h巴 life i nto every

overni ght except for f ar m- st ay guest s

目

cor ner of t he vi l l age ，al ong wi t h decorat i ng t he pat hway s t hat r un t hr ough t he near by hills . In s u mme r ，

Chopy e ong do I sl and

whe n wi l df l owers burst f orth in all thei r gl ory ，pho-

By vent uri ng f art her i nto t he ci vi l i an- restri cti on

t ogr aphy gr oups regul arl y visit to capt ure t he uni que

ar ea ，vi si tors can cat ch si ght of i mpressi ve vi ews that Winler 2007 I Koreana 73

ar 巴 r ar 巴ly 5 巴巴 n by r 巴gul ar peopl e. Not f ar f r om Ha e ma r uc h巴on，t he I mj i ngang Ri ver f l ows al ong at its ow n pac e ，whi l e t he i sl and of Chopy eong do si ts in si l ence ，unper t ur bed by its l ack of h u ma n cont ac.t T he ar ea al ong t he I mj i ngang is k nown f or its hi st ory of adversi t y. Dur i ng t he J apanes e i nvasi on of t he J os eon Ki ng dom in 1592，Ki ng Seonj o !r . 1552- 1608J pas s ed by at thi s ar ea as he fl ed t he f i erce f i ght i ng ， whi l e Chopy eongdo ser ved as a st agi ng gr ound f or Chi nes e t r oops dur i ng t he Kor e a n Wa r . Car ef ul obser vat i on of a riv巴r bank s hows t hat it is cover ed wi t h a t hi ck l ay巴r of s edi ment ，in whi c h t he t r acks of ani mal s c an be s een ，but not t he f oot pri nt s of peopl e T h e ar ea ar ound Chopy 巴ong do is a s pawni ng gr ound f or t he ri ver puf f er ，a nd h o me to s o me 80 s p巴ci es of fr 巴s hwat er fi sh ，i ncl udi ng t he i ndi genous 巴or eum chi

1 Pi nwheels at Pyeonghoa Nuri [Peacel ul Worl dl Park symbol i ze the ard巴nt dr eam01 the Korean peopl e to real ize unilicati on 2 Imji ngak is a popul ar attract ion 01 Paju ，which annually draws s ome 2.5 mil lion visi tors. tI i ncl udes Korean War di splays and ImJi ngak Obse刊 atory that provi des a vi ew01 Nort h Korean terntory

74 Koreana 1 Winter 2007

! Hemi bar bus myl odon.J W 巴st ern r oe deer

and Chi nes e wat er deer c an al so be spot t ed on occa s i on . Ri v er puf f er f i s he r me n ma k e t hei r w a y ups t r eam to fi nd a good spot to cast t hei r net s. T he hus hed s cener y of t he ri ver mel ds wi t h t he season' s f r esh gr een l eaves ，cr eat i ng a n i dyl l i c 5 巴tti ng t hat

woul d be sui t abl e for a gat h巴ri ng of Taoi st hermi t s.

On t he ot her si de of t he I mj i ngang Ri ver ，Dor asan

Chopyeongdo is an i sl and of subst ant i al scal e ，cover-

St at i on and t he No 3 Infi l trati on Tunnel have al so

i ng s o me 1. 65 mil l i on squar e met er s . Bei ng 巴ssen

bec ome not abl e touri st attracti ons. Wi t hi n 700 met er s

tially unt ouched by huma n hands si nce t he t i me of t he

f r om t he D MZ ，Dor as an St at i on is Sout h Kor ea' s

同

Kor ean Wa r ，ti

田川es

as a saf e ref uge for a l arge bi rd

popul at i on.

目

nor t her nmost trai n stati on. In 2002 ，for t he first t i me in 52 year s si nce t he war t i m巴 s us pens i on of t he Gyeongui Rai l way Li ne bet ween Seoul and Si nui j u

Nor t h- Sout h I nt egr at i o n Paj u f eat ures several hi stori cal at t ract i ons . Soon

[ Nort h Kor ea.l a trai n cr ossed t he I mj i ngang Ri ver to Dor as an St at i on ，a l andmar k event t hat poi gnant l y

aft 巴r t he Nor t h- Sout h J oi nt Communi que of J ul y 4 ，

symbol i z ed t he c ompl ex pr ocess of reconci l i at i on

1972，I mj i ngak wa s devel oped as a ki nd of reuni fi ca-

whi ch t he two Kor eas mus t still over c ome

t i on- t heme vi si tor d巴sti nati on，wher e arti facts f r om

Wh巴n t he efforts to r econnect t he Gyeongui Li ne

t he Kor ean Wa r are di spl ay巴d，al ong wi t h s ymbol s of

ar e in pl ace ，t her eby pavi ng t he wa y f or l and

peopl e' s hope for t he peni nsul a' s i ntegrati on. It is now

ex c ha ng es be t we 巴円 t he Sout h a nd t he Nor t h ，

one of Paj u's maj or at t ract i ons ，visit 巴d by 2. 5 mil l i on

Dor asan St at i on will se 内 e as t he c us t oms checkpoi nt

peopl e each year ，f r om ho me and abr oad. The Imji n-

for pass 巴ng 巴r and car go transi .t The No. 3 Infi l trati on

gak Obser vat or y offers a vi ew of Nor t h Kor ean terri to-

Tunnel ，a 1， 635- met er - l ong t unnel ，whi c h Nor t h

ry al ong t he hori zon，as wel l as t he F r eedom Bri dge ，

KQr ea dug as a condui t for a possi bl e sout hwar d i nva

whi ch s ome 10 ， 000 pri soners of wa r cr ossed over to

si on ，is a popul ar dest i nat i on t hat pr ovi des uni que

ret urn ho me ，duri ng t he exchange of wa r pri soners in

i nsi ght i nto t he st at e of t ensi on of pr 巴VI OUS Inter-

ac c or danc e w ith t he si gni ng of t he Kor ean Wa r

Kor ean rel at i ons. T he t unnel sit 巴 i ncl udes vi si tor

Armi st i ce Ag r eem巴nt in 1953.

faci l i ti es ，like a pass 巴nger t r amand vi deo cent 巴「凶

Paju Book City

Paju is home to a "city within a city" that was created by Korea's publi shing businesses for the purpose of creat ing a book-I over's communi ty，am i d nat ural sur roundi ngs. In 1989，a p l anning commi ttee was set up to spearhead the proj ect，wh i ch led to compl et ion of the development' s first phase in May 2007. Currentl y，some 130 publi shing firms and 57 related businesses are operat ing within the book ci ty comp l ex，which also includes educational facili ties ，retail outl ets ，auditori um，exhibi tion cent er，and roomaccommodat ions for visitors. With the continuance of development in the years ahead，it is envisioned that about 600 ent erpri ses wil be conducting business here，related to the publi shing，printing，and d i stri but 旧げ sectors，wh i ch stand to benefit much fromthe synergy opport uni ties Paju Book Ci ty already has ti s own identity thanks to the di verse archi tect uraL styles of ti s one-of -a-kind buil dings ，which are compl emented by the nat ural sur roundings of gently rolling hill s and lafge tracts of reed 刊elds lining tribut ar i es that flow into the Hangang Ri ver. The book city's buil dings ，de引gned by renowned as if the str uct ures have archit ects that hi ghlight Korean and non- Korean styles ，convey a fri endl y at mosphere， gat hered around for a neighborl y conversat ion. Thi s is the newface of Paju，as it prepares to se刊 e as a gateway for North- South interact ion.

W i nter 2007 I Koreana 75

-Z一

Tt eokguk

I ngredi ent s - Sl i ces 01 whi te tteok (400 gr ams.l beel (150 gr ams.l chopped l ean beel (100 gr ams.l 1 egg ，wat er ，salt ， gr 巴en oni on (20 gramsJ - Seasoni ng lor sliced beel : soy sauce (2 t easpoons.l chopped green oni on (1 t easpoon.l chopped garlic (1 t easpoon.l sesame oil (1 teaspoonJ ，bl ack pepper - Seasoni ng lor chopped beel: soy sauce (2 t easpoons.l sugar (1 t easpoon.l chopped green oni on (2 teaspoons，J chopped garl i c (2 t easpoons，J roast ed sesame seeds (1 t easpoon.l sesame oil (1 t easpoon.l bl ack pepper Preparat i on

2 3

Slice the beel into thin strips. Stir-Iry wi th the seasoni ng lor sliced b巴el. Add salt to water lor the broth Mari nate the chopped l ean beel wi th seasoni ng and Iry. Pan-Iry the separated yol k and whi te 01 an egg ，and j ul i enne，lor garni sh Was h and chop the green oni on Ri nse the tteok slices in col d wat er and drai n wel .l Pl ace the tteok into the boiling broth. When the tteok ris 巴5 to the surface，add chopped gre巴n oni on and bri ng to a boil agai n r_ni sh 01 the beel ~ nd egg S 巴rve in a bowl wi th a 9ヨ strips ，and dash 01 bl ack pepper . 目

4 5 6 7

With a cl ear broth，saηjI eok (broil ed beef l or s eops anj eok [broiled minced b巴巴lf made from lean beef can be used as a garni sh. A raw egg can be added dir ectly to the boiling br oth and st irred to form lacy strands

、

J oraengi Tt eokguk I ngredi ent s J oraengi tteok [500 gr ams.l beel bri sket [300 gr ams.l 1 green oni on，4 cl oves garlic ，1 egg - Beel 5 巴asoni ng: soy sauce [1 tabl espoon.l chopped green oni on [1 t easpoon.l chopped garl i c [1 teaspoon.l roasted sesame seeds [1 teaspoon.l sesame oil [2 t easpoons.l bl ack pepper ー

Preparat i on Boil the beel bri sket wi th enough wat er until lully cooked. Add chopped green oni on and garlic Remove meat when tender ，shred into thin strips by hand，and combi ne with beel seasoni ng. Ski m011 lat and al l ow broth to cool and then add soy sauce and sal .t Makes about 8 cups 01 broth Pan-Iry the separated yol k and whi te 01 an egg and make into di amond- shaped strips Ri nse the j oraengi tteok pi eces in col d wat er and drai n wel .l Pl ace in the boiling broth When the tteok ri ses to the surface ，add ch叩 ped green oni on and bri ng to a boil agai n bel ore servi ng Serve in a bowl with seasoned beel and egg-stri p garni sh.

Ll VI NG

For si ngl e wo me n wh o r emai ned unmar r i ed ，even as t hey advanced beyond a

“

mar r i ageabl e age ， " t hey have l ong been a headac.he for thei r f am i l y. But

t he nowadays ，a r med wi t h si gni f i cant ec onomi c power and soci al i nf l uence ， socal l ed "Gol d Mi ss" has emer ged as a pot ent c ons umer f orce in s uch ar eas as f i nanci al i nvest ment ，t rave しel ect roni cs ，and cul t ure. Lee Mi n- hoon Resea rcher ，S a ms ung Economi c Res earch Insti tute Phot ogr aphy: News bank i mage

8 0 Kor eana I Wi nt er 2007

Thes e days ， gi rl s ar e rout i nel y out per f or mi ng boys ， in r egar d to st udi es ， l eadershi p， and sport s ， f r om as t he el ement ar y school to t he uni versi t y l evel ， ref l ect ed in thei r f ast - growi ng pr esence in whi ch had l ong prof essi onal and t echni cal fi el ds ， in 2007， been t he domai n of mal es. For exampl e， wo me n account ed f or 104 of t he total 187 candi dat es wh o qual i f i ed f or j udi ci ary appoi nt ment s.

盟国璽宮野田富岡日. mJ m幽幽H1. . 蝿 I T: U岡刷・m 他国岡山皿瑚盗極盟副幽岨道副岨戸目盛 J : I Y4W閣制 t LS型 i f Wl UE刷同制削・' F. I I 四百鳳

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I Kor eana 81

The socal l ed " Gol d Mi ss ， " wh o is k nown to possess subst ant i al i nvest s di sposabl e i ncome， heavi l y in sel f devel opment ， al ong wi t h bei ng a p r e mωm c ons umer of hi gh- cl ass cul t ure.

Wi nt er 2007 I Kor eana 8 3

The " Gol d Mi ss" st ri ves for mor e t han an ordi nary rol e as a wi f e or mot her . whi l e pur sui ng a t rend- set t i ng l i festyl e in t he busi ness. cul t ural ďź&#x152; l ei sure. and f ashi on sect ors.

84 Koreana I Wint er 2007

J ourneys in Korean Li teraturc

J eon Seong Tae

、

J eon Seong Tae wri t es t ense ，ti ghtl y st ruct ured stori es. He is parti cul arl y ski l l ed at depi ct i ng Kor ean tradi ti onal sent i ment and _ t he speci al sadness of t he l andscape ，and has a wonder f ul wa y of conveyi ng t he gri tty t ext ure of di sappeari ng di al ects Her e we t ake a l ook at hi s di sti ncti ve wor ks.

CRI TI QUE

Usi ng Wor ds to Preserve the Tradi ti ons of Vi l l age Resi dent s Seo Young-in Li terary Critic

I n mo d mt i m民 it is no m悦 coi nci dence that Kor ean 1i terature has exerted such a pervasi ve i nfl uence on the peop1e of Korea. Kor ean soci ety has propel l ed itself f orward t hrough the t urbu1ence of J apanese co1oni a1 ru1e，nati ona1 di vi si on，mi1i tary di ctatorshi p，and a 1engt hy strugg1e for democracy. Al 1 this whi 1e，Kor ean 1i terature has p1ayed a uni que socia1 ro1e in the everyday 1ives of peop1e by offeri ng i nsi ght i nto the reality of the ti m es. However ， recent trends i ndi cate that Korean 1iterature' s previ ous pr omi nence has been erod ed. As Korea embraces an age characteri zed by capi ta1i sm，an i nf ormat i on soci ety，and masscent ered soci ety ，1i terature has been movi ng away 企o mthe parti cul ars of the Kor ean situati on t owar d the uni versa1i ty of a gl oba1i zed worl d. For examp1e， young Kor ean wri ters t end to focus on the a1i enati on of margi nal i zed i ndi vi dua1s and the phenomena of “ fl ashy medi a capi tal i sm .)) J eon Apart f r omthese recent literary trends ， Sung Tae stands out 仕o mthe crowd. Si nce his lit臼erary debut in 1994 wi t h the 坑 storyγ Bea 剖ti ng ( Dakm ori ) νJ， f，，he has pub1iお shed t wo ant ho1ogi es of short stori esふ，Incense Bur ni ng ( Maehyang) (1 999) and Bor der Crossi ng ( Gukkyeongeul numneuni l ) ( 2005) ，whi c h demonst rat e his 1iterary flair for depi cti ng traditi onal Korean senti ments and rur叫 1andscapes. The ol d rural villages ， whi ch are the focus of his attenti on，are steeped in the resi dents' re1a ti onshi p wi t h nature and sense of communi t y. Hi s stories ， whi ch reflect a keen sensi ti vi ty to his mot her t ongue and ti ght composi t i on， poi gnant l y capture the me1ancho1y di sappearη

Koreana I W inter 2007

ance of the tradi ti ona1 worl d of Korea. Tradi ti ona1 rura1 vi l l ages ，wher e the emot i ons and 1ives of peop1e are cl osel y i ntertwi ned，are gradual l y dyi ng out because of the re1entl ess advance of i ndustri al i zati on and capi ta1i sm . As for J eon， he seeks to revea1 the genui ne humani t y of 札11age resi dents. Thi s tradi ti ona1 rea1m，despi te its gracefu1 sp1endor and abundance， no 10nger seems re1evant to present - day Korea. Nonet hel ess ，J eon fai thful l y reproduces the tradi ti onal senti ments and ri chness of the 1anguage，whi l e at the same t i me astute1y observi ng our current condi ti ons. As such，his wor k does not 1ean on a sense of nosta1gi a al one. I ndeed，his recent wor k strives to di ssect the underl yi ng confl i cts and concerns of cont empor ar y Kor ean soci ety. He careful l y calls attenti on to such i ssues as nati ona1 di vi si on， as wel l as the remnant s of our mil i tary'cu1ture and co1oni a1 past that still can be seen in today' s society. For examp1e， in the title story of his Border Crossi ng ant ho1ogy， he de1ves i nto the border-rel ated anxi ety that afflicts the peop1e of a di vi ded country. He cont emp1at es the rea1ity of di vi si on，whi ch is engraved i n the peop1e' s subconsci ous. “ The Forest of Exi stence)) is a short story that can be sai d to encompass the enti re spect rumof J eon' s 1iterary career. The protagoni st is a come- . di an who want s to m北 e peop1e 1augh and cry at his satirical wi t ， but he is a failure. T o gather stories that he can use as materi a1 for his wor k，he spends t i me at a mount ai n village. Her e，he lis tens to the stori es to1d by the e1derl y villagers. Thi s r emot e count ry vi l l age，whi ch the young peop1e have abandoned for the city，is a typi ca1

exampl e of the dyi ng rural communi t y that the comedi an has adopt ed for his subj ect mat t er. Above all ， he di scovers that the words of vill agers are ri ch and vi brant ，wi t h col orf ul met aphors that have been gradual l y i mbedded in their everyday l anguage. I ndeed， this di al ect is a medi umfor descri bi ng the life experi ences of the rural village. The l anguage of this c ommuni ty wel l surpasses the l i ngui sti c real mof the comedi an， whose professi on calls for the cl ever usage of words. In this short story，the aut hor offers a masterful account of a tradi ti onal rural village， in regard to its vitality of nature， peopl e' s real-life experi ences ， and their uni que language. The story f eatures muc h mor e t han t he everyday life of a tradi ti onal communi t y and the ri chness of their l anguage. Real i ty is ever present in this mount ai n village，t hough it seems to be cut off f r omcont emporary society. For example， there is a Nor t h Korean spy-reporti ng incident ，the result of the ant i communi st i deol ogy that once engul f ed soci ety，and changes to the village brought about by the constructi on of a nearby gol f course. But the most telling re1 f ec ti on of cont emporarγl i f e can be f ound in the fact that the protagoni st is a comedi an whose “ weapons" i ncl ude pol i ti cal sati re and soci al criticism . He seeks to pi erce the heart of soci ety wi t h the sharpness of his satire，but his wor ds al ways missed the mar k. Thi s can be seen as an i ndi rect comment ar y of the aut hor on the state of soci ety: true cri ti ci smcannot be achi eved wi t h superfi ci al wor ds ， but onl y wi t h l anguage that is rooted in everyday life. In an effort to hone hi s sati ri cal wi t ，the comedi an seeks out thi s vi l l age deep i n the

mount ai ns ， whi ch seems r emoved f r omthe real worl d. There， wor ds and life c ome together and enhance each other to create a uni que wor l d wi t h a ri ch l anguage that natural l y i ntegrates the goi ngs- on there. Thi s is evi denced by the i magi nary experi ences of the protagoni s t. The woma n f r omthe ti n- roof ed house who passes by hi s house is the el derl y Yeokkol daek，who went i nsane and di ed a l ong t i me ago， but remai ns a central fi gure in the stori es tol d by the el derl y women. The l ong- t i me resi dents of the vi l l age no doubt deepl y underst ood the ext reme hardshi p and sorrow of her life. As such， thei r l anguage enabl es t hemto over come their own di 伍cul t l i ves ，whi l e r ecount i ng t he t ragedy of Yeokkol daek. The power of stori es ， therefore，comes not f r omthe wor ds but f r omthe life experi ence. Thanks to its vi brant l anguage and tight composi ti on， ‘ ' The Forest of Exi stence" is a del i ghtful story. It starts wi t h words and progresses to the darkness of life. It deal s wi t h the agony of wri ti ng and the ecstasy of its compl et i on. It is not a conceptual i nterpretati on of wor ds or a eul ogy to a dyi ng tradi ti onal soci ety，but a story wi t h a uni que take on reality. J eon's recent works are al ong these lines. Hi s eff Ol ts to fi nd the l anguage that can convey the real life of cont empor ar y ti mes enabl e hi mto i denti 命the vari ous barri ers of Korean society. Onl y when wor ds ref1ect an underst andi ng of the l ong- ago di gni ty of life can a story be assured of its rel evancy. "The Forest of Exi stence" i ntroduces readers to the beaut y of the Kor ean l anguage and the l ament of di sappeari ng tradi ti ons ，as wel l as the arti stry of weavmg m cont emporary lssues. 国 Wi nter 2007 I Koreana 87

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A f ewsm all kemel s of grain can fill a village with sm iles of j oy

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Thi s quiet village in Tanzani a' s Manyara regi on is buzzi ng with exci tement today about a grain-puffi ng machi ne f roma faraway l and called Kor官a. Al l the village chi l dren have brought contai ners ， some full of c om， others empty. As they anxi ously wai t ， the ma 配chi n 問 1 児巴 m沿水ce 邸s ad 必巴a fiた enmg‘ “‘ も bo ∞ om t出 he釘re ピsp が le叩ntザ yぱ offl白re凶凶 shpuffe吋dc∞ omf or ev巴rηyon巴 A nd as each child' s contai ner is filled wi 出 the del i ci ous 町 at ， their sm i l es of j oy showthey 出 'e the happi est ki ds in the worl d.

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