'Seoul Urban Legends' ('Seoul Villages' adapted into movies!)

In case you missed the VIP Presentation of 'SEOUL URBAN LEGENDS' ('서울 도시 전설들') in CGV Apgujeong on October 31, here's what you need to know about the first adaptation of my short stories into movies.

(Answering the question 'Some films are very close to your original stories, others build upon them. Any remarks?': 'Books are triggers. Authors and readers create their own images in their own heads. It's very stimulating to see each and every one of these very diverse and gifted creators add their own creative layers of fiction and reality'. With CHE Heesuk, YOU On, and KIM Yong-ho during the VIP presentation in CGV Apgujeong (photos Pulse9)

ABOUT 'SEOUL URBAN LEGENDS':

• 'Get out of your comfort zone, and dive into a fictional Seoul '
  
• an omnibus movie featuring 4 short films by 6 Korean filmmakers:
• 'Sweat Dream' (directed by CHE Heesuk)
• 'Black Snow' (directed by YOU On)
• 'Guisin-dong' (directed by CHOI Jong Wook, KIM Ye Jin, WON Chang Sung)
• 'de Vermis Seoulis' (directed by KIM Yong-ho)
  
• adapted from Stephane MOT's 'Seoul Villages', a collection of short stories about a fictional Seoul
• produced by Pulse9, sponsored by Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA)
• independent cinema with a touch of A.I.
  

ABOUT THE SHORT FILMS AND THEIR DIRECTORS:

• 'SWEAT DREAM'
  (DIRECTED BY CHE HEESUK):
  
  
• 'Yes, this heat is inhumane, but is there even any humanity left in a world controlled by A.I.?'
• From experimental film to music videos, CHE keeps exploring humanity and technology
  

• 'BLACK SNOW'
  (DIRECTED BY YOU ON):
  
  
• Mi-hyun finds a boy lying on the street; her city and her life itself start feeling more intense.
• An expert in short format contents, 'On Oppa' is also a TikTok phenomenon with over 21M followers.

• 'GUISIN-DONG'
  (DIRECTED BY CHOI JONG WOOK, KIM YE JIN, WON CHANG SUNG):
  
  
• If Seoul's most mysterious neighborhood claims you, don't even think about escaping it'
• Glamour or underground? CHOI, KIM,, and WON track all vibes across Seoul and beyond.

• 'DE VERMIS SEOULIS'
  (DIRECTED BY KIM YONG-HO):
  
  
• Life is a masquerade, worms roam Seoul, and acclaimed photographer KIM Yong-ho invites you to a surreal experience.
• Iconic fashion photographer turned artist, KIM Yong-ho brings a new light to the fabric of reality. 
  

• FOUR VERY DIFFERENT CREATIVE APPROACHES:
• They're all visual creators expert in their field, they're all making their first movie
• Four radically different creations (around 20 mn each):
  
• CHE Heesuk added new dimensions to the protagonist's struggles by transposing the original short story, set in early 90s Seoul, into a dystopian future.
  
• YOU On opted for a vertical format to focus on the characters. 
• CHOI, KIM, and WON built a ghost story on top of the original one, with a resolutely indie / underground touch.
• KIM Yong-ho created a highly artistic experimental film based on still pictures and quotes from the book
• Like the book combines multiple fictions about a shapeshifting city, the film combines multiple approaches of these fictions. 'This might be the very definition of a city: a work of fiction, utterly real, but always eluding its authors'.

 

(Answering the question 'Your fiction is timeless, but your background also includes startups. What did you think when you learned that A.I. virtual characters would appear in the adaptations?') 'These virtual characters belong to what's known as the 'uncanny valley', and 'Uncanny Valley could be the name of one of my fictional Seoul villages. This particular technology opens new possibilities for all kind of visual creators, actors, and performers, and it's significant to see Korea's independent cinema explore it."

We'll keep you posted about the distribution of the movie and the next steps. 

The happy few (well actually enough to fill twice the theater) who attended the VIP presentation of Seoul Urban Legends could watch the teasers and the filmmakers' interviews before a Q and A session. KIM Yong-ho's 'de Vermis Seoulis' was then screened twice so that everyone who came could watch. The whole team thanks those who could make it that day as well as everyone who supported this project that only started a few months ago.

'Seoul Urban Legends' in Tokyo for TIFFCOM 2023 (with YOU On, CHOI Jong Wook, CHE Heesuk)

ABOUT THE BOOK:

If you haven't read 'Seoul Villages' yet, download the free ebook:

• 'Seoul Villages' (EN)
• '서울 마을들' (KR)
• '서울 마을들' (EN/KR)
• 'Séoul Villages' (FR)

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Enjoyed my neuroses? Check my prose: Seoul Villages, dragedies.com.

 

*  among many others:

• 소설 '서울 도시 전설' 옴니버스 영화로…"깊고 놀라운 표현"(종합) [N현장] - 뉴스1 - https://www.news1.kr/amp/articles/?5216311
•  [[영화] 31일 사진작가 김용호의 실험영화 <데 베르미스 서울리스> 시사회 -https://m.monthly.chosun.com/client/mdaily/daily_view.asp?idx=18655&Newsnumb=20231018655 
•  영화·AI의 접목…예술 분야 신인 감독이 AI와 만났을 때[SS현장] - https://m.sportsseoul.com/news/read/1364905
  

The nuclear option

Devin Nunes proves, once again with the help of Paul Ryan, that he would do anything to defend Donald Trump and torpedo the Russia Probe. And just like last year, his fellow GOP lawmakers seem ready to remain complicitly "speechless" (I seriously wonder how much kompromat Putin and his friends have on these guys).

This time, Nunes, who had to recuse himself from the case (a 'nothing burger' that already produced at least two guilty pleas from campaign members), wrote a dangerously misleading memo denounced by the very man Trump chose to replace James Comey: new FBI chief Christopher Wray warned the White House that this memo shouldn't be published. As if it weren't enough, Adam Schiff revealed that Nunes edited it without consulting the committee.

Like the POTUS he so desperately wants to protect, Devin Nunes acts guilty in a such blatant way it would be laughable if so much weren't at stake. US democracy is under attack, and Trump is seriously considering the mother of all diversions: preemptive strikes on North Korea. 

Victor Cha toyed with the concept (see "Alert!") before refusing to be the Ambassador in charge of evacuating tens of thousands of US citizens from the peninsula.

Let's be clear: there is no guarantee preemptive strikes would incapacitate Kim Jong-un's nuclear program, and there is no scenario where they wouldn't lead to mass destruction in Seoul and South Korea. We're talking hundreds of thousands if not millions of victims.

Normally, there shouldn't be any scenario where Nunes and Trump avoided impeachment. We know that Republicans won't lift a finger before mid-term elections, but the gimchi is expected to hit the fan long before that - White House hawks seem willing to strike after the Pyeongchang olympics.

Brace for a funeral March.


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Welcome to Guisin-dong

Here's a small gift for you: 'Guisin-dong', a short fiction I wrote a couple of years ago (part of my collection of Seoul 'dragedies' in English). 

Frankly, you don't want to visit Guisin-dong. Even I, who visited every single Seoul neighborhood, never set foot there.

Now that you've been warned, you can download it for free, right here:  Guisindong2012StephaneMOT.


Any comments and critics are welcome (e.g. on this site, on the Facebook page, on Amazon...).

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An interview in and about Seoul

Interview with

Benjamin Joinau, "L'Atelier des Cahiers"

This short video interview (in French) with the publisher of 'Impressions papier hanji' was recorded in the middle of the summer and in the heart of Seoul (Seochon, Jongno-gu, my favorite neighborhood and Benjamin's new lair). I'm at my Bela Lugosi best, but this is about 'de Vermis Seoulis', haunting places, and the dark side of Seoul. 





Ce bref entretien vidéo avec l'éditeur d'"Impressions papier hanji" a été enregistré au coeur de l'été séoulite, et au coeur de la capitale (à Seochon, Jongno-gu - mon quartier préféré et le nouveau repaire de Benjamin). Ambiance sombre, mais il est question 'de Vermis Seoulis', de hantise, de fantastique, et du côté obscur de la ville.


See also / Voir aussi:

• "Impressions papier hanji" release (2011)
• "Impressions Papier Hanji" / Kindle" on Kindle, paperback (2012)
• L'Atelier des Cahiers

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Moving pictures

I've uploaded a couple of short vids on my YouTube channel (youtube.com/user/stephanemot). Actually, I rather downloaded them from my memory because they keep haunting me. It might happen from time to time since I take thousands of pictures every year - awful shots, I know, but these slideshows only last a few seconds.

• I shot these black and white - and rather dark, I reckon - pictures during the noughties in Seoul. Some of them already appeared in my dragedies:

• More colors in this recent series, but not much joy either - my last tribute to a Seoul neighborhood about to be destroyed (see "In memoriam Samdong Samgeori, Gyonam-dong" on Seoul Village):

ADDENDUM: while I was on a roll, I uploaded them on Vimeo as well (new page: vimeo.com/stephanemot).

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A clear democratic triumph for PARK Geun-hye, but who won the elections?

According to Mayans (solar calendar), the end of the world is for tomorrow, but in Korea (lunar calendar), MOON crashed yesterday.

Actually, MOON Jae-in never had the opportunity to take off*. AHN Cheol-soo did, but he blew it** (yeah, he eventually took off yesterday, but after casting his ballot, and at Incheon Airport, in a plane for the States).

So from the start, it's always been about PARK Geun-hye cruising towards a surprise-less win in a debate-free campaign against non-existent opponents.

Her victory is not a lackluster win, but a very clear democratic triumph. Yet I'm still wondering about who won the elections.



PGH's website this morning

Korean democracy chose an indisputable winner...

- a very strong turnout: 75.80%, the biggest since the 1997 clash between Kim Dae-jung and Lee Hoi-chang
- a clear majority: 51.6% vs 48.0% (NB: small candidates were really garden gnomes this time)
- reaching beyond the usual geographic divides: we didn't skip the traditional strongholds (MOON rocked Honam, scoring 86-89% in Jeolla and 91.97% in Gwangju, PARK claimed Yeongnam, with a 80.4% peak in Daegu), but color-wise, the map is very far from the 1997 or 2002 East v. West split, and much closer to LEE Myung-bak's 2007 landslide victory. MOON claimed Seoul back, but barely. PARK's victory seemed inevitable very early, when the first Sudogwon results showed her ahead in Incheon and Gyeonggi-do, and very close to MOON in the capital city. Note that Korean expats voted 56-42 in favor of MOON.
- and even beyond the expected generational divides: yes, seniors massively voted PARK, but she didn't fare that bad at the other end of the spectrum, with one third of the youngest voters. And who ruled in social networking? The seniors, who literally kakaotalked each other to a whopping 90% participation rate.
 

 

... but who won these elections?...

For international observers, the big news is a combination of two events: a woman becomes President of the Republic of Korea for the first time, and the Korean democracy elects the offspring of a former dictator.

But I don't think the key issue in Korea was gender, or a referendum for or against PARK Chung-hee. And of course, I know constitutional values were not "top of mind". To me, it was about fears, uncertainties, and change.

And conservatism won.

Everybody knew that the situation was bad, and that something needed to be done. Both candidates promised similar reforms (less power for chaebols, more welfare for the powerless), but both inspired doubts: PARK regarding the balance of powers, MOON because his party was not ready to govern. And even when voters projected themselves in a country ruled by their own champion, they felt uncertain for the future. Fear clearly prevailed over hope, and both MOON and PARK spent their time reassuring voters - at this little game, conservatism usually wins.

And PARK followed the script perfectly, positioning herself as a mother for all citizens, softening her stance on reforms (like: yes chaebols have too much power, but in time of crisis you cannot weaken the drivers of our economy). And as usual, she never gave the impression of speaking her own mind, always calculating her words, always speaking with the voice of the wary, risk-averse but confident ajumma.
 
So Koreans chose change without change, and the ruling party will keep ruling. But the official leader has really changed. LEE Myung-bak received a clear mandate for reforms, and he had credentials as a doer and a leader. PARK Geun-hye's more into backstage politics, and the only reforms she's carried out so far are rebranding her own party, replacing a few extra actors, and wishing very hard that corruption would stop***.

But PARK Geun-hye's been here forever, and everybody knows her story. She didn't chose to be the daughter of a dictator, and you can't expect a kid whose parents got murdered to grow into an adult like all others. She eventually distanced herself from her dad's regime, and she has no risks of favoring kids of her own since she doesn't have any. Bonus: unlike her predecessor, she (officially at least) doesn't run for any religious group. So why not give her a chance? Even if she only criticized her dad indirectly, reluctantly, and faintly. Even if, to this day, we still don't know what she truly thinks. Even if we can't tell if she's running her own show.

Yesterday, when her time to shine came, PARK Geun-hye somehow managed to dodge the call again. She certainly didn't deliver an inspiring acceptance speech: only a few word at her headquarters to announce that she'd go to Gwanghwamun... where she didn't take the stage but received a bouquet before answering a quick victory interview. KIM Yu-na style. The scene should have taken place in Seoul Plaza with the ice rink  in the background instead of King Sejong's statue.

So who stole the TV show yesterday? Gwanghwamun, CHUNG Mong-joon, and Anipang.

. Gwanghwamun? On her way back to Cheong Wa Dae, PARK left her Gangnam base to pause at party HQ, and ultimately Gwanghwamun, the gate to the main palace. All symbols of power were covered, but if anyone doubted it it's now official: Gwanghwamun has reclaimed its status as the ultimate symbol of power for Seoul and Korea. Special mention for King Sejong: his statue seemed to overpower the new president when she made her quick apparition, and his name has also become a political prize in itself (Sejong City, not yet a symbol of power, but the latest province-level, special self-governing city).

. CHUNG Mong-joon? Like King Sejong but sans the smile, he remained seated and silent all the time, yet his giant meditative face dominated the screen. PARK's short presence not even a distraction.

. Anipang? I didn't watch an election night on TV but a silly video game with a screen split between neat rows of Saenuri and DUP characters, and cute PARK and MOON animations reacting to the scores. And when I say "scores", it's just the plain, basic count of votes. The only humans you see are non-expert TV presenters announcing lists of results. Forget about analysis. Forget about pundits and spin rooms. Forget about exit polls telling differences in segments or motivations. It's just a stupid TV show, a countdown where the aim of the game is to guess at what time we have an official winner. I zapped through all the channels and they all did the same, competing only on their 3D animations. They all tried cute things, like that big giant teddy bear walking across Korea (straight from Tottoro), except SBS, which dared a weird concept, travelling through a derelict Korean village abandoned after a war, almost like a shoot'em up scene after all players are gone. Here's newsY's take at Moon discovering his score:




Now what?

In other words: we haven't seen nor learned anything so far. Neither during the campaign, nor afterwards.
 
And we have to give PARK Geun-hye the benefit of the doubt.
 
It's up to her (or to the people who drive the vehicle) to decide where to lead the nation, and what kind of final legacy she wants her family to leave.
 
Let's see how this blank page evolves.

And how history is being written. Including and particularly the past, in school textbooks. 

(originally published on Seoul Village as "The Anipang Election: PARK wins big, but who wins?")
(egalement sur blogules en V.F.: "De quoi PARK Geun-hye est-elle le nom?")


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*  see "Time is up"
** see "Scratch that: Dynasty, Dallas, or the Twilight Zone?"
*** see "25 years later"
****  see "Saenuri, a brand "new" wor(l)d"

Inhuman, all too human Seoul (an essay)

En Francais dans le texte: "If Paris were a recurring hero in series of novels, Seoul would rather be a shapeshifting character, always mutating between two short stories. This might be the very definition of a city: a work of fiction - utterly real, but always escaping its authors".

Ever the lazy one, I won't translate more from my essay - in French - on urbanism in Seoul: "Inhuman, all too human Seoul". Atelier des Cahiers published it ("Seoul: inhumaine, trop humaine") ahead of Monday's roundtable on "Seoul Ville Reelle, Ville Revee" (6 PM at Cafe des Arts - see event details on Facebook).


"Seoul: inhumaine, trop humaine": mon essai sur la ville est en ligne sur l'Atelier des Cahiers. Un peu de non-fiction pour faire un break pendant la campagne electorale. Votez bien dimanche, et si vous etes sur Seoul lundi, ne manquez pas la table ronde sur "Seoul Ville Reelle, Ville Revee" (au Cafe des Arts a 18h - voir details sur Facebook).

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Mobile Virtual Nuclear Operators

As expected, North Korea set the agenda ahead of the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit (see focus on Seoul Village), this time by announcing for April a 'satellite' launch in the general direction of (Japan, thank Kim The Third for small mercies) the East China Sea.

Shooting Southwards doesn't make sense if you want to optimize a satellite launch and leverage the Earth's rotation, or in the case of North Korea, if you want to minimize the risks of casualties, but of course, that's not the aim of the game. And speaking of games: sweeping such a big fat "dolsot" curling stone all the way down to the hottest spot of contention between Korea and Japan*... my oh my, what a smart way of piggybacking international conflicts! You know, like a M-VNO entering a market without rolling out its own wireless network? These guys are inventing low cost dictatorship!

As is often the case, this latest crisis can be interpreted as the North Korean idea of a private joke between what passes for the executive power there and the local army (I know, these days, distinguishing one from the other is the equivalent of a hairsplitting contest in a Buddhist monastery, particularly now that Kim Elvis has met his maker - not Kim Il-sung, the other one, if he?she?it? exists). The message? In a nutshell: swallow this bitter pill, willya? In extenso: Okaaay guys, we just reached an agreement with the Evil Empire of the United Rogue States of America about our nuclear activities, but look: we just needed the suckers to send us some more bags of rice for you, because there's only you in our lives - "Army first", remember? And to make sure we want to follow your "Juche Line"**, we'll make both the "Sunshine Line" and the "Beijing Line" angry by shooting our rocket (oops, 'launching our satellite') toward the East China Sea – heck, while we're at it, we could even crash Taiwan's party as well...

... Where was I?

In Gwonnong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, of course. This very morning. At the top floor of GCS International Building, enjoying a glorious view on Changdeokgung (to my left), and Jongmyo (to my right). What better location for a seminar on North Korean nukes than the headquarters of a peace-oriented NGO (GCS), with a view on two key symbols of power in 'Joseon' times: in peace and harmony on one side, with the deceased on the other...***

With so much at stake, we have no choice but to try and be cautiously optimistic. And to keep humor alive. As Woody Allen put it during his intensive training of Kim Jong-un: "More than any time in history mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness, the other to total extinction. Let us pray that we have the wisdom to choose correctly".

Among today's panelists, John E. ENDICOTT (President, Woosong University) was the closest to experience a near-death 'Dr Strangelove' situation: this US Air Force veteran told us how, at the peak of the Cuban missile crisis, he ended up in a bunker with the top brass announcing that doom was likely to be ignited in 20 minutes...

In these really tricky times, I'm looking forward to Obama's visit of the DMZ, a potential 'jeoneun Hanguk saram imnida' / 'Mr Kim, tear down that wall' moment. Not a game changer, but a simple message: the time of reconciliation will eventually come, and the sooner the better, but it takes a dialog between both Korean halves, starting right now.

Last year, South Korea was reconsidering its own tough-cop approach, which proved rather counter-productive... except maybe from the Chinese point of view (see "Re-engaging North Korea - A Four Party Talk"). Today, our panelists were more interested in how far the North was ready to engage in collaboration.

Hosted by GCS International, this Asia Institute Seminar focused on "Revisiting Nuclear Safety and Nuclear Security in North Korea"****. Hard to expect full collaboration and transparency from the most secretive country on the touchiest of materials, with a nuclear industry globally in damage control mode ever since the tsunami hit the fan in Fukushima, and days after South Korea unveiled an embarrassing cover-up following an incident in its own nuclear facilities (see "Twelve Minutes in Bballi-Bballiland"). And Sharon SQUASSONI, an expert in proliferation prevention who's visited the North several times, thinks that North Koreans themselves may be a bit too confident about how much they know about their own level of security.

You'd think the collaboration between Japan and its neighbors would have improved after last year's fiasco but it turns out that no, little or no progress has been made, and communication is already poor within an archipelago technically cut in two (electricity itself cannot circulate between West - 60 Hz - and East - 50 Hz!), and where private operators are not compelled to disclose key indicators as is the case in the US. If even close and friendly neighbors don't trust each other, no wonder the general public show doubt and defiance toward governments and the nuclear industry in general. Former Minister of the Environment KIM Myung-ja stressed the power of activists and the need for transparency.

After the Daichi mess, daily measurements of radioactivity from the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety brought much needed clarity to the debate and today, I welcomed the precious insights from their principal researcher: a technical expert with a sound approach of the human and cultural factors, Dr KIM Sok-chul underlined the differences between security and safety, or between the perception of events, their comprehension, and their prevention. He also revealed that the risk of human errors was maximal with knowledge based behaviors (compared to ruled based or skilled based systems). The same could be said about finance and neural scoring systems but enough scary stories for today.

Actually, this very gloomy period could prove rich in opportunities. Instead of the usual blame game and finger pointing at one rogue state, both Koreas, China, and Japan could humbly seat at the same table with a simple task: we're all in this together, as neighbors and fellow (at least) civil nuclear powers, and we are all facing criticisms for various reasons. Let's share about it, and find ways to be more efficient for the next emergency. To make it simpler, let's keep Russia and the US out of this*****. We won't judge each other, just make sure we handle things better than last year. Maybe, as trust and confidence grows, we'll share more information, but let's start this with modest yet vital objectives.

Since the audience was rather small, everybody could chime in, so I suggested this sort of a NEAR (North East Asia Response) task force. Earlier, Scott SNYDER, who deplored the US failure to prevent vertical proliferation, had proposed a more direct offer to North Korea: you want to launch a satellite? Great: we can do it for you, and safely. Of course they'll refuse (it's all about controlling the propeller, and not for satellites), but bringing the discussions to new planes may work better than - say - Sergey Labrov's basic reset button.

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* see "Ieodo: I smell a fish", or the controversial construction of a US Navy base at the Southwestern tip of Jeju-do. FYI: in Korea, 'dolsot' dishes are usually served in stone bowls heated directly on charcoal.

** if you're a bit lost with the different characters, see the previous episodes of our NK drama, including "Re-engaging North Korea - A Four Party Talk"

*** Jongmyo and Changdeokgung are two beautiful, adjacent, UNESCO listed sites in central Seoul, built by the Joseon dynasty that founded the capital and ruled until the Japanese occupation. Note that neither North Koreans nor South Koreans call the country 'Korea': the former use "Joseon", the latter "Hanguk" (the nation of the Han people).

**** "Revisiting Nuclear Safety and Nuclear Security in North Korea" (Asia Institute Seminar) 2012/03/22:
- Introduction: CHO Cheol-je (Secretary General, GCS International)
- Opening remarks: John E. ENDICOTT (President, Woosong University)
- Panelists: Sharon SQUASSONI (Director, Proliferation Prevention Program, CSIS), Scott A. SNYDER (Senior Fellow for Korea Studies, Director of the Program on U.S.-Korea Policy, Council on Foreign Relations), KIM Sok-chul (Principal Researcher, Head, Radiological Emergency and Security Preparedness Department, KINS - Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety), KIM Myung-ja (Chairwoman, Green 21 Forum / Former Minister of the Environment)
- Moderator: Emanuel PASTREICH (Director, The Asia Institute / Professor, Humanitas College, Kyung Hee University)
On the picture, left to right: Ms. KIM, Mr. KIM, Ms. SQUASSONI, Mr. SNYDER

***** anyway, as Dr KIM pointed out, 20 years from now, 50% of the world's nuclear reactors will be located in the region.

1,000th week of shame for Japan

The young girl is sitting on a chair, a bird on her left shoulder. Her sad eyes seek an answer from the building across the street, to no avail. This time again, the Japanese Embassy remains silent. Or rather, it keeps protesting against the statue of the girl recently erected across the street as a reminder: the Korean victims of sexual slavery are still expecting justice and official apologies from the Japanese Government.

Today, the young girl was surrounded by a couple of old friends: a few surviving 'comfort women' who are now in their 80s or 90s. They live in the House of Sharing, a residence and museum in Gyeonggi-do, and come every Wednesday to protest. Not against the statue, but with it, and for justice.

Today, these halmoni were surrounded by hundreds of friends: longtime activists and supporters of the cause, or simple citizens of the World from all ages, all origins, all beliefs.

Today, December 14, 2011, marked the 1,000th Wednesday of protest since January 8, 1992, and masses met in front of the Embassy in Junghak-dong. Wiping away their tears and facing again the camera: they've overcome shame for 20 years, and since then more than ever, the shame is on Japanese leaders.



This is not about nationalism, and this is certainly not about Korea vs Japan, but about Japan vs Justice, and about Japan vs its own future. Crimes were committed and victims simply expect justice*. Japan must face history in order to face the future, and its leaders cannot hide the truth to Japanese citizens any longer.

I've said the same thing about other issues: this is also about saving Japan. And if I joined the protesters, it's also because I love Japan and because I can't accept to see a minority of die hard ultra-conservatives setting a corrupt agenda and betraying the Japanese people.

And to Korean ultra-nationalists who try to hijack this case for their own corrupt agenda, I say: clean your own mess first, and restore the Truth and Reconciliation Commission***.

Help the victims and support the cause:

House of Sharing / Nanum : houseofsharing.org / nanum.org
Join the Facebook group
NB (reminder): until Friday, the House of Sharing's International Outreach Team is organizing near Hongdae a multi-media art exhibition dealing with issues of sexual slavery, human trafficking, and violence and oppression against women, and including film projections, works from halmonies...*

blogules 2011 (initially published on Seoul Village: "One Thousand Wednesdays")

* Justice means:
1. That the Japanese government admits the compulsory drafting of Korean women as Military Sexual Slavery by Japan.
2. That an official apology will be made for this.
3. That all the atrocities will be fully disclosed.
4. That a Memorial will be built for the victims.
5. That the survivors or their bereaved families will be compensated
6. That the facts and truth about Military Sexual Slavery by Japan will be taught in Japanese history classes so that such inhumanities are not repeated.
7. Punish the war criminals.

** until Friday at Cafe Anthracite (Hapjeong-dong 357-6, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea, near Sangsu station)

*** see previous episodes, including "TRCK : families of victims demand essential follow-up", "TRCK lost in translation or lost in transition ?", "Achievements and Tasks of TRCK's Activities", "Truth and Reconciliation : which model for Korea ?"

Out of Place

"Out of Place" is the title and theme of Seoul Writers Workshop's 4th annual anthology of original fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction*. Yesterday, in tune with this writing-as-a-performing-art week-end in Seoul, a few contributors read their piece to a large audience, and I'm afraid I barely managed to mumble mine under a light as dim as my voice (that's okay: as always I've got the excuse of being French).

But you want to buy this book to make other voices, voices that really deserve attention and care, heard : this year, proceeds from the sales go to The House of Sharing, a charity that supports the cause of comfort women, the victims of sex slavery during Japanese occupation.

Contributed to this year's anthology edited by Christopher R. F. Sanders with Kathryn Whitney, Jorge Miramontes Sandoval, Ang McLaughlin, and Becky Bosshart:
- Death Metal: A Revenge Story (Sean Bienert)
- Je t’attends (Brooke Carlson)
- A Hamster Wheel (Kelly Carroll)
- Catching Butterflies (Alex Clermont)
- The Marble and I (Parag Dandgey)
- Stretch (Hamish Dee)
- Astigmatism (Dianne Despi)
- You Can Always Come Home (Ben Dowling)
- short convo (Jürgen Dünhofen)
- For Daniel Who Is 4 (Vanessa Falco)
- Speakeasy (Meriwether Falk)
- Cheap Thrills – What Price? (Pamila J. Florea)
- Dust to Dust (Grace Gallagher)
- Kodachrome (Jeff Glenn)
- I Drank from Your Hair (John Grimmett)
- Yonsei Lake (Gwee Li Sui)
- The Thirteenth Student (Aireanne Hjelle)
- Turkeys Can’t Fly (Matthew David Jenkins)
- The First Wind of the Death (Joel Killin)
- Silk on Belly (Bruce Kim)
- Cracks (Eric Lynn)
- The Beautiful People (J.C. Maxwell)
- Dawn / Daughter / Stars (Craig McGeady)
- Evening Clouds (Shaun Morris)
- Black Snow (Stephane Mot)
- The Road to Sanbuk (Valerie A. Nelson)
- Out of Place (M. Lee Nielsen)
- Date Night (Karin Roest)
- The Halmoni (Michael Solis)
- Hiking on the East Coast in October (Emily Sorrells)
- color / cockpit / the taxi driver (Ayshia Stephenson)
- Bed Solo (Jennifer Waescher)

blogules 2011 - also on Seoul Village

* For the 3rd edition, see "SWW 2010 anthology").

SWW 2010 Anthology

Fancy some original fiction or poetry ? Take a bite of the Seoul Writers Workshop's 3rd annual anthology. And don't feel guilty about that sweet literary tooth of yours : proceeds from sales support the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center.

Many stories featured in this anthology have been discussed over the past few months during lively, coffee-guzzling workshops at Hello Beans in Itaewon, where new members are welcomed every second Sunday : this is not an exclusive, tight-lipped club - simply a great opportunity for writers to share and enjoy each other's works. And don't feel deterred if you are not a native speaker : the SWW already embraces all continents*.

Seoul Writers : www.seoulwriters.com/
Also on Facebook

"Every Second Sunday" - 2010 Anthology
Edited by C.R.F. Sanders, Kathryn Whinney, Ang McLaughlin, Elena Sanchez
ISBN: 978-1-45383555-5
Also on sale at What The Book.

blogules 2010

* Full disclosure here : yours truly, a French citizen with (as you well know) a poor command of English language (not to mention his own !), contributed to this edition with a short teaser : "Kim Mudangnim".

Seoul National University : a league of their own

Korea's most prestigious university, "Seoul Dae", has always been a laughing stock as far as sports are concerned : Seoul National University never leaves the bottom of national rankings in collective sports, and a ten goal deficit in soccer or a twenty run loss in baseball are more than commonplace.

Chosun Ilbo Senior Editor OH Tae-jin nailed an hilarious tribute* to SNU's baseball team, but keeping one's seriousness is not that easy when you consider the bold facts : in 2004, SNU stopped a 199-game losing streak only to start a 56-game losing streak the next match, and personal statistics against this team have not been taken into account in the league standings since 1992.

Now this joke of a team just hired a prestigious coach : LEE Gwang-hwan won the KBO title (Korean pro baseball league) in 1994. Imagine Jose Mourinho taking over the perennial underdog of Portuguese university soccer.

To tell the truth, I find that a bit unfair and disrespectful to essential traditions. Seoul Dae may produce the Korean elite of tomorrow in a campus roughly the size of a small "gu" (Samsung founder's former golf club in Gwanaksan), it may boast an art museum designed by Rem Koolhaas, it still used to be the symbol of meritocracy. A lot of poor students, not much funding for sports, and a food so miserable you sometimes felt on the wrong side of the DMZ.

But the times they are a-changing. Meritocracy became hagwonocracy** nationwide, and SNU starts caring for its image as a sports powerhouse.

Well. "Powerhouse" at least in the meaning "equipped with electricity".

blogules 2010 - see the original on Seoul Village

* "서울대 야구감독 이광환" / "LEE Gwang-hwan Seoul National University baseball coach" (오태진 20100529 - Chosun Ilbo)
** hagwons are for-profit private academies, the clear winners in Korea's suicidal competition for the best universities

The Housemaid (Im Sang-soo)

Ahead of the 63rd Festival de Cannes, "The Housemaid" (하녀) premiered yesterday in Seoul : IM Sang-soo's latest movie will air on Korean screens starting May the 13th, and on the Croisette the next day.

This is a remake of a great Korean classic by KIM Ki-young (1960) : a psychological drama, already audacious 50 years ago, where a man cheats on his wife with their maid. Korean media were pretty much excited by a glamorous erotic thriller featuring a clash of actresses : the betrayed spouse (Seo Woo) et her rival (Jeon Do-yeon as the title role). I was expecting different kinds of surprises from this audacious filmmaker.

And yesterday, I wasn't disapointed : IM once more delivered a well crafted movie, a stimulating actors direction, and a powerful social satire. He didn't hesitate to somehow rewrite the original story, inverting the roles and moral standards.

In this version, the femme fatale is not the maid but the mother in law (Park Ji-yeong) who forms with the husband and wife (Lee Jung-jae et Seo Woo) a perfect trio of vain characters as artificial as their luxurious yet Hitchcockian mansion.

The actual pair of actresses lies around the pivotal role of the housekeeper. In "The President's Last Bang", IM Sang-soo carved an amazing Baek Yoon-sik. With "The Housemaid", he's not only pushing Jeon Do-yeon on the way to a second Palme d'Or, but also bringing the best in Yoon Yeo-jeong.

And once more, enjoying the winding road between a classic tragedy and a dark comedy.

blogules 2010 (see also this post in French)

A Yellow Sea For Roh

Downtown submerged by a tsunami of yellow ribbons, arm bands, hair pins, hats, and balloons.

Not at the Gyeongbokgung today : the color of Roh Moo-hyun's campaigns was strictly forbidden at the site of the official ceremony.

Also forbidden : Kim Dae-jung's eulogy for his successor. This request from the family was turned down by his successor's successor... a measure of respect to other former Presidents according to Lee Myung-bak, a setback for democracy according to the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Also forbidden : Seoul Plaza, closed to mourners until today, for fear of a remake of last year's massive demonstrations. Roh sympathizers improvised the first altar just across the street, in front of Deoksugung's gate, the very morning when he died*. Local and foreign V.I.P.s waited for a more exclusive altar to be opened, a few days later, at the Seoul Museum of History. Both sites felt silent, but one did sound a little more sincere than the other.

Above, the head of the convoy on Sejongno, as it leaves Gyeongbokgung for Seoul Plaza and Roh Moo-hyun's Yellow Sea of supporters.

Right, Roh's collaborators, following the deceased and singing the song that cemented their cause for democracy.

* See "Roh Moo-hyun follows Pierre Beregovoy".
---
initially published on SeoulVillage.

White blogule to OH Se-hoon - swift boats across the Hangang

LEE Myung-bak may or may not become South Korea's next president. Like Sarkozy, he could be leading in the polls too clearly too early. Actually, the man who changed the face of the Capital city (Bus Rapid Transit system, restored Cheonggyecheon, Seoul Sup...) always seems in a hurry and doesn't like to waste time. For a start, he never took the time to change his own face. Plus he was twice convicted for starting an election campaign too early.
But swiftness is certainly not a handicap in Korea. After all, LEE's predecessor did become Korea's head of state in a hurry : GOH Gun assumed ROH Moo-hyun's interim during his short 2004 impeachment transition.
Still, LEE's successor could very well become the "next-former-mayor-of-Seoul president". It's just that 2007 looks a little bit too early for OH Se-hoon, who isn't even of the "former" kind since he only took the mayoral charge last summer. At least, this good looking politician won't have to change his face to seduce the voters.
Yesterday, OH decided to stop the pre-electoral stalemate on real estate issues, the most important topic in a country that doesn't seem to realize North Korea is about to collapse in a meltdown if not nuclear, at least economically ten times more destructive than Albania's*.
Anyway... ROH Moo-hyun's Government cannot go as far as it would like against real estate speculation because the opposition doesn't want it to succeed before this year's elections... the said opposition including many members of the "ruling" Uri party. OH Se-hoon is a member of the Grand National Party but wants to be remembered as a man who reaches for the good of the majority : he didn't wait for national guidelines to set tougher rules on new developments. A small move but a wise and a timely one.
Nowadays, some short sighted Gangnam investors see LEE Myung-bak as their only hope of postponing the inevitable burst of Seoul's real estate bubble. The wisest and swiftest among them are becoming OH Se-hoon's best supporters... with the hope of making in Gangbuk for their future losses in Gangnam : they have already moved their assets north of the Han river, flocking to such areas as Nowon-gu like rats before the shipwreck.


* once again : instead of benchmarking Germany for their reunification scenarios, Koreans would be inspired to remember what happened to Albania after the collapse of Enver Hoxha's regime.

White blogule to Roh Moo-hyun - protecting Korea from the US

The Bush Administration has been working on a violent collapse of Kim Jong-il's regime for years. Bush even refused proposals by Pyongyang dovishest hawks to make peace and step by step becoming a strategic ally in the region. Former Ambassador Christopher R. Hill hasn't stopped putting oil on fire since North Korea's first nuclear test. For the White House, any diversion could help before November 7 mid-term elections.

So Roh Moo-hyun decided to protect the peninsula from this bilateral dead-end and announced the subject a purely intra-korean matter right before Condi Rice's visit in Seoul, without warning his closest advisors - especially those working on the Secretary of State's agenda.

Roh politely removes the US, Japan, Russia and China from the landscape, but also the UN, even if all voted resolutions will carefully be respected. Korean medias criticize the way secretary general elect Ban Ki-moon is cast away by his own Government the very week of his election at the head of the United Nations Organization, but this could prove to be a very smart way of helping Ban prove his independence from his country.

In the short term, I cannot see what can prevent NK from setting another nuclear test. In the medium term, Kim's regime will not survive. In a not so far future, Korea will face yet another nuclear neighbor : remilitarized Japan.

Right now, South should meet with North with the blessing of Beijing. For the time being, the 6-party talks should at least officially shrink to a 2-party-plus talks. Just to remind what's at stake if Korea as a whole collapses.

Red blogule to Korea's hubs - meanwhile, in China...

While Busan, Incheon and several Seoul areas compete to become Asia's next hub, China plays "baduk" at a much larger level in order to host the future center of Korea.

Claiming Korea's cultural heritage is not enough. Even if their army of revisionist historians don't succeed in putting Koguryo on the Map of China, Beijing's strategic planners will use their multitudes to build a Great Wall of Korea on Chinese soil.

This future "Korean triangle" is meant to become even more powerful than Shanghai. The bay around Dalian being safe from freezing winters, it can compete with both Incheon and Busan and become the ideal spot for the future Eurasian railways terminals - no need to bother completing these silly inter-korean lines boys, we're taking care of everything from Motherland. Look, the "Bay of Korea" bathes our shores, we're not like those naughty Japanese imperialists who renamed the Sea of Korea "Sea of Japan" or worse, called Dokdo "Takeshima" as a tribute to their colonial craft (they say "bamboo island" comes from the shapes of the rocks but we all know how bamboo grows : Takeshima doesn't describe this dust on the sea but celebrates the first implantation of the Empire on a foreign soil).

China's building the ideal home for Koreans, leveraging on its strong local ethnic minority and intending to lure natives from the Korean Peninsula : either from the North (escaping from Hell), or from the South (escaping from a country with the World's lowest fertility rate, an insane education system and fewer opportunities in general) in a XXIst Century wild West gold rush (by the way, while we're at it, why not have some drafting sessions in LA's Koreatown as well ?). Thats a serious threat for a country whose most valuable assets are intangible or related to the very character of its population.

To make it even worse, the recent politico-military deal clinched between Japan and the US further precipitates Seoul in the welcoming arms of Beijing. And Korea can't find much disinterested support from its other giant neighbor Russia. Kofi Annan won't be of much help to Roh Moo-hyun for a better respect of fair play in the region. Korea needs to federate other Asian nations worried about China's and Japan's neo-imperialism, become a herald of cultural, economical and political diversity in the region... without angering Beijing too much because it can't afford it.

Korea can become a hub after all. But only if its major cities play as a team instead of competing with each other.

Red blogule to "America Supports You"

Every now and then (when in Seoul), I tune to AFN Korea. Fifteen years ago, it was still called AFKN (Air Force Korea Network) and the proportion of news and personals related to the US bases in Korea would be much higher. BBQ at Camp Casey and that kind of stuff, any Korean resident could learn about the boys' lifestyle beyond what they could see from their own eyes (GIs leaving their Yongsan lairs only to cruise Itaewon's red light district). Back then, I would have my own pass to the Army base, a vast island of quietness in the heart of the city of traffic lights.
Now da boyz are about to leave the area and Korea to recover this precious land. A public park was already created back in 1993, and from the new and ugly (but for its contents) National Museum you can see what's left of the base. The Dragon Hill lodge is still there but there's not much greenery left, nor much space for breathing. I hope Korean developpers will make something nice out of this... (I think I may need a dream break Condi, is this possible ?)
Anyway... AFN Korea is now AFN Asia Pacific flavored with a few local insights. Instead of commercials, troops are still carpet bombed with Weapons of Mass Distraction (all major sports, series, games...), pearls of wisdom (don't pick your nose, brush your teeth and keep ready for war), morale lifting injections (you serve a great country, learn more about things that shaped Amerika in your public library), and Pentagon Propaganda.
"America Supports You" belongs to the last two categories. People from the street tell their love of what you guys are doin' and like in Sesame Street, they come in all shapes and colors because they are the American melting pot. Here, it's very easy being green, especially a green beret or a Vietnam vet, provided you support Rummy's doctrine with a smile on your face.
I don't know how the said troops react to these shorties. To me they sound like a compulsory long distance feelgood call, a sad farewell - thank you for taking the bullets overthere, we sure do appreciate what you do even if we don't quite get why you do it, but we're much better safe at home, thank you. I'll put a flag on my lawn right away to keep the bad luck outta my place - praise God my son is not among you.
The program is supposed to bring America closer to its military but it exposes how Dubya's Amerika is far away from its own troops. I tell you what Don : America doesn't support you.

White blogule to South Korea's diplomacy

It ain't over till it's over but at least North Korea declared they would cease their nuclear weapon program. The US envoy, former Ambassador to Seoul Christopher Hill, eventually accepted South Korea's proposal : light water is better than heavy fuel.
The Seoul-Beijing team defeated the Washington-Tokyo axis. Beyond nationalities, doves won over hawks in a most crucial part of the world.
Let's see what Karen Hughes can spin out of this new insult to the Bush doctrine.
Furthermore, let's see how far Seoul can go : pleasing Pyongyang was an easy job, tackling the human rights issue a much tougher challenge.

Red blogule to counterterrorism in Korea

Judge Bruguiere warned Asian financial capitals : Al Qaeda may strike anytime soon. Hong-Kong, S'pore and Tokyo reacted more or less quickly but Seoul doesn't seem to realize Korea has soldiers in Iraq and a quite nice flock of Pakistanese fundamentalists around Itaewon's mosque. They don't seem to realize Seoul is a perfect hub for central asian terrorists the police cannot even dream of infiltrating.
Of course terrorists would have a tough time escaping the country safely and retaliation would easily strike the harmless bulk of these small communities, but they shouldn't care if they're ready to blow themselves up. I think the country could afford doing some research about this kind of stem cells too.