Tourism is an increasingly important piece of the global economy. While much of the tourism market focuses on leisure tourism, with an emphasis on shopping and tourist resorts, so-called “cultural tourism” is playing an important role as well, and that is equally true in Korea. By promoting deep engagement with the local people and their culture, cultural tourism plays to Korea’s greatest strengths – namely, the warmth of its people and the richness of its traditions.

Also in this issue of KOREA, we venture off to the city of Pohang, where nature coexists with industry. We talk with Lee Jinhee, the designer of the beautiful traditional clothing seen in the hit soap opera “Love in the Moonlight.” We also explore the importance of fashion and music in Korean television.

_Editorial staff, KOREA

Publisher Kim Kabsoo, Korean Culture and Information Service Executive Producer Park Byunggyu Editorial Advisers Cho Won-hyung, Lee Suwan, Park Inn-seok Email webmaster@korea.net Magazine Production Seoul Selection Editor-in-Chief Robert Koehler Production Supervisor Lee Jin-hyuk Producers Kim Eugene, Im Ian Copy Editors Hana Shoji, Eileen Cahill Creative Director Lee Seung Ho Designers Lee Bok-hyun, Jung Hyun-young Photographers aostudio Kang jinju, RAUM Studio Printing Pyung Hwa Dang Printing Co., Ltd.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission from KOREA and the Korean Culture and Information Service. If you want to receive a free copy of KOREA or wish to cancel a subscription, please email us. A downloadable PDF of KOREA and a map and glossary with common Korean words appearing in our magazine are available by clicking on the thumbnail of KOREA at the website www.korea.net. Publication Registration No: 11-1110073-000016-06

Cover photo © Seoul Tourism Organization

Special Issue

As the number of single-person households climbs, solo activities such as eating and drinking on your own are expanding.

Going It Alone

In a traditionally gregarious society, Koreans are increasingly seeking fun and fulfillment by their lonesomes

_ Written by Colin Marshall

Traditionally, Korean culture has valued the group: family members, colleagues at the office, or friends made at school, in the army, or in other such early phases of life. But in recent years a whole new group of consumers has emerged in Korea - one defined, paradoxically, by their aversion to groups. When they go out to eat, go drinking, go see a movie, or even go traveling, they prefer to go by themselves. In more historically solitude-oriented countries this sort of thing might not sound so unusual, but it has caught on in Korea, known for its strong and longstanding culture of doing activities in groups, with the force of a near social revolution. And as with any important trend in this country, society has coined a new name for those engaging in it: “aloners.”

In previous eras and among previous generations, such a label might have carried negative connotations - few insults once felt harsher than calling someone a wangtta, or social outcast - but not in the Korea of the 21st century. Recently, one Korean newspaper even declared this the “golden age of alone,” citing all the pursuits, each bearing its own neologism, that Koreans have thrown themselves, and only themselves, into, including honbap (eating alone), honsul (drinking alone), honyeong (watching movies alone), honhaeng (traveling alone) and honkeul (clubbing alone). Other, more specialized aloner trends have gained popularity too: Camping, long a widely enjoyed group activity in Korea, has given rise to solkaem (solo camping) and Bromping (solo camping with a folding bike of the kind popularized by English manufacturer Brompton).

Source: Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs

An economy for one

Aloners who would rather not rough it can also purchase deluxe hotel packages geared toward individual guests, just one in a new wave of products and services designed for what observers have termed the “ilconomy,” a portmanteau of the English word “economy” and the Korean word for the number one, which has attracted significant attention from trend and consumption researchers. No such thing could have emerged in the Korea of decades past, when the group culture dominated and young people rarely left the family home before marriage. Now, with 5 million Koreans living single lifestyles and the rate of growth of one-person households increasing even faster than in culturally individualistic countries like the United States and Australia, entrepreneurs have come to see the consumption power of aloners, who need to spend money on nobody but themselves, as a path to avoiding economic stagnation, with potential to create a KRW 200 trillion market by the year 2030.

A host of new food, drink and entertainment options have arisen in the ilconomy, including gastropubs with tasting menus for one, and single-user noraebang, or singing rooms, as well as “book bars” stocked with shelves of reading material and comic-book cafés where customers can get comfortable in a podlike individual space and read stories of their choice to their hearts’ content. Other businesses offer housekeeping services and interior design education geared toward those living the single lifestyle not just accidentally or temporarily, but intentionally and for the long term. Aloners prefer to do as much of their shopping as possible online, and when it comes to food, a greater variety of prepackaged single-serving ingredients and even of meals has begun appearing on the shelves of grocery stores, marketed toward aloners who want to avoid the waste inherent in cooking for one.

More people are choosing to go camping on their own as a means to rejuvenate and recharge.

Visitors try out furniture at Single Fair 2016.

On the road with me, myself and I

Just as Korean couples go on acknowledged “date courses” in Seoul and elsewhere, spending days visiting just the right series of places in just the right sequence, aloners have identified preferred “alone courses” for those who want to maximize the enjoyment of a day out by themselves. Seoul’s greater Gwanghwamun area, which boasts attractive neighborhoods such as Seochon and Bukchon Hanok Village as well as a variety of cafés, galleries, picturesque side streets, and spots from which to view the city has proven popular indeed, as have university areas like Sinchon and Daehangno. But even Seoul-based aloners go much farther afield from time to time, escaping to the natural surroundings of Gangwon-do or even Jeju Island once per year, per season, or even per month.

In a sense, the explosive popularity of social media has made such solo travels possible by keeping an abundance of human contact perpetually at the user’s fingertips. When an aloner posts pictures of the meals, the views, the cups of coffee, and the other experiences they enjoy by themselves, they often receive immediate positive feedback – and sometimes even envious feedback – from friends and loved ones. The widespread use in Korea of selkabong, or selfie sticks, means that they can even post pictures of themselves enjoying all these things without any assistance whatsoever. It seems that in the age of SNS, no matter where you go, you never truly have to be alone unless you want to be.

Researchers have actually recommended such solo trips as a way to practice “voluntary solitude,” an important skill especially for the generations of Koreans that have grown up with the expectation of doing everything with family members, coworkers, or friends from their school days. Though survey data has shown that more Koreans than ever have a positive view of those who actively seek out enjoyable activities to do alone – or at least more than ever no longer find it strange to do so – and say that they would grant their spouse permission to go have fun without them once in a while, knowing how to having a good time without other people turns out to be a skill one can develop with practice.

A relatively new concept in traditionally gregarious Korea, enjoying free time by yourself is even impacting bookstores.

The freedom of being alone

Many aloners, of course, don’t even need that incentive to go out for a meal or a movie by themselves – they’ve simply grown weary of spending the time and energy to coordinate with and accommodate the tastes of all the members of a group. And those with a taste for high-end goods and services might never have a chance to enjoy them except when alone, due to the potentially enormous bill if all their friends come along. Enjoying the freedom of doing exactly what they want, exactly when they want — a freedom that some Koreans, unable to ignore the demands of all the different groups with claims on their attention, have seldom known – allows aloners the vital space to clear their minds and decompress from the stress of work, school, and everything else that goes along with life in a modern society. When they return, they return not just revitalized and ready to take on all those challenges again, but also with a freshly recharged capacity for social interaction.

The Korean government has also taken notice of the rise in one-person households, looking into ways to support the lifestyles that go with them. Such a fundamental change in the way people live demands changes in policy, especially as regards the leasing of living space and the development of living facilities tailored to the needs of one-person households, the availability of medical services, and, in the case of single parents, the expansion of daycare services. The absence of other members in a household means that other institutions must step in to help out. The increasing deferment of marriage, too, has created difficulties for Korean society as a whole even as it has opened up life opportunities for individual Koreans.

Sales of small heaters for single-person households are climbing.

Conveniently packed meals for people on their own are appearing in shops.

Major supermarkets offer premium boxed lunches for singleperson households and working couples.

Pop culture respectability

The trend is well enough underway, however, that even popular culture has picked up on the phenomenon of the aloner, evidenced by such mainstream television shows as tvN’s drama “Drinking Solo,” about the after-work hours of the non-group-minded teachers, students and staff of an exam-preparation institution; and MBC’s reality show “I Live Alone,” which looks into the lives of the roughly one-third of Korean celebrities who live single. Programs like these don’t just offer their viewers a vicarious experience of the aloner lifestyle. They can also make it look quite appealing. Regardless of their culture of origin, after all, who doesn’t want a little “me time” once in a while?

If one thing defines the positive experience of the aloner in Korea, it isn’t the solitude itself, but the choice of solitude at certain times and social connection at others, a choice that their parents, grandparents, and generations before more than likely didn’t have the luxury of making. Though the country’s one-person households tend toward the younger end of the age spectrum and the higher end of the socioeconomic one – not to mention their concentration in Seoul, the kind of dense metropolis that can provide the sort of accommodations that make such lifestyles possible – a wider section of the population discovers the benefits of living alone with each passing year.

This trend has taken hold, to one extent or another, not just in Korea but in other economically advanced countries as well, all of which have enjoyed benefits but also faced challenges as a result of the displacement of informal social institutions and traditional practices. None, for instance, has yet found a reliably effective way to assist the proportion of single households occupied not voluntarily by successful young people with time and money to spend freely, but involuntarily by senior citizens living in economically precarious circumstances.

But in the longer view of human history, we’ve only just entered the era of one-person households. What shape our societies will ultimately take will be determined in places like Korea, countries where people are coming to the realization that being alone hardly means being lonely.

The tvN soap opera “Drinking Solo” has drawn younger viewers with its depiction of the increasingly popular solo lifestyle.

Cover Story

Engaging Through Cultural Tourism

Cultural tourism provides a richer, deeper travel experience

_ Written by Jennifer Flinn

_ From fine arts to daily life, cultural tourists are seeking experiences that connect them to the places they visit. This kind of tourism helps communities preserve their heritage, supports the arts and fosters cultural enrichment on the local level.

Tourism is evolving. Once dominated by tour buses that would cruise up to famous sights, disgorge a pack of camera-carrying tourists for a few minutes, then rumble on to the next spot, tourism is changing. The rise of “cultural tourism,” which emphasizes the value of engaging deeply with the history, heritage and traditions of the local people, has invigorated Korean tourism, shifting attention to the country’s most attractive elements: its warm people and vibrant cultural traditions.

Cultural tourism has a long history, going back to the Grand Tours that saw people spend months leisurely winding their way through Europe, soaking up the culture of a single city for weeks. The excursion was meant to help people steep themselves not just in the pleasures of the trip, but in the very roots of Western culture and civilization.

Modern life, however, has pushed people toward more truncated tours that leave little time for contemplation. With only a few weeks a year set aside for leisure or travel, many tourists try to cram in as much sightseeing as they can in the scant time available. Tour packages are often prearranged, restricting interaction between tourists and locals. Tourists might see the country, but they don’t get to know the people or the culture.

Modern cultural tourism seeks to rectify this by putting culture front and center. From fine arts to daily life, cultural tourists are seeking experiences that connect them to the places they visit. This kind of tourism has benefits that go beyond the economic, helping communities preserve their heritage; support arts, crafts and performances; and foster cultural enrichment on the local level.

In Korea, the increasing popularity of cultural tourism couldn’t have come at a better time. As Korea gains prominence as a tourism destination, visitors are becoming more interested in its rich cultural history. The local tourism industry is in turn working hard to develop new programs to highlight Korean culture, while everyone from classically trained artists to rural villagers has found a stake in helping promote local culture to visitors.

One of the key advantages of cultural tourism is its ability to emphasize diverse cultural experiences. In Korea, tourists can now try everything from learning how to do a K-pop dance to eating traditional vegetarian Buddhist food at a temple to sleeping in a traditional Korean Hanok house all in the same day. People can stay in a rural “slow” village and enjoy a lifestyle that stretches back hundreds of years or follow the latest in Korean beauty trends with the help of eager locals. This new emphasis on experiences has helped make Korea more popular than ever as a tourist destination.

International participants learn to make Korean ceramics at Buan Celadon Museum.

New experiences bring people together

Even visiting the biggest of Korean tourist spots has become a more interesting experience for tourists who want to emphasize culture. In years past, tourists would get off the bus at Gyeongbokgung Palace, follow their tour guide around for an hour, then hop back on the bus and head off to the next sight on the itinerary. Now the most popular way to visit the palace is to stop in one of the adjacent neighborhoods and rent colorful traditional clothing called Hanbok to wear around the palace. Docents and tour guides have put more emphasis on the people who lived there and what happened to them, helping people imagine the place as more than just a collection of buildings. These seemingly minor changes help visitors experience it in a new way. Small changes can create a much more meaningful experience, one that leaves vivid and lasting memories.

Private individuals, companies and the government have worked to develop new experiential programs that help tourists make the most of their time in Korea. Experiential tourism has proved a hit, with both self-directed and organized tours allowing people to learn more about the people and culture. Private educational and cultural organizations like Yeol and the Royal Asiatic Society provide English-language excursions to historical sites, special museum tours, and experience programs for everything from cooking to archery. Local artisans have shifted their focus to include teaching everything from ceramics to making traditional rice alcohol. The government runs programs at a range of levels from the national to the village level, and hundreds of private tour groups now work to engage visitors in cultural activities and learning.

For example, Korea’s most famous martial art, taekwondo, is now practiced in schools worldwide, and is a big draw for many tourists. With the help of the Korean Tourism Organization website, a self-guided visitor can find a whole tour outlined with information on ways to experience it directly, including watching public performances at the Namsan Hanok Village or visiting the World Taekwondo Federation Kukkiwon, International Keumgang Taekwondo Center or National Taekwondowon for a chance to take lessons from Korean practitioners. There are also theme tours designed around Korean dramas and movies, UNESCO World Heritage items, and traditional arts and culture.

Other efforts to provide visitors with a cultural experience include the One More Trip program, which links tourists with small local tour companies. There’s both a website and an app that lets people scroll through a huge variety of themed tours. Because the tours are organized and run through smaller local agencies and individuals, they can offer competitively priced but still intimate experiences tailored to different interests. Whether tourists want to try their hand at making traditional Korean alcohol, go on a street-food tour, see important representations of modern architecture, visit a working farm, or get an in-depth tour of a historical site, the program will link them with the right choices.

Participants learn K-pop dancing.

Visitors take part in a Korean-pop-culture-related tour.

_ Private individuals, companies and the government have worked to develop new experiential programs that help tourists make the most of their time in Korea.

Tours of Seoul’s Bukchon district reveal the charms of one of the city’s most historic neighborhoods.

Strolling Seoul’s royal palaces clad in Korean traditional dress is a popular activity for both locals and international visitors.

Visitors learn the Korean tea ceremony.

International visitors make Hahoe masks.

One of the most important benefits of the program is the connection it creates between locals and visitors by creating a single online community where local guides, historians, artists, craftspeople and others can find each other and let their expertise shine. Tourists can also conveniently compare and pick based on the services they most need, including pickup and drop-off, language and interpreter availability, even whether or not they’ll have WiFi during the excursion. Rather than having to hunt down a tour guide and all the relevant information from overseas, locals and tourists can find what they need through One More Trip.

Students learn taekwondo.

_ A benefit of the new emphasis on cultural and experiential tourism is that it has opened up new ways to experience the world through travel.

A different path toward healing and self-realization

A benefit of the new emphasis on cultural and experiential tourism is that it has opened up new ways to experience the world through travel. “Healing tours” have become a new staple of cultural tourism in Korea, offering both domestic and international tourists a chance to improve their physical and mental health through travel.

Leaving the noise and bustle of the main cities like Seoul and Busan, healing trips let people slow down and listen carefully to their bodies. These trips often go to the deep countryside, where participants can enjoy clean air, fresh locally harvested food, gardens, parks, and the more meditative elements of traditional culture. Leisurely and deliberate, they visit some of Korea’s scenic wonders, like Suncheonman Bay, the tea plantations of Boseong and the bamboo forests of Damyang. By spending time unwinding in a beautiful natural setting, these holistic tours hope to bring both physical and mental health. Some tours increase these benefits by adding a component that draws on traditional Korean medicine, evaluating the body and trying to balance out different elements through acupuncture, massage and herbal medicine. Others go for a more spa-like approach. Unique Korean cultural practices such as “forest bathing” through a woodland hike or walking barefoot on therapeutic stone or clay paths are also popular elements in healing tours. These tours aren’t just for foreigners – many Koreans love them as a way to get away from it all and enjoy the countryside.

After the body and mind have been relieved of stress and set on a path to healing, the next step is self-realization. Korea is home to many ancient traditions of philosophy that are reaching out in the present. Buddhism in particular has a long tradition of contemplation and meditation that practitioners want to communicate to new audiences. Over the past few years, the Jogye Order and other schools of Buddhism have helped create a large-scale program that gives people a firsthand look at life in temples around the country. Some programs last only a few hours, while others last several days, immersing visitors in temple activities.

First conceived as a way to house the thousands of tourists coming for the 2002 World Cup, the Templestay program soon evolved into an ongoing way for the Buddhist community to reach out to the world. Most temples offer guided meditation courses and dharma talks, meant to illuminate important religious and philosophical concepts. Virtually all temples have guided tours about the history and significance of the buildings and important artifacts. Visitors can stay overnight or for a few days at many temples, donning simple garments, attending chanting and meditation sessions, and joining in daily life with the monks and nuns to get a glimpse into a world previously closed to outsiders. Now temples welcome tourists with open arms, developing different programs and offering multilingual interpretation services to appeal to a wide range of people.

The specialized courses are usually unique to individual temples, highlighting a special part of that temple’s heritage. People who are interested in martial arts and sports often visit Golgulsa Temple in Gyeongju to study Sunmudo, an ancient martial art developed by the monks over the centuries as a way to repel invaders. Most visitors come for a few hours or overnight, but other people have been known to stay for weeks or even years to study the physically arduous art. Tourists who want a slower, less strenuous experience might opt to learn the art of tea at Hwaeomsa Temple near Mt. Jirisan, where the monks have harvested and processed wild tea that traces back to the first tea plants imported to Korea. Participants learn how to forage for the precious leaves in the forests surrounding the temple before hand-roasting and rolling them into fragrant teas, then learning the basics of the Korean tea ceremony from the monks. Foodies, meanwhile, will find their own seon (Zen) at places like Jingwansa Temple in Seoul’s Eunpyeong-gu district, where the nuns have gained recognition for teaching everyone from ordinary housewives to President Obama’s personal chef how to make delicate and delicious vegetarian food that embodies Buddhist ideals by avoiding meat, alcohol, and strongly flavored or scented foods containing garlic, chili peppers and onion.

With mudflats, reeds and migratory birds, Suncheonman Bay is a popular eco-tourism destination.

_ Leaving the noise and bustle of the main cities like Seoul and Busan, healing trips let people slow down and listen carefully to their bodies.

Participants in the Templestay program explore Beopjusa Temple.

Experiential tourism programs that really get your hands dirty

Temples aren’t the only places opening their doors to tourists. Korea’s rural farming villages are finding new relevance in the modern era by promoting “slow city” experience programs. Most Koreans now live in cities, and many people have abandoned farming for city life. To breathe new life into their villages, many locals have turned to tourism as a way to promote and preserve the traditional life of the countryside. The slow city movement began in Italy in the late 1990s, and now the network of cities extends around the world. The programs help visitors connect with rural areas while at the same time giving the locals extra income and pride in seeing their skills appreciated and passed on.

There are 11 “slow cities” in Korea. One of the first places to gain the coveted designation was Jungdo Island in Jeollanam-do, where visitors can learn traditional methods of salt farming and explore the ecologically unique mudflats that provide the area with abundant seafood. Tourists who make it out to Cheongsong in Gyeongsangbuk-do can try their hand at making Korea’s renowned mulberry paper or using natural dyes to color cloth. While not a “slow city,” Sangha Farm in Gochang, Jeollabuk-do, is a new experimental government-private cooperative venture that gives public demonstrations to help people learn where their food comes from and understand the work that goes into farming things like rice. Other areas offer a chance to try pottery throwing, sheep herding, making pickles or planting rice. All of them offer up the warm hearts and hospitality of the local villagers.

A common thread among many of the new cultural tourism models is a focus on ecology. Alongside slow cities, templestays and healing tours, eco-tours have become a way for ordinary people to reconnect with the environment and pay close attention to the health of the world around them. Many of the slow cities have also made commitments to alternative and cleaner energy sources, like Jungdo Island, which has electric cars for visitor use and a special eco-tourism agency that arranges wildlife and wetland tours. The World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms concept has also caught on in Korea. WWOOF programs allow visitors to help out on organic farms in exchange for a place to stay, a uniquely hands-on experience as well as an inexpensive way to travel and meet the people responsible for putting food on Korea’s plates. The unique ecology of the island province of Jeju has made it a focal point for eco-tourism, encouraging visitors to gently explore its caves, beaches, waterfalls and volcanic mountains. Other areas with special eco-tours include Suncheonman Bay and the wetlands of Upo and Junam.

Participants learn to prepare Buddhist temple dishes from a monk.

_ The slow city movement helps visitors connect with rural areas while at the same time giving the locals extra income and pride in seeing their skills appreciated and passed on.

Visitors discover traditional dyeing techniques at Naju’s Myeongha Village.

Open homes, open hearts and open doors

For visitors who truly want to understand Korean heritage, traditions and daily life, there’s no substitute for living like Koreans do, and the best way to do that is through a Hanok stay program. Emerging from the tradition of inns and guesthouses, people who live in traditional Korean Hanok homes have started opening up their homes as accommodation for travelers. While these traditional wood frame houses with tile roofs have been disappearing from the cities, a renaissance has begun. Cooperative efforts between the government and citizens have seen a boom in owners converting their homes so that guests can experience the elegance and versatility these structures provide. They range from luxury Hanok hotels that provide a range of concierge services and elegant meals to humble families in homes that rent out a room or two and will personally guide tourists around the neighborhood. The experience is magical, providing a kind of cozy introduction to how Koreans live that no four-star hotel can match.

Taking part in the autumn harvest is a popular hands-on activity.

__ The new boom in cultural tourism shows no signs of stopping.

The Rakkojae is a traditional Korean home that has been converted into a boutique hotel.

An old hillside shantytown, Busan’s Gamcheon Culture Village is now a tourist hot spot thanks to its cafés, bookstores and public art.

Hanok and other old buildings are more than just a place to experience a night’s sleep, though. They’ve gained special significance as new sites for artists and activists, weaving traditional architecture together with modern artistic endeavors. Gamcheon Culture Village in Busan was one of the first village art projects in Korea. The remote hillside area was first founded by refugees fleeing the dangers of the Korean War, and was long associated with poverty. With help from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and teams of artists from around the country, it was transformed into a riot of color and art. The changes were more than cosmetic, though, and the village established a community run together by residents, artists and the local government. The results of the collaboration have brought national and international attention and awards, but the greatest reward has been bringing new visitors to an area that otherwise would be neglected. Tourists flock from both home and abroad to visit the village, talk with the locals, meet the artists, and soak in the sights. Other areas in Seoul and across the nation have used them as a model for urban renewal that engages the community and visitors together.

No end in sight to cultural tour innovation

Whether opening up traditional homes, getting people to get their hands dirty with organic farming, or waking up at dawn to chant sutras, the new boom in cultural tourism shows no signs of stopping. It promises more rewarding relationships, deeper engagement, and better links between people across geography and cultures. From Hanok homestays to hands-on classes in making makgeolli, visitors and tourists are reaping the rewards of new innovations in cultural tourism, and creating ties that will last long after the trip is over.

Interview

A Chance to Find Your True Self

Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism director Hyo Sung says Templestay succeeds because it offers an opportunity to relax, heal and discover

_ Written by Robert Koehler

“Based on Korea’s long history and its traditional culture, the Templestay program gives you an opportunity to experience Buddhist traditions. When locals and foreigners think of Korea’s traditional Buddhist traditions, they think of the Templestay program.”

The Ven. Hyo Sung is the director of the Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism, the body that operates the remarkably successful Templestay program, one of Korea’s best known and best loved cultural tourism initiatives. In 2015 alone, 187,101 locals and 32,338 foreigners took part in the program. In a 2009 report entitled “The Impact of Culture on Tourism,” the OECD singled out the program for praise, calling it, “a good example of a theme-based tourist attraction” and “a cultural experience program designed to help visitors understand Buddhism in Korea better and contributes to enhance attractiveness and competitiveness of local territories as cultural tourism resources.”

What sets the Templestay program apart, says Hyo Sung, is that it’s not just a simple opportunity to stay at a temple. He says, “It’s a trip of happiness, where you can directly experience the life of a practitioner at a temple and take some time to look at, think about or find yourself through a variety of hands-on, Buddhism-related programs, such as prayers, ringing the temple bell, making lotus lanterns, bowing and talking with the monks over tea.” Templestay’s strength is that it gives participants a chance to relax and reflect, a rarity in a busy modern world. “Because of this distinction, a growing number of locals and foreigners take part in multiple Templestay programs.”

Different draws for different folks

While the Templestay program has proven popular with just about everyone, locals and foreigners are drawn to different aspects of it. Hyo Sung explains that according to a 2015 survey, locals took part to find time to relax and recharge, while foreigners were looking to experience Korean traditional culture and Korea’s Buddhist heritage. “What this says is that participation in the program is on the rise as busy modern people, dreaming of escaping their daily lives in the city, demand physical and mental peace through nature, leisure and healing, and interest in traditional culture grows.” He also notes that while a plurality of local participants take part in the program on their own, foreigners are more likely to come with a friend or coworkers.

To satisfy the needs of a diverse and ever-changing society, the Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism has developed four different Templestay “brands.” One gives the perpetually busy some comfort and peace. Another focuses on health and clean living, with an emphasis on temple food. Another one teaches participants to lighten themselves by moderating their tastes and desires. The last one reminds participants that they can achieve their dreams.

Hyo Sung says the Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism plans to turn the Templestay program into a national traditional culture brand that grows alongside the people and plays a role in internationally promoting the excellence of Korea’s Buddhist heritage. “The program goes beyond sex, class, religion and race and gives you a chance to discover your true self” he says. “The Templestay program, where you can rest, meet yourself and discover how precious traditional culture is, waits for you.”

Travel

Sunrises and Industrial Light

Korea’s city of steel, Pohang, offers more than just iron and steam

_ Written and photographed by Robert Koehler

The sun rises over Homigot Cape

Colonial-era homes line Guryongpo’s historic alleyways.

In the predawn dark, Homigot might as well be the edge of the earth. The easternmost point of the Korean mainland is a terrifying place, an infinite plane of black punctuated every 12 seconds by the white beam of the lighthouse’s 300,000 candlelight lamp. The howl of the winter wind, the crash of the waves and the utter emptiness of the scene intensify the feeling of unease and dread.

As the hour approaches 7 a.m., however, the horizon appears as a spot of dark purple. After a few minutes, the purple spot turns into a band of rich orange stretching across the landscape. The loneliness gives way to a very human energy as people – mostly photographers at first, but later, young couples and families – begin gathering at the waterfront to take in the coming spectacle. The sky and the seas beneath transform into a canopy of endless permutations of red, violet and blue.

Guryongpo’s history museum sheds light on the village’s former inhabitants.

Guryongpo’s historic steps offer a view over the fishing port.

Finally, the sun emerges from below the waves, at first a sphere of red and, soon, a bright golden glare. A few meters from the rocky shoreline, a giant human hand, silhouetted in the brilliant light, reaches out from the waves, seagulls perched upon its fingertips. The crash of the waves and howl of the wind sink beneath the music of hundreds of lens shutters and smartphone cameras.

Good morning, Korea.

Best known as the home of POSCO, one of the world’s largest steel manufacturers, the southeastern port of Pohang is the beating heart of Korea’s industrial sector, pumping out the metal upon which the country’s postwar economic miracle was built. The giant towers of Pohang Steel Mill’s blast furnaces, perpetually billowing great clouds of white steam, dominate the cityscape like the cathedral spires of a medieval European city.

Yeongildae Beach boasts some of Pohang’s best night scenery.

If you thought industrial grit was all Pohang had to offer, however, you’d be mistaken. Pohang has a green side, including long stretches of scenic coastline that offer some of Korea’s most breathtaking sunrises. Its mountains hide dramatic waterfalls, rugged valleys and ancient temples. The fishing towns on the coastal periphery combine picturesque alleys, rich histories and, of course, top-notch seafood, including snow crab, sliced raw fish served in iced water and, of course, dried herring or gwamegi, Pohang’s best-loved dish.

Visitors enjoy some time at Yeongildae Beach.

Tail of the tiger

The 16th-century scholar and geomancer Nam Sa-go compared the shape of the Korean Peninsula to that of a tiger – poised to attack north into Russia and China. Mt. Baekdusan, the great volcano on the border between China and what is now North Korea, was the tiger’s nose. Pohang’s Homigot Cape was the tail.

Nam’s creative description stuck, with many Koreans likening Korea to a tiger even today. The cape that marks the Korean Peninsula’s easternmost point was originally called Janggigot, or “Horse Mane Point.” In 2001, however, the National Geography Institute changed its name to Homigot, or “Tiger Tail Point,” in honor of its privileged position on the big cat’s backside.

Not so long ago, Homigot was a seldom-visited spot, desolate and hard to reach. Over the last 10 years, however, the local authorities have exerted great efforts to develop the cape as a travel destination, especially for sunrise viewing. Today, the place plays host to a yearly sunrise festival on the first morning of the year, when thousands throng so-called Sunrise Square to take in the annual debut appearance of Earth’s closest star.

The giant POSCO steel mill is Pohang’s dominant landmark.

Homigot is home to a few pieces of sculpture art, the most iconic of which is the Hand of Harmony, a giant bronze hand that thrusts up from the waves like the raised hand of a student begging to answer a question. The place is quite popular with landscape photographers, so if you’re lugging a camera and a tripod, get there early if you want to secure a prime spot.

Of historical interest is Homigot’s magnificent lighthouse, Korea second oldest, built in 1901. The grand, 26.4-meter-high white tower, built entirely of brick, was designed by a Frenchman and constructed by Chinese laborers. Over a century old, it’s still the largest lighthouse in the country.

A scenic hiking trail lines the coast between Homigot and the fishing port of Guryongpo to the south. Walking the trail takes about three and a half hours, during which time you’ll pass small communities, unique coastal basalt formations, and plenty of blue vistas. The trail is also integrated into the 770-kilometer Haeparang Trail, which lines the entire East Sea coast of Korea from Busan to the DMZ.

The POSCO steel mill glows at night.

Modern history in Guryongpo

Guryongpo, or “Nine Dragons Port,” is a thriving fishing community a few kilometers south of Homigot. It’s best known for its gwamegi, or freeze-dried herring or saury typically enjoyed with seaweed, green onion, and a shot or three of alcohol. In the winter months, you can find rows of fish hanging from racks in front of some Guryongpo homes. The fish freezes at night and thaws during the day, a process that continues until the water content drops to about 40 percent. The result is chewy, tasty, and rich in DHA and omega-3 fatty acids.

Prior to the turn of the 20th century, Guryongpo was just a tiny fishing village. In the early part of the century, however, when Korea was under Japanese colonial rule, mostly poor fishing families from Japan’s Wakayama and Okayama prefectures settled in the town, where they prospered. In the 1920s, the Japanese developed the harbor, and the town grew into a major port and fishing center.

Early morning dawns over the steel mill and Pohang Canal.

Pohang’s inner harbor is home to a sizable fishing fleet.

When Korea was liberated from colonial rule in 1945, Guryongpo’s Japanese settlers returned to Japan. Their homes, however, remained right where they were. Today, the town has one of Korea’s best collections of well-preserved colonial-era homes. The local authorities, eager to turn Guryongpo’s charmingly exotic back-alleys into tourism gold, restored many of the homes to something approximating their original condition. Their efforts have paid off, and on any given weekend, the place is crawling with hundreds of visitors armed with cameras and Instagram accounts.

Some of Guryongpo’s homes have been converted into restaurants and cafés. The largest home in the old Japanese settlement, the old Hashimoto House, is now a local history museum and well worth the visit.

The vibrant Jukdo Market is one of Korea’s biggest seafood markets.

Mulhoe consists of sliced raw fish served in a spicy, iced soup.

Half-dried herring, or gwamegi, is a wintertime specialty.

Steel City Korea

Like Guryongpo, which now falls under the administrative jurisdiction of Pohang City, downtown Pohang went from backwater to major regional port and transportation hub in the first decades of the 20th century. Its real development, however, began in 1968, when the Pohang Iron and Steel Company – today’s POSCO – began construction on Korea’s first integrated steel mill on a site on Yeongilman Bay. While many foreign experts were skeptical of the project, which was part of the Korean government’s efforts to achieve self-sufficiency in steel, the mill proved a success after it began production in 1972. POSCO continued to expand its Pohang mill, which eventually became one of the world’s largest. Now the company has a second integrated mill in the southern port city of Gwangyang. In 2015, POSCO produced a whopping 42 million tonnes of crude steel.

Today’s Pohang is a thriving city of 500,000 people. It is also a major center of learning and science thanks to the presence of Pohang University of Science and Technology, Korea’s answer to the California Institute of Technology and MIT.

Pohang’s major scenic attraction is, naturally enough, the steel mill. POSCO does offer bus tours of the steelworks if you make a reservation three days in advance, but most people take in the monument to Korean industrial might from parks and beaches across from the mill. One especially popular spot is the viewing pavilion at Yeongildae Beach, which is north of downtown and across the bay from the mill.

Another good place to take in the mill is the so-called Pohang Canal, or Pohang Unha, an artificial waterway that connects the city’s old inner harbor with the Hyeongsangang River. An observation deck with sweeping views of the mill is located where the canal meets the river. During the day, the observation deck doubles as a place to board cruise boats that take passengers up the canal, through the inner harbor, and into the waters off Songdo Beach.

While steel may have replaced fish as Pohang’s lifeblood, the city is still home to a large fishing fleet. In the inner harbor, visitors will find Jukdo Market, one of southeast Korea’s largest seafood markets. Like other seafood markets, the place is busiest in the early morning, when local merchants are bidding at auction for the fresh catch.

Oeosa Temple sits between a cliff and a large lake.

The temple’s main hall dates from the 18th century.

Healing in the mountains

Pohang is better known for its scenic coastlines and industrial landscapes, but its mountains, too, are worth exploring for a bit of peace and tranquility.

The Buddhist temple of Oeosa is situated in a scenic spot between rock cliffs and a sparkling lake. The ancient monastery was founded by Ven. Jinpyeong (569–632), one of early Korea’s greatest monks. While the temple itself is not especially large, its exquisite surroundings more than make up for it. Some take in the views from the hermitages perched atop the cliffs overlooking the main sanctuary. Many others, however, spend time walking the temple’s lakeside trails, which offer plenty of relaxing natural vistas.

A more rugged spot is the forested slopes of Mt. Naeyeonsan, where you’ll find Bogyeongsa Temple. The temple itself is sublime, but the real draw is the valley behind it, where the avid hiker can explore 12 scenic waterfalls.

The lake in front of Oeosa Temple is lined by spectacular walking trails.

WHERE TO STAY

Yeongildae Beach is lined by many clean, friendly and reasonably priced hotels and motels with views of the sea.

WHAT TO EAT

Gwamegi is Pohang’s most famous foodstuff, especially in winter. Another favorite, however, is mulhoe, a spicy soup containing sliced raw fish, or hoe. The dish is served cold. Guryongpo and the area around Jukdo Market are good places to score it.

GETTING THERE

High-speed trains to Pohang depart from Seoul Station (travel time: two hours, 30 minutes).

People 1

Traditional, With a Pop Culture Twist

Hanbok designer Lee Jinhee expands the horizons of Hallyu

_ Written by Kim Jinwoo
Photographed by RAUM Studio

Until recently, traditional Korean dress, or Hanbok, could more commonly be found stuffed away in a closet than actually worn. Usually expensive and generally uncomfortable, it was hardly anyone’s go-to outfit. But views on the Hanbok are changing, and today the costume is enjoying a resurgence as the attire of choice for sightseeing at Korea’s traditional places, as well as a sought-after cultural item among foreign visitors wanting to make lasting memories in Korea. Once dismissed as fusty and cumbersome, Hanbok is being appreciated anew, especially among young people, as something special and beautiful. This growing popularity can be traced to several factors, a major one being the boom in historical period dramas, or sageuk. “Fusion” sageuk, in particular, have been wildly successful, as with the recent “Love in the Moonlight” (KBS 2TV) and “Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo” (SBS), along with the earlier “Sungkyunkwan Scandal” (KBS 2TV). Mixing historical settings with creative stories, not to mention star-studded casts, fusion sageuk have enhanced the image of Hanbok in people’s minds. Design critic Choi Bum has said that the current enthusiasm for Hanbok can be traced to the generation of young Koreans that grew up watching shows like “Sungkyunkwan Scandal.”

The fashions of “Sungkyunkwan Scandal” were created by none other than costume designer Lee Jinhee. Lee has participated in costume design for more than 80 TV series and films, including the 2015 film “The Treacherous,” and recently garnered praise for her work behind the scenes of “Love in the Moonlight,” for which she experimented with different colors and tones to modernize the Hanbok costumes while still preserving their original beauty. Though not formally trained in Hanbok design, Lee received schooling in stage design and costume design, which gave her an education in the history of costumes in Korea as well as in the West and prompted her to conduct her own research on authentically Korean costume design.

In “Love in the Moonlight,” Lee wanted to show viewers the elegance and beauty of Korea’s traditional clothing.

“To many,” says Lee, “Hanbok brings to mind a vivid palette of primary colors, specifically obangsaek,” the five cardinal colors — white, black, blue, yellow and red — of the traditional Korean color spectrum. “But Hanbok design also incorporates colors that are more understated and refined, even modern. I wanted more people to come to understand the aesthetic of Hanbok, and so when I was offered the costume design role for ‘Love in the Moonlight,’ I gladly agreed.”

Lee handled the costume design for the play “Hamlet.”

‘Love in the Moonlight,’ a new chapter in Hanbok history

Early on in the production of “Love in the Moonlight,” Lee was concerned to find that she and the producers had very different looks in mind. In consideration of the target audience, mostly teenagers, the producers thought the costumes should be colorful and showy. Lee stuck firmly to her original intentions, however, and was able to turn the costumes into a mode of sensory communication. Her creations caused a sensation with viewers, and Lee got a feel once again for the power of the TV drama medium.

Lee made sure the costumes of actor Park Bogum conveyed the deep-rooted artistic sensibilities as well as the strength and sagacity befitting his character, a fictionalized version of the Crown Prince Hyomyeong. As depicted in the series, the Crown Prince, born Yi Yeong, is a complex, multifaceted character, so Lee had to forgo the typical royal robe, or gonryongpo, and diversify the prince’s wardrobe. In looks and styling, therefore, Yi Yeong as performed by Park Bogum was entirely unique, markedly different from past representations of the historical figure. Initially, Lee had planned to prepare 15 outfits for Park to wear. But she ended up using her own money to produce over 30 outfits in total, thus contributing in major part to the viewers’ enjoyment.

“Park Bogum’s Crown Prince Hyomyeong was one of the most impressive performances I’ve been a part of, and also one of my favorites,” says Lee. “Park adapted his acting in broad and minute ways in accordance with each costume change. He was also similar in significant ways to the character he played.” By focusing less on narrative structure and more on the actors fully inhabiting their roles, “Love in the Moonlight” effectively communicated the themes of the coming-of-age story. One reason this was possible was because Lee and the actors talked openly and freely together, which enabled Lee to create costumes that reflected the actors’ real-life personalities.

Even before “Love in the Moonlight,” Lee was well known for her work as costume designer for “Sungkyunkwan Scandal.” At the time, the costumes of actor Song Joong-ki were especially talked about, and not just because of Song’s popularity or handsome face. An actor’s effectiveness and appeal in his role have a lot to do with how compatible the costumes are with his true personality, his modes of expression, and his distinct air.

Lee explains, “I had to think long and hard about how to balance the free-flowing elegance of the Hanbok with the mood of the production, which blended fantasy with realism and a touch of unconventionality.” She ultimately decided to keep the original form of the Hanbok, with its mix of curved and straight lines, but use a stylish and modern color palette that would appeal to the modern viewer. What resulted was one of the key elements to the drama’s popularity: a collection of costumes perfectly suited to each individual character.

In “Sungkyunkwan Scandal,” Lee tried to show off Hanbok’s potential to be relevant to modern tastes, and in “Love in the Moonlight,” she sought to capture the great scope of the costume’s beauty. And it seems she succeeded. Through these series in particular, Koreans and people outside Korea, too, have come to see the Hanbok in a new light, appreciating it in expanded and diverse ways. While the production methods for Korean dramas make it difficult sometimes to pay close attention to matters like costume design, Lee recognizes the strengths of working in the field, including being able to partner with people whose work has contemporary relevance and benefit from the far-reaching influence of the drama medium.

Lee also did the costume design for the popular KBS soap opera “Love in the Moonlight.”

From artist to designer

Though Lee has made a name for herself as a costume designer, of Hanbok costumes in particular, Lee wasn’t formally trained in fashion. In high school she studied Western painting, and in college she majored in stage design, giving her a firm basis in art. Lee got into costumes during her second year in college, after a trip to Prague, where she visited a local museum and saw clothing worn by Czech soldiers during World War II. In the garments riddled with bullet holes and stained with blood and dirt, she saw people’s lives. This experience helped her understand the concept of stage design. Stage design, or set design, created the temporal and spatial setting of a production, and the costumes, by extension, created the characters who would move through this setting.

“I realized then that if qualities of time, space and character could be communicated through clothing, a set wouldn’t even be necessary,” says Lee. With this insight, she became confident in her ability to make her ideas concrete, and her career in costume design began in earnest. Whether for plays, films or television, she focused on creating costumes that were not only visually and texturally impressive but that would also express, at a fundamental level, the fate of the character who would wear it.

“I got the same sense, of seeing someone’s life in their clothes, while going through my mother’s clothing after she passed away,” Lee recalls. “It became even clearer to me that clothes were not simply an expression of the wearer’s style but objects that carried the wearer’s life and memories.”

Rather than make a brilliant piece of clothing, the costume designer must take care to create something that speaks to the life of the character in the story. Thus, a costume designer must be trained to see and think from a perspective informed by the humanities and sociology. While works of fiction don’t necessarily have to be dictated by historical evidence, it’s important to have a basic knowledge of the mood of the time as well as the social practices and climate. Understanding characters is also important. The costume designer’s work is a form of art. She uses the medium of clothing to breathe life into a character and create the world in which a story plays out.

The period drama “Sungkyunkwan Scandal” boasted beautifully designed traditional clothing.

The period film “The Treacherous” featured Lee’s costume designs.

Taking Hanbok to the world

Lee, who says she hopes Hanbok gains global visibility, is preparing to launch a brand that will reflect her philosophy on clothing. The brand will be called HAMU, short for Honest Art Modern Unit, and will feature modern clothing with Hanbok-based designs. While plenty of attempts have been made to modernize Hanbok, few have focused on the style’s globalization; Lee says this is something that she very much wants to try. Perhaps because her creations have mostly been for the stage and screen, she says she’s developed a desire to communicate with people and interact with them directly. She aspires to become a designer like Issey Miyake, creating designs that are wearable and beautiful and loved by people around the world. She hopes to be known as a Korean designer rather than a Hanbok designer.

“I usually create clothing knowing who’s going to wear it. That’s why working on my brand felt very different. I began thinking first about who I wanted to wear my clothes and how I wanted them to look. I had in mind working women in their 30s, 40s and 50s, and the clothes that would be elegant yet comfortable for them to wear and also add something special to their look.” For Lee, comfort comes first before the added flair; she repeatedly tries on all of her designs until they are comfortable. Her ultimate goal is to create clothing that makes people take notice of the wearer, not her clothes, and that can be worn easily, without becoming outdated or losing their value, for a long time.

Lee is utterly confident in the beauty of Korea’s traditional clothing, not to mention exceptionally proud. As a designer who has spent over 20 years exploring the aesthetics of clothing, she is determined to continue to build on her passion in this domain, and what she creates along the way is sure to impress.

People 2

Recovering Korea’s Potable Past

Traditional Korean liquor master Park Rok Darm’s research resurrects the natural art and aroma of Korean alcohol

_ Written by Teresa Franklin
Photographed by RAUM Studio

On the upstairs floors of an unassuming building along the main road to Seochon sits Park Rok Darm’s research institute, Korea Studio Sool. One floor is committed to the obvious – which is to say, brewing, fermentation and workshops. Masters of multitasking, members of the staff make conversation between tasks. Upstairs, Park’s office is lined with packed shelves. On the left are books and binders from decades of research, and on the right, his iconic catalog of hundreds of small multicolored jars, reminiscent of vials in a laboratory, of hand-labeled liquors.

“There’s a science to it, you know,”

Park pointed to the 87 binders lining the top of the shelves. For decades, he has been recording the data from his research – measurements, temperatures, color hues, fragrance – with a habit of precise measurement that departs significantly from Korean kitchen protocol. He pulled out a multivolume set of thick books resembling law manuals, inscribed with the same instructions as in the binders.

“I wanted to include pictures, but there would just be no end to the pages.”

The bottleneck effect

In biology, the bottleneck phenomenon occurs when a population is suddenly reduced to a small surviving few and genetic diversity plummets. When the population recovers, the new generation – descended from the survivors – will likely differ in character from the original group. According to Park, this explains modern Korean alcohol.

In the early 20th century, while Korea was under Japanese colonial rule, the authorities imposed a series of increasingly stringent laws regulating agricultural production and banning the private manufacture of liquor. The government regulated staple agricultural products, including those used to make alcohol. The best of the crops were exported to Japan, and the leftovers, the lower-quality grains, circulated in the Korean market.

This continued for over three decades until liberation in 1945. During that time, most refinery operations halted. The Korean people’s living memory of precolonial liquors vanished into thin air. With no way to preserve the production of liquor as it was before colonial rule, a new generation of rustic brews – made quickly behind closed doors and away from the peering eyes of officials – became the new standard.

Three generations of prohibition and the introduction of more convenient, sometimes forced, methods from abroad resulted in the disappearance of hundreds of years of technical skill and yielded a grassroots version of Korean alcohol that was cheap and quickly consumed, explaining the reputation that Korean alcohol maintains today. As a former cultural ambassador, and as the first noncommercial recipient of a presidential award for Korean consumables in 2015, Park is disappointed in mass production.

“It’s not the Korean method, and it’s not the Korean flavor,” he says. “Many manufacturers masquerade their products as Korean traditional alcohol, but that’s deceptive.”

The resurrection of Korea’s alcohol-making tradition

For over three decades, Park has pursued the recipes of the Joseon era (1392-1910), not unlike a scholar of dead languages. His studio has reproduced and documented roughly 350 types of traditional liquors, and he is currently working to fill in the remaining blanks of about 527 known names. That number explodes to 1,000 if all of their localized variants are included.

It took six months for Park to create his first successful resurrection.

“It was completely different,” he recalls. “The color, the flavor, specifically, the aroma.”

Traditional methods were organic. There were no additives, unlike in Korea’s mass-produced beverages. The ingredients are high quality and diverse, and the final product’s aroma was not overpowered by the cultures, or nuruk. The liquors that Park found did not have an abrasive yeasty smell, nor the persistent aftertaste that unaccustomed overseas consumers find unattractive.

In fact, there exists an array of flower-infused wines that, by smell, could even be mistaken for perfume. These are often enjoyed during the flower’s respective season: plum blossom wine or maewhasul in the winter, or cherry-blossom wine or beotkkotsul in the spring. Another flower-infused wine made from 100 kinds of flowers and herbs, called baekhwasul, can be consumed year round. To make each batch, however, makers must first spend three years gathering flowers as they bloom.

In their mission to disperse the Korean traditional liquor-making method across the globe, Korea Studio Sool offers regular workshops for beginners to intensive programs. By popular demand, Park continues to hold pungnyu gatherings nationwide. Pungnyu gatherings, a Joseonera tradition, involve creating a calligraphy or ink painting in front of the guests to commemorate the evening. While the artist paints, guests enjoy hors d’oeuvres, music and Park’s handcrafted wine. The artwork is auctioned at each event, and proceeds fund the next pungnyu, sustaining a future of Korean traditional liquor tasting that promises to be memorable for connoisseurs and novices alike.

Arts & Entertainment

What’s the Formula for an Award-Winning K-Drama?

Music and fashion set the scene for soap opera success

_ Written by Joanne Jung

The soap opera “Love in the Moonlight” became a hit with its fresh tale of palace romance and beautiful cinematography.

They say music is a universal language. It speaks to people without really speaking. It’s no surprise, therefore, that directors have discovered that good music, a good soundtrack, is essential for a successful drama. Of course, they play off each other. A good drama with great actors, a good plot and script and outstanding directing may make a certain song sound better than it really is. But if those on the production team have the necessary judgment to put together a good drama, they’ll know what sort of music will work. And they will know exactly who to go to for it.

Evoking feelings with sound

Korean dramas don’t just have an opening theme and a closing theme. There seems to be a theme for each different mood that the characters experience in the course of a story: happy, sad, angry. There’s even an “action” theme for scenes where the main character is being chased, in a hurry, and running out of time. Drama producers also play particular songs once or twice during an hourlong episode, which means the same song receives significant exposure throughout the series when it recurs during similar scenes and situations. The song serves as a signal to the viewer: As soon as the music starts playing, something good or bad is about to happen.

When listening to the soundtrack, people remember their favorite scenes from the drama. They can relive that special moment, and feel what they felt when they watched the scene on screen.

The more successful the drama, the better the music, because it does a better job at evoking those feelings. Conversely, the better the song, the better and more emotional the scene feels. That’s why you see familiar names on the original soundtracks of many top K-dramas. You will notice that they have different voices, but a similar type of sound: melancholy, sorrowful, echoing, piercing, and beautifully haunting.

Sounds of success

Many sources, including Jung Haeseung, author of the book “Killer Contents,” say it was the 2009 K-drama “Iris,” starring Lee Byung-hun, Kim Tae-hee and Big Bang’s T.O.P., that produced the first combination of an original soundtrack and a globally marketed mini-series. Of course, there were dramas before that with successful soundtracks, but “Iris” was made with the foreign market in mind and its producers had to make it work. They brought on Baek Ji-young and the “king of the ballad” himself, Shin Seung-hun.

Shin was known for his soothing, melodic voice, and his soundtrack record was on point with the success of the movie “My Sassy Girl” and his song “I Believe.”

Baek, on the other hand, didn’t have a proven track record when it came to soundtracks, but producers knew she was the perfect addition. With a new sound and a new image, Baek burst onto the music scene again with her ballad “I Won’t Love” in 2006, followed by “Like Being Hit by a Bullet” in 2008. Producers were right, and her track “Don’t Forget” helped launch her soundtrack career. “That Woman” for the “Secret Garden” soundtrack in 2010, and more recently, “Love Is Over” for “Moonlight Drawn by Clouds” were just the tip of the iceberg.

Another artist who has proven she can turn a good drama into something magical is singer Gummy. If you don’t know her name, you’ll most certainly know her voice. Her track “You Are My Everything” for the “Descendants of the Sun” soundtrack swept the charts, and she followed this up with another hit, “Moonlight Drawn by Clouds” — the title track for the drama of the same name. The amazing thing is that not only did she sing the song, she composed the music and wrote the lyrics too. It’s no wonder she was able to understand the song and relay the emotions so effectively. And, lucky for her, both “Descendants of the Sun” and “Moonlight Drawn by Clouds” went on to become extremely popular, to say the least, with viewer ratings of almost 40 percent and over 20 percent, respectively, to go along with multiple awards. Other successful soundtrack regulars include Lyn, who sang “With You” for “Descendants of the Sun,” as well as Kim Bum-soo, Sung Si-kyung and Taeyeon from Girls’ Generation.

Baek Ji-young performs her soundtrack songs during a concert in Tokyo.

“Descendants of the Sun” was a major hit not only in Korea, but globally as well.

The singer Gummy won an award for best OST at the 2016 Asia Artist Awards for her work on “Descendants of the Sun” and “Love in the Moonlight.”

Visual appeal

If soundtracks enticed you aurally, fashion is what entices you visually.

Fans of historical and historical-fantasy dramas aren’t likely to copy the shows’ fashions any time soon. But wearing Hanbok is a great way to show the world the beauty of Korea’s traditional costume.

“Moonlight Drawn by Clouds” of 2016 is reminiscent of “Sungkyunkwan Scandal” of 2010.

The main plot — featuring a female lead who hides the fact that she is a woman and appears on screen wearing men’s clothes for a good third of the series — is the same. Only this time, the female lead’s transformation, or the discovery of her secret by chance, is portrayed much more beautifully. A Hanbok in hues of ivory and pink, adorned with white flowers carefully sewn onto the delicate, sheer fabric, plays an important role in the crucial scene.

“Moonlight Drawn by Clouds,” is sweeter and subtler compared with its fellow historical fantasy drama “Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo.” This is evident in the colors that feature prominently in the costumes of both shows.

“Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo” made use of bolder blocks of color and had a more masculine tone overall. Blue skirts, bright red and burgundy outfits and bigger sleeves were seen on IU while the male characters were dressed in earthy oranges, browns and greens. “Moonlight Drawn by Clouds” went for sheerer fabric and more delicate pastel tones. A prime example was Kim Yoojung’s dance scene in Episode 4 and the Hanbok she wore.

Fashion: The fatal attraction (for your pocket)

If you’re watching a drama and a particular item of clothing, bag or accessory catches your eye, chances are that others have noticed it too. A particular item chosen to be on a promotional poster will likely become highly sought after.

A quick internet search for the name of the drama, the episode, the actor’s name and the type of item will reveal the exact brand and model number you’re looking for.

It’s no coincidence that the item stood out. The way it was worn and the angle from which it was shot were probably very carefully planned.

Stereotypes work. Connecting certain styles to certain types of people sells. Take, for example, fur coats. These are usually worn by ladies of the upper class — the wives of wealthy CEOs who are probably extremely unhappy with their sons’ choice of potential wife. The more power a woman has, the higher her heels. Willowy, feminine blouses suggest the character doesn’t do much running around, while pants and a tucked-in button-down blouse suggest that a character is an intern, a journalist, or someone who is active. Singers who are having a hard time finding success will be portrayed wearing jeans and flannel shirts, while those who are more successful will be wearing outfits with bolder colors and cuts. If you relate to a particular character or wish to become a certain type of person, you will find yourself emulating that person’s style.

Now, let’s talk about the heroines of K-dramas, the female leads. More often than not, they will be Cinderella types — women who always smile, even in dire circumstances. Whether the heroine wishes it or not, her Prince Charming will inevitably come along. Women want to be that girl. And they want to wear what she’s wearing. It looks comfortable and stylish, yet affordable. But a quick search and a journey back to reality will reveal that it’s expensive. Really expensive. If we were being picky and realistic about the entire situation, that Cinderella in the drama wouldn’t be able to afford even half of what’s in her wardrobe. It just doesn’t make sense that she’s wearing it. But it’s not reality. It’s a drama. And as long as she looks good, who cares? Right?

For those who are looking for a similar look at a more affordable price, SPA brands — short for “specialty retailer of private-label apparel” — are on the case.

The cosmetics brand Laneige is hugely popular in China in part thanks to spokesperson Song Hye-kyo, who appeared in “Descendants of the Sun.”

Many international visitors to Korea enjoy chicken and beer, a dish made popular by the soap opera “My Love from the Star.”

What color is her lipstick?

Actresses have perfect skin. As hard as we may strive to achieve the same results, the results are usually disappointing. Of course, we probably know that their skin is the product of good genes, and maybe a healthy diet and plenty of expensive facials too.

So which product stands out the most and gives the buyer instant gratification? Lipstick. It’s immediately noticeable because it has color and is applied to one of the main focal points of the face. The actress’s face is a walking billboard. And it works.

As soon as Jun Ji-hyun or Gong Hyo-jin wears a particular shade of lipstick, it sells out. Fans wanting to apply a “Chun Song-yi” shade on their lips need to wait weeks for the coveted lipstick to be restocked. And any brand the actress subsequently advertises is considered fashionable and trendy. If Jun Ji-hyun was successful with the domestic and global market, one lady sweeping the ajumma brigade here in Korea would be Kim Nam-ju. Her outfits, bags, shoes and accessories all sell out within days, and immediately after she finishes shooting a successful drama, you will see her on TV selling household products like laundry detergent.

And it’s not fashion or music, but who can forget Jun Ji-hyun’s chicken and beer eating scene on “My Love From the Star”? It set off a worldwide chicken-and-beer craze. Thanks to Jun’s Chun Song-yi, eating chicken and beer suddenly became a fashionable thing to do.

Of course, for a drama to be successful, it will have to have a good story line and good acting. Let’s not undervalue the efforts of all those involved. Music and fashion, however, really bring it home.

Koria & I

It Takes More Than Studying

Classroom experience helps, but to truly learn Korean, you need to talk with people

_ Written by Boris Khliyan
Illustrated by Kim Yoon-myung

I think learning Korean is hard for any foreigner. However, it was especially hard for me because before coming to Korea, I’d never even heard the Korean language spoken. I had no idea how it sounded, or even what kind of alphabet or characters it used.

When I first arrived at my university in Korea in September 2006, I found out I was two weeks late and Korean language classes had already begun. I arrived on a Friday afternoon, so I had the weekend to rest before attending my first classes on Monday. My roommate, however, suggested that I begin learning the Korean alphabet so I could catch up a little with the other students. I was jet-lagged from the long flight, but I managed not only to memorize the Korean alphabet, Hangeul, but also to learn some basic reading rules.

Classwork was not as easy because most of my classmates could not speak English. On the bright side, that meant I had to study really hard to be able to communicate in Korean — otherwise, it would have been impossible to complete the team homework.

The university was located in the countryside, surrounded by mountains, approximately 30 minutes from the closest town. After several weeks cooped up on campus, I decided to look around town. Town was quite small, but compared to the university campus it seemed huge, with a lot of people, cars, offices and shops. I spent nearly all day just wandering around town until it was time to go back, so I went to the local bus terminal and asked a ticket clerk to give me a ticket to Hanseo University. I paid, took the ticket, and only when I was already sitting on the bus did I look at the ticket and see Cheonan written on it. (Hanseo University is in Seosan.) I immediately got off the bus and ran back to the ticket desk. The ticket clerk said it was correct, and that I should take the bus to Cheonan and then take a shuttle to Hoseo University in Asan. I realized she must have misheard — my Korean pronunciation hadn’t been clear enough. This was the first time something like that had happened to me and I was glad that I checked the ticket before the bus departed. This situation made me understand that learning Korean in the classroom was not enough, and that real-life usage and practice were important to perfect language skills.

After I began my studies, I had almost no time to attend Korean classes. It was not a big problem, however, because I made a lot of friends in my department with whom I could practice Korean. The students in my department were very supportive and by the end of my sophomore year, I was somewhat fluent, finishing in third place in the university’s Korean speech contest.

Since then, my Korean language skills and vocabulary have improved steadily just by communicating with people, watching TV shows, and listening to music. When I entered a master’s program in 2011, however, it became increasingly difficult to keep up my Korean because all the classes were taught in English. After I completed the coursework for my master’s degree, I realized that my Korean was not as good as it used to be.

I felt that just practicing by myself or with my Korean friends would not be enough, so I decided to sign up for the Korean Immigration and Integration Program run by the government. This was the best choice for me because I would be able to improve my Korean as well as get the necessary points to obtain a permanent residency visa.

To enter the program, I had to pass a test to determine my Korean proficiency level. After getting the results, I signed up for a level 4 class. This time the class was truly international, but since everyone could speak Korean at a decent level we did not need to use English at all. This program really helped me to improve my Korean language skills. What I now know for sure is that attending Korean language classes can provide a good base for learning the language, but communication with people in Korean is what really helped me master the language.

Korea in Brief

Korea Monthly Update

Korea Sale Festa Proves a Major Success

Korea Sale Festa 2016, a large-scale shopping event intended both to bolster the Korean retail sector and to promote Korea as an international shopping destination, proved a tremendous benefit to the Korean economy as a whole. During the event between Sept. 29 to Oct. 30, participating distributors recorded KRW 8.7 trillion in sales, with duty-free shops posting a whopping 36.7 percent increase in sales over the same period last year. Overall, private consumption expenditures climbed about 0.27 percentage points in the fourth quarter, resulting in a 0.13 percentage-point boost to GDP, according to government estimates.

The nation’s first global shopping tourism festival, Korea Sale Festa included not only special discounts at department stores, duty-free shops, supermarkets, convenience stores, online markets and other retail businesses, but also events aimed at foreign tourists and Korean pop-culture-related concerts and gatherings. In particular, the first 11 days of the festival featured mega-discount sales at department stores, online shopping websites, traditional markets and other shops and distributors.

Korean Team Develops Technology to Make Plastic From Green Algae

A team of Korean researchers has developed a method to manufacture environmentally friendly bioplastics from green algae, a world first.

The team, led by Ewha Womans University professor and Marine Biomaterials Research Center member Park Jin-byung, succeeded in producing carboxylic acid, a material used in the production of high-grade engineering plastics, using fat and fatty acids taken from green algae. The previous process for making carboxylic acid, a substance that does not exist in nature, was dangerous and produced large amounts of environmentally harmful waste. The process developed by Park and his team, however, produces relatively little harmful waste. Oceanic green algae is cheap, too.

The team published its findings in a pair of international scientific journals, “Catalysis” and “Scientific Reports”

The team believes that its technology can be used in the production of highgrade engineering plastics used in the manufacture of electronic goods, watches and aircraft.

PyeongChang 2018 Test Events Kick Off

PyeongChang, the host city of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, has begun hosting test events in preparation for the big event.

The big air event of the International Ski Federation Snowboard World Cup kicked off at PyeongChang’s Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre on Nov. 25. Some 95 athletes from 23 countries competed in the event, including five Korean snowboarders.

This Snowboard World Cup was the second in Korea and marked the first in a series of test events to run through April.

“This is the first of the 2016/2017 season’s test events ahead of the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games,” said PyeongChang’s organizing committee in a press release. “It kicks off a run of 24 events that will allow venues and operational assumptions to be tried and tested, the workforce to be trained, and gives athletes the chance to experience PyeongChang and the competition set-up and facilities.”

Jeju’s Diving Women Added to UNESCO World Heritage List

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, has added the diving women of Jeju Island to its Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list. The body announced the decision during a session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Nov. 30. The haenyeo represent Korea’s 19th cultural asset to be inscribed on the list.

Haenyeo, some of whom are in their 80s, are renowned for their ability to dive as far as 10 meters below the surface without the use of diving equipment, holding their breath as they collect abalone, seaweed and other products from the sea floor. They can work up to seven hours a day, 90 days of the year. Before they dive, haenyeo say prayers for safety and a good catch. The diving tradition is passed on in families, in communities, and even within a specialized school.

Korea’s Museum Collections Go Online

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the National Museum of Korea are now providing online access to images of items in the collections of the country’s public-run museums. Images and information can be accessed through the eMuseum website (www.emuseum.go.kr). The renovated website allows users to search for museum items using keywords such as “museum,” “heritage status,” “nationality,” “era” and “materials.” Users can download images after they’ve declared the intended use of the images.

The website is the result of a 2015-2016 push to create a Korean cultural heritage database. The effort resulted in the collection of 700,000 images pertaining to 290,000 items in the collections of 112 museums. The Ministry plans to expand the database to include 5 million items in the collections of approximately 700 museums nationwide by 2020.

Musical About Independence Movement Staged in New York

Korean drama troupe Actor Factory performed its historical musical “Flower Shoes” at Off-Broadway’s American Theater for Actors from Dec. 16 to 24. The show deals with the Korean independence movement and atrocities committed against Koreans during colonial rule, especially the so-called “comfort women,” who were forced to serve as sex slaves for the Japanese military. The production has two versions: one told from the perspective of an independence fighter, and the other from the perspective of a victim of sexual slavery.

Proceeds from the show will be donated to the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, a Korean civic group dedicated to helping the survivors. They will be used to memorialize the victims with monuments in New York City and elsewhere throughout the United States.

Policy Review

Providing an Even Better Environment for Foreign Tourists

Tourist authorities and police work to ensure a trouble-free stay for international visitors

_ Written by Lee Kijun

The Tourism Complaint Center website allows international visitors to Korea to register complaints through the internet or with a mobile device.

In October, some Korean visitors to a sushi restaurant in central Osaka accused the establishment of intentionally putting too much wasabi on a raw fish dish “to make fun of (the Korean visitors).” They wrote their stories on an online community website because there was nowhere else to turn. The message went viral in both countries and the restaurant apologized for its behavior. There was no compensation or penalty, however.

If international visitors to Korea experience rudeness or disrespectful behavior, they can simply submit their complaints to a government-run facility. The Tourist Complaint Center, operated by the Korea Tourism Organization, allows international visitors to report any illegal, wrongful or unkind acts that they have witnessed or experienced while in the country. The web address is touristcomplaint.or.kr.

Easy-to-use complaint center

To submit their complaints, tourists first need to register and verify their email addresses. They also need to use their real names and explain the offending incidents clearly and in sufficient detail.

When a complaint is submitted, it is translated into Korean and forwarded to the relevant department. The person submitting the complaint is notified of the results of the investigation through text messages.

Prior to the establishment of the center, international tourists could report such incidents only via email, postcard or phone. Now, however, they can lodge complaints through the website and receive real-time updates on the progress of their case. Last year, international visitors sent 86.3 percent of their complaints through email. Only 13.1 percent submitted their complaints over the phone or by postcard, attesting to a strong user preference for online communication. Despite this, there were no websites or smartphone applications dedicated to serving international tourists until now.

The Tourist Complaint Center website adopted a responsive website design that automatically optimizes for desktop or mobile environments. It is also accessible through the KTO’s official smartphone app Visit Korea, Korea’s leading travel app, which can be downloaded for free from the App Store or from Google Play.

The Center provides services in English, Japanese and Chinese. The KTO plans to offer services in other languages too. By next year it hopes to be able to handle complaints in Russian, Arabic, Thai, Malay and Indonesian.

“Increasing the number of international tourists who make a return visit to Korea is as important as increasing the number of international tourists who make their first visit to Korea,” an official at the KTO said. “We will put more effort into promoting the website and improving the quality of our service.”

For tourists who prefer to talk on the phone, there’s also a hotline. The KTO’s 1330 Korea Travel Hotline is a one-stop help line available as a public service for local and international travelers. It handles all kinds of inquiries and complaints relating to Korean tourism, whether the incidents occurred before or during the callers’ stay in Korea. They just need to dial 1330 and choose a language to speak to an operator. The 1330 Hotline also provides exclusive information for travelers on attractions, transportation, accommodations, shopping, festivals and events.

Tourist police help guide tourists in Myeong-dong.

Police lend a helping hand

The tourism authority in Korea attempts to address international visitors complaints, which are increasing as a natural result of skyrocketing number of inbound tourists. In 2013, the National Police Agency launched a new police unit called the “tourist police,” in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

These special officers patrol major tourist areas such as Myeong-dong, Insadong, Hongdae and the Itaewon Tourist Special Zone. They also patrol locations in Busan such as Haeundae Beach, Gwangalli Beach and Gukje Market and busy areas of Incheon such as Incheon International Airport, Songdo and Incheon Chinatown.

Aside from maintaining law and order and cracking down on overcharging merchants and taxi drivers, the officers also provide tourist assistance in English, Japanese and Chinese.

Tourists in need of assistance can approach one of these friendly officers to report illegal activity by a merchant or trader, to request help in resolving inconveniences, travel-related information or other assistance.

“We try to ensure that foreign tourists feel comfortable during their stay in Korea,” Sgt. Shin Chang-hoon, a tourist police officer, said in an interview with The Korea Times. “We guide them toward their destinations, and provide them with information on tourist attractions.

“The fact that we’re patrolling has a visible effect,” Shin affirmed. “I applied for this position because I thought it would give me a chance to apply what I’ve learned. It’s rare that one is given the chance to apply one’s specialty directly to one’s trade.”

Creative Economy

Speaking Through the Ear

RippleBuds could change the way we communicate with crowdfunded in-ear microphone technology

_ Written by Lim Jeong-yeo
Photos courtesy of Haebora Co., Ltd.

Haebora’s RippleBuds are the first wireless ear set that allows users to both speak and listen.

Imagine speaking into the air in your normal speaking voice, but with someone actually “on the other line,” catching every hushed sentence and talking back. All of this is happening inside your ears.

RippleBuds is the world’s first wireless earphone with an in-ear microphone that allows crystal-clear conversation even in the noisiest of environments.

CEO Shin Dushik of the startup Haebora first hatched the idea in 2000 after attending a conference in Japan, where he learned that a person’s voice is partially transmitted through the ears. Shin came up with the concept of a tiny microphone that fits inside the ear. By nestling inside the ear canal, it can prevent any unwanted hubbub from being picked up.

Award-winning idea

The idea sat in incubation for 15 years. This is because technology hadn’t yet caught up with Shin’s futuristic blueprint. It wasn’t until 2015 that he managed to translate his idea into a working device.

Shin’s venture received its initial investment from a Korean government agency, the Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy and Innovation, as well as communications giant KT Corporation. In May 2015, the company expanded to Silicon Valley, where it established RippleBuds Inc. In October of the same year, it nabbed an award at beGLOBAL San Francisco, a high-profile conference for tech startups.

Hands-free sans wires

RippleBuds Inc. has introduced a slew of earphone models, some with cords and some without. But the one the company is best known for is its eponymous cordless product, RippleBuds.

The RippleBuds come in single and double pieces, mono and stereo. The ear buds have Bluetooth connectivity, allowing a hands-free experience unencumbered by the nuisance of tangled wires. RippleBuds can be charged on the go with a small cylindrical tube. Once fully charged, the battery lasts approximately four hours.

By March 2016, RippleBuds had attracted USD 750,000 in just a month on the crowdfunding website Kickstarter. More than 5,800 people chipped in to invest in this innovative product. In April, the product went up on another crowdfunding site, Indiegogo, where it went on to rake in another USD 1.3 million.

Leading technology companies Apple, Google and Tesla have reportedly preordered RippleBuds. RippleBuds Inc. has filed for 150 patents to be processed in nine countries including Korea, Japan and China.

Ironing out the kinks

However, it hasn’t been smooth sailing for RippleBuds.

Haebora’s marketing manager Serena Park admitted that there had been some unofficial challenges to RippleBuds’ patent, citing other earphones with in-ear microphone features.

“A small number of people have called to mention a brand that has features similar to RippleBuds’ key assets,” said Park. “However, the products (released) before RippleBuds only work so far as noise cancellation, while the RippleBuds provide total noise-blocking technology.”

Park assured KOREA that RippleBuds significantly cut background noise, such as that from inside a moving subway train. In her experience of using the buds, she said, she has had no trouble making herself heard without having to raise her voice even once.

The wildly popular project moved on to product development in the second half of 2016 with a promise to deliver the preordered batch by September. However, due to an unforeseen turn of events, the ear buds are still in the manufacturing stage. Delivery to customers should begin in December, the company hopes.

Most of the Haebora startup team, which is comprised of 14 ambitious and passionate men and women, are with Shin in China managing the production.

“Staff don’t get to see each other very often, but that’s the nature of startups,” Park said, adding that North America accounted for the highest number of preorders, followed by China.

An eager public awaits

Despite the delay, the online community knows this is not the first time a crowdfunded novelty has missed its originally pitched date of release. Countless products that have relied on media attention for funding have experienced similar trials.

The anticipatory purchasers of RippleBuds have been patient, for the most part. Rather than blasting the company, the backers are telling it to take the time necessary to produce a durable product without compromising quality.

After everything is settled, the RippleBuds will be available through sales channels such as eBay, Amazon, Gmarket and overseas retailers, according to Park.

“We can’t completely rule out Korea as a market,” she said. “But the aim is to first build up an audience overseas, because a global acknowledgement would automatically benefit the marketing here.”

Global Korea

Korean Cultural Center Activities

Hong Kong Hosts Two-Month Korean Culture Festival

The city of Hong Kong recently celebrated Korean culture with two months of events. Held from Oct. 5 to Nov. 27, Festive Korea 2016 featured a conference on Asian cinema, screenings of Korean films, performances of Korean music and dance, art exhibits, lectures by Korean writers, and other special events. The Mega K Music concert, held at Hong Kong Coliseum on Nov. 4 and 5, included performances by popular boy bands INFINITE and B1A4.

Korean Traditional Clothing a Hit in Egypt

The Korean Cultural Center in Egypt and the Hanbok Advancement Center hosted a very special fashion show at the Ramses Hilton Hotel in Cairo on Oct. 22. In “Hanbok Story on the Nile,” Egyptian fans of Korean pop culture took to the catwalk dressed in Korean traditional clothing, or Hanbok. Over 200 people attended the show, including notable Egyptian political and cultural figures. The show was preceded by a month of classes on Hanbok design and manufacturing.

Korea Festival Draws 10,000 in Abu Dhabi

Korea is big in the United Arab Emirates. The Korea Festival, a grand-scale celebration of all things Korean, ran from Oct. 27 to Nov. 6 in the cities of Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. The festival, held annually since 2013, was especially huge this year thanks to the opening of the Korean Cultural Center in the United Arab Emirates in March 2016. Over 10,000 people attended the festival, which included performances of Korean traditional music, B-boy dancing, demonstrations by students of K-pop and taekwondo, hands-on programs related to Korean traditional music and food, and more.

Belgians Experience Beauty of Korean Clothing

The Korean Cultural Center in Brussels and the Formal Hanbok Association of Korea are hosting an exhibit of Korean traditional clothing in the Belgian capital through Jan. 21. The exhibit, which focuses on clothing worn during major rites of passage, gives European audiences a rare opportunity to experience the beauty of Korean traditional formal wear. To kick off the exhibition on Nov. 10, the center hosted a performance of “Fleur de l’âme, Li-Tsin,” a dance based on the story of Victor Collin de Plancy, the first French minister to Korea, and his lover, the court dancer Yi Jin.

Korean Cultural Center Takes Part in Buenos Aires’ ‘Night of the Museums’

Argentina’s Ministry of Culture and the city of Buenos Aires hosted an event called “Night of the Museums” on Oct. 29. Over 240 museums and art spaces across the city opened their doors for free, including the Korean Cultural Center, which has participated in the event since 2009. This year, the center hosted a Korean name-writing program, performances of choral music and traditional rural music, a K-pop dance hall, classes on Korean calligraphy, an exhibit on design using the Korean alphabet, and more. Particularly popular was a program that allowed visitors to write down their wishes and affix them to Korean traditional paper lamps.

Historic Moments

Students of Hanil Girls Commercial High School wear ordinary clothes rather than school uniforms in 1987.

A New Era of Freedom Begins

Government lifts nighttime curfew, eases school dress restrictions in January 1982

_ Written by Robert Neff

Following the lifting of the curfew, the streets of Myeong-dong are full at night in February 1982.

Prior to 1982, nightlife in Korea was relatively short due to the midnight-to-4 a.m. curfew that had been in effect since the liberation of Korea in 1945. The only exceptions were Buddha’s Birthday, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, when the curfew was temporarily relaxed.

On a typical night, radio stations reminded listeners at 10 p.m. that the curfew was approaching and they should start seeking transportation home. Bars and restaurants also reminded their patrons, often with a song, around 11 o’clock, but many times these revelers drank until the last minute and paid a steep price for their excess. No longer able to take public transportation, they were at the mercy of taxi drivers, who took advantage of their passengers’ desperation to get home and charged them three, four or even five times the normal fare.

Those who could not get transportation sought refuge in small coffee shops and bars that operated illegally after hours, granting access to known customers only, or else they stayed the night in motels. At midnight, barricades were set up on the streets and two-man patrols went out in search of violators who, once caught, were either fined or detained.

But on January 5, 1982, the people of Korea were granted nocturnal freedom after President Chun Doo-hwan declared that they were “mature” enough to no longer require a curfew. Political and economic reasons also influenced the president’s decision to lift the curfew. Korea had been awarded the opportunity to host the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Summer Olympics. It’s difficult to host such games with a curfew in effect.

It was anticipated that the lifting of the curfew would generate more than half a million jobs in the entertainment, transportation and manufacturing industries, but not all appreciated the change. Buses and subways operated for longer hours, which cut into the taxi drivers’ profits. Restaurants and bars were forced to stay open late if they wanted to remain profitable.

The change had a positive influence on family life, as well. Wives were happy that their husbands could no longer use the curfew as an excuse for staying out all night. This wasn’t the only change that was welcomed. Just three days before the curfew was lifted, President Chun relaxed the regulations concerning hairstyle and the military-style uniforms of middle and high schools.

When viewed from the present, these reforms seem rather small, but they had an enormous impact on the lives of Koreans in the last century and were the stepping-stones to the freedoms enjoyed today.

Flavor

Hwangtae Gui

From ocean to plate, the walleye pollack takes a fascinating journey

_ Written by Cynthia Yoo
Photographed by ao studio Kang Jinju
Stylized by 101recipe

Myeongtae, or the walleye pollack, is an amazingly versatile fish and is enjoyed by Koreans on all manner of occasions. Koreans enjoy cheap nogari, or young myeongtae, as anju with makgeolli or beer. Hwangtaeguk, made with freeze-dried myeongtae, is a popular hangover soup. Myeongtae can be freeze-dried, shredded, steamed or roasted to make its way onto any Korean table. No wonder it’s often described as the national fish.

There’s often some debate over the differences between hwangtae and bugeo as both are forms of dried myeongtae, but the freeze-drying process for hwangtae is quite specific. Hwangtae is made in the province of Gangwon-do during winter, starting in December. That’s because Gangwon-do has the three things that turn myeongtae into hwangtae: wind, snow and cold temperatures. Freshly caught myeongtae are gutted and frozen immediately on the long logs on which the fish freeze-dry for the rest of the winter. The fish actually thaw out and refreeze many times throughout the winter. Gangwon-do’s mountains are ideal for hwangtae farms because of their temperature fluctuations and freezing winds. The flesh of the fish expands and shrinks as the temperature fluctuates and this works to tenderize the meat. Koreans value the golden fluffy texture of hwangtae that comes from being prepared in this manner. The final step takes place in March, when the freeze-dried hwangtae is aged for a month or so before being sold.

In contrast, bugeo is dried for a longer time near the coast. It’s stiffer and more brittle, but is also valued for its nutrition and unique flavors.

Roasted hwangtae, or Hwangtae gui, can be made with a spicy gochujang or soy sauce glaze, and both are delicious. Shredded hwangtae can be seasoned with a spicy gochujang sauce to make a popular banchan dish.

Koreans not only love the savory flavors of the dried fish, but also believe that it’s full of nutritional value. Hwangtae contains a lot of protein. It’s high in nutrients but low in cholesterol. It’s rich in amino acids, particularly methionine, which is believed to help liver function.

__ How to make hwangtae gui: Spray water on the hwangtae and let the water soak in for 30 minutes. Beat the hwangtae to soften and remove the head, tail and fins. Mix the ingredients for the seasoning with the chopped green onions and pepper, and coat the fish with the mixture.
Put the seasoned fish in the fridge and leave to marinate for one to two days. Heat 1 tablespoon of frying oil in a pan and fry the fish on the glazed side. Pour 3 to 4 tablespoons of anchovy stock into the pan. Turn the fish over and fry again. Place the cooked hwangtae on a plate and top with sesame seeds.

Korean Keyword

Gosohada

_ Written by Lim Jeong-yeo
Illustrated by Kim Yoon-myung

So savory. And so hard to translate.

Gosohada means a savory taste or aroma.

Sesame oil is the condiment that immediately comes to mind when Koreans think of the word. But a number of other foods belong to this gustatory category too, such as milk, fried foods, cheese and meat.

A group of twenty-something Koreans, upon being asked to name the most gosohada-esque foods they could think of, suggested grilled fatty fish, glossy white rice, crushed perilla seeds, corn chips and string cheese. They also included nuts and beans.

The answers did not always come quickly and clearly. Son Jeong-won scratched his head, unable to think of any food that he could peg as gosohada.

“I have never given this serious thought,” he said. “I admit I don’t know how to describe a gosohada flavor.”

While even native Koreans who grew up in the country may be stumped if asked how best to explain the distinctive aroma and taste, the word often appears in Korean literary works, where it is used in a figurative sense.

A line from a recommended essay book for teenagers, “Dialogue of Biseok and Mt. Geumgang (1963),” goes, “On a snowy night, the stories told under the snow-covered eaves are all the more gosohae.”

In this situation, the author is using the appetizing quality of gosohada as a metaphor for an engaging story.

Similarly, gosohada can also be used in a situation where a person is gloating over an enemy’s misfortune.

The sentiment is more fitting if the hardship that has befallen the other party is considered well deserved. The closest equivalent in English might be, “Serves him (or her) right.”

Korean Art Through Coloring

Traditional Painting of Flowers and Hens Hwajodo

Thank you for your feedback

By sending in the attached postcard, you enter a drawing to win a namecard wallet with decorative quiltwork. Five postcards will be chosen at random among those received before Mar. 31.

Traditional Painting of Flowers and Hens Hwajodo