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Entertainment & Arts

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Asia

Opinion

Columnists

5. Mark Peterson

Korean names and the slave question

I am going to return to a familiar story for me, the remarkable story of Korean family names. I am returning to this issue because I still get questions and comments based on popular misinformation and mistaken ideas that still circulate in Korea.

2022-02-02 16:50

The Year of the Tiger

Goodbye, Ox. Hello, Tiger. Sounds formidable, no? If the Year of the Ox was bad, and it was, what will the Year of the Tiger bring? On the one hand, who wants to see a tiger come in? But maybe the tiger is a good symbol - to scare all our other demons away?

2022-01-02 14:49

What has happened to Korean family?

I had a chance to reflect on what it was that drew me to Korean studies when I was interviewed for an EBS (Educational Broadcasting Service) program about four years ago. The interviewer, Jeong Gwan-yong, asked me how I came to study Korea. I told him there were two factors primarily, at the outset: the Korean emphasis on the family and the striving for excellence in education. But now it appears the “love of family” is out the window in many homes.

2021-12-05 15:05

Phenomenon of learning Korean

Korean language programs are booming all over the world. The K-pop craze, the music, the movies, the dramatic series, are all fueling an interest in learning the Korean language.

2021-11-07 15:21

Adoption and 'real' families

Recently I have discovered a case of Korean adoptees in America finding each other through DNA testing. We hear of such cases - often twins are not adopted by the same family and then they find each other years later. But the case I am referring to has four siblings finding each other. Four. This has to be one of the most astounding cases in the history, short as it is, of DNA science.

2021-10-10 15:50

The Chinese comeback

The news recently that a Chinese-made movie has been blocked from being shown in Korean theaters tells us a lot about what is going on in Asia currently. China seems to be doing everything wrong, and the glorification of the Chinese role in the Korean War, a war that didn't go well for China at all, seems an obtuse move at best. For example, the Chinese were defeated soundly in Gapyeong twice - in April and again in May of 1951. The first battle of Gapyeong was fought between the British Commonwealth nations of Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and the Chinese. The second battle of Gapyeong...

2021-09-12 16:04

Education miracle of Korea

I've been impressed with how much on-going education and training there is in Korea. When I'm physically in Korea, I sometimes get asked to lecture to various government and private groups. I've lectured to alumni groups of various kinds, to breakfast clubs, lunchtime clubs, “kinship associations” and various adult education groups. If I were in Korea full-time, and if there weren't a lockdown for the COVID-19 virus, I think I could make a living off lecturing to these ad hoc groups. There are a lot of them. Many, many more than you might find in America.

2021-08-15 16:36

Return to Korean-style Confucianism

This week, through the upside of all this downside known as the COVID-19 pandemic, I will be giving a lecture to an audience based in Brisbane, Australia, at the University of Queensland. The topic: "Two Types of Korean Confucian Cultural Legacy and Its Implication to Contemporary Korean Culture and Society.”

2021-07-18 15:45

Template for reunification

From time to time I'm asked to make a presentation. At times the inviting group chooses a topic; sometimes they allow me to choose. Recently I was asked to give a presentation via Zoom - given the pandemic, Zoom has become more useful than ever. But this time the experience gave me pause, and gave me a surprise. The inviters asked me to speak about reunification - that gave me pause because I hear talks about unification and it always seems like a waste of time to me, because we cannot really know the future! And it surprised me because the presentation was to be made to a scattered group of...

2021-06-20 15:49

'Miracle at Gapyeong'

A friend of mine, Cho Byounggap, called and asked me to write a Korea Times article and prepare a “Frog Outside the Well” YouTube video on the “Miracle at Gapyeong”. I had heard of it but didn't know the details. I have now researched the history of the famous battle in the Korean War and am ready to write about it and prepare the YouTube video.

2021-05-23 16:43

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