South Korean pastor tends to flock of abused children
Los Angeles Times
For more than two decades, the 46-year-old minister [Hwang Chum-gon] has run a group called the Open Center Youth Foundation, which rescues South Korean children abused by their parents and other relatives.
From a nonprofit effort that started out of his home in 1990, Hwang went on to establish a series of nationwide centers to temporarily house and counsel 500 abused and homeless children.
It is one of South Korea’s little-known secrets: The society has a high rate of physical abuse against children, yet the problem has received limited public and professional attention, according to one Columbia University study.
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Life Expectancy for Korean Women 6th Longest in the World
Chosun Ilbo
Korean women can now expect to live 83.8 years, the sixth longest among the 32 OECD member countries. But life expectancy for Korean men is only 20th on the list.
According to analysis of OECD health data by the OECD/Korea Policy Centre on Tuesday, Korean women’s life expectancy surged 13 notches in 2009, up from 19th place in 2003, when it stood at 80.8 years.
Japanese people live the longest, followed by Spaniards, Swiss, French and Australians.
By Lampooning Leaders, Talk Show Channels Young People’s Anger
New York Times
Once a week, the four men sit around in a rented studio, laughing, blurting occasional expletives and making fun of South Korea’s leader, President Lee Myung-bak. Then they post a recording of their talk online.
Naneun Ggomsuda’s podcast is the most popular in South Korea. A recent event featuring the four-man crew sold out a 1,600-seat auditorium one minute after ticketing was opened on the Internet.
Their podcast is the most popular in South Korea, with each session logging as many as two million downloads.
The four men “dedicate” their show to Mr. Lee, or “His Highness.” But they call their talk show Naneun Ggomsuda, or “I’m a petty-minded creep,” borrowing a nickname Mr. Lee’s most vociferous critics apply to the president.
Who are the Korean Pin-up Grrrls?
The Grand Narrative
This is a very long but interesting piece about the evolution of female sexuality in the Korean media.
Key political risks to watch on the Korean peninsula
Reuters
Conciliatory gestures by both Koreas have raised hopes that long-stalled nuclear talks are back on the cards, but Seoul and Washington insist Pyongyang must first take concrete measures to disable its atomic program.
Winery In US Introduces ‘Dokdo Wine’
Arirang News
A winery in the United States introduced a new product that represents Korea’s easternmost Dokdo islets, which Japan also lays claim on. Korean-American dentist Ahn Jae-hyun who is also the founder of ‘Dokdo Winery’ in California, introduced the new wine, ‘799-805’ named after the islets postal code.
Premiere: Dumbfoundead “Cool & Calm”
Complex
We already touched on the success of Korean pop in America. It looks like Koreans are doing pretty well in hip-hop, too. Right now, the number one album on the iTunes hip-hop albums chart is by Tablo, a rapper from Seoul. The number two album is Dumbfoundead’s DFD. Under them are major label stars Wale and J. Cole.
Dumbfoundead is a Korean/American rapper from Los Angeles. You won’t find him in all the mainstream media outlets and he’s not signed to a major label, but check out his YouTube stats. He’s got hundreds of thousands of subscribers and millions of views on his videos, and he’s got no problem selling out concerts.
Forever 21 Gets In On Cultural Insensitivity Trend With “Oriental Girl” Necklaces
Jezebel
What’s particularly strange about Forever 21 using the outdated term “oriental” to refer to a necklace that seems to depict a geisha, is that as Styleite notes, the family that owns the company is Korean American. If you’d like to show your love of Asian cultures by wearing an offensive little pendant representing a tradition with no cultural link to most of the nations on the continent, we suggest you snap up this $1.50 necklace fast. We have a feeling it’s going to disappear from the website pretty soon.
