Category: Korea
Hearts in Daejeon
The South Korean city of Daejeon, over a million and a half citizens comfortably and hopefully comfortable. Big number. With that many hearts there’s bound to be affection, for friends, for the magpie (the city bird), for tofu stew, for the streams that run north, for a sister city near you (Calgary, Brisbane & Uppsala),…
The Two Towers
From the top you’ll see what’s in every brochure worthy of the name Busan: the world’s fifth largest container port, the country’s second largest fish market, and the layer cake of nature’s simplest ingredients of land, sea and sky. You’re in Busan Tower. Since 1973 it’s been here, guarding the southeastern tip of Korea’s Gyeongsangnam…
Shots in the Dark
Walk the Korean streets after dark and claim some night light. Cars and construction markers love a slow shutter and when every city and in-between town plugs in, it’s all pretty-gritty. The South Korean difference is that businesses might serve, pour, rack, massage or drop the mic to the 9th floor or higher. The world…
Korea Squares
A bottle. A Buddha. An artery-busting street snack. A statue. A sign. A night suit’s silhouette. A dashboard oddity. A human pose. These squares aren’t so much how I see Korea, more fantasies made from pieces of my days.
Bukhansan
After supporting the demands of the 12th largest economy, Koreans look to the weekend to recharge, or gallop. There are choices – wining, dining, singing and supra malls – but a purer escape is enjoyed by millions each year. It promotes itself just by being. Bukhansan National Park is a shared distraction, overlapping both Seoul…
Busan Cinema Center (2012)
To the question whether it’s still open for business now that Busan’s international film festival (BIFF) has wrapped – absolutely. In front of me, I hold two brochures. The first is an upcoming schedule of film screenings and live performances both theatrical and musical, the second lays out the complex itself. How many square meters?…
Korean Sports Bars (2010)
With the cold still snapping at our heels there’s little motivation to exercise, we know. Better to sit with a pint and leave it to the professionals. The question is where to find a stooltop without the same old deja view? Here are a few suggestions to get you through the thaw. Rocky Mountain Tavern…
Salsa Burns the Korean Capital (2010)
There’s a certain amount of fear. That’s understandable. For a novice on the dance floor, drops of self-esteem can fall away with the sweat. Take salsa for example. Depending on the dancer, it’s either an energetic way to shed a humble skin or turn it to scar tissue. It helps to be in good hands. …
War Memorial of Korea (2010)
Since 1993, the War Memorial of Korea has sat hulked beside the U.S. army garrison in Yongsan-dong, Seoul. At 3,000 won per adult head, it’s less than a latte with slightly more value. Outside, exhibits make grand statements by grand design. Patton and K-1 tanks. A lone B-52. Korean test-pilot vehicles with frozen propellers, some…
Colin Moore 