The Dish writes about Where the Road Ends from the Atlantic
“Using Google Street View, we ‘drove’ thousands of miles around the world to find places where the road ends. Our virtual travels took us from the fields of Italy to the fjords of Norway and the tip of South Africa. This video was inspired by Alan Taylor’s In Focus photo gallery, “The Ends of the Road,” in the Atlantic Magazine.”
Tongyong, South Korea
There are many ways to share hope. You can give hope by contributing, sharing, giving, and even..drawing! This is how the community of Tongyong citizens did for the elderly neighborhood town called Dong Pi Rang.
Dong Pi Rang is a small region on top of the hill full of poor elderly people who live mostly in small rooms. As the city continue to grow, because of its rising tourism and regional development, the regional real estate representatives tried to kick them out. In fact, they have already started tarrying down few houses on top of the hill. It was a good deal for the real estate people since this was a good place where you could see the beautiful mountain and ocean scenery of Tongyong. Yet, hope was there.
A group of people started volunteering. One by one. Artists, students, village people, and more started to gather around this region to give hope. It was small, but brilliant. What they started to do was drawing. Drawing! It was a wonderful project indeed. As people started to draw cute and illustrations along the empty and shallow walls of Dong Pi Rang hill town, the hill was no longer a dark village but became one of the most attractive and colorful place in the city. More contributed and sooner or later..by the time we visited at least…there was a wall full of illustrations along each path way you walked.
Photo Essay 3
Busan City
South Korea
Febuary 3, 2011
Busan city is South Korea’s second largest metropolis after Seoul. Located in the South of South Korea, the city has a population of around 3.6 million. It is also the largest port city in South Korea, and the fifth largest port in the world.
With its beautiful beach scenery close by, Busan city has experience hosting international events such as the 2002 Asian Games, and APEC in 2005. In 2005 November, the city officially announced its bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games too.
So what is in Busan other than the beach and such international hosting history? You’ll be surprised but the city is also full of rich and well dressed people. As I walk the street, I’m surprised constantly how well dressed Busan people are. There are nice cafes and restaurants that I would usually expect in Seoul, and many are sitting enjoying their typical meals here. The city is crowded with foreigners too. As you walk the street it’s common to see Indian, Caucasian, and even Japanese or Chinese.
It was good to come for a relaxing vacation over the Korean new year.
Busan is a city indeed, and a relaxing one to enjoy for food, culture, and nature.
If you have a weekend to spend, you should book your ticket to Busan please.
The night view of Busan beach is just beautiful
Odusan Unification Observatory in Paju city
파주, 오두산 오두산 통일전망대
http://www.jmd.co.kr/
The Odusan Unification Observatory is as close as most South Korean civilians could get to North Korea. The Panmunjom DMZ (demilitarized zone) is the closest one could reach to see North Korea from South Korea and vice verse. But in South Korea, only foreigners are permitted to visit the DMZ, which makes the Odusan Unification Observatory one of the only places South Koreans a rare peak at the forbidden neigbhor.
Located on top of Mt. Odusan, the stone building first opened on September 8, 1992. And just across the Injim River and Han River, you can see the forbiden land. Unlike DMZ’s intense atmosphere, the Odusan Unification Observatory is calm and silent. Yet, just a closer look out there is the tip of North Korea.
Will there be a day soon that we will go across that river….
That land that is so close and, yet, so far away…
The Icy Injim River
Inside the Observatory
List of countries that participated in Korean War
Photo Essay
Incheon City
Winter 2010
Just an hour or so away from Seoul is Incheon city.
Incheon is where the new international airport is.
Incheon is one of the closest city to North Korea.
Incheon is a harbor city that many may not realize..
And Incheon is where my home town is.
To cherish the warmth of this city
here are a few photos that I have taken.
In the middle of field
Incheon city harbour 
Incheon China Town 
In Geneva, and most other cities in Europe, as a socialist society money is secondary to human well-being. So even though a penniless beggar asks for some cash in the street to have a coffee, people say ‘why not, they are human too who also have the right to enjoy their morning coffee.’ I began to see how people here did not obsess over money, work, or power the same way they do in other capitalist societies. Because though money is an important measure of wealth, it is just one single part of life and is believed not to be the goal of life for many people.
That is probably the same reason why you rarely see (or actually I never saw any during my time at Geneva for eight months) any store that opens 24hours. The grocery stores close sharp around 6:00 and does not open on Sunday’s. Other than the restaurants that open to serve lunches, the post office, banks and pharmacies are mostly closed during the two hour lunch break most people take. In fact, restaurants and cafes are open only for certain hours so you might make a trip by mistake forgetting that its a day they do not open.
At first, being someone who was used to taking the 24 grocery market to kill time at midnight, these living conditions was troublesome. Especially, having lived my first few months with a local Swiss landlady, I witnessed the visible difference in the meaning of consumption. At first, I just thought it was a few things she wanted to keep the old style. But soon I realized the reason why all her furniture, products were old was because the mentality of Swiss people was that ‘you fix and reuse the item you own until it breaks down, but you rarely would go exchange it out for a complete new version.’
The lesson was important for me as someone who grew up all her life in two capitalist cities, Korea and the United States. In the US or Korea, it was the complete opposite. In Korea, for instance, following the most popular fashion, the most well paid job, and the most recognized title was a big-must-trend. Thus, at one point, you realize that the majority of people become identical. But people can’t stop avoid doing because they don’t want to be considered the ‘old fashion.’ Plus, it’s much easier to buy the big new version that is not only cheap with a discount but also convenient at the 24 hour store across the street. But no, in Geneva, you reuse the old kitchen facility that you had since the 1980s because this is how it has been.
Now being back home in Korea working and witnessing the dynamic city run around money and these title again, I remember what I had felt while observing that beggar few months ago in Geneva. And just as this beggar, my time in Geneva taught me not only how to enjoy life as it is and follow your true passion, but also how to appreciate taking rest and all ups and downs as an experience. Big dreams are good, but it is not necessary to stress out on the competition or become the ultimate workaholic to hurt your health. Beggars in Geneva not only get morning coffee and pensions but are also full of smiles. At Geneva, I had promised myself to live a happy life of my own not influenced by money or society.
So far, I think I am keeping up with that promise, and will be in this new year too.
In Chosun Newspaper
Seoul, Korea
January, 2011
I was lucky. The timing was perfect for me. The year 2010 was a tipping point for Korea in a number of ways, and especially the fall that I decided to return: the G20 Summit in Seoul, North Korea’s attack at Yeonpyeong Island, the rise of Kim regime’s dictatorship in North Korea, and the rising conflict between China-US politics over the Korean peninsula. But on top of all those events, Korean media was about to go into a new revolution.
In the United States, both public and private companies can request the right to have a full comprehensive broadcasting licences. A comprehensive broadcasting channel means that its comprised of all different program such as news, drama, sports, entertainment, children’s, movie, and education. In Korea, such right is not granted to private channels and only the government sponsored channels such as SBS, KBS, MBC can create such a TV schedule. The biggest reason why the Korean government has prevent such liberal action was because consider how small our country such regulation may allow certain groups to monopolize the entire media. The biggest fear, in fact, was the domination of newspaper industry into the broadcasting section. Thus, for the past centuries Korea has placed a set law that a company can do either broadcasting or newspaper but not both. And even as a broadcaster the company was allowed to focus on only one topic, such as music, film, entertainment, education, language, or religion as a cable channel.
As a result, the December 1st deadline was a big moment in the media world in 2010. After years of debating, the government had finally announced in 2009 that those who are interested they may submit their proposal and plan for a broadcasting channel to the government by December 1, 2010. Thus for the past year and a half, major newspaper industries such as Chosun, JongAng, Dongah, and Mekyeong newspaper has dedicated their time and effort to prepare this big chance to win a licence into the new world. There were both excitment and hesitation throughout the process. Even till the final day of the annoucement of December 31st there were constant rumors of how this will only give those major newspaper more rights to monopolize Korean’s media.
I joined the team in the last two months in which they needed to deal with foreign media representatives. About six major newspaper and three smaller groups planned to submit the proposal. So all the work and details that we were working on had to stay confidential to prevent it from being leaked to the other team. The final selection, the government said, would be based on those who record over 80 points out of 100 points. The score will not be comparison but done by case by case. Still there were concerns that no matter how much each groups has prepared the government will permit no groups to do such monopoly in the media.
Well, surprise, surprise. Despite everyone’s concern, on the last day of 2010 the government officially annouced that four newspapers have won the right to create their own comprehensive broadcasting liscence. Chosun Newspaper, of course, is one of them. I was thrilled of the news. Yet, excitment cannot last that long. The plan is big and time is ticking already. According to the plan, which has been annouced on the Chosun newspaper, Chosun plans to open their broadcasting channel by Fall 2011 and start their 24 hour channel as soon as possible. Few things to keep in mind is: a building, the staff, the supporting elements, and the time to mature. Since I have been in the process, I am pretty confident that it may all be possible. But it would be no lie to admit that this is not a easy task.
In fact, opening a new broadcasting channel brings new implication not only in the media world, to see how newspaper conquer and expand their media power in the field of broadcasting but also in society. More jobs would be created, and more spaces would be given for media development and other industries related to this field such as PR or advertisements. Yet, at the same time, you have to ask “what would this mean in Korea media?” How much investment and power are they hoping to put in the broadcasting channel compared to their newspaper? Are they planning to balance out both or just heavily on one end? If all the major Korean newspaper are doing this, how are the other smaller newspaper or media groups expected to survive? Would Korea have just four dominated opinions and lose all the smaller opinions?
It has been only three days since the announcement. There are many parts yet to be discovered. But its not too far away that such questions will be dealt. Time will tell. And hard workers will be rewarded.
(To respect the company’s confidentiality, the details of the projects will not be discussed.)
If your here for only few days, most likely you’ll be disappointed: a well known diplomatic city which in reality is very small, a Swiss city that has no other strong Swiss traits to brag about, a community so diverse that most of them could be quite closed to others, and as a tourist for few days there is nothing really that tourist to enjoy other then the water shooting out in the middle of the Lake. If my stay here was to be just another few weeks, my impression would have remained with the former comments listed. However, after living for about five months I’m learning to like, enjoy, and love the bits and parts of this city Geneva.
After visiting Italy, France, Belgium, Germany and even other cities in Switzerland, I now have a clearer sense of how unique and independent Geneva stands out from the rest. First, of course, is Swiss being a rich neutral country for decades. The strong sense of “we are good enough to not even use Euros,” and “we use at least two different languages everyday to communicate” echoes across the country. Everywhere you go you see a Swiss flag waving its proud red and white color that you can no longer debate whether this means a red cross sign or not. The local Swiss I have meet are one of the most patriotic and proud people of their country and heritage. Wouldn’t you be? If you knew that your country was one of the richest one in financial resources (imagine all the secret banks in Swiss), international resources ( the international community living and Swiss people’s great exposure to international community due to frequent traveling), and food resources (growing cheese, ham, grapes as a farmer is well considered then even some shop keeper)?
Geneva’s uniqueness goes even further. Because of its history and geography, most Swiss people don’t consider Geneva as the real part of Swiss. Not only is it heavily influenced by the French culture and French language due to its geography, but the population is also overwhelmed with international community. Due to the high concentration of international organizations and NGOs being based on Geneva, the local Swiss people are becoming a minority. As a result, finding an original “Genevian” would be very hard to do. There are many who may have lived for over 10 years, but no matter how good their French and how much money they make, they are still “foreigners.”
Furthermore, this international population is rising to the rate that is exploding the city. One of the issues everyone discuss during your stay in Geneva is: shortening in housing, uncertainty in job post, and concern with high living expense. It took me at least few months to get used to this routine of talks. Plus, because of the nature of the work, there is a constant turn-over, and even those who were planning to stay longer terms find themselves changing plans if they find better opportunities or, worst case, lose the opportunity they thought they had.
I too, am part of this cycle of uncertainty. Yet, maybe it is because of the sunny weather. Or maybe it is because of the long day light hours, in which the sun does not set until 10pm. Or maybe it is because the city is full of free festivals that you cannot ignore. I am starting to love this city a bit more today.
6 months is approaching and I am already reflecting back on how much Geneva has given to me with a smile.
It’s a world full of madness and excitement.
Be part of the game,
if not, your squared.
Washington, D.C.
USA
Fall, 2009
South Korea,
2. Dae-chu Pat-bing su (대추 팥빙수)
Dae Chu
5. And other kinds,
- 情 JEONG - 