South Korea Archive

AFP: Koreas to meet in charged match

By
Cyrus Farivar
 – April 1, 2009, 4:36 am UTCPosted in: North Korea, Soccer, South Korea, Sports

Just in case North Korea wasn’t in the news enough for its recent capture of two American journalists and its new threat of a missile launch, the country has just sent its soccer team to Seoul to take on South Korea in a qualifying match for the 2010 World Cup.

After nearly a half hour of play the score remains tied at 0-0.

AFP reports: “The North, who last made the World Cup finals in 1966, have 10 points from five games and lead the group after a gritty 2-0 home win over the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at home on Saturday.”

That means if the DPRK wins, then they will go on to play in South Africa next summer.That’ll be flippin’ interesting.

The last time North Korea qualified was in 1966, when it surprisingly made the quarterfinals. This story was described in the 2002 UK film “The Game of Their Lives.”

A UK vendor also is selling DPRK jerseys for about 30 pounds. Wacky.

Um, Korea Fighting?

Update: South Korea pulled it out: 1-0.

Cyrus on Global Voices

By
Cyrus Farivar
 – May 20, 2008, 5:51 pm UTCPosted in: Estonia, Iran, Media Appearances, My Book, Senegal, South Korea

Hamid Tehrani of Global Voices conducted an email interview with me about my forthcoming book, tentatively titled The Internet of Elsewhere.

Cyrus Farivar is a USA-based blogger, journalist and writer. He is currently working on a book about the impact of the internet on society. Cyrus writes about internet impact on Iran, Senegal, South Korea and Senegal. He was recently in Iran and has taken several photos of Iranian carpets, food, buildings and nature too.

Q: You visited Iran recently after many years. Was it a cultural shock? Was there any difference between what you imagined, and what you came to know about Iran in reality?

A: Iran wasn’t a culture shock at all. It was pretty much what I expected, culturally. I did grow up in a half-Iranian family in California, after all. Iranians are terribly hospitable people and always want to be helpful and welcoming to family members like me who have never been to Iran.

Q: You are writing a book on the Internet and its impact on society. One fourth of your book is about Iran. Can you explain this project?

A: I am writing a book about the history and effects of the Internet in four countries around the world, including Estonia, Iran, Senegal and South Korea. It explores how the political and economic histories of these countries intersect with the arrival of the Internet in their countries. It will be published by Rutgers University Press (USA) in Fall/Winter 2009.

You can read the rest here.

Fridge for sale & Looking for a Korean translator

By
Cyrus Farivar
 – May 25, 2007, 12:09 pm UTCPosted in: Oakland, South Korea

My current Craigslist listings:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/hsh/338239882.html

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/wet/338252040.html

First train in over 50 years crosses Korean DMZ

By
Cyrus Farivar
 – May 17, 2007, 8:19 am UTCPosted in: North Korea, South Korea

I’d heard some people talk about train links between North and South Korea when I was there last month, and now, it’s finally happened.

For the first time since the Korean War that a train has crossed the DMZ.

Yes, it’s historic and emotional and all that, but really, as Reuters points out, this deal is all about the money:

To entice the North to allow the historic rail crossing, Seoul has offered $80 million in aid for its light industries.

Eventually, South Korea wants to send passengers and cargo via its neighbor into China and Russia and link with the Trans-Siberian railway.

Export-dependent South Korea could see huge savings in moving cargo if North Korea allowed the rail link to develop.

The links it rebuilt are designed to help serve two projects in the North.

One is a mountain resort built by an affiliate of the Hyundai Group where South Koreans can visit. The other is a factory park where companies from the South use cheap North Korean labor and land to make goods.

Farewell, Korea

By
Cyrus Farivar
 – April 28, 2007, 11:54 pm UTCPosted in: South Korea, Travels

Well, my three weeks in South Korea has come to an end. I tried (seriously) to make it up to North Korea, but it was going to cost me too much money and there was a 50/50 shot that the paperwork wouldn’t come through anyway. Too bad. I did get to go to the DMZ and eat Pyongyang-style noodles, so that’ll have to be good enough.

I can’t thank everyone enough, who’s made my time here such a success. In particular:

Karla: for letting me stay with her in Daejeon on no less than three occasions, and most of all, for letting me borrow her extra cell phone! I don’t know what I would have done without you.

Loren, Rachel & Nathan, and Jen: My four new CouchSurfing buddies, who were kind and generally awesome about letting me in their homes and share their space. You guys have an open invitation (and you too, Karla!) at my home in Oakland.

Aaron & Soo Jin: Although I knew you a little bit from before, it was great to learn more about you and to see you in your “native” environment. Thanks for taking me to eat live octopus. It’s an experience I will never forget.

DeVika, Min, Curtis & Lea, and Katrina: These friends I met through the aforementioned five and added a new dimension to my time here. I hope to host you guys as well — your perspective and friendship made my time here that much richer.

Chon Kilnam, Jin Ho Hur, Heewon Kim, HJ Park, Chris Chung, MK Kang, Stuart Brooks and all the other people I interviewed: Thanks for taking time to help me make my research worthwhile. You’ll be hearing from me again soon!

I’ve had a wonderful time here and can easily see why being here is so attractive. It’s easy to make money as an English teacher here, and to save money for a trip/house, or to pay off college loans. I may be back to follow in your footsteps.

I hope to see all of you guys in California soon!

Korean Unification Commercial

By
Cyrus Farivar
 – April 28, 2007, 4:13 pm UTCPosted in: North Korea, South Korea

Aaron‘s wife, Soo Jin, first showed me this commercial in Busan last weekend.

IHT, February 9 2006:


SAN FRANCISCO – The Bush administration is drawing up plans to further tighten the noose around North Korea by barring financial firms investing in Pyongyang from conducting business in the United States. Washington is moving fast to capitalize on Pyongyang’s alleged counterfeit dealings, but so fast that it is omitting a major factor: Korea is reunifying.

At Incheon International Airport in South Korea, flat-screen televisions beam a Samsung cellphone commercial of a concert with South Korea’s pop icon, Lee Hyo Ri, and the North Korean dancer Jo Myung Ae. Korea’s most popular female stars, they sing a song about parted lovers with the lyrics, “Someday we will meet again, although no one knows where we’re going, someday we will meet again, in this very image of us separated.”

As they hold hands, the blue “One Korea” flag rolls down behind them, and as they turn to watch the flag, Lee Hyo Ri says, “That day I was so nervous because the story wasn’t just about the two of us.”

Here was Samsung, one of Korea’s most powerful corporations, popularizing reunification. And the South Korean government was also sending a clear message to all foreigners landing on Korean soil: Reunification is happening, slowly, but surely.

Standing on Freedom’s Frontier

By
Cyrus Farivar
 – April 27, 2007, 8:26 pm UTCPosted in: South Korea, Travels

I’m not really sure what to make of my trip to the Korean DMZ (De-militarized Zone), and actually standing a few feet inside of North Korea for a few minutes. The best analogy that I can come up with is being taken to a zoo, and watching the lion cage.

You’re impressed at seeing these hulking fierce beasts that you’re led to believe are vicious killers who will stop at nothing to tear you limb from limb. They feed you stories of how the North Koreans kidnap people in the neighboring village of Pamunjon, of how South Korean border soldiers are black belts in taekwondo and wear big intimidating sunglasses, and can’t wear name badges for fear that the North Korean agents will threaten them and/or their family.

After being paraded around the MDL (Military Demarcation Line), you realize that it’s really not that dangerous, given that you rolled up in a giant tour bus, and that there are highly-trained soldiers all around, each armed with at least a pistol and probably a knife, and maybe other hidden weapons. Our US Army tour guide, Sgt. Naumenkov, repeatedly cited his marksmanship as one of the reasons why we’d be safe.

Read the rest of this entry »

Photos from Korea, Round 5 (DMZ Edition)

By
Cyrus Farivar
 – April 27, 2007, 9:55 am UTCPosted in: Photography, South Korea, Travels

Photos from Korea, Round 4

By
Cyrus Farivar
 – April 25, 2007, 6:39 pm UTCPosted in: Photography, South Korea, Travels

Live octopus tentacles!

By
Cyrus Farivar
 – April 25, 2007, 6:13 am UTCPosted in: Food, South Korea, WTF?

Remember those octopus tentacles I mentioned earlier?

I wasn’t kidding.

Sunday Night in Daejeon: The Final Week Begins

By
Cyrus Farivar
 – April 22, 2007, 8:40 am UTCPosted in: South Korea, Travels

Well, it’s after midnight here in Daejeon (Slogan: It’s Daejeon) and I’m about to begin my final week here in Korea. I’m back in Daejeon for the third time in as many weeks to interview for at least a third (if not fourth) time, Kilnam Chon, the father of the Internet in Korea.

I don’t have the energy right now to write a whole narrative, so I’ll just give you some snippets of things that I’ve done in the last week:

- Did at least one interview every day
- Watched two baseball games (Lotte Giants [Busan] at Hanwha Eagles [Daejeon] ; Hanwha Eagles at LG Twins [Seoul])
- Ate tons of street food
- Stayed with Nathan and Rachel, who were awesome hosts
- Watched one soccer game (Ulsan at FC Seoul)
- Had dinner and drank way too much makoli with Gary Rector, a childhood friend of James Boyk (David‘s Dad)
- Watched a professional Starcraft match (“eSports“)
- Took the KTX, the Korean bullet train from Seoul to Busan
- Stayed with Aaron Tassano (Becky‘s cousin) and his wife Soo Jin in Busan
- Ate Pyongyang-style noodles
- Fought a giant bottle of makoli with a plastic sword that I found for sale at a Busan supermarket
- Ate more street food
- Watched the Lotte Giants destroy the Hyundai Unicorns [Suwon] in baseball, 9-2
- Ate freshly killed octopus tentacles while they were still squirming from their disembodied torso
- Bought a wooden, hand-carved stamp with my family name laser-etched in Korean on it for $10
- Took the KTX from Busan to Daejeon
- Rode the newly-opened Daejeon subway

I’ll be here in Daejeon until Tuesday, then I head back north to Seoul to finish up. On Friday, I’m doing a tour of the DMZ.

On Sunday, I head home.

Korean shooting tragedies: 2007 & 1982

By
Cyrus Farivar
 – April 18, 2007, 6:12 am UTCPosted in: South Korea

I think it goes without saying that this whole incident where the crazed South Korean kid who shot up Virginia Tech is incredibly tragic. My heart goes out to the affected families.

The most fascinating factoid (in a weird way) about this whole incident was pointed out by Michael Hurt, an American living in Seoul:

Then there’s the interesting fact that the record holder for the worst shooting in world history, Woo Bom-gon (우범근), is also Korean, this time a Korean national who lived in Korea. That’s not in the least bit interesting?

. . .

Sound familiar? So the top two spots for shooting sprees in history are now held by two Korean men. Hey – I just find this interesting. Is this information not somewhat relevant to the issue at hand? Don’t know why the Korean media isn’t picking up on this. Or maybe it will? This is another interesting fact to throw in with the others. Even The New York Times had a piece on it back in 1982.

Here’s that piece, in its entirety:

AROUND THE WORLD; South Korean Shootings Lead Minister to Resign
SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: April 29, 1982

President Chun Doo Hwan appointed Ro Tae Woo, a close friend, Home Minister today after Suh Chung Hwa resigned.

Mr. Suh resigned after he took responsibility for the breakdown of security that permitted an eight-hour shooting rampage on Monday by a South Korean policeman, who killed 56 people and wounded 37.

Mr. Chun also named Lee Won Kyong to replace Mr. Roh as Minister of Sport. Park Shin Il, a Government information official, said the resignation of Mr. Suh was ”strictly for taking responsibility” for the killings at Uiryong, 170 miles from here. Woo Bom Kon, the policeman, killed himself after he went on his rampage.

The Government is offering up to $27,000 to each of the families of people killed.

Photos from Korea, Round 3

By
Cyrus Farivar
 – April 16, 2007, 11:14 am UTCPosted in: Photography, South Korea, Travels

Photos from Korea, Round 2

By
Cyrus Farivar
 – April 15, 2007, 8:49 am UTCPosted in: Photography, South Korea, Travels

Sorry I haven’t posted in a few days. I was down in Daejeon for the weekend and am now back in Seoul for the rest of the week. I’ll be here until Friday, when I head down to Busan. I hope to sate you with some photos until I get some writing in. As usual, all photos are here.

Photos from Korea, Round 1

By
Cyrus Farivar
 – April 10, 2007, 5:23 am UTCPosted in: Photography, South Korea, Travels

All of my photos can be found here, but these are some of the highlights:

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