Keep it in the family!

At the Korea Herald, columnist Kim Ji-hyun asks, "Dear Lufthansa, are you racist?" She then immediately answers her own question with "Probably not, but this was the question that first popped into my mind when I heard about a bunch of unfortunate [Korean] reporters who missed their Lufthansa flight out of Europe a few days ago." The reporters "mistook the time of their flight ― they had confused the boarding time and the time the plane actually took off ― and had to buy tickets for another flight out of the country the following day." She first criticizes them for their lack of intelligence, but then goes on to surmise that the staff were unhelpful to this "boisterous group of loud and probably less-than-attractive Asian reporters (compared to their blond, long-legged European counterparts anyway)" because the staff were racist. Though she imagines the Korean reporters were "making a lot of noise, I’m sure, as Asians usually seem to do when they get together abroad" and calls them "boisterous," the reason the staff were unhelpful was not because of their (assumed) annoying behaviour, but because they were "less-than-attractive Asian reporters."

I could only think to myself when I read this, "Projecting much?" She finishes with this:

All in all, it was the Korean reporters who made a mess of things, since everything started when they mistook their flight time. But when you think about Korean Air and Asiana, and the pains they take to be nice to patrons, one can’t help but think, why fly anything else?

Indeed. Best to keep it in the family.


[Hat tip to Patrick.]

Denial of service, then and now

A bit late with this, I know (sorry for such light posting lately), but in the news last week was the tale of businesses in Bali banning entry to Korean customers:

Hotels, retailers and restaurants on the resort island of Bali are rejecting Korean customers due to some who flout regulations to make the most of their stay, according to South Korean TV network SBS.

Korean tourists are reportedly finding new and creative methods of vacationing on the cheap at the Indonesian vacation destination, which is frustrating local business owners to no end.

There's a discussion thread about it here that was pointed out to me (read it if you dare; it consists of lots of 'Koreans deserve it because they do it in Korea too' kinds of comments). This isn't the only place that has shown annoyance with Korean tourists, as Scott Burgeson noted in Fukuoka a few years ago; on a similar topic, he posted a chat with a woman who worked as a receptionist at a Korean-run karaoke club in Jakarta almost 9 years ago.


Upon hearing of what had happened in Bali, I couldn't help but be reminded of a passage in Jo Yoong-hee's article "The Relationship between Joseon Envoys and Western Missionaries in Beijing in the Early 18th Century: Focusing on Lee Gi-ji's Iramyeon-gi."*

In it, he describes Lee Gi-ji's visit to Beijing as part of a diplomatic mission in 1720, and notes the friendly relations between the missionaries and Koreans. Forty years later, however, Hong Dae-yong wrote about his visit to Beijing in 1765 as part of a mission and described how the hospitality of the missionaries towards Koreans had changed:

Since the Emperor Kangxi (r. 1662-1722), Joseon's diplomats used to visit the Catholic churches in Beijing and to be welcomed by the missionaries. The missionaries used to show exotic paintings, icons and other objects in the churches and even give the visitors presents brought from Europe. Joseon diplomats year by year wanted more exotic goods and experiences at the churches, so visiting Catholic churches in Beijing became the diplomats' conventional practice. Our country's custom seemed like arrogance, exaggeration and maliciousness, and the diplomats from Joseon often neither behaved politely nor paid back for the presents they received. Moreover, their followers were often uneducated, smoked and spat inside the churches, and touched things without allowance, which made the missionaries, who liked cleanliness, angry.

Recently, the Western missionaries became to dislike visitors from Joseon more than before. The missionaries refused to do the Joseon visitors a favor. They did not treat the visitors with heart.

The article goes on to describe how things had changed over 40 years: "Whereas Lee Gi-ji was welcomed by the missionaries without any advance notice of his visit, the visitors from Joseon in Hong's days were not allowed to enter the church even when they asked to see the church."

I guess you have to hate it when a bunch of idiots ruin things for everyone.


*일암연기 / 一菴燕記, in Hangeul / hanja, for the curious.

(Hat tip to Kelly.)

The Baileys visit Korea

The shipwrecked Baileys and their rescue by Koreans in 1973

The rescue of the Baileys by Wolmi 306
Wolmi 306 Captain Suh's account of the rescue of the Baileys part 1
Wolmi 306 Captain Suh's account of the rescue of the Baileys part2
The Baileys arrive in Honolulu
The Baileys visit Korea

A Bad Trend

When we last saw the Baileys, they remained in Honolulu as the Wolmi 306 departed without them. As this Donga Ilbo article points out, the Donga Ilbo played its part in the media frenzy by offering to pay for a Korean Air flight to Seoul. On the Afternoon of August 1, 1973, they arrived at Kimpo Airport, as this front page Korea Times article from the next day relates:

 Unsurprisingly, the Donga Ilbo gave a great deal of coverage to their visit, publishing the photo below and reporting that they drove into Seoul via the Han River and Han River bridge, and got a view of Namsan before going to the Sejong Hotel:


On August 2 they were interviewed by the Donga Ilbo at their hotel, and said they would come to Korea when they sailed again. They thanked the Korean people and said they wanted to meet captain Suh in Busan, visit the old palaces, and go to Panmunjeom:


They were given a key to the city and honorary Seoul citizenship by Mayor Yang Taek-sik on the morning of the 3rd before flying to Busan that afternoon:


The Korea Times had a little more on the ceremony:

The following Korea Times article from August 4 says that they arrived in Busan and that they plan to attend Captain Suh's wedding. I can find no other reference to this wedding, however (not even in the Korean language press).

On the morning of August 4 the Wolmi 306 arrived in port and they were reunited with captain Suh:


This Korea Times article from the next day described their meeting:

On the 5th they went to Ulsan to see a shipyard and to Bulguksa and Seokguram in Gyeongju (the latter they termed 'a miracle'), and then returned to Seoul. This article says they also went to Haeundae that day,which would make for a busy day, if true.

On the 6th they went on a USFK-led tour of Panmunjeom and then had lunch with the British ambassador before going to see Gloucester Valley, the location of the 1951 Battle of the Imjin River.

Also on the 6th, MBC aired the story of their rescue which was broadcast over three nights.

Oddly enough, coverage of their visit dropped off completely in the Korea Times. This is the final, tiny article about them, from August 7:



On August 7 they toured Changdeokgung and Biwon, and on August 8 they went to Korea University and then later that day attended a ceremony where Captain Suh and three other crew members of the Wolmi 306 received commendations from the Korea Marine Industry Development Corporation.

On August 9 they boarded a plane at Gimpo Airport for Los Angeles, from where they would go on to London. There, holding gifts, they said goodbye to Captain Suh:

(From the Kyunghyang Sinmun)

Then they boarded the plane and off they went.

(From the Donga Ilbo)

Wikipedia has some more information about them, as does this obituary for Maralyn (who died in 2002 - I'm not certain if Maurice, who'd be in his early 80s, is still alive or not). This article discusses Maralyn's resilience, while their book about their ordeal, 117 Days Adrift, can be searched through at Amazon. A book titled Second Chance, published in 1977, reveals that they had a new boat built and sailed around South America, apparently, according to this review, cursing the "boatbuilder who sent them to sea in a sieve."

And so ends the tale of the Baileys. Well, almost. Their visit led to some letters about their rescue and visit being published in Korean newspapers. I'll take a look at those next time.

Promoting a "correct understanding" of the islets beyond Ulleungdo

On May 13, Yonhap published the following story from Daegu:

"Dokdo is Korean land"...Native speaking teachers to visit Dokdo

It was announced on the 13th that from the 16th to the 18th, 55 native speaking teachers living in Gyeongsangbuk-do will have a history and culture tour of Ulleungdo and Dokdo.

The aim of the trip is to give foreign teachers a correct understanding of Dokdo's past and present, and to promote the mysterious island of Ulleungdo.

Out of 460 native speaker teachers responsible for English classes in the province's elementary, middle, and high schools, 239 applied to go, and out of these, 55 were chosen.

The foreign teachers are from the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia and South Africa.

During this tour, Inha University law professor Lee Seok-u and Handong University international law school professor Lee Hui-eon will give lectures on, respectively, "The international legal debate over the San Francisco Peace Treaty" and "The importance of Dokdo and globalization."

Kim Jong-hak, head of the Gyeongsangbuk-do Dokdo Protection said, "We offered the chance to visit Dokdo to foreign teachers to expand the promotion of Dokdo beyond Korea to foreigners and foreign countries."

Hopefully they don't have to submit essays after they've finished, as was described here. While I doubt I would go, knowing how the teachers are to be used as propaganda tools (see previous link), I can imagine others would endure the (thrilling, I'm sure) lectures to get a free trip to Ulleungdo. As I've mentioned before, I went there in 2002:

(Yes, those are thousands of squid drying.)

It's probably the most beautiful place I've been to in Korea, and is well worth visiting.

The landscapes of Danyang

The other day I posted about the caves I visited in Danyang. I thought I'd follow up by posting about the rest of the trip.


Above is a view of the town itself. The water wasn't high enough to take the boat to Chungju, but perhaps later in the summer it will be. The bus station where I arrived at is along the water front at the far right. The photo above was taken from this bridge:


At the far end of the bridge is the tourist office and just beyond that, Gosu Cave. There's lots of good restaurants along the street in town that continues across the bridge. Danyang is known for its garlic, so garlic galbi and other such dishes are to be found there. I randomly chose Doljib Sikdang, as the maneul ssam jeongsik sounded interesting.


It was amazing, actually. Bossam, make-your-own bibimbap, loads of side dishes, etc. These little roast garlic cloves were tasty, and none of the garlic was particularly strong tasting.


As it turned out, I'd chosen wisely. The restaurant is well known, and another customer told me he'd driven with his family for an hour from Gangwon-do just to eat there.

The next day I headed across the bridge to the cave.



Typically, the restaurants in front of Gosu cave, which is a popular tourist spot, all served the exact same food, so after visiting Cheondong cave, I headed back into town to eat. One thing worth noting is that if you see a bus stop on only one side of the road, it means you can catch a bus going in the other direction there as well (simply wait on the other side of the road). In town you can generally just say the name of the place you want to go and the bus driver will either welcome you aboard or tell you to wait across the street for one going in the other direction.

At any rate, I ate lunch at the Danyang Jeontong Sundubu, which had the best dotori-muk I'd ever tasted. Too bad I didn't stay in town longer; I would have loved to have ordered a full dish of it.


A short bus ride to the north of town is the Doddam Sambong, or three peaks, which have been written about since the Joseon dynasty, lauded by Toegye Yi Hwang and painted Kim Hong-do.


With crowds milling about, speedboats zipping around, and music from the speedboat 'terminal' blaring, it wasn't exactly peaceful. Seongmun, or 'stone gate,' supposedly the largest stone arch in Asia, was worth short but steep hike up the adjacent hill.


Those previous two sites are part of the Danyang Palgyeong, or 'eight views of Danyang.' Five of them are reachable by bus, but three others are for those who have their own wheels. Two can be seen by taking a half hour bus ride to Janghoe ferry where you can take an hour-long cruise along Chungju Lake (made by damming up the Namhangang in the 80s). (It's also possible to go all the way to Chungju sometimes - it's best to check with the tourist office.) Due to the spectacular scenery, it's well worth the trip (even if the boats threaten to become floating noraebangs). It's also nice to be on a boat again, especially considering I grew up on a lake.




Here's Oksunbong, one of the eight views, which Toegye Yi Hwang (he of the 1000 won bill) described as the gate of Danyang when he was a magistrate there:


Gudambong is said to look like a turtle's shell when reflected in the water:


I didn't get to see any of the other eight views, but a man I chatted with on the boat (who was working for KBS installing digital TV transmitters on the tops of mountains, and who was nice enough to give me a ride back to Danyang) just sent me this photo of Sainam (it should be clear he had a much nicer camera than mine).


He also visited Dodam Sambong at a time which was much more conducive to taking photos:


Danyang is well worth visiting if you get the chance, both for its natural beauty and the food. There are lots of motels along the waterfront in town, and buses run hourly on the hour from Dong Seoul Bus Terminal (near Gangbyeong station on line 2).

The cavescapes of Danyang

The weekend before last I visited Danyang, in the northeast of Chungcheongbuk-do. Situated on a curve of the Namhangang and, when the water's high enough, considered a part of Chungju Lake, there's a lot of natural beauty in the area. Some of it is underground, as there are 4 well known caves in the area. I visited two, the first being Gosu Cave, which is very close to town (on the other side of the Gosu Bridge, just past the tourist information office). It was first explored in the early 1970s, and was found to have been a shelter for humans in the Paleolithic era. It's now home to some pretty spectacular rock formations.







One wonders how much H.R. Giger explored caves; I often felt like I was on the set of an Alien movie.


This photo should give some idea as to how tall the cave gets at points:


Needless to say, those suffering from claustrophobia and fear of heights might want to gove this a pass (as might those with a large belt size - the walkways get very narrow at points).


Four kilometers down the road from Gosu Cave is Cheondong Cave, which was first discovered in the 1970s.






The warnings that apply to Gosu Cave apply even more to Cheondong Cave, as the passageways at times force you to almost crawl, or to descend stairs backwards. Here's a view of the largest room in the cave:


All in all, a fun way to spend 5,000 won. I'll post more about the rest of the trip in a day or so.