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[gotkorea]

Seoul has another character themed cafe! These characters are originally from a webtoon, and commonly seen in Kakao Talk stickers.

(via Cafe Majo & Sady- More Kakao Talk Characters in Dongdaemun, Seoul)

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Seen clothes or accessories in a photo that you just can't live without? Then we are here to help!...

Hey guys, check this out :-)

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Old photographs from 1895 to 1913 Korea..

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What is the Korean girl chef wearing in my comic? It’s called Han-Bok, a traditional Korean dress. This particular top with striped sleeves is called ”Sek-Dong-Jeh-Go-Ri”  which is worn by girls on happy special occasions. The silk tie at the end of her braid is called “Deng-Ki”. It is worn by young ladies yet to be married. This tie was the sign for the town’s bachelors to know which girls were available. Once the ladies got married, they turned the braid into a bun and wore an ornate pin though the bun.

Han-Bok is such a beautiful costume. It makes the woman look so graceful but unfortunately it is so uncomfortable to wear. I have no idea why they made the skirt to be tied so high, right on the breast line. Ouch!

It’s hard to see anyone wearing Han-Bok in Korea anymore, except for the national holidays, weddings and funerals. I remember wearing them when I was a little girl visiting the elderly relatives in Korean new years and Chu-Suk, the Korean thanksgiving. I couldn’t wait to take it off because it was so itchy and uncomfortable. The only way for this dress to stay put was to tie it very tightly right underneath my armpit and I could hardly breath, let alone eating any of those wonderful Korean holiday food.

There are many Korea dramas based on the Cho-Sun (Korean dynasty 1300s- 1800s) period and all the characters wear such a beautiful ornate Han-Bok. I’m a total sucker for those dramas. I’ve recently heard about this K drama called “Dae-Jang-Kum” which is about a female chef in the Cho-Sun era palace. It’s been translated as “The Jewel in the palace” in the other Asian countries and apparently it was a hugh hit a few years ago. I don’t watch much K dramas these days so I was completely oblivious to it until one of my Korean teacher told me to watch it since I’m doing a comic about Korean food. Korean Food drama full of beautiful Han-bok clad characters?? I was sold instantly and ordered the entire set online, I can’t wait to watch it! 

[gotkorea]

[gotkorea]

Funny Korean Emoticons and Abbreviations

from http://domandhyo.com/2014/03/korean-emoticons-inforgraphic.html

[gotkorea]

Say Charles, Where Should I Start in Korean Literature?

What you should read really depends on what you like. Here’s the bulleted version, with more details on some of the works (links lead to Amazon pages, not my reviews) below:

If you like family tear-jerkers, you must read Please Look After Mom by Shin Kyun-sook. A second good choice is Who Ate Up All The Shinga, by Park Wan-so.

If you like your novels modern and existential, you should read I Have the Right to Destroy Myself (quite short) or Your Republic is Calling You by Kim Young-ha

If you like womyn’s lit, check out Words of Farewell: Stories by Korean Women Writers or consider There a Petal Silently Falls which contains three stories from the priceless Ch’0e Yun.

For modernish exploration of the cost of development, in a novel of linked short stories, read the The Dwarf by Cho Se-hui, a powerful story of a family crushed by economic development.

If you like short stories, Waxen Wings is the new standard. Another old reliable is  Land of Exile (make sure to get the new edition). A different approach would be to read all 25 of the short Jimoondang/KLTI booklets in the Portable Library of Korean Literature series.

For humor, you can’t miss with Kim Young-ha’s Whatever Happened to the Guy in the Elevator, which can be found paired with Photo Shop Murder, in one of those short Jimoondang/KLTI books I just mentioned. Another Jimoondang/KLTI publication is My Innocent Uncle by Ch’ae Man-shik and finally, Camellias by Kim Yu-jeong is a bit blunted in translation, but has an amusing story of young love.

There’s more.. tons of it, and if you browse through the reviews available through the “Reviews” tab at the top of this page, you can check some of it out. If you have any specific comment, questions, or recommendations, feel free to email me here!

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[gotkorea]

50 KOREAN ACTORS TO LOVE

#5 - Wonbin

After his 1997 debut, Wonbin shot up to stardom fairly quickly and easily thanks to his looks. His first notable role was in 2000’s hit drama “Autumn Tale,” which officially made him Pretty Boy Extraordinaire of Korea. He starred in a few hit films after that — “Guns & Talks,” the internationally acclaimed “Taeguki: The Brotherhood of War" — but it was 2009’s "Mother" and last year’s "The Man From Nowhere" (both in which he radically changed his image and showed his versatility) that solidified his place on the list of actors who have the acting abilities to go along with their good looks.

Wonbin has consistently kept his place as a name synonymous with ��handsome” for many years alongside others like Jang Dong-gun and Jung Woo-sung. He has become, in many ways, a standard.

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Jean Shin

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For more information: here

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Park Seo-Bo

“Art without spirit is not art. Art has to have soul.” - Park Seo-Bo

Few Korean artists have achieved the fame of Park Seo-Bo (Korean, b.1931), who has been a major figure in the Korean avant-garde from the Post-War era to the present day. Scholars have compared Park’s public persona in Korea to that of Andy Warhol in the United States—an enduring notoriety sustained as much by the artist’s charismatic self-presentation as by the art itself. 

Park Seo-Bo and Korean Contemporary Art

[gotkorea]

Ramie fabric has kept Koreans cool during the hot summer months for the past 1,500 years. Now the weaving of fine ramie in the Hansan region of Korea, a tradition that has come to symbolize the perseverance of Korean women, has been registered as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2011. Fine ramie from the Hansan region in South Chungcheong Province is a popular fabric for summer clothing due to its light weight and cool texture however producing the fabric is highly labor-intensive. There are at least six different stages to the process, from gathering ramie plants to bleaching them, and a craftswoman spends three months weaving the filaments into fabric.

[gotkorea]

130831 The Opening of Donghae’s Grill 5 Taco restaurant!!!

Donghae’s Grill 5 Taco restaurant was opened today at 5pm!!! Donghae’s mother, his elder brother Donghwa and also their cousin sisters were all at the opening today! ^^ Donghae’s actor friend Choi Sung Joon has also visited the shop today. On top of that, Super Junior members have also sent in flowers greetings for the opening! ^^ However as Super Junior was at A-Nation concert in Tokyo today therefore Donghae and Suju members were all unable to attend the opening of the shop.

Donghae’s Grill 5 Taco restaurant address: 

청담동 88-10번지 보빌딩1층, Cheongdam-dong 

Pic no.7  - Donghae’s elder brother Donghwa 

Pic no.8 - Donghae’s mother photo taken with fans

Pic no.9 - Donghae’s elder cousin sisters and Actor Choi Sung Joon

Pic no.10 - Flowers Greetings sent by Super Junior members

Greetings messages:

Eunhyuk’s Message: Please visit Tous Les Jours Guro Highend location

Ryeowook’s Message: Wait please. Donghae, over, will enter into his delicious taco restaurant

Siwon’s Message: Donghae-yah, can I buy this restaurant?

Kyuhyun’s Message: Seller Donghae’s takoyaki big adventure

Kangin’s Message: Donghae-yah, failure is mother of success

Shindong’s message: You have to experience failure to become successful!

Sungmin’s message: I quite like Grill5 too. I will try eating it. -Lee UngMin PD

  messages translated by NKsubs

photo source as tagged

[gotkorea]

2801. Joseph Kim: “The Family I Lost in North Korea And the Family I Gained”. After watching this TED talk, you will realize that suddenly your first world problems are not so bad. This is the story of an incredibly brave and inspirational North Korean refugee searching for his family and a new life. 

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TOPIK Examination Tips

by Christina

TIP # 1: Expand your vocabulary and know your beginner grammar points. You can find compilation of words in other websites; I've seen a lot when I was still reviewing for mine. (Just look at my grade and I can say that I did pretty well on the 문법/grammar part. I only had 9 mistakes!)

  TIP # 2: Knowing the words isn't enough, you'd have to practice your spelling and sentence compositions too. (Got 15 mistakes on the writing part.) Be sure to use 존 댓말 when you're writing your essay and never ever use 반말. Practice your -입니다, -입니까, -에요, -이에요. Also, don't use -입니다 and shift to -이에요 on your next sentences. Be consistent with your verbs.

  TIP # 3: (16 mistakes on the listening part.) Listening to natives is the best way to practice for this. The Talk to Me in Korean website is great help for those self-studying since they have podcasts and they use Seoul intonations. Click here to go to their website. And if their MP3's aren't enough for you, why not try listening to some Korean songs and watching Korean dramas? Just be aware that on some dramas that I've watched, there are characters who use other dialects like 부산말. During the TOPIK exams, 서울말 is used. 

TIP # 4: (23 mistakes on the reading part)  Practice your reading comprehension skills. I am not sure if this was that part which had signages and stuffs but obviously yet not surprisingly, this was the hardest part for me.

TIP # 5: DOWNLOAD previous TOPIK exams and answer them on your own. By doing this, you get to know your weak points and work on them beforehand. You can find previous examination test papers with solutions here: link.

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Let 500 Tasty Sandwiches teach you how to make the king of kimchi, whole cabbage kimchi (배추김치). The process does take some time but is actually rather easy.