haekorea

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A big thank you to Haeryun, who has been invaluable to me since the founding of the bureau in 2015. We will miss you!

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I joined the NPR Seoul team when Elise opened the bureau in March 2015, as its chief and my boss.

It was my first proper journalism job. I was a real rookie: I had a rudimentary grasp on which questions were better than others, which stories were more interesting than others, and which sources were more credible than others. I didn’t know how to tell a radio story. I definitely didn’t know what “ambi,” “b-roll,” “spots,” or “Marantz” meant.

As is famously known, the first day of NPR Seoul collided with a day in the life of Mark Lippert, the then-US ambassador to South Korea appointed by Obama. That morning, Elise was trying to set up the office/new apartment WiFi, and I was trying to get some tea before easing into my new job. I hadn’t even installed the Yonhap News app, which is like, Step 0 to starting a journalism career in South Korea.

“The ambassador was attacked,” my mom, who was as excited about my new job as I was, kakaotalked me around 8 a.m.

From that point on, it was a frightening rush to get the job done: Get official confirmation for Elise, find more details, and rush to the police presser at 9:30. The first bathroom I used during my two years at NPR was at the Jongno Police Station in Seoul. Unfortunately, using that bathroom made me miss the press conference (alas, the call of nature before journalism), but I managed to scrape information from others afterward.

It’s been two years since that chilly morning when I had bowel problems. Since then, NPR Seoul has settled down as a familiar face in the world of wae-sin, or foreign journalists in South Korea. In these two years, Elise and I ate inhumane amounts of food for an online eating show, attended a wedding as fake guests, talked to a quarantined monk during the MERS outbreak, visited a farm that breeds bears for bile, went to a government-sanctioned North Korea library in Seoul, and hustled through a lot of rallies. In our respective personal lives, Elise gave birth to a beautiful second daughter (and is due with another one very soon!). I learned how to drive, let’s just say, like a journalist.

It’s hard to imagine life without hearing our Slack notification ding ding ding every day (I have even had dreams about talking to Elise on Slack). Learning from Elise, her husband Matt (whose data journalism site everyone should check out), even her little kids and cats has been an incredible blessing. It’s at NPR Seoul that I learned how to ask questions, say no, think in terms of sounds and scenes, and tell stories. I’m still learning, but I got a good head start.

Starting in March, I’ll be moving to Korea Exposé, to work full-time as its managing editor. It’s going to be a whole new challenge. But I’m not too nervous, especially after two years here as a ‘baby journalist.’

Words are by nature insufficient and incomplete, but here’s as big of a ‘thank you’ as I can muster to NPR’s Seoul team, the old ones and the new. Thank you, Elise, Matt, Eva, Isa, Yani/Anjas, May, Cheese, Caesar and good ol’ Saidee. And hello to Luna!

Lots and lots of love,

Baby Journalist signing off.

Elise and her right-hand woman. 

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Make America Great Again? Park Young-shik (71) lives in D.C. and says he bought this hat at Trump's inauguration. "We enthusiastically support Trump's Republican administration. As a businessman Trump is incredibly quick in assessing situations." But is he reliable? He wants to strengthen US-Korea alliance now, but remember the elections? He criticized South Korea and Japan (falsely) for not paying for their share of the defense costs. (Japan pays about $2 billion a year in maintenance/utilities for US bases. By 2014 measures South Korea paid over $866 million, about 40% of the cost of US military presence). To all this Park replied, "That's what he can say as a candidate committed to winning the race." He seemed to have no qualms about Trump's contradictory, inconsistent statements.

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Opposite side of the fence: across the street from the Defense Ministry, where James Mattis visited this morning, around 200 pro-US/Park conservatives (mostly elderly) welcomed the Trump administration and his defense secretary's first visit to these neck of the woods. They want a hardlined approach to NK, and yes to that THAAD.

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This South Korean group is protesting the visit by U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis, saying, “We demand that the South Korean and US governments turn not to militaristic, pressurizing policies to solve the NK nuclear problem, but to solve the Korean nuclear problem peacefully through conversation, negotiation, and diplomacy.”

Photo by Haeryun Kang

[haekorea]

LOVE these series. 

What’s In My Bag: Roving Freelance Photographer Edition

Photographer Allison Shelley was tagged by our last participant, NPR’s Jason Beaubien, to detail her stash. Her work has been seen everywhere, but her current focus is on women in the world’s crisis areas, such as Haiti. 

As this ongoing series works, the current blogger will tag the next one. But first, here’s Allison… —Elise

“As a photographer who does not check any of her gear when flying, I craft my packing strategy around avoiding those lose-lose stand-offs with airline staff who politely force you to gate check things. First, early boarding.  Second, ace luggage.

My long-suffering Kata R 102 backpack, which I won in a contest years ago, fits under most airline seats, holds a laptop in a secret superhero slide-in pocket and is my savior in the field, especially when riding on motorcycles.  It is also incredibly dorky.  Creative collaborators and fixers alike refuse to be near it in certain company.  

The Think Tank Airport Navigator rolling suitcase saves my back in airports, as it’s small enough to go in the overhead but holds most of my photo gear (Canon 5D Mark III’s and related peripherals), including my laptop.  This is also my go-to city assignment bag, allowing me to take the subway to assignments in town without my chiropractor freaking out.  

Blackberry.  Don’t judge.  It accepts normal sized SIM cards, takes a standard charger and let’s face it, is not a theft target.  Plus, keyboard.  In some countries, you can sometimes also still get a Blackberry-dedicated data plan, which makes it all worth it.

$3 sunglasses. When you lose them, you buy another pair. My brother, who lives in Southern California and KNOWS these things, makes me look for the kind with the UV protection sticker on them.  

Clif bars are my best friend in awkward food situations (mostly in airports when I don’t want to pay $15 for a sandwich) or as a novelty cultural item. Also often helpful, international power adapter, headlamp, earbuds, eye covers, power brick, and small hard drives (I bring two, mirror them and ask a traveling companion to carry the second one), which I carry in tiny, waterproof Pelican 1050 cases.

I still believe in real books.  One of my favorites is Brief Encounters With Che Guevara, a collection of short stories by Ben Fountain, a brilliant fiction writer who compels first-world travelers like myself towards deep/justified self-examination. And he’s funny.

Timbuk2 travel wallet in which I carry my passport, boarding passes, sim cards.  Also: my health insurance card (plus any travel health insurance policy), drivers license as a secondary form of id, an ATM card (this tends to be one of the easiest and safest ways to get cash abroad rather than carrying a ton with you upon arrival), and my very favorite one, the Global Entry card.  If you do not like standing in long lines, taking off your shoes in the airport or answering random customs questions, this is the thing for you.  Works on domestic flights in the U.S. too.  

Several extra passport sized photos of myself. Surprising how often an official will ask for several of these for some official document or other.  Also surprising, how difficult they can be to obtain in said places.

First aid kit. I am deeply indebted to the hostile environment first aid training courses that I received from RISC (Reporters Instructed in Saving Colleagues) and Global Journalist Security—something I think should be mandatory for anyone reporting from a place with sketchy things going on. I now carry a kit (provided to us by RISC) that contains bandages, a tourniquet, and lots of other important medical things that I hope never to use—in addition to the standard course of Cipro, a tube of Neosporin and yes, Emergen-C.”     

NEXT UP: Allison tags another photographer — Ben Depp. “He is based in New Orleans but often travels cross-country for assignments—camping along the way– on his motorcycle, or with his self-built paraglider,” Shelley says. 

Previously: Rich Preston’s bag (London) | Elise’s bag (Seoul/Tokyo) | Gregory Warner’s bag (Nairobi) | Jason Beaubien’s bag (Natural disaster zones)

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Lee Minryang (65) is a newbie taxi driver. He is a "Seoul person," but says it's still difficult to find places after ten months of driving. He has a level 3 disability, having hurt his leg from a car accident years ago. There is a visible limp but he has no problem driving, walking, even farming. He used to run a non-profit related to disabled people (not sure how specifically), but gave up after ten years of struggling financially. He tried to become a security guard, and says he applied to "100 places," but apartments rejected him becausd his limp wouldn't look good to others. So he became licensed to drive a taxi, and has a little basket of sweets to make customers happier. "My favorite part of driving is chatting with people," Lee says. #humansofseoul

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Definitely on my to-watch list. Love how @zastrowphysics summed up Shingodzilla. "Paperwork: The Real Horror Of Our Century."

Shin Godzilla is political allegory, minus the allegory

3.5/4 stars

It’s a classic Godzilla setup: A harbor tunnel caves in, and Tokyo Bay erupts with steam explosions from an unexplained heat source. Rumors circulate of a giant creature swimming in the harbor. But when a cabinet meeting is interrupted by viral footage of an enormous reptilian tail breaking the waves, the Prime Minister acts swiftly to call…another meeting.

That’s when I realized Shin Godzilla was going to be some kind of monster movie I’d never seen before. When Godzilla finally lumbers ashore, the biggest panic is not in the eyes of the people fleeing through the streets, but in the eyes of the poor bureaucrats racing through the hall to fill out to transfer jurisdiction of the giant lizard from the marine ministry to the land ministry. In this Godzilla for our times, the real threat is paperwork.

This reboot from Toho Studios is in part a loving homage to past Godzilla flicks. It has a Gojira/Godzilla joke and the CGI beast himself somehow manages to look both plausible while evoking a man in a suit. But as a whole, the film is less of a traditional Godzilla movie and more of a political procedural about a government dealing with a Godzilla crisis.

Sure, all monster movies are political allegory, and Godzilla serves the role ably in this film, pushing a tsunami of radioactive debris up Tokyo’s streets as it emerges from the sea.

But at a certain point, Shin Godzilla drops the allegorical pretense. In addressing the debate about Japan’s ongoing militarization, the film makes no attempt at metaphor—instead, the ensemble cast of mid-level civil servants sit around, pull out Article 9 of the constitution, and actually debate it. If Japan’s Self Defense Forces are allowed to use force against an attack from an aggressor nation, does a giant, stateless lizard count?

The effect is something like the Cuban missile crisis thriller Thirteen Days, if JFK called for a blockade on giant lizard monsters and sat around the war room with McNamara and Rusk nervously hoping Godzilla would turn back from the quarantine line. In fact, with minimal trims to the screenplay, you could stage it like a 1960s Cold War black-and-white live TV play. The notion is amplified by the direction of anime veterans Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi, who prefer photo-like compositions with a minimum of camera movement. At times, the editing rhythm feels like a series of anime cels come to life.

The film flags a bit in its second act, when good-guy bureaucrat Rando Yaguchi (Hiroki Hasegawa) assembles an Apollo 13-esque tiger team to analyze the Godzilla problem. And the film’s weakest link for Western audiences is the casting of one key character, the US envoy to the Japanese government. The film’s nationalist approach to US relations hinges on her, an ambitious Japanese-American daughter of privilege. Unfortunately, Japanese actress Satomi Ishihara is unconvincing as a native English speaker.

But I came away from this film delighted by its wonkish frame, its farcical take on Japan’s bureaucracy, and its ultimately stirring vision of governmental interagency coordination. This, admittedly, is not the Godzilla movie that every fan expected, but it’s one that we deserve.

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"Please cover your face." Organizers advise all the students participating in the #EwhaProtests. Their distrust of the administration is obvious, and reminds me of the labor protests last year, where thousands wore masks in self-protection. President Park Geunhye likened the masked protesters to IS terrorists, and a bill attempted to forbid masks at rallies. In defiance, at the next labor rally, people wore masks in all shapes and sizes. There was no terrorist activity. #이대시위 #마스크금지법 #Korea #Seoul

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"Free Ewha," the green fans say. Green is the school's official color, and today it was the color of protest, on students' shirts and professors' scarves. The issues at this women's university are complex. There's that unqualified student, who's allegedly attending the school because her mother is pals with president Park Geunhye. There's that 80+ day student sit-in, because the admin unilaterally pushed for a new department without student consent -- the dept was scrapped, but students continued the sit-in anyway, because they wanted to scrap the Ewha president. And today, she finally resigned, but the protests aren't over. "The resignation is just cutting off a tail," a Twitter user commented. A few hours later, the professors started to march -- the first group ever to protest in the school's 130-yr history -- and students chanted, "We love you!" All the while the girls wore masks, trying to protect their identities from the admin (and the air in Seoul, which btw was god-awful today). #이대시위 #EwhaProtests #Korea #Seoul

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It is not enough to report what you saw….You must consider what you were not seeing, what the country was like before, and keep asking questions. Genocide is a story few people want to hear, and that those in power often don’t want told.

Elizabeth Becker, Reporting massive human rights abuses behind a façade

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News In Retrospect: One of my stories for the 24th segment includes an overview of the iconic love story of Chunhyang and Mongryong. Check out the scene where Mongryong is -- I think -- trying to get into her pants. I mean, hanbok skirt. And check out the rest of the segment in the link below -- the very last episode will be uploaded soon! 

E24: THE STORY OF CHUNHYANG, and more. 

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Paik Namjune's turtle swimming in the sea...finding peace in nature. #seoul

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Insa-dong Noir.

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Why don't North Korean taekwondo athletes compete in the Olympics? Taekwondo seems to be a big deal there, too. Supposedly, the 50th anniversary of North Korea’s taekwondo federation was just this summer. Tune into my segment to find out why, and to hear more about the misnomer, ‘North Korean taekwondo’. Link below:

https://soundcloud.com/khaeryun/e23-why-isnt-north-korean-taekwondo-in-the-olympics-and-more?in=khaeryun/sets/tbs-efm-news-in-retrospect

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YUTNORI. My favorite favorite Kang family time. Everyone screams at each other for that couple of dollars at stake. #holidayspirit #chuseok

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The best name for a love motel. #busan #chuseok