Colonial-era films discovered and will be screened next week (and a few other links)

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Glimpses of Korea Under American Occupation

A couple of weeks ago Jacco Zwetzloot gave a lecture for the Royal Asiatic Society entitled "Glimpses of Korea Under American Occupation," which can be watched below. The lecture explored "how Korea was seen and represented in US military newspapers and magazines during the period of American Military Government (1945-1948)," particularly in the weekly newspaper Korea Graphic. More information about the lecture can be found here.

From an elementary school in Daehangno to a temple bell in Deoksu Palace via Tapgol Park and 560 years of history

If you walk along Daehangno about halfway between Jongno 5-ga Station and Hyehwa Station you'll come upon the gates to Seoul Sadae Buseol Elementary and Girls Middle School.

These gate pillars originally stood at the entrance to Pagoda (now Tapgol) Park, Seoul's first modern park, built under the direction of John McLeavy Brown in 1897. [Hat tip to Ji-hoon for showing this to me.] About the only photo of the gates I've ever seen is this one from the time of the Samil Uprising in 1919:



I originally posted that photo in this post, which includes photos taken from this page, which has scans of a 1919 Korean Red Cross pamphlet about the suppression of the Samil independence movement. It includes the declaration of Korean independence, 34 photos (taken by Francis Schofield), and a statement from the Korean Red Cross. It was in this park, of course, that the declaration of independence was read on March 1, 1919.

Before the park was built, the ten-story pagoda it is named after stood surrounded by houses, as captured by Percival Lowell in 1884:

Many more photos of the pagoda from both before and after the area became a park can be found here, while Brother Anthony has posted James Gale's 1916 article about the pagoda here.

I hadn't realized the fate of Wongaksa, the temple it was built to be a part of. As Wikipedia reveals, King Sejo had Wongak-sa temple built in 1465, followed by the pagoda 2 years later. on the site of an older Goryeo-period temple, Heungbok-sa. The temple was closed and turned into a kisaeng house by Joseon's most notorious king, Yeonsan-gun (who ruled from 1494 to 1506), and his successor, King Jungjong (ruled 1506–1544) turned the site into government offices.

This was actually part of a spate of temple building / improvements by King Sejo, as Gregory Henderson explained in his 1959 article for Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society, "A History of the Chŏng Dong Area and the American Embassy Residence" (available as a .docx file here - more Transactions articles can be found here). He made a specific addition to Hŭngchŏn-sa, a temple which stood near present day Deoksu Palace:

In 1462, King Sejo, a devout Buddhist, deeply conscience-stricken over his murder of his own nephew Tanjong to attain the throne, repaired and built many temples, notably Wŏngak-sa in Pagoda Park with its pagoda; with these repairs he had a great new bell made for Hŭngch’ŏn-sa in the seventh year of his reign. For more than thirty years the temple continued with this embellishment and with its high tower. In 1495, however, there came to the Korean throne one of the most notorious tyrants of Korean history, Yŏnsan-gun, a man dedicated to sybaritic personal habits, malice and impetuousness. In July, 1504, he ordered the temple razed and built in its place an extra office for the care of his royal horses and their accoutrements. The next monarch, Chung-jong, after overthrowing Yŏnsan-gun, abolished this extravagance and built a public office here. Of the temple, only the five-story shari hall remained. 

Of that five-story hall, Henderson tells us that on

the night of March 28, 1510, the students of th[e] central Confucian college, firmly convinced by their instructors that Buddhism was heresy, marched on the shari hall and enthusiastically set fire to it. [...] The bell now alone remained and this, after many perigrinations through Seoul’s palaces, finally came to the grounds of the Tŏksu (Duksoo) Palace where it hangs today, the only remaining reminder of this temple’s colorful history.

And that's the history of the bell (this one, from this page) that you can see in Deoksugung Palace today, which was cast around the same time as the Wongagksa Pagoda in Tapgol Park was built, the park which saw its original gate pillars moved to an elementary school on Daehangno. A bit of a detour, but hopefully the ride was worth it.

I'll save the story of one of the architects of Yeonsan-gun's overthrow, and his tomb behind where I used to live in Banghwa-dong, for another day.

RASKB Excursion to Yangcheon Hyanggyo and Gaehwasan next Sunday, May 10

Next Sunday, May 10, I'll be leading a walk around the area of Yangcheon Hyanggyo Station and Gaehwasan Station for the Royal Asiatic Society. The former location was the seat of Yangcheon Hyeon, or prefecture, during the Joseon period and still sports the only remaining Hyanggyo, or Confucian Shrine, in Seoul, as well as a number of other historic landmarks. We will also visit a museum to the innovative Joseon Era landscape painter Jeong Seon (1676–1759), and look at paintings of the area that he made in the mid-1700s. I've mentioned the area before (here and here), and this post at Seoul Suburban covers some of the spots we'll visit.

(Yangcheon District in the 1870s)

From there we will take the subway to Banghwa Station to explore Mt. Gaehwasan. After passing through a park with a number of 400-year-old zelkova and gingko trees, we'll head up the mountain to see the numerous tombs, many with beautifully carved tombstones and flanked by stone civic official statues, of the Pungsan Shim clan, who for several generations served the Joseon kings and were memorialized for their meritorious deeds – one of which was taking part in the overthrow of the notorious king, Yonsan-gun.

We will also go to Yaksasa Temple and see a statue of the Buddha and a three-story stone pagoda which date back to the Goryeo Era.

We'll see an even larger such statue dating from the early Joseon period outside Mitasa Temple, on the other side of the mountain. The statue was found buried in the 1930s, when the temple was rebuilt. Both temples were destroyed during the Korean War, but the pagoda and statues survived.

Next to Mitasa is the Memorial to the Loyal Dead, which was erected to remember the 1,100 soldiers of the Korean 1st Army Division who died defending Mt. Gaehwasan - which overlooks Gimpo Airport - during the opening of the Korean War, which will provide an opportunity to learn more about the fighting which took place on the mountain during the war, as well as its military importance in the present. I'll also touch on the importance of the area during the Imjin War.

Being a mountain, of course, there will be lots of opportunities to take in views of the Han River and surrounding area and enjoy what nature has to offer.

If you feel like joining us, please do! The cost of the tour is W20,000 for RAS members and W25,000 for non-members. The excursion will set off next Sunday, May 10, at 1:00 pm from exit 3 of Yangcheon Hyanggyo Station (양천향교) #906 (subway line number 9). For more information, see here.

Screening of "A Single Spark" with English subtitles and interview with director Park Kwang-su this Saturday

This Saturday, April 4, at 2pm, the Royal Asiatic Society Cinema Club and Seoul Film Society will have a free screening of the 1995 Park Kwang-su film "A Single Spark" (아름다운  청년  전태일) with English subtitles at Seoul Global Center's Haechi Hall, on the 5th Floor of M Plaza in Myeong-dong. The screening will be followed by an interview and question and answer period with director Park Kwang-su.

The film is based on the life of Jeon Tae-il, who tried to improve the conditions of workers in the garment factories of Pyeonghwa Sijang near Dongdaemun, where he worked in the late 1960s; I've written about him here. Though he was only able to attend school up to middle school, he eventually came to understand that the Labour Standards Act offered workers protections, but when media attention (by the Kyungyang Shinmun and Donga Ilbo) failed to make any difference he and his coworkers held a protest on November 13, 1970 in which Jeon suddenly set himself on fire. This led politicians to take up the cause of labour standards and inspired the rise of unions, particularly by female workers, throughout the 1970s. An anonymous biography of Jeon was pubished in 1983, written by law student Jo Yeong-rae, who spent six years on the run, wanted by the government for student activism. The film weaves the stories of Jeon and Jo's lives together, with Jeon's life filmed in black and white, and Jo's (set in 1975) filmed in colour. It won the Best Film Award at the 1995 Blue Dragon Film Awards.

After the screening, the film's director, Park Kwang-su will take part in a 90-minute Interview and Question and Answer session after the screening.

While the screening is free, the there will be an admission fee of 7,000 won (5000 won for students) for the interview with the director to cover the cost of the interpreter, etc.

1. 2pm to 2:10pm – My introduction
2. 2:10pm to 4pm – Film screening
3. 4pm to 4:10pm – Interval
4. 4:10pm to 5:40pm – Interview and Question and Answer with Director Park Kwang-su.

Directions to Seoul Global Center's Haechi Hall can be found here and here, and more information about the film is here , and the screening, here.

Screening this Saturday of Jeong Jae-eun's 2001 film "Take Care of My Cat"

This Saturday, March 7, at 2pm, the Royal Asiatic Society Cinema Club and Seoul Film Society will have a free screening of the 2001 Jeong Jae-eun film "Take Care of My Cat" (고양이를 부탁해) with English subtitles at Seoul Global Center's Haechi Hall, on the 5th Floor of M Plaza in Myeong-dong.

When readers of Koreanfilm.org were asked years ago which film they thought best captured the ‘feel’ of South Korea, the film that repeatedly came up was ‘Take Care of My Cat.’ Set in Incheon and Seoul, the film chronicles the lives of a group of friends — five young women from different economic backgrounds and family situations — a year after they graduate from high school, showing the changes and difficulties they face in both their friendships and the working world. Though the film did not do well at the box office and was soon pulled from screens, a letter-writing campaign by its fans managed to get it back into theaters, and the film won many awards.

After the screening, the film's director, Jeong Jae-eun, will take part in a 90-minute Interview and Question and Answer session after the screening. After directing two features and several shorts, director Jeong moved to directing documentaries, including "Talking Architect" (2012), about celebrated maverick Korean architect Chung Guyon (a trailer is here) and "City:Hall" (2013), which examined the creative and political pressures that affected the controversial design of Seoul's new City Hall (a review is here).

While the screening is free, the there will be an admission fee (of perhaps 7,000 won) for the interview with the director to cover the cost of the interpreter, etc.

1. 2pm to 2:10pm – My introduction
2. 2:10pm to 4pm – Film screening
3. 4pm to 4:10pm – Interval
4. 4:10pm to 5:40pm – Interview and Question and Answer with Director Jeong Jae-eun.

Directions to Seoul Global Center's Haechi Hall can be found here and here, and more information about the film is here , and the screening, here.

Screening of Kim Ki-deok's 1964 film 'The Barefooted Youth' this Saturday

This Saturday, December 6, at 3pm, the Royal Asiatic Society Cinema Club and Seoul Film Society will have a free screening of the 1964 Kim Ki-deok film 'The Barefooted Youth' (맨발의 청춘) with English subtitles at Seoul Global Center's Haechi Hall in Myeongdong. As it's described here,

So-called "adolescent films" first gained widespread popularity in Korea during the 1960s, and of these, Kim Ki-deok's Barefooted Youth is the best known. Doo-soo lives in a poor neighborhood and makes his living doing odd jobs for a local gang. One day he comes across some thugs harassing two young women, and he intervenes, saving the women but getting himself injured in the process. Later when one of the women, an ambassador's daughter named Johanna, comes to thank him in person, the two strike up a friendship that will eventually lead them into trouble.

Barefooted YouthBarefooted Youth features an enjoyable mix of humor and drama in highlighting the vast gap between Doo-soo's lower class world and the aristocratic circles inhabited by Johanna. For audiences of the 1960s, the film highlights not only Korea's stark class divisions, but also the generation gap that was opening ever wider in that time period, with increasingly wild youth and ever more alarmed parents. The film features an interesting mix of optimism -- highlighted by the younger generation's willingness to fight and overcome barriers -- and pessimism marked by economic struggles and the harsh social dictates of the era

Directions to Seoul Global Center's Haechi Hall can be found here, and more information about the film is here, and the screening, here.

RAS walking tour of Jeong-dong this Sunday

This Sunday, November 23, I'll be leading a walking tour for the Royal Asiatic Society of Jeong-dong, which became the neighbourhood for Westerners after Korea opened to the west in the 1880s through to the end of the colonial period. I've written about the history of this area before (here and here), and will be looking at lots of turn of the century Western architecture and connecting these buildings to stories of Korea's modern history. From the RAS website:

On this excursion we will meet in front of Deoksugung Palace from where we will explore the Jeong-dong's rich early modern history. After a visit to the Anglican church we will take in a view of the neighbourhood from above before heading to the Seoul Museum of Art, which is housed in the colonial era-built former Korean Supreme Court building.To learn about the missionary influence upon the neighborhood, we will visit the Baejae Hakdang, a missionary-run boys' school which educated many of Korea's future elite, now restored as a museum; the Jeong-dong First Methodist Church; and Ewha Girl's High School, the first school for girls in Korea, and also the site of one of Korea's earliest foreign-run hotels, the Songtag Hotel. From there we will visit the restored Jungmyeongjeon Hall, which was built as a royal library but is best known for being the place where the Eulsa Treaty, which the Japanese used to deprive Korea of its diplomatic sovereignty, was signed in 1905. Other stops will include the remains of the former Russian Legation and the beautiful colonial home where independence activist Kim Ku was assassinated in 1949.

The cost of the tour is W20,000 for members and W25,000 for non-members. The excursion will set off from Daehanmun, the front gate of Deoksugung Palace, (subway line number 1, dark blue line, or 2, green line, City Hall Station #132, exit 2) at 1:00 pm.

Feel free to join us!

Lecture tonight on the importance of the Koryǒ Dynasty in understanding modern Korea

Tonight Edward J. Shultz, former dean of the School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the University of Hawaii will be giving a lecture for the Royal Asiatic Society titled "Koryǒ and Korea Today":

For many the Koryǒ kingdom (918-1392) remains a somewhat mystical era in Korea’s distant past which elicits little interest other than an occasional reference to celadon vases or the famed Koreana tripitaka. This discussion will focus on Koryǒ and its significance for Korea today. Far from being a distant outpost of the 12th century world, Koryǒ was very much a part of mainstream global history. It was a society that early on embraced merit as an avenue for advancement, it led the world in printing technology, it demanded that its historians be free from outside influences, it grappled with issues of nationalism and internationalism, it pursued a foreign policy based on hard realism, it openly borrowed from other cultures, taking only what it needed. It developed a clear identity of being Korean, it produced a number of artistic masterpieces of world renown, and all this was made even richer by its embracement of a pluralist posture that allowed competing ideologies and points of view to exist side by side. In this respect Koryǒ was very modern. By not knowing, studying, or appreciating Koryǒ, one is not only missing one of the great stories of Korea’s past, but one is ill prepared to understand Korea today.

For more information see here. The lecture will be held at 7:30 pm tonight (Tuesday) in the Residents' Lounge on the 2nd floor of the Somerset Palace in Seoul, which is behind Jogyesa Temple, and is 7,000 won for non-members and free for members.

Lecture on the history of Korea's shipbuilding industry tonight

Tonight, Tuesday September 30, Peter Bartholomew will be giving a lecture titled "How Korea became the world's most important shipbuilding .nation" for the Royal Asiatic Society:

This lecture will describe the amazing development, from almost “zero,” of Korea’s shipbuilding industry and how it developed into the most efficient, advanced and competitive shipbuilding nation in the world. This development is largely overlooked by most observers of Korean economy, but is an exceptional example of how creativity combined with government support and strong work ethic can achieve remarkable results.

Up to the mid 1970’s Korea’s shipbuilding consisted of one medium class yard in Pusan producing small ocean going cargo ships and numerous small yards building fishing boats and coastal ferries, all using techniques reliant on cheap labour and very basic equipment, ending up with ships and boats of very low quality and questionable safety!

Korean Government central planning, creativity of the corporations involved and the input of state-of-the-art European shipbuilding techniques then leap-frogged Korea’s shipbuilding forward to become the world’s leading shipbuilding country is less than 20 years in all aspects: technology, quality, reliable delivery, size / scale and price competitiveness.

The speaker, Peter Bartholomew, has lived in Korea for 47 years and starting working in shipbuilding & shipping industries from the early 1970’s. He was integrally involved with shipbuilding developments of the Hyundai~Ulsan, Daewoo~Okpo and STX~Jinhae shipyards and thus able to provide truly "insider" insights into this remarkable success story.

I'm definitely looking forward to this lecture, since I know Peter (and know him to be a great storyteller), but haven't ever heard him talk much about this aspect of his life. The lecture will be held at 7:30 pm tonight (Tuesday) in the Residents' Lounge on the 2nd floor of the Somerset Palace in Seoul, which is behind Jogyesa Temple, and is 7,000 won for non-members and free for members. More information can be found here.

Screening of Lee Man-hee's 1975 film 'Road to Sampo' this Saturday

This Saturday, October 4, at 3pm, the Royal Asiatic Society Cinema Club and Seoul Film Society will have a free screening of the 1975 Lee Man-hee film "Road to Sampo" (삼포 가는 길) with English subtitles at Seoul Global Center's Haechi Hall in Myeongdong. As it's described here,

Adapted from Hwang Seok-young's novel, A Road to Sampo is the final and posthumous work of director Lee Man-hee. Young construction worker Young-dal (Baek Il-seop) meets a middle-aged man named Jeong (Kim Jin-kyu), who is on his way back to his hometown after serving time in prison and wandering from one construction site to another. It has been ten years since Jeong has seen his hometown of Sampo. Young-dal and Jeong meet Baek-hwa (Moon Suk), a runaway bar hostess [...] and the group travels to the train station, each reminiscing about his or her past as they go.

This road movie, one of the very few in Korea's earlier film history, was the last film by Lee Man-hee, who died during its post-production. I'll be giving an introduction to the film and short story and looking at the struggles the director went through to make it, and the film will be followed by a discussion of the film for those wishing to take part.

Those wishing to read the short story the film is based on by Hwang Seok-young can download a pdf here (or if it's not cooperating, search for "The Road to Samp'o" at the Korea Journal's site.

Directions to Seoul Global Center's Haechi Hall can be found here, and more information about the film is here, and the screening, here.

RAS Lecture tomorrow night on how Japan restored Seokguram to justify colonization

Tomorrow night, Tuesday September 30, Professor Henry Em will be giving a lecture titled "Seokguram, the Guze Kannon, and the Creation of National Pasts" for the Royal Asiatic Society:

Seokguram's restoration. (From here.)

A year before Japan’s annexation of Korea, while climbing the eastern slope of Mt. Toham in Gyeongju, a Japanese mailman made a great discovery. Near the summit he chanced upon what looked to be a cave. Inside he encountered a Buddhist statue of astonishing beauty. Following this “discovery” of the Seokguram, constructed in the mid-eighth century, Japanese authorities began an extensive restoration and pedagogic effort. Today the Seokguram is a major tourist destination in South Korea, a national treasure that is also recognized by UNESO as a World Heritage Site. The restoration effort began in 1913, and it was the Japanese colonial state that first brought Seokguram to the attention of the world. Why would the Japanese colonial state spend money and resources to restore Seokguram and sing odes to the beauty of not just Seokguram but also Bulguksa and the Silla capital of Gyeongju? In contrast to the 1884 unveiling of the Guze Kannon, a seventh-century gilt-wood sculpture at Hōryūji temple in Nara Prefecture – Ernest Fenollosa’s immediate comment was, “Korean of course” – a sculpture that was said to confirm Japan’s status as “the spiritual repository of Asia,” Professor Em will explain how the restoration of Seokguram was crucial to assigning meaning and legitimacy to Japanese colonization of Korea.

I've enjoyed reading Professor Em's work, including his chapter on Shin Chae-ho's historiography in Colonial Modernity in Korea and his book The Great Enterprise: Sovereignty and Historiography in Modern Korea, where he looks at how Japan was happy to highlight Korea's brilliant ancient past so that it could make a negative comparison to its present and make a case for why Japan's tutelage was necessary to help Korea regain the civilization it once possessed. I'm certainly looking forward to this lecture.

The lecture will be held at 7:30 pm tomorrow night (Tuesday) in the Residents' Lounge on the 2nd floor of the Somerset Palace in Seoul, which is behind Jogyesa Temple, and is 7,000 won for non-members and free for members. More information can be found here.

Screening of 'The Aimless Bullet' (1961) with subtitles this Saturday

This Saturday, September 6, at 3pm, the Royal Asiatic Society Cinema Club and Seoul Film Society will have a free screening of the 1961 Yu Hyeon-mok film 'Aimless Bullet' (오발탄) with English subtitles at Seoul Global Center's Haechi Hall in Myeongdong. Based on Lee Beom-seon's 1958 short story of the same name (which can also be translated as 'the misfire' or, 'stray bullet'), which can be downloaded in translation here, 'Aimless Bullet' has been regarded as the 'best Korean film ever made' in numerous critics' polls over the past few decades. Influenced by Italian neo-realism and concentrating on using montage and sound to communicate, Yu tells the story of a family trying to get by in post-war Seoul, which the short story's translator, Marshal Pihl, described in 1967 as "a degraded society where only the mad, corrupt, or infantile seem to survive, where traditional values have given place to money as the only standard." I'll give a brief introduction to the film, which will be followed by a discussion of the film for those wishing to take part.

Directions to Seoul Global Center's Haechi Hall can be found here, and more information about the film is here, and the screening, here.

Screening of Lee Man-hee's 1968 film 'Holiday' tomorrow

Tomorrow, August 2, at 3pm, the Royal Asiatic Society Cinema Club and Seoul Film Society will have a free screening of the 1968 Lee Man-hee film "Holiday" (휴일) with English subtitles at Seoul Global Center's Haechi Hall in Myeongdong. This tale of two penniless lovers wondering the streets of Seoul in search of cash for an abortion was considered too bleak by the powers that be, and when their suggested revisions were rejected by the director and producer, the film was blocked from being shown, and was only rediscovered in 2005. The film is a premier example of Lee's art-film phase, features a great performance by Shin Seong-il, the leading man of the late 60s and early 70s, and is well worth watching. I'll give a brief introduction to the film, and, as it's so short, we'll also show a short documentary about Lee Man-hee's film making, with the film and documentary totaling just over 2 hours. The film will be followed by a discussion of the film for those wishing to take part.

Directions to Seoul Global Center's Haechi Hall can be found here, and more information about the film is here, and the screening, here.

Songs of the Korean War

Today is the 64th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War.

Last night's Royal Asiatic Society lecture, 'That Crazy Asian War,' by Michael Duffy, focused on American music about the Korean War.

A fairly comprehensive list of these songs, which can also be listened to, can be found on the page "Music About the Korean War" at authentichistory.com, with at least one other song to be found at Atomic Platters' small page on Korean War music. More information on the music with lots of youtube videos, and at least one 1980s Danish song (!), as well as a Lightning Hopkins song about the war can be found in this post by Jon Dunbar at korea.net.

One of the more absurd songs I heard last night was "When They Drop The Atomic Bomb" by Jackie Doll and his Pickled Peppers:



 We also heard, Elton Britt's Rotation Blues, which is notable for its Korea references (to 'A-frames' and 'honey pots').

As for songs that I really liked, JB Lenoir's "Korea Blues" has an interesting take on the plight of the soldier overseas (though not a surprising one for a blues song):



I also liked Sonny Osborne's "A Brother in Korea," a bluegrass song (and about the only song from the time of the Korean War which came close to criticizing the war (or war in general)) which can be listened to here. As well, gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe's "There’s Peace in Korea," released the day of the Armistice, can be listened to here. And who knew that the 'crazy Asian war' referenced in "Ruby, don't take your love to town" (popularized by Kenny Rogers) was the Korean War?

It always interesting when leftist radicals and rightist Christians agree on something

As I pointed out in detail in this post about Korean fears of AIDS prior to (and during) the 1988 Olympics, progressives in South Korea portrayed US soldiers, and Americans in general, as being spreaders of AIDS in Korea, with some radical students protesting in the streets with this message. Two days before the Olympics, the Korea Herald reported that

Police hauled away about 20 demonstrators, mostly young women, when they tried to hold a protest in front of the US army base here Thursday [September 15] alleging that American soldiers were responsible for the spread of AIDS in South Korea.

As AP reported in a September 17 article about the opening of the Olympics,

A small protest was held at Yonsei university with less than 100 students taking part. Students distributed leaflets claiming foreigners at the Olympics would spread acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

“Oppose Olympics which oppose Korean peoples’ health with AIDS,” the leaflets said.

The group asked, “The United States is causing many problems as it pursues pro-gay policies like the recent expansion of same-sex marriage legalization, but is it now trying to expand homosexuality in not just the United States, but Korea, too?” They said homosexuality was the main culprit in the occurrence of AIDS, and that homosexuals were at high risk of getting AIDS. They that the number of patients who contracted AIDS due to homosexual activity in Korea is rising like the United States, and asked if the United States was trying to export AIDS, too, to Korea through its gay diplomacy. - See more at: http://www.rjkoehler.com/#sthash.mrsHcNVI.dpuf

 Or, as I noted in this post, Hustler's 'Korean sex-scene guide,' published during the 1988 Olympics and discovered and translated by students, was

Just the ticket to incite an anti-American demonstration, which is what a young man with a microphone nearby is trying to do.

"You see? The Olympic Games are just an excuse for Americans to come to Korea and pollute our country with AIDS!" he shouts. "Yankees out of Korea!"

"Yankees out of Korea!" echoes the crowd of about 50 students. Across the front of the building are four huge posters proclaiming: "Yonsei University students curse American barbarism."

So it wasn't just soldiers, but foreigners (particularly Americans) who were planning to pollute Korea with AIDS as well.

 In mid-October 1988 the Donga Ilbo reported that

the head of the AIDS countermeasures joint committee Im Jong-cheol pointed out that “USFK is an AIDS powder magazine” and revealed that there was an urgent need for an amendment to the AIDS Prevention Law to implement such things as a regular AIDS checkup for USFK members.

By this point, in the wake of the Olympics, calls were being made to amend the SOFA agreement, in some cases to allow for HIV testing of US soldiers.

The fears stirred up by these leftist activists echoed contemporary North Korean propaganda which accused US soldiers as having infected 100,000 prostitutes in the south with AIDS.

In May 1989, AP described a protest against Yankee 'devils' in Daejeon which sounds similar to such propaganda:

''Let's inflict an irrevocable defeat on U.S. imperialism and advance the unification of our fatherland,'' said student leader Im Chong-suk.

Cheering students chanted, ''Punish Yankee imperialism'' and ''Yankees go home.''

Leaders denounced a proposal to relocate some U.S. military units from Seoul to Taejon. They charged American soldiers would spread AIDS among the local population.

Speakers ridiculed American soldiers as the ''AIDS legion.'' 

So it was not without a sense of irony that I read Robert's post at the Marmot's Hole about right-wing Christian activists protesting in front of the US embassy against alleged US embassy support for the Korean Queer Festival:

Korean Queer Festival

The group asked, “The United States is causing many problems as it pursues pro-gay policies like the recent expansion of same-sex marriage legalization, but is it now trying to expand homosexuality in not just the United States, but Korea, too?” They said homosexuality was the main culprit in the occurrence of AIDS, and that homosexuals were at high risk of getting AIDS. They that the number of patients who contracted AIDS due to homosexual activity in Korea is rising like the United States, and asked if the United States was trying to export AIDS, too, to Korea through its gay diplomacy.

I wonder how comfortable those right-wing Christians would be realizing their accusations mirror those made by left-wing radical students not so long ago. Perhaps their affinity for believing in Korean exceptionalism (especially in exceptional moral uprightness (compared to Americans) and exceptional victimization) which lies at the heart of many narratives of Korean nationalism might allow them to reach across the ideological divide and shake hands for a moment. Or not.

(They both might want to send their kids to this hagwon, at least.)

Oh, and it's not wise to blame the west for the expansion of homosexuality in Korea, considering that it appears to have been at the very least tolerated in Joseon-era rural society, as I noted here, and as Robert Neff discussed here. Richard Rutt also examined this topic in his article 'The Flower Boys of Silla (Hwarang)' published in the October 1961 issue of Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society (which, along with other Transactions articles, can be downloaded here).

Free subtitled screening of Kim Ki-young's 'Housemaid' (1960) tomorrow

Tomorrow, June 7, at 3pm, Barry Welsh's Seoul Film Society and Royal Asiatic Society's Cinema Club will team up to show, with English subtitles,Kim Ki-young's twisted masterpiece from 1960, 'Housemaid.' It will be introduced by the director's son and a discussion of the film will follow for those who wish to take part.

 As Criterion describes it:

A torrent of sexual obsession, revenge, and betrayal is unleashed under one roof in this venomous melodrama from South Korean master Kim Ki-young. Immensely popular in its home country when it was released, The Housemaid is the thrilling, at times jaw-dropping story of the devastating effect an unstable housemaid has on the domestic cocoon of a bourgeois, morally dubious music teacher, his devoted wife, and their precocious young children. Grim and taut yet perched on the border of the absurd, Kim’s film is an engrossing tale of class warfare and familial disintegration that has been hugely influential on the new generation of South Korean filmmakers.

If you're looking for an entertaining few hours tomorrow, feel free to join us.

Date: Saturday, May 3rd.
Time: 3pm.
Admission: Free
Place: Haechi Hall in Seoul Global Culture and Tourism Center
(5th Floor M Plaza in Myeong-dong) (See here for more information on Facebook and see here for directions.)

Walk around Yancheon Hyanggyo and Mt. Gaehwasan this Saturday

This Saturday I'll be leading a walk around the area of Yangcheon Hyanggyo Station and Gaehwasan Station for the Royal Asiatic Society. The former location was the seat of Yangcheon Hyeon, or district, during the Joseon period and still sports the only remaining Hyanggyo, or Confucian Shrine, in Seoul, as well as a number of other historic landmarks and a museum to the innovative Joseon Era landscape painter Jeong Seon (1676–1759). I've mentioned the area before (here and here), and this post at Seoul Suburban covers many of the spots we'll visit.

(Yangcheon District in the 1870s)

From there we will take the subway to Banghwa Station to explore Mt. Gaehwasan. After passing through a park with a number of 400-year-old zelkova and gingko trees, we'll head up the mountain to see the numerous tombs, flanked by stone statues, of the Pungsan Shim clan, who for several generations served the Joseon kings and were memorialized for their meritorious deeds. 

We will also go to Yaksasa Temple and see a statue of the Buddha and a three-story stone pagoda which date back to the Goryeo Era.

We'll see an even larger such statue dating from the early Joseon period outside Mitasa Temple, on the other side of the mountain. The statue was found buried in the 1930s, when the temple was rebuilt. Both temples were destroyed during the war, but the pagoda and statues survived.

Next to Mitasa is the Memorial to the Loyal Dead, which was erected to remember the 1,100 soldiers of the Korean 1st Army Division who died defending Mt. Gaehwasan - which overlooks Gimpo Airport - during the opening of the Korean War, which will provide an opportunity to learn more about the fighting which took place on the mountain during the war, as well as its military importance in the present.

Being a mountain, of course, there will be lots of opportunities to take in views of the Han River and surrounding area and enjoy what nature has to offer.

If you feel like joining us, please do! The cost of the tour is W20,000 for RAS members and W25,000 for non-members. The excursion will set off this Saturday, May 17 at 1:00 pm from exit 3 of Yangcheon Hyanggyo Station (양천향교) #906 (subway line number 9). For more information, see here.

RAS lecture on the mountains of North and South Korea

Tonight Roger Shepherd will be giving a lecture titled "The Baekdu Daegan as One Mountain System" for the Royal Asiatic Society:

The Baekdu Daegan is the biosphere of the entire Korean peninsula. After completing the first-ever photographic documentation of the Baekdu Daegan in both Koreas, Roger Shepherd now ponders whether the Baekdu Daegan has any hope of being shared by both Koreas as a national symbol of homogeneous identity. Further to that; with South Korea vying for the Baekdu Daegan to be a UNESCO world heritage site, what obstacles and opportunities will this submission face in regards to getting the North Koreans on board? Can it be done? His talk will be followed by a slide show featuring his explorative work from DPRK.

Roger Shepherd's previous lecture for the RAS was well worth attending; the results of his trips to photograph the mountains of North Korea can be seen here, and his website is here. Copies of his new 160 page photo book, 'Mountains of the Baekdu Daegan from North and South Korea' will be available; a preview is here.

The lecture will be held at 7:30 pm tonight (Tuesday) in the Residents' Lounge on the 2nd floor of the Somerset Palace in Seoul, which is behind Jogyesa Temple, and is 7,000 won for non-members and free for members. More information can be found here.

RAS lecture tonight: 'Imagining the Dual City in Colonial Korea'

Tonight Professor Michael Kim will be giving a lecture titled "Imagining the Dual City in Colonial Korea (1910-1945)" for the Royal Asiatic Society:

This presentation will focus on key aspects of the everyday life experiences within the colonial city. One of the central features of colonial Seoul was its division into a Korean district and a Japanese district that had considerable disparity in terms of urban development. This dual transformation of Seoul led its residents to redefine their urban spaces and collective identities according to ethnic lines. Colonial Seoul is a particularly important site for exploration, because this was the location where many Koreans encountered both a colonial reality and a nascent capitalist modernity in their most palpable forms. Koreans living in the countryside could live their entire lives with little evidence of the Japanese presence. Many parts of Korea remained isolated from development and experienced hardly any changes throughout the Japanese occupation. However, the Korean residents of Seoul were acutely aware of the transformations that took place within the capital city, which was a major showcase of the Japanese empire, and the shifting urban landscape influenced their collective identities as colonized subjects. 

Through images and various Korean voices from the colonial past, this presentation will attempt to contextualize the colonial transformation of Seoul.

The lecture will be held at 7:30 pm tonight (Tuesday) in the Residents' Lounge on the 2nd floor of the Somerset Palace in Seoul, which is behind Jogyesa Temple, and is 7,000 won for non-members and free for members. More information can be found here.

Anyone wanting to read more about the colonial development of Korean cities can do so at this issue of Korea Journal, which features articles about the development of Seoul, Busan, Daegu, and Mokpo during the colonial period. Even today Mokpo is, as Robert Koehler described it, 'an outdoor museum of colonial Korea.'