re-adjusting to my ‘home culture’ has been quite fun.
it’s strange to be socially, racially, and immediately accepted.
using my australian mobile phone’s proving to be exorbitant, and i’m going to be here for a while, so i’ve decided to get a korean mobile phone… yes! very excited. currently it’s very cheap to get a phone if one’s prepared to subscribe to KTF or LGT. SKT, once the most popular, has been losing popularity for a while, especially since the launch of KTF’s new 3G+ service, Show (but largely because of the concurrent ‘free phone offers’ for those who’s bringing their numbers over to KTF; LGT offer the same kind of deals, but people don’t seem to have much respect for this company that started with PCS phone services). i’ve previously talked - briefly - about how video call was painted to be the next big thing in Korea, and yes, Show’s mainly about that. however, as i’ve found out by talking to my friends here, it’s still considered to be ‘too expensive’ and thus ‘not worth it’ - as a video phone user (of a few years), i’m not surprised. i never really liked and rarely used the feature. let us be private multitaskers as we are and desire to be, perhaps ;)
anyway, STK’s keen to claim the emperor(ess)’s seat again in the over-saturated Korean mobile world, and they’re ambitiously going to release 7 new samsung phones in a few weeks. not sure if it’s worth waiting. i know that i would like SKT - my roaming phone’s with KTF and the connection’s been very unsatisfactory. besides, i would really like to try the RFID ordering system at the Shinchon McDonald’s. i don’t go to mcdonald’s pretty much ever (except when my niece wants an oreo mcflurry), but i would really like to try this service. if unable, i think i’ll just grab anyone there and ask if i could use their phone :)
SKT has also done some very interesting tv ads about video calls - ‘mastering video calling’ (but interestingly, it’s really about how to look beautiful for it); there have been four lessons so far:
more interestingness when considered in relation to:
some of Larissa Hjorth’s work on gendered use of the mobile phone in Korea
Hjorth, Larissa. “Snapshots of Almost Contact: Gendered Camera Phone Practices and a Case Study in Seoul, Korea.” Cultural Space and Public Sphere in Asia. Ed. Shin Dong Kim. Seoul, Korea, 2006: 211-32.
Hjorth, Larissa, and Heewon Kim. “Being There and Being Here: Gendered Customising of Mobile 3g Practices through a Case Study in Seoul.” Convergence 11.2 (2005): 49-55.
This popular teen boy band known as Dong Bang Shin Gi (DBSG or DBSK - in Chinese cultures, TVXO) officially became the public ambassador for the Korean e-government last week.
They’re very popular in Korea, and in many Asian countries; they’re probably one of the strongest forces behind the Korean Wave at the moment, music-wise anyway. And no, I don’t know who did their hair.
Korea’s been doing alright in the area of e-governance, regardless of what’s happening in the realm of actual governance and politics. So more accurately, Korea’s been doing alright in terms of e-government readiness. It ranked 5th in the UN’s Global E-government Readiness Report 2005, following USA, Denmark, Sweden, and UK.
South Korea remains one of the world leaders in e-government. Its central services portal, egov.go.kr, continues to offer citizens the opportunity to complete a vast array of government related transactions through several payment options, including digital currency. It also provides a “service cart” similar to the shopping cart feature on e-commerce sites, allowing the user to select, apply for, and pay for several services in one transaction. The site also features the ability for users to register in order to personalize services.
The Republic of Korea is also home to one of the most impressive e-procurement implementations through its continued development of the Government e-Procurement System (GePS) as a single window for public procurement, which provides full integration (www.g2b.go.kr)
– original article here
Having a popular boy band as the public ambassador would definitely have a positive effect on attracting young (in their teens) citizens. I personally think that it would’ve been great if more focus had been placed on senior citizens or even people in ther 40+. These are the people who have to deal with citizenry issues right now, but without much needed education or training to use what’a already there. Young ones, for sure, will naturally learn to use these services when they need to, because it’s simply easier and more convenient for them to go online and ’sort things out’ than going to little and big offices scattered all around the city.
I don’t know. Perhaps this is the government’s attempt at meeting the demand in one of the most desired career sector in Korea right now: public servant. According to the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Korea is currently the 11th largest economy in the world. However, the element of “stability” in career has been probably “the most important” element of consideration ever since the Asian Financial Crisis, when many people suddenly lost their jobs (and their lives, for some). There are people - many older people, including my parents - who are still suffering from the loss/es occurred during that time. And they are suffering without any support - or intention to support - from the government, not only financially but also welfare-wise… well in any way, really. So it really does annoy me that these people are ignored yet again when they are really in need of consideration. Foolishness.
Jeon Do-yeon won the Best Actress award at the 60th Cannes Film Festival, which ended on Sunday, for her role in Lee Chang-song’s “Secret Sunshine.” Jeon is the first Korean and second Asian actress to win the award for best actress at the prestigious international film festival.
– original article here
I haven’t seen the film “Secret Sunshine” - or Miryang in Korean - but I’m pleased to hear that Do-eyon Jeon’s won this thing. She’s been consistently good.
(original image from the above article)
The above article says that “Jeon’s achievement suggests the global film industry is paying attention not only to Korean movies but finally to Korean actors.” I don’t agree with this completely, but it’s been pretty hard not to pay attention for the industry to what’s happening in Korean cinema/entertainment scene, particularly with the Korean Wave (otherwise known as Hallyu or Hanryu). At its peak in 2004, the Korean Wave contributed to 0.18% increase in the national GDP of Korea. Pretty impressive, especially when Korea’s been known for long as a heavily, boringly, and undeniably industrial country with the brand of OEM.
The big shake-up came with a government report in mid-90s, urging then the president Young Sam Kim to make ways for the AV industry to flourish as one of the national strategic industry. The report presented a comparison between Jurassic Park and Hyundai cars (proud national symbol of globalisation ;) ) and showed how the film had generated two years’ worth of Hyundai car exports. ALARM BELL RINGING FURIOUSLY IN KOREA AT THIS POINT… “WHAT? HOW IS SUCH A THING POSSIBLE? WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED ENTERTAINMENT (SOME CALL IT CULTURE) BUSINESS??” Subsequently, globalisation or segyehwa became the national agenda. And voila the Korean Wave, money, better diplomatic relations, and growing national pride.
Unfortunately for Korea, recent years have seen a dimishing of the Korean Wave. I, for one, have been critical of the same formulaic stories and sense of humour that have been apparent across different fields of pop cultural production. As many claim - and I agree - a lot of that great success came directly from celebrities, perhaps more so than from the quality of production, promotion etc. (Yon-sama is a living example). Celebrities fade away. Very quickly in the case of Korea (I’ve mentioned a couple of times about the paripari - hurryhurry- mentality in this blog).
And it seems that Korean films are not having a wonderful time at this year’s Cannes, just like their cousins (Korean dramas).
Business was locked in slo-mo for Korean sales companies this week in Cannes. Most confessed to having had a miserable time, despite their high-profile booths and well-backed promotion campaigns … Korean films have had a pretty rotten time at home too. Market share this year has slipped from the 60%-plus enjoyed last year.
– original article here
Ah- trouble. There was a survey done by Cetizen, a mobile community site (in Korean) - about the reasons behind changes in the frequency of cinema going last year. 51.6% of the participants attributed the decrease to the fact that they no longer were getting discounts with their mobile subscription (see this article - in Korean). It used to be the case that once you become a subscriber to a particular provider, then you get a membership card, which gives you discounts at various venues such as cinemas, theme parks, restaurants, and shops. It appears that these big telcos haven’t been diligenly keeping their promises, and as a result, many previously available benefits are disappearing… quickly. The consequences of this disappearance? Appearing quickly.
I just can’t understand why silly things like this are happening in Korea. Once in a (nation’s) life-time opportunity’s going, or perhaps already (almost completely) gone.
KOREA, please let the mobile culture (mobile technologies and all inter-related domains) grow - organically, complexly, and strongly. And please do your best to keep your much-celebrated screen quota in place; please remove those re-introduced download limits on broadband; and multiple pleases for you to take creativity seriously and encourage people to be more free in their creative expressions and interactions - eventually they will generate financial profit, if not immediately (paripari). People, technology, and culture. Please get this amazing connection and do something about it… quickly. Now.
“I’m ok at VT” on the Internet social network Facebook has become an online bulletin board for Virginia Tech university students to post their whereabouts and condition after the campus shooting that killed 32 people.Some 236 groups related to Virginia Tech have been set up on Facebook, a sign that Internet social networks are beginning to replace e-mail and cell phones as the preferred method for spreading information quickly among younger generations.
i’ve been really busy recently so haven’t been able to write much other those with imminent deadlines. i started writing a new post last night but when i got back to continue, i was met with an update about the virginia tech tragedy - that the shooter was a korean-american.
as a korean. i just don’t know what to say. of course i really hope that this doesn’t lead to increased racism, nationalism, or any more uncessary diplomatic conflicts. but for some unexplanable reason i feel more sorry not only as a fellow human being who can think and feel the extent of this catastrophe, but as a korean. i have so much to say but nothing to say at the same time.
and i also read this story:
A car bomb near a central Baghdad market killed 82 people Wednesday, a defence ministry official said, bringing to at least 127 the death toll from a spate of bombings in the capital.
watching porns online or blocking porn sites on a national level?
The Ministry of Information and Communication said it will join forces with law enforcement authorities and portal site operators to set up an online surveillance system.
Specifically, the ministry will block links to foreign pornographic sites regarded as sources for obscene materials circulating on the nation’s major portal sites. It will block around 180 such foreign sites by the end of May, while beefing up surveillance of cyberspace to keep such hazardous content from minors.
The Korea Times reports that 1 in 10 minors are addicted to mobile phones in korea.
The state-backed Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity and Promotion found early last year that roughly one third of Korean students send more than 100 phone messages every day.
Up to 35.4 percent of 704 surveyed students aged between 14 and 24 in Seoul and its vicinity said they are members of the 100-messages-per-day club.
i was once slapped (not literally) for sending too many txts. that was shortly after my return from korea and i didn’t even realise that i was sending a few too many. well, i don’t think i was, number-wise. i did send a few a day to that particular person (the slapper) but the problem, i think, was the content of the messages, not the number. i was sending short perhaps “meaningless” messages like “damn, my car battery’s gone flat while i was away” or “it’s so hot. i’m melting” etc, a practice i had got used to during my stay in korea. seemed everyone was doing it, and i was quickly absorbed into the whole practice of sending multimple meaningless messages (MMMs!). ok, 100 messages a day sounds pretty excessive. my fingers and wrist wouldn’t be fit (or young?) enough for that kind of wild exercise.
what i found amusing - but not in such a positive way - in the Korea Times article was this part:
“The number of young mobile addicts would be much greater than merely 10 percent,” said Sung Yun-sook, a researcher at the Korea Institute for Youth Development.
“In particular, young students tend to use handset messages too much. We learned this often prompts them to lose concentration on their studies,” Sung said.
whatever young people do to “play,” the issue of it being a “negative influence on their studies” always becomes one of the main problems and a main part of some political and social propagandas. i do understand that it’s part of the korean culture in general - confucian influences are still widely evident in many corners of korea - and that it’s a small country with not so great social welfare system, so you need to start early to work hard to give yourself greater competitive edge. what i don’t really appreciate is the enormous perceived value of “studying, the korean way” - which is focused exclusively on scoring high in the university entrance exam. this value system really kills people, physically, mentally, and emotionally.
graduating from a good university gives you a golden (and probably empty) promise that you will get a good job, and your spouse would be equally great (if not better) in various ways: attractive, educated, well-off, and from a good family. let’s not forget that the general practice of getting married in korea involves the groom(’s parents) getting a place for the couple to live in and the bride(’s parents) filling up the house with everything from toothbrushes to a tv. so the general belief is - regardless of how realistic it is - that you graduate from a top university, you’re set for life (although this once solid belief is eroding). no wonder education is such a significant part of korean life. its adult literacy rate is around 98% (as of 2004) and that of youth is appx 100%, according to the human development report.
enthusiasm in education is a good thing. but over enthusiam in a rigid learning process for unwise purposes really defies the meaning of education. having a girl/boyfriend is not ok for students and thus prohibited by their parents and greatly discouraged by adults in general, because it’s a major disruption to their studies. students don’t get to acquire pragmatic knowledge about sex and sexuality at school or anywhere, really. Result?
according to the 2001 UNICEF report, korea had the lowest teenage birth-rate at 2.9 percent. So I assume that the number of teenage abortions must be quite high, if counting illegal operations. enjo-kousai is a growing practice amongst young korean girls - although enjo-kousai mainly stems from the material/consumerist culture, another reason why girls get into this is because there is nowhere for them to go apart from suffocating schools (there’s a good book in korean on enjo-kousai amongst korean youth written by yunju kim-go). and this is one of the main reasons why korean youths constantly look for ways to hang out with other youngsters and entertain themselves in the virtual realm, especially the Internet and computer games.
a lot of my friends in korea say that they want to live in another country, expressing concerns for their, and their (some yet-to-be-born) children’s future in this small, complicated country. i’m an australian resident myself, and i understand their desire to leave korea. in fact, korea is losing thier top brainpowers to other countries precisely for the tough lifestyle it offers - i’ve seen stats but i don’t have them here now). what can be done? well, there is no quick fix. the infamous korean PARIPARI (hurry-hurry) mentality is just NEVER going to work in this situation. one most crucial area to look at is definitely education, and providing “space” where young people can feel free to express themselves, and more importantly, encourage them to be there and play. the number of daily text messages may not drop, but at least there’s a hope that their learning will continue and will lead them to make the korean society a better one.
