Gwangju Webtoon: “Alan and Me”

there is no shortage of recently demolished and soon-tobe demolished houses – and even an entire apartment complex that recently went the way of the dinosaur. In addition, there are numerous recently constructed buildings sitting with empty floors. Given that there is a multitude of other good sites to slap together either a building or the equivalent floor space, there remains only one plausible explanation for why the park was chosen as the location for the next bland, soulless edifice, (which, by the way, according to the schematic on the big gray fence surrounding the construction site, will feature, you guessed it, another parking lot): As a young child, the person who would authorize the destruction of the park was playing on some grass, slipped on a pile of dog doo-doo, fell, and skinned his knee while wearing his best pants. Upon returning home, he received no sympathy from his parents (or grandparents) and was also ruthlessly scolded for messing up the clothes that his parents had worked their whole lives to provide him. At this moment, the boy swore revenge against the great outdoors, envisioning himself as a John Wick-like character whose sole purpose was to carry out his personal vendetta on public green spaces by any means necessary.

By the time this issue hits the stands, I will have already moved out of Bongseon-dong. Although the district has the best E-mart and the best Daiso in the city, there is no love lost since the area is simply too congested for my liking. I genuinely feel sorry for the residents of the area for whom leaving is not an option and who have no choice but to endure the loss of a space with a value that, while intangible, far exceeds that of any construction project. In my opinion, in terms of striking a balance between providing essential infrastructure and planning out a neighborhood that does not feel like a strip mall, it is too late for Bongseon-dong, but this saga will serve as a cautionary tale for other parts of the city. As for me, I am off to greener pastures.

Photograph by William Urbanski.

William Urbanski is the managing editor of the Gwangju News. He is married to a wonderful Korean woman, always pays cash, and keeps all his receipts. He can be found at @will_il_ gatto

By Yun Hyoju

This month the Gwangju News is very excited to debut a new regular column featuring the exploits of Yun Hyoju and her husband, Alan. As this series will show, a multicultural marriage presents its own unique challenges that lend themselves well to amusing antidotes and comedy fodder. Enjoy “Alan and Me”! — Ed.

Since I was little, I have always been drawing cartoons and comics at my small desk during my free time. I never really thought that I would draw comics about my actual life, but after I met Alan, things got a little interesting. I mean, it is just another story of two people finding each other, falling in love, and getting married, but at the same time, because it is about us, it is a very special story for us. So, I decided to make some sort of record of our youth, love, and struggles through my comics. I could not really show anybody the comics that I had drawn other than my parents, but unlike in the past, these days everybody has their own platform to showcase their work online in so many ways. So, that is what I am doing at the moment while we are excitedly waiting for our first child to come along and join us on our journey on this planet.

Yun Hyoju was born and raised in Gwangju, and somehow ended up married to an Irish guy named Alan. She has been working on her short comic “Alan and Me,” which is about their daily life. She publishes a new comic every week on Instagram. It can be found at @alan_andme