(EN) Gwangju News July 2009 #89

Page 1

Gwangju News International Magazine for Gwangju and Jeollanam-do

July 2009 Volume 9, Issue 7

Gwangju News uses 100% E-PLUS recycled paper provided by Daehan Paper in Seoul. www.daehanpaper.co.kr


GIC TALK

Every Saturday 2:15 p.m.

July 4th No GIC Talk - The 2nd UNESCO Asian Youth Culture Festival July 11th Topic: Geography Re/Evolution Speaker: Gail S. Ludwig (Professor, dept. of Geography, University of Missouri-Columbia) * The age of mapping has revolutionized people’s lives. Navigation systems in automobiles, Geographic Information Systems for businesses and industry, and simple online mapping programs are only a few examples of how geography has become central to how we operate and what we do. The job market for people with mapping skills is booming – even in today’s period of recession. This talk will focus on the evolution of geography and how it intersects with the information revolution.

July 18th Topic: Rethinking the Learning Strategy in the Digital Age

Speaker: Robert Hao (Vice-director of the Research Center of Educational Technology for Foreign Studies at Yantai University, PR. China) * The ultimate goal of education is a society of creative individuals who are constantly inventing new possibilities for themselves and their communities. Success in the future will be based not on how much we know, but on our ability to think and act creatively. Digital technologies have the potential to fundamentally transform how and what people learn throughout their lives. Psychologists and educational researchers have come to understand that learning is not a simple matter of information transmission. We need to reform education fundamentally. We need to rethink how people learn. This talk will touch on and showcase some feasible techniques which can help to reform education fundamentally.

July 25th Topic: An Introduction to the GIC’s International Artist Collective Speaker: International Artist Collectives

All talks take place at the GIC office. For more information about the GIC Talk go to www.gic.or.kr, contact Kim Ji-hyun at: gwangjuic@gmail.com or call: (062) 226- 2733/4

2009 GIC 4th Korean Language Class Saturday Classes

Weekday Classes Level

Days

Level

Beginner 1-1 Beginner 1-2

Monday & Wednesday

Beginner 1

Tuesday & Thursday

Intermediate 1

Beginner 2-2

Monday & Thursday

Intermediate 3

Intermediate1

Monday & Wednesday

- Period: July 13th – August 28th (Twice a week for 7 weeks) - Class hours: 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (2 hours) - Tuition fee: 80,000 won (GIC membership fee: 10,000 won/6 months and textbooks excluded)

- Period: July 11th – August 29th (Every Saturday for 7 weeks) - Class hours: 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (2 hours) - Tuition fee: 50,000 won (GIC membership fee: 10,000 won/6 months and textbooks excluded)

Note

* The tuition fee is non-refundable after the first week. ** A class may be canceled if less than 5 people sign up.

GIC is located on the 5th floor of the Jeon-il building, the same building as the Korean Exchange Bank, downtown. The entrance is located immediately to the north of the bank. Contact GIC office for more information. Phone: 062) 226-2733/4 E-mail: gwangjuic@gmail.com Website: www.gic.or.kr

2

Gwangju News July 2009


Contributors

Contents 4

The Korean Way No. 77 By 2Ys

July 2009, Volume 9, Issue 7

5

Publisher: Prof. Shin Gyong-gu

July Events Compiled by Jung Ji Eun

Editor: Doug Stuber

6

Copy Editor: Jon Ozelton

First Asian Eco-Culture Conference By Doug Stuber

Coordinator: Kim Sing-sing Layout and Design: Kim Hye-young

7

The 2nd UNESCO Asian Youth Culture Festival

Proofreaders: Pete Schandall, Miriam Ho, Ed Lyons, Mike Hayden, Jessica S. Saura

8

Miss Understanding By Tamlyn Young

Printed by: Saenal

10

Dae-In Market By Gwangju News Volunteer Team

Photographer: Staff Photo

13

Mike White Final Court Date Set By Stephannie White

Cover Photo: “This land is your land, this land is my land,” because we own it.

14

Janice Lyn Marshall By Doug Stuber

16

Mosquito Madness By Leroy Kucia

18

What can I bring back from my trip abroad? By Lee Kee Eun

19

The Opening of Areumdaun Book Cafe

Special thanks to the City of Gwangju and all of our sponsors. Copyright by the Gwangju International Center.All rights reserved. No part of this publication covered by this copyright may be reproduced in any form or by any means - graphic, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise - without the written consent of the publishers. Gwangju News welcomes letters to the editor (gwangjunews@gmail.com) regarding articles and issues. All correspondence may be edited for reasons of clarity or space.

By Ahn Hong pyo 20

Roses in Gwangju – 2009 Chosun University Rose Festival Photos and Story by Miriam Ho

21

Letter to the Editor By Geoff Fattig

22

Adventures in Korea By Kae Bingham

24

Together Day Staff Report and Photos

25

Everything to Lose By Stuart Smallwood

k i m ’s Dental Clinic

28

2009 Jr. GIC/ Kids GIC

29

Community Board

Gwangju News July 2009

3


The Korean Way No. 77

Lunar Leap Month Obsession in Korea W

hen we say leap year, it is a year of 366 days, occurring every fourth year in the solar calendar. The additional day, given to February, makes up for the time lost annually when the approximate 365.24-day cycle is computed as 365 days: a leap year is a year whose number is exactly divisible by four, or in the case of century years, by 400. In the West, where the lunar calendar is not used, the notion of a lunar leap month must be a novel thing. The lunar leap month (윤달) occurs 3 times in 8 years or 7 times in 19 years to coordinate the time or seasonal difference between the solar and lunar calendars that arises from the earth’s revolution around the sun (365.24 days) and the moon’s rotation (29.53 days from one new moon to the next). The fraction of 0.24 of a day adds up to make almost a full day in four years, hence, one extra day in February, and the alternative occurrence of a 29-day and 30-day lunar month as shown in the calendars in Korea. The lunar leap month is an extra lunar month, which, this year, occurs from June 23rd to July 21st of the solar calendar as lunar leap month May. There is a belief in Korea that any day in the leap month is free of sal 살(煞), literally ‘kill’, that is, ill-starred or doomed. Koreans usually consult a fortune-teller to avoid this sal day when deciding house-moving, wedding date, burial date, launching new businesses, running for public office, etc. It seems quite natural that people wish for good fortune in these events and their obsession with a leap month cannot be blamed. A few presidential candidates relocated their ancestor’s grave to a blessed site just before they launched their election campaign and one of them hit the jackpot, that is, he was elected president. Faced with a poor economic and financial situation these days, people seem to be more obsessed with the leap month to get out of their economic quagmire. Newspapers report that an unusual number of relocations of ancestral graves are being prearranged 4

Gwangju News July 2009

www.anewsa.com/news_images/2009/05/17/mark/20090517023424.jpg

to be carried out in the coming leap month. People believe in a favorable turn of fortune when their ancestor is buried in a blessed site and the blessed site is determined by the surrounding terrain, that is, blue dragon on the left and white tiger on the right, (左靑龍, 右白虎), quality of the soil, flow of underground water, and depth of the spot, etc. If one of these conditions goes astray, then, even though the site is right, the favorable turn of fortune cannot be expected for the offspring. There is a story that a geomancer who happened to learn that his client had been buried too deep in the site buried his father stealthily instead on top of the grave at the right depth and so enjoyed good fortune. Aside from the relocation or reburial of ancestral graves which need not be on the anniversary celebration, birthdays and wedding days require celebration and thus shun the lunar leap month because of the uncertainty of the recurrence of the same lunar leap month. The last lunar leap month August occurred from Solar August 24th to September 21st in 2006. There are many tragi-comedies in this regard in which an expectant mother tries to avoid delivery during a leap month, thus undergoing either a forcible child delivery or Caesarian operation before that month. Another common practice is the preparation of death garments (壽衣) for one’s parents


while they are alive. It is considered one of the important filial duties of the offspring because it is supposed to guarantee one’s parents’ longevity. The earth burial in the form of a mound has a long history in Korea and recent statistics show that the space occupied by the dead, that is, graves, is larger than the one by the living. So the government has encouraged the people to cremate the dead and lay ashes in a charnel. People have so far been very cooperative, fortunately, and pressure on the burial sites has been lessened greatly. By 2Ys www.igoindol.co.kr/DQ/product/1/20/gid-26354435473-19_1.JPG

(An audacious pen name standing for Too Wise, whose real name acronym is S. S. S.)

July Events Boryeong Mud Festival Of the numerous festivals in Korea, it is the Boryeong Mud Festival that probably attracts the largest number of international visitors. During the festival period, tourists flock to the area to experience the beneficial properties of the Boryeong mud, and also to have lots of fun. Fully immersed in the both the mud and the festival’s great atmosphere, visitors enjoy mud wrestling, mud sliding and even swimming in the mud mega tub. Visitors feeling particularly energetic can try the marine mud training course, whilst those looking for something more chilled can relax in the mud massage zone. In the evening, music and fireworks continue the party on the beach. - Period: July 11-19 - Venue: Daecheon Beach - For more info. http://mudfestival.or.kr/lang/en/index.jsp (in Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese) - Phone: 041-930-3822

Musical “Notre Dame de Paris” Notre Dame de Paris is a French-Canadian musical which debuted on 16 September 1998 in Paris. It is based upon the novel Notre Dame de Paris by the French novelist Victor Hugo. The music was composed by Riccardo Cocciante (also known as Richard Cocciante) and the lyrics are by Luc Plamondon. Since its debut, it has played throughout France, South Korea, Belgium, Switzerland and Canada. A shorter version in English was performed in 2000 in Las Vegas, Nevada (USA) and a full-length London production, also in English, ran for seventeen months. Popular songs from the show, such as Belle and Le temps des cathédrales have also been translated into Belarusian, Catalan, Czech, German, Lithuanian, Polish and Russian and English. - Period: July 17-19 - Time: Friday 8:00pm /Saturday 3:00pm & 7:30pm /Sunday 3:00pm - Show Run Time: 2.4 hours, including intermission - Venue: Gwangju Art Center - Admission fee: VIP 120,000 /R 100,000 /S 70,000 /A 60,000 /B 40,000 - For more info. http://ndpk.co.kr/html/m01_01.html (in Korean) - Ticket : 1544-0412 / www.showticket.co.kr Compiled by Jung Ji Eun Gwangju News July 2009

5


Current Event

Fi rst Asian Eco-Culture Conference T

he keynote address at the first International Conference on Asian Eco-Culture, delivered by Park Yee-mun of Yonsei University, was exemplary as it laid out a philosophical guide to ecological recovery without a single solution, not even imploring people to use less energy. The Thursday June 25 Ramada Hotel crowd, made up of participants, staff, 88 journalists and no more than 17 members of the public, heard some very wise words from Professor Park. Below are excerpts of his speech. “As a result of great material wealth built by science and technology, mankind faces the destruction of the ecosystem which threatens not only the prosperity of mankind, but our continued existence. Mankind alone has to make a decision on a path for its survival. “If we classify global culture into two categories in order to discuss culture as a means to overcome ecological destruction, it would be classified into East and West in terms of geography; and into Christianity and Islam versus Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism in terms of religion or philosophy. A further distinction would be the East’s depersonalized and nature-friendly view of the world, and the West’s personalized, and nature-conquering view of the world. “While Eastern culture is essentially nature-friendly and ecologically friendly, modern Western culture which can be described as being scientific, is essentially anti-natural, anti-ecological and can be regarded as the fundamental cause of the ecological crisis, and thus is far from a means to overcome the ecological crisis.” Ivan Lim concurred in his paper: “The Anglo-American tradition based on interpretation of Christianity gives human beings the upper hand to control and exploit the Earth and its resources.” He then quotes Psalms, verse 3-6 “Thou has made him to have dominion over the works of their hands…” Though it is clear that, like their Western friends, Korea and other Asian countries have also prospered by emitting carbons into the air, taking advantage of human and natural resources, and, in the case of China at least, polluting the environment on a grand scale, the keynote address makes clear that Eastern philosophies provide a better chance for a cure. Back to Professor Park: “As in the case of Korea, traditional Asian cultures and traditional Asian views 6

Gwangju News July 2009

of the world are becoming Westernized, and especially Americanized, in an indepth and extensive manner. In some aspects, Korea today is more American than America. The ecological crisis we need to resolve is rooted in Western civilization that is based on science and technology. The key elements of the Western view of the world can be summarized as being ... materialistic and external values, and an aggressive and confrontational attitude toward nature and others. In contrast, the Eastern view of the world can be summarized as ... an ecological view of nature, universal epistemology that is dependent on poetic intuition and emotions, spiritual and internal values and a cooperative and conciliatory attitude toward nature and others. “The views of the world that are incorporated in Western philosophical thoughts are ecologically destructive.” (He must have skipped Henry David Thoreau and John Muir entirely.) “The single path toward overcoming the ecological crisis can be found only in the traditional Eastern view of the world. Plainly speaking, environmental issues are the indirect outcome of the development of scientific knowledge. “In terms of economic development, the East has been focusing on science education and the development of science and technology, leading to great success for the last half century. If we were to acknowledge that one of the reasons of the ecological crisis is development of scientific knowledge and technology, my claim that the traditional Eastern views of the world are ecologically friendly seems to be contradictory. However … without leveraging scientific knowledge and technology, we won’t be able to maintain the current state of the ecosystem, let alone restore the damaged ecosystem. [Thus] for the preservation and restoration of the ecosystem, education, development and active use of scientific knowledge and technology is absolutely necessary within a large framework of world views” Photo and Story by Doug Stuber


Gwangju News July 2009

7


Cartoon

Miss Understanding by Tamlyn Young

Peace- Love- Kimchi

8

Gwangju News July 2009

Saved


Good Dog

Favouri te Things

Cup of Copy

Beautiful Freak

Gwangju News July 2009

9


Local

Dae-In Market D

ae-In Market has been a longstanding favorite of Gwangju citizens. It offers fresh fruit, seafood, lunch delights and hundreds of other sundry items and has recently been the site of various cultural events. In 2008, the Gwangju Biennale used a number of slots to house local art projects. In May and June, the Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU) hung a photo exhibition in a downstairs gallery. These events are an attempt to induce younger and more diverse crowds to the market, and are expected to occur more frequently in the future. Newcomers to the area can find Dae-In by traveling north from Migliore, across Geumnamno, and through the next traffic light. Dae-In Market has noticeable orange signage on the left after going straight through the first light. In terms of busses, 6, 39, 54, 56, 87, 98, 151, 180, 184, 518 serve the north gate, and 37, 52, 58, 70, 81, 170, 180, 184 go by the south gate. After buying fresh food, customers can meander to Memi Art Space across the street from the north gate on Saturday’s for the Art Jamboree, hoedown, and bar-b-que. As for the night owls, Club Nevermind is across the street from the north gate in a yellow building, with live bands most

Saturdays. If you want to see real ajummas performing their food magic, find great prices for your kitchen staples, or divulge in well-cooked meals, Dae-In is a genuine Korean experience good enough to write home about. The Gwangju News volunteer news team compiled this recent interview of five veteran Dae-in Marketers: First was Ma Byung-liang (MBL) the owner of a store that sells fruit in front of the north gate of the market. GN: How long have you been running this store? MBL: I have been selling fruit on the street here for over 30 years I have been able to raise my children by selling fruit here. GN: How many foreigners come to Dae-In Market? MBL: I have seen some foreigners around the market, but they usually enjoy “window shopping.” I’ve never sold any fruit to a foreigner. GN: What has changed at Dae-In in recent years, compared to the past? MBL: There were many more people here when we were linked to the bus terminal, and a joint market linked to Dae-In market directly. But nowadays, the big marts target customers with cheap prices and big parking lots, so the number of customers here is getting to be very low. GN: Do you think the UNESCO/APCEIU festival and photography show will be helpful? MBL: I’m not sure that it can change the market, but I hope it brings more people here. If more people visit the market, I think they will enjoy it, and come back over and over. GN: What is your wish for Dae-In? MBL: Dae-In is becoming sluggish. If the market atmosphere is active, like before, it can be a real draw for Gwangju City. If the city helps Dae-In Market, the market will be able to give back in return. Next the team visited Gwangju Song-Su, a seafood

10

Gwangju News July 2009


has been shopping at Dae-In for 23 years. This type of loyalty is what keeps the market vibrant now, but the weekends when it was hard to move between shops due to so many people, is now a goal to build back to. The next shop was Rose of Sharon Chon Shop. This yummy fried “Korean pancake” (chon) has a wide variety of possible ingredients, and this shop was generous to the team, and popular with the Korean shoppers, meaning they make a mean chon. Delicious! Owner Lee Young-ja (LYJ) said that she has been the owner since 2003. GN: How often do foreigners visit your shop in Dae-In?

shop owned by Kim Jung-soon (KJS). GN: How long have you run this store? KJS: I have been running it for 35 years, but this store is not the first one. We moved from another store (also located in Dae-In Market).

LYJ: There are quite a few foreigners who visit Dae-In, and the art gallery has helped. They are often quite good at Korean, and they visit our shop and buy our shop’s product, chon. GN: What has changed at Dae-In Market? LYJ: In the past there were so many people visiting Dae-In Market. But, nowadays, because of department

GN: Do you see any foreigner’s here? KJS: The foreigners that come seem to be students. Foreigners usually come on weekends. They come for sightseeing. Our main customers are old men and women. I would like to see more young people come to the market. GN: What changes have you seen over the years? KJS: The number of customers has declined since the bus station moved. Foot-traffic went down quite a bit then. But thanks to the support of Gwangju City, roofs were built. It has helped the atmosphere, but the number of customers continues to decline. GN: Do you think art and cultural festivals or exhibits like the UNESCO/APCEIU photography show can help Dae-In Market? KJS: Although the exhibits and festivals do not help us directly, they can make the market more active. In this way they are very helpful. GN: What is your wish for the future? KJS: I hope that the bus routes will be improved. Some of the bus routes are not good now. In between shops the team chatted with a customer, who did not want her name to be revealed. She said she

stores and big marts, there are not so many customers. GN: How do you think the new people visiting the events help activate the market? LYJ: I think for Dae-In’s future development these activities are very helpful. When people come to see the art, it is helpful to us. GN: What is your wish for the future? LYJ: I would like to see more people visiting our market. New visitors will make an active market. We shared a huge “service” plate of chon with other workers who were scouting a location for the UNESCO/APCEIU photo exhibit, and spotted a curved row of restaurants that would be hard for the average Gwangju News July 2009

11


visitor to find. Curiosity led us to “Street Number One” restaurant. Owner Yang Sun-kyung (YSK) was generous with her time. GN: Have long have you been here? YSK: It’s been 23 years since I started the restaurant. I run the restaurant by myself, so every day I get to work at 7 a.m.

It was amazing to see the vitality of the shopkeepers, and their hard work and optimism about the ideas that the City of Gwangju and others are utilizing to revitalize Dae-In Market, a valuable resource.

GN: How often do foreigners visit here? YSK: They often visit the restaurant. We sell Korean sausages and soup. I was surprised to see it, but foreigners eat our restaurant food with satisfaction. GN: What has changed from the past? YSK: When the bus terminal was here, many rural people visited Dae-In. There are less people now, and it comes not just from the bus terminal, but also City Hall moving. Not so many people visit our market any more. GN: Do you think the people coming to visit art events is helpful to activate the Market? YSK: I think it’s really positive. It has already been helpful in having new people visit our market. GN: What is your wish for the future? YSK: I hope more people visit our market so we can be active. 12

Gwangju News July 2009

Where else but Dae-In for a large fresh hung-oh? This fish is some of the best in the area. It has all the kick of a halmoni’s kimchi, all by itself, and a crunch... a delicacy that Dae-In specializes in, and one that cannot be found very often outside Joellanam-do. Bon Appetite! By Gwangju News Volunteer Team Photos by Doug Stuber


Current Issue

Mike White Final Court Date Set M

ike White Court Update, and directions for those who can attend:

The last hearing for Mike White - who died under unclear circumstances in a sauna last year - is July 14, 2009. This is the 5th meeting of court officials and the third time in the court room. The sauna staff have been repeatedly called to testify in court yet have not attended. On April 7th, the court again asked sauna employees to attend the May 26th session, but they did not appear. Mike’s mother, Stephannie White, provides us with the details: The last hearing will be on Tuesday, July 14, 2009 in room 33 at 3:30 p.m. In Daegu, Jibang Beobweon is the name of the court house. It is close to Banwol subway station (5,000 won) and Dongdaegu KTX/subway station (3,000 won). If you take the bus into Daegu instead of a train, just hop on the subway and go to Dongdaegu station, as this has the best taxi fare, but Banwol station is the transfer point, so you have to decide between price/speed. There are city buses which will take you to the courthouse, but the routes often change directions/routes according to the neighborhood written on the little white signs of the front window. If you want to take a city bus instead of the subway, I suggest you call 053-1330 and ask for the correct bus number AND neighborhood name for the route you want. Just tell the nice lady which bus station/train station you are at.

the courtroom unless you have direct permission from the Judges. I’m pretty serious about this. No whispering, quiet chatting, nothing in English as it would be considered offensive. While the Judges are usually 10-15 minutes late, we shouldn't be. If you happen to arrive a little late, there are benches in the hallway to sit on while you wait. Thanks~! This event is open to the public and there is seating room for about 40 persons. There are more benches in the hallways and foyers on the 3rd floor. Foreigners are encouraged to attend to show the courts we are concerned for the safety and well being of each other, and we are concerned about the process through which truth is revealed in the deaths of foreigners.

The best thing to do is to tell the taxi driver "Jibang Beobweon ka chusayo" if he has trouble understanding you, there is a foreigner translation service for taxi drivers, at 053-1330. Press 2 for English and the lady will be happy to help translate to the driver.

If enough light is shed on the problem of 'unfortunate accidents' and more families were able to bring high monetary suits to court, we might see a shift to have these issues settled in criminal courts instead.

There are 3 large buildings, the middle building is the 'court house' as we think of it in the west. The elevators are to the back of the lobby area, go to the 3rd floor, room 33.

Last summer I donated 270 books in Mike's name to the GIC and most of Mike's personal library and educational books/games to Kona Center. His clothes were donated to the North Korean Clothing charity. I don’t know the name of the 'blue boxes' but was told the clothes went to NK.

There should be absolutely no English speaking inside

Photo and Story by Stephannie White

Gwangju News July 2009

13


GIC Talk

Janice Lyn Marshall T

he United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has an excellent representative in Seoul. Janice Lyn Marshall, a Canadian by birth, and a refugee specialist who has previously worked in the Congo, now heads the UN efforts for refugees in the Republic of Korea. What refugees, you might be tempted to ask ... but there have been over 2,200 people from over 50 nations who have applied for refugee status here since the government started keeping records in 1992, Marshall said. “There is no integration mechanism in place for refugees here, and the support that is available is slow to come due to the length of time it takes to get official refugee status determined,” Marshall said. A great number of North Koreans find their way to South Korea, but, since the ROK government automatically awards them with citizenship, they are not considered refugees, Marshall explained. This means that North Koreans not only get supported in job training, finding work and even rent in a threemonth program to help them resettle, they also get help in filling out their citizenship papers, and other problems solved at an Immigration Center in Seoul, Marshall said. She has given talks at the GIC before, but the world’s current refugee situation is as bad as it has ever been due to wars in the Middle East, Africa, and in particular, Pakistan lately.

“Since the beginning of May we have registered two million Pakistani refugees. There is more chaos there than in Africa right now,” Marshall said. “We can’t build the camps quickly enough. It started over 30 years ago when Afghans streamed into Pakistan to flee the war with Russia. Now it is hard to know how long we can remain, as John Soleski, an American citizen working for the UNHCR was first kidnapped, and then murdered (February 22, 2009) and other staff members may be taking too large a risk for us to be in Pakistan right now,” Marshall said. “We don’t want to pull out.” Because a person’s citizenship is determined by that of

14

Gwangju News July 2009


her or his parents, not by the country they are born in, Asia has the highest number of stateless people, Marshall said. As an example, she pointed out that for over 17 years close to 107,000 Butanese refugees have been camped out in Nepal. “It took years but we are moving 60,000 refugees to the United States, and another 30,000 elsewhere,” she said. Refugee status is based on a person being persecuted at home, thus, those displaced by natural disasters, or economic downturns do not qualify as refugees under the law, but may still suffer the same conditions. Earthquakes in Pakistan and China, and the cyclone/tsunami that hit Burma and many other areas, plus the continuing effects of a worldwide economic slowdown have made Asia vulnerable to human disasters. “All contributions to the UNCHR are voluntary, with the United States leading the way. The natural disasters are handled by different groups like UNICEF, which can be a main supplier of drinking water, and the World Food Organization which is capable of delivering food to refugee camps. In 2008 the UNHCR budget was $1.8 billion, which sounds like a lot of money, but when you divide that by the number of refugees and factor in the cost of logistics and keeping refugees safe, fed and on the road back to their normal lives, it’s not a lot. Europe and Japan trade second and third place in terms of donations, but the need for more non-government organizations (NGOs) is growing,” Marshall said. The world economic crisis, and lack of governmental prioritization make it difficult to provide adequate resources for refugees in Korea, Marshall added. “One goal is to teach more Koreans about the refugees here. There is not enough public awareness of the needs of refugees in Korea,” Marshall said. “There are

only three NGOs that help refugees here, so it would be good if Koreans developed more organizations to help. The migrant worker centers can be some help, but more is needed. An organization dedicated to helping refugees to learn Korean would be particularly useful.” The UNHCR uses a number of activities and public outreach programs to increase awareness. Since June 20th is World Refugee Day, the Seoul UNHRC office had a demonstration of field tents and a photo exhibit in Seoul, and rolled out its T-Money card that can be used on subways and other places. “We partnered with the company that owns the logo for Tae Kwan “V” the robot, and his image is surrounding our logo on the TMoney cards. When consumers buy the cards, an initial donation is made to the UNHRC. The ‘Hope and Courage’ logo, along with the easily recognizable Tae Kwon “V” could remind users of the cause every time they pull it out to use it,” Marshall said. She admitted that their website, www.unhcr.or.kr is a little old fashioned, “but we are working with Naver’s “Happy Bean” to produce a website that will be more fun for Korean users, while making information easier to find,” Marshall said. One of the lingering problems is that it can take so long to achieve legal status as a refugee. “We are working with the government to speed up the process.” In her June 13 Saturday Talk at the GIC, Marshall covered the world refugee situation, why it is important for individuals to get involved, and the overwhelming odds refugees surmount every day when fleeing their own homes in times of war or political persecution. By Doug Stuber Photos by Kim Young Mok

Gwangju News July 2009

15


Cartoon

16

Gwangju News July 2009


Gwangju News July 2009

17


Advice

What can I bring back fro m m ytrip abroad? S

ummer vacation is coming. It’s a time you can escape from daily life and celebrate your freedom. Many people are planning to enjoy their vacation overseas. But, only thinking about summer vacation makes people lighthearted and then they might face disappointment at the airport. There are things you should know before you go to prevent this situation and make your travel a happy experience, so it is good to know which items are prohibited from being carried onto a plane. First, before you go If you depart Korea with expensive items (golf clubs, computers, cameras and video cameras) and you intend to bring them back to Korea, please register the items before you depart Korea. Items you must declare upon departure Animal or plant material, currency (amount of US $10,000 or more in a foreign or Korean currency), firearms and ammunition, heritage items.

Prohibited Items None of the goods falling under any of the following categories can be imported/exported. ●Books, publications, drawings and paintings, films, phonographic materials, video works and other items of similar nature that may either disturb constitutional orders or be harmful to public security or customs. ●Goods which reveal confidential information about the government or which may be used for intelligence activities ●Coins, currency, bank notes, debenture and/or other negotiable instruments that are counterfeited, forged or imitated.

Second, know what carries a duty tax upon your return When you go away, upon arriving back into Korea, the situation is quite different from when you depart. After travel, if you don’t shop wisely, when you buy goods for friends, you will pay a duty tax upon return. In practice, this good intention can be ruined by paying a penalty. To prevent this situation you should know prohibited items and duty free allowance.

18

Gwangju News July 2009

Restricted Items ●Animal, plant materials or their derivatives, firearms (including soft air pistols) and ammunition and weapons (including blowpipes, daggers, nunchukas, slingshots, flick-knives, pistol crossbows, knuckle dusters, replicas (not those designed as children's toys ), protected wildlife. ●Drug-related products containing the following substances are prohibited without a permit: narcotics, amphetamines, hallucinogens, barbiturates, vaccines, anabolic and androgenic steroids, growth hormones, and erythropoietin (EPO) regarded as performance enhancers. Traditional medicines containing endangered species or their extracts such as American ginseng, tiger


Local Attraction plasters or pills, aloe preparations, rhino horn, bear or snake parts are prohibited or restricted without a permit. Importation of performance enhancing drugs is prohibited without a permit. Duty free allowance You are able to buy US $3,000 worth of goods, but you should know only US $400 worth of goods will be allowed to enter Korea duty free. In addition, you may bring in one liter of alcoholic liquor (for travelers aged 19 years and over) and 200 cigarettes, 50 cigars and 250g of tobacco products other than cigarettes (for travelers aged 19 years and over). If you have anything in excess of your duty free allowance, you need to pay customs duties, VAT (Value Added Tax) and special excise taxes, etc. Study about how to pack your bag There are two things you should prepare before you travel. When people go abroad, they usually look for information about the place where they will go, but not what they should not bring back. So, one thing is to study about what you should not bring back and how to use duty free shops. Your travel can be hassle-free knowing the rules. And the last thing is that, if you have expensive products, restricted products or anything in excess of duty free allowance, then declare it fairly instead of hiding. Do not think you are "the type." Customs officers may select people and their baggage for detailed examination for a number of reasons. Selection should not be seen as a reflection on a person's integrity or character. Declaring fairly will make sure your travel ends as happily as it began! By Lee Kee Eun Staff Photos

More information can be obtained from the Korea Custom Service: http://english.customs.go.kr/ or Gwangju Customs http://gwangju.customs.go.kr/

The Opening of Areumdaun Book Cafe Nearby Yongbong residential area, which is not far from Chonnam National University, Areumdaun Book Cafe opened on June 17th. This book cafe has been named “Aggim-eop-i-jooneunnamu”, meaning “The Giving Tree” and the purpose of operation well fits into its name. It manages about 25,000 books and runs a cafe, at which only coffee beans under the Fair Trade label are used. All of the books are donated from citizens and the money raised from purchasing books will be used for social good. Also, there are goods, such as name card holders, shoulder backs and passport wallets reproduced from disposed clothing, furniture, etc. Anyone interested in buying good books at low prices while doing good deeds can freely visit the book cafe. Those who want to kindly donate books that are not often read are always more than welcomed. Not many books in English are available at the cafe. You can contact the book cafe at 062) 514-8975 regarding book donation. Hours of operation: Mon to Sat 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Buses No. Pungam 26, Cheomdan 30, Geumnam 57, Sangmu 64, Yongbong 83 (Bus stop Yuchang Apartment) The book cafe is located on the second floor of a quite big gray-colored building, which has a Towngent shop on the first floor. You can see this building from the bus stop. It is on the road toward the Biennale “around the corner” from Chonnam National University. There are many sports clothing stores in this neighborhood. By Ahn Hongpyo

Gwangju News July 2009

19


Photo Essay

Roses in Gwangju —2009 Chosun University Rose Festival

I have yet to find a nation that has no love lost for the rose. Throughout time, and across cultures, roses have been eloquent symbols of beauty, passion and mystery. The rose is native to the U. S., where wild rose fossils dating back 35 million years can be seen in Colorado. But the earliest written records of roses come from Asia. In 500 BC, Confucius described a 600 volume

collection on rose-growing in the Chinese Emperor's library. Roses have held an unparalleled fascination for the human race ever since.

20

Gwangju News July 2009

In the hot, humid Gwangju, roses have been blooming profusely since the first heat wave in late April. Rose vines billow over the brick walls of houses to greet me on my walk to school every morning. Sometimes I stumble on a tiny plot of fragile, twisting stalks that unexpectedly brighten a street corner.

Ample rainfall and long, sultry summers make South Korea an ideal place for rose-growing. Korea is a leading exporter of cut roses to Japan and Russia. It has nearly 750 hectares of rose farms and over 2000 rose growers, many of whom operate small-scale family businesses.


Letter

Let ter to the Editor Dear Editor,

One mellow Sunday afternoon, I meandered into the Chosun University's 7th annual rose festival. Chosun University has the second largest rose garden in Korea, rivalled only in size by the rose garden in Seoul. Nearly 18,000 roses of 227 different species are grown here.

The Chosun University Rose Garden was first conceived in 2001 as a meeting place for university staff and students to foster love and sensitivity. Circling a soccer field in the heart of the campus, the garden is a sea of colour and scent from May to November. There are sinuous paths and trim beds of award-winning damask, tea, and china roses, broken by dramatic arches and towers of climbing roses. Chosun's rose garden has always been a source of pride for local community. During the festival weekend, the garden was dense with boisterous families and canoodling couples, all enthusiastically admiring, sniffing, photographing, and trying to decipher the meaning of the rose. Footnote: * The Chosun University Rose Festival was originally scheduled for May 15-17th, 2009. However, inclement weather postponed many of the festivities to the following weekend. Photos and Story by Miriam Ho

When I opened up the June issue, I had hoped to find some mention of former president Roh Moo-hyun’s tragic suicide – the cover photo is, after all, a picture of mourners paying homage to the former leader. Almost incredibly, there was nothing contained in the entire magazine regarding this incident. I realize that there may have been a conflict regarding the publishing date and the death of Roh Moo-hyun, but it was still disheartening to find the June editorial had nothing to do with Roh (or even Korea), but instead was a leftist rant about the American media system. While I am actually sympathetic to many of the views expressed by the editor, my complaint is more about the content of the editorial rather than the critiques. The Gwangju News is supposed to be a resource for foreigners (and to a lesser extent English speaking Koreans) living in Korea. It shouldn’t be a knock-off of the Socialist Worker, nor should it be reminiscent of some leftist zine that I might pick up back at home in a Fillmore District record store. I’m not trying to stifle anyone’s free speech, but please, if you are going to exhibit such hard left viewpoints, could they at least not be directed at the government in THIS country? Most foreigners here don’t know what’s going on with the Lee Myung-Bak government and his censorship of various news outlets (even though a lot of your complaints about the American media could probably be applied to the Korean media as well), so at the least, the editor might want to try educating his readers about the problems of the country that they’re living in. A case in point is the picture of page 8 of President Lee smiling broadly and shaking hands with former dictator (and the man responsible for the Gwangju Massacre) Chun Doo Hwan. Apart from the picture, there was no attempt – NONE – by the reporter or the editor to put this photo into any kind of context, or what implications could be drawn as to the current government’s sympathies. If the editor – and by extension, the Gwangju News – really wants to be taken seriously, maybe he should worry less about the ills of America (unless he is planning to go back there and try to change them) and more about educating his readers as to the happenings in this country. That is, after all, far more relevant to their lives than corporate control of the American media. Please keep them in mind when you write the next editorial. Yours, Geoff Fattig Gwangju News July 2009

21


Cartoon

Adventures in Korea by Kae Bingham

22

Gwangju News July 2009


Gwangju News July 2009

23


Event Review

Together Day

O

n May 31, a breezy, mild Sunday, a wide variety of cultures came together to celebrate diversity, listen to songs, eat each other’s food, and even buy each other’s flea market offerings. The Chonnam National University main soccer field is usually full of hard-playing footballers on Sundays, but this time the early risers were a huge team of volunteers and staff of the Gwangju International Center. The GIC had been given the task of putting Together Day together, and did so with aplomb, as booths as far ranging as the Korean Teachers of English as a Second Language, a Tae Kwon Do hands-on plastic brick smashing opportunity, and Gwangju Artists Collective offered

24

Gwangju News July 2009

attendees an opportunity to broaden their experiences in Gwangju. A children’s play area lured families with young children, while singing and dancing contests filled the stage with talented acts from all over the globe. United Nations Together Day happens all over the world, and aims to bring people of different cultures together. At Chonnam, Koreans, Australians, Vietnamese, South Africans, Americans, Canadians, Indians, Malaysians, Filipinos, Chinese, British,


Opinion

Everything to Lose T

he global outcry over North Korea’s latest nuclear weapons test is over-the-top, hubristic and unnecessary. America, the world, and especially South Korea have nothing to gain by pushing a hard-line stance against the Stalinist regime. Barack Obama, the great leader of ‘change’ in American politics delivered what should have been one of the most silly, ridiculous statements in recent memory over the ongoing North Korean-nuclear weapons drama. Obama – the leader of a global empire with military bases in at least 130 countries around the world and an annual military budget that is higher than the rest of the world’s combined – seemed to have forgotten his place when he said the United States and the world needed to ‘stand up’ to North Korea.

German and other cultures played and danced together in a way the founders of the diversity celebration would have enjoyed. The Gwangju Artists Collective had an interactive art-making stop that allowed people to trace their hands, list things they love about Korea in the fingers of their hands, and then have their work included as part of a mosaic. The group also had three artists demonstrating their techniques that day.

President Obama would have it seem that the Stalinist regime’s successful test of a nuclear bomb matching the power of those dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of WWII had the potential to send the world into a nuclear winter. The mainstream media peddled this angle with aplomb, yet the drama involving this isolated country – which holds millions of impoverished citizens and is running on old, worn out Soviet technology – has been ‘on again, off again’ since the mid-nineties. In 1994 the Clinton administration negotiated a treaty with the North Koreans called the Agreed Framework of 1994. Under this treaty the North Korean regime agreed to become a signatory of the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty, to stop producing plutonium, and to "eventually dismantle [its] reactors and related facilities." In return the North Korean’s were to have a number of financial and trade sanctions lifted within three months of the agreement, and to see an improved relationship between the two nations to the eventual level of having an ambassador on each others’ territory.

Together Day was a success, but the field and stands were not quite full to capacity. Since this was only its second year, one gets the feeling it is slowly but surely becoming a “must-do” event that ends the May “Golden Month” string of festivals around Jeollanamdo. Staff Report and Photos

The Clinton administration failed to live up to the agreement and when George W. Bush came to power all hope of head-to-head talks between the two nations were obliterated when he declared the nation part of the global ‘axis of evil’. The U.S. has forever since accused the North Koreans of having a secret uranium enrichment program in addition to its plutonium enrichment (uranium being the necessary radioactive element to produce a nuclear weapon of potency), something which North Korea has always denied.

Gwangju News July 2009

25


Opinion

China and Russia eventually stepped in, and convinced the Bush regime to get involved in Six-Party talks between China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, North Korea and the U.S. with the hopes of finally ending the official war that still stands between the Koreas. In 2007 an agreement was made that the U.S. and the North Koreans would hold direct negotiations (without the other nations), with the hopes of normalizing their relationship. This might sound familiar to a major crux of the Clinton Agreed Framework. The North Koreans have always wanted to deal with the U.S. (who have military bases throughout South Korea and as many 25,000 troops in the region as of 2008) directly. Bush years ended hope of reconciliation But later in the year Bush declared that relations could never be normalized unless North Korea showed them the whereabouts of suspected nuclear equipment and proved without a doubt that North Korea was not trying to enrich uranium. Yet, when does this final shred of doubt disappear? Iraq and the current Iran situation (both cases where the IAEA has verified no nuclear weapons program existed – in the case of the former – and exists – in the case of the later) proves that the U.S. has no respect for the internationally accepted safeguards against nonproliferation. So there can be no method to prove innocence or guilt, save mere whim of an American administration. Fast forward to late April this year under the Obama administration when Pyongyang launched what it says was a peaceful satellite into space and what the UN says was an illegal missile test. Sanctions and rebuke from the international community ensued. The North Koreans responded by removing themselves from diplomatic talks and declaring in late April that they were going to begin a uranium enrichment program and, yes, test nuclear weapons and missile material. They did this one month later. There is a pattern that emerges here that shouldn’t be hard to see: when the North Korean regime is condemned internationally and hit with sanctions, it responds with what is viewed as belligerence by the international order in the form of nuclear weapons testing. One might then conclude that perhaps the best play here might be to give them what they want, as in, negotiate with the regime directly. The U.S. still owes them the Agreed Framework of 1994. After all, Obama is the leader who has claimed he will

26

Gwangju News July 2009

negotiate with any group of people in the name of peace. Surely this applies to the North Koreans as well? Aggressive stance is useless Much has been made about the blustering of the Obama administration, and most notably of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates when he said that the U.S. will ‘not stand idly by’ and let the North Koreans become a nuclear nation. Kurt Campbell, the administration’s nominee for Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian affairs, said the U.S. would never accept a nuclear North Korea. But with the recent successful test, and one more apparently on the horizon as of this writing, it would seem that this poor nation may already be nuclear, and that a preventative stance is too late. Given the small amount of trade the isolationist nation already engages in, it is hard to imagine sanctions will have much effect unless China, their major trading partner, truly clamps down. If the U.S. freezes international bank accounts of North Korean leaders it could only infuriate them more. Usually when people are pushed back against the wall, crazy dictator or not, they don’t respond meekly. So far it has proven ineffective against North Korea, at any rate. So how might they prevent a nuclear North Korea? By reigniting the Korean War? As foreign policy and war expert Eric Margolis has said, the U.S. military is already overstretched in Iraq and Afpak (Obama’s AfghanistanPakistan cross-border debacle) and would suffer heavy casualties if it were to fight a conventional battle against Pyongyang’s 1.1 million strong army. Another option might be to completely obliterate the face of North Korea with bombs. However, like Afghanistan, the country is not infrastructure heavy, and such a matter could simply be waited out and retaliated against by wreaking havoc on Seoul. The North Korean arsenal is in its infancy, and it is unlikely they have an effective method of deploying its small arsenal. It has been said by some very worthy writers that the people themselves have been forced to eat bark (or grass) to even have had enough resources to successfully test one weapon (the U.S. has 10,000 nukes at home and abroad). However, having the capability to threaten Seoul, which sits very close to the DMZ should be enough to prevent any type of military belligerence from the U.S. This is why the U.S. hates the idea of North Korea getting a nuclear weapon. Were they to do so, it would effectively take the idea of forced regime change off the table. If Saddam Hussein had nuclear weapons, the U.S. would never have invaded. In this sense, as Margolis said to Scott Horton on antiwar.com radio, the DPRK


did what was, in their view, the right thing given the unwillingness of the U.S. to negotiate face-to-face. Consider it mission accomplished then. Where are the North Korean people? As an outsider, it might be hard to understand how this regime has survived with such power for so long with its population starving and without the barest amenities. As Justin Raimondo, cheif editor of antiwar.com, has said, North Korea is a nation that has maintained power through successful demonization of outsiders. It is, and has always been, the world against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. It may not be a tough sell to a people whose infrastructure and population was systematically brutalized by the American air force in the Korean War, and whose livelihoods have been severely compromised by sanctions that only seem to affect those without power (this was also the case in Iraq in the 90s where sanctions were estimated to have been the cause of over a million children deaths). If the U.S. and the world want to effect change on the northern part of the peninsula, the best thing they could do would be to normalize relations as quickly as possible and quit giving the Dear Leader (or leaders, whoever is in control) an excuse – the people’s perception that it’s the world against them – for maintaining military dictatorship over its people. Why this alarmism, aggression from the U.S.? Follow the trail of money, whether it’s the South Korean purchase of bunker buster bombs from the U.S., or just a few more F-15 contracts passing through the Pentagon and enriching the people at the top of the chain to the detriment of the American tax payer (and North Korean citizen). Sometimes it doesn’t take an actual war, but simply the threat of it, to justify further military spending (not to mention the continued presence of American troops in the region). Michael Scheuer, the former head of the CIA's Bin Laden tracking unit once said that Washington was the indispensible ally of Osama Bin Laden. In this he meant that American foreign policy in the region was the precise reason he was able to garner any form of popular support – when you blow up civilians homes, kill their relatives and promote vicious despots to power they will get angry and turn to somebody who can provide leadership and a chance to strike back. This is the concept of blowback, and September 11th was a rather large example of this phenomenon.

industrial complex that influences so much of American policy indirectly benefit from one another. Is the world about to be blown up? The North Korean regime is just beginning to develop its first weapon, the power of which is only as strong as the U.S. had in WWII (the American arsenal has since far surpassed this technology). It is not an uncommon belief that they likely have no stable method of propelling a nuclear device, and it is probably unlikely they will develop a method to propel a rocket across the vast Pacific Ocean. Even if they somehow developed the technology, they would be committing suicide to do so. The potential for an American retaliatory strike, whether in response to a nuclear attack on Seoul, or abroad could turn the entire northern peninsula into a wasteland in which nobody would survive. Kim Jong Il and his youngest son successor would have no regime to control and no people to lord over. They would likely be dead anyway. For a person (or group of people, whoever is in control) who craves power, to offer it up in such a fashion is unthinkable, and it necessarily goes against everything that authoritarianism stands for, which is to maintain power at any cost. The only way an attack occurs is if the U.S. drives the North to it (sanctions that promote a blockade of ships in North Korean waters could be considered an act of war by the regime). The North has threatened war in the event its ships are boarded. This would be a tragic result to the South. It would destroy a way of life which has so quickly and firmly been established, and set the peninsula back irrevocably. The Obama administration needs to reverse its policy on North Korea and stop furthering the damage Bush did to the progress of Korean reunification. But so far, this situation seems just the latest example that Obama represents little change in the area of foreign policy. By Stuart Smallwood

Stuart Smallwood is a Canadian journalism graduate from the University of Kings College in Halifax, Nova Scotia. To comment on this article, or to view links and sources go to the online edition at http://stuartsmallwoodonline.blogspot.com

The same case can be made for North Korea and the continuance of the Kim dynasty. By continuing aggressive relations with the country, its leaders are inherently given justification for their policies. It is not a stretch to say that Kim Jong Il and the military

Gwangju News July 2009

27


28

Gwangju News July 2009


Community Board

HONDA for sale CBR 400cc 2.5 million won Served at BMW and Honda shops With two helmets, jacket, boots Interested? 010-2030-7484 Brendan Gwangju News Needs You Due to the rapid expansion of our community, we need more volunteers to help with the running of the magazine. Help the community and gain new skills. You can help in a variety of roles: - proofreading - editing - photography - writing - layout - administration - website or any other way YOU can think of. Contact: gwangjunews@gmail.com Sung Bin Orphanage Sung Bin Orphanage is looking for longterm volunteers. We would like you to give at least two Saturdays per month. As well as being a friend, you will be asked to teach basic English to girls aged 7 to 14. For more information please contact Mike at: sungbinvolunteers@gmail.com. Gwangju Men’s Soccer The Gwangju international soccer team plays regularly most weekends. If you are interested in playing, e-mail: gwangju_soccer@yahoo.com. Kona Volunteers Kona Volunteers is a registered organization for helping underprivileged kids by teaching English using storybooks. We are looking for long-term native speakers who desire to enrich their lives by volunteering. We would like you to volunteer at least 2 Saturday mornings or Sunday afternoons per month. We help orphanage children or children of lowincome or single-parent families. If you have any picture books or storybooks, please donate them when you leave Korea. For more information, please visit: http://cafe.daum.net/konavolunteers

Gwangju Expat Parents Association Raising interracial or foreign children in Gwangju? Want to meet other expatriates who are doing the same thing? A new web forum has been set up for expat parents in Gwangju, and we’re hoping that we can organize to discuss issues that are relevant to our somewhat unique situation in Gwangju. The web forum is open to people of all nationalities, not just westerners. Our main focus right now is on discussing alternative educational options for school-age children. Please join our facebook: gwangju parents Help Gwangju News Magazine! Volunteer one day a month GIC needs volunteers to mail out Gwangju News. Gwangju News, published monthly, is sent to nearly 700 addresses. Join our Gwangju News mail-out volunteers at GIC. Volunteers are called 48 hours before the mail-out day (during the first week of each month). GIC needs 6-8 people who can help. GIC and Gwangju News are only as good as the volunteers who bring it to life! Contact GIC at 062-226-2733~4, or email us at: gwangjuic@gmail.com. Free Health Clinic for Foreigners Venue: Gwangju Joongang Presbyterian Church. Time: Every Sunday from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. Offers: Internal medicine, Oriental medicine and Dental service. You could take some medicine after treatment. How to get to there: Buses - 19, 26, 39, 59, 61, 74 (around Hwajeong crossroads), Subway - Exit 2 Hwajeong Station. Apostolate to Migrants Center 969-10 Wolgok-dong, Gwangsan-gu 062-954-8004 Buses: 18, 20, 29, 37, 40, 98, 196, 700, 720 get off at Wolgok market bus stop. Mass: Every Sunday 3 p.m. at Wolgokdong Catholic Church

world by watching the third worldÅfs movie together and have a compare notes Plan July: Cinema Trip August: Trip to where you dream September: Farewell party Target: Korean university students and foreign university or graduate students live in Gwangju Date: July 24th (Friday) Venue: Gwangju international center (509 Jeon-il Building F5, Geumnam-no ) Contact: E-mail: weloveism@naver.com Telephone: President - Kim Yae Lim 010-2503-8602 Justice for Ali Khan Khan Bike Ride We are going to bike from Gwangju to Daejeon Prison to raise awareness of Ali Khan’s case which was happened on February 10, 2003 in Ilsan. For more information, please check out the November, 2008 issue of Gwangju News at www.gic.or.kr. Contact Singsing Kim for more information 226-2733 or gwangjuic@gmail.com Date: July 7th - July 9th 7th Gwangju to Jeonju (90km) 8th Jeonju to Daejeon (85km) 9th Meet Ali Khan in Daejeon Prison and come back to Gwangju (by bus or bike; up to each individual) Are you looking for a translation service? Translation Service is available at GIC. Korean to English, English to Korean - Certificates; Criminal History, Family relation certificate, Marital Statement, Medical Record, etc - Webpages & catalogues - abstracts, literature, etc Contact GIC for more information 2262733/4

The 2nd International Students Meeting invitation To better understand domestic and foreign cultures. Theme: July - Cinema Trip Make a understand about the third

Gwangju News July 2009

29


30

Gwangju News July 2009


Advertise in Gwangju News Target Your Customers! Does your business cater to the foreign community? Advertising in Gwangju News is the best way to reach your target market. 3,000 copies are printed and distributed every month. News about your services will spread like wildfire! For advertising information contact Kim Min-su at (062) 226-2734 or e-mail: gwangjunews@gmail.com

Worship at Dongmyung English Service Sunday 11:30 am, Education Bld.

Pastor : Dan Hornbostel (010-5188-8940)

Bus: 15, 27, 28, 55, 74, 80, 1000, 1187 get off at Nongjang Dari or at Court Office Entrance

If you bring this magazine,

Gwangju News July 2009

31



Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.