Daniel Tudor on why more of Korea’s youth will be urbanization-at-all costs. We also have an exclusive excerpt drawn to the countryside — a reversal of today’s from his book “Korea: The Impossible Country” 1 Groove Korea Magazine / January 2013 • Issue 75 WELCOME The future is ‘cheonseureopda’ Like many Korea enthusiasts, I’m quite the country will be going back to the old school. In wealthy, but it is a trend that will spread. Particu- fan of old photo sets from the early ’60s – you spite of outward displays of pride, South Koreans larly in the country, people will realize that it is not know, the ones where hanbok-clad gentlemen quite understandably spent most of the short his- absolutely necessary to live in a 30-pyeong “unit” drive oxen around Namdaemun, holding up the tory of their state trying to get away from anything of a rectangular carbuncle. A newlywed friend of new city traffic. In fact, I’m a geek for that whole that reminded them of the past. But the next gen- mine recently built a proper house on farmland just era. My jaw drops when I read that 1 pyeong of eration will have a much greater interest in all that half an hour’s drive from Seoul. It has a big gar- Apgujeong land could be had for 400 won back in is “old” or traditional. And I think more and more den, too, in which he once chanced upon some 1963. And I smirk when I hear about the Sibal Taxi will go back to the countryside. wild ginseng. The whole thing cost him 200 million (not a double ㅆ but just a single ㅅ, I’m afraid), Industrialization brought millions into to the big won. Try getting a Lotte Castle “unit” with that. a rudimentary car from back then. The past is in- smoke, and stacked them up on top of each oth- Ex-urbanites such as my friend will bring a new deed a foreign country, as a better writer than I er in gigantic grey boxes. Suddenly, the village – sophistication to rural Korea. And changes in the once noted. the basis of society – was past it. It can be no labor market will, I believe, also lead to the rise of And how different will today’s Korea seem to coincidence that the word chonseureopda (촌스 remote working and “perma-lancing,” which can the next generation? Given how quickly this place 럽다, “country style”) became conflated with all be done in or out of the city. Meanwhile the end changes, it would be no doubt foolish to even try that is tacky and old-fashioned. But as the late of rapid growth in Korea will make Seoul less of to predict. But apparently it is part of the foreign 1950s-early 1960s baby boom generation retires, a land of opportunity. The costs of living here will correspondent’s job to develop a long-term per- we will see a reversal of sorts. stay the same, but the benefits will diminish. spective on a country: “Try and get a sense of Some will be driven out by the cost of Seoul, where this place is headed in the next 20 years,” and some will go by choice. They won’t be that old one veteran advised me. “It doesn’t matter if – Korean companies push workers out in their early Guest editorial by you’re completely wrong. Nobody will remember fifties – so they’ll need to keep working, starting Daniel Tudor by then anyway,” he kindly added. businesses with their life savings, for instance. It would be tempting to imagine a super-futuris- Over the past 10 years, we have seen a reap- Guest editorial tic Korea in which kids fly to and from TOEIC test praisal of the hanok (in both original and hybrid Have something to say? centers by jet-pack, but in some ways I think this forms). This has mostly been confined to the [email protected] Hot on: www.groovekorea.com Community: Community: Insight: Becoming Bruce Lee Taboos and tattoos Start your own business Bruce Lee was (and still is) the epitome of Asian male mas- During the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1897), the permanent Go on, admit it — at some point you’ve fantasized about culinity. His dominance in martial arts was only possible due marking of one’s skin with ink was used for one of two starting up a business and getting out of the rat race. Doing to a severely uncompromising regimen. Lee thought martial things: identifying current and former criminals or slave own- that is challenging enough in your home country, but doing artists of his time didn’t emphasize physical conditioning ership. Having a tattoo during this time meant social isolation it overseas presents another host of challenges. enough and practiced all kinds of fitness himself. He could and a loss of any hope of having any respect or status in Entrepreneurship goes hand-in-hand with risk, determina- perform such feats as 50 one-armed chin ups and extend- Korean society. tion, creativity, business savvy and people skills. Like entre- ing a 75-pound barbell from his chest to directly in front and Daily life in the Joseon Dynasty was also heavily influenced preneurs anywhere, having all the skills essential to running holding it for several seconds. by Confucianism, the sway of which dominates to this day. a business isn’t necessary. Emil Lewis, on the other hand, is a fairly normal chap. He is Confucianism views the body as a “sacred gift,” so the idea Eddy Park, the man behind iguidekorea.com, the first for- not extreme or uncompromising, has an easy laugh, lacks of permanently marking or modifying it in any way repre- eign-owned climbing guide service in Korea, put it most affected airs, and has a mannered demeanor well past his sents a kind of contamination. This, of course, includes any succinctly: “I kinda just get the job done. When I need 31 years. His day job has a low fitness requirement and personal art, no matter how meaningful it may be to you. something I go and get it. When I come across a problem, I he doesn’t even work out at a gym, preferring body weight Then there’s always the gangster connection. figure out a way to solve it. When I want to do something, I exercises at home and a nearby school. Once so taboo that fitness centers banned anyone marked try to get it done. Sometimes, the results aren’t pretty the But when he stared at his 5’8”, 190-pound image in the with a tattoo, modern society is now growing less intolerant first time around, but I’m great at learning from my mistakes. mirror one day, he decided something wasn’t right. of this art form. And in the end, I give my customers the best service that After an initial four month diet, losing 40 pounds in four A relatively new shop called Seoul Ink is at the forefront of comes from learning from my past.” months through dieting and exercise, Lewis began a project this trend. It opened its doors in April 2011, but has built a After combing through 10,000 words of notes and over a he calls Becoming Bruce Lee - with the goal to become as strong reputation and large clientele. dozen interviews, we’ve put together the 10 essentials to much like Bruce Lee as possible. On my first visit, Garrett Jacobs was in the middle of a ses- creating your own gig. Atop the list is to discover an oppor- Six months later, Lewis was in the best shape of his life, sion, having a zombie sleeve done by artist Kil Jun. “Seoul tunity: You are literally surrounded by opportunities. A sur- down 45 pounds and accomplishing feats such as one-hand- Ink is definitely one of my favorite tattoo studios I have ever prising number of problems people have and the products or ed two-finger push ups and kicking his own shoulder. had work done at by far,” Jacobs said. solutions to fix them simply did not exist even 10 years ago. Story by Dustin Cole Story by Tey-Marie Astudillo Story by Chris Backe Read it online in January Read it online in January Read it online in January or in print in February. or in print in February. or in print in February. Groove Korea Magazine / January 2013 • Issue 75 7 GrooveK_210x297_GIVEN.indd 1 12. 9. 24. �� 7:12 CREDITS KOREA 4th floor, Shinwoo Bldg. 5-7 Yongsan 3-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Korea. 010 5348 0212 / 02 6925 5057 / [email protected] EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Matthew Lamers [email protected] CEO Steve Seung-Jin Lee [email protected] Editorial Desk Art & Design TRAVEL & FOOD EDITOR Josh Foreman ART DIRECTOR Daniel Sanchez [email protected] [email protected] MUSIC EDITOR Ethan Thomas DESIGNERS Jumi Leem [email protected] [email protected] COMMUNITY EDITOR Jenny Na Danielle Potgieter [email protected] [email protected] INSIGHT EDITOR Matthew Lamers Adela Ordoñez [email protected] [email protected] ASSOCIATE EDITOR Ileana Prokosch [email protected] Advertising EDITOR-AT-LARGE John M. Rodgers [email protected] DIRECTOR Doyi Kim [email protected] EDITOR-AT-LARGE John Burton MANAGER Sang-hyuk Lee [email protected] [email protected] COPY EDITOR Lisa Pollack ASSISTANT MANAGER Claire Jung [email protected] [email protected] Marketing & Administration Web MARKETING EXECUTIVE Jay Park WEBMASTER Dan Himes [email protected] [email protected] MARKETING DIRECTOR Peter Chong [email protected] ACCOUNTING Jang Eun-young Contributors WRITERS, PROOFREADERS PHOTOGRAPHERS, IllUSTRATORS Ben Landau, Belle Nachmann, Lisa Pollack, Read Urban, Ara Cho, Pal- James Little, Colin Roohan, Rayiaz Khan, Dylan Goldby, Romin oma Julian, Elaine Knight, Dean Crawford, Conor O’Reilly, Rajnesh Lee Johnson, Mike Hurt, Elizabeth Papile, Jen Lee, Larry Rodney, Sharma, George Kim, Sabrina Hill, Matthew C. Crawford, Sean Choi, Lee Scott, Luke Martin, Dougles MacDonald, Brenda Gottsabend, Mishka Grobler, Wilfred Lee, Anna Sebel Michele Farley PUBLISHER Sean Choi [email protected] To contact Groove Korea for advertising, submissions or general comments, please email: [email protected]. The articles are the sole property of GROOVE KOREA. No reproduction is permitted without the express written consent of GROOVE KOREA. The opinions expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of the publisher. Issue Date: Jan. 1, 2013 Registration Date: January 25, 2008 Registration No.: Seoul Ra 11806 © All rights reserved Groove Korea Magazine 2013 Groove Korea Magazine / January 2013 • Issue 75 9 CONTENTS CONTENTS J a n u a r y 2 0 1 3 page 39 Exclusive excerpt from “Korea: The Impossible Country” Groove exclusive: “More Than Just ‘K Pop’” — a chapter on Korean popular music from Daniel Tudor’s “Korea: The Impossible Country.” page 5 flights for under $500 50 A few years ago it would have been tough to get a round trip flight from Korea for under $500, but now there are a number of discount carriers that fly anywhere, from Kota Kinabalu to Cebu and Phuket. welcome Insight destinations food & Drink 6 26 46 64 Editorial: Korea’s future Wading through shallow waters Lessons from traveling the world Bucking the tony taco trend Daniel Tudor posits that more of Korea’s From North Korea to freedom in the South, Fifty days into my trip around the world, I Hidden on a side street just minutes from youth will be drawn to the countryside — a a refugee’s tale of hope and action. have learned a thing or two about long-term Hongdae’s shopping district is Gusto Taco, reversal of today’s urbanization-at-all costs travel; the first being that I was wrong about the area’s top spot for Mexican food. mentality. 34 so many things. 67 16 Interview: Daniel Tudor 52 Groove Korea sat down with Daniel Tudor Mouth-watering dalk galbi Must Reads to talk about Korean society and how it Largest pilgrimage in the world Dalk galbi — cheap enough for students and Our editor’s picks for December. should compete with Germany, the U.K. or Ninety million people will descend on the tasty enough for anyone, the stuff is just good. the U.S., rather than China. town of Allahabad, India, for Maha Kumbh And no one does it better than Yoogane. 17 Mela from Jan. 27 to Feb. 6. 38 68 The Inbox 56 What our readers have to say. Book review: “Korea: The Recipe: Pulled pork Impossible Country” Malaysia’s cultural mosaic Learn to embrace the Crock-Pot. 18 Where do you start with a country that A city’s explosive history unites its people. rose from the ashes of the Korean War 70 News from the JoongAng Daily to become not only one of the 15 richest 60 News from around Korea. countries in the world, but a model for de- Recipe: Wind fritters mocracy in Asia? Daniel Tudor, foreign cor- Are you wearing your travel pants? What would impress George R. R. Martin? 20 Two expats recognized a problem in Korean respondent for the London-based Econo- travel — tourist traps — and turned it into 72 mist magazine, explains that and more in his Calendar of events an opportunity. Their company, Travel Pants January’s best events. new book, “Korea: The Impossible Country.” Korea, shows people a new side of Korea. Dining out: Fog City Int’l Café What began as a wine-importing venture 22 44 has turned into a café in Incheon. Itaewon finds Repatriate me: Back in the booth 73 John Rodgers on what it’s like to vote in the 24 United States after spending a decade in Kitchen shock: Jeju mandarins Korea. Mandarins make the winter brighter. Garosugil finds Groove Korea Magazine / January 2013 • Issue 75