“For the first time in Korea history—perhaps in any nation’s history—the Korean government is putting huge financial and political resources behind something as intangible as “discovery.” No guidelines, no maps; just money and faith.” — Euny Hong Copy Share Image
“Cinema is yet another area in which government intervention in culture paid off in spades. Korea once again demonstrated its unique magic trick: by passing a few new laws and fertilizing the right areas with money, it was able to… — Euny Hong Copy Share Image
“Psy will go down in history as the first real twenty-first-century entertainer: who else could combine Confucianism and farting?” — Euny Hong Copy Share Image
“Samsung still needed to refashion its brand image. There was a worrisome phrase floating around the business world in the 1990s, the “Korea discount.” This term, more politely called the “emerging market discount,” meant either that Korean companies were undervalued on the stock exchange or that Korean commercial goods had to be sold at a cut rate in order to… — Euny Hong Copy Share
“When I asked why StarCraft 2 in particular was so popular in Korea, he said, “The game ends quickly, so you can start a… — Euny Hong Copy Share Image
“Korea has no natural resources and very little arable land. Compounding the problem is that labor costs have risen so dramatically in the last… — Euny Hong Copy Share Image
“The South Korean economy is a paradox: it is utterly capitalist, yet at the same time it is in some ways still a command… — Euny Hong Copy Share Image
“According to Kim, 1998 was the turning point for Korean films entering the international arena. “In the fifty years up to 1997,” said Kim,… — Euny Hong Copy Share Image
“Kim Jong-il also invented the hamburger. Almost touchingly, North Koreans have a lot of pride in their heritage, though it’s for absurd reasons. The few foreigners who have been permitted to tour North Korea report bizarre trivia passed on to them by some pretty unironic local tour guides: Koreans are such a glorious race that they created not only the… — Euny Hong Copy Share
“The no-foreign-school-supplies rule was enforced by way of surprise inspections, heralded by the teacher suddenly yelling midlecture: “Everyone, put your hands on the top of your head!” This would send all the students into full-on freakout mode, trying in vain to hide their Japanese mechanical pencils in the gaps between the floorboards, like a drug dealer flushing his stash down… — Euny Hong Copy Share
“Psy is the paradigm shift within the paradigm shift. And his life and bewildering rise to fame are an embodiment of the changes in… — Euny Hong Copy Share Image
“The Chosun Dynasty adopted Confucianism in all walks of civil and personal life at the beginning of the fifteenth century. The nation’s kings were worried about losing power and sought a drastic solution to obliterate the two biggest threats: chaotic class warfare and the increasingly influential Buddhist clerics. Since the system favored those already in power, it was a no-lose… — Euny Hong Copy Share
“Lee believes, as do the vast majority of South Koreans, that North Koreans are not so stupid that they fail to see the likelihood of mutually assured destruction if war breaks out. “They know if they start conflict, they will be eliminated right away. That would mean the end of their regime. But they also know the world is very… — Euny Hong Copy Share
“In recent decades, the biggest enemies of shamanism have been Korea’s many fervent Christians. Which, said Mason, is highly ironic, since Korean Christianity is rather shamanistic. If you’ve ever been to some of these churches in Korea, you know exactly what he’s talking about. Even at some churches of “mainstream” denominations, like Presbyterianism, people can be seen going into a… — Euny Hong Copy Share
