KoreanClass101.com Blog

Copyright infringement.

Intellectual property rights. In a sentence? They don’t exist.

Koreans have historically done an exceptional job at innovation. Throughout the well-documented portion of Korea’s ancient history lies a common theme: Koreans can do it, and they can do it better than you. Let’s take a look at the first portion of that theme.

This train of thought can be likened to America’s “inalienable rights” creed. We feel that things like religion and self-expression are rights that no one entity owns - therefore we take personal ownership of our own religion and thoughts. I feel that it is one aspect that makes Americans so individualistic. This “nobody owns that right” thought can be applied to innovation for Koreans. They aren’t stealing an idea just for the same of hording. They borrow and idea to make it faster, cheaper, and more readily available. Think of it as file-sharing for thoughts

Take designer clothes. There are huge corporations who make decent money on trademarked logos and mascots such as Disney. Disney-branded clothing is fairly expensive all things considered. I mean, it’s just a T-shirt. But it has the lovable cartoon character on it that has international recognition. Thus enters trademarking. Essentially, you can’t reproduce an image with Snow White unless you have explicit permission from Disney. After you obtain such permission, a portion of your profits go back to Disney for the right to produce such merchandise.

So what if you cut out the middleman? Make your own T-shirt and sell it for cheaper than the official stuff? Sounds like a financially sound plan, doesn’t it? Unfortunately it’s also unethical.

However, Korean clothing stores are flooded by such counterfeit goods. So much so that one has to wonder if the “real” stuff is anywhere to be found even if you wanted it. Let’s take a look at how things got like this.

Take music for example. In America, we download music legally from online vendors such as Apple’s iTunes. Some music is DRM-bound while others are DRM-free. DRM was created in the first place to curb piracy (remember Shawn Fanning and Napster?) but an unfortunate side effect from such anti-piracy measures was in fact more piracy from tech-savvy consumers while law-abiding consumers are treated like criminals when they want to transfer music to another location. This progression is even more exaggerated within the PC gaming community - so much so that publishers are inventing quite restrictive and mind-boggling ways to curb privacy - all with diminishing levels of success (secuROM anyone?).

Well just like anti-smoking campaigns, Americans are told that piracy is a crime and that self-regulation is needed to help keep the cost of production down (think of Piracy: It’s a Crime messages that play at the beginning of new DVDs). Most consumers are happy to follow legal routes of media consumption out of either 1) fear or 2) personal ethics.

In Korea, such campaigns don’t exist. In fact, such explicit instructions sort of don’t exist either - especially for the younger generation. Downloading “free” Korean music is insanely easy on Korean language blogs. When I asked a friend if they had a certain movie, she promptly downloaded the movie guilt-free and price-free. When I asked her if she knew that it was illegal in America do such things, she responded, “Why?”

It goes back to the inalienable rights. “It’s my right to listen to this song and watch this movie by any means necessary.” This might not be the explicit thought of those who do so, but either way it doesn’t sit well with me. Then again, I’m coming from a different angle. I’d wager that most haven’t even taken a close look at the ramifications of downloading music free-of-charge. But I wonder… are we just in a temporary flux when legal actions haven’t been set in place yet?

I think back to my grandmother telling me when cigarettes were first marketed no one was informed of any health risks involved. Is this the same type of scenario? Is Korea close behind America in terms of educating consumers but just not there yet? Such a campaign was enacted for Haansoft - the Korean Microsoft - makers of proprietary Korean word processing software. By the end of 2002, Haansoft was on the verge of bankruptcy due to rampant piracy from their new office suite. They innovated their business plan and adapted to their problem, but they were lucky. Illegal replication of their product almost drove them to the point where they couldn’t even sustain themselves let alone improve on the product that so many people were using and enjoying.

So it begs the question - do such anti-piracy measures exist in Korea? Is there an organization who enforces such copyright infringements? How do Korean companies like SM and JYPe pay their artists if their isn’t a system set in place for legal digital purchases? Do they recoup their losses from live performances alone? What about all the time and money spent in the studio? Maybe they look like rockstars but don’t get paid like rockstars? What about filmmakers? Do they get anything from movie theater sales? What do DVD sales look like in Korea? I would love to support my favorite artists and filmmakers as their art is a job. I mean, they gotta eat, too… but how would go about supporting them legally?

Thoughts?

Hi. Hyunwoo here. (안녕하세요. 현우예요!)

I know some of you have already seen this video ^^ but I want to share it with more people, so I’m posting it here, too.  (이 비디오 이미 보신 분들도 있겠지만, 더 많은 사람들과 나누고 싶어서, 여기에도 올려요.)

Hope you’ll enjoy it! (재미있게 보시길 바래요!)

Two weeks ago I was on my way to my favorite Korean restaurant in all of NYC just like any other Saturday, but as I was approaching K-town, I could tell something was going on. When I got there, I was happy to discover that I had accidentally walked into the middle of a Korean festival!

The entire block was shut down with booths and food vendors lining each side, and multitudes of people crowding up and down. I took a stroll down each side, checked out the contents of each booth, got run over by a few 아줌마들.. You know, the usual things that happen at these events.. There were so many food options that I had a hard time deciding, but eventually settled on 오뎅 떡볶이. I was a little disappointed in my selection, but it must have just been the place I ordered it from - usually 떡볶이 is pretty tasty!

At the far end of the block, there was a huge stage set up. They had different events throughout the day, including, you guessed it.. a karaoke contest. It was actually quite amusing to watch - the singers were selected beforehand and were all quite talented, but I still have to laugh a bit at the idea of someone singing a Wondergirls’ song on a stage in the middle of the street.. in the middle of the day.. in central Manhattan. There were a few curious and slightly bemused random office people wandering by. ^^

At the entrance to the festival was another highlight: traditional Korean drums. I would estimate that there were at least 50 people in traditional clothing sitting on the sidewalk playing the drums, and it happened fairly continuously while I was there. I do not know much about Korean drums, but it was really awesome to watch! There were also musicians walking up and down the festival. I took a short video:

It was a very fun yet unexpected experience!

Thanks everyone who commented on my previous post, I really enjoyed hearing about what you guys like ^^

I’ve talked about him before some time ago, but today this post is going to be about 비 again, because he’s just released his 5집 and although I know a few of you don’t like him, I’m a big fan and really happy! It’s been 2 years, almost to the day, since he last released an album, which was his 4집 Rain’s World, with singles like I’m Coming, 내가 누웠던 침대 (In My Bed) and With U.

In the 2 years since then, 비’s gone through a lot of changes in his career. He attempted a world tour that was mostly cancelled due to bad management, and when his contract with JYP Entertainment expired he chose to not ignore it - something that recieved a lot of mixed reaction, mostly because JYP Entertainment was safe, while striking out on his own left a lot of question marks.

But I believe striking out on his own was one of the best things that 비 could possibly have done. It gave him the freedom to do what he wanted - which was spending some time as an actor and working on his English. He had the role of Taejo Togokahn in Speed Racer, and while Speed Racer didn’t do too well it at least got plenty of attention (and I really enjoyed it, so shhh XD). 비 then landed himself a role in Ninja Assassin, which should be released in January. His role in Ninja Assassin is considerably bigger - he’s one of the male leads, the assassin Raizo. And it roles like this that show that 비 isn’t just a pretty face. He went through extensive physical and martial arts training so that he could do the fight scenes himself, and you’ll see some of the training if you watch the MBC Special Documentary that showed what he’s been doing for the past year. You can watch it here: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6.

And now 비 is back, as a singer, with his first album since he left JYP Entertainment. I can’t really put my finger on what it is that’s different about this album to his others, it’s still his usual R&B style but there is something about it that feels different, something that I like a lot.

I hope that this album does well! And I hope that Ninja Assassin does better than Speed Racer does - but everyone likes a ninja movie, right? XD

The first single (digital single, I think it was?) from Rainism was Love Story, and while MV’s story is rather predictable and typical, it’s worth watching at least the start of it just to see 비 being a total moron, poking himself in the eye with his glasses among other things XD You can watch the MV here.

And even better than that, is the super hot Rainism trailer. I hope this is coming out as a full MV soon. It looks so cool!

Korean Dramas.

They’re here. Get used to them.

These television shows are comparable to primetime television programming in America (think Grey’s Anatomy or Heroes). These Korean series bear little resemblance to what we refer to as “daytime” television. The production format is closer to a “miniseries” (think Band of Brothers or Lonesome Dove). However, when westerners hear the term “K-drama” or “soap opera” we instantly think of cheesy dialogue, unnecessarily long pauses, overacting, unrealistically overdone characters, and untimely bizarre deaths (think General Hospital or The Young and the Restless or your dramatic cousin on your dad’s side). While the Korean equivalents certainly share some of the surface level similarities, there is much difference to be found.

Korean soap operas are so big that they are hard to ignore. When I say big, I mean it in every way. Big drama, big secrets, and especially big budget. I liken them to a perpetual Superbowl game playing on all channels. It’s hard to ignore. If you didn’t like them before, you like them now. Admit it.

See? Doesn’t that feel good? No? Dirty? Yes, of course.

Come on. I’m from Texas. You may see a grown man cry once in a blue moon but you sure won’t see him watching a soap opera anytime soon. With Korean dramas though, they are insidious. Infectious. Just watch one episode. No biggie. Your buddy said it was a good show, right? And he can drink his weight in 소주…Of course at that point, I convince myself that it is all in the name of learning the language. Yeah, so really, it’s like homework. I mean, that’s not wrong at all, right? Just doing some homework?

Actually, in that regard, many dramas fill in that role nicely. The dialogue is close to natural, the dialect is usually standard, and common speech is used frequently. Whereas if an ELL (English Language Learner) were to imitate the speech used in Prison Break…not so effective. Some Korean dramas even go so far as to be quite deliberate in their speech that it’s hard not to pick up at least some of the language.

Truth be told, not all are fantastic. They can run the risk of dreadful predictability and the use of rehashed, overused themes. However, some challenge social norms and break the mold of what a television show should entail. Some entertain while others educate. Some take modern settings while others assume alternative realities. Some are a showcase for dialects and subcultures. In addition, a plethora of historical-based dramas are arguable in their own category by themselves let alone seeped in Korea’s surprisingly saucy history.

Oh and make no mistake, you will cry. Oh yes. There will be tears.

One particular difference in these shows is the demographic viewing audience. Typically, American soap operas are viewed by non-working or stay-at-home homebodies. It’s also fair to point out the majority of the viewers are older women. Korean soap operas are viewed by people of all ages, gender, and class. Working class people watch them, but so do white-collar business people. And apparently so do young twenty-somethings from America

It’s also interesting to point out the group factor in watching Korean dramas. When seemingly unrelated people sit around and watch the same show, they now share something in common. This reminds me of an ancient form of online blogs and forums. Really! Think about it. I dropped by a nice little 목욕탕 to find the group room filled with locals all in an awed hush over the K-drama playing on the television screen. If you want something in common, try all hating all the same spoiled brat on the screen. Add into that formula a natural group-centered culture such as the one found in Korea and you have a recipe for K-drama addiction. The poorly taken photo below doesn’t show the fury that was in the room. We were all watching the same spicy program. The funny part is that there were people that I could have sworn were sleeping, but they would react when something shocking would happen in the plot. A sort of “He said what?!” reaction.

Likely, everyone who has professed an interest in K-dramas are especially fond of their first show they watched. Like many other foreigners, mine was Full House. Furthermore, many students of the Korean language have openly admitted that it is because of Korean dramas that initially sparked their interest in the language and culture. Can you imagine KBS producing shows with the unintentional side effect of being a sort of diplomatic representative showcase for a whole culture? The ramifications of 비’s poor acting are quite profound now that I think about it…

Thoughts?

안녕하세요. 현우예요. How was your week? I hope you had another exciting week!! ^^

Today I’d like to share a video that I took in the Summer when I was in Jejudo - Jeju Island/Province (제주도), the biggest island and the southern most province in Korea - a beautiful place! 정말 예쁜 곳이에요. It’s a very short video, but I hope it will help you feel refreshed a bit ^^!!

It might be better if you clicked on the video and watched it in high quality.

감사합니다.

I sat my linguistics exam yesterday. THANK GOD THAT IT’S OVER. I don’t know a single person on that course who enjoyed it in the end, no matter how enthuisastic they started out. I just hope that I’ve passed, fingers crossed! Now I have 2 weeks worth of Romanticism history to catch up on … *dies* I just have to keep on reminding myself that all of this is so that I can go study Korean in my dream university.

Today, instead of talking about the music that I like, I wanted to ask, what music do you like? How did you start listening to Korean music? What are some of your favourite artists, or favourite songs? Do you listen to Korean music more than the music of your own country or another country? I’m always very interested to see what people like, and how they came to hear it. Some people’s stories are very similiar to my own, others are vastly different. So, even if you don’t listen to Korean music, I’d love to hear about that too!

Swimming Safety.

Koreans have had a long affair with swimming. Korea is a peninsular country surrounded by water so naturally, Koreans have been swimming for recreation for some time. However, danger lurks in those calming waters…but I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s set the stage.

In America, typically we teach our children to do three things as soon as possible: feed themselves, ride a bike, and swim. Don’t get me wrong - we don’t throw kids in the pool and hope they resurface eventually. Traditionally though, whenever a family goes swimming the toddler goes in the pool while the adult teaches the child how to swim. Little by little, once the child gains confidence, we typically encourage him or her to swim relatively unassisted until the child can swim all by themselves. Same process with tying shoes, learning how to dress themselves, ride a bike, etc.

All in all, Americans view swimming much like driving a car - everyone knows how to do it so it’s not a big deal. None of us can swim like Michael Phelps but we can float safely and certainly feel quite confident in a pool whether we are using proper form or not.

Well, I’m not sure what exactly where the breakdown happens in Korea, but I notice the vast majority of people terrified of swimming. Like unnecessarily terrified. 8-year-olds practically screaming because of the “lazy river” water current, 11-year-olds complaining about the (not even) 3.5 foot depth, and children of all ages clutching to the closest older relative so as to not drown in the kiddie pool. Not to mention that all the while they are covered from head to toe in safety apparel like innertubes, wingies, lifevests, and bathing caps.

Oh and bathing caps are not optional. Moving on.

The wavepool is where I get emotional. We all know the wave pool, right? It’s a simulated beach with a large motor that forces water to rise and fall producing waves. Most waterparks have them to varying size and strength. I visited the lovely 대명리조트 in 부안 this summer and was greeted with a brand new facility, top-class service, and an attached waterpark that was nothing short of stunning. The wave pool here was decent enough and I couldn’t wait to tackle the cool waters only to find out that I had to wear a lifevest to go swimming.

Have we not gone over this before? I can swim. Everyone I know can swim. It’s not a talent - it’s a learned skill. Alas, if I wanted to cool down appropriately, I had to don a seemingly 25-pound lifevest. Mind you, it is quite difficult to swim in a lifevest. I’m pretty sure they are designed for floating as I felt very encumbered. I got tired after five minutes of flailing my arms and had to take a rest. Fear not! Mandatory rests on the hour every hour are commonplace and as soon as the lifeguards’ whistles blew, the entire pool emptied in less than a minute.

Speaking of the lifeguards, they take their responsibilities quite seriously. Two of them serviced a pool area about the size of a kindergarten classroom and were not only pacing back and forth, they were giving out suggestions (rather commands) to the swimmers so they could stay safe. It’s commendable, if not a little out of place.

The point being is that artificial pools are littered with ill-equipped swimmers who are over-protected and over-dressed with safety.

What really surprises me is the ocean and how people treated the water there. The waves were dangerously violent as I was knocked down several times and the salinity of the water was eye-burningly-high. What was missing? All forms of safety. No bathing caps, no lifevests, no floaties - just a bunch of people having fun when really - it was quite dangerous if you ask me. I left that beach with a headache, sores, and a killer bruise on my leg.

Perhaps it’s like 정은 said in Advanced Audio Blog #17 about how Koreans have misconceptions about swimming. In her case, she was convinced that women that swim would develop broader shoulders. Is this one of many reasons why Koreans don’t bother to learn it? Maybe I have it wrong - maybe Koreans don’t have a long history with swimming.

I know that I don’t have particularly pleasant memories about learning to swim (as myself and my brothers love to bring up to my parents the story of the borderline abusive swim teacher and how no one believed us that she was pure evil) But even with my tragic initial experience with swimming, I can say that I am an accomplished swimmer. But who cares? Apparently Koreans do.

Oh well.

Thoughts?

Hi. 현우예요. How was your week, everyone? 일주일 동안 잘 지냈어요? I want to talk a little bit about the word ‘마음’ in this blog post today.

If you like listening to Korean pop songs, 마음 is like one of the top ten frequently appearing words in the lyrics - which is more than natural because most of the songs are basically talking about 마음.

마음 is a very interesting word - it can not only be translated in many ways into English, but it also has a lot of meanings even in Korean. So for all the phrasal verb lovers out there, I’ll go through some of the most common expressions that contain the word “마음” in them that cannot easily be translated into English word by word.

마음 can be mind, heart, feeling, emotion, or even interest. If you eat your 마음 (마음을 먹다), you ‘make up your mind’. And after you’ve made up your mind (마음을 먹은 후에) if your 마음 is changed(마음이 바뀌다), you have a second thought. And while you’re still debating what to choose among many options, if something ‘enters your 마음’ (마음에 들다), you like it. But if you misplace and lose what you found likeable (마음에 든 것을 잃어버리면), your ‘마음 is not good’ (마음이 안 좋다), and that means you’re feeling sad and depressed, and your ‘마음 isn’t comfortable’ (마음이 안 편하다) - you’re worried and not relieved. But when you find the thing again, your ‘마음 is put down’ (마음이 놓이다) and that means you’re relieved from the worry.

Of course everybody has 마음, but if ‘you have your 마음 in a particular person’ (마음이 있다), you are interested and like that person as a possible date, but sometimes when you are really nervous, you say things that ‘are not in your 마음’ (마음에 없는 말을 하다) - and that means you end up saying things that you didn’t really mean. Your friends tell you to let bygones be bygones, but you still ‘can’t grab your 마음’ (마음을 못 잡다) and that means you’re still very anxious about it and can’t pull yourself together.

Like this, 마음 has a lot of meanings and phrasal verbs related to it (like in English the word ‘heart’ does) and I’m sure there are more. I’ve recently started listening to more K-pop songs and I’ve realized once again how often I hear the word 마음 all in different contexts. So I hope this short blog post will be of some help and ‘enter your 마음’ ^^

And a bonus: when someone bugs you about your decision, the way you’re dressed, or whatever, and you want to say “I make my choices. It’s none of your business”, you can say “내 마음이야!”  : )

여러분, 안녕하세요!

I was a happy little fangirl yesterday, because Epik High’s latest release, a mini album called LOVESCREAM, came out! I love it, it’s great! It’s got a couple of songs in their usual, upbeat hiphop style but it’s also got some instrumental tracks on there, really pretty little pieces that are melodic and somehow a little bit dark, similiar to some of the instrumental pieces on their Remapping the Human Soul and Pieces, Part One albums.

If you’ve got a Naver account, you’ll be able to listen to previews of the album over on Naver. You need to use IE though, the music player isn’t so friendly when you try using Firefox. And if you click the little orange TV icon next to 1분 1초, you’ll be able to watch the music video (or you can watch it on YouTube over here). I don’t actually like 1분 1초 too much, but the MV is so weird and backwards XD

KoME interviewed Moonshine recently, and like I always do when we interview an artist I know nothing about, I checked out some of their music. Moonshine used to be known as Deathrasher, and were one of Korea’s first death metal bands, formed back in 1993. I was a bit surprised to see that in such a long life, they only released a handful of demos and three albums, but then again the band has gone through many line-up changes. Interestingly enough, from what I’ve heard, the majority of their songs are actually in English, though they included some Korean tracks on their latest album Eternal, because apparently even some Korean fans didn’t realise that Moonshine are actually Koreans!

Funnily enough, this little hip hop and boyband lover used to be a huge metal fan about 10 years ago XD My musical tastes have expanded a lot since then, hahaha XD Moonshine, from what little I’ve heard, have some elements of the type of metal I used to like most, but also some of the elements that I hate most too, so it gets a bit of a mixed reception from me. If you’re into metal though, then you should definitely give Moonshine a try! Their official myspace has 6 tracks from Eternal that you can listen to. I really like the music for Moonshine Madness though the vocals don’t do too much for me, but I quite like Wake Up The Moon.