UNSRC Korean Cultural Society

JoongAng Daily

Watch out for the giant inchworm on the banks of the Han River. The silvery worm is 240 meters (787 feet) long, and it looks like it’s just landed from outer space. No need to worry, though. The worm is very friendly.

The “worm” is actually an observation deck connected to Ttukseom Resort Station. When it opens in mid-November, it will have a book cafe, a gallery, a restaurant and an observation deck, in a space covering 1,931 square meters (20,784 square feet).

This is the latest development in the ongoing Han River Renaissance Project to enhance riverside recreation areas and revive the river’s natural ecology.

The riverside parks in Ttukseom, Nanji and Yeouido reopened after almost two years of renovation, and completion of the worm-like observation deck is the last part of the project. After the parks reopened late last month, the Seoul city government said attendance was in the millions.

	Top to above: This worm-like observation deck will open at Ttukseom Riverside Park in the middle of next month. By Jeon Min-kyu;The doors of the Floating Stage on Yeouido close when the weather turns cold to provide space for a cafe.

New attractions include the Floating Stage, Cascade and Piano Waterway on Yeouido, as well as the Music Fountain and Riverside Plaza in Ttukseom. New facilities include not only new bike and walking paths but also convenience stores, cafes, observation decks and public restrooms. The stores are especially pleasant, with terraces where people can sit, relax and enjoy the view of the Han River.

The renovation project will continue in other riverside parks in the Ichon, Yanghwa and Jamsil areas and will be completed by 2011.

By Limb Jae-un [jbiz@joongang.co.kr]

Ttukseom

Ttukseom has long been a place where people go for recreation. In the summer, groups of children play in the shallow water and young people lounge under parasols as they take in the river breeze. The place is still loved by many people, and the water park that opened here last summer has seen especially high attendance.

The observation deck, called Jabeole in Korean, which looks like a gigantic squirming worm, is perhaps the biggest attraction at Ttukseom. It is located right below Cheongdam Bridge over the Han River. It will house a cafe on its fourth floor and a restaurant on the third floor. The second floor will host a media art exhibition when it opens in mid-November.

The Music Fountain is located in the middle of Riverside Plaza. The fountain, with its 30 meter radius, has 667 nozzles arranged on the ground in the shape of a star that can shoot water up to 15 meters into the sky. The fountain operates between 12 and 1:40 p.m. and 7 and 8:40 p.m. on weekdays and between 12 and 2:40 p.m. and 6 and 8:20 p.m. on weekends.

Nearby, there is a playground that is sure to inspire the child in everyone. It has a pirate ship chasing after a whale, and the structures contain a mixture of jungle gyms and slides for children of all ages.

“We heard about the playground so we brought our children,” said Baek Hee-cheol, a teacher from Wido Middle School in Buan County, North Jeolla.

All 24 children from the middle school were on a three-day trip to Seoul to see the city. “The playground has beautiful colors as well,” he added.

The area also has a park where people can go skateboarding and in-line skating. Visitors can also rent four-person paddleboats for 40 minutes for 13,000 won ($11).

To reach Ttukseom Riverside Park, go to Ttukseom Resort Station, line No. 7, exits 2 and 3. Parking is available for 3,000 won per day. For more information, call the Ttukseom Hangang Park Information Center at (02) 3780-0521 or visit http://hangang.seoul.go.kr/eng/.

Yeouido

There used to be vast white sand beaches around Yeouido. The area was so flat and wide that it once supported an airport, the first in Korea. The first pilot in Korean history, An Chang-nam, made his first flight from the airport in 1922 with 50,000 people, or one-sixth of the population of Seoul, watching from the surrounding beaches. The airport was built in 1916 and closed in 1971.

Today, the airport and the beaches are gone, but there are other amusements, including the Cascade, the Floating Stage and a water park.

The Cascade is a mixture of waterfalls, shallow pools and fountains. The pools are only 30 centimeters (11 inches) deep and children can play in them without worrying about going underwater. The water from the pools flows slowly down to the river. In the past, it was difficult to go down to the water’s edge because of the high bank, but the Cascade’s gentle decline allows people to get closer to the water than ever.

“It used be a plain grass field but now it has a friendlier atmosphere,” said Kim Chang-gyu from Daebang-dong, southern Seoul. “Beside that, it is now possible to go down to the water’s edge. The Han River is more accessible.”

The Floating Stage is the first of its kind in the world with doors that open, according to Seoul city. It was designed to look like a water droplet and the exterior is covered with LED (light-emitting diode) panels that change color depending on the weather. When it gets cold, the doors close and the stage turns into a cafe.

Yeouido also has a 415-meter-long creek called Piano Waterway that symbolizes the Han River, which is 41.5 kilometers long. The creek flows from near Yeouinaru Station to the cascade. The stones laid along the waterway look like piano keys and give the attraction its name.

The newly opened riverside park on Yeouido is located near Yeouinaru Station, line No. 5, exit 2 or 3. Parking is 2,000 won for the first 30 minutes, and 300 won for each succeeding 10 minutes. For more information, call the Yeouido Hangang Park information center at (02) 3780-0561~3 or go to http://hangang.seoul.go.kr/eng/.

Nanji

The riverside park in Nanji near the World Cup Stadium was once difficult to reach because it was far from the subway station. Now, there is a shuttle bus that goes to the park via the new bridge between Nanji Riverside Park and Sky Park, making the site more accessible.

One of the biggest attractions here is the water playground, which, unlike other water playgrounds in Seoul, is located right by the river. The area is filled with white sand, adding to the feeling that it is really a beach. The atmosphere here is peaceful, and sitting on the bench while gazing at the water playground invokes a feeling of serenity.

From the water playground, there is a long reed field that stretches to the west. There are also marshlands covering 33,600 square meters along the way and wooden bridges over little creeks flowing to the river. Though the marshlands are man-made, they contribute to the park’s natural environment and look most beautiful at sunset.

The park also includes a large campground that can accommodate up to 970 people. Campers can either rent a tent or bring their own. It costs 15,000 won for a family of four bringing their own tent. For more information, call (02) 304-0061~3 or visit www.nanjicamping.co.kr.

To reach Nanji Riverside Park, go to Sangam World Cup Station on line No. 6, exit 1, and take bus No. 8776 from the south gate of the World Cup Stadium. Bicycles are available in front of the south gate for up to six hours. It is free for the first two hours and 1,000 won for each additional hour. For more information, call the Nanji Hangang Park Information Center at (02) 3780-0611 or visit http://hangang.seoul.go.kr/eng/.

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Korea Times
10-30-2009 17:24

A stylish display of “hanjeongsik,” or Korean-style table d’hote

U.K.-Based Journalist Says Korean Food Needs Active Recreation

By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter

It’s not an easy thing to run a Korean restaurant outside of Korea, especially in places with different cultural backgrounds. London, in that regard, is a perfect place to test the competitiveness of overseas Korean restaurants.

A British food journalist said that Korean restaurants in London need to set aside authenticity to be more appealing and accessible to local foodies. And the reason is simple.

“There is still not enough awareness about Korean food in London,” said Joe Warwick, editor and publisher of Galley Slave magazine, which was launched there this month.

As he sees it, Korean food, or “hansik,” needs to take a more customer-friendly approach in Western countries because Korea and its cuisine are not in an advantaged spot culturally compared to other countries.

“There are a lot of dishes on the menu but few understand what they are, and sometimes even wait staff can’t explain the food. They can’t bring a dictionary to a restaurant to know what they are going to eat. To a lot of people it’s so inaccessible,” he said.

A renowned specialist of the London dining scene, Warwick has published articles in U.K. newspapers including The Independent and The Observer, and is a former editor of Restaurant Magazine, which annually launches “The World’s 50 Best Restaurants” awards.

In the end, it all boils down to the issue of authenticity when it comes to mulling over a better way of promoting food. It’s natural to hope to keep a cuisine as close as its original form as possible even when it’s far from its home turf.

However, Warwick said authenticity is not something to get hung up on when looking to turn first-timers into fans.

“In terms of selling cuisine, I think authenticity is overrated,” he said. “Most of dishes at curry-tandoori places are actually British-Indian, like chicken tikka massala ― there is no such dish in India. It’s the same in Japanese food. It’s not what you get in Japan.”

He doesn’t think people are looking to find something too deep when first trying a different cuisine, saying, “If you look at big cities like London or New York, there are a vast number of restaurants and different ethnic communities. In restaurants, they just want their food tasty and to enjoy it.”

The same applies to the latest trend in London, Mexican food. There are currently a growing number of casual Mexican restaurants and burrito places there, where dishes are cooked fresh right before customers’ eyes. But is the food they get in London exactly the same as the Mexican food they get in Mexico? Warwick says no.

“But it doesn’t really matter. It’s still Mexican and people like it,” he said.

“I don’t think it has to be about authenticity. It’s about giving people a taste of your cuisine and your culture. If they want to know more about the food, then they can turn to something more authentic.”

Along the same lines is Japanese food, which is now big in most Western countries. Some globally famous Japanese restaurant brands like Nobu and Zuma are operated by, for example, a “German chef in London who studied and loves Japanese food.”

Warwick is visiting Korea to participate in The Amazing Korean Table, a Seoul Metropolitan Government-hosted food festival with the Korean cuisine’s globalization as its theme.

During the festival, globally-acclaimed chefs give cooking classes and display new creations with Korean touches. Food symposiums and competitions are also held.

Some might find his remarks uncomfortable, as the circumstances for London-based Korean restaurants have improved a lot over the years.

Currently, there are some 10 Korean restaurants scattered around central London, with more in the south part of the city where there is a sizable Korean community. These restaurants are steadily gaining recognition with some, such as Myung Ga, making it into popular guidebooks such as the annual Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide.

Warwick, however, says they have a long way to go.

“Even though some of them have had good reviews, the overall size is still so small. In contrast, there is a growing interest recently in Japanese restaurants and obviously there is always Chinese food around,” he said.

“The degree of knowledge (on Asian food) is different in London, not as sophisticated as you find in, say, Sydney or New York.”

Some Korean dishes are widely recognized in many foreign countries, but this doesn’t necessarily directly lead to better marketing of hansik, according to the journalist.

“I see the Korean food at the high end is very refined, and there is a lot of history and culture there. But from my point of view, to get people into it is a different thing,” he said. “Everybody knows about kimchi, but it’s a condiment and not a full dish. It is delicious, but you won’t fancy kimchi as it is, and want something beside the side dish.”

The promotion of Korean food, from his viewpoint, doesn’t always need to be initiated with high-end dishes, and this is even more so for Korean food because it is still “alien” to most British people at the moment.

“Korean barbecue can be successful, even though it might not be what they want to promote (as an exemplary Korean menu), but if it gives people an interest in your cuisine, then you can teach them about more elaborate stuff,” he said.

In an interesting comparison, he said the process has been much easier with Japanese food because Western chefs have been adopting Japanese skills, citing the example of David Chang, a star Korean-American chef.

Regarded as one of chefs-of-the-moment, Chang has his empire of Momofuku restaurants in New York, including Momofuku Ssam, which ranked 31st on this year’s list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

With its title derived from a mix of Japanese (Momofuku) and Korean (ssam, which means “wrapping”) words, the place combines various Asian cuisines into a fusion menu that includes items such as oysters with kimchi consomm? and braised brisket with rice noodles.

“You have to get (Western) chefs to take contents out of the dishes. (Promotion) won’t be easy if overseas Korean restaurants are just doing their own things. I’m afraid to say most of the places in London are still catering to Korean tourists and residents only,” Warwick said.

hckim@koreatimes.co.kr

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Korea Times
10-30-2009 17:40

By Lee Tae-hoon
Staff Reporter

The government plans to permit dual citizenship to Koreans who have acquired another nationality, as well as foreigners who have married a Korean or lived here for five years, a senior Justice Ministry official said.

Korea has scrapped its original plan to offer dual citizenship only to Korean adoptees and foreigners with outstanding talents, said Cha Gyu-geun, head of the ministry’s Nationality and Refugee Division.

The ministry has nearly completed the new bill which would overhaul the Naturalization Law, Cha said.

The proposed legislation will be publicly announced in two weeks and will likely be voted on in February at an extraordinary session of the National Assembly, according to Cha.

Both ruling and opposition parties do not deny on the need of passing the revision as it would not only protect the rights of minorities, but also attract talents and woo new voters.

Currently, Korea does not permit multiple nationalities for either its citizens or foreigners.

Pledging Loyalty to Korea

The bill would allow people who meet a certain criteria to have dual nationality, upon the submission of a document pledging loyalty to Korea and vowing not to exercise rights as a foreign national while staying here.

Foreigners who have a Korean spouse or lived in the country for five consecutive years would need to pass a naturalization test to obtain a Korean passport.

Currently, they have to renounce their original nationality within six months after naturalization, a major stumbling block that deters foreigners from seeking Korean citizenship.

Under the current law, Korean nationals who obtain citizenship of another country before turning 20 years old have to renounce one nationality before they are 22. Those who get dual nationality after 20 must choose one nation within two years.

Anyone who does not make a choice within a certain period of time loses their Korean nationality, in some cases without their knowledge.

Compulsory Volunteer Work?

Cha denied a recent media report that the ministry is considering demanding women complete a two-year volunteer assignment or military service on the condition of granting dual citizenship.

“Given that women are exempted from military duty in Korea, such a decision would provoke a strong backlash,” Cha said. “The measure was once briefly discussed a long time ago, but the government is no longer considering it.”

As many highly skilled Koreans have opted to remain overseas after finishing their study abroad, Korea has been suffering from a brain drain.

The majority of dual nationals from advanced countries, such as the United States, abandon Korean nationality when they are asked to pick only one.

“The country is rapidly heading to an aging society. If it wants to maintain national competitiveness, Korea can no longer afford to lose talented people, who are reluctant to abandon their foreign citizenship,” Cha said.

Of the Koreans who earned doctorate degrees in engineering in the United States, 31.3 percent remained there after graduating between 1996 and 1999, and 46.3 percent stayed between 2000 and 2003, according to the ministry.

Collateral Benefits

Cha notes that one of the main collateral benefits of the new measure is that it prevents foreigners from being stateless people in case their Korean citizenship is annulled.

If the revised bill is passed, foreigners who have married a Korean will also be able to become Korean without having to renounce their original citizenship.

Of 1.15 million foreigners in Korea, at least 200 have become stateless because they abandoned their original citizenship to gain a green card here, and lost the Korean one as well on charges of sham marriages, according to the ministry.

Cha said the measure will encourage 20,000 Chinese living in Korea for several generations to naturalize.

The majority of the Chinese have refused to be naturalized because they strongly insist on keeping their original citizenship to maintain their cultural identity and keep relations with their ancestral homeland.

Foreigners who have maintained an address in Korea for five consecutive years or more will also be eligible for dual citizenship.

They will be required to have assets or skills sufficient enough to make a living here, and pass a test on basic Korean communication skills and knowledge of its customs and culture.

As of early this year, more than 23,000 people were on the waiting list for the test. Some wait for up to two-and-a-half years. In an effort to expedite the immigration process, the ministry has been administering the test to 3,000 aspiring Koreans every month since July.

The number of people who have lost or renounced their nationality has increased to 1.8 million since 2002, far surpassing the current 83,000 naturalized or newly reinstated Korean citizens, according to the ministry.

Exceptionally Talented Foreigners

Foreigners deemed to have exceptional talents and who can contribute to national development would qualify for Korean citizenship right away. They do not have to fulfill domestic residential requirements or pass the naturalization test.

The only requirement for them will be making a pledge that they will fulfill their duties as a Korean and give up the privileges as a foreigner while living here.

Aggressive steps are being taken by developed countries to attract the necessary human resources with open-door policies.

The net brain inflow into OECD countries rose from 1 percent in 1990 to 1.6 percent in 2000, and the highly educated increased from 31.2 to 35.4 percent, according to the ministry.

Nearly 100 countries permit multiple citizenship. Israel has allowed dual nationality to reinforce solidarity among Israelis living abroad and encourage them to return to their motherland since its modern state was founded in 1948.

In the United States, a child born in the country is given American citizenship at birth. It is estimated that several millions possess multiple nationality, including Arnold Schwarzenegger.

He has been a U.S. citizen since 1983, and has retained his Austrian citizenship during his service as governor of California.

Even Germany, which has a very restrictive nationality law, does grant dual citizenship under certain circumstances. The estimated number of holders of dual citizenship is around 2 million in the Western European country.

Solution for Aging Society

Korea’s birthrate stands at 1.13, one of the lowest in the world, according to the National Statistical Office. By 2050, the population is projected to decline by 6.41 million and the proportion over 65 will be the highest among OECD countries.

The economically active population, aged between 15 and 64, is also expected to fall at a rate of 4 million every 10 years until 2050.

“The original revision bill, announced in May, did not sufficiently address difficulties weaker members of society are facing and lacked measures to prevent Korea from becoming an aging society,” Cha said. “The new bill will seek stronger measures that enhance social integration, protect human rights of minorities and help the country cope with the declining workforce and low birthrate.”

A 2008 survey conducted by the ministry finds that more than 71 percent of Koreans approved of dual citizenship to a certain extent.

Toward Multicultural Society

Strict nationality regulation has been a major obstacle in attracting foreign talent and a source of inconvenience for expatriates in Korea’s increasingly multicultural society.

As of September this year, the number of foreigners in Korea reached 1.15 million, or 2.3 percent of the entire population, the ministry said.

“The number of foreign residents has increased 2.75 times over the past 10 years,” said a ministry official. “If the trend continues, Korea will see a foreigner population of roughly 1.6 million by 2012.”

With regard to suffrage, the official said that the ministry is considering banning dual citizens from casting ballots until they meet a minimum year of residency requirement.

Remaining Obstacles

Most migrant workers from developing countries are allowed to work in Korea for only three years, making it very difficult for them to meet the five-year residency requirement for Korean citizenship.

Korea has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the Employment Permit System (EPS) with countries which send some 70,000 migrant workers to Korea each year.

However, their employment contract period cannot exceed one year and they can renew the contract only within the limit of three years from the entry date to Korea.

“Korea will have a lot to gain from the introduction of dual citizenship,” said Joel Levin, a former American journalist working for the Korea Exchange Bank.

“Yet, the continuous residency of five years can be quite challenging to foreigners unless existing visa rules are further eased.”

leeth@koreatimes.co.kr

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