JFNK, KUMFA: Two Worthy Causes

I've received emails from a couple of cool people I know, who have asked me to share the news about a couple of worthy causes which I believe in:

Justice For North Korea is a group that raises awareness of the North Korea human rights crisis. They have weekly meetings, and they also have events where people can help out with planning and organization... or where they might be interested in showcasing your talents, if you're an artist, a musician, or some other kind of performer. If you've been looking for a stage for your contortionist juggling act (or your band) it might be worth looking into this.

You can reach them, and learn more, through their Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/justicefornorthkorea


As any longtime reader knows, I care a lot about womens' issues in South Korea, and in that vein, Korean Unwed Mothers' Family Association is having an event on April 27, in Hongdae. If you frequent Hongdae on the weekend anyway, think about adding this to the itinerary, and dropping the price of a few long island ice teas on some people who could use it more than you could use a bad hangover.

Again, find out more about it at the Facebook event, and mark it in your calendar.

Expect posting at Blogoseyo to be light, as presentation and midterm season is coming up at school, and then term papers.

And if you can... vote. It's election day in Korea, and a lot of Koreans went to jail or died in the late 70s and 80s so you could.

Lecture on North Korea and China... LANKOV!

Hat tip to Matt from Popular Gusts.

Andrei Lankov, probably the North Korea commentator/analyst I like/trust the most, is giving a lecture on North Korea and China. If you're in Seoul, and able at all to go, you should.

More info here.

Here is a baby. And some hard questions.

Here is a baby to entertain you until I have time/passion/bile to write up another full length post.


Among the things on my mind:

How does one distinguish a discourse from a national narrative (for example: the developmental discourse in Korea, and the national narrative of the Korean success story).

Is it possible for Lee Myung-Bak's attempts to "brand" Korea and position Korea as a "world leader" to be any less in step with the idea of "soft power" as theorized by Joseph Nye?

How much can op-ed columns in major Korean newspapers be taken as representative of/trusted to reliably frame major national discourses on various?

Why doesn't every news publisher have easily searchable archives?

And one more time: Baby:

Greener Pastures...

[UPDATE] OK then....
since it's no longer April first anywhere in the world...

Gotcha.
And for those of you who didn't notice the date... this didn't ring any "Too good to be true" bells?



Hi, readers.

I'm not quite sure how to start this post... but I've got some news that's really exciting, but perhaps a bummer for a lot of my readers.

Most of you know I've been doing graduate studies in Korean Studies lately, and this has led to an interesting opportunity: through a connection I made at the Canadian embassy with the consultative group there, I've been invited to join a Vancouver-based think tank on migration, multicultural policy and identity politics across the Pacific Rim. They're looking for someone with extensive experience in writing and Korean culture, with a balance between Canadian perspective and boots-on-the-ground experience in Korea... which is pretty much exactly me. After a few interviews, I was offered the position in March, and after mulling it over with Wifeoseyo and our families, I've decided to accept it.

Not only will I get a full-benefits government-funded job, the think tank has long-term corporate backing from a number of Pacific Rim import/export companies who have a whole line-up of research projects they'd like us to develop. On top of that, the company will support my Ph.D. studies while I work for them... so long as its focus is in line with the institute's research goals... and they are. I don't know how many people are lucky enough to get offered positions where they're paid to study the topics that fascinate them.

It's hard to say goodbye to Korea -- it's been a pretty sudden, shocking change for Wifeoseyo, who'd been expecting to live in Korea pretty much indefinitely... but when we looked at the package they were offering, which included training to help Wifeoseyo pick up her line of business over in Canada, and the schools we'd have access to for Babyseyo, and the chance to be closer to my two sisters... in the end it was a no-brainer.

The amount of time they're asking, and the kinds of research tasks I'll be organizing and executing, pretty much preclude anything but work/research and family time -- I've enjoyed writing Roboseyo, and for a long time, I've told anyone who listens that the best thing about writing this blog has been the AWESOME people I've met -- I'll be in touch with you personally -- and if you're in the Vancouver area, the Roboseyo email will stay open.



I'm glad I stayed with blogspot now, because the free service means that I can keep the blog online in perpetuity -- Blogoseyo isn't going anywhere, but it just won't be updated anymore -- but the blogosphere has never been in better shape, and I'm sure, between this sidebar and the sidebar links of the other bloggers and blogs you like, you'll easily find other sources of insight and entertainment... but it won't be me.

Unless you see some of my publications here or there.

Thanks again, all my loyal readers and commenters, for your contribution to the awesome experience that Blogoseyo has been... I'm sorry I won't be able to engage with you the way I have... but then again, if I'm not living here anymore, it's for the better: I've seen what happens to those who try to keep a Korea-blog running after repatriation, and it just doesn't work.

Love you all:

Rob

And one more, because successful trolls are really funny:

North Korea Fires Missiles. Nothing Actually Changes

Reuters reports that North Korea has launched some short range missiles.
Japan has issued orders to shoot down the missiles.
They're short range missiles -- not the long-range ones they'd been talking about, and had been universally warned and roundly criticized about.

I heard about it first on Twitter, at this guy's page.

But this does not change anything. North Korea continues stomping its feet, in order to make sure the Nuclear Summit is about them, and not anyone else. Whether North Korea's new leader Kim Jong-eun was behind this new plan, or whether one of Kim Jong-il's advisers is simply urging a continued, consistent policy, is unclear. However, North Korea remains true to its longtime policy of wild swings in word and deed, as an effort to grab international attention, play allies/rivals against each other, and extract as much aid as possible.

The fact the missiles were short-range, not the long-range ones we'd heard about, was a calculated move, I think. It's another example of North Korea's continuing balancing game of acting out, but staying just enough on THIS side of the pale that they can trick people into thinking it's worth negotiating with them (in exchange for aid!)... and then acting out again to make sure everybody remembers they're crazy and unpredictable, so it's important to pay attention to them and try to engage them! Their irrational behavior is actually very rational, and calculated, and various world polities have been taking the bait like suckers since the cold war.

Two good ways to think of North Korea are Hillary Clinton's hilarious assessment that it's like "An Unruly Teenager" (North Korea's prickly response to her comment is even funnier: I heard Kim Jong-il challenged her to a fight by the swingset at 3:30)

...or that North Korea is basically the geopolitical equivalent of an internet troll, doing whatever it can to get a reaction. We figured this out when North Korea's envoy to the United Nations started shouting "FIRST!" at the opening of the UN's General Assembly meetings.

As everybody who deals with internet trolls and melodramatic teenagers knows, the best way to deal with them is to ignore the histrionics, and maintain the original policy, lest a response be read as reinforcement of the drama-queen strategy.

One of the best pieces of North Korea analysis remains this piece from One Free Korea: "How To Disarm Kim Jong-il (now Kim Jong-eun, of course) Without Bombing Him"

Another one: (original map:)

It's actually not a bad fit.

My blog's licensed under Creative Commons, which means you're allowed to use these troll images... but please give me credit and a link. And if you make one of your own that's really funny, leave a link in the comments below!