Descendants of the Sun(glasses)

I confess I never watched the "Descendants of the Sun" drama. This 2016 military hero sporting sunglasses reminds me too much of that 1986 Tom 'Top Gun' Cruise, if not that 1966 Park 'Retaliator' Chung-hee. Plus I don't feel comfortable with a Korean national broadcaster glamorizing too much the military when on the other side of the East Sea, Shinzo Abe is trying everything he can, from anime to music groups, to promote JSDF to younger generations... Well you do need sunglasses to face such a Rising Sun revival, but still...

I don't know if KBS aired a marathon of the "Descendants of the Sun" drama on election day to keep young voters home, but in spite of a record audience for the shows, the ruling party lost its majority.

That political drama came as a personal blow for Descendant of the Sunglasses PARK Geun-hye, as well as for at least two candidates to her succession:
- KIM Moo-sung bowed out after the debacle. Anyway, he didn't stand a chance for 2017 (at least he won't even need to be "bankimoonized" - see further down)
- OH Se-hoon failed miserably in his risky Jongno-gu bet* - over and out for politics?

Internal wars are likely to rage within a Saenuri Party that already started imploding when PGH pushed for her own candidates, provoking an outflow of defectors. Which currents will emerge around which leaders? And who will play the role of ROH Moo-hyun's MOON Jae-in for PARK, CHOI Kyoung-hwan?

If you think the time has come for BAN Ki-moon to rise, think again: just days after the elections, some of his best enemies made public his embarrassing reports to CHUN Doo-hwan about KIM Dae-jung in exile in the States...

BAN Ki-moon's dream for 2017 stop here (his 1985 reports on KIM Dae-jung to CHUN Doo-hwan) (twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/721879593443921920 - 20160416)
via @annafifield**

AHN Cheol-soo dreams of drafting disillusioned Saenuri figures with his brand new 38-MP-strong People's Party. If the Minjoo Party claimed much more seats (122), MOON Jae-in can't claim it as a personal victory. His party recorded its first win as soon as he left its leadership - as if even the old KIM Chong-in, who worked for CHUN Doo-hwan and PGH, looked less a figure of the past, and a better leader for the left than him. Worse: Honam (Jeolla-do) voted massively for AHN's camp. And MOON let other faces get the spotlights, like KIM Boo-kyum, who triumphed in conservative Daegu.


If PARK Won-soon didn't run last week, he doesn't hide his ambitions for 2017. Depending on how AHN manages to build on his momentum, the Seoul mayor could have a tough time playing the independent leader. And MOON won't let him hijack Minjoo that easily. 

The months to come could be fun watching... and feature more bankimoonizations.

Seoul Village 2016
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* see "OH Se-hoon returns... but did he ever leave?"
** see "반기문, ‘김대중 귀국’ 미국 내 여론 동향 보고…미, 전두환 정부 ‘호헌 지지’ 요청에도 끝내 거절"

Park-Na debate on KBS

The October 26 Seoul Mayoral race (and the traditional mudslinging contest that comes with it) is raging between GNP nominee NA Kyung-won and AHN Cheol-Soo's protégé PARK Won-soon, the independent who defeated the DP favorite PARK Young-sun in the liberal primaries.

Both candidates debated yesterday on KBS, and it's hard to tell who will prevail.

NA looked definitely more ready for the job, the former lawyer exposing a clear vision and a perfect understanding of all key challenges and issues when PARK remained at the principles level, refusing to enter into any details, even regarding his strategy*. Oddly, the representant of the opposition looked on the defensive against the "incumbent", who seeked a positive approach reminiscent of OH Se-hoon's.

PARK struck exclusively the emotional chord, putting sometimes too much emphasis on his Beautiful Foundation (half of his final one-minute pitch !), and I guess he appealed better to the older segment of the audience. But frankly, from what I saw yesterday, this man doesn't seem to understand what the job is all about, what's at stake for the future of Seoul. He did enter the race quite late as a total outsider, but a minimum of preparation was expected.

PARK also exposed a suicidal stubbornness regarding the "Younghwa Bridge" episode : 30 of the 40 bn KRW needed for the renovation have already been invested, but he said he would leave it like that, just to illustrate the waste of money caused by previous administration (OH Se-hoon). PARK confirmed that yesterday, even when reminded that it would mean more hassles and traffic jams for Seoulites (if you take this bridge one of these days you understand the statu quo is not an option, and the bridge had to be renovated because it had caused many accidents in the past). Needless to say, NA pointed out his irresponsible attitude and the fact that he was, again, more into criticizing than proposing.

Still, NA remains behind in the polls. And a NA win would mean more months of cohabitation around City Hall...

Either way, let's hope Seoul will not lose its momentum.

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Junggye's "Baeksa Village" shall survive

Here's one of my favorite Seoul villages. If you take a Nowon-gu map, it's easily recognizable as the only area with a crooked shape in an ocean of neat appartment blocks. That's actually how I spotted it for the first time, and I wasn't disapointed by the place, one of Seoul's last typical "moon villages" ("달동네") with a soul of its own and an almost rural lifestyle. I took this picture* of kids playing there exactly seven years ago, and I remember the red peppers drying up on the streets, or the old people inviting us for a chat on their mat at a fork in the road.

Located on the Western slopes of Buramsan, "백사 마을" (Baeksa Maeul or Baeksa Village) doesn't owe its name to the fact that it hosts the 104-san beonji of Junggye-bun-dong (also spelled "baeksa"), but to a legendary "white snake" ("baeksa"). And "White Snake Village"'s serpentine main "street" leads you to the edge of a forest that didn't exist back in 1967, when the area first drew the attention of the media (and when Park Chung-hee's reforestation program hadn't turned Seoul's bald red hills into green lungs yet).

Last time I visited the place back in 2004, there were already talks of redevelopment. You could see many "budongsan" opening shop at the feet of the village, and in those new town crazy years, I wouldn't have bet any buck on a survival for this forsaken place.

Baeksa Maeul again made the (local) headlines not so long ago, when LH Corporation's new town plans were made public. Not very original, but at least we were spared the usual tombstone giants.



Today, the village makes national headlines because all plans have been dropped (in financial turmoil, LH has cancelled many programs over the past year), and local authorities have opted for a softer "remodelling" that partially preserves the shape, the streets, and hopefully the spirit of this very cute place. Among other sources, I recommend this KBS video ("마지막 달동네 ‘백사마을’, 마을 한켠에 보존") where you can enjoy many different views on Baeksa Village, including films from 1967 :


I'm really happy. Not only because White Snake Village has a chance to survive without losing its soul, but because all this noise shall boost preservation for the other few surviving gems and moon villages still clinging to the city's mountain slopes.

More likely, speculators will rush here and there to snatch cheap land and build big mansions before local authorities manage to secure the areas. Not far from there in Sanggye, I could see that happen in Danggogae's former slums years ago.

Seoul Village 2011
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* you've seen this picture in "Junggye Maeul" (June 2007), as well as, among other "Seoul crumbs", in dragedies.

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UPDATE 20110906 : added a snapshot from the KBS video showing the village before/after remodelling.

Noodle road, from laghman to ramyeon

A couple of years ago, KBS aired a mouthwatering documentary : "Noodle Road", a travel across space, time, and culinary traditions (see trailer below).

In this acclaimed series, we saw how the Uyghurs created the World's first noodles. The delicacy spread Eastwards but also Westwards, all the way to Sicily. The very name of Uyghur noodles, laghman, sounds like the origin of noodle names across Asia (for instance la mian, ramen, ramyeon).

I recently tasted Uyghur food in Paris, and it's really unique. Even familiar dishes (ie samosa, lamb soup) have a very special flavor.

I hope Uyghur food will reach again Korean shores. A laghman booth at the next Seoul Friendship Fair ? A Uyghur restaurant someday in Dongdaemun Central Asian Village, who knows ?

Seoul Village 2011

* Noodle Road, the KBS trailer: