Three restaurants next to each other share the same name : pick the one in the middle. You'll see both limousines and rotten cabs parked in front of this not so glamorous place. One big room, each party wolfing ultraspicy cold noodles down - a North Korean sadicist treat served with a delicious beef stew. Strong, cheap... a killer institution.
OJANGDONG HAMHEUNG NENGMYEON (restaurant)
90-10 Ojang-dong, Jung-gu, SEOUL, ROK
Tel : +82.2.2267.9500 - 2268.8500
SM2005
see other restaurants in Seoul and Korea.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Woo-Jeong Nakji (Seoul)
Their octopuss is so hot it may kill your foes or your microbs, but their light clam soup can help you survive another day.
SM2003
Woo-Jeong Nakji / Ujeong Nakji / 우정낙지 (restaurant)
Seolin-dong 127, Jongno-gu, SEOUL, ROK
Tel : +82.2.720.7991
Photo "Octopus museum" (copyright Stephane MOT 2007)
Woo-Jeong Nakji's ugly old yellow-salmonishy building is the only one remaining in the area after the restoration of Cheonggyecheon. You simply can't remove such an institution overnight. Hell - if they can survive their own food these guys may even survive a nuclear attack.
I'm afraid bulldozers will eventually tear this Octopus Museum down and that day will be a sad one for Yours Truly.
SM2006
see other restaurants in Seoul and Korea.
SM2003
Woo-Jeong Nakji / Ujeong Nakji / 우정낙지 (restaurant)
Seolin-dong 127, Jongno-gu, SEOUL, ROK
Tel : +82.2.720.7991
Photo "Octopus museum" (copyright Stephane MOT 2007)
Woo-Jeong Nakji's ugly old yellow-salmonishy building is the only one remaining in the area after the restoration of Cheonggyecheon. You simply can't remove such an institution overnight. Hell - if they can survive their own food these guys may even survive a nuclear attack.
I'm afraid bulldozers will eventually tear this Octopus Museum down and that day will be a sad one for Yours Truly.
SM2006
see other restaurants in Seoul and Korea.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
banNK accounts and other accounts for historians
People from North Korea will be allowed to open bank accounts in China and do business in Yuan.
You know what kind of people from North Korea can afford this kind of tasks these days.
Pyeongyang's regime is offered a safe heaven in return for what ? Probably a Chinese anschluss of Chosun, as a province of the new and improved Koguryo, the fake cultural and historical center of Korea under construction in North East China, with the benediction of an army of revisionist historians.
Under the Middle Kingdom's powerful umbrella, this new Tibet will then demand the reunification with that renegate and remote piece of land called South Korea.
Pathetic.
Don't get me wrong. I love China and respect its unique civilisation. I do know its cultural influence on the region in general and especially in Korea.
But Korea is not a Chinese province and Koguryo doesn't belong to China.
And Beijing's top strategists are playing a very dangerous game by fueling ultranationalism. This folly is the best way to keep a nation united in the short term and to make it implode in the medium term. Remember Yugoslavia. See how xenophobia and antisemitism are condemning Putin's Russia.
China is a great country and the birthplace of strategy, but I'm afraid Sun Tzu's heirs are losing their minds and waging the wrong battles at the wrong moment.
You know what kind of people from North Korea can afford this kind of tasks these days.
Pyeongyang's regime is offered a safe heaven in return for what ? Probably a Chinese anschluss of Chosun, as a province of the new and improved Koguryo, the fake cultural and historical center of Korea under construction in North East China, with the benediction of an army of revisionist historians.
Under the Middle Kingdom's powerful umbrella, this new Tibet will then demand the reunification with that renegate and remote piece of land called South Korea.
Pathetic.
Don't get me wrong. I love China and respect its unique civilisation. I do know its cultural influence on the region in general and especially in Korea.
But Korea is not a Chinese province and Koguryo doesn't belong to China.
And Beijing's top strategists are playing a very dangerous game by fueling ultranationalism. This folly is the best way to keep a nation united in the short term and to make it implode in the medium term. Remember Yugoslavia. See how xenophobia and antisemitism are condemning Putin's Russia.
China is a great country and the birthplace of strategy, but I'm afraid Sun Tzu's heirs are losing their minds and waging the wrong battles at the wrong moment.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Namdaemunium
The collapse of Sungnyemun is a tragedy for Seoul, where most National Treasures have been reconstructed after the Japanese occupation or the war. The Southern Gate survived both, but despite its central and remote location it couldn't be saved from a vulgar fire.
Rebuilding National Treasure #1 will take 3 years.
How long to recover from this feeling of loss ?
Rebuilding National Treasure #1 will take 3 years.
How long to recover from this feeling of loss ?
Sunday, January 13, 2008
The Bulldozer Canal
President-elect-and-under-judicial-threat LEE Myung-bak confirmed his ambition to build a canal joining the Han and the Nakdong rivers during his first (and theorically only, unless he also manages to remodel the constitution) mandate.
One more project on the Seoul - Busan axis ? I'd rather see Korea build a circular bullet train line to balance the country's infrastructures with a milder impact on the environment. Or even better, invest in the much needed restoration of Seoul's subway stations, many of which are plagued with asbestos dust falls (30% of Seoul Metro's employees are rumored to be suffering from this cancerous material).
As the name of his Cyworld blog shows*, "Bulldozer" LEE is ambitious : one year to plan, three years to build (2009-2011), and one year to campaign for a second term. Not much time to think and plenty of time to sink ?
The former CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction wants his pharaonic project to be 100% financed by private companies. All chaebols have already been invited to a roundtable, and Middle East investors are likely to pour the bulk of the $15 bn announced.
A quick reality check already showed the actual number would be triple that... and a tedious real estaty check would probably multiply it tenfold.
A streamlet as a Mayor, a canal as a President... should LEE become the next BAN Ki-moon, he'd probably dig a new ocean or at least an Asian equivalent to the Mediterranean sea.
* http://mbtious.cyworld.com/
One more project on the Seoul - Busan axis ? I'd rather see Korea build a circular bullet train line to balance the country's infrastructures with a milder impact on the environment. Or even better, invest in the much needed restoration of Seoul's subway stations, many of which are plagued with asbestos dust falls (30% of Seoul Metro's employees are rumored to be suffering from this cancerous material).
As the name of his Cyworld blog shows*, "Bulldozer" LEE is ambitious : one year to plan, three years to build (2009-2011), and one year to campaign for a second term. Not much time to think and plenty of time to sink ?
The former CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction wants his pharaonic project to be 100% financed by private companies. All chaebols have already been invited to a roundtable, and Middle East investors are likely to pour the bulk of the $15 bn announced.
A quick reality check already showed the actual number would be triple that... and a tedious real estaty check would probably multiply it tenfold.
A streamlet as a Mayor, a canal as a President... should LEE become the next BAN Ki-moon, he'd probably dig a new ocean or at least an Asian equivalent to the Mediterranean sea.
* http://mbtious.cyworld.com/
Saturday, January 5, 2008
One million aliens
1,000,254 foreigners live in Korea. That's not much (a little bit over 2% of the population), but the number almost tripled within the last 10 years. And it starts showing.
Chinese represent 44.1% of the total and Americans 11.8%, but the majority of these Chinese "foreigners" (266,764) are ethnic Koreans... and I wouldn't be surprised to see a similar pattern among the 117,938 US citizens registered by the Ministry of Justice. The Korean diaspora going mobile seems a key driver anyway.
Another internal driver is the recent trend of "spouses imports" : 104,749 immigrants are married to Koreans - three times more than in 2002. And we are not just talking high rise international weddings but also about farmers picking up wives in South East Asian rice paddies. Mixed kids with a cultural handicap (inadapted mother at home and xenophobic neighbors around) are becoming a national issue.
And emerging countries are the main providers of "aliens". Japan and Taiwan lag behind Vietnam, Philippines and Thailand (15.7% for the 3 combined). But if there are 1.5 times more illegal immigrants than 10 years ago, they only represent 22.5% of the total, down from 38.3%.
Songdo New Town intends to compete with the likes of Singapore or Hong Kong, proposing lavish penthouses and wide green spaces one hour away from China and Japan to Westerners. But will they rush to new towns as quickly as Koreans did for Bundang ?
Chinese represent 44.1% of the total and Americans 11.8%, but the majority of these Chinese "foreigners" (266,764) are ethnic Koreans... and I wouldn't be surprised to see a similar pattern among the 117,938 US citizens registered by the Ministry of Justice. The Korean diaspora going mobile seems a key driver anyway.
Another internal driver is the recent trend of "spouses imports" : 104,749 immigrants are married to Koreans - three times more than in 2002. And we are not just talking high rise international weddings but also about farmers picking up wives in South East Asian rice paddies. Mixed kids with a cultural handicap (inadapted mother at home and xenophobic neighbors around) are becoming a national issue.
And emerging countries are the main providers of "aliens". Japan and Taiwan lag behind Vietnam, Philippines and Thailand (15.7% for the 3 combined). But if there are 1.5 times more illegal immigrants than 10 years ago, they only represent 22.5% of the total, down from 38.3%.
Songdo New Town intends to compete with the likes of Singapore or Hong Kong, proposing lavish penthouses and wide green spaces one hour away from China and Japan to Westerners. But will they rush to new towns as quickly as Koreans did for Bundang ?
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
12 degrees of separation
This is my 4th presidential campaign in Korea. The posters haven't evolved much, and the animations at the crossroads still look about the same : mobile podiums blasting vibrating speeches, big screens, adjuma cheerleaders welcoming you out of your shop / subway station with fanatic songs praising a rather North Korean way their dear leaders... Christmas carols ahead of time, loud enough to cover up intense rumors of corruption...
11 candidates will try to prevent Lee Myung-bak from getting 50% of the ballots. 49M citizens will get a new leader for 3 years, and a new lame duck for 2... even if Seoul's former mayor changes the constitution to make 2 much needed changes for his successors : now that the democracy proved its sustainability, presidents should be allowed to run for a second mandate, and presidential elections should include a second round to clarify the political landscape (enough with this tradition of comical alliances and betrayals).
It's time to restore some dignity to an important function. Disapointed by ROH Moo-hyun's waste of trust (he held both the executive and legislative branches but balked in front of reforms - he did have to face a strange breed of justice, though...), netizens could decide to turn their back to the res publica and to focus on their virtual kingdoms instead.
11 candidates will try to prevent Lee Myung-bak from getting 50% of the ballots. 49M citizens will get a new leader for 3 years, and a new lame duck for 2... even if Seoul's former mayor changes the constitution to make 2 much needed changes for his successors : now that the democracy proved its sustainability, presidents should be allowed to run for a second mandate, and presidential elections should include a second round to clarify the political landscape (enough with this tradition of comical alliances and betrayals).
It's time to restore some dignity to an important function. Disapointed by ROH Moo-hyun's waste of trust (he held both the executive and legislative branches but balked in front of reforms - he did have to face a strange breed of justice, though...), netizens could decide to turn their back to the res publica and to focus on their virtual kingdoms instead.
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