Kim Jung Il and North Korean Stats

The November issue of Groove Korea was rich in stories of North Korea. Such stories included "Arduous March of N.K. Tourism", "The Pyongyang Merry-go-round", "Flashback or Flash Forward?" and "My Memories of North Korea". The catching title to this month's Groove is "A Defector Tells Her Story" and the shadowy outline of a hip-curvy woman with the black effect of fencing and barb-wire lend surreal effect to another North Korean 'behind the forbidden lines' story. South Korea provides asylum for North Korean refugees; however, the refugees must make their way through other enemy territory (China), to Vietnam or other countries where they can run to a Korean embassy to request asylum. If caught in China, the Chinese government treats the refugees not as war refugees but as famine refugees and repatriates them to their country ... where it is believed that they are put in a gulag for daring to escape or they simply disappear.

In the magazine my eye caught some statistics of North Korean defectors from 1949 - 2009. I'm not sure why the numbers of defectors exploded in 2001-2005 - what perhaps provoked so many to dare attempt an escape? or perhaps more accurately, what military factor broke down enough to allow so many defectors the chance to actually escape? The numbers in 2006-2009 exploded even more and the same questions apply.


And then there was also a time-line of key events that took place in North Korea, and some small commentary on each event. I'd like to make further comment on two of the events below.

(1) According to the time line, in 1976 North Korea was passed by the South Korean economy. This was a big blow to the North Korean ego. Until that time, the GDP and other 'perks' were publicized internationally and they continually compared their economy to that of the fledgling South Korean economy. Once the South Korean economy, however, surpassed the North's, the previously publicized financial factors in North Korea were made secret, as were many other "developments" there also.

(2) This magazine reports 117 South Korean companies operating in the Gaesong Industrial Complex, and 42,560 North Koreans employed in those companies. I believe this is an inaccuracy. One of my friends went on one of the last Gaesong tours and came back with shocking insights. By the way, my friend speaks Chinese okay but lousy Korean, so when they were in the Gaesong complexes my friend tried to interact in Chinese with the sales girls. A few of them got very excited that my friend was speaking to them in Chinese, and answered all sorts of questions posed to them. One question was in regard to the pin that each worker wore, but there were some variations in the pins. The workers informed my friend that even though they wore the pin stating they were North Koreans, they were in fact Chinese. The actual North Koreans working there were fewer than the Chinese although the majority of workers wore North Korean pins. Also, they said, telling the North Korean workers apart is very easy (for them). The North Korean workers never interact with the foreigners but the Chinese workers, and yes, they speak (North) Korean, do interact to some extent. So this number of 42,560 North Korean workers being employed at Gaesong is rather questionable.

And since we're making comments about these "facts", here's a third difference. Since 1945 there have been only 2 leaders in North Korea. Well, that is true up until today only for today Kim Jung Il died and will be succeeded by one of his sons. (I write this in hindsight. Actually I don't know if the succession was clearly stated in North Korea but I do know there has been a lot of discussion and controversy or who would be eligible.)

So today, at the age of 70, Kim Jung Il who was born 16 February 1941 (Soviet records) or 1942 (North Korean records) died. Facts provided about him in the magazine are amusing. He had four children, had a 38 under par in golf (albeit that's his reported score), and had an annual budget of $800,000 for Hennessy cognac. That's a lot of cognac and that's a huge expenditure on a product for self pleasure when a package of noodles (I've heard) at a tiny mom-and-pop style cafe would be about 15 cents, a sum the majority cannot afford. There was no mention of the GDP in North Korea but the makeup of the North Korean economy is divided into three large sectors: industry at 43.1%, services at 33.6%, and agriculture at 23.3%.

Filipina Women in US Military Camptowns

Park Sori, the director of Durebang in Pyoungtek, gave a presentation on the final night of the series on gender studies sponsored by the International Outreach Team of the House of Sharing: "한풀이: Liberating Herstories".

The website www.durebang.org is for the Durebang center in 위정부, the main office and which assists the women who were entrapped in sex trafficking around the military bases in years past; the women at that site are older, maybe around 60ish, but the women in the 평택 Durebang are younger and principally Filippina. The 평택 Durebang has only been opened for 2 years and is still trying to resolve what role it can play in assisting the sex trafficked foreign women. [Much dialog is held about the role these women function in modern-day society, and their roles as 'coerced' sex workers have been likened to that of the 'comfort women' of the Japanese colonial period.]

Since 1986 Durebang has been a functioning organization that has supported foreign camptown women. These women have come to Korean on legal visas to work in and only for entertainment as singers and dancers, and the women since the 1990s have been predominantly Filippinas, misled Filippinas who are promised one job and upon arrival realize that it's a different job and are forced to do the work as they have no social or legal support in the foreign country. Therefore, one of the big reasons for opening the 평택 branch is to provide avenues for entertainment workers social networks outside of their compromised work environment and to meet other Filippinas in the Korean community, such as Filippinas who have married Korean men or are nannies, etc.

The Filippinas who do go to Durebang for assistance are usually needing help regarding financial assistance, such as no money for food, not being paid, needing hospital or medical care. However, they NOT want to say anything in any way regarding their being victims of sex trafficking. After some time of being open and available for assistance, one Filippina finally confessed to being used sexually and once someone had opened the topic, others came to report the problem also. The Filippinas came to Korea thinking that they would be singers and dancers, but once here realized that their job as entertainer was bar hostess that had to serve other sex roles.

Even though their passports and ID were taken away, the government does not admit that they are sex trafficked as to the government sex trafficking implies kidnapping and being chained or confined against one's will and obviously the Filippinas have signed contracts as entertainers and are not chained or confined in any way. As the workers have official places of work -- cruise boats, entertainment resorts, near military camps, ports, they are certainly not trafficked. However, sex trafficking in its broader definition means that people, predominantly women, are moved to alternative locations and pressured into sexual relations of any kind against their will. These girls are therefore sex trafficked; they have been not forcefully but deceptively relocated to another country, given jobs that they did not contract for, and are forced to stay at those jobs (by government sanction) as they cannot find employment anywhere else until they show their personal documents, which they don't even have access to, and re-register their place of employment. Therefore, the Filippinas' existence in Korea is a sex-trafficking sanctioned by the government!

How Brokers Work in the Filippines

Women first get introduced to brokers by family members, friends, and other contacts. The Filippinas are hoping to get a job in order to earn money to support their families back in the Philippines. Once they accept the job, brokers convince them of the validity of the job and the girls receive training in singing and/or dancing in order to have the necessary skills upon arriving in Korea. They are also convinced that they will receive workers' rights, 4 days off a month, only give 3 performances a day, and basically brokers go to great lengths to convince the girls and those around them of the attractiveness of the job.

However, once the girls are in Korea and actually see others working, they know their contracts are basically null and void. Instead of singing, they might be working as bar hostesses and have to meet certain unrealistic quotas, for example, as a juicy bar hostess they might have to sell 300-400 glasses of pricey fruit juice (non-alcoholic so the selling is tricky) a month. They learn how to flirt, sit next to or on the lap of the customer, act cute, kiss, dance and even have more escalated contact, which can include sex. Business owners actually give a commission on each glass of juice sold -- example, for a ₩10,000 glass commission might be ₩2,000, and with this minute payment, owners can validate their claim that the girls are not trafficked and of course girls act all innocent when police or immigration raid the juicy bars as they feel somehow caught in the machinations of the industry and don't know who to trust or if they can even get help.

Brokers certainly aren't trustworthy. They are the ones benefitting. They get a commission for each girl they sign up, so go to unscrupulous ends for high commissions. Then, when bar owners pay the girls, they aren't paid the entertainment wages dictated by their contracts (hey, they likely haven't met quota so why?) so the owners pay between 1.1 and 1.3million won, but not to the girls but to the brokers. The brokers may or may not pay the girls, who might in the end only see ₩300,000 a month, not really enough to eek by and certainly with little to nothing left over to send home to the family in the Philippines.

Feeling trapped and bound by the quota system, girls learn that selling one juice equates to one point toward the unrealistic 300 or 400, but if they go to 2-차, or second round, they can get 20 points toward their quota ... and so they are kind of forced into the physical sexual acts.

Many people know about the circumstances of the juicy bars or other entertainment systems, but see them as a "necessary evil". The Korean sex industry is rapidly increasing and the nature of this work, "sex trafficking", is conducted in areas where it's not obvious, behind closed doors so to say, and so there is a lot of passivity on the issue. As it was historically for the poor Korean women without male support, Korea with its development now thinks that it is justified that other poor-country women should do the same work. Russian women were "trafficked" in Korea until 2003 when the E-6 visa was no longer issued to them, but this simply transferred the sex work around military camps to another nationality of women. In short the prevailing attitude seems to be, although the sex industry for camptowns does happen in Korean but no longer involves Korean women, it really is not Korea's problem any more.

To solve this problem, Durebang also tries to work with the sending countries because they are responsible too. Japan has military camptowns like Korea, and there too the women working them are predominantly Filippinas, a country quite relaxed about sending its women abroad to work. The Thai government takes an even laxer stance on the sending of its females than the Philippines government. There is a lack of vital response to control the work as the work outside constitutes generating cash flow within the country, an attitude that Korea took in the 1960s through 1980s, which results in exploitation of its people, particularly its women.

The Filipina women, after coming to the Durebang shelter, want to return to their country, which means that no charges can be pressed if there is no one to testify against the contract breakers and sexual perpetrators. Further on that note, Korean women usually fail at winning in sex related court cases, and foreign women, particularly the looked-down upon south-east Asians, really haven't got a chance of winning.

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Tonight concludes the series "Liberating Herstories". More awareness on the topic of the sex industry - both past and present - and hopefully some sizeable donations have been made to divide between the 3 NGOs: House of Sharing, Durebang, and the Korean Council. However, although many people attended and I attended almost every night, I saw no businessmen, only one reporter (maybe), in fact few professionals. Young people mostly attended ... but they will help carry the flame to light the pyre of enlightenment on the issue and fuel the political engines for getting an apology and the six other concerns of the halmoni. Looking around Cafe Anthrocite at the various pictures of the halmoni on silent auction tonight [halmoni through art paint their emotions of the unfortunate events which took place], there is one picture that I find most gripping on the issue. It is a picture of a young woman in stark black and white; the only color on the large felt pen and ink picture is a bloody red hand splashed over the woman's mouth ... demanding her silence.


She will remain silent no longer! She will speak out! She will be heard! She demands an apology!

"The Rape of Nanking"

The book "The Rape of Nanking" was a horrific undertaking for the young Chinese-American Iris Chang to write. She felt compelled, she was driven to reveal the voices of the untold number of Chinese who were brutally murdered by the Japanese after breaking the gate of Nanking down and taking military control of the city. Numbers are argued among scholars, but the point is not the numbers, but the fact that such violence could be wreaked upon a city that did not resist them. Women were brutalized, raped and systematically killed to remove all evidence; children too were sodomized; men tortured. If numbers killed are important, Iris provides a guestimate. The city before Nanking was marched on contained 1 million residents. As the Japanese approached raiding, pillaging and destroying all that was in their path to the capital, half of the residents fled, leaving 500,000 residents and peasants by the thousands who fled to the great walled city for protection. When the Japanese were finished, half of the 500,000 roughly remained alive within the city, and this greatly reduced number survived only thanks due to a 2 1/2 mile Nanking Safety Zone guarded by a handful of Westerners.

Men were killed but women were taken for sexual purposes, and then killed or maintained in sexual slavery for the military troops during the war. The incessant raping of local women and stirring up more hatred within communities where the military was stationed and the spread of STDs caused the military to sanction "facilities for sexual comfort" so troops would stop raping women in regions they controlled in China. And so the first official comfort house was opened near Nanking in 1938. Untold numbers of women (from several countries but a higher percentage from Korea and Taiwan, the colonies of Japan) were taken. The Japanese referred to them as "public toilets", and if they survived they were shamed, isolated, sterilized or mentally damaged for life. The women suffered the greatest atrocities, and though the Japanese Defense Agency archives revealed a document "Regarding the Recruitment of Women for Military Brothels", Japan denies that the brothels were government sanctioned but operated under private entrepreneurs. Iris Chang burned to reveal to humanity the truth before the truth would be silenced by the death of the aging victims, and Japan would effectively be able to rewrite world history because of victim lack of representation.

The Rape of Nanking is a brutal period in history met by Japanese denial that such brutalization did not and could not have happend by the Japanese army, which was exemplary under the guidance of the emperor. The Japanese military leaders are regarded as war heroes with shrines built for and dedicated to them in Tokyo. Needless to say, the Japanese, unlike the Germans who admitted their war crimes and have paid indemnities, have never admitted to doing anything less than honorable and have never paid consolation moneys of any kind. The UN and the US are largely at fault here because of political and economic reasons. After the war, Japan with its rapidly growing economy, useful to the UN and the US, was also needed as a buffer and balance in the Far East against the growing power of communism and the resulting Cold War, and so the nation which had been practicing aggression in Asia for over half of a century was not tried heavily in the tribunal court and many issues, like the use of women's bodies during war, was never mentioned.

Iris Chang uses triangulation to write her book. She triangulates on the three large perspectives taken of the rape of the city. The first is from the Chinese's perspective and what they suffered; the second from the perpetrators, the Japanese, and a discussion of the circumstances that bring about their denial; and finally, from the foreigners themselves within the city and what they observed, heavily documented by diaries, letters, pictures and even some video.

The movie "The Rape of Nanking" revealed the toll that Iris paid for attempting such a pain-shrouded present darkened by the shadows of a brutal past. In writing her book, she came to live the lives of the victims, who haunted her. Her research weighed heavily on her shoulders and she pushed herself beyond her limits to write a book to reveal the truth on a topic that failed to receive attention in even world history books. Her book was so well-received by the public who was shocked by such a holocaust of lives within just a few weeks that she toured for over a year conducting book signings and revelatory lectures on the topic, raising further awareness.

Her follow-up book was on a similar thread of research, the road of terror by the Japanese done at Bataan. On the same day that Japan bombed Pearl Harbor (well documented in American history books) the Philippines was also bombed (not much historial attention given to this event). Another topic that failed to receive much historical attention in history books and school curriculums! Bataan was another horrific time, a long march of prisoners to Bataan where basically they slowly starved if they even made it on the march. She never completed the book as the work consumed her whole cheerful personality, threw her into depression and caused her to commit suicide, much like her war hero Minnie Vautrin, who she felt was one of the three most vociferous leaders in holding the Nanking Safety Zone and who eventually had a nervous breakdown and committed suicide.

1000 Demonstrations!

In 1991 the first former "comfort woman" Kim Hak Sun spoke out about her sexual abuse by the organized Japanese government in their brothels to maintain the "comfort" of the Japanese troops and keep them fighting. The following year on January 8, 1992 some of the former "comfort women" and other Korean citizens waged a protest in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul. Since that protest on a Wednesday, the former "comfort women" have faithfully protested every Wednesday. And today, December 14, the 1000th protest was enacted. This is the longest recorded protest in history! [Some halmoni demonstrating pictured below.]


Not many of the halmoni (only 5), the preferred term used for referencing the women now, are healthy enough to attend the demonstration but the crowds of other demonstrators made a strong presence and a loud voice in making the on-going demands on the Japanese government. And because this was the symbolic 1000th demonstration held in front of the embassy, the women brought along a statue of a young girl to place in front of the Japanese embassy [read the news report here]. The young girl, symbolizing the young virtuous girls forcefully taken in rape, is dressed in a hanbok, evoking traditional Korean clothing, thoughts and traditions. The Japanese government requested the Seoul/Korean government to deny the statue's placement in front of its embassy but the Korean government has denied the petition.

The demonstrating halmoni want to release their on-going shame, which will never happen if the Japanese government does not admit their fault. The halmoni want an apology, amongst other points. The demands made by the halmoni are seven-fold:

(1) That the Japanese government admit the compulsory drafting of Korean women as Military Sexual Slavery by Japan.
(2) That an official apology be made.
(3) That all the atrocities be fully disclosed.
(4) That a memorial be built for the victims (not just the one that volunteers of the halmonis commissioned to be made for this on-going protest).
(5) That the survivors or their bereaved families be compensated.
(6) That the facts and truth about Military Sexual Slavery by Japan be taught in Japanese history classes so that such inhumanities (crimes against humanity) are not repeated.
(7) Punish the war criminals (who incidentally are lauded as war heroes at Tokyo Shinto shrines).

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Time is running out for the halmoni. Just two nights ago, the 12th of December, 박서운 할머니 (Park Seo Woon), the oldest living recorded survivor of the comfort station system passed way. The next morning (yesterday), 김요지 할머니 (Kim Yo Ji), a resident at 우리 집 (Our Place) in Seoul passed away. The moral indecency of raping hundreds of thousands of young girls, denying such an action, lauding the perpetrators and not acknowledging shame in the act but transferring that shame to the victims is exciting more of the public to demand apologies and recognition of war crimes .... but will it happen before the halmoni all die? And does the Japanese government hope that with the last dying voices of the remaining halmoni, the issue will forever be lost?

"Sex Industry in Korea Today"

Cho Ji Young (조지뎡), 43, is the founder of Dasimihamgye (spelling), meaning "Together Again". Ms. Cho has been working on the sex trafficking issue for 11 years, providing assistance, information and rescue for women in sex trafficking. Her awareness of a serious sex problem in Korea occured when on a field trip and was shown a horrific picture of Yoon Geum-i (윤금이), a prostitute working the clubs around US military camptowns and who had been brutally murdered in 1992. She was surprised such things happened in Korea because even as a Korean, she had NEVER heard of this brutal murder case through any media. There had been many other camptown murders, and all had been basically buried until this particular murder when people started to take this photo around the Chongno area, and show passersby, and how Ms. Cho saw the picture. However, Koreans were fearful of pointing the finger at the US military because of the "need" for American military presence to stave off an invasion from North Korea. However, with this utterly brutal murder, people started demanding that SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) regulations be changed. (SOFA disallows American soldiers being tried in a Korean court, even if the soldier committed a crime in Korea and with hurtful results to a Korean.)


The above picture of Yoon Geum-i, age 28, was taken after her brutalization. She had a coke bottle and an umbrella piercing her anus and two beer bottles shoved up into her uterus. Having many bruises and cuts on her body and a mouth shoved full of broken matchsticks to hide further violence, she had been liberally sprinkled with laundry detergent and abandoned. Cause of death was reportedly from bleeding and collapse of organs. This crime committed by an American military man has been one of the hottest issues raised against the US since the Korean war. Wikipedia offers more on the topic.

Camptown Women

A camptown woman is a euphemism for a prostitute working around the American military camps. According to Cho Ji Young, the US military men use women's bodies with the silent support of the Korean government, as the Korean government could but doesn't shut down such areas but regulates the areas by registering the women [Doesn't registering a woman as a prostitute constitute condoning sexual practices, alternatively called "prostitution" when prostitution is supposed to be illegal? Wouldn't this legalize illegal prostitution?] Like in every place where war is happening and/or men are gathered as instruments of war, women's bodies are part of the war!

As the Korean economy has developed, so has the Korean sex industry. In the 1990s three phenomenons happened:

(1) Koreans started avoiding 3D (dirty, difficult and dangerous) jobs. Prostitution fell in this category, for especially after the murder of Yoon Geum-i, Korean girls were fearful of operating around US camptowns. So migrant workers were suddenly needed, and the E-6 visa or entertainment visa was created. Migrant women were given "legal" status to come to work on the entertainment visa as dancers, singers, etc but which ultimately was a cover-up for the sex industry that they were usually unknowingly thrust into. The government was and is well aware that these girls were hired as singers, etc but because sex workers are needed and falls under the category of "entertainer" the government justifies the workers legality within Korea.

(2) The American dream was broken. Until the 1990s many Korean women had the American dream of marrying a US soldier and being taken care of in the land of great opportunities. However, women who had married American soldiers were starting to return to Korea; many had drug addictions, some had worked in sex towns or had broader sexual relationships in the US and Korea was realizing that the American soldier was not a step upward.

(3) The domestic sex industry expanded to the broader Korean society so improverished, runaways and other Korean women no longer had to service the US military club scenes known for violence but could work away from the camptown scenes and actually make more of a profit. So at the club, the owners requested women to work with the agreement that military men could have sex (often resulting in rape) with women if there weren't enough women to service their needs ...

The big result of these changing circumstances was the creation of the E-6 visa ... and women's bodies became once again objects controlled by economics and politics and strongly influences by the social foundation of patriarchy where men make determining decisions concerning women.

The First 2 Days of Work for Cho Ji Young:

Day 1: I got a call from a father asking me to help him find his daughter who had left home a week before. She called her father the previous night night saying she was calling from a customer's phone in Sungnam and wanted to say "I miss you." The father pleaded with me to help and said that the police were not helping and she (Cho Ji Young) was the last resort. I didn't know what I could do but I agreed to try. I called the police and asked for their help. They said, "Where's the brothel?" I told them, "If I knew where it was, I wouldn't be needing your help! Can't you trace the brothel by asking the guy, his number is saved in the father's phone?" The police said that was illegal ... but long story, they finally did that and were able to locate the brothel. Then they went through all the registrations of the girls working in that brothel (the records are needed to enforce the girls getting regular testing for STDs, etc) and easily found her. Argh, Cho Ji Young wanted to scream, "How can the government control the sex industry!" There was a prohibition of WOMEN selling their bodies, but NOT on men, so the government feels justified in keeping these records. [The logic eludes me!]

Anyway, so there was a raid on the brothel and the girl was brought out. The police tried to send her home but she refused because she said there was a disabled woman in there who was brutally abused and the girl wouldn't go home until that woman was released too. So, the police went in and rescued her and then started investigating about her abuse case. The woman had obviously had physical and emotional trauma and adamantly refused to admit anything incriminating against the owner. "I never provided sexual services. I love the owner. I'm like a father and a mother to him." Surprisingly the owner confessed to his abusive actions but the woman would not.

Day 2: To bring charges against the ownder, my second day of work I had to sit down with the woman and try to convince her to admit the truth. Around and around we went all day, me pleading, her denying. But after she finally realized she wouldn't have to return to that brothel, she admitted to many kinds of punishment. Because she was slower than the rest, she was not popular among the men and failed to meet up to the demanding standards of the owner, so she had to hold her hands over her head for long painful extended periods of time, or she was beaten with a bar of soap wrapped in towels or a sock so no bruises would show up but the pain could still be inflicted. "It was a long second day too .... and that was my introduction to working to help some of the women caught in the sex industry."

Functions of Dasimihamgye (spelling)

In 2004 Dasimihamkgye tried to get legislation to prohibit sex trafficking, and so set up the Dasimihamgye center to help women "trapped" in the system because of the debt created by the women. Example of debt -- when women take a taxi to get to the new job, unknowingly it's a brothel, the pimp pays and the debt is added to the woman's account of what she must pay off to get out of the system, but high interest rates, fines for not meeting quotas, food and lodging charges accumulate keeping the girl in a down-spiral of debt, and so if she runs away, the police just bring her back because the pimp can show that the girl is bound to him through debt. Dasimihamgye did accomplish one great success in helping the girls, and that was the elimination of the debt system! Since the elimination of that system, workers can also be better paid. Where before in the red-light district, alternatively known as the "glass rooms", a 15-minute visit would cost the patron ₩60,000 or for an hour in the massage parlors ₩160,000, the sex worker would get perhaps 10% of that fee, but with Dasimihamgye's fighting for workers' equal rights, the workers can get as much as 50%.

Dasimihamgye also provides medical and counselling service for these women because many of these women have physical and/or psychological problems and no way to pay for help.

Dasimihamgye provides a home for these girls escaping the system. In the center they can get job training for other more socially acceptable jobs so they are not "forced" to return to prostitution for income. Safe houses are also provided in the event the girls are in a very threatening situation, for instance, if they were to provide trial evidence.

Dasimihamgye also hosts educational campaigns for raising public awareness of how dire the sex industry problem really is within the Korean society. Their goal is to make people take a more proactive stance and not disregard the topic as not one of significant social relevance to society as a whole or to out-of-balance functioning of women being exploited for men's pleasure. Cho Ji Young said that the scope of the Korean sex industry is beyond what anyone can really imagine, it is HUGE within Korea. To illustrate her point, she told of going to rescue a girl on Hongdo Island, a place with a population of 500 residents and 4 kareokes staffed with prostitutes. Now why would 500 people, perhaps half of whom are women, need 4 kareokes for prostitution?! If this sex industry is as hungry as the residents on Hongdo Island, which Cho Ji Young thinks it is, then Korea has a mega-serious sex industry with women's bodies as the medium for social entertainment.

Cho Ji Young concluded her workshop time with the statement that the comfort woman system (of the past), the camptown system and the sex trafficking system (the latter two of the present) are based on the same principle -- the exploitation of women's bodies by military and/or government organizations (predominantly dominated by men) but affecting women on the physical and emotional levels.

Final comment: Koreans are pretty proud of the "fact" that sex trafficking does not exist in Korea. What a huge misconception! Sex trafficking has been legalized for political and economic reasons by the government through various means, one in particular the E-6 visa, or it is overlooked. Koreans now are big on taking social issues to the press and demanding changes, but this only happends when voices are collectively raised after awareness has been made on the matter. Dasimihamgye is endeavoring to raise attention to the problem that sex trafficking does indeed exist in Korea!

Comfort Woman Documentary "63 Years On"

In 2008 the documentary "63 Years On" was made with interviews of five women who had been used by the Japanese forces as 위안부 or "comfort women". One questions the male-centered term "comfort woman" as the term can connote no comfort whatsoever to the women who were repeatedly raped for months or years as they were brutalized in Japanese operated brothels aimed at keeping the men from 'raping and pillaging' in the areas they occupied and also in an attempt to control venereal diseases that the men would be exposed to if raping all across the countrysides.


The documentary centers around the interviews of 5 women who were forced into sex slavery: 1 Korean from Cheju-do, 2 Filipinas, 1 Chinese, and 1 Dutch. These five women are representative voices of women from 13 countries who were used in the more than 1000 comfort Japanese operated comfort stations spread out in Japanese occupied territories.

Not one of the thousands upon thousands of "comfort women" spoke out about her sex slavery experience in public unti l991 for societies were male dominated in many countries, women's virginity was to be maintained at all times and to lose one's virginity was to incur blame, especially among the Confucian countries like Korea and Taiwan from which the majority of "comfort women" had been taken as these countries were colonized by Japan at the time.

Figures suggest that 200,000 women from 13 countries were victims of the comfort stations. That number can never be corroborated as many women died of starvation, of rape, of venereal diseases, at the emotions of the men who came to rape them, and of suicide.

After the war, Japan was tried for war crimes with focus on compensation to the Allied Nations. The comfort woman issue was intentionally avoided during the trials, and as was pointed out in the documentary, only men were in the court system and only men had a voice and so women were denied compensation or even a voice in the trials of the men who had damaged them for life. The "comfort women" were forced to live on as prisoners, bound by their wounds, and unable to integrate back into society because of loss of home, family or social acceptance due to being "experienced" women. Confucianism, as a patriarchal system touting strict rules on women's bodies, denied their reintegration back into society, so if the "comfort women's" family knew of their past and were still accepting, the women could never speak to anyone regarding their shameful past; it must remain forever hidden for public or extended family shame would result.

In 1991 Kim Hak Sun became the first former "comfort woman" to speak out. Until that time due to shame no woman had made a public complaint in the 50 years since being taken as a sex slave. After the Korean woman spoke out, Jan H. (the Dutch woman interviewed in the documentary) became the first European woman to speak out on the issue. She spoke out because as she said, "That woman needed support and she needed support from the international community." Jan correctly felt that without westerners acknowledging that the comfort woman issue also involved westerners and was not limited to victims in the Far East, the international communities would more or less ignore the seriousness of the historical period of systematic rape. By going public on a topic that she too had suppressed since the war, Jan H. was able to support Kim Hak Sun and to rally the Western interest on the issue.

Japan denies any claim concerning the comfort stations that thrived throughout occupied Japanese territories and states there are no proven records. [There are but Japan makes excuses or remains silent when asked about them.] Their attitude is to 'blame the victim'. In 1998 the McDonald Report by the UN was filed, and alas, world recognition was achieved. On July 30, 2007 the US urged the Japanese to apologize. The result was denial.

However, Shizo Abe, former politician apologized to President George W. Bush in a formal meeting with Pres. Bush sitting on the platform with him. Pres. Bush nodded his acceptance. [The audience exploded in laughter at the idiocy of (1) why would a politican apologize to an American on a Japanese military problem concerning 13 countries, loudest of which has been S. Korea and which the US was not involved in, and (2) why would a president calmly accept the apology as if indeed it were his right to accept and not the 200,000 women who lost their lives during the brutalities or have lived with emotional war wounds since?!?!] Such an apology is steeped in political rewards and reeks of insincerity. A sincere apology would be to the women prinicipally of the Far East and not a male head of state from the US. A sincere apology would be mentioned in history books and students' textbooks and would involve compensation, and not be focused on political ingratiations and the possible reaping of further political and economic accolades.

Former "Comfort Women" final comments

Of the approximate 200,000 women taken as "comfort women" [I don't know the approximations of S. Korean numbers], within S. Korea 243 have registered since 1991 with the government. At present, statistics state there are approximately 65 living ... that number is rapidy changing as the average age of the halmonis, the popular preferred term now, is 86; and with failing health and old age, their numbers are sadly declining ... and without that cathartic apology they so badly crave.

The numbers of registered living former "comfort women" are:

ages 77 - 79 ............ 4
ages 80 - 84 ............ 23
ages 85 - 89 ............ 30
ages 90+ ................ 9

The purpose of this documentary is to further get the word out about un-tried and un-repented for war crimes perpetrated by the Japanese. It is only by the raising of many voices will an apology be forced from the Japanese. The women are old, sickly and carry their burdens of shame even now, and so they demand a public apology and compensation. [See 1000 Demonstrations on Wednesday, December 14, for the full demands made by the former sex slaves.]

Without a true apology concerning the war that finished 63 years ago [from 2008 when the documentary was made], the war will just continue for these victims.

"Women, War & Peace" - the movie

Movie Synopsis:

"Women, War & Peace: I Came to Testify" (2011) is a 60-minute documentary on sensitive gender-related issues, is the moving story of how a group of 16 women who had been imprisoned and raped by Serb-led forces in the Bosnian town of Foca broke history's great silence, and stepped forward to take the witness stand in an international court of law. Their remarkable courage resulted in a triumphant verdict that led to new international laws about sexual violence in war.

Until this time, no international court case had been lodged based strictly on rape during war. The women were recognized by the interational court of law as having a rightful complaint to be made and made a decision to imprison three of the main leaders of the Serbian-run brothels. While many many men were not tried and still roam the streets of Foca, the city where Serbs, Muslims and many others coexisted as tolerant neighbors living in interaction and peace, the dozen or so women who participated in the trial were glad to see some action taken to support their loss of womanhood, tranquility of spirit, and fear trapped within. Just seeing three men tried and convicted provided some catharsis and will also provide an avenue for future gender-related crimes to be tried in international courts in the future ... for as long as their is war, there will be crimes against women.

It is women who shout for 'no more war' as they are the one's who suffer the most. Yet, it tends to be men who decide to make war, organize women to keep them from wandering and raping in communities (much like government organized brothels, 'comfort women' stations, camptowns), but it the women where the battles are fought - physically during the war and psychologically after the war.

_____________________________________________________________________________

The Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan is an activist organization at the forefront of the struggle to achieve justice and recognition for women drafted into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during WWII. For more information about the Korean Council and to stay up-to-date with their campaigns, visit -- www.womenandwar.net

"My Heart Is Not Yet Broken"

In 1937/8 until 1945 Song Sin Do served as a comfort woman "위안부" during Japanese colonialism in various Japanese brothels in China. Taken as a 16-year-old from her family and experiencing brutal on-going sex, her life was shattered. After the war, she wanted to get back to Korea, but to do so she had to get a boat to Japan first and hope to get a boat to Korea from there. Without money or any legal papers, she couldn't get back to Korea, so there she stayed in Japan, working as a house-keeper for a man who was compassionate.


In 1991 when Kim Hak Sun became the first former "comfort woman" to lodge a public complaint and local and international communities suddenly became aware of yet another untried war crime of the Japanese, and one that took horrendous tole of women in the countries Japan occupied, committees started gathering former "comfort women's" names and doing research on the history that had been scrubbed from Japanese oral or written history. Someone tipped off a director of a Japanese committee about Song Sin Do, and when the director went to meet Song Sin Do, she found a woman who was a fierce and caustic and who used crude language and had no apparent chinks in her armor. However, once the director got to know Song Sin Do and she expressed the desire to battle with the Japanese in the courts concerning her years of ordeal, the committee agreed to back her and hundreds if not thousands of Japanese people sponsored Song Sin Do for the next 10 years.

During those 10 years, Song Sin Do filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government, which does have some documents authorizing "comfort stations" although the government still denies it. The lawsuit demand was for an apology by the Diet and an official letter also stating apologies from the Prime Minister. She also wanted compensation for war crimes done in the past.

The comfort woman issue is silently denied in Japan, but when confronted with the issue, it is adamantly denied. One present-day government official representing the Diet in Japan in 1990 declared, "The comfort women were imagined by private sector people." Statements also were made that entreprenuer businessmen were the ones operating the comfort stations (now these two statements are very contradictory!) and the government can take no blame for entrepreneurs' activities.

While awaiting trial, she did tours to gather more support and raise more awareness of the issue blackened out my Japanese war adminstrative amnesia. She would speak at press conferences where she could easily blast newspaper people for their 'stupid' questions, at meetings for various groups including business meetings in which elderly men sometimes attended and she was pleased because these men would 'know' what happened and could make the difference. She spoke at youth centers, but the place that bothered her the most to speak at was a high school with mostly 16-year-old girls in attendance, the same age at which she was taken into the Japanese brothel networks and lost that vital part of her very being. She fell apart emotionally and could hardly speak to the girls.

The date of the trial came and crowds gathered outside to support her. She went in wondering the outcome and came out depressed, yet she suppressed her own sorrow and she gave a victory speech to the large audience outside saying that though she had not won, she would not stop fighting. The ruling was that the 20 year statute of limitation had expired, so referring to this archaic law, the trial was dismissed.

In 2000 she then took the trial to the higher court system, the Tokyo High Court. Months of emotional battling and continually raising awareness passed, and the outcome was that is is possible that the international statue of limitation has expired. The court did acknowledge the responsibility of the government though, so some progress was made. She and her team decided to take the court battle to the highest court in Japan, the Supreme Court. And the battle continued.

In March 2003 the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, and the dismissal seemed based on the statue of limitation not being filed within the 20 years. [Women were afraid to come forward and it took nearly 50 years for even one voice to make the public statement about her sexual abuse, a confession that had been suppressed for fear of cultural blame on the woman for her loss of virtue/virginity and not placing fault on any male.] Archaic laws were again pulled around the cloak of Japan's dark past to keep that past from having to result in loss of face, loss of public and international respect, admittance that the emperor (perfect in all ways) and the Japanese people (who fought only honorably) were even in part to blame. [A big irony is that in the same war, World War II, Germany apologized and paid enormous amounts of money in war reparation fees while Japan lost no territory, only its colonial holdings that it had taken by force anyway, paid no war indemnities and was not tried for the more serious war crimes; the comfort woman issue was even known about but never was part of the trials against Japan to decide its war crimes. Japan got off so lightly because the US and the UN needed Japan's blossoming economy for exploit in their own countries and they needed Japan as a buffer in the far east against the growing powers of USSR and communism.]

Although Song Sin Do lost the 10 years of court battles, her voice raised much public awareness and made the average Japanese citizens aware that their historial warring past needed to be researched and rectified. She might have lost the battle, but she gained interest in others for pursuing and rectifying the distorted history that the Japanese government purports to teach to its citizens via media, textbooks, lectures and laws.

The movie "My Heart Is Not Yet Broken" is a production of a strong character of a woman who has suffered in the past from the injustices of the Japanese government, in the present from the injustices of the Japanese court system, and yet she continues to fight for moral justice. Song Sin Do has turned her private wish - an apology to herself and others like her and compensation - into a universal plea for peace. At the end of every meeting or press conference held, her vituperous language and spitfire character shouts out, "Don't have any more wars and you won't have any more victims!"

Multimedia Exhibition: "Liberating Herstories"

"한풀이 Liberating Herstories" is a multimedia exhibition organized by the House of Sharing International Outreach Team (all volunteers - 3 pictured below) to raise awareness of the need for the former Japanese "comfort women" to get acknowledgement and apologies for their years of war crimes against them. The Japanese government maintains absolute silence on the matter or states that the comfort houses (brothels) were operated by private entrepreneurs. This series of events by the Sharing House Int'l Outreach Team intentionally created this week of awareness to coincide with the 1000th demonstration of former comfort women in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul. (More on this topic on December 14, the day of the 1000th protest.)


Liberating Herstories awareness-raising schedule:

2/10 Sat 8-10:30pm ..... Acoustic Performance
Opening Night Fundraising Event

2/11 Sun 2:30-5pm ..... Film Screening
나의 마음은 지지않았다 "My Heart Is Not Yet Broken"

2/12 Mon 7-9pm ..... Film Screening
"Women, War & Peace" (indirectly related to the Korean comfort woman issue)

2/13 Tues 7-9pm ..... Film Screening
끝나지 않은 전쟁 "63 Years On"

2/14 Wed 11:45am - 1pm
일본군 "위안부" 생존자들의 1000번째 정기 수요시위 / 1000th Wednesday Protest

12/14 Wed 7-9pm ..... Workshop
한국 성산업의 현재 "Sex Industry in Korea Today"
by 다시함께센터 대표, the former director of Dasihamkke Center

12/15 Thurs 5-7pm ..... Film Screening
난징 댜학살 "The Rape of Nanking"

12/15 Thurs 7-9pm ..... Workshop
생존자 할머니와의 투쟁 / Activism with the Halmoni
by 한국정신대문제대책협의회 / Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan

12/16 Fri 6-8pm ..... Workshop
미군 기지촌의 필리핀 여성들 "Filipino Women in US Military Camptowns"
by 두레방/Duraebang

12/16 Fri 8-8:30pm ..... 입찰경매 / Silent Auction
Closing Night Fundraising Event

12/16 Fri 8:30-9:30 ..... Film Preview
"Within Every Woman" w/ Q&A by director and producer

There are no entrance fees, but donations will be accepted throughout the week. All proceeds through donations and the auction of various halmoni's artwork will be divided equally among the House of Sharing, Durebang, and the Korean Council (for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan). For more information:

House of Sharing

http://houseofsharing.org
www.nanum.org
http://houseofsharing.org/art-gallery - 할머니's artwork

Durebang (Durebang in Oijeongbu (not Pyoungtek) where the women servicing the American military are in their late 50s and 60s)

www.durebang.org

The Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan

www.womenandwar.net

Cafe Anthrocite, the hosting facility

Cafe Anthrocite (카페 앤트라싸이트) is offering their meeting room adjacent to their Bohemian-style coffee shop free of charge as well as gallery space on their second floor. The decor inside is that of a renovated warehouse complete with patchworking on the cement walls, and holes in the gallery wall upstairs. The ambience is actually fitting for a place of dark secrets to be discussed - the room had a chill and the lighting was bare-bulbed and austere, very reminiscent of war times and basic shelter being met.


However, the wafts of home-brewed coffees and freshly made chocolates and scones warmed the soul.





To get to Cafe Anthrocite, get off at Sangsu Station (line 6), exit 4, and walk about 3 minutes to the Family Mart on your left. Turn left and walk 2 minutes or so and just before getting to 장미 아파트 located on your right, turn right. At the next small crossroads, turn left and walk 2-3 minutes. Cafe Anthrocite looks like a two-story white shed-wafehouse opposite Humanville Apts, but it's quite popular for gallery exhibitions ... and of course the coffee is spectacular!

The Play "A Streetcar Named Desire"

The Daegu Theatre Troupe presented Tennessee Williams "A Streetcar Named Desire", a thought-provoking character study of time, circumstances, self-concept and desire, both rational and irrational.

The theatrical troupe has had little to no theatre experiences and yet portrayed the raw emotions and stark contrasts of "good" and "evil" in the characters with minimal props. In fact, the whole play was performed with just the one-room house with shabbily curtained off bedroom. Using space and gestures the audience was taken in imagery to the front porch where conflicts and eavesdropping developed the increasing clash of characters. And the black walls of the bar-theater and bare-bulb lighting illumined the characters harshly, very appropriate for creating a mood of day and night, good and evil, right and wrong. Through setting in the play, Tennessee Williams brings out the flaws of two central characters who at the culmination of the play are victims of their own characters - one as a harsh, obdurate and demanding man who rapes the vulnerable but secretly promiscuous sister-in-law. The play ended with the sister-in-law being institutionalized and a friend laying blame on the raper who, from the period would not be punished, continues playing cards as ... if ... he ... were ... innocent.


Having never read this play, I found the ending abrupt and shocking, and yet, such is the way that life is constructed. Tennessee Williams created characters, revealed their flaws, and through the results of their actions, they were condemned to live with the consequences.

The play was well-attended. The small bar-theatre was filled, perhaps as many as 50-60 people. One English teacher had several of his students in attendance, but wow, I really wonder how much they understood. The play was filled with colloquialisms, slang and dated terminology. For native speakers studying language change, this play would be a winner, but for EFL students, how much they actually verbally comprehended is likely to be quite low.

The Birth of Ramen Noodles

The birth of ramen noodles was over 4000 years ago in China, where all noodles seem to originate from. Even their name is of Chinese origin. "lo-mein" in Chinese, meaning boiled noodles, was borrowed into Japanese where "l" and "r" have no distiction, and thus, "ra-men" as the West has come to know it was born. Here's a further transliteration of the meaning of lo-mein and ramen to justify why it could be so easily borrowed from one culture to another:

Lamian :
la (Chinese) = pulling and stretching
mian (Chinese) = noodles
Ramen :
men (Japanese) = all kind of noodles made of cereal flour

Ramen in China was originally called nabmen ‘납면(拉麵)’ or nomen ‘노면(老麵)’ or yumen ‘유면(柳麵)’, and when it was introduced to Japan by Chinese living in the Hokkaido region, these noodles came to be known as gina-soba ‘지나(支那)소바’ or namkyung-soba ‘남경(南京)소바. They became so popular in Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido, that now the dish is considered to be their regional dish. Perhaps part of their popularity is linked to satisfying hunger when Japan had an intense food shortage at the end and after World War II.

In 1958 Ando Momofuku, founder of Nissin Foods in Japan, invented instant ramen, which has been named the greatest "made in Japan" invention in the 20th century, in front of the karaoke and headphone stereos according to a Japanese poll. Instant ramen became a Japanese cultural icon! Pictured is Ando Momofuku and the first Nising Ramen marketed.



Variations exist among the countries where ramen in now marketed.

"Each country's Ramen noodles reflect their own particular flavor preferences. Korean Ramen is highly spiced and often contains packets of black bean sauce. China makes Ramen in Szechuan flavors. Thailand makes very thin, delicate noodles with very hotly spiced packets. Japan prefers the flavor of seafood and mild spices. In the U.S. they are usually available with meat flavors, mushroom flavors or mild spices often referred to as “Oriental flavor”."

More precisely the variation between Japanese ramen is based on regional variations - different meat or seafood broths and even different thicknesses and ingredients for the noodles. The largest regional variations are those of Sapporo, Kitakata, Tokyo, Yokohama and Hakata.

In Korea the noodles are called ramyeon (라면) and are usually instant, whereas Japanese ramen noodles can be instant but more frequently are freshly made in restaurants. In Korea ramyeon is a popular instant meal for students between classes, people on vacations and just for the quick "meal". In fact, at 75 meals per year Koreans lead the world per capita in ramen/ramyeon consumption. Korean ramyeon is hot and spicy as it is highly flavored with chili peppers. Many varieties of ramyeon exist: kimchi-flavored, seafood-flavored and beef-flavored are among the most popular. Some restaurants serve variations of ramyeon containing additional ingredients such as dumplings, ddeok, and even sliced cheese! If ordering ramyeon in a restaurant, some chopped green onions and carrot shreads with a raw egg to be cooked by the hot soup are frequently added.


My students Chae Min-ah and Seo Jun-ho along with extra resources from The History of Ramen, The Origin of Ramen , and Ramen in Wikipedia are the references for this material.

Differences of Tang in the Far East

As many things in the Far East have originated in China, it is believed that what is known as tang today also did originate on the northeast Asian mainland in what is now China and Mongolia. Tang does not translate directly into English but can be called soup although it is usually more like a hearty stew. The 'soup' of China originated as a simple bowl of food cooked with a few ingredients, thus, 湯 (tang). Varieties existed and they were distinguished as 臛(hak), a soup with only meat, and 羹(gaeng), a soup with only vegies. And then the Mongols had their soup called шөл (schule), with the main ingredient being meat, either that of goat or sheep.

Three cultural recipes for tang

Chinese tang in the present day has many ingredients. Tang in China is also a medicine, and Korea has borrowed both tang as soup and tang as Korean medicine.

In Korea, tang (the soup) is differentiated by its water content. For a thin soup with 70% or more water the soup is referred to as 국 (gook), with between 50-70% water a soup in Korea is typically called 찌개 (jjigae), and with less than 50% water the soup-stew is called 전골 (jeongol). There are more than 200 kinds of tang in Korea and with a wide range of meats, vegies and spices (red peppers and garlic are almost always guaranteed).

Japanese tang has a light and bland taste compared to that of Korea's. The broth base is from seafood, various kelps and bonito, as culturally Japanese did not eat red meats. That of course is changing but Japan, as an island country, is still very culturally dependent on the sea for providing much of the food and many seasonings.

Tang embued with cultural meaning

Though tang exists in the three Far North-eastern cultures, eating tang reveals hidden cultural meanings. For Korea, people eat tang together in order to grow closer. This was more true two decades ago when two people shared the same bowl, but even nowadays with people each eating from their own soup bowl, the very act of eating the same kind of food is bonding. In Japan, however, eating tang together is a subtle way of saying that the people are already close. This might be due to the fact that Japanese do not eat out as much as Koreans, who might eat every meal out in this fast modern age. In China, here doesn't seem to be a special meaning attached to the eating of tang together.

As for how tang is served, in Korea it is the main dish of the meal served with a bowl of rice while in Japan it is one of the many light dishes served with a bowl of rice. China considers tang a kind of sub-food, just an accompaniment to a meal to be eaten last. Koreans very often tip their rice bowl into the tang and eat them mixed together, and for the westerner to do so brings smiles to Koreans faces, who might joyfully say, "Ah, you eat your tang like a Korean." Even if they don't tip the rice into the bowl, scooping a spoon of rice and dipping it in the tang is common. For the Japanese, however, tang and rice are eaten separately, spoon by spoon; and yet, a couple eating together would eat the tang and rice together to show that they are a couple. Wow, table manners telling tales on people beknownst or unbeknownst to them!

Tang : 감자탕 (pork bone soup)


Guk : 재첩국 (small shellfish soup)


Jjigae : 두부찌개 (Korean tofu stew)


Jeongol : 해물전골 (seafood jeongol)




This presentation by my students Kim Seong Hoon and Kim Jeong Seop was concluded with pictures of them eating some noodle tang and slurping the noodles happily! And by the way, slurping noodles is only now being considered bad manners (as influenced by western culture that dislikes noisily eating food). Traditionally in Korea, to slurp noodles was to show deep appreciation for the food and was an indirect compliment to the cook.

Red Peppers Introduced to Korea

The hot and spicy red peppers known throughout Korea are supposed to have originated from South America, specifically from Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. During the great age of navigation, they were transported from Brazil to Portugal and Spain, and through Columbus and others like him redistributed from there all over the world.



But the question arises, how and when did red peppers get to Korea? I have heard via my students since I arrived in Korea that the red peppers were introduced sometime in the 16th century and came from Italy or thereabouts. Historically, there are two beliefs about how they arrived that are a little clearer than the word-of-mouth version I've heard.

The first is that red peppers were introduced from Japan, and this is what Japan teaches in its text and history books. Red peppers are internationally documented as being introduced to Japan in the 16th~17th centuries and they were then known as "the mustard of Japan". Japan teaches and broadcasts that they were the ones who introduced this present-day core Korean flavoring and spice to Korea.

Korea however refutes this ... for more reasons than one. Namely it's refuted because Korea and Japan have an on-going dispute about which country introduced 'culture' to the other. Japan likes to contend that its original ideas and culture were borrowed into the Korean culture, and of course there were periods of historical cultural sharing in various eras between both countries, sometimes with Korea borrowing more and sometimes vice versa. However, Japan would like to contest that the majority of culture Korea claims - artwork, some religious practices, the mastery of Gaya kingdom during the three kingdoms period in ancient Korean history, etc - originated from Japan. Historians even contest this statement as culture has never been known to originate FROM an island TO a mainland but was transported FROM a mainland TO an island, and often, from a logical historical point of view, FROM the nearest mainland (which happens to be Korea) TO the island(s), which are the Japanese islands.

There is further "proof" that the red pepper was not introduced from Japan in the 16th~17th centuries. In a 15th century text, the term 고추 (red pepper) is clearly written in regard to cultural foods present in Korea. For the sake of the cultural arguement though, names and meanings of names change over the centuries so there is a small possibility that the 고추 mentioned in the text could in fact refer to another plant than what is known as "red pepper" today. In any case, the red pepper that is ubiquitous in almost every Korean dish today, was only introduced about 400 years ago, and it has had an amazingly huge influence on what is known as "Korean food" today.

Jo Min-ji and Song Jung-eun did some very nice research to collect this data for their 'Food and Culture' presentation. Quite interesting.

Bibimbap - Origins and Brief History

The earliest written record of bibimbap appears in the annals of the kings as "bubimbap", a light meal for the king. The origin itself is speculated, however, three theories currently exist. One is that of farmer origin. As farmers were poor and a lot of work was demanded of them outside of the home, it is believed that rice with some kinds of vegetation could quickly be mixed in a large bowl or container for communal feeding. Another theory is that after ancestor ceremonies which required the preparing of fruits, vegetables, rice cakes, fish, and many more "thankful" foods, leftovers were mixed to create simple meals after the intensive labor of ancestor meal preparations. The third suggested theory is that in uprisings and battles, there was not time for food preparations so rice, the "bread" of the east, was mixed with whatever foods were handy to create a meal.

Although the historical development is fogged over by the mists of time, the present bibimbap food culture is evident in restaurants throughout Korea. Various "famous" kinds of bibimbap are known throughout Korea -- they are known by their city of origins and have flavors and ingredients that suit the citizens (and some argue, temperaments) of the specific locales.

Jeonju bibimbap - having spicy (red pepper sauce) and bean sprouts as the main ingredients, the lip-smacking spicy-flavored spice complementing the cooling sprouts has made Jeonju bibimbap as one of the most well-known bibimbaps in Korea.


Jinju bibimbap - made with herbs and SOOKJU sprouts and a non-spicy sauce, probably of soy sauce base; it is usually served with an egg (raw or fried).


Andong bibimbap - made with herbs and beef, and served with a special soy sauce.


Tong-young bibimbap - made with various mountain vegetables and herbs; usually it has no red spicy sauce. Also this dish is usually meatless and eggless, but frequently tofu chunks appear among the vegies.


Masan bibimbap - made with bean sprouts and other simple vegies topped with a glob of red pepper sauce-duingjjang sauce and an egg, raw or fried. Jeonju bibimbap and Masan bibimbap are quite similar in their spice factor, but then the two cities are quite close with much travel to and from Masan being routed through the larger city of Jeonju.

My students - Oh Hyewon and Kim Yongha - compiled this research and pictures for a phenomenally well organized presentation. They also added that bibimbap has a lot of cultural value and Korea is marketing this most precious traditional food as a food symbolizing coexistence, cooperation (eating together) which promotes harmony, peace and friendship.

Beliefs about Red Bean Soup (팥죽)

Red bean soup, in Korea known as 팥죽, originated in China, and it was the custom there to make red beans for casting out demons and performing other supersititous acts. Korea has similar beliefs about negating bad fortune with the fearful red colored beans as both cultures view the color "red" as a symbol of positive yang energy for warding off negative energy forces. Exactly when red beans or red bean soup was introduced to Korea is unknown. We do know, however, that the earliest records concerning red bean soup in Korea are recorded in ancient books noting that the beans were to be eaten on the winter solstice (동지). And over time other records show that red bean soup was not eaten only during the winter solstice but were often eaten throughout the winter and were readily available in the inns (주막) of the past. This makes a lot of sense for the agrarian culture as grain was expensive and often in short supply in the long winter months of no food production. Beans, therefore, were the food of the peasants but which still provided energy. The beans could be and were often a meal by themselves.

Korea likely borrowed their superstitious beliefs about red beans and red bean soup from the Chinese as there was much cultural sharing between the countries. However, there might be variation in the superstitious beliefs, so the following beliefs are those which Korea held until quite recently (some beliefs are still marginally held). That said, red beans and red bean soup are now ritual foods that people recognize at certain events and/or rites of passage, but the reason for serving those foods is often lost to the younger participants in this scientific, educated and non-superstitous age.


Red Bean Superstitions in Korea

(1) In order to prevent a disaster or to avoid ghosts within a home, red beans (the color itself is supposed to be frightening) are scattered in front of the main entrance of a house or in a crock (장독대) before making the red bean soup itself. The cooking and eating of the beans themselves is a ritual for preventing bad luck and the ever-present epidemic diseases.
(2) When moving to or building a house, red bean soup is shared with the new neighbors as the belief is held that demons around the house will be cast away (and I guess maybe the neighbors don't want the demons either and thus the communal demon eviction).
(3) When someone gets ill, red bean soup is made and spilled in the street. By doing so, the red color of the soup is thought to drive away the disease.
(4) When bereaved, neighbors make red bean soup and give to the bereaved neighbors. This practice is a communal way of praying for the souls of the departed and wish them well. (Nobody wants an unhappy or unappeased ghost around!)
(5) Farmers eat red bean soup and the act of farmers eating red bean soup particularly on Dongjinal (winter solstice) is a wish for a prosperous rich year with abundant harvest. Winter solstice is a day of the year which is founded on the belief of balancing the yin and yang harmony and balance of the universe, and farmers need to the harmonious balance to ensure good production of their crops.

Red Bean Soup in Japan and China

Much cultural sharing has occurred in the history of the far northeastern Asian countries: China, Korea and Japan. China was the big brother to Korea and culture was diffused onward to the little brother country. Often times from Korea the culture was further diffused to the islands of Nippon (Japan). And within these three countries, red bean soup exists; however, of course the basic soup recipe has been borrowed into and adapted to harmonize with the cultural tastes of each country.

China's present red bean soup is called 紅豆沙 (hǒng dòu shā). The color red is a lively color evoking luck and happiness, and therefore, red bean soup is eaten at special celebrations like Chinese New Year, weddings, birthdays, among many others. In and unique to China, red bean soup is a sweet dessert especially served hot in winter (as a yang food it is warming), but it's also served cold in summer frequently as the main dessert following a meal. Leftover soup can also be frozen on a stick to make a frozen red bean popsickle.


In Japan the red bean soup is called shiruko (汁粉) and has mochi in it. The bean paste itself is much sweeter than that in Korea and the bowl of sweet soup may accompany a sour or salty dish as a complement to complete the meal.




This compilation is a reorganization of Jang Moon Young's phenomenal presentation on the origin, superstitions and various forms of red bean soup around Asian countries. Some additional information was taken from Wikipedia to add more clarity to the materials given, but the interesting structure was Moon Young's. :)

The History of "Toppokki"

The first 떡볶이 can be traced back to the Joseon Dynasty when it was the custom that the most delicious food in a village be transported to Hanyang (Seoul) and given to the king. 떡볶이 was actually first prepared into a bar of gooey rice called 가래떡 and was considered so delicious as to be suitable for the king. However in transporting it to Hanyang, the rice bar became hard and lost its flavor and chewiness, so the king's cook boiled the bar of 가래떡 and added soy sauce as a tasty base. Thus, the first 떡볶이 in a sauce was created.

It wasn't until 1953 that 떡볶이 as we know it today was created. A woman by the name of Ma Bok Rim was preparing jajangmyeon, noodles in a fermented soybean sauce, and accidentally dropped the rice cake bar into the sauce. When she pulled out the rice cake, she didn't want to waste it so ate it and really like the flavor. So from then on, she added 신당동 in a red pepper paste sauce (known now as 떡볶이) to her menu. Ma Bok Rim is a grandmother still living today, manages her own 떡볶이 restaurant, and is still lauded as the inventor of 떡볶이.


In the mid-1970s DJ shows were added to popular 떡볶이 restaurants, a very competitive business strategy for competing with other restaurants and attracting more people in the growing economy where people were enjoying meals out more and more. The music boxes in the restaurants enticed all ages to eat for gustatory satisfaction as well as socialization.


In fact, 떡볶이 is greatly enjoyed today, so much so that a Shindangdong 떡볶이 Town, somewhere near Anam Station in Seoul, thrives with street vendors selling the spicy rice cake bars in red pepper sauce and with indenpendent restaurants latching onto the meteor tail of 떡볶이 success.


With the popularization of 떡볶이 among ordinary folks, it has become a symbol of Korean culture. At present it is most popular among school aged children who feast on it at parks, on field trips and in front of their schools where guaranteed a variety of 떡볶이 shops have huge pans of the rice cakes steaming and ready for hungry children the moment they are let out of schools.


Marketing and Globalization of "Toppokki"

떡볶이 is such a popular food in Korea that the Korean government is now trying to develop it as export material, so a laboratory has been set up in Yongin to develop a sauce that will be internationally marketable. Experiential classes are available there too. Also, the government changed the difficult to pronounce name of 떡볶이 into the more foreigner friendly pronunciation of "Toppokki", which will be the name of the marketed foreign food. And then not surprisingly, to further promote and celebrate the food in Korea the Seoul Toppokki Festival (among the myriads of other festivals springing up in Korea in honor of other cities, foods, and famous sites) has been held in Seoul since 2009.


But this is where things start to get weird from the foreigners' perspective. Even cutesy little rice cake characters have been created and given names. To me this is too much like the Japanese comic book series on Sailormoon, with each comic character of course having a name, but the details going so far as to even give each character a blood type, the blood type having very high value in Japan. In Korea, each style of rice cake is given a character name, is animated and cutesified, all important features of advertising in Korea today ... but unfortunately advertising for the Korean or Asian market, not necessarily for the broader international market. Naming each style of rice cake seems practical, just as each style of pasta in Italy has a name ... but not giving each type of race cake a childish animation with proper name. Reminiscent of the Teletobies?!?! Ah, Korea is definitely in the age of cutesy, etsy and animation.

But this food culture is definitely interesting on many levels! This historical study on a food culture was done by Park Jieun and Yoon Migyeong and really exemplify how food has affected culture - the purpose of the assignment. Well done!