$65 million pants

Many blogs have already written about this, so I'll keep it short. The Korean drycleaners who got sued by Roy Pearson, a DC administrative judge, finally got their day in court. And it looks like they will come out on top.
Some background: The DC judge, who makes more than $100,000 a year as a city employee, sued the Korean couple for $65 million for losing a pair of his pants. He claims he suffered from mental anguish and spent hundreds of hours filing the claim. He also wants attorney fees reimbursed, although he's representing himself.
In a rare show of unity, trial lawyers and tort reformers have criticized it as the ultimate example of frivolous lawsuits. Koreans in DC and international media are following it closely.
Judge Judith Bartnoff, who's hearing the case, is expected to issue her ruling next week. She may have tipped her hand when she kept warning Pearson - who claimed to be a "private attorney general" representing all consumers in DC - to stop referring himself as "we" and said: "It's also very important that (consumer) statutes like this are not misused."

Prez shooting from the hip

A baffling, idiotic law rears its ugly head again. Conservative lawmakers in Korea want to file complaints about President Roh for making partisan statements about their GNP party. The law basically says public servants - regardless of whether they were elected or not - can't make partisan statements.
I'm not sure what the genesis of the law is, though I suppose it has something to do with the national desire for the kingly president to remain above the fray, as well as not have too much influence over the electoral process. But it simply isn't realistic. Roh ignores the law.
Conservatives, despite wasting several precious months a couple of years ago in their failed attempts to impeach Roh on the same charges, continue their petty political warfare.
- Chulopapi

Mentoring Korean students

I signed up to be a mentor to a high/middle school student in a program sponsored by Korean American Coalition, Washington, DC chapter. I figure it's a way to give back to the community a bit. I haven't done any volunteer work in a while. The coordinator says the recent events at VaTech has been "a wake-up call" for many Korean parents to get their kids exposed to activities beyond their school. We'll see how it plays out.
- Roger

Career woman takes charge

A career woman in Seoul is suing her employer, an online gaming company, for creating a work culture that enabled her boss to force her to drink during evening gatherings, or hoishik.
Good for her - if the facts, as she states them, are indeed true. Way too much drinking in Korea, which in itself may be ok if it weren't for subordinates feeling pressured to binge drink. The male boss, who doesn't deny the facts, says he's "the victim."
- Roger in DC

A Twist On Hiking in Korea

Due to jet lag, was up at some atrocious hour watching Korean cable TV. There was an interesting show about tattoo artists in Korea but these badass wannabees getting tattoos don't get the real thing but ones that come off after a few months. Lame. If you're going to do it then do it. Laser tattoo removal has come a long way. This is just like all the young women who smoke in Seoul. I don't mind smokers having been one myself but if you are going to smoke then inhale the damn stuff. Just puffing it out of one's mouth does no one any good.

OK, now that's off my chest. The interesing story was about these "tour" services in Korea that bring people together for day trips to the mountains for hiking. The thing is, you go onto the Internet and search for these things. Once you get the time and meeting place there are tons of these companies vying to get you to ride their van. It looks like it's for people of all ages.

Once in the van, the company takes the group to a mountain for hiking. The interesting thing is that the group is paired up equally men and women. On the way to the mountain, by the way everyone is in hiking gear, the group stops for lunch where the people get to know each other and, of course, the soju comes out. After a light hike (they do actually do some hiking), the group then converges onto another establishment to eat and then the karoake comes out. The group is singing and dancing and then the tour operator whips out the keys. These couples then go off to their own rooms for their own little tryst. I guess there is only one and reason and one reason alone to go on these particular tours. That's right the fresh country air and famous home cooking.

Well, I was riding the subway today and saw a group of mid to late 40 something ladies decked out in hiking gear. I had my gym bag with me and one was giving me this very scary look. I felt like a lamb in the woods about to be violated in a very difficult way.

-Pat in Seoul

Korea Gallery at Smithsonian

I attended last night a preview of the opening of The Korea Gallery at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Notwithstanding the breathless tone with which the event was covered in the Korean media, it's actually a small wing on the second floor displaying about 85 artifacts and artworks.
Some of the artworks are stunning. I particularly like the calligraphy pieces, and, strangely, the oil paintings by an artist - his/her name escapes me now - that depict the Korean countryside. But overall, it lacks focus. It's a mixed bag of items that one can imagine the Korean ministry of culture/tourism might have put together for a national PR campaign - ranging from elaborate hanbok, ancient pottery and photos of golfer Se-ri Park and 2002 World Cup scenes.
The gallery's tone - as well as that of the Korean bureaucrats who were there to present it - was a bit too insecure for my taste. The bureaucrats, including its ambassador to the U.S., made drony, incomprehensible speeches, with more than one reminding you that hallyu or "the Korean Wave" - whatever that means - really exists and that Korea is the 11th largest economy in the world. Art took a backseat to nationalism during the night.
- Roger in DC

Bold daughter or clueless parents?

A Korean American girl has figured out a way to deal with her parents' expectations of her going to a prestigious university. She basically pretended to be a Stanford student for eight months, attending classes and bunking with her unsuspecting "roommates."
Her parents now may want to consider a psych ward for her.
- Roger in DC

No love, but low interest rate

Money can't by happiness, but can it mend your broken heart? Jilted Korean soldiers, who has had girlfriends leave them during their long military service, are now entitled to lower-than-market savings rates at a bank in Korea.
- Roger in DC

A good Korean movie, finally!

I saw Kim Tae-young's "Birth of a Family" yesterday (also called "Family Ties), an understated drama stretching further the elastic definition of family. It's an ode to the struggling lower middle class Koreans who made do with the shitty lot they were given in life. It's also about young love, familial devotion, and the consequences of lives impulsively lived. It's fantastic.
Plot: a drifter brother suddenly moves in to his older sister's house with a woman significantly older than him. And the lives of all related are irreovocably turned upside down.
The movie is worth watching just to see some of the finest Korean actors apply their craft. In three seemingly unrelated segments, the movie provides an opportunity for two of the best Korean actresses - Moon So-ri and Gong Hyo-jin - to unfurl their emotive powers.
Moon (Oasis, Lawyer's Wife, Peppermint Candy) burns up the screen with her quiet portrayal of the old-miss sister who is completely befuddled by the disruption of her quotidian life.
Gong (Conduct Zero) embodies the movie's plucky spirit, with her metaphorical middle-finger flipped to the everyday constraints facing young Korean women. No one tackles such roles better. Look out for one particular scene at an elementary school "athletic day" in which she is overwhelmed with the joy that only comes with selfless giving.
Bong Tae-gyu - who, until now, was fairly one dimensional with his bubbly, fumbling characters - continues to grow in this movie, becoming one of the better comic actors in Korea.
For about two years now, it seemed like the Korean cinema industry was cranking out - save for "The Host" - nothing but bad teen comedies, overdone mafia dramas and downright awful horror flicks. Let's hope it can expand on its effort to make more of these smart, subtle movies.
- Roger in DC