The Great Blight North #2

Saemi H. is an English teacher in her twenties who has traveled outside of Korea and lives in Central Seoul. I sat down with her this past week to pick her brain about the her brethren to the North.

WorkingAndPracticing: What's your earliest memory of North Korea (DPRK)?
Saemi H.: I was really young, I was just plain scared. I thought the North was a different world and they still wanted war. I remember images of soldiers marching in Pyongyang and especially the Mass Games being held in a big theatre.

WAP: Are you still scared the North will attack?
SH: No, not really, but I think us South Koreans have the lowest level of fear regarding the DPRK. We should be more aware because nowadays they have new weapons and I am especially scared about the West Sea where they continually test their weapons and cross over national boundaries.


WAP: Do you wish for reunification?
SH: Do I want reunification? Honestly, I haven't thought a lot about it. I think it will take time, but in the end we must. We are all taught growing up that one day we will eventually reunite.

WAP: Are you in favour of the American Forces' (USF) presence here on the Korean Peninsula?
SH: I have complex feelings about this.  I don't think that the ROK's army is is strong enough on its own if something happens, but the USF have a very bad image in my mind. We know how they treat us Koreans and what they think about us. They are up there looking down on us. They create a lot of problems like pollution. After the USF leave a location they leave behind hazardous chemicals and our government has to spend thousands of dollars cleaning up the mess! Add to that problems of off-base sexual crimes and the USF seem to get off Scot-free. Rarely do any of their people face prosecution for crimes committed on Korean soil as they can just escape to the US. Despite all this, I think we still need them.

WAP: Are you in favour of Lee Myung Bak and his new hardline policy towards the DPRK?
SH: That's a really hard question. The DPRK politicians are very clever and no matter what, they gain the upper hand in their dealings with us. Whatever we do it seems they are able to take advantage of it, but I think we still think we need to soften our approach and keep with the "Sunshine Policy."

The Great Blight North #1

Activists frequently set up shop in the center of Seoul's main shopping district to decry the horrible human rights abuses perpetrated by a repressive regime against its seemingly peaceful citizens. Extrajudicial killings and wanton torture are all palpable in graphic colour photographs posted next to petitions urging help. Yet the call to action is not to fight Kim Jong-il and his henchmen, but the Chinese authorities for their persecution of Falun Gong practitioners!

Living here in the wealthy suburb of a relatively rich country - surrounded by the apex of consumer goods consumption - it is easy to lose sight of the fact that mere kilometers away lies one of the worst totalitarian dictatorships left on the planet. Movies like Children of the Secret State offer truly depressing portraits of what life is like for rural North Koreans not lucky enough to be part of the military cadre, yet the mainstream media in the South seem uninterested in publishing much more than the most recent diplomatic brinkmanship in the cat-and-mouse nuclear talks. Understandably, South Korean news agencies do not want to inflame tensions on the peninsula by sending in undercover reporters.

However, the media's lens is tightly focused above the 38th parallel and as a result a clear lack of open dialogue and reflection exists in this country with regards to the North Korean question. How does President Lee Myung Bak's hardline policy of engagement resonate with his compatriots? How do people here feel about reunification?

Funny you should ask, because this and many more questions will be answered in a new weekly post called "The Great Blight North." These posts will aim to tell interesting stories and gauge the everyday citizen's opinions on the North.

This week starts off with an short interview of Ginger, a thirty-something English recruiter who lives in Busan.

WaP: What is your earliest memory of North Korea or its people?

G: We were taught in elementary school that the communists are bad and I didn't realize that it wasn't a fair education for a long time.

WaP: Do you live in fear of the North attacking?
G: No, I don't live in fear. But there were times that I got nervous but I don't think they will attack without any warning.


WaP: Do you want re-unification?



G: Re-unification is ideal thing to happen but it's not as ideal as it sounds I think. I'm hoping that we can go there just like we travel to other countries and all the divided families can meet their families in North freely.


WaP: How do you feel about the presence of American troops on the peninsula?
G: Well, I think it's a necessary evil because we don't spend as much money for military.

WaP: Is the "Sunshine Policy" the right way to engage North Korea?


G: I can't say it's right way but I like it better than Lee Myung Bak's way.

South Korea: Exploring Suburban Seoul's Latest Blitzstadt

(Ed. Note: feel free to check out an interestingly edited version of this story that ran in the October issue of Groove Korea.)

Because I believe a lot of people share my feelings about the tragic landscape of highway strips, parking lots, housing tracts, mega-malls, junked cities, and ravaged countryside that makes up makes up the everyday environment where most Americans live and work. A land full of places that are not worth caring about will soon be a nation and a way of life that is not worth defending.

- James Howard Kunstler The Geography of Nowhere

Cars and trucks were parked haphazardly on half-finished sidewalks and streets that broke down into trampled pits of muddy rainwater. Rows of identical buildings stood gutted, half-painted and devoid of plumbing and electricity. If it weren't for the handful of tradesmen working their way through a Sunday afternoon, Pangyo New Town would have felt like post-apocalyptic old town.

Developers hope come January these boulevards will house thousands of families. Pangyo – South of the capital's city limits- will be the newest in a series of blitzstadts growing out of the greater Seoul conurbation.

As a former high-rise construction worker in Vancouver I'm always amazed at the incredible pace of South Korea's residential development. As a resident of an overpopulated planet showing irrefutable signs of stress, this development fills me with dread.

In cities and towns across this peninsula wet concrete formed by metal frames vaults the vertebrae of identical apartments into the smog-filled atmosphere. South Korea is roughly the size of Kentucky, but with 49 million residents it is the third most densely populated country in the world. Many Koreans live cheek-to-jowl in homes that would make the average North American claustrophobic.

These suburbs may not be as environmentally devastating as the acres of detached single-family dwellings that scar the North American landscape, still such density developing so rapidly cannot be ecologically sound, as Seoul’s constantly clogged commuter arteries can attest.

Neighbouring residents have also complained about putrid runoff water from the construction site fouling their area further downstream one of Pangyo’s four waterways. Like many suburban frontiers, the border where Pangyo meets the natural world is a distinct and disturbing landscape.

Upon first entering one of the main boulevards from the Seoul Ring Expressway, the sheer scale of the development shocked me. Fields of dirt destined to become parks, plazas, and river-side “greenspace” were strewn with heavy machinery and waste from construction.

The subdivision I walked around included 25 towers with 4,000 units, however, Pangyo’s entire population could be close to 80,000 people by next year. It is part of the federal government's wider plan to construct 300,000 homes in and around Seoul by 2017. Despite this ecologically devastating and seemingly archaic form of development people need to live somewhere. And even though South Korea’s population is projected to decrease 13% by 2050, thousands will continue to stream into urban areas in search of an better life.

That afternoon, walking through Pangyo I wondered: if this is the development model for a country with a decreasing population, then what does it look like in a place where the population is booming?

By Mike Hager

Losing your Gringocity

(Ed. Note: This article appeared in the October 20th issue of The Santiago Times.)


El Camino Cierto Para los Gringos Viajando en Latinoamérica.


grin-go-cit-y [grin-gaw-sit-ee]
-noun.

1. (in Latin America) the often ignorant way foreigners, esp. of North American or European descent, act towards the peoples and cultures of Latin America : his gringocity stopped him from enjoying the local delicacies.
2. can describe the amount of foreigners present somewhere in Latin America: the were high levels of gringocity during the week of the festival.

If English is your native language, or you are light-skinned, to most Latin Americans you are a gringo.

Despite all that history has taught us, there are more positive ways a gringo can engage Latin America than supporting dictators, buying drugs or visiting your own little all-inclusive slice of paradise. This article will give you definite ways to lower your gringocity, enjoy yourself and have a positive impact on the people and places you visit.

Before leaving, people may warn you about the many dangers in these far-off lands where the rule of law is non-existent and people will shoot you for a couple hundred pesos. These same xenophobic people live in constant fear of the “bad guys” fed to them during the nightly news. Do not accept this derivative “us verses them” worldview. To quiet these fear-mongers, reassure them that there are no terrorists who hate our freedom in Latin America (Chavez and friends merely want an end to Western economic imperialism) and that you'll stay far enough away from the bad barrios.


Author in fake horse tourist trap by Pio Nono bridge in Santiago de Chile.
In terms of crime, there is not much to worry about; in most places, you can just as easily get shot or stabbed in your home countries. I got robbed once on my last trip, during an impromptu late-night bodysurfing session on Rio's Copacabana beach. It happened after I blurted in my best portuñol (a mish-mash of Spanish and Portuguese) at a kid to guard our clothes, "Clothes! You! Money!" He then did what anyone in his position would have: waited till we swam far enough out, rifled through our clothes, took the few crumpled cachaça-soaked bills and sprinted off. Crime should not be a big problem to anyone relatively intelligent, however, things like hour-long taxi rides at Moscovian rates and costly visa runs are inevitable.

It is useful to learn self-deprecating phrases like, "Sorry, I am just a huge gringo*." as well as, "I love your country and if you rob me, then I can't get back to my home and spread the word to my fellow countrymen about you and the brutal situation here*!" These sentences should help negate any perceived air of cultural superiority that is the impetus for many conflicts.

Still, these sentences are not fail-safe and if you are serious about going, the most important thing you can do before leaving is to actually learn the lingo. Meet with a friend who speaks, download some lessons, join Livemocha, take a night class or do some self-study more demanding than watching Dora the Explorer. Be it español, Quechua (an indigenous language of the Andean people), português or Chile's slang-laden version of Spanish, you're not going to get far without some basic understanding of the language. Nobody likes a boludo who assumes their imperial tongue is understood, and in this digital day and age there is no excuse for a total lack of knowledge of either the countries or their languages.

No matter how cunning the linguist, the best way for anyone to kick-start their trip is to spend a week, or several, living with a local family. This usually costs a little more than staying at a hostel or budget hotel, but brings boundless benefits. A home-stay almost guarantees that you will be fattened up with delicious meals and get to do things like beat the crap out of your little sister's birthday piñata or play dominoes with dad. These gracious hosts can be hooked up through language schools which offer customized lessons for several hours a day; in most cases they are one-on-one which forces you to do some serious book learning. Schools are offered in virtually every country and are the finest and fastest way to get the hang of the language. Book a few weeks before and a great welcome will await you.

Most language schools also have options or contacts for you to help out some people in the city or town where you are studying. Assist in building a house (a two room pre-fabricated operation) for a needy family one weekend, or teach local kids English - even just a few phrases to help them sell goods to tourists. To truly engage highly polarized Latin American cultures is to identify with the struggle that so many have faced and still continue to face as they try to better themselves and their communities. Google the School of the Americas (SOA), Oliver North or browse through Mike Davis' Planet of Slums and you will know that your efforts are appropriate. A reputable resource for finding a profound project is the Directory of Development Organization’s Latin American and the Caribbean online portal.

Playing "keep the box up" with kids of San Rafael, Copan Ruinas, Honduras.


Do not over plan your trip; no guidebook will prep you for falling out of one of Maradona's favorite clubs and helping a Peruvian dude haul a new front door 20 blocks to his family's tiny apartment in Buenos Aires' morning heat. Take a good hard look at the photos and blurbs of the travel writers inside the cover of your guidebook and ask yourself. “Are these the type of people I’d want to sit next to on a two day bus trip?” A lot of things in Central America and the Southern Cone (Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil) can be booked beforehand online or once you are on the ground. That guidebook is of use if you get to places like Venezuela or Suriname. A gringo trying to get a bus out of Caracas involves driving around for three hours in one of the world's most congested cities, the whole time trying to figure out how bad your driver is cheating you.

If you treat people and their cultures with respect and dignity you should encounter few problems, but be aware that, though cognisant of your gringocity, you are bound to garner resentment in some places. It is a common Argentinian joke that prior to the collapse of their economy at the start of the decade you could walk down the street in Buenos Aires’ swanky Recoleta neighborhood and actually see a real Argentinian. Gringos spending like they would never be able to back in their homeland can stir up animosity anywhere in Latin America. However, most places need your tourist pesos and you will find people friendly as hell and very happy to show gringos around their jungle, concrete or natural.

Whether an ice cold açaí na tigela(delicious Amazonian fruitshake) at a juice stand in Ipanema, anticucho (grilled cow heart-kabob) on a dusty Lima street, pastel del choclo (corn and meat pie) in a hip Santiago eatery, tacos al pastor at Cuernavaca’s homegrown taco chain or aguardiente at an afterparty in Medellin - never shy away from the special local food and drink. Even though many down there love "MacDonal", a surefire way to get to know the average person is to share with them a bit of their native food or drink. And let's be honest, there will be times you just have to embrace your gringocity and ditch the salsa/samba/cumbia/merengue/tango to cut rug the only way you know how: ridiculously.

Useful Phrases-
* Sorry, I’m just a huge gringo. - Perdonamé, soy un gringo gigante.

* I love your country and if you rob me, then I can't get back to my home and tell my fellow countrymen about you and the brutal situation here! - ¡Amo tu país, y si me robas, no podr regresar a mi estado y contar todos de tu brutal ésituación socioeconómico!

By Mike Hager

Triumphant Return?

As President Mel Zelaya waits in the small Nicaraguan town of Esteli, just 175 kilometers away, Honduran armed forces are massing along the border in what may be a dramatic conclusion to a tense standoff between a de facto government of the military-industrial elite and the impoverished Honduran majority.

"I know that they are suppressing people, but this is the big test, as they impose more obstacles to freedom the people will become more enraged (...) A curfew has been imposed on the border area with Nicaragua, but (...) they cannot rule the people by the barrel of a gun," said Zelaya at a press conference Thursday.

Despite nation-wide curfews and restriction of movement hundreds of supporters are expected to greet their president when, accompanied by Venezuela's foreign minister, he attempts once again to take back his seat as democratic leader of Honduras this Friday...

Hondurans Play the Waiting Game

Barging through the front door failed to bring a triumphant homecoming, so, for now, Manuel Zelaya has opted to try diplomatic channels in order to return to his post as the democratically-elected leader of his nation.

Zelaya claimed Wednesday that the de facto regime has sabotaged mediation before it began by restricting the movement of Zelaya's ministers, some of whom are still in hiding. However he has reiterated, "We are not holding a negotiation. There are things that are non-negotiable—the restitution of constitutional order in Honduras." On top of that mediator Oscar Arias expressed personal doubt with regards to his mediation, "The situation has to be solved from inside Honduras." Amid such speculation what talks will accomplish remains to be seen.

At a press conference on Monday, Zelaya gave the de facto government mere hours before its collapse and defended his actions before the coup, "All I did was to propose a fourth ballot. I have never talked about re-election because it does not exist in Honduras. I ask them to respect the voice of the people because it is this voice that will save us."

Despite the coup, Zelaya has not ruled out the possibility of moving forward with general elections originally slated for November 29, "They [those in the de facto regime] have nullified all the work that the government has accomplished. Those candidates should be very worried because they are isolated. The world is not with them."

The deposed Honduran leader promised that he could return at any moment. However, this time will be more inconspicuous, possibly ruling out another flight on the private CITGO jet that was diverted to Nicaragua last Sunday after military personnel barricaded the blacktop at Tegucigalpa's international airport.

After letting Zelaya supporters ring the airport compound the military expelled them by force, with snipers from the terminal leaving one dead and at least seven hit by gunfire.

The de facto government detained more than 800 demonstrators Sunday for breaking an imposed curfew. Hector*, a human rights lawyer from San Pedro Sula captured the mood of Zelaya's supporters, who are exhausted after marching daily for more than a week and a half and are frustrated with the current impasse:

"The Honduran people are outraged at the constant violation of their human rights. Yesterday [Sunday], at 6pm, after we had showed up expecting to welcome our president, we were informed by the traitors who stole power that there would be a 6:30 pm curfew. They captured at least 800 compañeros who weren't able to return to their homes during that short time period. Today [Monday] they extended the curfew for another 48 hours, once again cutting off our rights to free association, free movement etc. "

Meanwhile, differing viewpoints on the conflict continue to represent themselves in the language used by the international media. The major Spanish-language media label Roberto Michelleti's government de facto, with the lone exception being CNN en Espanol; whilst English media outlets on the whole refer it as an "interim government."

Within Honduras, pro-coup dailies are finding it increasingly harder to justify the actions of Michelleti's government to citizens. As Al Giordano of NarcoNews broke in the English media, Honduran newspaper La Prensa airbrushed out the blood in a picture of the dying demonstrator Isis Obed Murillo being carried out of Tegucigalpa airport Sunday. Giordano also points out the crackdown on independent and international media by the coup regime silences critisicm of these egregious journalistic sins being committed by the pro-coup media.

*Name changed.