Current Events
Kyung Hee University and the 36th UN International Day of Peace
Thirty-six years ago – while Americans flocked to the theater to see the first “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” Prince Charles and Lady Diana married, Hosni Mubarak became president of Egypt, and I struggled through my senior year in high school – Kyung Hee University made an historic proposal to the United Nations. The university, located in…
Read MoreA Famous Landing and an Infamous Missile Launch
Yesterday, the 67th anniversary of the Inchon Landing, was a particularly memorable Friday. For South Koreans, the commemoration of one of the boldest, most successful amphibious operations in military history began with a typical early-morning commute and “Americano” – the coffee drink of choice for millions of Koreans. But, as has been the case all…
Read MoreHonoring Our POW/MIA’s – You Are Not Forgotten
As a school kid in the 1970’s, I remember seeing the six letters “POW” and “MIA” on bumper stickers, billboards, and flags and wondering, “What do they mean?” and “Does it stand for something, or is it just a person or new fad?” I wasn’t sure, and as a know-it-all middle schooler, I wasn’t about to…
Read MoreLong Live the Lane Victory!
She’s a survivor. SS Lane Victory, one of 534 “Victory” class cargo ships built during World War II, has a proud and storied history. From trans-Pacific operations during the final months of World War II, to rescuing over 7,000 North Korean refugees in December 1950, to delivering supplies throughout the Vietnam War, Lane Victory and…
Read MoreNorth Korean Manmade Earthquake Reshapes the World
South Korean decontamination crews rehearsing for the worst. (Reuters) It was one of those days. After waking up and making coffee, I scrolled through the top stories on my iPad’s “News” icon. North Korea was in the spotlight – again. Jonathan Cheng, The Wall Street Journal’s Seoul bureau chief and a friend, had written an…
Read MoreWe Surround You – Surrender and Survive
In the opening scene of Christopher Dolan’s Dunkirk, Nazi propaganda leaflets, thrown from German planes, reign down on a small group of British soldiers walking through a deserted French street near the beaches of Dunkirk. “We Surround You – Surrender and Survive,” the flyer instructs the soldiers, ominously implying what will happen if they don’t.…
Read MoreA Korean War Veteran, Bluegrass & Barbeque, and the Dillard House
It was a picture perfect day. The weather, music, food, and new friends we made all came together for one of those memorable events that, as we say in the South (the South of the United States, that is), “doesn’t get much better than that.” It was the weekend of the 21st Annual Dillard Bluegrass…
Read More“They Take Nothing in Life for Granted”
As I was making my way through downtown Seoul today, preoccupied with meetings, this weekend’s June 25th Korean War ceremonies, and an upcoming trip to the States, I saw a huge, outdoor video screen (there are many throughout the city) at Seoul’s City Hall. A famous Korean actor, Jung Woo-Sung – South Korea’s version of…
Read MoreEnter at Your Own Risk
It’s not adventuresome, cool, or cute. But that’s the way many people who travel to North Korea view their irresponsible and selfish decisions to defy the US State Department’s travel warnings for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). One of my friends visited the reclusive, draconian country a few years ago and told me, “I just wanted to go…
Read MoreDying at Church and On the Way There
Egypt. The iconic land of pharaohs, pyramids, the Nile – and more recently, violence. During my two years living in Cairo (2010-2012), chaos ruled. People were shot, run over, and beaten in Tahrir Square and nearby Maspero; tanks blocked the streets; and 50 cal. machine-gun tracer rounds and bonfires lit up the night. It all…
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