Korea
For the love of SPAM
Today is the second most important holiday in Korea. It’s called Chuseok (pronounced chew-suk), and it’s the equivalent of Thanksgiving Day in America. We’re celebrating our third Chuseok in Korea, and we love it. Good food, time with family and friends, crisp fall air, and no work. What’s not to like? And then there’s Spam. As a…
Read MoreThe High Cost of Freedom
Riding the metro through Seoul last Thursday, I crossed the Han River and was treated to a spectacular view of the city. A seemingly endless array of high-rise offices, apartments, department stores, and eclectic smaller buildings – mom and pop restaurants, local coffee shops, schools, churches, and convenience stores – stretched for miles. I was…
Read MoreKyung 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 MoreThe Power of the PEN
We’ve all heard the old adage, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” Today, however, it seems a bit outdated. With instantaneous news feeds and social media tweets, posts, and shares bombarding us 24/7, the pen seems to have gone the way of the telegram, processed film, and the 8-track. “No one writes anymore,” people…
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 MoreArmistice Day – 64 Years Later
After three years and one month, the guns stopped firing, the bombs stopped dropping, and the people stopped dying. The fighting was over. But the war wasn’t. On July 27, 1953, now remembered as Armistice Day, an agreement was signed, bringing a ceasefire to the ravaged Korean peninsula. Wars end with a peace treaty, not…
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