The Korea File

On episode 109 Dr. Theresa Hyun, a York University professor and the author of “Writing Women in Korea: Translation and Feminism in the Colonial Period”, joins hosts Andre Goulet and Gennie Pimentel to talk about children’s literature, fairy tales and the role of mothers in the North Korean revolution.

Plus: a surprising data set on the number of immigrant and multiethnic children who live outside of Seoul and a clip from episode 1 of the classic North Korean children's cartoon 'Squirrel and Hedgehog'.

Watch 'Squirrel and Hedgehog' here.

Support the show at patreon.com/thekoreafile

On episode 105 Toronto podcasters Erin Hynes and Kattie Laur, host and producer of the ethical travel show 'Alpaca My Bags', sit down with Montreal astronomer (and recent Busan/Jeju tourist) Trevor Kjorlien for a round-table conversation on ethical travel, the end of the 'Golden Age' of flying and how to approach international travel in an era of climate crisis with TKF host Andre Goulet and new associate producer Gennie Kim Pimentel.

Subscribe to Alpaca My Bags wherever you get your podcasts and at https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/alpaca-my-bags-responsible-travel-podcast/id1449041086

Find out more about Trevor's work at https://plateauastro.com/

Widely regarded as the accepted authority on the English language, the Oxford English Dictionary is the unsurpassed guide of its meaning, history, and pronunciation featuring more than 600,000 words and spanning over 1000 years.

In this conversation UK scholar Cerise Louisa Andrews joins host Andre Goulet to discuss the recent influx of Korean-origin words into English, the influence of the Hallyu phenomenon, and the global success of Korean culture, music, film, television, fashion and food.

You can support the podcast in its mission to share Korean history and culture with an international audience by becoming a patron at patreon.com/thekoreafile

On a new episode scholar Mikayla Neyens joins host Andre Goulet to discuss the cultural events that have inspired and defined contemporary feminism in South Korea, exploring the new face of radical activism confronting the threats of Deepfake porn, 'Molka' and the 'Nth Room' cyber sex ring, and explaining how its rising political influence nearly defeated a misogynist political establishment in the 2022 Presidential election.

For more from Mikayla read
https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/k78zzy/k-pop-deepfake-porn-idols-cyber-investigation

Support the show at https://www.patreon.com/thekoreafile

Michael Breen, CEO of Seoul-based PR firm Insight Communications Consultants and author of the outstanding 2017 book ‘The New Koreans: The Story of a Nation', joins host Andre Goulet to preview next week's Presidential Election and explore the unique ideological history and framework behind South Korean electoral politics.

For more on Michael's most recent book see https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/29939342-the-new-koreans

Order your Seoulbox at https://myseoulbox.com/

Support The Korea File for as little as $1/month and keep the show free for listeners around the world at https://www.patreon.com/thekoreafile

This conversation was recorded on March 1st, 2022.

Seoulbox has been bringing a taste of Korea through snacks, magazines, and K-pop merch to subscribers around the world since 2019 with a focus on authenticity and the darker side of Korean culture that has cultivated an enthusiastic clientele.

In this conversation Suji Sohn joins host Andre Goulet to describe her journey from War Studies major at King’s College London, where she participated in the War Simulation Society, the Marxist Society and the Korean Hallyu Society, to CEO of one of the world's most successful Korea subscription boxes.

For more information go to https://myseoulbox.com/

Support The Korea File for as little as $1/month and keep the show free for listeners around the world at https://www.patreon.com/thekoreafile

This conversation was recorded on January 12th, 2022.

On a celebratory 100th episode host Andre Goulet welcomes Harbinger Media Network podcast pals Paris Marx of leftist tech worldview critique show Tech Won't Save Us and Evan MacDonald of socialist film review show Kino Lefter to explore the historical parallels and context of Squid Game, examine the show's cultural capitalist critique, regret impulsive investments in crypto currency and try to explain why we can't help but hate those notorious VIPs.

Hear Paris' popular tech critique show Tech Won't Save Us at https://techwontsave.us/ and support his work at https://www.patreon.com/techwontsaveus

Subscribe to hear 128 episodes of Evan's excellent, long-running Kino Lefter series at https://www.buzzsprout.com/226175 and get access to more than 100 bonus episodes by supporting the show at https://www.patreon.com/kinolefter

Hear Andre's political panel show Harbinger Society Presents at https://www.spreaker.com/show/harbinger-society-presents

Find out more about our work building a politically progressive podcast community at https://harbingermedianetwork.com/

This conversation was recorded on November 1st, 2021.

On the 99th episode of The Korea File podcast diplomatic studies scholar Jeffrey Robertson joins host Andre Goulet to argue that foreign policy options previously considered extreme – like abandoning the US alliance, acceding to China’s dominance and even of securing a nuclear weapons capacity – are entering strategic debate in South Korea.

Follow Robertson on Twitter @Junotane and read his piece at
https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/coming-soon-neutral-south-korea

Find out more about his work at
https://www.junotane.com

Follow Andre at @andremarrgoulet and listen to his other broadcasting work on left politics and society at https://www.harbingermedianetwork.com and subscribe to The Harbinger Spotlight wherever you get your podcasts.

Subscribe to the excellent Blue Roof Politics newsletter at https://www.blueroofpolitics.com/tag/newsletter/

This conversation was recorded on January 30th, 2021.

Armed with theory set out in the "Korean Revolution Manifesto" and practical experience drawn from the March 1st Independence Movement, in 1925 worker and citizen organizations including the Daegu League of Truth and Fraternity, the Changwon Black Friend League and the Jeju Island Mutual Aid group began to organize on the peninsula. In the summer of 1929 Anarchists formed an administration representing more than 2 million Koreans in the Manchurian province of Shinmin, but by the summer of 1931 Stalinist pressure in the North, Japanese pressure in the South and a series of targeted political assassinations ended a distinctly Korean experiment with an extraordinary ideology.

On episode 98 of The Korea File journalist, filmmaker and screenwriter Abdul Malik joins host Andre Goulet to explore the history of this fascinating and largely forgotten era. Plus: details about our work amplifying new Left discourse at the Harbinger Media Network and what to expect from Abdul's deeply researched new sports, society and politics podcast 'Offcourt', launching in early January as a network exclusive.

Find out more and get access to premium supporter-only Harbinger podcasts for as little as $3/month at https://harbingermedianetwork.com/

Historical information on this episode is sourced from Ha Ki-Rak's 'A History of the Korean Anarchist Movement', published in 1986 by the Korean Anarchist Federation.

Read the entirety of Hwang Dong-yun's 'Anarchism in Korea: Independence, Transnationalism and the Question of National Development from 1919 to 1984' at
https://libcom.org/files/Anarchism%20in%20Korea_%20Independenc%20-%20Dongyoun%20Hwang.pdf

Read a concise summary of Anarchism in Korea by the late Irish historian Alan MacSimoin at http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/ANARCHIST_ARCHIVES/worldwidemovements/koreahis.html

To read about Anarchism under the Park Chung-hee regime go to https://libcom.org/book/export/html/33946

Subscribe to the excellent Blue Roof Politics newsletter at https://www.blueroofpolitics.com/tag/newsletter/

This conversation was recorded on December 22nd, 2020.

What is alternative education in Korea? To answer this question, Contemporary Rebellions welcomes Tae Wook Ha, an activist and professor of Alternative Education at Asia Life University in the city of Daejeon and Minyeong Kim, a graduate of one of the first wave of accredited Korean alternative high schools and a current staff member at the NGO World Without War.

In these conversations they discuss the Law on Alternative Education Institutions that's currently in front of the National Assembly, the relationship between un-accredited alternative schools and the government, and the future of alternative education in South Korean society.

The Contemporary Rebellions podcast is produced by a non-hierarchical volunteer collective based in Seoul with connections across the country. The collective is a group of long-term, bilingual English and Korean speaking international residents in Korea, with involvement in various progressive social movements. Contemporary Rebellions is open to all Korean and foreign members who share our core values, have a background in social activism and would like to join the project.

This podcast is intended to be a tool for educators, activists and anyone interested in South Korean social movements. To get in touch or get involved reach out on Facebook, on Twitter @ContemporaryRe3 or via email at contemporaryrebellions@gmail.com.

You can find the transcript for this episode at: docs.google.com/document/d/1nntumexOq-LUPHEtmzAHQVUzMGV0j1GmYMSQWysS5lA/edit?usp=sharing

People’s Solidarity of Alternative Education: www.psae.or.kr

Korean Association of Alternative Education Institutions: kaaei.hompee.org

Independent artists you heard in this episode:
Kevin MacLeod (Intro): www.incompetech.com

Oreum Education Space student album: www.orumedu.org/notice/56790

Seon Mun Bakk Hakyo: smbschool.kr

Contemporary Rebellions is on:
Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/contemporaryrebellions

Look for episode 98 of The Korea File in late December.

On a very special Halloween episode of The Korea File hear a haunting and horrific conversation between guest Joe McPherson (The Wall Street Journal, The Korea Herald, National Geographic, Zen Kimchi) and host Andre Goulet as they explore his 'The Dark Side of Seoul' walking tour, podcast and comic book and share some seasonally terrifying tales of terror in the shadowy and wind-swept hallways of the abandoned Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital.

Listen to the podcast at https://darksideofseoul.com/podcast/
And find out more about the tour and Joe's sprawling Zen Kimchi empire at https://darksideofseoul.com/ and https://zenkimchi.com/

This episode was produced in collaboration with the Royal Asiatic Society- Korea Branch. To find out more about the RASKB, and to see a schedule of upcoming lectures and events, follow them on Facebook or go to http://raskb.com/

You can watch previous RASKB lectures at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRwQTNTB7yHlZwW0VchAJ5Y-IVM7TirrU

This conversation was recorded on October 20th, 2020.

Since the end of the nineteenth century, Korea has faced waves of foreign domination, authoritarian regimes and divided development and, throughout these turbulent times, “queer” Koreans have been ignored, minimized and erased in historical narrative. But a new collection of academic writing is challenging this marginalization through critical analysis of non-normative sexuality and gender variance. On episode 96 of The Korea File academic Todd Henry, editor of ‘Queer Korea’ and an authority on Colonial Era Seoul, joins host Andre Goulet to explore a pathbreaking work of scholarship that brings Korean queerness fully into the mainstream of Korean and East Asian studies.

Find out more about the book at
https://www.dukeupress.edu/queer-korea

Read 'Queer Korea', courtesy of Duke University Press at https://www.dukeupress.edu/Assets/PubMaterials/978-1-4780-0290-1_601.pdf

Order Todd's 2014 book 'Assimilating Seoul: Japanese Rule and the Politics of Public Space in Colonial Korea, 1910–1945’ at
https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520293151/assimilating-seoul

This episode was produced in collaboration with the Royal Asiatic Society- Korea Branch. To find out more about the RASKB, and to see a schedule of upcoming lectures and events, follow them on Facebook or go to http://raskb.com/

You can watch previous RASKB lectures at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRwQTNTB7yHlZwW0VchAJ5Y-IVM7TirrU

This conversation was recorded on September 25th, 2020.

In the charged political climate of '80s South Korea, university freshman Kim Hyun-sook finds refuge in the comfort of literature as the youngest member of a Banned Book Club, the title of the acclaimed 2019 graphic novel from Kim, co-author Ryan Estrada and artist Ko Hyung-ju.

On episode 95 of The Korea File, Estrada joins host Andre Goulet to discuss censorship, sequential art and what Kim's powerful story of repression and dissent has to tell us about contemporary Korean politics, illiberalism and the erosion of democratic norms around the world.

Find Ryan’s work at http://www.ryanestrada.com/ and buy the book at https://ironcircus.com/?product=banned-book-club

This conversation was recorded on August 14th, 2020.

Support the show at https://www.patreon.com/thekoreafile

How has K-pop evolved and changed over the last decade? Is right-wing political paranoia about Tiktok teens and BTS Army activism exaggerated? And is the so-called 'dark side' of the industry just a reflection of broader South Korean society?

On episode 94 of The Korea File K-pop authority Dr. CedarBough Saeji educates host Andre Goulet on the history, impact and world-wide popularity of the country's most influential cultural export.

This episode was produced in collaboration with the Royal Asiatic Society- Korea Branch. To find out more about the RASKB, and to see a schedule of upcoming lectures and events, follow them on Facebook or go to http://raskb.com/

You can watch previous RASKB lectures at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRwQTNTB7yHlZwW0VchAJ5Y-IVM7TirrU

This conversation was recorded on July 25th, 2020.

Support the show at patreon.com/thekoreafile

Introducing a special presentation of the March episode of Contemporary Rebellions:
Yonsan. Never again everyone said. Yet in February, 2020 hired thugs attacked the Noryangjin Fish Market workers. The latest episode of the show explores how displacement and state sanctioned violence, as well as resistance to redevelopment and forced evictions, continue.

The Contemporary Rebellions podcast is produced by a non-hierarchical volunteer collective based in Seoul with connections across the country. The collective is a group of long-term, bilingual English and Korean speaking international residents in Korea, with involvement in various progressive social movements. Contemporary Rebellions is open to all Korean and foreign members who share our core values, have a background in social activism and would like to join the project.

This podcast is intended to be a tool for educators, activists and anyone interested in South Korean social movements. To get in touch or get involved reach out on Facebook, on Twitter @ContemporaryRe3 or via email at contemporaryrebellions@gmail.com.

Look for episode 94 of The Korea File in late July.

A powerful new memoir ‘Witnessing Gwangju’ was released this month to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Gwangju Democratic Uprising. The book’s author, former American Peace Corps volunteer Paul Courtright, was one of only a handful of foreign witnesses to this pivotal event in modern South Korean history. On episode 93 of The Korea File, he joins host Andre Goulet to explore how his simple rural life of living and treating patients in the South Jeolla leprosy village of Hohyewan in May, 1980 collided with the Korean people’s struggle against dictatorship.

Find the book at https://www.hollym.com/product/witnessing-gwangju/

Listen to ‘A March of the Beloved: The May 18 Democratization Revolution Song’
at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=droIt4Gam_4

Support the show at https://www.patreon.com/thekoreafile

This conversation was recorded on May 22nd, 2020.

On episode 92 sociologist Jacob Reidhead and host Andre Goulet discuss the origins of the Democratic Party’s unprecedented victory in April’s parliamentary elections and contrast South Korea’s patron-client political party system with Japan and Taiwan’s faction-based traditions.

Plus: rumors, America’s failed media ecosystem and the life and 'death' of North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un.

This episode was produced in collaboration with the Royal Asiatic Society- Korea Branch. Find out more about the RASKB at www.raskb.com

Support the show at https://www.patreon.com/thekoreafile

This conversation was recorded on April 27th, 2020.

On episode 91 of The Korea File visual sociologist, street photographer and Korea National University of the Arts cultural theory lecturer Michael Hurt joins host Andre Goulet to explore what the Moon Jae-in administration's COVID-19 management strategy tells us about how different styles of government engage with crisis.

Plus: critiquing Confucian blaming and reflections on Seoul's new normal in an age of pandemic.

This episode was produced in collaboration with the Royal Asiatic Society- Korea Branch. Find out more about the RASKB at www.raskb.com

For more on Michael's street photography check out
https://medium.com/the-korean-style/the-korean-style-part-ii-hallyu-in-hanoi-or-style-in-the-time-of-corona-efaa94a2b59

Follow him on Instagram at @kuraeji and engage with the discourse at http://www.criticalkoreanstudies.com/

Support the show at https://www.patreon.com/thekoreafile

This conversation was recorded on March 26th, 2020.

On episode 90 of The Korea File it's a conversation on cults, conspiracies and the peninsula's very viral winter as host Andre Goulet welcomes freelance journalist, pirate, indie musician and media promoter Japhy Ryder.

For more from World Pirate Radio go to https://www.wprpn.com/

Check out Peter Daley's appearances on WPRPN at
https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/space-pirate-radio/episodes/2016-06-18T10_27_43-07_00
and at https://archive.org/details/Episode102PeterDaleyReturns

Support the show at https://www.patreon.com/thekoreafile

This conversation was recorded on February 26th, 2020.

On episode 89 of The Korea File: 'Campus Music' and martial law, the K-Pop precedent of the USFK's factory band system and some of the best music of an era. Join academic Matt Van Volkenburg (Gusts of Popular Feeling) and host Andre Goulet for an in-depth conversation on the music, personalities and history of 60s/70s Korean counter-culture.....plus: the not-so-secret history of President Park Chung-hee, composer.

Music on this episode:
* 송창식 - 고래사냥
* 어니언스 – 작은 새
* Key Boys - 뱃노리
* 강근식 - 별들의 고향 Prologue
* 산울림 - A Flower in the Mist
* Shin Jung Hyun And The Men - Beautiful Rivers And Mountains
* Park Chung-hee - 나의 조국
* 김인순 - 여고졸업반
* 한대수 – 고무신

Read Matt's long-running blog, now in its 15th year, at http://populargusts.blogspot.com/

This episode was produced in collaboration with the Royal Asiatic Society- Korea Branch (RASKB). Find out about upcoming lectures and tours at www.raskb.com

Support the show at patreon.com/thekoreafile

This conversation was recorded on January 26th, 2020.

On episode 88 of The Korea File podcast, cultural and culinary anthropologist Jennifer Flinn joins host Andre Goulet to explain how factors like the decline in multi-generational family living, the increasing age when Koreans first get married and the globalization and urbanization of South Korea are altering traditional assumptions about gender and cooking in Korea.

Plus: ghost tours, historical trauma and a menu for apocalyptic dining.

This episode was produced in collaboration with the Royal Asiatic Society- Korea Branch (RASKB). Find out about upcoming lectures and tours at www.raskb.com

Support the show at patreon.com/thekoreafile

Music courtesy of Creative Commons. Support the show at patreon.com/thekoreafile

This conversation was recorded on November 28th, 2019.

Why does Gangnam, and so much of Korea, feel artificial and improvised? How are urban apartment complexes like undemocratic military bases? And will Seoul end up another megacity playground for tourists and the super rich like London, New York or Tokyo?

Independent linguist Robert Fouser, a former Seoul National University Department of Korean Language professor and the author of the new Korean-language book ‘Exploring Cities’ joins host Andre Goulet to explore all this and more on episode 87 of The Korea File podcast.

This episode was produced in collaboration with the Royal Asiatic Society- Korea Branch (RASKB). Find out about upcoming lectures and tours at www.raskb.com

Music courtesy of Creative Commons. Support the show at patreon.com/thekoreafile

This conversation was recorded on October 25th, 2019.

In a break month for content, The Korea File is proud to present Singapore-based Shida Osman in conversation with TKF's Andre Goulet on 'The Podcast Show'. TPS show notes describe the conversation as follows:

“Consistency, would be the key to a successful podcast”,says Andre Goulet, podcast host of The Korea File. The conversation unveils why he chose Korea, what happened to the punk rock band that he played in, his love for Korea's architecture and why he chose Bulgogi, in the “This or That” game.

Hear more of 'The Podcast Show' at https://soundcloud.com/thepodcastshowasia

This conversation was recorded on September 12th, 2019.

Traditional Korean homes have become a victim of recent waves of gentrification in Ikseon-dong and Bukchon. But as these old residential neighbourhoods become a haven for hipsters, the unique cultural footprint of an important aspect of Seoul’s history is being erased.

On episode 86 of The Korea File, Ji-hoon Suk, a University of Michigan Ph.D. student in Asian History and a keen observer of cultural heritage in the metropolis, joins host Andre Goulet to explore the rich historic legacy of some prominent hanok affected by development.

Plus: critiquing the city government's too-little-too-late policy on managing gentrification, debunking so-called "heritage garden" Seongnagwon, investigating the architectural secrets of Seoul's long-lost Cheongnyangni 588 red-light district and more.

This episode was produced in collaboration with the Royal Asiatic Society- Korea Branch (RASKB). Find out about upcoming lectures and tours at www.raskb.com

Music courtesy of Creative Commons.

This conversation was recorded on August 25th, 2019.

Introducing Jeju Views, a biweekly snapshot of the global microcosm that is Jeju Island. Join host Ann Bush and guests in conversation as they discuss how to navigate the ever-evolving multicultural landscape of the South Korean island.

On episode 1, performer Gaelan Whitney opens up about a recent production of the spoken word and comedy show 'Vajeju Nights' and how some Yemeni refugees in attendance may not have been expecting what they were in for.

CONTENT ADVISORY: This conversation explores sex and female genitalia and may not be suitable for all audiences.

Special thanks to Pitx for Jeju Views' theme music 'Caipirinha'.

On episode 85 of The Korea File,‘Transactions’ journal General Editor Jon Dunbar joins host Andre Goulet to discuss Urban Exploration and Bong Joon-ho’s ‘The Host’, the Seoul Queer Culture Festival and the American Embassy’s rainbow Pride flag and the legacy and future of the Royal Asiatic Society-Korea Branch.

Plus: highlights from this year’s edition of the journal including the North Korea/Guyana Friendship Association, Patrilineage and the Chaebols and the predictive power of Taemon Dreams.

Subscribe to The Korea File on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts and support the show at patreon.com/thekoreafile

.....how engagement with radical anti-imperialist politics create the intellectual space to better understand the personal struggle of defining Korean identity as Korean-Americans in the United States…..

.....how a trio of teenagers convinced an 89 year-old former Alaska Senator to make a presidential run….

....and how an insurgent, largely social media-driven campaign is bringing a radically anti-colonial and anti-war message to the 2020 American election discourse....

On this episode, senior campaign staff Jonathan Suhr and Alex Chang join host Andre Goulet on a dual-cast of Korean history and current affairs show ‘The Korea File’ and Canadian left politics podcast ‘Unpacking the News’ to discuss the extraordinary anti-imperialist campaign of Gravel 2020.

Subscribe to Unpacking the News on iTunes and Spotify. Associate Production from Savanna Craig. This conversation was recorded on May 16th, 2019.

The Royal Asiatic Society- Korea Branch has been enhancing an understanding of Korean arts, customs, history and social trends through lectures, cultural excursions and special publications since it's founding more than a century ago.

In that time, the RASKB and it's unusual cohort of members (including missionaries, diplomats and other expatriates) have witnessed every aspect of Korea's contemporary history, from occupation, colonization and fratricidal war to a modern era of democracy, development and international cultural influence.

On this episode of The Korea File RASKB vice-president Steven Shields joins host Andre Goulet to explore the fascinating history of one of the country's oldest institutions.

Subscribe to The Korea File on iTunes and support the show at patreon.com/thekoreafile

Find out more about upcoming RASKB lectures and events at raskb.com

This conversation was recorded on April 21st, 2019.

Despite the high hopes many were feeling in the lead up to second Trump-Kim meeting, the Summit was probably dead before it even began late last month at the colonial-era Metropole Hotel in downtown Hanoi.

But who pulled the trigger? What was the poison pill? And where do the United States and North Korea need to go from here to guarantee a lasting peace?

On this episode host Andre Goulet is joined by speechwriter and former U.S. State Department diplomat Mintaro Oba, who last appeared on the show early last summer in the run-up to the Trump/Kim Singapore summit, to explore all this and more on episode 82 of The Korea File.

This conversation was recorded on March 26th, 2019.

Find Mintaro's recent piece 'Why, If Diplomacy is to Succeed With North Korea, John Bolton Must Go’ at https://www.nknews.org/2019/03/why-if-diplomacy-with-north-korea-is-to-succeed-john-bolton-must-go/

Become a monthly patron of the podcast at patreon.com/thekoreafile

In May 2015, on the 70th anniversary of Korea’s national division, thirty international women peacemakers from around the world walked with thousands of North and South Korean women to call for an end to the Korean War, reunification of families and the inclusion of women’s leadership in the peace process.

Christine Ahn, the founder of Women Cross the DMZ, Women De-Militarize the Zone, The Korea Policy Institute, The Global Campaign to Save Jeju Island, The Korea Peace Network and a co-organizer of the May, 2015 event joins host Andre Goulet to explore how she and others continue to work for peace on the peninsula in 2019.

For more information read Christine's op-ed with Gloria Steinem at
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/christine-ahn/gloria-steinem-north-korea-march_b_7018902.html?ec_carp=8996287911531269670

Find out more about organizing for peace in Korea at womencrossdmz.org and at wagingpeace.org

This conversation was recorded on January 25th, 2019.

The American military is gradually leaving Yongsan, a major garrison located in the heart of Seoul. But how are the dynamics of military spatial reorganization playing out beyond the metropolis?

In this conversation Bridget Martin of the University of California at Berkley joins host Andre Goulet to explore how South Korean landscapes are shaped by the country's unresolved conflict with North Korea.

This conversation was recorded on December 11th, 2018.

Look for Bridget’s ‘Field Notes from South Korea: Local Development in the Land of Securitized Peace’ at scholarworks.csun.edu

With a unique cultural and geographical history going back centuries, the ‘Joseonjok’ are considered too different to be fully Chinese in China while simultaneously 'not good enough to fit in’ in South Korea.

In this conversation, writer Eddie Park joins host Andre Goulet to discuss his recent investigative reporting from the Korean Autonomous Prefecture in Yanbian, China.

This interview was recorded on October 25th, 2018.

Read Park's piece at KOREA EXPOSÉ: https://www.koreaexpose.com/too-different-to-be-chinese-not-good-enough-to-be-korean/

Image courtesy of Jonathan Skjott. Find his audio tour of Seoul's Daerim-dong neighbourhood at http://jskjott.com/Joseonjok.html

Is there room for freedom of conscience in the South Korean military?

Amnesty International says that there are more than 230 conscientious objectors currently incarcerated in the country. But a Constitutional Court ruling this summer, a ruling that states that the government must provide alternative civilian roles for those who refuse to take up arms due to religious or political reasons, sends a clear message that conscientious objection to military service is a human right.

On this episode of ké cast, Korea Expose staff writer Jieun Choi joins host Andre Goulet to discuss this major shift in legal rights for Conscientious Objectors.

This episode was recorded on October 3rd, 2018.

If you like this show support it at patreon.com/thekoreafile

Photo credit: The Hankyoreh

South Korean society has long been intolerant of outsiders, but the outrage sparked this summer by a thousand Yemeni asylum seekers on Jeju Island illustrates the depth of the country’s xenophobia.

On this episode of ké cast, Korea Exposé Publisher Se-Woong Koo joins host André Goulet to discuss why, despite its vaunted democracy and economy, compassion and humanitarian instincts are in short supply in South Korea.

Read Se-Woong's piece 'Tyranny of South Korea's Majority Against Refugees' at https://www.koreaexpose.com/south-korea-xenophobia-shows-itself-yemen-refugees-situation/

For more ké cast, go to koreaexpose.com.

This conversation was recorded on August 28th, 2018.

Photo credit: National Public Radio

This is 'ké cast' Season 2, Episode 1. Produced in collaboration with Korea Exposé, an independent media organization that speaks to a global audience about the Koreas in a way that goes beyond cliché and superficial analysis, look for this podcast at the beginning of each month through 2018.

On this episode, Korea Exposé managing editor Haeryun Kang joins 'The Korea File' podcast host Andre Goulet to explore this summer's massive women-led protests against spycam porn and South Korea's pervasive culture of voyeurism and surveillance.

Read Haeryun's piece 'My Life Isn't Your Porn: Why South Korean Women Protest': https://www.koreaexpose.com/south-koreas-biggest-womens-protest-in-history-is-against-spycam-porn/

For more ké cast, go to koreaexpose.com.

This conversation was recorded on June 26th, 2018.

Former U.S. diplomat, speechwriter, and commentator on U.S. foreign policy in Asia Mintaro Oba joins host Andre Goulet to discuss this month’s on again off again US-North Korea meeting how the Moon administration’s heroic heavy lifting has kept the summit on track. Plus: a risk-free template for how to be a North Korea pundit.

This conversation was recorded on June 1st, 2018.

Music on this episode is from the album 'The Best of Yi Moon-sae'.

John Carl Baker, a fellow with Washington, DC think tank The Ploughshares Fund joins host Andre Goulet to talk about peace, nuclear proliferation and this historic week on the Korean peninsula.

This conversation was recorded on May 2nd, 2018.

Music on this episode, 'But I Like You' is from Busan indie rock band Say Sue Me. Find their new album 'Where We Were Together' on Bandcamp.

Mastered by Chris Hernandez at Studio Petite Palais in Montreal.

Jenny Town (Assistant Director of the US-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies/Managing Editor at 38North.org) joins host Andre Goulet to discuss Washington's reaction to the surprise announcement of a Donald Trump/Kim Jong-un summit and- what can we expect from this month’s upcoming inter-Korean talks? How do the conditions surrounding the summit compare to the Roh Moo-hun/Kim Jong-il meeting of 2007?

Plus: John Bolton as White House National Security Adviser adds a dangerous element to peace-making efforts on the peninsula and- why is Seoul still without an American ambassador? All this and more on episode 73 of The Korea File.

Music on this episode: 방주연's '당신의 마음' (1987)

This conversation was recorded on April 3rd, 2018

Mastered by Chris Hernandez at Studio Petit Palais in Montreal.

Steven Denney (Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto/Senior Editor at SinoNK.com) joins host Andre Goulet to discuss the diplomatic delegation's visit to Pyongyang and how Korean nationalism and American obstructionism continue to clash in the wake of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games.

Plus: January's weird Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on Security and Stability on the Korean Peninsula, organized by the Canadian government and the U.S. State Department, comes under observation. All this and more, on episode 72 of The Korea File.

Music on this episode: ‘그리움만 쌓이네' by여진 (1979)

This conversation was recorded on March 9th, 2018.

Mastered by Chris Hernandez at Studio Petit Palais.

In this conversation with prominent blogger Ask A Korean, we unpack the spy-ops and psy-ops that have informed more than a decade of alt-Right agitation in South Korea.

Plus: a look into the anti-democratic overreach of the National Intelligence Service and a deep dive into the origins of Ilbe, Korea’s nihilistic proto-Reddit web forum and 4chan and Breitbart predecessor. And, an analysis of the diminished status of South Korea’s political right-wing today.

Also, three fundamental questions that establish first principles when talking about North Korea: May the North Korean state continue to exist? May the Kim Jong-un regime remain in power? And is war acceptable on the Korean peninsula? Ask A Korean’s answer to all three questions is an emphatic ‘No’.

This conversation was recorded on January 28th, 2018.

Music on this episode is 심수봉 with '그때 그사람'.

Mastered by Chris Hernandez at Villeray Studios in Montreal.

Help support and sustain this podcast at patreon.com/thekoreafile and receive access to exclusive interviews and bonus content!

As the Koreas begin high level diplomatic talks, host Andre Goulet is joined by photojournalist Jules Tomi for a wide-ranging conversation on the upcoming Pyeongchang Olympic Games and the confluence of factors, including chaotic American political leadership, that may be leading to an easing of tensions on the peninsula.

Plus: critiquing voyeuristic journalism, apocalyptic diplomacy by Twitter and debating the perilous potential of possible reunification. This conversation was recorded on January 4th.

Music on this episode is Kim Gwan-suk's ‘Buchiji Anheun Pyunji #1 (Geudae Jal-gala)'

Photo credit: Spencer Cameron w/ Getty Images

Support The Korea File podcast at patreon.com/thekoreafile

Academics have long examined the relationship between nation-states and their "internal others," like immigrants and ethnic or racial minorities.

Now, with her award-winning book ‘Contested Embrace: Transborder Membership Politics in Twentieth-Century Korea’ Jaeeun Kim shifts this focus to look at how a state relates to people it sees as diasporic "external members".

In this conversation, Kim shares some of the ideas behind her comparative, historical, and ethnographic study of the complex relationships between the states in the Korean peninsula, colonial-era Korean migrants to Japan and northeast China and their descendants, and the states in which they’ve lived over the course of the twentieth century.

To see Jaeun Kim’s full Nam Center lecture, look for ‘Contested Embrace: Transborder Membership Politics in Twentieth-Century Korea’,on Youtube. Subscribe to the Nam Center’s Youtube channel at 'umichncks'.

Become a financial supporter of this podcast at patreon.com/thekoreafile

For more information on this lecture go to
https://www.ii.umich.edu/ncks/news-events/events.detail.html/42278-9593311.html

Mastered at Villeray Studios by Chris Hernandez.

On this episode:

The Nation magazine’s resident Korea expert Tim Shorrock discusses American political instability, assesses the unthinkable cost of a new Korean civil war and examines the international community's role in resolving the nuclear crisis.

Become a sustaining patron of this podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thekoreafile

Music on this episode includes the national anthems of the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

How do we consume nationalism in the marketplace? And what does it mean to treat nationalism as a commodity?

In this conversation, Nam Center Postdoctoral Fellow Jiun Bang discusses the commodification surrounding the Dokdo/Takeshima dispute, and challenges some of the traditional assumptions behind our perceptions of nationalism. 

And- a conversation on the strange linguistic character of the name Ehwa Womans University. Bang shares some little known facts about her alma mater. All this and more on episode 67 of The Korea File.

This episode was produced in collaboration with the University of Michigan’s Nam Center for Korean Studies.

Music on this episode:
John Lopker's 'My Dear Dokdo' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTSMNaFB8Rk and also
Kim Kyung-min's 'Dokdo, dokdo, dokdo' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JT3NcD5162s

Choson Exchange is bringing capitalism to the DPRK.

Since 2009, the Singapore-based non-profit has facilitated training workshops for everyday North Koreans in Economics, Entrepreneurship and Urban Planning in metropolitan Pyongyang and elsewhere around the country.

In this conversation, Choson Exchange Associate Director of Research Dr. Andray Abrahamian discusses how the introduction of some aspects of a free market economy under the Kim Jong-eun regime is changing the way North Koreans look at capitalism. We’ll also talk about the prospects for further change in North Korean society and discuss how initiatives like Chosun Exchange could impact how the United States, South Korea and other countries approach North Korea policy.

Also: how can political leadership in the United States and the Koreas move past saber-rattling and militaristic rhetoric? How will South Korean policy towards the North change in the post-Park Geun-hye era? And what's it like to fly Air Koryo?

Music on this episode is 'Great Comrade Kim Jong-eun, We Know Nobody But You' from KCTV State Television:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLbWjwIwKrI

This episode was produced in collaboration with the University of Michigan’s Nam Center for Korean Studies.

To see Andray Abrahamian’s full Nam Center Undergraduate Fellows lecture, look for “Social Changes You See When Working in North Korea” on Youtube. Subscribe to Nam Center lecture series at 'umichncks'.

What role did public polling play in the spectacular political collapse of President Park Geun-hye? How effective is political polling today? And with social trends pointing to a continuing decrease in the rate of democratic participation, how can polls remain representative?

In our conversation prior to his recent lecture at the University of Michigan, UC Berkley Professor Taeku Lee discusses how the political science of public polling, until recently a primarily American area of study, has gained academic traction in South Korea over the last decade.

This episode was produced in collaboration with the Nam Center for Korean Studies. Subscribe to the Nam Center’s Youtube channel at umichncks.

Music on this episode is 7080 star 김연자 with 봄비가.

Joshua Van Lieu is a historian of 20th century East Asian politics and international relations and an authority on the histories of Joseon Korea and Late Imperial China.

In this conversation, Van Lieu discusses the diplomatic intrigue of the Qing-Korea relationship and explains how the pageantry of tributary practice successfully manipulated Western preconceptions of the “unknowable orient”.

This episode was produced in collaboration with the University of Michigan’s Nam Center for Korean Studies.

To see Joshua Van Lieu’s full lecture, find “The Act was Oriental between Orientals: The Persistence of Late Victorian Translations of the Twilight of Qing-Chosun Tributary Practice” on Youtube.

What has the literature of division meant for the two Koreas over the years?

They remain officially at war, a situation unchanged since 1953 when the Armistice Agreement, signed by China, North Korea and the United States, brought an end to active hostilities on the peninsula.

But the Armistice was not a peace settlement and tensions along the DMZ, the 38th parallel, have continued ever since. This long stalemate between the divided Koreas has prevented most kinds of social, cultural and political exchanges, with some exceptions.

In the conclusion to our conversation, I. Jonathan Kief, a Korea Foundation post-doctoral fellow at the University of Michigan’s Nam Center for Korean Studies, continues to explore the unconventional perspective on the relationship between writers in North and South Korea, in both the real and imagined ways in which literature of the post-war period managed to cross the 38th parallel in the post-war era.

This episode was produced in collaboration with the University of Michigan’s Nam Center for Korean Studies.

The Koreas are officially at war, a situation that’s remained unchanged since 1953 when an Armistice Agreement was signed by China, North Korea and the United States, ending hostilities on the peninsula without achieving a final peace settlement.

The long stalemate between the two Koreas has prevented countless opportunities for social, cultural and political exchanges, with occasional exceptions. Which is why I. Jonathan Kief’s area of study is so interesting.

In his research, Kief, a Korea Foundation post-doctoral fellow at the University of Michigan’s Nam Center for Korean Studies, explores an unconventional perspective on the relationship between writers in North and South Korea.

Here, in the first of a two-part conversation, he discusses the real as well as imagined ways in which literature of the post-war period managed to cross the 38th parallel and attempts to outline a more complicated and nuanced understanding of what division literature has meant in Korea over the years.

This episode was produced in collaboration with the University of Michigan’s Nam Center for Korean Studies.

To find our more on Kief's research or to view other lectures from the Nam Center Colloquium series , visit https://www.youtube.com/user/umichncks/featured

Photo credit: http://www.notesonslowtravel.com/a-peek-into-north-korea-visiting-the-dmz-in-korea/

In her recent book, ‘The Capitalist Unconscious: From Korean Unification to Transnational Korea’, professor of sociology Hyun-ok Park, of Toronto's York University, demonstrates that the unseen currents of capitalism, rather than territorial integration or family union, are driving a movement towards peninsular integration and a united Korea.

In this conversation, prior to her recent lecture at the University of Michigan’s Nam Center for Korean Studies, she discusses how migrant labor, identity politics, social activism and media spectacle are each playing a part in the gradual trend towards unification and why she sees the capitalist integration of the peninsula and its diaspora as a new democratic moment for the Korean people.

Music on this episode: Park In-Hee - 방랑자 (1976)

For more information on the University of Michigan's Nam Center for Korean Studies go to https://www.ii.umich.edu/ncks

At a recent lecture at the University of Michigan's Nam Center for Korean Studies, Pepperdine University sociologist Rebecca Kim spoke on the phenomena of South Korean evangelical missionaries proselytizing in the United States.

Exploring the relationship between the two countries since World War 2, her talk addresses how Korean missionaries with the University Bible Fellowship attempted to evangelize the college-educated and why the UFB's outreach efforts focused racially only on white Americans.

From the colloquium's webpage:
This lecture highlights how South Korean Protestants are contributing to the changing dynamics of missions in world Christianity and examines the phenomena of Korean evangelical missionaries proselytizing Americans in the United States. Exploring South Korea’s relationship with the United States particularly since World War II, this lecture addresses why and how Korean missionaries evangelized Americans, especially white Americans, and how their mission efforts evolved over time in the West.

Rebecca Y. Kim is the Frank R. Seaver Professor of Social Science. She is Professor of Sociology and the Director of the Ethnic Studies program at Pepperdine University. She specializes in immigration, race, and religion and has published broadly on topics related to Korean Americans and Korean Christianity. She is the author of God’s New Whiz Kids? Korean American Evangelicals on Campus (New York University Press 2006) and The Spirit Moves West: Korean Missionaries in America (Oxford University Press 2015)

To see Kim's talk in full, go to https://www.youtube.com/user/umichncks

Music on this episode is from 70s Christian singer 민희라.

This conversation was recorded in March, 2016. It's the first in a series of episodes in collaboration with the University of Michigan’s Nam Center for Korean Studies.

In part three of a conversation with conscientious objector, pacifist and 1950s aid worker Joe Smucker, he discusses the paranoia and chaos that he witnessed in a country in the grip of a post-colonial and post-war reality. Plus, more on the Mennonites and their relationship with South Korea.

Also: an e-mail from a listener whose grandparents participated in educational and agricultural efforts in Daejon during the post-war period.

Music on this episode is from 단장의 with her 1960's trot classic '미아리고개'.

Photo credit: Morning Calm Weekly News on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/imcomkorea/3198333337

Pacifist and conscientious objector Joe Smucker left for Korea by freighter in 1956 to help with the country’s post-war reconstruction. His three years on the peninsula participating in relief work efforts were life-changing.

In part two of our conversation, Smucker reveals how the Mennonite Central Committee’s reconstruction efforts and work with orphans in the 1950's led to the founding of an Anabaptist church on the peninsula 40 years later. He also reflects on the post-colonial social and structural chaos he witnessed in the post-war wreckage of a divided Korea.

Music on this episode is Lee Soo Mi 1950's release '미워도 다시 한 번'.

Refugee image from http://www.umcmission.org/learn-about-us/news-and-stories/2015/january/75thanniversary5060s

A pacifist and conscientious objector, Joe Smucker left for Korea by freighter in 1956 to help with the country’s post-war reconstruction. His three years on the peninsula participating in relief work efforts with the Mennonite Central Committee would change his life forever.

In the first of a two-part interview, Smucker discusses the origins of the MCC, a relief organization similar to today’s Oxfam or Doctors Without Borders, their efforts to help cope with the post-war refugee crisis in Daegu and the sorry state of South Korea`s civil government in the post-war era.

Music on this episode is from 김정호 with a live performance of his song `이름모를 소녀'

Corporate stereotyping, the cult power of Chaebol leadership and the structural differences before and after the 1997 IMF financial crisis. This is part three of a conversation with Michael Prentice, a PhD Candidate in the University of Michigan’s Department of Anthropology, on South Korea's hugely influential Chaebol.

Our fundraising campaign is live at https://www.patreon.com/thekoreafile?ty=h
Every dollar you pledge supports independent journalism and helps keep this podcast on the air!

Prentice interned for a year at a Seoul-area company, conducting semi-covert academic research on the country's unique corporate culture. On this episode, he discusses Korean corporate security protocol and the complex relationship between Chaebol development and the narrative structure of Korean history. He also explains how he obtained his position as an undercover anthropologist.

Music on this episode is 1972's '안개속의 여인' with Ji-Hyun on vocals and the legendary Shin Jung-hyun on guitar.

This episodes image is taken from
https://anti-imperialism.com/2015/01/12/neoliberalism-in-south-korea-financial-crisis-fascism-and-the-rise-of-precarious-work/

Nepotism, hangover strategies and the undercover life revealed: This is part two of a conversation with Michael Prentice, a PhD Candidate in the University of Michigan’s Department of Anthropology, on South Korea's hugely influential Chaebol.

Our fundraising campaign is live at https://www.patreon.com/thekoreafile?ty=h
Every dollar you pledge supports independent journalism and helps keep this podcast on the air!

Prentice interned for a year at a Seoul-area company, conducting semi-covert academic research on the country's unique corporate culture. On this episode, he discusses Korean corporate security protocol and the complex relationship between Chaebol development and the narrative structure of Korean history. He also explains how he obtained his position as an undercover anthropologist.

Music on this episode is from Shin Jung Hyun & The Donkeys feat. Lee Jung Hwa with their 1969 single 'My Hearts': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c0fjMVhwPM

The episode image is of Heather 'Nut Rage' Cho, a vice president of Korean Air and daughter of the airline's chairman. http://www.businesskorea.co.kr/english/oped/opinions/8557-nepotism-south-korea-otherwise-egalitarian-korean-work-culture-nepotisms#sthash.B73TW3S8.dpuf

This is the 2nd of a 3-part conversation.

University of Michigan PhD Candidate Michael Prentice interned for a year at a Seoul-area corporation, conducting semi-covert academic research on the unique corporate culture of South Korea.

Here, he discusses the semantics, politics and evolution of the word ‘Chaebol’, the origins of post-Korean War corporate and economic development in the country as well as society’s fascination and obsession with the behaviour and excesses of its ruling oligarchy.

This is the first of a 3-part conversation.

Music on this episode is from김연숙 ‘s 1987 single ‘그날’.

Photo: New Samsung HQ in San Jose, CA
Credit: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2015/09/25/take-a-tour-of-the-new-samsung.html

Born in Seoul and raised in the United States, Rachel Lee’s first Gyeongju excavation, in the historical capitol of the Silla dynasty, was also her first visit to her country of origin.

Join us for a conversation about the differences between household and mortuary archaeology, a critique of popular misconceptions regarding the swashbuckling Indiana Jones-style archaeologist and a description of a typical archaeological research trip in Korea.

This is the second of a two-part interview.

Music on this episode: 이세진's 1978 single '슬퍼마오' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzCSfb58wNA

How did the shift to a primarily agricultural society in Korea almost 3000 years ago lead to the introduction of social inequality on the peninsula?

Join us for a discussion with archaeologist Rachel Lee concerning her work on ‘Household Archaeology’ excavations near Jinju in South Gyeongsang province and a conversation about the wider arc of her research concerning Korea’s pre-historic Mumun period.

Music on this episode is Bae In-suk's 1979 single '누구라도 그러하듯이' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-muMHVUOSM

Matt VanVolkenburg is an MA student at the University of Seattle in Washington and the long-time host of the prolific blog 'Gusts of Popular Feeling', which recently celebrated it's 10th year of analysis on Korean society, history, urban space, film and current events.

In this conversation, he recounts the story of how Japanese military successes in Singapore and Malaysia in 1942 led to the capture of an estimated 135,000 Allied soldiers, many of whom were imprisoned in colonial Seoul.

This conversation was recorded in Hongdae in May, 2015.

Music on episode 52: Kim Choo-ja and Shin Jung-hyun's '알수없네' (1969) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VrbHeGtOvc

Jenna Gibson is the Director of Communications at the Korea Economic Institute in Washington DC, a think tank working to promote dialogue and understanding on economic, political and security relations between South Korea and the United States.

Gibson also hosts and produces the KEI’s Korean Kontext podcast, a weekly selection of interviews focusing on the experts, artists and opinion makers that shape the US-Korea policy world.

Here, Gibson talks about her own background with South Korea, the passion for journalism that she brings to her work as well as the goals she has for the podcast moving forward.

This is part two of our conversation.

Music on this episode, 신중현(Shin Joong Hyun) and 이정화(Lee JeongHwa)'s "싫어" (1970) can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G49vx9xMVJs

Founded in 1982, The Korea Economic Institute's aims to promote dialogue and understanding on economic, political and security relations between South Korea and the U.S.

But how does this play out in the organization's day-to-day operations?

In this episode, we join Director of Communications and host of the Korean Kontext podcast Jenna Gibson in Washington, D.C. for a look inside the KEI.

For more on the KEI, go to http://www.keia.org/

For episodes of the Korean Kontext podcast, go to http://keia.podbean.com/

Music on this episode, '늦은면 큰일나요', is from Korea's first rock band, Kwon Soon-Keun and the Add4s (1964).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIug9wIZf14&index=5&list=PL-d7juCwk5luyaXc4GrEMtTw2tjlY9ZMF

On this episode, UCLA PhD candidate in Asian Languages and Cultures Tommy Tran talks about his research concerning Japan’s Korean diaspora, with a focus on Osaka’s 80,000 residents with roots on Jeju Island.

Join us as we discuss dialect code-switching, Halla Mountain botany and shamanic deity worship in a metropolis of 19,000,000 people. This is the 2nd of a two part conversation.

Music on this episode: Hwan Keum-sim's 1989 performance of 'Aldeulhan Dangsin' ( 황금심 - 알뜰한 당신 )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D329zrb_P-0

Photo Credit: https://traveldreamscapes.wordpress.com/2014/08/20/japan-osaka-tsuruhashi-koreatown/

On this episode of The Korea File podcast, a conversation with UCLA PhD candidate in Asian Languages and Cultures Tommy Tran about his research on Japan’s Korean diaspora, including:

1) the colonial-era origins of Jeju migration to Osaka,
2) the role of terror and violence in migration trends during the Korean Civil War and Jeju’s 4.3 Massacre and
3) the Osaka diaspora’s sense of identity as pre-division Koreans.

This is the first of a two-part episode.

Music on this episode: Hwan Keum-sim's 'Cholibdong'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4AAbH-eR_c

Park picnics in the Democratic People’s Republic. The Kim Dynasty: cult or religion? And: Rules for Communist Clam Cooking.

On this episode of The Korea File writer and journalist Jon Dunbar describes the experience of vacationing and travelling in one of the most insular countries in the world.

Music on this episode: 'My Country is the Best!'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-kuOwUAHIQ

On this week`s episode of The Korea File, it`s Seoul`s most renown expat indie band!

With international recognition and crossover success in the Korean mainstream this is Used Cassettes, live at Haebongchoen`s Thunderhorse Tavern.
.
From the band bio at Magic Strawberry Sound:

``Used Cassettes was formed as a drunken pact between some friends in a dingy basement in South Korea. Three years later the band come to the forefront of the Seoul indie music scene.

They have been in a number or magazines and feature documentaries, and released two EP’s in this time span. The band cites many influences on this record, including the works of Destroyer, Real Estate, Sonic Youth and The Replacements.

Used Cassettes latest release has already gained international recognition. Major international media organizations such as Canada’s CBC, which debuted the EP a feature airing it’s songs as well as an extended interview. Tracks from the album have also appeared in ads for Gold Coast, Earth, and South African surf competitions videos. Used Cassettes have collaborated with internationally renowned artists, such as Takahito Ire, who created the album art on They Were Individuals EP.

Currently, Used Cassettes are back in the studio recording their first full-length album and continue to gig regularly in Seoul, where they have gained a strong following and a reputation for wild and energetic performances.``

See more of Used Cassettes` music on Youtube at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35Yge3ucx0o

or hear them on Soundcloud at
https://soundcloud.com/used-cassettes

For future episodes of The Korea File, check out our new home at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thekoreafile

In 2004, an agreement was reached between the United States and South Korean governments to relocate the United States Forces Korea from the heart of Seoul to Camp Humphreys, outside the mid-sized city of Pyeongtaek, and to a second major garrison outside of Daegu

The process, scheduled to be completed next year, will consolidate more than 28,000 troops into two regional hubs and will transform Camp Humphreys into the largest U.S. Army garrison in Asia.

As the population of the garisson increases from 12,000 Soldiers, Family Members and contractors to 37,000 in 2016, the city of Pyeongtaek, in co-operation with the central South Korean government, have developed ambitious plans.

These include a major Samsung semiconductor chip plant, the world’s largest fuel cell power plant, an expanded maritime port, a free economic zone as well as tens of thousands of new housing developments.

UC Berkley’s Bridget Martin is researching the links between Militarism and Urbanization in South Korea. In the second of our two-part conversation, she talks about the intensity of South Korean urban redevelopment, the goals behind USFK base consolidation and restructuring and the historical relationship between American military bases and South Korean society.

Music on this episode is the Pearl Sister's 'Love House' (펄시스터즈 사랑의 교실) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AAvLhCeUwc

In 2004, an agreement was reached between the United States and South Korean governments to move all U.S. forces in the country south of the Han River. This move will relocate the United States Forces Korea from the heart of Seoul to Camp Humphreys, outside the mid-sized city of Pyeongtaek, and to a second major garrison outside of Daegu.

The process, scheduled to be completed next year, will consolidate more than 28,000 troops into two regional hubs and will transform Camp Humphreys into the largest U.S. Army garrison in Asia.

As the population of the garisson increases from 5,000 Soldiers and 7000 civilians, family members and contractors to more than 37,000 by 2016, civic authorities for the city of Pyeongtaek have developed ambitious plans for the expanding city including a major Samsung semiconductor chip plant, the world’s largest fuel cell power plant, an expanded maritime port, a free economic zone and tens of thousands of new housing developments.

Bridget K. Martin, a PhD student in Geography at UC Berkley, is researching the links between Militarism and Urbanization in South Korea.

In the first of a two-part interview she explains how American imperialism and Korean development, heavily connected since the end of the Korean War, are continuing to work together in new and surprising ways.

Music on this episode: 영싸운드-등불https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66fPqqAtyEw

After more than 3000 days of action, what's the state of the anti-naval base protest in Gangjeong Village?

I speak with Sunny, an activist with the Catholic Workers Movement, about the morale and momentum of the movement moving forward.

Music on this episode is taken from the pansori/butoh collective performing live in front of the navy base construction site at last June's Gangjeong Peace Market.

For more information on the anti-base protests, go to savejejunow.org

Jeju Weekly editor-in-chief Darren Southcott turns the mic around in a conversation with me about podcasting in Korea.

The Korea File will be on hiatus until mid September, with a new episode out on September 16th.

This episode's music:
San U-lim's 'It Was Probably Late Summer' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-6jssOe5Uo

Seoul's lo-fi basement punk pop pioneers Nice Legs, live at The Factory in Jeju City, 6/13/2015

Find more Nice Legs here: https://wearenicelegs.bandcamp.com/releases

The Jeju Peace Forum was founded in 2001 with the goal of contributing to world peace and international cooperation in the East Asian sphere through multilateral dialogue and community building.

The 2003 edition of the conference included President Roh Muu-hyun's official apology to Jeju Island for the 4.3 massacre and the 2007 Jeju Declaration envisioned a regional peacekeeping diplomatic role for South Korea based on the Helsinki Process.

In 2008, with the election of the hardline right-wing Lee Myung-bak government, the foreign affairs ministry changed the name of the conference to The Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity and shifted focus away from co-operative agreements, bringing in big name speakers on themes unrelated to the peace process.

A glance at the list of events, workshops and speakers from the 10th Forum held last May, full of washed-up politicians and discredited neoliberal economic themes, suggests a conference in search of an identity.

Darren Southcott, editor-in-chief of The Jeju Weekly magazine, joins The Korea File to discuss whether or not the Forum has stayed true to it’s roots as a regional peace initiative.

Details on the 10th edition of the Forum can be found here: http://www.jejuforum.or.kr/eng/

For more from Darren Southcott, check out The Jeju Weekly magazine here: http://www.jejuweekly.com/

Music on this episode: 김 수 철 with '내일'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioiv4MaJokQ

With more than 10 million visitors every year, how does Jeju balance UNESCO-certified biosphere reserves and multiple World Natural Heritage Sites with the environmental footprint of a rapidly expanding tourism economy?

Jeju Weekly editor Darren Southcott weighs in on the growing conflict between conservation and exploitation on Jeju Island.

The Jeju Weekly has been publishing since 2009 and is available at various locations around the island.

For all the news that matters about Jeju, check out Darren's byline on the masthead at http://www.jejuweekly.com/

Music on this episode:
From 1973, 이정선(Lee Jung Sun) with '노래모음'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzJo8QmaTGE

From humble beginnings in a Tapdong parking lot 12 years ago, the Stepping Stone indie rock festival celebrated another success in 2015 in spite of heavy rain, intense winds and a washed-out beach due to Typhoon Chan-hom.

The Korea File was at the festival's Plan B, Daemyung Resort's Diamond Ballroom on Hamdeok Beach, to speak with festival organizer Kim Myoung-su and some of the bands, including:

the Stooges-era garage rock of Dead Buttons,
https://www.gigmit.com/dead-buttos

Romantiqua's guitar-heavy post-rock
http://www.koreanindie.com/2013/05/07/romantiqua-%EB%A1
%9C%EB%A7%8C%ED%8B%B0%EC%B9%B4-when-and-where/

the Mogwai-esque soundscape harmonics of Apollo 18
https://apollo18.bandcamp.com/

and the dynamic folk punk of Jeju's own Zen Alone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUA-cLDLoKo

For more on the festival check out Ann Bush's eyewitness account at
http://www.jejuweekly.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=4846

South Korea is one of very few developed nations to have maintained a Shamanic heritage over millennia, and although Shamanism’s influence has diminished on the Korean mainland in the face of modernization, state-sponsored oppression and a generational shift in recent decades, it is still widely practiced on Jeju by a shrinking, but significant, number of elderly islanders .

Here’s writers Anne Hilty and Hong Sun-young from a 2013 piece in The Jeju Weekly magazine:

“On Jeju, shamanism has long been the core of village life. In its village-based shamanistic system, all conflict within a village was expected to be resolved prior to communal rituals in order to help ensure the gods' benevolence and village prosperity.

Jeju’s traditionally egalitarian society was based upon mutual aid; its matri-focal structure included powerful female deities, and diving women, or Haenya, as the primary economic force.”

http://www.jejuweekly.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=2926

Filmaker, writer and photographer Joey Rositano has spent more than three years attempting to answer this question, documenting, researching and collecting myths and stories from the elderly practitioners of shamanism on Jeju island.

His documentary ‘At Search for Spirits on the Island of Rocks, Wind and Women’ premiered at the 2014 Jeju Women’s Film Festival and a book of his photography work entitled ‘Spirits: Jeju Island’s Shamanic Shrines’ was released this week.

This is the second of a two part conversation.

For more on Joey's documentary, to find out about shrine preservation efforts on Jeju or to order a copy of 'Spirits: Jeju Island’s Shamanic Shrines', go to https://pagansweare.wordpress.com/

With roots emanating from the animistic tradition of central Siberia, Korea is one of very few developed nations to have maintained a Shamanic heritage over thousands of years. But after decades of neglect and government-sponsored eradication efforts in the 20th century, what's left of Korean shamanism?

Filmaker, writer and photographer Joey Rositano has spent more than three years attempting to answer this question, documenting, researching and collecting myths and stories from the elderly practitioners of shamanism on Jeju island.

His documentary ‘At Search for Spirits on the Island of Rocks, Wind and Women’ premiered at the 2014 Jeju Women’s Film Festival and a book of his photography work entitled ‘Spirits: Jeju Island’s Shamanic Shrines’ was released this week.

This is part one of a two part conversation.

For more on Joey's documentary, to find out about shrine preservation efforts on Jeju or to order a copy of 'Spirits: Jeju Island’s Shamanic Shrines', go to https://pagansweare.wordpress.com/

Korea’s back-to-the-land movement is an unprecedented phenomenon in modern Korean history. What’s driving tens of thousands of Koreans to leave the conveniences and comforts of the city to start a new life in rural Jeju?

Agnes Sohn is an American cultural anthropologist with a focus on social and cultural movements. She recently completed three months of field research under a Fulbright-Hays grant and returns to the island in the fall to continue her doctoral dissertation.

In this interview she discusses the root causes of Seoul's growing urban exodus and the challenges and complications that arise for new arrivals attempting to integrate into the mostly elderly and primarily agricultural communities of rural Jeju.

Special interview assist from Jeju dialect language preservationist Moira Saltzman.

Music for this episode courtesy of folk legend 한대수 with 행복의 나라로 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5-ifLVyoMM

Jeju Island welcomes more than a million tourists to its beaches, resorts and UNESCO Natural World Heritage sites every month.

The number has grown dramatically every year, from 5 million in 2005 to more than 12 million last year, driven by the economic confidence of a powerful domestic middle class and the package tours of China's nouveaux riche.

The effect of the increase in visitors on the environmental and social stability of this island of 500,000 is dramatic and ongoing.

Ann Bush is a writer, teacher and activist from Berkley, California. Her work for The Jeju Weekly magazine has brought an articulate and insightful outsider’s take on the art, history and culture of the island.

In this interview she discusses the value and dangers of tourism's economic benefits and the sanctity of cultural solidarity in the face of massive change.

For Ann's work in The Jeju Weekly magazine, go to http://www.jejuweekly.com/news/articleList.html?sc_area=W&sc_word=Ann%20Bush

Her blog can be found at https://jejujive.wordpress.com/

Music in this episode: 남 궁 옥 분 with '사랑 사랑 누 가 말' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpQ7A-hlcI4

Where Ween meets Willie Nelson, this is weirdo, operatic guitar rock at it's strangest: expat/Korean hybrid Saure Gurken are currently playing around Seoul supporting the release of their new EP '上'.

From their bio at doindie.co.kr-"Saure Gurken is a three-piece rock band based in Seoul, South Korea. Formed in 2013 by original members Vance Baryn (vocals, bass) and Quaziq (guitars), they were later joined by Josh King (drums) in 2014. Saure Gurken have released one EP (“上” 2015) and will release two more EP's in 2015 and a full album in early 2016. Like its members, Saure Gurken's sound is strange and eclectic, delving into different styles and sounds with the goal of creating musical experiences rather than simply songs. If one listens closely, they might perceive the infuence of a wide variety of artists including Tom Waits, Metallica, Operation Ivy, Mr. Bungle, and Willie Nelson. Ultimately, Saure Gurken's goal is to create music that is interesting and original which defies notions of genre."

A review of their EP '上'can be found here:
http://sleepingbagstudios.ca/saure-gurken-%E4%B8%8A/

For more of the band's music, go to https://sauregurken.bandcamp.com/releases

Matt VanVolkenburg's prolific blog 'Gusts of Popular Feeling' celebrates it's 10th year of analysis on Korean society, history, urban space, film and current events this month.

In the final segment of a 3-part interview, Matt talks about marijuana, rock music and the counterculture and their relationship with dictator Park Chung-hee in the military police state of 1970s South Korea.

For an epic 10 year run of writing check out VanVolkenburg's archived work at http://populargusts.blogspot.kr/

Music in this episode- Young Sound '달무리'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImP9ZzJ5Oi0

Matt VanVolkenburg's prolific blog 'Gusts of Popular Feeling' celebrates it's 10th year of analysis on Korean society, history, urban space, film and current events this month.

In the second of a 3-part interview, Matt discusses the concept of Korean identity, the notion of the unfinished country and the history of anti-Americanism on the peninsula.

For an epic 10 year run of writing check out VanVolkenburg's archived work at http://populargusts.blogspot.kr/

Music on this episode:
'From Mother's Arms to Korea' The Louvin Brothers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM0b-Mt79sI&index=14&list=PL4JAoPLjRunSuxI0y99cRxxeFjBeB74Gv

Matt VanVolkenburg's prolific blog 'Gusts of Popular Feeling' celebrates it's 10th year of analysis on Korean society, history, urban space, film and current events this month.

In the first of a 3-part interview, Matt discusses his ongoing research on all things Korean, as well as the history of social movements in the south half of the peninsula.

For an epic 10 year run of writing check out VanVolkenburg's archived work at http://populargusts.blogspot.kr/

Music on this episode:
주 현 미- 눈 물 의 부 르스 (Joo Hyun Mi- Watery Eyes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1SreduOuiM

On April 16th, 2014 the MV Sewol sunk off the coast of Mokpo killing 304 passengers. The victims were primarily high school students on a field trip to Jeju Island.

One year later, South Korean society continues to struggle with the issues of public safety and government accountability. Families of the victims continue to grieve for their lost loved ones.

Cho Mi-sun, an activist with Sewol Truth, spoke with me at the group's petition tent in Gwangwhamun Square on May 8th, 2015.

She discusses the organization's ongoing call for an impartial and comprehensive investigation into the tragedy, police reaction to the vigil and commemoration of April 16th, 2015 and the future role of the Sewol Truth movement in Korean society.

For more information, go to http://www.sewoltruth.com/

Art-noise provocateur Henry Demos on moonlighting between this project and weirdo-pop duo Nice Legs, the evolution of the "frankenbass" and how the character of Seoul effects music in the city.

Drum collaborations from Andrew Blad.

This completely improvised set was performed and recorded live at Strange Fruit, Hongdae on 5/3/15.

Photo by Douglas Vautour. See more of his work documenting Seoul's indie music scene at
https://www.facebook.com/DouglasVautourPhotography

Called to service with the American Peace Corps in Mali, she's now a public school teacher in Jeju City. Comparing and contrasting the two experiences, this is Maria Denise in conversation.

Music on this episode: Early 'Group Sounds' band The Key Boys with 'Let's Go to the Beach'.

Find out more about the Peace Corps at http://www.peacecorps.gov/

In part two of our conversation, writer and journalist Jon Dunbar talks about his authoritative experience with Urban Exploration around the country, the 10th anniversary of his seminal zine Broke in Korea and why he believes Seoul's punk and indie rock scenes should be kept separate.

Jon Dunbar's writing and photography can be found at http://daehanmindecline.com/

This episode's music:
1960's Group Sounds band Hi 6 w/ "초원 이"

Tommy Tran is a PhD student at the University of California at Los Angeles in the department of Asian Languages and Cultures. His primary focus is urban ethnography in Korean Studies.

In this interview he discusses the hidden history of Jeju-do's streets, architecture and urban planning initiatives during the Chosun dynasty and Japanese occupation.

You can read more about his work at his blog, Jeju Palimpsest:
https://jinmunhak.wordpress.com

Music on this episode is Trot King Ko Bok-su's 타향살이 circa 1960. See it on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNY_z9AC9P4

In part one of a two-part interview, writer and journalist Jon Dunbar discusses the seedy reputation of Korean cult culture, including Cheonghaejin Marine, the company behind the sinking of the MV Sewol.

For more on Cheonghaejin Marine's alleged culpability in the Sewol's sinking, go to
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20140421001183

Jon Dunbar's writing and photography can be found at http://daehanmindecline.com/

On April 3rd, 1948, Jeju Island was caught in a civil war-like time of violence and human rights abuses. This is when the period known as the Jeju Uprising and Massacre began.

The Korea File spoke with participants at the Jeju 4.3 Commemorative Street Festival last Friday to hear their impressions of this tragic event in Jeju's history.

Live music performances include Hallasanhoe's Songs for Jeju 4.3, Dedicated to 4.3/Antiwar Peace by the Parkbo Band and The Changwon Grandmothers Singing Group's songs from yesteryear with "Girls’ High School Days”.

Activist/Artist Lee Do-hee's work can be found at http://www.doheelee.com

The image for this episode is a still from the film '지슬 (Jiseul)', a semi-fictionalized account of the events of 1948 and after. A review on the award-winning film can be found at Koreana, a quarterly journal of Korean arts and culture at http://www.koreana.or.kr/months/news_view.asp?b_idx=3025&lang=en&page_type=list and the film is wildly available online.

For a long read on Jeju's 4.3 tragedy see the official governmental document The Jeju 4·3 Incident
Investigation Report at http://www.jeju43peace.or.kr/report_eng.pdf

For a brief summarization, go to http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Jeju_Uprising

Tommy Tran is a PhD student at the University of California at Los Angeles in the department of Asian Languages and Cultures. His primary focus is urban ethnography in Korean Studies.

In this interview he discusses what happens when Jeju Island, a former periphery of Korea, becomes a premier testing ground for development highlighting the contradiction between urban expansion and cultural and ecological preservation.

He also speaks about his (extremely painful) 7 day, 150 km pilgrimage around the entire perimeter of Jeju (in straw sandals) in 2011 and his relationship with Korean Son Buddhism.

You can read more about his work at his blog, Jeju Palimpsest:
https://jinmunhak.wordpress.com

Music on this episode is 바니걸스 with 파도 (Banigeoulseu- Wave) circa early '80s. Watch their video on youtube at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL5hyxwUuRY

Ben Spencer made it through 6 months on the biggest hardship posting in Korea's EPIK public school program, the rapidly shrinking fishing community of 2000 on Chuja Island, 2 hours north-west of Jeju by ferry.

I spoke with him in October and agreed to catch up again at the end of his contract to see how he had maintained morale and motivation in such an isolated environment.

In this exit interview two days prior to leaving Korea forever and returning to life, love and home in Ireland, Spencer speaks about life in a one industry community, Chuja's lack of self-sufficiency and why he ended his teaching contract early. He also expands on some Chuja-related topics established by The Jeju Weekly article 'And You Thought Jeju Was Remote' from August, 2009.

Spencer's intriguing and articulate prose on Chuja life can be found at OBSERVATIONS FROM THE COUNTRYSIDE at https://countryobservations.wordpress.com/ and his earlier writings can be found at SPENCER COTTAGE INDUSTRIES at https://spencersteaandsympathy.wordpress.com/

Music on this episode courtesy of '60s Korean girl-group THE PEARL SISTERS. An explainer on the group from kpopstarz.com: http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/81483/20140227/pearl-sisters-hate-it.htm

A link to The jeju Weekly article can be found here:
http://www.jejuweekly.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=179

Fancy folk trio FANCY MAN on playing in Jeju's music scene, using the school music room as a practice space and the joys of sharing a teaching gig with your bandmates.

You can find more music and videos including Christmas Card From Korea (part 2) at http://www.timothycushing.com/

This interview and live performance was recorded at Jeju City's Magpie Brewing Co. on 2/20/2015.

Math-rock trio MOUNTAINS on Daegu's thriving music scene, the joys of playing Seoul and the fight to promote live music in the south of the peninsula.

Live music recording from their performance at Itaewon's Thunderhorse Tavern, 1/30/2015

On this episode: musician and journalist Chance Dorland on the ups and downs of being a working journalist in Seoul and how the Peacecorps nearly (literally) killed him.

Check out Chance's work online at http://www.seoulitup.com/, and at groovekorea.com, download his podcast 'Chance and Dan Do Korea' on iTunes and listen to him live on the airwaves with his segment 'Chance Encounters' Monday Through Friday from 18:10-20:00 on TBS 101.3 FM's 'Primetime' in Seoul.

A recording of music from this episode, 'Korea, Here We Come' by Harry Choates, can be found at authentichistory.com.

Michael Breen has been working in Korea for more than 30 years as a journalist with The Guardian, The Korea Times and others. He's the author of 'The Koreans: Who They Are, What They Want and Where Their Future Lies' and the CEO of Insight Communications Consultants.

In the second of a two-part interview he discusses life under South Korea's 1980's dictatorship, the perils and possibilties of Korean unification and what the future holds for the country and its people.

Michael Breen has been working in Korea for more than 30 years as a journalist with The Guardian, The Korea Times and others. He's the author of 'The Koreans: Who They Are, What They Want and Where Their Future Lies' and the CEO of Insight Communications Consultants.

In the first of a two-part interview he discusses what brought him to South Korea, the Origins of the Korean War and the work of Korean Historian Bruce Cummings.