a wake up call.

I'm disgusted. I woke up this morning, turned on the tv to watch BBC world news and the first story I heard was .. surprise.. about how the cost of oil has been shaping our standard of living. Ford Motor Company announced an $8.7 billion loss in the second quarter of this year, so they have decided to make 'smaller' cars. Yes, instead of investing in research that might keep their company afloat 10 -20 years from now, they've decided to take the easy route and make cars that drain the worlds resources in a slower manner - still completely unsustainable. The company is striving to once again be amongst the leaders in the car world, but they are going about it with the 'now or never attitude'. They know that there is a problem with the culture's practice of oil consumption, but instead of stepping up and being leaders in their field, they continue on that same path, giving them a bit of time before they are forced to change. The consumers are equally responsible, for it is our way of living that drives these giant companies to do what they do. There needs to be a leader out there in the automobile industry who has balls to turn towards something sustainable and move away from the dead end road of petrol.

So they've found oil and natural gas in the Arctic - apparently it's enough to meet the world's demand for the next three years. THREE years. "According to the survey, the Arctic holds about 13% of the world's undiscovered oil, 30% of the undiscovered natural gas, and 20% of the undiscovered natural gas liquids." It's great that we found some back up to aid us in our change over from fossil fuels, but there is a worry about how the drilling will effect the permanent sea ice, or even the habitat of endangered species. "Exploration companies believe the recent rapid ice melt in the Arctic may make it easier to get reserves out of the region." It seems to me that we are so quick to move in, pillage what we can, and then move on to the next place. Glaciers are receding at an unprecedented rate. Yet, this will only aid us in the exploitation of the area? This whole issue should be a wake up call for us to move away from our addiction to oil, but I fear that it will only be the next step in our quest to drain the world of it's resources, and leave nothing in our path.

Some shots from the beef protests

For more pictures, click here.

What's the beef?

The following is an article I wrote for the Korea Sun magazine. I've written a few this past while but none have been as contraversial as this one. There are over a million people who have been protesting this issue every week for the last few months, so i wanted to make sure i gave an objective analysis. But it's interesting about how this country is handling this issue. The Koreans are so different than Westerners..

Korea’s Beef with the American Cow

On June 10 2008, an estimated 500,000 people took to the streets of downtown Seoul, armed with candles and slogans. With barricades and riot police to keep the angry masses in check, they were united with one common goal: the ousting of Korean president Lee Myung-bak.

To anyone who hasn’t been keeping up with these demonstrations, or to someone who may have just arrived in Korea, these protests must seem fairly alarming. Although they are often referred to as the “mad cow protests”, there is more to this issue than meets the eye. As it turns out, the import of American cow is only one of many aspects to the Korean people’s beef with the government. To give a better understanding of what’s been going on, here is a timeline of events leading up to the present.

2003 – The Korean government suspends imports of American beef after an outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly referred to as mad cow disease. Prior to this ban, Korea was the third largest importer of American beef, with 80% of its beef imports coming from the US.

April 2007 – Seoul and Washington reach a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Experts estimate that this agreement could increase the countries’ two-way annual trade by $20 billion. However, the FTA will only pass if Seoul once again allows the import of American beef.

May 2007 – The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) classified the US as a “controlled risk country” for mad cow disease. This classification states that the US beef and beef products, from cattle of any age, can be safely traded in accordance with international guidelines¹.

December 2007 – Lee Myung-bak wins a landslide victory and becomes the president of South Korea. While his predecessor, Roh Moo-hyun, was criticized over his ‘leftist, anti-US’ sentiment, Mr. Lee was voted in to strengthen the US relationship and to revitalize the economy.

April 18 2008 – Mr. Lee travels to the US to meet with Mr. Bush. While in Washington he announced the lifting of the ban on American beef imports, showing his eagerness to rebuild ties with the US.

April 29 2008 – MBC’s PD Diary (a Korean news program) aired with a special presentation on American beef and mad cow disease. In this report, it is claimed that Koreans are three times more susceptible to contracting the variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD – the human strain of BSE). It also highlighted the death of a 20 year old American woman who was said to have died from vCJD. These two key points stated on the show were found to be untrue, and PD Diary was forced to retract their statements. However, even if the program apologized for its yellow journalism (which it hasn’t yet), the damage was already done. An editorial in The Chosun Ilbo puts it nicely; “It’s as if MBC had virtually set the entire country on fire and was trying to hide the matches.”²

May 2 2008 – The protests began, and they have yet to cease.

The fear of a mad cow outbreak continued to grow throughout May and June as the internet only amplified the shoddy journalism. But the import of American beef is not the only thing that brought people onto the streets; it served as the initial spark that brought many other issues to flame. The privatization of state-run companies and the construction of the controversial cross-country canal are among these issues. Yet the main concern runs deeper than any of these. Many of the protesters will tell you that the main issue is not so much about the beef; it’s about Korea selling out its national pride to a bigger power.

Mr. Lee has been accused of paying tribute to Washington, as the kings of the past paid tribute to Chinese emperors. Many Korean people have suppressed feelings of resentment over the sway the US has on their country. They have fought so hard for independence, the last thing they want is to be taken advantage of by another nation. The American beef deal was seen as just that, with Mr. Lee bowing to the US demands.

On top of that, citizens are angry at their CEO President, who treats them as if they were his employees. By making quick decisions without acknowledging the wishes of the people, Mr. Lee was viewed as dictatorial. These street protests have been compared to the massive demonstrations made in 1987, where the people actually brought down the military dictatorship. The BBC writes that “some protesters see the conservative President Lee as representing a return to South Korea's authoritarian past - and the beef protests as vital in resisting this.”³

The US beef is expected to hit the shelves by the beginning of July, but no one can predict when the protests will end. Even if the street demonstrations come to a stop, the online protests are sure to continue. How will the FTA affect the Korean economy? Will Mr. Lee be able to recover from this political nightmare? Will the fears of BSE entering Korea ever die down? Obviously there are more questions than answers. The only thing one can be sure of is the price of American beef: it’s going to be cheap.

Taekkyon: The base of all hand to hand combat in Korea

I wrote this for the August issue of the Korea Sun (www.thekoreasun.com) .

The Life, Death and Ressurection of Korea's Oldest Martial Art.

The music begins to play. A circle is formed surrounding the two in the middle as they sway side to side. Their movements are smooth, fluid, and rhythmic… Although this may sound like a romantic dance between two lovers, I’m actually describing one of Korea’s oldest martial arts: taekkyon.

This traditional art form, though far from romantic, has been said to hold the origins of all the bare-hand martial arts currently practiced in Korea. The creation of this art has not been accredited to a sole individual; its origins stem from the basic evolution of hand to hand combat. Although there is no definite date as to when it came into practice, a painting found in a grave from the Goguryo dynasty suggests that taekkyon has been around since the 5th or 6th century AD.

Originally, taekkyon was practiced by the nobility for self defence and personal well being. In the Silla dynasty (7th to 10th centuries) an elite society of youths known as the Hwarang, were also trained in this deadly art form. The popularity of taekkyon peaked between the 9th and 12th century with both the ruling class and the common people practicing the art. From the king to the farmers, taekkyon was a well-liked pastime. However in the 13th century, with the gradual movement of society towards literature, and the military opting for the sword over bare-hand combat, taekkyon became more favoured as a folk custom.

Up until the Japanese occupation (1910 – 1945), taekkyon was still considered an important piece of Korean heritage. However, during the occupation the practice of taekkyon was banned and forced underground. Only a handful of masters continued to train secretly under the cover of night. By the time Korea won its independence, this ancient martial art was nearly extinct. The Korea Taekkyon Association attributes the sole survival of taekkyon to one person: grandmaster Song Duk Ki. With his diligent effort he was able to train a select few who would in turn, insure the survival of this ancient art form in the years to come.

Presently, taekkyon is still not very popular. But this sport has been gaining ground in recent years. In 1983 it was designated “Important Intangible Cultural Asset No. 76”. Also, in 2001 taekkyon was officially approved as specialty athletics by the Korea Sports Council. One of the main reasons it has a hard time gaining popularity is that, while it is the predecessor of taekwondo, it lives in the shadow of its younger brother. There are few who know the difference between these two sports.

Similar to taekwondo, taekkyon uses kicks as its primary method of attack. There is very little defence used in taekkyon; attacks are often answered with another attack. In a match, two fighters will square off close to each other and continually change their stance in a rhythmic movement. The main objective is not to injure the opponent but bring them down unharmed. The whole battle looks like an ancient dance until the kicks start flying. Youtube “taekkyon” (also spelled “taekyun” and “taekkyeon”) and you’ll see what I mean.

Unfortunately, due to the lack of training facilities and knowledgeable instructors, this ancient sport will most likely continue to be a dying martial art. Yet in my eyes, this is its major draw; how cool is it to be among the few people with knowledge of this 1500 year old fighting style? Though the passing of time is its biggest adversary, I have a feeling that this historical dance will not soon be forgotten. Its unique blend of power and grace will be survived, if only through a handful of students.

back from nam..

Becky and I had our week's holiday last week. We get one week off in our year's contract so we decided to check out Vietnam. For an illustrated update, click here and here to see the photo albums I put up on facebook.

We arrived in Hanoi (the capital) on a Saturday, and then we waited around for our flight to Da Nang. At this time we could have exchanged the heaps of Korean Won that we had with us, but we just wanted to catch our flight and get there. Big mistake. We got to Da Nang, and found out that ONLY at Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh airports would they accept Korean Won. We were stuck with no money, and I forgot my four digit pin on my credit card.. So I used the good ol' Bank of Montreal card, and it got us through (with a few costly service charges).

The taxi driver who found us our hotel assured us that the hotel could loan us the money until the banks opened on Monday, and they did. We got 1,000,000 dong (their currency is called 'dong' .. i found this funny..), which was about $58 Canadian. This trip was almost completely unplanned out (this kind of adventure is new for me), and Becky and I didn't really know what we wanted to do for the week, or where we wanted to go. All we knew was that we wanted our open water diver's license.

This could end up being a super long post if I go through the week, so i'll summarize it like this: The first 3 days Becky and I went diving; one dive in the pool and then 5 dives in the ocean. We had our license by Wednesday. Thursday and Friday were shopping days, where we perused the market and bought some Christmas gifts (we'll be back home for Christmas this year). Saturday we took a scooter to Marble Mountain and packed up and caught a flight back to Busan. The pictures illustrate the journey better than I'm going to write, but I will mention my favorite highlight.

On Friday afternoon I went to meet up with this Vietnamese family I met a few days before. I met a guy named Sang, a fisherman in Hoi An (the city we were in). He showed us "the real Vietnam life" by taking us on a boat tour with his father, and even showing us how they catch fish. It was incredible to see this side of the country.

This is Sang, a 17 year old fisherman. His English is excellent, but he has yet to complete school. He had to take two years off to save money before he can finish his last two years. He told Becky and I that a year of school costs about $100 - this gives a picture of the situation out there.

Here's Sang's father, celebrating his catch.


Bringing home the bacon, or... fish.