Psy Keeps His Cool
Korean pop star Psy reacts calmly to being called “the herpes of music” in a rant by Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong. Maybe the Green Day frontman should check back into rehab, or at least learn a lesson in graciousness from Psy.
Call Me Stormy
Finding righteous currents in turbulent times
Archive for the tag “Korea”
History of Korean Animation
This 15-minute compilation video collects together highlights from the most notable South Korean animations over the past 40 years. No narrator provides background or connects the dots. Instead, there’s a steady stream of clips, ranging from the silly to the sublime, from minimalist works to ones featuring madcap drawing styles. There are now more than 120 animations studios in South Korea, and they produce a large body of the animated series shown in the United States as well as Japan, including both Family Guy and The Simpsons.
The K-Pop Effect
In South Korea, more youngsters are electing to have plastic surgery so they can look like their K-pop music idols. Dateline reporters from Australia examine this trend.
Know Your Monster: 30
YONGGARY
Yonggary is a South Korean movie monster, inspired by the Japanese Kaiju. He’s said to be a 200 million-year-old dinosaur, resurrected by aliens to help them conquer the Earth. Yonggary looks a lot like Godzilla, but has a protruding horn in place of his nose. In some incarnations, he even has a few horns. Yonggary also has a jewel called the “Damon” on his forehead. It’s through this jewel that the aliens control the beast. When the jewel gets destroyed, Yonggary breaks free from his alien masters, turning against them and fighting to protect the planet.
Besides looking like Godzilla, Yonggary exhibits many similar traits. He dines on gasoline and oil, shoots fireballs from his mouth and emits a laser beam from his horn. Reacting to criticism that Yonggary was a Godzilla clone, the Korean filmmakers modified the monster’s original appearance, giving him a few new distinguishing attributes. There’s also some trash talking against Godzilla in the Yonggary movies. As one policeman observes in the 1999 remake of Yonggary: Monster from the Deep: “Compared to this guy, Godzilla is a pussy.”
Yonggary translates as “Huge Dragon” in Korean. The monster has not built up much of a homegrown fan base, and the Yonggary movies haven’t been particularly successful at the box office. The first came out in 1967, and promptly disappeared. However, the 1999 remake was repackaged as Reptilian for release in the United States. It’s aired a few times on the Sci-Fi channel and also surfaced in a Midnite Movies DVD series marketed by MGM.
Here’s a short clip of the CGI-generated Yonggary in action.
Tomorrow’s featured monster will be Zedus, wrapping up our month-long salute to the Kaiju.
Forecaster Flashes Hemispheres
A South Korean weather woman gave a special show to her audience after a wardrobe malfunction. Her “hemispheres” went on display on national TV while forecasting the weather.
Whoomp! There It Is
Piers Morgan interviews North Korea’s Supreme Leader, Kim Jong-un, who offers a few magical pearls of wisdom to the world: “Whoomp! There It Is.” H/T Barely Political
Hazard or Hyperbole?
As North Korea steps up its war of words against the South and the United States, Reuters Korea Bureau Chief David Chance evaluates the chances of the talk translating into real action.
The Sea of Fire
Simon and Martina are not only the web’s most popular vbloggers on Korean pop, they also have lived for several years in South Korea. In this video, they drop the cultural chit-chat for a more serious discussion of what it’s like living in the shadow of North Korea with its constant threats to annihilate the South, unleashing a “sea of fire” and “ocean of destruction.” They talk about how South Koreans cope with the threat and what they are doing about it.
Dennis in North Korea
Guess what? Dennis “The Worm” Rodman recently visited North Korea, where he made friends with Communist dictator Kim Jong Un. Did they play basketball? Did they discuss nuclear proliferation? Find out on this new music video from Alfonso Rachel. H/T PJTV
North Korea Vows to Destroy US
North Korean TV has shown footage of its soldiers vowing a “righteous and retaliatory attack” on the United States. Report by ITN’s Jeremy Barnes.
