KOREAN CULTURE CLUB

V O L U M E 1 I S S U E 5

O C T O B E R

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Insight
Amanda Wong barbeque with a large range of seafood and meat. The japchae was simple but absolutely delightful. The golden yellow noodles covered with sesame seeds, mixed with just the right amount of vegetables to makes a perfect balance. Then there is the stone rice, even offered kindly with a spicy version and

KCC Update - Sorabol Review

At the end of the last school year (June 17th), the Korean Club enjoyed a delicious meal out at Sorabol in Causeway Bay

When you go to Japanese restaurants, you might not necessary see much Japanese people, or do you normally see much Koreans in Korean restaurants. However just walking into Sorabol you will be surprised by the large number of Koreans in it, and I have to say this alone can prove how delicious and authentic Sorabol is. Before the summer the Korean Culture Club went to dine in Sorabol in Cause-

way Bay. The meal began with an assortment of starters, with kimchi, spinach and beans, a welcoming start to the meal. The restaurant even offered two types of kimchi, one being a more traditional spicy and pickled tasting kimchi, while the second being milder and young, a creamier version with a sesame flavor. A wide range of traditional Korean favorites then followed: Korean stone rice bibimbap, fried noodles japchae, and the amazing Korean

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A Message from the President of the Korean Culture Club

Welcome to the fifth issue (the first one for this school year)! For this issue Amanda Wong wrote of the end of year meal out KCC members had at Sorabol (in Causeway Bay). For this issue we have a collection of diverse topics, and one of them, I am sure, will catch your attention. I also bring very exciting news. The Korean Club this year has a new blog: www.ciskcc.blogspot.com Do you notice new members listed in the editorial on Page 4? Check out their articles on the blog! We will try our best and bring you new and interesting insights on Korean Culture. Also, if you have any questions or need more information, feel free to contact koreanclub.cis@gmail.com.

Yanna Lee President of the KCC

YannaL@cistudent.cis.edu.hk

SEE INSIDE

Kpop and the World Page 2

Super Junior: Mr. Simple Page 2

Visit: Coex Mall Page 3

A Tribute to Sohn Ki Chung Page 4

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Another look into the Hallyu Wave: Kpop and the world
You may not be an avid fan of Korean pop music, a.k.a Kpop to the diehard fans, but you must have heard of at least one song from the Korean music industry that have people casually incorporating its addictive tune and dance moves to everyday conversation. Either you have, or you live under a rock. Take the Nobody frenzy from the Wonder Girls, a Korean girl group, 3 years back in 2008. After its immediate release in the fall of 2008, the song not only garnered explosive popularity in Korea, its homeland, but quickly caught international attention. The song, with its simple yet unique dance, became a trademark of the girl group, and its dance was mimicked and parodied by almost everyone. This was something very unusual, as even their management was caught off guard by the immense attention worldwide on

Vivian Tong

You must have heard of at least one song from the Korean music industry Either you have, or you live under a rock.
the girls and the song. They quickly took this to their advantage, and the Wonder Girls rode their exploding popularity to the top, debuting into the U.S. market with the English rendition of the same song, and proving their might as they became the first South Korean group to enter the US Billboard chart. They are now seen as one of the leaders of the Hallyu wave as they introduced the rest of the world to the capabilities of the Korean music industry. The K-pop industry since then has attracted worldwide attention numerous times as it churns out one after another addictive melodies with its accompanying dances that have more and more people hooked each time. Super Juniors

Sorry Sorry, Girls Generations Gee, and artists such as TVXQ, Big Bang, just to name a few, have all received endless popularity from outside the boundaries of Korea and even Asia. In June of 2011, SM Entertainment, one of the leading record labels in South Korea, responded to the explosive global interest in K-Pop music by having one of their regular concerts, SMTOWN Live, that incorporates their popular artists such as TVXQ, Super Junior, Girls Generation, Shinee, f(x), in Paris. The concert was the first of its kind to set foot in an European country, and it was held in Le Zenith de Paris which had housed other international acts such as Ne-Yo, The Pussycat Dolls and the Jonas Brothers. The response from Parisian fans was phenomenal as the concert was sold out in just fifteen minutes. The popularity of K-pop music has definitely proven to have spread outside the limits of Asia, and the leaders of the Kpop industry are striving for global dominance as the next stop for SM Entertainment's massive inhouse concert is scheduled to take place in New York in October this year.

Super Juniors back: Mr. Simple and Superman

Super Junior makes another epic comeback with their 5th studio album, Mr. Simple. From day one, SM Entertainment (Super Juniors Company) makes all Super Junior fans (ELFs) eager for the albums release through very attractive teasers/trailers. The album, Mr. Simple, consists of 17 different songs. Super Junior moves away from the traditional songs electro songs and ballads that they have included in Bonamana, and introduces a new variety of rap-based songs and rockbased electro songs. The first song released is called Mr. Simple, and it is one of the rockbased electro songs produced. Upon its release, it dominated charts and swept trophies for weeks. Mr. Simple, like two of Super Juniors previous hit singles, Sorry, Sorry and Bonamana, is a highly infections and addictive track, getting listeners to sway to the beat immediately. Superman, one of their newer rap-based songs with a strong, prominent base line, also gets many fangirls chanting along.

INSIGHT

Dorothy Yu The extent of Super Juniors abilities is shown in the second half of the album, which includes heartwrenching ballads, sung by their main singers Yesung, Ryeowook and Kyuhyun. My Love, My Kiss, My Heart is a fitting title for one of suchballads; it is ear candy that will make many fan-girls swoon. Mr. Simple, as an album, fully showcases their talent, and will definitely help garner worldwide attention and support from its increasing fan base.

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as xam (ssam), having around the same pronunciation as three in Cantonese. In Korean culture, making ssam for somebody, it indicates an intimate or friendly relationship. Examples of people feeding each other ssam can be seen between couples, or from a junior to his or her senior. After explaining this, Yanna busily went around feeding everybody ssam. Satisfied and content, we ended our meal with a bowl of shikhae (a sweet rice punch), which is a popular Korean dessert. Personally I found it a bit How not to eat ssam too sweet. However I still drank it since it is known to provide refreshment (especially after a meat dish). It is actually also proven to increase digestive functions and help blood circula-

tion. All in all Sorabol is a restaurant I would highly recommend, suitable for all occasions, and will never make you leave in disappointment.
Ssam before being properly wrapped and eaten

non-spicy version. The rice was mixed with beef strips and colorful vegetables, a good choice, but personally I would prefer the japchae. Followed afterwards is the glorious Korean barbeque. The beef rich and beautiful, carefully seared, melts in your mouth. Eating the barbequed meat by itself may be too strong for your tastes, but when you combine it with a modest amount of rice, kimchi, and other banchan (side dishes), all wrapped in lettuce, the taste will be a heavenly balance. This wrapping of the lettuce in such a way is known

Very full and happy KCC members

Visit KoreaCoex Mall

Kenneth Lee through a microscope. Finally, there is a tasting room where visitors can test two different kinds of kimchi each month. A plethora of books, short films, models, and real-life exhibits will allow anyone to learn about kimchis importance to Korean cuisine and culture. Coex is The biggest underground shopping mall in Asia Where the G20 Summit of November 11-12 2010 was held Also a place for seasonal events and public appearances by celebrities (especially the Megabox theatre) Attraction information COEX Mall is easily accessible by the Seoul Metro exit at Samseong Station on Line 2 or at Cheongdam Station on Line 7.

To unleash your inner shopaholic alter ego, do visit the COEX Mall when you visit Seoul. This underground shopping mall is the largest one in Asia, comprising of about 85,000 square meters. Here, you can find a wide variety of shopping, entertainment, dining, and even cultural activities we recommend you spend your afternoon or your night here scouting for souvenirs, and stay for the many restaurants that await you here. In addition to the many well-known, multinational stores in the mall, this attraction has features that make it quintessentially Korean. It houses a large aquarium attraction, divided into 3 sections the Ocean Theme Park, which has 40,000 creatures of marine wildlife with more than 650 species

represented, the Water Journey, which allows visitors to experience diverse marine animals following the water from a high mountain to the deep seas, and the Undersea Tunnel, a walkway which passes through 2500 tons of seawater and lets you sea sharks and other marine life. The mall also boasts the Kimchi Field Museum, which introduces 187 varieties of kimchi to its visitors. Visitors can see old books and articles relevant to the rich history of kimchi and learn how Koreans began to add hot peppers into kimchi. They can also learn the process of kimchi making, including a detailed diorama of its process, any pottery and tools used for its fermentation, and even observe the bacteria in Kimchi

Korean Words of the Month

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Baek-hwa-jum: mall

Eum-shik-jum: restaurant

Ga-soo: singer

Kim-chi: Kimchi

Yanna Lee Sohn Ki Chung was the first Korean athlete who managed to win a Gold Olympic Medal. Sadly, however, his victory is listed as Japans Gold medal as Korea was still a Japanese colony at the time.
Sohn Ki Chungs becoming Kitei Son, the Japanese pronunciation of his Korean name. Even to this day, there are some websites that contain references to Son Kitei of Japan who won the 1936 marathon race. What is to be remembered is the amazing bravery of Sohn Ki Chung. He would only sign his name in Korean, and also go to authorities to explain that Korea was separate from Japan. During the awards ceremony, Sohn once again showed great nationalism. Emotional and humiliated, Sohn listened to the Japanese national anthem and saw the Japanese flag raised to celebrate his victory. In silent protest, Sohn kept his head bowed for the whole of the ceremony, and expressed "silent shame and outrage" by covering the Japanese flag on his shirt with a small oak tree. The repercussions of the event were incredible. Following Sohns triumph, pictures in the press and news of his victory took two weeks to be published. Donga Ilbo, an influential Korean daily, published its August 25 issue with the picture of Sohn Ki Chung while eliminating the Japanese flag on his shirt. Donga Ilbo editors had decided to challenge the authorities. The journalists and editors knew that they were taking a risk. As expected, the Japanese government responded by jailing eight people most of them heads of

A Tribute to Sohn Ki Chung

Kitei Son! Kitei Son of Japan is first to cross the finishing line! On August 9th, 1936, Sohn Ki Chung won the Gold Medal for the marathon competition in Berlin at the 11th Olympic Games. Apart from simply the sheer talent and athletic abilities, Sohn deserves to be lauded for his perseverance and loyalty to Korea.

the newspapers departments and suspending the newspaper for eight months. The fight for freedomthat is what Korea had. The willingness to oppose what was wrong, and the unity of the people clearly echoed in the Korean citizens hearts.

After breaking the world record with 2:26:42 on 3rd November, 1935, Sohn had dreams of entering the Olympic Games of 1936. That period, however, was a dark one for Korea. From 1910 Japan had taken over Korea, making it a colony of Japan. With the ongoing war, Japan ended up extracting many resources from Korea in order to supply its own military base.1936 in particular was part of the most repressive period in Koreas colonial history, since the administration was moving from previous apartheid-style policy (system of segregation based on race) to a forced assimilation.
Consequently, when Sohn applied for the Olympic team, he was only allowed to apply as a Japanese national. This led to

Korean Culture Club Newsletter Department Editors-in-Chief

Kenneth Lee & Yanna Lee

Guest Writer
Amanda Wong

Editors
Dorothy Yu Vivian Tong Nicolia Ng Robyn Houghton Cherie Ho Tiffany Lau

Layout Designer
Yanna Lee