SEOUL Weekly: SEOUL's 'KRW 500 Campaign' Continues

SEOUL’s ‘KRW 500 Campaign’ Continues
Help us help you!

Are you a hotelier or restaurateur looking to provide your guests with the highest-quality information on where to go and what to see in Seoul?

Well, SEOUL is here to help.

We are offering our magazine – Seoul’s oldest English-language magazine – at KRW 500 a copy when you purchase 20 or more copies. Per copy, that’s the cost of a really cheap cigarette lighter. For 20 copies, that’s just KRW 10,000. It’s highway robbery for us, but a great deal for you and your customers, guests and clients.

Think about it – you’d be providing twenty of them with their own personal guide to Seoul, for just KRW 10,000 a month.

Big names such as the Visit Korea Committee, popular Bukchon boutique hotel RakKoJae and Korean culinary tour outfit O’ngo Food Communication are already participating in our KRW 500 campaign. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to help us help you!
 

A miscellany of high-quality hyperlinks from the week, courtesy of SEOUL editor-in-chief Robert Koehler.

• ‘Nut Rage’ and Korean work hours.
• Korea’s cinematic Cold War.
• Korea’s tackles violence against foreign brides.
• 40+ hours of interviews with “Koreans, foreigners, Korean foreigners, and so on… about the work they do and the Korean cities they do it in.”
• What to do in LA’s Koreatown.
• Beautiful Mt. Songaksan, Jeju-do.
• Nighttime from Mt. Guryongsan.
• That’s a very busy port.
• Lots and lots of Baikal teals. Clouds of ’em.
• Another week passes at Robert Koehler’s photo blog.

2015 Valentine Day Concert: Canto Antigo

Native Korean violinist Zia Hyunsu Shin is giving a special Valentine’s Day performance in Korea that should not be missed by fans of the genre. Since beginning her violin training at age 4, Shin has won numerous international awards including first place in the 2008 Long-Thibaud International Violin Competition in Paris and third place in the 2012 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium. For the first half of her upcoming concert in Seoul, Shim will team up with a guitar duo and perform songs from her newly released album, “Canto Antigo.” The album, with a title translating as “old song” in Portuguese, is filled with renditions of old folk songs from Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. For the second half of the concert, she will perform Astor Piazzolla’s famous works “Oblivion” and “The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires” with Ditto Strings. The concert offers special discount rates and events for couples attending the concert.

VENUE: Concert Hall, Seoul Arts Center
DATE: Feb. 14, 20:00
MORE INFO: T. 1577-5266, www.sac.or.kr
ADMISSION: KRW 30,000–70,000
GETTING THERE: Nambu Bus Terminal Station 남부터미널역 (Line 3), Exit 5. Transfer to shuttle bus, or green bus No. 4429.

Luna’s Valentine Day Concert

Gayageum crossover musician Luna and German flamengo duo Tierra Negra will warm up your Valentine’s Day with a performance that will feature some of Luna’s original work, some blues and some of the gayageum star’s rock covers. Luna’s covers of Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and other famous guitarists are the stuff of Youtube legend. Don’t believe me? Check this out.

VENUE: Formtec WorksHall
DATE: Feb. 14, 20:00
MORE INFO: www.lunaxmusic.com
ADMISSION: KRW 20,000
GETTING THERE: A short walk from Exit 3, Hapjeong Station, Line 6

rentCorea

The purpose of rentCorea is to provide additional resources for clients and potential clients and to let them know all of the services we offer. We hope you will come to us for what you need. Whether you are letting, subletting or hiring, buying or selling, or investing, call us. We can help!

Our staff is a team of experienced and qualified realtors. We deal with all spectra of real estate including residential and commercial, investment property and real estate management for clients. Using our vast experience, we will offer property consulting service that works for you.

If you have any questions about letting or hiring, buying or selling, real estate anywhere in Seoul or other areas, please don’t hesitate to contact us as we are more than willing to help. Of course, you could always send me a quick email too.

Browse rentCorea.com for listings, reports and important local real estate information. We are more than happy to send you detailed and current real estate listings via email, as well as photos, etc. Just ask!

MORE INFO: T. 755-0001, email: hello@rentCorea.com, website: www.rentcorea.com 

RASKB Excursion: Korean War Remains and Migratory Birds in Cheorwon

Prior to the division of Korea, Cheorwon was a sizable town. The junction of the Seoul-Wonsan and the Mt. Geumgangsan lines, it was a major transportation hub. After the division of Korea, however, the city — located north of the 38th parallel — fell under North Korean control. The worst came during the Korean War: as the southern point of the Iron Triangle (a major invasion route to Seoul), the city was wiped off the map by merciless shelling, mostly courtesy the Americans.

After the war, the city was never rebuilt, per se, although a “New” Cheorwon was built several kilometers away. Old Cheorwon is now rice paddies and hills; much of where the old town used to be, in fact, lies across the Civilian Control Line, a military district bounding the DMZ where entry is by permit only. For Korean history buffs, however, the paddies are dotted with several ruins and bombed-out buildings from the period that are well-worth seeing, including the iconic ruins of the local headquarters of the Workers Party of Korea, North Korea’s ruling party. Also in Cheorwon is the Seungil-gyo, sometimes called “Korea’s Bridge Over the River Kwai,” a scenic arch bridge that, depending on whom you believe, was either started by the North Koreans and finished by the South Koreans, or started by the Japanese and finished by the Americans.

VENUE: Gyeonggi-do
DATE: Feb 15
MORE INFO: See this link.
ADMISSION: KRW 45,000-54,000
GETTING THERE: See link above.
 

Seoul Selection designer in a gritty staircase in Mullae-dong, where some of the many metalworking shops have been converted into art galleries. Photographed by Robert Koehler.

Seoul Selection’s Free Book Giveaway – Our free book give-away continues! Check out the list in last week’s newsletter here. 

Seoul Selection Offline Bookshop Sale – One of the greatest repositories of Korea-related English-language books anywhere, Seoul Selection is offering a 10% sale on any and all books published by Seoul Selection purchased from our OFFLINE bookshop next to Gyeongbokgung Palace.
 
Looking for Translators – Seoul Selection is looking for a few good translators (Korean to English) for general translation work. Those interested should send a resume and cover letter to Kyehyun at atoz@seoulselection.com. Experienced translators only.
 
Seoul Selection eBooks – You can purchase some Seoul Selection titles in ebook format via Amazon.com (for Kindle) and Apple’s iBookstore. Titles include Ask a Korean Dude, Moon Tides, Doing Business in Korea, Once Around the Sun, and seven volumes of our Korean Film Directors series: BONG Joon-ho, IM Kwon-taek, KIM Jee-woon, LEE Chang-dong, LEE Man-hee, PARK Chan-wook, and SHIN Sang-ok.
 
Send Your Event Info – If you would like to advertise any upcoming events you are organizing, please send us the press release material at pubco@seoulselection.com by the preceding Friday in order for it to appear in the following Tuesday’s issue.

Freelance Contributors Wanted – SEOUL Magazine needs writers who are fluent in both Korean and English. Writers should have a strong interest in Korean culture and be able to interview Koreans. Send your resume and writing samples to english@seoulselection.com.

We Buy & Sell Used Books – Seoul Selection buys and sells used books in English. Unlike our regular selection of publications that specialize in Korea-related topics, our Used Book section carries books on all subjects. It’s all part of our effort to make life easier for the English-speaking community.