The Korea File

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.

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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