The Korea File

Ben Spencer came to Korea expecting modernity on steroids. What he got was the most isolated teaching post in the country--a sleepy fishing settlement on Chuja-do, a small group of islands in the Jeju Strait. He talks to The Korea File about adapting to loneliness and the idiosyncratic community he's found himself in.

In this episode, Jung discusses her oral history project recording the stories of the grandmothers of Jeju. From an essay on aamora.com:

"For the last couple of years, I've taken photos and written essays of sweet grannies in my island home, Jeju-do, South Korea. Here, we call grannies 'Halmang' in Jeju dialect.

Most of them live alone in peaceful rural villages, set against the mountains and the ocean. Their kids left their old towns and ran away to the city. Their husbands have long passed away. Sadly, many grannies lost their beloved ones to the tragic Jeju 4:3 massacre (1948) and the Korean War (1950-1953).

In a Halmang's universe, time passes slower and smoother. Without speaking too many words, their stories spread like endless tree-rings; the stories as someone's lovely daughter, as some guy's beautiful woman, as some kid's strong mother, and also as everyone's sweet grandma."

She can be heard every Wednesday on Jeju's CBS 93.3 FM, and her oral history essays can be found at jejusori.net.

This interview was recorded in late November at the Seomun Market Global Festival in Jeju City.

Special thanks to local musician Ruth Minnikin for her performance at the festival.

In this episode: Kentucky-native and Fulbright scholar Tanner Jones loves banjo, bourbon and Korean traditional sounds. In this conversation, Jones discusses his ongoing research and passion for Korean traditional music on Jeju-do. This episode's Shamanic ritual chanting is graciously provided by musicians ???, ???, ??? and ??? of Jeju's Chilmeoridang-kut Society.

Michael Brown, an unarmed 18 year old was shot to death by a police officer in Ferguson, MO in August of this year. Brown's death, and the events that followed in Ferguson have stirred intense debate in the United States touching on issues of race, justice and police violence. This week, members of Jeju's foreign community came together with candles and song for a Wednesday evening vigil to show solidarity with Brown's family and other victims of police brutality.

Live, from Strange Fruit: After more than 3 years of performing all over the country, Table People are gearing up to record a final album before moving on to other projects. I caught up with guitarist and songwriter Eric Davis to discuss the ephemerality of live shows vs. the permanence of recording, and how a band can choose to get by on charm or chops.

"Big Jay" Motz has lived on Jeju-do forever. He's also developed an extraordinary and unique relationship with the island's female divers, the Haenyo. In this interview, he discusses his participation in their diving tradition, the ??'s role within the matriarchal family structure of Jeju and how he's seen the island change in the face of massive development over the course of 14 years.

Live from Club Bbang in Hongdae, MINERI guitarist ??? and bassist Blair Lee talk about the band's humble beginnings and what it's like to rock hard as the most consistently amazing live band in Seoul.

With excerpts from a 10/18/2014 performance at Hongdae's Strange Fruit in Seoul, Lauren Walker and Mark Lentz discuss improvisation, motivation and the band's origin story.

Spirits: The Story of Jeju Island's Shamanic Shrines/??? ??; ??? ??? ?? ?? ??? had its local premiere on September 27th at the 15th annual Jeju Women's Film Festival.

The following is an interview with the director, Joey Rositano, along with excerpts from the documentary and the Q and A which followed the film's premiere in Jeju City.

Spirits is the first full length documentary on Jeju Island shamanism, a polytheistic religion unique to Jeju. Rositano has spent several years exploring the shamanistic traditions of the island and insists that now is the time for a call to action to protect these treasures.

The film features the farmers, divers, shamans and expats of Jeju Island. Each village in Jeju is situated around a number of shamanistic shrines. These shrines, where local deities are 'seated' are the religious center of each village.

This Kickstarter backed project focuses on the lifestyles and religious lives of these local villagers, likely the last generation to practice shamanism in its current form.

Sannakji, culture shock redux and the mysterious power of Jeolla province.