Seoul Fashion Week S/S started last Friday, for the first time without its most endeared fashion icon, Andre Kim who died of cancer in August.

Famous for his glamorous, elegant wedding gowns that featured Korea’s unique patterns, he was one of Korea’s most prolific and popular designers. His dramatic star-studded catwalk shows were always the talk of the town, and an appearance in this show was the barometer of a star’s popularity.

Though his signature look of thick stage make-up, painted head and immaculate white spacesuit-like outer garment were often the subject of a comic parody, Koreans loved his down-to-earth, humble nature and his effort to express the beauty of Korea onto his pieces of ‘art.’

While his absence is still acutely felt by many in and out of the industry, the event is not without promising, fast-rising young designers, not to mention top established ones.

The showcase of delicately-executed garments by nine emerging designers including S=YZ and GILIYATE in the Generation Next stage got spotlighted with minimal, practical yet womanly dresses in silk, chiffon, and see-through fabrics.

The collection by Doii Lee, a graduate from Central St. Martins College who worked with world renowned designers such as John Galliano, again exhibited her imaginative, fashion-meet-fairytale-like lovely traits with colorful skirts hemmed with flamboyant fringes.

The seven-day show will be wrapped up with Miss Gee Collection by Ji Choon-hee, the darling of Korean celebrities, who made clothes for a handful of TV dramas. One of the most well-established designers, she is vocal about her desire to make clothes unique but wearable.

On top of 61 runways, a discussion session under the theme of ‘Rising Asia’ will be held, for the first time on Tuesday, attended by fashion week organizers from Japan, China, and Singapore.

And more than 100 buyers including from French, Hong Kong, and German department stores are expected to be attending exclusive fair shows, who might be on the lookout for the next ‘Andre Kim.’

the show goes on

Seoul Fashion Week S/S started last Friday, for the first time without its most endeared fashion icon, Andre Kim who died of cancer in August.

Famous for his glamorous, elegant wedding gowns that featured Korea’s unique patterns, he was one of Korea’s most prolific and popular designers. His dramatic star-studded catwalk shows were always the talk of the town, and an appearance in this show was the barometer of a star’s popularity.

Though his signature look of thick stage make-up, painted head and immaculate white spacesuit-like outer garment were often the subject of a comic parody, Koreans loved his down-to-earth, humble nature and his effort to express the beauty of Korea onto his pieces of ‘art.’

While his absence is still acutely felt by many in and out of the industry, the event is not without promising, fast-rising young designers, not to mention top established ones.

The showcase of delicately-executed garments by nine emerging designers including S=YZ and GILIYATE in the Generation Next stage got spotlighted with minimal, practical yet womanly dresses in silk, chiffon, and see-through fabrics. The collection by Doii Lee, a graduate from Central St. Martins College who worked with world renowned designers such as John Galliano, again exhibited her imaginative, fashion-meet-fairytale-like lovely traits with colorful skirts hemmed with flamboyant fringes. The seven-day show will be wrapped up with Miss Gee Collection by Ji Choon-hee, the darling of Korean celebrities, who made clothes for a handful of TV dramas. One of the most well-established designers, she is vocal about her desire to make clothes unique but wearable.

On top of 61 runways, a discussion session under the theme of ‘Rising Asia’ will be held, for the first time on Tuesday, attended by fashion week organizers from Japan, China, and Singapore.

And more than 100 buyers including from French, Hong Kong, and German department stores are expected to be attending exclusive fair shows, who might be on the lookout for the next ‘Andre Kim.’

ship wreckage and rescue efforts

It's been a week now but it is still not known what caused the South Korean navy ship, the Cheonan, to break into two and sink, which might have taken 46 precious lives with it. Relatives of the missing sailors still believe their sons, fathers, or husbands are still trapped inside the ship, alive, but chance of that looks increasingly slim.

Right after the explosion, the other ship which was patrolling father south was ordered to move closer to the Northern Limit Line to guard the area, and soon detected an unidentified object moving fast northward on its radar. The ship fired artillery toward it for 5 minutes, suspecting that it might have been a North Korean submersible ship that attacked the Cheonan and ran away. But the military later said that the object was a flock of birds given the characteristics of the movement.

Defense minister Kim Tae-young a few days ago said the left-over mines dating back from the 1950-1953 Korean war might have caused the explosion, but people is skeptical about the possibility of more than 50-year-old mines still working properly.

The military is saying there was no unusual activities by North Korea detected on the night of the incident, but it can't possibly detect every single sinister movement, can it?

Having seen frantic, unorganized rescue operations and the lack of rescue facility by the South Korean Navy, I am really worried about their readiness for a possible war with North Korea.

Elite divers risk their lives without even proper equipment and there is lack of decompression chambers which are crucial for them to keep working for the dangerous operation. Strong current and poor visibility are also working against the rescue efforts. US Navy's divers who arrived at the scene a few days ago have not been able to go into the water because they are not allowed to do so according to their manual.

Sorry to say this but we should not push Korean navy divers to go as far as risking their own lives to save people down at the bottom of the sea, who is likely dead by now.

King back to the throne

At long last!

After two years of waiting for the right timing, Lee Kun-hee is finally back to Samsung, this time as CEO of Samsung Electronics.

Of course the company has been building up its case why former chairman of the Samsung group should come back. Here is what Choi Gee-sung said last september.

“To achieve ‘strategic focus,’ we need owner’s determination.’ We need owner’s vision for the future.” He went on to say “there are many times when we need to put together all the strength the company has in order to win in this highly competitive world, which is not possible under the current system.”

The company put out this morning the statement that read :

As of today, Lee Kun-hee returns as chairman of Samsung Electronics.

Samsung presidents’ council discussed his return to management on 17th and 24th, and agreed that Lee’s experience and leadership is needed to Samsung in taking a lead in the global market amid rising uncertainty and rapidly changing management conditions in the global economy.

The council wrote up a letter asking his return after the Fabruary 24th meeting, and Lee Su-bin, Chairnman of Samsung life insurance, gave the letter to Lee Kun-hee.

Lee Kun-hee said “now is a real crisis. Best companies in the world are collapsing. We don’t know what is going to happen to Samsung too. In the coming 10 years, businesses and products that represent Samsung today will mostly disappear. We need start anew. No time to hesitate. We should go forward."

So the company need a hero to salvage it from a 'real crisis'? Does this giant comapny still need a babysitter? This whole claim is to about scarying the Korean people into a belief that Samsung can't survive without its founding family. What does this company take its countrymen for?

To be fair, the country's biggest conglomerate might need to treat the old hero better for his substantial role over the past decades in the company's astronomical growth.

Lee Kun-hee stepped down April 2008 over tax evasion and breach of trust charges against him. His regination then helped this scandal to fizzle out. He later paid fines and received a suspended jail term, as widely expected.

It was a disgraceful departure of chairman of the Korea's biggest chaebol surely for the founding family and many executives who have been close aides to Mr. Lee.

Though some people close to the matter say he is not going to be involved in day-to-day business matters, most Koreans consider this as the 'return of the king.'

No one will doubt that he exerts enourmous influence over the group. In fact he has never lost that power since he took the helm.

what a moron

Korea Communications Commission Chairman Choi See-joong told a group of female reporters last week that women should stay at home rather than having a job and just being a good mom and wife contributes to society.

Saying that his two daughters got married as soon as graduating from Ewha Woman’s University, women’s mission should be based on home, otherwise there is no way to resolve this low birthrate problems, he said.

So he basically echoed this repetitive claim, which has been made again and again by many men in Korea, that working women are solely responsible for the country’s record-low birthrate, and they should stay at home and have more babies!!!

Wow, I knew that many helpless old ajussis often make that kind of ridiculous charges, but how dare he spoke that in front of FEMALE REPORTERS?

Facing a barrage of criticism by women activists groups and female reporters, he made a public apology three days later, and again the next day he tried to appease angry women, saying “I have total respect in and support for the value of women’s participation in the workforce and sex equality…and will try to make a social environment where women can juggle work and family.”

If he is not alone in this absurd mind-set, Korea has a really long way to go. This makes me really sick.

Unlikely politician interviewed by LA Times

Kang Ki-kab, a farmer-turned-lawmaker, is one of the most unlikely politicians you can think of being in the National Assembly to execute law and order.

He is infamous for being stubborn, reckless, and irrational. In particular, he is famous for his Kung-fu-like kicking and punching in the National Assembly. He once was so angry for not being paid attention to by other politicians, so he stomped angrily on top of a table, turned it over, and wielded a hammer. He said he wanted to be heard, which he said was ignored.

If you ever paid attention to TV debates during the highly contentious US beef 'crisis'-I'd like to call the crazy time a crisis- a few years ago, you must be quite familiar with this guy who asserted so strongly about how hazardous US beef was to the health of Korean people. As far as I remember, he hardly offered solid evidence for it.

As LA Times pointed out, once he believes in something, all the other arguments fell on his deaf ears. Once something is branded evil to his eyes, it is OUT forever.

Though his arguments, to me, often doesn't make a sense at all, his unique stubbornness makes him, to some others, a sincere believer in Korea's dirty political scenes where political opportunists seem outnumber hard-working honest politicians.

But lawmakers should maintain decency and manner. The last thing Korea's politics needs is another violent activist. We have had enough of them whose actions have spoken more than their words.

He showed enough of himself during his two consecutive terms to let voters know he is not qualified to represent people for another term. It shouldn't just happen.

**see the below link to LA Times story on Kang Ki-kab

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg-korea-outsider2-2010mar02,0,2857319.story

Dreams came true.

What a day!

All the women skaters performed their heart out and skated their best. Everyone expected Yuna to win a easy gold medal, given her staggering short program scores, but watching her actually making it, and doing so perfectly and flawlessly was making me almost close to tears.

She never revealed before the pressure she was under, but when she finished the game, she let her emotion shown, tears sprung up in her eyes, making hard for Korean commentators not to be swayed by the emotional scene. Their voices were all shaky and they fought hard to hold their tear back.

It was such an emotional moment for all Koreans who knew what this young girl went through and how she tried hard to make it all through to here.

There is nothing that Koreans need, just for now, that’s for sure.

Amazing bond girl!

Now I can finally sit back and enjoy Smooth King's Yuna Smoothie.

Watching her being so tense and nervous just before her performance was heart-wrenching, especially right after her arch rival Mao Asada's flawless game.

But the 19-year-old bond girl regained her control as soon as she got on to the ice and skated as if she knew that she was going to prevail. She was so artistic and showed more-than-perfect jumps and spins. And her facial expression! It perfectly turns this young girl into the sexy, sly bond girl.

I was holding my breath for the entire performance, praying for her making no mistakes. But now is the time for me just to enjoy watching her mind-blowing skating which surely will be played over and over again on Yuna-obssessed Korean media.

Another big day for Korea

This morning, my babysister told me a pleasantly surprising news that Korean player, Lee Seung-hoon, who got a silver from 5,000 meters, won a gold medal in the 10,000 speed skating! What an amazing news!

The three golds that Korea's speed skaters won in this Olympics are so unexpected that it is almost shocking to me. Men's 500 meters are often compared to the 100 meters sprint, a sport that has been dominated by players from western countries and believed that Asians are physically less competitive than their western competitors.

The achievement shows there is nothing impossible in the world of sports.

I hope for the best for Yuna who without doubt is under enormous pressure to deliever a gold to her home fans. Her short program will start about 1 pm this afternoon.