Category: Nojeok Hill

Obama Talks about Korea

Obama Talks about Korea

It has been striking how often President Obama has mentioned the acheivements of Korea in his public speeches recently.  First there was his comment in April about how US kids need to study as many hours as Koreans in order to increase their test scors. Then last month, he explained...

Korea, Our Country (우리나라)

Korea, Our Country (우리나라)

In my masters degree studies at Hanyang University, I have recently selected my "guide professor" (or 지도교수), who will be my mentor in completing my thesis. Professor Seo studied for his doctorate in France, specializing in the area of corporate innovation. It's really quite an interesting subject and his class...

Meeting the Governor

We had a very interesting meeting with Kim Moon-Soo, Governor of Kyunggi-Do last Saturday evening. Several things stand out in my mind from the event. 1. Having gone to meet the Governor based on some small talk with him about me being a promotional representative for the province over a...

Get this…

Get this…

Last year, along with a long-time Korean friend and fellow student, I attended a Hanyang University alumni breakfast where Gyeonggi-Do Governor Kim Moon-Soo spoke about future provincial development plans. After the meeting, I went up with my friend to meet the Governor and we exchanged a bit of small talk...

How Cheap Can Phone Service Get in Korea?

How Cheap Can Phone Service Get in Korea?

Here’s a conversation my wife had this morning with our phone service provider.  “Hi, I’m calling about our phone service. I’d like to know why you charge us $2.75/month for a basic charge? Other companies provide this free. It really feels like our total monthly bill of $12 is so...

What’s Going On in the North? – Part 2

What’s Going On in the North? – Part 2

After sending yesterday's post to my friend Dan, he replied, "As I suspected – It's quite a different story than the fear-mongering in the news [here in the US]". And that got me to thinking… Interpreting the situation in the North is just not so easy and I was worried...

What’s Going On in the North?

What’s Going On in the North?

A friend emailed me today asking for my opinion on the "real" climate in the South Korean community regarding North Korea. I had a little more to say than I expected when I first started replying. Here's what I wrote: Hi Dan, Nice to hear from you. Koreans are so...

President Roh’s Funeral Is Over – An Email Exchange

President Roh’s Funeral Is Over – An Email Exchange

  Me:  Here’s what I watched for about three hours today: [EXPIRED LINK REMOVED: https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090529/ap_on_re_as/as_skorea_roh_funeral]. What was most remarkable was that they made room for five religious ceremonies (two Buddhist sects, Protestant, Catholic – during the funeral; and after that, a 30 minute Korean Shamanistic “performance”)!  Friend: Hey, that’s the...