Blogs etc.
The Korean Blog List - you can't go past this if you want to get a feel for what other folk are feeling, seeing and doing in Korea. There is also a huge list of blogs by Koreans outside of Korea
Galbijim - an ambitious wiki that aims to build into a serious information resource about South Korea. At the moment it is especially good for links on learning the Korean language.
Seoul
1st Stop Korea - some useful information for expats; also stories. Run by an individual.
Korean Postal Service - site in English; note that Korea Post also offers a banking service which now includes Internet banking
Seoul Mystery Tour Site - virtual tours by Canadian, Steven Roney
Itaewon Clubs Site - reviews of every bar & nightclub in the district + a photo library
Busan
Pusan Web - (now part of the family of Koreabridge.com ) the main electronic English language nerve center for happenings in this busy city of four million plus. Asiaweek magazine recently rated Busan** equal tenth best city (with Seoul) in Asia for quality of life; (Tokyo and Fukuoka scored equal best). Anyway, the place has promise.
Early in 2002 Pusan Web was re-born and the originator (Jeff Lebow) took on a small voluntary team to look after individual sections. Its events listings are generally up to date and useful. There are very active bulletin boards for discussions and classifieds (including jobs).
I was the Writings manager until about 2006. The stories from contributors gave a good feel for how expatriates interpreted their Korean experience. (Nowadays, 2009, I am in China, and the Writings section no longer seems to be active).
The site contains many images of Busan and South Korean life. Pusan Web is also a useful source for other general links and survival information.
About once a month translated news stories from the Korean language media are posted.
[** Spelling note : the South Korean Government has recently amended its recommended Latin alphabet spellings for transliteration from the native Hangeul script. Amongst the changes, the familiar 'Pusan' becomes 'Busan'; i.e. p =>b; t=>d; k=>g].
Busan City Hall Website - information from the official standpoint.
Busan Port - Account of the port including a (brief) history to prehistoric times, by the Busan Port Authority.
Media
The Seoul Times - international, national and city news as well as links. Though this clearly lacks the resources of more established media empires, it is a brave attempt to consolidate information of interest to resident non-Koreans, and could also contain stuff you mightn't find in other places.
Korea Web Weekly - "An independent, non-partisan, non-profit web on all things Korean: Her history, culture, economy, politics and military - since 1995." (says their masthead). KWW in fact consolidates links to current media articles on Korea. It also has some excellent links to other Korean related matters. There is a worldwide database of over 2000 "Koreanists", from professors to graduate students.
The Korea Herald - national English language daily [both The Korea Herald and The Korea Times are pretty derivative, depending heavily on syndicated material. The Herald seems to have a bit more depth than the Times. They are both based on English language print versions.] * ..the online version has just gone to a subscription basis (2002). Ugh!
The Korea Times - national English language daily
JoongAng Ilbo - new English web version of a major Korean language national daily. Tends to a conservative viewpoint on Korean issues, but its resources and professionalism are stiff competition for the Times and Herald. It is affiliated with the International Herald Tribune (which in my view is one of the world's very best newspapers).
Chosun Ilbo - another of South Korea's major daily newspapers now has this English language web version.
The Korea Post - monthly news magazine in English; emphasis on economics Published in Seoul.
Korean Media in the United States - from asianmediaguide.com
Korean Language Study (on-line)
Korean Studies at Sogang - free language course (requires registration)
Yamada Language Centre - links to language programs etc.
University of Arizona Korean Language Lessons
Saramnet.com online Korean lessons
Monash University Korean Language Education Clearing House
Korean@Monash - links, courses, resources
Korean Through English - free Korean Ministry of Culture & Tourism course (mimics textbook available in bookshops).
Indiana University Learning Korean
Indiana University Korean Audio & Songs
Korean Language on The Net Links (Russian site)
Tour2Korea.com - Learn The Language
Learn To Speak Korean Online Language Exchange
Languages-on-the-web - The Daisy Stories (parallel translation texts)
David Eisenberg's Introduction to Korean
Historical & Cultural
LifeInKorea.org or DDD is not to be confused with LifeInKorea.com. Here is their self-description : "DDD, Life in Korea explores cross-cultural life as it is lived here. Not modern or trad culture but both, and not your culture or their culture but our culture. It is intended both for foreigners and Koreans.. It is honest and edgy and often funny as it is the first of its kind that is intended for both foreigners and Koreans: it offers bi-lingual writing and cross-cultural material as much as it can".
Korean Literature in Translation - a good overview by Brother Anthony (one of the best known translators of Korean into English)
Korean Literature in English - Korean government listing
Korean Literature Today - online quarterly, 1996-2001, of Korean work in English translation
Korean National Commission for UNESCO - events, virtual library etc.
Korea Journal Index 1961-1997 - literary
KCAF Bibliographic Database of Korean Literature
*NORTH KOREAN STUDIES* (Dr. LEONID A. PETROV) "This site is maintained for the purpose of free publication and dissemination of analytical materials on North Korea (DPRK), its relations with Russia and Australia, research on history and historiography, and the problems of Soviet Koreans". It is pretty hard to find balanced (i.e. non-nationalistic) accounts of history and events affecting either of the Koreas. Dr Petrov offers just that. Recommended.
Historical Timeline - Global Korean Network of Los Angeles - includes some historical photos
Education
Intercultural Institute of California - Certificate and Masters level courses in Korean Studies, Korean language etc. ; (some courses on-line).
Frank Hoffman's Korean Studies pages & links (Harvard University)
Work (teaching)
Dave Sperling's ESL Jobs Offered - the best source of teaching work
Foreign Worker's Handbook - Pusanweb
Jack' ESL Ring - Korea - A good FAQ on the risks and sometime rewards of working in South Korea. There are linked sister sites for Japan and Taiwan.
General
The Marmot's Hole - A Lost White Dude in Korea - this blog also has links to an astonishing number of other blogs about Korea
Professional photographs of South Korea (mostly Seoul) by Stephen Bay.
Korea by Graph - statistical information on Korea
Korea Net - a major news and information site about Korea; commercially run
Life in Korea.com - information site, commercially run; (not to be confused with LifeInKorea.org -> see the cultural and historical section below).
Korea Infogate - a large, well-organized site with many useful survival links; commercially run
Seoul Spy.com - some commercial links for non-Koreans. Also for other countries.
Korea Local Authorities Foundation for International Relations - that's a mouthful, but if you are looking for basic information on any particular area of Korea, this is a good place to start. They also have a provincial map with click on links to local government statistics.
Pyongyang Square - independent information site on North Korea.
Lonely Planet - SubWWWay to North-East Asia
EFL-Law.Com - this new site (March 2003) is a must-read for EFL teachers in Korea, Japan and China. It is run by professional lawyers, and deals with most of the legal questions or problems you may encounter as a foreign teacher in these countries. It also has relevant links.Click Asia - really a shopping mall of traditional Korean goods priced in US$ with English explanations. However, it also contains a great deal of good information on Korean traditions, rituals, beliefs, celebrations, and even cooking recipes.
Wiki Encyclopedia articles on Korea - contains extensive notes. Be careful though! Following the wiki philosphy, anyone can add to a wiki volume, which means that you should double check all information for authenticity
.Offbeat
Emptybottle.org A rambling but often engaging web blog by an un-named fellow, probably Australian (not me !), teaching in Korea
copyrighted © Thorold (Thor) May 2005
all rights reserved, http://.thormay.net
thormay AT yahoo.com
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Doubt well, do what you can, then let it be. Presidents, priests, wage slaves, hustlers, men and women, kids, we all live by the grace of those we love to despise... |
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Bansong nestles in steep valleys |
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tiny-tot video games |
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a blizzard of seagulls |
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food comes with many side dishes |
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Proxy note for Koreabridge : recently some users in Korea have been unable to access Koreabridge, Pusanweb, or thormay.net at odd times. This seems to be caused by some American server(s) blocking access from Korean users (maybe a crude spam blanket ?). Anyway, it is a pain. If you have that problem, one solution is to go through a blind proxy, so the end site doesn't know where your request is coming from. A number of these proxies can be accessed through the Russian site, Tools-on-the-net -> Privacy Tools -> Anonymous Surf.
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