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Matthew Jackson

No longer the underdog?

by Matthew Jackson on 1 March, 2010

While Kim Yu-na’s victory – now celebrated across every media – still hung in the balance, an unusual article about Korea appeared in the Financial Times. It was distinguishable from most articles about Korea in that a) it did not primarily concern the situation in the North and b) it was pretty much unreservedly upbeat.
Its [...]

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Samsung now the biggest technology company in the world

30 January 2010 Business

‘All hail Samsung Electronics’ says the Lex column in the Financial Times on the 28th of January. The news (reported fully here) that Samsung Electronics has overtaken Hewlett Packard as the world’s largest technology company may come as a surprise, especially to those who regard Samsung as a poor relation of the erstwhile dominant Japanese [...]

Companies: Samsung

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Kimchipedia Part 2 – Obesity, Cancer and Global Pandemics

29 January 2010 Food & Drink

Kimchi’s anti-cancer properties are a focus of growing interest. Professor Park of Pusan University injected a Kimchi extract into mice with cancer cell transplants. After one month, the control set had an average tumor weight of 4.3 grams, whereas the group that were fed with Kimchi extract had an average tumor weight of 2.0 grams. [...]

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Kimchipedia Part 1 – Everything you wanted to know about Kimchi, but were too polite to ask

18 January 2010 Food & Drink

Introduction
Kimchi has been eaten in the Korean peninsula for over 2,000 years. The modern Korean consumes about 30 kilograms of it per annum. It is credited with keeping obesity at bay in the country, and is believed to combat stress and to slow the ageing process, as well as fighting cancer and a wide variety [...]

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E-Government in Korea – The Spirit of Sillok Lives On!

16 January 2010 Statistics and league tables

The forthcoming publication ‘Leveraging e-government at a time of financial and economic crisis’ from the United Nations reveals the Republic of Korea to be at the top of both E-Government Development and E-Participation Indices.
The website where the new report is introduced remarks:
While technology is no substitute for good policy, it may give citizens the power [...]

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Before Babylon There Was…Pyongyang

4 December 2009 History & heritage

Two thirds of the world’s dolmens are contained in the Korean peninsula. The Gochang, Hwaun, and Ganghwa dolmen sites can be found on the UNESCO World Heritage list. This probably begs the question, from me at least – what are dolmens exactly? They are stone monuments, generally consisting of two supporting stones and a cover stone [...]

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MacGyver and the Imjin War

30 October 2009 History & heritage

I was puzzled when I learned that Koreans regard the time bomb as a proud addition to their list of inventions. This is because I associate the time bomb with incidents involving James Bond and MacGyver, in which the emphasis is on defusing the bomb and foiling the plans of an evil terrorist.
Although it has been [...]

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The Turtle Ship

25 October 2009 History & heritage

There is a story that when the nascent Korean shipping industry was attempting to raise capital, Barclays asked what the Koreans could provide in the way of security for the loan. The Korean executive is said to have taken a 500 won bill from his pocket, which featured the turtle ship of Yi Sun-sin, and [...]

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Golden Earrings of Silla

9 September 2009 History & heritage

Along with the famous Golden Crown of Hwangnam, the tombs of Silla contained many other, less immediately eye-catching objects of beauty. An example is the golden earrings, one of the literally thousands of accessories such as necklaces, rings, belts and shoes that were buried with the dead kings and queens in Kyongju, capital of the [...]

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The Shining Fortress part 2: its remarkable story.

7 August 2009 Gyeonggi-do

by Matthew Jackson
The story which surrounds the building of the Hwaseong fortress is an extraordinary one. The fortress was originally built as part of the new Suwon city, a project initiated by King Chongjo.
King Chongjo (or King Jeongjo, depending on your preferred romanization) had been greatly devoted to his father, Sado Seja, who died [...]

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The Shining Fortress part 1: its construction

28 July 2009 Gyeonggi-do

by Matthew Jackson
The official report by the advisors to UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee concluded that the Suwon Hwaseong Fortress “represents the pinnacle of 18th century military architecture, incorporating the best of that from Europe and from the Far East. As such it has a unique historical importance”.
What makes Hwaseong special? Following the editor’s [...]

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Chongganbo – Sejong’s Musical Alphabet

1 May 2009 History & heritage

King Sejong is most famous for his invention of the Korean alphabet. His other achievements, in social and legal reform, science and art, are less well known. The Chongganbo, which could be regarded as a musical alphabet, is one such achievement.

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