Having made a couple of recent posts about how expensive Seoul is to live, I’d like to balance it with a positive post. Every now and then I see articles about things going on in Seoul which makes me want to be there. And this article in the Chosun is one of them.
Robot Taekwon V, the classic robot cartoon from the 1970s, has been digitally remastered and is now showing in Seoul. Some background is available at wikipedia, KOFIC, twitch and koreanfilm.org. It’s a film I’ve always wanted to see. It’s probably aimed at 9-year-olds, but occasionally one needs a bit of escapism. And right now I need a lot of escapism because in preparation for the BAKS conference in two weeks’ time I’m having another go at reading Kyung-Hyun Kim’s book on remasculinizing Korean cinema and boy is it hard going. A trip to this robot show would just about sort me out:
Meanwhile, the Children’s Grand Park in Neung-dong, Seoul is holding a Robot Exhibition 2006 — an Exciting Journey into the World of Robots, until the end of October. Some 80 scale models of robots between 2 and 4 m tall include the 3.20 m Mazinger Z, as well as the classic Atom and Gundam characters. In a special section, visitors can operate humanoid robots such HUBO and Asimo themselves. Other robots from the movies include Terminator, RoboCop and dinosaur robots.
How cool does that sound?