Korean Culture

Benjamin Lee is a new shop owner with a mission: to expose his native Korean culture to the rest of the world. "Many people in this area are not aware that Korea is as well known for its bonsai, pottery and tea as other countries in Asia," said Lee, who came to this country in 1991 to study environmental engineering at Drexel University. "In fact, Koreans introduced Korean and Chinese pottery to Japan more than a 1,000 years ago. " In June, he opened Lee's Sonamoo in the G Boys Garden & Christmas Center on Route 70 in Marlton.

In Korea, the arrival of fall signifies the harvest season, a time when villagers celebrate the reaping of the crops in the rice paddies during a national holiday known as Choo Suk. The festivities could be compared to the American observation of Thanksgiving. The same spirit was evident Saturday as the Montgomery County Korean American Association (MontKo) sponsored a Choo Suk festival on the grounds of Springfield High School. Though MontKo was not harvesting crops, it was harvesting goodwill as its members extended an understanding of Korean cultural heritage.

As he looks to the 100th anniversary of the first Korean immigrants sailing to Hawaii, Oh Young Lee, president of the Federation of Korean Associations, USA, hopes for much in the next century. "We want to get more Korean Americans elected to office," he said. "We want more protection for our businesses. " A 60-year-old financier, Lee is serving a two-year term as president of the federation. The organization, which has 170 chapters and represents 2.2 million Korean American members across the United States, was founded in 1978 to protect the minority rights of its members.

You didn't have to be Korean or understand the language. No need to know exactly what the gaily dressed dancers and musicians were celebrating either. The joy in their songs and on their faces was universal - and contagious. Yesterday afternoon, the happy commotion - a new year's celebration - sparked a small epidemic of smiles and goodwill along Fifth Street in the Olney section of the city, where Korean-owned stores and signs in Korean characters dot the streetscape. As the Durepae players - from the Korean American Community Center in Philadelphia and New York - skipped and bounded down the bustling street, beating poongmul (Korean drums)

Experience cultures and animals from around the world Saturday and Sunday, beginning at 10 a.m. each day, at the Philadelphia Zoo's Creatures of Culture Series: Asia and the Pacific Islands. The idea was developed based on the Micronesian kingfisher and the Bornean orangutan, two endangered species featured in the zoo's new "Creatures of Habitat" exhibit, running through Oct. 31. Visitors can see Lego statues representing endangered species throughout the world and learn more about animals found in the zoo that are native to Asia.

At 19, Julian Y. Kim does not speak Korean, the language of his parents, but he wants to learn. "I'm much more comfortable in an American setting," he said. Kim is pulled by the country his parents left behind, he said, while at the same time driven to "make it" in America. He asks, what is the role of his generation and how will he and other young Korean Americans face the special problems that confront them as minorities in this country? Kim, a student at Princeton University, helped organize KASCON I, a Korean- American students' conference held yesterday at the university, the first such event there.

Young S. Sim, 48, born in Seoul, Korea, never really imagined herself as a community leader. She spent the first 20 years of her professional life as a pianist and teacher. She majored in piano at the Women's University in Korea, and at the age of 21 came to America to earn a master's degree in music education at Roosevelt University, in Chicago. She met and married Crane Sim, a research scientist. They lived in Chicago, where she started a piano studio and worked in financial services for the Equitable Co. for seven years.

Had centuries-old Korean wedding customs been observed, the bride and bridegroom would have been bound together at the wrists with colorful threads and later would have been showered with fruit, nuts and rice cakes. But when Yong-June Choi and the bride, Yoon Jung Yang, were married on a recent balmy Saturday evening at a Korean church in Havertown, those customs were replaced with a white wedding gown and a rented tuxedo, a white wedding cake - and the event was recorded with video cameras.

As a volunteer with the Women's Center of Montgomery County, Jeung Hi Kim was assigned three cases of domestic violence involving Korean familes. The cases all arose within a month and Kim, a native of Korea who has lived in the United States since 1963, became concerned. She felt that wife abuse was accepted in the Korean culture as a way of the man controlling his family. But she also believed that the causes of abuse among many of the recent Korean immigrants were tied to cultural clashes that they failed to recognize or manage, Kim said.

I love the sound of rice crisping against the hot stone bowl of a dolsot bibimbap. You need a little patience for it to be just right. What with a gorgeous pinwheel of fresh veggies and meat arrayed on top of a bed of rice, and a hearty dollop of rusty brown Korean chile paste, kochujang, spooned on top, the temptation is to quickly stir it up the moment it hits the table. But let it sizzle. Wait. Smell the rice below starting to roast against the hot sesame oil-slicked bowl before you give it the mixing stir.

Experience cultures and animals from around the world Saturday and Sunday, beginning at 10 a.m. each day, at the Philadelphia Zoo's Creatures of Culture Series: Asia and the Pacific Islands. The idea was developed based on the Micronesian kingfisher and the Bornean orangutan, two endangered species featured in the zoo's new "Creatures of Habitat" exhibit, running through Oct. 31. Visitors can see Lego statues representing endangered species throughout the world and learn more about animals found in the zoo that are native to Asia.

I love the sound of rice crisping against the hot stone bowl of a dolsot bibimbap. You need a little patience for it to be just right. What with a gorgeous pinwheel of fresh veggies and meat arrayed on top of a bed of rice, and a hearty dollop of rusty brown Korean chile paste, kochujang, spooned on top, the temptation is to quickly stir it up the moment it hits the table. But let it sizzle. Wait. Smell the rice below starting to roast against the hot sesame oil-slicked bowl before you give it the mixing stir.

Benjamin Lee is a new shop owner with a mission: to expose his native Korean culture to the rest of the world. "Many people in this area are not aware that Korea is as well known for its bonsai, pottery and tea as other countries in Asia," said Lee, who came to this country in 1991 to study environmental engineering at Drexel University. "In fact, Koreans introduced Korean and Chinese pottery to Japan more than a 1,000 years ago. " In June, he opened Lee's Sonamoo in the G Boys Garden & Christmas Center on Route 70 in Marlton.

As he looks to the 100th anniversary of the first Korean immigrants sailing to Hawaii, Oh Young Lee, president of the Federation of Korean Associations, USA, hopes for much in the next century. "We want to get more Korean Americans elected to office," he said. "We want more protection for our businesses. " A 60-year-old financier, Lee is serving a two-year term as president of the federation. The organization, which has 170 chapters and represents 2.2 million Korean American members across the United States, was founded in 1978 to protect the minority rights of its members.

You didn't have to be Korean or understand the language. No need to know exactly what the gaily dressed dancers and musicians were celebrating either. The joy in their songs and on their faces was universal - and contagious. Yesterday afternoon, the happy commotion - a new year's celebration - sparked a small epidemic of smiles and goodwill along Fifth Street in the Olney section of the city, where Korean-owned stores and signs in Korean characters dot the streetscape. As the Durepae players - from the Korean American Community Center in Philadelphia and New York - skipped and bounded down the bustling street, beating poongmul (Korean drums)

If you walk into class on Tuesday nights at the Philadelphia Police Academy, you'll be surprised by what you see. The instructors don't have badges. They aren't employed by the Police Department. And they're teaching something you can't understand. Korean language and culture. The instructors are ordinary people from the local Korean community who volunteer their time. The classes are part of a new collaboration between the Korean community and the department, led by the Korean American Police Advisory Council.

In Korea, the arrival of fall signifies the harvest season, a time when villagers celebrate the reaping of the crops in the rice paddies during a national holiday known as Choo Suk. The festivities could be compared to the American observation of Thanksgiving. The same spirit was evident Saturday as the Montgomery County Korean American Association (MontKo) sponsored a Choo Suk festival on the grounds of Springfield High School. Though MontKo was not harvesting crops, it was harvesting goodwill as its members extended an understanding of Korean cultural heritage.

Local Korean Americans are eager to educate the community about their culture through the Choo Syuk Festival set for Saturday at Springfield High School. The festival is free and open to the public. The Montgomery County Korean American Association, based in Lansdale, is a volunteer organization of 10,000 Korean Americans. According to association members, Choo Syuk is an important holiday celebrating a harvest, and it usually falls sometime in September, based on the lunar calendar.

Young S. Sim, 48, born in Seoul, Korea, never really imagined herself as a community leader. She spent the first 20 years of her professional life as a pianist and teacher. She majored in piano at the Women's University in Korea, and at the age of 21 came to America to earn a master's degree in music education at Roosevelt University, in Chicago. She met and married Crane Sim, a research scientist. They lived in Chicago, where she started a piano studio and worked in financial services for the Equitable Co. for seven years.

Had centuries-old Korean wedding customs been observed, the bride and bridegroom would have been bound together at the wrists with colorful threads and later would have been showered with fruit, nuts and rice cakes. But when Yong-June Choi and the bride, Yoon Jung Yang, were married on a recent balmy Saturday evening at a Korean church in Havertown, those customs were replaced with a white wedding gown and a rented tuxedo, a white wedding cake - and the event was recorded with video cameras.