Thursday, 2 July 2009

Busanjin Market

When a Busan woman gets married, she heads for Busanjin Market to find everything she needs to set up her new household. Everything from Korean and Western clothes to bedding and lines can be found here. Many shops sell silk and other raw materials for making clothes.

Pusan National University

Pusan National University (PNU) was established by the national government in 1945 in Busan. PNU now comprises 12 colleges, a general graduate school, and 6 professional graduate schools. It contributes to the development of the nation by producing prominent experts and talented leaders. PNU has many other facilities, including libraries, a museum, broadcasting facility, press center, dozens of research centers and laboratories, and over 80 different college clubs. Inside the university are many symbols of the school, including Rainbow Gate, which was built in an arch style tribute to the 10th anniversary of the school's establishment; Munchangdae, formed with large rocks and located between the College of Pharmacy and the National Culture Research Center; and Mirinae Stream, starting from Geumjeong Mountain and crossing the school. Like Ewha Woman's Univ. and Hongik Univ. in Seoul, in the front of PNU are many reasonably priced eateries, cafes, institutes, fashion outlets, beauty shops, and various other stores well developed to attract students to enjoy cheaply while they are studying. A joke among Busan's younger generation says that Haeundae, Taejongdae, and Busandae (the Korean name for Pusan National University) are the 3 the most famous entertaining areas in Busan.

lifeinkorea.com

Busan (Pusan) City Travel Information

Busan (Pusan) is Korea's second largest city with close to 4 million people. It also serves as the country's main port for international cargo, as well as passenger ferries to Japan and Jeju Island. The city is famous for its seafood and beaches, as well as the Hallyosudo Waterway with its picturesque islands. The Busan fish market has a huge selection of fresh seafood in the early morning. Although primarily known as a port, the city has many steep hills, creating a very unusual mix of mountains and ocean. The area remained relatively untounched during the Korean War, but the flood of refugees drastically shaped the city.

TransportationBoat: From Busan Port (Chungand-dong, Chung-gu), you can catch a ferry to a number of domestic destinations (Cheju-do, Ulsan, Yeosu, and Inch'eon). Taking a boat to Yeosu through the Hallyeohaesang National Park, you can view the spectacular scenery along Korea's south coast. You can also get international passage to Japan and China.Bus: The Express Bus Terminal (Onch'on-dong, Tongnae-gu) has express buses to most major destination in Korea. For less popular destinations, you will need to use one of the 2 inter-city bus terminals: Dongbu (east- Myeongryun-dong, Tongnae-gu) and Seobu (west- Kwaebeob-dong, Sasang-gu).Plane: Kimhae International Airport, located across the Nakdong River from Busan, has domestic flights to Seoul, Cheju-do, and Gwangju. It also has a few international flights to Japan.Subway: Busan's line 1 and line 2 connect most of the major attractions in the city. As they are both relatively new, they are much cleaner than Seoul's.Train: Busan Station, located near the main port, is the terminus for the Kyeongbu Line (going north to Seoul) and Kyeongjeon Line (going west along the south coast to Mokp'o).

Introduction korea

The Koreans are the offspring of a tribe who came down to the Korean peninsula, passing through Central Asia, Manchuria, and Siberia over many centuries before Christ. Anthropologically, they belong to the Tungus of the Mongolian family. They have preserved a unique language, culture and customs in their history of five millenniums as a single people

The Koreans are known for their creativity and originality as evidenced in their invention of the world’s first metal printing type and iron-clad ship (called Turtle Ship) as well as their diligence with which they have achieved remarkable economic growth. Especially, in 1988, they successfully hosted the Seoul Olympics which provided a venue for world harmony despite such adverse condition as division of the peninsula, gaining recognition of the whole world of their excellence and strong potential.

According to the ‘Global and Korean Population Status’ released by the National Statistical Office on July 10, 2003 on the occasion of the World Population Day (July 11), the population of the Republic of Korea as of July 1, 2003 is 47.93 million, which ranks 26th in the world. In addition, the combined population of the two Koreas ranks 17th in the globe with 70.45 million. The population of the ROK, which accounts for 0.8% of total global population in 2003, is projected to go down to 0.6% in 2030. The portion of the combined population of the two Koreas is expected to decrease from 1.2% to 0.9%.

According to the data of the National Statistical Office, the number of children per woman of child-bearing age is sharply dwindling each year. Thus, it is expected that the total population of the ROK will shrink from 2024, going down to 44.34 million in 2050 with its rank at the 42nd. The sex ratio at birth which represents the birth ratio of boys to girls was 110.0 in 2002, up 1.0 point from the preceding year. This is higher than the normal ratio of 105 to 107. In addition, it is forecast that the aged population (65 or over) in the ROK will take up 14% of its total population in 2019 and 20% in 2026, making the country a super-aged society.

In the ROK, the portion of people at the age of 0 to 14 is 21.1%, a level on a par with industrialized countries, while that of people at the age of 65 or over remains at the world’s average. Its population aged 15 to 64 stands at the world’s highest level.

In addition, the ROK saw its aged population at the age of 65 or over exceed 7% of its total population in 2000, which opened the age of an aging society in full swing. It is expected that the portion of its aged population will reach 14.4% in 2019 and 20.0% in 2026, rapidly transforming the country into an aged and super-aged society respectively. It will take only 19 years until the percentage of the aged population grows from 7% to 14% and merely 7 years until it increases from 14% to 20%, much faster than the pace of aging in industrialized countries.

In every part of the world, Korean people are deemed to be diligent, faithful, enthusiastic about their children’s education and bright.

Tuesday, 30 June 2009

Hyun Bin and Song Hye-Kyo filming in Singapore

All Singaporean fans must have rejoiced because Korean heartthrob Hyun Bin and beautiful actress Song Hye-Kyo were filming in Singapore for their new drama “The World They Live In” since September 1st. The 16-episode Korean drama is set in Singapore for a few episodes and is about the TV and movie production industry. It will also be the first drama where Hyun and Song work together in a TV series so we will see if sparks can fly between these two.

Lee Byung-hun Meets Kimura Takuya in High-Profile Film


Two top stars from Korea and Japan have once again displayed their respective talents in the same movie. Lee Byeong-Heon and Kimura Takuya are appearing together for the second time--after their 2007 Japanese film “Hero”--in “I Come With The Rain.”


Directed by Vietnamese-French director Anh Hung Tran, whose works include “The Scent of Green Papaya” and “Cyclo,” the film is a multinational project starring Josh Hartnett and Elias Koteas in addition to Lee and Kimura.


The thriller centers around ex-Los Angeles cop Kline (Josh Hartnett) who travels to Hong Kong in search of the missing son (Kimura Takuya) of a Chinese billionaire. Lee plays a role of a mafia boss in Hong Kong.


With trailers released on April 18, it is scheduled to hit theaters in Japan on June 6. A large-scale premiere will be held in the island country, which all the stars will attend.

Up, Down, Left, Right

Learn Korean directions in today’s lesson! Today Ryuji is looking to go back somewhere and he’s asking around for directions. He’s been there before, but he just doesn’t quite remember how to get there. So listen in to today’s lesson as we’ll be tagging along with Ryuji to wherever he’s going. And as he’s asking directions, we’ll be going over location words and some essential phrases, when looking for something in Korea. If you’re traveling in Korea and looking for directions, this is the lesson to listen to!

Korean directions


download lesson