From the Editor: June 2022

As the daylight hours get distinctively longer and the thermometer’s mercury climbs upward, we have become acutely aware of the changing of the seasons. The sixth month of the year ushers in not only the season of outdoor picnics, travel, and vacations but, very importantly, the June issue of the Gwangju News!

While last month we featured activities related to the Gwangju May 18 Uprising, in this issue we focus on the author of a just-off-the-press memoir by David Dolinger of his up-close-and-very-personal account of the bloody Gwangju Uprising of 1980, when he was a Peace Corps health worker in Jeollanam-do. We hope you enjoy this interview.

After our recent ordeals with Covid and its associated social-distancing restrictions, we have become more personally aware of the negative effects isolation and the yearning for connecting with others. This experience will be instrumental in more deeply understanding the years-long theme underpinning the work of artist Seo Kee-moon. We are confident that you will also enjoy this feature interview and the artist’s prismatic artworks.

If you enjoy the brilliant color in the art pieces featured above, you most surely will equally enjoy the hidden underwater hues of the coral and sea life of Indonesia’s Coral Triangle, which we feature in this issue’s six-page Photo Essay.

Planning to do some traveling this summer after being cooped up for the past two years of the pandemic? Well, we have some suggestions for you. Consider a short trip south for a challenging climb up Jindo’s Dongseok Mountain [Lost in Honam]. Thinking of something a little farther away from home? Give some thought to traveling north to the mountains of Seorak and the beaches of Sokcho all in one trip [Around Korea]. Wanting to venture even farther from home after being homebound for so long? Ponder a tour of the “heart of Europe,” the Wallonia region of Belgium [From Abroad].

What are turn signals for? You might consider this a display question. But this month’s Opinion piece suggests that a sizable chunk of Gwangju’s drivers are not really familiar with the function or operation of this highly complicated automotive device!

Language teaching is more than just classes and lesson plans. We recently sat down with Prof. Park Joo-Kyung for a personal discussion on leadership and service within the profession [Language Teaching]. And there is much more in this June issue than I can introduce here.

As always, stay Covid smart, stay Covid safe, be Covid protected, and enjoy the Gwangju News.

David Shaffer

Editor-in-Chief

Gwangju News