Special Interest Groups for English Teachers: Interview with Reece Randall

There is a new guy in town, though he is not new to Korea or to Korea TESOL. Taking up a new position at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) is Reece Randall. He is also the new second vice-president of KOTESOL, and one of his roles in that position is to oversee the organization’s special interest groups (SIGs). In this interview for the Gwangju News, we ask Reece, among other things, to explain what SIGs are and how they work.

Gwangju Punk Band Dirty Rockhon: Seeking Out Happiness in a Dirty World

The band describes its music in online bios as “seomin punk,” with seomin meaning “the commoner class or ordinary people.” But it’s not to be confused with working-class pride, a common theme among many other punk bands.

Researching North Korea in Gwangju: Interview with Dr. Moe Taylor

“There is a great deal of interest in all matters North Korean among scholars, experts, and policymakers here. That also means some of the top experts on North Korea in the world are based here. There are several archives and libraries here that are extremely useful to my research. More specifically, I came here to Gwangju to take advantage of this great research opportunity with the Asia Culture Center (ACC).”

Creating a Goddess Myth in a New Era: Artist Park Sobin

“Art is said to be spoken in various languages, depending on the viewer, but my self-portraits are my view of my art in my 20s, when I was intensely concerned about human instincts and nature. They expressed the power of love to blossom new lives in the midst of the fear of people who could not be free from the pain of those times. The theme of my works was then about the myth of love that provides the energy that humans have been pursuing.”

The 12th World Human Right Cities Forum: Views from Participants

The 12th World Human Rights Cities Forum (WHRCF) was held at the Kimdaejung Convention Center for four days, October 10–13, 2022. During this year’s Forum, 38 programs were organized with 320 domestic and foreign speakers and around 1,800 participants in total. Under this year’s theme, “Climate Crisis and Human Rights,” we concluded that it was important to recognize that the climate crisis could also impact human rights, not just the environment.

Painter of the “Halo Effect”: Oh Soo-kyung

“Some people have wondered if I’m trying to save on paints. Actually, no. I use a lot. When I color, I don’t color an object all at once. Because of the nature of oil paints, it takes some time to dry. I apply one color and leave it on the canvas to soak in. If I wipe it off before the paint dries, the canvas is lightly colored. Then I add another color, brushing it on the canvas horizontally and vertically like weaving cloth.”

Gwangju FC’s Victory and Hopes for 2023: Interview with Ahn Young-kyu

2022 couldn’t have been a better comeback for Gwangju FC, one of the two professional sports club in this city of 1.5 million. Its winning in K League 2, putting it back to K League 1 next year, gives hope to the football (soccer) club that has been having an up-and-down history in its involvement in the Korea Football League.

Haru K’s Delicious Landscape

Every year, the Ha Jung-woong Art Museum invites several competent artists and supports their exhibitions. A few years ago, when I visited the museum, I encountered some very interesting artworks. They were traditional Korean landscape paintings combined with unique scenes in them. For instance, a waterfall from the sky was expressed as long noodles from chopsticks. The various foods and snacks in the landscape paintings gave me a fun shock, and they have remained in my memory for a long time. Luckily, I have had the opportunity to have an interview with Haru K, the artist of Delicious Landscape, for this issue of the Gwangju News. You too will be able to meet Haru K through the following interview.