Articles by mgedwards

Konglish

We recently subscribed to “The Korea Times,” an English-language daily based in Seoul.  The writing is pretty good, and the articles are entertaining.  I especially enjoyed a June 30th article entitled, “Firms Use Wrong Slogans,” detailing the incorrect, often humorous usage of English in Korean companies’ ads.  The article maintains that the incorrect usage of English is detrimental to Korean companies that want to cultivate a global image.  I think of this often when I look up and see the ubiquitous Samsung Electronics’ “Anycall” billboards featuring the slogan, “Digital Exciting.”  Say, what?  Here are some of more humorous and head turning Korean slogans:

  1. Samsung Electronics:  "Digital Exciting Anycall"
  2. SBS:  "Humanism Thru Digital"
  3. Seoul Milk:  "Milk Itself"
  4. Samsung Card:  "Think Benefit"
  5. Kookmin Bank:  "Think Star"
  6. National Agricultural Cooperative Federation:  "Human Bank, Human Life"

It’s not a terrible faux pas to misuse English slogans.  After all, Apple’s "Think Different" ad campaign is legendary.  The Womens’ National Basketball Association slogan is "We Got Game."  Half the artists on the Billboard music charts use a stage name that is a mispelling of a common English word or phrase (e.g. "50 Cent").  What sets these Korean ads apart is the perception that the marketers who created these slogans are not native English speakers and therefore naively institutionalized bad English grammar.  True, some of these slogans really don’t make much sense at all in English.  However, some of them may actually be pretty ingenious, especially if the ad gets you to focus on the slogan longer than you normally would.  Will you spend more time thinking about "Anycall" if the slogan were properly written "Digitally Exciting"?  Probably not.  "Digital Exciting" turns native English speakers’ heads because it is written incorrectly.  I have to believe that someone from Samsung Electronics, one of Korea’s most global and commercially successful companies, intentionally chose to use English grammar incorrectly when they made up "Digital Exciting." 

Some Korean English slogans are actually very clever, perhaps too clever.  Take Doosan’s slogan "We’ve" for example.  It took me awhile to figure this one out.  "We’ve" what?  I noticed the word in Korean hangul that follows the English word means "web."  "We’ve web," the slogan says in half English and half Korean.  Great, so now English speakers won’t know how to read the Korean word for "web," and Korean speakers won’t know what "we’ve" means.  I pondered Doosan’s cryptic slogan like a swami en route to Shangri-la until I finally understood what it really meant.  I finally figured it out because I know enough Korean to be dangerous.  The double meaning of Doosan’s slogan is "weave Web," conjuring images of a company that plays an integral role in building the World Wide Web.  Pretty clever, I have to admit.  Doosan sure got me to spend more time pondering their slogan than I really should have.  Most people either wouldn’t bother to try or couldn’t decipher the double meaning at all.  In that sense, Doosan’s slogan is much too clever to be a good slogan.  Even if you understand the double meaning, "weave Web," you are still left wondering what Doosan really does.  The slogan is cute, though.

I’m not sure if it is a big detriment to Korean companies to misuse English in their corporate slogans.  Slogans that have awkward connotations such as "Milk Itself" probably should be avoided.  American companies are just as guilty of using culturally awkward slogans.  Who can forget that Chevrolet inadvertantly named one of its cars "No Go" in Spanish when it chose the name "Nova"?  Perhaps the easiest way for Korean companies to avoid awkwardly annoying English phrases is to survey native English speakers from several different countries to get their feedback on suggested English slogans.  I’m positive that "Humanism Thru Digital" would never have made the cut.  Then again, maybe "Milk Itself" might have made it.  One thing is sure–the makers of "Pocari Sweat Ion Supply Drink" really ought to consider renaming their drink.

Korean Folk Village, part II

Tonight I finish my narrative of our trip last Sunday to the Korean Folk Village.

In the early afternoon on Sunday, after wandering through replicas of old Jeju Island farms, we ventured over to an open area where a Korean acrobat on a high wire performed a delicate balancing act.  He did a fabulous job defying gravity, bouncing up and down on the rope, sitting on it, straddling it, and balancing himself on top.  He balanced himself grasping only a handkerchief in one hand and a large white fan in the other.  He used the fan to control his balance, waving it slowly, then feverishly to bring his body back into equilibrium.  Dressed in a white, parachute-like costume, he wore a black Korean-style hat reminiscent of a Korean sage.  He gave a wonderful performance.

20 minutes later we meandered over to the village Manor House, where we witnessed a Korean traditional wedding.  The condensed ceremony that took place in the main courtyard highlighted the most intriguing aspects of a Korean wedding.  As the ceremony began, the groom took his place to the east of the wedding altar and faced west, sitting with his legs crossed awaiting his bride.  Symbolic foods lay atop the altar, waiting to be parceled to the bride and groom during the ceremony.  An old sage to the north of the altar faced south and read the vows from an aged wedding book.  A few minutes into the ceremony he called for the bride to come.  She left the Manor House and descended its steps, entering the courtyard with two female assistants.  They escorted her to the west of the altar and helped her kneel on both knees so that she faced east towards her future husband.  As the sage chanted the wedding vows, assistants offered food and drink to the betrothed couple.  I recall that they ate chestnuts, a symbol of the yangban, or Korean aristocracy, and other Korean delicacies.  The bride’s arms were crossed and positioned over her face so that the groom could not see her until the ceremony ended.  Prompted by the sage, the groom and bride stood and bowed to each other.  Dressed in hanbok, Korean traditional dress, they made a handsome couple.  The sage pronounced them married, and the ceremony ended as quickly as it started.  I’m positive that I inadvertantly obscured some vital details about the ceremony, and the ceremony I watched was but a taste of true Korean traditional weddings.  I am by no means an expert on Korean weddings.  Having seen American, Chinese, Japanese, and Austrian weddings, I enjoyed seeing yet another cultural manifestation of an age-old ceremony.  I do not know how authentic it was or whether I recorded it accurately.

After the wedding ceremony, my family wandered to the modern portion of the folk village south of the river.  It stood in stark contrast to the rest of the folk village, filled with amusements and modern architecture and sculpture.  We entered the children’s park and took our son on several rides.  He first rode a roving mechanical dog.  He is a bit apprehensive about getting close to animals, but he had no qualms climbing aboard this “dog” and letting it take him around the children’s park for a couple of minutes.  When we were in Gyeongju last June, I tried unsuccessfully to persuade him to join me on a four-wheeler.  He was too scared, and I rode alone.  This slow-moving “dog” was just the thing he needed to have some mobile fun.  Afterwards, mommy took him on a carrousel for his first carrousel ride, and daddy took him on the children’s train that circled the children’s park.  He had a great time.  He had so much fun that he didn’t nap all day long, and once we finished and went home he was out like a light.  I was so fatigued that I wanted to do the same, but I had to wait until we returned home.

A memorable evening with General Powell

Tonight my wife and I had a wonderful evening with General and Mrs. Colin Powell.  The Korea International Trade Association and Korea-U.S. Economic Council hosted General Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State and Joint Chief of Staff, and his wife at the COEX Grand Ballroom.  I was privileged to join him for the festivities honoring the translation of his book into Korean.  General Powell gave a wonderful half-speech about his book and about foreign policy, focusing on his special relationship with Korea (where he served as lieutenant colonel in 1973-74).  He gave candid insights into U.S.-Asian foreign relations, particularly U.S. relations with Korea, Japan, and China.  We were happy to receive an autographed copy of his best-selling book, “An American Journey.”  Although it is in Korean, we will keep it as a souvenir of this memorable night.

Following his speech, we feasted on an elegant dinner of sashimi salad, wild mushroom cream soup, beef tenderloin, and Grandmarnier soufflé, accented with a glass of dry red wine and coffee for dessert.  After we offered a toast to the general, we watched a memorable performance by a Korean men’s choir, who sang “America the Beautiful,” “Arirang,” and “The Old Maine” a cappella.  A group of Korean dancers dubbed “Tooms River Dance” performed “Riverdance” numbers.  Perhaps the best performance of all, one that was quite unexpected for a buttoned-down affair, was a riveting performance by In Soon Yi, one of Korea’s top pop artists.  She was very popular several years ago but is now in the midst of a comeback.  The daughter of a Korean mother and American father who was stationed as a soldier in Korea, she possesses a soulful voice that reveals her African American roots.  She sang a couple of songs, and then she invited General Powell to sing on stage with her.  I was amazed to see General Powell join her on stage.  He sang a short duet with her.  He has a great voice.  It reminds of a time in July 2004 when he wowed the crowd at an ASEAN meeting by donning an electrician’s uniform and singing the Village People classic “YMCA.”  He’s that kind of guy, someone willing to go the extra mile to entertain the audience.

I have seen General Powell on two earlier occasions, but this was the most memorable for me.  At the end of the program I found a strategic place to wait for him to pass by, and I met him briefly and shook his hand.  He gave me a warm smile and a firm handshake.  He is one of my heroes, and I finally had a chance to meet him personally.  Earlier this week I also met Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when she came to Seoul, but this was an even bigger thrill for me.  Both are unforgettable, but General Powell is even larger than life.