Hey everyone,

We hope you enjoyed last week’s convo with Jo Jinhae as well as the list of other events we’ve held throughout this semester.

Tonight, we will be having the last event of the year. LiNK (Liberty in North Korea) will be coming to campus for a free screening of a new movie about North Korea called “Crossing” in the PLC125 at 6pm. (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=60608401639) Please come out and enjoy the free movie and be moved by a story inspired from true accounts by North Korea refugees.

Also, we’ll be selling our “Got Seoul” t-shirts as a part of a fundraiser for North Korea this week. When you give $14, you not only receive the black American Apparel tee, but you are also donating $1 to feed and shelter a North Korean child for 1 more day. Find us in the Cafe

Tuesday: 2-6pm
Wednesday: 11am-5pm

If you cannot meet us in the Cafe at these times but you would still like to purchase a shirt, contact Hana Kim at han.n.kim@pepperdine.edu by Wednesday.

KSA would like to thank you for another great year. And if you are interested in joining our Eboard for next year, slide on by to the Crossing tonight and just let us know. We’d love to meet you and see your beautiful face. =)

Thanks again, and we are looking forward to serving you again next year with bigger and better plans!

Yours truly,

Pepperdine Korean Student Association

Kascon

A final farewell note from Kevin Park:

Dear Friends,

What a remarkable year it has been. In a whirlwind of events, the school year quickly came and went, but it was memorable nonetheless.

We founded this organization because we had a vision of making PKSA a group that provides an avenue for all students with the common interests and/or desire to know more about the Korean culture. In addition to fostering an environment of unity through community group events.

This year, we have focused much of our attention on building a stronger community, and mapping out a solid strategy for diversity, cultural awareness and activism. Issues such as North Korean human rights and service through professional development were addressed during convocation programs and we held the first ever Asian culture week in collaboration with the Pepperdine Asian Student Association.

I cannot express enough gratitude to those that have helped make KSA what it is today. Despite busy and packed schedules, many of you took ownership over this club and made it successful. Again, we only created KSA, but it’s because of YOU everything was made possible.

I sincerely believe that the new wave we created at Pepperdine will go on and produce positive changes and effects in the facet of the Korean-American community.

As always, we are grateful for your support. It is a tired phrase, but this would absolutely not be possible without your help.

To the graduating seniors, I wish you all the best of luck in your future endeavors. This is only the beginning.

To close my first and final letter to you, I leave you with the inspiring words of the late Robert F. Kennedy: 
”The future is not a gift: it is an achievement. Every generation helps make its own future. This is the essential challenge of the present. There is the danger of futility; the belief there is nothing one man or woman can do against the enormous array of the world’s ills – against misery and ignorance, injustice and violence. Yet many of the world’s great movements, of thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single man.

The future does not belong to those who are content with today, apathetic toward common problems and their fellow man alike, timid and fearful in the face of bold projects and new ideas. Rather, it will belong to those who can blend passion, reason and courage in a personal commitment to the greatest enterprises and ideals.”

Pressing onward.

Best Regards,

Kevin Park

KSA President

The KSA eboard would like to just wish everyone best of wishes on their finals. Study cram hard!

Just for fun I’d like to post a little animation I hope will give you a chuckle or two to knock down a stress level by one or two.

Stew, over and out.

New school quarter

At the first week

At the second week

Before the midterm

During the midterm

After the midterm

Before the final

Once you know your final schedule

7 days before the final

6 days before the final

5 days before the final

4 days before the final

3 days before the final

2 days before the final

1 day before the final

Night before the final

1 hour before the final

During the final

Right after walking out of the exam room

A couple hours after the final

Here’s one of the pics of Lee Byung Hun as Storm Shadow:

Stew’s thoughts: He’s one of my favorite Korean actors but he just looks awkward in here. Maybe the costume designers are to blame though… white sneakers with a jacket that looks like it was made from a leftover white leather couch and some swords.

It’s great to hear of Koreans making it into Hollywood these days (I’m sure you’ve all heard about Rain in “Speed Racer”, Park Joon Hyung in “Dragonball”, and Daniel Henney in “Wolverine”) but there’s still a long ways to go for all of them. All of their roles in their respected Hollywood movies will probably be little to nothing anyway.

___________________________________________________________________________

Koreans Aren’t to Blame

By Adrian Hong
Friday, April 20, 2007; A31

Monday’s events at Virginia Tech were tragic. As our nation mourns, countries around the world continue to send condolences and words of encouragement to the American people.

Included in the aftermath of these shootings has been the response of Koreans in the United States. Many first-generation immigrants, part of a diverse and vibrant community, have taken it upon themselves to apologize for the actions of gunman Cho Seung Hui, citing a sense of collective guilt and shame simply by virtue of a shared ethnicity.

This week Washington state Sen. Paull Shin issued an emotional apology for Cho’s actions to fellow lawmakers and staff, and he cited American sacrifices for South Korea during the Korean War. News reports indicate that several Koreans have approached police stations throughout the nation, apologizing. Leaders of many Korean immigrant organizations have spoken of a sense of guilt and shame, apologizing on the shooter’s behalf.

South Korea’s ambassador to Washington, Lee Tae Shik, spoke at a candlelight vigil I attended Tuesday night in Fairfax County. Through tears, he said that the Korean American community needed to “repent,” and he suggested a 32-day fast, one day for each victim, to prove that Koreans were a “worthwhile ethnic minority in America.” More than 600 people attended the hastily organized vigil. Many in the audience, overwhelmingly composed of Korean immigrants, sobbed openly as they prayed for healing in America in the wake of this tragedy. Many also expressed a personal sense of guilt.

Media outlets have printed and broadcast remarks from Koreans ranging from leaders of civic organizations to men on the street; many seemed to home in on a specific sentiment — that Koreans somehow felt as though they were responsible for the terrible events in Blacksburg.

Korean Americans do not need to apologize for what happened Monday. All of us, as fellow Americans, feel tremendous sorrow and grief at the carnage. Our community, as it should, has expressed solidarity with and sent condolences to the victims, and as Americans, Koreans certainly should take part in the healing process.

But the actions of Cho Seung Hui are no more the fault of Korean Americans than the actions of the Washington area snipers were the fault of African Americans. Just as those crimes were committed by deranged individuals acting on their own initiative, and not because of any ethnic grievance or agenda, these were isolated acts by an individual, not a reflection of a community.

Further, it is inappropriate for the Korean ambassador to the United States to apologize on behalf of Korean Americans and speak of the need to work toward being accepted as a “worthwhile minority” in this nation. While the Korean ambassador represents the interests of Korean nationals in the United States, and the interests of the Republic of Korea, he does not speak for naturalized Koreans here.

Culturally, Koreans have a strong sense of collective identity — both in happiness and in suffering. This is part of the reason Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward, the most valuable player in last year’s Super Bowl, was claimed as a Korean son in Seoul and celebrated as a hero, even though he had lived in the United States all but the first year of his life. Korean culture also includes the concept of han, a shared sense of injustice and pain carried through generations; this is, Koreans say, a result of much of the oppression the nation has faced in past centuries by regional powers.

The Korean claim to guilt and shame on behalf of Cho Seung Hui is well-intentioned but misguided. We are Americans first. While we share an affinity with Korea and appreciate and respect Korean culture, at the end of the day we are Americans. Our president is in the White House, not in the Blue House. And our response to this crisis should be as Americans, not as Koreans.

Many Koreans interviewed by the media have also expressed concerns of retaliatory attacks, and some international students voiced fears of losing their status in the United States. Thankfully, it seems that few groups have voiced hate or advocated retribution against Koreans at large for this tragedy. (Some media outlets have even stopped referring to the gunman’s ethnicity, mentioning his South Korean citizenship in passing. He is now known simply as “Cho” or “the gunman.”)

Moreover, it is absurd to think that the United States would somehow pursue retaliatory measures on international students from Korea, or any nation, as a result of such an attack. The other 100,000 Korean nationals studying in the United States are largely model citizens and tend to be quite engaged on their campuses and in their communities. Perhaps this fear stems from our collective experience in April 1992, when Koreans became scapegoats for simmering ethnic tensions and, somehow, were seen as responsible for the Rodney King beatings, and nearly 2,000 Korean businesses were the targets of rioting and looting. But I believe America has moved beyond that. Today, no Koreans should be afraid to leave their homes or to attend school.

I have great faith in the American people. We have come a long way as a nation and understand today that the actions of an individual do not reflect on a community. I believe we have moved beyond the days when we would assign guilt and penance to an entire race based on isolated incidents.

While the past two days have brought random acts of juvenile hate and immature racial slurs and acts, the vast majority of Americans understand that Korean Americans were victims along with the rest of America — that we all took part in the tragedy at Virginia Tech, regardless of race or ethnicity.

So I ask the Koreans of America to please continue expressing your heartfelt condolences. They are helping the healing process. But please do not apologize. The actions of Cho Seung Hui were not your fault. If our heads are hung low, they should be in grief, not in apology and shame. This tragedy is something for all of us to bear, examine and try to prevent as Americans, together.

The writer is a director of the Mirae Foundation, which provides mentorship and empowerment of Korean American college students.

News Corp.’s MySpace.com has launched the latest of its international editions, MySpace Korea. Like many of its other regionally focused portals, MySpace Korea includes popular music and video content and social-networking profiles. No surprise there.

MySpace Korea’s homepage: a little bit more Web 2.0 than what we get here in the U.S.

But in Korea, MySpace faces an extra snag: The small Asian nation is famously tech-adept, with broadband penetration and mobile technology seemingly light-years ahead of the U.S. (and here, MySpace doesn’t exactly have a reputation as a technology leader, though it remains the most popular social-networking site). Other social-networking sites, like the virtual world Cyworld, already have a lock on the youth market. So what is MySpace doing? It’s deliberately courting Korea’s high-tech and digital-creative crowds.

MySpace Korea, as a result, has a sleeker design than most of its global brethren, as well as a few features created locally: a “Minilog” platform, which sounds a bit like Twitter-esque microblogging, and design “skins” created by Korean artists.

The site’s official launch party, on Tuesday night, will be held at a design museum near Seoul’s Hongik university; later in the week, MySpace will be holding a conference for developers at which Travis Katz, general manager of MySpace’s international effort, will be speaking. Co-founder and CEO Chris DeWolfe has also traveled to Seoul to spread the word about the site launch.

PARTY! If you’re in Seoul, that is…

MySpace has more at stake with its Korean launch, too: The site hopes that by broadening its base in Korea, it can take advantage of the country’s tech talent as it attempts to catch up where rival social networks like Facebook have jumped ahead in innovation. More specifically, MySpace aims to win over Korean programmers to contribute to its OpenSocial-compatible developer platform, which launched last month.

Later in the week, MySpace plans to launch another site in another crucial tech market: India–which happens to be one of the hot spots for Google’s social-networking site, Orkut. Surrounding the debut of MySpace India will be a developer “hackathon” in Bangalore as well as a rock concert in Mumbai.

Unlike its Korean counterpart, the beta site for MySpace India appears to be primarily English-language.

Stew: Myspace? In Korea? I guess it makes sense from Myspace’s point of view but good luck getting the Koreans to let go of their Cyworlds. I still think Myspace is in the beginning stages of its end.

We just firstly want to thank you for all of your support in our inaugural year. The E-board can collectively agree that together, we as a student organization pulled off an amazing and productive first year. With your participation and help throughout the past two semesters, we successfully organized various events that aimed to expand and empower the Korean American culture and presence on our campus. Thanks again so much for your support of our cause.

When Kevin and I got together to start Pepp’s KSA, we had a solid idea and vision of what we knew we wanted. This club was meant to be more than just a social club by name and character, but one that empowered people. We didn’t have any prior experience in leading such a thing like this, but we knew we had a dream and that was what guided us through the year.

We created some ripples here in Malibu and I think successfully made it known to our campus that we were a serious organization with big aspirations.

And what a year it’s been! To recap some:

- We had our first general meeting in which we got your input and ideas to help give wings to the club

- Our holiday ethnic potluck

- Cup Ramen Night:

- Kollaboration

- James Sun (from The Apprentice)

- Adrian Hong (Founder of LINK- Liberty in North Korea)

Umm… no pictures available unfortunately. But it was off the hook!

- KASCON 22 at Emory University in Atlanta! (Second largest group from any school there! holler!) AND Kollaboration Atlanta

- Pepp’s first ever Asian Culture Week with PASA

WHEW! I think it’s safe to say we had an AWESOME first year! Thank YOU all for participating! You all are the reason for our club’s steller success this school year!

Looking ahead to next year we want to build upon our success and make our club even better. Some ideas include:
- Increasing general meetings to twice or so a semester to get better in touch with you all in what you all want to see
- Increasing the number of simply fun and social events (can you believe we never went to K-town as a KSA this entire school year???)
- More community service involvement (we’re currently looking into mentoring opportunities)
- Creating the foundations for a network of alumni and current students for you to help get a boost in your career, jobs, internships
- Expand the focus on other social issues beyond solely North Korea (we’re in touch with someone  currently to possibly come and speak next year regarding the topic of comfort women)

Feel free to leave comments on this blog for your input!

On a different note we will sadly be saying goodbye to Kevin Park, our co-president who will be graduating in a week (be on the lookout for a final word from him soon), our VP Miranda Yoo who will continue to help KSA but step down, and Esther Kim for a semester as she goes to study abroad in Shanghai. Thank you all for all your contributions and you will always have a special place as part of the parent team to Pepp’s KSA!

Last but not least, we would like to announce that positions are open to serve onboard the KSA eboard team for the upcoming 08-09 school year! We are looking for passionate, dedicated, and hard-working individuals to serve in the following positions:
- Event Coordinator: be the point-person in charge of all KSA’s events. Plan and execute all events.
- ICC Representative: Be our club’s ICC rep. You will serve as a sort of face besides PR for our club and lobby for our proposals. This position requires that your Wednesday evenings are open since that’s when the ICC meets. A perk to this job- tons of free stuff including ICC hoodies.

If you are interested please let me know at Stewart.ho@gmail.com in what position you’re interested and an interview time.

NOTE: there is a chance that all candidates will not be notified until beginning of next school year as we would like to give the incoming freshmen a chance to apply as well.

With all this being said, continue checking on this blog time to time as we will update any news or information. In fact, FAVORITE this site RIGHT now.

Best of wishes on the remainder of your semester, go own your final exams, have a great summer, and we will see YOU all quite soon.

PS- please remember to invite your friends to join our facebook group! Remember, KSA is a club that’s open for all!

- From your 07-08 Eboard