The Metropolitician

Late 2007-early 2008

"I Got Arrested for Calling the Police" became a slow-burn issue for a lot of people who had experienced far worse in Korean police stations. It was a lightning rod for people who wanted to tell their own stories of unfair arrest or unfair treatment by the police. It drew over 250 comments on just that point alone.



2. "Why Be Critical?"

A post written a while back, but it still gets linked to a lot of other blogs, mostly because I think it clearly articulates the muddy logic of those who bristle at any criticism of Korea and call any such criticism "Korea-bashing" or somehow unfair.



3. Why do males get away with anything?

Feb. 12

After Namdaemun burned down, many people started asking some simple questions. One of the ones I added to the chorus of incriminations was more general - "Why do males get away with so much (bad stuff) in Korean society" and "Why doesn`t anyone get punished in the justice system here?" The tendency to let off men who`ve done atrocious things with a slap on the wrist is endemic to this society.



4. "Tips to Avoid Being Assaulted in Korea"

Dec. 4

There are a lot of incidents that happen, almost all of which are untracked. It probably won`t happen to you, statistically, but we all wear our seatbelts anyway, right? Stay safe out there. It was somewhat controversial because it seemed to break away from some peoples` insistence that Seoul is some kind of Mayberry, USA and mistakenly took my post to mean that I think this city to be like the city of Compton in the 1980`s.



5. Next - The Korean FASHION Wave?

March 27

Now here`s one that reflects my new photographic interest in fashion - especially street fashion - that also includes the occasional runway show or Seoul Fashion Week. I`m generating a lot of good pictures from this area of things, and I think a lot of people are also responding to someone covering an aspect of Korean life that doesn`t get much coverage in English.

By Michael Hurt