A Month-Long Trip to Korea!

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Jeez. Where was I?

Planning a trip to Korea.

Finally, after brainstorming things about the 4-week trip, I've come with some things you would expect to see, both on the blog, and possibly YouTube?
(Let's just hope that it would happen.)

I would be leaving YVR (Vancouver International Airport) on July 19th, and during the flight, watching movies, playing Tetris, and of course, shooting videos and writing an article about Korean commercial aircraft.

Then, I would visit and sleep at my relatives in Seoul for two weeks, going to landmarks, riding bike courses, as well as travelling to places out of Seoul for more fun stuff, travelling by car. (I may also visit North Korea.)

After my two weeks in Seoul, I would go to Jeju to visit more relatives, and during the time there, I'm not sure if people are going to take me to the sites across the New Seven Natural Wonders of the World, so there is a chance that my visit there would mostly consist of finalizing and editing videos, as well as creating reviews on visiting places.

Believe me, there's a reason I'm not showing you pictures in this article.

"It's going to be HUGE!" -Donald Trump, 2015

Since school ended, you can also expect more articles between now and mid-July!

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Korea's Currencies, Part 2: Coin Collectors Guide on Korean Currency

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I believe that I now have a weekly schedule; Korean Story posts are now coming every Sunday night (20:59 Pacific, 23:59 East Coast)! Well, starting next week. 

Last week, I listed the ordinary coins of the Republic of Korea from 1963 until February 29th, 2016. "Ordinary", yes. However, if you are a rare coin collector that love to collect or sell coins, you should tune into THIS article and take out your Korean coins collection to see which one is worth 50 cents and which one is worth 50 dollars.
See, during some years, coins have been printed less, and many have gotten a lot expensive. I'm really sure that South Korea only sells circulatable non-regular design coins, not printing them for free circulation. But when economic upturns or downturns come, and the South Korean government had to increase or decrease  the how many coins were being printed, the number of rare "years" of coins increased. For example, you could see the impact of IMF's pressure on South Korea, only 8000 "500 Won" coins were printed in 1998.

Behold. Thanks to 2pari.tistory.com

Some of those years also indicate a slight difference in the coins, for example, the 1982"500 Won" coin was made of 100% Aluminum.

Now, since I can't really "explain" the years of rare coins one-by-one alongside how many were printed, I made a spreadsheet for the "rare-year" coin collectors and sellers out there. Click here to see that spreadsheet.

But before you click on that link, or if you already did, you'll notice colors on the spreadsheet. That indicates the rarity of the coin in current status after 2007, with red being the rarest, then orange, yellow, light green, dark green, and finally, blue. While dark green and blue are easily "findable" in your pockets, light green and yellow coins (mostly before the 21st century), may be in your huge piggy bank. And good luck with finding red and orange. And when you do find one, contact me at thekoreanstory@outlook.com with your flashy coin! (And after that, just keep it in a coin collection or a glass frame, or just sell it. I don't care... unless someone wants to sponsor me?) Anyways.. that's it!

Or is it? (Sorry if this article suddenly got deleted)
At KOMSCO's sale website, you can always get interesting, governmnt-minted circulatable and non-circulatable coins! Click here to find about that.

*KOMSCO did not sponsor this article.

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Korea's Currencies, Part 1: South Korea's Regular Coins Since 1963

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Hey readers,
I apologize for my months-long absence with no sign of videos in the Korean Story YouTube channel. The thing is, as a student, I can't hold up studying, translating, writing articles at least once a week plus a video once a week; it's just too much for me. So I've decided to put away the YouTube for another time, and continue the peaceful way this blog operated. (I do accept donations, still.)
Also, I apologize for making you guys wait for so long after I posted that reminder post on Facebook: Basically, all I did after writing that post, was making half/unfinished articles that I figured will be left alone for another time like the other 20 unfinished articles in my storage. I mean, while I was trying to write this, I tried to write a review on the LG G5 and Samsung Galaxy S7!(Good job.) Hopefully, I get a schedule.

[Notice: The information on the new coins and their pictures was from KOMSCO.]
Today, I will only introduce you the coins of South Korea from 1963 until now. Why 1963? Because that's the current system of currency South Korea uses today: the NEW South Korean Won. Why is it the "New" South Korean Won? Well, can I explain that later on in the series? (Later in the series, I'll also talk about the rare yet normal collectors coins, as well as the failed system of North Korean Currency. Interesting, eh? Anyways... here we go.)

The Current Status of the South Korean Coinage System. There are 6 coins in total: the 500 Won (오백원), 100 Won (백원), 50 Won (오십원), 10 Won (십원), 5 Won (오원), and 1 Won (일원) coins. Just saying, if you can't find a 5 or a 1 Won coin in your pocket right now, don't worry, they stopped printing in 1992, and only sold in the KOMSCO website for circulation.

[Suggestion: If you are not someone who's going to check if these coins are counterfeit or not, or if you're not just a nerd, why not skip down to the spreadsheet below and look through the pics?]
[Another Suggestion: Wait until next week if you're looking if which year coins are rare or not. Thanks!]

Under "500" reads 한국은행 (Bank of Korea)

First, the 500-Won coin. There only has been one model, as the one and only model came out on June 12th, 1982. With a weight of 7.7g and a radius of 26.5mm, the 500-Won coin is 75% copper and 25% nickel. 

The Old Guy.

One can assume that the nickel covers the outside of the coin, as its color is nothing like copper.

The New Guy, now staring at you!

OK, now the 100-Won coin. This guy has two models: one from 1970 to January 15th, 1983, and the other one being continued since then. I really don't know the specs of the old model, but the new guy is a 24mm radius, 5.42g, and like the 500 Won coin, is made of 75% copper and 25% nickel. On the back of the coin is Lee Seun Shin, one of the bravest navy commanders of Korea in the 16th Century. (More on that on a later post.) 

Seriously, South Korea became more technological,
than agricultural...

Maybe replace these with phones?

The 50 Won coin also has two models, but again, thanks to limited resources, we're only going to look at the specs of the new guy.... or ear of barley or rice. Well, the new 50-Won was introduced the same day as the new 100-Won coin and is a bit smaller by having a 21.6mm radius and 4.16g of weight. It is not comprised of the same metals as its more valuable counterparts, as you can see in the picture; it is comprised of 70% copper, 12% nickel, and now, 18% of zinc. (Wait... I just got another idea on a post... mining!)

Back to the 60's~

Back to the 90's... with bad quality?

Back to the 70's~

Poor things, you can only get the 5-Won and single-won coins if you buy them online. Luckily, NH Bank has the information and pictures for these guys on its blog. The old guy from August 16, 1966, was a bit dark, with 88% copper and 12% zinc. But by July 16, 1970, that changed into 65% copper, and eventually in the entire coin change of 1983, the design changed, erasing the English words "Bank of Korea". (They also ceased to print in the U.S.A. during Korea's poverty days.)

The Current One.

The 60's(1)?

The 60's (2)?

And finally... the 1-Won coin. 20 minutes before this can qualify as being posted in February (In the East Coast Time). First printed at the same time as the 5-Won, it was 60% Copper and 40% Zinc, which changed into 100% Aluminum (or Aluminium if you're British) on August 26, 1968,

and the design change at the same time in the 80's. 

Now be ready for the next part of the series- "Rare Coins"! 
Come back next week for another article int he Korean Story. 
(Phew... 3 minutes left and I finished it on time!)



P.S. forget the spreadsheet!

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Finally! (And notice)

Look at this beauty.

Yes, this is the first, ever, the Korean Story YouTube video. For the next few weeks, however, I will be focusing on making these video versions of the articles here. I apologize for the inconvenience.
The YouTube video link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M2TTGenCqQ


Well, see you in a couple of weeks!

Should I YouTube?

Dear blog readers,

I am here to tell you that I am near to creating a YouTube Channel for the Korean Story.

This picture doesn't need a reference.

My reason to create a YouTube Channel for this wonderful blog, is not to ditch Blogger and go off to YouTube (Which would be pointless because some people don't like sounds, and the videos may lag. Plus, running away from a Google service for another Google service seems, again, pointless.)

To many people, text may be more appealing to them than videos. However, to others, it may be the opposite. To reach a wider audience, I am considering a YouTube channel.  

YouTubers such as CGP Grey and Thoughty2 have collected huge amounts of subscribers (And donations via Patreon) from millions of people around the world. In fact, YouTubing are their full time jobs, with CGP Grey earning more than $18,000 per video per video with his YouTube channel and "Hello Internet"!

As a student living outside of Korea, I am busy finding an online job, study, and write at the same time. If I start to earn cash out of the content I make and be proud that I have reached more subscribers than I thought, it would really help me by saving time on things and help you by creating content in a shorter amount of time.

What's your idea? PLEASE right it down in the comments below!
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Give a one-time donation to me at: paypal.me/andy5740!
Contact me at: thekoreanstory@outlook.com

Terror in Korea

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I pray for those whose families have died in all terrorist events throughout modern history.
Anyways, to those Korean-learners who were wondering if Korea is a terrorist hotspot, here's some things about terrorism in Korea.

{North Korea}
Living is just terror. Rely on your families for happiness. (For the commoners)
---

Qantas Boeing 707, similar to the plane that was crashed
by North Koreans. The picture of that plane is really rare.
I just can't find it. (CC/Wikipedia Phillip Capper)

{South Korea}
The Republic of Korea had 30 or less terrorism events in their soil since the 1960's, if you count terrorist events that happened outside of South Korean territory that involved a Korean citizen as one of the casualties.
In the East Asian nation where even guns are rare to civilians except for shooting arenas, counter-terrorism acts are getting strict by the year. Why?

1982, when curfew abolishment
 was put into action (In Seoul).
(Instiz.net)

Simple answer: North Koreans.
Since the 50's, the North Korean government wanted to terrorize the South Koreans. They used their special forces to supply many terror attacks in South Korea, such as the Korean Air plane crash in the 80's, a secret deployment of spies and a battle that lasted for more than 40 days in the 90's, explosion of a Korean military vessel and invasion of a civilian-living island in the late 2000's. This was why "President" Park Jung Hee enforced the "야간통행금지" (통금 for short, Curfew at night) Rule, which prohibited movement from Midnight 'till 4 in the morning; to fill the streets with soldiers looking for North Korean spies. The curfew was lifted in every South Korean territory in the first day of 1988. More about the Korean curfew law in a future post.

Anyways... where was I? Even the night curfew was abolished and no terrorist events happened in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the Republic of Korea strengthened its counter-terrorism laws, in which was strengthened again in the 2000's, when 9/11 exploded in New York, and at the other side of the world, the Seoul Olympics were coming up. 

However, the risks and possibility that there might be a major terrorist attack in Seoul (By international or national religious terrorists) have increased. Seoul is the second largest city/metropolitan area in the world, in terms of population. Besides, the Korean National Intelligence Service (KNIS) has reported that Al-Qaeda members have entered the nation at least twice. To a nation with only 40,000 ethnic Korean muslims (And more than 10 times population of Middle East migrant workers), that is a shock. Actually, to a country that used to have a majority no-religion population until recently, and to their people whom see signs of random radical protestant churches and them destroying Buddhist architecture, that may not be surprising. (Click Here for more.)
But we are still reminded that the Korean military is one of the most technologically developed armies (Hint: Samsung+LG+Kia+Hyundai), and the 7th largest in the world... next to France. We've seen that fall. (Besides, 9/11?)

ROKCDC Logo. Know where this is
when you're visitng South Korea.  ⓒROKCDC Homepage

But many people haven't heard about "민방위", or the Republic of Korea Civil Defense Corps (ROKCDC). It's something all men are trained to do, and 6.86 million people are learned what to do in a case of emergency, for example, a North Korean invasion. (In which even schoolchildren are often trained). So basically, with many people knowing where to go and what to do, Korea basically is prepared for minimum casualties during an attack. 

Well, that's it about terrorism in Korea. Remember, wherever you are, be vigilant for a terrorist attack. Even in North Korea. 

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Korea- The "True Nation of Food Delivery"

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What?

The term "Baedalue Minjok", is an ancient term meaning "The people of the Baedal". Basically, that's what the ancient Koreans called themselves to elevate themselves among the other ethnic groups. Baedal, is the nation in which Hwanung came down from Heaven and made. (Remember Creation of the Nation?)

Well, that shouldn't get confused with "The people of delivery" or "fast delivery". South Korea is one of the few countries where you can get McDonald's delivered to, well, almost anywhere in the country. And an app/company,  "배달의민족" (The people of Delivery), has the list of almost all restaurants in the nation, that has delivery service. No interest. 20 million people have downloaded the application.

See, many people in Korea like to have food delivered. It's usually a free service, and others, well a free service if you order more than a certain amount of cash. (McDonald is 30,000 Won, or around $30 USD)

You know those Korean-Chinese restaurants across Koreatowns in LA, NY, Vancouver and Toronto? Well, they're one of the popular choices for delivery, even if many people just eat it at the restaurants.

Anyways, I'll give out more tips about restaurants, and how their services are awesome here in Korea.

And don't forget for pizza.

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