Settlers Of Seoul

Tiffany Needham is a co-owner of Magpie Brewing Co, a local craft brewing company in South Korea. From their company bio: Magpie Brewing Co. is committed to creating the best craft beers possible and growing the culture of craft beer in Korea. We work hard to balance traditional beer styles with innovative recipes and flavors.   Show notes, links, and bios can be found at www.settlersofseoul.com

John Lee is a former gyopo who was born and raised in Brunei and spent his college years in the United States. He is a small business owner who runs his own convenience store. When he has time, he is also a freelance columnist and a blogger. You can follow his columns at NK News (nknews.org) and his blog at The Korean Foreigner (thekoreanforeigner.blogspot.com) Show notes and links can be found at www.settlersofseoul.com

Robert Hamilton is a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at Seoul National University. Robert's research focuses on geographies of sexualities, transnational sexuality, queer theory, and male prostitution. He has lived in Korea for nearly twenty years. He is also an African American, and we explore what that means in Korea, how that has evolved over time, and what kind of obstacles and opportunities it presents. Show notes and links available at www.settlersofseoul.com

Wesley is a native of Guatemala, and lives in Seoul as a filmmaker and photographer. He studied Visual Communication Design in Hongik University and does various freelance creative projects in addition to his 9 to 5 as a professional marketer. In this episode we talk about the Spanish speaking community here, what it’s like working in a Korean office space, and go deep into Korean design and what it takes to be a photographer here. If you’d like to connect with Wesley you can find him on Instagram @wesleychangphoto, his website www.weschangphoto.com, or email him at wesleychangphoto@gmail.com

A native of Moscow, Masha Roslyakova has a lot to say on the Russian community in Seoul. In this podcast we talk about Russia’s role in Northeast Asia, human trafficking in Korea, the difficulties she’s encountered as a non-native English speaker, and why Moscow does not want reunification. Masha is a KGSP Scholar pursuing her MA in Korean Studies at Korea University.

This week’s guest is Peter Ward, an aspiring scholar of North Korean studies. He’s a research assistant to Dr. Andrei Lankov, as well as a masters student at Seoul National University, Peter is also a researcher at the Asan Policy Institute, and a contributing writer at NKNews. Peter is fluent in Korean and has unique insights on both North and South Korean society. We discuss growing up in the UK, misperceptions between the west and Korea, and how to learn Korean effectively. You can connect with Peter on Twitter @rpcward89. And just some quick housekeeping, if you like the show please share it with your friends, rate us on iTunes, Twitter, Facebook, you know whatever you use, just get it out there. I’ve already received several recommendations for future guests would love to hear from you, the listeners, who we should interview and what kind of topics you care about.

Manuel Azuaje-Alamo is a PhD Candidate at Harvard University. Manuel came to Korea mid-last year to conduct research for his dissertation on world literature in East Asia. He speaks seven languages and his lived in over half a dozen countries. Manual spent several years in Japan, and you’ll hear in this podcast a lot of references and inferences to the country as a reference point to placing Korea in context over certain topics and themes. We talk about growing up in Venezuela, the differences between Korea and Japan, how foreigners, especially Koreans, are received in Japan, the lifestyle of Tokyo compared to Seoul, language learning, and of course, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese literature.

Recorded one week before his now-infamous interview on the BBC, Robert Kelly is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy at Pusan National University. Dr. Kelly’s research interests include international relations theory in East Asia, U.S. foreign policy in Asia and the Middle East, Korean Foreign Policy, and international financial institutions. Dr. Kelly has written for Newsweek in Korea and Japan, Foreign Affairs, The National Interest, and The Diplomat, and he contributes to the Lowy Institute for International Policy and the Economist Intelligence Unit – Asia Group. He is also an avid blogger who runs the Asian Security Blog.