Ruminations in Korea

Comment by Joel Browning

10 April 2006 @ 6:43 am

Dallas has a fairly large Koreatown from what I’ve heard. To be fair though. How else are they going to eat for free and get free places to stay if they don’t spend all their time around Koreans?

Comment by jodi

10 April 2006 @ 9:06 am

that’s hilarious!

Comment by Jeff in Korea

10 April 2006 @ 9:50 am

Joel. It’s still pretty early in the morning for me, especially for a rainy Monday morning. Please tell my your tongue was planted firmly in your cheek when you wrote your comment.

Comment by jodi

10 April 2006 @ 11:08 am

just re-reading it again made me think:

if these guys are smart (and we have to assume being yonsei guys, they are) at the end of all of this they will acknowledged that no one on their travels learned a goddamn thing about korea but that they themsevles learned a great lesson about the world and people in general. i hope that is what happens.

if that is not the end result, then it’s a pity and a tragedy, not to mention a waste of money, time and energy.

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10 April 2006 @ 12:08 pm

[…] Jeff in Busan follows the adventures of the Dokdo Riders in California.  Hilarity ensues. […]

Comment by Ziggy Freud

10 April 2006 @ 12:50 pm

ROFLMAO!

And to think, they’re missing another semester of higher education for this “study abroad” adventure.

I’m sure though, that all these useful overseas experiences will make them that much more competitive for good jobs when (and if) they do eventually graduate.

Please tell me they weren’t excused from mandatory military service by embarking on this nutso voyage.

Comment by Matt

10 April 2006 @ 10:38 pm

Wow, the best post on the Dokdo riders ever. Still, one can hardly blame them for taking the path of least resistance. Americans are a cynical people - if there are some people trying to convince Americans that some place they never heard of is really “Korean land”, then Americans will probably assume it really isnt.

Comment by Jeff in Korea

11 April 2006 @ 1:30 am

Matt,

You are probably correct. While I admire their ability to get funding and motorcycles for an around-the-world motorcycle trip, what I don’t admire is their approach. Their stated purpose is to education people around the world about Dokdo and how it is Korean territory. However, from everything I can see on their web sites, the spend their time either sightseeing, playing on the beach, taking pictures of each other, hang out with Koreans in Korean areas of town, talking to Korean,s giving seminars to Koreans, and doing interviews with radio and television news.

From everything I have been able to search, there has been exactly ONE interview with a non-Korean newspaper and that guy ended up paying their parking meter.

I have not seen any evidence at all that have any real plan or real desire to spread the word about Dokdo to anyone on any sort of wide scale. Banging drums on a street corner on Wilshire Blvd in L.A. to spread the word, doesn’t cut it with me. They could at least TRY to make it look like it is more than an all-expense paid vacation.

I agree with Jodi. They should drop the pretense and simply state that they are traveling around the world for personal growth and development and to discuss Dokdo with Koreans abroad. Of course that will never happen.

Then again, if someone offered to pay for my bike trip around the world, then I would be happy to sit next to Spiderman and bang my drums for a couple of hours.

Comment by GI Korea

11 April 2006 @ 12:25 pm

I’m willing to bet these guys will get rich by writing a Dokto Riders memoirs book when they get back to Korea.

Comment by Iceberg

11 April 2006 @ 3:56 pm

Of course they are preaching to the choir. Who else would they receive donations from? Saddle up Dokdo Riders! It’s off to Texas!

Comment by Joel

11 April 2006 @ 5:01 pm

That’s where my tongue stays most of the time unless I get REALLY excited. If that happens, then WATCH OUT!

Comment by Nomad

11 April 2006 @ 6:38 pm

Hilarious post, Jeff, and please keep us tuned to any other adventures our wayward young lads get into. This is almost better than watching and waiting for the next episode of LOST…no, on second thought, it isn’t.

Trackback by Anonymous

11 April 2006 @ 6:42 pm

Speaking of other blogs…

Yeah, I’m still trying to catch up but please do yourself a favor and go check out Jeff’s latest post on the on-going adventures of the Dokdo Riders.  Hilarious stuff.

……

Comment by littlebrownasian

11 April 2006 @ 7:43 pm

Free tickets to the US at the cost of allegedly promoting a worthy cause? Who’s to complain? I won’t be surprised if you see these bunch of peeps off to Germany or Paris next month. Eiffel Tower, here we come!

Comment by Matt

11 April 2006 @ 8:54 pm

Hey, will the Dokdo riders come to Australia? If so, I will engage them in debate.

Comment by Brian

11 April 2006 @ 9:13 pm

What a bunch of jokers…

Comment by Paka

11 April 2006 @ 9:35 pm

I wonder if these guys are going to get beaten up somewhere along the way and whether anybody else cares. I also wonder how they got the visas to head to the States.

Comment by Anton

12 April 2006 @ 10:22 am

“Please tell my your tongue was planted firmly in your cheek…”

“Their stated purpose is to education people around the world about Dokdo…”

“… from everything I can see on their web sites, the spend their time either sightseeing, playing on the beach, taking pictures of each other, hang out with Koreans in Korean areas of town…”

Hilarious post but you’ve got some nerve criticising their language skills.

Comment by Jeff in Korea

12 April 2006 @ 10:37 am

Anton,

Hilarious post but you’ve got some nerve criticising their language skills.

Again, I hope YOUR toungue was planted firmly in your cheek when you said that.

Are you REALLY equating my uninterested pounding out stupid replies to meaningless comments to my lame posts at 1:30 am with making formal banners that were seriously and painstakingly designed and made to be flown in public places all over the world for the purpose of drawing attention to and educating the world about a territorial dispute that someone thinks is the most important issue in their lives?’

You want good grammar and typo-free writing, then see me professionally. For $300 and hour, you can have my wonderfully written letters. Otherwise, don’t expect it. You get what you get on this site.

Comment by Ziggy Freud

12 April 2006 @ 10:59 am

$300 an hour? Holy crap!

No wonder you went with the Harley Hog instead of the Hyosung Suzuki. ;-)

Of course, now you need another new guitar. Put down those tin cans of yours and pick up a ‘59 Historic model Les Paul, or one of those sweet Albert Collins signature model Telecasters. And I’m sure your neighbors would love you more at three in the morning if you got a new Twin Reverb amp to go with it.

Of course, as always, tongue in cheek.

Take care. :-)

Comment by Jeff in Korea

12 April 2006 @ 11:04 am

sweet Albert Collins signature model Telecaster

That probably wouldn’t suck.

Comment by yankabroad

12 April 2006 @ 10:56 pm

Shit.

I thought they were riding real bicycles. The way the stories in the Korean media put it, these guys were cyclists, not motorcyclists. But they’re just burning fossil fuels. Hardly a worthy enterprise.

They’ve dropped several notches on my respectometer because of that.

Comment by Nathan B.

13 April 2006 @ 6:22 pm

Absolutely hilarious! As for the three young men, more power to them: they’re getting a vacation paid for, for free. Also, I think they can expect perks of some kind when they return here.

Comment by Brendon Carr

13 April 2006 @ 8:27 pm

Jeff, your rate is too low. Mark to market: What’s the population of (excellent) Korean-speaking skilled foreign lawyers with your tenure in the market down there in Pusan? You’ve got the town to yourself. Especially since Holley became a comedian. Then consider how long you’ve been at US$300 and what that amount of US currency now buys at the Family Mart when converted to Korean won — which no longer yields W1300 to the dollar, but rather more like W950.

Comment by littlebrownasian

13 April 2006 @ 9:02 pm

“Also, I think they can expect perks of some kind when they return here.”

Lucky bastards….but if they give an offer to join them for a trip to London, sure I’ll put them posters up.

Comment by Nova

14 April 2006 @ 3:40 am

They might be hilarious by your view. But I do not see them much differece from someone running or ridig a bike across the US, canada or Europe for cancer, human rights, environment issue, anti-war or else. Or going for hunger strike.

99% of odinary people, including you guys and I, do not care what are these people are up to. or just be another blink news to get your 2 sec. attention.
Or do not even have plan or gut for such action like these people.

Are they hilarious because they stuck with Korean community?

You could criticising about their motor bike riding skills not on their Intention or goal.

Comment by Ewok

14 April 2006 @ 9:54 am

As each day passess, I admire them more. They got some big cojones to come up with this scam and actually pull it off.
Not only do they get free air tickets, bikes, fuel, and spending money, they also get to stay in comfortable korean houses and eat the home food they love, for free!

I got a decent bike… why don’t we start up a “foreigners for tokto” ride? we’d get a hell of a lot more press than these fools, and the korean media would love it, cause they can say “see, even stupid waygooks know tokto is korean”..
we could make some fingerpainting poster signs, in bad korean, and then ask them to fund our trip around the world!
Damn, I have a better idea!

I want to go to the world cup in Germany.. why dont we make up the thing to coincide with being there then?

oh wait: how much does anyone want to bet that these fools are gonna by chance be in germany at that exact time.
damn, the cojones!

Comment by Matt

14 April 2006 @ 9:56 am

Jeff, do you think that the Dokdo riders are seeing this, and if they are, that they will take what is written onboard?

Comment by Jeff in Korea

14 April 2006 @ 10:31 am

NOVA: I think Nathan was saying that my post was hilarious. At least I hope that’s the case. I don’t think the riders are hilarious at all. I think they are very clever. They found a way to pay for a motorcycle trip around the world. That is pretty clever. I haven’t been able to figure out how to do that, but Ewok might have a good idea.

The Dokdo Riders are much different than people riding for cancer, the environment, etc. In cancer, environment, anti-war, and other rides like that, the riders collect money from people on their trips and then donate the money to charities, research, or organizations supporting their cause. They also use the media to raise awareness of the isse.

On the other hand, the Dokdo Riders are using other people’s money to pay for their trip. They are not raising money for anything. They are worried about finding enough movey for the trip. The are not worried about what to do with the money they are making. Also, they are not using the foreign press at all. They have been riding in the US for 6 weeks and there has been no US television or radio coverage, and there has been only ONE newpaper article. They are not trying very hard to get any attention in the foreign press.

The Dokdo Riders claim that they are going to ride around the world to tell people about Dokdo and try to get them to care about the issue and to see Dokdo as Korean territory. But if you go to their website, the main thing you see are pictures of places they have been, the beach, the golden gate bridge, Koreans they have met, Koreans they have spent time with, lectures given to Koreans, Korean restaurants they have gone to, Korean food they have eaten, friends they have seen, churches they have attended, etc. The site looks like a vaction log, not an activist site. There are a few pictures of them in non-Korean area trying to give out books and pamphlets to non-Koreans, but in most of the pictures, there are no foreigner or the one or two foreigners are not very interested.

If they are going on this trip to enlighten the world about Dokdo and turn the world’s opinion in favor of Korea’s claim over the islands, then the have utterly and completely FAILED. On the other hand, if they have are trying to find a way to pay for a 9-month vacation around the world and to make people at home think they are doing something, then they have SUCCEEDED completely.

EWOK: You don’t know how many times I have thought of that. If I had any chance of finding a way to take a week off work, I would be first in line to go for an all expenses paid “Foreigners for Dokdo” tour around Korea.

MATT: No and certainly not.

Comment by littlebrownasian

14 April 2006 @ 10:36 am

“Are they hilarious because they stuck with Korean community?

You could criticising about their motor bike riding skills not on their Intention or goal. ”

Okay, I’m there with you. But are these photos convincing enough for you that they are there primarily for accomplishing their Intention or Goal and not because of the perks that come with pushing their agenda?

Comment by Country boy

14 April 2006 @ 6:29 pm

Jeff,

First things first… Let’s just get this out of the way — right now: If you see anything that looks remotely like these Korean motorcycle dudes (particularly with a “Korea #1″ or “Tokdo is Korean” on the back of the vest/jacket), do not approach it, do not talk to it, do not look at it, walk away from it, and if you think you really must “get a piece of that because he ain’t so tough” then please re-think or make sure you have adequate insurance coverage: these Koreans know Taekwondo … and they may just be Korean Kristians — God is on their side.

Comment by littlebrownasian

14 April 2006 @ 7:58 pm

“…these Koreans know Taekwondo…”

ooo…time for a little ‘wax-on, wax-off’ thingy.

i’ll get the beer.

Comment by NOVA

15 April 2006 @ 8:45 am

Jeff: I could also see that their plan wasn’t solid or detailed enough to have press conference with local media wherever they visit. They might even get a ticket to playing durms in public places, street, park…because they didn’t even think or know about local laws. As we all could see they do not even know the local traffic laws, e.g. how to, or where to…

They might contacted all or some of, the local media prior to their departure, or on their first phase of planning, for the press conference which might be declined by local media. (I am sure Dokdo issue could not even put on desk of Amrecian or foreign media corp.) Do you really think American or any other foreign media give a damn about these kids? I do not think so. It could be easier for them to Korean community, Local Korean media…

As you pointed out they might just took this for their lifetime opportunity to see the world with sponsorship.

But

Maybe they just planned to meet local Koreans especially young ones to raise their awareness on Dokdo issue. So these young generation could speak up to local media when they have chance.

They might even enjoying the ride on route 66 at this moment. On the way of thier sponsored luxury journey , they could join forty “the bikers” riders by accident, or by any chance some local folks might curious and ask. What the hell are you guys riding american soil for? Where the f*cking is Korea? Dokdo what, who? They could explain why they are doing this.

By some chance, The words, Dokdo, might give attention on the passengers and dirvers who happend to pass these riders. And someday, they might remember the word and give few more sec. on Korea-Japan relation issue, especially on dispute over Dokdo.

By the end of their riding, local medias might needs some issue they do not face everyday on local coverae and finally get attention and might schedule for the media conferences.

Out of some million of chances they might have invited to give some presentation over local schools.

Sponsored companies might believe this could be used as their good PR issue that they contributed little money for the nation. For the nine mo. of time their brand will also be showing off to foreingers.

These were some of the reason why I do not see the much difference than people riding, running, swimming, walking,..with or without sponsorship. They planed event not in Korea but in other country where nobody, I mean 99.99999999% of people, give a damn about Dokdo. They will meet their goal or intension on Dokdo issue even it was sponsored luxury riding.

You might consider me as one of typical nationalistic Korean with so much pride to post with poor English grammer. I am posting not because I totally want depend them or any Korean issue but posting that I felt some comments are just based on typcial Korean bashing view.

And Bottem line, I am still like to read all your post and comments.

Comment by kimchipig

18 April 2006 @ 1:32 pm

Excellent post, Jeff. Kind of reminds me of the guy in 1995 who was going to chain himself to Yongsan Garrison’s main gate until USFK left Korea. A week later he was gone.

I am not sure about the USA, but I’d wager most Canadians could’t care less about Takeshima and the Sea of Japan.

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20 April 2006 @ 12:13 am

[…] Quick, someone call VANK! And the Dokdo Riders! Judge Park Choon-ho of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), however, stressed that the nation still needs to respond to the situation in a more coolheaded manner. He said a physical clash at sea that accompanies any human damage could inadvertently trigger a legal dispute, which would not be favorable for South Korea, which currently exercises the territorial dominium of Dokdo. (emphasis mine) […]

Comment by orz

2 May 2006 @ 3:42 am

I go to Yonsei and nary a mention have I heard of this…cult. Then again, I don’t care beans about Dokdo, but what the hell Yonsei’s weekly paper/bimonthly in English/on-campus radio is doing not covering these guys is anyone’s guess.

As for the DD Riders’ grammar, I reckon 5 out of 10 is pretty bad reasonable.

Trackback by Riding Sun

14 May 2006 @ 11:15 pm

Dokdo riders…

Via the GI Korea Blog, Jeff in Korea posts about the …

Comment by Isaac

19 May 2006 @ 4:03 am

I was trying to see what bikes they’re riding. They look like Harlies, but could they be (gasp) Japanese Harley clones?

Comment by Jeff in Korea

19 May 2006 @ 9:24 am

They are riding Korean Hyosung 250s The body style is an blatant rip-off…er…homage to the Harley Fat-boy. To have a better view, click here and scroll ot comment #2228.

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19 May 2006 @ 3:40 pm

[…] And who knows? Maybe they can hook up with the Dokdo Riders and make it a U.S. tour! Kinda like “Easy Rider” meets the opening scene from “Jin Roh.” […]

Pingback by Ruminations in Korea » Dokdo Riders are Korea’s Paul Revere Riders

23 May 2006 @ 1:56 pm

[…] I have been writing about the Dokdo Riders and their all-expenses-paid vacation quest to ride their motorcycles around the world to take a year off school and have fun educate Koreans non-koreans everywhere of the fact that the Dokdo Islands belong to Korea and that Korea must protect her islands to prevent an invasion by the Japanese. […]

Pingback by Dokdo Riders Take California by Storm «

24 October 2006 @ 5:22 pm

[…] Well, not really, but do yourself a favor and read Jeff’s post on what these guys have been up to: […]

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9 January 2007 @ 9:24 pm

[…] Ladies and gentlemen, I present scholars and experts — ambassadors of their country, just like … A group of self-appointed “cyber diplomats”, the Voluntary Agency Network of Korea, or VANK, is conducting a fierce Internet battle with Japan over the issue. […]