kimm@frith.egr.msu.edu (Min-Sun Kim) (09/06/89)
*NOT* a call for VOTES
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This is to invite OPINIONS about creating a newsgroup to be
called "soc.culture.korea(n)". It is intended to serve as a
forum for discussions about culture, history, language, people,
cuisine, politics, and anything else pertaining to Korea.
Korea, together with China and Japan, is one of the important
countries of East Asia. It has a recorded history of over
2,000 years, during which, besides developing in its own unique
manner it has been the cultural bridge between China and Japan.
Korea's unique achievements include development of movable metal
type (200 years before Gutenberg), a simple phonetic alphabet
(the only one in East Asia), and the famous blue-green celadon
porcelain. South Korea is also the first country in East Asia
to achieve a democratic government through a popular struggle.
Because of its rapid economic growth it is called one of the
"four tigers" of Asia.
Articles about Korea or Koreans appear on other newsgroups
such as s.c.china (historical relationship between China and
Korea), s.c.japan (Japan and Korea, Koreans in Japan),
s.c.asian.american (origin and history of Korea), and
talk.politics.misc (shooting down of Flight 007, Korean
economy).
There is a lot of interest about South Korea's rapid economic
growth, political developments in Korea, and the Seoul
Olympic Games. There are about 500,000 people of Korean
origin in the U.S.A., many at every University. Recently
Hyundai even started manufacturing cars in North America.
I believe that many people, Koreans as well as other Asian,
American and international friends would be interested in the
proposed newsgroup. My previous posting was intended to draw
attention for this formal proposal. I regret that its light-
hearted manner irritated some people, and invite them to
participate. NO VOTES, please. Followups to news.groups.
Sincerely,
Kim, Min-Sun.